This was going to be a list-like post, but maybe I'll just do random vignettes instead. Or random descriptions; feel free to call them what you want.

One of the things I truly love to do is people-watch. I do this often enough in the US, so I don't view it as odd that I'm doing this in Japan, too. And these are some of the people I see every day or almost every day:

• There's a teenage boy who takes the train at my local station--a thin, sort of awkward guy who has something clearly wrong with his right foot. I don't know much about congenital foot disorders and/or regular injuries, but it's obvious that this is permanent. His right foot is turned in at an angle and he drags it behind him. He limps, quite noticeably. And just as noticeably, he absolutely, without a doubt, refuses to let anyone help him. It's not helping in the sense of let me carry you up the stairs; it's more like, oh, you seem to have something wrong with your foot, I'll let you go first on the train. Or I'll let you go up the stairs ahead of me. Or I won't push you quite as hard. He's proud and so very young and he won't let anything in the world stop him. Or so it seems to me. He holds his own in the train station every morning, when it's obvious that he's off-balance a great deal of the time. I admire him, honestly.
• I also admire the mothers of Japan, who are generally youngish. I've seen some strollers here, which are charmingly referred to as a "baby car" in katakana, but the norm is to tote your child yourself. The trains are crowded, the city is busy, and you can get around faster without a stroller. So these young mothers, many of them younger than me at 29, stroll around with infants strapped to their backs, their chests, their sides, and sometimes under their coats in the rain. They shelter them in umbrellas and put them in baby seats on the back of their bicycles. They sometimes even make sure that they have an umbrella open over them, as they ride their bicycle. They take them grocery shopping and clothes shopping and everywhere you could think of this way. It takes strength and dedication to do that, to make your way through throngs of people and keep your child safe. They are very cool, and while I know it's a normal way of life to them, it's very different from how infants are lugged around in America.
  
• While we're on the subject of bicycles, I'd just like to note that I am greatly amused by two separate classes of cyclists. The first is those that can ride their bicycle in the driving rain, steering with one hand, and keeping a fully open umbrella above them in the wind with their other hand. Talent, my friends. But the most talented ones of all are the cyclists who ride their bikes while smoking a cigarette and talking on their cell phones at the same time. I'm fairly sure that both activities aren't legal on a bike, but it's damn amusing to watch them whiz by that way.
• Finally, I wanted to mention the old man. He's missing most of his teeth, but he grins wide anyway. Most of his hair is gone, too, and he's little and stooped. He's obviously up there in years, but that doesn't stop him from having an extremely dedicated job at the local supermarket, Ito Yokado. He's the basket cart man, and his sole job is to stand at the base of the escalators that lead into the basement supermarket and make sure that people return their shopping basket/cart combos (yes, really, that's what carts are in Japan). He's there day in and day out; he nods at those he remembers, including me, and if you greet him properly you're rewarded with a big almost-toothless grin and a greeting back. I'm not sure he's properly appreciated by the regular shoppers, but he does a wonderful job of keeping all the carts in line. it's not a very important job, you might say, but he does it well and that's all that matters. I like him very much, even though I have no idea who he is.

And that's your vignettes for the evening. I'm off for sleep and then catch-up paperwork tomorrow morning. =)

At last, a post about the Japanese trains! Just what you've been waiting for, I know. =)

(By the way, my ankle is slowly, slowly healing, but I'm fairly sure I completely overdid it with walking on Monday and Tuesday, so I've been home from school the last two days. Sort of bored, actually, as a lot of my time involves keeping my stupid foot elevated to get it to stop swelling. Anyway, back to trains!)

The trains in Tokyo are simply awesome 95% of the time. I am someone who has an extraordinarily poor opinion of American trains--Amtrak wins no bonus points in my heart. I have long rebelled against taking the train whenever I had to go down to DC from where I live in NJ, since it's so abominably slow most of the time. And although Amtrak has tried very hard to improve service in the past few years, it's simply too expensive for its value, in my opinion. I'd still rather fly, despite having to go through security. The NYC subways are decent, and so is the DC Metro, but I use neither on a regular basis except when I'm in either city.

Having said all that, I adore the Tokyo trains.

For starters, they're clean. Sparkling clean, in most cases, despite the massive amount of people who use them daily. They also come on time; when the schedule board says the train will be there, the train is THERE. This is a new and unique concept to me. =) On the more central Tokyo routes, they have announcements in both English and Japanese; on my commuter feeder line that I take first, they're Japanese only, but I view it as kanji listening and reading practice. =)

They have a million and one handholds. They also have extremely comfortable seats. They are, generally, at a decent temperature, although I suspect that I will soon be very, very warm once it heats up some more.

Aside from the trains themselves, the train stations are like mini-cities. Even the smaller stations have a couple of stores and kiosks; the bigger stations like Ikebukuro or Shinjuku are massive. You could spend the entire day in Ikebukuro station and its adjoining department stores and never go above ground at all. The train stations have bookstores galore, conbini galore (convenience stores, which are a class above the US variety), tons of little restaurants... clothing stores, fresh vegetable vendors, accessory shops, and fresh fish mongers. That's not even counting the things that are in department stores. And depending on whether you choose to go out the north, south, central, east, or west gate of any station, you'll encounter a completely different set of shops. As with the trains themselves, everything tends to be scrupulously clean. Japan is the only country in the world that has free plastic umbrella wrappers literally everywhere you go....

But lest you think it's all peaches and cream, we do need to talk about the other 5% of the time when I don't love the trains. Which is rush hour, or more precisely, morning rush hour.

I take two train lines to get to school every morning: the Saikyo and the Yamamote. The Yamamote is a central Tokyo line, which is crowded in the morning, but not unbearably so. The Saikyo, on the other hand, is like a living human death trap. I'd compare it to sardines, but it's even more than sardines. There are so many people crammed into one space that if you can't get one of the many handholds, it really doesn't matter, since you will be held upright by the sheer pressure of that many other people surrounding you. It gets a bit iffy when the weather is wet because then the train floor gets wet from people's shoes, and everyone starts to slip and slide. Except there's not much of anywhere to slip and slide, so we all end up cascading into each other.

I've developed a healthy respect for a competent train driver, since you can tell who is good and who isn't. The good ones know how to slow the train down slowly enough so that everyone doesn't ricochet off of each other when the train stops... and the bad ones don't know how to do that at all.

The sheer crowded nature of the trains in the morning is one of the reasons, besides major elevation of the ankle, that I've stayed home. Try balancing the majority of your weight on one foot, with a handhold if you're lucky, and staying in one spot for more than fifteen minutes before you can change trains at Ikebukuro. It's a miracle I didn't die on Monday and Tuesday. =) Tomorrow morning, I use the rest of my ankle tape, fashion another temporary brace, and hope that I can get a handhold for my commute. Thankfully, my ankle brace that my husband mailed from America arrives tomorrow afternoon, which will give me blessed stability. Go express mail! =) (Coincidentally, it was cheaper to mail the brace by international express mail than to buy a new one in Tokyo...)

I'll leave you with a video that shows how exactly they get all of us into the trains in the morning rush hour... this is seriously what my commute looks like every single morning.

I was going to write about the trains; in fact, I've been writing blog posts about the Tokyo trains in my head for a week, then getting home and being too tired to actually type them out. But instead, you're not getting the trains. Tonight, you get Jenny's visit to the hospital.

Last night, Saturday night, I went to see a movie in Ikebukuro, which is sorta south of me in Tokyo. It had lots of nice stores, and so after the movie I walked around, browsing. I was in a department store with books in the basement, and I had just happily purchased four volumes of manga that I wanted. I said thank you to the clerks in Japanese. I turned around...

... I walked directly into a paper sign. To be exact, it was two paper signposts that had a long ribbon of paper strung between them (imagine a finish line at a race track), and the clerks had placed it directly behind me while I stood at the register Obviously, it was there because I was the last customer being checked out at that register. Also, just as obviously, I completely didn't see the paper sign-thing.

I got entangled in the sign and the store staff had to free me, which was embarrassing enough. But by the time I had walked to the train platform to go home, I knew something was starting to be wrong with my right ankle. My ankles and I, as frequent readers will no doubt remember, have a fabled bad relationship with each other. They're weak and I'm clumsy, which is a terrible, terrible complication.

Yes, dear readers, it was another sprain.

I got myself ice and some food provisions. I took a cab home from the train station, even though that costs money and involves driving in circles for awhile as we try to find my house. I nursed and coddled the damn ankle for hours last night.

I woke up this morning and it was three times the size of my other foot. And it hurt terribly, so terribly. So I got on the US Embassy website for Tokyo, and went about figuring out which of the international hospitals I could get to on a Sunday. This is Japan--things close sometimes on Sundays, especially hospitals. And I desperately wanted an international hospital because my medical history is complicated and I needed to be able to get some talking in English done, easily.

I ended up setting on St. Luke's International Hospital, which is only 11 miles away from where I live, but a pain in the neck to get to. If I had been able to walk onto the trains easily, I would have happily done the 40 minute train ride + 15 minute walk to station. Instead, since I was still coddling the damn ankle, I paid an obscene amount of money to take a cab for a half hour. But the cab was honestly worth it, since I wasn't dying in utter pain by the time I got to the hospital.

The hospital itself was lovely--I've been in and out of hospitals visiting relatives for years, so I know my hospitals--clean, well-staffed, and very friendly. I got x-rays, medication, and a decently long consultation for a little under US $300. And that's all with absolutely no health insurance that the hospital would take in Japan. (I submit a claim later, which may or may not be reimbursed partially by my US insurance.) Comparatively, I've had the same services in the US, paid $100 as my co-pay, and then gotten an itemized bill of what the insurance company paid that often totaled over $2000.

In Japan, it was a relatively quick ER visit. Between my little bits of Japanese and the doctor's bits of English, we were able to understand each other well. We each had a dictionary and referred to it, and I was left satisfied that he knew what was wrong with me and how to help me. Communication is key, after all. What was even nicer and more unexpected was that the registration staff and the pharmacist were both able to do the same with me in English and Japanese combined. It's somewhat far away from where I'm living, but it was a nice hospital to visit. I do agree with the doctor that it appears to be a minor sprain, but if it gets worse, then yes, I do need to see an orthopedist. But that won't be an emergency, so I'll go somewhere closer, and not on a Sunday. =)

Questions or comments are welcome. I would have liked to have gotten a free brace, but I bought tape to help me walk the rest of the way home with the trains, and I'll get an ace bandage tomorrow. Plus, the painkillers worked wonders and the swelling thing they gave me is decidedly lovely. Overall, I'm satisfied.

I'm not entirely looking forward to having to hobble back and forth to school this week, but it can be done, slowly. And I reserve the right to not go tomorrow, if my leg is still swollen badly.

Well, as I've been twittering intermittantly, I'm in Japan! It's everything I expected it to be and more. There's so much to tell all of you that I'm not quite sure where to start.

It's currently 2:24 pm on Saturday, April 10th, Tokyo time. I'm going to be running around and washing the clothes I wore on the flight--wish me luck with a washing machine in Japanese--so I think I'll add to this post throughout the day and the night.

The flight was good, but very long. I left my house at 6:30 am EST on Tuesday morning. I got to the airport at 7:30 am EST, took a Newark to DC flight at 10:20 am EST, and then got to DC at 11:30 am. I high-tailed it through Dulles, stopping to buy fruit (it was the last day of Passover and that's all the airport food that's kosher for it), and got to my gate for my flight to Tokyo. I left DC at 12:43 pm EST on Tuesday morning and got to Japan at 3:30 pm JST (Japan time) on Wednesday afternoon. By the time I navigated Narita Airport, the baggage delivery service, customs and immigration, the lovely people at the Softbank cell phone kiosk, and managed to find the Keisei liner to Tokyo itself... I was very, very, very tired. My roommate, Deanna, met me at the Nippori station and helped me get back to our actual house in Akabane Nishi.

Yes, we have an actual house and it's really large. About 1100 square feet or so, which is insane for residential Tokyo. Deanna is friends with the landlord, so we're also paying really, really, really cheap rent. We could easily fit a family of five in here, the way it's set up.

By the time I got to the house though, I had been up for 36 hours straight and was officially brain-dead. I unpacked some and then Deanna dragged me out to eat. Then, I collapsed and slept on my futon, after she helped me figure out how to use it, etc.

On Thursday, I bummed around a bunch, tried to get over jet lag, went shopping for stuff (I bought a lot of stuff to cook with), and went to see where my language school is. I got terribly lost, which seems to be a recurring theme with me in this city. I discovered that yes, my Japanese really isn't that great, but I can sort of muddle my way through things pleasantly. Muddling is very good.

On Friday, I went to my school for a placement test, went shopping for more kitchen stuff/food/school supplies (Deanna doesn't cook AT ALL, so she has 2 forks, 2 butter knives, 2 spoons, a bunch of disposable chopsticks, 1 pot, 2 plates, and 3 glasses. I bought a lot of stuff, but its all really basic stuff, like a frying pan and a rice cooker and bowls and a spatula... and so on.) I was carrying so much stuff by the time I got done shopping that walking home was literally impossible. So I grabbed a taxi, tried to direct the taxi driver, and failed utterly. Happily, he stopped and asked directions when we were in the general vicinity of our house, and we found two guys who were my neighbors. They showed me that my house was only four houses away--again, I got lost really easily and it was also dark--walked me home and showed me where they live.

Which, according to Deanna, is really, really odd for Japan, that they were:

1. Nice to a stranger.
2. Knew where we live.
3. Carried my bags without being asked.
4. Told me where they live.

I have no idea why, but they did all of those things, and I don't mind anyway. I know there's a massive ton of prejudice against white people here, but if they want to talk about me behind my back, I don't mind. It's not like they're going to harass me for getting lost.

But the prejudice is strange because I get lots and lots of funny looks on the street. I am white AND I am massively fat for Japanese standards, although I'm actually on the small side of the fat scale in America. I look back and the people look away. But sometimes they look back at me again and again, on the train, and I particularly enjoy torturing those people because they know that I know that they're staring at me. Thus, they get visibly embarrassed, look away, and then stare again. I stare back.

Today, I made miso soup and rice for breakfast, will be shortly putting my laundry in, and tonight I'm going to meet one of Deanna's friends named Ai (she's Malaysian) for karaoke and shabu shabu. Mmm, beef. =)

I can't seem to capture Zoe's tubby little hips, but here, have a picture of her with Chris' viola instead.

Kojel doesn't gel quite as nicely as Jello, but it worked anyway.

• I'm busy preparing for my trip to Japan and sort of being excited and moderately nervous because oh god, I've never been that far away from home yet. But I will survive. I'm a big girl.
• I'm also trying to wrap up agency business before I leave, somewhat unsuccessfully, as I can't get in touch with people I need to speak to. This is distressing, to say the least.
• I hosted a Passover Seder for ten people on Tuesday night to grand success. I have successfully conquered brisket, chicken soup, and doctoring gefilte fish, plus a mostly-successful Jello mold. I told my mom that she's welcome to return to her home planet now, as I've mastered the food of my people. =)
• I seem to have flipped to a Japanese time schedule already, which is good, but also bad, as I'd like to see my family before I leave.
• I have a new blogging gig--have had it for a month or so--and I'm working on my first post still. It's almost done, thank god, as it also fell victim to the writer's block from hell. My new blogging gig is very patient and I am very thankful for that.
  
• I wrote 603 words last week.

And finally, although I don't have a picture to prove it, it's my sad duty to report that Zoe has become rather pudgy. Definitively pudgy, in fact. She has cat hips. Tubby little cat hips. I thought she was pudgy; my dad thought she was pudgy; my mom thought she was pudgy. But alas, Chris, my husband, did not think she was pudgy. He went on and on about how I was spreading scandalous rumors about her. =)

We weighed her today and she now clocks in at 13 lbs, which is quite a lot for a little cat. The vet says she's only supposed to weigh 11 lbs at most, so she's going on a diet. But lucky for me, I'll be across the world, so Chris has to deal with the incessant meowing that she is hungry, hungry, hungry, why are you not giving me cat food...

Who says there's not some perks to travel? =)