When purchasing a souvenir an important part of the buying process is what you are going to do with it once you get it back home. Is it just for your collection? A gift for someone else? Are you going to display it? Or is it something you plan on using day to day?
In 2004 when I purchased an expensive silk kimono I planned on using it as a display piece, probably hang it on a wall. But I was a poor college student and couldn’t afford to frame it yet, so it sat in a box in my door room. I would put it on to take in how it looked or show it off to a friend, but that was about it.
While in the dorms I enjoyed all of the usual college dorm life. Making friends, listening to music together, and of course getting pranked by guys in our dorm. One favorite thing they liked to do was to crouch low to the ground around the corner of the showers to try to look up the girl’s shower robe. And unfortunately I had a short towel-like shower robe. I got sick of having to wear full clothes in and out of the showers, but couldn’t afford another robe.
That’s when it struck me…the kimono! It was long and so the guys wouldn’t be able to sneak a peak. However, water is not good for silk, but I had already spilt some water on the kimono. I had been devastated, but now I saw an opportunity. So I started wearing my Japanese kimono to the showers. And I still wore it even after the guys got tired of that particular prank.
It’s been 10 years since I’ve had the kimono, and I still use it daily as my shower robe. Some would be shocked that I would use an expensive kimono in such a manner, but I view it as I’m actually using my souvenir and getting a daily reminder of my time in Japan.
Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.
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