FAQs

ok, so a week has passed and i’ve contributed nothing to this blog. patience, my friends, I’M STILL IN CALIFORNIA. actually, i’m not planning on moving to japan until the beginning of september. until then, i’ll be updating with my plans, my expectations, my hopes and dreams, what i want to accomplish, etc. anyways, time for the highly anticipated FAQs:

so dean, why are you going to japan?
it just seems that this is exactly what i need to be doing at this time in my life. it definitely works as a temporary fix to quell all those questions i’ve been pestered with throughout the past few years. i definitely wasn’t ready for the “real world” after ucla, and grad school offered me a direction in life. i’ve decided that my career will be in academia, hopefully educating tomorrow’s asian american leaders. in order to become a university professor, i need a phd…but first i need a break from the seemingly endless cycle of reading and writing.

so i will dedicate this next year to mental recovery and rejuvenation. but that’s not to say that spending a year abroad won’t be educational. i’m pretty sure that gaining an international perspective and taking myself out of my comfort zone will only prepare me for what lies ahead. in fact, spending a year in japan has always been a personal dream of mine. going into college, i made sure that all of the schools that i applied to had study abroad programs that i could participate in. but seeing that i’m now done with college (for the second time, actually), i need to do the damn thing before i get old and miss this last chance.

aside from my own selfish desires, this whole japan plan has been approved by my parents. although i’m not really starting a career as my dad had hoped (grad school in preparation for a career in academia doesn’t qualify according to his twisted logic), i will be moving out of the house, but more importantly, completely off of his payroll. as for my mother, she has always supported this idea of mine, with the main reason because it will give me the opportunity to spend an extended amount of time with her mother and the rest of my family in tokyo. since i have lived in california my entire life, i have relatives there, but it’s tough to really call them “family.”

now be honest, are you moving there for a girl?
ok, you got me. here’s the truth: this japan thing has been in the back of my mind for years. but as my relationship with yuka developed, i began to realize that this dream really could become a reality. previous relationships and other commitments have always held me back from following my crazy dreams, but now i’m in a relationship that’s actually calling me out there. i need to take advantage of this situation while i can.

i really don’t want to make any assumptions right now as to what the future has in store for yuka and i. maybe it’ll work out, maybe it won’t, but either way, i know i will always be grateful to her for encouraging me to finally do this. if i’m sure about one thing, it’s that i will not regret this opportunity to get to know my grandmother better, to work on my nihongo, and to live out my dream.

fair enough. where in japan are you going to be, and how long are you planning on staying?
asakusa, tokyo. i will be living at my aunt and uncle’s house (i’ll even get my own room and bathroom!), which happens to be next door to my grandma’s house. so basically i will be getting free room and board, which is exactly what my dad disagrees with, but too bad for him. i know it’s an american ideal for children to grow up and buy their own houses to start their own families, but it’s not necessarily like that in japan, where it’s common for multiple generations to live under one roof.

growing up as an only child and even an only grandchild, i guess i’ve always longed to be part of a larger family. for once, i will have a chance to get closer to my only two cousins, and hopefully i can help them out with their kids too! i’m sure people with huge families may not always enjoy a lot of the responsibilities associated with relatives, but for someone like myself with very few familial obligations to fulfill, it will be a new experience and hopefully one that will make me a better person.

as for my intended stay, my return is tentatively slated for june 2007. if all goes as planned, i will be making a trip to new york city for the association of asian american studies annual conference during the first week of april.

what exactly will you be doing in tokyo?
well, i am applying to audit one course on transnationalism from the graduate division of global studies at sophia university during the fall semester. hopefully that will keep my brain moving, as well as provide me with a paper to submit at the aforementioned aaas conference. specifically, i want to do a brief study on japanese americans living in tokyo, and the importance of homeland in their own identies.

i also want/need to find a job. i’m hoping that a master’s degree, a ucla education, and a complete grasp of the english language will be good for something. a dream job would be as a writer for the japan times or the daily yomiuri, but something more realistic would be as an english tutor, be it private or at a university. in case you were wondering, i have japanese citizenship and thus do not have to go through the hassle of trying to obtain a work visa.

and come on, i’m twenty-three years old and will have a girlfriend living nearby, so there’s a lot of fun that i’m planning on having as well. i will continue to test my theory that there is no such thing as a bad restaurant in japan. i will come back with a definite answer as to my favorite sake and shochu. i will go snowboarding. i will party in hip-hop clubs until six in the morning. i will take lots of pictures in random karaoke booths.

let’s see, what else. hopefully i can do a lot of recreational reading and writing. i still have a pile of books that i want to get through, and i really want to provide a progressive, social commentary on my stay in japan. as a half-yonsei/half-shin nisei asian americanist, i want to take advantage of my unique positionality by providing this blog as an educational tool for other japanese americans trying to connect to the homeland. maybe it’ll just turn out to be dean’s boring rants, but who knows, i really envision this as my grand contribution to my community, because i’m sure you’re out there.

can i come and visit?
yes, i would love to see you in tokyo! my aunt is super accommodating, and as long as you don’t mind crashing on the floor of my room, you’re more than welcome. hotels there cost hella much, so this may be your one and only affordable chance to visit what i think is the most interesting city in the world. depending on my class/work schedule, you might be on your own during the day, but believe me, you will never run out of things to do, even if you don’t speak japanese. just out of respect though, don’t ask me if you can bring along six friends and stay for a month, k?

what will you be doing in california until september?
actually, i’m going to japan next tuesday for a couple weeks. i have to take my dad around tokyo so my mom can spend time with my grandmother without him bothering her (he speaks ZERO japanese). gonna try and spend a lot of time with yuka, and also kick it with a bunch of my ucla friends that are living out there right now. i’ll be back stateside on june 13th, then i have until august 12th to finish up my master’s thesis. wish me luck!

and don't worry, i will be having a going away party, so stay tuned ;-)

bending machine?

before i get the wheels spinning on this blog, a brief explanation on the title. as a huge engrish fan, here's an original to share with the public (photo by yuka):