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cHop Chop choP

New teachers moved into my apartment complex today. They have a three year old daughter that speaks both English and Japanese. Kiomye is ECSTATIC!

I finished Coin Locker Babies today. So engrossing. I was reading the last page just as the train I was waiting for arrived at my platform. I stepped onto the train without looking, skimming the last sentences as fast I could. I had to read the last tiny bit twice to catch it. My breathing was fast. I looked up and realized I was standing in the middle of the entry, the doors just barely able to close behind me. I blinked at the people who had pressed their way around, trying to remember why I was on a train again and where I was going.

The skirt I wore today was too short. It's an adorable denim skirt with a ripped hem and trendy bleach stains splashed across. I walked around in the store with it for half an hour trying to decide if 27 is too old to wear such a childish thing. I decided that I didn't care. It looked so damn cute with my tall brown boots. But, once I tried to sit on the crowded bench with only a small bag to cover my suddenly revealed lap, the truth hit me: this skirt is too damn short. Standing is fine. Walking is fine. Sitting and going up escalators is out out OUT.

I wandered through Shinsaibashi today, unable to locate the salon I was referred to with a tip that the stylists speak English. But I was in desperate need of a cut so I decided to screw up my courage and just pick a salon at random. The stylist didn't speak English, but I used my Tarzan Japanese and a lot of gestures and he got the basic idea. The cut looks nice. It's not exactly what I wanted, but it never is even when I speak the same language as the hairdresser anyway.

The style he gave me is distinctly Japanese. Heavy on the layers, short in the front and long in the back. Very "now" in the land of the rising sun. When I stepped out onto the streets and looked around I was overcome with the horrific feeling that I looked the same as everyone else. That ridiculous notion quickly left me when I caught the image of my pink face in a crowd of pearlescent beauties reflected back in store window. Oh yeah, that's right. I'll never blend here.

Good and bad, my friends. Good and bad.

posted by Scribbler @ Tuesday, March 28, 2006