Posts tagged japan
citizen kerry
Someday i'm going to understand America. Until then, I have this blog.
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FROM NOW ON, EVERY TIME I FIND MYSELF BEING TOO NICE AND PEOPLE PLEASE-Y (NOT SPEAKING MY TRUTH, AND GOING ALONG JUST TO GET ALONG, ETC), I’M GOING TO VISUALIZE MYSELF AS THIS SELF-IMMOLATING HOT DOG.
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happy vacations are all alike; every unhappy vacation is unhappy in its own way
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japan, as seen through all my cliches of japan
aka: we see the world as we want to!
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I forgot this picture existed until yesterday. What a great moment for our nation!
67 years ago
I didn’t understand the world better after visiting Hiroshima, I understood it more. More:
-What it means to lose in war.
-About the people whose lives were reduced to one paragraph in my US History textbook.
-Why history shouldn’t be taught only from the winners’ point of view.
This is the tricycle of a three-year-old boy who was burned to death after the bomb dropped.
I only realized two weeks ago, when I visited Peace Memorial Park—which is what you visit when you visit Hiroshima—that it all happened on August 6th.
Today’s the anniversary, if you will.
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9 cute signs i saw in japan, the cutest country on the planet
Now I can’t remember if I’ve been using squat toilets the right way all these years!
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If i ate my way through Japan, if I did, it might have looked like this.
Some highlights:
The third photo (looks like spaghetti) is a Hiroshima specialty called okonomikayki. It’s a flat pancake with a layer of udon noodles and eggs, and you use the spatula on the right to cut and eat it.
I realize that sounds gross, and Jessica Brokaw has pointed out that it looks like food she’d left out in her dorm room and forgotten. Nevertheless, it was my favorite. Also, at $10, the only bargain in Japan besides musubi (triangle of seaweed filled with rice), which costs about $2.
Sake is traditionally served in an overflowing cup. Nice! Shows you’re not a cheapo!
MINT Pocky exists.
That sushi was breakfast at 5:30am in Tokyo, after failing to get into the morning’s fish auction, despite arriving at 4:45am. We were beaten by MBA kids who traveled in a pack and got there at 4:30. Jerks.
Lastly, Eric is a carnivore and tried Nagoya raw chicken. See last photo. He also ate whale bacon, but out of respect for Orky and Corky and happy memories of those whales at Marineland, I’m not posting that picture here.
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bears
Of all the things I expected to see in Japan—kimonos, sushi, and racial homogenity, for example—“brown bears” was not on the list.
Silly me.
I swear to you I went to Nara because of the whole “UNESCO world heritage” thing, but what a nice surprise to learn that (1) deer roam about the town freely; and (2) to quote our tour guide, Miko, “you can pet them like dogs.” I made some new friends!
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sumo wrestling!
This weekend, we took the train to Nagoya (home of Toyota) to see the Sumo Wrestling Championship semi-finals.
Obviously, I’m a huge sumo wrestling fan, and I follow the sport religiously.
LIE.
I wanted to see sumo wrestling because I’ve heard about it for years, and it seemed like the kind of magical “only in Japan experience” that I’d always remember. Also, I’m a sucker for amazing outfits.
cat cafe!
Tokyo has all these delightfully inventive ideas that for some reason have not made their way to the United States, despite globalization and Twitter and all that.
I’m talking about heated toilet seats, pet robots, and cat cafes.
konnichiwa!
Just doing my part to improve stereotypes of Americans abroad…
Thank you so much for your kind wishes on my wedding. I am very touched!
There’s so much I want to tell you about getting married, and also about Japan, where I am now. But I am off to meet our new friend Shinohara, who goes by the nickname “King of the Night.” So for now: Konnichiwa, Tumblr!
