The mall may be dead in America* but it is very much alive here in Akita, Japan. We needed to buy a humidifier for Jonas, who can’t seem to shake his cough, so we decided to make an afternoon of it and drove to Aeon, our local (and as far as I know, only) shopping mall. It seemed as though all of Akita was there. This was one bustling mall, and it reminded me of my early teenage years, where many a weekend was spent loitering at the mall and playing video games, first at WhiteLakes and later, at Westridge (which sucked the life, the customers and the Orange Julius out of WhiteLakes, turning it into the ghost mall, and later, a government office building).
I spent many a yen trying to win Jonas a Miffy.
Jonas wasn’t the only one to get a present. Tricia bought me a man purse that latches onto my belt loop, pictured below. I’d seen many a Japanese hipster wearing these, and I have wanted one of my own ever since. This is definitely a trend I’m exporting to the US. This was my Father's Day gift, Tricia informed me, as last Father's Day fell on my birthday, allowing me to join all the December-birthday whiners who bellyache about getting cheated out of their special day. Tricia finally made amends, and I'm glad she waited.
Saturday, our day at the mall, was sunny and beautiful. We should have gone Sunday, which was rainy, and later, snowy. So Jonas played in an indoor play area, and we watched a movie later in the day (Jonas watched some, and then got up and played some more).
* I was once falsely accused by a teacher of skipping school to attend a mall opening, the celebrity marshal of which was none other than Vanna White. I was in seventh grade, and was sick the day Westridge opened, yet my gym teacher figured I must have ditched school to eat Sbarro pizza and rub elbows with Vanna – which, I certainly would have done, had I not been sick. The rest of the year, that gym teacher referred to me as Vanna.
Of course, the new mall also proved to be the death knell for the old one, WhiteLakes, the real and true mall of my youth. Years later, I went to WhiteLakes just to see what was what -- and I swear I am not making this up -- the only shops still open were the Footlocker, an Orange Julius, a men’s clothing store and a jewelry store. Employees from all four were lounging on couches watching TV in the middle of the mall, and when they saw me, they all scrambled to their respective posts.
In our very own hometown (actually, the swank area of Mission, where the very rich like George Brett and Tom Watson live) the city demolished the Mission Mall (which was certainly dated, but perfectly fine) and were in the process of building, right on top of the old mall, a new outdoor mall – or as they’re known these days, a Lifestyle Center. This, to me, seemed like a bizarre waste of money and resources, although it’s apparently a trend that has been spreading like a weed throughout America for some time now, like poor people voting Republican. I can’t wait for this trend to go the way of the Mall, and I expect in another 10 years, they’ll tear all of them down and replace them with even newer Lifestyle Centers, but with roofs.
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This afternoon at the grocery store, I noticed, for the first time, a new item in the seafood section: a turtle. I wasn't the only one surprised by this. The turtle (there was only one) was wrapped in a red mesh bag, and it wasn't entirely clear what it was. This guy next to me poked it a few times, laughed, and then moved on. So I poked it, too. What I poked was its shell, and upon being poked, its little legs wiggled. I considered buying it and setting it free, or taking it home as a pet, but it was nearly $40. We're on a budget, afterall.
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As I mentioned, it snowed today. I would comment about the weather, but this fellow JET teacher has already done so in a post about the cold weather, and he said it better than I could.
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The highlight of the mall, for me, was watching these dudes rock out in the arcade. Notice, they are not individuals playing Guitar Freaks (same as guitar hero), but they are all three playing the same song at the same time, including the drummer. And they were flawless. The other two videos are of Jonas dancing and crawling, his favorite activities.
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