Konnichiwa
Somehow I neglected to think about the logistics of flying over this way until it was too late. Due to the time difference, we flew out of Vancouver at around 1 pm on Sept 9th and arrived in Tokyo at around 3 pm on Sept. 10th. Following a ride on the fabled Shinkansen (bullet train) and a few other short lines, we arrrived at Ryan's near Kyoto at around 10 pm. By the time we got to sleep, it was after midnight. Doesn't seem that late, but we'd been up for over 26 hours by that point. In that state, a bed of tatami mats fealt like one of those wickedly expensive pillow top beds from Sleep Country. The ones you always check out when you're in there but can't afford to buy. Slept like a baby. We spent today wandering aimlessly around Kyoto taking it all in. Good time, but tired again. Heading for Kyushu tomorrow, rushing to get there before the typhoon hits. You'd think we'd be heading in the opposite direction, but somehow this seems logical ....
Impressions of Japan so far
- Japanese people are ridiculously helpful. We were on a train last night with a pretty good idea of where we were going. However, we must have looked cofused becasue an older Japanese man asked us where we were going. We told him the station and talked to him a bit, telling him where we are from. Pretty soon, he was talking to the person next to him. This conversation quickly grew until about 6 people were involved. It continued until they concluded that we should get off at the next stop, switch to an express train, and take it 3 stops fruther. The man even got off to escort us. Too much.
- There must be a plot by the Japanese to fight global warming using air conditioners. Everyone blasts these in stores and offices and leaves the doors wide open. Walking down the street, you get hit by these rivers of cold air pouring out of every door. Gotta love efficiency
- Huge contrast everywhere. Hot outside, cold inside. Moving around on the train, you'll see a perfect picture of rural life. A worker walking down a dirt path in the middle of a rice patty. But when you widen your view, you see that this is jammed between the rail line, a bunch of modern houses, and line of stores.
- Go big or go home. Everything here is new and huge. The Kyoto train station is stupidly big. Looks like something out of Star Wars. On top of this gigantic structure, there's a skyway that you can use to walk along the top, 13 stories above the bottom level (below which there are more levels). I was sure that Darth Vader was going to jump out at any minute.
- Too many people
Anyway, I'll quit boring you now and go to sleep. I hope everything is well with you all. Feel free to write back and let me know how things are going. I'd love to hear. Just can't promise I'll write back. :-)
Take it easy,
Justin
Impressions of Japan so far
- Japanese people are ridiculously helpful. We were on a train last night with a pretty good idea of where we were going. However, we must have looked cofused becasue an older Japanese man asked us where we were going. We told him the station and talked to him a bit, telling him where we are from. Pretty soon, he was talking to the person next to him. This conversation quickly grew until about 6 people were involved. It continued until they concluded that we should get off at the next stop, switch to an express train, and take it 3 stops fruther. The man even got off to escort us. Too much.
- There must be a plot by the Japanese to fight global warming using air conditioners. Everyone blasts these in stores and offices and leaves the doors wide open. Walking down the street, you get hit by these rivers of cold air pouring out of every door. Gotta love efficiency
- Huge contrast everywhere. Hot outside, cold inside. Moving around on the train, you'll see a perfect picture of rural life. A worker walking down a dirt path in the middle of a rice patty. But when you widen your view, you see that this is jammed between the rail line, a bunch of modern houses, and line of stores.
- Go big or go home. Everything here is new and huge. The Kyoto train station is stupidly big. Looks like something out of Star Wars. On top of this gigantic structure, there's a skyway that you can use to walk along the top, 13 stories above the bottom level (below which there are more levels). I was sure that Darth Vader was going to jump out at any minute.
- Too many people
Anyway, I'll quit boring you now and go to sleep. I hope everything is well with you all. Feel free to write back and let me know how things are going. I'd love to hear. Just can't promise I'll write back. :-)
Take it easy,
Justin
posted by Justin Callison at 8:03 AM
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