WAZA
Our Ideal Summer
A. Brown, N. Topping Issue 2
Summer Playlist By Our Contributors Summer time high time-Cuco (feat. J-Kwe$t) Summer time in Paris- Jaden (feat. Willow) All over- CRUISR Let’s do it again- J Boog Paint me silver- Pond OutRight- Wild Party Time to Pretend- MGMT We are Young- Fun. (feat. Janelle Monae) American Teen- Khalid Rose Golden- Kid Cudi (feat. Willow) Dancing Queen- ABBA So Am I- Ava Max Cold cold man - Saint Motel
技；わざ; WAZA- technique; art; skill; move In light of the global pandemic, many teens are left wondering if they will be able to have the summer they have dreamed about throughout the school year. We asked teens around the world what their ideal summer would be if there were no restrictions. This is what they told us:
Maria: photos on page 23, 30 Mia: photos on page 14 Pinkie: writing on pages 10-11 Nina: photo of firework on page 29 Alek: photo on page 31 Nat: photo on page 31 Melissa: photos on page 15,18,31 and writing on page 18 Miyu: photos on page 15 Harper: photo on pages 7, 12-13 and writing on page 8 Seeun: writing and photos on pages 16-17 Nicole: writing on page 24-25 Akala: photos on pages 10-11, 15, 22, 26-27, 28-29, 30 and writing on pages 26-27, 29 Noe: photos on pages 4-5, 6, 8-9, 19, 20-21, 31 and writing on pages 4, 6
To those days in early June when it feels like fall but it tastes like summer.
Summer is when the train doors open and it feels like diving into the ocean.
Summer in New York is different in each borough and for each person. It’s the sound of the Mr. Softie truck driving by and of skateboarders whizzing by. Summer is the hour-long ride to Rockaway Beach in the hot A-train subway car and riding the subway back home in wet bathing suits after the sun has set. Summer in New York is a breath of fresh, hot, and humid air.
Summer in Nichida Summer in Nichada is quite ordinary yet one of the best places you could be. With living one short golf cart drive away from your best friends and having not only a pool but a 7-11 and a villa at you’re service within the safe bubble of Nichada.
My favourite summer ever consisted of being at the pool every day, skating for the first time, and trying to stay up for 24 hours, which might I add, was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
Being able to go out at any time of the day, including my midnight runs around the beautiful lake, was one of the many somewhat healthy habits, I developed over the summer. Singing my heart out to the most iconic summer ‘19 songs and spending at least 3 hours at the pool trying to do a front flip and ultimately belly-flopping is one of the best memories held in Nichada.
Of course, I say this to myself every summer but ultimately my summer goal would be being productive. Whether it be spending time with my best friends at our beloved Nichada pool, or reviving my midnight runs in preparation for cross country season, I hope to make the most out of my quarantined summer. This summer has practically been canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19 but one can still keep wishing for the best! Although this summer may be packed with studying for standardized testing and mentally preparing ourselves for the hell wrath of the IB, I still plan to make the most out of summer and kick corona in the butt.
Mia’s summer on the island
Summer. We think seaside, sunshine, blue skies, palm trees, bikinis, cherry colas... but is that all? We often are so engulfed by those sunny days, that we forget the existence of rain. Three years ago, I wanted to spend summer on islands, dipping my feet in the shore. I disliked rain and clouds, as it brought me an aura of sadness. But soon, I realized something. Rain is beautiful. Rain is joy. Rain is euphoric. As much as I want my summer ‘20 to be sunny, I want some days to be rainy. Tiptoeing down the stairs to avoid slipping, walking with my socks soaked in water, feeling my sweating palms clutching my $3 umbrella, though aggravating at times, it becomes a memory. So, I’ll welcome the rain this summer. I won’t frown at it. I will make it a memory, like the ones in the city of Vladivostok. Seeun
To be frank, if I was asked: “What would your ideal summer look like?“ a year ago, with no hesitation, I would be thinking of traveling around Europe, enjoying a freshly baked baguette at a fancy bakery in France and gobbling down truffle-cream filled ravioli in Italy. The global pandemic has taken away my summer fantasies but it has allowed me to reflect on my past summers. The enduring memories and emotions that lie in my past summers all merged in one is my ideal summer.
Summer is: 1. People at camp coming up to me and saying, “You're from Japan? No way! Why is your English so good?“ 2. Bawling my eyes out alone in my dorm room because I am homesick 3. Bawling my eyes out at the end of camp because I'm unsure when the next time will be when I see my camp friends 4. The man working at the CVS cash register about to lose his patience because I cannot differentiate between a nickel and a penny 5. Getting blisters on my feet because it is impossible to walk normally when there are hair clumps everywhere on the floors of the dorm showers 6. When I am introduced as the “Japanese girl“ when meeting new people in Taiwan 7. Completing my goal of eating all my favorite foods in Taiwan in the span of a week: 珍珠奶茶，小籠包，雞肉飯，小菜，蝦肉餛飩乾拌，金 沙包，蔥油餅，牛肉麵
8. Picking my outfit for the first day of school on the last day of summer break (this one's a classic)
e A Tr v L
Lake Tahoe, CA
SummerinVietnam
Hoi An, Vietnam
CROATIA
Pool of Memories
By Nicole Fuji
I would always wonder which summer I’d finally be able to touch the bottom of the pool while being able to breathe with my head out of the water. The Hawaii Peninsula Pool held frozen memories, fragments of first times everywhere I looked. The first time I put my head under the burning water of the jacuzzi—a small terror, but a lesson of overcoming fear was learned—and the first time where I made friends that were boys, a previously frightening experience. The first feeling of biting into a frozen grape—a legal, yet villainous-feeling crime—and experiencing the repercussive pain and sweetness of the fruit that came after. It was a recollection of better times where the worries that consumed me correlated to finding the torpedo at the bottom of the pool, or who would win the next blindfolded watermelon game that summer. I remember the day where I could no longer fit into my floaties, recognizing that I deserved the title of a ’big girl,’ wanting to show just about everyone at the pool how I’d grown up. I’d get scared when the sky, as well as the water, turned mysterious and we’d still play mermaid, but I could never tell the older girls that. I would linger next to the lights and close my eyes while the water streamed past my body until I broke through the surface of tiny, rippling waves. I was challenging myself to hold my breath until I reached the other side and not stopping until I had done so. I felt a sense of belonging, not knowing that I would lose my friends, the parties, and the years of my youth. Isolated by the black gates of the neighborhood, I didn’t experience the hurt of the world. All I experienced were Gogurts by the deck, the rainbow Jello—my mom’s treat—and the one year, I decided that I would no longer swim, but tan and read a magazine. But I would always go back to swimming in the pool. Swimming until my fingers pruned up, and even the other parents had to tell me to get out because I hadn’t listened to mine. The blow of the wind continually feeling like the calm before the storm that never came, and the flutter of loose clothing that followed the wind. Just outside the pool, in the long field where we’d make up cheers, and my hair would blow just like a movie star’s, we would watch the boat parade, lights twinkling in the black water, and wave and dance with the people on the floats going by. The music was happy, the sky was happy, and I was happy. All of the countless moments were captured in this one place: a place that will always feel like home to me.
When the sun sets, the ocean seeps back out. We sit on the grass, We watch the sky change purple, blue, orange, pink and yellow. Our hair wet with salt. Sand resting in between our toes. We sit and we watch. We admire. Our beach, our sky, our sun. On our summer night.
My best friend and I love to skate together. We put on our best skate outfits, and we pack our skateboards into the back of our golf cart and head to n1. We like it there because the ground is smooth and it hurts less when we fall. On my first day skating, I attempted an ollie. I took a great fall into concrete and received my first skate battle scar, which I am very proud of, but has also made me a little scared. I plan on investing in skate knee and elbow pads which my friends and I laugh about.
During summer is when we first started skating, we’d wake up at 9 am and drive to n1 and practice for hours on end. It’s too hot during the afternoon and since we’re not boys we can’t skate with our shirts off. It takes a long time for me to land my ollie. I can’t slide. I can’t pop. I practice the steps over and over again. I land a low ollie and rattle with excitement. My very first ollie! Low, but it still classifies as an ollie. But every day, I practice, trying to gain more and more airtime.
Skate culture is much different from any other. You can skate anywhere (Pink and I have a mission to skate at Central one day). You can develop friendships over skating, as Pink and I have. It’s a special friendship you build, as you watch each other succeed but also fall and fail.
It’s a time where we can forget about everything else and just skate endlessly, laughing and chatting. I’ve also connected my love for skateboarding with film. These photos are photos I’ve taken when I skate with my friends. It’s an art and my friends inspire me every day to keep practicing my tricks so that one day I can possibly be as good as them. I also love to capture the steezy moments of skateboarding. An iconic skate movie, mid90s has influenced me as an amateur skater.
It’s one of the reasons why I love skating. Sometimes skateboarding can come with a negative connotation. Skateboarders can be seen as careless and rebellious when they are actually very independent, determined, and creative. Now, skateboarders are seen as extremely cool and have had major influences in pop and teen culture.
Skate is perceived stereotypically as an activity mainly for boys, and here not many girls skate. Pink and I were very shy to start skating at first, but now we have cultivated friendships with mates who accept us and help us improve on our skating. But over time, and as society is changing, more and more girls are now being accepted into the culture. Many girls are big skate icons and inspirations to us aspiring ones. For example, the movie Skate Kitchen has influenced many girls to build up their courage and passion to start. So this summer, we will continue to drive to n1 and skate and practice to be as good as the skaters surrounding us.
Submit your art and writing to... tokyonfilm on Instagram