I am turning Japanese, I really think so

The latest news is that we are going to Japan. I am eagerly waiting for Chuck to write his “beloved friends” email telling you the story of how this happened, his new team, managing the time zones, his Q&A, etc. I will not ruin the surprise and will leave a space in the blog for his tale. Here I am writing a bit about what I have been able to discover so far about this fantastic place.

We are planning to leave Luxembourg at the end of October. With all the moves I have learned that it’s good to learn as much as possible before the trip, specially about the things one likes: where to find a (GOOD) coffee shop (VERY important), a metro map, the gym, free libraries, bookshops, and of course restaurants. Chuck will be happy to know that there are at least 2 good Mexican places and even a Peruvian one (btw, just so that you measure his desperation, Luxembourg’s only Mexican place is Chi-Chi’s … really).

Having said this, no information is enough. It is all different when you finally land in your destination. Information can prepare you but the real thing does not happen until you have a foot in the new city.

For example, we are going to live in Shibuya (渋谷区, Shibuya-ku?), one of the 20 something wards in Tokyo. From what I have heard this is one of the busiest places in Tokyo. Remember that crossing that always features in Japanese movies or documentaries? Well “that” is in Shibuya. One of my to-do things is to stand there at rush hour and not move. If I manage I will just spin around a few times, that will freak them out … I promise you a photo.

Chuck’s office is also in Shibuya. By the way, there is more people in Shibuya than in the entire Luxembourg and more restaurants too. There are about 200,000 people in the 15km2 area of Shibuya. I can see that after a year in Luxembourg we will have a bit of a culture shock. Here we can see cows from a friend’s apartment!

We have to find out if he is going to walk or take the metro to work. These days, in Luxembourg we both walk to our offices, an unsustainable luxury... Because there are no street names, we cannot put the address in www.multimap.com and just check the distance. To find a place in Tokyo you have to refer to buildings such as Tokyo Tower, Tokyu department store, Parco, Yoyogi Park, etc. I think it will be quite confusing and I will most likely be lost most of the time.

Interesting, I have heard that I should not think of buying shoes over there. Expensive, yes, , but the reason is that they will probably not carry my size: a decent 40.5 (Peruvian) 9.5 (American). Just think of the delicate Japanese women feet … I’d probably scare them with mine! On that note, I have heard Chuck saying that he is looking forward to feeling VERY TALL.

More later; I am hoping that this post will tempt Chuck - who these days is buried in work from Seattle, Germany, UK and now Japan (I have seen him carrying 4 watches).