My day today was rather ordinary, so I'm gonna write about some other stuff today. I've realized there's always something new to learn about Japan. Or at least the few places I go in Tokyo. First of all, it's almost impossible to find somewhere to be alone, especially on campus. On the Oregon campus, it's easy to find one place or another in almost any building where no one's around, so it's quiet, and there's a comfy chair, and you can just sit and read or maybe take a nap. There is no such place here. No matter where I go, I'm surrounded by people. I thought I found a good place on a window seat near the stairs, but a campus security guy came and told me I couldn't sit there. I tried the library, but they only have massive group tables, no chairs alone to sit. No comfy sofas. I tried three or four different buildings, checked all the floors, and was either shooed away, or surrounded by curious Japanese people who can't quite talk quietly about, or stop staring at, the strange foreigner. It was kinda upsetting.
The other upsetting thing is the Japanese lack of the concept of personal space. I understand it on the trains. If you're gonna be pressed up against your neighbor everyday to get to work, you kinda got to get used to it, whether you like it or not. But the teachers and teacher aids here don't really understand that I don't like to be four inches from their face. They get so close in when correcting or looking at your papers. Or stand right in front of you when you're trying to figure something out. And stand right up against you when riding escalator or scaling stairs. It's just a little disconcerting.
On the other hand, there's lots of cool interesting things to learn, too. Like the fact that Takadanobaba, the city of the station I take to get to school, was the home of Osamu Tezuka, the writer for Astro Boy. Not only that, but the song they play when people board the trains is the theme from Astro Boy.
Another interesting train station fact: the station that I arrive at when coming back is called Meidaimae (明大前, meaning something like "infront of a large light") now, but was originally called Kayakuko (火薬庫), which means "gunpowder warehouse". Not a pleasant name for a residential district. It's actually from the Edo period, and was changed in 1935 to reflect the name of Meiji University instead. It was actually used as a major warehouse for gunpowder for the shogunate in the Edo era. I thought it was really interesting.
Welp, tomorrow is probably gonna be a long day, I'm going to sleep.
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