First impressions

I have a plan to take at least one day each weekend to play tourist. So far, I’ve been to the major Shinto shrine in Tokyo (Meiji Jingu) and the major Buddhist temple in Tokyo (Senso-Ji), as well as a few other places of interest. I also had a work trip that involved my first Shinkansen (high-speed train) trip. We spent an afternoon in Nagoya, and then spent the night and the next day in Osaka. Osaka is quite different from Tokyo, but I’ll need to spend a bit more time there (and here) before I can write something about the differences. One amusing part of the trip was when we were waiting for the train and some young Japanese men tried to take a picture of us foreigners without our knowledge. (One guy just happened to pose for a picture where we were the only thing in the background.) I don’t know if it was because my boss is 6’5”, or because we were not Asian, but they seemed rather proud of themselves for having “discreetly” taken the picture.

Gate to Senso-Ji temple

First impressions of the weather: Hot and humid! My hair is constantly curly. My clothes feel damp when I put them on. Because of energy conservation efforts since shutting down the nuclear power plants, it is hot and humid everywhere. The embassy is following “cool biz” (light on the air conditioning, so people don’t have to wear a suit and tie all the time), which means that the embassy has been at about 77F with 55ish percent humidity since I arrived. On the positive side, I’m not constantly freezing in the office due to high a/c, so yeah!

Unfortunate weather observation: My body reacts to August in Tokyo the same way it does to the rainy season in Brazil. Lots of migraines. After three in my first week, I went to the med unit, and the doctor prescribed the same medication that worked for me in Brazil. That should take care of that.

Amusing weather observation: Some Chinese government people came to Tokyo for a multilateral meeting and were surprised by Tokyo’s blue sky. Remind me not to bid on Beijing in the future.

First impression of nature: Cicadas. Great big, noisy cicadas like I haven’t seen since Brazil. Have I mentioned that they’re big?

First impression of Japanese society: Order. When they’re told to stand behind the line (for shopping or protests or whatever), they stand behind the line. They form lines *everywhere*. Giant crowd of people waiting to get on an escalator? They wait in a long line. 

Second impression of Japanese society: Timeliness. A seminar is scheduled to start at 2pm? Everybody is in their seats and quiet at 1:58, and the seminar starts at 2:00. I suspect that the organizers would be humbly apologizing and offering gifts in recompense if the seminar started at 2:05. The average arrival time for the shinkansen: thirty-four seconds late. Average. Thirty-four seconds. WMATA should take lessons!

Shinkansen

Third impression of Japanese society: Perfectionism. Food/drinks are carefully packaged so that you may enjoy them in their original, perfect state when you reach your destination. You can find the best cream puffs EVER in Shibuya. They don’t put the cream in the puff until you place your order, and the cream is so light and delicious!! Shaved ice outside Senso-Ji temple is truly shaved, so it just melts in your mouth. No crunching. I haven’t tried the macarons in Midtown yet, but they look amazing.

More food: When I was in Brazil, I loved Schweppes Citrus, but we don’t have it in the States. However, in Japan they have Schweppes British Lemon Tonic, which seems to be the same thing. I’m so happy!

I’ve already discovered that, while there are plenty of challenges (e.g. I can't read a thing!), in many ways, it is very easy to live here. The 100 Yen stores (dollar stores) are amazing and full of tons of useful stuff. There are vending machines with drinks (water, tea, coffee (hot or cold), soda, etc) EVERYWHERE – on the streets or in the subway. I’ve counted four Starbucks and two Tully’s within a ten-minute walk of the housing compound. There’s also a Frijoles, which is remarkably similar to Chipotles, and if I walk just a bit farther, there’s a Cold Stone Creamery (where they sang a little song while mixing my ice cream, which naturally makes it taste MUCH better), Outback Steakhouse, TGI Friday’s, etc. And those are just the American restaurants.  There are tons and tons of other restaurants. There is an excellent pho place not far away. In the opposite direction, there's a Wendy’s, where - only in Japan! - you can spend $20 on a Foie Gras Burger. I’ll let you try it and tell me how it tastes. 

Takeshita Street in Harajuku - All things girly and a huge dollar store

There are many more things, but I’ll save them for another day. Next Monday is a holiday (Respect for the Aged Day), and I’ll finally have access to my permanent housing, so that’ll be nice. I’m sure the cat will be THRILLED to move again.