Sunday, October 12, 2008

My Friend, Sam


"I get it."
-to be said in a disappointed, uncomfortable and aloof tone after a joke is made.

Sam came to To-ki-o! He stayed at my place. I basically shoved all my belongings into one half of the room, and spread out some sheets in the other half. It was pretty compact, as is Japan, but during his stay I thought, "Hey, maybe two people can live in my teeny, tiny room." (roughly, 6 tatami mats; roughly, 12 square meters; roughly, 130 square feet). My reasoning is as follows:
Sam came with a backpack and two suitcases: a big one packed with clothes, some equipment and cables for work, and a small one filled with dirty clothes...Yep, his entire wardrobe, laptop, Nintendo DS, his hard drive, etc. Since I had school, and for the second week he stayed, he had work, we weren't spending all day everyday together, it was really as if we were roommates, each with our own schedules. Also, I think about the other roommate situations I've had, living in a triple at Lander Hall when I was at the UW, sharing a room of similar dimensions with Marilia, in Shinjuku, all a person really needs is a place to sleep. However, a person also needs (excuse the banality) a place to call home, and my home is comprised of clothes. A little while ago on Style Bubble, Suzy posted a picture of (all?) her clothes.


I believe that her 'size of room' to 'amount of clothes' proportion is almost equivalent to mine. I mean, I imagine. Must find better storage unit. Scratch that, must get a storage unit. Beside me now is a bundle of shirts, a chair of dresses and sweaters, another chair of skirts, coats hanging on the wall, laundry by my feet...you get the idea. But I just cringe at the idea of bringing more furniture into my room. If there would be drawers and closets built into my wall, that would be great.

I went to my grandfather's house today and brought back a bag full of old silk that was used for my great grandmother's kimonos. Long strips of delicately woven, slightly sheer silk. The colors are still rich and vibrant, and the texture is so crisp, it reflects the light beautifully. I wouldn't mind opening the door to my room and having long bands of it hanging from the ceiling, and waves of it rolling around on the floor.
I guess when it comes down to it, I'm just the most comfortable surrounded by fabric. But then again, aren't we all?
"...I get it."

2 comments:

Kyle said...

Sam "gets it", but does he "got it"?

mitsue said...

he had it, but it fell out of his pocket and he didn't realize.