Ryokan in Kyoto

"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01) 03/31/2016 at 10:04 • Filed to: None

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I probably hit my head a dozen times going through various doors- clearly this Edo period Japanese inn was not designed for a six-foot-tall fat white guy:

ttyymmnn > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 10:10

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Noah - Now with more boost. > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 10:10

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dude you are making me SO JEALOUS with all these trip updates, I hope you’re having a blast (looks like it)

jimz > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 10:12

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the first time I was there, due to flight delays we got to Ueno station just after the last outgoing train had left. We were able to find a hotel by the train station, and the door into the hotel room was smaller than the closet door in my bedroom. I’m 5'6" and I felt like I had to duck to walk through it.

but hey, they had a beer vending machine in the hallway.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 10:16

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Don’t take this the wrong way, but you have exactly the right sort of easy-to-reduce-to-caricature face that it’s really easy to imagine you as a Muppet.

vondon302 > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 10:17

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Well at least the ceilings were high.

EL_ULY > ttyymmnn 03/31/2016 at 10:24

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lol perfect :]

Steve in Manhattan > Noah - Now with more boost. 03/31/2016 at 10:44

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Home now, but that trip was transformative - been to a couple European countries and Canada, Mexico, but Japan is so different from anything I’d seen before. I’d live in Tokyo in a second.

Steve in Manhattan > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/31/2016 at 10:47

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Two or three times a year I get approached on the street, or the subway, and some guy grabs me: “Frank! Don’t you recognize me? We went to high school together!” I have to explain that I’m not Frank, I’m Steve, and they always look disappointed. I have that face - everyone thinks they’ve known me, or gone to school with me, or knew me from their last job. I cannot explain it.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 10:58

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One of my dad’s cousins would look very similar to you if he grew his beard the same way and lightened it. I think there are several The Face-s out there that are an indication of mixed european genetics throwing up its hands and saying “eh, fuck it”.

Flavien Vidal > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 11:22

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Many people LOVE Japan when they visit, but very few are actually capable of living here (unless it’s on a military base with other foreigners and so on). I’ve only been living here full time for 1 and a half year but have been doing round trips to Japan for the past 10 years and the amount of foreigners who start as massive fans of Japan, Tokyo and so on and who end up depressed and going back after 6 months to a year is truly impressive...

I was not particulary interested in Japan before meeting my now-wife and never was attracted to the country itself in particular (not more than any other country I didn’t know). Arriving here with a neutral image, I think, helped me a lot avoiding the massive desappointment that so many foreigners have to deal with once they actually settle here. (lots of racism toward foreigners, very hard working hours, over work never paid, no real social life at work...etc etc etc)

Noah - Now with more boost. > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 11:26

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I just want to go to all the Manufacturer’s museums lol

Steve in Manhattan > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/31/2016 at 11:28

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I’ve got that thing - if a crazy person gets on the subway, they gravitate to me. I have that face - I get asked all the time to take photos of couples in town on vacation. Of course I do it.

Steve in Manhattan > Flavien Vidal 03/31/2016 at 11:31

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I thought carefully about Manhattan before I moved here, but it all worked out. You’re right - Tokyo would be a big leap, and I’d have to learn a lot. There’s little chance we’ll wind up there, but if we do, I’ll have to man up and get used to it, good or bad.

Steve in Manhattan > Noah - Now with more boost. 03/31/2016 at 12:01

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Take a look at my timeline - more than a few photos from the Tokyo Toyota Motor Museum. Including a Toyota 2000GT. And this monstrosity (which I loved):

Noah - Now with more boost. > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 12:28

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Yes the Japanese LOVE American Yachts

TheHondaBro > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 12:29

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You look like my music teacher in high school, except you have a little more hair.

DoobyOne > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 12:33

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DUDE! I loved you on Mythbusters! :)

BrtStlnd > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 12:36

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Pintolgulus > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 12:44

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Dwayne? Dwayne from the old bowling league. How you been? Here’s a shirt for you.

Steve in Manhattan > Pintolgulus 03/31/2016 at 12:49

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Well, I’ll take the shirt, and if I meet a guy called Dwayne, I’ll give it to him.

Steve in Manhattan > TheHondaBro 03/31/2016 at 12:51

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So 11 years of piano lessons paid off - I look like I know what I’m doing.

And don’t ask me for a Bach 3-part invention - doubt I’d be able to get thru one without a day’s practice.

Steve in Manhattan > BrtStlnd 03/31/2016 at 13:11

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Open bar, Japanese buffet ... help yourself!

Flavien Vidal > Steve in Manhattan 03/31/2016 at 21:14

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I used to live in Montreal and often went to NYC... That feeling of lonelyness most foreigners get when they end up really moving here is very different. They usually cannot even communicate and even if they can, nobody really wants to. Living in Japan is definitely something to experience once in a lifetime, but if I didn’t have a passion for cars, an awesome wife who IS japanese and knows lots of people here and if I wasn’t used to easily leave everything behind me and move from one country to another like I am, I don’t think I’d be able to live here for very long before moving out.

The culture gap is so massive, that it can be hard to grasp at times :)

Steve in Manhattan > Flavien Vidal 03/31/2016 at 21:34

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My SigOther is Japanese, and we have friends there, but otherwise I can’t say - I’ve never lived anywhere out of the U.S. Maybe one day I will.

Chasaboo > Steve in Manhattan 04/01/2016 at 03:17

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I did home stay in Nagaokakyo outside of Kyoto. My home stay mother was this yakuza maniac, and her house had crazy low beams. One morning I was rushing through the hall to get to the bathroom, and I hit my head so hard on a beam it knocked me unconscious. I woke up looking at my home stay mother staring down at me and she said, you barbarians are just too damn tall.