Coffee, Tea & History - July 20

We went to my old high school today.  But first we saw a Starbucks at Ueno station, and for the second time this trip, I succumbed.  I just HAD to have a nice, big, hot, milky latte to hold and suck down my gullet!!!  And now I will take this opportunity to clamber aboard a small soap box and gripe about some pet peeves in Japan, having to do with beverages.  Hot beverages, in particular. Lots of very delicious and good quality teas and coffee are available.  However, there are rarely any hot beverages available without caffeine.  (Unfortunately, caffeine and I don’t get along well.)  A couple of kinds of tea maybe, but they’re not always available.  No decaf coffee in restaurants or convenience stores or grocery stores, that I could find.  Not even instant.  Also, the portions are small.  Generally, they are served in small cups, and the cups are only filled about 2/3 full.  And they tend to charge quite a bit for these delicate tastes of good quality coffee.  And there are no refills.  It’s sort of a small thing, overall, but having a nice big mug of hot steamy, creamy decaf is a huge source of comfort in my life.  Basically, I've had to do Japan without my blankie.  Hence, the stop at Starbucks.  Okay, I’ll stop whining now.

It was rainy and as cooperative as she’d been throughout the trip, Julia wasn’t much in the mood to do Mom’s memory lane thing today.  So it was quick, but that was enough.  We got a bit tangled up getting from the Higashi Kurume station to campus, as the entire station and surrounding area has been rebuilt and I couldn’t tell which side of it I was on.  

Higashi Kurume Station

View from Higashi Kurume Station

But eventually we found our way.  I knew there’d been some changes on campus, but it was disorienting at first.  Once at the center, it looked quite familiar again.  The former dormitories are all gone and there’s a new gym where the girls dorms used to be.  But the main high school/admin building, the chapel, cafeteria and play field are all still there.  I just stood there and looked around.  It all seemed so small.  I don’t think I’ve grown that much since high school, so I’m not sure what that’s about.  I spent most of three years of my life in that little space in and between those buildings.  Wow.  I was tickled to see that Shimizu’s store was still there next to campus and still run by the same people.  As was the farmer’s field between them and the school.  

View from Corner of Shimizu's across the Field to Campus
Building Visible is the New Gym (Where Girls' Dorms Use to Be)

Side of the New Gym and "Face" of the School

High School & Administration Building

Chapel

Garden Area & Expanded Parking Lot
(There Used to be a Boys' Dorm Back There Somewhere)

Class of '69 Benches
(Hey Phil, They're Still There!)

Cafeteria

Play Field

Shimizu Store from Campus

That was it.  It was fun to see again and then I was done.  Very uncomplicated; almost surprisingly so.  Maybe I’m just too far from those days; or maybe I’ve really worked through most of the issues pertaining to boarding school; or maybe what’s important in the end is the relationships, and I still have many of those which have evolved along with me, so I can let the past be the past.  I don’t really know.  I just know I enjoyed seeing it again, and that I feel content.

That afternoon we spent some time at Tokyo National Museum, which was a first for me.  Although it wasn’t really Julia’s cup of tea, she humored me.  In some ways, we just scratched the surface, but I found it amazing in terms of Japan’s artistic history.

After dinner, Julia & I discovered a Japanese sweets shop just around the corner from our hotel.  That’s another passion we share!