CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

For my birthday, I've taken a trip to Tokyo. It's just a two-hour flight from Seoul (it takes longer to get from Narita to my hotel) and in the same time zone (no jet lag), so it's a nice hop.

For your possible entertainment, some random thoughts I wrote down as I was walking around town today:

a. In Korea, 5000 Won is about $5. In Japan, 5000 Yen is about $50. The next time I think I've bought something at a bargain price, I should remember this.

b. Vowels. Too frequently I pronounce my vowels in Japanese as if they were English vowels. This is why nobody understands my Japanese. Dipthongs are the worst - as far as I know, there are no dipthongs in Japanese - but I keep forgetting that and mixing vowels like a typical American. It is good that the Japanese are generally a patient people. There's no experience quite like having three people staring at you, mouths open, in utter confusion while you are jabbering on; that's when your brain stem says "OK, I'm taking over -- switch to hand signs!"

c. A friend once asked me, "Why do you want to go see a city where a bowl of noodles cost $10?" This is not true. You can get a perfectly good and filling curry noodle meal for under $5. However, remember those vowels. I asked for a cup of tea (I thought) and got a cup of custard with mushrooms in it. But it wasn't expensive at all.

d. The above bit is not not true in Roppongi. If you have dinner in Roppongi, be prepared to spend $30-$50 per person. This is in places where you don't even need a tie. It is probably a good idea to ask to see the menu (and prices) before sitting down. Better yet, it's probably a good idea just to stay out of Roppongi.

e. The crows here are huge. The larger ones could probably carry away small dogs. They are loud, too. I swear one was following me today. Maybe it had a message. This will likely have little meaning to you unless you're familiar with Haibane Renmei. Or maybe it just wanted to dive bomb me.

f. The Japanese people I've talked with (in English, not Japanese) have been very polite, friendly, and inquisitive. The questions I've always gotten: where are you from, how long are you staying in Tokyo, how many times have you been to Tokyo, what do you do. For the record, no one has ever asked my blood type.

g. Finally, manga. There are lots of people here who read manga. Yesterday on the train (of about sixty people), I saw six people reading manga at the same time -- including one older woman (think 'grandma' and you've got the picture). Now, that's probably higher than average, but compared to the number of people I've seen in the U.S. reading comics (uh.. probably not six people in over 10 years), that's significant. And I've never seen grandma reading Marvel.

OK, enough rambling, I'm beginning to sound like Dave Barry (except Dave Barry is actually funny). I'm having a fun time, and for those of you who want to come to Tokyo someday -- if you need some advice on what to eat or where to bargain hunt or how to communicate in a foreign language -- you better ask somebody else...

I have a email friend who lives in Tokyo in Shinjuku-ku, where he lives with his wife and three daughters. He is a Paramedic Lieutenant who now works in training. I found his email address in a book called "The Visiting Fireman" which is a book that is put out once a year for Fire Buffs and fire service enthusiasts where people from around the World provide their names and info.
Between the two of us we have sent info on things like training and things that have happened in my area and his.
I have had thoughts about traveling to Japan to see my friend but I don't have the money to do it at this time.
My father had been there during the Korean War where he was stationed to repair U.S. Air Force aircraft. He had been on a base near Tokyo where my friend Toshi says is now a evacuation center for disasters.
He has some items he bought while there like old 78 Japanese records, chop sticks. He has pictures of some of the places he went like a Japanese beer hall.
Acourse my friend Toshi and myself have sent each other things in the mail of fire dept items and trips we have taken.

That was very funny, and entertaining. ^_^ You're a good writer.
It would be pretty cool if people read comic books here the way manga is read in Japan...

My father had been there during the Korean War where he was stationed to repair U.S. Air Force aircraft. He had been on a base near Tokyo where my friend Toshi says is now a evacuation center for disasters.

What a job. Tell him thank you for me.

Acourse my friend Toshi and myself have sent each other things in the mail of fire dept items and trips we have taken.

Wow, that's really neat! What kind of things have you gotten?

Wow. I wish I could just up and fly to Japan for a birthday present. Sounds like you're having a fun time!

For the record, no one has ever asked my blood type.

Hehe.

I plan to study in Japan next year... hopefully I'll get to visit Tokyo.

My friend Toshi has sent me some booklets on the Tokyo Fire Service, patches of the different divisions (I sent him some of the different ones from my area, but he can't always do this), one of his uniforms which I use for anime cons, a fire dept clock and a few other fire dept items. He has sent items from trips he and his family have taken

ClosetOtaku???? you live in Korea? I'm KOREAN! WEEEEE!!!!!

yeah, but in korea, they don't use Won as much, they're using american dollars more. Especially in more urban places

ahn-young!

Quote from t

My grandfather did the exact same thing ashfire on Okinawa. He was a repairman for the Airforce in the 75th Air Depot Wing "Merl's Marauders." He also was in Vietnam during the very early years.

sata andagi!!! <-- okinawa bread (azumanga daioh joke)

I would so like to go to Tokyo or anywhere in Japan, scratch that- Anywhere in Asia. I have been to Africa, used to live there. I just wanna travel the whole world. I would love to go to India to Mumbai and eat all the curry I want! Then I would go to Hong Kong, Seoul and then Tokyo.
Maybe in college I could find some reason to travel overseas.

Omg i love curry! The oriental asian ones are my favorite!!

I like curry from: India, Thailand and Malaysia. My family has me hooked. I especially like the mango curry I just had Saturday at this new Vietnamese restaurant. It was sweet and spicy. Pretty much I like anything that is spicy. My dad makes the best! with some papads and and japatis. My family thinks I am weird cause I eat it with chopsticks, though. Don't know why.
Oh, my brother was just hanging behind me. He said he thinks I'm just weird anyway. (Don't agree with him, please)

I will definitely visit Japan one of these days. My Grandpa was stationed there and he said it was beautiful.

i just realized, doubleshadow and true_noir_chloe's avatars are the same character, WHO ARE THEY???

and I wanna go to Korean! ANd japan! But because of political and war reasons, many oriental asians don't like japanese people. It's very sad indeed... i knew a girl who said she "hated japanese people". Funny thought casue they LOVE anime... lol

I saw DoubleShadow's avatar, and thought it WAS T_N_C. I looked and it said 8 posts...I was thinking, "What happened?"

Sounds like an experience to remember, ClosetOtaku. The difference between $50 and $5 could break the bank, so please do be careful!

I want to go to Japan and I hope to do that one day.

One place that I really want to go to is Okinawa and see the places that my dad live at when he was in the Army over there.


Wingzero22

So, how would you compare Tokyo to Seoul then?

I've never been to Tokyo, but I've lived in Seoul before so I should be able to guess how it's like

Destroyer2000 wrote:I saw DoubleShadow's avatar, and thought it WAS T_N_C. I looked and it said 8 posts...I was thinking, "What happened?"

Eeep! On another board, I am using the exact same avatar that she has, I was hoping it was different enough. Oh, well, get a new one.

PS- It's Blue from Wolf's Rain.

[quote="LorentzForce"]So, how would you compare Tokyo to Seoul then?

I've never been to Tokyo, but I've lived in Seoul before so I should be able to guess how it's like ]

Tokyo is a little more metropolitan and much cleaner than Seoul. That said, in some places it does seem a little more impersonal, especially in the business districts. Tokyo has some beautiful sights, Seoul is somewhat plainer. The traffic is not quite as crazy in Tokyo as in Seoul. The rail system in Tokyo is much, much more complex, confusing, and in some ways more unfriendly. But they do have trains going to and from Narita and Haneda (major airports), which is something Seoul has yet to work out.

Thanks for asking!

So in layout, Tokyo is;

- More metropolitan and clean (+, because I like cleaner cities)
- Beautiful sights (+, with obvious reasons)
- Less traffic (0, I probably won't drive around anyway)
- Confusing railway system (-, I rely on trains very much :O And I still get lost around my city.)

Interesting. Thanks ClosetOtaku, really helps me to define what Tokyo's really like. I probably will like it. If it's better than Sydney then I'm moving

Thats Closet Otaku, that helped to learn that alot. I've been thinking bout (note thinking as in the thought has been stuck in my mind) how studying abroad in Japan in a few years.