Perfect Timing - A mid blog SURPRISE!!!

My working week begins on Tuesday and while I do have classes that day, they do not actually begin until 6:15 pm. As long as I log in to work by 1 pm I don't actually have to be at the school until just a few minutes before my lesson begins, so I decided that I should start taking advantage of all that free time during the day. Until recently during my Tuesday time off I had just logged into work a little before 1, maybe run a couple of errands, and then just hung out for a while back at my apartment. This week I decided that since I actually have quite a bit of time, all day really, it would be good to go somewhere new. I took the train to a section of Tokyo called Ebisu. I had never been there before, but I'd passed through it a countless number of times because it is just one stop after Shibuya and is on the way to Oimachi (where Jenn lives) and Yokohama (where the play rehearsals are held). I decided to visit Ebisu because my dad sent me some information about a second hand English bookstore that is in that district. I ran out of reading material a few weeks ago so I had been meaning to pick up some new books. It's not so easy, however, to find books printed in English around Takashimadaira so this was a good excuse to go somewhere new. I looked up where the store was located and tried to print out the map, but the printer wasn't working. I meant to just write down the directions but then I got distracted and forgot to write them down so when I arrived at Ebisu I wasn't exactly sure where the store was, even though I kind of remembered the map and knew it wasn't far from the station. I wandered around for a few minutes looking for it and then asked a taxi driver if he knew where it was. I figured if anyone was going to know where things were it would be a taxi driver. The name of the store is Good Day Books so I said "Good Day Books wa doko desuka?" - "Where is Good Day Books?" At first he seemed confused, probably because of my terrible pronunciation, but then he double checked my question and attempted to speak to me in English (I've found that a lot of the time if you try and speak in Japanese to someone they will try and speak in English back), anyway he was very nice and helpful and he even told me to wait while he went into a convenience store and asked for directions... unfortunately he pointed me completely in the wrong direction. I wandered around and around in circles asking every police officer I saw for directions to no avail, no Japanese person knew about it because it was an ENGLISH bookstore, why on earth would they go there? I was getting ready to give up when I passed an International preschool, in Japan if the word "international" is used it means they speak English. I stopped and stood in front of it, but I thought that because it was a preschool, and probably a snooty upper class preschool for children of ambassadors and the like, they probably wouldn't be thrilled about having a stranger walk in to ask for directions, but as I started walking away I saw a guy come to the entryway and look out the window. I think they may have seen me standing there looking bewildered. I waved at him and he came outside to see what I wanted. When I told him I was looking for the bookstore he went inside and checked to see if any of the other staff knew where it was, then he invited me inside and drew me a detailed map and gave me verbal instructions on how to get there. As I suspected I had actually walked right past the stupid store while I was looking for it, it was on the 3rd floor so the sign was kind of small. I was so relieved to get there and was quite impressed with the selection, but when they went to look for one of the books I requested they couldn't find it so I bought a different one. When I got back to my apartment that night I received an email from the store letting me know that they found the book after all and were putting it on hold for me. On Wednesday normally I have a student who comes at 3 pm, but he cancelled this week and I didn't have any more lessons until 8:30, so I decided to make the journey to Ebisu once again. I bought my book, wandered around a bit, and went to a really good Indian food restaurant for lunch.

After I had my fill of Ebisu I got back on the train and got off a few stops down at Harajuku to do some shoe shopping... I'M INTERRUPTING THIS BLOG TO SAY THAT I THINK I JUST EXPERIENCED MY FIRST JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE!!! I can't be sure because sometimes the trucks on the highway overpass make my apartment shake, but I'm pretty sure that it was an actual quake because the whole room shook and I could hear the stuff of on my shelves and walls kind of rumbling. It wasn't really that scary, but my heart did a little dance for a second, more due to surprise than fear I think. So there you go, just a little spontaneous excitement to shake things up!!.... anyway, SHOES! I know, I know, not nearly as exciting as an earthquake, but let me tell you, finding shoes in Japan is an adventure of its own! My feet are just about a half size too big for the largest size in most places. I only take between an 8 to a 9 so my feet aren't really that large by American standards, but apparently in Japan I'm Miss Bigfoot. Luckily in addition to looking for a new pair of heels which I eventually found, I also wanted a new pair of converse and they are normally sold in men's sizes so that didn't cause too much of a problem.

Last night I went out with the guy that I called over the weekend. We didn't have too much time because we met after I finished work and then my train was delayed so I didn't get to the station where we were meeting until around 10 pm. We went and got a drink though, of all places we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. We just went there because it was convenient (it was located inside the train station), but I still remain convinced that if you are traveling somewhere outside Canada or the U.S. it's pretty much a sin to eat at Hard Rock Cafe because there are about a thousand more culturally significant places to eat at. We weren't eating though, so that also made it a little less blasphemous in the eyes of the travel gods. Despite our lack of time and sickeningly touristy restaurant choice I did have a good time and I hope to see more of the guy. I'll keep you posted if things progress with the two of us.

It's funny, I always start my blogs thinking I don't have much to say and then the words just pour out of me. This was a pretty good week, hopefully things will stay good and the words will just continue to flow.