I'm not in Tokyo at the moment, I'm visiting Mountain View for two weeks and will then go to Pittsburgh, to dance with all my friends at Steel City Blues! It's very exciting to be in the States again, I have to say that I really like the Bay area. Plus we had gorgeous weather last week. It's a bit sad that I'm missing the beginning of spring in Japan, but I'll be back soon enough.
So what do I like about the States? People are very open, you can start conversations with random strangers, and people smile at you. The last few days in Tokyo I was feeling a bit depressed. I know that the Japanese just try to keep some illusion of distance, and therefore never make eye contact with strangers or even smile at the person next to them on the train. But it makes me feel very alone.
One of my friends at work tells me that you can actually go to a bar as a foreigner and start talking to random people. But I need to know a little bit of Japanese for that. When I'm back, I'll try. I'm having a lot of fun with my colleagues though. We went to another Brazilian restaurant before I left, delicious food. Tokyo is great for food! And it's not that expensive. Well, I guess nowhere is as expensive as Switzerland. :) Anyway, I'll tell you more when I'm back there, taking a bit of distance might have helped. And hopefully it will be spring, which also improves my mood!
Japan
Kopf hoch, das ist eben eine andere Welt; es ist nicht manchen vergönnt, diese hautnah und nicht nur als Tourist zu erleben. Und noch viel Vergnügen in the USA. Elisa
Submitted by Elisa
on Mon, 2012-03-12 - 06:11