Part two of feeling productive

Today has been an incredibly long day. So far all of my days here have been very long, but very rewarding. I have learned so much more about the people here at the center with me, as well as learning a lot about myself. I was able to almost fully set up both my personal and academic blogs, my webshots, and get everything in order for publication. A bunch of the guys were going to play ping pong, and as it was going to show me much of the city that I had not yet seen, I decided to go along. Sadly, the ping pong place was not open, but we journeyed over to JJ’s, which is an arcade. On the way, it started snowing pretty hard. It was so beautiful, although the snow here does not ever really stick. It was still sticking to us, which was great. We took the bus over to JJ’s, and it was my first bus experience. I am not sure that I am ready to ride the bus on my own yet, because I do not know all of the streets, and I cannot read enough Japanese to recognize my stop. Wit we got there safely and walked a ways through a much more bustling area of Kyoto. It was certainly a business and shopping area, because there were stores everywhere. After somewhat of a walk, we finally got to JJ’s, which operates their arcade much differently than arcades in the U.S. You sign up for a card, and play as many video games as you want, without needing coins. You pay on your way out based on how long you played, and not on how many games you played. Because I had to sign up as a member, I received a translation of my name into katakana, which are the set of characters the Japanese use to transpose American words. It’s kind of cool to know how to write my name in Japanese now. The games in the arcade were very interactive. They had a ping pong room, at least two bowling alleys (small, with two lanes a piece), a pitching and batting area, squash, and plenty of other things I probably missed in the hustle and bustle. Also, the video games themselves required more movement. There were several DDR machines, but there were also games where you had to roll a ball, turn a crank, ride a horse, balance, box, and play guitar. There was also one where you had to walk a dog on a treadmill. Perhaps if American arcades were this interactive, people would be in better shape. I learned how to play table tennis from a nice Japanese boy who is friends with someone from the center. I had played before, but I’ve never been much of a good tennis player, table or otherwise. We finally decided to go home after (what at least felt like) several hours in the arcade. On the walk around the area outside of the arcade, we saw four or five girls dressed up as mushrooms. I had my camera with me, but completely forgot about it at the time, so I did not get to take a picture. I did enjoy the experience though. Several of us were hungry, so we walked for a while until we got to a ramen shop, which is a restaurant that specializes in noodles (much better than the ramen noodles you can buy at Food Lion for 10/$1.00. I ate some rice with pork and chives on top and some dumplings for about $5.00, which was a great meal. Feeling full and happy, we boarded a bus to go home. At the bus stop, I began testing my ability to read Kana on the signs in the area. I wasn’t bad, although I have a long, long way to go. The bus ride home was pleasant. I find myself in a more talkative open community than exists at William and Mary. Nearly every conversation is lively and two sided, and I am learning so much about life from the other people here. It is nearing 10:00 and I am already exhausted, so I believe I will end my journal entry here for tonight, do some reading and get to sleep. If this is what a typical day in Japan is like, my semester is going to be wonderful. I still have my studies to get underway, and hopefully they will bring me to plenty of beneficial activities. I do want to make meditation more a part of my daily routine. But so far, I haven’t been able to get much done in the evenings because of exhaustion. Hopefully after the jet lag wears off, I will be set.

Music equivalent of the day: Ping pong, the activity
Major purchase: Entry to JJ’s arcade
Food: White rice with pork and dumplings.
Meditation/ inspiration/ thought of the day: Perhaps if video games in America were as much of a full body workout as the ones in Japan, Americans wouldn’t be so fat.
Top priority: reading