there.
can’t beat people who voluntarily choose to live in Japan. It’s expensive,
crowded and the language is tough to learn, making even the simplest things
difficult.
Fortunately, riding the
train is pretty easy. You can get the maps in English and the prices are simple
enough to figure out. (They’re just expensive, is all.) They’re generally packed
though, and finding a seat can be next to impossible sometimes. But there’s not
really much you can do about
that.
Or isn’t
there?
I
saw this guy on the Yamanote line one day last week. He got on the train, pulled
his hammock-chair out of his bag and got comfy. I thought it was funny because
he did as though it wasn’t anything
unusual.
The Japanese people around him
found it a bit strange though. He spawned a lot of strange looks and a few
conversations. And I doubt I’m the only person who took his
picture.
It’s a decent idea though, but
I’d imagine it wouldn’t sit too well with the other commuters at rush hour. It’d
be cool to think he’s starting a new trend, but I can’t imagine many Japanese
people using this idea. There’s probably a cultural understanding that this is
one of those things that “one simply doesn’t
do.”
And that’s fine. It just means
there’ll be more places for the
gaijin
to hook up their hammocks on the trains.
^.^