Turning the Page

I was so proud that at the beginning of my travels over four weeks ago, I arrived in Singapore, slept through the night, walked and swam my first day and miraculously entirely circumvented jet lag. “Not so on my return!” he says at 3:00 am in the morning on Wednesday and also yesterday on Tuesday. Not a bad time to catch up on business in a quiet house, but not my first choice!

 

Our Zipair 9-hour flight home was fine, though no movies! We left at 10:00pm from Tokyo and I believe I slept a total of one hour. Out the San Francisco airport to a sunny day and newly appreciating the feeling of space, the ocean, the greenery, a marked contrast to the urban jungle of steel and concrete and flashing videoed billboards that is Tokyo. As I wrote in one Facebook touch, “Tokyo is a place of contrasts, the space and serenity of a few shrines and temples side-by-side with the Times-Square-on-steroids neighborhoods (Shinjuku/ Shibuya) that make you feel like you’re inside a giant pinball machine.” Like New York City, a fun place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. The balance of city and country in San Francisco is much more my cup of tea. 

 

Usually, I leave a place with a summary of appreciations and amongst the things I noticed and enjoyed were:

 

• Jazz as the default background music at restaurants! At a volume possible to talk over. Not a single thumping disco beat! Thank you, Tokyo!

 

• Clean streets and a bit mysterious as there are very few public trash cans and a lot of food wrapped in plastic wrappers.

 

• No (visible) homeless people. It’s possible.

 

• The aforementioned blend of the hyper-urban and the old-world serenity of shrines and temples.

 

Upon returning, Zadie and I had a nice Mexican meal prepared by my wife Karen and Zadie’s Aunt Talia (Tita). Nice short family reunion, finally get horizontal, middle of the night 3-hours awake and next morning, take Zadie to the airport to fly back to her home in Portland. It was my colleague Sofia’s birthday and she was down with the flu, so I went from the airport to my old school to sub for her and teach a Bulgarian piece in 15/16 meter to the 6^th graders, many of whom were my last 5-year-old class when I retired in 2020. Such a pleasure to see their growth and progress, physically, emotionally and musically. Then I got to share an elementary school singing time (always a favorite) with my colleague James and our Valentine’s Day repertoire. 

 

So I hit the ground running, back to teacher mode, and will return today to do some old favorites with 4-year-olds and 1^st graders. A rather choppy schedule lies ahead, with a calendar dotted with things like my nephew’s play, singing at two elder homes, a short trip to Yosemite, a school alum teacher hike, my wife’s birthday, a ritual annual New Year’s walk with friends and more. Turning the page from a marvelous time in Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, to my life in California. Enjoying the plot of the book and the characters, and ready for the next chapter.