Six Impossible Things

Sometimes I have believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. ~Lewis Carroll

Here are my six impossible (highly unlikely) things before breakfast:

1. I wrote a blog entry.

Can you believe it?

2. I woke up at 6AM... and went running.

I don't want to believe it.

3. I saw an old Japanese man walking a polar bear.

Slight exaggeration, but not by much. This white, fluffy bear (a.k.a. one big dawg) almost came up to the shoulder of the tiny elderly gentleman who was walking her. It wasn't hard to imagine him jumping onto her back, yelling a battle cry, and riding off into the sunset...er sunrise.

4. I did homework.

Did you know in the Japanese Shinto religion people can become kamis (gods) after they die? These people have to be special, like monks, national heroes, martyrs, military officers, etc. My favorite kami of them all is *drum roll* Thomas Edison! No joke. In Kyoto there is a Shinto shrine called the Denden-gu, which roughly translated means "Shrine of Electricity and Wavelength." The deities of this shrine are the Patriarch of Electricity and the Patriarch of Wavelength (a.k.a. Thomas Edison and Heinrich Hertz). At Denden-gu you can find bronze portraits of both these scientists. Actually, Edison did visit Japan, and even decided to use Japanese bamboo in constructing the filament of his incandescent light bulbs. There are so many interesting and quirky facets of Shinto. I hope to have at least one blog entry dedicated to this fascinating religion.

5. I practiced Japanese.

This morning marked my complete transformation to the dork side. Do you know the "Ring Verse" from the Lord of the Rings? Most everybody is familiar with the last couple lines:
One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.
Many Tolkien fans have memorized the entire verse. But how many people have those last couple lines memorized in Japanese? Mwhahaha!
Hitotsu no yubiwa wa subete o sube,
Hitotsu no yubiwa wa subete o mitsuke,
Hitotsu no yubiwa wa subete o toraete,
Kurayami no naka ni tsunagitomeru.
It was for homework... seriously! I had to write and present a biography in Japanese about an artist/writer/singer of my choice. I chose J.R.R. Tolkien. So there.

6. I'm going to eat an apple for breakfast. Just one apple, and it will be enough to last me until lunch.

This isn't about what a small eater I am. It seems almost everything in Japan is smaller than in America: the cars, the drinking cups, the meal portions, the people, etc. There are, however, a few notable exceptions. One exception is that polar bear and the other is the apples. They are huge! Bigger than grapefruits, these mutant apples (called ringo in Japanese) are slightly larger than magic eight-balls. I get full after eating just one! And they taste good too! Okay, I lied. I won't be eating just an apple. I'll also have a piece of toast. I love Japanese bread; it's white, fluffy, and substantial. When I leave Japan it will the food I miss the most. At almost every meal for desert, I have toast smothered with strawberry jam.