There's not a fight and I'm not your captive

Disclaimer: the light tone of this post is not meant to downplay the disasters in Japan in any way. I just need to blow off a little steam with sarcasm and wit.

            If you haven’t heard, there was a third explosion at nuclear facility at Fukashima and a good deal of Japan was irradiated.1 Sometimes I wish I remembered my camera. Yesterday, I wished I remembered photosensitive paper. Just place it behind myself a few seconds before the blast and viola, most memorable souvenir ever. Plus I get to skip the doctor's fee. Still waiting on my super powers to develop. Hope it’s nothing dumb like the ability to talk to fishes.

            I didn’t get the chance to update on the event two weeks ago. Though it is now completely overshadowed by the earthquake, I’m not going to let the photos go to waste.  The sun sucks, for which I apologize.

You guys though I was joking about going to Disney World. Well, Disney Sea technically. Luckily, there wasn’t a fire at the sea park.

For those that are wondering (all none of you), Tokyo Disney Sea and Disney Land are not owned by Disney. Whatever company owns them has to pay royalties. This led to Disney Sea being Disney in pretty much name only. Aside from the wondering Disney mascot, the characters pretty much go unrepresented. Oh, and Disney is a marketing whore (oh, he said a bad word). They created a teddy bear (Duffy) just to be sold in Disney Sea. Its paw print is in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head, which I like to think came from Mickey cheating at poker and the bear curb stomping the unrepentant rodent.

Here’s the scoop: each class had to decide as a whole whether to go to Disney Land or Disney Sea. Mine, obviously, chose Sea. A friend of mine was trying to find somebody to go with, but her class unfortunately chose land. We were talking through text and she got confused as to which I was going to. I replied:

I’m going by sea. That’s two lanterns.

Any day you can fit in a Paul Revere reverence is a good day in my book.

At the start Disney Sea was a pain. I forgot to take out money and had only enough for the train ride there. If I hadn't run into Josh (refered to as friend for this post). I wouldn't have been able to eat or even return to the mainland.

Also, I was snacking earlier on and found a trash can (really rare in Japan). So excite was I that I accidentally threw away my ticket. Had to go digging through the trash for it.

And more pictures:

Tower of Terror. Wish I got a bigger shot. This thing was huge. Its one of the rides that takes you up really high and drops you. Me and a friend got a fast pass (allows you to bypass the line) at nine o'clock. When it became active at 6:45, it still took us half and hour to get through line of other people with fast passes. We passed the time by jearing at those in the regular line who had to wait upwards of two hours. On a side note, most everything inside is written in English. What a waste.

This ship provides a good measure of scale of the attractions here. It is a full sized ocean liner created for the specific purpose of staying docked here for the rest of its life.

My friend made the mistake of asking Max here for directions to a restaurant. After about 10 minutes of pantomime we found the place, but it was expensive and we weren't hungry yet. While Max's back was turned, we hightailed it out of there.

Not that you can tell from the picture, but this is the temple of the crystal skull. So prolific was the suck of the fourth Indiana Jones that it managed not only to sicken its fanbase, but to mount an assualt on the Disney brand from inside the park. Copyright laws be damned!

I present the temple of Firewater. There alcoholism is considered a divine right, not a sickness

Look my readers, Agrabah!

It's only a model

Shh

 Yeah, they went all out on this water show. If you look in the background you can see the Tower of Terror. Bigass, right? Furthermore, I know there has to be some empty space in it because the ride isn't that big. Wonder what they use it for?

A few final notes. The next week, the earthquake cause the transit line to shut down, so a bunch of people were stuck in the park. They must have been bled dry by overpriced food by the end. Somehow I think the Disney Corporation planned this. Also, the parking lot suffered soil liquification. I don't know how those that drove there escaped.

1: Before you start freaking out. The radiation released was less than your average x-ray.

The Saints are Coming

For those of you just joining us, every post's title is a song reference in some way connected with my life. Normally, I leave it up to the reader to determine it's origin, but I feel I need to take special care with this title in light of recent events. It refers to the cover of the Saints are Coming by U2 and Greenday in an effort to raise support for Hurricane Katrina's victims. I find it again applicable to the earthquake and tsunami victims of Japan.

The following is an account of my actual experience in Tokyo, far away from the epicenter in Sendai:

The first quake hit a little after 2:30 Japan time. My class was busy practicing kanji. One classmate in particular was call to the whiteboard to draw the current character. Halfway through the writing, small tremors could be felt. They felt something akin to the subway passing while you wait on the platform. It took about a minute for the entire class to realize that this was indeed an earthquake. Then the bigger quakes began. Our television began to swing back and forth in its ceiling mount.

Our teacher told us to get under our desks and stay there until it passed. The students reacted in various ways. Some were genuinely frightened and did as the teacher told them. Others were less so and moved around as the tremors continued. When the electric pole outside started sparking, a good deal of the class emerged from their desks to watch.

My personal reaction was one of mild bemusement. I had felt smaller tremors throughout my stay in Japan and this one, while larger, didn’t seem to pose much risk. The building I was in felt solid enough to withstand the quake, so I wasn’t particularly worried. Instead I looked around at the other students to see their own reactions.

As the first quakes subsided, my classmates began milling about the room, unsure of what to do. One stubbornly remained under her desk and refused to come out, insisting that another quake would soon follow. The teacher moved to the whiteboard and pointed to the one student’s recently drawn kanji. “だめ” (incorrect) she said. The student in question blamed the mistake on the quake.

I sat down at my desk and looked over at the clock. After a few minutes it would be break and I could go out and get food. I joked that we should continue class for those few minutes.

That’s when the second series of quakes started. It wasn’t as powerful as the first, but it reminded us that it wasn’t over. In total, both lasted around 20 minutes (though eyewitness reporting is often the most unreliable). This being my first large quake, I had no idea anything was out of the ordinary. Japan is famous for it’s quakes, right? I learned from a California resident who was present at the Northridge Quake that two ten minute long tremors are alarming. The Northridge Quake itself only lasted about a minute.

The rest of the classes had evacuated to the street or a nearby park. There were several crying in the streets as others tried to comfort them. I’m sorry to say that I believed that everyone was overreacting.

So what do I do after being allowed to leave? I go to the local convenience store for a snack. The store clerks are busy putting thing back on shelves, but serve me promptly after I make my selection. In our small exchange, I don’t here anything in their voices to tip me off to the size of the quake. Business as usual.

I return to the classroom to find out classes are canceled. I also find out that all the trains are stopped. Those between stations are forced to exit the train and walk the rest of the way to the nearest station. I and about 15 other American students who live outside of walking distance are forced to stay at the school overnight. Given the lack of beds, none of us get really good sleep. We’re not the only ones stranded. There sidewalks are packed with commuters and traffic is at a practical standstill.

At this point there is practically nothing on the internet about the quake except the start of a Wikipedia article. I used email facebook to sarcastically tell everyone that I survived an earthquake.1 It is only after I make these first few posts that information starts coming in regarding the scale of this quake. A big screen TV in a local shop window shows the havoc that the tsunami is causing in Sendai. I finally realize that this is actually a big deal and do my best to apologize for my earlier sarcasm.

The restaurants and convenience stores are packed with customers. By nightfall, almost every readily consumable food is sold out. It is a surreal experience looking at the empty shelves.

The trains gradually come online. The subway sometime after midnight and my own train line at 7 am. The conductors are still taking extreme car in operating the trains and they only move a little bit faster than I can run. It takes me about an hour and a half to cover the 10 miles to my homestay. I collapse in my bed and spend the next four hours sleeping.

Aside from being tired and out of sorts I am fine. I feel like I was a spectator on the sidelines of a large event, close enough to be connected, but far enough away to be complete safe. My heart goes out to those who weren’t so lucky.

1: I have left my original blog post and comments intact no matter how insensitive they may sound. I think it is important to have my feeling at the time captured before I fully understood the impact.

Special Update: Hey Ya

While the Tohoku region suffered a massive 8.9 (7th largest in recorded history) magnitude earthquake, Tokyo only suffered around a 6.1. We were in class at the time and need to hide under the desks for safety. Outside one of the electric poles started sparking as the quake went through. That's about it. No one here was hurt that I know of. There were some frightened students. We actually had a new group of Thai students enter just today. One hell of a first day.

All the trains have stopped running and the streets are packed with vehicles. Some students walked home, but I live ten miles away so it was impossible. I and a few other students are staying over at the school. Shinjuku (where I am) is wicked packed. The convenience stores are practically sold out of everything readily consumable.

Overall, this thing seems to be being blown out of proportion. There were 65 confirmed deaths last I heard and, while tragic, smaller earthquakes in Haiti and China have caused tens of thousands of deaths. The main damage seems to be structural at this point as the Sendai airport seems to be completely trashed. I believe this to be amazingly fortunate. I do, however, hope you join me in sending prayers or whatever your respective religions can in the direction of those at the epicenter of this quake.

Oh, look what you've done to this rock 'n' roll clown

Pictures, pictures and more picture. Let's get started.

Doggy 1

Doggy 2. Interesting fact. If you look closely the first dog's mouth is slightly ajar while the second dog's mouth is closed. In reality they are placed across from each other at the temple gate. The open mouth represents the Japanese あ (a) sound while the closed mouth represents the ん　(n) sound. They are the beginning and ending letters of the Japanese alphabet. Alpha and omega if you will (though not according to OSU's central library)

This temple's central entrance. It is located on Enoshima and is quite large (if you can't tell). Note the long hike to the top. In true ancient samurai fashion, there is an esculator installed for the convenience of all. (forgot to take a pic).

Here is a pond to wash your money in for luck. Tried it, still waiting on the dividends. Wonder if you have to pay taxes on gains from spellcraft.

Cat. Kitty cat, but not dancing. In fact it isn't doing anything. It and a friend are positioned so that you can sit and take a picture between them (due to gradeschoolers, I missed the opportunity). I swear this cat is on drugs. I petted it and absolutely no reaction (there is an joke here somewhere about my personal life).

Doggy 3. The nice lady, who paid us in advance, before she became a dog...

Legend has it this temple (a collection of three shrines) represents three ancient godesses beholden to the royal family (this is the family crest). In ancient times, a fairyless kokori child was called to take up arms to defend the kingdom against a powerful wizard. Well the boy used an powerful magic sword to travel time and defeat this evil despite. He also found a fairy although regretted it due to its constant pestering.

Okay, everything past the first sentence is from Legend of Zelda. But there was an actually family (the Hojo) who used the triforce as their family crest. I knew the game that it would one day trancend cultural barriers to bring peace to our world. Who knew it had already surpassed temporal ones.

Okay, now your not even trying. Seriously, Nintendo should sue you for copyright infringement. The reference is to Lon Lon Ranch for the uninitiated.

In case your wondering, we're staring the second coming. For the record, Jesus needs to use pants instead of a robe. Ain't nobody want to see that.

And you people thought I was in Japan all this time

Praying for inner peace, and the sun to be out of my eyes.

Ha, ha. Very funny Mr. Sun.

That's better. Although this guy seems to have gotten plenty of sun already.

Was present at a buddhist ceremony. With years of training and the clever use of lighting, the monks can move at superhuman speeds.

Jesus Christ! Oh wait...

STATUES ROCK! Ehem, Statue on a rock.

Got to stay at a traditional ryokan (Japanese inn). Also, it had an onsen (group bath). Yeah, about that.

That's right, television. How else were samurai suppose to relax after a long day sucking up to their feudal lords.

Japanese gardening is minimalistic. It emphasizes what does exist so that is may fully be apprecieted. That is to say, one day the owner got tired of mowing and put down some gravel. Can't blame him.

Me, not praying for peace on earth

Me paying respect to Val-Halen (the viking god of rock). If you doubt me, look at my hands.

If you wash the head of this statue, it helps out aborted fetuses. No, I'm not sure how you can help and aborted fetus.

Well you see Jimmy, when a mommy and daddy statue love each other very much...

...a strong animal (the stork outsources) will bring a baby statue. How strong? About as strong as a small pony. That's quite strong, that is.

Me and a statue, chillaxin

Buddha and I reflecting on what's best in life

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

Buddha, you've been eating your wheaties

This is inside the Buddha statue. Costs twenty yen to go inside. Appearently, it is an honor to conduct a colonoscopy on the enlighted one.

Well that's it for today.

Daniel, You've taken about a million pictures with statues. What are you going to do next?

I'm going to Disney World.

No matter how far, no matter how free, I'll be alone

Okay, folks. Here's is a deal. I have about a half million photos to upload from my Kamakura trip over the weekend. I also have about half an hour until the place I'm using internet at closes. Rather than do a rushed job, I think I'll be posting the photos next week. My apologies.

Anywho, here's what I've been up to. I went to Kamakura, where the history comes from. Essentially, its a place famous for its religious shrines and a bigass buddha. You'll get to see it soon enough.

We got to stay at a ryokan (japanese style inn). We were told we'd be having beef for supper, but when I got there, I saw nothing but fish. Luckily enough, the beef soon followed, but I was forced to survice on mostly fish due to portion size. You know how I love my seafood.

I do have one thing to share that requires photos. Here you go.

That's right. Here in Japan there are killer attack kites wielded by grade schoolers. You better pray there is no wind if you plan to go outside.

Okay, so it's a bird. Thing is, this sign should be heeded. My friend was enjoying a sandwich and look away for a second and it was gone. I'm not talking he had the sandwich in front of him on a table. He was holding it in his left hand and the kite took it. My friend didn't even see the bird, but my teacher did so he can testify to how awesome it was.



Time's closing in around now so you'll get the full story about Kamakura next week.