Occupation:
Writer, literary review editor
Time in Japan:
Nineteen Years
What do you do
here?
I quit my job as an assistant language teacher (ALT) for Abiko Board of Education in March
this year. I was a junior high school teacher for five years. I was probably the oldest
ALT in Japan! I work four hours a week for Time Life TLES teaching English at Cannon
Toride. My boyfriend, HCE-Here Comes Everybody-looks after me. The deal was that I go into
hibernation and only write. I publish the Abiko Quarterly with James Joyce Finnegans Wake
Studies. I am crippled now because my printer is in a shop for repair. It doesn' look
good. I may have to buy a new laser printer.
Where are you from?
I am from Carberry, Manitoba, Canada. I left Canada when I was 21 and went to Hawaii. I
became an American citizen, so now I have two passports, one Canadian, and one American. I
am looking for a paper marriage for a ton of money to some Japanese who wants to go to
Canada and the United States.
What brought you to Japan and how long have you been here?
I first came to Kobe in 1979 with my ex-husband who was a Coast Guard officer. He was
transferred back to Hawaii and I wanted to remain in Japan so I ran away from home after
getting a teaching job in Kashiwa, Chiba. He divorced me in my absence. I wanted to study
Japanese more.
Are you planning to stay?
I am planning to stay until I can work no longer. Then I will retire to Manitoba near
Clear Lake in a cottage on the lake beach.
Tell us about your commute to work.
I have a small commute from Abiko to Toride. I listen to Dante which I have as a recorded
book. Moby Dick will be the next recorded book I listen to. I am into recorded books these
days.
What do you like about Japan most? I like the money to be had in Japan. I make more money in four hours a week here than
I could make in Manitoba in a whole week. I can be who I am in Japan. Foreigners have a
lot of freedom here. I love the Japanese people and the Japanese language but am not much
interested in the culture. I think it is irreligious that they charge people to enter
their temples which would be better as places of worship than as tourist traps.
What do you dislike about Japan most?
I find it dreary, excepting Kyoto and Nara which I love. I hate it when I have to walk in
spit on the platforms and stairs in Japan. I don't mind men peeing on the street, but
spitting is something I can't stand.
Do you organize your CDs alphabetically?
No way!
What's the weirdest think you've ever seen or experienced in Japan?
The other day I went to a tea ceremony and was handed cups which guests had drunk from. It
was disgusting to see the remains of the frothed-up tea which looked like spit. The tea
ceremony is supposed to make the mind serene. Looking at the tea remains made me agitated.
By the way, I have a story, "Enlightenment with Tea", published in Broken
Bridge, fiction from expatriate writers in literary Japan. I use the name Kate the Slops
which I stole from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. I have yet to hear anything written about
it. I think the pen-name turns reviewers off. It's a good name! It suits one part of me. I
have numerous pen names.
What do you eat for breakfast?
Seven Grain Cereal.
If you could take one thing back from Japan to your native country, what would it be?
It would definitely be a kotatsu which I can use in Canada to keep snug and warm as I
write.
Do you have a favorite place to eat or drink in Tokyo? No, I am somewhat of a recluse these days. I never go out unless I have to. I don't
like leaving my cat, Yuugao. We are very attached.
Where would you like to be when the big one hits? Asleep in bed with my helmet on. I think we are safe in Abiko if there is a big one.
Or at least that's what we think every time a small one comes. I always tell myself we are
safe in Abiko.
You have to spend the rest of your life trapped on the Yamanote line. You're allowed to
take one book, one CD and one luxury item. What would they be? I'd like to take my futon and spread it on the seat and sleep well while everyone else
sleeps on each other's shoulders or stand. I actually don't need a luxury item. If it
weren't for my possessions, I would only need a small kitchen to live in.
For more information about the Abiko Quarterly, write to 8-1-8 Namiki, Abiko-shi,
Chiba-ken 270-1165. Tel: 0471-84-7904, email alp@db3.so-net.or.jp
Occupation:
LIFE IN JAPAN: