The New Normal

Includes

• Dark stations
• Dark lobbies
• Cold stations
• Early closing department stores
• In Tokyo
• The king of consumerism
• No neon
• Dark stores
• No water in stores
• Elation at finding toilet paper
• My hayfever subsided
• Aftershocks that I would have called earthquakes before
• Seasickness
• Seismicsickness
• Seismicsickness subsiding
• Wanting to ride my bike to work
• Sometimes wearing a mask
• Talking about 'it', that day, the aftermath, the impact
• Blackouts
• But not in my area
• Having big care packages sent from the in-laws
• Sending care packages
• Drinking water even though it might be radioactive
• Should I be drinking the water?
• Watching hundreds of packets of spinach being thrown away
• Trains are strange
• Never wear heels just in case
• No adverts in Shibuya
• Or noise
• Or music
• Or unnecessary stuff
• Or excess ticket gates open
• Eating out more
• Stocking up on that preparedness pack
• Knowing what to put in it and how much
• I never really knew before
• I never really got it
• Feeling different
• Talking about it
• Not much milk
• Lots of spinach left on the shelves
• Even though it's not from Fukushima
• Keeping an eye on Fukushima
• Thinking about the long-term effects of Fukushima Power Plant
• Accepting daily inconveniences
• Getting on with it
• Same same but different