The Tale of AK in Nihon, told in parts

Music: Global Lounge Sessions

I currently feel like one of those good people who back out of having sex by “getting a headache” and who roll over in bed like beached seals. This is probably because I spent all day having an awful revelation about the fact that I create drama in my life since it’s otherwise lacking in excitement. That makes me feel like such a tool. And yet, I petted Balu tonight since he was lonely and miaowing pitifully. So good does triumph over evil, the day is salvaged! Whatever, I sound nuts.

Anyway, there isn’t a good way of documenting my time in Japan, and it would be silly to try to say everything at once. So I’m just going to pinpoint a few experiences, day by day, that I found particularly moving, absurd, or just noteworthy. This is going to take a few posts.

You’d think it would be difficult to navigate a country with the use of only three brief phrases. Not so, my friends. I proved my worth as a culture whore by single-handedly winning over the Japanese race by alternating between saying “hello, excuse me, and thank you very much!” in their native tongue. Katy thought it was hilarious that I put so much relish and gusto into each of my exchanges, and I suppose I was terribly vehement in my desire to assimilate in 8.5 days. Visiting Japan is something that you can only imagine about 10% of. I had seen temples in postcards, Mount Fuji is emblazoned on every possible surface, and I had vague ideas about what a Japanese garden would resemble.

But the first thing I noticed when I landed in Kansai International (a very cool airport, by the way; it’s located on an island of its own, and you have to take a train that crosses over these grey, rippling waters) and boarded the first of many trains, were all the roofs. Blue roofs, red roofs, even black roofs, but almost all were composed of glossy, carved tiles. While the fashionable gentleman to my right (crocodile sandals, rockstar hair) dozed off, I couldn’t stop staring at these roofs. I never suspected that the houses would be built in such a traditional manner; that the Japanese domestic landscape wouldn’t echo everything I just left in America. So much for that grand global understanding I thought I possessed.

Where AK meets a kindred spirit: Katy and I took the train to Kyoto Station (futuristic architecture, very neat) and met up with Kana. Kana is Katy’s best pal in the JET Program, and it’s easy to see why. Kana’s outspoken and says “asshole” like it’s going out of style, without ever being vulgar. She obviously despises any and all kinds of elitism except when it comes to musical taste, and is the kind of person you want standing behind you when you play that weird game in America where people tell you to close your eyes and fall back. Because Kana will catch you, even if it means that her extraordinarily chic sunglasses are liable to break. If this doesn't make her a gem, then I'll throw up my hands and sputter hopelessly.

Soon to come: Where AK visits Uji and eats green-tea ice cream. Music: Nick Drake.