tokyo...surprisingly different

there is no such thing as the same. everyone and everything is different, no matter how hard we may try at times to put things and people into boxes so that we can sort them neatly in our minds. this certainly holds true for what i have seen so far of tokyo and japan. i can admit that i came here expecting to see every businessman in the same black suit, every old woman with the same blank stare and every child with the same smile. the differences i have observed so far are inspiring and crushing stereotypes for me left and right. there are surprises at every turn here. the grey haired woman who runs across the street, the mohawks of men that are less than neat, the wonder in the eyes of the child who dares to wave at a gaijin (foreign people), the stares from women who slow their pace for a chance to look at eyes deeply set, the knee socks pulled up to there, the store clerk who speaks in english when you expect them not to care and the ease i've found in bowing to everyone at every interaction. these are things i did not expect to see or do or find in this place, but then again i guess i really didn't know what i'd find.

it is day three here and i am slowly becoming acquainted with customs anid closeness here. there is so much to take in and see and everyone and everything is blowing my mind. simplicity rules and smiling can get you everywhere. i saw shinjuku station last night (the busiest subway station in the world; more than 2 million people pass through it each day) and was blown away at the small pockets of peace that i found lingering around every corner that people were racing past, even at nearly midnight last night. peace is in us all and follows each of us in this world, and all we must do is slow our own pace, take a deep breathe, close our eyes and we will find it all around us. i am beginning to understand how people can live and work in places as huge as tokyo; it is simply by living inside their heads for moments of their days and daydreaming as i'm certain i have seen many people doing as they take part in this race pace of life.

i'm no doubt looking forward to island time very soon, as it has always appealed to me and now it will finally be my pace of life, but i am understanding much more about the ability that japanese people have to exsist as they do in huge numbers in small spaces. it's these daydreaming people i've witnessed that have surprised me the most so far about this country, though i know that the surprises have only just begun.

i will travel to nagasaki tomorrow and spend the day there with the other JET's that will teach in the prefecture around me. i will travel on the morning of the anniversay of the bombing to my island, naru, and begin to discover my new home there. it is very exciting to anticipate the extreme calm that will be there with the other 3,000 people on the island. but as sure as i am that it will be peaceful, i am sure that there will be plenty of times that i feel it is anything but calm. the adventure is really just beginning and i'm going to find things about life that i never knew exsisted. to be on the verge of this is fulfilling a life goal, it is watching the sun rise and set on the same island with hope for humanity and love for the world in my heart.

i have fun stories to tell about japanese toilets...more to come!