Description

So, you're probably wondering about the name of my blog, "Sakura me". For those of you out there who speak some Japanese you'll know that Sakura means cherry blossom which is something that all Japanese adore. And if you know the word sakura, then hopefully you read the word "me" as the Japanese would (in other words, this is not the particle meaning myself, such as in "do you love me?") and know that it means eye or eyes. To me, "Sakura me", translated as Cherry Blossom Eyes, is a representation of my love for Japanese aesthetics and for many other parts of the Japanese culture. As many reading will know, I lived in Japan for a number of years, including all 4 years of High School and it was probably the best experience of my life. Of course part of that was because High School is somewhat carefree. I mean, my parents paid for everything and my mom cooked dinner for me and all that, so I never had to worry about money. It was also a dream for me to be able to go anywhere on my own. Coming from the world of the automobile, I found sudden freedom in the lack of a need for a personal motor vehicle. Biking, walking, and taking trains and buses gave me more freedom than I ever imagined in my 14 years up to that point. My parents and sister point out to me often that it wasn't as fun for them to live in Japan because they had to work or keep house and that is a whole different life than the one I led. However, I'm certain that a great deal of my happiness stemmed from the incredible change of lifestyle I encountered after moving there. In addition, anyone fortunate enough to attend a school such as ASIJ (the American School in Japan) knows how important it is to go to school in such a warm environment. Some of you out there who went to ASIJ may be rolling your eyes at this, but if you never attended a public school in the States, then you cannot understand my meaning. In Abington (which, by the way, is in no way a bad school district like some in inner cities), I had to worry about getting to class on time after lunch since there was so often a fight in the stairway and you couldn't get by. I had to worry about the way I acted for fear of retaliation from those who hated anyone that was different, even if I didn't do anything to them. ASIJ was a whole different world full of possibilities. I remember that soon after getting to Japan, my father and I had a meeting with Mr. Bradley, one of the High School counselors. We probably talked about how difficult my junior high school experience had been in the U.S. Mr. Bradley said that he had never witnessed or heard of a fight breaking out at school (by fight I mean where blood is drawn, of course). This was music to my ears. I didn't even know such a thing was possible. You can start to see how much of an impact moving to Japan had on me and thus why I had to choose a Japan-related theme for my blog. I plan to post here some of my memories of that far away land, as well as new things that happen in my life. I don't pretend to be a philosopher, or a good writer, or anything like that, so don't get your hopes up for eloquent prose or any such nonsense. Hopefully some of what I say will be meaningful to you. This blog will have served its purpose if I bring a tear to your eye or a smile to your lips from time to time.