It is Sunday, 3.30.2008 and I’m going to try and explain what Chris and Gorden are like.
Firstly, they’re awesome. Chris and I have been friends since highschool where he was an exchange studen, and we picked up exactly where we left off. This morning we went for breakfast at Royal Host while Gorden slept in. We caught up on family, friends and what I know of home. I haven’t seen him for about 3 years, and before that, 2 years, but every time we get together it’s as if we were driving around Gimli the night before listening to Greg Macpherson and talking about absolutely nothing. Gorden I’ve just met last night and is hilarious and very friendly. They both work for the German Police back home, and it’s hard to see them in a serious profession like that with the insanity that they’ve described throughout their trip. Before last night they were in Tokyo for two days, before that they spent seven days in Korea, and before that, seven days in Dubai.
After breakfast with Chris we woke Gorden up and I called the UNO house to book the night in Kyoto. We each showered and headed out.
I’m writing this now a about 2pm while we pass through Nagoya on the Shinkansen. It’s packed and we’re sitting separately from one another. Gorden is sitting next to a salaryman who is playing a Nintendo DS while texting on his cell phone.
All of my misgivings about the embarrassment I’ve been feeling with my Dad’s socializing are an an absolute welcome compared to this. On the one hand, it’s hilarious and I should just calm down and enjoy my time with them, however, I can’t help but feel entirely uncomfortable and awkward every time I hear them yell ‘KONICHIVA’ at any nice looking female they see. They mean well, they just have no real concept of the difference in social norms or ideology. OR perhaps, I’m just far too aware, or making it far too much of a big deal.
The cherry blossoms along the Shink track are unreal. The bumpy green hills of japan are dotted with these awesome spots of pink. It’s no wonder why this time of year is so important to the Japanese, it’s really beautiful.
I think I’ll go try and call Jeannine.
Remember, they are playing the Gaijin card!
When I was in Korea working on the World Cup, I taught my boss (German) some Korean. One of the phrases he remembered was ’sarang hae’ which means ‘I love you’. He proceeded to yell it out the window of our car at any girl he saw. Playing the Gaijin card (known as Waegugin in Korean…)