Day 6

Alright, today's the day, the day I went on the train to a different place all by myself. And it wasn't even that hard :) Yes, I just walked down to the train station and got on the train, like I'd been shown. The train I'm using is the Yamanote line, which is a JR train (above ground) that goes in a circle around the center of Tokyo. Not only is the line convenient (all the good places to go are around the center of Tokyo) but it is also english-friendly. Inside the train, there is a moving 'map' of which stop we're at and where it is going. If this wasn't enough, it also says it aloud in both english and Japanese  each time the train stops. While the station near Takanawa (the Shinagawa station) is easy enough to navigate, the Shibuya station that I got off at was...not so much. It's separated into multiple floors and buildings that are not all connected (or if they are, I sure couldn't find it). I ended up following some vague signs and walking along the outside of the station in the general direction of where I wanted to go... and poof, there I was. Easy peasy. Today I went to Shibuya in hope to find one particularly famous mall that was recomended to me by this girl I met at the fireworks. It is the 109 building, strategically located right outside the station. After crossing the 'scramble,' a huge crosswalk that has large crowds of people crossing it at a time. The crowds are on account to the fact that all the lights for the cars at the crossing stop at once and that it's surrounded by popular shopping malls/stores/etc. When I got into the 109 building, there were a few things that shocked me. First of all, it is extremely loud in there. From each store's own music being blasted, to sales clerks calling out to potential buyers, to all the people everywhere talking in foregin languages...yeah, it got pretty loud. Also, everthing inside is small and crowded. And, with the exception of a couple scottish girls, there was a surprising lack of english in this popular tourist spot. And everything worth buying was over $40. And last but not least, the sales clerks all. looked. like. manequins!! Seriously, they were all just as tall and thin, and thier hair looked like the wigs they put on the suprisingly realistic manequins(also, they were wearing the same clothes). When the manequin I was standing by in one store started to move, I decided I needed to escape. Like a wimp, I went out to the starbucks (with a great view of the scramble, I might add) and sat out side for a while until I felt like going back in. (alright, you've got to give me some credit. I'm a fifteen year old, from a wee little town by the beach, all alone in a foreign city. I'm allowed to get a little overwhelmed. Once. Many people wouldn't have even gotten on the plane.) Once back inside, I did some browsing, tried on many a pair of shoes that I couldn't bring myself to buy, and made a purchase (it came with two shirts for the price of 'one', it is thus justified.) I even used some japanese phrases from this phrasebook I brought (Can I try this on?, It doesn't fit, and I'll take it) It's exciting to recite some seemingly meaningless syllables and have someone understand them as words! So anyways, all in all it was fun to see the strange clothes people sold (and wore), exciting to be on my own in the city, and interesting to learn the different ways to behave in a shopping mall (take off your shoes in the dressing room, sales clerks take your clothes to try on and direct you to the changing rooms -even though you only have one thing, and also, you get new clothes after purchasing instead of the old 'try-on' clothes) Today was different than any day I've ever experienced. And I like that.

BTW, today marks one week away from home.