Anyway, the last few days have been kind of fun. I'm becoming increasingly familiar with the Tokyo train and subway system, so it's becoming easier for me to get around by myself. I find it kind of fun to rush from one train to the next with the hordes of people, running for what may be the last train
back home at night. I'm getting better! =) Tuesday was my first experience truly alone and independent on the train in Japan. I had to go from Tamagawagakuen-Mae to Kamiyacho Station in the heart of Roppongi and the Tokyo business district. I got there at 10:20 AM or so, expecting Kenji in no more than 15-20 minutes (he sent me an SMS that he would be there at 10:35). As it turns out, I was about two hours early. It was a dumbass mistake to make, because I never confirmed the correct TIME with Sam and Kenji, only the station location! HAH! It's okay though, I found a Tsutaya/Starbucks just down the street from the station and spent most of my time getting a feel for the area, drinking coffee, and reading books. Afterwards we had lunch and an interview with some ladies from a translation company. I'm not sure how useful these interviews have been for me. I'm sure I'll find deeper meaning when I do my analysis, but I'm just worried about the lack of "a-ha!" moments I'm having these last few days. It was cool though, the company is an all ladies company, and they say they are a "Western" style company. There was definitely a sense of companionship in the office, and afterwards they even offered to take us out and show us the town if we wanted. I think we will be in touch with them.After these interviews, Sam's host mom, Ikeda-san, met us and gave us a tour of a more traditional part of Tokyo. We saw some more temples, which was...well...sort of interesting...sort of boring. The coolest part was going to all the tiny little shops and looking at what they were selling. I went ahead and bought some green tea and an awesome tin with
Fuji-san on it. I guess it's one of "the best" tea tins you can buy with your money. It'd better be, it was an expensive little tin! xP At the end of the tour, we ate dinner at a traditional izakaya, which was a really weird experience. I was sitting with Loretta and Chris, which was really awkward in the beginning because we weren't really trying to order food or talk or anything. It took the woman sitting next to Chris getting up, going to the OTHER izakaya, and making fun of us for not having fun to really get comfortable. We ordered more food, some drinks, and after one or two we were talking with the woman next to us. Her story was really cool. I guess she has been going to that izakaya three or four times a week for like, ten years! BUT, it took her three years before she was able to actually go into the izakaya. She was intimidated, and it took a lot of inner strength for her to do. I don't know what that says about her as an individual, or a Japanese woman, but it's definitely an interesting story. The izakaya visit was ridiculously priced too, since we all had to share the cost. The five at the neighboring cocktail bar ate and drank far more than we did, so we all had to bear the burden too. Guess I should've eaten a bit more! =D Karaoke was in order afterwards, and after about two hours of that me and Nata-chan made the epic quest back to Tamagawagakuen-mae (you wouldn't believe how long it takes to get here).Yesterday was a lot of fun, too. We met with Michael Berman, an alum of W&M from '06. It was a bit refreshing to meet with someone who had such good insight into the Japanese business, but still spoke really good English. It made the interview process much easier. We had lunch with him and his VP, and then sat down and had one of the most in-depth interviews we've had yet. I feel like I made some major strides yesterday on my topic, especially just trying to figure out what it's about. I was naive to think that I could just focus on food as a topic. The problem is everybody here already KNOWS about the food, and the meaning of the food goes much deeper than the, "This tempura represents the life of the company" sorta shit. People all have different perspectives of food, and what it does to help grease the gears of the workplace. The Japanese perception of friendship and workplace camaraderie is so different from the American perception. I'm excited to see where my research will end up by the time we do our final presentation on the 12th. After the interview we walked around and visited a ridiculously cheap grocery store. I found a 135 mL container of Asahi for something like...¥88! It's the TINIEST can of beer you've ever seen. Maybe I'll make a posting of it somewhere on here, if I ever take a picture. I've been reluctant to drink beer that I've bought, because I end up having to drink at dinner when I'm with businessmen anyway. I'm just a bit tired of it, especially the feeling that I'm gaining weight. I'm looking forward to getting in shape when I get back to the US, and eating a lot healthier.
We went to dinner at Yamada-san's house last night, somewhere around Shinagawa Station, or something like that. Honestly I have no idea (See? I've still got a ways to go with this train system thing). I told her and her husband how excited I was to experience Japanese cuisine, because there is so much about it t
hat is SO much healthier than what I eat when I'm at home in the United States. I've tried so many new things on this trip, and now I really want to try to find them back at home, and incorporate them into my diet on a regular basis. I think it would be REALLY beneficial to my health. Also, I want to get back to running when I get home. It's going to take a lot of work, especially since I'll have to ice my ankles every night until my tendinitis goes away, but I really really want to do it now. Also, I really want to try to keep studying and practicing my Japanese over the summer. Not being able to get around efficiently here has given me resolve to work on my language skillz. So I guess those are my two NEW goals for summer! Oh yeah, and I guess I'll worry about that job thing at some point, too. xP ANYWAY, dinner was amazing. We had sashimi, rice on seaweed (I have no idea what the Japanese call that), and lots of fruit. It was very filling, even though it was basically a bunch of side dishes. We also drank beer and possibly the BEST sake I have ever tasted. Yamada-san's husband told us it was really expensive, and Hamada-sensei joked about us being about 10 years too young to experience it. HAH! She was definitely tipsy, but will never admit it. She even forgot her glasses on the coffee table.We had a really interesting discussion at dinner about suicide here in Japan. It was pretty depressing, especially because of the demographics side of it. Yamada-san seemed to think it was a lot of "freeters" (Japanese who work only part time jobs and make no money for retirement) who have lost hope in the future. He said that after the war, even though people had no money, they were willing to work because they wanted to achieve peace. Now that it looks like we're on the brink of that, he says that hope for the future in a lot of individuals is fading, and many turn to suicide. Sam saw it a different way. He believes debt plays a large roll, and a lot of Japanese men in their 50's who have tons of debt and nobody to talk to are the ones who turn to death as a "solution." I talked to Kenji a bit about it, and I told him how it wrenches my stomach a bit everytime I hear someone is late BECAUSE of someone committing suicide. Jumping in front of a train just seems like a really terrible way to go, and I wonder what kind of difference I might have made in that person's life had I known them, had I been able to talk to them. I also told Kenji that if he ever feels that way, he should make sure to talk to me or Sam or anybody about it, because it really isn't the answer.
Well, on that thoroughly depressing note, I think I'm going to go finish getting ready. I have an interview today at 1:00 PM, and hopefully afterwards I'll have some time to head to Shinjuku and shop, buy, and begin to use a new digital camera. I wish I could show you what happened to mine. It did a really good job of ruining itself! xP Whatever, so goes life! Catch you all soon! Peace!
Images: (1) Yes, I was there, for far longer than I needed to be; (2) Our izakaya visit! Note the hanging fishes in the upper left hand corner; (3) The sashimi we had at Yamada-san's house. I wish I could've photographed it before everybody started eating! >.<; (4) Tokyo at night. Pretty amazing stuff...
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