Summer in Japan

There is just so much to do and see in summer.  If only I could show you all the moments that I've captured.

Hanabi - fireworks - are huge in Japan.  Turns out they started in Asia so I suppose it makes sense.  The fireworks I have seen here in Japan are like none other.  If you wanted to, and you could stand the crowds, you could see a fireworks display somewhere in Tokyo every weekend during the summer.  A show will last for an entire hour and every twenty minutes, you think it is the grand finale.  But let me tell you, when the finale happens, there is no missing it.  When you know, you know.


Yukatas, traditional Japanese summer dress, are the norm for fireworks festival.  Turns out, they are quite complicated to master.  Thankfully, Hiromi San used to style yukatas and kimonos professionally and offered to dress us for the hanabi festival in Shin-Urayasu.  Definitely a privilege.

Tae and I spent a day out of the city at the Narita Yume Sunflower Farm.  It was a day full of things I would not really associate with Japan: archery, jam-making, and cow-milking (I left that one to Tae).  We went during the hottest week of the summer and being inland certainly didn't help with the dizzying humidity.  Ice cream, however, is always a good remedy.

 Eric's visit to Tokyo was one of the many high points of the summer!  After a business trip around Asia, he was able to stay and visit for a weekend.  There wasn't enough time to do it all, but we came pretty close for the amount of time we had!  And speaking of fireworks, we spent the first night of our weekend at the most amazing fireworks spectacle.  Yep, it was a spectacle.

Fingers crossed that he'll be able to visit again.  Until then...technology.

Sushi at the Tsukiji Fish Market with Danielle

This one.  Amie.  We met three weeks ago in the elevator her first week at Hope Church.  I was surprised when native California English came out of her mouth and have been so refreshed by her each time we've gotten together since.  She'll be here for quite a few years, but we'll have to pack our Japanese friendship into the five months of my remaining time here.  There are those people that you just click with and she is one of them!

Big Cities and Old Friends

There's this thing about living in a big city that brings old friends together from all over the map.  And when I say "all over the map," I really mean it.  The latest was Kristine and Blaise, coming from the exotic beaches of Bali. After backpacking throughout southeast Asia, they finished their trip on this side of the world by coming to stay with me in Tokyo.  It was short and sweet, but emphasis on the sweet.

A month earlier, another friend of mine who now works for Disney on the Imagineering side of things was also visiting Tokyo.  Danielle and I studied abroad together for a year in Italy and I can count the number of times we have seen each other in The States on one hand.  Last month we found ourselves enjoying happy hour in Japan, both now employed by Disney, as different as our jobs may be.

In just a few weeks, it looks like I may be reuniting another former cast mate from Disney Cruise Line, Janelle, in the park for a whirlwind weekend of "Tokyo Fierceness" as she passes through.  Who would have thought!?
This huge city has begun bringing my friends to me from across the world, just as New York City did.

In other news, Richard is back in Tokyo to kick my butt and fulfill my deep love for continuing training and growing through dance classes. Now that rainy season is coming to a close, I am bathing in my own sweat in the Japanese humidity and it feels just like taking classes during a New York City summer.


Side Note:

Blaise tried this soda called ramune at a Japanese restaurant in New York.  We were on a mission to find it and were not disappointed.  It's as fun as popping a bottle of Champagne every time you drink a casual coke.  Come visit me and I'll share the fun...I found it at a local grocery store.

The Adventures of V and C - Japan Edition

The Adventures of V and C began as a Facebook photo album in 2009.  And goodness knows we have had so many adventures since.  We've hopped from California, to Turkey, to Italy, to Greece, to New York, to Turkey a few more times, and now to Japan.  (All the while keeping up with the times and creating our own hashtag.)  Life from a distance is always so daunting, but we have lots of practice by now.

Victoria's visit to Japan was everything we could have hoped for.  We laughed and we cried.  We went on roller coasters and bullet trains.  We saw modern Tokyo and traditional Kyoto.  We ate more sushi  and experienced more of Japan than I have in the past four months of living in Tokyo.

Fushimi Inari-taisha

Every time Victoria and I finally see each other again after however many months apart, it seems it has begun to get easier each time.  I don't know if it is from practice or if it is from maturity, but we expect less of each other.  Not in the sense of expecting disappointment, but more in the sense of enjoying our time together regardless of how the day turns out.  And not surprisingly, the days always end up better that way.

Everything matcha!

Having my sister in the audience to see me perform was so much fun and also a little surreal.  The first show (of three) seemed to go in slow motion.  It is amazing sometimes to stop and think about how many unrelated thoughts can be going through your head while flying over an audience, lip syncing Japanese, and interacting with giant puppets and an audience of 700.

After finishing at work, I joined Victoria in Disney Sea for the first time.  The park is absolutely exquisite.  I was so thankful to be able to experience it for the first time with her and actually have her be the one to show me around after a full day of walking the park on her own.

Our vacation within her visit was a two night stay in Kyoto, a 4 hour train ride south on the Shinkansen.  This was the first time I had left Tokyo (overnight) since moving here in January, and the getaway was so rejuvenating.  Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan.  It is the opposite to Tokyo in that it has kept its traditional feel amidst also being a modern city.

Kinkaku-ji

Arashiyama was our favorite part of our trip to Kyoto.  The bamboo forest was breathtaking and so peaceful, as was our perfect little resting spot where we watched the boats go by. (above photo)

The goodbye is never easy, but the time together still makes it worth it.  I am praying that we will be together again sooner than we realize.  But for now, we will just have to look forward to more of The Adventures of V and C.

All That is Gold Does Not Glitter

“All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

These past few months of adjusting to Japanese culture have continued to try me.  I've definitely been learning patience, perseverance and humility.

While cleaning up and organizing my computer, I came across old photos from so many different points in life; beginning college in San Jose, my last niece being born, living in Italy, family members who've since been lost, living aboard a cruise ship, audition life in NY, and finally, living here in Japan.  In the moment usually things are not glittering; you feel lost, withered and bitten by the frost.  But go back a few years later and look at those same memories.  

I'm reminding myself not to wish my time here away, knowing I may look back at the end of the year and realize I didn't recognize what I had.  It was gold.  I am not lost.  I am stronger.  My roots are deeper. I am making a serious effort to be more positive.  After all, the show really is amazing...it's the culture that's getting me.

Ok, enough with the philosophical stuff.  That's all the cheese I have for you today.  I just thought of the famous first line of this poem, looked it up, and wanted to share it with you.

The show is open!  Grand opening was April 24 and we are now (as a cast) performing 24-27 shows daily- 3 to 4 per person, daily.  There are many frustrations with the culture of the workplace right now, but at least I get to laugh a little to myself every time I make eye contact with a Japanese woman screaming and shaking because "Ariel looked right at me!" I hope, for the person sitting in her seat next, that she wasn't quite as much like an overexcited puppy as she seemed. 

The most magical place I've been in Japan -- Ashikaga Flower Park.  The wisteria was like something out of a fairy tale.  Strands of warm, purple rain coming down around your shoulders with the sunshine filtering through and the sweet fragrance surrounding you.  Mmmm.  It felt unreal.

Wisteria Ice Cream and a Selfie Stick

Cameras, cameras everywhere, pictures, pictures, pictures.  Seven westerners hired by Disney + Japanese tourists =  Paparazi. Pictures with us, pictures of us, picture awkwardness.

Hanami, Sensei, and Ashi

Mimosas under the sakura trees

Hanami - Sakura viewing, or cherry blossom viewing has been a priority on my list for my year here in Japan.  It happens briefly every spring and the "when" just depends on the weather and when the first few warm days bring the blossoms out to say hello.  The post cards do not lie.  They are absolutely beautiful, and I felt like I had stepped into a fairy tale everywhere I looked.

Unfortunately, it was too "windy" for the row boats to go out.  Wait...was that two blossoms that just fell to the ground?  Look out, that must mean the whitecaps are coming.  Oh Japan and all your rules...we will need to do some serious adjusting to each other this year.

Look who's in town for the next month!  I have so enjoyed the familiarity and ease of taking class from my teacher from New York City, Richard Pierlon.  Believe me, by ease, I don't mean an easy class, especially after so many months away from the city.
I have missed dancing so much over these past few months since I left New York.  Even though I have the joy of performing and working my body so hard physically, it is still something all it's own.  Richard's class has been such an escape and refreshing challenge.

Celebrating after rehearsal like a kid, with my
cup'o'lemonade before passing out from exhaustion.

This week's biggest and seemingly insurmountable challenge: continuing the search for a way to keep my legs from going numb while performing.
Mission accomplished!  Just two days before our soft opening (preview performances), my trainers and I found a solution that has proven to be replicable!  After so much worry about a year of such pain and frustration as well as countless rehearsal hours of trying new harness positions, we struck gold.

 Today's first performance with an audience was more than a success!  My legs had full feeling, the audience was gasping with excitement as Ariel swam just above their heads, and I was reminded of the joy of performing for an audience.  It has been oh so long since I've been on stage, and what better way to be welcomed back than to soar over an awed crowd in such a magical production.

Performing for Disney definitely has a different kind of magic and energy than many other productions because of the way the world knows the characters.  They immediately believe who you say you are.  You don't need to convince them, but instead, live up to the red-headed mermaid they know and love and make sure that you aren't the reason they loose that trust.

This is Japan

We drive on the left side of the road.
We bow in thanks.
We follow rules at all costs.
We are efficient to the point of inefficiency.
We wear surgical masks with even the latest fashion.
We are packed like pickles onto trains, if necessary, with batons.
We are always "genki."

Well...maybe not "we."

Looks like chocolate?  It might just be red bean paste.  Watch out.

Old sake barrels at the Meiji Jingu Shrine

When I was living in Italy, I bent over backwards and jumped through hoops to try to fit in and blend in.  Here in Tokyo, that will never happen.  No matter how docile I am or what I wear, I will never be mistaken for a Japanese.  Although it seems a defeatist thing to say, it is actually quite liberating.  That is quite a large weight to be lifted from one's back.
Becoming "fluent" in another culture is almost as hard, and arguably more so, than becoming fluent in another language.  It is not just knowledge; it is knowledge, emotions, and your very personality that are effected by becoming part of a foreign culture.  This is not to say that I won't make an effort, but it will always be assumed by my outward appearance that I am not and will not be Japanese.

Meet the cast!

Headed to curry with Pete, my old
Magic 30 castmate, and Tae!

Living in New York for the past year, often finding myself the only white girl on the train, I discovered that I am almost more comfortable with that feeling of "out of place-ness" that being a minority brings.  Since the summer of 2010 I have lived in Italy, California, New York, North Carolina, Toronto, The Middle of the Ocean, New York again, and now Japan.  I feel like the sense of loneliness that I so dread is even more prevalent when it comes from being one in a million of us versus being the only one in a million of them.  --Boy is this turning into a rabbit hole or what?  Bunny trail?  Whatever idiom you want to use, but we are getting off track here.

In the past

Kaoru, Ryoko and I at the temple gate

weeks, I have done little other than strengthen my body and rehearse my show, but little is not nothing:

Best food award goes to -- bills
No, it is not Japanese.  It is Australian.  What a disappointment, I know, but those hotcakes!  Ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter--best pancakes I have ever had.  That's a bold statement.

Best sightseeing outing -- Shinjuku and Shibuya with my friends Kaoru and Ryoko from the Disney Magic.  Seeing the local sights with the greatest locals= best combination.

Best random fact -- I have eaten more Indian curry than I have Japanese food while I've been in Tokyo.  I had never tried it before coming here, and it just so happens that I have indulged in the cuisine while with friends on a few occasions.

Ryoko and I, washing our hands in icy water before
before entering the Meiji Jingu Shrine

13 o'clock?  I'm rolling with the punches Japan, but...

Best...-- I'm out of awards.  Help me out.

Whozits and Whatzits Galore

In case I haven't told you...because I haven't told you...my newest life adventure has taken me to Tokyo, Japan for the next year.  I am starring in the opening cast of a show called King Triton's Concert at Tokyo Disney Sea.  The list of "firsts" for this experience could go on and on; I am living in Asia, learning to be an aerialist, moving from the ensemble to a leading role, lip-syncing an entire show in Japanese, living in my own apartment, making a healthy salary....

This job.  Well, it is hard on your body, hard on your mind, hard on your personal life.  BUT, the hardest things in life often end up being the most rewarding or the most growing.  There are so many times that I have already felt the need to pinch myself and make sure that I am taking in all of the amazing experiences that are "my job."
The first of these came in my first break through while harnessed and suspended in our aerial strength training.  Since then, the breakthroughs have continued to come...two steps, forward, one step back...just keep swimming.
Another "cloud nine moment" came during the costume fitting.  Seeing myself in the wig, makeup, fin, and seashells, with the lighting--I was Ariel.  I never felt that way about Aurora.
The latest and greatest moment to take my breath away was flying with wind in my hair, over the 700 seat Mermaid Lagoon Theater on what is currently the wold's most complex rigging system.  Flying--an unrealistic dream--is my reality.