Waking Up In A Dream
The light rays coming through the hotel window pulled me out of the infinite darkness, my first instinct was to take a shower, but because today was a leisurely day, I opted for a bath. The last time I had taken a bath is when I was a small child, the pace of modern life didn’t leave room for lounging in your own filth. God Damn does it feel good to soak in some warm water for an extended period of time, a part of me wondered why life had to be regulated to strict time schedules and alarm clocks. An ideal life I had crafted in my mind had humans waking up when their bodies decided to, the natural light of the sun acting as the alarm clock. As long as work got done, did it really matter when it happened? The collaborative social nature of most humans had them working together so keeping time is important for meeting. I thought about how I differed from most people, when I’m in my element, it was isolation that had me working at my best. Sitting at a computer retracted from the world writing songs, music, or drawing pictures. Even editing videos and visual effects artists were more efficiently done by loners like myself. An introverted creative like me has no need for silly things like alarm clocks, as long as I could wake up and work till exhausted, that would be enough.
That Same Outfit You Always Wear
After taking care of my daily hygiene, I checked my clock it was only 7:30, boy you sure are motivated today. Donning the same thing I always wear calf high socks, lacrosse penny, and the signature three striped adidas shoes and shorts I made my way out into the world. Not wanting to be late for tomorrow’s meeting I decided to walk scout the office’s location which was two stations away. It was a fun way to get some exercise and explore this new world I was in as long as I could keep the tracks to one side of me, I would make it to Omiya station.
Constant State of Learning
Being here was like having the eyes of a child again the world was once again an interesting place to explore again. Every sight, sound, and smell was something novel . Things that were normally written off as background noise became noticed again. Japan, which had usually been confined to textbooks, was all around me. Wanting to capture and share these beautiful sights I began to take shots here and there as I went along my path. As lucky as I was the cherry blossoms were beginning to show their flowers, and along my path were cars that I’ve always adored from afar.
So I walked, lined up some pictures, and continued to do that for what seemed to be an hour. A thought that I couldn’t seem to shake was that I was constantly walking in the wrong direction, but it was nice just not following a little line on my phone for once. What stopped me in my tracks was an indian restaurant. Having not eaten breakfast, curry and naan bread sounded like a good meal. The problem was they weren’t open for another thirty minutes, heading to the family mart right I was amazed by the toyota chaser I saw leaving. Knowing I was an foreigner, and an odd one at that, I gave the driver a thumbs up, he smiled and nodded back. Drinking a tea while waiting, I realized navigating a country without a working smartphone was difficult. How my mom and dad managed to do the same with their stone age technology was beyond me.
Entering the small restaurant, a part of me was expecting the owners to speak English, but that was me being racist. To be fair it was the first time I had seen someone of Indian descent speak Japanese. Being boring person I was I ordered the same thing I have been eating from Indian restaurants for years, Lamb Curry and garlic Naan bread. While it tasted great, it only made me long for the taste of East India Grill in Federal Way. I thought about how taste was subjective, but then I continued walking down random side streets until I reached my Omiya Station. Seeing that there was a Starbucks there made me unbelievably happy, it was strange feeling. Even though I occasionally got drinks there it’s not like I was a big fan or anything. Knowing they had free Wi-Fi there made me want to stay there for an extended period of time.
Here is the Starbucks in Omiya that I ended up running too
Following a paper map made me feel like a peasant but, it was the one reliable way I knew how to get to the company building. Upon finding it I could rest assured I had the rest of the day to walk around and take pictures. I didn’t mind looking like a foreigner, after all the self-help content I consumed I felt pretty comfortable with being different in a new place. Was it better to be different and actually be noticed or to be that same invisible person I had been for so long?
Thanks so much for reading everyone!! If you have any questions about art, how to start a blog/website, or my life here in japan hit me up on social media. You can find me by searching Laidbackmarco.
