I am twenty one and want nothing more than this trip to Japan. Escorted to a teacher's flat at Chigasaki, I stay overnight while details of my homestay are finalized.

in transit
empty closet and cupboards
—stillness of the tatami room

Ayako, a bright eyed bushy tailed eleven year old girl guides me to my homestay. I tag behind her lugging a heavy suitcase on and off buses as she chatters on in Japanese. When we arrive at my new home on the coast, I am given a room on the top floor with a desk by the window, a slide window, and a very large cupboard. During my stay there, I will often open this window to an incoming sea breeze, and to the sounds of Japan, my new home.