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View of the Imperial Palace from Tokyo City View
If you look in the big green area you can sort of see the castle, but not particularly well. --- Written Tuesday Evening, May 30th 2006 ---
Classes
Yesterday morning we started our three weeks of classes. We ended up on the 7:41 train to Ookayama after quite a bit of pressing from the Powers That Be, so we ended up at Tokodai (Tokyo Tech =
Tokyo
Koga
Daigaku) well before the 8:30 start time for classes. We started with Japanese Language. The teacher (Matsuda-sensei) was incredibly cool and was quite a good teacher even though we were only doing review. She happens to be big into books and music and was marvelled that I had read Murakami Haruki and listened to Takemitsu Toru. Matsuda-sensei freaked out when she found out I'm Turkish because apparently she's studying Turkish (which is something I didn't know people actually did). Hearing a Japanese woman with a heavy Japanese accent speaking to me in Turkish has to count as one of the most absurd, surreal experiences of my life. Afterwards we wandered around I had a delightfully cheap konbeni (convenient store) lunch consisting of a ham and egg sandwich and my new favorite drink, Pocari Sweat (Zenbudo: only 370 Yen for a nice lunch). Later on we had the nanotech class. I was
Nice green area at Tokodai
Here's a nice little green area of campus where I study between the end of lunch and the beginning of the afternoon class. completely lost during the materials science and physics portions, but when electronics started getting introduced I thankfully managed to get my bearings straight.
This morning I ended up oversleeping (althought I still managed to get the free washoku breakfast (Japanese-style kwizeen) and still caught the really early 7:41 train. We had a different Japanese teacher today (Kurimoto-sensei). She was a little younger, but a little more serious and harder. For the afternoon class we had our first taste of the culture class, but it was essentially just the stuff we've been reading for the past few weeks. Hopefully it will get a little better and will help when we finally have to fend for ourselves in Japan (which I will get to later). The nanotech class meets later, so if anything interesting happens there I will post it later.
Sensory Overload
My first expedition into Tokyo: Shibuya. Just for background, Shibuya is to twenty-somethings what Harajuku is to teeny-boppers. The Azabu-juuban area where I'm staying is a little smaller and more residential and the Namboku train line isn't spectacularly crowded (especially the routes I travel), so I hadn't quite yet had the "Holy crap, Tokyo is really freaking
Shibuya from Hachiko Square
The center of the crazy neon lights big and really freaking crowded" experience I was waiting to have from the very beginning. It was with this in mind that I decided to undertake my solo trip to Shibuya (the rest of the group is still attempting to overcome jet lag, so my adventures for a little while will probably be mostly solo). But anyhow, I digress. I sojourned forth around 7:30 pm happily made it just in time for the time period between evening rush hour and when people decide to head somewhere and have fun (like Shibuya). This brilliant timing provided me with my first sardine-like experience, which at first was simoultaneously frightening, exciting, and annoying.
When I finally got to Shibuya I randomly picked an exit and came out onto a street corner so crowded it looked like a bacteria colony. The pictures you see of crowded Tokyo intersections do absolutely no justice to how crazy it is. Completely befuddled and having no idea what to do, I did what any rational person would do and headed down the street with the most neon until the neon started trailing off before I headed back to the train station and picked the next most absurdly
Crowd at Hachiko Square
I have never seen so many people in one place in my life. lit street. This continued for a good hour and a half before I got tired and jet lag set in. Hopefully now that I have some sense of direction around the area and my Japanese is getting better I will be able to come back with people and actually poke my head into some of the cool establishments. When I decided to head back to Azabu-juuban I made my way over to Shibuya station with the goal of finding the
Statue of Hachiko, but I couldn't find it (even though I was in a place eponymously called "Hachiko Square"). Mark my words, though, I
will find that blasted statue.
Impressions
First off, I have to mention the crows. The crows in Tokyo are incredibly huge, incredibly ubiquitous, and incredibly annoying. The best way of describing the sound of the crows: 1) think of the way a crow sounds, 2) make the laziest imitation of that sound you possibly can, 3) imagine that sound coming from everywhere at all times.
I am going to start explaining my impressions of Tokyo, but there is one caveat: I haven't really been all that immersed in the Japanese culture yet. I am surrounded by
View of the Tokyo Tower from Tokyo City View
What's a blog entry without a picture of the Tokyo Tower? the group at almost all times and, with the exception of the four hours of Japanese class in the morning, I am just speaking English with Americans (not exactly a very Japanese experience). I am sure this will cease to a be problem when the research portion of the program starts in a few weeks.
Most everyone in the program seems to be really cool and I'm having a really good time with them. Almost everyone is very nice and most of the ones that I've gotten to know are really interesting. Thankfully everyone (with a few exceptions) is more than willing to venture forth into the city, so it's not hard to organize treks.
I am really loving city life here. Living isn't as expensive as people make it out to be (I'm eating lunch for ~350Y and dinner from about 500-600Y), and everything here in Tokyo is very convenient and safe. The subway system is incredibly precise and cleaner than any American subway system could hope to be. You will see the 7:41 train coming the
exact second the clock hits 7:41. I am loving being able to just walk around and find stuff to eat
Roppongi Number Wall
This is a wall in Roppongi Hills near the Tokyo City View. The numbers constantly change, but nobody has yet to figure out whether there is any sort of pattern. or hop on a short subway ride to find something fun to do or see. I'm not sure if this will hold for the rest of the summer, but at least for now it feels amazing. I'm just hoping to take even further advantage of all the city has to offer, especially more cultural events, sporting events, and night life.
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anonymous
non-member comment
AHHH the Tokyo Tower! You are the first among us to view this xtreme, hardcore, candy striped structure that rocks so much harder than that lame- ass scrap metal heap in France (or wherever the hell it is). Pics look really good. First things first - what kind of plane did you fly on? As you might imagine, I am going crazy at Busch. I had to work the Sippercart yesterday and Ive been harassing the Filipino employees in my pure Busch Gardens madness. I miss you and I hope things continue to be awesome! - Joe