Matriculation

I made it to Tokyo in one piece! Albeit rather scabby and gross; I’m covered in mosquito bites which perhaps I indulged in scratching a few too many times…

The transition from ultimate-relaxation Kyoto to kill-me-now Tokyo was extreme but very cool and exciting. Yu and I spent our last few minutes together observing Kyoto station, which presents itself like some sort of Mecca due to its size and architecture. I love buildings that give that kind of atmosphere. It was very much like the Westin Bonadventure hotel in Los Angeles, which I had to study as part of my Geography degree earlier this year. The sensations achieved are simply extreme; time is frozen because the space forces it to take a side-step. In these time-less places I find my usual desires suppressed or warped. No matter how busy they get, everything is always still. It’s a kind of beauty and I don’t know how one goes about trying to achieve such a high impact just from space, or even if anyone else picks up on it (I certainly do). There is nothing more amazing than feeling your body surrender/feeling yourself lose control, in the most warming and comforting way. I find it hard to explain.
Anyway, Kyoto station is an experience. I wouldn’t spend any large amount of time there and I’m not even sure if I particularly liked the design. But the impact was immense.

After this near-epiphany I hopped onto a nightbus bound for Tokyo which had individual seats and a ceiling strip of nightlights of purple fish and whatnot. Essentially a giant buggy, we rocked our way through the night. At various points we stopped and the driver would turn all the lights on and rasp something down the microphone. It was quite irritating but also so exciting. I do love travelling.
Coach arrived at Tokyo Eki just before 7am. I hurried to get to the Underground before the Salarymen; which is the collective name given to career-driven men who work horrifically long hours and scurry around looking haggard and drained by capitalism. They all wear nice suits and work for various companies, who expect employees to socialise with each other outside of office hours as a way of creating harmony in the workplace. Except it’s fake. No one wants to spend long nights drinking with their boss only to be expected bright and early at work the next day, but for poor Salarymen this is necessary if they are to gain any respect.
I actually don’t know if the above description is accurate, it is more a detailed stereotype. But from my observations it seems pretty close.

So now I’m in my new halls, which took far too long to get to. Worth it though. The halls are similar to the old communist building in Berlin which I had the pleasure of staying at in June. Long corridors lined with identical doors, two floors. Rooms are functional. Downstairs there is a small and clean dining room. Upstairs there is a smaller and less functional ‘kitchen’ (a microwave, a fridge and a kettle). Luckily meals are provided, and they’re healthy and Japanese style (dinner always always comes with a separate bowl of rice and miso soup) it’s nice.

University campus is very impressive. All the buildings are treasures hidden between clusters of trees, and the wide roads are lined with bigger trees, which makes for a beautiful autumn.

I can’t be bothered to go into detail about today’s ceremony- basically it was 3 hours long and involved singing a few hymns and signing a human rights declaration, plus standing up and saying ‘hai/yes’ individually (sounds like I got married!).

The afternoon was 3 more hours of form-filling at the local municipal building, making an application to receive an Alien Registration card. Oh I am so very eager to prove my status as an Alien…

Then tomorrow I have a 3 hour Japanese exam!

To quote The Strokes (sorry):

“And now my fears
They come to me in threes
So, I
Sometimes
Say, "Fate my friend,
You say the strangest things
I find, sometimes"