new friends

today we had snow in Tokyo. someone even dared to say that I am carrying along Lille's weather with me. however, it started in the morning, and when I arrived in Tsukuba it was snowing flat. it continued until late afternoon, and on my way back I could see the countryside covered in thin snow.

I am getting to know better and better mr. Yamada, the thin man at the lobby. he is always very helpful and understanding. yesterday he found for me a shoe-repair booth in Shibuya, where I could have my shoe heel fixed for free. we two have some long chats whenever I come back from work. he is starting to lend me that missing family feeling, like of an old nanny waiting for me at home.

today in Tsukuba I met with several friends from Italy and elsewhere. I also spoke with Enrico, or ET (not the one from Spielberg's movie), who just moved to Japan on a 5-year contract. he is on leave from his university in Rome, and he told me he would consider staying in Japan for good... well, based only on his new salary, I would totally agree with him, if it were not for other perks he got together with his new position in Tsukuba. he asked to compare with France. I said it's not bad, despite the salary (yet better than what a scientist makes in Italy), and in France life is certainly lighter ... I wouldn't say "easier", since in Japan life can be especially easy, provided you have a 5-digit salary.

then, on my way to the JR station this evening, I had a long chat with Heinrich R., we took the train together and we kept chatting until he got off the train, at Minami. Heinrich R. got the Nobel Prize in physics in 1986 for the invention of the scanning tunnelling microscope (obviously he would have never got the Nobel prize in fashion, given his odd matching of socks and shoes). that's already the third Nobel prize winner in physics I know, there must be something...
anyway, we talked mostly about the strangeness of the season and the snow, and the fact that in Europe we had had so much snow everywhere this year. he even tried some vague comment about the global climate change, suggesting that there is yet much to be learned, on which I agree substantially. however, we didn't talk at all about physics. he said that he had warned his japanese guests to keep undercover his coming to Tsukuba, otherwise he would have been dragged everywhere to give more talks, seminars, lectures etc. he said since 1986, he gave about 200 talks in Japan only. I swore by my books I wouldn't have told nobody that I saw him on the train, that's why I am putting only his initials here :) and he told me "I have already said all I had to say". overall, I got the impression he was really tired of the whole thing. that's the downside of getting a Nobel prize. what else can you do after?

finally, late at night, I discovered this nice bookstore in Ebisu, run by Steve, a new-yorker who came here about 15 years ago. he worked for a law firm, initially, but at some point he felt he couldn't take it anymore, so he started some other activity. and he opened the bookstore in Ebisu, where to keep in business he also gives courses in english language, writing, translations etc. we discovered some common passion, as far as music and poets and writers are concerned. he told me he has a japanese wife, and that he had been married before while in the US. he said to me: "I have not been the model husband", to which I replied: "So we make two". and he continued "but my new wife puts it up with me, and that's ok". he said life as a foreigner in Japan is much better than as a japanese in Japan. I told him it's probably true anywhere in the world. well yes, we agreed, with some exceptions obviously. then he poured me a good shot of whisky, which was badly needed. he said he hoped I would stay longer in Tokyo for the next events at his bookstore (he's organizing a café litteraire with guests, from time to time), I said I'd hope too myself, but things are just what they are, stay with the flow and be zen. as I wrote to another friend in a mail yesterday, life is what happens while you are busy making other plans (John Lennon dixit).

highlight of the day: I have already said all I had to say.