And the things I won’t carry
For someone who came here with so much stuff, I think I’m going to be leaving with a lot less, including what I sent home. I won’t be taking DVDs, books, chopsticks, CDs, some winter clothes, the big black towel I used in the beginning, and all the clothes I never wore. Those are in boxes somewhere on a boat, lazily floating their way back to my house in Florida. I wonder if they will arrive before or after I get there.
My pink seat cushion that I bought when I first got to Japan because I knew I’d be sitting on the tatami mats in my room and the floor is always better with a cushion. What use will I have for it in America where chairs are common and tatami is nonexistent? Besides, it’s probably infected with tatami mites.
The two small tables, pink with white polka dots as my nightstand and green with white polka dots as my computer desk, I bought along with my cushion will stay in Japan. They’re cute, but I don’t need mini-sized tables.
The free postcards I collected and decorated my room with. The aquarium ticket stub, movie tickets, Tokyo Banana box, receipts, Disneyland brochures, Nishinomiya and Osaka maps, restaurant business cards, wrapping paper, and bags I saved that only take up space.
My pink slippers from my sister (is everything I own pink?). I’ve worn them all over my dirty apartment and even outside when I take the garbage out or hang my clothes on the balcony where the air conditioner has leaked some brown gunk all over the ground. The white bottoms are now gray, the pink is starting to turn gray as well, and just the other night I noticed one of the seams has popped. Along with my slippers, I will also be saying goodbye to my black chunky Mary Jane shoes I bought for $10 at TJ Maxx because the insides are destroyed and they’ve seen their day. They’re too big for me anyway. The only way they actually fit is if I wear double socks.
My clothes have been ruined by Japan. The washing machine only uses cold water and there’s no dryer and they’re in terrible shape. I’ll be throwing tons of them into black garbage bags to be picked up one Monday or Thursday morning when the garbage truck comes around here. My work pants are too big to even wear now, but I refuse to buy new ones at so late in the game. All the work pants I brought over here will not be making the return trip. My work shirts will be left here too, along with the old, faded, yellowed armpit, and just plain ugly clothes that I don’t know what I was thinking about when I bought them. I’ve already started on a garbage bag and it’s already full. Old socks, undies, and bras are also going. They’re too big, too old, too worn to cross the Atlantic Ocean only to be thrown out.
The ugly Japanese picture frame Mariko Tosa one of my housewife students gave me as a goodbye present.
The futon I have been sleeping on. No need to explain.
The Rainbow Brite sheets from when I was a kid that I had my dad send over. I will never sleep in a twin sized bed again.
The DVD player sent from home that broke I think when Jessica tried to play her Aussie DVDs in it. My laundry basket. Tupperware, straw baskets stolen from Elizabeth, the Snoopy dish towel, the small black umbrella I brought, shampoo, the extra towels, the straightening piece of my hair dryer, the pink Snoopy hand towel I carry everywhere with me, the pink wool gloves that I’ve worn all winter, and the Hello Kitty Happy Birthday banner.
This stuff will make my bags lighter, and when I go home, it’ll be like starting over.
My pink seat cushion that I bought when I first got to Japan because I knew I’d be sitting on the tatami mats in my room and the floor is always better with a cushion. What use will I have for it in America where chairs are common and tatami is nonexistent? Besides, it’s probably infected with tatami mites.
The two small tables, pink with white polka dots as my nightstand and green with white polka dots as my computer desk, I bought along with my cushion will stay in Japan. They’re cute, but I don’t need mini-sized tables.
The free postcards I collected and decorated my room with. The aquarium ticket stub, movie tickets, Tokyo Banana box, receipts, Disneyland brochures, Nishinomiya and Osaka maps, restaurant business cards, wrapping paper, and bags I saved that only take up space.
My pink slippers from my sister (is everything I own pink?). I’ve worn them all over my dirty apartment and even outside when I take the garbage out or hang my clothes on the balcony where the air conditioner has leaked some brown gunk all over the ground. The white bottoms are now gray, the pink is starting to turn gray as well, and just the other night I noticed one of the seams has popped. Along with my slippers, I will also be saying goodbye to my black chunky Mary Jane shoes I bought for $10 at TJ Maxx because the insides are destroyed and they’ve seen their day. They’re too big for me anyway. The only way they actually fit is if I wear double socks.
My clothes have been ruined by Japan. The washing machine only uses cold water and there’s no dryer and they’re in terrible shape. I’ll be throwing tons of them into black garbage bags to be picked up one Monday or Thursday morning when the garbage truck comes around here. My work pants are too big to even wear now, but I refuse to buy new ones at so late in the game. All the work pants I brought over here will not be making the return trip. My work shirts will be left here too, along with the old, faded, yellowed armpit, and just plain ugly clothes that I don’t know what I was thinking about when I bought them. I’ve already started on a garbage bag and it’s already full. Old socks, undies, and bras are also going. They’re too big, too old, too worn to cross the Atlantic Ocean only to be thrown out.
The ugly Japanese picture frame Mariko Tosa one of my housewife students gave me as a goodbye present.
The futon I have been sleeping on. No need to explain.
The Rainbow Brite sheets from when I was a kid that I had my dad send over. I will never sleep in a twin sized bed again.
The DVD player sent from home that broke I think when Jessica tried to play her Aussie DVDs in it. My laundry basket. Tupperware, straw baskets stolen from Elizabeth, the Snoopy dish towel, the small black umbrella I brought, shampoo, the extra towels, the straightening piece of my hair dryer, the pink Snoopy hand towel I carry everywhere with me, the pink wool gloves that I’ve worn all winter, and the Hello Kitty Happy Birthday banner.
This stuff will make my bags lighter, and when I go home, it’ll be like starting over.