Okay, I don’t normally do two blog posts in one day, bu
t I am compelled to on this day. I saw Mt. Fuji today for the first time since I have been here. The tallest mountain in Japan, it is breath-taking even from a great distance. Fuji-san in Japanese, the san is not honorific, but I think it should be. Today was clear as any day I can remember, especially conside
ring yesterday was practically a whiteout. I went to Odawara Castle today. I thought, “castles in Japan?” Sure, and with the long history of ninjas and shoguns and samurai, why not? It strikes an interesting nerve in my American heart when I see Ninja throwing stars in a museum instead of at Spencer’s in the mall and samurai swords preserved on the ground
s of a castle instead of as somebody’s living room décor. I am used to seeing it as dramatic theatrical hype, not as a long and illustrious history. Wow. Japan. Here I am. Nihon. 日本. The highest number of vending machines per capita in the world. The hot coffee is almost as good as Starbucks and ¼ the price. Seriously, I walked out of the onsen last night and smack into a machine offering me beer, water or sports drinks. I selected a sports drink after having spent 2 hours getting steamed, and walked out onto the street to see two machines begging me to having a cigarette for ½ the price of the U.S. Today, it was a tough choice between espresso or tomato basil soup, but in the end I chose the espresso (even though I heard the soup is a-ma-zing). This has nothing to do with vending machines, but I ordered Sukiyaki at a restaurant and got a gas grill with a bowl on top. Then they lit the grill and brought me all the stuff to cook on it, plus rice, plus soup, plus salad. It was crowded on that little table and the sake made everything kinda get in the way AND I had to cook it myself. What a concept! That’s twice I have paid well for a meal and had to cook it myself. Whatever. I am not complain
ing, but I am once again struck by cultural differences and things we all take for granted. I see little, little kids handling chopsticks like I never will. They use chop sticks at KFC for Pete’s sake! I haven’t even looked into the McDonald’s but I imagine McUdon and McKatsu (I have seen McShwarma and McTurca, so there must be). It took me 2 hours to eat a bowl of soba kare nandan today with chopsticks, and those were soba. Imagine m
y experience eating rice noodles in sukiyaki with chopsticks. Maybe I am talking about very foreign things, but I find myself asking, “What the…” a lot. I am not dismayed or disgruntled at all. I am awed! And I love it that I am in a place where everytime I do something wrong like dropping my washcloth into the onsen bath, bending over to pick it up, walking through the wrong stile at the train station, or not slurping my udon with enough enthusiasm, there are people standing by, smiling and bowing, trying to help me feel at home. And T-shirts! Damn! All that and a dancing monkey. Sorry, I just had a little rant in me.
t I am compelled to on this day. I saw Mt. Fuji today for the first time since I have been here. The tallest mountain in Japan, it is breath-taking even from a great distance. Fuji-san in Japanese, the san is not honorific, but I think it should be. Today was clear as any day I can remember, especially conside
ring yesterday was practically a whiteout. I went to Odawara Castle today. I thought, “castles in Japan?” Sure, and with the long history of ninjas and shoguns and samurai, why not? It strikes an interesting nerve in my American heart when I see Ninja throwing stars in a museum instead of at Spencer’s in the mall and samurai swords preserved on the ground
s of a castle instead of as somebody’s living room décor. I am used to seeing it as dramatic theatrical hype, not as a long and illustrious history. Wow. Japan. Here I am. Nihon. 日本. The highest number of vending machines per capita in the world. The hot coffee is almost as good as Starbucks and ¼ the price. Seriously, I walked out of the onsen last night and smack into a machine offering me beer, water or sports drinks. I selected a sports drink after having spent 2 hours getting steamed, and walked out onto the street to see two machines begging me to having a cigarette for ½ the price of the U.S. Today, it was a tough choice between espresso or tomato basil soup, but in the end I chose the espresso (even though I heard the soup is a-ma-zing). This has nothing to do with vending machines, but I ordered Sukiyaki at a restaurant and got a gas grill with a bowl on top. Then they lit the grill and brought me all the stuff to cook on it, plus rice, plus soup, plus salad. It was crowded on that little table and the sake made everything kinda get in the way AND I had to cook it myself. What a concept! That’s twice I have paid well for a meal and had to cook it myself. Whatever. I am not complain
ing, but I am once again struck by cultural differences and things we all take for granted. I see little, little kids handling chopsticks like I never will. They use chop sticks at KFC for Pete’s sake! I haven’t even looked into the McDonald’s but I imagine McUdon and McKatsu (I have seen McShwarma and McTurca, so there must be). It took me 2 hours to eat a bowl of soba kare nandan today with chopsticks, and those were soba. Imagine m
y experience eating rice noodles in sukiyaki with chopsticks. Maybe I am talking about very foreign things, but I find myself asking, “What the…” a lot. I am not dismayed or disgruntled at all. I am awed! And I love it that I am in a place where everytime I do something wrong like dropping my washcloth into the onsen bath, bending over to pick it up, walking through the wrong stile at the train station, or not slurping my udon with enough enthusiasm, there are people standing by, smiling and bowing, trying to help me feel at home. And T-shirts! Damn! All that and a dancing monkey. Sorry, I just had a little rant in me. 
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