The Christmas Cage

I’m stretched out in a room probably no more than 3m by 2m to whatever extent my 188cm frame can manage, still in a country over 6000 miles from the land of my birth. I'm somewhat propped up against a mound of blankets that will form my bed tonight, computer on my lap, and I’m munching on some free fruit-filled chocolates. I have not a stitch of clothing to my name except that which is on my back. It’s Christmas Eve. I defy you to truthfully say you’re having a better time than me right now.

No, I’m not in prison. I’m in Yokohama, on the 3rd night of an adventure through the big cities over winter break. This started with...with an advertisement for a job fair, if I recall correctly. Some time ago, my buddy Mike found this career fair-esque thing taking place in Tokyo proper a few days before Christmas. It seemed to imply that it was geared toward foreigners in Japan, such as us, who speak English natively and have a reasonable grasp of Japanese. Admission was free, so we applied and I found us a bus down to Tokyo. My awesome friend Tomoko, who lives in Tokyo and is currently a grad student in the field of biochemistry, found us a comfortable place to stay that was a good $15/night cheaper than anything I came across. Reservations were made, tickets were purchased, and we were all clear for launch.

The journey began with but a single step, a few clichéd turns of phrase, and *shudder* a night bus to Ikebukuro. This was the cheapest (and thus in our opinion at the time, the wisest) method of transportation from Odate in the northern reaches of Akita to slightly more colonized regions of Japan. What foolish mortals we were. The bus was maybe $25 less than a plane to Haneda airport in Tokyo and a full eight times longer, on seats that would enrage PETA if they were placed in zoo cages. Well, okay, technically the did recline, but they had nothing resembling leg room or pillowy head padding. The result was a night of hour-long catnaps and a bus full of disgruntled, confused, stiff-necked, bitchy Akitans in downtown Tokyo at 7:30 in the morning. The picture could have only been more complete if we had brought our torches and pitchforks.

Once we had brushed (most of) the hay off our overalls and sent Cletus to fetch firewood and a few squirrels for stew, we began to seriously consider our new surroundings. Priorities included caffeine and breakfast, in no particular order but preferably at the exact same time. It was no more than a few minutes of wandering down the sidewalk when we practically steamrolled into Mike and Stacie, a couple (as in, two people and romantically involved) of JETs from Akita who were on the way to catch a plane to Vietnam for their own winter vacation. Well, holy shit. The four of us all had time to kill, so we headed toward some bagel shop Stacie knew. Turns out it didn’t open till 10am, so we settled for Starfucks®, bid farewell, and began quest number 2: finding the hotel. I’m not going to go into details here, with this or any other time we attempted to locate anywhere for the first time. Just assume that if we were going there (wherever there was) unguided, it took us at least 4.63 times as long as it needed to.

Check-in time was at 3pm, so we dropped off our bags at the front desk and sought out a nearby convenience of Japanese culture, a public bathhouse. See, we had that job fair today, and even if you’re generous/silly enough to call what we got on that bus “sleep,” we were still marinating in sweat and clothing that hadn’t been changed in nearly 30 hours. We needed awakedness and cleanliness, and we needed them badly. Fate led us down the wrong road and to a freaking delicious Ma and Pa noodle shop. It was awesome – they were just opening up for lunch and we didn’t even have to look at menus; they pretty much told us what we would be eating in a tone that was not to argued with. It suffices to say that that was one of the two best noodle dishes I have had in Japan so far.

So anywho, we ate, bathed, changed into our suits, and went to join the job fair, pumped as hell and ready to wow corporate execs into offering us way more money than we were worth.

...Turns out that’s not quite what happened. Remember back when I said the advertisement for this job fair seemed to imply that it was for native speakers of English who understood Japanese? Yeah, that wasn’t entirely the case. On the contrary, it was much more intended for native speakers of Japanese who could passably communicate in English. Yes, there is a huge difference (that I’m not going to go into in detail here unless someone asks me to).

We were mildly annoyed but had other plans in Tokyo for the evening and weren’t going to let it get us down. We went our separate ways, each to have dinner with a friend in Tokyo we hadn’t seen in quite some time. Having no definite plans for the next day we decided to give the job fair another shot, just in case. We suited up and went in with absolutely no expectations, not even planning to stay for the length of the event. It was actually quite worthwhile; we both went about the approach of telling company reps exactly what we were looking for – positions that could make use of a native speaker of English who could also communicate in Japanese. I spoke with two companies I will be sending my resume to when I get back from vacation. That evening I met my J-friend again and the three of us found a nice little Indian restaurant, followed by possibly the cheapest bar in all of Tokyo – all drinks are 300 yen! Oddly, it’s even located in Ginza, the trendiest and most expensive area of the city. To put this contrast in perspective, right near the 300 bar I had been eyeing a freaking hot dress shirt in the window of a mens’ clothing store; I had to graciously tell the clerk that I would have to “think about it” for a while after I saw the price...54000 yen. Some day, when I’m rich and famous...

The next day (today) was pretty awesome. After checking out of our lodgings, seeing Mike off, and leaving my luggage in a locker at the train station I went to meet Noriko, who had emailed me yesterday to tell me she’d be in Tokyo for the day to see a concert, and would I like to hang out? 7 years ago, when I first lived in Japan as a high school student, Noriko was a member of my host family, my “sister.” Now she’s...well, hmm. Even back then she was rather flirty, but us living in the same house meant that anything of that sort was way too awkward to even consider. We’ve kept in contact on and off since then, and she’s still vibrant and flirty, plus she’s a dance instructor now. *shrug* I’ll see her again in a few days, so we’ll see what comes of what.

We had linner (or, dunch? lupper?) wandered around and pretended to care about shopping, and headed off, her to the concert and me to Yokohama (with a few scenic detours). I finally got in here and found the hostel

(*snicker* yes, that’s a picture of my “room”) around 9pm. I had to get in here by then or the check-in desk would be closed, so I came directly from Tokyo station and haven't yet had time to pick up my luggage that's in a locker at Ikebukuro station, hence me being virtually possessionless right now. Eh, it can wait 'till tomorrow. I found some food and have been writing on and off since then, trying to figure out what sort of Christmas this is for me. Am I really happy here? It’d...be nice to share it with someone, I guess, but I’ll cope. Xmas is really an odd one in Japan. Virtually everyone celebrates it or at least gives it an acknowledging nod, but less than 1% of the population’s Christian, so I don’t know why. I’m not certain they do, either. It’s a time for parents to give their children toys, St. Nick or no St. Nick, and for couples to spend time together. That’s really it. No one knows why, they just do. Lights are strung up (Ginza was quite spectacular, in fact), comedically Engrish-ed songs are sung (Sirent night, hory night...), stocking caps are worn, presents are bought...just because. If you ask a Japanese person, they’ll probably say that they celebrate Christmas simply because they enjoy it, and I honestly have to ask if we (or anyone) really need a better reason than that. Why should a country already saturated in millennia of tradition and stark-raving terrified of wide-scale change not be able to just kick back and take pleasure in the moment? Maybe the idea did come from a popular Western religion that has never once had a serious place in this country, but I just can’t bring myself to see any problem with that.

I found this poem online some time ago, and somehow it seems to capture the moment better than any words that come to me right now.

On a street in the night
In the cold winter's light
A child stands alone and she's waiting
And the light that's out there
It just hangs in the air
As if it was just hesitating
And the snow it comes down
And it muffles the sound
Of dreams on their way to tomorrow
And when they appear
this night will hold them near
For where they will lead
She will follow

For here in the city of lights
This evening awakens
The dreams that it might
The winter it conjures
The spell it will weave
The snow gently covers the ground
Christmas Eve

In this scene
On this night
There's an ancient hotel
Where shadows they do tend to wander
And the ghosts that live here
Hold each moment so dear
For time's not a thing one should squander
And they recount their sand
As it runs through their hand
And examine each moment for meaning
It can be wished upon
Till the moment it's gone
Like day disappears into evening

For here in the city of lights
This evening awakens
The dreams that it might
The winter it conjures
The spell it will weave
The snow gently covers the ground
Christmas Eve

Through this night
The dream still wanders
As it was meant to be
And every year this night grows fonder
Of children and circumstance
Caught in this childhood dance
As the world turns around
Keeping dreams on the ground
Windows of frosted ice
Prisming candlelight
And somehow we start to believe

In the night and the dream
As it cuts through the noise
With the whisper of snow
As it starts to deploy
In the depths of a night
That's about to begin
With the feeling of snow
As it melts on your skin
And it covers the land
With a dream so intense
That it returns us all
To a child's innocence
And then what you'd thought lost
And could never retrieve
Is suddenly there to be found
On Christmas Eve