tokyo weekend and misc.
spent this past weekend in tokyo...primary goal was to purchase a laptop-ibm or gateway-and second to experience za-zen buddhism and if time see what communion would be like at tokyo baptist church (meanwhile still fasting for ramadan :)...
i missed the za-zen session because i spent 3 hours in akihabara, the electric town of tokyo where everything is usually atleast 30% off and there are duty-free shops and overseas models, (just watching it all will make you dizzy, tired, and/or lost) going from store to store comparing prices and models and trying all the software out and asking a zillion questions about hardware/voltage differences in japan vs. america going to some stores 2-3 times etc etc ended up buying an apple (my first apple product ever). for a really good price too, surprisingly. couldnt get duty-free because im an alien in japan not a temporary visitor.
it`s so different the second time around. on sunday i didnt try to do a thousand tourist things like i normally would have. i let tokyo come to me. i relaxed. had a japanese breakfast, stopped by 2 temples early in the morning before the crowds arrived, did a little shopping for my apartment, people-watched in ueno and then caught an early afternoon train back home. tokyo`s amazing but i honestly missed my peaceful little city with only 2 main roads, with stars not blinding city lights and skyscrapers. falling asleep to the sound of the ocean instead of trying to block out the sounds of mototcycles, ambulances, and merchants shouting at tourists from restaurants and pubs.
it`s funny...occassionally ill be doing something very basic like grocery shopping and suddenly it would dawn on me that i`m grocery shopping in japan...i live in japan...i have 3 personal phone numbers and 2 .jp email addresses...i have train and bus passes for the year...strangers speak to me in japanese...i go to work and hear and speak only japanese...the train conductors know me. sometimes i dream partly in japanese. my support network in japan is all male. there was no day light saving time (now 14hrs ahead) and no trick or treating. there will be no thanksgiving and very little snow if any--the average temp is still 70+ on most days---i couldnt help laughing when i saw a japanese reporter in boston on election day sporting a puffy with fur. im definitely not a tourist but not quite a citizen either and ill never blend in, but yet i feel very comfortable as one of hitachi`s newest residents. it`s growing on me and now that Bush is president again im not in any rush to hurry home.
but i still miss stuff about home.
*************
last summer my boss would tease me about my japanese `boyfriends`. there were 2 guys in particular, from a different department, that paid a lot of attention to me and would escort me to/from work, help me shop for stuff, help me plan my weekend excursions, invite me to social functions etc etc they still email me and one of them lives in hitachi now too. i guess it is nice to have so many guy friends around my age with cars, taking me out, helping me run various errands and learn about japanese culture but i miss hanging out with americans. so far havent found any in hitachi...maybe theyre hiding out in the middle of the city somewhere that i havent explored yet because i still havent ridden that bike. in akihabara there were mostly european and african tourists; didnt go to the big foreigner spots though. there`s a decent mit group spread around japan but mostly in the kansai area (far far away from me) and a few in the tokyo area (2 hr train ride). missing cheerios and subway too.
***********
read 5 new books in the last 2 weeks (2 amazon shipments 2 days a part)...highly recommended: life of pi, the da vinci code, and although very short, a favorite child and adult classic, le petit prince (i read it in french back in grade school, bought the english translation this time). `on the road` was okay...there`s nothing in the beginning to grab your attention but later there were some brillantly simple passages or sometimes just a single sentence in an entire chapter that caught me off-guard and made me continue reading. also left me wondering why the rest of the book failed to follow example. i tried to justify its flaws by deciding that that was one of the author`s points: his writing style would also parallel one of the books overall themes, but the book is still mediocre in comparison to the ones mentioned above. in fact im thinking about reading life of pi again next week...currently reading a collection of a.i. essays and god and golem again.
1 Comments:
We had a blood drive at law school
Alas I could not donate
(in England too long; dreadful country)
But it made me think of you
..and chocolate chip cookies
....and how much I missed Boston in July.
Miss you lots. Take care, cuz =)
Post a Comment
<< Home