my hood'

here's my hood, y'all.

this street is the main street that leads to the train station. in everyone's neighborhood, the station is probably one of the most important areas (at least in large cities, like tokyo) because its how most people get around.

so, i live by the Shin-Maruko station next to the Tamagawa river (pictured above). my neighborhood isn't very big at all, and my station is teeny-tiny but that's why i love it.

after working in one of the busiest areas in tokyo, its really nice to go home and not have to deal with all the crowds. 

the Tamagawa river is really awesome. when i was running on a semi-frequent basis, that's where i would run! also, in July a group of us went to shoot off fireworks there as well.

longest day, EVER!

this post was going to be about romantic encounters (tokyo edition, part 1). however, i just arrived home. and it is amost 1:30am.

i left my school at 9:30 pm today, thinking to myself, "sweet. good job, pamela! you are leaving work at a decent hour. you will have time to go home, relax, maybe write some long awaited emails to friends and family. but most importantly, sleep! because you work a full day tomorrow. and girl, you know how saturdays can be!"

reality:    got a seat on the train (yes!) around 9:45 pm. about 15 minutes later, i realized the train was not going anywhere. why? because global warming is fucking some shit up right now and typhoon season in japan is about a month early. fast forward THREE HOURS LATER and my train finally leaves the station.

the irony in all this is that during my last class tonight, it started to rain heavily. and there were several loud bursts of thunder and lots of lightening. i made a comment "gee, i hope the trains don't stop running tonight." ha. jokes on me!

its okay, though. i slept a bit on the train while i waited (thank god for the seat i got!), read, listened more to the new of montreal and decided that "wicked wisdom" is my favorite song.

OH! but the funniest thing to me, is that after waiting for three hours...when my train finally pulled into my station, it was delayed again! and it was really hilarious because it stopped right outside of my apartment building (which is right outside the train line). so, i was staring at my apartment front door from inside the train for like 15 minutes thinking:

"so close, yet so far away. as is life, man. if you are never satisfied in the moment you are in,  you never will be."

hobbies.

upon meeting someone in japan, you are guaranteed the following questions to be asked:

1. where are you from?

2. what do you do for work?

3. what are your hobbies?

i always get caught up on the third question.

i consider my current hobbies to be:  researching and beginning the application process to grad schools, learning japanese, thriving in tokyo, reading about enlightenment, meditating, new music...?

those aren't hobbies, though. those are just things i do everyday. 

here are some examples of what my students' hobbies are:

collecting cars (i.e. bentley, mercedes benz, etc.)

scuba diving

surfing

shopping

tennis

golf

traveling (one student of mine has been to 80 countries!)

hobbies never really meant anything to me but an excuse to show people how interesting you can appear to be...i used to have the "hobby" of ballet. but when you attach the word "hobby" to something that you dedicated much of your life to, it seems to lose meaning (at least in my opinion). when i first came to japan, i told people my hobby USED to be ballet, but NOW it is running (ha! that "hobby" lasted maybe a month!).

anyway, the point to all this is...yesterday, my head teacher asked me "pamela, what is your hobby?" and i laughed. 

me: "um...i like to read." (all my books are on psychology, philosophy, or spirituality.)

her: "oh, ok...because you have to teach a class on your hobby in two weeks."

me: "oh really? ok. sounds fun. maybe i could teach ballet!"

her: "oh yea! one time we taught yoga!"

me: "i'm going to think about this."

i could give some lessons on ballet...i brought my ballet shoes with me to japan! 

and it could be REALLY funny...

but, do you think there is a better hobby for me to teach? other teachers have taught cooking...but i am NOT going to do that. nope.

so, suggestions are highly encouraged. thank you.

the psychedelic boss.

dear america,

what movie has tommy lee jones appeared in since, oh...i don't know, MEN IN BLACK? has he suddenly become a huge silver screen star in my mother country since i departed in early june? is there something so majestic about his appearance that i have overlooked? because in tokyo, a large array of ad campaigns for psychedelic boss have just popped up all over the city....all over. everywhere! when i turn a corner, i get str8 up stared in the face by mr. jones. when i'm sitting on the train, whilst enjoying the latest of montreal album on my ipod, i look up and AGAIN i am staring into the deep dark glaze of mr. jones. just wondering...

curious in kawasaki,

pamela 

p.s. i have a suggestion for the boss coffee people...why don't you go all out (i mean, for real, this is japan) and play the counting crow's "mr. jones"?! pretty please?

in other news...i am still coffee deprived. its pretty sad everytime i go into my school's office. the bag of stumptown coffee i bought as a gift for my school is just sitting there. looking really sad. the bag is all wrinkled. today, i'm stealing it BACK! BACK I SAY! although...the beans are whole...so then i have to buy a grinder..hmmm. oh, well...anything at this point. the coffee here is not good!

in other, other news...i think the gloomy weather is bringin' people down. everyone i talk to seems to be miserable. like, for real. people question my motives behind my smile and giggling. why?! DON'T BRING ME DOWN! LIFE IS AWESOME! YOU SHOULD SEE LIFE THROUGH MY EYES AND YOU WOULD THINK EVERYTHING WAS HILARIOUS!

self-serve yourself some raw meat, please.

ALL YOU CAN EAT MEAT, PLEASE!

do you remember when i was vegetarian? 

HA!

well, now...i go to "all-you-can-eat" izakayas and cook up some raw meat atop of a burning grill and EAT IT ALL! ALL OF IT! ALL I CAN EAT!

fall fashion forecast.

i just returned from fall shopping in shinjuku. i realize this week, as the weather was turning colder, that i had ZERO warm clothes for the fall! its almost september. and while, in portland, i would have an abundance of sweaters, jackets, and boots...all i brought with me to japan were a couple of tee-shirts, tanks, etc.

the above were not my purchases (but if i was fifteen and totally into raving, for sure!), mine were way more boring...a black leather hoodie and black motorcycle-esque boots (whatever, its the portland in me...plus, practical?). 

but i must say...this season is totally about bunnies, man. bunny earmuffs, bunny puff hair accessories, bunny vests, bunny bunny bunny....

have you listened to the new of montreal "skeletal lamping"? you should! its a great album to jam to on the train, while japanese people give you totally confused looks and/or really big smiles.

strawberry signs.

on the train last night, i was listening to "strawberry fields forever" on my ipod.

suddenly, i noticed a woman carrying a bag that said "strawberry fields" on it.

then, a moment later, i looked at another woman's bag standing next to me with a different bag that said "strawberry fields" on it.

signs, man. look for them. they're everywhere you just need to notice them  :)

dreamzzzz.

my life is the weirdest dream that i could ever try to conjure up. 

whoa.

beware of monkeys!

clickclickclick for moneky madness!

i walk through this station everyday to go to and from work...i missed this by an hour this morning.

one of my students was attacked by a monkey. for real.

shibuya.

i work in shibuya.

for real, i am so lucky. look at this place! insane! everyday i walk through this intersection!

sumo wrestlers love white girls.

it's totally true.

products!

oh man, the things in japan. vending machines are EVERYWHERE! i've only seen one beer vending machine (its in my 'hood...although the local 7/11 supplies the public with adequate beer supplies PLUS ZIMA! ha.), yet i still cannot comprehend this whole "canned coffee" thing. 

convenient? sure. i guess.

delicious? hell no!

SEND STUMPTOWN, STAT! 

fuji a-go-go

i am internet-incompetent. sorry. the last post got all squirreled. oops.

fuji-san.

the last ten days have been a holiday week in japan, called obon. most people leave tokyo. for the most part i couldn't plan a big trip (super duper broke, yo), but maya and i decided a while ago to be adventerous and climb to the top of mt. fuji!

tuesday morning, our bus took off from shinjuku around 7am and we drove for the next 3.5 hours to mt. fuji. the mountain is devised into stations...from the 5th station is where many people begin to climb (all the buses drop people off there, and if you don't venture off to the top you can climb to various other stations for the day). our tour group was some 42 people. we began to climb around 11:30am until maybe 4pm that day.

because fuji is so elevated, the air gets really really thin. we brought oxygen and painkillers (although i used them, i was never is severe pain or too weak. unbelievable since i am in no shape whatsoever to go mountain climbing!) an essential item to bring, however, was a walking-stick. its probably going to be the best souvenir from japan that i get...its rad because at every station (there are 9 altogether) you get a stamp. using a metal rod, the characters of the name of the house at that particular station.

after 4 or so hours of climbing, our group arrived at the 8th station to take a rest before embarking on the second climb to the top. the station house had a gigantic bunk bed...42 people fit literally like sardines on this thing! i slept for maybe 2 hours and couldn't fall back asleep...we stayed in the house for 4 hours altogether.

again at 11pm our group reassembled to climb for the next 5 hours to the top. it was getting increasingly more difficult because it was pitch black (everyone wore their own headlamp), freezing cold, the altitude made breathing more difficult, and the mountain became more steep.

BUT WE MADE IT!!!!!!

it was an amazing experience, one of the most amazing experiences i would say of my life. it felt like a pilgrimage. you could see millions of stars from the mountain, the milky way galaxy and shooting stars. and then at the top, at around 4:30am the sun rose. brilliant.

its difficult to put into words my experience. it was amazing. 

apartment?

the other day i went to a bbq hosted by a group of my students. one of my students brought along her bulgarian friend with her (the japanese love to introduce their foreign friends, as if we must have loads in common because we are foreign). this bulgarian woman loved to ask me questions about america. many, many, many questions...but one that she asked i haven't really thought too much of since i've settled into japanese living: "how DO you get used to the japanese way of living? i mean, you're from AMERICA! everything is SO BIG! PLEASE TELL ME!"

granted, i've lived in some spacious quarters. no doubt. my first impression of my apartment was not great. for many reasons. its an older apartment (by modern tokyo standards) in a major need to be restored...but i don't really mind it now. i don't need a lot of space and its temporary, the most important part. whatever.

i've sort of forgot what it's like to live in america. because i talked to my sister for the first time in months on skype and showed her my apartment, and she said it was really small. everything is miniturized here.

back with vigor.

today, i spent the entire day at home waiting for mr. internet man to come. 

he did...and then proceeded to ask, "where is the modem?"

um...what?

so, i didn't have a modem. no worries...it would be on its way "soon." 

last night felt like christmas eve. i couldn't sleep in anticipation of INTERNET! 

to wait a little while for a modem didn't seem too bad...but it was. it was the longest five hours of my life. i did not know what to do with myself. so, i proceeded to make some weird japanese-style dishes from the remainders in my fridge, took a nap (i couldn't leave my apartment during the wait because if the package with the modem came while i was away, it would have been sent back.)

i woke up from my nap in a hazy confusion, and then my doorbell rang! aha! INTERNET!

my computer tells me its around 5:30am in the states right now...meaning 9:30pm monday in tokyo. so, while everyone is sleeping soundly in america i will feverishly update my blog.

enjoy!