Golden Weekend

Friday evening began Golden Week festivities. On Friday, A.T., a Japanese friend I met in 1998 while I was in another city doing Let's Start Talking, picked me up from work to take me to his home for dinner with his family, one of his wife's American coworkers who's an AET for a private company, a member of the church, and the missionaries in residence at the church. I had such a great time! We had good conversation, ate yummy beef curry and rice, and had completely homemade rice crackers (The rice was grown in the church member's mother's rice field, ground into flour, and then baked.) and store-bought pastries for dessert. (I'm amazed at Japanese bakeries. They give the French a run for their money.) Spending time with the other AETs is a lot of fun. And I'm glad that I have that network of other Americans. But spending time with the people of the country I'm visiting/living in/working in makes my experience of that country so much richer.

On Saturday I went to Yokohama with fellow AETs N.P., C.G. and C.T. We were going to Kamakura to see the bronze Daibutsu (Great Buddha) that has been standing since the mid-13th Century. It is one of the most noted images of Japan, having endured numerous storms that washed away the hall that contained it. And with it being the beginning of Golden Week, there were large crowds of people who wanted to see it as well. (Click here to see more pictures of my visit to the Daibutsu temple.) While we didn't have problems with the crowds on the way to or in the temple of the Daibutsu, we ran into problems with the crowds at the train station.

Japanese people are very polite most of the time. But when it comes to standing in line and catching a train, they can become downright aggressive. People were getting swept off their feet as people behind them pushed to get off or on the train. Children were crying as they got crushed by pushy people and torn away from their parents' hands. N.P., one of the guys I was traveling with, was literally carried onto the train under the power of the people pushing from behind him. He didn't want to board the train at that time, since there wasn't going to be room for all four of us to board. But one person's strength isn't enough to withstand the force of dozens of people from behind and around pushing to get on the train. I'd joked earlier in the day that I wanted to ride a train in Tokyo where the white-gloved train employees push on people to cram them into every available space so that the doors can close. But now that I understand first-hand how people die from the crush of the crowds at soccer games in Europe and how N.P. said that his left foot never touched the ground during that train ride, I never want to experience that again. (Unfortunately, though, I think it's inevitable, since most of my traveling will be done while taking advantage of these national holidays.) When all was said and done, N.P. and C.G. were able to make it on to the second or third train that left the station while C.T. and I weren't able to make it on a train until the fourth or fifth train came through, causing us to stand in line on the train platform for almost one hour.

Kamakura is a coastal town. So before heading back to our hotel in Yokohama to pick up our bags before catching the train home on Sunday evening, we visited the Pacific Ocean. I can't remember what the Pacific Ocean off southern California feels like, if it's warm or chilly. But the Pacific Ocean off this portion of Honshu was quite chilly and felt wonderful to our feet after our miles of walking that day and the day before. While there, we got asked by a Japanese girl if she and her family could have their picture taken with us. Since she said that they live in the prefecture neighboring Tokyo, we doubted that this was their first time to see non-Japanese people. And there were other non-Asians on the beach; so who knows why she singled us out. Maybe we were acting like typically obnoxious (read: loud) Americans. So perhaps she'll blog about us the way I'm blogging about them!

Today was a relaxing day. Tomorrow I'm off to a seaside park with the A.T. family and others from church. I've heard it's beautiful; so I'm sure I'll have pictures to share.

Until next time...