I have noticed that facial hair is pretty common here. It's strange because back home, there aren't all that many Asian guys who grow it out. So, in an attempt to blend in with the locals a little more, I have decided to stop shaving. This is 5 days' growth. No, I am not joking.
I think this makes me look really strange, but I am hearing more and more now from my students that I really do look Japanese. I figure I will play with this for a while, and then get rid of it before my girlfriend comes to visit on Christmas.
So, in my guise and armed with my trusty digicam, I decided to take a little stroll around my neighbourhood. This is a shot of the video store I get all my movies from. Tsutayas are all over the place, so I should be able to find one near my new place when I move.
I rented Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, which I watched with Ian (so much for getting out more). He was pretty useful, as he helped translate the slang into real English for me.
Autumn in Azamino. It just doesn't have that same ring to it. Even Gershwin couldn't make a jazz song out of that.
My photography skills don't do this scene any justice. It's actually a lot nicer than it looks here. I really need to work on my technique. Two of the people I came to Japan with (well, they were on the same flight) were photography students. Maybe I could con them into revealing some secrets to me one of these days.
Here's another shot of trees hanging over the road. If it wasn't for the cars on the wrong side of the road, I could swear this was taken back home.
Well, that's not true. I suppose you get a similar shot near Pacific Mall or First Markham Place.
I passed under a bridge and this little bit of graffiti caught my attention. I am assuming that it is supposed to say "TV programs are very important to learn of his suspicious intentions" or something to that effect. I am not sure whose suspicious intentions we are supposed to be wary of though.
A valiant attempt at philosophical vandalism at any rate.
For some reason, I never expected to see this. These see-through plastic bags are so normal. It sounds stupid, I know, but I fully expected the Japanese to have some ultra-cool method of getting rid of fallen leaves.
Like, oh I don't know, like maybe a four-storey high samurai robot that transforms into a big leaf blower or something.
Looking at all the leaves on the ground made me homesick, so for a little while, I indulged myself in a little illusion that I was just walking around an unfamiliar part of Toronto.
Unfortunately, I came across this and I knew I was Japan. No one in Canada drives their motorcycles on the sidewalk.
As you can see, there really isn't all that much around my area. I am, after all, in the 'burbs. This street is about a 10-15 minute walk away from my flat. It caught my attention because it looked so strange. Almost as if someone intentionally ripped off all the leaves and trimmed the branches down.
This street went on like this for as far as I could see. It's just strange. I wonder why this was done. Maybe so that they wouldn't have to call out the giant samurai robot to clean up the street. I bet it's a bitch to pull that huge-ass ripcord to get the blower started. Probably need another robot just to do that. Japan is full of robots. It's not uncommon to see them walking to streets. I'll get a shot of them for you one of these days.
Right next to this funny street is a park, which also doubles as an evacuation area. I'm not exactly sure what emergency it is for, but my first guess would be earthquake. I experienced my first earthquake here about one week ago. It was minor and I was sitting here, typing out an entry. It was so weird, at first I didn't even realize what was happening. Felt like light turbulence on a plane actually.
Anyway, looking at the sign, you can see that the title is written in many languages, Japanes, Chinese, Korean and of course, English. Yet, the actual instructions are only in Japanese. So, they want us foreigners to know where the evac is in case of emergency, but not to survive it.