Tokyo IV
July 29
A few days since my last post. Let’s see…yesterday, what did I do? I spent the morning in my RT group working on our Global Citizenship project. Our group really has a great dynamic. I go in tired and grumpy about so much work-type stuff each time, yet leave feeling refreshed and excited. I think our communication is key. We all seem to have the same ideas on education and how important diverse perspectives are therein.
After a really long morning of working on that stuff, we were supposed to have “Field Day” (come on, how summer campy can this get?) but the gods smiled down upon me and Tokyo poured rain for most of the rest of the day. Instead of more guided group activities, we had a whole afternoon and evening of free time!
I hit the town in Shinjuku, another dense Times Square on crack type neighborhood, and Maureen “Mo” (a cute little cross country runner from South Carolina) put on dresses and jumped on the train. We were actually on the train when we realized that a) we didn’t know how to get to Shinjiku, and b) we had no map. I decided we should work through the challenge, so as to better prepare me for my time here with Dan. We made it to the station, which is more like the Mall of America packed with people frantically scurrying every which way with no intention of moving to the side (I should mention that in Japan you drive on the left hand side of the road and it seems most of the time people naturally walk on the left side of a walkway, yet in the train/subway stations there are arrows on both sides – very confusing!). We finally made it outside to what we thought was the West side, where we were to meet some American and Japanese friends. I called them and they came to pick us up on the west side. After 20 minutes of highly entertaining people watching, my buddy Yuki called and told me we were probably on the south side. Long story short, we were completely wrong. After that mistake was cleared up, we headed out towards the crazy streets and bright lights. We headed to find a good bite to eat and ended up going to a restaurant on the 7th floor of a high rise. The food style is called “shabu shabu” and it is much like a Japanese version of fondue. For 90 minutes and 1850 yen (about 17 dollars), it is all you can eat meat and veggies. The meat is very very thinly sliced, and you put it in hot soup, along with all sorts of veggies and then dip it in really good sauces. Along with cold beer and some yummy sake, it was one of the best meals I think I have ever had (Dan I am taking you to a similar place!!!).
We continued the evening at an izakaya, which is a Japanese pub with booths that serves some food. The sign on the door reads (my translation) “The cheapest bar in Tokyo” and it turned out to be just that. Beers were drank, funny pictures taken, but we were eventually given the boot (in the nicest way possible – I don’t know if Japanese people really know how to be rude like Americans) because we did not order any food. Take (pronounced Tah-kay) says I am “strong” which means I have a good tolerance. I am glad.
A good day, indeed, concluded by a semi-drunk journey back speaking only in French with Mo.
A few days since my last post. Let’s see…yesterday, what did I do? I spent the morning in my RT group working on our Global Citizenship project. Our group really has a great dynamic. I go in tired and grumpy about so much work-type stuff each time, yet leave feeling refreshed and excited. I think our communication is key. We all seem to have the same ideas on education and how important diverse perspectives are therein.
After a really long morning of working on that stuff, we were supposed to have “Field Day” (come on, how summer campy can this get?) but the gods smiled down upon me and Tokyo poured rain for most of the rest of the day. Instead of more guided group activities, we had a whole afternoon and evening of free time!
I hit the town in Shinjuku, another dense Times Square on crack type neighborhood, and Maureen “Mo” (a cute little cross country runner from South Carolina) put on dresses and jumped on the train. We were actually on the train when we realized that a) we didn’t know how to get to Shinjiku, and b) we had no map. I decided we should work through the challenge, so as to better prepare me for my time here with Dan. We made it to the station, which is more like the Mall of America packed with people frantically scurrying every which way with no intention of moving to the side (I should mention that in Japan you drive on the left hand side of the road and it seems most of the time people naturally walk on the left side of a walkway, yet in the train/subway stations there are arrows on both sides – very confusing!). We finally made it outside to what we thought was the West side, where we were to meet some American and Japanese friends. I called them and they came to pick us up on the west side. After 20 minutes of highly entertaining people watching, my buddy Yuki called and told me we were probably on the south side. Long story short, we were completely wrong. After that mistake was cleared up, we headed out towards the crazy streets and bright lights. We headed to find a good bite to eat and ended up going to a restaurant on the 7th floor of a high rise. The food style is called “shabu shabu” and it is much like a Japanese version of fondue. For 90 minutes and 1850 yen (about 17 dollars), it is all you can eat meat and veggies. The meat is very very thinly sliced, and you put it in hot soup, along with all sorts of veggies and then dip it in really good sauces. Along with cold beer and some yummy sake, it was one of the best meals I think I have ever had (Dan I am taking you to a similar place!!!).
We continued the evening at an izakaya, which is a Japanese pub with booths that serves some food. The sign on the door reads (my translation) “The cheapest bar in Tokyo” and it turned out to be just that. Beers were drank, funny pictures taken, but we were eventually given the boot (in the nicest way possible – I don’t know if Japanese people really know how to be rude like Americans) because we did not order any food. Take (pronounced Tah-kay) says I am “strong” which means I have a good tolerance. I am glad.
A good day, indeed, concluded by a semi-drunk journey back speaking only in French with Mo.
Your days are filled with activities, but you find time and energy to share descriptions of events and scents and sounds and tastes. Your conversational writing style makes me feel I am traveling along with you - discovering shabu shabu, getting confused in the subway, and getting tipsy at an izakaya. I was intrigued enough in the beginning to think that maybe we would move a visit to Japan to the top of our plans, but, now I'm thinking, "Why not save our travel dollars for southeast Asia and Latin America? I feel I have already experienced Japan."
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