all the wiser

Here are five random things I realized while I was away:

1) When I am in New York City, I walk about four or five times faster than I do when I am anywhere else in the world.  T brought this to my attention when we got back to Tokyo, where my pace seemed to slacken automatically.  When asked why this was the case, I responded that "Maybe it`s because, in New York, I am always trying to get the hell out of wherever it is I am."

2) There are cherry blossom trees all over the neighborhood where I grew up.  I was fascinated to realize this as I looked out the window of of my parents` car, on the way to their house in Long Island.  Granted these blossoms as not awesome as those in Japan; still, how could I have never known they existed before?  Well for one, their forecasted date of blossoming had not been a top story on the nightly news for many weeks prior. The Japanese really are far more appreciative of nature sometimes; people are acutely aware of each subtle change in season and what it symbolizes.

3) Most of the perves you encounter while walking down the street in America, the kind who very visibly look you up and down as if it`s any of their business, are young-ish aged men.  In Japan however, most young men are very shy when they see an attractive woman, so they are more likely to hide or run away.  This leaves all the perving to the senior citizens, who seem to have finally gotten over this characteristically (cute, but not entirely sexy) Japanese humility.  I far prefer the Japanese species of perv, largely because I stand a far greater chance at kicking his shriveled ass, should it ever come to that.

4) I love vending machines!  I missed them immensely while I was away!  When dealing exclusively with vending machines, there`s no need to speak with the so-polite-it-makes-you-uncomfortable (Japan) or the angry-at-the-world-and-that`s-somehow-your-fault (New York)  service industry professionals in either part of the world.

5) American television, whether it is taken out of context or not, is far dumber than Japanese TV.  And that says a lot.  I will post more later about the adventures in American television that I endured throughout my sojourn.

No really, I will.  I am back.

Comments

[Jenna]

Hey! I just wanted to say, that I just read your book... and I'm sad that it's over! It's seriously my favorite book now. I have always been interested in Japan and now thanks to you I am even more so! It's also inspired me to write my own experiences with cutting, drugs and depression, to maybe help people understand it better and get through it. You're book helped me a lot through a dark time I'm going through right now... so I just wanted to say... thanks!!!