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In college, when I went to Japan, I came back and decided that life would be difficult without a cellphone.  I distinctly remember deciding not to pay for text messages, because none of my US friends used them.

This time I return, and find I “need” a 3G connected smartphone. When I visited the States in February and June, I felt like I was missing my thumbs or something.   Getting in touch meant calling, and if I didn’t have your latest number, I couldn’t even look it up from my email.  Getting lost meant I was actually lost.

So…my temporary salve was $20 for 100mb of data on my ATT GoPhone plan (which is actually awesome if you’re in and out of the country).  Pay ATT $100, and they’ll save your number for a year, plus you have minutes to use whenever you visit.

Of course, my remaining minutes of talk time went fairly quickly.  People seem to call you more when they realize they don’t need to figure out country codes to do so.  Sooo…with my shiny new T-mobile sim effective as of today, I have my number ported, AND some shiny 3G love.  Having had to make 3 phone calls to t-mobile to order the sim, get a special data plan activated, and get my number ported…I was actualy impressed with their customer service.  Okay, actually – they screwed up on the number port the first time, so I had to call back.  But the last guy I talked to was together, and actually got it, and really left me with a good impression.

But going back to the whole point of “being back.”

People ask, of course, if I’m happy to be back.  If it’s hard readjusting.

I guess so.

I mean, the trouble is that in some ways it doesn’t feel like I really AM back.   People make their schedules work like I’m a limited time attraction.  I’m still living out of a suitcase, I’m still doing the same stuff at work…adjusting back to the state I was born and raised in ismore of a relaxing-back-to.  It’s like I was a rubber band, stretched to hold this “Japanese mode” thing, and now I get to relax back to a non-stressed state.  Sure, the rubber bands a little different now (one year older, if nothing else), but business as usual seems easy as pie.

Though, in one year, some things do change.  Mountain View has a bunch of pedestrian bridges, some of the 101’s been repaved, people are ENGAGED, have KIDS, have KIDS ON THE WAY,  my fish (intern) died,  my car was dented and repaired…lots of stuff that cumulatively, makes me feel like the round hole I left behind is now looking a little squarish from this side.

I’m finding myself on the left side of sidewalks. Firing up the English cylinders is a little slow and sputtery.  I unnecessarily pay for things in cash and feel slightly uncomfortable whipping out my credit card (I think, in the same way I initially felt uncomfortable using 10,000 yen bills in Japan).   Some websites still think I’m in Japan, and show me Japanese time zones and maps.

What do I miss?

I miss feeling tall.  I miss the magic of ubiquitous subways and trains.  The special feeling of being an Asian-looking wolf in a crowd of Japanese sheep.  The little victories of successful non-English transactions. The clean, quiet of urban streets late at night.  Good food, seasoned with thoughtfulness and sincerity regardless of the level of establishment. Good service.  No tipping.   The city view (including Tokyo Tower!) from my apartment.

And of course, people.  Coworkers, friends, almost-friends.  Leaving people behind feels a little like having small tender root-threads gently ripped away.  You hang out, you talk, you develop these feeble connections.  Maybe spider silk’s a better metaphor.  You spin this stuff up, and it’s great.  Then you move one anchor, and the threads cling, and stretch…and with time and stress, slowly tear apart.  And you can maybe touch some and reconnect them, but more often than not, you just have some loose ends, waving hopefully in the breeze.  “uprooted” makes a little more sense to me now, though my experience is nothing so severe as that.  It’s funny how you hear some metaphors, think that you understand them, and then you experience something which adds a color to it that makes you realize you’ve still got a lot of life and experiences to run through.

Not missing?

Having to take a deep breath before plunging through yet another weekend crowd.   Having mouth-breathing inebriated salarymen sit next to ME on the train.   Paying my rent through bank transfer.  Having people honestly marvel at how big I am.  Super slow Pandora and Hulu.

So much to catch up and keep up on.  Pictures to print (or even transfer), thank-yous to compose.   Books and TV and movies to catch up on.  People to catch up on.  Not to mention hunting for two apartments – one to buy, and one to stay in while I look for one to buy. Egads.  Can I just hit fast forward please?  This next part doesn’t have any fight scenes and seems a bit long…

Soooo today starts week 3 of Back in California. :)
Week 1 was a blur, but a sort of awesome blur.

In my first day back (a Monday) I went to my opthalmologist (uncle) and got a year’s order of contacts and an updated prescription. Was tempted to poke the crabs at the Chinese supermarket.  Dumplings for dinner. :)

Tuesday: Drove from LA to SF (5 hours, no traffic), getting to work in time for an afternoon meeting.  Tried new Indian restaurant on Castro with friends (two old, one new).  Particularly nice since I’d been expecting to go it alone in SF that night.

Wednesday: ate burrito + fruit salad in a one-person picnic lunch.  prix fixe dinner at Alexander’s Steakhouse with good friends.

Thursday: In ‘n Out dinner w/ another friend.  Picked up dude from airport – late night Chinese food w/ another friend.

Friday: hiking in Muir Woods. Warm redwood bark is an unsurpassably happy-inducing smell. Crossing the Golden Gate bridge and drinking in some ocean views isn’t so bad for the happy levels either.

Saturday: checked out an apartment, Where the Wild Things Are, and a birthday party.

Sunday: mini-reunion with college friends (some actually not seen in 5 years), marveled at quarter-life old age, ate pizza.

All in my first week back from Japan. Heh. Lotsa California-ey stuff there. Feel like that could’ve all been spread over a whole month and I’d still feel good about it.