Oh Japan

Well it’s already tomorrow here and yesterday was exhilarating and exhausting!

I decided first thing that me and my coat needed to get coffee.  While I don’t want to make coffee buying part the daily routine, it would help me to learn the area, I justified.  So I checked my map for Brooklyn Coffee, where I went the first day.  Seriously none of it looked familiar, which actually made me mad.  As I started walking, however, I found the indoor rock climbing place and knew I was on the right path.

At the coffee shop, the clerk smile and asked where I was from.  “Flor-EE-duh,” I responded.  She said Oh, she had been to Miami Beach and it was “amazing but a little dangerous.” I got my machiato (a small cup of bitter espresso) and my frequent flyer club card and this little pastry called a canella, which was like bread filled with flan.

I peaked at my map and thought I could find Katie’s apartment without looking again, so off I went.  It was warmer and sunny.  I allowed my mind to wander (a mistake!), thinking This ain’t so hard!  I’ve been to Mexico City which is bigger than Osaka after all.  I’ve taken trains all over Paris, Milan, Washington DC……and look, there are pigeons just  like in any other city.  When I saw the school near Katie’s apartment, I was nearly patting myself on the back when…….oh man, it wasn’t the school after all.  Hmmmm.  I cheated and looked at the map.  Whaaaat?   Where am I?  I texted Katie “Lost.  Look out your window and see if you see me.”  Staying calm but thoroughly annoyed, I tried for find the large grocery store I thought was nearby.  Nothing.  I finally resorted to walking to the main street (which has no name) and finding “our train station.”  From there I was home free.  It definitely deflated me and my coat’s confidence though.

Katie had to pay her rent and electric bills, which she does at the bank.  We set off for Namba, another area in the city about 20 minutes away.  We stood in line and finally got to the ATM machines where she pays her bills in Japanese for goodness sakes!  There were like 8 ATM’s (I counted 11 at the bank the other day).

It was lunch time so we went to Tully’s Coffee.  It kinda looks like a Starbucks.  I’m not really a sandwich person, but Katie got one for us to share, along with a couple pastries.  We found seats upstairs with windows overlooking like a hotel district, with beautiful stores and banks and tall buildings.  The sandwich was so yummy!  It was like a biscuity bread, with thin tasty ham and melted mozzarella cheese with a light tomato sauce.  With the cold, dry weather, my nose has been running and as I got out a tissue Katie whispered, “Mom, you can’t blow your nose in public!!”  What???  I literally had to go to the restroom.  It’s really a thing here.  People do not eat, drink, blow their nose, talk on the phone….nothing in public.  There are no trash cans because there is nothing to throw away.  I have never even seen anyone carrying a drink, not even a water bottle.

Next we went to Bic Camera store, which was massive (of course).  There were hundreds of camera models and every accessory.  But I was there for one reason:  a Japanese SIM Card for my phone.  A guy helped us and I was required to enter my passport number into my  phone.  I am officially off the American grid now.  If you have my phone number, you can download WhatsApp for free and we can text and call and video chat, which is how the rest of the world communicates.  No more Verizon.

We wandered through many stores into yet another shopping district.  I found a new scarf for 100 yen made of black fur, so it really goes with my coat and looks very Japanese!  We tried on makeup in a huge store where you can go to the back and test out products.  There is no one there to bother you and everyone shares the same lipsticks and blushes. There was an entire section of prescription contact lenses you could buy off the shelf to change your eye color to any color you wanted.

I explained to Katie that one thing I wanted to accomplish was feeling comfortable walking up to a booth or into a restaurant and getting food.  I pointed to a booth that smelled delicious and had little fried somethings and said, “Like that place there.”  Katie said, “Those are octopus balls.”  Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!?!  “Never mind, ” I said, in shock really.  “Not actual testicles,” she whispered, “But pieces of octopus, breaded and fried.  It’s really good!”  I’ll work up to that.

We walked through Shinsaibashi again, where we had been the other day.  This building is a multi-story gaming complex, including a rock climbing wall on the outside of the building!

According to my phone, we walked 7.78 miles.  We stopped at a Family Mart for a bottle of water, but of course we had to sit in the chairs provided to drink it.  Tired, we decided to meet her friend/coworker and go to the Korean Bath House.

We took two trains to get to Korea Town.  It looked really different, though it is hard to say how.  The symbols (words) on the signs have a different shape.  There were streets and alleys of restaurants and shops.

The “sento” was a huge building.  As soon as you get inside you remove your shoes and the clerk gives you a key to a shoe locker.  Then you go to the counter where they explain by pointing to a list (in English for us) that you have to be quiet, no cameras, and no tattoos are allowed.  Katie said that other spas allow tattoos, but not that one.  Then the men go through one curtain and women another into a nice locker room with wicker flooring that absorbs the water.

Then yep, it was 100% naked.

And it was not even a little bit weird.  First everyone takes a complete shower.  There were like little cubicles where you sit on a plastic stool and soap up.  There is a mirror in front of you.  Next we went into a stone pool of hot water, then a warm tub where the water was the color of wine.  Once warmed through, I sat on a tile bench with my Korean friends.  You lean against a tile wall that has hot water pouring down your back.  There was a mother with an adorable 3 month old baby with a full head of black hair, and all ages, shapes, and sizes of women, girls, and old ladies.

Next we went to the outdoor tubs.  It was 55 degrees outside but the tubs felt amazing!  One was so deep you could stand up and stretch your back and legs.  Then I got in the “individual” tubs where water splashes out as you climb in and soak.  We stepped briefly into a sauna that had a large bowl of salt which you rubbed over your body to exfoliate your skin.  After a quick rinse, I could tell that one tub must be great because it had like a dozen women in it.  I was determined to squeeze in, although I admit I was feeling uncertain.  But a lady across from me smiled and waved to sit by her, so I did.  It was like little bubbles of carbonated water.  As I melted and relaxed I thought these baths should be mandatory in every city–it’s hard to feel afraid when everyone around you is relaxed, happy, and naked.

Several people rushed to the sauna when the employees headed toward it carrying large cloth fans and buckets of oil, so we followed them in.  It was incredibly hot! When they poured oiled on the coals and started fanning the room, the moving heat was so intense I had to leave.  Better to leave apologizing than to need reviving, I figured:)  Just outside that door was a pool of water at 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit).  The old lady who came out with me climbed right in!  I splashed my toes 🙂

Then there was a room which was still outdoors but covered.  The floor was covered in black rubber with wooden blocks scattered about.  You simply lay on the floor with the curved block under your neck.  My back cracked 3 times and the stretch felt great!

After a little more soaking it was back to the original showers, where some people were shampooing their hair.  There was a room full of blow dryers if you wanted.  We dried off and it was the first time I was really warm since I arrived.

On the way back to the train station I was so relaxed my legs felt heavy.  Maybe I can survive this city after all, I thought.

Photo:  Machiato, canella, and club card at Brooklyn Coffee

P.S. I spoke to my sister this morning.  One of her second graders in her reading glass was hit and killed by a car.  Right by my old apartment.  Life is horrible and wonderful, every single day.  I miss and love you all <3