Fieldwork foreshadow

A big question hanging over my head before heading out is: How will I find these sites and public spaces?  Theodore C. Bestor writes about ‘Finding and Following Networks’ in Doing Fieldwork in Japan:

“My site eventually found me, but it took me quite a while to realize it….Christina Turner suggested I should ‘choose a network, not  a neighborhood.’  Her excellent advice was right on target: determine where my contacts are strongest and where introductions from existing contacts could be most effective, and go there; don’t try to find an ‘ideal’ place and then try to find a connection to it.  I realize now that networks choose me (or choose to accept me) much more than I can possibly select them.  The trick to fieldwork is figuring out how to harness networks that present themselves, as well as how to expand upon (and sometimes escape from) them.”

pg. 315