Lost in Translation

July 25th, Time Unknown - Tokyo, Japan

Oh my god. Wow. Hopefully over the next few days I can come to understand this city and its people to some minimal degree, but I have to say, as of right now... damn. I am getting my ass kicked.

Now to be fair, I did absolutely no planning or research before coming here, in terms of where to stay or what to do. I found a hostel on hostelworld last night and wrote it down, it looked very cool. So when getting off at the airport I did the customs thing, and found a bus someone recommended (airport limousine) and asked to go to Shinjuku. This is where a few of my friends are also staying (I think), and also a sweet place with a lot going on. The bus ride there = 2.5 hours from the airport... ass kicking #1. After exiting the bus, I've just spent the last hour walking around with my bags trying to get my bearings. Very few people seem to speak English, or will to me, my hostel directions are useless, for some reason cabs are refusing to take me anywhere (they shake their heads after my stuttering attempts to read my hotel name), and let me try, dear reader to explain the atmosphere of Shinjuku, Tokyo for a newcomer.

BOOOM! POP! SHIMMER! POP! BUZZ! BABBLE! POP!

There are lights, neon, flashing, bright, and broken, EVERYWHERE. Every street and side street seems to be another similar attempt to blind me, and to add insult to injury i've found 3 or 4 KFCs, the same number of McDonalds, but very little else besides that and Starbucks wanna-be cafes.

I ducked into the internet cafe where I sit now, which puts every other internet cafe i've ever been to to shame. I'm in a sweet reclining chair, the computer has dual screens, a fast connection, and all the extras. Looking around me when I walked in, I kid you not, of the 6 computers in this room, two are playing World of Warcraft, two are sitting there reading comics, there is myself, and one other person. Did I mention one of the WoW guys is sitting next to me, aged about 35, making shooting noises while he kills bad guys?

I've just pulled one of the Japanese people over to try to show me directions to the hostel... not so successful. On the bright side, I realized he found it on Google Maps and that it is only a block away. On the downside, its a measure of my lack of sleep, lack of coordination, bearings, and language ability that that block may yet prove to be an insurmountable obstacle. Ah well, sally forth, wish me luck! As Albus Dumbledore said... *I reread HP 6 on this trip* Let us fly to pursue that flighty temptress, adventure!