It's raining today, which is unfortunate for a few reasons:
-- I don't get to experience one of my favorite things about working in this particular office, which is the pre-school that is right next door. You can see all the little kids run around outside from our window, and you can hear them yelling and stuff, but it's muffled enough so that it's not abrasive and annoying, but it's just so cute. Plus, I still maintain that Japanese kids are the cutest in the world. Which is why I'm gonna adopt one (no, not anytime soon).
-- Grant and Michael come today, which means they have to walk around with their luggage in the rain. I have experienced that and it sucks.
-- There are couple things that are acceptable to do with an umbrella when you enter a building: some buildings have a rack near the door where you can just stick your umbrella in a slot and leave it there until you go back outside (some of the larger buildings have larger racks with locks so nobody can steal your umbrella).
Other buildings, like the one I work in, have very long and narrow disposable plastic bags that you can stick your umbrella in. These are also generally located by the doors and usually are in very simple to use dispensers where you just stick your umbrella in and pull it right back out and voila! your kasa (japanese word for umbrella) is bagged! usually.... except the one in our building is not like that. you actually have to pull the bag off first and open it yourself and stick your umbrella in. it's really very tough to use. I made an absolute fool of myself trying to get my umbrella into one of those things this morning. The cute receptionist had to come out and help me. How embarrassing! Then again, at least now I have a conversation starter for the next time I see her. hehe.
Being in the rain here does remind me how well prepared they are for rain in this country. And it's so different from the US. First of all, nobody wears raincoats. No one at all. Everybody has an umbrella, and if you don't, there is quite literally a store on every block that sells umbrellas. And they're cheap, too. 100 to 200 yen (1 or 2 bucks). I bought mine at 7-11 this morning for 100 yen. And it's not like it's a bad quality umbrella, either. It's pretty decent. Also, nobody carries around those compact umbrellas that fold down to the size of a quarter, or whatever. Everybody uses the real, cane-style umbrellas, which is awesome because I love those kinds of umbrellas. I wish more people used them in the US.
Ah, yes, I forgot about yesterday! Ted and I went to a trade fair at Tokyo Big Sight, a big convention center in Odaiba, a small island right off the coast that's actually pretty close to where I live. It was awesome. Well, the convention itself was kind of boring, but it was a really cool experience. There's only one train line that goes to Odaiba, and it's the most expensive line in Tokyo. But since it was a trip for work, I didn't actually have to pay for it. yay! The train ride was about 20 minutes. The Island is kind of like a rectangle, and the train winds back and forth, slowly making its way to the far end of the island, where Big Sight is, so it takes a while to get there. But on the way, you can see all the malls and stuff on Odaiba, and watch as we cross the bay. There's also a statue of liberty replica on Odaiba that's about 20 feet tall, I guess. Big Sight is a pretty cool-looking building. Above the base of it, where all the convention halls are, there are 4 gold upside-down pyramids coming out of the roof; it's kind of hard to explain, so...
I don't know what's actually in those pyramids, though. Maybe next time I can find out. Ted said I will probably be going to trade fairs with him there about once a week, and that I'd probably be sick of it by the end. heh.
I don't think I've ever felt so very professional before. I had to wear a suit to it and there are just tons and tons of businessmen all around, so it's just such a professional atmosphere. It was really neat. We actually went to two different fairs that were going on at the same time. These were both "environmental" fairs. Companies showcasing their environmentally friendly products or services. It was really interesting. Plus, there were all the campaign girls in their ridiculous, but cute outfits. I usually only associate those kinds of campaign girls with anime or electronics conventions, but Ted said they have them for pretty much anything. Although the outfits were, I think, more conservative (not quite so skimpy) than they would be for anime or electronics conventions. Next time I'm going to take my camera and I'll show you all some pictures so you know what I'm talking about. I also plan on taking some pictures of my office next week and stuff. I was gonna do that today, but it rained.
wow, T.G.I.F. man.
I met some of the other people living in my building last night. There are 2 black guys from Los Angeles right down the hall, Shawn and Clayton, they're really cool. I don't know if one of them (or both) is a rapper or something, but I overheard one of the dudes talking on his cell phone to someone and he said "I'm just gettin ready to go to the studio." and they listen to a heck of a lot of rap music. I also met a girl named Haruka, but I don't think she actually lives there. I think she's dating the guy who lives next door to me. I dunno. I could be wrong. And I met a guy from Brazil, but I couldn't understand his name because not only did he have a really heavy accent, but he mumbled like nobody's business. I think it started with a 'C.' He did like to shake hands a lot, though, which was hilarious.
"Where are you from?"
"America."
He put his hand out to shake mine.
"What's your name?"
"Lawrence"
He put his hand out to shake mine.
"How long you here for?"
"2 months"
He put his hand out to shake mine.
It was literally after every sentence I said. I guess it was his way of communicating that he understands without actually having to communicate, but it was just funny.
My business cards were supposed to come today, but they're not here yet. :-(
Almost time for 昼ご飯 (hiru-gohan, lunch).
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