I can't think of how to tie these all into a narrative, and I wasn't on top of things enough to make them each into their own blog post in the moment, so you get a list!
1. I decided to
go to the Aveda salon here in Tokyo to see how they would do at cutting and
coloring my hair. My hair is VERY
different from Japanese hair, so finding somebody here who can handle my hair
is an issue of concern. I think I put the
fear of God into them with regard to not cutting too many layers into my hair,
because the scissors barely touched my head. But all in all, the hair cut was pretty good. The color wasn’t quite perfect (faded
to brassy blond super fast), but I’m willing to give them another shot. I mention all of this here, not because
you care about my hair trials and tribulations, but because the experience was
pretty amazing! They brought me
tea and a variety of magazines to read (e.g. InStyle UK). Nothing terribly unusual there, but… They poured oil on my head before giving me a very nice head massage and washing my hair, and I got to choose which
aroma I wanted. (I chose ylang
ylang.) I also got a little shoulder massage after going back to the chair the
last time. When they colored my
hair, they put little miniature shower caps over my ears. They put a pillow on my lap under the robe so that the magazine I was flipping through would be easier to read. And the big “feel
like a celebrity” moment: when I was flipping through an Italian Vogue while 2
people dried my hair. It was
really nice. If they can get my
hair color right next time, I would be very happy to continue going there.
2. I started
taking nihon jujutsu (aka: self defense). One of my regrets is that I never took self defense in college. But when I came to Tokyo, I went to an Embassy event where I could check out the many
clubs and classes that I could take part in, and the judo club sensei mentioned
that he was thinking of starting a self defense class. It’s Saturday mornings on the compound, so my commute is
about 3 minutes. I’ve only been to
two classes so far, so I’m not going to be challenging people to attack me any
time soon, but I should be able to
step out of the way of any drunk guy at a reception.
3. I got the
Sonos set up in my apartment. Now
I can listen to Pandora AND my favorite radio stations from DC. If I just sit at home, I can pretend
I’m in America!
4. Speaking of
America… I went out to Yokota Air
Base a week ago. It was like stepping
into a bit of America – except filled with men wearing flight suits! Wide streets, spacious parking
lots, a huge commissary that looks just like a large U.S. grocery store filled
with things I recognize with labels I can read… When I was in Brazil, the thing that I didn’t realize I
missed until I saw it and got totally giddy was root beer. For some reason, the thing that got me
all excited this time: the wide escalator in the Yokota AB Community Center. Yes, I got giddy over an escalator. But, seriously! That thing was wide! Two people could stand side by side and
not even touch each other! Two
large people! It was very
exciting.
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