着きました ; Or I’ve Arrived

Ten years of waiting has finally come down to the wire as I am three days deep into my time in Japan. Honestly, it still feels a little unreal — the fact that I’m writing this from a ward on the edge of Kyoto, in a little room in a Japanese house, staying with a family that barely speaks English — but isn’t that the point? I guess this is how Barthes felt when he was writing Empire of Signs, except with far less anticipation on his part (and actual going to Japan).

It took me a while to secure internet access as I’ve been in a hotel for the past few days for KCJS orientation. By the by, KCJS is shorthand for my program, the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies, which I’m doing through Columbia. My technology woes worsened as I discovered that my power cord is beginning to strip, revealing tantalizing layers of exposed, barely legal copper and fiberoptics. None of this is a good thing, but I have juryrigged it back together with electrical tape and brute force. Here’s hoping my laptop doesn’t explode before I get a new power source.

Orientation felt a bit like summer camp, but it was a good opportunity to get to meet a lot of the people in my program, who, on the whole, are far better than I was expecting. Nightmares of a four month forced isolation shall not be realized, thankfully. Apart from boring old Americans (and one Latvian), we have begun the totally rad process of befriending various Japanese students. Last night, we went to an izakaya with one of the English Language Speaking clubs on campus and had an epically long six-course meal. As it turns out, they were less of an actual club and more of a group of friends with whom we had an awesome time.

An example of an izakaya. Just add Asahi Super Dry and you're good to go.

The food, by the way, has been absolutely phenomenal so far. Tonight, my host mother Sachiko made amazing homemade tempura, frying everything from lotus root to Japanese pumpkin to ebi (shrimp). After our campus tour yesterday, we stopped in at a beautiful little tea house near Kyodai Kaiakan (Kyoto University) campus and had a freshly made mochi filled with anko (sweet adzuki bean paste). For those of you in Boston, I suggest running down to Porter Exchange and picking some up, on the double. These things are tasty. While I haven’t seen ones with more…exotic wares, vending machines full of delicious beverages are prevalent and also pretty wonderful. I had no less than three of these today:

Best 130円 I've spent all day!

As I may or may not have mentioned, I arrived at my homestay earlier this evening. Oddly enough, I wasn’t nervous until my host mother walked into the room where I was waiting. Sachiko is a dental hygienist and one of the nicest people I’ve encountered in Japan so far. So far, the whole family has been nothing short of amazing. They live in Daigo, a section of Fushimi-ku, one of the southwestern wards of the city and very close to the Daigo-ji, a rather famous temple. I’m looking forward to exploring the area beginning this weekend.

Futhermore, I am excited to have three host brothers my own age — nineteen, twenty-one, and twenty-three respectively. So far I’ve only met Yusuke as the others were either at their part-time jobs or out for the evening. I’m sure I’ll get to know them better in the coming months.

This post has been a bit all over the place, for which I apologize. Future postings will have a bit more direction to them, but I just wanted to get everything that’s happened over the past several days out of my head and onto the public record. If any further revelations regarding these past few days occur, I’ll update accordingly. In other news, my first batch of photos are up for your viewing pleasure on Flickr. Be sure to check out all the amazing shots of the Heian Jingu, an amazing Shinto shrine in Kyoto.

The torii at the gates of the Heian Jingu

I’m still getting the hang of my brand new Nikon d40, trying to learn all the cool ins and outs so I can have grade A snaps for you guys. If anyone has any advice, feel free to shoot it my way either via this blog or electronic mail at danielmcasey [at] gmail [dot] com

That’s all for now, folks. As always, keep your eyes to the internet. Shitsureishimasu!

Seven Days Remaining

AND WE PUT A TV ON THE BOTTOM OF YO CAR.

This picture was too great not to share.

Seven days remaining until I shove off. I’ll barely have time to think about it this week as I’m performing in four different shows and rehearsing more than the FDA recommends on a weekly basis. I still need to find time to get some presents for my host family. Any suggestions on what to get for a Japanese family with three sons in their early twenties?

Time to mime, friends. More substance to come.

The Jumpoff – Volume 1

The Jumpoff – n. – something good or positive. If you approve of something, it becomes the jump-off.

The Jumpoff is a lot of different things to a lot of people. It’s like the thumbs-up for the twenty-first century. In this recurring segment of my blog, I’ll be bringing you everything from music to videos to Aztec gold and more. Why? Because, clearly, I think these things are the jumpoff and I’d like to share them with you.

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For the first edition of The Jumpoff, I would like to share a piece of music that is not only blowing my mind, but tearing up my playlists. Today’s focus is Mt. Desert Island, an up-and-coming indie rock duo consisting of my good friends Jesse Kohn and Bennett Kuhn. Now, now — I know what you’re thinking: “You’re only posting this cause you’re friends with these guys.” Well, I suggest that you bite your tongue and get on this tip on the double because these guys are hot fire.

The duo creates lyrically beautiful and musically compelling songs. Kuhn’s ethereal beats and Kohn’s often wistful lyrics evoke a sort of otherworldly nineteenth century Paris or a long train ride across vast Russian plains with nothing more than a journal in hand and memories in tow. 

“The Waltz,” is a tale of love lost, in which the pair blaze a trail through the intricate architectures of memory with a driving ghosts-having-a-dance-party electronic backdrop and swelling synth lines. Do yourself a favor and blast this while you’re driving down the highway late at night, windows down. You’ll thank me later.

DOWNLOAD: Mt. Desert Island – The Waltz

For more, check out [Mt. Desert Myspace]

Three Weeks

Three weeks. Twenty-one days.

Twenty-one days left until I depart our fair shores to spend the next four months in Japan. I have wanted this trip for so long that it still doesn’t seem real. Ever since my cousin Jen first sparked my interest in Japanese culture some ten years back, one destination has been on my mind. Lately, everyone I talk to has been asking the same question: “Are you excited for Japan?

Well, of course, the answer is a resounding “hai,” but I am also mildly terrified. I’ve traveled to foreign countries before, done homestays before (two weeks, but hey!), and been out of my cultural element before, but there’s something different about this trip. It’s just so massive and has been such a long time in the making that it’s a horse of a whole different color spectrum. This is an infrared horse, at least.

What an action-packed three weeks it’s going to be. One week left at my internship, one week to get my life together and learn lines / re-learn miming, one week to have an outrageous rehearsal schedule and blow incoming freshmen minds, and then a long, long flight to mull over this summer. 

So, to be perfectly honest, I’m not ready yet. But, I will be.