ifignow wrote:
> "Declan Murphy" <declan_murphy@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:bt5vt1$3ko4p$1@ID-139419.news.uni-berlin.de...
> 
>>If cash is a problem then use the seishun-juuhachi-kippu. Mega cheap.
>>You don't even need to know where you want to go - and with a few social
>>and language skills its usually easy to talk to people on the train.
>>Your journey could be your destination.
> 
> Ok, I did look at it.  But $100 is pricey for me, and it doesn't cover hotel
> expenses.

Spread it over five days and its hardly pricey. And as for hotel 
expenses, may I introduce to you the idea of "day trips". Or for social 
interaction (whether you initiate it or not), stay in a youth hostel.

>>And whats with the
>>foreigner-hating onsen BS? You seem to be a black hole of negativity. Go
>>play in the snow somewhere. What do you want to do? What do you enjoy?
> 
> I do speak from experience, and I'm not comfortable getting naked around
> other men. I have been to Kyoto once by myself, though it was a thoroughly
> boring experience in which I didn't talk to anyone for the whole trip.

1) I find it hard to believe that anyone could go to/around/from Kyoto 
without talking to anyone - unless - it was their own preference. 2) If 
you don't enjoy onsens - don't go to them. Or if you prefer, try a 
single bath next week when the crowds have gone.

Do you ski? Do you like sculpture? Ice-fishing? Photography? etc etc...

> I'm willing to give it another try if necessary, though do I really want to
> keep repeating boring trips until something good happens?  Are there ways to
> ensure there will be interesting social experiences?

Well yes, one way to ensure that interesting social experiences occur is 
to err, talk to people. I believe that the technical term for this is 
called "social interaction", which in past tense becomes "social 
experiences". One of the problems you may discover is that if you set 
out to make earnest and moral boring trips each day they will inevitably 
be boring.

>>Firstly - why wouldn't they be under that impression? You posted at 7:30
>>this morning, again around 10, again from 1pm and again since five-ish.
> 
> Between 10-1, I went out to the gym and to get lunch.  Between 1-5, I went
> mall walking in the underground mall of Tokyo station.  It's been a typical
> day in that sense -- haven't talked to anyone all day.

Ahhhhh - I'm so awfully sorry. Sitting here 300 kilometers away I was 
completely unable to instinctively know that you were not only away from 
your PC for some of the time but also in fact out and about refusing to 
talk to people. And why? Are you Stephen Hawking's love child? Is there 
something wrong with your vocal chords?

>>And secondly - you haven't actually given
>>(despite several posters asking you specifically) any information about
>>yourself that would help anyone imagine something that you would find
>>"interesting". Apart from "meeting" some "Japanese girls" and zapping
>>"slime" with a laser - what exactly would you find interesting?
> 
> I do like checkers, is there a checkers club in Tokyo?  Are there math
> clubs?  I do like juggling.  Problem is, clubs like that are shut down for
> the holiday seasons.

I don't know what checkers is - a version of chess? Is there a club in 
Tokyo? No idea. Perhaps you could have asked earlier and had an answer 
by now, or contact any of the numerous tourist/cityhall/gaiginmedia 
outlets abounding up there. Mathematics clubs - same deal- I don't and 
haven't lived in Tokyo for eight years.

So you like juggling. Why do you need a club? Go sit (don't stand) in a 
park (I suggest wearing something warm) and juggle for a few hours. Try 
not to scowl or make judgements about people as they pass. It won't 
help. About 1 person every 10 minutes is going to try to communicate 
with you (the social interaction thingee remember? - you're supposed to 
reply) and sooner or later you will have no reason to whine here 
(most/part/whatever) of the day.

>>Personally I think it is basically a tour of the latter. If you can
>>speak the language sufficiently, or have a sense of adventure, then I
>>would advise avoiding it and striking off on your own. I think the only
>>reason people suggested it was because whether you are aware of it or
>>not, in your posting style and persona you gave the impression of
>>someone lacking the confidence to go and and try different things.
> 
> It's not so much unwilling to try new things, as it is that I've already
> done them.  Theoretically, I suppose I could take a thousand trips to Kyoto
> until one of them is interesting, though that seems expensive and boring.

Why Kyoto? Not enough concrete in Tokyo for you? In my post suggesting 
you get out of town I was suggesting you try some rural areas. "The 
difference between Tokyo and rural areas of Japan 20 years ago and
now is more or less the same as then. If its the Japan of your youth
that you are missing, I suggest you get out of town and do some
travelling during the few remaining days that you remain here".



-- 
I am not who I think I am
I am not who you think I am
I am who I think you think I am

...or some such shite.