Foreigner

This blog will continue on as a kind of public diary (of sorts). The rest (politics, news, and most "soapbox" stuff) will from here out be at Think About It Now which can be found at: www.thinkait@blogspot.com This reminder will be on the first few posts.

I'll be back in the States in less than two weeks. It'll be my first time back in three and a half years. This time it'll be more of a family trip and less of a vacation. I felt a bit like a foreign tourist when I went back last time. A lot of the things that stood out were the same kinds of things Japanese tell me about their trips to the States. Kind of weird, huh?

I won't need to plan things like side-trips to interesting places on this trip or anything (in fact, Taka's not even coming with me this time), but there is still a lot that needs to be planned and not a lot of time to do it in. Coordination between several households can be difficult, esp. with the time difference and various work schedules involved. As strange as it sounds, there are even issues with what I can and can't eat that need to be dealt with. I've always been a procrastinator when it comes to travel, but this time, the whole thing has been on short notice.

Things would be a lot easier if I could just rent a car at the airport. Not having a license doesn't bother me at all here, but can make a person feel crippled and dependent in the States (outside of, say NYC). To that end, I have been in contact with the Maryland Department of Transportation to see what it would take to get my license back while I am there. To some extent (considering my past license-related incidents), getting a license wouldn't have been the trial I expected. Due to the time elapsed, I was just told that I would basically start over as if I never had a license. All I need is to take the eye exam, written test, driving test (all of which can be done the same day), and assuming I passed all three, could walk out that day with a license. I would also need proof of identity (not a problem) and proof of Maryland residency (Whoops!). Since Maryland is listed as my U.S. address on my Visa here and is on almost every form I've ever filled out for the government here, I kind of thought that being a U.S. citizen also came with some form of connection to a state. Wrong!

There is no way for me to prove residency in Maryland because I don't live there. Even if I could manage to fake it (I'm not advocating law-breaking here), I still wouldn't attempt it. Maryland would then no doubt expect their due in taxes. It would be obvious in no time that I'm not actually a MD. resident. No license!

The whole license thing reinforces a feeling I've had for some time. It's like I'm a U.S. citizen, but I'm not American. I really feel like a foreigner when I go back to the States. So much has happened there while I was here (esp. since 9-11). My entire take on world events is that of a foreigner compared to a very large part of the U.S. (and the majority of my family), and vise versa. I'm a foreigner here too, but for some reason, I am more comfortable with that. It freaks me out a bit when it happens in the country I was born and lived in for 27 years. Although it does help that I can (more or less) speak the language there (aside from NYC taxis).

No doubt there will be a lot more posts on this trip over the next few weeks. This trip is kind of a big deal to me. It will be great to see the family again (on their own turf)!

New Blog

I originally wanted this blog to be a place where family and friends could quickly and easliy get caught up on what's happening around me...even see a few pictures that I wouldn't bother to e-mail out to everyone. Kind of a public diary of sorts. I also wanted it as a bit of a soapbox to cause people to think about what is going on in the world around us. Those two things aren't meshing very well, so I've decided to split them up.

This will continue on as a kind of public diary (of sorts). The rest (politics, news, and most "soapbox" stuff) will from here out be at Think About It Now which can be found at: www.thinkait@blogspot.com

I'm busy getting that started just now, but will post to this one soon.

Photos

Today was a little cool and very rainy. I wore a short-sleeved shirt. Sometimes I think my sole talent is dressing badly for any event...

I realized that it's been a very long time since I've posted any photos to this blog. Here are a few (they are from my mother and aunt's trip):


Taka and I by some mountain I forget the name of...



A few people with a mission...










I used to live near here...just over the water, and 40 min. by bike to the right.








I hope that satisfies for a bit...I'm tempted to add a pic from the houses in the flower war, but maybe later.

Things I've seen (1)

No excuses for why I haven't posted in so long. That'll probabably be changing (the postings, not the excuses), so keep checking.

I'm guessing this will be a reaccurring thing in this blog (thus the end of the title). It's just a list of things I've seen in the last two days. I've been in a pretty bad mood and this may reflect that, but I'll try not to overwhealm. It may also reflect how much of a housewife I am...


-Thousands of flowers in hundreds of varieties
-Four people riding bikes while writing cell phone e-mail
-One person writing cell phone e-mail while riding a bike in the rain and holding an umbrella
-A woman who deliberately ran over my foot with a shopping cart (after I stopped and moved over to get out of her way) because another woman was blocking her mad rush forward (she actually hesitated, then pushed forward over my foot...no apology)
-Three houses in a row competing over their flowers...making an excellent section of neighborhood
-Trash, yet again, put outside the entrance of my building at least two days early
-Some guy on a scooter for no apparent reason and with no witnesses (he knew of) speed up, then put both hands in the air and keep them there for the duration of speeding through a red light.
-A small, single stalk of celery for $1.50
-The wife of the priest of a neighborhood shrine that recently expanded (We talked...kind of. She was really nice.)
-Close to thirty baseball players in uniform, on bikes, coming straight at me (not a problem, just a little weird for a minute or two)
-A train with a big dent on the front car (don't even want to think about how)
-a shooting star
-Three people (one was that lady with the cart) that were about to give me shit for my comments (some of which were pretty nasty), but stopped when they saw a an angry-looking skin-head foreigner
-At least fifteen cats, basically running wild
-my neighborhood, on a bike, at 4 a.m.
-a minimum of twenty people I could punch if the world was truly fair
-The one-eye guy staring at me again (he doesn't really irritate me, but I do wonder why he always stares...it's going on six years now)
-too many people in a frenzied hurry to do what is basically just a daily chore (shopping)
-a very scared door-to-door real estate salesman (he didn't give up over the intercom phone and I gave him a reason not to try this apt. again)
-My face in the mirror...kind of weird as the beard grows back, but I can maybe see why people are afraid when I'm mad...they think I could very well be insane.
-Did I mention flowers?