“Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.” I’m not sure what world I’m in at the moment. Speaking Japanese doesn’t get me anywhere, but I hear Japanese being spoken all around me. There are foreigners speaking English everywhere, and Western style surroundings. Being a foreigner doesn’t attract any special attention. Being polite doesn’t help get better service any more, but nobody pushes to get onto the subway. There wouldn’t have been any stragglers left on the platform if it had been the Ginza line! Just makes me realise that despite significant recent progress, Tokyo still isn’t the international city that this is. But I still feel like Tokyo is my security blanket cause this is making me feel a bit wide-eyed and out of place! So I wonder who really is the monkey in the zoo?
