This is going to be short...

But Christian is here! And we're going to have wonderful adventures. Tomorrow we're going to see Asakusa, which is supposed to be the best temple we're going to find inside Tokyo.

In other exciting news. I have a new friend, Raku. Her fiance works with one of our good friends, and she just graduated with an MSW, so we actually have a lot in common. She also speaks Japanese, which is awesome because she can explain things to me, and teach me stuff. I'm definitely hoping to learn a lot from her. We went running earlier this week, and plan to keep that up after the week of adventures with Christian comes to a close.

Johns has also agreed to do a post soon about work and the neighborhood, etc. so look forward to that.

Our First Aftershock!

This morning I was lying in bed g-chatting with Kyle, when suddenly the bed shook. It sort of felt like someone else had flopped on the bed (considering that our mattress is not very springy), except I was the only one home. And then it happened again. Nothing else in the apartment moved. My cup of tea didn't even rattle. My first thought was, is this an aftershock? And then I decided I probably imagined it. But being the daughter of a geologist, I went to the US geological survey website, and yes it was! Now, I don't know if I should be calling it an earthquake or an aftershock (Mom, feel free to enlighten us in the comments), but I know after an earthquake as large as the one in March, aftershocks are expected for up to a year, so I'm thinking that's what we called it. Lots of people have been asking us what it's like after the earthquake, and I promise I'm going to write a post about it! I just wanted to spend a little more time here first, to make sure I had a better sense of it first.

In other news I found a fantastic grocery store just a 10 minute walk from our house! It puts everything I ever found last year to shame. I forgot to buy eggs though, and they were like $12 at the Lawson by our apartment, so I'm going out to find some more reasonable ones.

Don Quixote

This morning I set out on a mission to find ice cube trays. So far I had been able to find everything else that we wanted. But the process of shopping where you only recognize about half of anything in a story gets to be overwhelming. So let me tell you a little about my shopping experience.

The store front, really doesn't do the insanity justice. I think it used to have flashing lights, but those have been turned off to save energy.

We live very close to the most bizarre store, named Don Quixote, which is often shortened to "donkey." It is basically 6 floors of absolute insanity. And while I've been able to buy anything I could think of there, I think the experience really deserves it's own post.

Every few feet there is a small tv or netbook playing a video about why you should buy the product it's advertising. This means you are being assaulted by screens and noise the overlaps everywhere. On top of this, every section of the story is playing different music. On four different corners of the same floor, all at the same time I heard Kanye, the Japanese version of something like Boyz II Men, some girly pop band (maybe Korean?) and Lady Gaga. So, it's quite the auditory experience. On top of that there are Christmas lights flashing everywhere.

Infomercial for cleaning products

Don Quixote also carries every object you've ever wanted to buy, or even imagined might exist.

Simple things, like school supplies

Weirder things like costumes, many of which are basically lingerie


Or perhaps you need an ear cleaner?

Maybe a raincoat for a dog?

But if that's not high-end enough for you, don't worry, they also sell designer good, new and second hand!

I did finally find the ice cube trays! And of course, once I found them I got to choose between normal ice cube trays, circular ice cubes, or jewel shaped ice cubes.

Now we can make gin and tonics!

And one last picture, just for fun. I got noodles from the convenience store for lunch today, and they gave me this fork to go with them.

Maybe the zigzags make it easier for people unaccustomed to forks?

We Made It!

We’re here! John is at his second day of work right now, and housekeeping is cleaning our apartment right now (fancy right?), so I thought now would be a good time to sit in our little common room and finally write something.

Our adventure started Thursday morning when we woke up at 4:00 AM to go to the airport. I thought it was John’s alarm that woke us up, but actually it was United Airlines calling to tell us that our flight from Asheville to Chicago had been canceled, and there was absolutely no way we could leave before Friday morning. So, we had an extra day in Brevard to relax, and as a bonus our flight left later on Friday, so we didn’t have to get up quite so early. On Friday we took the shortest flight ever, Asheville to Charlotte, and when we landed we learned that our next flight had been canceled. Again, they told us there were no flights until the next day, but we pleaded our cases, and the amazing woman at the ticket counter worked some magic, and suddenly we were on an Air Canada flight connecting through Toronto that only landed 20 minutes later than the flight we should have been on. So we landed the next afternoon in Narita, wrestled our bags through multiple subway connections, and then walked what felt like forever (probably only 6 blocks) in the pouring rain. But we found our apartment building with no problem. It’s slightly bigger than last year, and it’s definitely fancier than last year, although it has a little bit of a hotel feel.

This is the entrance to our apartment. On the left the first doors are the shoe closet. That's right, we have a closet specifically for shoes. The next door is for the toilet half of the bathroom. On the right the door you see is to the shower/bath room. Then we have a tiny kitchen.

Seriously tiny. It's basically a sink and one heating unit. We've also got a rice cooker, a microwave, and a large dorm sized fridge.

Then there is a door we can close to separate the hall/kitchen/bath area from the bed/living room. So here you can see the bed (a double this time!) and our little couch and coffee table

Standing where the bed is, you can see the rest of the room. We've got a little table, and dressers that hold the TV, and also serve as a desk. All in all, pretty fancy.

We’re living very close to where we did last summer, but the neighborhoods are very different. This summer we are in the heart of everything Roppongi, which is basically the foreigner/nightclub district. Within a block or two of our apartment are a McDonalds, a Starbucks, a TGI Friday's, an Outback Steakhouse, and a million clubs. Last summer, we were in an area with more residences, and the closest things were a tiny grocery store, some Japanese fast food places, and the AM/PM convenience store (my favorite!) which has sadly turned into a FamilyMart, we discovered.

John started work yesterday, but it was only orientation, so there’s not much to report there. He’s got an office this year, and a secretary, which is fun. There is one other intern, but he started last week so he’s already been through orientation, so John didn’t have much of a chance to meet him. It turns out that it’s just as fast to walk to work as it is to take the subway, so John walked this morning, and I went with him to see where he works. The building is not as impressive as Mori Tower, where he worked last summer. But apparently that building is supposed to be cursed, so it’s probably better that he’s not there anyways. Maybe John can write more about work at the end of the week.

Last night we met up with Grant and Tim, another Duke student, for dinner. We ended up going to a Korean place that was really good. And it was nice to get out do something fun after two days of setting up the apartment. So now I just have to figure out where I’m taking Japanese lessons, and plan lots of fun things to do while Christian is here, because he arrives in just a week and 2 days!

Japanese Sumer 2.0

Welcome back to the blog! John and I are off to Japan again this Thursday, so I thought it was time to bring back the blog. (And we all know how much John enjoys posting).

So this summer, look forward to John's real job, hopefully involving real work. A visit from Christian! And, other entertaining exploits (we hope).

The Last Japan Blog

Alright, I know this is three weeks late, but here is the final blog about our time in Japan. John has already posted some of the pictures, but I guess that's what I get for procrastinating.

So, one night John and I went out to Odiba, hoping to get another suit for him, and although we didn't succeed at that, there are some great views of the Tokyo skyline, so we enjoyed the train ride out there, and then John got to take lots of pictures.

The Rainbow Bridge In Front of Tokyo's Skyline

A Replica of The Statue of Liberty That Was Built in Odiba

Another day we went up to the top of the Mori Tower, which is the 52 story building that John worked in, to see Tokyo at night. I wasn't really convinced that it would be worth paying to go to the top of a building to see the view, but it really was impressive from the top.

Tokyo Tower During the Day from the Base of Mori Tower

Tokyo Tower at Night from the Top of Mori Tower

One weekend John and I made the questionable decision to go to the fish market in Tskiji for the 5:00 AM fish auction. I wasn't totally convinced that sushi for breakfast was a very good idea, but it seemed like an experience we shouldn't miss. We decided that rather than having to drag ourselves up at 4:00 in the morning to get to the fish market we would just stay out all night. It started out fine, but by 3:00 we would have given up if the trains were still running and we could get home. We started out at a bar where we watched Japan play the Netherlands, sadly Japan lost. After the game we milled around outside with all the other people who were staying out for the night (this is apparently a common thing to do). Japanese people are much more willing to come up and talk to us when they are drunk, so we had some very interesting conversations. Two guys came up and asked where we were from. We told them America, but they wanted to know which state (no one ever knows where North Carolina is) but as soon as we said North Carolina they said "Oh yes! Michael Jordan!" It was hilarious! Then a group of people parading around with a drum came up and asked us where we were from. When we told them, they surrounded us and started chanting U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! It was totally surreal, but makes a pretty good story. From there we went to an internet cafe mainly so we would have somewhere to sit down. After our time was up there we went to an Izakaya which is a traditional Japanese restaurant/bar. We got some edamame (soy beans) and drinks that we were too tired to drink, and stayed until it was time to catch the train to Tskiji. Unfortunately there was a fatal flaw in our plan that Saturday night turns into Sunday morning, and the fish market isn't open on Sunday. It was incredibly weird to be walking down totally empty streets in Tokyo which are normally so crowded, and John got a picture of a fish painted on the closed door of a fish shop (in the last blog) but it was pretty much a letdown. We ended up going to McDonald's for breakfast and then going home to sleep. John said it was the best McDonald's breakfast he's ever had, but I certainly didn't feel that way.

Our last week in Tokyo seemed to fly by, and before we knew it TMI was having a goodbye party for John. We went to another Izakaya (but a very nice one) where we had drinks and food, and told stories about law firms, law schools, and North Carolina. Everyone was really nice, and I was so glad I got to meet all the people John worked with. Hayashida-san, the secretary who took care of John said she was surprised at how good I was with chopsticks, which was awesome! I was on my very best behavior with them, trying not to embarrass John, so I'm glad it worked. Here in Hong Kong we eat with them every day, so I'm even better now, but it was pretty ugly in the beginning.

And that pretty much concludes our time in Japan. I think John still has some pictures that need to come off his camera, and then be uploaded. So those will be coming soon, along with our adventures in Hong Kong.

Wendy

Overly Sharp Images.

Nothing new to report. Well, there is but I'm not going to write it right now. I picked some pictures to upload when going through the ones I had taken.

Stone steps on a small island off the Sai Kung Pennensula

Street in Hong Kong

Some of the people I worked with in Japan

This was as close as I got to fish at the fish market in Japan

A view at night of part of Tokyo.