reEVALUATION

Friday, October 7, 2005

today we went on our second tour of kyoto with greg. we saw the kyoto garden of fine arts by tadao ando. it was composed of replicas of fine art floating on a shallow pool of water or on propped up masses of concrete. the decent culminated in a large mural of da vinci's . the architecture was very calming and serene. but i still didn't get that feeling like my heart was dropping. that's one way to telling that this piece of architecture is great, subjectively of course. the only time that's happened to me was when i drove to pasadena to see the gamble house (http://www.gamblehouse.org/). maybe it was b/c i was kinda tired and i got lost, but i was just amazed just going up the driveway. it's a beautiful house, i recommend going to so and seeing it. it's got a very japanese influence to it. the greene and greene brothers are pretty amazing. (i guess it's good that i decided to go to japan then instead of the netherlands...) anyways, we met up with our other instructor tom who showed us this house that he worked on with the architecture firm that he used to work at (http://www.fob-web.co.jp/). (it's called skip if you're interested.) and then saw another work by tadao ando, the time's cafe. definately not one of my favorites, but he has some pretty amazing work. i'm hoping to see the church of light while i'm here. go to confession and mass maybe. well see about that.

well after that we all got really hungry and decided to meet back up at 1pm. carlos, evangelique, sihenne and i decided to go to kfc. just a little taste of home. i should have got the cole slaw b/c no one makes cole slaw like kfc makes it. it's just so good. it's the paul frank bag that i compare all other bags too. so after getting our fill, we met back up with everybody in the rain. since the rain didn't let up, we broke and i went shopping, again. i got shoes the other day so i could go to the gym. we'll see if that happens.

but on my way back to the dorm, i saw the saddest thing. it was almost as sad as the day that jason, jeff and i were walking up santa monica blvd. amidst all of this chaos that is santa monica blvd., we see this lady trip and fall directly on her face. as she layed there for a few seconds, you could imagine the look of shock on my face, and the look of disgust on jason's. (come on, it's true.) i then went into panic mode and was thinking "what should i do? call the police? get an ambulence? basically i was a mess. if something like that happened to me, i would want others to help me, it just seems to be the courteous thing to do right? and plus, you know something like that is going to happen to you, and being left behind is the last thing that i would want happen to me. anyways, others got to her before i could do anything. but i still felt like i needed to do something. as we saw the blinking red hand start, we were on our way to the other end of the street. i couldn't help but look back and see if she was alright. later that evening we headed back and she was gone, i can only hope she was taken care of.

so i was on the subway back to the dorm and i was with my roommate. there were a lot of people waiting get get on the subway to kokusaikaikan. while trying to find a spot that was less crowded, the train began to approach. as the train approached, i saw this girl in the subway doors. she was mentally disabled girl, possibly with down syndrome, but her face was all red. it looked like she was on the verge of tears or something. "someone's not having a good time on the train" i slipped to my roommate . so the doors open and the girl rushes out, and i let out a laugh, kinda as a confirmation that my comment was correct, but then she goes into this little nook close to the escalator and starts to cry. the crowd from the train rushes passed her with no one really stopping to see if she's alright. so once again, i fell like i need to do something. i tell my roommate to give me the pack of tissues that he got off of the streets (btw, they give out tissues to people on the streets, it's their form of advertising. plus sometimes a lot of the bathrooms don't have towels to wipe your hands dry, and they're good for other stuff too) so we can give it to her. she's obviously going through a tramatic experience. but as i fight my way towards her, i realize that the doors to the train are closing, so being the jerk that i am, i opt to take the train. as the doors close, all i can do is sit and watch her cry in her little corner.

i felt so bad! if i take anything away from this country i hope it's their ability to lend a helping hand to anybody...

so am i a bad person? maybe a person with bad timing. i guess i kinda freeze in moments of stress... well i'm working on it. maybe it's time to institute "the kindness tour: japan." "the american kindness tour '04-'05: west to east coast" kinda went off with a hitch, but we'll see how that goes. kinda sounds like a need a therapist or something. well so i get home and check my email and log on to ichat. i start talking to cile and tell her the story about the subway girl and she manages to turn it into something funny. not funny like "gilbert grape," but putting a different take of my experience and it just put a smile on my face. it cheered me up. thanks cile.

i also told her that i'm kinda getting homesick. what a dreaded word. i'm in such an amazing place, that i shouldn't be homesick. i see new things everyday, find new shortcuts, new shops, new food, the list is endless, but with all of the newness it's nice to find something familiar. kinda like a safe place. i still haven't found it here, but i'm sure all of these feelings will dissappate once school gets into full swing.

alright hope you all are out there helping subway girls by handing them tissues, and i'll try my best over here...