Encounters
Hiraizumi As a young girl I tried to squeeze meaning out of a life that seemed peaceful, but empty and boring most of the time. I used to ask my grandmother to tell me stories about myself when I was even younger —a sheltered, uneventful, self-referential life. As a school kid I realized that one can paint meaning onto life: cartoons, history books, new stories. I could be not only Actarus longing for his life on Vega, but also Schliemann discovering Troy, Konrad Lorentz having new ducklings imprint on him. I am now looking at the Sendai skylight — out of the windows of room 507 of the International House Sanjo 2. A lot of blinking red lights on high-rise buildings. Almost too much meaning to take in. Picture by Jeroen Where does meaning come from? I dare say from 'encounters'. Not only the ones with friends I will keep for life. Think of the cashier when you handover a 10.000 yen bill. If you give a 100 euro bill to a Dutch cashier, if they accept ...