Japanese People Say Thank You A Lot

NEW PICTURES YAY!

I miss bread. If there is one thing that I really miss from Europe is the variety of and deliciousness of bread. Japanese bread consists of white bread in the Texas toast style of being about 4 inches thick. Rice just doesn’t cut it! I think I just might survive though. Fortunately I have curry and delicious red bean paste sweets to hold me over!

Wow. Japan is amazing. It’s just what I thought it was going to like and nothing like what I thought it was going to be like. I arrived in Tokyo after two long flights on Air China, uneventful other than the hyped up security at both the Beijing and Tokyo airports to keep all of the terrorists from bringing Swine Flu into their country! When I say I arrived in Tokyo, what I actually mean is that I got to Narita Airport and then spent two hours actually getting to my couchsurfing host. The important thing in the end is that I got there, to some random suburb of Tokyo on that rainy May night.

Now let me tell you a little bit about this CS situation…it was quite a show. I think that my host must dream of owning a hippie commune or a hostel of his own someday. Unfortunately it won’t be a good one. He lived in a two room apartment the total of which was probably about the size of the average US living room. Which would have been completely fine if it weren’t for the fact that I was sharing it with, at one point, 15 other CSers. You read that last sentence correctly. We filled up every last inch of the floor from kitchen to hall and bedroom. Yes, it did smell like a freshman guys dorm room. It was an experience, I will give it that. I survived three nights of sardine style living before I booked myself a room in a hostel.

Tokyo Transportation
Tokyo is a HUGE city. You can get anywhere using public transportation if you can unravel the circuitry of the train/metro map. You can’t really be in a hurry to get anywhere when you use public transportation. At least as a novice like me. I suppose the one good thing that came out of these extended ride was the fact that I feel like I learned a lot about Japanese people that use them everyday. First and foremost, when you ride the rail at rush hour, the Japanese lose their polite and shy tendencies in order to pack as many people into each car as possible. Don’t expect the granny to wait for the next train if she can squeeze into the crack between you and corner!
Another thing that observed was the amazing ability for Japanese people to sleep while standing up, either holding a handle or not. And if they aren’t grabbing a cat nap, they are texting, or in the case of all males under the age of 30, playing on their PSP or other gaming device. I didn’t manage to do much more that listen to my Ipod and try to pay attention to the screen showing the next stop! Though by the end of the week I was proudly making trips to the city center without having to consult my map…more than once.

Tokyo Fashion
In what appears to be blatant rebellion against all that is shy and humble, the Japanese love to wear crazy clothes. It is not uncommon to see a school girl dressed up in all her anime best or a guy to be wearing his zoot suit and alligator shoes looking ready to riot. From what I can tell, gaudy clothing and karaoke are the only forms of distressing that happen in Japan. I have to work from 10-12 hours a day? Fine…but I’m going to do it wearing a neon green suit and with my hair looking like a raging campfire! Have to take grandpa on a walk in the park? Okay…but I’m wearing my sailor dress and we are stopping by Karaoke Box on the way!
I have to admit that not every man, woman and child in Japan has such a voracious appetite for plaids, short skirts and six inch heels. Shopping for expensive but rather bland brand name clothes seems to a trend for the older generations. It might be a plain with shirt but it says Gucci and I paid an arm and a leg!

More About Tokyo
While I was in Tokyo I did plenty of people watching. I also did plenty of city watching from different viewpoints around the city. The Japanese sure know how to do a skyline. Especially at night. I won’t even try to describe it though because I’d rather you looked at the pictures! It’s funny that the Japanese are know for always being at the head of the pack for new inventions while their cities are covered with replicas and copies of things from elsewhere. The French have the Eiffel Tower, Tokyo has Tokyo Tower. We have the statue of Liberty, the Japanese have one too…Disneyland…time square…the list goes on.

Fuji Five Lakes (Kawaguchiko)
My paradise. When it’s sunny and cloudless, this area could keep me happy for a long time. Unfortunately, I don’t think the weather works like that…
Mount Fuji is spectacular! Unfortunately the climbing season doesn’t start until July. Way too much snow! I spent a nice peaceful few days walking around this small lake town. I was happy to be able to visit the Itchiku Kubota Kimono museum! I had seen some of these amazing pieces of art in San Diego while it was touring and it was nice to be able to see the whole thing! Some of you are getting post cards with these on them!

Just an quick update since it’s been a while! I’m in Kyoto now and I’ll be heading to Hiroshima and the island of Kyushu next! I’m also getting really excited about Thailand and the rest of SE Asia!

Europe, the Last Days and Final Thoughts

As I write I’m sitting on the train from Vienna to Frankfurt. This is my last taste of the European railway system as in 24 hours I will be flying enroute to Tokyo. Before I offer up any closing remarks about my overall time in Europe though, I suppose I better get you caught up on my past ten days or so on the road.

I left Brasov, Romania on a rainy night and took my first and last night train. I won’t go into details but let’s just say I’d rather not know about the stains on my sheets or why we were two and half hours late getting into our final destination, Budapest. I’d like to say that great things about Budapest as it seems to enjoy a mystical quality whenever people talk about Europe these days. Unfortunately for me, and for Budapest, it appears to be a city of second bests. Although there are plenty of enjoyable churches, museums and theatres, every place I visited seemed like I had been there before. I did enjoy a night with the Budapest Philharmonic. It will forever stick in my mind as an orchestra made up of familiar faces as there appeared to be look-alikes of not only Kern Holoman and my Genetics academic advisor but also celebrity figures such as Hurley from the TV show lost (he happened to be the violin soloist) and Martha Stewart. As I walked through a mall on a rainy afternoon I also got a laugh at a “Niagra Falls”-esque waterfall built as a millennial gift from our northern neighbors to the Hungarian people…way to go Canada.

I stopped in Vienna for a night on my way to Prague. Eva was a great host as always! I then made my way to Prague, the new capital of culture in Europe these days it seems. Prague is a city that I would love to go back to. I was there for four days and saw only a piece of what the city had to offer. The palace and old town are incredible and there is no end to the impressive architecture. Unfortunately Prague was the first place that I really experienced my worst enemy. Prague was packed wall to wall with tourists. I hate them. I realize that technically I’m one of them but I like to think that I’m slightly more conscientious and slightly less stupid. I’ve decided on a rule of thumb. If it takes me more than 20 minutes just to cross the main square, I leave and come back another day. But, like I was saying before, Prague seems like a great city and I would love to go back at a different time of year.

I had a slight change in plans after leaving Prague. Initially I had intended to go north to Dresden in Germany and then head to Frankfurt. Excitingly though, Nick, the cousin who has given me such great contacts throughout Europe, was in Vienna! He got a job and he was there for a few days meeting his coworkers. I hadn’t seen Nick in about ten years and needless to say, we both had changed slightly. Although we only had about 24 hours to hang out, it was great to catch up and I already can’t wait to go back to visit him in my favorite Austrian city!

One of the questions I’m asked frequently now by my hosts is my favorite place visited. I’m notoriously bad at choosing a favorite anything though. Some of the highlights have been Berlin, Austria, Croatia and Greece. Even as I write that, I feel a pang of regret at all of the other amazing places that I left out. The one common denominator of all the places though is the people. You can only really get to know a city through the people that live there. The excitement of an individual for their home can do wonders, especially to a lone traveler. I also find that these places acted like a temporary home for me. If any of my hosts are reading this, I appreciate every conversation!

My next message will be another third of the way around the globe! Auf Wiedersehen to Europe and Konnichiwa to Japan!