box of Jack

So as it turns out, I do have internet access. And dear blog, I just couldn’t stay away. (Note that the apostrophe on a Japanese keyboard is achieved with Shift+7, this is kind of awkward so I am going to stop using contractions.)

I am currently in the Kansai region, in a place called Oji that is a short train ride away from the cities of Osaka and Nara. The first night was spent in a kinda run-down makeshift hostel and I was all like, “Yes, I am finally doing the college student thing.” The old man running the joint was just so funny and so helpful even though this was a pretty budget establishment. He even let me wear two samurai swords (he said that when you wear just one sword, you look like a Yakuza).

The hostel was out in the burbs somewhere in the area near the Kansai International Airport and it was awesome just to walk around and have a glimpse of Japanese surburban life. They all drive cars that in some way resemble the Scion xB although there are a few SUVs here and there. Lots of push bikes and mopeds too. The alleys and roads here are deliciously cramped so if two SUVs should ever meet, one of them is going to have to reverse a lot.

Afterwards, we learned the ins and outs of the local train lines here in Kansai. It is hilarious how far we can get with such little knowledge of Japanese. Hui-Ai deserves points for studying and how she has attacked this language barrier with such enthusaism (granted, she attacks everything with enthusiasm) and Marlene deserves points for ignorance of the Japanese language and persistence to go ask Japanese people anyway.

After a long train ride out to Oji station, we made it to our second place of accomodation: Guesthouse Yougendo. This place? Stunning. It is like the bed & breakfast of your dreams except all the “cottage porn” that is the usual B&B fare has been replaced with things to make you feel very Japanese. The 100-year-old building is in the process of being lovingly restored and there are sliding doors with paper screens, warm lighting, free internet, a beautiful courtyard, complimentary yukata, free internet, space age Western-style toilet and showers, free internet, and hosts that speak fluent English. It is just so amazing and it costs about 45% more than our first cheapo hostel. Verdict: I do not understand why they are not charging twice as much, this space is incredible.

I barked at Jo for picking such a nice place because now I do not want to leave in the morning and I want to come back as quickly as possible in the evening. ALL I WANT TO DO IS SIT HERE AND PLAY WII IN MY YUKATA. I do not know where we will be staying later so I cannot say if they’ll be just as good as this place. My guess is that as we live closer to the big scary cities like Tokyo, we will get our asses kicked.

The next few days will be Nara and perhaps Osaka. Then it is on to Kyoto and finally Tokyo. I don’t know if we will get to do everything we wanted and I don’t know if I will have internet access to tell you about it. Photos when I got back.

Love,
Jack xoxo