It's been about two and half years now since I traveled to Japan, yet it's still something I think about. The memories of the countryside and passing views of the small towns are what are foremost in my mind. The bullet train's window displayed a blur of green vistas punctuated by the smoke stacks of miscellaneous chemical plants, the ground occasionally dropping away to reveal the man made stream beds.
I don't know what is was about the outdoors their, by all accounts it should have been terrible. It was warm and ungodly humid, there were insects, vending machines along trails and elderly people racing by to humiliate me with their stamina. Regardless of all of this, I enjoyed it, an extreme happiness pervaded my being while I meandered about a forest. Most of you know that Japan has a large population, but there were times when no one could be found and all you could hear was the sound of cicadas.
What I'm getting at is that in BC I don't feel that way, I can walk outside and yeah it can look really nice, but I don't feel all content and happy in a forest of pine and fir trees. There is live everywhere, but it doesn't feel alive to me. I'm not sure if maybe it's because I grew up and hiked here, and Japan was such a change, or if maybe it was just because I was mentally in different place as I was on vacation. I do believe there is a beauty in BC, anybody who has visited Victoria or been to Forbidden Plateau can attest to that, it just doesn't pull me in.
The difference between the people found in Japan and BC was a shock. They have trains here and trains their, but the people on them could not be more different. Even when fully loaded, people minded themselves trying not to be a nuisance to any of those around them; where as in Vancouver, people seemed to go out of their way to annoy those around them by yelling loudly into their cell phones, subjecting us all to their music blasting from headphones and pushing and shoving everyone even near to in their way.
Stepping off a train was an experience in itself, one stop would leave me in the middle of a downtown otaku plaza, next I would be facing a row of housing pressed wall to wall as far as I could see, or a scenic village positioned around a river beneath a temple. Imagining what it would be like to be able to travel anywhere in the country on a moment's notice by hoping on a train, is something I am intensely jealous of. I can only imagine how great it would be to be able to explore your entire country whenever you felt like it. You want beaches? Hop on a train. You want to ski? Hop on a train. Hiking? Train. Clubbing? Train. City living? You get the idea I think.
I want to say more about my trip there and what I felt about it, and I will. I did keep a journal, or rather a notepad, but it only had the briefest of ramblings on it. I will have to see what memories it stirs up and if I can put them down on paper... blog... lol.
