Speaking of 'all it's crazy'

My god the people! I went to Harajuku Sunday for the second time, the first time it rained and we left in a hurry (or at least in as much of a hurry as we could in a sea of umbrellas). It was a beautiful day and since Sunday is THE day to see the random assortments of people, I made my triumphant return! First of all, Harajuku is a place where the youth of Tokyo tend to gather. They dress up in their best and, more often than not, their weirdest clothes and go to Harajuku to (for lack of a better word) show off. You don't just see trendy styles but styles from the fifties, gothic styles (and no, not like the American goth styles. American goths look formal compared to these masters fo the ideal) and the horribly misunderstood lolitta style (think Little Bo Peep, add more frills, more bows, and maybe even more black and you're getting there).

So I found the place where these exhibitionists like to congregate and I was surprised, but loved every second of it. These people loved to pose for pictures and were out there for hours. I also walked towards some music in the areea and found a couple of different groups of people dancing and singing to different music. There was a group of guys that were dressed like the greasers and dancing to Elvis-type music then there were a group of guys and girls with clothes from the sixties and dancing to really early rock music. overall it was a great trip and I saw a crazier side of Japan. That's all I have now... bye bye

Under the Knife

After walking around Japan for a week I decided today that it's entirely to hot! So I found a barber shop and cut my hair. Now I'm used to going to Cost Cutters (or whatever) and not paying more than $15(including tip, which you never do here), but all of the places that I saw had 2,300 yen as the cheapest (figure about $23). I figured that if I wanted this done I'd have to bite the bullet. It was totally worth it! Normally my hair cuts take all of fifteen minutes and I go home and take a shower afterward because of all the hair down my shirt, but this was amazing. First they cut my hair, then they shampooed and conditioned it, then a bit of a massage, then I sat with a hot towel over my face for a minute or so, then they shaved me (and not just the beard, but the ears and eyebrows as well). The whole process was almost an hour but you feel so refreshed and relaxed afterward, and no stray hairs itching their way down your back. It was a pretty cool experience, and I feel a lot cooler to boot!

So this is happening

This is honestly something I never thought I would do, but I figure it's the easiest way to contact people and not continuously repeat everything. I have been in Japan for a bout a week now, actually exactly a week now and I'm having a great time! I've met a ton of people and seen so much, and i haven't even be to all of Tokyo! The people are super nice, but don't expect anything from Americans (they're quite surprised when I speak Japanese). Although the attitude that they have towards foreigners does get old. It seems like people act one of three ways to foreigners. Some are completely surprised that there's a white person in the shop, train, town what hae you (these people tend to have the 'deer-in-head-lights' look). Others are surprised, but really excited to see the white person (these love to wave say hello or even strike up a conversation and help, though the last one is few and far between). The last group is completely indifferent to the fact that the white person even exists (almost to the point that you'd think that they believe that if they look at you, you'd do the 'gaijin smash' gaijin=foreigner giajin smash, the mythical power that all foreigners, especially Caucasians for some reason, have).

The second day that I was here I met two sweedish guys (Emil and Robin) and we hung out then we have been meeting up every now and then and going to some of the different districts throughout Tokyo togeather. it's been a lot of fun going to these different places with other people, it's just not the same alone!

Job hunting is a pain, I don't know where to start and although I've sent out a ton of resumes I haven't gotten much of anything back. It helps a lot that I'm in Japan, but I still need to have a Working Visa to get paid and you need an employer to sponsor you for a Working Visa. The other problem is that there a ton of Americans doing the same thing I'm doing, the the market is flooded. I know I have a lot of time to worry about this (a little over 80 days left now) but it's constantly on my mind.