Turning Japanese.

Japan trip:
I got on this massive boat (maybe not that big, like 200 people) with only two other foreigners. Somehow we were all seated together. Coincidence? I don't know. Unfortunately the two other foreigners was this guy from Canada who was 50, and this other guy who was probably around 65. I didn't ask him. The older one proceeded to tell me his life story for half the ride.

I just kept nodding saying, "oh really? No way? yeah?" over in over again, but he just kept talking. Then there was a slight pause in the conversation, so I turned the look out the window hoping he wouldn't continue. When I turned around I found out that dude fell asleep, that fast. like 20 seconds. The rest of the trip was nice and quiet until he woke up and started telling me about this girl he was planning on meeting here. Ew dude, 65 years old. Don't want to hear that.

The other 50 year old Canadian was also going to the embassy and apparently staying at the same hotel so we split a cab there. The conversation to the embassy and then on the way to the hotel was basically about how this guy wanted to try and find some "FOXY WOMEN" as he put it. When we got to the hotel and went our separate ways.

Finally, I had a couple moments to myself. I walked around, got some pills for my nose (still runny) and got lost in a the jungle that is Japan. I asked everyone I could for directions to Canal street; which is apparently the place to go if you want bars/coffee shops/shopping. The guys usually shrugged, the girls would giggle and run away. Either way, I usually ended up lost. Finally, by luck and one really friendly Japanese girl, I found it.

Apparently it was called Canal City, not street, so no one knew what I was talking about. Also, it was just a really big shopping mall with a river that ran through it. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous, just not what I was expecting. So I continued to walk around trying to find a coffee shop but at that point it was dark and getting cold so I decided to head back. This is when I truly discovered how lost I was.

If push came to shove, I had my hotel card, show that to a taxi is like a "reset button" if you're lost in a foreign country and need to get home. I eventually found my way back, got some street Japanese food which was extremely salty.

While I was walking around looking for a bar to dive into, I found a couple Brazilian flags hanging from one of the bar windows. I went in and guess what? No Brazilians. Matter of fact: Everyone there was Japanese, but I guess what could I really expect?

Anyway, the important part of this story is that when I was in there I asked, "do you at least speak Spanish," in Spanish to them. The owner in fact did and we talked, in Spanish for like 20 minutes. We talked about everything, where I was from, what I was doing in Japan. Everything man. I was soooo surprised with how much Spanish I pulled too, it was like I was still in Chile. The feeling is incredibly hard to describe I guess, it felt like it was something i've always known, but was always too afraid to actually click over and really use it.

Either way, me and this guy speaking Spanish in the middle of a bar got a few looks, I remember people looking confused.

The next day I went back with that guy to pick up my visa and then back to the Ferry terminal. Most of the conversation was about how he was disappointed that he didn't meet up with any "foxy ladies." He even suggested, get this, that he should have brought a walkie talkie to meet up with them.

I had to inform him about cell phones.

What I learned from this little adventure:
Japan is expensive. Japan is beautiful. There is a lot less racism in Japan then there is in Korea. The currency is kind of weird. You have to imagine that everything is like you're buying something is priced in cents, since 1 dollar = about 100 yen.

Buy a bottle of water? thats 142 cents. (or a buck 40). Want to buy a hello kitty key chain? thats 1600 cents (or 16 bucks). Also, i'd like to move to Japan now.

More later.