diamondshotgunkills:

Our lo-fi single “Dorian Gray” is now available on iTunes!

Click on the link to buy it.

HERE

Here are some sites about expat life/ nightclub life/ in some other cities / countries than you’re used to.

Know about the world.

SmartShanghai

TheLocalGermany

TheLocalSweden

Sorry guys, Karina and I have both been extremely busy this past week with finals and what not.

She has a break coming up this week, so expect more content then!

-Nayo

Recently, I have been researching a lot about third culture kids/trans-culture kids.(“Someone who, at a young age, spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture. TCKs tend to have more in common with one another, regardless of nationality, than they do with non-TCKs from their passport country”)

 While I don’t qualify as a TCK in the classical sense, I can identify with a lot of experiences, traits, and behaviors that are said to be common among TCKs. In general, a lot of TCKs are the children of diplomat-, business- or military families. They are forced to move from one country to another due to their parents’ occupations. My case is very different. Originally, I thought my experience of going on exchange to Japan for a year was what changed me, but the more I think about it, I feel it started much earlier than that.

I was born in Aix-la-Chapelle in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Even though, my parents were married, they hadn’t moved in with each other at the time I was born. Therefore, my mum and I were staying at my mum’s parents’ house for about a year and a half, while my dad was looking for a job and an apartment in Bavaria. After he had found both and prepared everything for my mum and I we all moved to Bavaria. It might seem strange, but I have conscious memories from the time I was four months old. I vividly remember having to leave my grandma and their house behind.

 The only reason my dad had moved to Bavaria was for his new job. It was always his dream to move back to Rhineland-Palatinate where he was from. He had promised my grandpa that he’d be back latest by 1995. Going to Kindergarten and elementary school in Bavaria, I made a lot of friends and soon considered it home. Naturally, I also picked up the typical accent. Whenever I talked to my parents in that way, they wouldn’t listen and got mad. They spoke regular German to me and forbid me form ever speaking in the Bavarian dialect. At school, everybody thought I was strange for not speaking like them. Whenever I got excited about some event in the local community, my dad ruined it by saying, “Häng dein Herz nicht an diesen Ort” (lit. “Don’t attach your heart to this place”). Since all of our relatives were living up north, we never spent Christmas, Easter, and New Years, etc. in Bavaria. Even during summer vacations we were never “home.” I envied my friends for being able to spend those times together.

Looking back at it, I know my parents were only trying to prepare me for moving away. They didn’t want me to be too attached to Bavaria since they thought it would make it more difficult for me to leave. I was, however, too young to understand that. 1995 came and passed and we never left. We moved from one apartment to another until my dad finally gave up on his dream and built a house in Bavaria in 2001. That’s when he also stopped telling me not to feel at home. I don’t know what made him change his mind (maybe he got attached?), but whatever it was, I didn’t share it. The “damage” was done; I didn’t feel at home in Bavaria. I had lived my whole life in the expectation of moving away; therefore I developed a strange longing to finally leave.

I think this was one of the reasons it was so easy for me to move to Japan. A lot of the exchange students that I met felt homesick after a while, but I just had this feeling that I was finally doing what I was supposed to do. I went to Japanese high school, learned Japanese, lived with a host family, and adjusted to life in Japan. After the exchange program ended, I moved back to Germany for a couple of months but soon decided to leave again. It’s hard to explain, but being in Germany just didn’t feel right anymore. Maybe it was some sort of reverse culture shock I would have overcome after being back for a while, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling of restlessness and wanting to leave.

I moved back to Japan, and got my own apartment in Tokyo. Since I wasn’t on exchange I couldn’t go back to Japanese school, therefore, I had to go to international high school in Yokohama for two years. A lot of the kids I met there were TCKs, or half- Japanese and half- something else. Even though, I still had a lot of Japanese-Japanese friends, more and more of my friends were half, had been abroad, or were foreigners that lived in Japan. After graduating form international school I went to Temple University Japan Campus where most people were like that as well as well.

Oh yeah, and then I moved to America after being in Japan for more than 4 years. That wasn’t necessarily planned but I know I would have left Japan, eventually. I might still go back there, just not right now. Here we go #3 on the list of continents I have lived on.

Back to the whole idea of third culture kids… I’ve been living in America for about eight months now. I actually like Orlando a lot. The weather is nice and we have Disney World! I think I pretty much got used to America by now, but I still don’t feel like the people here and I don’t think I will (or want to) in the future. While I made friends, I feel out of place a lot. Yet, going back to Germany for a couple of weeks per year, I feel out of place, too. I think the more you move around, the more you feel this way. I’m too German to be Japanese or American but too foreign to be German. I feel like I’m neither. It is easier to fit in in America than in other, more homogenous places. Yet, even though many people are originally from somewhere else, they are all American. Some people might perceive me as arrogant, or as acting as if I was “too good for this place” but that’s not it.

But you know what? I’m ok with being like that. I’m thankful I had the chance to see so many places, met many different people and take a part of those places with me. As I said in a previous post, I want to travel (and /or move) as long as I’m young. I don’t think Orlando will be the last place on my list of places I lived. I enjoy getting to know new places, people, languages, etc.

Actually, I do want to settle down somewhere in the future, though. I don’t know where yet, but I guess I’ll figure it out in the next couple of years. I just hate the feeling of being stuck in one place but I think as long as I’m able to travel a lot I will get over it as I get older, especially for my future kids sake. When I settle down somewhere, I still won’t be like other people that live there since part of me will always be from all the other places I’ve lived at. I would like for my kids to have experiences like that, but I don’t want them to have that feeling of restlessness I had growing up. I think the solution is having a stable place in the first 10(?) years while travelling a lot and then later on considering moving. 

-Karina

For The Lose,

The Disappointing Decline of Tatame

As a fan of what Tatame once was, I have to say that I am extremely saddened by what it has recently become. I used to love Tatame. Back when Maggie was the owner, I would go to Tatame at least once a week. I would celebrate birthdays with friends there, take dates there, or simply go there just to hang out. Apparently a lot of people felt the same way about it then because it was always crowded. One of my first memories of Tatame is people coming in and eying the long couch in the front of the restaurant to see who gets to sit on it next. Secondly, was their amazing chicken sandwich. Thirdly, was leaving once the Rollins kids showed up, usually on Tuesday nights.

Somewhere along the line, I disappeared to Japan, Maggie sold the place and disappeared to Hong Kong. Now after returning to Orlando my new memories and impressions of Tatame are that of an empty and neglected shell of something I once really loved. The place has shifted hands from one owner to another, with each owner understanding Tatame less and less. Horrible ideas such as a sports night, sake bombs, and even a slimming down of the boba tea menu have all been executed, in turn, executing what most people loved about Tatame and turning away most of the clientele that once supported it.

The events and consequently, the image of Tatame are currently under the control of a Miss. Star.  Although she tries, she just doesn’t understand the nature of the spot. This is evident by the events she decides to throw. It appears as if she were more concerned with making Tatame a place for her friends who happen to be into alternative hip-hop, misplaced art (although it’s really good), and djs who dj Joy Division and The Cure to come and hang out with her while she works. I’ve witnessed her on several occasions focus all of her attention to friends that responded to her invites and ignore or give extremely neglectful service to customers who came in to check out Tatame who were sure to leave disappointed and won’t return.

As previously mentioned, Tatame is being tossed from owner to owner who clearly do not understand the uniqueness of the brand that once was Tatame. Tatame used to be that cool faux Japanese sake lounge with Asian American flare. People would either go for the sake or the boba tea. You didn’t necessarily have to be interested in Asia to enjoy Tatame. The only reason why I bring up the whole Asian aspect of Tatame is because that was clearly its theme. People who didn’t even like Asian “stuff” would still come to Tatame because of its clear concept; i.e. theme, atmosphere, and ambiance. That was what set it apart from other places. Tatame was cool, hip, trendy, and fun without being pretentious. Sadly that concept seems to have been forgotten about.

It is clear to see that the powers that be who run Tatame are clearly grasping at straws as for what to do bring people back. The answer to bringing back people to Tatame is simple, cut the bullshit. The venue needs to stop trying to be too much of everything, the owners and event coordinator- Miss Star need to take a good hard look at the venue they have come into controlling. From the tsunami mural on the wall, to the florescent lights for the bathrooms, there are reminders of Tatame’s past still scattered throughout the building. Sadly, however these reminders have become simply absurd, as the place hosts events like sports nights, poorly executed live body painting nights, or is simply desolate due to the lack of customers.

*The sports nights mentioned were organized under the previous owners, however Miss Star has expressed an interest in continuing them.

I don’t know if it’s plan negligence, absurdity, ignorance, or business stupidity that leads the people in charge to think that Tatame should have tvs that play sports, should focus on Orlando’s hip-hop scene, add a menu that has way too many items, or cut back on boba tea. I’m lead to believe it’s ignorance; ignorance of the venues potential.

What Tatame needs now is a team who understands the concept that was Tatame or can create a new one. Tatame as a sports bar/ hip-hop lounge, acoustic live music house doesn’t make sense. I want to blame the new owners however, they just bought the place and run it in conjunction with their sushi restaurant elsewhere. It has become painfully obvious that it is Miss Star who doesn’t get it. She doesn’t understand that Orlando already has excellent sports bars and underground and mainstream Hip-Hop scenes that utilizes other venues. And while there are several  pan Asian restaurants, not too many places that offer boba tea in the way that Tatame did. She needs to either step down from her position as event coordinator, or mature enough to realize that just because you can invite your friends to your job that doesn’t mean that you need to neglect who is left of the core clientele and new potential customers with a shotty, poor excuse for a concept.

Open mike nights, Hip-Hop nights, TV screens that play How I Met Your Mother or NBA games, and random non-Asian art have nothing to do with a venue that calls itself TatameSushi  SakeLounge. Sushi and Sake lounge by nature implies that it’s Japanese or Asian themed. Oddly enough, it’s not. It just comes off looking trite, confused, and half assed.

So in conclusion, there are already other venues in Orlando that offer those things with a better, fully thought out concept. Tatame is not the place for that. They need to remember their past.

Currently, I would not recommend going to Tatame. I can’t stress this enough, do not go. If you’re a new customer you’re only going to be disappointed, if you’re someone who remembers it for what it was, you’re only going to be heartbroken.

Don’t waste your time, nor your money.

Here are some other spots that clearly do what Tatame is attempting to do, only better with solid concepts.

For Sushi and Pan Asian cuisine that’s done right and easy on the wallet check out

Sushiology

http://www.sushiology.net/

International Drive – 407 345 0245

Vineland – 407 239 4920

Dragonfly

http://www.dragonflysushi.com/orlando/

407 459 1892

Bentobox

http://www.bentocafesushi.com/

Sandlake -407 352 2277

Downtown - 407- 999 8989

For a good lounge spot with a rumored open mic night check out

Austin’s Coffee Shop

http://www.austinscoffee.com/

407 975 3364

If you’re not into open mic night yet still in the mood for something with an artisty décor check out

Café Tu Tu Tango

http://www.cafetututango.com/

407 248 2222

Graffiti Junktion

http://www.graffitijunktion.com/

Thornton Park – 407 426 9503

College Park – 407 377 1961

And for free amazing weekly Orlando hip-hop events check out the Vh1 sponsored

Lazy Afternoon Sundays

http://www.thelazyafternoon.com

407 312 4073

These places are all For The Win while sadly Tatame is For The Lose.

So I’ve recently started practicing djing. I’m partly teaching myself and partly learning from Nayo. I guess djing is something that you can’t really learn by simply having it explained to you. You just have to practice it. Also, I really have to start listening to my itunes more consciously to get to know my music better. I usually listen to music a lot, but never really listen listen lol 

We bought a Numark Mixtrack Pro for me to start off with. Hopefully in the future we’ll get something else, but I think for a beginner like me its not that bad :)

We had to get the decks exchanged twice because of technical difficulties, though. Numark’s customer service hotline wasn’t helpful at all. It said 8 minutes wait, but I ended up waiting 45 minutes just to find out that they couldn’t help me anyways. I shouldn’t be having that many problems with it in the fist place, especially since I got a pretty new Mac book pro to work with. The third ones finally worked!

I wish I had more time to spend doing things like djing. I’ve been so busy with school lately that that’s basically all I have time for. School work isn’t even challenging or interesting, either. Its just a lot of work for no particular reason at all. While I like studying, I wish I didn’t have to take gen ed classes. It would be awesome if all my classes were related to my major! There are so many things I would like learn (or improve) such as yoga, cooking, photography, French, etc. 

-Karina

Nayo’s band DiamondShotgun has released two EPs for free download on their website.

You can download and listen to them

HERE