Tokyo Tidbits

Small house party

At times I wonder about my sanity for the rent I pay. I could squeeze myself into a closet space and save for world travel (although what my cats would 'say' would be another matter). On the other hand, I love having enough space to invite friends over for dinner and hanging out. Most times, to meet anyone in Tokyo, you have to go to some restaurant, bar, or coffee house. But I love chillin' out at home with good company, so every once in a while I have a little party. Mind you, this is a big deal in Japanese apartments with no insulation where you can hear neighbors sneeze. I've been lucky with flexible neighbors so far though.

So I invited the Nu Balance folks and Cameo over for pasta. It's all so worth it when I see my friends lying around saying, "ahhh, it feels so good here..." I even caught Tatsuo snoozing a bit...which in my mind is a good sign that he is truly relaxed. We celebrated the new year with champagne and strawberries. Yum!

I usually try and balance the language issue and had tried to invite English speaking friends too, but everyone was busy. Cameo was on her own while I cooked. I saw my Japanese-English dictionary get pulled out and lots of hand gestures.

I was also very touched that Kei and Kenji took the time to find my hiding cats and work their way up to petting them. I found them lying on the floor in my bedroom with half their bodies in my closet trying to reach shy shy Wakame. And they succeeded in petting her, bless their hearts. I really love this group. Cool, creative, into music, AND very real. I was also happy to see Izumi. Since Mieko and Noriko left back for SF, I've been having a hard time finding female friends I can relate to. Although I don't want to be limiting, it really does make a difference whether someone has lived outside of Japan..even for a little bit. Otherwise, I seem to come off as too overwhelming.