January 3rd, 2006
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Home again, home again, jiggedy-jig…
It’s not often that you leave your home airport at half-past eleven. But that’s what being less than a thousand miles from your destination gives you. I counted the stamps in my passport and I’ve now been in and out of Japan nine times. I know the procedure so well, that most of the time I can get from the jetway to the train in under fifteen minutes. I just zip past the moving walkways, into the Japanese citizens’ line at immigration, and politely declare nothing at customs. Then it’s down two flights of stairs onto the limited express Keisei line to Yawata, where I snake down to the Toei Shinjuku subway line for transfer, and that takes me all the way home.
Every time I come back I’m more and more aware of how Japan is right for me. Every other place just doesn’t fit. The streets are clean. The people are quiet. The old ladies working at the platform bubble effusive warmth. There is omnipresent standard of custom and etiquette. Things are structured and things are done well; custom, tradition, and order. It’s peace for my nerves. I almost never have to worry about being solicited. And the trains are always on time!
South Korea was nice though. On all but one occasion the food was very, very good. However, the air quality was disappointing and unfortunately any comparisons to Tokyo were unwarranted. On Tuesday when the forecast was cloudless, the sky was still obscured in haze, and the sun only a muted beacon under a heavy film of wax paper. The people were generally quite nice though, in ways uncommon to Japan. Twice I lucked out when someone pointed out that I had dropped a scarf or a glove. The shop girls were also generally quite affable and amicable. Those who spoke English were quite impressive as well. I’m not sure what is different about the education system in Korea, but the pronunciation and fluidity of their speech was remarkable. I think I’m a quite inclined to visit again as there was a lot I wanted to accomplish. It’s too bad, though, that people don’t ride bicycles very much, and that the subway system is flawed and inefficient.
All in all, it was a nice trip, and quite affordable. If the plane ticket had been off-season it would have been even better. My boarding was about eleven dollars a day, and getting to and form the airport sixteen. No meal was more than four dollars, each including a full set of savory side dishes (nearly all containing kimchi). I got a sweater and a comfortable pair of pants for nine dollars apiece, and all souvenirs were under twenty. I think I have a over a hundred dollars in won left, which sets the total trip expenses with airfare at under eight hundred US dollars. Pretty thrifty for overseas. Maybe I should have bought that lamp.
I want more energy. I think if I tweak my diet and exercise more, I might be able to not need to sleep in on weekends. Either that or quit sitting front of the computer for 13 hours a day. What Am I Doin’ Hangin’ Round? is quite possibly Michael Nesmith’s lyrical opus.
