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Published: January 10th 2007
I am sorry I have not written a blog entry in so long, it is just that we’ve been busy with the holidays and all that. I have to thank all of you (again) for the wonderful comments and messages Marc and I have gotten on our blog. The comments and messages make us feel so connected to all of you “back home” and all of our friends all over the world (Mac & Mary in Isle of Man for instance!!) This blog has become very important to us….you can’t imagine what it means to us to know you are interested in our lives here in Japan! Robert, thank you for encouraging us to do this. It is such a wonderful way to stay connected to everyone and to keep everyone up to date on our activities without having to send dozens and dozens of emails. Believe it or not, we now have 50 subscribers! Marc’s Aunt Charlotte being the all important # 50! I know there are a lot of people that read this blog (other than the subscribers) as I have a way to check and see how many times each blog has been read. Many entries have been read 200 + times. (I can’t tell who has read it; just that it has been read.) If any of you want to be added to the subscribers list, but don’t know how to do it, just email me and I will add you as a subscriber. That way you will get an email letting you know when there is something new here.
We are finally completely settled. We unpacked the last box on Christmas Eve and everything has finally found a home! Yippee!! I can’t tell you what a relief that is! We had very minor damages with our shipment. Somehow the CD player for our stereo system got broken and the tape player as well. But… as this is the electronics capital of the world, we will soon be replacing that. We have really settled into our apartment and like it a lot. Some of you might remember that we had looked at an apartment on the 21st floor of a new building with incredible views. We thought at the time it would be a tight squeeze for us to fit into it as it had only 2 very small bedrooms in only about 1,100 square feet. We kept thinking it would be too small for us, but we loved the views and the modern / upscale feel of it. We decided against it when we saw the size and location of the one we ended up with. Now that we are here, Marc and I can’t imagine how we would have ever lived in the other one, and feel we made the right choice. This is an old building so there are little problems here and there, but nothing we can’t live with. The heat seems to not be consistent some days, but it isn’t unbearable. In the hallway leading to the bedrooms there is a HUGE HEAVY steel door that is not used any more but was once used as a fire door. It has some kind of gizmo up at the top that is supposed to keep it shut, but if you bump it the right way (carrying things down the hallway for instance) it swings open and then you have to play around with it to get it to stay shut again. We finally stuffed something up under it like a door stop and so far that seems to work. I am used to a bigger kitchen than we have here, but I am managing. There is a big storage closet across the entryway from the kitchen and I have made that into my “pantry.” Marc now calls the entryway the “pantryway”! I have pans and things in the kitchen, the entry way / pantry area and the storage closet in the hallway to the bedrooms. At first it was really awkward, but I have gotten used to it now.
We didn’t bring our bedroom furniture over as it is quite large, and we didn’t think we would have space for it. In retrospect our bedroom is so big, we could have brought it, but c’est la vie. We never had good guestroom furniture so we thought we would buy a set here and then use it in the guest room when we move back to the states and have a house again. We looked at several places and found beautiful things but more $ than we wanted to spend. We finally found a little interior décor store and found just what we wanted. It was finally delivered on December 22 and we love it. The bed is a wood frame about 8 or 10 inches off the ground, so when we put the mattress and box springs on it, it was way too high. We finally just used the mattress without the box spring part and now it is a little low, but still works fine. (We have a select comfort system so you don’t absolutely need to use the box spring part.) The other thing though is that the beds here are different sizes than in the states. We thought our mattress would be a little too wide and a little too short, but it is the opposite! In any case, it works fine, and when there is a comforter on it, you can’t tell. We got matching bedside tables, a dresser and a vanity for me. When Marc saw a set we could finally afford, (and realized he didn’t have to spend what we thought we were going to have to spend) and I asked if we could get the vanity too, he was so relieved he said yes. I was surprised when it came though. It looked average size in the show room, with the small bedside tables and the small dresser, but now here in the room it is small and almost looks like something a young teenage girl would have. But as it gives me a little more storage space, I really like it.
OK… now about our activities as of late. Christmas was much better than I expected it to be, given it isn’t really celebrated here and we are so far from family and friends. The Japanese don’t celebrate Christmas as such, but you would never know it from the stores. There are lots of Christmas decorations up and lots of them for sale too. We heard Christmas music everywhere! Mostly in English but we did hear Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer in Japanese. The day before Christmas Eve was the Emperors Birthday and a national holiday so we decided to go out and explore a bit. First we went over to the Shibuya Ward, just to look around. If any of you are “Amazing Race” fans and remember when the teams were in Tokyo and had to find “Hachiko” this is the Shibuya area. Hachiko is a statue of a dog outside of the train station. Many years ago, the dog would follow his master to the train station in the morning and wait all day until he returned in the evening and then they would both go home together. When the old man died at work, the dog continued going to the train station in the evenings. He did this everyday for the rest of his life (9 years) just waiting for his master to return. Such a sweet story. Now the Hachiko statue is the big gathering spot in Shibuya. At the main intersection, 5 large roads all converge, in addition to the passenger entrances and exits for 2 subway systems and 3 different train systems. The crowds are large and give the impression of Times Square, with all the large buildings and the screens playing advertisements. It is such a crowed area that the traffic lights are all timed to be red at the same time, so that you can cross anywhere in the entire intersection at the same time. We have been told that it is fun to take people there from out of town and go hide just as the crossing light turns green and the masses of people start walking every which way, then watch as the out of towners panic when they don’t know where to go! We Promise not to ever do that to any of our visitors here, though…. WE would NEVER do such a thing!!!.
After Shibuya we went over to the infamous Ginza Shopping district. This is the Rodeo Drive of Tokyo. It was such a nice warm day and everyone was out enjoying the holiday and the Christmas decorations. On holidays, they close off the street to allow only pedestrians, and place tables, chairs and benches in the street. It was really fun looking at all the stores (Window shopping only) and just being part of the holiday. Just as we were leaving, we saw the Mikimoto Pearls store, and went in to look around. Marc bought me a beautiful pin for our 14th wedding anniversary.
It is fun to just go into the different shops here. Many of the department stores are just like back home, but you do see some interesting things. We were coming out a subway exit one day and walked into the most interesting stationary store. Calligraphy is big here, as is using many, many different kinds of paper for wrapping gifts, origami, writing letters, etc. Marc and I must have spent 2 hours in there, just looking at all the different things. The cards are beautiful here. Some are regular cards, but with pretty Japanese scenery, but some are quite involved, with beautiful decorations, cut-outs and pop-ups. Some in English, some in Japanese, some in a mixture of both. I could spend a fortune in there on cards alone! I also found that the Japanese really love their flowers. There are little flower shops everywhere! Their type of arrangements are usually small and formed into little “balls,” very different from what you see in the states. This, by the way is not Ikebana. THAT is another completely different art form. If I take a class someday I will write about it, but from what I understand you don’t take “a class”, you takes “classES” and many many of them. Another thing I love is our neighborhood green grocer. There is an older man with a little stand on the way to and from the subway from our apartment. It is fun to stop by and see what is fresh on my way home. Sometimes Marc will stop on his way home too. Just another thing you don’t have in the states.
We have gotten pretty good at shopping in Japanese stores. We’ve found a couple of bookstores with small sections of English books. We’ve found a good store for housewears and a good store for computer and camera equipment. I also found a good place to get my hair cut. I had been really sweating that, as I hate to find a new place each time we move. It seems like it takes me months (or years in some cases) to find a hair stylist I like, and just when I do, we move. I had been told it would be quite an experience to get my hair cut here as they are not used to foreigner’s hair and that if you are blond, everyone in the salon will want to come and feel it. Alas, I found that a friend here had done all the leg work for me! She found a salon that sends all their people to New York City to train and they specialize in American styles and trends. I went the other day and while it is not cheap, I think he did a good job and at least I have overcome that hurdle!
One day we went out walking in the Kapabashi district. This is an area of 10 - 15 blocks of nothing but kitchen ware stores! When we asked how to get there, we were told to “just look for the Chef”! Sure enough, the large store on the corner at the beginning of the area has a head of a chef on it… probably 4 or 5 stories high! Many of the stores were closed as it was during the New Year’s holidays, but we still had fun. There were woks, pans and knives in any size and shape you could ever want. This is where many of the restaurants buy all their supplies so they have just about anything you could imagine. This is also the area where the restaurants buy all the plastic food that they use for their displays in front of their restaurants. It all looks so real, from the cheesecake and sushi to the pasta and lobsters and on and on. After a while it just becomes overwhelming! We didn’t have our camera with us, but we plan to go back when all the stores are open and we’ll get pictures for all of you.
When we were out one day, waiting for the subway, a Japanese man tapped Marc on the shoulder and handed him a subway pass that he had found on the floor near where Marc was standing. He thought Marc had dropped it. Marc took it in his hand, while checking his pocket with the other hand. He realized he still had his pass so the one the man was giving him wasn’t his. Marc tried to give it back to him, telling the man it wasn’t his, but with the language barriers they didn’t understand each other and the man wouldn’t take it back. Marc held it up and tried to find out if it belonged to anyone else, but no one said anything. Then the train came and we boarded and the other man walked away, leaving Marc holding the pass. Turns out it still had about $35 dollars left on it. We felt bad taking it, but didn’t know how to find out who it belonged to.
We went out to dinner on New Years Eve, and planned to walk over to Tokyo Tower to see the crowds and ring in the New Year there. When it came time to leave though, it was pretty cold out so we just stayed home and watched the “2006” on the tower change over to “2007” from our living room window. This is a perfect example of the influence of the west in Japan. The year was shown as the “western” year “2007,” even though in Japan it is not 2007. Occasionally you will see the year shown as 2006 or 2007, but the year is primarily written using the Japanese Calendar. Thus 2007 here is “Heisei 19,” which is the year according to the Japanese “Imperial Calendar.” The Imperial calendar is based on the ruling years of each emperor. When an emperor ascends the thrown he chooses a name by which he will be known AFTER his death. Emperor Hirohito chose the name Showa, so now, after his death he is known as Emperor Showa. He reigned from 1926 to 1988, and that period is known as the Showa Era. So according to the Imperial Calendar 1926 is “Showa 1”, 1927 is “Showa 2” and on and on to 1988 which is “Showa 63”. When Emperor Akihito ascended the throne in 1988 he chose the name Heisei. That means “1989” is Heisei 1, “1990” is Heisei 2 and on and on, so that 2007 in Japan is “Heisei 19”. Just another one of those things that seems so strange (like the address system) but once you learn it, it makes perfect sense!
The banking was interesting here over the holidays. In general, the Banks here were closed 12/29 - 01/03! This was for the New Years Holidays which are celebrated on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd . With the 29th - 31st weekend days, that meant the banks were closed for a full week. Can you imagine the banks being closed that long in the states? Yikes!!
One final note as we have gotten emails from so many of you… Yes we have had some MINOR earthquakes, but mostly just tremors. I have slept through all but one of them. Marc has found a website for tracking them and their intensity. He got into the habit of telling me about them every time until I told him I would rather NOT know!
Any way, that is about it for now. I still have more to write about, but I’ll save it for the next entry!
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Donna (southernlady)
non-member comment
Thanks for writing your blog
Hi Arlene (and Marc), Your blog is a fascinating glimpse at life in another culture. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I am enjoying reading about your experiences. It's good to read that the holidays were enjoyable for you and not too lonely. You are having so many amazing adventures. Happy New Year and please keep writing.