Hey there, Joel
Today I wore a new shirt I bought in Harajuku yesterday. I didn't sweat nearly as much - at least not right away. The muggy eventually got me but for at least half the day I stayed rather, well, normal. And Jethro wore a white collared shirt and pants all day and he also wasn't suffering as much. Why? Fabric I guess! I've never really paid attention to Cotten or Polyester or whatever but I'll be golly darned it sure can make a difference here!
This morning we woke up early and headed about an hour away to the Tokyo Temple and the Annex next door where a friend of mine is a Bishop of an English speaking ward. I knew him through Twitter and this was actually going to be the first in-life meeting. Church started at 9 so we were off by 7:30 to get there.
Afterwards we wandered around a nearby Supermarket that catered to the international community and saw food we normal see at home but at 3-5x the price. Importing can be spendy!
Today's main destination was about an hour'ish south to the coastline of Kamakura - finally someplace just a little less city! Losing out on our multi-day adventure out in Aichi, Mie, and Gifu has left me a little bit sad. Tokyo is absolutely incredible, but the Japan that I lived and grew in was not a massive city - it was the countryside and smaller cities where people live in a lot more peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle and my heart just longs to be where I am most comfortable. I guess you could say this entire trip can be summed up with one word - uncomfortable. But not in a bad way. Anyway...
Kamakura is a fun little tourst destination with a local railway that runs right down the middle of town and on the edge of the ocean. Sometimes we're cutting between two sides of a neighborhood, and other times we're right on the edge of land with a vast ocean view out the window. So picturesque and pretty! We stopped and had an early lunch of local seafood and curry and this shop was only a handful of feet away from the track. The realization of it all was just kinda wild to me.
I really love that last picture, there's a house just two steps away from the little station exit. Everything is just so crammed in and yet it all feels harmonious.
The main attraction for the day was a giant buddha built a long, long time ago. The walk up to it was on a narrow sidewalk on a busy road that was lined with food and souvenir shops... and of course for us there was also the occasional downpour.
We hung out here for about an hour or so, enjoying the surroundings and the people watching. Jamie noticed this little boy playing with his truck on a rock. It's been really fun to see that across nations and cultures... we're all very much the same. Little boys are little boys no matter where you go.
So, I think I've mentioned it's hot here. Which usually means you get thirsty and dehydrated. Which is true - but something very different about Japan vs the US is nobody - and I mean nobody - is carrying a water bottle. What you do get are vending machines, EVERYWHERE. You're never more than a few hundred feet away from a chilled drink. Also, even if you had a water bottle, there's no where to fill it up. No convenience stores have fountain drink dispensers with an ice machine. Jamie carried hers around all day our first day here and never found a place to fill it up.
At the end of the local line we saw a Burger King right by the station and went in to try out a Whopper - Jamie and I would like to compare here vs there on fast food we see. So far McDonald's has been much better (it's a great breakfast for us). Burger King was just a little bit better, I think it was the bun. Bread here is so amazing. Also I think you can get beer in your combo meal...
Dinner tonight was at Tokyo Station at a restaurant called Yabadon - they specialize in Miso Katsu which is a Nagoya specialty - so even though we didn't make it to Nagoya we can at least enjoy a local food. It was SO good, and SO much food. Sometimes meals are small and a healthy portion size, and then other meals are huge. This was definitely the latter.
From Jethro
One of the cool things about being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that you can go to almost anywhere in the world on any Sunday and find people who are very different from but share a belief and a dedication in our Savior.
Since our plans were changed, we didn’t go to Nagoya for church, but were instead in Tokyo, and attended a ward mostly of expats in the temple annex building. The spirit was there, just like it is back home.
After that, we headed down south to the Kotoku-in temple to see the big Buddha that was there. It was built 700 years ago, and is amazing they could build it that big that long ago.
This more suburban part of Japan was really beautiful, with a slower pace. We rode the train for about an hour and 15 minutes from Tokyo, and all along the way, it was densely populated. I say that this was suburban, but it was still a bustling city, just a little less densely populated.
We saw a man and his son playing catch in the alley as we walked past.
The rain thwarted our plans for a sunset picture over the ocean, but it was still a beautiful afternoon.
The world is so vast, and there are so many people living their lives doing whatever they need to in order to survive. We’re curious about what everyone is doing and why all the time.
It is humbling to think of our lives and their lives and how insignificant each of us is in the grand scheme of things, and yet, how Christ has performed the atonement for every single one of us.
Until tomorrow!
- Joel, Jamie, & Jethro
