North America Guitar Tour
To Montreal
August 3-4, 2014
I left Methuen and passed through New Hampshire and Vermont before arriving at the Canadian border. The journey was very comfortable, but as the sun went down the temperature dropped and I woke up from the cold while sleeping in the car at a rest area, so I just drove to a gas station and warmed myself up with coffee. I felt bad watching the news that Japan was experiencing a heatwave.
The next day, while I was taking a toilet break at a rest area, a truck driver named L asked me if I was Japanese. When I answered yes, he asked me why I was driving a Korean car. Mr. L only drives Japanese cars except for the trucks he drives for work, so he seemed surprised that I, a Japanese person, was driving a Korean car. His accent was peculiar so I asked him where he was from and he said "Quebec." When I asked him if English was understood in Montreal, he said it was fine in the city.
Up until now, the most I saw were signs warning us to beware of deer, but as I went north, I started seeing signs warning us to beware of moose and bears. I wanted to see them, but I didn't want to encounter them, just like I did with the tornado in Oklahoma and the alligators in Tampa.
At a rest area just before the border, there was a colorful chair in the field. I didn't know if it was for actual use or just for decoration, but it looked like stylish art to me.
I was able to pass through the border with a simple exchange and by showing my passport and a document proving my return flight. The signs had changed from English to French, and the speed limit had changed from miles to kilometers. I had come to a foreign country, but now it felt like I am in an even more foreign country.
Following the directions of the navigation system (still in English), I somehow managed to get to a place that was holding an open mic and signed up, but the staff member there was not very friendly. I had six hours until the event started, so I asked if there were any cheap motels nearby, but they told me that there weren't any around here coldly. I had experienced the feeling of being out of place before the show started in Orlando and Kingsport, but this was a slightly different, condescending feeling. So I turned on my iPhone to try to find it using the app I had on it, but it was out of range. The navigation system worked until I got to the store, but the service itself was out of service when I crossed the border. At this point, I realized that the prepaid iPhone I was using was only available in the United States. To be honest, I was in a bit of a panic. Up until then, I had been relying on the navigation system to get around, so not being able to use it was like a kite with a broken string. I later heard that the navigation system itself gets information from a satellite, so once it is connected, it will maintain its connection even if the iPhone is out of range, but it will only connect to the satellite once the iPhone is connected to the Internet.
At this point, I decided to return to New York State via Toronto as soon as I finished playing in Montreal, and I killed time until the open mic started. Fortunately, I was able to borrow Wi-Fi in front of the Starbucks, so I searched for a midnight restaurant run by a Japanese person, and found a blog written several years ago with information about Japanese restaurants run by Japanese people. It said there were 4 or 5. I looked up each address on a map, and went to the address of the restaurant that was said to be the closest, but there was nothing like it. I gradually went further and further away, but in the end, the only restaurant I found was closed that day. It seems that Montreal does not welcome me. I had no choice but to go back to the original location and go into a restaurant I saw nearby that I thought would never have been run by a Japanese person, and it turned out to be run by a Hongkonger. However, the rice was just regular white rice and was reasonably Japanese, so I was able to fulfill my purpose of filling my stomach.
After the meal, I was sitting on the steps of a building diagonally opposite the open mic venue, stretching my fingers, when a young man approached me and asked for a cigarette. I was annoyed, so I immediately replied, "No." Just when I thought he would just leave, he started to complain about the song I was playing. When I asked him with a bit of irritation, "What's wrong with you?" he got a bit hesitant and started making excuses, saying, "No, it's not like that." He didn't seem like such a bad guy. I had a lot of time to kill anyway, so I forgot what it was about, but we talked a little. At the end, he asked me my name, and when I jokingly said "Hiroshima," he was seriously scared.
While we were talking, the open mic started, and after a few groups played, it was my turn. I played three songs without saying anything, and when I was about to leave the bar, the person in charge of the stage chased after me and asked, "There's an event this weekend, do you want to play?" I politely declined, and instead asked, "How do I get to Toronto?" I guess everyone uses a navigation system on a daily basis. They just point in the direction and Thinking about it, perhaps it's only natural that something like this would happen in a place where I have no connections or acquaintances, especially in a big city like Montreal. I've been too blessed up until now. Next time, I'll make connections with local people before coming here (this connection will come true later but I have never made it yet).
*People who appear in the text are written with their initials until I can confirm their identity.
Contents
Introduction
Until Departure
Seattle
To California
Day Off
Sunnyvale
To La
LA 2 Days
To Tucson
Albuquerque
To Colorado (beginning of Miracle)
Berthoud
Denver
to Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City 2 days
To Texas
San Antonio
Georgetown
Dallas
Houston 2 Days
Benton
Nashville (CAAS)
Roswell
Tampa 2 Days
Miami
Orland 2 Days
Myrtle Beach
Chapel Hill 3 Days
Kingsport
To Indiana
Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Festival
To Staten Island
Manhattan
Phillipsburg
Nazareth (Martin Guitar Factory)
To Massachusetts (end of Miracle)
Methuen
To Montreal
To Buffalo
Meadvill A Day Before
Meadvill Ghost Hotel
Detroit
Chicago
Minneapolice
Spin Off #1
Spin Off #2 "EU Tour IN 2008 / Until Departure
Czech 1
Czech 2
London
Liverpool
Chesham
To Germany
Lemgo
Ingolstadt
Bregenz
To Italy
Florence
The Last Gig
Going Home