Saturday in the Park
Lately I've been feeling rather homesick. A lot of this is due to the lack of friends I have here, so in an effort to meet some people, I joined a book club. My first meeting was yesterday, to discuss Middlesex. It was a beautiful spring day and to celebrate, we decided to meet in Yoyogi Park, a place that holds a special place in my heart. (During my sophomore year of college, I went on a month-long study program to China and Japan with my Asian Studies classmates. We stayed at a hostel right next to Yoyogi Park for about a week.)
After an hour-long train ride from Yokohama, I arrived at Harajuku Station. As soon as I alighted the train I remembered why I hardly ever come to Tokyo: the sheer amount of people that live there. It was kind of overwhelming, actually. But once I had left the station the crowds thinned a bit and I was able to find a pay phone to call the contact person. (Yes, I'm a luddite and still don't have a cell phone.)
Once the troops were rounded up, we scouted a spot in the park to lay our blankets. Talking about the book was nice, but not talking about the book was nicer. Most of the afternoon was spent chatting with other ex-pats about this and that, munching on food we brought, drinking wine and chu-hai, and playing frisbee. The park was full of people taking advantage of a beautiful day in the park. People were playing double dutch, badminton, practicing dance routines en masse, and doing whatever else struck their fancy. The girls one blanket over were letting their pet rabbit hop around. Somewhere in the park a bagpipe was being played. Though the cherry blossoms were no longer in bloom, other trees were flowering and provided bits of pastels in the otherwise green foliage.
Saturday in Yoyogi Park
It wasn't until after sunset that the few of us who were left decided to head home. We left through a different entrance and ended up passing through Earth Day Tokyo 2009, where an open-air concert was in progress. Japanese hippies and their bad hair and ill-fitting clothing were everywhere. The others decided to stick around the concert for a while so I asked directions back to the station, which I knew I really had no chance of finding. I wandered around Tokyo for a while, sticking to main streets, knowing if I *really* got lost I'd ask for help. But the sidewalks and shops were bustling and I was enjoying being somewhere different.
I started seeing signs for Shibuya, and eventually saw the key landmarks: Scramble Crossing, Shibuya 109, and Shibuya Station. Not wanting to miss the chance to see what the Shibuya girls were wearing, I wandered into 109. I always feel like a complete outsider when I go to Shibuya, not because of my race but because of my clothes, and yesterday was no exception. Jeans and sneakers? Psh. I had no chance. I was acutely aware of my faux pas but held my head high (which is rather easy to do among the Japanese) and shopped away. I left with three fashionista-approved outfits (all on sale!!!) and the knowledge that at least next time I could go shopping in a proper shopping outfit.
Shibuya
Going to Tokyo is always an experience, but I was quite relieved to get back to Yokohama, where the pace is more manageable and the population isn't breaking records. I was very happy to finally get a chance to relax share a beautiful day with some friendly expats. Though I had fun, it reminded me what I had been missing these past few months. I really miss my friends a lot! Hopefully I'll be able to meet some people soon and not feel quite so isolated in this jungle of people.
After an hour-long train ride from Yokohama, I arrived at Harajuku Station. As soon as I alighted the train I remembered why I hardly ever come to Tokyo: the sheer amount of people that live there. It was kind of overwhelming, actually. But once I had left the station the crowds thinned a bit and I was able to find a pay phone to call the contact person. (Yes, I'm a luddite and still don't have a cell phone.)
Once the troops were rounded up, we scouted a spot in the park to lay our blankets. Talking about the book was nice, but not talking about the book was nicer. Most of the afternoon was spent chatting with other ex-pats about this and that, munching on food we brought, drinking wine and chu-hai, and playing frisbee. The park was full of people taking advantage of a beautiful day in the park. People were playing double dutch, badminton, practicing dance routines en masse, and doing whatever else struck their fancy. The girls one blanket over were letting their pet rabbit hop around. Somewhere in the park a bagpipe was being played. Though the cherry blossoms were no longer in bloom, other trees were flowering and provided bits of pastels in the otherwise green foliage.
Saturday in Yoyogi Park
It wasn't until after sunset that the few of us who were left decided to head home. We left through a different entrance and ended up passing through Earth Day Tokyo 2009, where an open-air concert was in progress. Japanese hippies and their bad hair and ill-fitting clothing were everywhere. The others decided to stick around the concert for a while so I asked directions back to the station, which I knew I really had no chance of finding. I wandered around Tokyo for a while, sticking to main streets, knowing if I *really* got lost I'd ask for help. But the sidewalks and shops were bustling and I was enjoying being somewhere different.
I started seeing signs for Shibuya, and eventually saw the key landmarks: Scramble Crossing, Shibuya 109, and Shibuya Station. Not wanting to miss the chance to see what the Shibuya girls were wearing, I wandered into 109. I always feel like a complete outsider when I go to Shibuya, not because of my race but because of my clothes, and yesterday was no exception. Jeans and sneakers? Psh. I had no chance. I was acutely aware of my faux pas but held my head high (which is rather easy to do among the Japanese) and shopped away. I left with three fashionista-approved outfits (all on sale!!!) and the knowledge that at least next time I could go shopping in a proper shopping outfit.
Shibuya
Going to Tokyo is always an experience, but I was quite relieved to get back to Yokohama, where the pace is more manageable and the population isn't breaking records. I was very happy to finally get a chance to relax share a beautiful day with some friendly expats. Though I had fun, it reminded me what I had been missing these past few months. I really miss my friends a lot! Hopefully I'll be able to meet some people soon and not feel quite so isolated in this jungle of people.