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farewell, home no. 25

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Tokyo, 2020.06.20

As part of the eternal hiring process for my current job, I had to enumerate all the places I'd lived in my life. I don't know what the profile of the typical Japanese person looks like, but I had 24 entries on mine. Then I moved to Kawasaki. Aside from being the smallest place I've lived since I spent six months in a hotel, it was also the first place I've lived alone in many years. And it was likely an all-time record for most-lived-in, as there were many days that I didn't venture outside at all thanks to the virus lockdown.

Today I moved out. I spent the morning packing, except for about 45 minutes when I took a break to do a reference call for a former staffer who's interviewing with a high-frequency-trading outfit in Los Angeles. I managed to get everything done, even the cleaning (even the fridge and microwave) by the time they arrived, so they were done in fifteen minutes. I then cycled up to my new place, and met them as they arrived in their truck. Along the way I only had to phone Mari once: I had forgotten the code on the key box where I had to leave my keys. There's always something. (And she's always there for me, even at 01:00 local).

So now I'm in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Specifically, I'm in Shinjuku 2-chome, known for a Koreatown (where I live), a red light district, and a gay nightclub scene. I'm one stop away from Shinjuku station, the world's busiest train station (1.26 billion passengers a year), and one away from Takadanobaba, the world's tenth busiest. I'm about four blocks from where my old Japanese instructor used to live, but I have lost contact with her.

Anyway, lots of interesting stuff going on here. There's a bustling street scene with an international mix of twenty-somethings. There are Asian grocery stores with every kind of spice known to man. And lo and behold on my first evening I have found a spider plant!

In our original plan I was supposed to move my things into storage today and return to Toronto for ten days to help Mari pack up, move out of our place on Kenilworth, and fly here. But thanks to the rules here in Japan, I cannot leave because I would be unable to return! So here I sit.

rand()m quote

The right to bear arms is slightly less ludicrous than the right to arm bears.

—Chris Addison