Observations and Life in Japan

Well to start off my shipment of household goods would seem to have arrived, if anything I’m quite happy about that, so I was finally able to implement my plan to brush up on my photography skills and get out into town and take pictures. I felt really gung ho about it and took a chunk of yen out of the bank for ‘walking around’ money, and my camera an old model Canon EOS Rebel X2. I took on the order of 500 or so and as most photographers are wont to do only used a tiny fraction of them. I’ll generally use 1 out of each set of pictures, so I should have 35 usable shots, I have far fewer than that. Because it seems my camera/lenses are broke, namely the autofocusing feature. So I’ll have to get those replaced, fun time, not looking forward to paying the price for those good here in Japan, at least I can just go to Akihabara and get what I need.

If anything living here in japan has changed my perspective on a few things that most people will consider ‘normal’ and take for granted, the biggest thing would of course be the langage, being American and having lived in the States, namely the Midwest for most of my life I’ve generally come to expect that most people will speak English as a first language. Of course I’m not expecting to be able to communicate 100%, but well that’s one thing to get used to. Also actually being the ‘foreigner’ is another big thing for me, especially as I’m a ‘big’ foreigner, not fat,, just tall. Hence the blog title…I’ll get lost is a huge group of people, but I’ll still stand out. And here is where the difference is big, but in a great way. Portion size, having all of these meals in japan is quite refreshing, small, filling, generally pretty healthy and it all tastes amazing so far. Then I went to the Chili’s on base the other night and couldn’t finish my meal as it was like 3 ‘japanese’ meals.

Fresh fruits and prosciutto Salad from Forbidden fruit


I will say that I really enjoy Tokyo and the environment, the food is awesome, and generally looks good as you’ll see here. I had a nice salad in a little café place called ‘Forbidden fruit’ while I was down in Harajuku. However eating isn’t all that I did while I was down there, also picked up a brand new coat, just a nice sport coat like design. I will say this, it feels nice wearing designer clothes. By the way, I didn’t find out about this issue until I uploaded the pictures and found out that most of the pictures were incredibly blurry. *sighs* At least I got a few of them post worthy, so yeah…gratuitous pictures in 3….2….1….

And here's my Flickr for more http://www.flickr.com/photos/58409124@N03/


The Meiji Shrine





Dinner (Udon noodles and tempura fried eggplant)




An expensive cake 'worth' 40 USD

One month in Japan

Well I've been in Japan for one month to the day and I must say it has so far been a wonderful experience. If you've read my blog so far you'll know numerous things that have happened that I won't recount here.

I will say that hubris has gotten the better of me and smacked me down on one major occasion, the penance of such was a pie in the face literally and figuratively. I learned quite hard that not everybody is up for everything when not stated. There is generally such a thing as implied consent, however respect is another thing I also need to recognize in people. I've never blogged about work until now. For you all to understand this well we had some fun with our commander, the guy crammed into an Elf costume on Christmas because we paid to get him into it via a fundraiser. I thought I could do the same thing here, so i put some money on my commanding officer....bad idea. Didn't get paperwork, just told that 'I don't play that' and to remove the money. Of course I did so within the hour of being told to do so. Later that week I paid for it via a cherry pie. No this isn't a euphemism for anything, I got hit with a cherry pie, in the face.

Now I deserved it, I know it. If anything I thought I learned my lesson from that but well, a few days later I gave myself some more problems, I really need to learn to keep my big mouth shut. That would honestly be best for me in most if not all situations that don't require me to 'slackjaw'. Anyway enough about hubris for now It's something I need to deal with on my own.

Now so far this country has proven to be incredibly beautiful in most aspects of it. Walking down a cramped and oh so crowded side street in Harajuku feeling almost 'closed in' to some respects, yet perfectly comfortable in others. Nobody standing around and lingering everyone moving with a purpose and a drive that i rarely if ever got to see in the States. The amazing thing about it all none of it was what anyone from the US would consider 'loud' sure there were vendors and advertisers on the street trying to get people to 'go here or buy this' but despite the hustle and bustle that everybody was encased in, very quiet overall. While it may be a stereotype that the Japanese are incredibly polite, it seems to be one that is well founded, I've only encountered one or two rude people so far in my time here, and even then that was because I didn't know the custom relating eating a bowl of Ramen.

Living in another country has really been an eyeopening and life changing experience, I'm quite curious as to how I'll view the United states when i eventually return there after my tour here in Japan, or overseas in general is over. Truth be told of the camaraderie that I've experienced so far it has been better than anything I encountered back in Oklahoma or in Texas before that. Perhaps if I felt this close to my co-workers, roommate, or the other people on base, maybe my career would have started in a better place.

I made a promise to someone and I plan to keep it. That doesn't mean I won't experience the culture here though.

A Day in Harajuku

Ok you can take my manhood from me if you wish for this. But the first time I go out of walking distance i don't go to a bar, a strip club, a sporting event, or even on a date, or to go racing...I go to Harajuku. And i don't care yes i went to a World fashion Capital on a day off and window shopped. You know what? I enjoyed it too hell I'd have bought some stuff but what i could afford couldn't fit, what could fit I couldn't afford, and as I'm Military I couldn't buy one of the hats ANY of the stores were selling because I'm Anal about having to HOLD a hat inside a building, besides I have a weird head shape...hats just look goofy on me. Though i did see one jacket that made me REALLy want to go out of my price range of the 7,000 Yen I had to spend. Anyway being exposed to fashion the way I was got me thinking. With as many consider it a hobby, passing fancy, career, or life,and seeing the attached price tag, it made me think: Is it worth it? The answer is vague: It's subjective. there can never be a true and honest opinion on fashion because of numerous factors, is it pleasing, ugly, or too pricy...all of it is subjective. There is no answer I guess even calling it 'fashion' is subjective if someone doesn't think it is. But you know what? I found stuff my sisters would like and stuff I liked. So while out of my price range, it was quite nice to experience.



Now everyone goes on about the fashion in Harajuku, but you know what? The food is...amazing. I saw some little cafe in Harajuku called 'Cafe cloud' that was near empty. had lunch there. Lunch was a tomato based vegetable beef soup, a leafy green salad with a ginger dressing, and a a sandwich. the sandwich was on a baguette it had tuna, olives, green pepper, and fresh tomato. All of it diced really fine and toasted. People can have their 500 Dollar Ralph Lauren polo shirts, designer jackets, and Louis Vuitton handbags, but the 800 or so yen (about 10 USD) I spent on lunch was more satisfying. Besides later chatting with some Brit and his Girlfriend made for an interesting day.



Story behind that in my failed search for a jacket I bump into a 6'5" brit searching for a jacket also I make the comment 'Amazing stuff here, but none of it fit". So we're just walking and talking about random stuff for a few blocks, now let me tell you bartenders are interesting dudes to chat with, and let me make this known...I love the c*** that comes out of the mouths of brits.



Anyway...here i am in my dorm room with a stomach full of Eggplant, tomato, and sukiyaki Curry (CoCo's Level 8) and blogging again strongly considering getting a proper blogger account on another website. This is fun. Next week....Roppongi..or Tokyo itself.