Interlude

North America » United States » West Virginia
August 23rd 2007

Published: August 25th 2007

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Jennie T

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Upon our chance meeting at the Tokyo international airport, the first thing Nicholas and I did was take out our cameras so we would have proof.

My summer break in the U.S. has come and gone already, and it is now back to the suffocating heat and humidity of Japan. During the other seasons or when I am away from Japan I always think the summer can’t possibly be as miserably hot as I remember it. But, every time the summer rolls around here, I’m unfortunately proven wrong. But, instead of complaining about the weather here, let’s relive the memories of my relatively cool summer in the U.S.

The trip began with a surprise at Narita International Airport in Tokyo. I had eaten breakfast that morning at 6am right before I left my apartment to make my first flight from Hiroshima to Tokyo. In Tokyo I had to catch an hour-long bus from the domestic airport to the international one. So, by the time I had checked my luggage in at Narita and was searching for my gate, it was already 3pm, and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast at 6am. I couldn’t find any shop in the airport that sold food other than sugary confectionaries meant for souvenirs. My blood pressure was riskily low and I was getting irritated by the littlest things.

Suddenly I

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the old sign you see as soon as you pull off onto the final road to the festival in Clifftop, West Virginia

spotted a familiar face from out of the corner of my eye. It looked like one of my best friends from the school I studied at in Osaka three years ago, Nicholas. I was sure it wasn’t though, because this man was dressed in some official airport uniform. He seemed to notice me too, and sure enough it was Nicholas! The two of us quickly became a scene as we dropped all of our things yelled and hugged. I hadn’t seen him since those three years ago in Osaka, and he said this was the first time he had been back to Japan since. It turned out that he is now a flight attendant based in San Francisco (not a pilot as I originally thought!) and has been flying all over the world. We both had about five minutes to make it to our gates. He was flying back to San Francisco, while my flight was to Washington D.C. Our reunion was short but sweet, and it definitely made my day that much brighter. Like I said to him, this kind of thing only happens in movies!

The trip went downhill from there, especially my layover in D.C. I’ll

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Our camping spot at the festival this year was right next to the cajun tent, and luck for us, the first night of the festival they had a big CD release party with great music, free gumbo, and free vodka tonics!

spare you all the gory details, but to sum it up, I was forced into a temporary basement extension of the airport overflowing with loud, pushy, complaining Americans and nearly missed my last flight to Pittsburgh while my luggage stayed behind in D.C. My parents met me in Pittsburgh and I had my first taste of American grease at Bob Evans on the way home. Still, to my surprise I was able to scarf down a big plate of eggs benedict and home fries. Yum!

Everyone always asks me if I experience reverse culture shock when I return to the U.S., and I know I definitely did much more when I first traveled outside of the country, but it certainly gets less and less evident every time I go back to the U.S. I've come to expect the differences I will encounter between the U.S. and Japan, so it's not so much of a surprise when I do encounter them. With that said, one aspect of American culture that I didn't expect during this visit left me completely dumbfounded: the overwhelming amount of options at the supermarket. I found myself staring at the orange juice section for ages just

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When he becomes a star someday, I'll say I saw him play when he was three.

trying to make sense of it all. There was no pulp, low pulp, medium pulp, lots of pulp, added calcium, other added vitamins and minerals, juice especially made for a healthy heart, juice from concentrate, not from concentrate, "country style" juice.....and all of these types of orange juice were offered in a variety of brand names. I should have counted the different types of orange juice just so I would have quantitative proof of the absurdity of it all. This was compared to my orange juice options in the grocery store on Yuge: one carton of orange juice made by one brand with no specific level of pulp or vitamins and minerals added...if anything. The presence of this one carton of orange juice depends on how long it's been since the last ferry shipment, so I'm lucky if that one carton of orange juice is there. Of course, when I think about it, I do have my specific preference of orange juice. I like not from concentrate, medium pulp orange juice (and vitamins and minerals are okay too). However, I have never felt deprived because of the lack of options of orange juice on Yuge (except maybe when there's none

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square dances every night for five days!

at all), which leads me to wonder how necessary all of these options are. I mean, do we really need thirty different kinds of orange juice?! I think the orange juice industry in the U.S. has gotten a little out of control. And I won't even go in to the isle-long selection of cereals and breads!

The highlight of my trip back to the U.S. was my annual pilgrimage to Clifftop, West Virginia where a five-day-long musical utopia is held every year. It’s called the Appalachian String Band Festival and is basically about 3,000 musicians playing together on top of a mountain for five days with some workshops, concerts, contests, and dances on the side. And in addition, for me it was like a reunion with many of my best friends from West Virginia who are now scattered all over the place. My friend, Lily, drove all the way down from New York to see me.

After the festival was over, Lily and I did some more sight seeing around West Virginia before she left. We took a trip to Thomas, West Virginia and saw the smallest church in 48 states. We even got to meet the owner

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the sign for an abandoned diner up on the mountain during Lily and my sight-seeing expedition through West Virginia

of the property, a sweet old man who gave us lots of facts about the history of the church. I was curious as to where the other smallest churches in the U.S. are, since this one is only the smallest in 48 states. Of course he knew where all the other ones were, and it inspired me to plan a future road trip to visit the rest some day. Lily and I also went to Black Water Falls and agreed that the so-called “black” water looks more like Coca Cola.

Then it was back to Morgantown for a much-needed dental check-up, which my dentist gave me an A+ on! And next my mom and I drove down to Boone, North Carolina to visit my sister (Rachel), her boyfriend (Matt), and their new kitten (Ofelia). Her new kitten was the cutest thing and provided hours of entertainment for all of us. We enjoyed four days down there eating at the most delicious restaurants and driving around the beautiful area of Boone, a town at an elevation of 3,333 feet in the Appalachian Mountains. We also took a day hike in the mountains of Tennessee on Laurel Falls trail and swam

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smallest church in 48 states (or at least it was when it was built in the 50's) in Thomas, West Virginia

in the freezing water beneath the gentle falls. Rachel also took me on a tour of her campus at Appalachian State where she studies Appalachian studies and women studies. After the four days were over, my mom and I said goodbye and drove back to West Virginia.

Back in West Virginia I spent most of my days shopping for souvenirs to bring back to my friends in Japan and getting my indulgent habit of eating at restaurants out of my system (although I think I’ve realized I can never get it out of my system) before I had to go back to my tiny island of Yuge where I don’t have the option. I paid quite a few visits to my favorite restaurant and former workplace of Asian Garden that has the best Malaysian and Thai food I’ve ever tasted even after traveling to those countries. It was nice to see my boss, Anna, again and all the other familiar faces of the servers and regular customers there. I even went to my hometown’s Japanese restaurant to have lunch with my Japanese teacher from college. What was most nice about going to restaurants back in the U.S. was that

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Lily and me at Blackwater Falls (Thomas, West Virginia)

not only do the servers actually know what vegetarian means, but ALL restaurants cater to the needs of vegetarians. Even restaurants that aren’t especially known for the vegetarian options usually have at least one or two things listed on the menu. For this reason, I love the U.S.

Another indulgence that I don’t have here in Japan is watching movies at a movie theatre. So, I was sure to watch as many movies at the theatre as possible while I was home. I saw the “Simpsons Movie”, “Sicko”, and “Stardust”, of which I especially recommend Sicko.

Finally, to end my stay in the U.S., my mom and I took yet another trip up to her hometown in Connecticut for a family reunion. This was a much-needed visit as I have not seen any of this side of my family since I was in elementary school. I remember seeing some of my younger cousins when they were just babies and toddlers, but none of them remembered me. One of my cousins called me “the famous Jennie” because he always hears about what I am doing, but he never sees me. This was a big enough hint to let me

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another shot of Blackwater Falls. The water is more brown than black though (caused by the certain kind of minerals in the water).

know I have to visit my relatives more often. It was especially nice to see my nana who now lives all by herself. She showed me an endless amount of old pictures that she and her friends used to take of each other when they were younger than me. I also heard all sorts of interesting stories of the history of my family and how my nana’s parents originally came to the U.S. from Slovakia. And I inherited some great old records to boot! A great trip all-in-all.

So, just a couple of days ago I left at 4:30am for the journey back to my life in Japan and to my little apartment on the little island of Yuge, and everything was just as I left it.
It feels like my month spent back home in the U.S. was all a dream. I’m reading a book right now by Jhumpa Lahiri, and the family in the book has just returned to their life in a foreign country after an eight-month visit back home. She writes, “And so, the eight months are put behind them, quickly shed, quickly forgotten, like clothes worn for a special occasion, or for a season

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This is a picture that was taken during my trip down to visit my sister in Boone, North Carolina with my mom. We stopped at a really neat hat shop and tried on some interesting and expensive hats. My sombraro almost takes up the whole photo.

that has passed, suddenly cumbersome, irrelevant to their lives.” It definitely feels like that to a certain extent. Of course it was somewhat comforting to once again see the smiling, waving children ride by in cars screaming out the window, “Jennie-sensei!” They probably didn’t even know I had left the island at all.

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