Ep. 15 The Battle Continues (part: 2)

Having managed to claw back up from the dreaded, despairy pit of despondent depression, our hero none-the-less must face an as yet uphill battle on his quest for normalcy. But, as arguments these days seem to turn, he is upon a slippery slope whereby any sudden and small misstep could send him tumbling back down to the dreaded abyss. Will he survive? Certainly certain steps taken so far have helped him reach what appears to be a plateau of concentrated contentedness. What will happen next? Only the future will tell.

So, I have called this post, "Part:1" because I'm going to write about this past week in two distinct modes: external and internal. I have done a lot of thinking in this past week, and it's usually in conjunction with what has gone on around me, be it plans, activities, etc. If this sounds familiar, it's because this was my original part one, but I had writers block, so I switched to the other and was too lazy to edit what I had written in any meaningful way. Don't worry, it's Nano, and no one sane ever edits their nano. Also, it has been bugging me that up until now my posts have matched the number of weeks that I have been here, and that they are now off. I will definitely be able to sleep better with that problem solved. Anyway, here I list before you my adventures of the past few weeks.

1) On The Steps of The (Imperial) Palace
So, after what became my longest week here (breaking down, few breaks, mentally drained, etc.), I decided to finally visit the Imperial Palace in downtown Tokyo. My first stop was the great Tokyo Station, situated just a few blocks away from the main attraction.

The station in miniature.

The station in full.

And a symbol of hopes undashed

I will admit that it is an impressive building. When I first saw it a couple of months ago (wow, it's been that long already) it's grandeur struck me as opulent, and I dubbed it a kind of pseudo Versailles. Now that I have lived within the bounds of Tokyo for a couple of months, that affect has worn rather thin. I am still in awe of its scope, but having seen how glittery and bright Japan can make something, this brick building is starting to appear rather plain. There's something comforting in its relative austerity, though, and I fear that such thoughts may be part of the root of my problems.
 Having left the station with a map's directions in mind, I crossed several streets until my progress was stopped by a small, flittering shape. A hummingbird, I thought, following its ever so graceful path down to drink nectar from a flower. I even remarked out loud that it was the smallest humming bird that I had ever seen, to the apparent amusement of the other tourists waiting for the walk-signal to turn. It was then that I noticed, while snapping pictures of the little guy, that something seemed off.

My, fried...my, little, friend.

It was not that the wings were not beating fast enough, that's clear from the picture. Nor was it somehow not drinking nectar: it clearly was. No, the issue with my little friend was more of the fact that he had two long things poking out of his head. Antenna, to be precise. Now, there were many possible explanations. One, he was somehow a freak of nature; two, he was a genetic experiment to spy on us all. Now, as I had yet to hear of the rise of a super-villain and I have yet to start my own quest of global conquest, those two options seemed rather farfetched. Which led me to option three: I was starring at either a strange bird-bug hybrid, the like of which Godzilla and Mothim are legends, or I was staring at a very large moth. Meet the Hummingbird Hawk Moth, a creature spread out over Asia, Europe, and Southern Europe. They are about the size of a small bird, and if that doesn't terrify you on some level, then you are obviously the dream of what all entomologists wish they could be.
Having left my fearsome friend behind, I entered into  the imperial grounds. Due to it being a slightly damp day, the locale was fairly empty. Being from Oregon, this fact confused me until I remembered that most people don't like going out into the rain. I will simply show what I encountered, including some of the best pictures that I have ever taken, because to do otherwise would be a disservice to this place.

A good view of the palace itself, which is naturally beyond normal access.

A famous gate whose name escapes me.

Another view of an imperial building, and one of my favorite pictures.

A panorama shot of the Eastern Gardens.

Old meets new.

According to the plaque, this is simultaneously a dolphin and a fish. I think creepy demon-spawn would be better.

An interesting lamp-post reminiscent of Narnia.

One of the oldest remnants in the compound.

Nothing special, I just liked the picture.

An old cellar.

Another picture of the Eastern Gardens.

So, yeah, I had a lot of fun. I got to see some impressive sights, and due to the weather it wasn't too crowded. Afterwards, feeling piqued, I decided to head back to the station to get some food. However, I accidentally left by a different gate than I had entered, and had to walk around the complex to get to where I wanted to go. And what did I find, but a Subway, sitting there across the road. Now, I have been very good up to this point about not eating American fast food; I have heard that it is different, but gosh darn it, I'm in Japan. I can experience that stuff everywhere, I can't get most Japanese food anywhere. However, temptation's pull was too strong, and so I entered to devour a familiar bite. When compared to the US, the options were paltry, being only a few vegetable, bread, and sauce options. Where they excelled, though, was meat. They had so many meats, from ham to shrimp to salmon. If you wanted meat on your sandwich, this was the place to go. Sadly, being vegetarian, I did not. What I ended up getting was an egg sandwich with all six vegetable options and a dried tomato sauce. It was delicious, and everything tasted fresher than what we get to, "eat fresh'' back in the states.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. I did some souvenir shopping for friends, saw some interesting sights, and picked up this...

 Meet Cheeky. There I was inside a giant SEGA arcade, realizing that they had prizes for everything but SEGA characters, when I saw him in a claw machine. He was so perfectly perched, ready to fall, that just a little nudge to his head would make him mine. Why the head and not the perfectly grab-able body? Because he is immensely head heavy. Whatever he has up there, it's not of this world. So, 200 yen later, Cheeky fell from the claw machine, saving me 600yen that he would have cost elsewhere. Why do I mention this story? Because, as many people know, I am quite good at claw machines, to the extent that I have probably made a profit from them over the years.
 After that, I decided that it was time to go home...after I dropped/ lost my Willamette beanie in Yodobashi. Twice. Once I got home, I was exhausted, but it had been a very good day.


2) A Long-Expected Lunch
In some follow-up training, I met a teacher who works at the next school over who also happened to be new and having a hard time. So, we messaged each other and decided to have lunch, which was a lot of fun. We're both feeling rather miserable right now, so the knowledge that we are not alone in this is very helpful and uplifting.
We ended up going to an Izakaya, which is roughly the Japanese equivalent of a pub, since it was open. The interior was largely empty, though a tad smoky. I don't feel like writing too much about this any more. Long story short, we talked about a lot of things, I asked if they had takoyaki (fried octopus) in Japanese, because my friend wanted some and couldn't find it on the menu. We then got on the train, but it was so packed that we both got off at his stop and went to his apartment to wait until things got less insane. While waiting, the furniture that he ordered from IKEA showed up. Being a techy, I could tell that his knowledge of how to build furniture was slightly better than his Japanese...at least that's how it looked from the start. So, I built his furniture while he helped. And he did a good job of it. Together we built a bed, a couch, and a nightstand. After that, I went home, satisfied that I had helped someone and excited for the following morning.

3) Nikko, or how I Got Lost and had Many Adventures
So, the next morning I awoke at 5:30AM to get ready. I had breakfast, showered, and made my lunch...and barely missed the 6:30 train. That's OK, I thought, the next one will get my there right on time. I then realized that I had forgotten to refill my water bottle. So, I returned to my apartment, filled it up, and walked back to the station with a few minutes to spare. Then, what did I find, but I had misplaced my SUICA card. A few minutes of frantic searching later, I realized something else: my train was leaving. I had missed my train. There have only been a few times in my life where I have felt so awful that it felt as though the whole world was falling out from under me. This was one of them. Because this trip to Nikko had been so carefully planned by my amazing co-worker...for me. And I was going to be late. With that fact in mind, I resolved to get to Nikko. A couple more missed trains later, I finally figured out how to get my ticket. However, by the time that I finally got to the station, I had missed the bus for our tour group. However, there was a train to Nikko (I didn't have enough for the express line), and so began my Odyssey.
My first train ride was not very exciting. I got to see some nice sights, got to read, work on learning Katakana a little bit, and did a little bit of writing. When I finally got to Utsonomiya, where the Nikko line was, I was rather excited. It took me a few minutes to find the train, but when I did I was stunned.

Don't you mean Hogwarts

It was very reminiscent of certain magical trains, and so I boarded...or tried to. I followed someone on, and he must not have noticed that I was behind him, because as I was entering...*clunk* the door closed on me! As in, literally I was squeezed by the door. So, I was feeling a little down. However, I was invited to sit next to an older Japanese couple who had seen the whole thing. And then I started talking to them, and they started talking back. I only spoke English, they only spoke Japanese, but somehow we got a conversation going. The scenery quickly changed from urban to mountainous, very reminiscent of the Cascades. And as it did so, I oohed and awed, because it was so amazingly beautiful. A few stops in, the old couple departed, but not before giving me a gift.

A bottle of green tea. I don't know if such a thing is common, or why they did it, but it meant something to me. In return, I gave them a pack of Skittles, because you cannot find them over here, and they just happened to be on me.
Following the departure of my new friends, I decided to try talking to the man across the way, because he looked lonely and the American sitting next to me was giving me the, "don't you dare talk to me," vibes of the serial douche. So, I sat down next to the man across the way, and asked, "are you American?" His replay, "No...sorry...espanol [darn you google and your lack of diacritical marks]." Ah, Spanish. I took classes for sixteen years, so I am quite good at it. And so, we talked. He was from Spain, and had come to Japan on vacation for 11 days. This was his eleventh day. He had not had a conversation up until this point because he spoke neither English nor Japanese. As such, that he could have someone to talk to was an obvious relief. He had come to Japan because he liked Japanese food, although he couldn't understand the menus enough to really know what he was eating. We talked for a good half an hour, until we arrived at Nikko and went our separate ways. I don't know what became of him, but I hope that he enjoyed his trip.
So, I spent the morning on an adventure getting to Nikko, and I spent the rest of the day with some of my favorite people in Japan. I won't go into details yet (I need to better sort pictures first), but suffice to say that Nikko is definitely a place that I want to go back to.

4) Ue-yes, Ueno
As with Nikko, I am not going to describe too much here. Ueno is an enormous park in Tokyo. I met a friend there, we went to the Natural History Museum (DINOSAURS!!!!!), which was a really good deal, considering how much we saw and how little it cost. I had a lot of fun, and was absolutely exhausted by the end, and I'm still processing what is going on. Just a couple of stories, though.
The first thing that we did when my friend arrived was had lunch. Ueno Park has a zoo that is famous for its Pandas. As such, all of the food is Panda themed, as evidenced by my omelet.

Yes, that is a very sad Panda, and the fact that I'm in this photo implies that someone else was taking it, which is very exciting because it means that I was not alone in this endeavor. But he was very sad to eat, particularly when I ate his nose; however, as he was also delicious, I didn't really care.
The other exciting part with my friend--well, that I'm going to share here--was in the natural history museum. I think that the photo can speak for itself:

Oh hi, taxidermy-aardvark

 They have a stuffed aardvark, and I got a picture with it, in my OES sweatshirt. Because I am a nerd like that. Anyway, my friend was absolutely fantabulous, and I loved spending time with her, but arguably some of the cooler things happened before she got to Ueno.

For one, when I got there the choir of the metropolitan building was giving an impromptu concert...of Miyazaki music. Hearing such familiar tunes ringing through the park, winged by the voices of humanity, was breath taking. Music transcends language, so this was something that I could enjoy with everyone, something that could be understood by us all without the need for such monumental walls as words. It's funny, I never understood why people went to concerts before, but after that moment, I suddenly began to understand just what I had missed for so many years.
After listening for a few minutes, I went to explore the park. I stopped by two shrines. One, down in the middle of a lake on an island, had this symbol:

clearly printed everywhere. Now, I know that this preceded Zelda, but it's still cool to see, and nice to revere with reason. This is the Bentendo, a shrine dedicated to the Japanified version of the Hindu Goddess Saraswati, Benzaiten. It is an immensely holy place, where the tradition of Japanification of outside ideas is well represented.

Following my visit to the Bentendo, I visited the Buddhist shrine. And there, I found what remains of the Ueno Daibutsu, or Buddha statue:

Once a monument to faith, it is not no more than a face rightfully enshrined. The face is all that is left, which is kind of fitting and ironic. Buddhism teaches that to find true happiness, one must let go of the material world and become one with all. In that sense, this Daibutsu has achieved that goal by ridding itself of its body. However, perhaps the vainest aspect of our body is our face, one of our greatest links to individual identity. That one link is all that is left. Mayhaps one day, this Daibutsu can complete the transformation, but until then it shall be worshiped. And how is it venerated? With a simple offering.

A small tangerine, perhaps of mindfulness, waiting to fulfill the quest of many to find, within this world, the truth behind what it means to be truly happy. Also, being a good tourist, I asked a buddhist monk if it was alright that I take these photos before I took them. He said yes, and then tried to help me on my path of detachment via the purchase of numerous soul saving items from the gift shop. Apparently he had been taking notes from the 16th century Catholic church. While I did leave with one small item, it was the experience that benefited me the most.

As one final note, while my dog is doing well--if a little sore--my grandfather is not doing as well. I hope that they both have a speedy recovery, and admit that they are on my mind. Anywho, this has been another adventure in the austentatious. If you liked me, tell your friends; if you hated me, tell your enemies; and if you don't care, then tell everyone. Until next time, adieu.