"FAY" Satoko
writer
Cared my ex-husband to the end in 2012, then moved to San Diego, California in 2014 to rebuild my life.
As a writer, my speciality is the "well-being" field. I write essays and short stories as well.
In my free time, I enjoy surfing, yoga, and spending time with my new husband and doggies.
FAY is my “American” nickname.
4.15.2024
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
I like American Diner.
I like American diners.
I am not certain when and how I became attracted to them, but I think it is probably largely due to the influence of the many American movies I saw during my adolescence.
The first film that comes to mind is "Pulp Fiction" (1994). The opening scene and the last scene are in an American diner, which was also indescribably cool.
However, until I came to the U.S. 10 years ago, I didn't seem to understand what a diner actually was. When I came to the U.S., I found that it was indeed a diner, but in a form that could only be described as a diner? Atmosphere? I came to know that there are many diner-style restaurants and eateries all over the country, and I really fell in love with them.
Thankfully, my husband is also an American diner fan, so we both frequent the diners we like, and we are always on the lookout for new ones.
What is it about American diners that attracts me so much?
I suppose there is no common definition for everyone, but there are certain points that I cannot miss.
First of all, it is not a chain restaurant, and it has both box seats and counter seats.
If the sofa cushions in the box seats are bright red or turquoise blue, it looks more like a diner.
Counter seating is not enough; the diner must have regular male customers sitting at the counter.
Next, servers (waiters and waitresses) with a strong presence are indispensable.
This can be in the form of a very friendly presence, or in the form of a very unfriendly presence with tattoos all over the place. In the movie image, it was limited to female servers, but now that I've actually been there, I've come to think that both are possible.
Also, it is essential to have an all-day breakfast menu on the menu. It's a given that the coffee is refillable, or rather, the server semi-automatically pours it when the cup is empty, and there should always be omelets and pancakes, hamburgers and milkshakes (whether you ask for them or not).
And while I believe those are my favorite American diner requirements, that is not enough to say what the appeal is.
Perhaps the most appealing thing is the inclusiveness that accepts all kinds of folks.
If you look at American movies from that angle, I am sure you will agree that there are families with young children, elderly couples, young couples, groups of women, groups of men, and even single customers in a diner. There are people who seem to be a bit ill-mannered, and there are people who seem to be the picture of ordinary happiness, and none of them are out of place.
Whether you are a person who was born and raised in the U.S. for 50 years, an immigrant who has been coming to the U.S. for 10 years, a regular who has been coming for years, or a first-timer, you are treated in the same way, in a good way. When I order something from the menu, even though it is my first time here, I am told, "You have a good eye. That's my favorite menu item." It's just lip service, but when I go back a few weeks later, I'm surprised that they remember me and say, "Welcome back," and I am reminded that being a server at an American diner is a professional job.
Whenever I asked like "It's been a while, hasn't it? Did you come in after surfing today?" I felt like telling my adolescent self, who used to be fascinated by the American Diner in the movies, "You're going to experience this in the future.
2.10.2024
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Puzzle of Life
Earlier this year, I began a full-fledged career as a yoga instructor and healing practitioner.
After more than 25 years of professional writing, I moved into a different industry.
But to tell the truth, this transition is my second attempt in terms of my career, since more than 10 years ago, when I was in my 30s, I tried to become a therapist by getting certified in aromatherapy and medical herbs.
For various reasons, I didn't end up becoming a therapist that time, but now I think, "Of course, that was reckless."
As a young woman in my thirties, I didn't know who I was, and I was up and down, easily influenced by the problems of the clients in front of me.
Life has tremendous healing power, nature has tremendous healing power, and I only wanted to convey that to them, but I had no idea what I could convey to each and every different individual, and I didn't even realize it from the fact that I didn't know in the first place.
I was not aware that I didn't know what to communicate to different individuals, and I was not aware that I didn't know what to communicate to begin with. However, I think that I am at least able to work on myself and what I am doing and what I want to do with a higher resolution than I did back then.
Recently, I have come to realize that there are many things that become apparent only after a long time has passed.
Life is like a role-playing game, and it is quite often that a mysterious item obtained in the first half of the game turns up long after the game has progressed, "Oh, I didn't realize it was for use here!" .
Sometimes someone gives you a key to open a door that you have been unable to open for a long time, and sometimes someone gives you a pair of glasses to see things in a completely different way.
In this way, I feel as if I am beginning to solve the riddles of the first half of my life in the second half of my life.
No, this may be more of a puzzle than a role-playing game.
I am sure that each of us is born with a picture we want to complete.
After we are born, each time we experience something, we acquire a piece of the puzzle, and we put that piece in the right place to complete the picture little by little.
Sometimes he knows where to put the piece the moment he gets it, and sometimes he moves left and right while holding the piece for a while.
But even the movement of moving right and left is supposed to draw lines of color on the puzzle, and even that is built into the puzzle's original completion, isn't it?
People around you are also making their own puzzles that they want to complete, and when you put all the puzzles together, you can see a bigger and richer view.
Isn't that what the world is?
...To return to my original point, when I was in my thirties, I got a piece of the puzzle, a therapist, and walked around looking for a place to get into it, but I couldn't find it, so I just left it there.
But then, more than 10 years later, when I began to study kinesiology, yoga, and integrative healing, I found that those pieces were attached to the therapist piece.
When multiple pieces came together in this way, I could see a bit of a bigger picture, and I could also see where this combination of pieces fit into the bigger picture.
What a grand game....
In this light, I might say that the things in life that don't have immediate answers are more enjoyable to construct puzzles.
What is this? What part is this?
I feel that the real pleasure of living is in the process of building toward completion, rather than in seeing the finished product (because you know the finished product when you are born, even if you have forgotten what it is).
Thankfully, I still have a lot of "where does this go?" and I have a number of pieces that I'm not sure about. And I know that I can add more pieces as I experience new things.
Which piece of the puzzle will be completed in 2024? I look forward to the picture that emerges and savor the days of building through trial and error.
10.15.2023
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
In God's time.
Morning surfing is back.
Well, to be precise, I have been surfing in the morning this summer.
What I revived was "early morning" surfing.
It is the time before sunrise, or "first light".
This is the time when the jet-black sky turns indigo and then violet as it begins to prepare for the dawn.
It is also the time when the birds start singing in unison, as those who have slept in camps or other campsites will know.
I have always liked mornings, and I am good at them.
When I am on deadline, it is much easier for me to go to bed early and get up at 3:00 a.m. to write a manuscript than to stay up until midnight.
So, going to the beach first thing in the morning is not so painful for me; in fact, the first thing I do in the day is surfing, which makes me happy.
But I was thinking, "I'm an office worker, so I have to get to work before I go to work.
"I'm a company employee, so I have to do it before I go to work."
So last year, when I quit my job and became a freelancer, I thought to myself, "From now on, I don't have to go to the beach first thing in the morning to enjoy surfing! I was so excited.
And in fact, I was surfing at 9:00 or 10:00 a.m., a rather leisurely time, which is called "Shift 2" by surfers.
However.
At the end of this summer, I went on a trip by myself for the first time in a crazy long time (technically, I was with a friend for the second half of the trip), and it reminded me of how much I love to get away from my daily routine.
In the first place, I used to like to be active in the early morning when no one else was up.
I also liked surfing not because I could only do it early in the morning, but because I liked the ocean first thing in the morning when it was sparsely populated.
...Psychology is a very interesting thing, and even though the act of surfing early in the morning is the same, and even though I preferred it, the feeling of "I do it early in the morning because it is the only choice" and "I can choose both, but I do it early in the morning" is totally different. There is a difference.
I remembered that I knew someone who had a similar experience.
This acquaintance, who loved to travel (or so he thought), set out to become a nomadic worker, working while traveling.
He took the plunge, quit his job, created a free work style, and actually worked while traveling, but as a result, he came to the conclusion that he discovered that he loved home, and even though he has much more time and financial freedom than when he was a company employee, he only travels as often as he did when he was a company employee I have to admit that I have been traveling a lot more often than when I was a company employee.
So I guess it's important to try different experiences to know what you prefer.
And I am sinking in the gratitude of being in an environment where I have the right to choose, whichever one I choose.
By the way, as a yoga practitioner of 18 years (longer than my 13 years of surfing) who began training to become a teacher this year, I have only recently learned that in Indian teachings, the time before sunrise is considered sacred time, "Brahma Muhurta" (time of God).
Specifically, it is said to be from 96 minutes before sunrise to 48 minutes after sunrise.
I can only be thankful that I am allowed to float in the sea during such a sacred time.
I feel so auspicious now that I have resumed early morning surfing with a renewed spirit, but I am not sure if I will still be so happy to go to the ocean in the early morning when autumn deepens and winter comes (although I used to do it before).
But that's the way it is.
I will be grateful for the environment that allows me to enjoy what I enjoy now, and I will live gratefully and enjoy what I can enjoy now.
8.5.2023
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
The summer I became a full-fledged surfer
This summer has been full of emotion.
In particular, I recall the summer of 2010, the summer I started surfing.
In the spring of that year, I moved from Tokyo to Shonan and took the opportunity to buy a surfboard to start surfing.
It was not until I started going to the ocean every day that I realized the obvious: the waves are always different and do not always suit my convenience.
It was only when I was able to go out to sea on my own that I learned that it was more difficult to pick my own waves and take them on my own than it was to stand on a surfboard.
At the time, I thought I was a full-fledged copywriter, but I learned that being a full-fledged copywriter was of no use to me in the ocean.
Eventually, I came to prefer living with the rhythm of the waves with no makeup to working hard and wearing trendy makeup.
I came to think it was cooler to know more about things like wave swells, currents, winds, and tides than to know a lot about marketing.
I want to be a better surfer than a copywriter.
That's how my surfing journey began.
Thirteen years have passed since then.
I am deeply impressed by the fact that this summer I have become a full-fledged surfer.
It all started when, for the first time in my life, I taught someone how to surf.
When a friend told me that a relative was looking for someone to teach him how to surf, I raised my hand and said, "I'll teach you.
I just happened to be in a place recently where I had been conscious of pushing the boundaries of what I had been doing, and I thought it would be just the right challenge.
I was also encouraged by the fact that the relative, who had gotten my contact information from a friend and contacted me directly, was very pleasant.
She said.
I may be too old to start surfing, but surfing will always be my passion. But surfing has always been on my bucket list. I'm so happy to finally have that dream come true!"
...
When the wave came and I pushed her surfboard and saw it catch the wave and slide out, I was as excited as if it were me.
She was carried straight to shore, finally slipping and falling, standing up laughing and looking back at me, her bursting smile and the sparkle in her eyes made me giggle.
I know that excitement.
Once you get a taste of it, frankly speaking, it becomes a habit, doesn't it?
Thinking back, 13 years ago, I was captivated by that feeling, which is why I am where I am today.
To be honest, as a beginner, you don't get many chances to experience that feeling, but maybe next time? This next time? I have been surfing for a long time because I have a passion to experience that feeling again.
I am sure that she will remember this day for the rest of her life, just as I still remember the day I surfed my first wave, the day it all began.
.
I was so proud of myself for having come of age because I found myself truly happy that she had surfed the first wave of her life and was now about to begin her surfing journey.
Not only that.
This summer I was such a festive and festive person that when other beginner surfers took a wave, even strangers would shout, "Hu-hu-hu! I have become a festive aunt.
I am just doing it because I want to, but I was reminded of this when a father and his son said to me on the way home, "Thanks for the pep talk.
Yes, surfing is very intimidating in the beginning.
So, it is a relief when a stranger surfers treat you warmly.
I was the same way, but it was the occasional surfer who said to me, "Good luck," that kept me going and kept me going.
Thirteen years ago, when I made up my mind to become a good surfer, I was not sure what constituted a good surfer, but I believe that a good surfer is not just about skill, but a person who naturally accepts everyone who is fascinated by surfing as a fellow surfer, regardless of their level or style preference. I think that is how I feel about good surfers.
With this thought in my mind, I feel now I can myself is one of those good surfer.
4.10.2023
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Homesickness lasts, even through spring
It has been nine full years since I came to the United States.
I was most homesick during my first year here, but this year I am feeling the next level of homesickness.
This is largely due to the fact that it has been raining so much that I have not been able to surf at all.
California does not have the infrastructure to treat rainwater, so when it rains, it goes from the mountains to the rivers, then from the roads to the rivers, and all the sewage goes into the ocean at once.
Therefore, officially, people are told not to go into the ocean for 72 hours after it rains.
Even though it rains continuously, it does not happen every day, but when it is almost 72 hours (i.e., 3 days), the next rain falls, and so we have only been able to go in the sea a few times since the beginning of the year.
The coastal cliffs are crumbling all over the place, and many of the parking lots to access the ocean are closed, so we are experiencing a spring that I have never seen anything like this in the 9 years I have lived here.
As I mentioned before, not being able to surf is 80% of the appeal of living in San Diego for me, and the fact that it is cherry blossom season in Japan has only deepened my homesickness.
Of course, that's a bad idea, and I'm trying to somehow rebuild my life.
It's like saying that if I couldn't surf, there would be no reason for me to live in this town, or if I didn't have a boyfriend, there would be no reason for me to live.
I don't want it to be otherwise.
Surfing shouldn't be the only thing in my life.
With this in mind, I am trying to enjoy various things, but at the moment, yoga is the only thing I am passionate about besides surfing.
I started doing yoga in 2005.
I started practicing yoga in 2005, so I have been practicing yoga for 18 years, five years longer than I have been surfing.
However, after moving to the U.S., I was so busy settling into my daily life that I only practiced yoga at home when I remembered, and it wasn't until the Corona Disaster in 2020 that I resumed yoga in earnest.
Until then, I had been working at a company, so even if I wanted to attend yoga classes, I often couldn't make it in time.
But after the Corona disaster lockdown, various studios and teachers started offering online classes, and my job became remote from home, so I was able to attend.
That's when I started thinking, "I still love yoga. I want to learn yoga systematically.
I want to take a teacher course."
However, it took me a while to find a teacher or studio that offered a teacher training course.
I believe that yoga in California has become too much of a fashion statement, which is great in terms of broadening the scope of yoga, but I was looking for a teacher or studio that would teach more classical or essential yoga without being too fashion-conscious.
I finally found it last year.
I quit my job and became completely freelance, and this year I was finally able to participate in a teacher training program.
So, even though I am extremely homesick right now, the only reason I am in San Diego is because I want to complete the teacher training that I have started in San Diego.
Of course, in reality, I have other reasons to stay in San Diego because of my family, but I miss Japan so much that I might suggest to my husband that if it were not for yoga, we might consider returning to Japan to spend our future together with our family....
I miss Japan so much....
I am not so much missing Japan as I am getting tired of San Diego.
I was feeling that I had taken root in San Diego, but as soon as I took root, I got bored.
Looking back, however, I had not lived in one place for nine years in a row since I left my parents' house as an adult.
So maybe I had just forgotten about it, and I am rootless by nature.
I don't know about "rootless," but maybe I have no desire to settle down and live in one place.
That's a frightening truth I've come to realize.
I have a family and a dog, and I can't just say, "Well, let's move out," just because I realized it.
But I also have an itch to be the one who can't move lightly.
When did I become so lightweight?
In my 20s and 30s, changing my place of residence was as easy as changing my taste in clothes.
This may not be homesickness, but a mid-life crisis.
Now that I am in my late 40s, I am once again rethinking where and how I want to live in the future.
2.8.2023
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Homesickness comes out of nowhere.
From the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, it rained so much that I forgot I was living in California.
The rain that fell on Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day lingered on even after the New Year's holiday, and it was not until three weeks into January that we finally saw the San Diego-like sun again.
Usually, during the New Year's holidays, my husband and I would spend the time surfing, but this year, of course, we couldn't.
Instead, we stayed in our cold house wrapped in blankets and watched Japanese YouTube videos.
To say I was dreary would be an understatement.
The only small relief was that we had a sumptuous New Year's food from a Japanese restaurant and a (uselessly) oversized 75-inch TV screen that showed YouTube.
However, this small measure of salvation was blown away by a line call from my parents from Japan.
My brother and his wife, along with my adorable niece, were sitting together over there, eating my mother's homemade Osechi and drinking delicious sake.
Needless to say, they looked happy.
Moreover, they told me that they had hung out their futon to dry because it was so warm at the beginning of the New Year.
What a wonderful thing to be able to sleep in a freshly aired futon from the night of New Year's Day!
I felt sad and frustrated that I was in a faraway place where this was not possible.
Normally, I would be able to say, "I'm having a great time surfing, too," but this time I couldn't.
Then I realized.
Without realizing it, I wanted to tell myself (and those around me) that being in San Diego was the best choice for me.
The weather and the surfing are such powerful factors in convincing myself (and others) that I'm living the good life, but once they're gone, I lose sight of why I like living here.
And then homesickness strikes.
As soon as the month long dreary rain passed, my friend M-san arrived from Japan.
Originally a friend of my husband's, it had been four years since his last visit to California.
As if we had been waiting for the right time, just the right size waves arrived in San Diego, and we were finally able to enjoy the first ride of 2023 together with Mr. M.
The day after surfing, we went hiking at Torrey Pines, a nature preserve by the ocean.
The area is just as scenic, and the view from the bluff overlooking the ocean is a sight to behold.
The hiking course takes you through the spectacular scenery, and you can even walk down to the beach at the end.
While walking, Mr. M said, "It's nice. California is great, isn't it?"
I would reply, "Yes, it is." I told myself that I was lucky to live in such a place.
I must have walked for about an hour.
By the time I got back to my car, sweating, and headed home, my homesickness was gone.
No matter how many years have passed since I left Japan, homesickness still comes unexpectedly, irregularly.
Still, after nine years, I have become very good at dealing with it.
Homesickness is like being an ex-boyfriend; you remember all the beautiful things about your ex-boyfriend because of the distance, but in reality there are many things you didn't like about him.
In short, when we are not satisfied with the present for some reason, we want to pull out only the good things from the past and miss them.
Therefore, when homesickness strikes, it is better not to fight it, but to simply savor the fleeting sweetness of the past as if you were tasting a candy ball.
Eventually you will get tired of that sweetness, and when you do, you will remember that there was another sweetness right in front of you.
However, if possible, in 2023, I would like to taste more of the sweetness of the here and now than the sweetness of the past.
Can I do it? No, I will try to do it.
11.7.2022
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Padres-tinted autumn
This past October, San Diego was all about the Padres.
For those who are not interested in Major League Baseball, it may not matter, but the San Diego Padres, San Diego's baseball team, made it to the postseason, where they will play for the league championship.
The San Diego Padres, our San Diego baseball team, made it to the postseason, but since it was a "wild card," or simply put, a "last minute" berth, the people of San Diego were quiet at first.
The atmosphere was such that "We are happy to advance to the postseason, but we might lose in the first game, so let's not get our hopes up too high.
However, after the Padres beat the New York Mets in the first game and advanced to the second game, Padres fans began to get excited.
Maybe we can make it! Such an atmosphere began to prevail among the fans.
What was obvious was the dramatic increase in the number of people wearing Padres hats and T-shirts.
I saw more cars with Padres stickers, and the flags on my neighbors' houses changed to Padres flags.
Not only acquaintances but also people I have never met before, if they were wearing Padres goods, I would call out to them, "Go Padres!
For the first time in a long time, I realized how nice sports are.
The excitement of the citizens reached a peak in the second game of the post-season against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
San Diego had beaten the Dodgers, the heavy favorite to win the league championship.
We don't have a TV, or rather, we have a TV but we don't have a subscription, so we couldn't watch the game live. The moment the victory was decided, the bar was filled with a sense of togetherness like a live music club, and it was a lot of fun.
I felt like it had been a while since I had had this feeling, and then I realized that it was true. I hadn't seen people gather and make noise like this for the past few years due to the Corona pandemic.
The reason why the city was so excited about the Padres making the playoffs was, of course, motivated by the simple desire to support the hometown team, but it may also have been to relieve some of the frustration of the prolonged Corona pandemic.
Unfortunately, the Padres lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers' next opponent, and thus did not win the league championship or advance to the World Series.
However, I must admit that I was a little relieved that this was enough for this year, as I was getting somewhat tired of going to the sports bar every game and being really on the edge of my seat for every single play.
But still, it was a festive October.
When I was in Japan, perhaps because I was in the Kanto region, I had never experienced such a local excitement over a single baseball team.
In my family, my father was a Giants fan, my mother from Tokai was a Dragons fan, and my brother was a Yakult fan, and in Tokyo, where people come from all over the country, this was not a natural occurrence.
Furthermore, there were several teams based in Tokyo, including the Giants, Yakult, and Nichi-Ham (at the time), and I did not consider myself a fan of any of them because I was in Tokyo.
However, when I was in San Diego, conversations started on the assumption that I was basically a Padres fan.
This was really interesting.
I have no plans to move at all at this point, but if I move to Seattle, I'm sure that I will root for the Seattle Mariners, even though I miss the Padres like an old lover.
At the very least, I would feel like that is the attitude required of a fan.
Thinking about it this way, I feel that cheering for a local team with which I have a connection is similar to getting married.
If something had been off, I might have stayed in Seattle and married the Mariners, but because I happened to be in San Diego, it was the Padres.
It's just a coincidence, but it's also a coincidence that I decided to support them, and I really support them.
To make a statement about how serious I am about this marriage, or rather, about being a fan, it may finally be time to seriously consider a subscription to watch baseball on TV.
10.7.2022
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
The Day I Crossed the Ounce and Pound Barrier
Eight years after immigrating to the U.S., I still don't understand the unique American units of measurement.
When it comes to the unit of length, the foot (ft), someone told me early in my immigration that "one foot is the size of a large adult foot (about 30 cm)," and I was able to immediately put it into my mind, but that was all.
To begin with, having grown up in Japan, I am too accustomed to dividing by 100 or 1000, so when I am told that one twelfth of a foot is one inch (in), I stop thinking, "Why divide by 12 instead of 10?" And that's where my thinking stops.
What I have more difficulty with are units of weight and volume.
I understand that one pound is about 450 grams, but for some reason, the unit symbol for pounds is "lb," so it is difficult for me to immediately hear the sound "pound" when I see it written.
Moreover, there is another unit of weight, the ounce (oz), and if it is written in ounces instead of pounds, it is impossible to convert it to grams on the spur of the moment.
And when you add the unit of volume, the gallon (gal), it becomes a bit of a puzzle....
Of course, after living here for seven years, I have gained enough wisdom to know that 16 ounces (oz) is roughly the size of a grande cup, or that my car holds about 13 gallons (gal) of gasoline when fully loaded.
But how many grams are in 16 oz? How many liters are in 13 gallons? If you ask me to convert, I don't know.
Sometimes, some products have the converted numbers on the package, which I really appreciate.
Since I don't have children and don't have to help them with their school homework (i.e., I don't have the opportunity to experience American math), I thought that I would probably continue to live in a somewhat hazy state regarding units of measure.
However, it turned out that I was wrong.
I've started to attend an adult school.
Adult school is a public educational institution offered by the U.S. government and is open to all U.S. residents 18 years of age and older.
I applied for admission to the Adult School because I wanted to improve my English skills a little more, but after taking a test, they decided that my English level was above the level of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program for non-native English speakers, so I was placed in a class called ABE. I was accepted into a class called ABE.
ABE stands for Adult Basic Education.
This class is mainly for those who have reached the level of ESL advance but still need to improve their English, those who want to go on to higher education in the U.S. such as a university, or those who want to develop a career in the U.S. at the same level as in their home country, and want to acquire knowledge and skills to build a foundation for that. The students are mainly those who want to acquire the knowledge and skills that will form the foundation of their higher education in the U.S.
I was in an ABE class at that adult school the other day and finally got to learn pounds and ounces.
And I learned for the first time.
One pound is 16 ounces, ma'am!
I mean, I've lived for 8 years without even knowing that, which is great, but....
In class, we not only calculated pounds and ounces, but we also solved math problems involving pounds and ounces that were up to about 5th grade American elementary school.
What impressed me was that it was easier than I thought it would be to solve.
I could do that, too, if I had someone to teach me properly!
No, no, it's elementary school-level arithmetic, so it's not surprising that I could do it, but I am not good with numbers and units, and English is not my first language, so there was a big mental block against me thinking about arithmetic and units in the US.
That block was removed.
After eight years in the U.S., I finally crossed the pounds and ounces barrier!
I was filled with a slight, or rather, a considerable sense of accomplishment, but my other calm self was whispering to me, "Next time, I'll go over the Miles barrier.
Next up is the Miles barrier. And there's still the wall of yards.
...One wall is crossed, and then another.
And so the life of an immigrant continues.
9.5.2022
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
LOVE NIPPON!!!
There is one incident that I remember now that makes me regret why I could not say a word at that time.
It was a few years ago, when four Japanese and an American were having dinner together.
We nodded our heads and said, "I understand, I understand," and then Mr. K, the only American in the group, brought up this topic.
He said, "My company is going to make a product in Japan, and a Japanese person came to inspect the product, and he asked me to tell him the color formula. And I said, 'No, there is no such thing. I said, 'No, there is no such thing,' because as long as the color looks the way it does, the details don't matter.
In other words, the person who came to inspect the process asked what percentage of each color should be mixed together to make the correct color, in the manner of CMYK in printing.
However, Mr. K did not have any strict rules for color, as long as the colors looked the same.
He wanted to know the exact color and asked me to tell him how to mix the color.
Of course, with a rather unfavorable and negative nuance.
I was a little drunk at the time, so I laughed along with him and said, "Ah-ha, yes, that kind of detail is very Japanese.
But when I woke up the next morning and recalled the scene, I was very bothered.
I wondered why I had only laughed along with him, but had not said a word.
But it is precisely because of this level of detail that Japanese craftsmanship is at a world-class level.
If the color of a product is just a matter of appearance, the color will be uneven depending on the person who makes it.
Of course, it is acceptable to have an uneven color as long as the performance is the same, but the spirit of Japanese craftsmanship is rooted in the thoughtful attention to detail, including color, and that is why made-in-Japan products continue to be trusted around the world.
I didn't want to argue with Mr. K., but I felt frustrated that I couldn't tell him that there is a good side to being detailed, because we just laughed together at his ridicule about our own country.
Living in the U.S., I am keenly aware that Japanese people are not good at proudly asserting their own country as much as they are at being detailed, and I felt frustrated that I was exactly like that.
There is a reason why I am mentioning here an event that happened a few years ago... I returned to Japan this summer for the first time in a long time and came back to rediscover the excellence of Japanese craftsmanship.
The first thing that surprised me was the high quality of the petit-priced cosmetics.
Unlike the U.S., which is a melting pot of races, products targeted at Japanese consumers may have the advantage that they only need to pursue Japanese skin types and tones, but even if that is subtracted, I was still impressed.
Another product that I think I would have remained unaware of if I had continued to live in Japan is the hand towel and furoshiki.
Did you know that the edges of a hand towel are not sewn so that it can dry quickly and also to keep it clean by allowing it to drain easily?
And if, for example, the noseband is cut or a bandage is needed, it can be quickly cut by hand, and even if it is cut and left as is, the fraying will not spread much.
What impresses me even more is the furoshiki, and the idea of folding just one piece of cloth and using it in various ways is super creative!
I am a surfing enthusiast, and I realized that one large furoshiki is all I need for a convenient mat to put down when changing on the beach, or a convenient bag to put my wet wetsuit in after surfing. I felt like, "I'd like to spread the word about eco-surfing to the global surfing scene.
I would like to educate the world about "eco-surfing" by using hand towels and furoshiki in the ocean here in California, and when people ask me "What's that? I would say, "This is amazing! Viva Nippon! I now want to proudly tell them, "Viva Nippon!
So the biggest event for me this summer was the outbreak of my love for hand towels and furoshiki (laughs).
I am also a little excited to see what changes will occur in my future life in the U.S. now that I have come to think that I should be more proud of being Japanese and convey the beauty of Japanese culture to others.
5.5.2022
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Let's experience, let's travel!
I am rereading the trilogy of the "Conversations with God" series (St. Mark's Press) that I read a long time ago.
I remember that I was very moved the last time I read it, but when I read it again this time, I realized that I did not remember most of the contents that should have moved me so much.
There is one more thing I noticed.
I also realized that because this book was written in the U.S., there are many parts that are easy for me to understand now that I am living in the U.S.
For example, in "Conversations with God 2," there is a reference to "world government."
I do not yet understand enough about the pros and cons of world government to have my own opinion, but in the book, it says something like, "The formation of the United States of America is similar to the basis of world government," which made me think, "I see!" I was quite convinced.
I could understand that the U.S. is the "United States of America" only after I lived in the U.S. I had never understood that the U.S. is the "United States of America" when I was in Japan.
When I was in Japan, I thought that the United States was a country, with states as prefectures and municipalities under them.
However, after living in the U.S., I realized that in reality, states are like countries, and the counties under the states are more like prefectures, with municipalities under the counties.
The United States of America is a federal state, a united country of states.
No, no, no, the United States of America is a federal state... I would like to say to myself that this is basic knowledge, but until I actually lived in a federal state and experienced its structure in my daily life, I must admit that I did not really understand what a federal state was. I must admit that I did not really understand what a federal state was until I actually lived in one and experienced how it works in my daily life.
Incidentally, what made me realize what it means to be a federal state was the way each state handled the Corona disaster.
Even though the U.S. federal government announced that the wearing of masks was mandatory, some states said, "Masks are not mandatory in our area," and even if a state said "Masks are mandatory," the counties under the state usually said, "Masks are not mandatory in our area, but we have this rule." As an immigrant from Japan, I was a bit confused.
But when you consider that each state is like a country, and the federal government is an institution that combines them into a nation, it makes sense that each state would take (and be allowed to take) its own stance.
If you think about it, or even if you don't think about it, tax rates differ from state to state, and the procedures and laws related to marriage, divorce, and obtaining a driver's license differ considerably from state to state.
Even vehicle registration is done in each state.
Well, considering that the United States of America is the result of uniting 50 independent states in such a way, the idea of a "world government" in which the nations of the world unite while maintaining their individuality seems not to be a preposterous idea at all.
But then, how can we say that the United States of America is doing well? Can we say that the EU, a similar system, is working well? I am puzzling over this question alone, even though no one is asking me.
The only thing I am sure of is that the more things I experience, the wider my frame of reference will become and the more ideas I will come up with.
For example, my experience of the federal state became my flesh and blood.
The more things I have in my blood, the richer the soil for my ideas, and the richer the soil, the more ideas should naturally sprout.
And the quickest way to experience various things that will become my flesh and blood is through cross-cultural experiences, and the quickest way to experience different cultures is through travel.
Now that I have become accustomed to the U.S., for better or worse, I want to travel to gain new experiences.
I'm already in my late 40s, and yet I still want to fumble a bit more so that the ideas that come out of me won't be so small.
At least in the US, the Corona disaster has settled in nicely, so I'm going to travel.
If you think of the state as a country, just getting out of California should be a cross-cultural experience, so let's start with a trip within the US, let's just experience something new, let's travel.
3.6.2022
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Cold passing through
I caught a cold and went to bed.
Of course, suspecting an epidemic virus, I immediately took a test, but it was negative.
After three full days of sleep, I still hadn't recovered, so I took another test just to be sure, but it was also negative.
In the U.S., a simple test kit is distributed free of charge for four tests per household, and since I used the kit this time, I was concerned about the accuracy of the test, but as expected, it was negative twice, and my husband, who lives with me, is doing fine, so I guess it was negative.
But, however, as a result, I slept for 4 days.
I haven't slept like this in several years.
I got up on the fifth day and resumed my daily life, but I still can't say I'm at full strength.
I don't want to be sick...but just as a rainy day with no sun is important from a different perspective, I think it is important to have a time to slow down from time to time, just like a rainy day with no sun is important from a different perspective.
I hope it is only "from time to time," but a cold is a good opportunity to remind us that we should not take our daily routine for granted.
When the body and mind are weakened, we are able to think about various things based on the premise that "what we used to take for granted is not the norm," and so many things, both good and bad, are cut away.
You may say, "I wanted to do that, but, well, that's not a priority," or "I wanted to be like that and tried to do this and that, but, well, I don't have to be like that."
I was trying to be this or that, but I didn't have to be that.
So, during this time of that slowdown, I have been thinking a lot about this series of articles.
Perhaps due to my age, I am not really interested in cultural trends anymore, nor do I want to write about them.
I have been in the U.S. for eight years and have lost some of the freshness I had when I first came to the U.S., as well as some of my understanding of the American way of thinking.
I have been secretly wondering what I should write about in this series of columns.
But during the slowdown period of a cold, I suddenly realized.
Or, perhaps, I was just thinking to myself that as a representative of the U.S. West Coast, I had to write about a lifestyle that is typical of the West Coast.
Since the name of the corner is "Days" to begin with, why don't I just write about my usual Days?
I don't have to be so conscious of life on the U.S. West Coast, but since I live there and write about it, I am sure that whatever I write will have that flavor somewhere in it.
Isn't that enough?
No, even if it is not enough, and everyone who reads this series is looking for information on the American West Coast lifestyle, why not just say, "I'm sorry, I can't write about that.
It is a reopening of the door.
But for me, it is a return to my roots.
So, the photos in this issue are beautiful and lovely scenes from my daily life that caught my eye on a weekend when I was feeling refreshed after a cold.
A neighborhood trail (nature preserve) where I took the dogs, a park where I walked with my husband, a Saturday lunch at an American diner near the park....
Just as I was ready to write again with a fresh mind, focusing on such small daily happinesses, the news from Ukraine broke out, and my heart ached.
2.5.2022
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Walk and look
There are many good things about having a dog, but one of them is the increased interaction with our neighbors.
I have made dog friends such as Luna's mom and dad, Lucy and Lucas's mom, Po and Mo's dad, and Siri and Daffy's mom. I have also started to say hello and make small talk with the people who are always walking their dogs (Sunny and Lisa, Chinese immigrants).
This year, it's been eight years since I moved to the U.S. and California.
Every time I did something new in the U.S., such as filing a tax return, going to the hospital, or joining a surf club, I felt like I was gradually putting down roots, but in the past two years or so, when I started getting to know my neighbors through my dog, I finally felt like I was firmly rooted in this place and that this was my home.
As I've been walking around the neighborhood, I've been receiving and picking up more things.
The most common is to receive fruit from the garden.
Lemons, limes, and oranges are the most common, but we also get persimmons, loquat, and pomegranates.
In some cases, they find us walking along and stop us to give us the fruit, saying, "Wait a minute! In some cases, they would stop us and hand us the fruit, while in other cases, the fruit would be in a cardboard box with "FREE" written on it, and we would be allowed to take it without permission.
Speaking of "free to take," bricks, picture frames, and sometimes light bulbs and tools are often left in the driveway with "FREE" written on them.
It's a small-scale version of a garage sale, where people sell their unwanted items in the garage.
At the petite garage sale we found while walking the dog, we procured four bricks for the backyard maintenance, as well as enough light bulbs to last us a year.
Recently, I also got a nice picture frame for a painting that had been hanging naked.
Needless to say, this kind of fruit giving and garage sales have been going on for a long time.
However, in California, where we live in a car-oriented society, we get in our cars as soon as we step out of our front doors, so we never noticed that piece of land on the side of the road.
Now that I have a dog and walk around the neighborhood more leisurely, I am able to see them.
I feel that there are many other things like this that exist, but simply don't exist because I am unaware of them.
At the end of last year, I quit my corporate job and became a freelancer.
I'm glad that I can now use my time at my own pace, and I'm hoping to slow down my pace a bit this year, from running as fast as I can to walking as fast as I can.
This year, I would like to slow down my pace a bit, from running as fast as I can to walking as fast as I can. I want to walk and see.
12.5.2021
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Said it was a latte.
I'm addicted to coffee.
I've always liked coffee, but what I'm into now is latte.
I used to think that a latte was something that people who didn't know anything about coffee would drink.
In other words, it was not right.
I don't know why I thought that, but I want to apologize for my rudeness in the past.
I don't need to tell you this now, but a latte has a lot of depth when you taste it properly.
Thanks to this, I've been enjoying visiting so-called "third wave" coffee shops all over San Diego.
Of course, I was looking for a latte.
Third wave" coffee, as many of you may know, is the third coffee trend that has emerged in the United States since around 2000.
Before that, the second trend was the so-called "Seattle-style" deep-roasted coffee, represented by Starbucks and the like.
After that, the third trend is Farm to Cup, which is characterized by the fact that the path of the beans from the farm to the cup is clear.
Knowing who made the beans, where they were made, and what kind of beans they are, means that the taste of the beans should be respected, so basically, beans are often tasted as singles, not blended.
At least, that's how I understood it, and that's why I always thought it was a bad idea to order a latte at such third wave stores.
So I just drank drip coffee, but to be honest, single beans are not blended in a way that makes them easy to drink, so there was a good chance that I would encounter a flavor that I did not like at all.
As a result, I gradually drifted away from coffee shops.
I even began to think that I was just mistakenly thinking that I was a coffee lover, but I really didn't like it.
I even thought that I didn't really like coffee, because I didn't find the "third wave" coffee that everyone else thought was so good.
However, one day, I lifted the ban on café lattes, which I had forbidden myself, and found them to be extremely delicious.
I started drinking it at various third-wave stores, and realized that even though it was just a single word, the taste varied greatly from store to store, and I was hooked.
When it comes to the taste of single coffee, of course the flavor varies depending on the roasting and brewing method, but it basically comes down to whether you like the beans themselves or not.
However, in the case of latte, each store will make their own latte using their own beans, milk, or blend that they think is the best.
For example, there are stores that do not offer different sizes of large, medium, and small.
This is probably because changing the size changes the ratio of espresso and milk that makes up the latte, and therefore, the best flavor cannot be achieved depending on the size.
I don't know because I didn't ask, but I feel such a spirit.
Some stores use beans that are clearly more acidic, others give the impression that the bitterness is stronger, while others serve café lattes with a much more subdued espresso taste and the mellowness of the milk is pushed all the way.
In this way, I have come to feel the individuality of each cafe latte, and it has become a lot of fun.
From now on, instead of saying "coffee lover," let's proudly say "latte lover.
By the way, ordering a latte at a coffee shop is probably a fairly low difficulty English conversation.
English this, I was disappointed the other day when I was served a hot tea.
Whenever I order a latte, I am always asked if I want it hot or iced, so I thought I would make the first move and say "hot latte," but it turned out to be a bad idea.
A few years ago, I would have drank the hot tea that came out without saying anything, but in recent years, I have learned to say, "No, no, I ordered a hot latte," and they would replace it.
However, my husband says that I am still a bit reserved, especially when it comes to conversations in English, and he is annoyed that I tend to laugh and say, "That's fine".
As I sipped my latte, I decided that in 2022, I would try my best to do the very basic thing of properly communicating what I want and what I want to do.
10.5.2021
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
A quick girls’ camping trip
I went on a quick weekend camping trip with one of my female friends.
She is a Japanese and a former colleague of mine. We are in the same generation. I met her right after I moved to California.
Most Japanese women in the U.S. came here because they got married to American husbands or because their Japanese husbands were assigned posts here. But we were not.
We moved to California by ourselves because we wanted. We both didn’t have family and relatives in the U.S., So it was no wonder that we got close soon after we met.
Although she left the company a year ago, she still keeps in touch with many of her ex-colleagues other than me. She is good at planning trips and involving friends. Thanks to her, I’ve had lots of fun experiences that I wouldn’t have had by myself.
A quick girls’ camping trip is one of the fun plans that I learned from her.
What’s great about it is that I am not overwhelmed to prepare.
We don’t care about what food we eat at a camp. We are not passionate about campfire cooking. This time, we got pizza from a local restaurant and fruits from a glossary store near the campsite for our dinner.
Since we both are not fans of drinking alcohol, we toasted by Kombucha.
The following day, we boiled water and made coffee.
You see that not much arrangement is needed.
Unfortunately, the campsite banned bonfires because of the risk of fire. So we even didn’t make a bonfire.
You might ask, “so, what was the fun part of that camp?”
What we enjoy at girls’ camping the most is talking.
Is camping necessary for girls to chat?
Well, not necessary. But it is great to talk in nature where we can forget the time and iPhones.
And that helps open-hearted conversation.
The place we visited this time is Idyllwild, California.
It is northeast of San Diego and takes about two hours by car.
The drive itself was fun as the scenery changed from a desert to rocky areas and ranches.
My friend joined from Los Angeles, so we went and returned separately. And that is also my favorite part of the girls’ camp with her. We are dependent.
Both grown-up girls were excited to see woodpeckers while brushing their teeth in the forest.
The family next to them gave them freshly baked cinnamon rolls, and that made them smile.
They heard unfamiliar sounds in the air and wondered from where that sound came.
There might be many beautiful things in the world that you don't consciously pick up on.
Camping reminds me of that—a sense of wonder.
I appreciate that I live in California, where I enjoy camping quickly and casually, like “ Let’s catch up in nature.”
And, I’m grateful that I get to meet a friend with common interests even in my middle age.
She pulls me out of my comfort zone with joy like this girls’ camping trip.
Next time, I will be a planner. And I hope I will make plans that inspire her as she always does for me.
9.5.2021
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Rattlesnake
“I want to live in the countryside!”
Sometimes I get such strong feelings.
This August was like that.
There were people, people, and people. I was sick of it.
I know we couldn’t hang out last summer because of the Covid-19 pandemic, so being back to normal this summer should be welcomed.
But honestly, I was tired of crowdedness.
So that feeling came to me, “I want to live in the country more!”
If you know San Diego, you might laugh because it is not a big city. Some might say it is rural.
And I agree with that.
Especially the place my husband and I live is next to a natural preserve. I see rabbits in my backyard and even coyotes behind the fence. I’ve seen a bobcat once.
Still, that is not enough for me.
I appreciate the nature is so close to home. But it would be better if there were fewer people.
My husband said, "Well, I understand what you want, but think about it. Where there are fewer people, more snakes.”
I understood what he wanted to say.
But this time, I was so tired of people that I thought it would be better if there were more snakes than people.”
Then what happened?
On the next day, after we had a conversation about snakes, a snake came to our house.
It wasn't just any snake. It was a rattlesnake with deadly poison.
It is coiled and chilled in the middle of our garage.
Oh my gosh!
Neither my husband nor I were born and raised here, so we didn't know the characteristics of rattlesnakes, and we were not sure how dangerous it would be to let it out by ourselves.
While my husband kept his eyes on the snake, I went outside to ask for help from our neighbors, but I couldn’t see anyone.
I went back home and told my husband we couldn’t expect the neighbors’ help.
Then, he took out a gardening hoe and said, “I will try to escape it.”
But he returned within 5 minutes.
"The snake is in the middle of the garage, and I don't think I can get it out,” he said.
We don’t have the option to kill it. So we want it to get out of the garage. But we were not used to handling this kind of situation. What we wanted to avoid was that the snake would move to somewhere we couldn’t see.
What should I do now?
I called the humane society if they could give us some advice. Then it turned out a specialist came to us to help.
Soon after, a beautiful female staff arrived and quickly captured the snake using tools and put it in a bucket with a lid.
What quick work!
I started to be embarrassed that I couldn't do such a simple thing on my own.
"Do rattlesnakes often appear in the house?” I asked her.
“Yes, especially during the summer,” she answered. "But most of the rescues are in residential areas. People who live in the mountains do it on their own”.
I knew it.
And I was a little disappointed myself that I couldn’t deal with the snake although I would like to live in the country.
I need to getting used to countryside life.
I think the first step for it is to get a snake-grabbing tool.
This rattlesnake battle reminds me of something.
That was after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. I realized how fashionable they were and how much money they had never helped under natural disasters.
I started to think I wanted to learn from nature more. And I tried to build a lifestyle close to nature.
However, I forgot it. Because after I came to the US, I was busy adjusting myself to new life.
Now I started thinking again about what kind of life I wanted to have.
I should learn more from nature. I need life in nature.
I don’t know how I start it, but I somehow feel that buying a tool to grab a snake is a symbolic decision that defines what kind of life I want in the future.
8.2.2021
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Independence Day 2021
The month of July has gone by like a storm.
I'm writing this on the 25th of July, but it feels like July 4th was a few months ago.
The reason why things are so hectic is probably due to the fact that the economy in California has completely reopened since the middle of June.
Restaurants have gone back to normal operations, and events that bring people together have started again.
Since last April, I had been restricted from doing things, and those restricted days had become my standard.
Then, my old normal life has returned. I'm suddenly in full gear, and I think my body and mind haven't caught up with the speed yet.
But getting back to normal is fun.
I've come to appreciate the fact that I can play normally.
Speaking of Independence Day, I went to a special event held in my neighborhood.
I had always spent Independence day in the Ocean, so everything I saw at the event was exciting.
Every year when Independence Day came around, I saw clothes of stars and stripes, and wondered, "Who's going to wear this? But this year I saw that almost everyone at the event was wearing them.
Even those who weren't wearing the stars and stripes were either coordinating with red, blue and white, or had stars and stripes on their accessories.
I feel, in America, people don't be shy when they celebrate something. And I like that.
Even in the ocean, there are surfers wearing some kind of stars and stripes on Independence Day, asurfers in costumes on Halloween, and Santa surfers during the Christmas season.
Speaking of celebrating, I saw a lot of cars that say, "XX (name), congratulations on graduating college in 2021!” during June. I have never seen them in Japan.
If I see a car with "Congratulations on your graduation", and I see it’s driver, I'll say "Congratulations" to him/her.
Of course, I don't know who it is, and I probably won't see him/her again.
But I kind of like it. To me, that is very California.
Even though the economy has reopened in California, there are signs of a renewed outbreak of the Delta variant of COVID, and in Los Angeles, masks are required again indoors.
If the number of patients increases and overwhelms medical hospitals, there may be restrictions on restaurants and retail stores again, but I hope not.
7.2.2021
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
I Love San Diego
The expiration date of my passport is approaching, so I went to the Consulate-General of Japan in downtown Los Angeles to renew it.
It takes two hours to drive from San Diego to the Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles (actually it takes longer because of the traffic jams), and the distance is almost 205 kilometers.
Since it's not easy to get there, the Consulate General usually organizes a "Consul General Trip" a few times a year so that we can do the same procedures in San Diego that we do at the Consulate. However, due to the Corona disaster, the "Consul General Trip" was cancelled.
Since the state of California fully reopened its economy on June 15, I think the Consulate General Trip will be back soon, but while I'm waiting for it, my passport is about to expire first, so I decided to go to Los Angeles.
Normally, passport renewals take two days. One is for application and the other is for issue. However, if you're coming from far away, like San Diego, you can apply for your passport and get it on the same day. I had about four hours to wait for my passport to be issued, so I decided to have lunch and to enjoy a little tour in downtown LA.
I headed to Little Tokyo, which I had heard had recently become safer and was regaining its vitality.
It had been seven years since I left Japan, and so what I was looking for in Los Angeles was not American or Californian things, but something Japanese that San Diego doesn't have.
I wanted to eat handmade udon noodles, which I couldn't get in San Diego.
For me, hanging out in Little Tokyo was like traveling through the Japanese countryside.
It is not like real Tokyo but like old Tokyo one generation ago.
That might sound negative but actually I enjoyed the nostalgia a lot.
For example, I felt nostalgic for a model of food in front of the restaurant, something that every old diners had. For the shelves selling so-called “drugstore cosmetics” at petite prices. For the scene the many restaurants lining the upper floors of a large shopping mall.
None of these are the kind of scenery that I usually think, "Oh, I miss this," but when I see them, I think, "Oh, yes, this is what Japan was like. I miss it”.
It was a hot day, so I felt like I was on a time trip to the old days. I felt like I was a child enjoying summer vacation in Japan.
We enjoyed the handmade udon noodles and Japanese-style cream puffs. On the way back to the Consulate-General, we inadvertently stepped into an unsafe area called "Skid Row."
Our sense of smell kicked in and we immediately knew that this was a bad place to go, so we avoided going through the middle of the area, but even so, we had to walk through a street full of garbage and tents for street people. I was surprised at how much the city could change just by taking a wrong turn.
What made me laugh at that time was that I tought “I can’t wait to go back to San Diego” although I had been pining for Japan.
I wonder which is my "home" .
Most of pepole who live in San Diego agree that when you drive on Route 5 from Los Angeles and enter San Diego County, the atmosphere instantly changes to be bright and open.
It's a relief to be back in San Diego.
I've been surfing in the ocean almost every day, but after going somewhere far away, I especially want to get in the ocean.
And when I get in the ocean, I think to myself, "I love San Diego”.
There are no handmade udon noodles that I sometimes crave, and no nostalgic Japanese landscape, but I feel strongly that this is where I belong now.
6.2.2021
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Between Natural and Artificial
I visited a contemporary art exhibition project called "Desert X" that was held for a limited time from March to May 2021.
The venue was Palm Springs, an oasis-like city in the desert.
Palm Springs was known as a vacation home for Hollywood stars in the 1950s, the latter half of Hollywood's golden age, and is known as a fashionable and artistic town with a mid-century modern atmosphere in its buildings and interiors. Even today, people living along the coast of Southern California visit Palm Springs to enjoy spa treatments, golf, and other activities as a familiar winter retreat.
Palm Springs is about a two-hour drive northeast of San Diego, and about a two-hour drive southeast from Los Angeles.
My travel companion this time was one of my female friends who lives in Los Angeles, so we met up at Palm Springs and enjoyed a two-day, one-night art trip.
Desert X is an art exhibition that takes over the entire city of Palm Springs, and you rely on a map to find the locations of the artworks, drive over, view them, and then drive again to see the next one.
Maps can be obtained at the Hub, which is like a visitor center for this project, but you can download the Desert X smartphone app and that is easier.
The Desert X app has a description of each work and artist, a map of where the work is exhibited, and of course it has navigation.
It was kind of strange to see the contrast between the desert and the app. I mean, I feel strange that I was playing in a land that is not easy to live in, with advanced technology usually not associated with nature.
I got the same feeling for the art exhibition.
Desert X was an exhibition of artworks created by people in the natural setting of the desert, and it made me feel strongly that not only the artworks but also the setting is a work of art.
To put it another way, the fact that this work was displayed in this desert, that is, the fact that it was displayed here, was also a work of art.
That may be obvious to people who know a lot about art, but I think I hadn't really recognized that art includes where and how it is displayed until then.
As a result, throughout the trip, my mind drifted in a strange space between the goodness of nature and the goodness of things made by humans, who are part of nature.
It’s not about which is good or not. All human activities are part of nature, no matter what form they take. So nature and human activities, like creating buildings, arts, and digital technologies, are not in conflict with each other, and when they mix together, a new culture is born. Or a new era starts.
That was what I thought during the trip.
I'm more of a naturalist, interested in environmental issues, prefer analog to digital, and old to new. I feel that there is too much going on in the world today, and I often feel nostalgic about what will happen to the world if things continue as they are.
However, if being a naturalist means preferring things to be natural, then the natural occurrence of the changing times must also be natural, and all man-made things and human evolution can also be considered natural.
If that is the case, then what I have to do is not to resist or fight against the new digital changing world, but to find ways to make a beautiful world within the changing world.
After the Desert X trip, I was able to sort out "being natural" in my own way, and I felt as if my vision had been opened up.
Don't resist, don't fight, move on. We can always make "now" the beginning.
5.2.2021
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
We want what we don't have?
In 2010, when I moved to Shonan from Tokyo, where I had lived for about 7 years, I got a culture shock.
What surprised me the most is that there are people in wetsuits and swimsuits on the road.
I mean, not at the beach or on the road along the beach. They are walking in the shopping district in wetsuits or swimsuits, just like people in Hawaii do. But it’s not Hawaii.
Some people are walking with a surfboard in one hand, while others are riding a bicycle with a surfboard on their side. Next to them, a man who seems to be in his 70s is walking in a flashy Hawaiian shirt and shorts.
That is definitely a “beach city” thing and doesn’t happen in Tokyo.
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Well, let me tell you an episode that describes what the beach city is like.
One morning, my father-in-law, who lives next to us left the house saying, "I'm going to have a haircut".
But he came back in five minutes.
I asked him, “what happens?”.
He said, "They are closed”.
I wonder, “Is that their holiday? Didn’t you know when they closed before you visited?”
He replied "No, it's not their regular holiday. There is a sign at the entrance and it says they are temporarily closed today.”
I asked "Due to what?”, and he answered “ I don’t know. But I assume they've gone surfing”.
He continued, “ I've seen a lot of surfers going to the beach on the way to the barber. Maybe the surf is good today" and laughed.
My father in law is not a surfer. But he never complains that surfers close their business due to surfing!
At that time, I realized that I had come to a beach community. And that community was totally different from the community I had belonged to before.
At first, I was a little confused. But little by little, I was getting used to living in the beach city. And finally, I totally fit in it.
My husband who brought me to Shonan, the beach city, passed away in 2012. After that, there was no reason for me to keep living in the same town. But I couldn’t imagine myself moving out. I was not sure where I was going to, on the other hand, I was pretty sure that it must be a beach town, somewhere in the world.
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I moved to San Diego, California in 2014. My first impression of this city is that it’s like Shonan where I was from.
San Diego has a 112 kilometers long coastline from north to south, and the coastline contains various surf spots. Yes, it is definitely a beach city that has abundant beach culture.
I see people in wetsuits walk in the street as well as people in swimsuits. But soon after I moved in, I found there was another type of people whom I never saw in Shonan. That is, people walk barefoot everywhere.
I know walking barefoot on the beach is normal. What I am talking about is a barefoot tribe. They come in diners without shoes. They go grocery shoppings without shoes. They don’t care to use public restrooms barefoot.
It's obvious that they don’t put shoes on because they don’t have shoes. They don’t look like vagabonds either. Actually many of them look chic. They are people who love barefoot.
I see myself as a beach (growing up) girl. But I feel inferior to them somehow.
I know I don’t need to compare myself to others. So let’s say in other words. I admire the barefoot tribe. I want to be like them.
While I am aiming to join the barefoot tribe, one of my surfer girlfriends says she wants a boyfriend who puts on shoes.
I know she means she is looking for a person who doesn't go anywhere barefoot.
It’s interesting I admire barefoot people because I was not raised in such a community and she admires ordinary people who wear shoes because she was not raised in such a community.
It is said we want what we don’t have.
But the truth I believe is that you admire something because you have it but you veiled it for some reasons.
Probably what I really want is not to be a person who walks barefoot anywhere but things the barefoot tribe represents: Be natural. Have confidence in the way you are. Be free.
And those are not things I don't have. Those are just hidden and waiting to be revealed.
4.1.2021
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Time cures all things
It's been seven years since I moved to California, USA.
It was the end of March 2014.
I landed at Los Angeles International Airport.
I didn’t have any relatives or friends here.
The only people I could ask a favor are Y, whom I met while traveling Mt. Shasta the year before, and my boss and colleagues whom I didn’t meet yet.
I hadn't even decided where to live.
I headed to a hotel from the airport and checked in. And the next day, I went to work.
Before I moved to California, I lived in Japan.
I left most of my belongings in my house, and came here with only 2 suitcases.
I appreciate my deceased husband had left some money in order for me to live for a while, but it was literally just for a while.When I started to live in California, the money left in my bank was just enough to buy a car for living. I would say that was starting over at age 39.
Did I have hope for my new life?
I want to say yes, but I don't really remember how I felt. But I remember it was tough to live in Japan without my husband. For me, leaving Japan at that time means escaping from all memories of my deceased husband.
I met him when I was 28 years old, and I lost him when I was 36. In almost all of the memories in my late 20s and early 30s, there is him. So there are a lot of things that remind me of him in Japan and that hurt.
I knew grief is a natural response but I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life with sorrow.
I wanted to live with passion and joy.
In order for myself to heal, I needed an environment where there was nothing to remind me of him. And that was the main reason for my relocation.
***
Well, as you can imagine, living abroad is not easy in many ways. Especially first a couple of years.
In the first month since my arrival, my tooth filling came off. It had not happened for more than 10 years, but it happened all of sudden. Because I didn’t have dental insurance yet, I needed to go to a cheap underground kind dental clinic and that depressed me.
I bought an old used car but the speedometer didn’t work. The dealer fixed it for free, but a week later, the engine stopped.
Right after it was fixed, the radiator started to leak. Because I didn't have enough money to fix or replace it, I had to carry a radiator fluid in the car and to refill it every time I drive.
If I was in my 20s, I might think this would be funny. But I was in my 30s.
Whenever I struggled, I asked myself “Do I still want to live here going through so much hardship? If I went back to Japan, I would be able to live without any inconvenience”.
After all, I didn't go back to Japan. Because I knew even if I lived in Japan, there would be different kinds of toughness like living with my deceased husband’s memories without him.
That was a choice. Which toughness did I choose? I choose to live here.
For me, it seemed more manageable to deal with real life trouble than to face deep grief.
Indeed, having lots of things I have to do everyday took my mind away from sadness.
In Japan, we have an idiom that says if you keep sitting on a hard stone for at least 3 years, you will feel conforte on that stone. Maybe that’s right.
Around my third year in the US, I started to feel myself relaxing and having fun living here.
And that was time I met my future husband through surfing.
***
Every spring, when the cherry blossom season comes, my friends upload pictures of cherry blossom blooming and my SNS timeline is filled with it.
That used to make me nostalgic and sometimes Ii was too nostalgic to see. But this year, I’ve found I truly enjoy the virtual cherry blossom viewing.
Before, I tended to think “I couldn't see cherry blossoms in Japan this year again.
I haven't seen cherry blossoms for X years”.
Well, that might be a natural reaction of mind. I had lived for more than 30 years in Japan and cherry blossom viewing was my every year habit since I was born. But this year, after seven years living in California, finally my mind has changed.
I get used to spring without cherry blossoms. I mean, spring without cherry blossoms has become my new normal.
My deceased husband and I had known each other for 9 years. And surprisingly 9 years have passed since I lost him. Although I am not aware of it, my mind might finally accept life without him is my new normal.
I might be able to enjoy a trip to Japan without being overwhelmed by memories.
It is said "Time cures all things".
Time medicine works so slowly that it is hard to believe if it heals your pain especially in the beginning.
But actually it works and one day you suddenly realize you are healed. That’s how it works.
3.1.2021
DAYS/ Satoko FAY Column
California wind
Daylight savings time (summer time)
For me, living in the U.S., one of the biggest events in March is the start of summer.
It's called "Summer Time".
Officially, it's called Daylight Saving Time, and the clocks will be set one hour earlier than before.
The idea is to use daylight hours effectively.
I've taken the liberty of translating this to mean that we should enjoy the sun from early in the morning until late in the evening.
The days are getting longer and longer as we head into summer, and in fact, there are times when it's still light until around eight o'clock.
The fact that the sun is still shining after work makes me feel much happier than I imagined.
My friends who are drinkers say that it is nice to be able to toast while the sun is still up after a hard day's work.
I'm not much of a drinker, but I'm happy to surf the sunset after work.
I usually surf in the morning as well and then go to work, so it's not impossible to have two sessions in the morning and evening while working in the summer (whether I do it or not).
I read that the historian Yuval Noah Harari wrote in his book that human society today is based on creating "fictions" and "trusting" them.
I think Daylight Saving Time is a simple example of this.
It is a system that exists because everyone works together to create the fiction that from today, we should move our clocks forward by one hour.
If you look at it from the perspective of nature, there is no boundary between what happened yesterday and what will happen today, but people just decided, "Let's change the time from today.
It's the same with the New Year.
When I lived in Japan, I didn't really recognize it, but when I moved to California, I found that there were many ethnic groups that spent January 1st, which is New Year's Day in Japan, as a normal day and rather celebrated the Chinese New Year.
I would say that means each community believes in a different fiction.
I'm not sure though.
Well, let's get back on daylight saving time.
In the U.S., it starts on the second Sunday in March, so this year it starts on March 14. At 2:00 am on that day, you are supposed to set your clocks forward one hour.
The clocks on your phone and computer will automatically adjust to Daylight Saving Time, but other clocks will have to be set by you.
If I don't do it right away, it becomes a hassle, so I try to do it as soon as possible, but sometimes I forget to change the time on some clocks, which often causes confusion when I need to know the time.
My husband doesn't change the time at all.
Instead, he asks, "Should I look at the time an hour earlier? Can I trust these numbers as they are? I'm a little confused".
I think it would be more efficient to take the time to change them, but we are both adults now, so I don't interfere.
In the past, when I was much younger, I did not want to live my life tied to the hands of a clock.
Even now, I still have some of that tendency.
However, in today's society, where we all create the fiction of the clock and believe in it, it is quite difficult to not be bound by the hands of the clock.
It is difficult to live without the hands of the clock. I think that if everyone started to do this in different ways, society would not be able to function properly.
But at the same time, I remembered a newspaper article about a company that regularly changed the departments of its employees.
It was an article that said, as I recall, that the company did not discuss with each employee in advance what department they wanted to be assigned to next, but when they were asked about their requests for department changes, the requests were not concentrated in any one department.
Perhaps, deep down, society is designed to function naturally and harmoniously when people are allowed to be free?
For that to happen, human society needs to evolve more and more, and everyone needs to be able to trust themselves, others, and maybe even something bigger than that.
However, I think that one day, in the distant future, we will be able to realize a world where we can naturally cooperate with each other without having to clearly state "fictions" like "you must follow this rule".
With this dream in mind, I set my clock forward one hour on the first Sunday of March again this year.
It is the beginning of summer in 2021.