Yalei Wang: Lost in ( language ) Frustration

Meiji Shrine gardens. This was so stunning i couldn't help thinking how wonderful it would be to call this your home.

Pardon my ignorance but i don't know what this man's occupation is. Maybe a monk or something similar? I captured him hear walking out of Meiji Shrine.

Such awesome drawings exhibited at my friend Ella's gallery, Space Space by a local artist

I've been pretty slack with the blogging but that's because i'm having such a whirlwind of a time here in Tokyo. The good thing is, i've sort of gotten over the culture shock and i don't feel as embarrassed as i did when i first got here. The bad thing is i've gotten used to it all and that fresh " omg, wow " feeling that you get when you first go somewhere is starting to fade. It's been a week and it's already beginning to fade. I wish i could have that feeling still. There really is nothing like it. It's something that is temporary and always will be, so you better appreciate it before it disappears and everything settles down into normal humdrum life again. The latter end of last week was cool. I helped out my friend Ella send so much art back to Australia, the UK and the states ( i think ) to the artists who exhibited in her show. We also went to our friend Shoko's house where i got to meet her grandparents and have dinner there in a real japanese home in the burbs. I loved that experience because it was authentic and when you're traveling ( or if you're me ) you just want to have the most REAL experience with the locals. Spending time at people's homes is the fast route to finding out how locals really live.

I'm definitely flirting with the idea of coming back here on some kind of job. Most foreigners who come to Japan teach English and i have no qualms about doing that at all since it's in my field of writing. I just feel like i can't leave this place. There's still so much i want to have here. There's a part of me that feels like i belong here on this weird, spiritual level. I feel way more strongly about Tokyo than i do about New York even though New York was excellent and fantastic too. But Tokyo affects me more because it's an Asian country and despite the fact i'm not Japanese, i feel like i could assimilate here very easily and comfortably given a year or maybe even a couple of months. The language barrier is frustrating because i am a person of many words and i always want to chat. I want to talk all the time and when i meet people who are exciting, friendly and awesome, i want to talk even more. I've been treated SO well by the locals here and it really makes me sad that i can't communicate that to them in their native tongue. Anyone can say, " Thank you" but i want to go even further than that and really get across that I feel like they're really going beyond just niceties.

Tokyo is everything you think it's going to be. Fast paced, busy, exciting, noisy, loud, modern. But it's also got this old world vibe about it. Sometimes i see ladies walking about in Kimono's on the street and i get such a thrill because it's really old world and seeing people hold onto tradition really excites me. I love tradition. I haven't really been shopping that much ( weird ) but Tokyo really is a haven for shoppers like me. Everything that's sold is presented beautifully and of really high quality. You can find cute things everywhere and they really do have the best taste in pretty much everything. To be fair, i'm kind of running out of places to go to here in Tokyo and wished that i had pre-planned other places to visit here in Japan. At the same time, my lack of Japanese speaking ability probably will be even more of a problem if i leave Tokyo. I guess those adventures will be saved for the future.