Bringing up the topic of diaries the other day made me think about my shelf of diaries, written from when I was in 6th grade until I was in my mid-20s. So this morning, I reached up and pulled one down at random, to see what I was doing in February oh so many years ago. The one I opened was a little red volume that was started in July 1978 and ended in October 1979. I was living in Japan and was beginning to feel very stuck in a rut. There were very few foreigners in the town we lived in. I was feeling disconnected with the feminist movement that I had been so involved in before coming to Asia, and lonely for women, since I mostly taught groups of men.

The 2/6/79 entry that I transcribe below was a description of an outing that Nance & I took to Tokyo, to attend a feminist meeting.

Feb 6 - I had an interesting weekend - Nance & I rushed around to get in and out of Tokyo - the feminist meeting was different than I expected but a nice stimulation. We discussed what keeps Japanese women in their place - a rather fruitless talk, yet a way to glimpse how other women are living in Japan. I guess I was there mostly for being with foreign feminists, and there was little time to share personally. The atmosphere was chilly, due perhaps to it being a new group and perhaps to us being influenced by Japan. That's something I'd like to discuss. There's not much purpose to us being to esoteric - we should talk about things that happen to us. How Japan affects our lives, our opinions, etc. both for the better and the worse. Met some nice women. An extroverted Time/Life writer named Gretchen, a woman who writes for Mainichi newspaper, married to a Japanese, and a few others. We stayed with Anne and Tan Tip - who I liked very much. She is not like I expected; I guess I thought a Thai woman would be more "delicate" - she is powerfully centered and sends out warm energy. Anne is very stiff and dour in appearance but is similarly warm, and they make an interesting couple. We went to the public bath and had no more energy for hitting the town. Monday was a mess of trains and busses and mixed up schedules - we both had to cancel our class.

Feb 8 - Yesterday, a turning point in the winter - a fresh breeze of optimism from some crack in my consciousness. A busy day, which is what I hungrily crave - many busy days. Nance and I met two American women who came two weeks ago to work as hostesses. After a breathless exchange of info we flew off, in a euphoria of newness, of a chance for new activity - and we chewed over the possibilities together. And my inquiries into singing classes have led me to going tonight to hear a ki-yo-kyo-ku class with Lily, that dynamic dancer who I want to get to know so much. I came home to Yo-chan full of energy, jumping currents of power and excitement - and he can see my need for adventure.

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