Yearly Archives: 2005

Quick Guide to Japan

For those of you who might never have been to Japan, I realize that my description from last time might be a little scarce in details. I’ve decided that the only way to correct that would be to give you ten ultimate truths about visiting here.

  1. The Japanese tend to be shorter than Americans by at least 5″. I’m not a tall chap, and I’m always hitting my head on the the rungs in the subway.
  2. The Japanese are incredibly polite. Bowing multiple times is the accepted form of greeting. A bow begins at the waist, not the shoulders.
  3. Although the sumo wrestler is afforded tremendous respect and attention, the average Japanese person weighs 80 lbs.
  4. More than 12 million people live in Tokyo. Most of them are on my subway car in the morning.
  5. Nine out of ten Japanese business men over the age of 18 wear black suits. The tenth wears navy blue.
  6. Nine out of ten Japanese career women wear 3″ heels. The tenth wears 4″ heels.
  7. Nine out of ten Japanese working class folks smoke cigarettes. The tenth smokes second hand smoke.
  8. In America, Denny’s is open 24 hours and sells breakfast food all day long. In Japan, Denny’s is open 24 hours.
  9. The streets and subways of Tokyo are impeccably clean, but I’ve yet to see a trash bin on the side of the road.
  10. History is a subjective thing. Visit the war museum in Tokyo and read an American history textbook. Compare and contrast.

With regards to item two, have you ever stood at the side of the road with 1000s of people cheering 1000s more running in a marathon? I have. They all waved flags and not a sound was made. Nothing. Eerie quiet except for the sound of runners feet pounding by … If you saw someone you knew. You didn’t call their name. You waved your flag harder.

So perhaps some of these observations are a little out of control. Take number four … there was certainly not 12 million people on the car during rush hour, but standing in there was a full body massage. I hope you don’t need personal space. There are entirely separate cars for the ladies. Little wonder …

The last item is one of tremendous interest to me. Perhaps its because I’ve always been interested in history. The story relating to WWII is so radically different in Japan and America that you wonder who writes the books. Perhaps our wonder at the lack of accuracy from Flavius Josephus is a little misplaced.

Tokyo still doesn’t have the vibrancy of other places I’ve been, but I feel like I’ve absorbed a little more of the culture. I’ve also learned that just because I’m in Japan, not all sushi places are good. Smile.

Weddings and Visits

I bet that by now you’ve all given up on coming here every Monday for an update. Really this just goes to show that there wasn’t anything exciting in our lives to report in the first place! If I were to take over the responsibility of putting something in every week I’m afraid you’d all be innundated with boring news of Jake’s lastest feats and trials.

But since he’s my most favorite subject I have no problems doing just that! To start, he is finally sleeping through the night, all night. Hooray for the extra sleep that we’re getting! :-)He is sitting up now too although he wobbles a little precariously until eventually the momentum carries him to the floor! He’s also in the throes of teething, or so we think from his constant crying out loud and’out-of-the-ordinary’ fussing. Or maybe that’s just what babies do…

In the travelling arena we were up in Palmyra for Cynthia Porter’s wedding to Jonathan Gorgas (CONGRATS). It was nice to see everyone from up there again. Danny has a seven day business trip to Japan this week 🙁 and then he’s taking us with him to San Fransisco at the end of June. This travel stuff doesn’t seem to end for us! Also, Teddy and Julie and Ben (who is very, very cute!)came up for a weekend visit which was entirely too short. But maybe if you ask them it was a little too long! Teddy left here with a broken arm after skateboarding with Danny at a local park. Sorry Teddy!! Hopefully they will still be able to look back at their time here with a smile. 🙂

From London with Love

So this update is actually coming from Picadilly Circus in London. What a day yesterday was? I flew over from Boston to Manchester on Sunday night and didn’t get a second of sleep on the flight. Landing at 07:10, I took the train directly from the airport over to Sheffield where I had a client meeting through until 16:00. From the meeting, I grabbed the train on down into London, arriving here around 20:00 last night. There are two things to gather from all that: I didn’t sleep a wink in more than 36 hours (and still wasn’t that tired) and that the train system here in the UK is tremendously efficient.

I’ve never been to the north of England before, and it was positively beautiful. I was working with someone who had come down from Edinburgh and he said that it was as nice here as in Scotland. The area we were taking the train through was right out of a movie. Hilly, with low stone fences, massive estates with every building made of stone, and nothing but sheep for animals. Green to the point of blinding … beautiful.

Well, it’s over to Germany tonight for a couple of days before I’m back to Boston. I’m renting a car while I’m there and I hope to explore a bit. I have the camera with me, but there haven’t been any pictures so far … perhaps if I actually “do” the tourist thing. Smile!