Paris, Je T'aime: Retroactive Post

Today I hurried home and prepared the different layers for the vegetarian lasagne I was making for tomorrow, so that I could catch the train to Shiz and watch a movie that Albert had told me about. Albert had heard about it from Bradford, who had seen it last week. He told me about it because it was a French movie showing in Shiz city and as such, figured I'd be interested.

I knew nothing about it, so a visit to its Wiki entry and the theater's website was in order. I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of my favorite actresses, Natalie Portman was in it, along with a medley of other actors. So, I decided to catch the 7pm showing, no matter the state of my household. I went and managed to find it fairly easily, sat down and prepared to watch yet another film in French with subtitles I couldn't understand, because this was Japan and not the US. There were points in the movie where I looked to the Japanese for help with the French, but after a while, I forgot about them.

The movie is actually a compilation of 18 short films set in 18 of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, focusing on what else but love in the city of Amour? But not simply love in the fashion of the next Hollywood romantic comedy (or love-com as the Japanese call it), though there was certainly some of that. Rather, it focused on love in its myriad forms, sometimes tragic, sometimes uplifting, sometimes disappointing, joyful, heart-breaking, as complex as a decades-long marriage or as simple as a haircut. And all of this is reflected in the city as well.

Albert is right in telling me that I need to learn as much about France, French and Paris as I can before I go there, in order to avoid the jarring pain of the real Paris as it meets the Paris of my dreams, thoughts and heart. But seeing this movie made me feel like the character in the last story, a fellow American with a terrible accent writing in French that she loves Paris and hopes that it will love her back.

At one point in the movie, I was nearly overwhelmed with a sense of loneliness, felt more keenly perhaps because I had spoken to Travis this morning and had been wishing for some company, especially his, during the movie. But by the end of it, I felt better for having seen it alone. It allowed me to engross myself in the movie, in Paris, that by the time I left the theater, I felt a different kind of culture-shock. With my head swimming with French and thoughts of a foreign country, I had to deal with the reality that I WAS in a foreign country, just not the one I had been looking at.

All of a sudden, I had to remember I was in Japan, not Seattle; that this wasn't my city, my country, my home. But then I realized that while Seattle no longer feels that way and that Japan feels more and more comfortable with the passing months, it's still not quite right. But I ask myself, Will France be any different? Or will I feel the way about France as I do Japan once I move after living here for at least a few years? Will any place ever feel 'Right' again, or is that something I've given up in exchange for the novelty of travel?

I guess we'll see. But for now, Paris, je t'aime.

Down in Kansai...:Retroactive Post

As we ride on the bus on the way to Akiyoshidai, I am stuck with a feeling of wonder and contentment of living in Japan. I look to the the mountains that are so different from the ones of my home - lush and full of bamboo and sakura, decidedly deciduous instead of rocky and full of the firs and pines that give Washington its name: the Evergreen State, and I realize that there really is so much beauty here, beauty of a different nature than what one finds in America. America staggers you with size and grandeur; Japan presents you with peace on a smaller scale. There is so much in this little island nation- such diversity from the snows of Hokkaido to the tropics of Okinawa and everything in between. There is so much to see and experience.

This thought makes me want to stay in Japan for another year. At first, this idea seemed scary, that I wouldn't be seeing enough of the world, during my time in it, but I've realized how easily it is to open your heart to this country and how firmly it wedges itself there. I don't think I'd be able to stay for more than 3 years at my age, simply because I truly need to go to Europe, but the idea that I could be 26 when I move to France, hopefully capable of speaking not only that language, but Japanese after having lived here for 3 years is incredibly appealing. I don't want to go home, not when Seattle no longer feels that way...

Highlights of my spring break trip:
Crazy time spent looking for an ATM and missing Sean and Imran 4 times on trains
Bus-ride to Miyajima and the ferry-ride to the island, deer, low-tide, miso-dango
Nice hotel room in Hiroshima with a corner view
Eating okonomiyaki in Okonomimura and dress-up purikura
Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Museum
White-snake observatory and sakura
Akidoshidai and Akiyoshido