A couple days back, a JET posted about how they had noticed some of their junior high school students had been using some pretty bad handwriting, so he offered to help them. To which his Japanese coworker had replied that she was "already on it". Much to his horror (and my own upon reading it), he found out she had been forcing the left-handed students to write right-handed.
It reminded me of when Nintendo had converting Link, who had always been left-handed like his creator, to a right-handed person when they released the game on the Wii, reversing everything in the game to do it because it would be easier for right-handed people to play. Which is clearly all anyone cares about. If it was important enough to switch, it ought to have been important enough to leave it the way it is. You see a lot of this kind of discrimination, and I get tired of it. I had thought about what I would do if one of my coworkers had told me that. I thought I would stand up and tell them to stop that right that instant.
I went to the school and tried bringing it up to make sure that no one was doing that. The first teacher I talked to didn't quit seem to be doing anything of the sorts, but did not seem to object too much to it. Then I went back to my desk and did more non-work like usual. Eventually, I wandered over to my favorite teacher's desk next to the heater. The heater's not on anymore apparently (hurray, warm weather!), but out of habit, I guess, I just hovered over it long enough for another teacher to show up with a mitt. I guess she had found it outside or something. I joked it was mine, but then noticed it was for a left hand and thus couldn't be mine.
That's when I mentioned the story to the teacher.
I can't remember what she said initially, but then she said she was teaching her son to write right-handed.
I was shocked, I didn't know what to do say. I just kept repeating 「最低。最低。最低。」 She kept replying "I don't think so" or tried to justify herself by saying she didn't mind if he did sports left-handed or how she wasn't forcing him to, she just would say, "Which hand are you using?" when he used his left hand.
I eventually stormed away, but since my computer was having some anti-virus being installed, I left and wandered the school. Just kind of stared into the distance until some teacher and then some student was trying to figure out what I was staring at and then I wandered off to sit at one of the desks the students use to study.
I watched the students begin to go home and I thought about how I needed to at English Club to listen to the practice speeches, which the students will be competing with tomorrow. I came late and missed the girl that used to always be mad at me's speech, but heard the other one. Naturally, she forced me to apologize, but then skipped off. The other students went to the club room to make the board (yes, again) for Valentine's Day / Graduation, and we practiced a bit more before I went and joined them.
My day had been so great. I had wandered around outside and found the 2nd years playing soccer, and I played with them, even though I was wearing a suit that day for yearbook photos. Taking those was kind of fun, too. Though the wind made it a bit difficult. The school even decided to have me check and correct the English in it. "Happy days come again" became "Happy High School Days." After soccer, I wandered around and bothered the students during lunch, which made a few of them very happy. So I was very surprised my day had to end so poorly with discovering that out of all the teachers, my favorite one would be so terrible.
I hope one day people will finally get over this stupid notion they have that they know what is right and force it on people. Not just which hand to use, I see this all over. It's the same diseased thought process that leads to gender norms, heterosexual normativity, and a whole host of other "right" ways to live or act. It's stupid and people need to stop it.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
The East
Continuing with my post about my vacation, this is about the second half of my journey - in Tokyo.
I woke up in Kyoto very sick. The deer sembei I tried the day before had finally kicked in. When I was finally feeling well enough to go outside, I tried again to find geiko and mail my key. Despite being Winter, Japan likes to rain a lot. So my quest seemed even more futile. I tried harder than last time, but there were none to be found at that time of day and week and in the rain. I did manage to bump into my friends I had gone to meet when my vacation started on a random street in the middle of nowhere.
I eventually gave up on the geiko and set off for Tokyo.
I was already annoyed that I had booked a capsule hotel. Sure it was cheap, but they were annoying. I had hoped this one would have been better. Nope.
My friend met me at Tokyo station and led me to the hotel. It was a bit difficult to find initially, but we got there. She went up the elevator with me, but then refused to go any farther because unlike the last hotel, this one was for men only. I talked to her about the staying in Tokyo situation and how she had mentioned I could stay with her / her friend. Which was all kind of confusing. So it sounded like she wanted me to spend the first night in the hotel and then the next day she would find somewhere free for me to stay. So I cancelled and rebooked for just the one night.
The huge problem with this place is that you have to lock your shoes up to get in and then give them the key to get to your locker. And do leave you have to do the reverse. But everyone is doing this all the time. So there's always huge lines and the staff are already busy. The other problem is you only get a tiny locker. Anything of any reasonable size has to be checked into the cloakroom. Again though, the staff is very busy and you have to wait in line.
Again, the capsule hotel had no outlets. No doors, just a curtain over your pod. And they were fairly short.
However, this hotel had the bonus of naked men walking around everywhere. At first it was just up by the bath, but then they seemed to fan out to everywhere. At some point, I saw a naked man with a towel around his shoulders standing right across a thin desk in front of a woman sitting at the desk on a phone. Why women weren't allowed in the hotel, but female staff was okay was a mystery (and why they wanted to work there).
So my friend brought me to a bar-like place to meet her friends and her professor. Her professor was pretty cool and liked my Japanese and said she wanted to make me into a samurai and would mail me a katana. She also made me her son. Also, during the course of the night, I explained why I was sick. The sembei I had eaten yesterday in Nara had made me very sick the next day. After I explained my story I pretended to give everyone one. However, the professor decided she would eat one. So she took a bite twice as big as mine. I have no idea how she turned out the next day, but I can't imagine it was good.
The next day, I went ahead and scouted out the Chinese embassy. I didn't want anything to go wrong. However, it turned out they were closed on weekends. And with the holiday beginning as soon as the weekend ended, it was impossible to go. I considered changing the flight to Hong Kong and then getting my visa in Hong Kong, but I ended up deciding none of it was worth it and I would go another time and canceled the flight.
I was supposed to meet my other friend. Because I really wanted to see Akihabara anyway, I told her to meet me there. However, because I had only booked one night at the hotel and the hotel was packed, they wouldn't hold onto my luggage for me. I decided to bring my luggage to Akihabara and try to find a coin locker there. None were open and my luggage would have only fit in the largest sizes anyway. So I had to bring it with me everywhere. I did manage to find a Denny's which was exciting, but I decided to save it for a late night.
However, the Akihabara was so incredibly plain and regular that I was very disappointed. I felt like Japan had really strayed from its image I had always had of it. The constant lack of technology, the lack of enthusiasm for anime and manga, and the averageness of everything in the country was wearing down on me. I had hoped that at least the infamous Akihabara would have something. Anything.
But all I saw was more of the same.
Eventually my friend showed up and she told me she didn't really know the area so she suggested we go somewhere else. We eventually found a regular Indian restaurant and ate there. Then we went to see Sensouji. Which apparently has nothing to do with war. We got our fortunes and threw money in the thingy.
I woke up early the next day because it was the day I was going to Comiket. The world's largest "anime" convention. I was super excited. Where even Akihabara had failed me, this place couldn't.
I thought.
I decided that though it was not 3AM, the sun was still down and thus an acceptable time for Denny's. Denny's, like most things on the trip, was an incredible let down. The menu was even more mysterious than regular restaurants in Japan. The only acceptable item for breakfast was french toast and even it looked miserable. They didn't even have pancakes. And it's not like pancakes don't exist in Japan; they do have them. Just not at Japanese Denny's apparently.
So I headed to the convention. I managed to find the giant Gundam statue on the way and looked at it for a bit.
What was strange though was how empty the city was. There was almost no one. The entire time I was going from my hotel to the convention, I could count the people I saw on my hands. In fact, since I had gotten to Tokyo, it had been rather empty. Very unlike the stories of people being shoved onto trains with sticks. I could only think it was because of the holiday.
When I finally got to the convention area, sure enough, there were thousands of people. The lines were massive. I had arrived two hours before it started, too. I got in line and it wasn't long before it started raining. Again. Like always.
What had struck me though was the complete lack of cosplayers. Luckily someone on Facebook explained after I complained that they weren't allowed to cosplay until they got inside. Which is kind of weird and strict.
I spent sometime watching people watch people play pachinko on their phone while I got soaked, and eventually we were let in. I finally wore my strawhat I had bought in Osaka.
It was nothing like the anime conventions in Chicago. Eventually cosplayers did turn up, but they were so few, again I could count them on my hands. 20 at best. I have 20 fingers. And they weren't particularly fantastic either. Though a strangely high amount of men were wearing female cosplays, specifically dresses. Even one of the male staff.
The first area I entered was all books, specifically manga. Manga, manga, manga. Nothing I could read or cared about. There weren't any cool banners or anything hanging from the ceiling. Just rows of flat tables with short displays and stacks of books.
I walked around for a while, looking for something other than books, but decided it must be in the other wing. Unfortunately, to get to the other wing, you had to go outside. Back into the rain. And when I got there - more books. Books, books, books.
With the exception of a few stands selling art equipment and a souvenir shop, there was nothing but books.
I tried to get information (which I actually had to pay for) and discovered there was an international information desk. I searched for it and came across a Do Not Enter door complete with red Do Not Enter stripes along the floor. I asked a guard and he reassured me it was through there anyway.
When I found the room, it was a tiny room with maybe ten people stuffed into it. A massive German man dressed as Alucard or the guy from FF7 in a red coat asked what I wanted. Apparently "information" was specific enough for him, so I asked for a map. When I asked about events, the Japanese person in the room told me, "This is the event!"
After that I pretty much left. I walked around and saw the cosplayers which were next to the "open photography area" or however it was labeled, surrounded by a billion photographers, doing poses. And then I left to go meet my friend who had also come to Tokyo.
This third friend was an American I had met in Germany who was teaching English in another city. I found out that morning she was in town and scheduled to meet her after the convention.
It took forever, but I was finally able to meet her. Tokyo train stations are huge mazes with multiple exits and all kinds of obstacles.
I was supposed to meet my first friend later for dinner again so I brought her with for the dinner I had later with my first friend since we were all mutual friends.
We met some new people, ate some rotating sushi, and talked in various languages.
The next day, I went to Akihabara again. This time I found the real side of Akihabara. Well, first I found a Burger King. There were arcades, model shops, and tons of manga shops. And electronic shops, too, of course. I discovered the infamous six-story sex shop, and they had the hilarious things you'd expect to find only in Japan.
I also found a maid cafe.
I was not prepared for the level of awkward it provided.
I went in and was greeted by someone dressed from AKB-48's Heavy Rotation. There were various other maid-like costume-wearing staff walking around. I got put in the "Star Area" overlooking everything. I was told that to order something, I had to make the sound of a Japanese cat and do the hand motion. Despite being hailed as the "#1 Maid Cafe", they didn't do anything maidful, just awkward.
I had already eaten, so I was trying to find something light. There were all kinds of vaguely cutesy menu items. Mostly just things with cat faces drawn on them. The guy in front of me was flipping through an album, which appeared to be pictures of his times there. Another man seemed to be kind of into the whole experience, but everyone else was pretty normal. People who had come to see what a maid cafe was and were also feeling awkward.
I eventually decided on an ice cream volcano (for three people). Some time later, one of the waitresses talked to me for a bit before calling another over. They had a mildly lengthy discussion which seemed to be about forcing the "maid" that was called over to talk to me.
She then turned and talked to me. She asked small talk questions and then told me she was nervous because she was new there. I had no words of encouragement before the lighting changed and she suddenly ran off.
Finally my ice cream arrived after the lights had gone down and the special lighting effects went up. The AKB-48 girl was up on stage, saying stuff, but I was ignoring her until I heard, "You do speak Japanese, right?" When I suddenly realized she had been talking about me. I got dragged up to the stage to sit, surrounded by the maids, and the cook or something came and took our picture. Then I was free to go.
The AKB-48 girl then went on to sing Heavy Rotation, and I finally got to eat my ice cream. Some people awkwardly clapped along and the one guy got fairly into it. I just wanted to go.
It took a while, but I managed to eat the whole thing. Not sure if I'm proud of that.
They gave me a picture with a cat drawn on it, and I was free to go, minus a lot of money.
I met my American friend and her two friends that had arrived. They worked with her more or less, at least the same company. They were also staying at the capsule hotel with me. We explored more of Akihabara and eventually went to get dinner.
Everyone else drank a lot and we got out of the restaurant and ran for the nearest clock tower thing. We just barely missed midnight, but we got there in time to see everyone running around and making a lot of noise. This went on for a while and then the one kid that didn't get seperated from me and I went back to the hotel.
I went back to Akihabara the next day, this time the one kids came with. I was looking to buy things now that the New Years sales had begun. I tried to buy a denshi jisho. And I found a nice black one. It had all the features I wanted and then some (I probably should just use my phone which is free, but now I can feel less guilty using it in class [also it has history quizzes and stuff]). However, apparently they only had pink in stock. I was already spending way too much and had almost no money. But I bought it anyway. Maybe I'll spray paint it.
We explored some more. Met up with my friend. Looked for food.
It was during this time that I found a dönner stand. I was super happy. I didn't even care about the other people with me and ordered one right then and there. It wasn't nearly as good as in Germany, and maybe a bit different, but I was happy that I could eat it again.
When I got back to the hotel, I discovered I could pay a little extra to upgrade and get a room with electricity. This made me also super happy.
The next day was supposed to be my last day. I was supposed to meet my first friend later that day. I decided I should at least see Tokyo Tower since I had gone to see nothing else. And before that I went to Hooters because there's only one in Japan and I wanted to see how it worked in Japan. It was fun and the staff was nice.
I then went to Tokyo Tower. I spend forever trying to get a picture of myself and the tower worthy of a Facebook profile picture. When time was running out, I rushed to meet my friends.
My two friends and her brother met up with me. Her brother was pretty cool. When I told them I planned to depart in a few hours, she said it was impossible during the peak travel season. She said I'd have to get a night bus. However the night buses were sold out for the night, so I'd have to leave the next day and thus arrive home yet another day later.
I didn't much like this plan, but I initially accepted it. I told her I didn't have money so I needed a place to stay. I had checked out and locked my stuff in a coin locker near the hotel. She called some people and told me I could stay at her boyfriend's house.
We then went to the temple I went to earlier, but this time there were massive crowds of people. We walked around and eventually we accidentally got in. We went with the crowd and eventually squeezed into where you throw money. We threw some money, got out, and ate some food.
Then my American friend had to leave. So we took her to the buses. My friend was supposed to go home to take care of things, then come back and meet us. I thought she was going to hang out with me later, so I stayed with my friend. She did come back, but only for a little while before going to meet a different friend. I stayed around the bus place for a while, then left my friend when it seemed like she would be okay to board.
I rushed to the coin lockers because I had kept my friend's boyfriend waiting for too long. However, the train stations are a huge maze. It took forever to find the lockers.
I put the key in and tried to turn it. It wouldn't turn.
I discovered I had to pay AGAIN to get my stuff out. I was able to get my backpack, but when I went to get my suitcase, I was 100 yen short. The machine only accepted 100 yen coins, so my 500 yen coin was useless.
I tried to force the vending machine to give me change, but it didn't work. So I ran to find someone that'd help me. One guy on a phone said no, and two people walking by said "I don't need it". I was really angry at how cold everyone suddenly was. Everything was closing and becoming locked up.
I finally found a shop in the underground passage. I pleaded for them to trade me for the 500 yen. I said I just need one 100 yen coin. The lady goes and grabs another man. He ambles over, counting coins. Says he only has 400. I say that's perfectly fine, just trade. Suddenly the girl has an idea and runs off. She comes back later with another 100. I trade and run off.
I run to were I thought the entrance was, but all I find is a dead end. I check all the exits. They all seem to go the wrong way. I run into a guard, I ask him where the lockers are. He said they were closed. I tell him there's no way that can be. Eventually I mention West and he says I'm in the East. I bolt down the hallway, as the door tries to seal me in, Indiana Jones style.
I try approaching from the outside and sure enough, the way I came in is now blocked. I plead with a policeman to let me in. I tell him my key is still in the lock. Someone could steal my things. He says it's beyond their power and I have to come back in the morning.
I was so angry I told my friend I wasn't going to spend the night at her boyfriends, I was going to check in to the capsule hotel again, grab my stuff as soon as they opened, and take the first Shinkansen home. She was a little mad at me for waiting so long to make this decision, but it's what I did.
Apparently silent mode extends to my alarm and I overslept a bit, but it was still ridiculously early in the morning. Fortunately, no one stole my stuff. I grabbed it and headed straight for the station.
While in the ticket line, I remembered my friend had held onto my present she gave me as well as the food I bought for the office. I tried messaging her and waiting around, but I found replacement food with what little money I had left and got on a train. Despite what she had said yesterday, there were plenty of open seats.
I took the train home and spent the rest of the vacation at home. I asked work for the Monday back so I wouldn't waste a vacation day for when I do really go to China.
All-in-all, I saw a lot, did a lot, spent a lot, and was frustrated a lot, but it was a good trip.
I woke up in Kyoto very sick. The deer sembei I tried the day before had finally kicked in. When I was finally feeling well enough to go outside, I tried again to find geiko and mail my key. Despite being Winter, Japan likes to rain a lot. So my quest seemed even more futile. I tried harder than last time, but there were none to be found at that time of day and week and in the rain. I did manage to bump into my friends I had gone to meet when my vacation started on a random street in the middle of nowhere.
I eventually gave up on the geiko and set off for Tokyo.
I was already annoyed that I had booked a capsule hotel. Sure it was cheap, but they were annoying. I had hoped this one would have been better. Nope.
My friend met me at Tokyo station and led me to the hotel. It was a bit difficult to find initially, but we got there. She went up the elevator with me, but then refused to go any farther because unlike the last hotel, this one was for men only. I talked to her about the staying in Tokyo situation and how she had mentioned I could stay with her / her friend. Which was all kind of confusing. So it sounded like she wanted me to spend the first night in the hotel and then the next day she would find somewhere free for me to stay. So I cancelled and rebooked for just the one night.
The huge problem with this place is that you have to lock your shoes up to get in and then give them the key to get to your locker. And do leave you have to do the reverse. But everyone is doing this all the time. So there's always huge lines and the staff are already busy. The other problem is you only get a tiny locker. Anything of any reasonable size has to be checked into the cloakroom. Again though, the staff is very busy and you have to wait in line.
Again, the capsule hotel had no outlets. No doors, just a curtain over your pod. And they were fairly short.
However, this hotel had the bonus of naked men walking around everywhere. At first it was just up by the bath, but then they seemed to fan out to everywhere. At some point, I saw a naked man with a towel around his shoulders standing right across a thin desk in front of a woman sitting at the desk on a phone. Why women weren't allowed in the hotel, but female staff was okay was a mystery (and why they wanted to work there).
So my friend brought me to a bar-like place to meet her friends and her professor. Her professor was pretty cool and liked my Japanese and said she wanted to make me into a samurai and would mail me a katana. She also made me her son. Also, during the course of the night, I explained why I was sick. The sembei I had eaten yesterday in Nara had made me very sick the next day. After I explained my story I pretended to give everyone one. However, the professor decided she would eat one. So she took a bite twice as big as mine. I have no idea how she turned out the next day, but I can't imagine it was good.
The next day, I went ahead and scouted out the Chinese embassy. I didn't want anything to go wrong. However, it turned out they were closed on weekends. And with the holiday beginning as soon as the weekend ended, it was impossible to go. I considered changing the flight to Hong Kong and then getting my visa in Hong Kong, but I ended up deciding none of it was worth it and I would go another time and canceled the flight.
I was supposed to meet my other friend. Because I really wanted to see Akihabara anyway, I told her to meet me there. However, because I had only booked one night at the hotel and the hotel was packed, they wouldn't hold onto my luggage for me. I decided to bring my luggage to Akihabara and try to find a coin locker there. None were open and my luggage would have only fit in the largest sizes anyway. So I had to bring it with me everywhere. I did manage to find a Denny's which was exciting, but I decided to save it for a late night.
However, the Akihabara was so incredibly plain and regular that I was very disappointed. I felt like Japan had really strayed from its image I had always had of it. The constant lack of technology, the lack of enthusiasm for anime and manga, and the averageness of everything in the country was wearing down on me. I had hoped that at least the infamous Akihabara would have something. Anything.
But all I saw was more of the same.
Eventually my friend showed up and she told me she didn't really know the area so she suggested we go somewhere else. We eventually found a regular Indian restaurant and ate there. Then we went to see Sensouji. Which apparently has nothing to do with war. We got our fortunes and threw money in the thingy.
I woke up early the next day because it was the day I was going to Comiket. The world's largest "anime" convention. I was super excited. Where even Akihabara had failed me, this place couldn't.
I thought.
I decided that though it was not 3AM, the sun was still down and thus an acceptable time for Denny's. Denny's, like most things on the trip, was an incredible let down. The menu was even more mysterious than regular restaurants in Japan. The only acceptable item for breakfast was french toast and even it looked miserable. They didn't even have pancakes. And it's not like pancakes don't exist in Japan; they do have them. Just not at Japanese Denny's apparently.
So I headed to the convention. I managed to find the giant Gundam statue on the way and looked at it for a bit.
What was strange though was how empty the city was. There was almost no one. The entire time I was going from my hotel to the convention, I could count the people I saw on my hands. In fact, since I had gotten to Tokyo, it had been rather empty. Very unlike the stories of people being shoved onto trains with sticks. I could only think it was because of the holiday.
When I finally got to the convention area, sure enough, there were thousands of people. The lines were massive. I had arrived two hours before it started, too. I got in line and it wasn't long before it started raining. Again. Like always.
What had struck me though was the complete lack of cosplayers. Luckily someone on Facebook explained after I complained that they weren't allowed to cosplay until they got inside. Which is kind of weird and strict.
I spent sometime watching people watch people play pachinko on their phone while I got soaked, and eventually we were let in. I finally wore my strawhat I had bought in Osaka.
It was nothing like the anime conventions in Chicago. Eventually cosplayers did turn up, but they were so few, again I could count them on my hands. 20 at best. I have 20 fingers. And they weren't particularly fantastic either. Though a strangely high amount of men were wearing female cosplays, specifically dresses. Even one of the male staff.
The first area I entered was all books, specifically manga. Manga, manga, manga. Nothing I could read or cared about. There weren't any cool banners or anything hanging from the ceiling. Just rows of flat tables with short displays and stacks of books.
I walked around for a while, looking for something other than books, but decided it must be in the other wing. Unfortunately, to get to the other wing, you had to go outside. Back into the rain. And when I got there - more books. Books, books, books.
With the exception of a few stands selling art equipment and a souvenir shop, there was nothing but books.
I tried to get information (which I actually had to pay for) and discovered there was an international information desk. I searched for it and came across a Do Not Enter door complete with red Do Not Enter stripes along the floor. I asked a guard and he reassured me it was through there anyway.
When I found the room, it was a tiny room with maybe ten people stuffed into it. A massive German man dressed as Alucard or the guy from FF7 in a red coat asked what I wanted. Apparently "information" was specific enough for him, so I asked for a map. When I asked about events, the Japanese person in the room told me, "This is the event!"
After that I pretty much left. I walked around and saw the cosplayers which were next to the "open photography area" or however it was labeled, surrounded by a billion photographers, doing poses. And then I left to go meet my friend who had also come to Tokyo.
This third friend was an American I had met in Germany who was teaching English in another city. I found out that morning she was in town and scheduled to meet her after the convention.
It took forever, but I was finally able to meet her. Tokyo train stations are huge mazes with multiple exits and all kinds of obstacles.
I was supposed to meet my first friend later for dinner again so I brought her with for the dinner I had later with my first friend since we were all mutual friends.
We met some new people, ate some rotating sushi, and talked in various languages.
The next day, I went to Akihabara again. This time I found the real side of Akihabara. Well, first I found a Burger King. There were arcades, model shops, and tons of manga shops. And electronic shops, too, of course. I discovered the infamous six-story sex shop, and they had the hilarious things you'd expect to find only in Japan.
I also found a maid cafe.
I was not prepared for the level of awkward it provided.
I went in and was greeted by someone dressed from AKB-48's Heavy Rotation. There were various other maid-like costume-wearing staff walking around. I got put in the "Star Area" overlooking everything. I was told that to order something, I had to make the sound of a Japanese cat and do the hand motion. Despite being hailed as the "#1 Maid Cafe", they didn't do anything maidful, just awkward.
I had already eaten, so I was trying to find something light. There were all kinds of vaguely cutesy menu items. Mostly just things with cat faces drawn on them. The guy in front of me was flipping through an album, which appeared to be pictures of his times there. Another man seemed to be kind of into the whole experience, but everyone else was pretty normal. People who had come to see what a maid cafe was and were also feeling awkward.
I eventually decided on an ice cream volcano (for three people). Some time later, one of the waitresses talked to me for a bit before calling another over. They had a mildly lengthy discussion which seemed to be about forcing the "maid" that was called over to talk to me.
She then turned and talked to me. She asked small talk questions and then told me she was nervous because she was new there. I had no words of encouragement before the lighting changed and she suddenly ran off.
Finally my ice cream arrived after the lights had gone down and the special lighting effects went up. The AKB-48 girl was up on stage, saying stuff, but I was ignoring her until I heard, "You do speak Japanese, right?" When I suddenly realized she had been talking about me. I got dragged up to the stage to sit, surrounded by the maids, and the cook or something came and took our picture. Then I was free to go.
The AKB-48 girl then went on to sing Heavy Rotation, and I finally got to eat my ice cream. Some people awkwardly clapped along and the one guy got fairly into it. I just wanted to go.
It took a while, but I managed to eat the whole thing. Not sure if I'm proud of that.
They gave me a picture with a cat drawn on it, and I was free to go, minus a lot of money.
I met my American friend and her two friends that had arrived. They worked with her more or less, at least the same company. They were also staying at the capsule hotel with me. We explored more of Akihabara and eventually went to get dinner.
Everyone else drank a lot and we got out of the restaurant and ran for the nearest clock tower thing. We just barely missed midnight, but we got there in time to see everyone running around and making a lot of noise. This went on for a while and then the one kid that didn't get seperated from me and I went back to the hotel.
I went back to Akihabara the next day, this time the one kids came with. I was looking to buy things now that the New Years sales had begun. I tried to buy a denshi jisho. And I found a nice black one. It had all the features I wanted and then some (I probably should just use my phone which is free, but now I can feel less guilty using it in class [also it has history quizzes and stuff]). However, apparently they only had pink in stock. I was already spending way too much and had almost no money. But I bought it anyway. Maybe I'll spray paint it.
We explored some more. Met up with my friend. Looked for food.
It was during this time that I found a dönner stand. I was super happy. I didn't even care about the other people with me and ordered one right then and there. It wasn't nearly as good as in Germany, and maybe a bit different, but I was happy that I could eat it again.
When I got back to the hotel, I discovered I could pay a little extra to upgrade and get a room with electricity. This made me also super happy.
The next day was supposed to be my last day. I was supposed to meet my first friend later that day. I decided I should at least see Tokyo Tower since I had gone to see nothing else. And before that I went to Hooters because there's only one in Japan and I wanted to see how it worked in Japan. It was fun and the staff was nice.
I then went to Tokyo Tower. I spend forever trying to get a picture of myself and the tower worthy of a Facebook profile picture. When time was running out, I rushed to meet my friends.
My two friends and her brother met up with me. Her brother was pretty cool. When I told them I planned to depart in a few hours, she said it was impossible during the peak travel season. She said I'd have to get a night bus. However the night buses were sold out for the night, so I'd have to leave the next day and thus arrive home yet another day later.
I didn't much like this plan, but I initially accepted it. I told her I didn't have money so I needed a place to stay. I had checked out and locked my stuff in a coin locker near the hotel. She called some people and told me I could stay at her boyfriend's house.
We then went to the temple I went to earlier, but this time there were massive crowds of people. We walked around and eventually we accidentally got in. We went with the crowd and eventually squeezed into where you throw money. We threw some money, got out, and ate some food.
Then my American friend had to leave. So we took her to the buses. My friend was supposed to go home to take care of things, then come back and meet us. I thought she was going to hang out with me later, so I stayed with my friend. She did come back, but only for a little while before going to meet a different friend. I stayed around the bus place for a while, then left my friend when it seemed like she would be okay to board.
I rushed to the coin lockers because I had kept my friend's boyfriend waiting for too long. However, the train stations are a huge maze. It took forever to find the lockers.
I put the key in and tried to turn it. It wouldn't turn.
I discovered I had to pay AGAIN to get my stuff out. I was able to get my backpack, but when I went to get my suitcase, I was 100 yen short. The machine only accepted 100 yen coins, so my 500 yen coin was useless.
I tried to force the vending machine to give me change, but it didn't work. So I ran to find someone that'd help me. One guy on a phone said no, and two people walking by said "I don't need it". I was really angry at how cold everyone suddenly was. Everything was closing and becoming locked up.
I finally found a shop in the underground passage. I pleaded for them to trade me for the 500 yen. I said I just need one 100 yen coin. The lady goes and grabs another man. He ambles over, counting coins. Says he only has 400. I say that's perfectly fine, just trade. Suddenly the girl has an idea and runs off. She comes back later with another 100. I trade and run off.
I run to were I thought the entrance was, but all I find is a dead end. I check all the exits. They all seem to go the wrong way. I run into a guard, I ask him where the lockers are. He said they were closed. I tell him there's no way that can be. Eventually I mention West and he says I'm in the East. I bolt down the hallway, as the door tries to seal me in, Indiana Jones style.
I try approaching from the outside and sure enough, the way I came in is now blocked. I plead with a policeman to let me in. I tell him my key is still in the lock. Someone could steal my things. He says it's beyond their power and I have to come back in the morning.
I was so angry I told my friend I wasn't going to spend the night at her boyfriends, I was going to check in to the capsule hotel again, grab my stuff as soon as they opened, and take the first Shinkansen home. She was a little mad at me for waiting so long to make this decision, but it's what I did.
Apparently silent mode extends to my alarm and I overslept a bit, but it was still ridiculously early in the morning. Fortunately, no one stole my stuff. I grabbed it and headed straight for the station.
While in the ticket line, I remembered my friend had held onto my present she gave me as well as the food I bought for the office. I tried messaging her and waiting around, but I found replacement food with what little money I had left and got on a train. Despite what she had said yesterday, there were plenty of open seats.
I took the train home and spent the rest of the vacation at home. I asked work for the Monday back so I wouldn't waste a vacation day for when I do really go to China.
All-in-all, I saw a lot, did a lot, spent a lot, and was frustrated a lot, but it was a good trip.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
The West
My post about my recent vacation will be broken into two parts since that equates well with the vacation. I may update with pictures later. The first part of my vacation, as you can guess, happened in West Japan, where I live - the Kansai area.
Most of the JETs go home for Winter; a practice so common that one of the teachers tried asking when I was flying home - she had just assumed I would be. By this time I had already decided not to renew, though I hadn't signed the papers yet. It was sitting on my desk, so they didn't know. But I did, and it meant this would be my last year here. Which meant I needed to see everything in Japan fast. Plus Japanese New Year was supposed to be a big event, so I wanted to see it.
I had figured this was my chance to see the big cities. I had come to the realization that Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara (also Kobe, but I didn't notice in time) were so close they practically shared a subway. I decided I would spend the first third of my vacation there and then my second third in Tokyo. I could finally see my friends from Germany. Towards the end of the planning stage, I was talking to my Chinese friend and she was passing through Beijing. I took it as an opportunity to go myself and have someone that could speak the language guide me, if only for a bit. So rather late, I booked a flight to Beijing. I didn't notice until much later that I lost a lot of time due to overnights at the airport. I was also unaware of a critical piece of information everyone neglected to tell me until much, much later. But that's later in the post.
While I was still planning, my girlfriend at the time wanted to travel with someone. I eventually let her into my plans and we planned together. While talking to one of the teachers about my plan, she mentioned staying at a temple in Kyoto. It sounded very adventurous. No heat, no meat, waking up early to chant with the monks. I really wanted to do it. However, the only viable day was Christmas Eve through to Christmas. This sounded even better to me. I could have a memorable Christmas.
Well, my girlfriend didn't like this plan. She wanted to spend time in a hotel and Skype her family. The disagreement turned into a fight and we ended up breaking up. This was very close to departure time so everything had to be rapidly rebooked. As a male, I have far more (especially cheap) options in Japan. So I was able to find places. The hard part was the temple.
Of course the websites (if they even have one) are all in Japanese. I tried having my coworkers help. I looked through a long list of temples. They all sounded great - if you wanted a hotel. They had wifi and air conditioning and all kinds of amenities. But I didn't want any of those things. When I did find Spartan accommodations they were either booked or busy getting ready for the New Year. Eventually I did find a temple to stay at. It was far from my first pick, but I had hoped it would be an experience.
I finally set out to Osaka. Sometime before I set out, I had heard that a bunch of other Yamaguchi JETs would be in Kyoto, so I decided to drop off my stuff and rush over and meet them.
I got to Kyoto rather late, like 2 in the afternoon or so, to meet them. However, instead of the large group of people I discovered only the one JET from my city and her boyfriend, who was sick. They had just finished touring a castle (so I didn't get to see it [not that I particularly cared, but still]). So we decided to get food.
That wasted a lot of time.
Then we did actually meet the others. One had forgotten his bag and had to go clothes shopping. Then we did some walking around. No one knew what they wanted to do. Eventually we decided to go to an Irish pub. Enroute I decided I had better get back to Osaka.
By the time I got back to Osaka I was really upset at myself for having wasted an entire day I could have seen Osaka to see nothing in Kyoto. Especially since I had scheduled more days for Kyoto anyway.
So capsule hotels sound like something out of sci-fi. And it might initially look like it. But I can assure you toasters are more technologically advanced. You (and everyone else in the building) have to check out of your room every day. Fortunately they hold on to your luggage (at least this one does), but it's still a huge hassle. Also, there are no showers, just a huge public bath. But the worst part is the lack of outlets. This became a problem the next day.
I had used up most of my battery the previous day and was able to charge only one of my batteries by using my laptop. Yes, I was at 100%, but that only meant a few hours. That's how awful my battery life is. So I decided it was worth buying a third battery. Unfortunately the store didn't carry it, so I ended up buying and external. It was surprisingly awesome and a huge help the rest of the trip and presumably into the future as well. Still I was very stressed out up until then.
I didn't do much research as to what every city offered, so I was very happy when I had discovered there was a Weihnachtsmarkt still in town for Christmas. Osaka has a lot of Germans or something, I don't know. I got there too early and wandered around a bit before it finally opened up. It was cool to see Japanese girls (the ones working) using German as well as the actual Germans working there, too. Probably every German in Osaka (all four of them) were there, working. I bought some Christmas presents for my friends and ate some vaguely German food.
Then I set out to find my next goal, the aquarium. Shimonoseki also has an aquarium so I wanted to see how this one compared, and more importantly - I wanted to see whale sharks. When I arrived near the aquarium, I saw a ton of people carrying a One Piece bag. Everyone had one of two types of bags, so I knew something was happening. When I got even closer, I saw next door was a giant One Piece banner with the word "Exhibit". I was a bit confused because it looked like the aquarium was maybe working with this exhibit or something so I figured I'd check it out after the aquarium. I arrived in time (well, a bit early) for some kind of penguin parade. Which was exactly what it sounds like. It was mildly entertaining and then I got in line for a ticket.
Inside was super crowded. I had not thought ahead and had gone on a Sunday during vacation season. I couldn't see anything. Though the only things I cared about were otters and whale sharks. The otters hid by the time I finally got close enough to see. But the disappointing part was how small the whale shark was. Sure, I guess you can fit in its mouth, but it's not impressively large in my opinion. Maybe it was a baby or something. So I left, disappointed a bit, and went to the One Piece exhibit across the street.
Except apparently tickets were sold out for that day. And if you want to buy tickets for the next day, you need to come the next day. But the next day was Christmas Eve, and I had plans to be in Kyoto. Temples have early check in times, too. In order to actually buy a ticket, it would have to be after tomorrow, and it would have to be from a convenience store. Because convenience stores do everything in Japan that normal people of the world use the internet for. So I got my ticket for the 26th. Except the machine didn't like my name so I had to be Corbin Yamada.
Then I decided to head to Osaka Castle. Except by now, the sun is setting. I don't make it very far around the outer courtyard before I decide to leave. I decide I can go early in the morning and see it before Kyoto.
I head back and try to find a restaurant that is both takoyaki and okonomiyaki - Osaka specialties - to create my own super specialty - otakonomiyaki. When I finally do find a place and explain I want to combine them, the guy tells me it's "impossible". So I order them separately and do it myself. Unfortunately it didn't earn as much attention as I hoped, but I can tell the students I was successful.
I went back to the hostel to play games and charge my stuff. I had to listen to the insufferable sound of some dude constantly smack his lips/tongue around for hours while weird things happened on Japanese TV and some dude read a porn magazine in the common room despite the women walking around or even standing next to him.
In the morning, I set back out for Osaka Castle. This time I had more time. Sort of. I should definitely have left much earlier. Again, I wasted so much time on the outer courtyard, I didn't actually go see the castle. As time wore down, I got worried about making it to Kyoto to check in on time so I rushed back, got my luggage, and went to Kyoto.
It turns out this was probably unnecessary. While some of the other "temples" might have had early check ins, I got the feeling this one didn't. I walked past a temple up to some bland Japanese-style (ie bland, square, and bland) building and checked in. The place looked like a fancy hotel on the inside. And that's all it was. My room looked like any other hotel room (albeit, I did get the Japanese-style room). The only thing of note was there was a Buddhist book in English.
I had paid for a dinner, so I went to go eat it. I had hoped that, at the very least, it would vegetarian. Not that I don't love meat, but I wanted to feel like something - anything - was templeful about this place.
No. First thing they brought out was fish. And then more and more various sea creatures.
Again, the shower/bath was public. With people that like to spend strange amounts of time there.
There was no praying in the morning. There was nothing.
I checked out the shops they had, which were the closest things to Buddhist in the whole place I guess. Then I checked out and left for my next hostel. I had only booked Christmas Eve there for the experience, but there was none to be had anyway. My next place was also in Kyoto, but much cheaper and more convenient.
I spent the day looking at temples. Kyoto has a great tourist bus system. Kyoto has like a billion temples. I went to four of them. I was really angry at myself for not moving my photos the night before, so near the end, I was getting frustrated.
On my way back for the night, I managed to run into my ex. She decided to also travel a similar route, if a bit mirrored so we didn't run into each other, but it seems our Christmas plans were similar. And since our hostel was the cheapest, it's no wonder we both booked the same place. I saw her on the street, heading back and talked to her. She was really really really mad at me, but oh well. Haven't heard from her since.
The next day was the day I had tickets for the One Piece exhibit so I headed back to Osaka.
I left early so I could go see the castle. And hopefully this time, actually see the castle. Despite this, I still went around the rest of the outer courtyard. I even paid to enter the "garden" which was nothing more than dead grass because it's Winter. Needless to say, I was the only one in that section.
However, I did actually manage to get up to and see the castle. Then I even decided to go in it.
After that, I went to see my exhibit.
It was cool. Like really cool. Things were even in English sometimes. Pictures were prohibited, but I got the book version of the exhibit. Next store was a One Piece shop so I bought myself a strawhat.
Then I returned to Kyoto and did pretty much nothing. At some point during that night I decided I wanted to try to find geiko (geisha). Unsurprisingly, they weren't walking around outside at that time of night or I was just unlucky, but I couldn't find any.
The next day was Nara. I had a friend in Nara I was supposed to meet. I eventually found the right train station and we met and ate the closest thing we could find to German food. Then we set out to pet deer and see the giant Buddha.
The deer were awesome. They'd headbutt you until you gave them treats - special deer sembei. It was fun to watch them chase people, too. Some of them would even try to bow to you.
We saw the Buddha. And I climbed through the hole in a pillar said to be the size of his nostril. Which means I'm lucky or something. Then we wandered through the forest and pet more deer.
I decided to try to taste one of the sembei despite my friend's warnings and tales of her friend getting sick. Sure enough, it tasted bad, but I didn't think much of it. Then I left and went back to Kyoto.
Somehow my friends I had met at the hostel had managed to find geiko without me.
This was also when one of them had revealed to me - to enter China you need a visa.
Now I have traveled a lot, but never to a place like China. The thought of a visa never crossed my mind. Why would it? I've been to some 11+ countries and never needed one. No one had ever mentioned it to me despite all the time I talked about this trip.
I immediately tried to reach my Chinese friend and searched all over the internet for an answer. A big problem was that it cost money. I had already invented way too much into just going for such a short time and now it would cost more. And I had just foolishly sent most of my savings to America and had just spent a ton on the first 2/3rds of my trip, as well as my giant electric bill I still had to pay. I was apprehensive about spending yet more. The ticket itself was expensive since I bought it so short notice.
I had discovered though that it is possible to get a same day visa, and it was fairly common. I soon discovered I had left my passport at home because I had intended to fly out of Fukuoka, which meant I would be passing by home anyway. I had first thought that I could get it on the 2nd, the day of my flight since it was in the evening. But then I realized they took every Japanese and Chinese holiday off - and New Years was a big holiday. So I had to do it before the holiday began. But I couldn't figure out how to. Eventually I devised a plan. I would express mail my key the next day home and have my friend enter my house and mail my passport. I would then go to the Tokyo embassy and get it done there.
The next morning, I mailed my key and went to Tokyo.
To be continued.
Most of the JETs go home for Winter; a practice so common that one of the teachers tried asking when I was flying home - she had just assumed I would be. By this time I had already decided not to renew, though I hadn't signed the papers yet. It was sitting on my desk, so they didn't know. But I did, and it meant this would be my last year here. Which meant I needed to see everything in Japan fast. Plus Japanese New Year was supposed to be a big event, so I wanted to see it.
I had figured this was my chance to see the big cities. I had come to the realization that Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara (also Kobe, but I didn't notice in time) were so close they practically shared a subway. I decided I would spend the first third of my vacation there and then my second third in Tokyo. I could finally see my friends from Germany. Towards the end of the planning stage, I was talking to my Chinese friend and she was passing through Beijing. I took it as an opportunity to go myself and have someone that could speak the language guide me, if only for a bit. So rather late, I booked a flight to Beijing. I didn't notice until much later that I lost a lot of time due to overnights at the airport. I was also unaware of a critical piece of information everyone neglected to tell me until much, much later. But that's later in the post.
While I was still planning, my girlfriend at the time wanted to travel with someone. I eventually let her into my plans and we planned together. While talking to one of the teachers about my plan, she mentioned staying at a temple in Kyoto. It sounded very adventurous. No heat, no meat, waking up early to chant with the monks. I really wanted to do it. However, the only viable day was Christmas Eve through to Christmas. This sounded even better to me. I could have a memorable Christmas.
Well, my girlfriend didn't like this plan. She wanted to spend time in a hotel and Skype her family. The disagreement turned into a fight and we ended up breaking up. This was very close to departure time so everything had to be rapidly rebooked. As a male, I have far more (especially cheap) options in Japan. So I was able to find places. The hard part was the temple.
Of course the websites (if they even have one) are all in Japanese. I tried having my coworkers help. I looked through a long list of temples. They all sounded great - if you wanted a hotel. They had wifi and air conditioning and all kinds of amenities. But I didn't want any of those things. When I did find Spartan accommodations they were either booked or busy getting ready for the New Year. Eventually I did find a temple to stay at. It was far from my first pick, but I had hoped it would be an experience.
I finally set out to Osaka. Sometime before I set out, I had heard that a bunch of other Yamaguchi JETs would be in Kyoto, so I decided to drop off my stuff and rush over and meet them.
I got to Kyoto rather late, like 2 in the afternoon or so, to meet them. However, instead of the large group of people I discovered only the one JET from my city and her boyfriend, who was sick. They had just finished touring a castle (so I didn't get to see it [not that I particularly cared, but still]). So we decided to get food.
That wasted a lot of time.
Then we did actually meet the others. One had forgotten his bag and had to go clothes shopping. Then we did some walking around. No one knew what they wanted to do. Eventually we decided to go to an Irish pub. Enroute I decided I had better get back to Osaka.
By the time I got back to Osaka I was really upset at myself for having wasted an entire day I could have seen Osaka to see nothing in Kyoto. Especially since I had scheduled more days for Kyoto anyway.
So capsule hotels sound like something out of sci-fi. And it might initially look like it. But I can assure you toasters are more technologically advanced. You (and everyone else in the building) have to check out of your room every day. Fortunately they hold on to your luggage (at least this one does), but it's still a huge hassle. Also, there are no showers, just a huge public bath. But the worst part is the lack of outlets. This became a problem the next day.
I had used up most of my battery the previous day and was able to charge only one of my batteries by using my laptop. Yes, I was at 100%, but that only meant a few hours. That's how awful my battery life is. So I decided it was worth buying a third battery. Unfortunately the store didn't carry it, so I ended up buying and external. It was surprisingly awesome and a huge help the rest of the trip and presumably into the future as well. Still I was very stressed out up until then.
I didn't do much research as to what every city offered, so I was very happy when I had discovered there was a Weihnachtsmarkt still in town for Christmas. Osaka has a lot of Germans or something, I don't know. I got there too early and wandered around a bit before it finally opened up. It was cool to see Japanese girls (the ones working) using German as well as the actual Germans working there, too. Probably every German in Osaka (all four of them) were there, working. I bought some Christmas presents for my friends and ate some vaguely German food.
Then I set out to find my next goal, the aquarium. Shimonoseki also has an aquarium so I wanted to see how this one compared, and more importantly - I wanted to see whale sharks. When I arrived near the aquarium, I saw a ton of people carrying a One Piece bag. Everyone had one of two types of bags, so I knew something was happening. When I got even closer, I saw next door was a giant One Piece banner with the word "Exhibit". I was a bit confused because it looked like the aquarium was maybe working with this exhibit or something so I figured I'd check it out after the aquarium. I arrived in time (well, a bit early) for some kind of penguin parade. Which was exactly what it sounds like. It was mildly entertaining and then I got in line for a ticket.
Inside was super crowded. I had not thought ahead and had gone on a Sunday during vacation season. I couldn't see anything. Though the only things I cared about were otters and whale sharks. The otters hid by the time I finally got close enough to see. But the disappointing part was how small the whale shark was. Sure, I guess you can fit in its mouth, but it's not impressively large in my opinion. Maybe it was a baby or something. So I left, disappointed a bit, and went to the One Piece exhibit across the street.
Except apparently tickets were sold out for that day. And if you want to buy tickets for the next day, you need to come the next day. But the next day was Christmas Eve, and I had plans to be in Kyoto. Temples have early check in times, too. In order to actually buy a ticket, it would have to be after tomorrow, and it would have to be from a convenience store. Because convenience stores do everything in Japan that normal people of the world use the internet for. So I got my ticket for the 26th. Except the machine didn't like my name so I had to be Corbin Yamada.
Then I decided to head to Osaka Castle. Except by now, the sun is setting. I don't make it very far around the outer courtyard before I decide to leave. I decide I can go early in the morning and see it before Kyoto.
I head back and try to find a restaurant that is both takoyaki and okonomiyaki - Osaka specialties - to create my own super specialty - otakonomiyaki. When I finally do find a place and explain I want to combine them, the guy tells me it's "impossible". So I order them separately and do it myself. Unfortunately it didn't earn as much attention as I hoped, but I can tell the students I was successful.
I went back to the hostel to play games and charge my stuff. I had to listen to the insufferable sound of some dude constantly smack his lips/tongue around for hours while weird things happened on Japanese TV and some dude read a porn magazine in the common room despite the women walking around or even standing next to him.
In the morning, I set back out for Osaka Castle. This time I had more time. Sort of. I should definitely have left much earlier. Again, I wasted so much time on the outer courtyard, I didn't actually go see the castle. As time wore down, I got worried about making it to Kyoto to check in on time so I rushed back, got my luggage, and went to Kyoto.
It turns out this was probably unnecessary. While some of the other "temples" might have had early check ins, I got the feeling this one didn't. I walked past a temple up to some bland Japanese-style (ie bland, square, and bland) building and checked in. The place looked like a fancy hotel on the inside. And that's all it was. My room looked like any other hotel room (albeit, I did get the Japanese-style room). The only thing of note was there was a Buddhist book in English.
I had paid for a dinner, so I went to go eat it. I had hoped that, at the very least, it would vegetarian. Not that I don't love meat, but I wanted to feel like something - anything - was templeful about this place.
No. First thing they brought out was fish. And then more and more various sea creatures.
Again, the shower/bath was public. With people that like to spend strange amounts of time there.
There was no praying in the morning. There was nothing.
I checked out the shops they had, which were the closest things to Buddhist in the whole place I guess. Then I checked out and left for my next hostel. I had only booked Christmas Eve there for the experience, but there was none to be had anyway. My next place was also in Kyoto, but much cheaper and more convenient.
I spent the day looking at temples. Kyoto has a great tourist bus system. Kyoto has like a billion temples. I went to four of them. I was really angry at myself for not moving my photos the night before, so near the end, I was getting frustrated.
On my way back for the night, I managed to run into my ex. She decided to also travel a similar route, if a bit mirrored so we didn't run into each other, but it seems our Christmas plans were similar. And since our hostel was the cheapest, it's no wonder we both booked the same place. I saw her on the street, heading back and talked to her. She was really really really mad at me, but oh well. Haven't heard from her since.
The next day was the day I had tickets for the One Piece exhibit so I headed back to Osaka.
I left early so I could go see the castle. And hopefully this time, actually see the castle. Despite this, I still went around the rest of the outer courtyard. I even paid to enter the "garden" which was nothing more than dead grass because it's Winter. Needless to say, I was the only one in that section.
However, I did actually manage to get up to and see the castle. Then I even decided to go in it.
After that, I went to see my exhibit.
It was cool. Like really cool. Things were even in English sometimes. Pictures were prohibited, but I got the book version of the exhibit. Next store was a One Piece shop so I bought myself a strawhat.
Then I returned to Kyoto and did pretty much nothing. At some point during that night I decided I wanted to try to find geiko (geisha). Unsurprisingly, they weren't walking around outside at that time of night or I was just unlucky, but I couldn't find any.
The next day was Nara. I had a friend in Nara I was supposed to meet. I eventually found the right train station and we met and ate the closest thing we could find to German food. Then we set out to pet deer and see the giant Buddha.
The deer were awesome. They'd headbutt you until you gave them treats - special deer sembei. It was fun to watch them chase people, too. Some of them would even try to bow to you.
We saw the Buddha. And I climbed through the hole in a pillar said to be the size of his nostril. Which means I'm lucky or something. Then we wandered through the forest and pet more deer.
I decided to try to taste one of the sembei despite my friend's warnings and tales of her friend getting sick. Sure enough, it tasted bad, but I didn't think much of it. Then I left and went back to Kyoto.
Somehow my friends I had met at the hostel had managed to find geiko without me.
This was also when one of them had revealed to me - to enter China you need a visa.
Now I have traveled a lot, but never to a place like China. The thought of a visa never crossed my mind. Why would it? I've been to some 11+ countries and never needed one. No one had ever mentioned it to me despite all the time I talked about this trip.
I immediately tried to reach my Chinese friend and searched all over the internet for an answer. A big problem was that it cost money. I had already invented way too much into just going for such a short time and now it would cost more. And I had just foolishly sent most of my savings to America and had just spent a ton on the first 2/3rds of my trip, as well as my giant electric bill I still had to pay. I was apprehensive about spending yet more. The ticket itself was expensive since I bought it so short notice.
I had discovered though that it is possible to get a same day visa, and it was fairly common. I soon discovered I had left my passport at home because I had intended to fly out of Fukuoka, which meant I would be passing by home anyway. I had first thought that I could get it on the 2nd, the day of my flight since it was in the evening. But then I realized they took every Japanese and Chinese holiday off - and New Years was a big holiday. So I had to do it before the holiday began. But I couldn't figure out how to. Eventually I devised a plan. I would express mail my key the next day home and have my friend enter my house and mail my passport. I would then go to the Tokyo embassy and get it done there.
The next morning, I mailed my key and went to Tokyo.
To be continued.
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