Not There, Not Here:
Holding Wabisabi, Daruma, and the Mask Within the Yellow Tent
“when I go into the TSA machine, secretly, I’m saying to myself, you can never scan my brain.”
“Even though, you know, nothing wrong with us, you know, no criminal record, we haven't done anything wrong. But nowadays, you never know, even if you have the proper documentation. You know, we've heard some scary stories. Even a speeding ticket can kick you out of this country. Even American citizens can be sent out to a foreign country. And in this chaotic environment, naturally, people become more vigilant.”
“The longer you stay away from your home country, your identity becomes very complex. I still feel Japanese very much. But when I go back to Japan, I feel almost closer to being American. I just feel I'm not there, I'm not here, sort of, it's hard to find where my home is.”
“I almost want to attach this to here because then nobody can bother you.”
“If I value wabisabi and really respect it that way, every day in this country, I might be completely ignored. For example, if you go to a work meeting, first thing you do is make sure that people know that you speak English. It's silly, but if you already have a PhD, of course you can communicate.”
“Any happy occasion, families tend to go to shrine to celebrate”
“Yeah, don't reject yourself. Sometimes you fall off, but you kind of secretly stand up, right? People can kind of push you around”
