Well I came back to Japan, and who else here to welcome me other than…

Giant Gundam

It’s been a year since going to Odaiba, and since then they have created a new mall called ‘Diver City’ full of luxury good stores that I will never be able to shop in, along with the return of the giant gundam.  Everyone was outside looking for a photo snap shot, including yours truly.

Unlike last time, being in Japan feels absolutely great.  Yeah, everyone still looks like a zombie and they are overworked to death, but the atmosphere of the society itself is just lovely.  And more than the overall picture, I miss the little things the most.  I love how the trains work, even how they look; I love the pre-packed bentos for sale, along with the nicely wrapped onigiri.  I like the recycling system, as well as the clean streets and punctual public transportation.  When people bump into me, it feels great to have someone say ‘sumimasen,’ as opposed to Shanghai where I get a grunt and a shove.

There’s so much about Japan that I’m so… sensitive to.  Looking at Yukata reminds me of the final gift my elementary school gave me when I left the school, and how all the students cried and followed me out the doorway, clutching my sleeves.  Seeing kanji reminds me of my old calligraphy classes, where I sat in seiza for hours as the students laughed at me cringe in pain and finally roll over, clutching my numb legs.  Even looking at the sushi in the store takes me back to when the old janitor at my middle school stopped by my house just to give me home-made sushi from Nou, wishing me a happy Tanabata.

Anyway, while I’m basking in the joy that is Japanese culture I still have no desire to live here.  Everything here is great and wonderful, but the perfection of it all gets tiresome and pretty soon you realize that everyone, in the end, lives life as a robot should.

Either way, being here is great ‘medicine’ for my culture shock from China.  Although I’ve lived in China for two months, I wasn’t prepared for how I would react to my return to the mainland.  People don’t line up, instead they just flock to the door in monstrous crowd, like a group of people escaping a fire (but really, they just want to ride the train).  I’m tired of people bumping into me without a word of apology.  Most of all, I’m just goddamn sick of people trying to take advantage of me.  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it one thousand times: China is not dangerous so no one will ever kill you, but constantly worrying about not being scammed is goddamn tiresome.  I was trying to find an apartment in Shanghai, and people were showing me apartments that were worse than outhouses and trying to charge me 300 USD a month.  After being shown three apartments that resembled prisons and running all over Shanghai, I went back to my friend’s house and cried.  I missed America.  I missed my friends.  And here I was back in China, without a home to live in, and no luck finding one.

This break in Japan should be good for me, and soon I’ll be returning to my countryside home and seeing all my old friends and ‘family.’

And I hope to post more entires about strange Japanese TV and news… look forward to it!

I’m off to get my lunch, adieu!