Surreal Event #1: 7:18 am
In my sleep clouded mind I heard a noise that sounded like doors clattering and then thought: "Someone is shaking my bed!" I connected the noise and the shaking and thought someone must be in my room shaking the bed.
I sat bolt upright and then realized the noise and the shaking bed were because there was an earthquake. (Side note: Earthquakes are super common here. The buildings are engineered for them - I'm on the 32nd floor and the hotel swayed and shook and life went on.)
I had intended to sleep in later than 7am, but couldn't get back to sleep after the (small) earthquake. (Side note 2: I am not scared of tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes or any other natural disaster - I've been through lots of bad typhoons, been in the house when a tornado went right overhead and took down part of our fence and some of our roof shingles...but Earthquakes.. and I've been through over a dozen, they TERRIFY me. I'm working hard on not being panicked every time one makes the building sway - because they're so common - but they are my number one phobia in life.)
I had a nice call home where hubby was being a super over-acheiver and feeding 7 (yes, SEVEN) kids dinner and then enjoyed the hotel breakfast and headed out to make the most of my one free day despite the rainy weather.
I headed to Shibuya to hit my favorites: Tower Records, HMV, Sony Plaza, The Loft (LOVE IT - my all time favorite Tokyo store!), and MOS Burger for lunch. I checked into getting my quad-band phone operating here - but Docomo wouldn't swap SIM cards with me without a contract. No matter - it's kind of nice being unreachable. :)
Then I stumbled onto Surreal Event #2: 4:10 pm
突然な祭り - a festival. Shibuya is a BIG shopping/entertainment place. Oodles of people wandering around and when it's raining it's a sea of umbrellas as far as the eye can see. Suddenly there are drunk people running around in what look like white speedos and blue Happi coats on top. You can smell the beer, hear the shouts and see lots of golden shrines. It's a Festival! In the midst of the busiest part of Tokyo on a Sunday afternoon. Just a little added crazy to the day.
I got myself a Suica card (a card that has a chip imbedded in it that knows how much money you've placed on it - lets you just tap & go on any subway or JR train, plus you can buy stuff with it at convenience stores, etc.) and brought my shopping goodies back to my hotel room. I turned the TV on thinking I should get started with my translation of the presentation I'm giving tomorrow and ran smack dab into:
Surreal Event #3 4:45 pm:
A Japanese TV documentary all about St. Paul Minnesota and the Republican Convention. It was amazing to me to see completely different coverage (from a Japanese media perspective) of this event that I saw on TV a few weeks back in a very different way.
For one, the program asserts that only "Afro Americans" (and they got a Republican party head honcho on TV camera calling them "Afro Americans" !!!! to my GREAT surprise) are interested in Obama. The Japanese presenter also called Obama "very leftist, too liberal" in general conversation and repeatedly asserted that McCain would be the next President. So much for impartial reporting!
Probably the funniest part of the program was the 4th "section" of the documentary, which they seemed to devote the longest amount of time (they spent barely any time on the brief interview John McCain granted them): an interview with Dan Qualye that they filmed on Sept. 9th at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.
They went on and on about how this was an extensive interview with an "important" figure Dan Quayle! This cracked me up because Dan Quayle is a laughing stock - a former Vice President who was a joke. He was known for not being able to spell and has otherwise been forgotten ever since - he couldn't even get funds to start a campaign in 1996 and has not been heard from in any public capacity, with the exception of the rumor he would appear on Dancing With the Stars, in about a decade! (Again, what a joke!)
I turned it off when Dan ceased making sense after about 20 minutes. The Japanese subtitles sure make him look a lot more articulate than he actually is in English.
Now I will head out for another 懐かしい meal at Royal Host and then try and crack down and get prepared for work tomorrow morning by translating my presentation.
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