Entrance to the new world

A new world? Maybe not that remarkable :) I am too exaggerating. For me, it seems like a new world... I have always been longing for CA. Yes, CA, CA, CA. Now, I am standing in front of the door to CA, having a key in my hand, checking if the key fits into the lock.

Why is it a new world? That's because it seems like a "Castle" written by Franz Kafka. I have been curious to know and go to CA, and have not had a chance to do so. Now, all of a sudden, I found that there's no obstacle to inhibit me from going to. I am amazed, confused, a little depressed, standing at the door to the world.

It is more like a door to the ourside world. I have lived in "inner America" states. I mean, I have lived away from Japanese communities for long time. Now, finally I can come back to Japanese people's community!

Japanese community in LA

I searched Japanese communities in LA by keywords, "LA portal sites", "LA information" and so on.... of course in Japanese language. Yes, I keep preparing for the move. I will move out of this MA town by 1/25 or a little late. I will start living in greater LA right after that.

Some stats: The top two cities in the U.S. where a large number of long staying Japanese population = 1. New York city area, 2. Los Angeles area.

Japanese people live only in the two coastal areas. Every other states are "fly-by" states :-P

Got started!

The first step to move out of town is to post a moving sale ad on forums. I was busy taking photos of furniture - dining set, coffee table, side table, sofa, and lamp. I set up the price for each and for the whole set. I posted the ad to craigslist and other Japanese Web potal sites. No reply so far :(

Maybe because this is the holiday season. Things go slower than usual. I keep posting and waiting... then in the end, just cut the price down!

I also sent emails to the roommate wanted ads in LA. There are many people who need new roommate or house mates.

Those are the hectic jobs and fun jobs :)

San Diego or Los Angeles...

I am almost considering LA is the place I should go to. But, hold on. There's plenty of time to think about it. The pictures I've uploaded here are the ones taken in San Diego. Before I finally start packing my bags, it's better to analyze all the pros and cons.

San Diego is a city near the border. The atmosphere of the town is quite mexican and hispanic. You can hear Spanish almost everyhere, the houses are kind of ethnicand hispanic. The weather is hotter than in LA. The brighter side is the lower crime rates compared to LA, and it's less crowded commuting.

Those are good. I can not count on that a lot, however. The biggest thing I have to consider is the job situation. If there are less job opportunities, I can not dare to move into San Diego. This is also important to compare the job opportunities of San Diego to that in greater Boston area. A critical point is my estimate - "The job sisuation is better in CA than in MA for me". It's not for every other person , but for me! I am Japanese and I need to make the most of my status as being a Japanese in the U.S.

CA is a wonderland

I am now a freelance worker in IT field. It's good and bad. I can't afford a full health insurance benefit, I can not afford 401k.. If I want I can extend my health insurance from the previous company. Yes, I still have several weeks to make my decision. I am so far O.K., I am healthy and young enough!

The good thing is that I finally give it a serious thought about moving to California. Why CA? People may say it's crowded, lots of crimes, getting dirty, living costs are expensive.... OK, OK, those are how they look the cities in CA. For me, those are the result. Those are the result on how much CA has been loved by people.

Let's think it this way. Are you interested in living near the beach? Yes. Many people are interested in living near the bearch. Now lets look on the U.S. map. Where are the beaches? Everywhere? No. Beaches are only on the West, East, and South coasts. This country is big. It's too big to have a lot of beaches... It's an irony that the bigger the country, the smaller the beaches :-P Hahaha... So, if we want to live by the beach, you need to go either West end, East end or South end. There's no beaches BETWEEN coasts. There are just boring and endless plains and plains everywhere.

Then think about this. Are you interested in skiing, hiking, climbing mountains, enjoy hot springs, having scenic drive, time after time. Yes, yes. Now, where can you do that? Let's see... you need to go to Colorado to do skiing, scenic view are somewhere in New England, or smoky mountains are in North Calorina... O.K. But how about living in CA? You can get everything in one moving! Ha!

Next, Are you interested in warm weather? Yes. I am tired of cold, hard, dark winter. So, where is the nice and warm place? Texas... too hot. Florida.... good. California... good, good. Even in CA, northern part is not quite warm in winter.

Lastly, the job opportunity. As a Japanese person living in the U.S. many years, the best places to find a job is either NY or CA. That's mainly because there are the biggest japanese communities out there.

So, naturally, the conclusion is - southern CA.

California Dreaming....

Yes, I love California... especially Southern California. Since I came to think about studying abroad over 10 years ago, I always thought to live in CA. I have not made it yet.

This photo is taken several years ago in San Diego. The building is the San Diego convention center. Back then, I was a science major student and dreamed to live there. When i attended the conference, I tried to find job interview opportunities. None was for me.

The sky was always this deep and crystal clear blue, the wind is mild, the sun is shinning with no mercy.. I mean the sun was shinning mercilessly clear and bright.

Now I live in this cold, dark, New England and still is dreaming California. Well, the good new is, I remembered some job opportunity. As soon as I got a reply to my inquiry about a teaching position, I will start to prepare the move!

Cat in a room

I live in a room of an apartment. This cat is my landlady's. The name of this cat is Row... (or raw?). Anyway, this is a male cat. He is quite a guy. In this photo, he sits under my chair, enjoying scratch the carpet.

He lives with his sister cat, Jazzy. Those two guys have quite different personality. Jazzy is talkative, comes to me meuwing a lot, while Row is rather quiet and reserved.

While I am in the kitchen, Jazzy is always here with me, bothering me. When I give them foon, however, Row never miss it. He hears the slight sound of dish and comes right here!

A castle in Rockport

On a day in this summer, I went sightseeing in Rockport, MA. Near Stage Fort Park, there's a castle. Well... no castle. Literary, there's no castle in the U.S. :) A castle is where a king and queen lived. The U.S. is not allowed any kings and queens to control this country.

So, this is a private house built some time ago. It has this appearance.

Hachiko - a dog's story

In Japan, almost everybody knows about the story of "Chuken Hachiko" - a loyal dog, Hachiko. It's a dog's story in 1920s or 1930s.

An Akita was brought to a college professor's home in Tokyo. He was named Hachi and loved by his family, especially by his direct owner, Dr. Chozaburo Ueno. Every morning, Hachi sends Dr. Ueno to the train station. In the evening he comes to the station to meet Dr. Ueno.

However, the tragedy happened in one day at the college class. Dr. Ueno collapsed suddenly at the podium and soon died. Of course, Hachi could not understand what happened to his owner. So, he kept his habit - came to the train station in the morning and evening every day. He stayed there in the evening until the station closed. He juste kept waiting for his master to come out of the platform.

People watched the dog and thought it was a sad but a loyal thing of the dog. After the dog died when he was about 10 years old, people made a statue of the dog in front of the station. That became the simbol of loyalty.

This story became a movie in Japan (Hachiko Monogatari). Now a remake has been on its way in Hollywood. We will be able to see the movie next summer.

Halibut Point State Park - Rockport

I visited this park on Thanksgiving day holidays this year. It was not so cold yet and I enjoyed walking around the park.

As people say, most beaches in MA are always crowded. My landlady is a native of MA, and she often brought me to beaches. The problem is, she can not find a place to park. "When I was young, this place was not this crowded...." She keeps saying so. Anyway, I do not like to circling around to find a place to park. So, I stay away from neighboring beaches.

I could find a place to park probably because the beach is a little too far from downtown Boston. I walked to the pond and looked down the water from the view point. The place was about 10 yards high from the water. The wall of the pond was almost vertical from the surface, making the scene so unique. That's because the pond used to be a granite quarry.

It was a nice short trip in a day.

A starbucks is still there

It's been a while since I heard that a lot of starbucks caffee shops will be closed soon. The economy is slipping into a recession and there's more unemployment. Since I came here in this small town in MA, I've noticed a starbucks near my place. Everytime I drive by the shop, I feel relieved to see it :)

If the place is closed, where will the neighbors go? Maybe, Dunkin' donuts... Starbucks to Dunkin' donuts? Basically, it the same: you drink coffee and have some thing sweet. But the atmosphere can be different!

I remember when I was in college in a mid-western state, the school newspaper said "There's no city life in our town? Don't be so sad. We will have a Starbucks in our campus soon!" Now that a recession comes, I wonder if the Starbucks in the college is still there or not.