On the Road Again
It seems very strange that as I began my trip, I couldn’t get my internal radio off of the country channel. Nothing seemed to rid my head of Willie Nelson’s voice singing “On the Road Again”. It makes no sense. I’m going west, true, but so far west that it’s east. What does this country song have to do with going to Japan? I struggled to figure it out, but eventually just let it go and sang along. Maybe it was God making a request for Karaoke night.
So I’m off to Japan for a little under 3 weeks. Aiden’s been studying in Tokyo for the past semester and Dorian will be passing through on his way back from Thailand. No real plans, just some time, a place to stay in Tokyo, and a rail pass. We’ll see where it takes me.
The flight over was exceptionally smooth, despite being with Air Canada. I’d managed to snag an emergency exit seat. The difference between a normal Air Canada seated coffin and the 10 feet of legroom I enjoyed is indescribable. Night and day. So I stretched out and worked my way through 8 hours of the second season of 24. A great way to start a vacation.
Arrived here in Tokyo around 3:40 pm local time. Riding into Tokyo from Narita was a strange experience. The visual reminders of taking that same trip 3 years earlier were stronger than I’d expected. The rice paddies squashed between clumps of modernity. Row after row of bicycles. Massive transmission towers silhouetted against the dying blue of a fading sky. The tightness of things. What struck me more than the familiarity of these images was the vastly different perspective I’d brought with me. So much has changed in my view of the world since that last ride into Tokyo. Like looking at a yearbook and seeing all those things that were invisible to you in high school.
Aiden met me at the station, then we dropped my stuff at his place (which may just make the Guinness Book for the world’s smallest elevator). From there, we headed out to meet Dorian at La Qua, a massive complex near the Tokyo Super Dome that has, among other things, a big onsen. If there’s any cure for jetlag, it’s the soothing, warm, mineral rich hot spring waters of an onsen. It was wonderful to unwind and catch up with my two brothers. As we relaxed together, I was reminded of the words below, which express the feeling far better than I could.
To My Brothers by John Keats
Small, busy flames play through the fresh-laid coals,
And their faint cracklings o'er our silence creep
Like whispers of the household gods that keep
A gentle empire o'er fraternal souls.
And while for rhymes I search around the poles,
Your eyes are fixed, as in poetic sleep,
Upon the lore so voluble and deep,
That aye at fall of night our care condoles.
This is your birthday, Tom, and I rejoice
That thus it passes smoothly, quietly:
Many such eves of gently whispering noise
May we together pass, and calmly try
What are this world's true joys, -ere the great Voice
From its fair face shall bid our spirits fly.
So I’m off to Japan for a little under 3 weeks. Aiden’s been studying in Tokyo for the past semester and Dorian will be passing through on his way back from Thailand. No real plans, just some time, a place to stay in Tokyo, and a rail pass. We’ll see where it takes me.
The flight over was exceptionally smooth, despite being with Air Canada. I’d managed to snag an emergency exit seat. The difference between a normal Air Canada seated coffin and the 10 feet of legroom I enjoyed is indescribable. Night and day. So I stretched out and worked my way through 8 hours of the second season of 24. A great way to start a vacation.
Arrived here in Tokyo around 3:40 pm local time. Riding into Tokyo from Narita was a strange experience. The visual reminders of taking that same trip 3 years earlier were stronger than I’d expected. The rice paddies squashed between clumps of modernity. Row after row of bicycles. Massive transmission towers silhouetted against the dying blue of a fading sky. The tightness of things. What struck me more than the familiarity of these images was the vastly different perspective I’d brought with me. So much has changed in my view of the world since that last ride into Tokyo. Like looking at a yearbook and seeing all those things that were invisible to you in high school.
Aiden met me at the station, then we dropped my stuff at his place (which may just make the Guinness Book for the world’s smallest elevator). From there, we headed out to meet Dorian at La Qua, a massive complex near the Tokyo Super Dome that has, among other things, a big onsen. If there’s any cure for jetlag, it’s the soothing, warm, mineral rich hot spring waters of an onsen. It was wonderful to unwind and catch up with my two brothers. As we relaxed together, I was reminded of the words below, which express the feeling far better than I could.
To My Brothers by John Keats
Small, busy flames play through the fresh-laid coals,
And their faint cracklings o'er our silence creep
Like whispers of the household gods that keep
A gentle empire o'er fraternal souls.
And while for rhymes I search around the poles,
Your eyes are fixed, as in poetic sleep,
Upon the lore so voluble and deep,
That aye at fall of night our care condoles.
This is your birthday, Tom, and I rejoice
That thus it passes smoothly, quietly:
Many such eves of gently whispering noise
May we together pass, and calmly try
What are this world's true joys, -ere the great Voice
From its fair face shall bid our spirits fly.
Labels: japan
posted by Justin Callison at 6:00 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Justin,
Stop showing off with the poetry. I bet you had to copy it from a book or website!!! Anyway always a treat to read your ramblings, you really do do (do-do, sounds like some toilet humour - maybe another time!) a terrific tale. Take care my travel friend. Graham (aka Ed) PS - you may remeber i spent a week in Japan myself a couple of years ago - never mind the costa del sol, i called it costa tiny packet!!!!
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