Yakitori burps rule.

The post-school adventure today happened in Kamakura, a city just outside of Tokyo. The main draw there are a number of old Buddhist and Shinto temples, as well as a very large Buddha. I`ll post some pictures tomorrow, as my battery ran out today and the time is not going to work out to charge, download, and post this evening.

Anyhow, Kamakura was very pleasant. Hilly and green, with neat little streets and side streets filled with small shops and lots of people. It is a ocean town, so it is a bit toursty at times, but not nearly to the level that the Oregon coast towns are. Sure, it had plenty of ice cream stands, a shop filled with cheesy Japanese weapons, and a few little Hawaiian themed places (one was very realistic, with the special of the day being SPAM), but it was very much sans the plethora of cheapness that I`ve come to expect from coastal tourist holes.

I was with three other students, and we were stopped by an older Japanese gentlemen who recognized us as tourists and was curious to where we were from. Turns out he had recently been to the East coast of America, having travelled to Boston, New York, and DC. He was 67, retired, and had only been studying English for three years but spoke very well. I spoke a little bit of Japanese to him in the course of the conversation, and he complemented me about it, which was very flattering and cool. It was a very cool moment, and he was a very neat man, from all first impressions. I also had some very fun moments talking with storekeepers, and one of them was a very nice lady in a fancy jam store that brought out all these samples of jams and jellies--Mango, Apricot, Earl Gray Lemon Curd, Sugar-Free Strawberry; all very tasty--and I ended up purchasing this Strawberry Cream Cheese spread that`s truly tasty.

Some random observations on Japan thus far: there`s something odd about their legs; the subway/train system is extremely impressive; the level of service and hospitality in their shops and restaurants is beyond impressive, and really speaks to their intrinsic cultural norms rather than any sort of management strategy; space is a very highly valued commodity, and as such is reflected in their production and construction choices. There`s more, but it`s slipping my sun-drenched brain. Time for some green tea!

--and dial 001--