5:45pm HYH
We started yesterday by packing up, turning in sheets and keys, and having a little class. After class G and I hunted for my towel and through our lacking use of the Japanese language found it in the cafeteria. On the bus to Haneda Airport, then on a plane to Osaka. The plane ride was very short. It was too cloudy to see Mt. Fuji so I worked on homework. Back on the ground we boarded buses for Hagashiama Youth Hostel. Right away we sat down in the dining room to a great dinner with cream of corn soup, chicken nuggets (hot, not lukewarm), and grapes. The grapes were a real treat. We brought our luggage up the stairs (no elevator). My room on the fourth floor (ugh!) is a quad with bunk beds, a sink and mirror, a hot plate and TV. I'm on the top bunk right under the air conditioner. It's not very effective. We had a quick orientation session about curfew and meals. I took a bath in the tiny bathroom right after that. It had four showers and a little tub. I couldn't get the water in the shower hot enough, but the bath was great. It seemed a little grimier than the last two places we have been, but much more homy.
After the bath G convinced me to explore with him. We turned left out of the hostel and walked into "town". We passed tons of closed stores and restaurants. And decided this would be much more fun when things are open. After 20 minutes we turned around so we would be back in time for curfew. We got in around 10pm and went to sleep.
9:30pm
We did a whole lot today. After breakfast (yogurt and toast!) G and I again turned left out of the hostel. We turned left again and took an early morning walk through the "red light" district in search of a theater. We found one but it was Kabuki and nothing was playing this month. We continued West over the river and walked through the empty shopping streets. It was just after 9am so nothing was open yet. We did notice that people drive a lot faster here and somewhat more recklessly, probably because the streets are a lot less crowded than Tokyo.
We headed North and ended up at the Noji Castle. Admission was only Y600 so we went in. It was pretty crowded with tourists, mostly American and Australian. We went inside one of the main buildings and joined up with a group of older adult men on a tour. This was where the Shogun lived and the absolutely coolest thing about the building was the floorboards. They actually sounded like birds chirping when you walked on them. The guide said that why ninja always walk on the roof- to avoid the protective nightingale sound. There were also many beautiful paintings on every wall and sliding panel. They were all different subjects depending on what went on in the room they were in. We walked around the gardens for a while and noticed the huge fish in both of the two moats. The inner castle was also open for viewing, but we didn't want to pay the additional Y300 each.
After relaxing in the air-treated lounge we headed out. We immediately found a sword shop, and G almost immediately bought a Tokugowa sword (katana). The woman who sold it to him was very nice. After she warmed up to us she asked about New York, then asked if we were happy. She eventually got out the word honeymoon and we told her we were students. She was very impressed with our itinerary and more impressed with the Sword Museum information I showed her. When we left she walked us out the door and waved until we were down the block. Ichigo Ichie. Sigh.
We walked back South, again looking for a Noh theater. We didn't find it but we found a few shopping malls. We walked around for a while until we got really hungry. We stopped at a tiny Tempura place where we were quickly sat at the same table as two other Japanese people. We didn't talk to them because they didn't look like they wanted to talk. The meal was good- breaded and fried pork with rice, cabbage and potato salad with noodles instead of potatoes.
As we walked through the malls we came across a small girly store and I found a great t-shirt. It says SALAMANDER UNIVERSITY in USA. Later we found a movie theater and decided to see a Japanese movie. We walked to the third floor and bought Y1800 tickets for Red Shadow out of a vending machine. It was all in Japanese so we were a little worried about what we were doing. We handed the tickets to a ticket man who looked at them for a while, then ripped them and gave us the stubs. We followed everyone else into the only theater and took some seats. People stared, but we were ok. The only foreigners in the place.
I think the movie was very good. It was about a comical trio of ninjas fighting an evil shogun and some samurai. One of the trio died (the girl) and it got very sad very fast. Then there was another girl whose father or husband died and she fought with the remaining two ninjas. That's just about as much as I understood. Maybe when I get home I'll try to find a subtitled version.
We hurried back to be in time for a 5:00 dinner- but realized dinner isn't until 6pm. So we swapped suitcases to kill time. Dinner was pretty good- breaded fish fried, cream of potato soup (really good) and other things. Now I'm trying hard to study and get stuff done so I can wake up early and hear the temple bells chime first thing in the morning.
Monday, September 25, 2017
9/14/2001
1:00pm Bus to Hanida Airport
Wednesday was an unusual day. We had class in the morning and a little discussion about how we were going to proceed with the trip. We were told that grieving and fear is a natural process, but to continue on as normally as possible. The terrorists want America to change. We were all very tired, but we sat through class. When it was over, G and I went to Roppongi and ate at the Pot Pot- creat curry, rice and fried cream dough. Then we checked email and wrote home to tell everyone that we were okay. It was hard to write a coherent letter with all that was going on.
Then we went to some almond cookie store to buy gifts for Yuko and Prof. Winship. We walked to International House to give Yuko her gift and she was very grateful. She asked how we were doing and was very concerned about our group. We left and tried to find an English newspaper to take home- kind of just as a record that this is where we were when it happened. There weren't any left in English so we picked up a Japanese paper. As we looked through it on the subway home we saw that it had naked women on all the inside pages.
The subway was an experience all its own. The people on the subway usually just stare straight down. They day, I saw people obviously staring at us. We were the only westerners around. People either hid their newspapers from us or deliberately held up the pictures. We didn't know how to react to that. We were trying to act normally but with all these people staring at us we felt like we should look sad on purpose. I'm sure we naturally looked kinda bad since we'd been awake all night.
When we got back we went out to dinner along the road towards Romi. It was a really homy restaurant. The 'mama-son' walked downstairs to the picture menu to help us order. There was a little confusion about what we wanted, and we walked back upstairs without really knowing what we just ordered. Inside it was very unusually decorated. There were Indonesian masks and pictures all around. Huge paper lanterns hung low on the ceiling. We were the only ones in there for a while but soon a group and some salary-men came in. Mama-son asked "where from?" and when she found out we were from the US she said "aw" and hugged me. Then she told everyone in the restaurant and said "aw" and looked sad.
It was a really nice place. Mama-son sat and talked to people, smoked, and drank beer with tea in it. The tables were large and wooden, and G and I sat on the same side of it watching everyone. I felt like I was sitting in Mama-son's kitchen.
From there we walked to Romi for drinks. The bartender was the only person in there and he was watching a little portable TV/VCR/video camera. When we came in he took the TV over to the bar and turned it to an English translation of the news. We were really sick of the whole situation, but it was nice to hear English words telling the story. There were also interviews with people in New York and that was also interesting. We watched for maybe 45 minutes and left. We were really too drained to do anything else.
I woke up yesterday morning scrunched at the bottom of my bed. I don't remember if I had any dreams accompanying that situation, but I was there anyway. We packed up our stuff to change rooms, took our sheets with us. Luggage went into storage for the day and G and I took off for the Embassy. We were again conscious of people staring at us- but it wasn't so bad. We left around 8:30am so rush hour was in full swing.
6pm Bus to Kyoto
We were so goal driven that we didn't notice if people were staring or not. We left our bags in class so they would have less to search when we got there. We passed a guard station where the guard was wrestling with a bullet-proof vest. On the street was a mixture of TV trucks and unmarked trucks and busses. Near the entrance were tons of tripods and cameramen. Luckily, no one was taping yet so we slid by to security. He checked our passports and let us through the gate. There was a pile of backpacks and purses by the gate so I assume people were not allowed to bring them in. Once inside the gate, things were the same as last time. It only took G a few minutes and we were done. We glanced down the main street and saw that the block was restricted to vehicles and that police and black sedans were parked on the curbs. As we walked back we followed a plainclothes American who was giving orders to Japanese security guards and telling a woman that "prescreening began at 8:45am". Whatever that meant. We bought a Japan Times on the was back and read in English more news from home.
We were back in time to see a music group in Culture class. The music was very beautiful. The classical piece was calm and flowing. Almost too soothing for us who were already sleepy. The other more modern pieces were more varied and emotional. Altogether, with three people, there was 1 shakuhachi (flute), 1 shamisen (guitar with plectra) and 2 kotos. When I go home I have to remember to buy a CD of classical Koto. The three people were one guy who was bigger and about 24, and two tiny little women about 29 years old. The women had studied with Dr. Prescott.
After a quick lunch, G headed off to check on his embarkation/disembarkation card and I followed the group to the geriatric center. It was a little hard to get us all there: two train rides on the JR line. Once we got there we walked through some really nice gardens and Koi ponds, past great little fountains. The walkway was very shady and cool. We had a brief introductory lecture and then a tour of the facilities. These included the training rooms, residences (trainees and folks who used their services), the activity hall for patients, the handicapped bathroom, the hospital, and the roof. The center has a very long history starting in the 1920's and is now one of the most advanced research facilities on Japan's aging population. We have them another picture of Old Main, and they gave us 1,000 paper cranes- twice. One we're going to bring to Hiroshima, and the other we might bring back to school.
After a confusing train ride home (in which both I hopped off a train at the wrong time and tried to get on the wrong train) G and I went to McDonalds. We also had to get new rooms for just one night. It was nice to taste American fast food and not have to deal with sympathetic Japanese. When we got back I had to borrow G's towel because he lost mine that morning. We were back in the baths-per-floor so I tried to run the bath water myself. I don't know if I was the only one to use it or not, but it was too darn hot for me to stay in there very long. After that I went to bed.
Wednesday was an unusual day. We had class in the morning and a little discussion about how we were going to proceed with the trip. We were told that grieving and fear is a natural process, but to continue on as normally as possible. The terrorists want America to change. We were all very tired, but we sat through class. When it was over, G and I went to Roppongi and ate at the Pot Pot- creat curry, rice and fried cream dough. Then we checked email and wrote home to tell everyone that we were okay. It was hard to write a coherent letter with all that was going on.
Then we went to some almond cookie store to buy gifts for Yuko and Prof. Winship. We walked to International House to give Yuko her gift and she was very grateful. She asked how we were doing and was very concerned about our group. We left and tried to find an English newspaper to take home- kind of just as a record that this is where we were when it happened. There weren't any left in English so we picked up a Japanese paper. As we looked through it on the subway home we saw that it had naked women on all the inside pages.
The subway was an experience all its own. The people on the subway usually just stare straight down. They day, I saw people obviously staring at us. We were the only westerners around. People either hid their newspapers from us or deliberately held up the pictures. We didn't know how to react to that. We were trying to act normally but with all these people staring at us we felt like we should look sad on purpose. I'm sure we naturally looked kinda bad since we'd been awake all night.
When we got back we went out to dinner along the road towards Romi. It was a really homy restaurant. The 'mama-son' walked downstairs to the picture menu to help us order. There was a little confusion about what we wanted, and we walked back upstairs without really knowing what we just ordered. Inside it was very unusually decorated. There were Indonesian masks and pictures all around. Huge paper lanterns hung low on the ceiling. We were the only ones in there for a while but soon a group and some salary-men came in. Mama-son asked "where from?" and when she found out we were from the US she said "aw" and hugged me. Then she told everyone in the restaurant and said "aw" and looked sad.
It was a really nice place. Mama-son sat and talked to people, smoked, and drank beer with tea in it. The tables were large and wooden, and G and I sat on the same side of it watching everyone. I felt like I was sitting in Mama-son's kitchen.
From there we walked to Romi for drinks. The bartender was the only person in there and he was watching a little portable TV/VCR/video camera. When we came in he took the TV over to the bar and turned it to an English translation of the news. We were really sick of the whole situation, but it was nice to hear English words telling the story. There were also interviews with people in New York and that was also interesting. We watched for maybe 45 minutes and left. We were really too drained to do anything else.
I woke up yesterday morning scrunched at the bottom of my bed. I don't remember if I had any dreams accompanying that situation, but I was there anyway. We packed up our stuff to change rooms, took our sheets with us. Luggage went into storage for the day and G and I took off for the Embassy. We were again conscious of people staring at us- but it wasn't so bad. We left around 8:30am so rush hour was in full swing.
6pm Bus to Kyoto
We were so goal driven that we didn't notice if people were staring or not. We left our bags in class so they would have less to search when we got there. We passed a guard station where the guard was wrestling with a bullet-proof vest. On the street was a mixture of TV trucks and unmarked trucks and busses. Near the entrance were tons of tripods and cameramen. Luckily, no one was taping yet so we slid by to security. He checked our passports and let us through the gate. There was a pile of backpacks and purses by the gate so I assume people were not allowed to bring them in. Once inside the gate, things were the same as last time. It only took G a few minutes and we were done. We glanced down the main street and saw that the block was restricted to vehicles and that police and black sedans were parked on the curbs. As we walked back we followed a plainclothes American who was giving orders to Japanese security guards and telling a woman that "prescreening began at 8:45am". Whatever that meant. We bought a Japan Times on the was back and read in English more news from home.
We were back in time to see a music group in Culture class. The music was very beautiful. The classical piece was calm and flowing. Almost too soothing for us who were already sleepy. The other more modern pieces were more varied and emotional. Altogether, with three people, there was 1 shakuhachi (flute), 1 shamisen (guitar with plectra) and 2 kotos. When I go home I have to remember to buy a CD of classical Koto. The three people were one guy who was bigger and about 24, and two tiny little women about 29 years old. The women had studied with Dr. Prescott.
After a quick lunch, G headed off to check on his embarkation/disembarkation card and I followed the group to the geriatric center. It was a little hard to get us all there: two train rides on the JR line. Once we got there we walked through some really nice gardens and Koi ponds, past great little fountains. The walkway was very shady and cool. We had a brief introductory lecture and then a tour of the facilities. These included the training rooms, residences (trainees and folks who used their services), the activity hall for patients, the handicapped bathroom, the hospital, and the roof. The center has a very long history starting in the 1920's and is now one of the most advanced research facilities on Japan's aging population. We have them another picture of Old Main, and they gave us 1,000 paper cranes- twice. One we're going to bring to Hiroshima, and the other we might bring back to school.
After a confusing train ride home (in which both I hopped off a train at the wrong time and tried to get on the wrong train) G and I went to McDonalds. We also had to get new rooms for just one night. It was nice to taste American fast food and not have to deal with sympathetic Japanese. When we got back I had to borrow G's towel because he lost mine that morning. We were back in the baths-per-floor so I tried to run the bath water myself. I don't know if I was the only one to use it or not, but it was too darn hot for me to stay in there very long. After that I went to bed.
Friday, September 22, 2017
9/12/2001
6am YNYC
Yesterday started out ordinarily enough. We had class during the typhoon and the afternoon was reserved for sleeping. I've never seen rain and wind like I saw yesterday. It looked like tons of hoses all just dumping water on Tokyo. Walking felt like swimming. The wind bent the trees over and it was very difficult to hold on to umbrellas. G ran outside in him swimsuit to play in the storm. I took a nap.
Later in the afternoon the rain stopped and the clouds broke apart, so G and I hopped a subway train back to the American Embassy to get his passport. They had just closed, unfortunately, and told us to come back the next day.
We took the subway to Shinjuku to try again to tour that area. We went out a different exit and found Oh Lord shopping center. We saw a live radio broadcast in a courtyard, and lots of hippie-looking shops. Through that mall we found a little technology district. We decided to look for an internet cafe (which we never found). We walked all over that few block area, and then crossed a big street into more of a game district. There were tons of little restaurants with people in the street advertising for them. At one point we stopped to ask one of the men where an internet cafe is. But- as we asked in Japanese- he answered in Japanese, and we didn't understand him at all.
We just kept walking and soon realized that we had stopped seeing foreigners, and started seeing strip clubs and 10-minute massage parlors. We just kept walking. Soon it was dark and most of the people we passed were sleeping on the street and they were the only people we saw. We turned right around and found our way back into the subway. We were actually one stop farther North than we started. But it was nice to be in a bright station after being so lost in an obviously bad part of town. We rode our way back and walked to everyone's favorite noodle shop for dinner. The meal was so-so. We were so relieved to not be lost that we just decided to go home and go to bed. As far as I can remember, that's all I did aside from shower and bathe (with newcomers to the communal bath system who were about 12 years old and very funny). At about midnight G came into our room and woke me up. I don't remember much about it except that he talked loud enough to wake up my roommates and say we all had to go to the television. He said two airplanes hit the World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon and another was "unaccounted for" and perhaps was going to be shot down. He also told us they were passenger jets.
I won't go into detail about the incident- by the time I reread this it will probably be well-rehearsed news. G and I ran to the 4th floor lounge where a loud group of Japanese had gathered around the TV. They made room for us right in front so we could watch the pictures close up. After a few minutes, I composed myself enough to go downstairs where the rest of the group was listening to CNN on US military radio. Many people were crying, some just sat shocked. We were all packed into the lounge hearing everything we could and listening totally silently. People began trying to call home but the phone lines filled very quickly. Everyone, it seemed, knew of someone who could have been in the airplanes or in New York or worked in Washington or Chicago, or for United or American Airlines. Our first concern was for our friends and family who could or could not have been there.
Maybe it happened when Prof. Winship came in or maybe we just needed to find something else to think about, but soon we began worrying about our position in Japan. Would we be safe here? Are we going to go home? What parts of the program will be affected. When he came downstairs from contacting school he assured us that we are totally safe. Safer here, in fact, than probably at home. At the Youth Center we are unexpected guests. It's a Japanese Government run house so we're not in any danger of being targeted. The breakfast scheduled for this morning a the Tokyo-America Club with members of the American Chamber of Commerce was canceled. We heard that the American Embassy was closed, so G's passport would have to wait another day. Prof. Winship offered to help call home if we needed it and said he'd stay up to date on everything. He suggested we watch the news and listen to the radio as long as we wanted, but that class would resume as normal in the morning. Dr. Prescott came down and translated some of the Japanese for us, but we just listened to the radio so she left after a while.
Some Japanese walked by or joined our group once in a while, but they stayed silent and watched us and the news. Eventually we all dispersed, and, around 2-2:30am most people decided to try to sleep. I tried too, but nightmares kept me awake for most of it.
Now we're told we have class this morning and will probably not go to the Geriatric Center this afternoon. G and I plan on going to the embassy Thursday before our Friday flight to Kyoto.
Yesterday started out ordinarily enough. We had class during the typhoon and the afternoon was reserved for sleeping. I've never seen rain and wind like I saw yesterday. It looked like tons of hoses all just dumping water on Tokyo. Walking felt like swimming. The wind bent the trees over and it was very difficult to hold on to umbrellas. G ran outside in him swimsuit to play in the storm. I took a nap.
Later in the afternoon the rain stopped and the clouds broke apart, so G and I hopped a subway train back to the American Embassy to get his passport. They had just closed, unfortunately, and told us to come back the next day.
We took the subway to Shinjuku to try again to tour that area. We went out a different exit and found Oh Lord shopping center. We saw a live radio broadcast in a courtyard, and lots of hippie-looking shops. Through that mall we found a little technology district. We decided to look for an internet cafe (which we never found). We walked all over that few block area, and then crossed a big street into more of a game district. There were tons of little restaurants with people in the street advertising for them. At one point we stopped to ask one of the men where an internet cafe is. But- as we asked in Japanese- he answered in Japanese, and we didn't understand him at all.
We just kept walking and soon realized that we had stopped seeing foreigners, and started seeing strip clubs and 10-minute massage parlors. We just kept walking. Soon it was dark and most of the people we passed were sleeping on the street and they were the only people we saw. We turned right around and found our way back into the subway. We were actually one stop farther North than we started. But it was nice to be in a bright station after being so lost in an obviously bad part of town. We rode our way back and walked to everyone's favorite noodle shop for dinner. The meal was so-so. We were so relieved to not be lost that we just decided to go home and go to bed. As far as I can remember, that's all I did aside from shower and bathe (with newcomers to the communal bath system who were about 12 years old and very funny). At about midnight G came into our room and woke me up. I don't remember much about it except that he talked loud enough to wake up my roommates and say we all had to go to the television. He said two airplanes hit the World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon and another was "unaccounted for" and perhaps was going to be shot down. He also told us they were passenger jets.
I won't go into detail about the incident- by the time I reread this it will probably be well-rehearsed news. G and I ran to the 4th floor lounge where a loud group of Japanese had gathered around the TV. They made room for us right in front so we could watch the pictures close up. After a few minutes, I composed myself enough to go downstairs where the rest of the group was listening to CNN on US military radio. Many people were crying, some just sat shocked. We were all packed into the lounge hearing everything we could and listening totally silently. People began trying to call home but the phone lines filled very quickly. Everyone, it seemed, knew of someone who could have been in the airplanes or in New York or worked in Washington or Chicago, or for United or American Airlines. Our first concern was for our friends and family who could or could not have been there.
Maybe it happened when Prof. Winship came in or maybe we just needed to find something else to think about, but soon we began worrying about our position in Japan. Would we be safe here? Are we going to go home? What parts of the program will be affected. When he came downstairs from contacting school he assured us that we are totally safe. Safer here, in fact, than probably at home. At the Youth Center we are unexpected guests. It's a Japanese Government run house so we're not in any danger of being targeted. The breakfast scheduled for this morning a the Tokyo-America Club with members of the American Chamber of Commerce was canceled. We heard that the American Embassy was closed, so G's passport would have to wait another day. Prof. Winship offered to help call home if we needed it and said he'd stay up to date on everything. He suggested we watch the news and listen to the radio as long as we wanted, but that class would resume as normal in the morning. Dr. Prescott came down and translated some of the Japanese for us, but we just listened to the radio so she left after a while.
Some Japanese walked by or joined our group once in a while, but they stayed silent and watched us and the news. Eventually we all dispersed, and, around 2-2:30am most people decided to try to sleep. I tried too, but nightmares kept me awake for most of it.
Now we're told we have class this morning and will probably not go to the Geriatric Center this afternoon. G and I plan on going to the embassy Thursday before our Friday flight to Kyoto.
9/11/2001
7:10am YNYC
Yesterday was an unusual day. We had a typhoon so it rained very hard on and off all day. They held classes even though the teachers were running all over with G and Lynn. After lunch G and Prof. Winship and I all trekked down to the American Embassy. It was really interesting to finally learn what Ambassadors do and who they are. Security was very heavy. We first had our bags searched, then x-rayed. My two water bottles were taken away and my camera was held at the security check-point. Most of the security men were Japanese, but there was one American serviceman behind a glass wall. We got in and G began filling out forms. A few hours later we were all done. The rain let up a little bit and we walked back to the station.
We headed for the Tokyo subway station where we heard a big mall existed. We wandered around the station for a while but never found it. Se we hopped back on the subway and headed for Shinjuku station. We've never been there so we were excited. However, once we got out onto the street we were somewhere in the middle of high rises. And it was pouring. We found a diner-looking place that had a "blooming onion" in the window. Unfortunately, they did not have it on the menu. Instead we ordered soup, fried dumplings, some Spanish rice and corn omelet, and a club sandwich. It reminded me of a little nicer version of IHOP or Denny's (they did have pancakes, but they were expensive). When we were done there it was still pouring so we just went back to Yoyogi. After a great shower and long bath we went back out to Romi with some other people. Our businessman friend, whose name we found out was Mycheio Tarama, was there also. The rest of the bar was empty. The bartender was happy to see us and the 7 other people ordered lots of drinks. We brought a lot of business into his bar on a Monday night. Mycheio was very interested in our views on advertising, corporate mergers, and kabuki theater. We talked for a few hours and noticed the other Americans got very loud after they toasted with their first ever glasses of sake. But we were told that the bartender enjoys that type of atmosphere so I didn't feel so bad. He gave us free glasses of red wine and G drank a lot. We left at 11pm (early for that bar) and went to sleep after stopping at the convenience store for custard, sushi, and more sandwiches.
Yesterday was an unusual day. We had a typhoon so it rained very hard on and off all day. They held classes even though the teachers were running all over with G and Lynn. After lunch G and Prof. Winship and I all trekked down to the American Embassy. It was really interesting to finally learn what Ambassadors do and who they are. Security was very heavy. We first had our bags searched, then x-rayed. My two water bottles were taken away and my camera was held at the security check-point. Most of the security men were Japanese, but there was one American serviceman behind a glass wall. We got in and G began filling out forms. A few hours later we were all done. The rain let up a little bit and we walked back to the station.
We headed for the Tokyo subway station where we heard a big mall existed. We wandered around the station for a while but never found it. Se we hopped back on the subway and headed for Shinjuku station. We've never been there so we were excited. However, once we got out onto the street we were somewhere in the middle of high rises. And it was pouring. We found a diner-looking place that had a "blooming onion" in the window. Unfortunately, they did not have it on the menu. Instead we ordered soup, fried dumplings, some Spanish rice and corn omelet, and a club sandwich. It reminded me of a little nicer version of IHOP or Denny's (they did have pancakes, but they were expensive). When we were done there it was still pouring so we just went back to Yoyogi. After a great shower and long bath we went back out to Romi with some other people. Our businessman friend, whose name we found out was Mycheio Tarama, was there also. The rest of the bar was empty. The bartender was happy to see us and the 7 other people ordered lots of drinks. We brought a lot of business into his bar on a Monday night. Mycheio was very interested in our views on advertising, corporate mergers, and kabuki theater. We talked for a few hours and noticed the other Americans got very loud after they toasted with their first ever glasses of sake. But we were told that the bartender enjoys that type of atmosphere so I didn't feel so bad. He gave us free glasses of red wine and G drank a lot. We left at 11pm (early for that bar) and went to sleep after stopping at the convenience store for custard, sushi, and more sandwiches.
9/10/2001
Midnight YNYC
First thing this morning we went back to International House for a presentation on Kabuki. Matazo Nakamura is a 68 year old professional Kabuki actor. I took tons of notes and pictures during the presentation so I don't forget anything. We sat right in front so we didn't miss anything. He was such a cute little man with his "boss" wife in kimono. We all had a good time learning and playing with him. For lunch, G and I went back to Mitsukoshi (the huge Ginza department store). We walked around Ginza for a while, but it felt just like the first time- things were too expensive to even look at. But we looked around anyway until it was time for the show. G bought a sushi box, spring roll, and pastry for dinner.
Kabuki was really fun. We sat kinda far away so we couldn't see facial expressions. The costumes were very ornate sometimes. The music was traditional Japanese. Sometimes they (the musicians) were seated in front on stage, but usually they were hidden. We had radio sets to hear explanations (not translations) in English. We saw the stagehands dressed all in black- with cloth covering their faces as well. Unusual for an American performance- their hands were not covered. There was also a separate type of helper that was dressed in brown formal robes and stayed on stage for most of the performance. These sometimes faced the audience but the almost always moved with their back to us. The scenery was interesting- mostly 2 dimensional painted flats for background and foreground. There was a huge turntable in the middle of the stage so I suspect the next scene was prepared as we looked at the current one. Scene changes were pretty quick but always totally covered by a curtain pulled across the stage by the stagehand.
I was a little disappointed by the lighting involved. Most was completely static and even, though some effects were used (lightening bugs and strobes). They mostly had tons of huge Japanese flood lights. Some had color changers on them. I was surprised that the lighting was so traditional, though now I think it makes sense. I wonder if the roofs of the houses were open so that down-light could be used as area light. Despite the sometimes lagging pace of action, I was really fascinated by the performance and only got a little uncomfortable at the end.
Quick note: other American students appeared not as interested in the performance as their postcards home and journal entries. Enough of that. G and I left and found a passport picture booth in the Shinjuku station (the closest we've been to Shinjuku yet). We got a little lost but four subway transfers later we arrived in time to see the bath close.
11:00am YNYC Classroom
While we're sitting here together, taking shelter from the storm and waiting for people to come back from hospitals and passport offices, I thought I'd jot some notes about density. Housing: stacked housing, windows, plants, thin buildings. Subway: quiet, look down, Mycheio Tarama says it's only a few minutes so they know they can handle it. Restaurants: sit close, eat fast, no dawdling.
First thing this morning we went back to International House for a presentation on Kabuki. Matazo Nakamura is a 68 year old professional Kabuki actor. I took tons of notes and pictures during the presentation so I don't forget anything. We sat right in front so we didn't miss anything. He was such a cute little man with his "boss" wife in kimono. We all had a good time learning and playing with him. For lunch, G and I went back to Mitsukoshi (the huge Ginza department store). We walked around Ginza for a while, but it felt just like the first time- things were too expensive to even look at. But we looked around anyway until it was time for the show. G bought a sushi box, spring roll, and pastry for dinner.
Kabuki was really fun. We sat kinda far away so we couldn't see facial expressions. The costumes were very ornate sometimes. The music was traditional Japanese. Sometimes they (the musicians) were seated in front on stage, but usually they were hidden. We had radio sets to hear explanations (not translations) in English. We saw the stagehands dressed all in black- with cloth covering their faces as well. Unusual for an American performance- their hands were not covered. There was also a separate type of helper that was dressed in brown formal robes and stayed on stage for most of the performance. These sometimes faced the audience but the almost always moved with their back to us. The scenery was interesting- mostly 2 dimensional painted flats for background and foreground. There was a huge turntable in the middle of the stage so I suspect the next scene was prepared as we looked at the current one. Scene changes were pretty quick but always totally covered by a curtain pulled across the stage by the stagehand.
I was a little disappointed by the lighting involved. Most was completely static and even, though some effects were used (lightening bugs and strobes). They mostly had tons of huge Japanese flood lights. Some had color changers on them. I was surprised that the lighting was so traditional, though now I think it makes sense. I wonder if the roofs of the houses were open so that down-light could be used as area light. Despite the sometimes lagging pace of action, I was really fascinated by the performance and only got a little uncomfortable at the end.
Quick note: other American students appeared not as interested in the performance as their postcards home and journal entries. Enough of that. G and I left and found a passport picture booth in the Shinjuku station (the closest we've been to Shinjuku yet). We got a little lost but four subway transfers later we arrived in time to see the bath close.
11:00am YNYC Classroom
While we're sitting here together, taking shelter from the storm and waiting for people to come back from hospitals and passport offices, I thought I'd jot some notes about density. Housing: stacked housing, windows, plants, thin buildings. Subway: quiet, look down, Mycheio Tarama says it's only a few minutes so they know they can handle it. Restaurants: sit close, eat fast, no dawdling.
9/8/2001
Noon, YNYC
We left without a hitch yesterday morning and arrived at Gunma Prefecture Institute of Agriculture a little early. They had cushioned "inside slippers" all ready for us and signs of welcome. First was an opening ceremony with kind words from the president, then Prof. Winship made up a speech, then the president presented our group with good luck dolls that are produced in Gunma. Fill in one eye when you make a wish or start a project and fill in the other when you're done. We gave them soil. The principal gave a lecture on Japanese Agriculture and local production of items in Gunma. It was a little dry and sometimes it was hard to connect thoughts because the whole lecture had to be translated. Then a narrated video about the school itself. We had a nice lunch with ham and pineapple, then toured the gardens, outsides of dorms, museum, and (the highlight) the cow barn.
Back on the bus and three hours later we were back in Yoyogi, in quads, then showered and bathed and back to Romi to meet our friends from last Friday: Eri and Shiori. When the bartender opened the bar at 7pm he told us that Shiori called and said she wouldn't be able to meet until 10pm. He gave us "No Pay Beer" and we drank it. There were two new girls in the corner, but they didn't say much. The bartender (whose name sounded like Master so I'll call him that) told us that Bob and a few others from our group had visited during the week. He had written down their names and what they had ordered to drink. We ran out to Mi Rei Te for a good meal and got lost on the way back to the bar. Finally we made it and Shiori, Eri and a few more friends were happy to see us.
It was an exciting night- and I made two new friends: Emika and Ayamei. Most of the night they practiced their English on my by crying about recent breakups. I taught them the words to Aretha Franklin's "I Will Survive" and we learned such beloved American phrases as "You Go Girl!" and "I can live without him!" also "CHEEEEEEEEEERS!" In return they taught me some strange one-liners a popular comedian uses. One was to put my hand palm down under my chin and say, "Aie!" They thought it was really funny and promised it had no meaning. Kowa'i means afraid- something we agreed we wouldn't be toward the future. "Hey baka!" means "you fool!" and can be easily used to imitate American personalities as seen to the Japanese. We talked about Americans being shy to bathe together and I learned that "Su ppon ppon" is the rough translation of "buck naked". Somehow that led to a discussion about Denny's and they drew me a map with the phrase "Denny's wa dokodesuka?" meaning "where is the Denny's?" Before we knew it, it was 2:00am and we were exhausted. We took pictures and hugged a lot- exchanged "I love you"s and finally we left. Of course, I started crying. We became so close so quickly and had such a fun time teaching each other (Emika was training to be a kindergarden teacher and Ayamie works at Sunska drug store) new things. Leaving that place where everybody knows your name (even if they can't pronounce it correctly) was heartbreaking for me. It made me realize how short our stay in Tokyo (and Asia) really is- and that darn concept of ichigo ichie caught me again.
So, three hours later I was on my way to the Tsukiji fish market. It was very early but there was still a fairly large crowd. We took the subway there and walked to the end of the pier. It was very crowded and there were tons of little trucks zooming around with huge tuna on them. Past rows and rows of little fish buyers and sellers with every type of fish imaginable- live and/or dead. Eels, squid, octopus, everything. Eventually we reached the auction area at the end of the pier. The auctioneer stood in the middle of dozens of frozen tuna. Huge, enormous, gutted carcasses. He sounded more like he was chanting or singing than the standard fast-talking American guys. The pace was very even and not too fast. Apparently fish buyers get tuna, then it is driven over to the stall where they cut it up with saws and sell it to restaurants and other people.
On my way out I also saw unusual looking vegetables for sale next to stationary, high heels, and live crab. I stopped with some people and ate a sinfully delicious pancake and sausage McDonald's breakfast. I brought Lazy G back an Egg McMuffin and now I'm watching clothes spin in the dryer.
11:30pm YNYC
So after laundry we went to the sword museum in Yoyogi. I never thought I'd get into it- but they handed us English pamphlets about the history and art of sword-making. Once we got in I noticed the patterns on the blades and could match them up with the time period they were made in. I kept the pamphlets, so I guess I can look back at them and remember the details when I want to. G and E wanted to go to the sword store, so Emily and I went on ahead to the Ota Ukiyoe Hakubutsukan museum to complete our Culture assignment. We had to get special slippers right away and noticed right away the unusual environment there. It was a relatively small building, only 2 small floors. There was tatami in front of 3 ukiyoe and we took off our slippers to kneel in front of them. There was a small rock garden in the center of the first floor with a water fountain and benches. Upstairs was before-and-after type sketches of ukiyoe. Lots of these were of women and comical figures. Some were definitely caricatures. I related it back to information in the book about ukiyoe art being more of an art "of the people". We spent a long time there studying the prints and taking notes. It was very peaceful and wonderfully different from the information overload on the streets of Tokyo.
After a quick stop at the toy store (again), we searched for gym shoes for G and funny t-shirts for me. G got bowling-looking shoes for about Y9600, but the designer t-shirts and resale ones were VERY expensive. We eventually gave up and sought refuge in TGIFridays for cold drinks. There were so many Americans there! The menu was totally in English and the decorations were exactly the same as at home.
We headed back to Yoyogi and had vending machine soba for dinner. The end of today!
We left without a hitch yesterday morning and arrived at Gunma Prefecture Institute of Agriculture a little early. They had cushioned "inside slippers" all ready for us and signs of welcome. First was an opening ceremony with kind words from the president, then Prof. Winship made up a speech, then the president presented our group with good luck dolls that are produced in Gunma. Fill in one eye when you make a wish or start a project and fill in the other when you're done. We gave them soil. The principal gave a lecture on Japanese Agriculture and local production of items in Gunma. It was a little dry and sometimes it was hard to connect thoughts because the whole lecture had to be translated. Then a narrated video about the school itself. We had a nice lunch with ham and pineapple, then toured the gardens, outsides of dorms, museum, and (the highlight) the cow barn.
Back on the bus and three hours later we were back in Yoyogi, in quads, then showered and bathed and back to Romi to meet our friends from last Friday: Eri and Shiori. When the bartender opened the bar at 7pm he told us that Shiori called and said she wouldn't be able to meet until 10pm. He gave us "No Pay Beer" and we drank it. There were two new girls in the corner, but they didn't say much. The bartender (whose name sounded like Master so I'll call him that) told us that Bob and a few others from our group had visited during the week. He had written down their names and what they had ordered to drink. We ran out to Mi Rei Te for a good meal and got lost on the way back to the bar. Finally we made it and Shiori, Eri and a few more friends were happy to see us.
It was an exciting night- and I made two new friends: Emika and Ayamei. Most of the night they practiced their English on my by crying about recent breakups. I taught them the words to Aretha Franklin's "I Will Survive" and we learned such beloved American phrases as "You Go Girl!" and "I can live without him!" also "CHEEEEEEEEEERS!" In return they taught me some strange one-liners a popular comedian uses. One was to put my hand palm down under my chin and say, "Aie!" They thought it was really funny and promised it had no meaning. Kowa'i means afraid- something we agreed we wouldn't be toward the future. "Hey baka!" means "you fool!" and can be easily used to imitate American personalities as seen to the Japanese. We talked about Americans being shy to bathe together and I learned that "Su ppon ppon" is the rough translation of "buck naked". Somehow that led to a discussion about Denny's and they drew me a map with the phrase "Denny's wa dokodesuka?" meaning "where is the Denny's?" Before we knew it, it was 2:00am and we were exhausted. We took pictures and hugged a lot- exchanged "I love you"s and finally we left. Of course, I started crying. We became so close so quickly and had such a fun time teaching each other (Emika was training to be a kindergarden teacher and Ayamie works at Sunska drug store) new things. Leaving that place where everybody knows your name (even if they can't pronounce it correctly) was heartbreaking for me. It made me realize how short our stay in Tokyo (and Asia) really is- and that darn concept of ichigo ichie caught me again.
So, three hours later I was on my way to the Tsukiji fish market. It was very early but there was still a fairly large crowd. We took the subway there and walked to the end of the pier. It was very crowded and there were tons of little trucks zooming around with huge tuna on them. Past rows and rows of little fish buyers and sellers with every type of fish imaginable- live and/or dead. Eels, squid, octopus, everything. Eventually we reached the auction area at the end of the pier. The auctioneer stood in the middle of dozens of frozen tuna. Huge, enormous, gutted carcasses. He sounded more like he was chanting or singing than the standard fast-talking American guys. The pace was very even and not too fast. Apparently fish buyers get tuna, then it is driven over to the stall where they cut it up with saws and sell it to restaurants and other people.
On my way out I also saw unusual looking vegetables for sale next to stationary, high heels, and live crab. I stopped with some people and ate a sinfully delicious pancake and sausage McDonald's breakfast. I brought Lazy G back an Egg McMuffin and now I'm watching clothes spin in the dryer.
11:30pm YNYC
So after laundry we went to the sword museum in Yoyogi. I never thought I'd get into it- but they handed us English pamphlets about the history and art of sword-making. Once we got in I noticed the patterns on the blades and could match them up with the time period they were made in. I kept the pamphlets, so I guess I can look back at them and remember the details when I want to. G and E wanted to go to the sword store, so Emily and I went on ahead to the Ota Ukiyoe Hakubutsukan museum to complete our Culture assignment. We had to get special slippers right away and noticed right away the unusual environment there. It was a relatively small building, only 2 small floors. There was tatami in front of 3 ukiyoe and we took off our slippers to kneel in front of them. There was a small rock garden in the center of the first floor with a water fountain and benches. Upstairs was before-and-after type sketches of ukiyoe. Lots of these were of women and comical figures. Some were definitely caricatures. I related it back to information in the book about ukiyoe art being more of an art "of the people". We spent a long time there studying the prints and taking notes. It was very peaceful and wonderfully different from the information overload on the streets of Tokyo.
After a quick stop at the toy store (again), we searched for gym shoes for G and funny t-shirts for me. G got bowling-looking shoes for about Y9600, but the designer t-shirts and resale ones were VERY expensive. We eventually gave up and sought refuge in TGIFridays for cold drinks. There were so many Americans there! The menu was totally in English and the decorations were exactly the same as at home.
We headed back to Yoyogi and had vending machine soba for dinner. The end of today!
Sunday, September 10, 2017
9/6/2001
7:15am ANYC
Our first full day in Akagi was very peaceful. It felt the opposite of any day in Tokyo. After class we just did our own thing for a few hours (for me that meant sleeping) until getting ready for dinner. We marched around for a while, getting food from the kitchen, drinks from vending machines, etc. We walked up to a camp ground that had big picnic tables. I got silverware and cooking utensils, some of our group got the grill, Greg got charcoal and we built a fire. We were the first group to finish our fire- by a really long time. Then, our new friend Katsu gave instructions on how to cook the food. We put a large metal top on the grill and he gave us orders- sometimes in Japanese, sometimes in English when he knew it. First was oil, then meat ("GO GET THE MEAT!!!!!") then cabbage, sprouts, then yakisoba ("YAKISOBA!!! YAKISOBA!!!") sauce. We fried all the food together (I got burned by oil on my hand) and step #6 was finished. The food was terrific! The soba noodles tasted so good after all the rice we've eaten. As we were finishing our first course, most of the groups finally got their fires going. We had some vegetables left over so we grabbed more meat and yakisoba sauce and cooked another course for ourselves. It was so fun to cook with each other and hear Katsu trying to give us directions in Japanese. After dinner, Eric, Erik, and Jeremy washed the dishes because they didn't get to help cook.
It was startling for me to hear an American do something nice for a change and not expect "someone else" to pick up the slack. We waited for the coals to go out and then came back to our rooms for hanging out and studying time. The leisurely day was a nice change from the crazy pace of living in Tokyo.
8:30pm
Wow! I've never been so happy to be clean. Today after class we hiked/climbed up to the top of Mt. Akagi. The first part, 1-1/2 miles or so, maybe more, was all uphill pretty steeply along a road. I was out of breath from the very beginning. Some people shot ahead, but I tried to pace myself. The road was very curvy and there were cars that occasionally passed us. The whole group of 80 started out, and we made quite a sight attacking the mountain. After a long time of street walking we turned onto the path. There were lots of rocks and vertical climbing. Some rocks were slippery and there was a good bit of mud. At the beginning there were wooden posts with string and rope tied between to help us (that was more useful coming down). It felt very difficult because I was so out of breath and already sweating, tired, and sore. So many times I thought of turning back. Soon I was by myself and not trying to keep up with anyone. Those times it was completely silent. I usually didn't even hear insects. Once in a while people passed me or I passed them, but it really became a journey between me and the mountain. I've never felt such a sense of peace, solitude, and excruciating pain. I just kept going- my goal was the Buddha at the top of the mountain. There came a flatter part, with beautiful views of the countryside below. We could see golf courses, the road, and miles and miles of trees and landscape. There was tons of mist, though, and it obscured the top so we didn't know how much longer it would be. Soon we got to the log stairs we were told about. I think it was half a mile of stairs until, finally, covered in sweat and aching from head to toe, I reached the top of the mountain. There were already a dozen or so students there so I yelled out, "I come seeking the meaning of life!" I just got a few chuckles but that was it. After a brief rest we started down. It felt great to get so far doing so little work. My legs were shaky and wobbling, but gravity was on our side. We got back in one piece and breathing much easier.
After a great dinner of more yakisoba and fried pot stickers we saw the West Dance Preservation Society perform a local traditional dance. It was really rousing. Loud drums (like 8-10 of them) and dancers with props. A man playing a sake barrel was singing to the music and there was a flute player. They played the one song, and then has us make 2 big circles while they taught us a dance with clapping. The dance was pretty simple and we learned it quickly. After that we took a big group picture and played the drums and looked at the props. The dancers were all women and they were very friendly. They dressed up some of the girls in their costumes and we took lots of pictures. That brings me to my wonderful and much-needed shower and bath. After so much activity today it felt wonderful. I can't wait to go to sleep and relax my sore muscles. Tomorrow we pick up to leave our camp in the mountains. I hope I don't have to fold sheets again.
Our first full day in Akagi was very peaceful. It felt the opposite of any day in Tokyo. After class we just did our own thing for a few hours (for me that meant sleeping) until getting ready for dinner. We marched around for a while, getting food from the kitchen, drinks from vending machines, etc. We walked up to a camp ground that had big picnic tables. I got silverware and cooking utensils, some of our group got the grill, Greg got charcoal and we built a fire. We were the first group to finish our fire- by a really long time. Then, our new friend Katsu gave instructions on how to cook the food. We put a large metal top on the grill and he gave us orders- sometimes in Japanese, sometimes in English when he knew it. First was oil, then meat ("GO GET THE MEAT!!!!!") then cabbage, sprouts, then yakisoba ("YAKISOBA!!! YAKISOBA!!!") sauce. We fried all the food together (I got burned by oil on my hand) and step #6 was finished. The food was terrific! The soba noodles tasted so good after all the rice we've eaten. As we were finishing our first course, most of the groups finally got their fires going. We had some vegetables left over so we grabbed more meat and yakisoba sauce and cooked another course for ourselves. It was so fun to cook with each other and hear Katsu trying to give us directions in Japanese. After dinner, Eric, Erik, and Jeremy washed the dishes because they didn't get to help cook.
It was startling for me to hear an American do something nice for a change and not expect "someone else" to pick up the slack. We waited for the coals to go out and then came back to our rooms for hanging out and studying time. The leisurely day was a nice change from the crazy pace of living in Tokyo.
8:30pm
Wow! I've never been so happy to be clean. Today after class we hiked/climbed up to the top of Mt. Akagi. The first part, 1-1/2 miles or so, maybe more, was all uphill pretty steeply along a road. I was out of breath from the very beginning. Some people shot ahead, but I tried to pace myself. The road was very curvy and there were cars that occasionally passed us. The whole group of 80 started out, and we made quite a sight attacking the mountain. After a long time of street walking we turned onto the path. There were lots of rocks and vertical climbing. Some rocks were slippery and there was a good bit of mud. At the beginning there were wooden posts with string and rope tied between to help us (that was more useful coming down). It felt very difficult because I was so out of breath and already sweating, tired, and sore. So many times I thought of turning back. Soon I was by myself and not trying to keep up with anyone. Those times it was completely silent. I usually didn't even hear insects. Once in a while people passed me or I passed them, but it really became a journey between me and the mountain. I've never felt such a sense of peace, solitude, and excruciating pain. I just kept going- my goal was the Buddha at the top of the mountain. There came a flatter part, with beautiful views of the countryside below. We could see golf courses, the road, and miles and miles of trees and landscape. There was tons of mist, though, and it obscured the top so we didn't know how much longer it would be. Soon we got to the log stairs we were told about. I think it was half a mile of stairs until, finally, covered in sweat and aching from head to toe, I reached the top of the mountain. There were already a dozen or so students there so I yelled out, "I come seeking the meaning of life!" I just got a few chuckles but that was it. After a brief rest we started down. It felt great to get so far doing so little work. My legs were shaky and wobbling, but gravity was on our side. We got back in one piece and breathing much easier.
After a great dinner of more yakisoba and fried pot stickers we saw the West Dance Preservation Society perform a local traditional dance. It was really rousing. Loud drums (like 8-10 of them) and dancers with props. A man playing a sake barrel was singing to the music and there was a flute player. They played the one song, and then has us make 2 big circles while they taught us a dance with clapping. The dance was pretty simple and we learned it quickly. After that we took a big group picture and played the drums and looked at the props. The dancers were all women and they were very friendly. They dressed up some of the girls in their costumes and we took lots of pictures. That brings me to my wonderful and much-needed shower and bath. After so much activity today it felt wonderful. I can't wait to go to sleep and relax my sore muscles. Tomorrow we pick up to leave our camp in the mountains. I hope I don't have to fold sheets again.
9/4/2001
9:45pm Akagi National Youth Center
We spent most of today on the bus. I was very thankful to give my feet a much deserved rest. Nikko- a city containing a shrine to Tokagowa (the first shogun.... see field notes). That was very interesting, however, shrines are beginning to all look alike to me. What I noticed most during the day was the behavior of my fellow travelers. In one way they were a little Japanese: following our group and behaving according to their immediately perceived social conditions. Unfortunately, those behaviors mostly included being loud and complaining. Also, people seemed to think that the most important goal was to get themselves as individuals where they wanted to be. This manifested itself in students leaving their luggage in the courtyard and going to the bus. Also, despite warnings that sheets should be folded as neatly as possible, many were little more than balled up. We refolded many sheets because of this. Later, I heard students complaining about the time it took for "them" to sort out sheets. This, to me, reminded me that as respectful as the country we are living in is- some chose to remain simply Americans visiting a strange and often inconvenient society. People do not have the attitude that they are living in this country- but that the daily events of eating food and sleeping in unusual situations are getting in the way of their fun in another country.
Once we arrived here in Akagi I noticed the Japanese did not want to tolerate our fundamental American-ness. I felt unwelcome when the main security guard yelled at us to wear inside shoes. He looked more than aggravated at the fact that none of us brought inside shoes. We were rushed through our dinner- feeling the consequences for our bus arriving late. Students realized quickly that we are "not in Kansas" anymore at the NYC orientation. We have specific bed-making instructions, a lights out time, and a quiet time. The "rooms" are no more than partitions in a larger hallway. One girl said, "Oh my God, we're in hell." Unfortunately, I think many students feel this way tonight. Every time I hear an American voice rise above our incoherent noisiness I feel embarrassed and understand why Japanese often think we are noisy and rude: It's because we often are.
We spent most of today on the bus. I was very thankful to give my feet a much deserved rest. Nikko- a city containing a shrine to Tokagowa (the first shogun.... see field notes). That was very interesting, however, shrines are beginning to all look alike to me. What I noticed most during the day was the behavior of my fellow travelers. In one way they were a little Japanese: following our group and behaving according to their immediately perceived social conditions. Unfortunately, those behaviors mostly included being loud and complaining. Also, people seemed to think that the most important goal was to get themselves as individuals where they wanted to be. This manifested itself in students leaving their luggage in the courtyard and going to the bus. Also, despite warnings that sheets should be folded as neatly as possible, many were little more than balled up. We refolded many sheets because of this. Later, I heard students complaining about the time it took for "them" to sort out sheets. This, to me, reminded me that as respectful as the country we are living in is- some chose to remain simply Americans visiting a strange and often inconvenient society. People do not have the attitude that they are living in this country- but that the daily events of eating food and sleeping in unusual situations are getting in the way of their fun in another country.
Once we arrived here in Akagi I noticed the Japanese did not want to tolerate our fundamental American-ness. I felt unwelcome when the main security guard yelled at us to wear inside shoes. He looked more than aggravated at the fact that none of us brought inside shoes. We were rushed through our dinner- feeling the consequences for our bus arriving late. Students realized quickly that we are "not in Kansas" anymore at the NYC orientation. We have specific bed-making instructions, a lights out time, and a quiet time. The "rooms" are no more than partitions in a larger hallway. One girl said, "Oh my God, we're in hell." Unfortunately, I think many students feel this way tonight. Every time I hear an American voice rise above our incoherent noisiness I feel embarrassed and understand why Japanese often think we are noisy and rude: It's because we often are.
Thursday, September 7, 2017
9/3/2001
3:15pm Cafe de F.O.B. Tokyo
I got lost. All by myself, outside the museum that supposedly houses woodblock prints. Our group was split up, and, luckily, we established a 3:45 meeting place. I'm just waiting to go. I'm the only gaijin here- I pointed to order what turned out to be a delicious banana (or baname) smoothie. People are staring at me. It doesn't help that I'm soaking wet from the rain. Actually, I'm starting to get the feeling that I've sat here too long. But one story first: going to the bank to change money. We walked into a bank. No words were in romanji. People took tickets and sat down. But where did they get them? Finally a Japanese woman pointed them out. I took one and waited. Then I saw a counter with the exchange rate. I walked over, checks and passport in hand. A man rushed over to the counter waving his hands across his chest. That meant they don't change money. It was frustrating.
So we walked several blocks (about 20 minutes) and found an international office of some sort that, aside from providing international documents, changed my travelers checks into Yen. Horray! or, rather, Saikoh!
9:45pm Scruffy Murphy's
Yes- an Irish pub in Tokyo.To top it all off, there's a live jazz band playing "Summertime". They're really good. It's a keyboard, bass and drum player. The drum player is singing in English! When the 5 of us walked in he announced that he was going to play some music for us. This is an unexpected piece of home in such a far away place. We keep clapping after the songs, but no one else is. I hope we're not contributing to any stereotypes. Then again, we've all started writing in our journals now so I'm sure we look unusual.
The drummer's name is Charlie. I didn't catch who the other two were. New subject- we met new friends today. In Asakusa some other people we were with met Isabel and Yugo. Yugo is from Japan and ate dinner with us. Isabel is visiting Yugo and lives in Taiwan. After dinner (which was fun because we finally learned the correct way to order and eat) Greg and I spoke at length with Yugo. She was very interested in us and our funny stories of mistakes made in Japan. Her English got better the longer she spoke with us. She eventually became very comfortable and shared some jokes with us. On the subway Isabel gave us all some chocolate covered Chinese noodles. They were delicious. I took out my unwrapped quarters and explained collecting them. Isabel was thankful but Yugo looked like she was going to cry. Now I think I did something bad because she did not have a gift for us. Although, she showed us around and that was a great service. When they left us a bit later I almost cried. In only a few hours we became so close. She told me that there are lots of questions she has there are lots of things she wants to talk about but time was too short. Today I learned both the scholarly definition of Ichigo Ichie, and the emotional one.
I got lost. All by myself, outside the museum that supposedly houses woodblock prints. Our group was split up, and, luckily, we established a 3:45 meeting place. I'm just waiting to go. I'm the only gaijin here- I pointed to order what turned out to be a delicious banana (or baname) smoothie. People are staring at me. It doesn't help that I'm soaking wet from the rain. Actually, I'm starting to get the feeling that I've sat here too long. But one story first: going to the bank to change money. We walked into a bank. No words were in romanji. People took tickets and sat down. But where did they get them? Finally a Japanese woman pointed them out. I took one and waited. Then I saw a counter with the exchange rate. I walked over, checks and passport in hand. A man rushed over to the counter waving his hands across his chest. That meant they don't change money. It was frustrating.
So we walked several blocks (about 20 minutes) and found an international office of some sort that, aside from providing international documents, changed my travelers checks into Yen. Horray! or, rather, Saikoh!
9:45pm Scruffy Murphy's
Yes- an Irish pub in Tokyo.To top it all off, there's a live jazz band playing "Summertime". They're really good. It's a keyboard, bass and drum player. The drum player is singing in English! When the 5 of us walked in he announced that he was going to play some music for us. This is an unexpected piece of home in such a far away place. We keep clapping after the songs, but no one else is. I hope we're not contributing to any stereotypes. Then again, we've all started writing in our journals now so I'm sure we look unusual.
The drummer's name is Charlie. I didn't catch who the other two were. New subject- we met new friends today. In Asakusa some other people we were with met Isabel and Yugo. Yugo is from Japan and ate dinner with us. Isabel is visiting Yugo and lives in Taiwan. After dinner (which was fun because we finally learned the correct way to order and eat) Greg and I spoke at length with Yugo. She was very interested in us and our funny stories of mistakes made in Japan. Her English got better the longer she spoke with us. She eventually became very comfortable and shared some jokes with us. On the subway Isabel gave us all some chocolate covered Chinese noodles. They were delicious. I took out my unwrapped quarters and explained collecting them. Isabel was thankful but Yugo looked like she was going to cry. Now I think I did something bad because she did not have a gift for us. Although, she showed us around and that was a great service. When they left us a bit later I almost cried. In only a few hours we became so close. She told me that there are lots of questions she has there are lots of things she wants to talk about but time was too short. Today I learned both the scholarly definition of Ichigo Ichie, and the emotional one.
9/2/2001
10am Tokyo Youth Center
My feet hurt a lot, as do my legs. We were up early and walked to Meiji Shrine. It was in the middle of a very dense forest. We could still hear some cars and helicopters, but there were almost no people around. This was around 8am, maybe a little earlier. I was again impressed by the wide open spaces. The walkway was probably 40' wide and all gravel. There were occasionally old men sweeping the leaves out of the gravel with brooms made of sticks. They moved the leaves while hardly disturbing the rocks. We watched people pray (?) at the shrine, but did not attempt to do so ourselves. I bought 3 wooden plaque-looking things next to the shrine. I guessed they were blessings for homes- Dr. Prescott told me I was wrong. They are for special prayers. You are supposed to write your wish on the back and hang them somewhere in the shrine. I didn't see any but I did see paper shaped like lightening bolts hanging from booths.
Now we are waiting to meet Takeshi, watching Japanese television, which I do enjoy, although I can't understand the spoken words. I can still understand the main point of the programming. More later after a day with a Japanese businessman.
10:30pm
What an exhausting 12 hours! The afternoon with Takeshi was very fun. We saw so many things. He and a guy we've started calling Vollyball were in a car and drove us to the different areas of Tokyo. It was great not to have so much foot pain to get everywhere. We first went to the biggest shrine I've seen so far. In Akasaka we walked through all of these stalls selling clothes, purses jewelry, and little toys. Again, this stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. Eventually we found the shrine. We moved the incense over our heads to make us smart, then continued up to the shrine itself. We donated Y10 to the... um.... thing you throw your money into. Then we went to a fortune-telling area. For Y100 we shook an aluminum canister and chose a stick with a number. That corresponded to a drawer that had a piece of paper with a fortune in it. Mine was good fortune- the greatest. Greg's was bad- the least. We were told to tie the bad fortune to a stick thing in order to leave it behind. We walked around the marker for a while and then went for a Japanese lunch.
It was okonomiyaki- a restaurant with hot grills in the middle of each table. At first it looked like some Japanese restaurants where the chef cooks in front of a large group of people. We sat on big cushions with our feet below us on the floor. Takeshi ordered two dishes, one "hard" and one "soft". I personally couldn't see the difference. Both were mixtures of all sorts of meats, fish, vegetables, and some sauce. I didn't care for either, but the eating process was interesting. The server poured the mixture onto the gill and mixed it up. The she let it cook for a little. Finally, Takeshi's friend told us it was ready. We had tiny metal spatulas, and with them we separated sections of the pancake. We pressed the bit into the grill to cook it to our preference. The we ate the food off of the spatula. It was gooey, sticky.
After we left we continued through Akihabra, the electronics district. It wasn't too remarkable except for the people who swarmed about and the fact that very expensive computers were just sitting out on the street. Takeshi said if you buy something on the street it will "maybe" work, not "probably" work. He then told us it was coffee time. I suspect he assumes all Americans take coffee breaks in the afternoon. The Starbucks he chose was very noisy and crowded, but we ordered our drinks in English. It was funny to hear "Mocha Latte!" and "Grande Mocha Frappuchino!" yelled amongst all the Japanese we heard.
Shinjuku was next, but honestly, I don't remember much of it. By this time my brain was severely overloaded. There was a DJ store, an arcade, and other flashy things to see.
Harajuku was next: most of what I remember was finding the Condomania store and seeing tons of "Bathe an Ape" t-shirts. Some said, "Ape must not kill ape. Bathe an ape to make it great." We searched for the shirts, but could find none for sale. Finally, we were on our way home- mentally, if not physically exhausted. We gave Takeshi and Vollyball little gifts of mounted state US quarters, and thanked them a lot.
On our way in we saw a group heading out to the Hard Rock Cafe. It was a truly American experience: one that proved that few students have yet grasped the Japanese way of courtesy, quiet, and respect.
My feet hurt a lot, as do my legs. We were up early and walked to Meiji Shrine. It was in the middle of a very dense forest. We could still hear some cars and helicopters, but there were almost no people around. This was around 8am, maybe a little earlier. I was again impressed by the wide open spaces. The walkway was probably 40' wide and all gravel. There were occasionally old men sweeping the leaves out of the gravel with brooms made of sticks. They moved the leaves while hardly disturbing the rocks. We watched people pray (?) at the shrine, but did not attempt to do so ourselves. I bought 3 wooden plaque-looking things next to the shrine. I guessed they were blessings for homes- Dr. Prescott told me I was wrong. They are for special prayers. You are supposed to write your wish on the back and hang them somewhere in the shrine. I didn't see any but I did see paper shaped like lightening bolts hanging from booths.
Now we are waiting to meet Takeshi, watching Japanese television, which I do enjoy, although I can't understand the spoken words. I can still understand the main point of the programming. More later after a day with a Japanese businessman.
10:30pm
What an exhausting 12 hours! The afternoon with Takeshi was very fun. We saw so many things. He and a guy we've started calling Vollyball were in a car and drove us to the different areas of Tokyo. It was great not to have so much foot pain to get everywhere. We first went to the biggest shrine I've seen so far. In Akasaka we walked through all of these stalls selling clothes, purses jewelry, and little toys. Again, this stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. Eventually we found the shrine. We moved the incense over our heads to make us smart, then continued up to the shrine itself. We donated Y10 to the... um.... thing you throw your money into. Then we went to a fortune-telling area. For Y100 we shook an aluminum canister and chose a stick with a number. That corresponded to a drawer that had a piece of paper with a fortune in it. Mine was good fortune- the greatest. Greg's was bad- the least. We were told to tie the bad fortune to a stick thing in order to leave it behind. We walked around the marker for a while and then went for a Japanese lunch.
It was okonomiyaki- a restaurant with hot grills in the middle of each table. At first it looked like some Japanese restaurants where the chef cooks in front of a large group of people. We sat on big cushions with our feet below us on the floor. Takeshi ordered two dishes, one "hard" and one "soft". I personally couldn't see the difference. Both were mixtures of all sorts of meats, fish, vegetables, and some sauce. I didn't care for either, but the eating process was interesting. The server poured the mixture onto the gill and mixed it up. The she let it cook for a little. Finally, Takeshi's friend told us it was ready. We had tiny metal spatulas, and with them we separated sections of the pancake. We pressed the bit into the grill to cook it to our preference. The we ate the food off of the spatula. It was gooey, sticky.
After we left we continued through Akihabra, the electronics district. It wasn't too remarkable except for the people who swarmed about and the fact that very expensive computers were just sitting out on the street. Takeshi said if you buy something on the street it will "maybe" work, not "probably" work. He then told us it was coffee time. I suspect he assumes all Americans take coffee breaks in the afternoon. The Starbucks he chose was very noisy and crowded, but we ordered our drinks in English. It was funny to hear "Mocha Latte!" and "Grande Mocha Frappuchino!" yelled amongst all the Japanese we heard.
Shinjuku was next, but honestly, I don't remember much of it. By this time my brain was severely overloaded. There was a DJ store, an arcade, and other flashy things to see.
Harajuku was next: most of what I remember was finding the Condomania store and seeing tons of "Bathe an Ape" t-shirts. Some said, "Ape must not kill ape. Bathe an ape to make it great." We searched for the shirts, but could find none for sale. Finally, we were on our way home- mentally, if not physically exhausted. We gave Takeshi and Vollyball little gifts of mounted state US quarters, and thanked them a lot.
On our way in we saw a group heading out to the Hard Rock Cafe. It was a truly American experience: one that proved that few students have yet grasped the Japanese way of courtesy, quiet, and respect.
9/1/2001
9:10am
Last night was amazing. I'll call it my First Blind Date with Tokyo. Greg, Bob and I went for a walk to try to find a bar. We got lost in some alley, but found our way back. We continued past the subway station and past the front gate (were we walking North? I don't know). Finally we found a bar that said it was open. So we climbed the steps and bowed our way into Romi (the name of the bar). <-- 2="" a="" already="" and="" at="" bar="" be="" beer="" blue.="" bob="" burst="" but="" cleaver="" d="" electric="" everyone="" girls="" good="" got="" grapefruit="" greg="" guy="" had="" he="" i="" idea="" in="" it="" jinro="" juice="" laughing="" name="" no="" of="" on="" one="" ordered="" out="" p="" rocks="" saying.="" see="" so="" something="" strong.="" suggest.="" the="" there="" thought="" very="" was="" were="" what="" with="" would="">The girls in the corner laughed at us for a while, then courageously asked us if we spoke English... no, wait. Japanese. This kicked off 3.5 hours of the most fun I'd ever had in my life. Their English was moderately understandable and the bartender had an audio-translator for when we were really having trouble. Their names were Eri and Shiori, both 20 years old, in love with Luke Perry, Tom Cruise, and, apparently, Bob and Greg. I was their best friend. So much happened! Bob and Shiori settled into arm wrestling and impressing each other with parlor tricks. Another business man came in and he spoke with Greg about Wrigley Field, Soldier Field, Shakespeare, and other intellectual American things. Unfortunately, by this time, Greg was quite drunk and a little too loud and annoying. Anyway, time went quickly- the bartender poured us some cold sake (tastes like white wine plus vodka) and we all toasted. We also learned that "Saikoh!" means Best! and is usually shouted VERY loudly while punching one or both fists into the air. It was just so fun, I can't describe as much as I'd like to.
8:15pm
It's hard to chose between going into detail about things, or just writing about as many as possible.Today, so far, has been full of sights, sounds, and tastes. First thing in the morning we went to Ginza. Greg described it as the Mag Mile in Chicago, multiplied by 1000! Both in size, height, and space. The shops and malls seemed to go on for miles in every direction. Every street corner looked the same. It was difficult to keep track of the train station. We visited a large mall, I believe the name of it was Matsuzakaya or Mitsukoshi. Probably the latter, it's closer to the subway station. We first went into the basement and were stunned at what we saw: it was a food market with every type of food imaginable. Actually, there was nothing I could ever have imagined. Fish, cooked and uncooked, meats, fruits and vegetables, rolled sushi, pastries that looked like decorative soaps. Then we went to the top floor and worked our way down. Tons of women's clothing, and it was all very expensive.
A Ginza toy store was next, with 4 floors of pure fun: little gadgets that I don't know what they did, dolls, lots of stuffed animals and stickers, Disney music and figures. Greg bought some Flat Eric dolls and Cowboy Bebop figures. We left there and headed back, stopping at McDonalds to get a chicken and sauerkraut sandwich. We also went to the Mikimoto store. The jewelry there was amazing, so intricate, beautiful designs. The styles were different from home, more flowing. The pearls were mostly grey and huge. There was also one necklace with tiny tiny pearls all strung together. It was a very big necklace, but there were probably millions of these centimeter sized pearls. The prices were outrageous, nothing under 50,000 Yen, and mostly Y900,000 and above.
After a few minutes rest back at NYC (Yoyogi Youth Center) we headed off to Shibuya. Lots of walking! The most notable event was dinner. We were with Lindsay, Eric, and Emily. It was really embarrassing just how gaijin we were. First we practiced saying toilet- "toe-IR-ay"- and realized that it was probably an inappropriate word to be repeating at a nice restaurant. I ordered a noodle dish that turned out to be American spaghetti. And my Coke (really Pepsi) turned out to be Y480 while the mixed drinks the others had were Y360. Hopefully I won't make that mistake again.
The plan is to visit Shinjuku tonight and shrines tomorrow, as well as meet up with Takeshi.
Last night was amazing. I'll call it my First Blind Date with Tokyo. Greg, Bob and I went for a walk to try to find a bar. We got lost in some alley, but found our way back. We continued past the subway station and past the front gate (were we walking North? I don't know). Finally we found a bar that said it was open. So we climbed the steps and bowed our way into Romi (the name of the bar). <-- 2="" a="" already="" and="" at="" bar="" be="" beer="" blue.="" bob="" burst="" but="" cleaver="" d="" electric="" everyone="" girls="" good="" got="" grapefruit="" greg="" guy="" had="" he="" i="" idea="" in="" it="" jinro="" juice="" laughing="" name="" no="" of="" on="" one="" ordered="" out="" p="" rocks="" saying.="" see="" so="" something="" strong.="" suggest.="" the="" there="" thought="" very="" was="" were="" what="" with="" would="">The girls in the corner laughed at us for a while, then courageously asked us if we spoke English... no, wait. Japanese. This kicked off 3.5 hours of the most fun I'd ever had in my life. Their English was moderately understandable and the bartender had an audio-translator for when we were really having trouble. Their names were Eri and Shiori, both 20 years old, in love with Luke Perry, Tom Cruise, and, apparently, Bob and Greg. I was their best friend. So much happened! Bob and Shiori settled into arm wrestling and impressing each other with parlor tricks. Another business man came in and he spoke with Greg about Wrigley Field, Soldier Field, Shakespeare, and other intellectual American things. Unfortunately, by this time, Greg was quite drunk and a little too loud and annoying. Anyway, time went quickly- the bartender poured us some cold sake (tastes like white wine plus vodka) and we all toasted. We also learned that "Saikoh!" means Best! and is usually shouted VERY loudly while punching one or both fists into the air. It was just so fun, I can't describe as much as I'd like to.
8:15pm
It's hard to chose between going into detail about things, or just writing about as many as possible.Today, so far, has been full of sights, sounds, and tastes. First thing in the morning we went to Ginza. Greg described it as the Mag Mile in Chicago, multiplied by 1000! Both in size, height, and space. The shops and malls seemed to go on for miles in every direction. Every street corner looked the same. It was difficult to keep track of the train station. We visited a large mall, I believe the name of it was Matsuzakaya or Mitsukoshi. Probably the latter, it's closer to the subway station. We first went into the basement and were stunned at what we saw: it was a food market with every type of food imaginable. Actually, there was nothing I could ever have imagined. Fish, cooked and uncooked, meats, fruits and vegetables, rolled sushi, pastries that looked like decorative soaps. Then we went to the top floor and worked our way down. Tons of women's clothing, and it was all very expensive.
A Ginza toy store was next, with 4 floors of pure fun: little gadgets that I don't know what they did, dolls, lots of stuffed animals and stickers, Disney music and figures. Greg bought some Flat Eric dolls and Cowboy Bebop figures. We left there and headed back, stopping at McDonalds to get a chicken and sauerkraut sandwich. We also went to the Mikimoto store. The jewelry there was amazing, so intricate, beautiful designs. The styles were different from home, more flowing. The pearls were mostly grey and huge. There was also one necklace with tiny tiny pearls all strung together. It was a very big necklace, but there were probably millions of these centimeter sized pearls. The prices were outrageous, nothing under 50,000 Yen, and mostly Y900,000 and above.
After a few minutes rest back at NYC (Yoyogi Youth Center) we headed off to Shibuya. Lots of walking! The most notable event was dinner. We were with Lindsay, Eric, and Emily. It was really embarrassing just how gaijin we were. First we practiced saying toilet- "toe-IR-ay"- and realized that it was probably an inappropriate word to be repeating at a nice restaurant. I ordered a noodle dish that turned out to be American spaghetti. And my Coke (really Pepsi) turned out to be Y480 while the mixed drinks the others had were Y360. Hopefully I won't make that mistake again.
The plan is to visit Shinjuku tonight and shrines tomorrow, as well as meet up with Takeshi.
8/31/2001
6:30am Tokyo
I don't know if this is the type of experience to write about here or not but- I just took a shower... in my bathing suit. I don't know what makes me more uncomfortable: the fact that we are supposed to bathe together nude, or the fact that I couldn't do it.
2:00pm Edo Museum
Today I'm learning about space. The street shops are not on the street, they are 5-6 stories up. Stacked on top of each other. In the stalls of public bathrooms there is space just barely to turn around. On the subway we were packed in more tightly than I could ever have guessed we would be. And now I'm looking out at an enormous expanse of openness. The museum plaza is humbling to say the least. Enormous. Thousands of yards across and hundreds of feet from floor to the ceiling. Public space, including parks and museums, temples, and shrines, must be places of openness and reflection. At first I wondered why they would waste all this space when they desperately need housing. Actually, I still don't really know why. It was impressive and very moving: at once to feel so packed in with millions of people, yet stand in the middle of an "empty football field."
I don't know if this is the type of experience to write about here or not but- I just took a shower... in my bathing suit. I don't know what makes me more uncomfortable: the fact that we are supposed to bathe together nude, or the fact that I couldn't do it.
2:00pm Edo Museum
Today I'm learning about space. The street shops are not on the street, they are 5-6 stories up. Stacked on top of each other. In the stalls of public bathrooms there is space just barely to turn around. On the subway we were packed in more tightly than I could ever have guessed we would be. And now I'm looking out at an enormous expanse of openness. The museum plaza is humbling to say the least. Enormous. Thousands of yards across and hundreds of feet from floor to the ceiling. Public space, including parks and museums, temples, and shrines, must be places of openness and reflection. At first I wondered why they would waste all this space when they desperately need housing. Actually, I still don't really know why. It was impressive and very moving: at once to feel so packed in with millions of people, yet stand in the middle of an "empty football field."
8/29/2001
2pm
Only a few hours into the trip and already there are new things. I thought peanuts were universal. I know it won't be the last time I'm handed a package with absolutely no English on it- and it's just a guess about what's in it. Even the airplane smells different. It smells like the peanuts/puffed rice snacks tasted. Of course, some of the "Otsumami" tasted like shrimp. But the tastes did not seem unusual together.
Hmmm. Greg says it smells like beef. I thought vegetables. More later, I'm sure. Note to self: Chicago to Tokyo is about 6,000 miles.
8:30pm still on the airplane
There is so much new, just on the plane. I would of course like to document it all, but I know I must be selective. I could write pages about just the few samples of food I've had so far. As a snack there were tiny sandwiches. Tiny! One was egg salad- standard tasting. The other was a piece of cheese on white bread. No condiments. And, the unusual part was that the crusts were cut off. I'm not sure if an American airline would have cut the crusts off of sandwiches.
Will things like crust-less sandwiches and neon green kiwi juice become ordinary to me? I hope not. I don't want to get used to seeing new things.
Another part of the adventure I want to be aware of is how our group of Americans change over time. Right now I'm learning what it's like to be a minority: there are cartoons on, but they are not translated into English. Also, on the radio we hear Japanese talk-radio, but nothing like that in English. A little frustrating, I have to admit.
Only a few hours into the trip and already there are new things. I thought peanuts were universal. I know it won't be the last time I'm handed a package with absolutely no English on it- and it's just a guess about what's in it. Even the airplane smells different. It smells like the peanuts/puffed rice snacks tasted. Of course, some of the "Otsumami" tasted like shrimp. But the tastes did not seem unusual together.
Hmmm. Greg says it smells like beef. I thought vegetables. More later, I'm sure. Note to self: Chicago to Tokyo is about 6,000 miles.
8:30pm still on the airplane
There is so much new, just on the plane. I would of course like to document it all, but I know I must be selective. I could write pages about just the few samples of food I've had so far. As a snack there were tiny sandwiches. Tiny! One was egg salad- standard tasting. The other was a piece of cheese on white bread. No condiments. And, the unusual part was that the crusts were cut off. I'm not sure if an American airline would have cut the crusts off of sandwiches.
Will things like crust-less sandwiches and neon green kiwi juice become ordinary to me? I hope not. I don't want to get used to seeing new things.
Another part of the adventure I want to be aware of is how our group of Americans change over time. Right now I'm learning what it's like to be a minority: there are cartoons on, but they are not translated into English. Also, on the radio we hear Japanese talk-radio, but nothing like that in English. A little frustrating, I have to admit.
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