Thursday, November 26, 2009
Methinks he doth protest too much..
Saw this on the back of a shirt on a guy in Shinjuku. Weirdly, the only straight men whose sexuality I'm absolutely sure of are those who have no issues around homosexuality at all. Why is that?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Onsen fall
Saw a side of the Japanese today I know exists but try to ignore.
Was at an onsen. This tall, thin guy got out of the really hot bath. He took a few steps, wobbled, and fainted, smacking his head hard against the tiled floor.
I wasn't the closest to him, but I moved the fastest. And because he weighed two pounds less than a piece of string, I could pick him and carry him over to a bench. There were about twenty other people around. The only two that came to help me was a very old half Japanese half non-Japanese guy and his clearly mentally challenged middle-aged son. Both could speak a little English.
I got the older guy to go call the staff, and his son to get some cold water. The guy, frankly, looked dead. He woke up, his face completely gray and his body shaking like he was having a seizure. I asked the son to ask him if he was diabetic or had epilepsy but he was neither. He probably hadn't eaten enough and spent too long in the hot water.
Staff arrived and I backed off. They looked him over for about three minutes, then left. I asked the old guy where they were going. He said they believed the guy was just fine. He clearly wasn't. I went and bought the guy a cold sports drink with electrolytes and sat with him for about an hour. His head wasn't bleeding, but the shaking and gray skin made me worry about concussion. The twenty other people still just sat with empty looks on their faces.
When he had somewhat recovered, he was apologetic, showering me with "sorry" and bows. I tried to dismiss it. Not the point, dude. I asked the old guy to tell him he should go see a doctor. It was a mighty hard head butt against the tile floor. The guy said he would and apologized again.
Disappointing. Read Murakami's book "Underground" about the subway terrorist attacks in Tokyo and you'll read how people stepped over seriously injured victims and rushed out because they were already late for work. I've worked at gyms in both Australia and the US where people have been injured and staff actually had to ask people to back off because so many wanted to help. I know it's a cultural thing, but it still sucks. Wouldn't mind a little of their egregious politeness channeled into selfless decency.
I left not long afterward. It was raining outside and I walked very carefully lest I slip and break a leg and die waiting for a foreigner to come help me.
Was at an onsen. This tall, thin guy got out of the really hot bath. He took a few steps, wobbled, and fainted, smacking his head hard against the tiled floor.
I wasn't the closest to him, but I moved the fastest. And because he weighed two pounds less than a piece of string, I could pick him and carry him over to a bench. There were about twenty other people around. The only two that came to help me was a very old half Japanese half non-Japanese guy and his clearly mentally challenged middle-aged son. Both could speak a little English.
I got the older guy to go call the staff, and his son to get some cold water. The guy, frankly, looked dead. He woke up, his face completely gray and his body shaking like he was having a seizure. I asked the son to ask him if he was diabetic or had epilepsy but he was neither. He probably hadn't eaten enough and spent too long in the hot water.
Staff arrived and I backed off. They looked him over for about three minutes, then left. I asked the old guy where they were going. He said they believed the guy was just fine. He clearly wasn't. I went and bought the guy a cold sports drink with electrolytes and sat with him for about an hour. His head wasn't bleeding, but the shaking and gray skin made me worry about concussion. The twenty other people still just sat with empty looks on their faces.
When he had somewhat recovered, he was apologetic, showering me with "sorry" and bows. I tried to dismiss it. Not the point, dude. I asked the old guy to tell him he should go see a doctor. It was a mighty hard head butt against the tile floor. The guy said he would and apologized again.
Disappointing. Read Murakami's book "Underground" about the subway terrorist attacks in Tokyo and you'll read how people stepped over seriously injured victims and rushed out because they were already late for work. I've worked at gyms in both Australia and the US where people have been injured and staff actually had to ask people to back off because so many wanted to help. I know it's a cultural thing, but it still sucks. Wouldn't mind a little of their egregious politeness channeled into selfless decency.
I left not long afterward. It was raining outside and I walked very carefully lest I slip and break a leg and die waiting for a foreigner to come help me.
Jujo
Jujo has a serpentine covered shopping arcade that they call the Jujo Ginza. I so desperately wanted to find this place charming and a worthy alternative to the glitz of the "real Ginza", but it was just an ugly, awful craphole. No offense, of course.
Click here to see the video of my trip to Jujo Ginza.
Click here to see the video of my trip to Jujo Ginza.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Oh Jesus...
Someone in this apartment building is sharing their iTunes, and it's full of Gospel music. I'm listening to a song called "Jesus Alone", with lyrics such as: "Lord we fix our eyes on you, we had faith in mortal man but now we're returning to you, you're the mighty commander, king of the kings..." Again, I'm sorry if this costs me good friendships, but religious people are retarded. Seriously. I'm off to watch last night's Dexter.
Oh, and don't they see the sexual connotations in: Here I am ... Mercy Me ... Almost There!!!!!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Journey to Jimbocho
Jimbocho is the lively, thriving, energetic center of Tokyo's independent bookstore community. As you can tell by the above photo.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Stepping it up
According to my nike pedometer, I walked about 130,000 steps this week. 2,000 steps = 1 mile, so that's about 65 miles. I still think Tokyo is possibly the best walking city in the world. Can't wait for the week off work when I can do even better than this.
This may also explain why I've lost 12 pounds and one pants size since I've been here.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Coughing on the coffee
Saw this ad today. A new coffee brand. From Seattle. Seriously? For real? Starbucks, Tully's and Seattle's Best not enough? I live in Seattle and I'm just dumbfounded as to why we're the center of coffee distribution for the globe.
Love how it's a clear sky.
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