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!