I knew I would be meeting someone named Shoko at the Shinjuku station. So when I arrived I went looking for a payphone (and actually found one.)
My first attempt at a call didn't work especially well: I put in a coin (only 10 yen, about ten cents,) and talked just long enough to say hello before I was cut off. The second time I put in 100 yen, and was able to talk long enough to figure out where we would meet, and when.
One of the first joys of the trip, was going to a little Italian-style sandwich shop and bar in the subway station, and ordering a sandwich. I was able to understand when the woman at the counter asked me if I wanted anything to drink, and when I asked if there was a nearby bathroom, I understood enough key words (left, elevator) to actually find it myself. So there I sat eating my sandwich, with my baggage at my feet at a small counter, a small spring of glee bubbling up inside me, thinking "well, I can ask basic questions and understand basic answers. Maybe this trip will actually work."
The sandwich was delicious. All the food here seems delicious. Even a little cup of custard that I bought at a 7-11 seemed perfect -- not too sweet, not perfectly smooth, and a bit eggy in taste (which meant I was actually eating custard and not pudding.) My first two dinners on this trip so far have been at small pubs, eating bar food (izakaya -- they serve beer, sake, maybe other kinds of alcohol, and a wide variety of food, in small appetizer-sized portions.) The first one consisted of bits of grilled chicken skewered with onion, some steamed asparagus, fried "natto" (fermented soybeans,) deep-fried chicken, sauteed lotus root, and some other items. If I had to make a meal out of bar-food in the US, it'd probably be french fries and a burger. I'm just barely patriotic enough that I'd rather not believe that it's because the food is so much better. Perhaps if I were new to the US from Japan, french fries and a burger would seem wonderful. But I'm sure it would seem wonderful in a different way.
The apartment where I'm staying is tiny but comfortable. In a space not much larger than my bedroom, there's a main living area/bedroom, stove, refrigerator, small bathroom with tub (about two feet by three feet by three feet) and a washing machine. The floor of the main room is completely covered with six tatami mats. (I'm not sure what tatami are made of, but they're some kind of plant material (shredded bamboo?) on the outside and stuffed with something to give them a springy texture. I wouldn't call them soft, but they were basically comfortable to sleep on -- moreso than a carpet over a wood floor would be.)
Even my experience with Los Angeles (about three days worth) was not enough to give me a sense of how vast a city can be. One of the places I was brought to yesterday, was a view from near the top of one of Shinjuku's tallest buildings. With distant mountains barely visible as a background, it was city as far as I could see. Here is a picture -- in the background, you can see the sheer vastness of the Tokyo area, as seen from about 1/10 of a mile up. I also found a postcard which showed an aerial view of the city, and if I can find a place to scan it, I'll include it here.
