here, there, everywhere

I love Tokyo, but much of it, to a newcomer especially, can feel like an impersonal sea of concrete and glass office buildings, Lawson drugstores and UNIQLO storefronts. I love UNIQLO as much as the next freezing cold gaijin who's come to rely on their cheap long underwear to stay alive in the frigid Tokyo cold, but I was immediately smitten by Shimokitazawa's individuality - artsy graffiti, quirky used clothing shops and almost relentlessly cool bars that, even more coolly, do not charge the ubiquitous cover charges.

At any rate: four more days of our class this week, and then we head down to Kyoto to get some culture.   Because, apparently, according to Iain, watching episodes of America's Shortest Next Top Model with Lenora does not count as culture.

Things I love about being in Tokyo: the food, having our own tiny little apartment after six months of living out of suitcases, the food, my awesome, friendly students, the stationary shops, the bottles of water on the street that supposedly keep the cats away (?), the weather (for now), the way I can just wave my wallet containing my train pass over the gate to make it open, finding copies of a rare Haruki Murakami book in English, and, in case I haven't mentioned it, the food - all of it: the cheap ramen and don restaurants near my apartment, the rotating sushi bars, the grocery stores. Really there isn't much I don't love, except maybe the insane, impossible crush of bodies that is my daily subway commute, and even that is surprisingly less hostile, if more crowded, than my daily rides on the R back in Brooklyn. 
At any rate, we were whisked away by our employers the minute we set foot in Narita, and have had very little free time since (nine-plus hour days + two-plus hours on the train + most recently, Japanese lessons!) so, apologies for the radio silence; I love being here but most days I'm so exhausted by these twelve hour days that I haven't been able to keep in touch as much as I'd like. Today's a school holiday, however, which means I'm going to try and catch up on some e-mails, study Japanese, and explore our neighborhood a bit (finally). More soon! 

A few photos from around Shinjuku Station, which is where I went to end my single full day in Tokyo; not the most thrillingly original photos, but I'd never been there before and couldn't stop staring at all the lights like a slack-jawed yokel. They're pretty.

At the entrance to what my guidebook referred to as "Piss Alley" but what was actually filled with intriguing-looking food stalls.



Lights reflecting in a misty Piss-Alley window.