moving house is always a huge deal for people, and the same goes for me as well. in my lifetime, the three biggest changes in location i've experienced were:
1) moving from california to japan in the summer of 1998,
2) transferring from northern hyogo prefecture to kobe in 2001, and...
3) the big jump from kobe to nagoya, spring 2005.
after spending four terrific years in kobe, i've relocated to aichi prefecture, which is located about halfway between osaka and tokyo.
packing my stuff and loading it all onto a truck was a logistical nightmare, especially because i chose to transfer it all without the help of a moving company. fortunately, i have great friends who helped me move for the price of a few beers and some good ol' korean-style BBQ.
on the positive tip, i now reside in a large-by-japanese-standards 3-bedroom apartment just on the outskirts of nagoya city. my neighbors seem to be young married couples along with their kids...of which most probably haven't heard of drum'n'bass or late-night DJ'ing. i've made a promise to myself to sound-proof my new studio as much as possible, although we'll see how long that keeps up!
nagoya is currently on of the fastest rising cities in japan. with a robust economy supported by toyota, nagoya is competing for bragging rights to "2nd largest city." because of this, there seems to be somewhat of a rivalry between nagoya and osaka (currently the second most populous city in this country). it's also home to WORLD EXPO 2005, which started just the other day and runs until september. attractions include a maglev railroad system, the well-preserved head of a woolly mammoth, and high-spec gadgets from around the world.
famous for its chicken wings, miso udon, and golden dragons perched atop a castle, nagoya so far is a drastic change from the rather small and peaceful harbor city of kobe. i haven't had much of a chance to scout out the local eateries and watering holes yet...i've also been told that nagoya is quite the mecca for japanese drum'n'bass.
plus if i get homesick, there's a new airport that runs direct flights to san francisco. kobe and osaka are a mere 2 hours by car, 1 hour by bullet.
as for the meantime, i'm enjoying the last few days of vacation before i buckle down and start working on the 1st of april.
more to come soon!!!