even the trip here was exciting

Due to a plane crash at Narita, my flight was diverted to Osaka. To get to Tokyo, I took the super speedy super clean (except for the smoking car) Bullet Train! Mostly it was wasted on me since I was basically catatonic, but I eventually struck up a conversation with the lady next to me who was - I think this is going to be a theme - so nice and so sweet and even gave me suggestions for how to find a hotel. Which I did, after a nervy conversation over the phone.

I set out for my dorm today well-rested and confident. Tokyo is made up of 23 smaller wards which each operate as their own cities and have their own centers and "suburbs." It's not all tall buildings and gleaming steel. Instead, there are many neighborhoods of 3-4 story buildings with facades of tile, light-colored brick and stucco. Narrow streets that don't seem wide enough for a car are common. But somehow, even though it doesn't conform to my notions of what a city looks like, it all feels urban. I found the way to the ward I'm living in - Ota - no problem. I set out from the station to my dorm following the map provided by Keio. After 10 minutes, I didn't feel confident in my direction and went back to the station to ask directions. At the police box, two officers flipped through large books of maps and gave me complicated, windy directions that I repeated over and over, trying to memorize. After I reached the point where the dorm should have been and it wasn't, I asked an old man getting off his bike for help. He didn't know, and I could barely understand him anyway, so he called in for his daughter. Already, I felt this was very different treatment than you would get in America. If someone asks me for directions and I don't know I just say sorry and keep going. The man's daughter, afraid she couldn't give me good directions, walked me to the dorm herself. This was generosity beyond any expectations. But I think it might be kind of normal here. I'll keep you posted.