Chuka-gai / Chinatown
Freezing and rainy all day. My hands could not get warm, holding the umbrella and without gloves! The rest of my body was fine, hidden beneath layers of fleece and gortex. No matter, as the sites, sounds and smells lured me into the intoxicating rhythms of this industrious and chic village within the city. Chuka-gai would be better named Royal Chinatown, as it was spotless, upscale, if not trendy at times. Pastry shoppes and dim sum cafes on every block. I feasted on hot seafood noodle soup. I will note that it's helpful to learn early on how to ask for "no MSG, and no meat products", if you have dietary restrictions. I'll be ready for'em today!
For a few pics, visit:
http://www.angel.ne.jp/~t-gucci/china1.html (click on "start", then click on any photos)
For black and whites, click on:
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~eg3y-ssk/photo/panorama/chinatown/
If you've really got the time and want a load of photos from allover Japan, including Chaku-gai:
http://homepage.mac.com/nyme/PhotoAlbum67.html
Chinatown is colorful, dazzling and safe. In fact, the entire country VERY SAFE with respect to crimes by people. I understand the police do not carry firearms, only night sticks. Yokohama citizens have been most sincere and eager to help me find my way. I have a dictionary of sorts called "Japanese in Plain English: The Easiest Way to Learn the Language" by Boye De Mente. It's like a textbook and dictionary made for the basic first time traveler, chocked full of useful, travel expressions. I don't feel overwhelmed reading it, and it is not grammar based. Instead there are meaningful sample uses/phrases for each introduced word.
My vocabulary has doubled since arrival. Okay, that's not saying much and was easy to do, but sincerely the pronunciation is a piece of cake and the grasp of syntax is manageable... to the degree that I am understood (with such things as counting, asking for directions, and my please and thank yous).
After a few hours strolling about Chuka-gai and the Motomachi shopping district of haute couture, I got directions to walk up to the bluffs overlooking Yokohama, upon which sits several international schools. Kristin teaches English and learning strategies to international students at St. Maurs, in a charming neighborhood called Yomate, laced with victorian era residences (reminding me of those seen along Portland's Eastern and Western Promenades). Yomate has the luxury of not seeming cramped, and contains several sloping parks, rock and zen gardens, plus the famed Yokohama Foreigner's Cemetary. Amidst the natural and manmade landscape there is an abundance of ferrile cats. And so, as a tribute to my mother Susan, the greatest cat lover, please enjoy this site of cat pics... the caretakers of the graves:
This was a splendid walk atop the city, laden with gated courtyards and manicured bonzai shrubs. Arriving to the school, I stumbled upon Kristin in the vacant hall. She escorted me to the teacher's room where I met colleagues hailing from the far reaches of the globe. Spanish teacher Anita sat at a computer typing her PHD application. I will stay with her my last week. I will visit her classroom as a guest speaker, perhaps on Friday. Anita struck me as fashionable, fun, flirtatious, and formidable! I know we'll have fun out flamenco dancing this weekend with the crowd Kristin has invited.
Next we dashed off to the gymnasium for an hour long game of faculty floor hockey. Six of us appeared, so we played three on three with no goalee. I am honestly limited with rapid eye to hand coordination, but did grow up in Naples playing neighborhood ice hockey on Sebago Lake. I should also confess I have a competitive side, but not typically in contact sports. Not so today. I was aggressively checking the Brit, Marcus, and strategizing passes and slapshots with the other two Bruces (yes, a team of 3 Bruces, as if one wasn't more than enough!). I shocked myself, and will unashamedbly brag about scoring the majority of the points helping our team win with a final score of seven to four. That was a one in a lifetime performance, and I was absolutely exhausted. Kristin and I were laughing and getting winded with the rest of'em. We went home on the train, swetty and smelly but terrifically satisfied. Ahhhhhhhhh, oxygen.
Little Sean Patrick was waiting at the neighborhood daycare (blocks from the apartment), where the nicest woman were handing off children to all Japanese parents, save Sean's. Shoes off at the door. I gave them every nippon vocab bit I could conjure up, and they happily did the same with their limited but respectable bits of English. Kristin mentioned my singing, so the kind lady pointed to the piano. I sat down, playing and singing "Lean on Me" followed by "A Whole New World" acapella. The children ran about me like busy bees, in an excited frenzy, hearing the familiar tune but now in English. The applause and squeels were raucous. The kind lady daycare trumped me with her nursery-rhyme styled song with English lyrics designed to teach children to introduce themselves and great someone new, hit concluded with a handshake and courtsy. Sean is a superstar at daycare. Everyone oohs and ahhhs over this blue-eyed, squirrel cheeked, smiley, belly-laughing bugaboo munchkin! He is a charmer and will melt any heart that has had a long day with his hugs and rasberries. It's no wonder his Grandparents back in Maine are pining away for the return of this exceptional bundle of joy.... oh, and his parents, too. (Ironically, while writing this entry, his Grandpa John just called, and we had a nice chat about his pride and joy.)
Our evenings are patterned with feeding and giving much love and attention to Sean. By the time he goes down, we are ready as well. It's a lite dinner, vegetarian friendly, and off to slumber.
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