Tokyo.Ten Party

We’re usually pretty lazy about going out for late nights here in Tokyo, but last Friday there was a party happening that we didn’t want to miss. W+K’s record label, WK Tokyo Lab, threw a big party to celebrate the opening of the Tokyo.Ten exhibition at the Claska Hotel. There was live music provided by Tokyo Lab’s own, as well as a huge display of visual art by a large number of artists collaborating with the label. We had a really great time. The party happened to fall on one of the only sunny days in a while (June & July are the rainy season, yay), which made it feel even more like a celebration. It was really fun to see the artwork, and also to bump into friends from around town who we hadn’t seen in a while.

Intl. Living & Farewell Wishes

Before moving to Tokyo I never realized that there is a community of people and families out there in the world that is living indefinitely international. They don’t just move to one place for a year or two. It’s more long term than that; it often involves multiple locations and many, many years abroad. I’ve met families from America that have spent years living in Singapore then Hong Kong and now Tokyo; Australia, Hong Kong, Tokyo and back to Hong Kong; France, America and now Tokyo; New Zealand to Shanghai, Tokyo and now Dubai. It goes on and on like that. And then there are the people who have moved from their home country to live here in Tokyo indefinitely. They have babies abroad, send them to international schools, create social bubbles providing them with a connection to their own cultural traits and friends who speak their own language (yes I’m also guilty of this). These people have no plan to return home. In fact, home becomes sort of ambiguous after a while. And it doesn’t seem to bother them in the slightest. Becoming acquainted with these folks really blew my mind at first. Living abroad for a couple years, sure, but I couldn’t fathom the idea of giving up my life back home for a never-ending international experience. To tell the truth, I thought these people must be nuts; or maybe they just came from a place not quite as nice as the one I’m from. But over time, as I got to know these people I realized that they weren’t nuts. In fact I quite liked them and shared a lot in common with them. They also came from pretty desirable places, and they all raved about their home countries just as much as I did (you become unexpectedly patriotic when you live abroad). The only thing I can really gather as a reason or explanation for this lifestyle comes down to that old silly phrase: Different strokes for different folks.

Needless to say, this move-around-the-globe lifestyle creates a lot of sayonara parties. This month I’ll say goodbye to three of my Tokyo girlfriends. These girls are off to Sydney, Melbourne and Hong Kong. I’ll miss them all as they’ve kept the laughs coming and the spirits high through my time here in Tokyo. The power of friendship is such a special thing. I’m not sure I would have made it here in Tokyo had I not nailed a few solid friendships. After our goodbye dinner the other night with our friends Joanna and Andrew, I squeezed Joanna so tight that I could almost feel the baby in her six-month pregnant tummy give me a little kick. I just didn’t want to forget that last hug. I don’t know when we’ll see Joanna and Andrew again, hopefully in Sydney this winter, but more likely back in NYC. I wish them all well and a big old SAYONARA!

Parashell

Umbrellas are a big deal here in Tokyo. Getting around on foot is a way of life. Most people don't have cars to protect them from the weather. The rainy season is pretty intense and the sunny days often have women wanting to protect their faces from skin damaging rays. I’ve been ogling these umbrellas and parasols being sold around Tokyo. Pretty hot design for something that repels rain and sun. Here's the story behind these practical fashion Parashells. And here's the company website.

Kawaii

The other day I had my final private lesson before summer break with my French student, Lou. After class she gave me a box of French cakes and this card she made. It’s a picture of her saying thank you. She wants to be an artist. She loves Japanese animation, which you can kind of see in her drawing. She’s eleven years old and has been living in Tokyo all her life; well, actually she would correct me and say she’s been living here since she was one. She speaks French and a little English. How strange it must be to grow up in a country where you don’t speak the language. The expatriate bubble culture seems both interesting and strange. But if these expat families are bringing up children as charming as Lou, they’re definitely doing something right.

Cocca Published on Pingmag

My Cocca article was just published on Pingmag. I love, love this store/design collective and was happy to help promote them and their beautiful fabric and prints. Those of you who have visited us in Tokyo may remember some of these prints from our apartment. I'm hooked on this fabric!

Beast featured in ELLE

When you’re living abroad you tend to miss the strangest things from your home country. The things I crave most (aside from people and places) are the things I rarely gave notice to before moving to Tokyo. Things like boxed macaroni & cheese, television, Nestle Toll House chocolate chips, grass to sunbathe on, sliced turkey or whole wheat bread. The other night I surprised some fellow American friends with homemade cookie dough. I had to ride my bike to two different grocery stores to find all the ingredients, but it was worth it. We practically finished off the dough before it made its way to their microwave oven. You get the idea. I also really miss magazines. For me, these days any English language magazine, no matter the subject, is a slowly savored treat. They’re just so expensive here that I never bother buying them. I’m talking $10.00 - $25.00 for magazines ordinarily costing around $4.00 in The States. But with Driscoll off to LA for work, I decided to go ahead and splurge on some mags for entertainment purposes. One of the magazines I bought was ELLE. Somewhere between catching up on clothing designers pushing for sustainability in fashion and Madonna’s latest whatever, I saw a full-fledged article on Portland’s Naomi Pomeroy and her restaurant, Beast! I couldn’t believe it. I asked myself, “Is this the same Beast I get those emails from?” I was heading over to have dinner with some friends, so I brought the mag with me and upon entering their apartment, promptly shoved the article in their faces (so much pride), “Look!”
“Oh that’s great, Bonnie,” they said. Right then I realized that being from NYC, they must see their local restaurants featured in magazines all the time. Still, it’s fun to see Portland making its way to the notable map. It may not be the biggest city (most people here seem to think it’s all Nike and countryside) but it sure has a lot going for it including–speaking of things I crave–all those fantastic restaurants! Don’t get me wrong, the food here is amazing, but all those Portland restaurants are such a piece of home.

May Day

Oh this old blog. It’s been hard to keep up with lately. Aside from being a little distracted, as soon as I decide what to write about, we do or find something new and then whatever I was going to write about seems like old news. I’ll try and recap a few things here…

Just after our return to Japan (from The States) our friend Allison showed up, which was great fun. We had just bought bikes. I can’t believe we waited so long to buy them. Bikes are actually a pretty fun and easy way to get around town. Allison borrowed D’s bike and together we rode all over–up to Shinjuku’s New York Bar, through Yoyogi Park, around Harajuku, Aoyama and Shibuya all in one day/night.

Then, last weekend Driscoll and I went up to Okutama. Driscoll left a day before I did to do a solo hiking expedition climbing Mt. Kumotoriyama, covering 20 miles in 2 days! He must be nuts, but he had a great time. Within the first half hour of his hike he saw a giant snake followed by multiple bear warning signs and finally a woman walking down the trail. She crossed her fingers at him (this is sort of like a NO symbol here) and exclaimed, “Abunai!!” over and over again. Abunai means LOOK OUT, DANGER! He was a little freaked but kept on. We met up the next day and stayed at a ryokan (a Japanese style hotel with a hotspring). In the morning, after our breakfast of fish, rice, raw egg and green tea (ah, just what we westerners crave before 9:00 am), we followed the Tama River for a long hike up to Okutama Lake. The area seemed to be the greenest of the places we’ve been in Japan. The scenery was quite stunning with rolling tree-covered hills reminding us of Oregon and Vermont.

Aside from that, we’ve mainly been working, hanging with friends and continuing to get more and more acquainted with Tokyo. The city’s offerings seem endless. We’re just scratching the surface of the 160,000 restaurants (compare that to NYC’s 40,000). I got that stat from D so don’t hold me to it. We’ve also been contemplating our next move. And despite the New York Times’ best efforts to scare us away from The States, we’re hoping to make it back to our home and dear friends in Portland, Oregon at the end of the year. Perhaps we should wait for the outcome of this year’s election to make our final decision…