happy 100th post! i had something else in mind for 100, but being a bit incapacitated with lack of technology here in hokkaido, i'll save that for later.
thus far, it hasn't really felt like traveling or vacationing or going on much of an adventure yet- it is more visiting with family than anything else. the days are eat, sleep, eat, repeat. maybe a bit of reading in there or going to the market. i feel like i am catching up on eating and sleeping well, which is good.
ishikari is, in many ways, a desolate town; the people are resilient but the weather unforgiving. we have been seeing some russian people at the supermarket, and it doesn't strain the imagination to see that russia might be similar in many ways to here.
i thought about hopping on a ferry boat to russia, just to see what it was like over there, but it seems there is a lot of red tape for travelers and those small port towns aren't geared towards tourists (aka it would be a big problem that i don't speak a lick of russian, much less understand any of it). so, that idea is tabled for now.
today, some relatives are coming to visit (atsushi, his wife and two daughters). obaachan is preparing a feast- i think most of the photos i have taken in japan thus far are of food!
one thing i noticed both last year and this year is a sense of lack of the individual in japan. i don't know if i feel this way because i am traveling with family and am around them all of the time, or if it is a result of the country and culture that i am living in. i suspect it is a bit of both. it will be interesting to see how i feel once traveling alone.
by lack of the individual i mean: i don't feel as individuated, i feel like my own personal accomplishments or goals or desires don't matter much as long as they promote and don't upset the good of the collective, which can mean family, society, workplace, etc. especially being female, i feel like the expectation of how i occupy space is incredibly different, and in a way, it would be unseemly to proclaim my individuation too loudly. constant deference to others is a must, being female, a daughter, a granddaughter, and a guest.
it is pretty interesting to be reading the second sex while on this trip. very opportune, i would say.
thus far, it hasn't really felt like traveling or vacationing or going on much of an adventure yet- it is more visiting with family than anything else. the days are eat, sleep, eat, repeat. maybe a bit of reading in there or going to the market. i feel like i am catching up on eating and sleeping well, which is good.
ishikari is, in many ways, a desolate town; the people are resilient but the weather unforgiving. we have been seeing some russian people at the supermarket, and it doesn't strain the imagination to see that russia might be similar in many ways to here.
i thought about hopping on a ferry boat to russia, just to see what it was like over there, but it seems there is a lot of red tape for travelers and those small port towns aren't geared towards tourists (aka it would be a big problem that i don't speak a lick of russian, much less understand any of it). so, that idea is tabled for now.
today, some relatives are coming to visit (atsushi, his wife and two daughters). obaachan is preparing a feast- i think most of the photos i have taken in japan thus far are of food!
one thing i noticed both last year and this year is a sense of lack of the individual in japan. i don't know if i feel this way because i am traveling with family and am around them all of the time, or if it is a result of the country and culture that i am living in. i suspect it is a bit of both. it will be interesting to see how i feel once traveling alone.
by lack of the individual i mean: i don't feel as individuated, i feel like my own personal accomplishments or goals or desires don't matter much as long as they promote and don't upset the good of the collective, which can mean family, society, workplace, etc. especially being female, i feel like the expectation of how i occupy space is incredibly different, and in a way, it would be unseemly to proclaim my individuation too loudly. constant deference to others is a must, being female, a daughter, a granddaughter, and a guest.
it is pretty interesting to be reading the second sex while on this trip. very opportune, i would say.
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