So, first of all, Hikone is beautiful. The nature is CRAZY. There's so much nature you couldn't take pictures of all of it if you wanted to. So, in the stead of pictures of all of the nature, here is a picture of a hill with trees.
As you can see, Hikone is magnificent. No, seriously. Here is a picture of the view of Lake Biwa around sunset from some 100 meters from JCMU.
Alright, alright, so I don't have too many pictures yet. I hope these two will suffice for now. I assure you, it's a pretty place.
Besides all the nature, the architecture is breathtaking. There is a mixture of modern Japanese architecture (big 6 story shopping malls and electronics stores) and old Japanese buildings that seem almost completely untouched by time. There is a castle in the middle of Hikone that was built in 1622; it's one of only 4 castles in Japan that are listed as national treasures, and it has a pretty rich history. Apparently the dude who ran the show here in Hikone in the 1850s was the guy that signed the treaty which first opened Japan to the outside world; prior, Japan had just had very limited relations with the outside world, permitting only a few trading ships into the country. Hella neat!
So, to speak about my actual experience in Japan, so far it's been excellent. The program I'm enrolled in supplies me with a bike, so I've got a way around town. Bikes in Japan? Sugoi* as hell. (*Sugoi means excellent in Japanese. Sugoi!) Japan is a very bike friendly country, so there are bike lanes pretty much everywhere and you can usually count on being able to ride your bike to anywhere you could walk without getting in anyone's way. Bikes are also a little bit different in Japan than in America. Here's some picture I found on google image of a Japanese bike:
So, the kickstand is different from that of American bikes. It is different in the sense that it actually works. It snaps into place around the back tire, and is a lot sturdier in keeping the bike upright since it doesn't just lean the bike in one direction but is more like training wheels in the way it allocates weight. In addition to the sweet stand, bike locks here are awesome. The lock is permanently affixed to the bike, and essentially what it does is lock the back wheel to the frame of the bike. What this means is that you can park your bike anywhere, even if there's not something to lock it to. While technically this means someone could grab your bike and run off with it, people carrying locked bikes usually look like they're stealing, so they usually don't make it very far, I figure.
The people in Japan are incredibly nice, and always very polite, even in the face of great ignorance and stupidity. This is a great help to me, as I barely speak Japanese and often come off as a rude, brash American. A lot of little things can take me by surprise and make me seem like an ignorant foreigner. For instance, when paying for things in Japan, you don't hand the money to the cashier, but place it in a little tray right in front of them. But they always put the money and receipt right in your hand. Why is this so, you might ask? No one may ever know. It is a highly guarded national secret of the Japanese government that has never reached outside ears. But for three days I walked around oblivious of this fact, forcing my money into the hands of many uncomfortable cashiers. What did they do? Smile, and probably think quietly to themselves, "what an idiot." They were so polite that I had no idea how strange I probably seemed. What a country!
Anyways, this has been Brad, keeping it real in Japan. In the next episode, I might talk about visiting Hikone castle, getting my picture taken by high school students at a McDonald's, and trying to put coins into the bill acceptor at the local Pachinko arcade. Hopefully I'll have some better stories than those by then. Stay tuned!
Signing out,
Brad
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