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conark   
Travel lightly (unless you have a car)


Real Name: Keith Y Watanabe
Lives In: Harbor City, US
Birth Date: February 12, 1975
Member Since: Oct 02, 2004
Last Login: Aug 14, 2009   08:36 UTC
Member's Time: Nov 15, 2009   01:25 PST
VT Rank: 7188
Deals Rank: Unranked
External Page:www.keithwatanabe.net
Travel Interests: Not yet selected

 

Page Views: 1,159            

an outcast among outcast

by conark - last update: Nov 30, 2004

why travel?

hmmm...for a website about tourist, i guess i should start off explaining my interest in touring. so far, my biggest exploration to date has been living in Tokyo for 2 1/2 years. went there thinking i could escape bush-onomics but ended up coming back because of family reasons. however, i wouldn't hesitate to return if the conditions were correct. my purpose mainly was to discover my roots as a Japanese descendent and to live a dream. I didn't finish my dream there so there's yet a proverbial unfinished chapter in my life waiting to be written.

California Banality

I love California. Matter of fact, I love Los Angeles. And I love my hometown. Still I can't get out of my system my love for Tokyo. There's just something about the place that makes me want to go back, although my hometown has always felt comfortable. But perhaps that is the problem- comfort. It's *TOO* comfortable here to the point where I feel indolent and take for granted the lassitude induced by the lack of adventure here.

Certainly, there are many things to see and do out here. However, companionship is more of a motivation when doing things than anything else. In Tokyo, I've always found places where I could meet new people. Yet in my hometown, there is no community nor real sense of a place where people can easily congregate without being held to some ethereal standard of materialism. The people in Tokyo too are materialistic (probably moreso) but my qualities of being a Japanese-American help me increase my confidence as someone unique with an interesting story to reveal. Out here, I'm just another jabronie struggling to engender meaning in my existence.

Funny considering that my Japanese is quite horrible and that I'm probably more alienated in Tokyo in many ways than in California. However, I think it's that need for uniqueness that makes me strive to escape my hometown.

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