Toto, we're not in Japan anymore

In comedy, we often reinforce stereotypes...such as, blonds are dumb, Jews are cheap...or, of course - all Asians are the same. Well, fear not my Asian friends - you will NEVER hear us say that ever, ever again. Thus far, our experiences in China vs. Japan have been polar opposites.

First off, let me start on how we got here: The Osaka-Shanghai 2 day ferry! Ya know what? It was way better than we thought it would be. This, however, has nothing to do with the ferry really - and everything to do with the awesome travelers we befriended while on board. When we were first getting onto the ferry, we experienced the first difference between the Chinese and the Japanese... the Japanese patiently line up and wait for everything. Everything! The escalator, the subway...anything. There is always a perfectly patient LINE. While waiting to get on the boat to China, however, there was a lot of pushing, cutting, and just general disregard for other people trying to get on the boat around us. Once we got on the boat, #2 difference - help and hospitality. Tucker and I were split up immediately and put in different rooms - he in first class and me in standard. We paid the same amount and should have been in the same room but no one explained or offered to help or anything. It just 'was.'

In any case, the trip began. The views from the ship were beautiful. We were soon wondering what the HECK we were going to do to kill 48 hours on a boat. There was only so many rounds of Rummy 500 that we could play. Sooner or later, we met other travelers and had people to eat dinner and do karaoke with! The Karaoke was a blast. It was so different from how it is in the States. People REALLY appreciate good Karaoke singing. The "audience" claps in the middle of the song - like they are at a rock concert. I felt like a star! :)

The Karaoke ended at 10:30pm - and we didn't know what was left to do! A girl (from NJ!) said "go outside! The sky is beautiful and someone is playing guitar!" Soon enough, we were up on the deck of the boat - staring at one of the most star-filled, clear, and beautiful skies I have seen in a long time. The guitar playing continued and in a moment, you had people from the US, China, UK, Australia, Ireland, Poland etc all belting out the same Radiohead songs... It was such an awesome moment. You realize how simple things can be...and how music seriously unifies us all. It was truly amazing. (Videos of Karaoke are in the Traveling to Shanghai album.)

Some of the friends we met on the boat are Americans now living in China. THANK GOD we met them because they took us to lunch and to buy our train tickets when we first arrived in Shanghai. Their Mandarin really came in handy. (Also, they were hi-larious.) It is definitely much harder here to get around without speaking the language - AND the language is much harder to pick up or "fake."

It is Monday evening, and we just got back to our hostel after our first day exploring Shanghai. If I'm being completely honest - it wasn't the greatest sight-seeing experience I've ever had. First off, I'm feeling paranoid here. I mean... communism in general makes me paranoid! Second, our friends had warned us of tourist scams - and they were spot on. Person after person tried to scam us with the same offers over and over again. (Where are you from? Are you a student? We are travelers too! Want to go to this tea ceremony with us?) I felt very uncomfortable and was very glad I had Tucker there with me for safety!

Besides paranoia about scams, and pushing away people trying to sell us things - I am a tad paranoid about what we can consume here! Don't drink the water; check the bottled water to make sure it hasn't been tampered. Don't eat dairy because babies are dying. Don't eat fruits and veggies because they are washed in the water! Don't eat food from stalls. Ahhh!

Also, its just really dirty here. And it's not just in comparison to Japan. I mean, you can see and FEEL the pollution in the air. Also, you can be in the nicest area - and suddenly a terrible smell just hits and its so off-putting you have to cover your face with your shirt. People push. People spit. A LOT. There is a lot of smoking and spitting. Its definitely different from the past two weeks. :)

That being said, I don't want it to sound like things are terrible. We did have a good time today. Although I'm so skeptical about trusting ANYONE because of our experiences, we did meet one helpful man - so that was nice. Also, we walked around and took a bunch of photos, and had a lot of laughs. We went to the Yuayuan Gardens - and it was full of plants and rocks and temples. The signs throughout called the rock formations "Rockery." We had lots of laughs at making a mockery of the rockery...not gonna lie.

Kyoto catch up and US politics!

Kyoto was interesting. I wish we had more time there – 3 days was definitely not enough. But, at least we got a taste. The regular city itself is nothing special, but once you get into any of the old streets and areas – you finally see the architecture that you picture in your head when you think “Japan.” It’s beautiful. My favorite street was Poncho-cho dori. It is a teeny old street right along the water – with just restaurant after restaurant. Really pretty. We took a lot of photos and you can see them through the Kyoto link on the right!

Tucker and I split up on Wed. and did our own city tours. He went to see monkeys! I went to the Silver Temple (Ginka ku) and walked around the beautiful gardens. See pic. They had maybe 15 different types/colors of moss. The grounds were SO beautiful and well kept. I walked around…and I had my music on…I was almost moved to tears. It was amazing. After that, I did a little shopping in GION ( got myself a pretty purse and belt!) and then headed to an Onsen to soak in a natural hot spring.

We went out both nights in Kyoto with our friend, Eva, from Germany – who we had originally met at our hostel in Fuji – then met up with again in Kyoto! One of the bars we went to was a super funky cave-like place with a live DJ, and a woman painting a huge canvas while the music played. It was very indie.. Very cool. :)

We are currently in Osaka – which is nothing to write home about. Unless you like to write home about a city like Springfield. We actually had booked a place online for Osaka – which looked ok on the internet. We got there, checked into our room , – and 20 minutes later, we had checked out! Although we would have only been staying there for the night – it was disgusting and the more we sat there, the more we realized we wouldn’t be able to handle it. It was a Japanese style hotel – tatami floors, no beds…but it was DIRTY and gross. We didn’t want to touch the floor – much less the blankets or pillows.
Now, we are at a swank place downtown. Seriously – it’s the nicest hotel ever! We decided we just couldn’t live in filth the night before we were going to live on a boat for 2 days! We figured we’d splurge.

I am starting to get excited for the next leg of the trip: China! My fears are 1. The people not being as nice and helpful as they are here and 2. The language is tough! As I write this, Tucker is sitting next to me trying to talk in the “tonal” language of Mandarin. It is hi-larious! Apparently, 1 word can have 20 different meanings depending on the TONE! We have been spoiled by Japanese – its way easy compared to other Asian languages!

As always, rachel’s random thoughts…
- (Thanks to Ayako), we learned that you never pour your own sake – you always must have a friend pour it for you.

- As much as we are far away from home, we have been reading the paper and catching up on the political and economic situation regularly. In fact, being here – where the economy is also affected…and being surrounded by people from all over the world – I feel almost MORE informed than I would at home. We watched most of the debate last week on the internet. We want to watch the Palin/Biden debate but we don’t know if we will get it on the boat or not. We shall see.

- Palin REALLY got schooled in that Couric interview, EH!? She looked terribly unprepared. I thought it was hysterical.

- Tucker and I often ask other travelers their thoughts on America and – more so – on Americans. ( I didn't want to get spotted eating McDonalds for fear that people would think, that is "what all Americans do!") One girl we spoke to (from Germany) was surprised to hear that many of us (MOST of us - sorry Dad!) don’t support Bush. Granted, she was young and perhaps not up to date on all things political, but she said that she always assumed USA and Bush go hand in hand. We had to explain Blue states and Red states…and that we didn’t um…technically vote for him.

Hey Asgard crew! We did Karaoke in Japan! It was very different from our usual Wed. nights – but we went out with 9 people from all over the world, sang our hearts out, and had so much fun! So, even though I wasn’t there on Wed. in Cambridge, I was representing in Fuji! In this picture, Tuck and I show Japan JUST how to rock out the Justin Timberlake. Can you say, bring sexy back? Yea, that's right. We did just that.

Quick note: Please be careful about what you write in the “comments” area while we are in China! I don’t know how regulated things get…so I figure,better safe than sorry! I don’t want us to lose internet access… or have to trade in Tucker to the authorities. I mean, I don’t want to travel alone while he takes the heat for YOUR comments thank-you-very-much. ;)

Shana Tova and Happy New year everyone!
Love Raero