The Embassy in Japan
Our big day was Wednesday. There are two steps to getting the a visa for her, and this day we set out to accomplish step one.As we approached the embassy, we realized that a small group of protesters were gathered across the street. There were 3 protesters in all, two old Japanese hens and one greasy European that appeared to be around 37 years old. He had a slightly Arabic accent, I'd guess he was half French, half middle eastern.
They held signs that did not make a lot of sense, but I gathered that this was a Palestinian centered protest. The embassy opens for visa seekers at 2pm, which coincides with the ending of their lunch hour. It seemed the male protestor, obviously the organizer, was waiting for the lunch crowd to gather. Once he took to the megaphone, I started to understand what he was all about.
This was an anti-Jew protest. Over and over again he repeated "Eighty ...Seven ...Billion ...Dollars!", the alleged amount the US had given to Israel over the years. His main points seemed to be:
The Jews control the US
The Jews need the US money to continue crushing the Palestinians
The US is a hypocritical nation because if they really cared about human rights, they would stop the Jewish slaughter of the Palestinian people
The American people are stupid and ignorant because they do not know that the US government is supporting Israel.
The American people are stupid and ignorant because they do not realize we are making enemies around the world.
The stupid American people should be afraid because the US government is making Arab nations unhappy.
The ignorant American people are never told about the plight of the Palestinians.
The Jews are aggressors and murderers, killing children (apparently for fun)
I really wanted to walk over there and beat the grease out of his hair with that megaphone. I also wanted to say something, but he had a megaphone and I did not. Also, we were waiting to get into the embassy and I didn't want to cause any trouble. We need this visa because my baby is due in June and I want to be with my wife when she delivers.
Eventually, one of the others waiting in line yelled "Fuck the Arabs", which really made the protestor mad. He kept saying in a condescending tone that we don't realize how other countries hate us. We should be afraid, blah blah.
He was gone when we got out, but a few points I would have liked to make to him:
The US understand perfectly well that other countries hate us. WE DON'T FUCKING CARE!
The US isn't afraid of other countries, especially Arab countries. The quickest way for an Arab country to be erased from the map is to attack us again.
We know about the plight of the Palestinians. We also know about the plight of the Jews. Until the Palestinians decide to work for peace and agree to live side-by-side with an Israeli state (something they refuse to do), then of course we will support the more peaceful, democratic country that is actually working for a peaceful solution.
Also, Israel could crush the Palestinians once and for all tomorrow if they so decided. They don't need the US for that.
Anyway, the embassy finally let us in and the protestor continued barking about Israel. One thing he said before he left was that we should realize that the terrorists win if we hate one another. The US should not hate the Arabs. We are all brothers. He then went on to mention all those who were our "fellow man", ...mentioning people from a long list of countries. Noticeably absent was "the Jews".
The wife and I were fortunate enough to have the first part of our forms accepted. Now, only one more step to go. We need to gather a new set of forms, correctly fill them out, and have an interview at the embassy. With luck, we will pass this step and she will be with me here in the US by May.
After the embassy, we attempted to visit the Yushukan memorial site and the war museum located on it's grounds. The museum closed minutes before we got there via taxi, so we bummed around the shrine for awhile, taking pictures and breathing in the history. The shrine is located in central Tokyo, adjacent to the Imperial Palace grounds (which I unfortunately did not get to see).
We walked through the Koy fish garden, visited the museum gift shop, passed under the beautiful Torii gates, walked past Budokan where Cheap Trick taped their famous album, and took the train to Ikebukuro to visit the 60 story Sunshine City department store complex.
The streets of Ikebukuro are exactly what you'd expect to see in Tokyo, tall buildings on narrow streets with neon lights reaching the sky. Thousands of people marching about, street vendors, congestion. I loved it.
We needed to eat something, so we went to the floor that housed the restaurants. The wife was sick of traditional Japanese food. She wanted something western. So, we went to Bennihannas. Over in the US, Bennihannas serves Japanese food, but in Japan, it is known for western-style food. We each had an Italian salad with an au gratin, macaroni, cheesy thing that was warm and good.
Tired from our long day, we took a train to Seiyo-Shimbuku so we could catch an express line home. Unfortunately, I experienced some digestinal distress. Nothing major, but it led to me learning a lesson about life in Japan.
At all the train stations and crowded public areas, teenagers had out promotional packets of tissue paper. They are little travel-sized packets with ads printed on the outside. Most people ignore them, so I had been ignoring them too. Now I know they serve a special purpose.
The toilets in the Japanese train stations do not carry toilet paper. Possibly some do, but this one did not. I made do with some moist towelettes in my bag, but it could have been ugly, real ugly.
Lesson learned.
We returned home around 11:30, tired and cold. We were each sad that this was our last night together. I had to be on a plane the next evening at 7:20. Trying not to think about it, we laid down for the last time until she joins me in the US and fell asleep.
<< Home