Week Two – half-way done already!

The funniest thing happened to me today…

I was in Ritsuin Park in Takamatsu, and a little Japanese girl, probably about six years old, ran up to me and just stared. I mean the whole, mouth-open, utter amazement stare. I said “Konnichiwa” (hello) to her and she just kept staring.

I think I must have been the first white person she’s ever seen…

So where have I been?

I spent three days up in Nikko, a little temple-town in the mountains north of Tokyo – it snowed on me. I could have gone to Canada and been snowed upon. Then again, Canada doesn’t have the “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil” monkeys – They’re in Nikko. And, of course, I saw them and forgot to take a picture.

After Nikko, I went back to Tokyo for a few days, then headed off to Okayama, which is where I am now. Today I day-tripped to Takamatsu, and tomorrow I’m going to Tsuyama. After that, off to Kyoto.

Whistling at the wind

There’s something to that old saying about not whistling at the wind. For example:

  1. In the last entry, I mentioned that I was only backing up my photos to my portable hard drive, because the Internet was too slow to back them up across the Pacific ocean. Whistling at the wind. The hard drive died on me when I got to Nikko, and I lost my first day and a half of photos. My solution now is (a) make two seperate DVD backups, (b) mail one to home, and (c) mail one to work.
  2. When I mailed back DVDs, I decided to mail back my rain pants as well, since it hadn’t rained yet, and I needed the space in my bag. Whistled at the wind. Poured on me the next day.

I hate Visa

I seem to have developed a routine:

  1. Try to buy something with visa card.
  2. Be declined.
  3. Call visa – yes, I know buying things in Japan is outside my normal spending pattern. That’s because I’m in Japan!

Toilets

I have now experienced the whole spectrum – the trough in the floor, and the high-tech “heat the seat, wash your butt, and motor down the lid” type. It shouldn’t be too hard to guess which one I prefer.

Time to start burning more DVDs…

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