I have finally out-slept the sun, and was able to sleep as late as 6:30 this morning. Yesterday was much different, I woke up at 2:10 and never went back to sleep until a two hour nap around 11:00. My body is slowly adjusting to the time difference, but at least I feel fine when I am awake, unlike the last time I landed in Japan.
So far, I love my neighborhood
Yesterday I was determined to see more of my neighborhood so I spent a lot of time walking around. I live about a quarter mile from a river so I made it my mission to follow it until it hit the much bigger river which is around a mile from me. Here are some pictures of what I saw along that adventure.
Satsuki bicycle shop
Residential parking in this lot is $140 a month
I saw street parking for the first time in Japan
This cool looking house seemed out of place
Street lined with cherry trees
A little shrine
The big river that the little river led me to
I will be posting more pictures from my neighborhood soon. I really like it here, especially how much more I like this location than the place I was living in San Francisco. It is so much quieter, cheaper rent, has more nature, and there is so much to do within walking distance.
Drinks with Swedes in Harajuku
I also had plans to meet up with some Swedish friends of mine who, unfortunately, are going home today. I met them at my old place when they rented apartments to stay in for a month of partying in Tokyo. This time, two of them, Anna and Henrik, were here for a semester of studying Japanese. We all met in Harajuku for a beer. The guy in the back-right, Fredrik, was told "Nice Beastie Boys fashion" when he ordered his drink at the bar. It was the first time I took a train from my area to Tokyo so it was a good experience for me to see how accessible Tokyo really is from the suburb. The fare was $3.80, and the engineer was kind enough to be my designated driver so I am satisfied.
Ｗａｔｃｈｉｎｇ the news yesterday morning in Japan I saw a story that really irritated me. The son of a Japanese actor was caught with 0.3 grams of marijuana (dimes weigh 2.27 grams), and so the actor went on TV to address the public regarding the incident. First of all, I have probably had more marijuana stuck to the bottom of my shoes walking around any Northern California music festival than what that guy was caught with. But the main point I want to address is the actor's outrageous response to the scenario. He is more upset than any person should ever be for their kid essentially lighting a plant on fire, and inhaling the smoke. What this story makes me ponder is what makes human beings so special that we have to apologize for partaking in utilizing what nature has provided us?
What a gram really is
In this video the man says stuff like "I thought it was a lie, I wanted it to be a lie ... Even though he's my son I think this is an unforgivable offense for any human being ... I want him to be reborn, and change his life." One thing my friend Ryan and I chatted about was that the man says, "He was just like any kid." My response to that is, "Of course he was!!." According to the Redwood Times, eighty-three percent of my high school class had been high by eleventh grade, and thirty-six percent of the state's eleventh graders had. This news out of Japan is quite insulting to all of the good people who my life has been surrounded with that have partaken in getting high. I guarantee that at least our last three presidents have used marijuana, and Al Gore's son mas been caught with it multiple times, yet, Japan has this brainwashed opinion, which, as the video I have posted demonstrates, brings out a reaction that you'd only expect to see if one had confessed to massacring children! I am not going to get into Japan's laws and the points of view in their society because it is too complicated to understand and relate to. A Japanese user of marijuana I know from San Diego said before he tried it he would have called the police immediately if he suspected someone had it, because he was never taught what it was. Check out the video, those of you who don't speak Japanese can just fast forward to 2'15" (coincidence?) to see the emotional outburst.
Time for some irony:
-The place I live is called "Chiba"
-I just got a friend request on a Japanese social networking sight from a guy who must have saw I was from San Francisco because he said "I like weeds"
My jet-lag has had me waking up between three and four since I arrived here on Friday evening, but it has at least given me time to give my blog some attention. It is now Monday morning around five o'clock, and around eight I will take a train to a place called Sugano, in the Chiba prefecture, where I will be renting an apartment that I have committed to, yet have never seen in person.
"Welcome home" Ren
I was treated with last-minute arrangements of a pickup at Narita airport by Miho's mother, her friend, and friend's daughter. They were waiting for me in the arrivals area of the airport when I arrived, and unfortunately for all of us my flight was delayed due to strong winds in San Francisco. I flew on Northwest Airlines to Tokyo, my first time not taking United, and I really enjoyed it. I chose Northwest for the same reason I choose any other airline, it was the cheapest! I got my flight for $696 out the door, and there were no other fees for anything such as pillows, blankets, food, etc. I even dodged a fee for heavy luggage after one of my bag was seventy-two pounds, far exceeding the allotted fifty pounds! I quickly got my backpack out of that suitcase and filled it with random items until the suitcase reached fifty-three pounds. The lady working at the counter let it slide, who, by the way, asked if I was a a minor traveling alone as I approached her! Do I really come across as being under eighteen?!
Strolling through Ueno Park
Even with my jet-lag keeping my drowsy all weekend, I still was able to enjoy being taken to Ueno Park in Tokyo to see the cherry blossoms, and go to a Cartier jewelery exhibit at one of the museums. It was fun to see all of the people having picnics under the blossoming trees, although it was a bit too crowded for my liking.
The blossoms are falling
Another shocking restroom experience
Using the restroom in Japan can sometimes be a difficult experience for foreigners. My sister, shown above, once pushed the emergency button on the wall of a handicap stall instead of the flush button, which was also on the wall. I had told her, and tell other foreigners that if you want to guarantee that you will get a western style toilet, use the handicap stalls. But apparently not all of them have translations on them because she definitely pushed the wrong one because I heard the alarm and saw the security guards sprinting to her aid.
The toilet I used at the museum
That toilet she set the alarm off at was in Kyoto Station, where you would think it would be more English friendly due to it's popularity with tourists. The restroom I used at the museum on Saturday was kind enough to put up a translation, but they just couldn't get it right.
Here is a zoom-in of what the flush button has been labeled as
Perhaps Japan's fascination with cameras led to such a translation. If I couldn't read Japanese , all of the high-tech stuff on Japanese toilets, along with a "flash" function would definitely intimidate me!
Walking back to the train station
With my jet-lag, I was really tired after a day at the park. I really envied this little girl being carried because my legs didn't want to be moving anymore. When I got home I took a nap, ate, then was back in bed in the eight o'clock hour before waking up at three.
Directly above this steep embankment to the Eel River lies a deserted stretch of Highway 101
Last Monday, my sister and I were driving south on Highway 101 from Redway, and decided to make a stop at a place I had been wanting to go to for a long time. There is a spot along the Eel River where you can see that 101 once carried on along some rugged, narrow bluffs. The current highway drives through the mountain where it was carved out for the road, but gates leading to the bluffs of the old highway are still visible.
(More views of that stretch available with Google Maps Street View)
Can you believe semi-trucks were able to pass each other here?
Just as I imagined, this stretch of road is extremely narrow! There were even spots where it doesn’t look like a semi truck could drive on the white, shoulder line without its load hiting the rocks that stick out from the mountain. Also, years of being unmaintained has left this road to be a prime example how nature can absolutely punish roads, especially in Humboldt County. Last week I drove the entire Avenue of the Giants and was loving how in the North stretch of the road the road was green with moss.
The start of our eerie stroll
We got the feeling dozens of accidents must have occurred here
A Shot of Richie Spice With Myself Filming in the Background
(Credit: Lee Abel)
Now that it is April, I have been pondering how the summer concerts that I work at are going to fit in my schedule. As of right now, I am scheduled to be in Japan through June 30th (I am in Japan right now, though I am writing this at SFO). Seeing lots of footage I shot being used as promotional material on the new Reggae Rising website has me especially excited to get to work as soon as possible, but I have a small problem. It seems that I foolishly scheduled my return flight without seeing that I would be missing two good work opportunities. One of which, Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, is, in my opinion, the best festival in Northern California. Anyway, I guess this is a good opportunity to give some links to some of the shows that I was on camera for at Reggae Rising. They are Quicktime files, and in order to see them without any lag, I suggest you right click the link and save it to your computer before watching because they are large files.
All blogs found on this site written before 2009 have been imported from MySpace. Some may not look too pretty, and some of the pictures won't enlarge, but it is a small price to pay to not have to deal with MySpace's primitive blog setup anymore!
I recently graduated San Francisco State University. I majored in Japanese and minored in International Relations, and spent a year studying at Tokyo's prestigious Waseda University. I grew up in a very rural area of Humboldt County California. That remote setting built up a lot of ambition in me to get out and chase my dreams. Thanks for reading!
