One Week Gone By

The title of the post was brought up to me by a friend last night, and I was quite impressed. Not so much that one week was a long time to have already spent in Japan, but more that I'll spend that much time here at least 50 times over...

I've had a fantastic couple of days since my last post, but first, and as an introduction, a word about cameras.

Cameras are ubiquitous, relatively inexpensive, and the digital factor means that you can take dozens of pictures without even noticing. When I went to camp when I was 12 I went with 6 rolls of film for 3 weeks and all the other kids thought I was crazy for thinking I'd take that many pictures. I did end up using all the film, which came out to 144 pictures, give or take a few blurry screw-ups.

Fast forward 11 years, and me and my friend Ari take ten times that amount on a 16 day road trip.

Now, the great thing about digital cameras is, basically, this blog. It's a fantastic way to capture huge amounts of experience and send it around the world instantly, and far more cheaply than with film. However, I've been thinking more and more recently about how easy it is to lose yourself in your camera and to see the world through a viewfinder instead of with your eyes.

I understand this is not a new concept--there's a John Mayer song about it, so that should demonstrate that this is not exactly a revolutionary idea. Also, this is not a preamble to me doing away with pictures on the blog--I'm pretty sure I ramble enough already for everyone's taste. It is, however, partly an explanation for why there won't be pictures in this particular post.

I'm still in the hotel, trying to find things to do with my time. On Friday I went with my supervisor to get my "keitai", or cell phone. This took two hours and was excruciating. For whatever reason, they need all kinds of documents and signing and time and communicating with the head office. I got an iPhone because it was weirdly one of the cheapest options. All the other phones came with TV and 8 megapixel cameras and other craziness.

Saturday day I met up with a couple other JETs and we walked around the downtown area, then into a beautiful Shinto shrine and into a random festival. This is where the camera thing starts, because I'd forgotten to bring it and then saw all kinds of things worth taking pictures of.... The festival was just like an American fair, with arts and crafts booths and a main stage where they were showing off little kids dressed up traditionally.

We went back into town and explored a department store, where we stopped in a cafe and I had a waffle with black tea syrup.

***This is a good time to mention that often when I see Western food here it reminds me of those times when you have nothing in your refridgerator but don't want to go out for more food and just decide to chop up carrots, put them on a bagel, and cover them with ketchup. There have been lots of weird egg + ham + some kind of carbohydrates dishes, waffles in a tea cafe, and fries at inappropriate times. I'll try to take some pictures of the weird ones in the future.****

Later on we met up with a bunch of the veteran JETs for a meal and drinks before going to see fireworks. The fireworks were just for summer, no special holiday. There were several hundred people lined up on some of the bridges and down the river banks watching, many of them dressed up in traditional clothes. I believe that was a part of the festival we went through. The fireworks were pretty average, but the setting was spectacular, as you could look down the river and see the bridges lined with silhouettes at every explosion.

This was sort of a magical night, if I can be so cheesy as to say so. We ended up going through several different areas of the city, meeting up with different people and it was the first time I really felt and saw how the other JETs have made lives for themselves here.

After the fireworks, we walked back to the festival area, where an enormous dance in unison was just finishing. It was an amazing sight, and I regret that we didn't get there a little sooner so we could have participated. Hundreds of people doing the same dance grouped around a brightly decorated stage in the middle of thick trees is an image I won't forget soon.

Today (Sunday) I rode the bus up to my apartment. I met my predecessor Simon last night and he invited me up to see the place as he was packing. It's a little ways outside the city center, pretty much right up against densely forrested mountains, and it's HUGE. I was preparing myself for a tiny shoebox of an apartment, but this has four rooms and a washer and dryer. Also, there are a couple of futons in the closet, so it would be a breeze to come visit me if you were so inclined.

More to come as I explore my neighborhood, go hiking in the mountains (Simon says there are bears and snakes up there, which are not two things I often think of as cohabitating), and start working at the school.

And I promise there will be pictures.