bye bye Japan, hello London
I'm finally able to sit down at a computer for a while, so I'll spend a little time writing in this blog. I'd stick some photos in here as well, but I haven't been able to upload any shots yet so that'll have to wait for another time.
Right now, I'm in a place where people speak English, which is a nice change in a way. The downside of being understood when you speak is that people probably also expect you to understand what's going on around you and not act like an incompetant tourist. In Japan, if you run around Tokyo station looking for the right platform to catch your train and look like a moron in the process, people understand because you're a tourist. If you eat food in a train or while you're walking along the street, you get a few odd looks but you're forgiven. The security guard in the restricted areas of the sumo stadium in Tokyo (how can you blame us for wandering into the actual wrestling area of the stadium when the door was wide open?) was very polite when escorting us out of the building. People won't even get mad at you if you do something totally stupid like wear a bathing suit into an onsen, though they will look very worried and jabber at you in animated Japanese. But here in London, I expect that not tipping at a restaurant or wandering into a restricted area thinking that it's a tourist spot will result in some bad sentiments being thown my way.
Maybe my feeling as though English speaking people will be less forgiving towards me is slightly off the mark. Perhaps Japanese people are just unusually humble and well mannered on the whole. Even the crazily trendy teenagers in Harajuku looked more depressed than angry, I couldn't imagine anyone in Japan thumping me over the head because the didn't like the look of me.
Anyway, I flew in from Tokyo a couple of days ago, sort of. The time difference between here and Tokyo is crazy. I've gone back in time 9 hours... I expected the jet lag to really throw me about. It wasn't so bad though, I just stayed awake until a normal sort of hour in London (10pm local time, equivalent to 7am Tokyo time), then went to sleep. As a result of this, I've been awake during daylight hours and have been able to see plenty of the main sites. Westminster Abbey was good to see, though the place was very high and mighty. The elaborate tombs and the the language used to try to put people in awe of God did more to isolate me from the great people buried there than make me appreciate them and think of what they achieved as people.
The National Portrait Gallery was another place that was probably meant to make people appreciate important people from the past and what they achieved. A lot of the portraits were painted before photography took off, so were painted to achieve a likeness of the subject more than anything else. It was hard to appreciate what these famous people did and what they were like just by looking at their facial features, though it was fun to stare at their faces and imagine what they were like as people. Having so many great names and great intellects staring at you was somewhat intimidating.
Of all the famous places I've been to so far, the only place that has been really moving was seeing the A-bomb dome in Hiroshima. Unlike many of these other famous sites, there weren't any pretentions about the place, the place didn't consciously try to do anything in particular to create feelings of awe, disgust, reverence or anything else. It was just there, a reminder of what people can do to each other. It was sad to see, as were the melancholy memorials in the city, which were quietly preaching peace without being in your face about it.
Anyway, I'll quit writing for now as I don't want to spend a fortune at an internet cafe. Feel free to drop a comment to let me know you're out there, would love to hear how things are back home.
Right now, I'm in a place where people speak English, which is a nice change in a way. The downside of being understood when you speak is that people probably also expect you to understand what's going on around you and not act like an incompetant tourist. In Japan, if you run around Tokyo station looking for the right platform to catch your train and look like a moron in the process, people understand because you're a tourist. If you eat food in a train or while you're walking along the street, you get a few odd looks but you're forgiven. The security guard in the restricted areas of the sumo stadium in Tokyo (how can you blame us for wandering into the actual wrestling area of the stadium when the door was wide open?) was very polite when escorting us out of the building. People won't even get mad at you if you do something totally stupid like wear a bathing suit into an onsen, though they will look very worried and jabber at you in animated Japanese. But here in London, I expect that not tipping at a restaurant or wandering into a restricted area thinking that it's a tourist spot will result in some bad sentiments being thown my way.
Maybe my feeling as though English speaking people will be less forgiving towards me is slightly off the mark. Perhaps Japanese people are just unusually humble and well mannered on the whole. Even the crazily trendy teenagers in Harajuku looked more depressed than angry, I couldn't imagine anyone in Japan thumping me over the head because the didn't like the look of me.
Anyway, I flew in from Tokyo a couple of days ago, sort of. The time difference between here and Tokyo is crazy. I've gone back in time 9 hours... I expected the jet lag to really throw me about. It wasn't so bad though, I just stayed awake until a normal sort of hour in London (10pm local time, equivalent to 7am Tokyo time), then went to sleep. As a result of this, I've been awake during daylight hours and have been able to see plenty of the main sites. Westminster Abbey was good to see, though the place was very high and mighty. The elaborate tombs and the the language used to try to put people in awe of God did more to isolate me from the great people buried there than make me appreciate them and think of what they achieved as people.
The National Portrait Gallery was another place that was probably meant to make people appreciate important people from the past and what they achieved. A lot of the portraits were painted before photography took off, so were painted to achieve a likeness of the subject more than anything else. It was hard to appreciate what these famous people did and what they were like just by looking at their facial features, though it was fun to stare at their faces and imagine what they were like as people. Having so many great names and great intellects staring at you was somewhat intimidating.
Of all the famous places I've been to so far, the only place that has been really moving was seeing the A-bomb dome in Hiroshima. Unlike many of these other famous sites, there weren't any pretentions about the place, the place didn't consciously try to do anything in particular to create feelings of awe, disgust, reverence or anything else. It was just there, a reminder of what people can do to each other. It was sad to see, as were the melancholy memorials in the city, which were quietly preaching peace without being in your face about it.
Anyway, I'll quit writing for now as I don't want to spend a fortune at an internet cafe. Feel free to drop a comment to let me know you're out there, would love to hear how things are back home.
posted by Gene at 3:48 am
Are you gong to stop by in HK?
Justin
Gday Gene! Glad to hear you've been enjoying your travels! Wow, London is a big culture jump from Tokyo. Where are you going from London? Europe is at your feet and I'm sure you're fairly loaded (like I used to be before I landed in Frenakfurt in July). I'm currently in Italy (finished xchange in Sweden) so I should actually be saying 'Ciao Gene!' but its funny, but I'm not reacting to this place the way I thought I would. Maybe its just the bad weather or Iàve been brainwashed by the orderly Swedish system, but I'm not taking the pollution, lack of infrastructure and insane traffic very well.. I've embraced the shopping, Italian accent, food and sight seeing though, so I suppose its all good! Don't forget to send Uncle Phil and Ted a postcard- they were missing you in August when Phil emailed me. He said the new IC guy Woo, was entertaining enough, but 'no Geno'. Take it easy mate! And take care!! (Bad things can happen to guys too you know..) *Leida
Hey Justin. Unfortunately Hong Kong couldn't make it onto my schedule. The around the world ticket wouldn't let me stop there, otherwise it would've been my first stop =(
Nice to hear from you Leida =)
I wish you didn't mention money. I've been trying not to think about my spending habits too much but London was crazily expensive, although crappy buffet meals weren't too over the top costly so I had a few of them. I'm in Paris with relatives now, so my so-called budget is getting a bit more on track.
Where abouts are you staying in Italy? I hope you were kidding when you said that you've embraced the Italian accent, hearing you speak like an Italian would be kinda weird. Oh, and Tam (the Thai guy from the place I was staying at in Wollongong) keeps asking me to tell you that he loved your beautiful accent, hehe.
Post a Comment
<< Home