Bicycle Riding

As I have said before, public transportation is really big here. But also, riding bikes is very common. You see people on their bikes all the time on the streets and sidewalks.

My mom told me a few weeks ago that they have now made it a law that you can't ride your bike on the sidewalk because it is too overpopulated. I really agree because before that law, I was trying to ride my bike on the sidewalk to the mall- big mistake. I almost fell into a bush because there were so many people.

On the back of big bikes they have this thing that looks just like a car seat. They put their little kids in them and buckle them up. Also, on some bikes there is a car seat- like thing in the front on the handle bars. So three people can ride one bike. It's really cool.

Unlike in America, if you have a bike here and you live in an apartment or a condo you have to pay to park your bike. In front of our apartment complex there is a big parking lot for cars, and a long pavilion to put bikes under. You have to pay for a parking permit. The owner of the apartment complex gives you a sticker, which guarantees you a place to park your bike. This is because there are a lot of bikes, and not many places to park them.

There are people who's jobs are to patrol the bicycles. If you are parked in a public area too long, don't be surprised if you come out to find a ticket on your bicycle.

Tokyo Disney

Last Saturday my parents wanted to surprise my brother and I by taking us to Tokyo Disneyland. They said that it was going to be one of our last weekends together in Japan and they wanted to do something special. I had no idea how close we were to Disney. We took the subway and it was only like a 20 minute ride. Of course it wasn't the crowded hour so there weren't many people at the stations. Just like the Disney in Florida once you got to the Disney station you go on this train that takes you around the park to where you want to go. Well we decided to go to Tokyo Disney Sea which is different than Disneyland and they don't have the Sea in Florida. Once we got there we saw this huge globe of Earth that had water coming down it, like a fountain and Tokyo Disney Sea logo in front. It was really pretty. We went on a lot of rides like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Indiana Jones. They were all really fun. The cool thing about Disney Sea is that it's set up like the Mediterranean village. The center piece of the park was this huge volcano, which was the Journey To The Center Of The Earth ride. It's this huge roller coaster. So. much. fun. It was hard finding a restaurant because all of them were Japanese style food. But for lunch we ate at a New York Style Deli. My mom was born in New York and I asked her if this was what one of the delis there was like and she said that that is the best a New York Style Deli in Japan at Disneyland can be. And than for dinner we ate at Subashton's. Pretty much everything was in Japanese and sometimes with English in very small letters under it. So we didn't get much out of the rides that are suppose to teach you something and talk a lot. They also had gondola rides which was really cool. After half way on the gondola trip our gondolier starts singing at the top of his lungs something in Latin which has the Japanese accent to it. At about 5 o'clock my parents were tired and wanted to go home. So they left and my brother and I stayed at the park until it closed at 10. At 8 they had a firework show which was amazing. It was right over the "Mediterranean" river. My brother and I took advantage of the fact that everyone was watching the show and that the lines were so short, so we went on a lot of rides in that time. At 10 o'clock the park closed and my brother and I went home. By the time we actually entered our house it was 11:30. And that is our trip at Tokyo Disneyland Sea.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

On Sunday the 19th my brother and I went to a St. Patrick's Day parade. It was held in Omotosando, one of my favorite stations, and there were over 2,000 people there. All the streets were blocked from cars and crammed with people. There were no floats, like the ones I'm used to from Louisiana on Mardi Gras day. But there were a various of people in the parade. There were to different groups of baton twirlers. Most of them very young and in elegant dresses. There were some tap dancers. Many marching bands from schools and one from the Japan army. There were people playing bagpipes. One of the more interesting things is that during the middle of the parade a man came holding a huge American flag. A St. Patrick's Day parade held in Japan that has American flags? A little odd... there were also many Irish people there, some in the parade others in the crowd. There were many organizations from Ireland and one high school. There was this dog foundation thing with about a dozen dogs in cute green outfits walking in the parade. There were also these three guys wearing real armor like a chain mail and plate legs. As of all St. Patrick's parades there were a lot of beer advertising's. Mostly Japanese and Irish people in the crowd but a mix of many races in the audience. The parade went around the whole block. There was this one club from Ireland that held this sign and on it were faces and names of famous people from Ireland like Bill Clinton, and U2 (a band). There were singers, dancers, and baton twirlers. But the majority of the people were... well just walkers. There were tons of people in the parade with babies and children or just mothers and fathers walking with green shirts on. I think it was like if you were Irish they let you walk in the parade. Which is funny... the parade lasted for about 2 hours, they went one side of the rode and made a U-turn and came back up the other way. There were many photographers and camera man- all recording the parade. Over the middle of the rode is a huge bridge. It's there because there is no crossing sign or lights for the people to walk across there so they use a bridge instead. But of course it was blocked off for the parade with only three camera man on it. After the parade was over the people died down and left. Bet most of them went to eat lunch because it was 1 in the afternoon! When we walked by McDonalds it was funny because almost everyone in there was white. I wouldn't blame them seeing that I have eaten all sorts of Japanese food and well just didn't like it. But all the restaurants were packed. The subway ride was even worse. It was just cool to see something with over 2,000 people of different races. It was really cool.

Crammed Pack!

Today my mom wanted me to go to Starbucks for her and get her a coffee. I waited 10 minutes for a rapid to come. A rapid is a faster train that only goes to certain stations. I wanted to go to Urayasu. When the train came it was packed. I was crammed in the back. I was between two elderly people, a lady in front and a man in the back. We were all crammed together. Once the train started going the lady in front of me started leaning on me. When she leaned on me I was forced back against the man and it started a train reaction. After about 6 minutes of back and forth between the sides I finally reached Urayasu. Everyone got off there and it was hard to reach Starbucks. I got the coffees and went back to the station. I went to ring my card and the buzzer started going off. I only had 60¥ left- not enough to by a ticket. Luckily I had enough change from the coffees to get a ticket, just enough though. Once my train got there, it was empty. There was about 5 people on the whole train total. The closer to Tokyo City you go the more packed it is. My dad says that in the morning when he goes to work there is no one on (because he's going in the opposite direction of traffic) but on the way back he's packed as a bug. That's why I normally walk!

Earthquakes

One thing about Japan is that there are many earthquakes that can be very dangerous and many lives are killed from them.

The worst earthquake in Japanese history hit around Tokyo and the Kanto plain in 1923 and 100,000 people died from this tragedy called the Great Kanto Earthquake. Sometimes when an earthquake happens under an ocean or lake a tsunami takes place. A tsunami is a giant wave.

At my father's office he works on the fourth floor and if an earthquake happens they have to be prepared. Some company made a device for them to help during an earthquake if there is not enough time to go down the stairs or through the escalator. It is a long medal bar that shoots a harness to the bottom of the building through the window and there is also a harness at the top by the window. Someone gets into the harness at the top and then goes down and then the harness at the bottom comes up and its a push pull reaction so that more people can get down during this emergency.

Seijin No Hi

Two days ago was a national holiday called Seijin No Hi, or Coming of the Age Day. On this day all 20-year olds come to these civic centers and shrine to celebrate becoming of an adult. Now they have the legal rights to do things like vote, smoke, drink, and do things without parental control.

This is a day of tradition, fun, and advice in which the elder give to them about entering adulthood.

Even though this is a day of fun this day is also very expensive for the 20-year olds. Although the women in their beautiful kimonos and the men in their new suits or traditional kimonos are stunning they are also very expensive. To rent them they cost anywhere between $550 to $1,000, to buy them cost $4,000 to $10,000! On top of that they have to pay for assistance getting dress and hair appointments. You have to have an appointment scheduled 6 months in advanced to go to the beauty parlor!

Traveling differences

This year for Christmas through New Years we went on a three week vacation. Our flight back to America the carts for luggage were free but the security was really rough. We had to take off our shoes and jackets and empty our pockets. Since we had laptops we had to take them out of our bags so they could scan the batteries. Everything in our bags that are checked has to be scanned along with our carry-ons. It was a 17 hour flight back to America. After staying in America for three weeks we went to the airport and went through security again. This time it was a lot different. First off we had to pay three dollars for the carts at the American airport. The security was the same, but once we arrived in Japan it was totally different. We didn't have to take off our shoes or jackets or anything like that. it was entirely different and less strict. I asked my mom why it was like this. She said that after 9-11 America couldn't take any chances. Too many people have tried too many things to hurt Americans. There have been incidents where people have tried to bring a bomb on the air plane in a water bottle to people putting grenades in stuffed animals.
In Japan it's not like this at all because people don't do things like this. There are barely any crimes there for two reasons: one because their jails are actual jails. It's a little room with a hard cot for a bed and it's cold and there isn't a TV. The only entertainment they have is once a week a little cart comes by with books on it and you get to choose one. Number two because people their care about their families and for them to cause a crime or something would bring shame to their family. Imagine you being the first one in hundreds of years to bring shame to your family. How would that make you feel? That's the other reason why there aren't many crimes there.
Since there are very little crimes there the security and things at airports aren't near as high. It's also a lot more safe in Japan and you don't have to worry about being kidnapped or anything.

That's one of the many differences between Japan and America.