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Published: December 16th 2007
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Today I followed Maxs advice and went for a run across rainbow bridge to odaiba. Definitely one of the coolest runs ive ever made. I started in shiodome, a district with towering buildings. From there, the run went along the water, and the port area. THEN, up a flight of stairs to the level where the bridge took the road across the bay. The run across the bridge gave me a gigantic view of tokyo, and was thankfully mostly downhill, so i could run and cock my head to the left, and point out different buildings to myself. By the end of the bridge, I was shot onto a beach, where people were enjoying the beautiful weather and clear blue skies (as well as the view towards tokyo). This part of the run was cool because I was running along a wooden boardwalk, the best kind, and periodically switching paths when i saw something interesting ahead. Of the many things I like about it here, the path was not fixed, and there was an infinite amount of ways to go...now that i think about it, this is ironic because typically the japanese people only know of one way to do something.
Glass Museum
Really nice Xmas Deco around Japan Like, if they read 1 + 2 = 3. Then they always know what 1+2 is. But once you ask them what 2+1=, they didnt know they could do it that way. Somehow, the architects of the city figured out you could do it both ways, and they are allowing this everchanging city to stay interesting even for the explorers.
Speaking of things that have changed, there are so many small things...like a don quixote store around Waseda, and the new dormitories at Waseda, and even the new buildings on my old dormitory, wakeijuku. Revisiting Wakeijuku was especially interesting. Everything that i remember was still there. But there was certainly some additions. Instead of the wide open field in front of my dorm, where we had a nice clay tennis court and open field for playing kibasen (a tradl guys game where three guys act as a horse and one guy is on top. Its played with many many people, and two teams. The idea is to knock the rider off his horse. LOTS of strategy and tons of fun, with an inevitable injury, bloody noses, but seldom formal fights.)
Instead of that field, there are two new dorms, and
Sleepy Santa
One too many Sake bombs made Santa climb this tree. Notice hes blocking the sun from his face. hahah a small lake (or a broken pipe creating a swamp). The front entryway was underconstruction, so noone i know knows whats going on. But the dojo is still there, thus nothing changed, but still things are different.
The other thing thats the same/different is the type of nationalist pride displayed by some of the japanese people. And when I say some, I mean 1 out of a million. A guy bumped me (and if i was smaller he would have run me over) as I got off the train from Hakone. I gave him a sarcastic excuse me, and he says "you in zapan, nou ingulishi, you masto speaki japanese." So, I told him, (in japanese) "okay, you are supposed to say excuse me, sir." And he walked away.
This situation reminds me of a similar situation in america, where some americans want newly arrived immigrants to immediately speak english before they arrive.
But i think both the japanese nationalists, and the people in america who want this, want it not for pride of country, but for some sort of racism (and on different levels so lets not compare this too closely, since its not where i wanna go).
My point is this. Japan has these people who want this. But those same people, who have presumably traditional outlook, are also supposed to provide excellent hospitality to visitors. So, what if this was my first day ever in japan... how would you feel if someone said this to you, along with the same act of violently bumping me out of his way. I would hate japan.
But i DONT! I love it here. Almost everyone is so friendly. And it seems the good people have gotten through ,because everyone ive met is as friendly and forthcoming as anyone ive met from anywhere in the world. (Maybe this sentiment was over exemplified this morning, when my friend was sitting on his couch relaxing while his girlfriend ironed his clothes. Then, he says "Socks, onegaishimasu," and there were his socks.... maybe something inbetween would be reasonable enough for japanese hospitality.
As I rounded the corner, on the last leg of my run, I saw the fuji television building. Looks like some sort of futuristic astroboy headquarters-like building (maybe also a cross with the contraption that took jodi foster to another galaxy in contact). I put fuji biru in my sight and ran up the flight of stairs to finish off the run. In all, about 8km. At the top was of course, a nissan skyline. Hehe. Could it get anybetter...
Then, I took the train back to shiodome.
Tonight is Shibuya. Tomorrow I may return to tsukiji, and I will also be flying to singapore--> kathmandu. So, there is lots coming soon!
Also, when I have time, I will add some pics from the past few days. As you may have noticed while reading, they dont really have anything to do with my blog, but just some nice pics!
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anonymous
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Hahaha "Socks, onegaishimasu"!!!!! Typical Max!!!! Gotta love him for that!