‘All My Friends’

a.k.a.
Christmas approaches… like a kitschy, glittery ball of nostalgia

You know what? It’s the small victories that matter.

It’s realising that the large building near your train station, the one you haven’t really noticed before, is actually a mother of a department store with all wonder of food stalls and import stores in its basement – not to mention a supermarket and a 100 yen store.

Needless to say, as both a cheapskate and food lover, I was filled with joy when I made this discovery. Two-minute noodles! Slippers for 100 yen! Over-priced comfort foods imported from home!

However, upon wandering into the supermarket, my happy wonderment was soon replaced with a homesick melancholy, complete with forlorn frown. The supermarket, lavishly decked out in full Christmas garb, was playing ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ – my favourite Christmas carol. I’ve always liked it, ever since I first heard it (which was probably in Home Alone or something), even though to be honest it’s been overused in every single corny American Christmas movie ever made.

Anyway, this was just another unhappy reminder that Christmas is just around the corner.

(Sigh. Here comes the unwelcome I-do-wish-I-was-having-Christmas-at-home rant.)

I mean, it’s just… I like Christmas shit. And I don’t want to end up sitting in my room by myself, in a Christmas hat, clutching a turkey bone and weeping on Christmas day this year. Scratch that – I’ll probably be clutching an empty bag of Doritos that I bought myself as a Christmas treat. Totally pathetic. I mean, you can’t even really pull a bon bon by yourself. Instead of feasting on prawns and consumerism in the sunshine back home, I’ll probably just end up reading the Christmas Day portions of all the Harry Potter books and eating a block of over-priced cheese.

(Actually, that said, one thing I will definitely be doing this year is watching corny Christmas movies – such as It’s a Wonderful Life – since there’s no one around to judge me.)

[I heart you, Jimmy Stewart]

Anyways, this is what I was thinking about when I did my first Tokyo grocery shop. I bought mandarins, orange juice and peanut butter, stopped myself from getting all misty-eyed in the vegetable section, almost tripped an elderly lady with a walking frame, managed to pay for my goods without insulting the cashier, and made it home before the wallowing truly kicked in. Like I said, small victories.

***
Back home, my friends and I used to have a big Thanksgiving dinner every year. It was mainly a chance to get together, eat delicious food, have pumpkin pie contests, talk for hours, and have long corny conversations about all the things we were thankful for. I have the best memories of those dinners – chowing down on sweet potato mash with marshmallows on top, sitting outside under the stars, feeling as though dinners just like these were some of the best times of my whole life.

Each year, my contribution would be a ridiculous sculpture made out of bread (that, and a bowl of frozen peas) – mainly because cooking and I don’t always get along, but also because I like doing weird shit like make ridiculous sculptures out of bread. My first (and most successful) bread sculpture was a big bread turkey, made out of baguettes, whole loaves, white bread slices and rolls, and held together with damp skewers and a whole lotta love.

Needless to say, Thanksgiving this year was a tough reminder of just how homesick I am. Many cafes and restaurants here hold special Thanksgiving dinners, complete with turkey and pumpkin pie, mainly for the benefit of expats. I was sitting at one such café eating a salmon bagel as they were preparing for a Thanksgiving feast of their own - and on a whim I signed myself up for the 8pm sitting.

The thought of sitting by myself, eating turkey slices and mashed potato, wishing I had one of my friends with me, was a little depressing - but the lure of a hearty roast dinner was too much for me.

Thankfully (pun intended) I ended up having a lovely time. The staff were friendly, and the woman who seemed to be in charge gave me a little bunch of carnations wrapped in foil. There was one point where I nearly started bawling into my pumpkin pie, but I held it together. On the way home, I bought a Harry Potter book for 500 yen, got a ‘free hug’, and made it home without dropping my bag of leftovers or falling over on the train. I was still a bit sad, and still really missed my friends, but I also realised that even though I’m still r e a l l y far from being a true Tokyo-ite, every day the city feels a little bit less like a stranger.

***
Things I have learned about myself since moving here, #23

I suck at riding a bike. Is it me? The bikes? I suspect the former, as everyone else has no trouble riding their bike while holding an umbrella/texting on their phone/looking around smugly. I however am lucky if I don’t run up the back of someone or wobble off the footpath and into the gutter. It is an utter disgrace.

***
In conclusion: I want this pizza. Premium Cheese Fantasy Super Rich Quatro, from Dominos Japan. This baby is appetizer, entrée, main and dessert, with a tasty cheese-filled crust. Hells yes.





“You spent the first five years trying to get with the plan
And the next five years trying to be with your friends again…”
‘All My Friends’, LCD Soundsystem