I created this piece called “Chuo Line” after probably my 5th time getting lost on the train in the past 4 weeks. The sketch portion is inspired by the steps in my daily commute, including the many flights of stairs, escalators, bikers zooming by, and trains of varying levels of crowdedness. The footage it superimposes is from my trip west of the greater Tokyo area towards the mountains. The outline is made of collaged photos of my commuter pass, which is the same as the one many people here have that is programmed to go the same route daily. I was surprised to see on my adventure that many people were commuting that far (two hours from the city through the mountains and everything) to get to either school or work. So this piece represents a journey outside of my usual route, and into theirs.
Make sure to check out the Education abroad site, to see how my classmates are learning to dance with homesickness in Japan and in many other countries this semester.