Japan

I have made 4 major moves in my life. When I was 17 I moved out of my family house in the suburbs of farmy south Jersey. I say farmy south Jersey because when people think of NJ they often think of the butt-hole of NY or The Sopranos. But South Jersey is different. One of my favorite memories as a child was going to farm for fresh churned ice-cream. The cows who produces the milk for the cream where mooooing and grazing and I might add stinking as we walked into the little farm store. We could buy fresh peaches or Jersey tomatoes or corn from the little stands on the side of the road behind the rows to corn or the little corner orchard. Not like the corner liquor store but a corner orchard store. One, Heals was the name of it right before you get into Burlington off of JFK way used to have the best pies during the holiday season. Everything was always fresh.

I moved from this suburb to an even more remote and farmy Lancaster County in Southeastern Pennsylvania to go to undergraduate school at Lincoln University. If we were ever able to get a ride from campus into town you knew your 10 minute drive through the back windy roads- that turned into a house where a witch was fabled to live- if you got caught behind the Amish horse and buggy that frequented the roads as much as the cars. I lived there for 4 years never changing dormitory's or floors only room numbers and room-mates. First it was Kia-I met her in junior high, then Dia-I met at Lincoln and finally Bev- I have known her all my life.

My next year of life was spent on the road traveling with Up With People. So I basically lived out of my suit-case. For 12 months starting in Tuscon, Arizona I went all over California, Montana, Idaho, the Southern states and then to Germany, Portugal, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Spain. I didn't really have a central address, I was a nomad I guess. So I don't know if that counts for moving. I moved every 3 days for 12 months.

Upon returning from Up With People I was at home for approximately 12 weeks before I knew I had outgrown the farmland of the ever changing Willingboro. But I was ready for the pace and style of a big city. So I moved 25 minutes south to Philadelphia. I remember my first night in our apartment on Pine street in West Philly my room-mate Erica and I were too afraid to sleep in our own room in our beautiful wood floored, 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment so we slept on two pallets side by side on the floor in the living room. We both wondered that night of all the sounds out of our window if we made the right decision. Even though Erica went to Temple she grew up in Ambler, PA which was even more grassy and suburban than Willingboro. While in Philly I moved around and learned the side and back streets of that city like the back of my hand. I went from West Philly which hosts the Ivey leauge University of Pennsylvania to the upper crust Chestnut Hill area of the city which is where one of the most prestigious prep schools in the city. Then to the Art Museum area where I was walking distance from the steps that Rocky made famous. My last stop in Philly was Spring Garden Street right down the street from my first apartment.

I left Philly for Los Angeles not knowing a thing about the city. I had only heard stories, 'don't be fooled by the palm trees, you could be in south centrals 'jungle' or "don't wear red or blue because you could get shot if you find yourself in the wrong part of town. And the projects in Los Angeles are not like the cracked out projects of Philadelphia." I also heard, "Oh Matt you are not a Barbie Doll and you just won't make it in that fake place" My first few months I only knew 3 streets and if I traveled anyway I needed to know where it was in proximity to Roberston, Sepulveda, or LaCienega. Soon I knew this city the famous 405 and its horrible traffic and also started to understand the 101, the 10 the 5, the 2, the 134 I mean really so many highways in one city???

And now Japan. At the end of the day, the players change only in race and/or ethnicity but it is another place. Beck who is also one of the BBB singers was our tour guide and we clung to her as I clung to Erica the first night in my first apartment, or my first night as a freshman at Lincoln. I couldn't possibly comprehend how I would ever in the whole 9 months of my contract ride the subway alone. I really can say I know the complex Tokyo system better than Philly's SEPTA or the subway system of NY. Well I can always go to the information booth at the station and ask, "I am going to Chelsea Studios on West 26th street which train do I take" and get directions. I guess my senses are more heightened I pay attention more, imprint things in my mind for later use more than in the US but even so vastly different Japan and the experience of moving here is filled with the exact same excitement, sense of unknowing and fear as anyplace. I suspect this is true anywhere in the world.