Consumerism and unexpected couchsurfing

Trip Start May 06, 2007
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Trip End Jul 24, 2008


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Where I stayed
(Taito hotels)

Flag of Japan  ,
Monday, March 31, 2008

On my flight from Beijing to Tokyo, I sat next to Yang Ren, a 25-year-old Chinese girl who is in college in Tokyo.  After talking for a while (her English was at a low intermediate level, so it wasn`t a very deep conversation as I had to use easy words and talk very slowly for her to understand me) she invited me to come stay with her the following night.  Since she didn`t seem like a serial killer and hostels in Tokyo are quite expensive (averaging about $30 a night for a dorm bed), I accepted her offer.  She and her boyfriend, who is also a Chinese student in Tokyo, live in a typical Japanese style apartment.  This means that the floors are covered in tatami mats and the beds are just thin mattresses that are rolled out on the tatami at night and packed away during the day.  Also typical to older Japanese apartments, the toilet was a squat toilet.  It was a much nicer squat toilet than any of the ones I had encountered thus far, but it was still a squat nonetheless.  The apartment was quite small, but there was a separate room just large enough for a single mattress for me to stay in.  Staying with Yang Ren gave me a chance to experience a much different side of Tokyo than I would have in a hostel.

Tokyo itself is a rather intimidating city.  Just looking at the subway map had me intimidated.  There also seem to be approximately six street signs in the entire city, with only three of those in English, making it quite difficult to orient yourself and figure out which direction to go.  Fortunately, people are very helpful when asked for directions.  Even those who didn`t speak any English went out of their way to get me to where I was trying to go.  Three times I had people walk me all the way to my destination, even though it was at least 4 or 5 blocks out of their way.

Any guidebook on Tokyo will point out the main attraction and pastime of the city - shopping.  Each neighborhood that they recommend to visit is because it contains a different type of shopping district - upscale, hipster, electronics, etc.  There`s even an intersection that`s written up in all the guidebooks purely because there are so many people there.  Even though I was there in the middle of the week and the middle of the day, the streets and stores were all packed with people.  Does anyone work or go to school?  Even though I enjoy shopping, it was all a bit much for me.

I also visited the Imperial Palace Gardens and a couple of other parks to see the cherry blossoms which had just come into bloom.  I seem to have lucked out incredibly in terms of timing as everyone I talked to said that the cherry blossoms had just reached full bloom the day I arrived.

Tokyo is a very clean city, despite the fact that there are no public trash cans anywhere outside of train/subway stations.  The shopping malls and restaurants also have the most impressive toilets I`ve ever seen.  Heated seats are the norm.  There`s also typically a control panel to the right with buttons to spray water on your butt, spray air, make flushing noises to cover up any noises your body might be making, change the temperature of the seat, and a couple of others that I never quite figured out.  They were quite the contrast to the squat toilet in the apartment.

In general, Japan reminded me a lot of Germany.  Everything was very clean.  The train system is incredibly well organized and exact.  If you`re even three seconds late, your train will be gone.  The Japanese people also seem to be quite like the Germans in terms of politeness and rigidity.  A massive contrast from the Chinese people!
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