THE DAY i DiSCOVERED THE MEiJi SHRiNE

After days of hitting the pavement in job search mode I decided to take a day off relax and discover. I decided to just walk, not expect anything. Just walk and let chance take the wheel...

I walked for a while and soon found myself surrounded by tall trees and standing in front of a huge "Torii" (a traditional Japanese gate found at the entry to a Shinto shrine).

This was the last thing I would have expected to discover while just outside the centre of Tokyo! I had stumbled across the Meiji Shrine. It was quite the sight amongst the one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

The Shrine is dedicated to the souls of Emperor Meiji and his wife. I walked through the park, the size of this place is indescribable. I soon found myself in the main courtyard of the Shrine itself.

Surrounded by the walls of the shrine and the temple buildings. I had the incredible timing to witness a traditionally dressed Shinto Wedding Party walk through the temple court yard. Like a welcoming gift the wedding party paraded past.

Other Guide Book Worshipping Tourists snapped photos. I became slightly angry, this wasn't a tourist attraction, this was someone's wedding - have some respect.

The shrine and park grounds are extremely well maintained. The Shrine is located in a forest that covers an area of 700,000 square-meters (about 175 acres). The forest contains 120,000 trees of 365 different species all donated when the shrine was established.

I took my time walking around the gardens, sat on the grass and recharged my batteries. Sitting in the middle of this oasis you forget that you're in the centre of this modern day metropolis. A true contrast between the bustle of the city and the wind through the leaves of the shrine.

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1 iN 6.6 BiLLiON

Tokyo makes you think... in the scale of things I am but one person in a world of billions.

As I sit here and sip my Starbucks Chocolate Mocha looking at the Hachiko Crossing which is in front of the Shibuya Station. This station alone sees 2.4 million people on an average weekday.

Or that the world's second largest train station Shinjuku Station sees over 3.5 million people a day. You can't help but feel like a tiny speck in the universe. What impact will my life have on the world?

I think about all of the people I have met in my twenty something years of existence. How many of those people did I really get to know? Would half of them even remember my name if I saw them today on the street?

In my entire lifetime will I even meet a quarter of a million people? All of the people walking past me now, they have their own family, in-laws, work colleagues, a circle of friends. They are the centre of their own world.

The idea of fate, destiny and the law of attraction seems to make more sense when you're staring at half a million people dodging each other in a crowd. Six degrees of separation says that everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on Earth...

If I disappeared right now, would anyone even notice? If each of those people gave me one yen I'd be a millionaire in a day. We are all consumers, brain washed by advertising. Working jobs we hate to pay for crap we don't need...

NOT ANOTHER GUiDE BOOK WORSHiPER

Travelling - the chosen pass time of Generation X. No other generation has had the means nor the sheer will to escape their home country. Australian's are every where; London, Tokyo scattered all across the globe.

I wasn't your average tourist, doing as instructed from an over priced, glossy, picture filled guide book.

"Tourist X" packs as much value into their plane ticket price as possible. Jamming every second of awake time with the sights written in black & white. Pausing only when for posing for pictures, catching their breath between the forced smiles. Setting alarms, scheduling every second, arriving home more exhausted than when they left. Gobbing down food between queuing up to buy tickets to see attraction number 5 on their "to see" list.

I wanted more from my travels, I wanted to see the real Japan. The gritty, unshaven man behind the mask. I didn't come here to see the sights - I came here to meet the people. In less than a week here I could sense that everyone was wearing a mask, almost a bred in trait. The culture has you keeping your interself in check. Doing what is polite and expected. I knew this because this was something I did everyday.

I can see myself fitting in here...

THE BEFRiENDiNG OF A FELLOW GAiJiN

I've been here for two days now with limited understandable human interaction. I've always enjoyed my space one way or another, it wasn't a burden to bare.

You gain focus, clarity when you find yourself away from what you know and understand. The fog of judgement and fast food opinions offered by your fellow country men soon fades away. Now its about the simple things. The kindness of strangers. A smile from a pretty girl. Single serve tomato sauce.

Here we were standing in front of the two most magnificent human construction feats I had ever seen. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Standing at 243 meters or 799 feet tall. Matt videotaped his travels, eyes down the lens, capturing the moment he stood under the tons of steal reinforced concrete.

I met Matt in the Capsule Hotel last night. I asked if he needed a hand with finding his way around. He was back packing through Japan, a kind of post-university rite of passage. Another 'prove your independence' thing I didn't understand. My new found travel buddy & I walked around the business end of Shinjuku. Matt with his nose in a Lonely Planet travel guide we checked out the more interesting buildings in the area.

We had lunch, we placed our order by pointing at the plastic models in the glass cabinet below the cash register. Its almost like Japan was designed with Gaijin in mind. Have I mentioned that I have never mastered chop sticks? This was rather obvious to on lookers...

Matt suggested that we do some more sight seeing tomorrow, but I ensured him the job hunting must continue...

WANTED: PERSON WiTH ABiLiTY TO SPEAK

Shannon had connections, job leads - everything was in place. That was until twenty four hours before I departed. He couldn't meet me at the airport, the job lead had dried up. Too late too pull out now...

Japan was the land of opportunity for blonde headed Gaijin, well for Gaijin full stop. Doors of employment opened at every turn. No training, no four years of blood sweat and partying at University. Big dollars, big life styles - little effort.

One job listing agency on the internet had over 13,000 listings just for foreigners. It all seemed too good to be true.

I always nailed job interviews, its just a matter of being the guy that they're looking for. Programming yourself to display the game face that fits the position. The night before the interview I'd sit down and analysing what skills the role would require... Then its all big grins, strong eye contact and firm hand shakes... done deal when can you start?

The problem was Tokyo was in the middle of a too many Gaijin not enough jobs issue. I could nail an interview if I could only get one...

MY FiRST TWENTY FOUR HOURS iN JAPAN

Here's a summary of my first twenty four hours in Japan:

• Landed at Narita International Airport, passed customs etc.
• Brought my first train ticket, dealt with Japanese money.
• Explored the business district around Central Station.
• Explored around the Shibuya area.
• Met Shannon in Shinjuku. More exploring.
• Checked into, stayed and public bathed at Capsule Hotel.
• Began stage one of Culture Shock.

LiFE iS LiKE A "BOX"

The Capsule Hotel is what I expected. I had researched them online before leaving the comforts of home.

I now realised that Shannon and I had already broken the house rules, by wearing our street clothes up to the capsules after I checked in. You are meant to get changed into the hotel robes in the lower locker rooms before hand.

It was good to catch up with Shannon again. We'd only had short phone calls since him leaving in January, four months ago. He's really excited to have someone to share this amazing place with. I'm happy to have someone to rely on for advice and guidance while settling in.

I don't normally rely on others, you can't be disappointed that way. . So this was new ground for me.

I survived my first public shower. It was almost refreshing in the fact that something like that is so common place here. Not an issue, no one battered an eyelid. Such a different culture, back in Australia you'd have people freaking out at the thought. Its probably the first point of difference that I can report without a doubt. Public nudity is common place, acceptable and pretty much expected in Japan.

HOTEL HUNT

Japan is expensive, a normal motel room in Oz about $80.00 a night, in Japan about $250.00 a night... ouch!

But there is a solution The almighty Capsule Hotel, to explain it simply - its basically a plastic box in which you sleep in, with 400 drunk Japanese business men who missed the last train home. They are of course contained in their own plastic boxes and you do of course have a pull down wooden blind for your see-through piracy. These were attractively priced at about $30.00 a night.

After a little asking around we soon got directions to the nearest Capsule Hotel. Shannon didn't speak any Japanese when asking the locals for directions. I found this a little odd, seeing he has lived here for quite sometime and his wife is Japanese. One of my concerns before leaving Australia was the fact that I didn't speak the language. Shannon was quick to brush off that concern saying that most people speak English. Almost everyone he asked, didn't...

We asked another random Japanese person on the street, they seemed to be a little more helpful. He even drew a map. We walked off and he then ran after us telling us to go the other way.

We checked me into the Shinjuku Green Plaza Capsule Hotel, there was some confusion with yet another non-English speaking local. Shannon quickly resolved this by calling his wife and having her translate. So much for everyone speaking English!!!

With my bags dropped off we hit the streets. We grabbed a beer from a convenience store (which defies all laws and logic back home). With a cheers and my first taste of Japanese beer Shannon again welcomed me to Japan. He said he was really looking forward to having an Aussie mate here to hang out with.

This set off alarm bells, were these Shannon's true motives? Had I been played? Had I been led 13,000 kilometres from home because Shannon was lonely? How could I have not seen this? I know when people have hidden agendas or aren't showing their true face. I put these thoughts on the back burner and kept walking.

Right next to Shinjuku is well the Red Light District... We were soon approached by a short heavily made up Japanese girl. Who said, what I believe to be "Let's have Sex!" this was much to my surprise! Shannon and I had a good laugh, Shannon even walked back to ask her how much. Not even in the country a day and having women throw themselves at me. Of course there would have been a price to pay.

Shannon got the last train back out to where he lived, which is about a 40 minute train ride west of Shinjuku. I bid him a good night and returned the to Capsule Hotel.

SHiBUYA & SHiNJUKU

Shibuya - this was more like it. The crowd was now comprised of young fresh youthful faces. A lot of girls in school uniforms, just like a scene straight from anime. Again I explored.

I was to meet Shannon at 3.30pm at Shinjuku Station. A few stops on the central line which loops around central Tokyo. Shannon's instructions were to meet under "the Big TV Screen"... from what I've read about Shinjuku that might be harder than it sounds.

Shinjuku was the Japan you see in the movies. High raise buildings, with neon advertising on every surface. Movies like Blade Runner were based on the ideals of Shinjuku.

Now Shannon gave poor directions... Shinjuku had at least four different exits. None of which you see a large TV screen until you had well... exited. So I rang him on his mother-in-law's borrowed mobile phone. He said it was the West Exit, problem solved.

It was great to see Shannon again. Travelling is always better if you have someone from home to share it with. Now to find a hotel...

TOKYO FiRST iMPRESSiONS

Nothing could have prepared me for Tokyo. Something I had read came screaming to the forefront of my mind. The whole twenty-one million people who call Australia home can fit into Tokyo and then some. Let me rephrase that for emphasis:

"The entire population of my home country can fit into Tokyo!"

As the train doors opened on Central Station I was thrown into a world of crazed Japanese people all power walking, on a mission to get where they are going. Everyone was so focused on the steps in front of them. A world of blank faces, formal attire, leather briefcases, polished shoes.

Escaping Central was my mission. Everything was clearly labelled, like it had been designed with foreign travellers in mind. I soon located a locker large enough for my thirty kilogram suitcase.

The frosty post-winter air greeted me as I walked outside. It was a cold, overcast morning in Tokyo. This appeared to be the business district. Surrounded by high raise office buildings for large companies turning over billion of yen every year. Extremely well maintained tar road ways and yet more Japanese business men. I began to explore.

I didn't know it yet but I had began phase one of culture shock: The Honey Moon period, I was in ore of my new surroundings.

I walked around for about an hour, with no goal, plan or mission. Just to explore, I have always found the best things to happen when you don't plan or set limitations on yourself. Walk around a corner to find something amazing, a lost temple, an abandoned house.

I soon came to the decision that this was a business district full stop, no retail, no stores nothing really of interest. I decided to head to Shibuya which is about five stops from Central.

ALL ABOARD THE NARiTA EXPRESS

Tokyo Central Station is a forty minute train ride from Narita International Airport.

Have I mentioned that I have never used a train before, nor a ticket machine, nor Japanese money? Some people enjoy sky driving, I enjoy challenging situations. Look lets face it, in the day to day life in your home country its all autopilot. What percentage of your brain do you think you are really using to repeat tasks you have done a hundred times before? Like rats in a maze, run the course enough times and its mundane & automatic... is that living?

But travelling, you're presented with an unfamiliar culture, language, people, sights, sounds... an abundance of problems to be solved. Suddenly you're using your brain at a higher level. For someone like me its the prefect place.

Shannon had little to say, I think he may have felt a little guilty about not being able to meet me.

What I've seen of Japan so far is very flat, outside the train window it looks like we're out in the sticks, the countryside. I can see run down traditional housing, a temple here and there. Grey cloud blanketing us from above.

I must admit that last night sitting in that airport in Vietnam - I started to doubt myself. Asking what the hell was I doing there? Will I even be able to get work? Or would I find myself sitting there again in a few months when my money runs out?

I can see myself living here now for a year, over my doubts from last night. It’s really good to finally be here after being in transit for the last twenty four hours. Plus the adventure is only just beginning!

THE TROUBLE WiTH TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Twenty four hours in transit and I sit here in the country I will call home for the next twelve months. With a stomach full of aeroplane food, I'm like an excited child on Christmas day, everything is new, fresh, exciting. My eyes dash around my new found environment, like a newborn's eyes seeing everything for the first time.

Everything is amazing, I'm overcome with a sense of claim, which differed from my last airport visit. Airports normally witness the two extremes of human emotion. One of sheer delight, families reunited, old friends catching up after years of no contact. Or the dread of a painful goodbye, tears normally accompany both.

The Japanese people that surrounded me seemed to be almost emotionless. This intrigued me.

I saw two other foreign travellers. They looked as drained and exhausted as I felt. They didn't make eye contract and kept on about their own business. My eyes were ecstatic to observe something familiar again.

I decided to check in with Shannon, let him know that I had arrived safely. The plan was - he would meet me at the airport. But plans had changed. I rang him the day before I left Australia, he informed me that he had to work so he couldn't make it. A dark cloud of worry attempted to shroud over me. I forced that thought from my mind.

Here lay my first challenge: I had only the international number for Shannon used for when calling from overseas. Dialling from within the country was of course different. The only reference I had was to calling Australian numbers from overseas. You would always drop the first zero off the number and then add +61 at the start. This being the country code for Australia. So I removed +81 from Shannon's number and dialed - still no go. Then I added a zero to the front as you would in Oz, nothing.

At this stage many people would be annoyed or frustrated, this clouds your logic. On the most basic level this was a problem, a riddle, a puzzle. I thrived on problems. I searched my surroundings for a solution... I spotted an English phone book. I also had Shannon's address. I counted the number of digits that Japanese phone numbers should have and also got Shannon's area code. Bang, problem solved.

Shannon's wife answered the phone, as instructed I said "Shannon, Australia" in a clear voice. This was broken English for "Can I please speak to Shannon, its Australia calling". Shannon answered, he welcomed me to Japan and asked what my plans were. I had decided to get a train into Tokyo Central and scout the place out! Find a hotel, check in early and have a long hot shower.

WELCOME TO NiPPON

A smiling Japanese flight attendant awakens me out of my deep sleep. Through her softly spoken voice and light American accent the only word I comprehend is "Egg". My groggy head isn't processing at full strength.

On autopilot I hear myself utter the words "Yes, please." My senses awaken one by one, the sound of the roaring engines defying gravity and keeping us at 35,000 feet. The pins and needles shooting down my right side. My stomach rumbling. Now they all bombard me at once.

I now know the true meaning of exhausted. Thirty minutes before boarding, gate number twelve filled with Asian looking travellers. From no where I was again surrounded by a sea of people. I found myself automatically putting them into categories; "Business men, families, couples..." We advertise all of this information without even blinking an eyelid.

I fell asleep the moment I sat down. No dreams, no thought process, no analysing - just complete black nothingness - for the first time in twenty four hours.

The pilots voice came over the loud speaker. I listened hard, I knew it was in my best interest to hear as much English spoken by Japanese people as possible. Our first language always invades our second. Something you learnt at three years old is hard to forget. As soon as you attempt to read a foreign language you always apply the rules you have been taught from your native tongue. Letting go of these rules is step one to becoming fluent in a second language.

I looked forward to the challenge of communicating with people without the use of words. I wanted to see how quickly I could adapt, survive, make do... I already had a head start. I understood that I would need to establish a basic vocabulary of well known English words, breaking down complex sentences to be understood. Make use of loud body language, fake smiles, pens on napkins.

I've done very little Japanese study, I know only the basics - animals, counting, colours & greetings. Truly nothing useful. Not the alphabet, I didn't even purchase a phase book. Living on the edge is what I do for kicks.

My body aches, I still feel tired. I showed the stress of sleeping 36,000 feet above sea level with 400 other people in a sardine can all breathing the same recycled oxygenated air.

But my day was only beginning. It was 8:00 am when we touched down at Narita International Airport and challenges were ahead...

THE BEGiNNiNG - DEPARTiNG

Abandoned. Everything I once knew; family, friends, my safe familiar reality all gone. My senses overwhelmed by unfamiliar sights and sounds. Everything being processed, analysed and filed away.

I find myself in Ho Chi Minh International Airport. Where the sound of blinking fluorescent lights and the smell of black smoke from the diesel generators create the sense of urgency and discomfort. My brain has been in overdrive since leaving Sydney. Suddenly my comfort zone of reading people has been replaced by a culture and language which eludes me. Ten straight hours of attempting to apply my understanding of the human psyche to new foreign subjects and I'm exhausted.

I had travelled for ten hours, but due to the time zone difference only four hours had past. I'd awoken at 5:00 am after only two hours sleep, bid my family farewell and filled with excitement of the unknown I boarded my flight to Sydney - to my new life aboard. Life had always been so predictable, this was the first step of letting go.

I've had little travel experience, family holidays, road trips with friends, but nothing to this extent. My mother always had a tight grip on me growing up. Out of love and fear of loosing me to the outside world. I think part of me wanted to escape that.

Random thoughts fly through my head like a dropped water balloon. Passports, flight attendants, the dark man standing in the corner, with a semi-automatic firearm employed to provide a sense of security and order.

Exhausted to the point where I keep falling asleep but the sensation of my head falling jolts me awake. Its six hours until my next flight. This is the price you pay for a cheap student airfare. My new environment has me on edge. Every fleshy part of my existence is screaming to sleep. I'm fighting a battle against myself to stay conscious.

My thoughts sway to the dirty run down airport building I find myself in. Barely closed off areas where shops used to be. Air conditioning attempting to keep the hot humid air at bay. I sat alone in the aisle of blue plastic chairs. My only company is a single fuzzy television playing a Vietnamese soapy.

This at least gave me the opportunity to adjust my skills. Block out the spoken word, focus on the overlooked forms of communication. Soap operas are always a great study tool in any language because they are simply human emotions on steroids. Jane finds out that Jack is having an affair, queue the dramatic shocked face with a touch of hurt and a hint of a heartbreak.

I convinced myself that tomorrow would be better, as the seconds seemed to take hours to pass I finally boarded my flight to Tokyo.