Landing

It's hard to describe a feeling I've never had before. A feeling that I belong in a place I've never been. I woke up at 4:30am April 3rd in California and arrived April 4th at 4pm in Japan with a lay over in Vancouver. One thing I can say about Canada is that it has a really beautiful airport, and that's aboot it. I landed after 15 hours in the air and immediately got on a train from Narita to Tokyo. A man smelling of alcohol and sweat sat next to me and presumably mumbled some of the only words he knew in English, and so started an hour long conversation using limited vocabulary and a lot of hand gestures. We talked about politics, "Obama! Change, change." "Hai, Obama suki desu. Bush damae," food, "Where do you recommend I go for good food in Tokyo?" "Ah so." Then he walked me to my connection and we bid eachother farewell. There are really nice people in Japan.

I reached Tamachi station, flagged down the nearest white guy and asked to use his phone. I called Brian Malone, a friend of my brothers who lives in Tokyo. He came and got me and we walked through the streets of Mita to his small apartment overlooking a park filled with cherry blossoms. The first thing I noticed walking in Tokyo was the quiet and cleanliness. Try to imagine New York, and now take away the noise, homeless and trash, and you have a good idea of what it was like walking in Tokyo.

After I met Amber, Brian's girlfriend, we all left for the cramped alleyways of izakaya and had a wonderful japanese meal at big big pizza. Guess what he ate. The thing about Japanese food, is that it is always distinctly Japanese no matter what you're eating. It can be American, Italian, or anything else, but it will always have a distinct Japanese flavor or look. This meal was no different, after a couple courses of sashimi, sake, and salad, they brought out a big big pizza that looked like garlic bread with some cheese on top. It was all delicious. After a couple more drinks I headed home to a long nights sleep and about an hour of strange Japanese television at 3 o'clock in the morning. Something about a sushi chef who knows kung fu and gains spiky hair power when he looks a fish eye. Gyo! My new favorite show.