Japan

Fore-note: I added a page with a rough itinerary for the rest of my trip. I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.
____________

Shorty after I blogged about my excitement for Japan, I hopped on what felt like a quick 12-ish hour flight (I stop counting after 8) and was teleported to the Land of the Rising Sun.

During the flight I spent a lot of time studying the culture and language and reading about Tokyo. Upon landing I immediately wished I had had more time to prepare. Japan felt so foreign in so many ways. If it hadn't been for some of the signs being in English, I might not have been able to find my way out of the airport. It's not that anything was particularly confusing or disorganized, quite the opposite in fact, it's simply that the culture and writing were so instantly different from what I was used to. A little culture shock and an unwillingness to try to decipher the strange writing.

I spent the first day in Tokyo visiting many of the popular tourist sites, walking around, taking photos, gawking at the “strange” clothes and “weird” customs, and very quickly learning how to efficiently use the subway system. That first day felt in many ways like a practical exam. The day before had been 8+ hours in the plane of intense cramming about sights, sounds, language, and customs I had never really heard of before, then in the morning I was immediately immersed - sink or swim. I had to practice what I had tried to learn and attempt to find the places I had read about for the first time the day before. It was a little surreal. I read about things in a book, and then the next day there they were in real life.

By the end of the first day, much of my initial culture-shock induced anxiety had gone away (along with my jet lag, now that I think about it).  I suspect the speed and ease of that transition was largely due to the incredibly helpful and friendly people I met. During my first 2 days in Tokyo I was approached in the subway by no less than 5 different people who asked if I needed any help. This included one lady who offered her help despite the fact that she couldn't speak English. She used her smart phone to translate her offer from Japanese to English and showed me the text on her display. In that case I actually did know where I was going, or thought I did anyway, and I told her as much. Later when I tired to get off the train at the wrong stop, she chased after me (risking getting stuck at the wrong stop as well), and made me get back on the train. After experiences like that you can't help but feel welcomed and happy to be somewhere.

Wonderfully detailed and properly oriented maps like this were all over the cities in Japan. 

Having people come to me with honest offers to help was in such stark contrast to many of my recent foreign travel experiences, that it took some getting used to. In those other places, whenever someone comes up to you they are either trying to sell you something, get you into their taxi, or scam you in some other way. I was so used to this behavior that I almost completely ignored the first guy in Japan who offered his help. I was very suspicious, but I'm glad I didn't, because he probably saved me at least an extra hour in the train my first night. Lesson learned (once again): new culture = reconsider all of your previous assumptions.

I only spent 2 days in Tokyo, and then I jumped on a shinkansen (aka bullet train) to Okayama where my friend Ray lives. Visiting Ray was the primary reason I decided to stop in Japan on my way to Indonesia. I've learned through experience that I enjoy places much much more when I visit people I know even if that means skipping out on some touristy things. This was the case in Okayama – there are some really nice things in and around Okayama, but if you only had 1 week in Japan, it probably wouldn't be on the top of your list. But Okayama was the highlight of my trip!

Breakfast at Ray's apartment

Back story: For those of you who don't know, I first met Ray about 6 years ago when I was in Germany for a summer school program about Sustainable Energy Supply. After the summer school, I needed a place to stay for six weeks while I was doing an internship in Dresden with a company that installs solar panels. After meeting Ray's roommate slacklining in a park and inquiring about short-term rooms for rent, I ended up sleeping on their couch for the rest of my time in Germany. Since then­ we've stayed in touch off and on through emails, facebook, and proofreading the occasional section of a master's thesis.

In Okayama, Ray helped me rent a bike and we peddled all over town the first day – visiting a really nice park, seeing his kyudo dojo, and going to an Onsen. Onsens probably deserve a post of their own since they're a prominent and interesting part of the culture, but instead I'll just direct you to this article. The one we went to was very nice – rock work around the pools, saunas, indoor and outdoor parts, and some very very hot stone floors which you were supposed to lay and relax on (but no more than 5 minutes at a time lest you cook your insides). And I think it was all less than 5$. Now I know why they're so popular.

Getting ready for the onsen.

Ray's girlfriend, Machi, is Japanese, and she lives with her family not far from Ray's apartment. In addition to seeing Ray again, getting to spend time with Machi and her family made my experience in Japan very special. They invited us over for lunch one day, so I got to see how they live and what they like to eat. It was really great. Their house was beautiful, the food was wonderful, and they are an incredibly kind and welcoming family which further convinced me that the Japanese must be some of the nicest people around.

Cooking with chopsticks

One day I decided to get out of the city for a little bit so I took a train to a small town, walked around a small park, and hiked a bit in the hills. After time in San Diego, LA, Tokyo, and then Okayama it was nice to be surrounded by farms and trees instead of just building and streets.

My last night in Japan, we met with Machi's family for a very delicious and traditional dinner at a Japanese pub called an izakaya. The food was wonderful. Everything comes in really small portions, like appetizers, so you get to try a lot of different things before you're full. Things like sushi, squid, vegetables, little bits of cooked meat – too many things to list; look at the photo. Another  interesting part of the izakaya is that it's a place where the Japanese relax much of the formality and “face” that is expected during the workday and allow a more casual, laughing, smiling atmosphere. I really enjoyed seeing the contrast.

at the izakaya

Once again, this was an experience I most certainly wouldn't have had without Machi's family (particularly her dad; he did all of the ordering for us). Ray and I were the only non-Asians in the room. And no way would I have figured out what order or how much … and for that matter, how to eat some of the items. Once again, Machi's family wins the hospitality award. These are the kinds of experiences that, for me, making international travel worth while.

Despite the rough start, I left Japan with a high regard for their culture. Many travel books will tell you Japan is a study in contrasts – new and old, high tech and ancient, giant sky scrapers and meticulously constructed parks. I found this to be a an accurate description. I like that the old customs are still quite strong and mixed with the new. The food was tasty, the sidewalks clean and orderly, the traffic well behaved (more bicycles than I've ever seen in my life), and the people friendly, happy, and welcoming.

Check out the photo album for more photos, videos, and captions.

A huge thanks to Ray, Machi, her Dad, and rest of her family for hosting me and making it a great experience!

Mexico and California

Mexico

After so many good memories in Guatemala, it was hard saying good bye. The leave was eased by a relatively painless trip through Mexico. The first of two 12 hour bus rides started in the morning in Xela and ended in San Cristobal in southern Mexico. Despite being longer than expected due to the radiator overheating (I think) in some no-name village, inspection by the Mexican police, and wasted time at the border, the trip was actually a lot of fun and low stress for two mains reasons: 1) I had not booked an onward ticket so I didn't have to worry about missing my connection and 2) a friend and apparently good conversation partner from Xela was on the same bus. Having someone to dream-out-loud about solving the worlds problems and share funny dating stories with always makes the time fly. 

When we arrived in San Cristobal I threw on my backpack and set off in search of the bus station so I could buy a ticket for the overnight bus to Mexico City. Once found and purchased I learned I had  3 hour wait which was just enough time to grab some diner and send an email or two. I slept well on the night bus – maybe 6 good hours – and awoke just a few hours outside of Mexico City. Once again, this was a low stress trip because I hadn't yet booked my flight from Mexico City to Tijuana. 


Side note: My original plan was to bus from Guatemala to California and avoid a flying completely, because I find buses more interesting and possibly better for the environment. But as I learned more about how much time I would need to get Russian and Chinese visas and the cost of flying vs busing (about equal) I decided busing half and flying half would be a good compromise and still give me time to get everything done. Unlike the rest of the trip, I had already booked my flight from CA to Japan so I had a strict deadline for having my passport returned. 

Bus ride in Mexico

The Mexico City bus terminal is designed like an airport – circular access, various terminals/gates, information booths, loads of taxis, and, most importantly for me, integration with the public buses and subway. It was a fast and easy subway-city bus ride from the giant Pullman bus station to the airport. When I got to the airport I bought a ticket and walked onto the plane with minutes to spare. 


The whole process from the bust station to sitting in my plane seat was unbelievably efficient which was a welcome departure from my expectations, but the pace meant I didn't have a chance to buy water or food. I had only had a liter of water and some snacks since San Cristobal, so when we landed in Tijuana 3 hours later, the first order of business was to find water and something to eat. Despite having been effectively stationary for 17 hours I had still worked up quite a bit of appetite and thirst. Lesson learned – I now start such trips with 2 liters of water and excess trail mix (or the local equivalent)


From the Tijuana airport it was a short shuttle ride to the border, a short walk through immigration, and then I was back on US soil for the first time in almost 3 months.


California

Sunset about sunset cliffs.

Once I had found a hostel and a little bit of food in San Diego, I was able to relax, breath, and enjoy the mild “reverse culture shock.” The first things I noticed were how clean and well maintained the streets and public transport were by comparison. No pot holes, cobble stones, or random pieces of jagged metal protruding from the sidewalks ready to attack your sandal-clad toes. I could fully understand all of the signs and instructions on the city buses (including, surprisingly, the parts written in Spanish). Traffic obeyed traffic laws. No one laid on their car horns for minutes at a time while someone tried to parallel park. So many things we take for granted seemed so novel to me in the moment. 


After the streets and traffic, the parts that caught my attention were the food, water, and sanitation. All of the food and water were safe to consume without even thinking twice about. My plastic straws and spoons came individually packaged from a sterile factory where as down south they would have been simply washed, with or without soap, after the last user. And the quality and number of choices of food was a bit of a shock – so many really great options all within walking distance. And giant portions, too. Of course, with all of these “luxuries” came a very significant increase in price. I could pay $1.50 for some pizza as a treat to myself in Guatemala. The equivalent cost me $5 on the street in San Diego, and was considered a typical snack.


I could go on and on about cultural differences, but I'll limit myself to one more. I arrived in downtown San Diego (Gaslamp District) on a Friday night, and that meant the (refreshingly large) sidewalks were packed with people dressed up and ready for a night out on the town. So many things from the way people dressed, talked, and moved to the types cars they drove and bars the visited screamed “Gringo” in my head. Everyone looked and dressed like movie stars. Their shoes were probably worth more than many Guatemalan cars, and the amount of money they would spend on a drink could feed a family for a week if not a month where I had just left. The skirts were short, heels tall, and collars popped. Make no mistake, this would have also been an assault on my senses had I just arrived from the Ozarks or Alaska, but the contrast with the Guatemalan Highlands was intensely culturally enlightening.


[Side Note: I feel the need to include here a preemptive defense to my anthropologically minded friends – skip ahead if you're not interested. I know that my observations regarding the cultural differences are biased, skewed by my Western way of thinking, and very probably politically incorrect in some of my generalizations, and I am unapologetic for those things. These are the reactions I had and this is the best way I have to share them with my friends and family. Nevertheless, I encourage you to comment and skewer me as appropriate. Everyone loves a little bit of controversy :) ]

Video - animals at the San Diego Zoo

In California I spent 2 nights at the hostel, 3 nights on Anna's couch, 2 nights on Ryan's guest bed, 1 night in Couchsurfer Mac's amazing tent-room, and 4 nights on Karon's guest bed. It was a lot of moving around, but it allowed me to visit lots of different people, see some sights, and work on some of the logistics for my trip. 

CouchSurfer Mac's amazing Tent Room

It might sound like logistics are a never ending task for me – that's because they are. I'm not complaining; I kind of like logistics, and I feel like I'm getting pretty good at them. But they do take a lot of time. 

• Figuring out which visas are needed and where to get them.
• Getting passport photos taken in the right size and shape.
• In person delivery of visa application.
• Trying to get my debit card mailed to the right address and then activated (over 4 month process).
• Planing flights, trains, buses, where to sleep, and when friends are available to visit or host me.
• Reading background info, and travel guides and trying to memorized small parts of phrase books for a different country every week.
• Backing up my photos in case I loose my laptop. 
• And, of course, keeping all of you updated in the process. 

It's not all hard work. Here are some of the main sights I saw in CA (check the photo album for more)

• Sailing in San Diego bay with Ryan
• Sunset bike ride on Sunset Cliffs
• San Diego Zoo (free pass thanks to Janessa!)
• Encinitas / San Marcos
• Massive indoor rock climbing gym
• University of California - San Diego Campus
• Glider port / Blacks Beach

UC San Diego engineering building 

Glider port near campus (thanks to Jed and others for the recommendation!)

One interesting experience I had in CA was meeting for lunch with Tom Murphy, a UCSD physics professor and the author of this blog: Do the Math. I've been an avid reader of his blog since last August when my cousin Eric sent me a link to it, so I thought it would be fun to talk wit the author. My email asking him if he had time for lunch was admittedly a strange request since we had never previously corresponded, but I guess my resume and expressed interest were enough to convince him that I wasn't nutty nor stalker, so he agreed. We had a great conversation about limits to growth of energy consumption, steady state economics, and how to minimize personal contributions to such problems yet continue to participate in society in such a way as to not be labeled eccentric. 


I'm stuck with an interesting dilemma.  I'm motivated to live my life as an example of what “sustainable” could look like, but I know that doing so would probably make me an outcast, thus my message would fall on deaf ears. (I do appreciate the contradiction of writing this from the middle of an around the world trip).  The pace and mechanics of social change can be frustrating. Some people have given up hope of effecting the changes necessary to prevent the problems prior to some kind of severe resource scarcity, and instead are positioning and preparing to solve the social and infrastructure problems that will arise afterward. This seems defeatist to me, but at the same time I am not aware of any elegant solutions. Check out Dr. Murphy's blog if you're interested. Or corner me for a conversation sometime (it won't be difficult – I really enjoy this topic). As I said, it's a fascinating problem, and if there's one thing I always enjoy it's a good  problem. 

This is a topic I've been reading a lot about lately (when I have time). I'm collecting links and resources in the tab at the top labeled "Exponential Growth." Let me know if you have any to contribute.

My extended-extended family. It was good seeing them again!

As seems to be typical with every stop I make, the last few days in CA were rushed and busy with packing, preparing, laundry, and those last minute dinner invitations. I was lucky to be staying at my aunt's house. It really feels like a second home for me, so I was able to focus on my to do list without feeling too guilty about not socializing. I wish I would have had time to visit with her, my other family, and extended family there. Seeing an old family friend, Humberto, and his family was special. And it was a good chance to practice my new Spanish skills, since they are all native speakers. It also made me realize how quickly I'm going to forget things if I don't practice regularly. 


Ok, that's all for now. Stay tuned for a post about Japan.

Last weeks in Guatemala

Better late than never, right? With that in mind the next several posts will provide recaps of my last few weeks in Guatemala (over a month ago), the trip through Mexico, and then my time in Southern California. After that I'll write about some of the highlights from Japan and eventually Indonesia. 


As always, you can check the map linked at the top of the page for my route and stops I've made. I've also created a page with links to photo albums from my trips. I will still include some photos in the posts, but the albums contain many more and also the ability to leave comments and rate the ones you like. Another nice feature of the photo albums is the map showing where the photos were taken. Many of my photos are tagged with GPS coordinates which are then integrated with a google-map for even more internet-stalker/follow-my-journey goodness. 

You'll remember that after 3 weeks in Rio Dulce I went back to Xela for more language lessons and some volunteering. Those last weeks were bittersweet – fun new experiences, great new friends, but also sad endings and little bits of drama.


I really enjoyed my new language school. It was slightly more spendy than the first one, but the quality of instruction was well worth the difference in price. I learned a lot at the first school – more than I would have expected in the 5 weeks I was there – and I would definitely recommend ICA to anyone looking for a language school. But if I ever go back to Xela, I'll pay the extra if I can for the instructors at PLQ. 

The volunteering was also a really edcuational experience. I was able to help the folks at Alterna figure out what needs to be done before they can connect some microhydro systems (<100MW) to the local utility grids. Right now, the power from the systems is only used to meet the needs of the people who own the systems, thus at times there is unused power that goes to waste. If they connect to the larger distribution system, they can be paid for their excess production and help reduce the carbon content of the local power. Before connecting they have to meet certain safety and technical requirements set by the utility. In theory that's where I come in since I should know what needs to be done and how it all should fit together. In reality it was frustrating to realize how much of this I had forgotten or never fully learned. I did what I could, and ultimately made some valuable progress, but I felt like I should have been able to do more.


The group of engineers at Alterna was fun to work with. They are without a doubt doing some valuable things for the community, but in the end I was left with mixed feelings toward my future involvement in similar volunteering projects. There are plenty of things that need to be done, I'm just not sure if I'm a good fit for that type of work. We'll see. 


As you might expect, attending a different school and working with a group of resident engineers  resulted in many new friendships from a circle of people entirely different from the one I was with before. Though it is work at times, I like meeting new people – especially when doing so allows me to peek into lifestyles that I wouldn't otherwise get to experience: medical students learning the language so they can work in Spanish-speaking parts of the US; engineers who have been in Guatemala for years doing infrastructure work yet still have to leave the country every 3 months to renew their visas; ex-peace corp volunteers not sure what to do with themselves; yoga instructors; community development facilitators, etc, etc. 

With so many different types of people in one place interpersonal drama is bound to result. I generally do a good job of staying out of the middle of such things – I like to address problems directly before they even become problems, but this time I guess the cultural, situational, and maturity factors were too much even for me. It really wasn't a big deal, hardly worth mentioning, but I do mention it just to provide a counter point to all of the positive experiences. 

One such positive experience was having lunch with a Guatemalan university student and his family. One of the couchsurfers I met in Berkeley grew up in Xela, so she gave me the names and emails of a couple of her friends from home. I was a bit nervous  about meeting with Mynor and his family – I wasn't confident in my Spanish skills nor did I know what to expect with his family since we had only been introduced online and spoken on the phone twice. Everything worked out great in the end. His family was amazingly welcoming and my Spanish was better than I expected; combined with their English, my Spanish and Mynor translating a little led to pleasant and mutually understood conversation over an all to appropriate lunch of pizza and popusas. I know I'm repeating myself, but the people I meet along the way continue to amaze me. 


People - new friends, old friends, and interesting characters - are really the best part of traveling.