ネコバス

A long time dream came true for me recently. After watching my first Miyazaki movie, My Neighbor Totoro, during my second year of high school, I became a big fan of his work and wanted to know more about him and his movies. As soon as I learned about Studio Ghibli, and the museum in Japan, I always hoped that some day I would be able to visit. Last week we went to Mitaka, to visit the Ghibli musuem and had a great experience! The only disappointing part was that there are no cameras allowed inside the building, but that just meant that I had to pay closer attention and that I might have to come back later.

The museum had many great things and I won't give too much away for anyone who has not seen it yet, but the actual building looked like it came from one of Miyazaki's movies. There were also rough sketches of characters from different movies, painted with water colors and my wife's favorite, a giant cat bus upstairs that children can climb on and go inside of. It was even better than I could have imagined and I highly recommend to everyone to go and see it.

Hope you have a good, rest of your weekend!

Shibuya!

This weekend I went to Shibuya, in Tokyo, for my first time. I have to say that it was amazing! So many people! And a lot of tourists! I had heard that Shibuya is the home of the most crowded crosswalk in the world but, it is hard to imagine until one actually goes there.







We went to a techno dance club which was also a first for me, and stayed up all night to take the first train home at 6:30 AM. Lucky for us, our friend knew the D.J. and we got in for a good price because we were on the guest list. There were many strange and interesting people at the club but I had a great time and I'm sure I will remember it for the rest of my life.



The great thing about Japan is, that even with so many strange people and just the amount of people, I still feel safe. The same cannot be said for many big cities in America.

Having fun at immigration!

I recently started a new job which required me to open my own bank account, which meant that I had to go to the city center and get my alien registration card so that I could actually open one. However, I was told that I had to go to immigration to sort out some paperwork before I could do this. I had already been to immigration three times since I have been in Japan and each time took about three hours of waiting in line and filling out paperwork. So, I was not very happy when I was told that I would be having to go back for a fourth time.



It's annoying because the paperwork can be difficult to fill out at times and you have to find all of your information by searching through old e-mails, calling work, calling the wife, or looking through piles of papers. Also, there is the fact that after you somehow found all of your information, it usually takes another 2 or 3 hours of waiting for the front desk to call out your number before you even get to talk to anyone.







I know that it is no easier for foreign people in America to go through, so I am at least glad that I know what foreigners in my country have to deal with. I just hope that I do not have to ever do it again, or for a very long time.

It's all of the little things

It's all of the little thingsI have been in Japan for a decent amount of time now, and for some reason I have still not been able to understand why some things are very similar to America and others are a little different. For example, shopping malls, cars, Mc Donald's are about the same; however, there are things like cat cafes, cos-play girls, and nomihodai which are not in America.

One of the things that confuses me the most are style of toilets here. The toilets with the built-in sink on top are pretty cool, but then there are toilets which are not much more than just a hole in the ground to squat over. To top it off, there are even toilets which need to have electricity to work properly because the have heated seats, auto-flush, and they even talk to you and say thank you for using them. I understand the idea of this, but it seems like a bit much. I guess I should expect it though, because I am in a technology filled country. So, why not have toilets that talk to you?

A different kind of Culture Shock

Before coming to Japan, I knew that I see a different culture of people and was prepared for it but, what I wasn't prepared for, was the different culture of bugs and insects that are not found in America.

The first time I experienced this, happened when I was hanging some clothes outside to dry and saw a HUGE hornet flying straight for me, and I had to duck down to get out of the way. I grew up on the countryside in America and have been around many different bees, but this was the biggest I had ever seen! After reading about them I found that they grow to about 50mm long. American bees are only about 1/3 the size.

I also saw my first cockroach at my house the other day, which I hear is pretty common. I have seen many other new insects and animals since I have been here and it is all very interesting, but sometimes a little scary.