The strangeness of Tokyo
Trip Start
Nov 26, 2007
1
17
Trip End
Mar 01, 2009
Tokyo,
Japan
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Every day you seem to have a new experience and although some of them are not so great, most of the time they make you smile and remind you how different it is here to the UK.
We have started our Japanese lessons and are going 3 times a week - we found some free classes for trainee teachers. The only thing is that we have to go during the infamous rush hour to the other side of Tokyo! I don't think i really appreciated how crushed you can actually feel and i dread to think what would happen in an accident, but I'm kind of glad to have experienced it! Its one of the strange things about this country where no one wants to speak out for fear of loosing face. In London if someone shoulder barged you and /or physically pushed you into the carriage where you are finding it hard to find room for your feet, I'm sure that someone if not a few people would shout at you and I'm sure there would be a few obscenity's in there along with it. Over here, you see men as well as women wince in pain as they are crushed towards the doors... oh and i haven't even mentioned yet that everyone stands in regimented order all facing the same way... hhhmmm would that ever happen on the tube?!
Its things like that that make you miss home but also make you have a strange appreciation for this place. If it wasn't like that you wouldn't have the politeness and calm of not speaking out in other situations (if that makes sense.)
I saw my first Japanese fight the other day, on my way home from work. It was between 2 very smart salary men. I say a fight but what I mean is 2 men with their noses together sort of grunting at each other slowly louder and louder. Of course passers by were somewhat alarmed including me, but then i remembered me the stuff Ive seen in England and i have to say it made me laugh. At home these guys would have both been either in hand cuffs or in hospital (or both). Id put money on the fact that no punches were thrown..
We are really starting to enjoy our lifestyle here. We have a local very friendly pub where lots of teachers drink and where when you walk in they automatically pour you a pint! On my birthday they even made a cake and everyone sang happy birthday!! We've brought bikes too and we cycle (in our suits!) to the station every day and leave our bikes outside the station next to the hundreds of other commuters. There's very few cars here so everyone owns a bike, although i don't think ill get a hang of the whole riding and holding an umbrella thing, let alone talking on the phone at the same time!
Anyway of course we are homesick but its mainly you guys we miss, not england! The teaching is going well and we are getting more and more used to dishing out discipline to the unruly (sometimes horrendous) kids who throw their books around... although some of them are so tired as we teach some kids at 8/9 O'Clock at night! At the moment we are not so sure that teaching is our calling, but we are very happy with Japan.
