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Friday, January 30, 2009

Tokyo!

Its almost hard to believe I am in Japan! So surreal, so cool. Such a weird feeling touching down and knowing that meant I was in Japan. Japanese key boards are a bit annoying... hopefully I will get more used to them. Had to ask some one where the underscore key is... a vital part of logging into my emails.

I havent figured out how to do apostophies yet. I also cant figure out how to log into flickr, its not letting me for some reason. The computer is in a box, so I cant access the usb thing to upload photos either. Bummer. Intrepid brochure said that quite a few places I will be staying have free internet, so hopefully they will be more user friendly.

Think I need to reunite myself with the ways of walking in crowds. I think its a bit different to Melbourne.. more purposeful walking, less slow floundering around, which is what I was doing, probably to the annoyance of anyone walking near me. I feel pretty white here. I feel like Im fitting in height wise though. There are fully grown men significantly shorter than me! So weird.

I feel like a bit of a spaz not knowing a lot of Japanese... just kinda looking at people and smiling with an "I have no idea what youre saying" look on my face. I also point at things I want to purchase, working out pretty good so far. I did only get in to the motel at like 6pm though. Just been wandering around Ueno, where Im staying. Ive seen a lot of things Id really like to buy, I have no room in my bag though. Id really like to buy some crazy shoes. I think Ill have to stick to real small things though.

I was reading an info booklet Intrepid gave me today and Im a bit screwed in a few ways:
- bowing your nose in public, especially at the table, is considered bad manners. If you need to blow your nose hide in a corver and do it quietly. (this is not me at all, I like to do it at the table, and I like to blast that snot straight to hell in a loud way).
- burping is also considered bad manners (I guess it kinda is in Australia too, I havent let that stop, but I guess I should make more of an effort not to do it).
- its considered good manners to empty your rice bowl down to the last grain (I have trouble getting those little last fuckers of rice down the bottom.. my chop stick skilzz are not mad hot yet).

Anywho.. gonna sus out this weird bath thing on the top floor of motel. Open from 5pm to 10am.. sounds slightly dodgy. I meet with my tour group tomorrow evening just before dinner. Hopefully they are not arseholes.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This post takes me right back!

Hope you enjoy the alien culture of Japan as much as I did, but I'll bet it's pretty freezing over there right now.

Kate said...

Yes, heaps cold! Esp coming from 40 degree heat of Australia. Can see my breath! Im really loving all the crazy shit thats going down here so far, Ive only been here a few hours thus far though... see how it goes!

Anonymous said...

I've just linked your blog to mine mofo! http://elizagoestogermany.blogspot.com. Keep writing, that shit's awesome & hilarious! what are your tour group people like? not arseholes I hope. Please keep breaking all social codes and take pride in the destruction you leave in your wake. P.S. i got my wizzies out! it's a bit effed though, i'm pretty sick of icecream and soft foods. Can't wait to eat hard stuff again. Iove u long time!

Nebula said...

Whoa. So exciting. Sounds like you're having a hell of a good time. What kinda crazy shoes you thinking?

LOL re the height thing. Surely being with primary school kids, you must be used to "fitting in" :P

Anonymous said...

Just caught up with your BLOG Kate. Good to see you pushed through the "departure gate blues" in Melbourne pretty quickly!! The emotions caught me a bit too but we did joke about it beforehand - that poor girl that we previously saw crying buckets of tears. Hope yours didnt last too long. Took us a bit longer to get over this and it was a bloody hot day in Melbourne and a long hot trip back to Wagga. And it still hasnt got below 40 degrees here yet!! Im useless at these sort of temperatures. Love your adventurous spirt and your application of the 10/90% rule (10% random, 90% taking advantage of the opportunities). Your BLOG is fantastic. Missing you here, so keep safe and keep posted. (Trying to figure out the time differences and what part of the tour you are at now)... bye

Kate said...

Nebula: I was thinking like really colourful converse or nike sneaker type things... not real practical or necesary though. Ill live without them.

Eric: thanks a lot for the comment! Will do a quick post now.

Anonymous said...

Just worked out time difference - Tokyo 2 hours behind Sydney ...