And We’re Walking…
As I type, I’m chowing down on some fried chicken acquired from Lawson, the local konbini (convenience store). Today was another eventful day.
Our tour gude yesterday took us around Shibuya, a district of clubs, big stores, and love hotels, and Harajuku, an area more associated with underground fashion and cosplaying girls. We paid a visit to Meiji Shrine, both yesterday and today, with different groups, just becuase. Today there were really beautiful ice sculptures lining the long, winding gravel path beneath the trees that leads to the shrine. The last two days brought a LOT of picture-taking, so I’ll be putting those up soon as well, probably later tonight.
Today’s visit to Harajuku was a bit more prosperous — instead of having a tour guide who, halfway through, drank a couple beers and began to show us around to his favorite shoe stores, (he claims to be the only straight male fashion reporter around) it was just me and a few other people. We had crepes and shopped a bit, and I did the touristy thing and bought a towel with a picture of the tiny section of train map with Harajuku station as part of the Yamanote loop.
Also got a shell necklace, and in Akihabara: a pair of new, new headphones in (since the last NEW ones broke on the plane), and a very pretty, inexpensive pocket watch. After all that, you’d think I’d had enough consuming, but I still bought myself something quick and easy for dinner, as well as the groceries to make something more complicated tomorrow.
Meat is a litte more expensive than in the states, but the difference for only one person’s worth of steak isn’t huge, and I’ll probably pick some up on a day when I feel like cooking it. The steaks were small but they looked incredibly fresh. Some of the fish looked fantastic as well. I can’t wait till I’m a little more up to cooking a real dinner meal.
Legs ache like crazy, wishing I hadn’t lost that pedometer, my numbers would have to be insane by now.
~Prolix
Day Three
If you’re back on the USA’s east coast reading this, you shoud know that I am now updating… FROM THE WORLD OF TOMORROW. This one encompasses a couple days so it’s longer than I’ll usually be.
As it turns out, 14 hours is a much longer time when you fail at sleeping and forget to eat for almost a day beforehand. Boredom is really the greatest enemy. The gentleman sitting next to me spoke Portugese and Japanese but not English, as I learned quickly when I tried to talk to him. The two guys in front of me however, were both Americans, one was a Temple grad student and one was military, headed down to Okinawa. We touched down VERY softly and actually a little early, despite leaving late. I like that pilot. ;-D
I met yet more military guys on the bus (which was, to my surprise, equipped with delightful suspension and was sparkling clean) to the hotel, and they made me feel immediately less alone. One of them was on leave and the other one was also on his way to Okinawa to be stationed there.
Right from the getgo when I got off the plane, I encountered the fabled great customer service of Japan. No one I spoke to acted less than delighted to be working wherever they were, including the guys whose job it is to stand out in the cold all day and herd the shuttle buses (and their passengers) around. This became even more readily apparent at the Sheraton Miyako, where as soon as I dragged all my bags onto the curb and walked toward the baggage cart, I was stopped by a worker there who insisted on handling everything for me.
Outside of home, I never felt better taken care of in my life than that night at the Sheraton. The tub was HUGE, too. It could proably fit two of me quite comfortably, and a third squeezed.
Getting to the dorm the next day was a little pricey, taxis are HUGELY expensive here, but I can’t imagine any other way, with all the stuff I was carting. The guy didn’t speak English and didn’t really know where he was going, so other than price, it wasn’t really that different from a taxi in Philadelphia. He finally found the dorm and, well, here I am now.
The first night in the dorm was rather crummy, nothing good to eat (don’t know where to go yet) and experiencing much worse jetlag than before — I’d slept well the previous night, woken up feeling as though I’d been out drinking all night, and just had a (magic) sports drink and was fine. (Magic sports drink = Pocari Sweat, a hydrating drink like gatorade, but more effective and less sugary, which I’m pretty sure is what they’d give an IV of in the hospital if you fainted) Last night though, I was awake through most of it, totally freakd out. In the end I slept between 10-11:30 and 3-6, which was only after getting to walk around a fair bit.
I’d like to take a moment now to talk about ravens.
Ravens have tested as the most intelligent of all birds. In folklore, ravens tend to be symbolic of mystery — sometimes of a mystery with power that is only to be feared if misused, sometimes positive mystery, sometimes always negative. Various cultures depict them as omens of almost everything, and incarnations of many gods. Since I am in Japan, I’ll go into the Japanese raven mythology here.
In Shinto (an animistic religion which permeates many aspects of Japanese culture) mythology, Amaterasu is a sun-goddess, and one of the most imoportant figures in the… shall we say Shintoistic pantheon. Her name means “that which illuiminates heaven.” She is said to be linked directly in lineage to the Imperial Household and the Emporer. As sun-goddess, she has great warmth and compassion to those who worship her. Ravens are known as her birds, and she is often depicted as a giant raven. I’ve always been sort of interested in Ravens, but until now, they’ve been incredibly rare.
All this is to say that I’ve decided to take the presence of at least one, possibly more, around here to be a good sign. One flew close to my window yesterday morning and, perched on part of the roof, was the first thing I saw when I walked out to go to orientation yesterday.
Orientation was about 20 minutes of useful information and about 3 or 4 hours of total crap (with the brief interruption of a HILARIOUS british guy named Phil Deans’ presentation)
The commute is incredibly hectic, but probably just requires practice before I’m good at it. When we got to Shibuya station last night on the JR line, our train was stopped for at least 20 minutes. I asked our guide why, and she said, in the same tone that one mentions the lovely weather we’re having, that people kill themselves on the train tracks a lot and they were probably cleaning up a body. Usually it doesn’t take this long so we can switch train lines if everyone would like.
Back at Ontakesan station, we had a walk through the pouring rain back to the dorm. I didn’t really mind at all, but I will say that I did take a hot shower shortly after arriving. I had a little meal bar I got from the convenience store for dinner. I think my appetite is returning slowly. Finally, a solid night of sleep.
~Prolix
14 Hours is a Long Time
Why hello there. I didn’t see you come in through those internet tubes. How are you this fine evening?
Let’s get to the point. Temple’s Japan campus in the middle of Tokyo is my destination in just a few precious days. I’ll be leaving my family and friends, city, fiancé, belltower, and of course Loki, my ferret, to sit on a plane for 14 loooooong hours. For my edutainment (and your infotation) I’ll spend the next four months finding my way on the complicated Tokyo subway systems, eating raw food with more raw food on top, and learning to bow.
I bought a digital camera just for this trip. My luggage count right now is three bags, not including my carry-on. I still have much to do and a respiratory infection to defeat, and then I’ll be off.
Bound for lands unknown. To me. Stay tuned.
~Prolix
