Days 19 and 20 - Tokyo, JUSEC and last minute shopping
Day 19 - Tokyo, Yoyogi Cram School, Japan Electronics College, last night together
This was not one of my best days. I think I'm finally really homesick, and ready to get moving. I was doing fine until the train back from the west. It seemed somehow with that train ride that I was on my way home, but then didn't get to come all the way home. We were traveling for 5 hours, but at the end of it all there was just another hotel room. So I'm cranky, and antisocial and in general very quiet. Guess I should just be glad that it waited this long.
This morning was a visit to Yoyogi Seminar, a Japanese cram school. A completely for-profit buisness, they just recently moved into a huge "earthquake proof" skyscraper in western Tokyo. The entire place reeks of money, and its all run by one family dynasty. There are all new classrooms with video streaming to 39 places around the country, as well as dorms, language labs, a guidance center etc. The school is extra study for high school students who want higher scores on their college entrance exams, or for those who did not pass the first time around, and now need to get into college after a year off. They even have dorm rooms, which must have an absolutely amazing view from the 25th story. It's very close to Mejii-jingu park and Harajuku as well.
We had a nice tour and then time for lunch before going to JEC. Since we had so much time, we went over to something something Times Square, which is a big urban shopping mall, and went to Tokyo Hands. It's sort of like a Walmart version of a department store, 7 floors, but cheaper than real department stores. I spent some good time in the craft section, and also got some boxes for packing stuff back.
Then we were off to JEC. It's an interesting trade school that takes any student who wants to learn. Sort of like a community college, they have electronics degrees, but also some pretty cutting edge animation, graphic arts and gaming departments. We had a long meeting in the beginning including a powerpoint, and then a tour of the different classrooms. Walking through the classes was like watching the extras on a Shrek DVD. Students were playing with graphics and animation right on their screens, which was pretty cool. Then back up to the room for a chat with international students, and finally a Q&A session with the upper management. Overall a nice visit, but we continued to just be DONE. Knowing it was our last official visit made it even harder to concentrate. I think all of us are homesick or impatient in one way or another.
On our way back we lost Jodi in the subway station, and I got really frustrated with our guide Marigold as well as the group. I kept trying to tell them that Jodi was very train savvy, and once she realized she was lost would just figure out the trains to get home. It was fine, lets just move on. Instead we had to wander around the station for a bit, go to a different branch and get on a different train, transfer and then get back to the hotel to have her sitting in the lobby waiting for us. Her response? "Once I realized I lost you I just got on the next train and figured I catch you all here......" *headdesk*
After a quick change we headed out to our last dinner as a full group. We found a great tapas place, and after a few beers I felt much cheered. We had some yummy Spanish type foods, and just had a chance to relive some of the funnier moments. Then I took them up on the elevator to the 46th floor to see the view. I met with an alumni on Tuesday night and he showed it to me, so then I shared with the group. There was a fireworks display going on somewhere over to the east, as we could see them from the big picture windows on the 46th floor.
The rest of the group headed back to the hotel while Charles and I stopped into a sky bar for a nightcap. We had a great talk about marriage, relationships, in-laws, and life in general. I agree with him, that while the trip was amazing, the friendships I've gained in him and Jodi are the best part. I plan to visit Charles and meet his wife as a mini-trip in October. I've never been to Pittsburgh, and Seth mentioned that there are many brewpubs there :)
Day 20 - JUSEC wrap up
Friday morning we headed over to JUSEC to debrief our trip with them and have lunch. It was the first time we had seen some of them since orientation, and they couldn't wait to hear our stories. The IEA program is the only one all year that the entire staff works on together, so they all have a bit of ownership and investment in it. We went through the trip day by day with David (program coordinator) and told the highlights and also our suggestions for improvement.
As a thank you we purchased lunch for the entire staff, and they brought in, yup, you guessed it! Bento Boxes! These were neat because they were shaped like a jewelry box, the top opened up, and then there was a little drawer in the bottom with rice in it. Over lunch we told some of the funnier stories of the trip, including our rush for the train in Shin-Osaka, our night with the Friendly Club, and karaoke in Hiroshima. They were laughing so hard at some of the typical "American" impressions we had. After lunch we all took our leave, with many hugs and promised emails.
I had been toying with the idea of going up to Nikko for the afternoon, but just couldn't face a two hour train ride in each direction for only a few hours there. It was in the mountains, yes, but also was just a bunch more shrines. You can only see so many shrines. In Japan it's kind of equivalent to seeing a post office. Once you've seen one, even if the architecture changes, it's still pretty much just a post office :) So when Charles and Jodi set off for the mountains, I took the rest of the group to the Meji-jingu Park again.
This was unfortunately meant to be something I remembered. When we got to the temple, the main stone torii was blocked off as a construction site (weird). So we went on this little detour that was marked out. At the end of the detour we were supposed to head back to the main road, but I had planned on taking a different route through the park to the shrine. So we ignored the detour markings (and metal barricades blocking the other way, I figured they were there to make people understand the detour, not actually stop people from going the other way.) We had a very pleasant walk through the gardens on a completely legitimate road in the park (it was on the map) and there were other people on it as well. As we get to the end we see the barricades again, as well as a Japanese woman who as we approach starts yelling at us in rapid Japanese. She had a very condescending and angry tone, and was the first Japanese I'd ever heard yell. She adopted a stance very much like proselytizers, and just started screaming at us with her hands behind her back. I thought maybe she was just some crazy person that hated foreigners, and since we didn't understand anything she was saying (hello, we're Americans at a major tourist site, obviously we don't understand Japanese). I just led the group onto a side road. That just seemed to make things worse, and she started to get shrill in her berating. I figured if she WAS crazy, if we walked out of view then she would lose interest, and kept going. Eventually however she began truly shrieking at us in Japanese, and following us down the road (another one clearly marked on my map). We started to move a bit faster, since she was now following us and continuing to scream. Finally we came to the main gate to the Mejii Shrine, and went through. She stopped at the end of the trail and glared at us. We then saw a sign discouraging pedestrians on the walk we were on. However, most people would have indicated with hand signals that we shouldn't go that way (since there was no sign on the other end), versus just screaming at us in a language we didn't understand. Freakiest thing ever. Janet and Darnita were actually quite shaken by the experience, while I was much more "whatever, crazy Japanese person ruining our last day."
At the shrine I purchased and filled out a little wooden prayer board, asking for safe travels home for everyone, and also got a travel safety charm for my luggage. We then walked out of the shrine area in a different direction (not going back the crazy way), and past the large wooden tori from before. This time I had Janet take a picture of me, instead of doing the self-portrait thing.
We also have a nice group picture. After we left the park, we headed to the Daiso 100 Yen store again so others could go, and I wandered around Harajuku. Apparently sock shops are the big deal here, and sock fashion is truly mystifying. It seems almost all Japanese women have these crazy incredible socks on all the time. Everything ranging from ballet flat socks to full leg warmers, stripes and all. I purchased a few pairs of socks, since it seemed the thing to do, and then found a very nice used kimono shop. I purchased and amazing antique obi for my kimono. Only about $5, which is amazing, since new they run into the $100's.
At this point I left the group and headed up to the Senso-ji Temple area again for some shopping. Finished up a bunch of little last minute things, including a nice pendant at a department store, and some paper (washi) to bring home. I managed to get all the way across Tokyo on the JR trains, and then back to my hotel on the subway with no problem.
I also decided to start pulling myself back out of the culture. So many things that were amusing and strange when I got here had blended into the background again. I wanted my foreigners eyes back before heading home, so I took pictures of the every day things that to you in the US would be fascinating, but I was now taking for granted. Trash sorters, lamp posts, traffic on the wrong side of the road, all sorts of little things.
Full set, including pictures from the last few days.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/11497507@N08/sets/72157605881730833/
Back at the hotel I had time to pack everything up, and weigh my baggage to shift things around. It seems like everything will fit, we'll see!
Tomorrow I head home. I'm really ready to go, but not in a way that demeans Japan. It's an amazing country, and I've loved every moment of my time here. But I'm ready to get back to the land of BBQ, beaches, summer vacation and family. The flight it going to be interminable, but at the end of it will be Seth and my own bed. And many many gifts to distribute, which is one of my favorite things to do!
This was not one of my best days. I think I'm finally really homesick, and ready to get moving. I was doing fine until the train back from the west. It seemed somehow with that train ride that I was on my way home, but then didn't get to come all the way home. We were traveling for 5 hours, but at the end of it all there was just another hotel room. So I'm cranky, and antisocial and in general very quiet. Guess I should just be glad that it waited this long.
This morning was a visit to Yoyogi Seminar, a Japanese cram school. A completely for-profit buisness, they just recently moved into a huge "earthquake proof" skyscraper in western Tokyo. The entire place reeks of money, and its all run by one family dynasty. There are all new classrooms with video streaming to 39 places around the country, as well as dorms, language labs, a guidance center etc. The school is extra study for high school students who want higher scores on their college entrance exams, or for those who did not pass the first time around, and now need to get into college after a year off. They even have dorm rooms, which must have an absolutely amazing view from the 25th story. It's very close to Mejii-jingu park and Harajuku as well.
We had a nice tour and then time for lunch before going to JEC. Since we had so much time, we went over to something something Times Square, which is a big urban shopping mall, and went to Tokyo Hands. It's sort of like a Walmart version of a department store, 7 floors, but cheaper than real department stores. I spent some good time in the craft section, and also got some boxes for packing stuff back.
Then we were off to JEC. It's an interesting trade school that takes any student who wants to learn. Sort of like a community college, they have electronics degrees, but also some pretty cutting edge animation, graphic arts and gaming departments. We had a long meeting in the beginning including a powerpoint, and then a tour of the different classrooms. Walking through the classes was like watching the extras on a Shrek DVD. Students were playing with graphics and animation right on their screens, which was pretty cool. Then back up to the room for a chat with international students, and finally a Q&A session with the upper management. Overall a nice visit, but we continued to just be DONE. Knowing it was our last official visit made it even harder to concentrate. I think all of us are homesick or impatient in one way or another.
On our way back we lost Jodi in the subway station, and I got really frustrated with our guide Marigold as well as the group. I kept trying to tell them that Jodi was very train savvy, and once she realized she was lost would just figure out the trains to get home. It was fine, lets just move on. Instead we had to wander around the station for a bit, go to a different branch and get on a different train, transfer and then get back to the hotel to have her sitting in the lobby waiting for us. Her response? "Once I realized I lost you I just got on the next train and figured I catch you all here......" *headdesk*
After a quick change we headed out to our last dinner as a full group. We found a great tapas place, and after a few beers I felt much cheered. We had some yummy Spanish type foods, and just had a chance to relive some of the funnier moments. Then I took them up on the elevator to the 46th floor to see the view. I met with an alumni on Tuesday night and he showed it to me, so then I shared with the group. There was a fireworks display going on somewhere over to the east, as we could see them from the big picture windows on the 46th floor.
The rest of the group headed back to the hotel while Charles and I stopped into a sky bar for a nightcap. We had a great talk about marriage, relationships, in-laws, and life in general. I agree with him, that while the trip was amazing, the friendships I've gained in him and Jodi are the best part. I plan to visit Charles and meet his wife as a mini-trip in October. I've never been to Pittsburgh, and Seth mentioned that there are many brewpubs there :)
Day 20 - JUSEC wrap up
Friday morning we headed over to JUSEC to debrief our trip with them and have lunch. It was the first time we had seen some of them since orientation, and they couldn't wait to hear our stories. The IEA program is the only one all year that the entire staff works on together, so they all have a bit of ownership and investment in it. We went through the trip day by day with David (program coordinator) and told the highlights and also our suggestions for improvement.
As a thank you we purchased lunch for the entire staff, and they brought in, yup, you guessed it! Bento Boxes! These were neat because they were shaped like a jewelry box, the top opened up, and then there was a little drawer in the bottom with rice in it. Over lunch we told some of the funnier stories of the trip, including our rush for the train in Shin-Osaka, our night with the Friendly Club, and karaoke in Hiroshima. They were laughing so hard at some of the typical "American" impressions we had. After lunch we all took our leave, with many hugs and promised emails.
I had been toying with the idea of going up to Nikko for the afternoon, but just couldn't face a two hour train ride in each direction for only a few hours there. It was in the mountains, yes, but also was just a bunch more shrines. You can only see so many shrines. In Japan it's kind of equivalent to seeing a post office. Once you've seen one, even if the architecture changes, it's still pretty much just a post office :) So when Charles and Jodi set off for the mountains, I took the rest of the group to the Meji-jingu Park again.
This was unfortunately meant to be something I remembered. When we got to the temple, the main stone torii was blocked off as a construction site (weird). So we went on this little detour that was marked out. At the end of the detour we were supposed to head back to the main road, but I had planned on taking a different route through the park to the shrine. So we ignored the detour markings (and metal barricades blocking the other way, I figured they were there to make people understand the detour, not actually stop people from going the other way.) We had a very pleasant walk through the gardens on a completely legitimate road in the park (it was on the map) and there were other people on it as well. As we get to the end we see the barricades again, as well as a Japanese woman who as we approach starts yelling at us in rapid Japanese. She had a very condescending and angry tone, and was the first Japanese I'd ever heard yell. She adopted a stance very much like proselytizers, and just started screaming at us with her hands behind her back. I thought maybe she was just some crazy person that hated foreigners, and since we didn't understand anything she was saying (hello, we're Americans at a major tourist site, obviously we don't understand Japanese). I just led the group onto a side road. That just seemed to make things worse, and she started to get shrill in her berating. I figured if she WAS crazy, if we walked out of view then she would lose interest, and kept going. Eventually however she began truly shrieking at us in Japanese, and following us down the road (another one clearly marked on my map). We started to move a bit faster, since she was now following us and continuing to scream. Finally we came to the main gate to the Mejii Shrine, and went through. She stopped at the end of the trail and glared at us. We then saw a sign discouraging pedestrians on the walk we were on. However, most people would have indicated with hand signals that we shouldn't go that way (since there was no sign on the other end), versus just screaming at us in a language we didn't understand. Freakiest thing ever. Janet and Darnita were actually quite shaken by the experience, while I was much more "whatever, crazy Japanese person ruining our last day."
At the shrine I purchased and filled out a little wooden prayer board, asking for safe travels home for everyone, and also got a travel safety charm for my luggage. We then walked out of the shrine area in a different direction (not going back the crazy way), and past the large wooden tori from before. This time I had Janet take a picture of me, instead of doing the self-portrait thing.
We also have a nice group picture. After we left the park, we headed to the Daiso 100 Yen store again so others could go, and I wandered around Harajuku. Apparently sock shops are the big deal here, and sock fashion is truly mystifying. It seems almost all Japanese women have these crazy incredible socks on all the time. Everything ranging from ballet flat socks to full leg warmers, stripes and all. I purchased a few pairs of socks, since it seemed the thing to do, and then found a very nice used kimono shop. I purchased and amazing antique obi for my kimono. Only about $5, which is amazing, since new they run into the $100's.
At this point I left the group and headed up to the Senso-ji Temple area again for some shopping. Finished up a bunch of little last minute things, including a nice pendant at a department store, and some paper (washi) to bring home. I managed to get all the way across Tokyo on the JR trains, and then back to my hotel on the subway with no problem.
I also decided to start pulling myself back out of the culture. So many things that were amusing and strange when I got here had blended into the background again. I wanted my foreigners eyes back before heading home, so I took pictures of the every day things that to you in the US would be fascinating, but I was now taking for granted. Trash sorters, lamp posts, traffic on the wrong side of the road, all sorts of little things.
Full set, including pictures from the last few days.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/11497507@N08/sets/72157605881730833/
Back at the hotel I had time to pack everything up, and weigh my baggage to shift things around. It seems like everything will fit, we'll see!
Tomorrow I head home. I'm really ready to go, but not in a way that demeans Japan. It's an amazing country, and I've loved every moment of my time here. But I'm ready to get back to the land of BBQ, beaches, summer vacation and family. The flight it going to be interminable, but at the end of it will be Seth and my own bed. And many many gifts to distribute, which is one of my favorite things to do!