And eleven hours later, five thousand miles or so, one time through Sam Raimi's anti-masterpiece Spider Man 3, Nick Cage playing a precog in Next, some weird movie about a yakinikuya (restaurant that specializes in BBQ meats), the summer stage of Sasuke (known stateside as Ninja Warrior) and most of the way through Gibson's Count Zero you touchdown in Narita, Chiba Prefecture.
Know this about Japan in the summer: it's stupidly hot and humid, more than I remember Orlando and New Orleans being when I was younger. And I think that if you've been in weather like this it would leave an indelible impression on your brain, maybe in the form of a heat stroke. But you have a choice about how you're going to act towards it. You can A) take it in stride and accept that nothing you do short of parking under an air conditioner unit will alleviate it, or you can B) bitch and moan about how hot and sticky it is, how you hate it, how you wish you'd come later in the year, how you're going to put the AC on first thing when you get to the hotel. If you're a B please stop talking to me forever. Tokyo JET orientation was over-fucking-flowing with them, the noobs that were getting paid--PAID!--to be in Tokyo for three days with free food and board only to miss one of the world's greatest cities because they couldn't be bothered to leave the comfortable hotel AC. Ame ga furou to, yari mo furou to is the Japanese way to say "by hell or high water..." and I'll be damned if I wasn't going to see the sights and even make some great friends while doing it.
First, a rundown on "The Gang". These are my fellow JETs in Oita and one in Nagasaki that I feel I made a nice connection and shared good times with in Tokyo. There is a sub-category to this group that is "My Harlem", but I'll get to that later.
Yoji: Japanese-American dude from SF who seems unassuming at first, but will go balls to the wall when the sauce is placed in front of him. Man got hammered, I think, every night we were there while I only went for it the second night. Yoji's stationed in Oita City, not far from my old Kaikan stomping grounds and I predict many nights of excess in Miyako-machi with him.
Lisa: Lisa will, for the duration of her stay in Oita Prefecture and possibly life, remember me as either the annoying haiku guy or Mr. Forgetful since I had to ask on three separate occasions where she went to college at (you try keeping details straight after chatting up I-don't-know-how-many people in three days). It's UCSC, by the way. Sucks that she lives at just about the polar opposite end of the prefecture from me as I really enjoyed her layed back style and generous personality. Stay strong out west, Lisa, and I'll be sending you more haikus as soon as my phone is ready. I've already breached Japanese haikus with my friend Mayumi!
Lindsey: I didn't think any of my Tokyo buddies would be close to me, but luckily Lindsey is right next door in Hita City. Like me, Lindsey is a classic geek who watches Star Trek, BSG and all that nerd stuff. She also drinks hard liquor straight from the bottle. I look forward to binging on Lost, Heroes and whatever else comes our way over bottles of frosty (insert alcohol here).
Caitlyn: After the keynote speech on the first real day of the orientation I casually mentioned that I wanted to skip the day's remaining workshops and head to Tokyo Tower. That's all it took for Caitlyn to bite and become my fearless traveling buddy for the day. Anyone that will shirk responsibility for the allure of the open road is golden in my book. Let's hit the road again in Oita!
Sanke: Now that's not pronounced like it looks. It's "Zoon-kuh" to be exact. Sanke's our man from Hamburg, Germany heading to Taketa City in southern Oita as a CIR. Why Taketa needs a CIR is beyond me--you'd understand if you've been. I think Sanke will be my partner in onsens as he's just about the only person I met who so far has no aversion to stripping down and jumping in a pool of water with other men. To the rest of you, it won't make you gay, if that's what you're scared of.
Laura: Laura isn't actually an Oitan (as I'm calling us) as she's heading to an island off the coast of Nagasaki, and it's a damn shame too. Smart, blindingly beautiful, patient in dealing with well-meaning-but-annoying people, impatient when a situation wastes her time and not afraid to take action in pursuit of something better, Laura, I think, has her priorities straighter than any ten laypersons combined. Damn impressive, for sure. Not to turn this blog into a Craigslist missed connections board, but I hope our story doesn't end with that nirvana-like walk through the deserted streets of Shinjuku.
More on Tokyo later.
--Matt
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