Back from Osaka, Japan and not a minute too soon. It was one of the oddest experiences I've had travelwise. And I realize I'm sounding pretty provincial to a lot of readers who have already been to Asia, but this was just weird. The fact that rarely ANYONE spoke English outside the hotel (even young highschool age kids who in any other country you would expect to at least know English catch-phrases or passable communication) got old REALLY fast. In the 3 days I was there, I got into exasperating situations with my cluelessly pathetic colleagues twice: once trying to get information about a train and another while simply trying to get cash from any source (ALL the ATM or travel machines are in Kanji and NOT bilingual...nor do they accept foreign credit or ATM cards). The Japanese were extremely polite with very little exception (you'd hardly imagine that just 2 generations ago they were bayonetting babies and commiting genocide thoughout southeast Asia), and the foold was EXCELLENT so that was a positive. But it just got old that you had to point, pantomime or draw what you were looking for on a menu, map, taxi-ride etc. And I had to remind my 2 other corn-fed American colleagues that asking something louder and louder would not necessarily have a different effect on someone who doesn't understand English.
Which brings me to my second epiphany: this job sucks dolphins. This company is NOT where I want to spend any extended part of my career, nor am I impressed with the callibre of people working in it. But as they haven't checked my references before hiring me, no harm no foul, since I can use them for my next round of interviews for whatever next opportunity comes my way.
Back to Japan (but no, I never actually want to physically go back), I realized this would probably be a very "safe" place for me to live, since I didn't find myself physically attracted to anyone there. There were some "cute" women in a very geisha-esque way. But nothing that made me drool. And the guys were just...well, Japanese. Pretty much men and women have similar features, and they almost seem androgenous. I went to the gym in the hotel I was staying at (the Ritz Carleton...first time in my life I'd ever been in one, which ALMOST made up for the cramped conditions of the coach-class airplane ride). The equipment was above average and I had a good workout. But afterwards, I went to the locker-room and was pleasantly surprised to see they had a semi-traditional Japanese bathhouse in back. I REALLY liked the hot and cold water pools and the female attendants were very nice (Japanese men and women don't have any hangups about nudity around the opposite sex- possibly because their genitals are pretty non-distinguishable). While I was soaking, what I'm pretty sure was a gay couple came in the hot pool and started cruising me. They were two non-descript Japanese guys; one in his late 20's and one in his early 20's who were both typically slender and effeminate looking with a kind of faux-punk shoulder-length haircut which is apparently standard over there. But there was really nothing either of them had that could have sparked my interest, so I just kept averting my gaze anytime I felt one of them luring at me or my package.
And that's pretty much it. I'm glad to be home. Gotten laid twice since I got back. I may have a woman come over tomorrow who will take the cat I've been watching. I hope this happens. I'll miss the cat, but I just can't take care of it on my travel schedule.
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