the definition of massive

so we ventured into tokyo. every train station is like a city in itself. there is no "downtown". city centres are surrounding the train stations. pictures really don`t do this place justice.

my favorite places so far are ikebukero and (sorry jennifer) harajuku. i love harajuku. and it makes me hate gwen stefani even more. they have the best shops and the best prices and i saw more lip rings there yesterday than i have seen the whole time we`ve been in japan.right beside the harajuku station is a square where teenage girls hang out on the weekends all decked out in their gothy best. from what i understand, they are the outcasts and bullied kids at school and so on the weekend, they get together and celebrate their outcastness. no pictures of them, but soon.

it`s been raining so much. typhoon season and whatnot. and the rain doesn`t stop people from doing anything. i`ve seen old ladies in their rainsuits holding umbrellas while they ride their bikes to the store. it`s just what you do.

darren isn`t going to be teaching in tokyo. we figured it out and the commute was just too long (at least an hour and a half on the train and then some time on buses) and they were giving him no support at all with finding the schools and introducing him to staff. he wasn`t feeling comfortable with the whole thing.

met some people... 4 other alt`s in asaka. 2 from the states and 2 from new zealand. also met john from australia. he runs an english school. been here for 7 years. he`s as old as darren. they talked about vision streetwear and the golden days of skateboarding.

well, more pics if it ever stops raining.