Guest Post: Tokyo, according to Aaron

m: What are you gonna call it?
a:  Tokyo.
m: You can't just call it Tokyo.
a:  I just did.  That's what I wrote in the subject line.
(several minutes of this)
m: Fine, we'll call it Tokyo.
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Now I'm not going to try to reconcile an entire week of my life, regardless of its location in Tokyo (or New York or Syracuse or Richmond or EARTH for that matter!), but I will try to relate to Melissa's close friends and family several topics interesting to me, and likely only me, through the lens of my visit to Tokyo. Whether these tidbits say more about me or the city I'm visiting will be up to the reader to decide.

1) The technology of Japan is ok to lacking, at best. For years and years I/we've all heard about how exceptionally advanced the technology and gadgetry of Tokyo was as compared to the laggards in the USA. Well, other than a miraculously effective train and toilet system (and those are both world class) let me inform you all that everything else should be classified in the "less than or equal to" 8th grade grading system.  The cell phone industry, once dominated by NTT Docomo, is several years behind the ubiquitous iPhone and Blackberry world that the "handset-set" enjoys in the USA. I've seen plenty of iPhones, but BB hasn't penetrated this market yet, and I have to think that they won't. I know a lot of people in the USA that have more than 1 BB, and I personally have had to beg and plead to not be handed a FREE one.

2) There are Japanese people, everywhere. This may sound like the most banal or obvious statement that anyone has made since the latest steroids outing or politician-infidelity-admission, but I cannot fully explain the sight of waves of Japanese people walking around minding their own business, listening to Godknowswhat on their iPods. Unless Melissa has led a more international and diverse life than she's led me to believe, this blog is read by white people (make that white people used to seeing other white people constantly). I joked to my friends that the subway conveniently displays information in Japanese and English, but that the effort is wasted because the only English speakers on the trains are me, Melissa, and our bilingual Jeff. Anyway, if day 6 of this excursion has taught me anything, it is the limit of the narrow scope that my FM to Richmond to East Village life has shown me.

3) The world is smaller than you think. As I sat here this morning having a Skype conversation with my mom, I reflected and realized that had I been sitting in my apartment in New York, I'd be having the same verbal interaction. I suppose that I could hop on a bus/train/plane and go to Syracuse from NYC, but couldn't I do the same thing from Tokyo (albeit a longer journey)? And if the transit is the only thing that's different, there's really no difference anyway if you're talking to someone in a place that you're not going to visit anyway.

So, feel free to look back and realize that my observations are whittled down to (in 8 words or less) "Tokyo is the same but with Japanese people." Or not.

a life in pictures

As can be expected when one is entertaining guests, it is hard to find the time to write about all the fun we're having.  Here are some pictures from the last two days, though!

 

Syracuse Orange fan carp in the shrine pond!

Entrance to big temple in Asakusa (Notice the typical Japanese high school girls in uniforms on the right.  MOST high school kids have to wear uniforms like these or worse to school every day!  With the silly fake bow-ties and all!)

Supercool five story pagoda at the temple.  (Not supercool: my bad picture of it, with the couple that wouldn't move in the foreground.)

 

 Aaron, not sure what to think of this whole okonomiyaki thing.  The verdict: better than he expected.

Jeff's big ice cream.  He claims it's carbo-loading.  I am skeptical if the ratio of carbs to fat make this the wise choice.

A map of our very long stroll around Tokyo today - from Shibuya to Harajuku to Aoyama to Shinjuku.  8.4 miles including stops at the Meiji Shrine, the NHK (National Broadcasting) building, the Meiji Gaien, the Shinjuku Gyoen, and Kinokunia.  It was a beautiful spring-like day and we spent most of it outside taking it all in.  It's amazing how close everything really is though in such a HUGE city!

Much much more to come!

Mata ne, 

Melissa

"brothers gotta hug." and nap on the couch.

Aaron is here!  And he brought presents!!  No peanut butter, but Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are a worthy replacement.  (Notice Leonardo DiCaprio in the commercial behind me.  Do they have that one in America?  Apparently he used to do TONS of commercials in Japan.)

Jeff ran 22 miles today (half way out to the airport!) and Aaron left his house about 22 hours ago and hasn't slept a wink so they're two tired guys lounging on the couch right now.  So tired neither one could manage a smile.

Scratch that.  Aaron just fell asleep with just his upper body on the couch.  It is quite a sight.  Six feet of Aaron stretched out clear across our little 13 square meter home.  We'll get off soon so he can have his bed to himself.

Mata ne,
Melissa

thieves!

Aaron is arriving in Tokyo in a matter of hours.  We are super excited to see him and to see the few small things we've requested he bring from the States.

Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to hear that peanut butter was on my list.  Not just any peanut butter. All natural peanut butter - the kind that has just two ingredients: peanuts and salt.  Preferably crunchy, but beggars can't be choosers.

Our other request was deodorant - one for each of us.  We even emailed Aaron a picture of our preferred brands and scents to make it extra easy on him.  Who knew deodorant was not considered the necessity it is in the parts of the world to which I am accustomed?  I haven't noticed that people are generally stinkier here, but I suppose we've only been here in the colder months so far.  I'll let you know if my opinion  on that changes in July. 

Aaron, being the wonderful little brother that he is, came through big time for us.  He went out of the way (well, made two stops on his way home from work one day) to pick up specialty peanut butter and scour the deodorant aisle for sticks that matched the pictures.  All would have been fine except for one thing: the FAA.

Being the suspicious character we all know and love, Aaron's bag was searched, and the FAA confiscated my peanut butter.  Right now some FAA screeners are probably sitting in an office somewhere on the east coast enjoying sandwiches made from my tasty peanut butter goodness!  Don't they know how hard that stuff is to find here?!

Fortunately, we still have one full jar to consume before I find myself in dire straits.  And fortunately for Aaron, we'll still let him stay with us even though the FAA stole his meal ticket. And we won't even be stinky because they let him keep the deodorant.

Mata ne,
Melissa

What Not to Wear: Running Edition

Sometimes you just need a good outfit. 

When I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, getting motivated to walk out the door is the hardest part of the run.  I've found the best thing to do is just put on my running outfit.  I have been known to get dressed in leggings, dry-fit top, heart-rate monitor, and garmin watch and then sit on the couch for upwards of an hour.  In spite of my best efforts, however, once I am actually in the correct clothing I can not help but find myself out on the road at some point.  The length of time spent on the couch is directly related to factors such as days since my last run, temperature outside, and if there is anything good on TV (in Japan, the last one is rarely a factor).

I see an interesting mix of running attire while out on the road.  In America, there are generally two types of runners: Dry-fit Man and Cotton Man. 

Dry-fit Man knows what he's doing, or spent a lot of money getting the gear to make it look like he knows what he is doing.  Often seen checking timer on sporty wristwatch and wearing new running shoes.  New.  DFM spends big bucks on those over-pronation-correcting Asics with the custom insert every 400 miles.



 Nice picture of my husband, huh?  He's kind of a big deal.

Cotton Man tends to be one of two sub-types: the Novice, or the Old Veteran.  Cotton man can be seen in the matching sweatsuit, or the shorts with cargo pockets (dad, you are definitely guilty of this one) and old ratty shirt.  You can generally distinguish Old Veteran from Novice by t-shirt; OV-CM in his 1982 Boilermaker shirt, N-CM wearing something with a Disney character or a professional sports team logo across the chest.
(no that is not me. image)

In Japan, I've seen more runners and many more outfits.

For simplicity's sake, we'll focus on the three main categories today: CW-X Man (and his companion, CW-X-with-skirt Woman), Jumpsuit Man, and Jeans Man.


For some reason, the whole CW-X thing has really caught on in Japan.  I feel out of place running in my regular old Under Armor with no compression technology!  CW-X Man is a serious runner (expect no head-nod acknowledgment from him) usually wearing new running shoes, a fancy watch, and metallic sunglasses, much like his American counterpart, Dry-fit Man.

Serious women runners in Japan seem to be big fans of the CW-X look as well, but with a minor adjustment.  Many also wear running skirts, perhaps due to the ubiquity of skirt-wearing in general (I really wouldn't survive - especially when it's cold out!).  Now I am all about the running skirt (I even own a pink one or two), but when I am already wearing tights, this seems to be an unnecessary accessory to me. I think Coco Chanel had something to say about that...

A large percentage of runners - in our neighborhood at least - tend to fall into the Jumpsuit Man category.  A surprising number actually do wear jumpsuits - some of the multi-color grandma variety and some of the high school/college sports team variety - but others wear something similar, including heavy sweat suits (think unflattering sweat stains - eew) and cotton leggings with oversized sweaters.  Jumpsuit man is aged anywhere from adolescent to ancient (really) and generally falls into the barely jogging to slightly faster than me range.  (image)

In America, today's last category would fall under the "only when chased" heading, but for some reason in Japan it is totally acceptable and surprisingly common to see someone running in jeans.  For the record, Jeans Man is not being chased.  I was skeptical at first, but people really do run in denim here.  Jeans Man typically wears sneakers of some sort (which I am sure were new at one time), a turtle neck or slim sweatshirt tucked in, and a leather belt.The best way to distinguish JM from someone is a hurry to get somewhere is visible iPod head phones and conspicuous lack of items in his hands or pockets. 

I joke, but it should be noted that there is such a wide variety of running attire on display because there is such a spectrum of people running.  (Jeff came home today bragging about having out-run the local middle school baseball team during their 1k time trial). Young people and very old people alike can be seen daily on the local running and walking paths. Maybe this is why rate of obesity in Japan is about 3% while it is over 30% in America.  Something to think about.

But back to me.  I'm not training for anything right now, which usually translates to me working out a whole lots less.  Jeff is in the final stages of marathon training, and thus has been consistently running six days a week.  I've actually been going out four or five times a week.  Lately, I've found I just go work out with him so I am not stuck at home by myself.  Maybe not the best reason for working out there is, but whatever it takes, right?


The Tokyo Marathon is about three weeks away, and maybe I am biased, but I'm pretty sure he'll be superfast.  And just like his last two, I will be superfan and cheer him on as much as I can.  I might even wear my running tights that day.  Just to see what happens.

Mata ne,
Melissa