Letter from Boston

Pre-Spring Break

By MASAKO YAMADA

A couple of months ago, my three best friends from high school told me that they were coming to the States for spring break. They asked me if I could meet up with them in New York. I immediately said, "Yes," even though I wasn't quite sure what I'd be doing then. I had just seen them during summer vacation, so it wasn't really a grand reunion. However, I felt that I had to be with them: I got the strange sense that if I didn't go, I'd regret it for a long time.

There are numerous reasons I felt this way. I wanted to take another mini-vacation, I felt a bit lonely being away from my familiar friends (they all go to the same college) and I got the feeling that we're not going to be able to do this sort of thing too often in the future. After we start working and having families, it's just not going to be possible for us to take off on the spur of the moment. It seems that we're entering a new stage of life, and I wanted to grab all I could of the "old" stage before exiting.

Spring break is a multi-month affair in Japan, but it's only a week's vacation for us. Unfortunately, my friends came just before my spring break. That is, they came during my midterms!! It didn't faze me, though. I arrived in New York via Grayhound on Saturday evening and took the Amtrack back to Boston on Sunday evening. I couldn't study at all during the 24 hours I had with my friends, but I had such a nice time that by the time I got back to Boston, I felt like studying again.

Actually, I got to make some new friends during this short trip because my old friends were traveling with the friends that they'd made in college. I felt very comfortable with them, even though I'd never met them before. I think they felt the same way in spite of my hurried entrance and exit.

We all stayed at my friend Teiko's home in New York, and even her parents joined us in the living room to chat. My old friends had obviously lived in the States before, but Teiko's dad put on a show for the newcomers by telling them about the wonders of New York. He boasted, "You're talking to a guy who spoke with Michael Douglas!! I was in an elevator with him, and he said, Excuse me."

I told one of them that although I'd never been the victim of any sort of crime in New York, I could see why the Japanese are easy targets. Even I, a "non-pro," can identify groups of Japanese from far away. I don't look at the facial features per se ― it's more a matter of identifying body language and expression.

After that night, we all took the train to Manhattan to play in the city. Our actual itinerary wasn't anything special: Battery Park, Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho, Times Square.... I've gone to the same places many times before, but the wonderful thing is that there is always something familiar and something new.

This time it was very foggy, so we looked at a blank white sheet of nothingness and tried to make out the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. In Chinatown, I ate a tiny species of snail for the first time. In Times Square, I noticed that there was a huge Disney superstore in a spot that used to be an all-Japanese porno shop. We didn't go to the Empire State Building ― a favorite ― because of the recent observatory shooting.

The fact that our group consisted of a different combination of people added to the interest. Three of the new friends I made were "non-Keio people," and I was grateful to have met them, as the Keio community in New York is quite insular. Of course, personally, I've made many new friends at Wellesley, BU and other colleges around Boston, but I can't deny the importance of knowing that I have people I can rely on "back home." Teiko's mom told me that after all these years she was worried if I could speak Japanese.

It's true that I actually speak and hear more Chinese than I do Japanese these days... but, fortunately, I had no trouble at all, and I was grateful for this.

Shukan ST: March 14, 1997

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