So, Nancy and I have told you all about our trip to Japan. Is that enough? I submit that it is not. I can rarely just tell someone about something, I have to also give my opinion on it. So, here are some thoughts on Japan, inasmuch as I was able to see it:
1. Did you know that the smallest denomination of paper currency they have in Japan is 1000 yen? That's ten dollars. Everything smaller than that is coins. I thought that was weird. It just doesn't feel like you're spending five dollars when you just hand a guy a coin. But, that's how it works. It was kind of interesting, really, but I found that we kept running out of change, and we actually need change, which is more unusual.
2. Holy bikes! There were bikes everywhere in Kyoto! You could hardly walk ten feet on a sidewalk without almost getting run over by a bike. Kyoto, it turns out, is an awesome city for biking, because the city itself is almost completely flat. The temples are all built up on the sides of mountains (which explains the stairs).
3. Japanese food: mixed reviews. There were some things that I had there that I thought were awesome and some things (say, for example, Japanese breakfast) that I thought were nasty. There were plenty of things I liked, like the noodles and tempura, and I also had this kickawesome ginger pork at one restaurant that I have since tried to replicate with a little success. However, one thing that bothers me greatly about Japanese cuisine is their propensity to want to put uncooked or barely cooked eggs on or in or with everything. Not cool, Japanese cuisine. Not cool.
4. Japanese is completely indecipherable to me, and that gets a little frustrating. I mean, I was able to pick up at least a rudimentary knowledge of the Korean alphabet in less than a day. I feel like the Japanese alphabet would be very different, though, because of a number of factors, and while they had most signs in English, too, the once-wanted-to-be-a-linguist in me was thoroughly bothered by the fact that I couldn't read the actual characters.
5. Solid, dependable public transportation is awesome. I especially liked the trains, as they are completely impervious to traffic, and therefore are able to stay on schedule really well. Plus, it's just fun to be on a train. I'm pretty sure that I doubled the number of times I've ridden on a train in just that one trip to Japan.
6. Squatting toilets: why?
7. Okay, I'm not sure I have a seventh thought. I think the other thoughts are pretty good, though. I think I'll leave it here for today. All in all, I liked our trip to Japan a lot. I found Kyoto to be very foreigner-friendly and I really liked the things that we saw and the stuff we were able to do. Now that we're back on Jeju, the place is really starting to feel like home. Granted a ridiculously hot, humid home, but home nonetheless. Following posts will be about awesome crap we're doing here on the island. I'm pleased to report that I've been Internet scoping out some canyons (or canyon-like things) here and I really look forward to getting out and sliding down a rope into a canyon. It has been far too long. That being said, I really will leave it there for today. This is Captain Danger out.
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