Blahgorrhea

Too bad I don’t have neighbors like this

Well, I suppose my Japan trip really was a white road adventure just as I had hoped. I was pushed way outside my comfort zone, and I learned some things about myself, most notably that I really don’t like being pushed outside my comfort zone (they don’t call it “comfort” for nothing). Sure, it didn’t turn out ideally (no revelations about my life, no profound insights into the workings of the universe, no inspiration for a good business), but it was an adventure, and that was the point. I will probably not travel alone again, and when I want a vacation, I will head to someplace familiar, someplace warm, someplace easy. Then when I want to travel, I will pick someplace new, and there are plenty new places to fill many years of travel. But for now I will relax in the comfort of my own home, familiar, though sadly not warm.

I’m frustrated at Japan. This whole trip has seemed like a total waste. I had this grand impossible vision of my vacation being just like A Cook’s Tour, eating crazy new meals that were all just fantastic. I haven’t had a good meal in two days, and it is really starting to bother me. The worst part about it is that I’m sure I could make things somewhat easier on myself if I just had the balls. I could just waltz right into some joint that in no way caters to foreigners and ask for “chef’s special.” Or take the guidebook along and show the waiter Kanji words of food I might want. But what if I walk into a tempura joint and ask for yakitori. Then I look like a dumb ass American and bring even more disdain than I would have received walking into a place I didn’t belong. See, for all the talk of Japan being welcoming to people and the wait staff at restaurants expecting us to be awkward and ignorant, I get this strong sense every time I wander down a dimly lit alley that I know is lined with tiny restaurants that I don’t belong there and am not welcome at all. And that is part of what is so frustrating to me right now. I just want to have a good meal.

It seems that travelling across a country by train could just as easily be here or there. The scenery mostly looks the same. On my journey from Tokyo to Osaka the towns looked different from towns between cities in France in two ways: the signs were in a different alphabet, and the rooftop shingles were distinctively Asian. If you didn’t have a keen eye for shingling, you may not even be able to tell the difference.

I managed to get some things done this afternoon that needed doing. I bought stamps for a family friend, made hotel reservations in Nara and Kyoto, and got a train ticket to Osaka. For a city that is really hard to navigate, the officials make it especially difficult to find the tourist information centers. The two I went to today were on the 10th and 8th floors of the office buildings. That is certainly not what a tourist would expect, and I was asked to fill out a questionnaire saying so at the 10th floor office. [Continue reading…]

I managed to find my way to Tsukiji market this morning. And I sort of got suckered into eating at a restaurant. The owner came out when he saw me peek in to tell me what was on the menu. I think he really just wanted to practice his English, since he wrote down a bunch of Japanese phrases for me and explained them all to me. He was very nice though, and his fish was quite good. I had a tuna sashimi plate with tea, miso soup and rice. It was a big mound of raw tuna with a few pieces of seared tuna on the side. The raw stuff still tasted like the sea. This was my breakfast, but hey, when the fish comes in fresh at 7am, there is nothing wrong with eating it raw at 9am.

I am sitting in the park surrounding the Imperial Palace, feeling more alone than I ever have in my life. There is something about this town that just makes me feel totally isolated. Not speaking the language, I wander down streets as life happens regardless of me. It is a very humbling and intimidating feeling.

I view my trip to Japan as my white road adventure, much like Gary Erickson of Clif Bar had white road adventures biking through Europe. Of course, I don’t know if Japan has white roads and red roads (though given their flag, it would seem appropriate). In fact they might use all different colors for their roads. But what that analogy means is that travelling to Japan with only a vague image of a plan is my chance to step outside my comfort zone and grow as a person. [Continue reading…]

Like I promised in my TODO list of things to do while I’m an unemployed man, I have updated my blog to have active archive pages for months, categories, and tags. Check out the new working links. Yippee!

The more I browse through the travel guide, the more overwhelmed I become. The words blend together, and given no point of reference in the cities or the country as a whole, none of it makes sense to me. There are thousands of temples, tons of ryokan, countless onsen. How am I supposed to make rhyme or reason of all of this? And how I am supposed to find a place to stay? Finally, I pulled myself together and made two big decisions: call Kimi Ryokan and book a few nights to start off in Tokyo; purchase a 21-day Japan Rail Pass.

Done and done. I feel so much better now, but I’m beginning to remember why I haven’t travelled by myself before. I don’t like making arrangements.