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...
