Here are some of the interesting things that have been floating around my brain during this trip to Japan.

First of all, it’s incredible to be in a place where you can’t understand a thing. In languages that use the same basic alphabet as English, there are connections I can make, familiar words, a basic starting point to begin understanding. But in Japan, I didn’t have that. I didn’t even know the alphabet (either alphabet, for that matter). Every sign, every menu, receipt, every word on packaging at the store, was meaningless to me. I’ve never had that experience before, and it was very humbling.

Along those same lines, everyone knows some English. There’s English all around, and most of the people I interacted with were able to speak some English to me. the English alphabet is used often, and I think most people can sound words out in English. Again, I don’t know anything about the Japanese language. Also, Japanese people care about American sports, American news, etc. At the baseball game in Osaka, you could buy Mets apparel. I’d never even heard of any of the Japanese teams until I was at that game.

At one point, Liz said she was from California, and I said I was from New York, and someone replied “one from the east, one from the west!” How many cities do you know in Japan? Or any contry? How many places could be named and you would be able to know where in the country it was? How many countries are there that you would be able to make a connection like that? It made me feel pretty spoiled and uneducated, which I guess how Americans are perceived to be in these situations.

Also: there are a lot of old people in Japan. People over the age of 75 have to have a special sticker on their car that tells everyone they are old, and I saw a surprising amount of old people driving. Also, a large percentage of people on bikes were older people, which was pretty impressive to me. I kept trying to imagine any of my grandparents (who are pretty young for grandparents in the first place) riding around on bikes, or tending to their rice paddies, and it was hard to do.

Russell told me that nobody cards in Japan because there is no underage drinking. I’m sure he was exaggerating, but his point was that people in Japan follow the rules. If you’re not of age, you don’t drink, and that’s just the way it is.

Some things are universal. And by universal, I mean that they were constant in these two countries – USA and Japan. Which, I know, is far from universal. But Japan is very far away and it was still cool, OK? JEEZ! For example, driving. Even though they drive on the left, the rules are still all the same. There are still traffic lights, stop signs, moving to the middle of the intersection while making a (right) turn…

And lastly, I think less people thought I was a boy in Japan than people tend to do in the US. I wonder why that is.

On my way home now, from Korea. The best part is that my flight is at 8pm, and I get to JFK at 9pm. 13 free air hours!

This isn’t entirely the case of Japanese ads, I just wanted a catchy title. But there is some truth to it.

This one I found in the arcade. I think she looks deranged.


This one was in the bank

This is the new Winston campaign. I think it’s bad. Russell says this means “The taste of Japan” which makes no sense.


This one was in Incheon, it was for powder makeup sunscreen!

What do you think?

Since I’m traveling, and right now I feel like I have a lot to say and nobody is really online, I’m deciding to turn this blog into my travel blog, during my stay in Japan. Right now I’m in Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea, and it is 3:23am here. This airport is dark and desolate, and the moving floors aren’t even on. The bustle at JFK at midnight was overwhelming, I wonder how much it dies at this hour. I can’t imagine JFK ever being this dead though. I guess this city sleeps.

Flight 1 was pretty good. 14 hours, and we flew West, not East, overshooting Japan so I’m actually backtracking to reach Russell. I had a window seat and slept for probably around 5 hours total, which I am pretty impressed with. I’m not sure how my sleep schedule will adjust, I think I might just stay up until its bedtime, which isn’t for many hours. I also watched “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” as well as “Valentine’s Day.” On the way home from London I watched “He’s Just Not that Into You” and I thought Valentine’s Day would fit into that theme. Since it has the same cast. It was pretty bad, but not entirely unenjoyable. I also watched the BBC Life Documentary but I fell asleep, which was the intention. Oh! And I watched a biography of Obama, targeted toward Koreans, so it was very thorough about American politics and the climate and whatnot. Pretty cute.

I decided long ago that I wouldn’t be scared of foreign foods this trip, and I would go all out and sample all the fare, but I am making an exception for airline food. I ate a lot of the Korean food they served, which was adorable – I forget what it was called now, something with a K. Rice and stuff, maybe some squid, and soy sauce and chili paste. I watched the boy next to me very carefully and ate it like him. Then later I somehow got some lasagne, but I avoided the meat. And they handed me a sandwich wrapped in plastic but I was half asleep and not hungry so I lost it under my seat.

Also, I realized I know one Korean one word and one Korean word only: Anyang. It’s an informal way to say hello! I have not said it yet. Thanks, Arrested Development.

In a nutshell, I realized that I am woefully unprepared for this trip. I didn’t study any Japanese, and even if I had, I still would’ve been confused by all the Korean so far. Maybe this is the way to go – completely blind. It’s exciting and humbling, I guess. Everyone on the plane smiled and nodded at me, which was nice. Yay!