Lesson 7: Not everyone has ice cream trucks.

Anne and I spent the day in the city. It was hot. I have not yet experienced a seasonal change so my brain registered this hot day as a summer day. On our last stop we had to hunt for a spot to park and to do so we made our way through a neighborhood. Children were playing and hustle and bustle was all around. We got out of the car and were walking down the street; sweating, talking and moving our way to the store. All of the sudden I heard an ice cream truck. Unbelievable. They have ice cream trucks in Japan? Now I thought this was strictly an American thing. I listened again. Yes, it was that music box sound. High pitched,crackly,and recognizable only as the ice cream truck music. Then I smelled wood smoke. Wow did that smell good. But my brain was thinking ice cream,and it was counting yen. It was arguing with itself over chocolate and vanilla bars or soft and creamy cones, maybe a popsicle. I hadn`t had a popsicle from a truck in years. Then I spotted the truck, it was on our street and coming at me. Hot damn, I`m going to get a soft cream twist. Then I smelled wood smoke. The truck was just as you would imagine; small with those sides that are up, open and ready for business. I waved the truck down; big smile, appreciative bow. As the truck turned the corner and stopped,I saw an open fire in the back, a stack of wood on the side, and a grill full of foil wrapped somethings. "Kon-ni-chi-wa" "Kon-ni-chi- wa" Bow. Bow. He hands me one, takes his 500 yen, and I walk away with a... potato. Chit. A potato truck.

Lesson 6: More on Toileting

1. I was right, it IS a backsplash. 2. In Japan, don`t look under the door to see if someone is in the stall.

Lesson Five: I really can`t read this chit.

I am going to bike from Tokyo to Hiroshima, I think. I got the maps out and I can see there are roads I should be following, but I can`t read the map. Oh yeah, there is a number on the road, but quite often there are two roads with the same number. There is an explaination but I can`t read that either. Chit I thought, instead I should try to go to the city and figure my way for a bit, see what happens. Do you know what it is like to not understand a word, let alone a syllable of someone`s language? Well it was never so poignant to me than when I was in Tokyo. A stupified look though, is universal.

Lesson Four: Standard Equipment

I got my bike fixed up and ready to go about 6 this eve. It was about dark, Anne had to leave the house for a few hours and I wanted to go for a ride. Anne told me where a park was, the old Olympic park of 1964, told me there was a 2k path around the park and said it would be safe. Good enough for me. On the way there I met a woman feeding cats. She spoke English enough to tell me that she was feeding and trying to spay and nueter 50 cats and had had a garage sale all weekend to raise money. I was able to pet a few catties and then of course gave a minor donation and was on my way. Got to the park and it was crowded. Japanese crowded. People everywhere, going every which way. The first thing I do is run into somebody`s dog who had walked out in front of me. (No worries mates, no damage done.) I was grateful for the language barrier. Not 3 minutes down the path someone else pulls out in front of me on a bike. Alright I think, I`ll start saying something. I clear my throat. They don`t notice. I say " on your left"( oh yeah they understood that). I say "hi". Well that means yes in Japanese, so that doesn`t work. None of it was working very well. Then I noticed they were all using bells. "Chit", I thought, I should have bought one of those. So I start saying "ding ding". People are everywhere remember. I am quite often saying " ding ding". This works but people are looking at me funny. (I don`t have a bell alright? No bell.) A half hour of "ding ding" goes by and I think " I am definitely getting one of those bells". I had seen a Hello Kitty bell at the shop earlier and I thought about getting that one " ding ding ". I thought about when I would have time "ding ding" to go back to the shop. One more purchase and I would be ready "ding ding " for the road. As I was thinking all this, I started to relax on my bike "ding ding" and explore it`s gears and gadgets. It was dark and I was fumbling around. I found a reflector and decided it should be on the back of my bike, I found the shifter cable and thought maybe I should adjust it for easier shifting, then I found this little black ball with a lever. I hit the lever...."ding". Oh. Ding ding:standard equipment.

Lesson Three: I`m big. Japan is small.

I bought a bike in Tokyo so that I could tour here in Japan. I found it in a Japanese K-Mart kind of store. Now this store is "like" a K-Mart. Same amount of stuff, one fifth the floor space. Packed. With the help of Anne I was able to ask a few questions, get some added gear and pick out a particular bike. The guy was very helpful, spent a fair amount of time with me and even gave me some tools for free. We closed the deal and made arrangements to pick up the bike after he added the front basket and rear rack. ( Yes I said basket. Wait until you see this bike.)We do the bowing, thank you and more bowing thing and I picked up my back pack and turned to go. It was at that moment, I don`t know how it happened, but I guess when I turned to go my backpack hit a row of bikes. There were about fifteen bikes in this row. They all went down. Crap. More bowing, apologizing, bowing, thank you`s and more bowing. My seat post is to short on this bike ( surprise surprise) and the " K-Mart " does not have a longer seat tube. So Anne and I have to head to a local bike shop. She explains to the bike shop guy what I need and he scratches his chin, thinks, then gestures to go by me. I step back, directly into a box that grabs my foot and hangs on. I, of course, begin to fall and take two or three giant steps with the box on my foot. As I turn to catch my balance I begin knocking things off shelves with my backpack. More bowing, apologizing, bowing, and picking up.

Japan: Lesson two. Toileting

I did not anticipate this being a lesson.I had done my research and I had a plan.I would tackle the problem in the Tokyo airport. Turns out in the airport you are given a choice: Western or Japanese style. (They break us in gently.) I chose the japanese style,patted myself on the back for bravery and stepped in ready to go. The toilet is just a shallow trench on the floor, oblong; but not what you think. The hole goes ACROSS the stall. In addition on one end there is a .... hump. It is as if there is half an empty walnut shell sitting there. So I wondered; which way does ol` one eye go? I tried both ways. What was most weird about it all; I was sideways in the stall. I decided to use the walnut shell as a "backsplash" and wa la it was done. Until the coins fell out of my pocket. Damn. I read about this. I gave Japan the 250 yen. I think it is a conspiracy. Then came the flush. It was so weird to watch a toilet flush sideways across the ..... floor. No swirl,no rim,no protection. I mean, what if you had a wild one? No wonder they take their shoes off at the door. Luckily I had a long wait for the bus at the airport so I got to pratice this ritual several times. I got relatively comfortable with the whole thing and was ready for my stay in Japan. By the time I got to Anne`s apartment it was late. We did the chit chat thing and then they showed me my bed and the toilet. I looked in. Hot damn! A western style toilet. They head to bed and I head to the bathroom. I sit down. I notice the toilet seat is warm. Very warm. That`s when I remembered. Japanese take their western style automated toilets very seriously. Yes I said automated. And the automation can be sophisticated. Very sophisticated. I got nervous. I sighed. I slowly turned to the wall on my right.I looked up. It looked like NASA control center. All in Japanese. I got more nervous. I looked down. Another panel. CHIT! I count the options. Thirty one buttons! Two readable screens. I stand up. I remember some of those options and I`m not having it. I back away, I pause, close one eye and begin pushing. First button; nothing happens. I wondered what I missed. I feel lucky. I push another. I hear wind chimes but get no flush. Next button; I hear a flush but don`t get one. I look for clues and notice the control panel opens. I pull up the flap. Pictures! Fan spray. Narrow spray. Jet spray. Interesting. Air dry. Air dry? Oh my gawd; air dry. I give up and go to bed.

Japan: Lesson One. We are not the only ones in this world.

I was fortunate enough to have someone meet in Tokyo. Cindy had a family member named Anne that lives in Tokyo and was kind enough to not only meet me but to let me stay with her and her husband. Cindy went to lengths to make sure things went well. Anne was patient with my many changes of plans. She eventually, once I had a confirmed flight, was able to tell me what public transportation to take to her apartment once in Tokyo. Cindy sent Anne pictures of me so that Anne could easily recognize me when I got off what was promised to be a crowded bus. I was happy about that because, well, I was a little nervous without my gypsies around. What Anne later told me was she could not understand why we thought she needed pictures of me, she said I was easy to recognize. It was then that I realized I was the ONLY big, tall, white, blue eyed, blonde on the bus. Thank God Anne had pictures.

Australia

Autralia was a backdrop to my experience with the gypsies. Kaya,Jack,Melanie,Antony,Sylvan,Christoph, Yuka and of course Stephen. I only saw a fraction of the country with them but in that I saw another world. I saw croc`s and coral,heard cockies and kookabooros,learned about roo`s and rainforests and learned more about friendships. It`s funny how you can refine revelations time and again. Who would I be writing to if it weren`t for you guys back home? Who would I tell these stories to? Who would I think about during a beautiful sunset or a poignant moment if it were not for my friends and family? Australia was more than I thought it could be. Sharing this experience with all of you has been even bigger.I have dreamt of traveling for years; I can`t thank you guys enough for sharing this with me. It is all of you that has made the difference.

More Australia photos

It has proven to be a challenge for Tracy to find a computer in Tokyo with an english operating system and keyboard. You think you know your menus... Anyway, until she can get to a computer that understands her I will entertain you with still more photos from Australia. Here are Steven's photos from Cairns and the Daintree forest. He is quite a good photographer and there are some gems in this batch, so even though some of the subject matter is the same the photos are really nice to see (and there are a few more with Tracy in them). Also, here are photos from the dive trip. Really cool. And finally, if you remember Tracy talking about a guy named George she met who gave her a CD of his sunset photos now you can see those sunsets. They are amazing. All of the slideshows need to be started by hand since there are a few here together. Same with the music. Just click the play arrow above the slideshow you are looking at. (And as always you can click on the slideshow to go see the photos larger and longer.)

Tokyo bound

Tracy's flying to Tokyo right now. (10:30pm our time).