Well, I've kind of been a bum so far today, but it gave me a chance to think. I've been in something of a reflective mood as my trip comes to a close, and I started realizing that I have stuffed a lifetime's worth of incredible experiences into a few short months.
I have cheered for a yokozuna.
I have eaten soup with my hands.
I have improved my chopstick skills...but not by much.
I have learned to say "thank you" in almost a dozen languages.
I have been blessed by wandering holy men.
I have gone swimming in the Nile.
I have talked politics with an ambitious Liberian refugee.
I have seen giraffes shillouetted against Lake Manyara.
I have heard a shofar blow at sunrise on Mt. Sinai.
I have caught glimpses of two endangered species.
I have had my horoscope read by a yogi.
I have paid my respects at the tombs of King David and Jesus.
I have ridden in busses with armed men...and women!
I have surveyed all of Africa spread out before me from the slopes of her highest mountain.
I have been caught up in an international incident.
I have bargained for spices in an ancient market.
I have shuddered in a dungeon meant for slaves, and felt the privilege of walking out again.
I have been in a Bollywood movie.
I have looked into the faces of pharaohs.
I have entered forbidden royal tombs and palaces.
I have visited tribal villages in the hills of Laos.
I have watched the sun set over the Taj Mahal.
I have gotten close enough to wild lions to hear them breathe.
I have eaten sushi fresh out of the ocean...and thanked the chef in Japanese.
I have raced Nubian children down sand dunes.
I have watched Massai herdsmen moving their cattle to new pastures.
I have touched the Western Wall of Solomon's Temple...and been touched by it.
I have lived in villages that didn't have full time electricity.
I have filled my passport's pages with stamps.
And most of all I have learned the sweetness of coming home again.
I can't wait to see everybody! Not long now...
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Finishing last night's post.
So the rest of my amazing day.
First, Sumo. I actually really enjoyed it. You heard me, I sat at a sporting event for 4 hours and liked it. The guys are amazingly powerful. It reminded me for all the world of all those Animal Planet specials where the water buffalo bulls go clashing into each other. Huge but fast and agile. And I got a little radio with English commentary on it, which helped me figure out some of the finer points of the sport. But the highlight (at least for the two announcers) was when the goji (official dressed in a bright and elaborate kimono) tripped and went flying out of the ring into the battery of photographers. The former wrestler on the commentary team thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. But for me, the highlight was the yokozunas. Those are the top guys in the sport. It's a title kind of like "prima ballerina" - it's an honorific that you can never lose once you've got it, unlike something like "champion," which only lasts as long as you can hold the title. So these guys have won tons of tournaments to get where they are. There were two yokozunas fighting last night, and each one of them comes out and does a short ceremony to show off what big, bad dudes they are. It's a lot of macho posturing, but with more dignity and less clothing. The yokozuna vs. yokozuna match was amazing. Usually they're over in a flash, but these guys were so skilled and well-matched that it went on for over a minute. So sumo has a new fan.
After that, I dashed onto the subway to catch the last act of the kabuki show. I was wishing I'd gotten the English commentary, because I missed a lot in the dialogue. I got the general idea, but since a lot of the comedy was based on verbal wit, I missed a lot of the jokes. But it was still very cool to watch. A word to my Colonial Chorus people: I have a new plan for how to deal with Techs getting seen. Do what the kabuki guys do and just dress them as ninjas. Nobody seems to think twice about seeing a ninja slinking across the stage, and if they do, they'll get a kick out of it...at least I did. The other highlight of the evening was the geisha. Two of them were being shown to their seats by way of the orchestra pit area, so everybody got a good look at them. Apparently they're rare in Tokyo, because everybody leaned out over the railing to get a closer look. So real live geisha! Cool!
After that I went to Starbucks for another lavendar tea and journal-updating session, and from there on to the onsen for another bath before bed. Man, I love a good hot spring. Maybe I'll move to Iceland...they're everywhere up there... :)
Today was a very relaxed day. I walked through the imperial gardens, and the weather decided to do me a little favor. It's been unseasonably warm around here the past few days, so a couple cherry trees got confused and bloomed. They're beautiful, and when you bury your face in a bough full of blooms (which I'm not ashamed to do), they smell heavenly. A couple elderly ladies walking and admiring a few paces behind me agreed...sugoi. Excellent. So in spite of the fact that I visited out of season, I got to do a little sakura viewing after all. My luck is extraordinary. I can't believe it - blossoms in January!
After that it was off to a little shrine, feeling most peaceful and relaxed, and then back to the Kabuki-za for one more show. This one needed no explanation. It was a dancer mourning over lost love. It was exquisite. If you've seen Memoirs of a Geisha, the dance she does must have been inspired by this one. It's a woman walking in a snowy landscape, complete with snowfall. She's dressed in beautiful kimono (which change like magic in an instant with the pull of a few strings), and the lighting is very dark and ominous. As the dance went on, she became more and more wild with grief. Her elaborately done hair fell out and she ended it looking as if she'd run out of the house into the snow in her nightshirt. It was amazingly performed, and their lighting and set designer deserve a medal. Beautiful. Exactly what I was hoping to see while I was here....you can't beat it.
Tonight I'm staying in a capsule hotel. I'm tired of the smoky-smelling place I'm staying now, so I figured I'd try out the capsule thing...should be interesting. But supposedly I have a TV in my cube...I can watch CNN! Yay! Maybe I can catch some inauguration coverage in the morning!! Bye bye Lonesome George!
First, Sumo. I actually really enjoyed it. You heard me, I sat at a sporting event for 4 hours and liked it. The guys are amazingly powerful. It reminded me for all the world of all those Animal Planet specials where the water buffalo bulls go clashing into each other. Huge but fast and agile. And I got a little radio with English commentary on it, which helped me figure out some of the finer points of the sport. But the highlight (at least for the two announcers) was when the goji (official dressed in a bright and elaborate kimono) tripped and went flying out of the ring into the battery of photographers. The former wrestler on the commentary team thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. But for me, the highlight was the yokozunas. Those are the top guys in the sport. It's a title kind of like "prima ballerina" - it's an honorific that you can never lose once you've got it, unlike something like "champion," which only lasts as long as you can hold the title. So these guys have won tons of tournaments to get where they are. There were two yokozunas fighting last night, and each one of them comes out and does a short ceremony to show off what big, bad dudes they are. It's a lot of macho posturing, but with more dignity and less clothing. The yokozuna vs. yokozuna match was amazing. Usually they're over in a flash, but these guys were so skilled and well-matched that it went on for over a minute. So sumo has a new fan.
After that, I dashed onto the subway to catch the last act of the kabuki show. I was wishing I'd gotten the English commentary, because I missed a lot in the dialogue. I got the general idea, but since a lot of the comedy was based on verbal wit, I missed a lot of the jokes. But it was still very cool to watch. A word to my Colonial Chorus people: I have a new plan for how to deal with Techs getting seen. Do what the kabuki guys do and just dress them as ninjas. Nobody seems to think twice about seeing a ninja slinking across the stage, and if they do, they'll get a kick out of it...at least I did. The other highlight of the evening was the geisha. Two of them were being shown to their seats by way of the orchestra pit area, so everybody got a good look at them. Apparently they're rare in Tokyo, because everybody leaned out over the railing to get a closer look. So real live geisha! Cool!
After that I went to Starbucks for another lavendar tea and journal-updating session, and from there on to the onsen for another bath before bed. Man, I love a good hot spring. Maybe I'll move to Iceland...they're everywhere up there... :)
Today was a very relaxed day. I walked through the imperial gardens, and the weather decided to do me a little favor. It's been unseasonably warm around here the past few days, so a couple cherry trees got confused and bloomed. They're beautiful, and when you bury your face in a bough full of blooms (which I'm not ashamed to do), they smell heavenly. A couple elderly ladies walking and admiring a few paces behind me agreed...sugoi. Excellent. So in spite of the fact that I visited out of season, I got to do a little sakura viewing after all. My luck is extraordinary. I can't believe it - blossoms in January!
After that it was off to a little shrine, feeling most peaceful and relaxed, and then back to the Kabuki-za for one more show. This one needed no explanation. It was a dancer mourning over lost love. It was exquisite. If you've seen Memoirs of a Geisha, the dance she does must have been inspired by this one. It's a woman walking in a snowy landscape, complete with snowfall. She's dressed in beautiful kimono (which change like magic in an instant with the pull of a few strings), and the lighting is very dark and ominous. As the dance went on, she became more and more wild with grief. Her elaborately done hair fell out and she ended it looking as if she'd run out of the house into the snow in her nightshirt. It was amazingly performed, and their lighting and set designer deserve a medal. Beautiful. Exactly what I was hoping to see while I was here....you can't beat it.
Tonight I'm staying in a capsule hotel. I'm tired of the smoky-smelling place I'm staying now, so I figured I'd try out the capsule thing...should be interesting. But supposedly I have a TV in my cube...I can watch CNN! Yay! Maybe I can catch some inauguration coverage in the morning!! Bye bye Lonesome George!
Monday, January 19, 2009
What a day!
First, I want to tell you about two things that are awesome. Starbucks lavendar tea lattes, and onsens. I hate to plug the evil conglomerate, but you can't get that stuff anywhere else. Remind me why America stopped using flowers in its food?
Onsens are amazing. I've been to one in the neighborhood the past two nights. Nothing like a trip to the sauna followed by a meter-deep, scalding hot mineral bath to recharge the batteries. America needs more public baths. You walk outta there feeling like a million bucks. Did I mention America needs them? If Japan brought us the concept of death from overwork as a corporate drone, it also brought the ultimate de-stressing mechanism. We should follow their example...on the bathing...not the stress...
Anyway, I woke up early this morning and went to the wholesale fish market. I missed the auction, apparently it's insanely early as opposed to "really early," which is when I got there. Then, since I was there, I waited in line (with a film crew, interestingly) for the sushi place on the dock. It was the most amazing sushi I've ever had. It was actually beautiful to look at. It was so fresh it gleamed (I'm sorry Nikki...I know it's because it was alive not so long ago...I know you're cringeing as you read this). But it was delicious. The texture was so delicate, and the salmon tasted like what think heaven probably tastes like. Incredible. Worth the hour-long wait.
After that, I took the subway up to the sumo stadium and got nosebleed seats to the tournament. Turns out they're pretty good seats! Since I was there so early, it was still amateur hour, so I went to the Tokyo-Edo museum to kill some time (great collection there). Then it was sumo time! I hung out by the South Gate with the superfans getting pictures of the wrestlers as they came up. Then I went in to my seat for the grand parade of giant wrasslers. It was awesome. So much pageantry and tradition. I loved it up. And it turns out I kind of like sumo wrestling itself, too. I'll explain more later, because they're trying to close up shop here (it's midnight and I've been going all day!).
But it was awesome. I loved it, then I went to see some Kabuki. Which was also awesome. G'nite! More when they're not shutting the lights out on me...!
Onsens are amazing. I've been to one in the neighborhood the past two nights. Nothing like a trip to the sauna followed by a meter-deep, scalding hot mineral bath to recharge the batteries. America needs more public baths. You walk outta there feeling like a million bucks. Did I mention America needs them? If Japan brought us the concept of death from overwork as a corporate drone, it also brought the ultimate de-stressing mechanism. We should follow their example...on the bathing...not the stress...
Anyway, I woke up early this morning and went to the wholesale fish market. I missed the auction, apparently it's insanely early as opposed to "really early," which is when I got there. Then, since I was there, I waited in line (with a film crew, interestingly) for the sushi place on the dock. It was the most amazing sushi I've ever had. It was actually beautiful to look at. It was so fresh it gleamed (I'm sorry Nikki...I know it's because it was alive not so long ago...I know you're cringeing as you read this). But it was delicious. The texture was so delicate, and the salmon tasted like what think heaven probably tastes like. Incredible. Worth the hour-long wait.
After that, I took the subway up to the sumo stadium and got nosebleed seats to the tournament. Turns out they're pretty good seats! Since I was there so early, it was still amateur hour, so I went to the Tokyo-Edo museum to kill some time (great collection there). Then it was sumo time! I hung out by the South Gate with the superfans getting pictures of the wrestlers as they came up. Then I went in to my seat for the grand parade of giant wrasslers. It was awesome. So much pageantry and tradition. I loved it up. And it turns out I kind of like sumo wrestling itself, too. I'll explain more later, because they're trying to close up shop here (it's midnight and I've been going all day!).
But it was awesome. I loved it, then I went to see some Kabuki. Which was also awesome. G'nite! More when they're not shutting the lights out on me...!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Tokyo is strange...
Or rather, Harajuku is strange. You jump out of the subway, and you immediately see a crowd of teenaged girls in funky getups. It's like the Hot Topic kids at school, only in a larger group and people come from everywhere to take photos of them. I was expecting something far more outrageous. A couple had some clever outfits (the rabbits with elaborately painted faces and cigarettes, for instance), but mostly it was just standard issue gothness. After Gwen Stefani's numerous references to them, I was expecting...I don't know...something a little more glam. Anyway, next door to the Hot Topic types and their entourage of tourists, you find the Tokyo Rockabilly Club. They've got loud speakers playing vintage rock'n'roll while they do some rather unusual interpretations of American dance (including the Russian "coffee grinder" thing). They've all got the black skintight pants and the leather jackets and the greaser hairdos, and some of them even have saddle-shod girlfriends. And next to those guys are the would-be Harlem Globetrotters. They're just starting to work on their skills, but they're goin' for it...
But that's what I love about public parks in Asia. Everybody can go there and be who they are. Nobody's judging them. Nobody even notices! People having a barbecue dressed as cows? Whatever. A guy teaching his little dog how to ride a tricycle? How cute, can I pet him? Actors rehearsing? Try not to distract them. People working on the next version of STOMP? Watch out for flying chips of broomsticks! Martial artists honing their craft? Join in! Public aerobics class? Grab your sneakers. Nobody thinks anything of it except me...direct from the Land of the Free and the home of the conformist-minded. If any of this kind of thing happened in American parks, people would make sure the participants knew they were weird. But all over Asia, people use public space like an extension of their own living rooms, and everybody just lets everybody else be themselves. I'm a big fan of that. I've got to learn how to do more of that myself.
After that prime people-watching, I walked through the park, which was lovely. It felt like a fall day today, so the weather was nice for strolling until it started getting dark. Saw another nice garden, but it was more focused on azaleas and iris, which aren't really winter plants, so I could tell I was missing the best of the place. Still, it had some great fish and bird watching. I tried to get a shot of these cute little green birds for my grandmother to identify for me, but they're camera shy little things. Couldn't get the shot. But I did get a shot of an equally cute (although not green) little thing. Japan has some really cool birds. I saw a bright blue one the other day, but again, I was too slow to get a picture. I gotta work on that. Gram - I'm tryin' for you!
I couldn't do Harajuku without shopping, so I hit a couple of the vintage shops in search of a coat to replace my totally shoddy current overgarment. I feel like a bum wearing it in classy fashion-conscious Tokyo. I found so many fantastic coats that I'd love to wear around Boston and think "I got this in Tokyo," but alas, my big gangly Anglo arms stuck out several inches from the end of the sleeve. So no fabulous wool coats for me. Alas.
After that I headed back to the hostel. I wandered around a bit, but I couldn't bring myself to go get dinner, even though I'm really hungry. I am sooo over dining out by myself. Especially since I have atrocious chopstick, which makes me feel like everybody's staring at me. But I'm also over freeze-dried ramen. So I headed back to the hostel to get my trusty dinner companions (my book and a Newsweek). Now I just have to decide where to go. One of the tempura places, or the sushi joint where the plates come passing by on a conveyor belt...both are exciting, but would be so much better with someone to go with. I'm looking forward to getting home to my kitchen, where I don't have to choose between having a decent meal and looking like a loser....
Big day planned tomorrow. Up before sunrise to see the fish market and eat the freshest sushi ever. That's something I'm more than happy to eat alone...even at 7AM. Delicious. Then I will get in line early to try to get sumo tickets. If I can get them, I'll be attending the Sumo Grand Tournament for a few hours, watching big naked dudes try to fling each other out of bounds. After that, I'll grab whatever I can for a fast meal, then try to catch the evening kabuki show. It's a long-haul show. After that, I'll probably go to the onsen...if I don't go tonight...
But that's what I love about public parks in Asia. Everybody can go there and be who they are. Nobody's judging them. Nobody even notices! People having a barbecue dressed as cows? Whatever. A guy teaching his little dog how to ride a tricycle? How cute, can I pet him? Actors rehearsing? Try not to distract them. People working on the next version of STOMP? Watch out for flying chips of broomsticks! Martial artists honing their craft? Join in! Public aerobics class? Grab your sneakers. Nobody thinks anything of it except me...direct from the Land of the Free and the home of the conformist-minded. If any of this kind of thing happened in American parks, people would make sure the participants knew they were weird. But all over Asia, people use public space like an extension of their own living rooms, and everybody just lets everybody else be themselves. I'm a big fan of that. I've got to learn how to do more of that myself.
After that prime people-watching, I walked through the park, which was lovely. It felt like a fall day today, so the weather was nice for strolling until it started getting dark. Saw another nice garden, but it was more focused on azaleas and iris, which aren't really winter plants, so I could tell I was missing the best of the place. Still, it had some great fish and bird watching. I tried to get a shot of these cute little green birds for my grandmother to identify for me, but they're camera shy little things. Couldn't get the shot. But I did get a shot of an equally cute (although not green) little thing. Japan has some really cool birds. I saw a bright blue one the other day, but again, I was too slow to get a picture. I gotta work on that. Gram - I'm tryin' for you!
I couldn't do Harajuku without shopping, so I hit a couple of the vintage shops in search of a coat to replace my totally shoddy current overgarment. I feel like a bum wearing it in classy fashion-conscious Tokyo. I found so many fantastic coats that I'd love to wear around Boston and think "I got this in Tokyo," but alas, my big gangly Anglo arms stuck out several inches from the end of the sleeve. So no fabulous wool coats for me. Alas.
After that I headed back to the hostel. I wandered around a bit, but I couldn't bring myself to go get dinner, even though I'm really hungry. I am sooo over dining out by myself. Especially since I have atrocious chopstick, which makes me feel like everybody's staring at me. But I'm also over freeze-dried ramen. So I headed back to the hostel to get my trusty dinner companions (my book and a Newsweek). Now I just have to decide where to go. One of the tempura places, or the sushi joint where the plates come passing by on a conveyor belt...both are exciting, but would be so much better with someone to go with. I'm looking forward to getting home to my kitchen, where I don't have to choose between having a decent meal and looking like a loser....
Big day planned tomorrow. Up before sunrise to see the fish market and eat the freshest sushi ever. That's something I'm more than happy to eat alone...even at 7AM. Delicious. Then I will get in line early to try to get sumo tickets. If I can get them, I'll be attending the Sumo Grand Tournament for a few hours, watching big naked dudes try to fling each other out of bounds. After that, I'll grab whatever I can for a fast meal, then try to catch the evening kabuki show. It's a long-haul show. After that, I'll probably go to the onsen...if I don't go tonight...
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