Japan journal # 1
Well Gang
Here is the start of my reports not so much romantic to tell but it is more what I did and my observations. I am writing it down for myself first and then cutting and pasting.
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The Japan experience 1/20 - 2/11/03 - - - Memoirs of a gajin
--- Eric Smeenk
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Introduction / Background Info --
A few years ago when I reached 33/34 years old, I started realizing that I was not getting any
younger and that it was time to think about finding a companion for my life. Previously up
until that point I was just the nomadic sort and I would move around to different parts of the
country every 1 1/2 - 2 years or so. For the most part I was too involved with my career
development and sort of shy .... Aww! I grew up in Rochester NY which has
very few Asians in that city. Actually most of the Cities / locations where I lived prior to living
in Boston gave me very little access to Asians and Asian culture. So Asians weren’t even on
the radar screen for me at all prior to say 1996.
Rochester, however has a large population of Italians and I told my mother when I was 5 that I
wanted to marry a nice Italian girl so she could cook me spaghetti. But now I am a chef and
I can actually manage to cook on my own ha ha ha. But maybe I am genetically or
environmentally programmed to be attracted to Brown /
Black hair and eyes. I have never had much interest in any blondes or red heads in general.
Rebellion against my Dutch heritage of blonde hair blue eyes possibly, but as Popeye say’s ... I
yams whats I yams.
So in 1996 I moved to Boston with some friends. It was there that I was really exposed to the
melting pot of society. I had the opportunity to interact with and work with some Asians and
Chinatown was near by for a quick bite when I needed a fix. I rode the Subways to work and
I started noticing the Asian girls and I thought Hey they are pretty Cute and they have
Brown / Black eyes and hair too. So slowly I began to realize that Asians might be a good
match for me.
Then In 1998 I bought my computer and I plugged into the Internet and my whole world
opened up for me. Being a poor chef and shy, locked up in the pastry Shop without too
much interaction with others was not so conducive to dating. I searched the matchmaking
databases for Asians in America --- Boston, Portland,
Rochester for example but it is slim pickings I found out, unless you are in LA, San Fran, or
NYC to find any American Asians. I had one date in Boston with a pinay who just
transplanted from Seattle. But I did have some nice dates with white women that I met through
the net in Boston though.
I did however start to investigate the international penpal board on AOL. Most of the
participants are Japanese women compared to other Asian nationalities. So I started to
converse with a few and I even met and visited a Japanese girl in San Fran for 10 days. I
have also had the opportunity to work with 4 - 5 Japanese female coworkers and I have
been very impressed with what I've seen and from their personalities too. As my pareents are
dutch I feel I was raised half European and half American so I have always felt a little bit
outside of the normal society. my interactions with the Japanese women so far is leading
me to believe that I will find a japanese woman who will be a better match for me than
an american woman I think. So I suppose many factors have lead me down the road to
pursuing a Japanese romance hopefully in the future.
So for the last year after I made up my mind to visit Japan. I have been building up some good
Internet relationships with friends in Japan. I have been reading books and researching the
culture. I even took a Japanese Class at the local college to help prepare myself. a Of course it
was also necessary to save up the money for the trip too. But I am happy to report that I
had an excellent trip and actually everyone I met on this trip was from the Internet. So while
you may hear some horror stories I have had nothing but good luck on the Internet so far.
Now let the Stories Begin .....
