Alone Abroad

After spending most of the weekend hanging out with and getting to know our new co-workers (Paul, Allen, Thomas, Christina, and Eric), Natalie and I had the opportunity to spend some time exploring the city by ourselves. It was really nice because we can really relate to each others perspective as far as experiencing Japan. Having taught in Korea last year and having lived together for three years, it's a lot of fun being able to compare Japan to life in the States and in Korea. We tend to notice and observe very different things but when we put it together through conversation, it becomes quite fun.

We did a few things today. We mostly just walked around. That's what I love about traveling. No, I didn't see the Eiffel tower nor did I see Mt. Fuji. But I walked around in a department store for 3 hours. It. was. awesome. The mundane becomes interesting. Just checking out all of the weird little gizmos and trinkets that Japan produces is quite fun. We walked into a Pachinko Game Room where dozens of elderly Japanese play seizure inducing slot machines. We played Street Fighter 4...IN Japanese. We ate our first bowl of Ramen. We saw Harajuku picture booths and walked into an arcade for infants (as in, an arcade where each game is shrunk to fit baby hands, even a baby sized air hockey table!). We explored the hipster Japanese equivalent of Goodwill and observed that 75% of the Japanese population wears black slacks (or skirt) and a white dress shirt...while the rest wear weird...I mean awesome or I mean a something a notch under pokemon suits.

After our department store goodness, we had the opportunity to check out more of Okayama. It's really quite a nice town and it's impeccably clean. The people are easy going and friendly and it's not a noisy place. Honestly, Japan...you've knocked my socks off.

Well, gotta catch em all. What i meant to say was Gotta get some sleep. Tomorrow, I start Poke-Trainer training and I plan to give the middle finger to Jet lag.



I leave you with this: The epitome of Japanese weirdness:

Yes, he is a cell phone charm