Sunday, June 15, 2003
Crazy day. Started off looking frantically for my keys, begging the question of how I could lose them in such a small room. I ended up finding them in the hood of my raincoat later in the day--so lucky I noticed before I put them on! Went to mass in English, arriving a little late. Surprised to see mostly Asian faces, but then again Catholicism is the main religion in the Phillipines and I guess there is a pretty big community here. After mass, the whole street was filled with people selling Filipino food and international phone cards, defying the sign prohibiting any vending. The church held Japanese classes after mass, but since they started in April and were already using Hiragana, I was totally clueless and left right away.
Next stop--Ueno park. One of the other parishoners, an Indian guy with a Filipina (?) wife and a little girl who tried to rip my map, helped me find the right train stop. Found another Hard Rock Cafe at the station, just as overpriced as in the States. Took a while to find food and the right entrance into the park, but finally found the information booth to get a map.
Went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which it turns out is not really one museum, but about 8 galleries put together, each with a hefty admission fee. To do them all would take over 5000 yen and probably the whole day. The main exhibit was a display of the Romanovs, which at 1300 yen, so I decided to save that for a Russia trip one day. I went to a gallery described as having watercolor, oil and traditional Japanese. I had followed the ticket lady's advice of taking a peek and deciding which gallery I wanted to attend before buying the ticket, but they said I could enter for free as long as I put my name on the back of a postcard. I must have spent an hour in there---maybe 9 rooms, but so densely packed that I lingered and passed through each room several times to get the full impression. One guy was having his picture taken in front of a painting and it turns out that was his painting. As I was about to leave, I stopped by the postcard section and admired one of a girl with a pink kimono and purple eyes. At 500 yen, it was a little pricy so I didn't get it. But when I mentioned it was my favorite to the woman behind the table, she said the artist was there in the gallery and that she was an artist too--had I seen her paintings? So we went back through the gallery, not finding the artist, but she pointed out her paintings, very bright and pastelly with swirls.
By this time, it was 4:30 and officially the galleries weren't letting people enter anymore, so I settled for some quick peeks at the rooms near the exit. Around 4:50 the gallery started playing "Auld Lang Syne" and saying something in Japanese, I guess thanking people and telling them the museum was about to close.
As I left, this middle-aged woman sitting on a bench all of a sudden greeted me and started talking to me. I was a little confused for a moment, wondering if she had me mixed up with someone else or if I had to pay for the exhibit after all or something, but it turns out she was the artist of the pink kimono girl. Apparently the counter woman had relayed my interest and she had waited at the exit until I came out--guess it was obvious it was me since everyone else coming out was Japanese. Her English was weak, but her manner was very sincere. I told her my Japanese was very poor, but similarly she said I said a lot with my face. She asked if would be her friend and invited me to her studio so I could see her work. She told me she wanted to express the beauty of Japan in her paintings and that she wanted people of the world to know her work. Her card had an illustration from the cover of a manual she had designed as well as a list of prizes she had won on the back. I was completely amazed at her friendliness and felt honored and bewildered.
After we agreed to meet next week, I wandered off, towards the sound of singing. A group of teenagers, all dressed in white shirts and black pants were singing. I plopped down in front to watch. A guy in a suit sitting next to me asked me what I was doing and explained to me that this was a church youth group made up of Korean students trying to spread the good news. Two girls started dancing in sync, which he explained was called worship dancing. He asked if I was Christian and said he was Korean, traveling through the U.S. and Japan on vacation. He was really freaked out when I immediately greeted him with "Annyung Haseyo".
Another larger group was dancing in sync to their own tune, but I didn't get a chance to talk to them.
After that, another visit to Harajuku, but most of the teenage crowd had left since it was getting late and raining. Splurged on a crepe and got some good blogging in at Starbucks cafe . A lot of people at the guesthouse when I got back. Interesting conversation with this Japanese-American guy. Sometimes says "we" when talking about Japan and sometimes says "we" when talking about U.S. He has dual citizenship and seemed quite adamant about navigating between both cultures and not having to make a choice between one or the other. When he is in Japan, he's Japanese and when he's in the US he's American, and that isn't a contradiction. He's got no plans for the immediate future, but will probably go back to the U.S. since it's easier to start a business and move up into the ranks, and then become part of a Japanese firm once he is an executive.
Next stop--Ueno park. One of the other parishoners, an Indian guy with a Filipina (?) wife and a little girl who tried to rip my map, helped me find the right train stop. Found another Hard Rock Cafe at the station, just as overpriced as in the States. Took a while to find food and the right entrance into the park, but finally found the information booth to get a map.
Went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which it turns out is not really one museum, but about 8 galleries put together, each with a hefty admission fee. To do them all would take over 5000 yen and probably the whole day. The main exhibit was a display of the Romanovs, which at 1300 yen, so I decided to save that for a Russia trip one day. I went to a gallery described as having watercolor, oil and traditional Japanese. I had followed the ticket lady's advice of taking a peek and deciding which gallery I wanted to attend before buying the ticket, but they said I could enter for free as long as I put my name on the back of a postcard. I must have spent an hour in there---maybe 9 rooms, but so densely packed that I lingered and passed through each room several times to get the full impression. One guy was having his picture taken in front of a painting and it turns out that was his painting. As I was about to leave, I stopped by the postcard section and admired one of a girl with a pink kimono and purple eyes. At 500 yen, it was a little pricy so I didn't get it. But when I mentioned it was my favorite to the woman behind the table, she said the artist was there in the gallery and that she was an artist too--had I seen her paintings? So we went back through the gallery, not finding the artist, but she pointed out her paintings, very bright and pastelly with swirls.
By this time, it was 4:30 and officially the galleries weren't letting people enter anymore, so I settled for some quick peeks at the rooms near the exit. Around 4:50 the gallery started playing "Auld Lang Syne" and saying something in Japanese, I guess thanking people and telling them the museum was about to close.
As I left, this middle-aged woman sitting on a bench all of a sudden greeted me and started talking to me. I was a little confused for a moment, wondering if she had me mixed up with someone else or if I had to pay for the exhibit after all or something, but it turns out she was the artist of the pink kimono girl. Apparently the counter woman had relayed my interest and she had waited at the exit until I came out--guess it was obvious it was me since everyone else coming out was Japanese. Her English was weak, but her manner was very sincere. I told her my Japanese was very poor, but similarly she said I said a lot with my face. She asked if would be her friend and invited me to her studio so I could see her work. She told me she wanted to express the beauty of Japan in her paintings and that she wanted people of the world to know her work. Her card had an illustration from the cover of a manual she had designed as well as a list of prizes she had won on the back. I was completely amazed at her friendliness and felt honored and bewildered.
After we agreed to meet next week, I wandered off, towards the sound of singing. A group of teenagers, all dressed in white shirts and black pants were singing. I plopped down in front to watch. A guy in a suit sitting next to me asked me what I was doing and explained to me that this was a church youth group made up of Korean students trying to spread the good news. Two girls started dancing in sync, which he explained was called worship dancing. He asked if I was Christian and said he was Korean, traveling through the U.S. and Japan on vacation. He was really freaked out when I immediately greeted him with "Annyung Haseyo".
Another larger group was dancing in sync to their own tune, but I didn't get a chance to talk to them.
After that, another visit to Harajuku, but most of the teenage crowd had left since it was getting late and raining. Splurged on a crepe and got some good blogging in at Starbucks cafe . A lot of people at the guesthouse when I got back. Interesting conversation with this Japanese-American guy. Sometimes says "we" when talking about Japan and sometimes says "we" when talking about U.S. He has dual citizenship and seemed quite adamant about navigating between both cultures and not having to make a choice between one or the other. When he is in Japan, he's Japanese and when he's in the US he's American, and that isn't a contradiction. He's got no plans for the immediate future, but will probably go back to the U.S. since it's easier to start a business and move up into the ranks, and then become part of a Japanese firm once he is an executive.
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