I didn't buy a pair. Then I jumped in the ocean and stepped barefoot on a fish. Serves me right.
I have settled into a routine, more or less. There is school, slightly more time consuming but still nowhere near Pratt stressful, and relentless adventuring in all directions all the time. By the time I get home to New York I will want to sleep for weeks. I spent one day fully indoors and was immediately restless and grumpy, so I suppose this is just how I am wired. That and my dorm room is small and grey and hasn't got a cat in it.
Tokyo Designers Week was last week, and it was cool.
Light up cell phone suits
Double hilted safety sword
Holographic fashion frog!
Again, it was distressing to have almost no Japanese. I really wanted to chat with designers, and while everyone tried their best and was patient I just haven't the vocabulary. So I smiled a lot and said 'Sugoi desu ne!' and was handed informational packets with beautiful graphics that I cannot read.*
I did find someone who spoke perfect English:
She has better hair than I do.
It was only the nonspecific lip movement that made it obvious that she's silicon and wires and breadboards and batteries. It is really unsettling to speak to a robot:
Me: Konnichiwa! O genki desu ka?
Her: (In the squeaky voice of an affected teenager) Konnichiwa. Genki desu. Yoroshiku onagaishimaaaaaasu.
Me: Um, do you speak English?
Her: Yes of course. How are you? Good day. What's your name? Where are you from? Hehe.
Me: I'm Isis. I'm from New York.
Her: (Eyes getting big and slightly misaligned) New York! Cooooool! Hehe.
Awkward silence
Me: Um. Er. What do you like to do in your spare time? Do you have spare time?
Her: (Vibrating) I like to learn things! It is cool to learn new things. Don't you think?
Me: Oh yes. You bet. (Awkward silence). Um, I'm off. Nice to meet you.
Her: I am very glad to meet you, Eesees. I'm sure we will meet again.
Me: (quietly) In my damn nightmares....
There were also some comfortingly robotic looking robots:
They did the electric slide.
The other day in class I was trying to explain why I personally would not like a humanoid robot, even if it did the dishes and the laundry and picked my socks off the floor. It's just too close to a person, and if I'm able to feel embarrassed and tongue tied from just talking to a robot, I don't think I could bring myself to order one to do my menial tasks. I'd feel guilty and want to pay it. However, if the robot in question looked entirely inhuman, not even like a beast, I could be ok with it. An unsympathetic box can collect my socks any day.
Speaking of beasts, here is a confession: I saw a squirrel and immediately seized my camera to take a picture. It was a normal grey squirrel but I haven't seen one in two months. Fortunately for my dignity it scooted up a tree and I didn't get a picture and I did not join the legions of doofuses who photograph squirrels. But I came really close.
Today I went to Kamakura, which is a shrine-heavy area a bit past Yokohama. We started by visiting this giant peace goddess who is visible from the train:
See her up there? It must be nice to have a giant peace goddess watching over your town.
She was built in the 50s and has a nice sympathetic look to her. You can enter a hatch in the back and there's a little shrine.
It's hard to make a giant head without being all looming, but the sculptor managed.
Then we went to Kamakura proper, which was packed. There was some kind of children's festival, and dozens of unbearably cute kids in tiny kimonos. They were also without exception behaving themselves. I wanted to take pictures of them, but that seemed creepy so I didn't.
Going to shrines involves a lot of running up stairs:
Grand stairs
Old stairs
Creepy stairs
It was lovely. My nonbeliever's soul is perfectly happy in a Shinto or Buddhist shrine, much more than in a church or synagogue. I appreciate that they are largely outdoors, on hilltops, and very welcoming. It's nice to just go and be somewhere quiet and peaceful for a bit. Even the little prayer gongs have a sweet, soothing ring. And there are bamboo forests!
The best rustling ever
We visited the giant 12th century Buddha, who is in exceptionally good shape considering his age.
You could buy little kawaii Buddha charms in the giftshop
And then ran to the beach with the windsurfers and the beautiful bluegrey waves and the still warm water.
Move over, Atlantic.
I could go on forever about this slightly enchanted endless summer and the beautiful trains and lovely prayer flags and all the books I am reading and the strange short nights. But there is homework to do and possibly a robot bit acquisition mission, so off I go.
-I
*I am studying! But I am just not good at languages and it's taking forever and there are SO many Kanji... I hate being bad at stuff.
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