We all know that there are some great cities around the world, with some amazing sights. But with those sights come some just as amazing smells. In the UK, Londoners are proud of their advanced, Victorian sewer system which keeps most smells at bay. That is, they SHOULD be proud, especially if they come to smell the wonderful aromas that pervade the air (and one's nostrils) whilst walking the streets of Tokyo. Somehow, it appears that the sewage system here wasn't designed for 12 million people. Or even 50, for that matter. I constantly confront people with the idea that the city of Tokyo smells like...well, faeces, and the answer I always get is: 'does it?' As if it is something completely new. And the only reason I can come up with is that people either have never smelled their own excrement (which I quickly dismiss), or that people are so used to the streets smelling like the inside of a public toilet, that it is completely ignored.
So, people of the world, I put to you that Tokyo is a smelly city. As are many others. But this is about Tokyo.
Other than this, lectures were cancelled for today. Which is great!... or it would have been if I didn't like my Tuesday lectures... In addition, I still have no idea what it is in aid of, but it doesn't matter. Perhaps it is to mourn the loss of the baseball game between Keio and Waseda. It was a crying shame and a public humiliation! More humiliating than having the Handkerchief Prince on your team. 11-2. Then 6-0. Terrible. The Keio players even took pity on Waseda (between the sneers of derision on their faces).
It is a cold, cold day today. People are finally feeling the onset of winter...in the middle of autumn. Makes me feel happy, then, that I only feel half as cold as I do back in the UK. With the weather remaining cloudless, it is only set to get colder - but it seems to be good weather for drying clothes, so dig into that mountain of dirty clothing you haven't been bothered to wash and get it done while you still can!!!
In other news: Waseda Festival is approaching. It is said to be the biggest university festival in Tokyo (though I imagine most other universities claim this too), so get on over and enjoy the fun, as hundreds of thousands of people squeeze into a small Tokyo community to enjoy looking at the attractive (and some not so...) university students (and their stalls, of course). People of all ages will enjoy the delights on offer, though I can only attest to one of them. WIF (Waseda International Festival) will be putting on their annual international dance performance, showcasing cultures from all over the world. They'll also be doing Soran Bushi (and losing...because EVERYONE knows that westerners can't dance a Japanese dance!), and it is GREAT fun to watch.
It is for this Festival that I managed to get my three seconds of fame! I will appear on screen for a frighteningly short period of time, telling everyone about 'International People'.
--'So what is an international person?'
--'AN INTERNATIONAL PERSON IS ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS LOTS OF CULTURES'
So basically, I had a chance to say anything cool, and I blew it by spouting some crap about culture. WOO! Go me! In hindsight, perhaps I shouldn't have used my real name. Oh well.
Well, I think the boat has sailed on this blog entry. I only hope that you don't look down on me for my cynicism and frankness; you know I'm only joking. No, really.
Until next time.
Interesting :P I look forward to your future posts! If you want to smell the citys of the world, I recommend Beijing. It doesn't smell bad, as such, but it definately has a distinctive reek. I guess its the smell of millions of people packed into a small space with poor polution laws and slum like living conditions!
返信削除Look forward to your next post
I didn't realise you had a blog T_T
返信削除I miss you loads and loads and loads, and eeks bout the smelliness. Nanjiing was the same, first day exploring took us to some interesting smells -___-;;
Besides that take care!
xxx
PS since your thing is in japanese...I found it hard to work out ><