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Published: August 6th 2007
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Senso-ji
This is the front of the Senso-ji temple. Alright, so Travelblog is back up and running FINALLY. I wrote one and saved it after the first day I was in Tsuru, so here it is....
Okay.... I THINK I’m four days into my stay here in Japan, but with the time change it has been impossible to keep track of what day it is. As I write this post at 11 pm Thursday night, it is 7 am Thursday morning back home, and around 7 am in the morning its about 5 pm the previous evening back home.
So the first day after my last post, my dad and I went around Tokyo checking out various sights. The first place we went to was the Senso-ji temple, whose entrance is the Kuminarimon (thunder gate). It’s a 700 year old Buddhist temple, and there is a big marketplace in between the Kuminarimon and the temple itself. One of the neat things at these kinds of temples is that you can donate 100 yen and draw a little fortune. We both did this, and my fortune was as follows:
No. 24 BAD FORTUNE
3 women shouldn’t meet together, as they talk too loudly. Though they exchange the
Kumari-Mon
The Thunder Gate in front of the Senso-ji words of promise, those will never be realized.
The departed soul will not come up to us.
Be more faithful in believing the Gods and Buddha. Let’s discriminate the black and white among the accumulated cloth.
*Your request will be granted. *The patient will get well but it takes time. *The lost article will be fond but late. *The expected guest will appear late. *Building a new house and removal are both bad. *It is bad to start a trip now. *Marriage and employment are both bad.
Bad to start a trip now??? Bad to start a trip NOW? Does day 1 of 6 months of studying abroad count as a trip? Technically it's day 2... maybe two days ago was the perfect time to start a trip. I request that my patient gets better so that they can have their (punctual!) guests over to help me build a new house. How's that temple?
Now, this is especially interesting because, as a kid, visiting Japan for the first time, we actually visited this same temple. I had drawn a fortune - and it was similar to this one. So, demanding closure, I took
Chef Jimmy Hernandez
Jimmy immortalized atop a Tokyo building a second and third fortune, each one worse than the last. Apparently this hit me pretty hard as a kid and I was quite upset. Now, however, having learned the myriad lessons life has to teach I realize what the true message is of these fortunes: Stay the hell away from the Senso-ji temple. That place has it out for me big time. Friggin monks.
From there on we went to Kappabashi-dori, which is a huge restaurant supply street. There’s tons of signs, knives, kitchen stuff, plastic food - anything you need for a restaurant (in Japan) . Even a giant bust of Jimmy, one of the chefs from catering, atop a building.
Afterwards we made our way to the Tabacco and Salt Museum. It is almost exactly as entertaining as it sounds- as in astonishingly so. Situated in the bustling Shinjuku ward of Tokyo, the Tabacco and Salt Museum offers all the entertainment one couldn't find from the shopping, music stores, and modern Japanese culture available in Shinjuku. Apparently, back in the day Japan wasn’t able to get any salt from mines, so they had to use an elaborate system to get it out of the water.
Tabacco & Salt Museum
Tabaccoriffic! Saltastic! So I guess salt has a special place in their hearts. And tobacco too. But I think that’s just because they like to smoke.
Using futuristic sleeping tubes to make our temporal commute to the next day, made our way across Tokyo via subway and train to the Hotel Mets where we eventually met up with the rest of the Tsuru group, and that actually brings us to today!
This morning we had an orientation at ICU, International Christian University, after which we headed by van to Tsuru. The countryside is quite green and lush in Japan. Everywhere there are hills and trees and farms. We passed through a couple small towns, and weren’t sure we made it to Tsuru U until we pulled up to the college and saw the group of 10 Japanese students holding a giant welcome banner and plastic fans with our names on them.
So we met our Japanese counter-parts and they walked us to our apartment building, a small three story building about ten minutes from the school on foot. My buddy is Yukana, who is a second year student at Tsuru studying English Literature. Throughout the afternoon, talking to her,
1.2 Tons of Salt
Yeah. For Realsies. It's Polish! I learned just how rusty my Japanese conversational skills are. Also, I learned that there is no fencing club in Tsuru.
Yeah. I know. Not stoked.
However, one of the girls also plays bass, and there is a music club I think I’ll participate in, though it starts up in November. The afternoon, then, was spent getting accommodated to our…. Interesting… little apartments, and then heading off to the grocery store and dinner. Later, they took us to the soccer field on campus to light some fireworks. We headed back to our apartments afterward and I attempted to make some sense of the space I’ve been given - as documented below - and now I’m writing this from the comfort (that’s one word for it..) of my newly-made futon.
Tomorrow morning I have orientation at 9:30, after which we’ll be led to the local post office so we can get some cash out of the ATM without threat of having our ATM cards eaten and to get our Alien Registration Cards, which are handy little IDs that will allow us to do things like buy cell phones (not sure why it does that) and legally reside in
Us and Our Tutors at Tsuru U.
Can you tell who the gaijin (foreigners) are?? Tsuru for the next few months(which is something I am totally enthusiastic about). The next few days are going to be plenty busy - and classes start on Monday! Hopefully the jet lag will have worn off by then……
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Melissa
non-member comment
How big is your place overall, and how many people are you sharing it with? We had a dorm type setup with a kitchen and dining room. Have you found a pair of comfortable indoor slippers yet?