Its not what you think

My screen has gotten even worse since yesterday. More lines have formed making it more difficult to see words and ultimately pictures. I can’t edit anything, or even get a good idea of what one looks like, so I feel like sharing my trip or even working on the birth is on hold. My google MD license says it’s the ribbon cable, so we’ll see if the Geek Squad agrees.

Interestingly enough, I took so few pictures. You’d think while in Japan, I’d have my camera 100% of the time, but the majority of my time was spent in the lodge on the military base there. Being a ‘guest’, I wasn’t allowed to roam the grounds or even leave the base to explore the city I was in, so in a way, it was a bit of a confinement. The only times I was allowed to walk about was when G-man was with me and given that he was there for work, I spent many hours inside the room.

I knew this going into the trip, so I didn’t quite mind it. I ate at Chili’s more in that one week than I have in more than 5 years. It became too convenient having it directly across the parking lot from the lodge. We did eat out in town but what I found interesting is there weren’t really any sushi places. You hear Japan and immediately sushi comes to mind, but in fact, they eat a lot of noodles. Ramen restaurants were all over the place.

Even then, we found ourselves eating Korean BBQ, Indian (twice in one day), American and finally Ramen one night and not until the 2nd to last day there, did we make it to a sushi restaurant. And I’m pretty sure the table next to us was talking down about us.

Regardless, the food everywhere was really quite good. The people were really quite nice and the experiences all around were quite memorable. So even though I didn’t have my camera with me hardly at all, I enjoyed the moments. Even though it rained the majority of my time there, I was still eager to walk about and see as much as I could.

Watching the culture, their way of life is so very different than our own. On the trains, every person is either sleeping, reading a book or on their cell phones, while the majority of them all are on their cell phones. You think its bad in America, you need to see it in Japan. I’d say a good 85% of them were face down in their phones, completely engrossed in their game or text. They’re very quiet and respectful on the trains.

However, I noticed their disinterest in sitting next to us. We joked that no one wanted to be near the whities, but boy was it true. They’d walk in and look at the empty seat next to me or G-man, and would rather stand then sit next to us. This happened quite often and was rather odd. We were quiet, respectful and I know we didn’t smell, so I couldn’t understand their aversion to being near us. The few that did, we could see their reluctance and did it strictly for the purpose of needing to rest.

On day 2, G-man and I went for a late trip into one of the cities an hour away to see the big temple that was there, and on our way back, we fell asleep. hard. So much so, the next thing I heard was the conductor saying ‘excuse me’ to wake us up. Everyone had gotten off the train except us. He ushered us off the car and asked where we were going. In our bleary state, we were able to give our location, and he kindly directed us to the train we needed. We were so tired, we didn’t even laugh from embarrassment afterward. All we could manage to do was thank him, get on the train car and fall back asleep. It wasn’t until the next morning we laughed about it all.

I’m just thankful he spoke such good English to help us.

I will admit this. There’s one thing that I can say with all confidence that I hated in Japan. That I didn’t understand why it was needed on every sidewalk, at every crossing, at the top and bottom of every step, at every single turn and corner!

These were the devil. And my feet and I hated them with every single miserable step. I do not know their purpose other than to torture me. Other than these, I thought everything else in Japan was great. Pin It Now!