michael lost in translation...

Before I left home to begin my journey to Tokyo, I received a package from Australia with a new stock of protein bars and other fun things (thanks, Dustin!). I had Friday off and the night bus to Tokyo didn't leave until around 11pm on Friday night from Sendai, so I went to Sendai to spend the day. Nicole, who also had the day off, joined me, and we spent the entire day walking from place to place while trying not to spend money. We did end up having Starbucks, shopping around in some overpriced department stores, and watching some live music next to the station before we were tired of walking around (by this time we had been on our feet for about 5 hours), so we decided to sit a while and watch people. I saw some interesting styles. The most memorable was a girl with her hair dyed blonde and with red tips, which made it look like her hair had been dipped in blood.

Eventually, we met up with Will and then Tyler and went to catch the bus to Tokyo. The night bus ended up being much more uncomfortable than we had expected, despite the fancy jeweled lights that decorated the interior. They stuck us in the very back of the bus and the seats reclined less than two inches. We did have an empty seat to spread out on, but with four people and the size of those seats, the only real choice I had was whether I wanted to sit on a seatbelt or have my back impaled by an armrest. The bus stopped and started so many times that it was impossible to sleep and the temperature of the bus fluctuated between air that was slightly too cool and just plain hot. By the time we had arrived in Tokyo, we had all decided to pay a little more and take the Shinkansen on our way back. We arrived at Tokyo station a little after 6am on Saturday morning.

The first thing we did in Tokyo was stop by a little place called Beck's Coffee Shop for breakfast. We then met up with Alda and Justine, who had taken the bus from Yamagata and arrived earlier than us. After drinking some Starbucks we began our long and eventful exploration of Tokyo. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populated metropolitan area in the world. As the city awoke it became more and more crowded. We began exploring by taking the monorail to get a good view of different areas. Then we went to the Pokemon center and then to the Yebisu Bier Garden, where we shopped around and took some pictures. Around lunch time we headed down to Achibahara to eat the best chicken gyro I have ever tasted. There were big slabs of chicken that was shaved off and thrown in a pita. In this area there were many maid cafes, where girls dress up in wild maid outfits and serve food to you. We didn't stop by one of those, but there were plenty of maids outside, in full uniform, advertising the cafes. Next up was Asakusa, an extremely touristy area with many foreigners. In Asakusa we saw Sensoji Temple, which was ridiculously crowded. From there we headed on to our hotel, which was also in Asakusa, to check in and drop off our bags. After a little relaxation we hit Shibuya for some dinner. We crossed the famous Shibuya scatter intersection, where traffic in every direction is stopped to let pedestrians cross in all different directions. There are two large TV monitors mounted on skyscrapers that surround the intersection and one of the world's busiest Starbucks overlooks the area. This location was featured in Lost in Translation. We went to a little restaurant nearby and then headed to Shinjuku before the end of the night. My camera died in the thick of Shibuya, but I managed to revive it a couple of times to take some pictures of the restaurant and Shinjuku.

The next morning we made our way to Harajuku, the center of youth fashion and all things weird. Harajuku street was filled with tons of people, some of which were wearing trendy outfits, and others who just looked ridiculous. We stopped by Starbucks again and then went on a long trek to Meiji Temple, where we were just in time for a traditional wedding that was being held at the temple. As we were walking back some of the Harajuku girls were out in full attire. In Harajuku, the girls dress up in gothic clothing during lunch time and parade around. Some of them looked like they walked out of a Strawberry Shortcake cartoon and others just looked depressed.

After this, we were off to eat lunch. We chose a great place called Journal Standard's Burger Cafe. It is a clothing store that also has a burger cafe. I had the most delicious avocado salsa burger in the world. By the time we were done eating we were all really tired of walking and exploring and we began our journey back towards the station to board the shinkansen and head home. The shinkansen was much more comfortable than the night bus and about 5 hours quicker. It was 9:30pm when I got back home Sunday night. Tokyo was amazing and I can't wait to go back, but for now I am back at school.

The English teacher surprised me with some photos she took the other day when we were out digging up bamboo.

Since my last post, I received my first paycheck and had the great pleasure of opening a Japanese bank account. I arrived at the bank at noon with Will and Nicole, who were also in need of a bank account. We did not end up having too much trouble with communication, but I was required to write (copy down) my address in Kanji, which seemed like an impossible task and I still don't know how the teller read my henscratch, but he said that it was okay. At about 2:30pm, after waiting two and a half hours, we received our bank book and were free to go.

We took a break and went to Big Boy, a restaurant which serves hamburger steak. Every restaurant in Japan seems to serve hamburger steak, but this one only served hamburger steak. Many different kinds of hamburger steak. But not that different, really. After this little excursion, we attempted our next challenge: getting a cell phone. We ended up lucking out because Nicole went with us to help and the salesperson spoke relatively good English. This still took about 2 hours and by the time we were finished I was exhausted.
PS. My cell phone number is 080-1650-4243, don't EVER call me (unless it is an extreme emergency)

As promised, I took some pictures of Roger, my new (actually really, really old) car.

One thing is true about Roger, the birds seem to love him. When I picked him up he was covered in bird poop and it was washed off by the rain. But now he is covered again. I have photographed Roger's good side and left his crushed side to the imagination.

Also, I was so excited to get my new camera that I walked around my school and took lots of pictures.

The gymnasium at school where many an assembly is held.

Where I spend hours after school playing table tennis like a nerd.

This room is used for Kendo and Judo. The Kendo club practices on the wood and the Judo on the tatami.

During one of my free periods at school, two of the English teachers invited me to come with them to go and 'dig'. I didn't know what I was getting into, but it was so nice outside that I would have done anything just to get out of the boring teachers' room. We walked down the road, accompanied by the Wakatake(special needs) students and stopped at an opening into some woods with bamboo growing. They explained to me that they eat bamboo in soups and such, and from there we started digging up baby bamboo with a shovel. Evidently, the smaller the bud, the better it tastes. After struggling with getting the first one uprooted, I quickly became a professional bamboo bud digger and could pop one out of the ground with a single kick to the shovel. We gathered quite a few while the teachers took pictures of my struggles (while wearing dress clothes, by the way) and then walked back up to the school. They let me take as many as I wanted home but I told them that I did not cook and had no clue what to do with a bamboo bud. So they told me to give them to the owner of the onsen as a gift, which is exactly what I did.

Some of my handiwork.

When I got home I had an intense two hour, self destructive exercise routine complete with weights, lunges, and an hour long run, all from which I emerged barely able to walk. But when I got back home I was finally allowed to move into my new room! Compared to my old room, it is like heaven. I have a genkan (entrance), a place to put my shoes, a vanity, a door that actually locks from the inside and out (with a key), a separate kitchen with hot water, a little porch with a screen door, and new tatami mats that smell clean and fresh.