Friendly (Pillaging) Deer and other Tales of Miyajima, Japan

"There's a deer," I pointed out to Jaiman as we oriented ourselves after disembarking from the ferry.  

"Whoa," he responded, surprised even though he shouldn't have been.  We had watched a travel documentary that featured the beautiful island of Miyajima, and the deer were actually inside the ferry station on the show.  I had also told him about them.  Maybe he was overwhelmed, and it just snuck up on him.  I think he was overwhelmed by a lot in Japan, but he did a great job traveling with me, navigating the complex train systems and bustling cities, and eating food we couldn't positively identify.  We had been in Tokyo for seven days, and this morning we had taken a Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima, and from there, made our way to the ferry that would take us to Miyajima.  

I had been to Miyajima 12 years ago, as part of my study abroad trip to Hiroshima.  Miyajima is probably best known for the magnificent Torii Gate, often pictured as an iconic symbol of all of Japan. During my study abroad, we had only stayed for a few hours, and I remember it being so remarkably beautiful and I had wished we could have stayed longer.  The deer just cracked me up, I could not get enough of them.  I remember sitting with a couple classmates, watching a Chinese tour group walk by in a neatly formed block, and the last row of men all had deer munching on the backs of their shirts.  These deer will eat anything, or try to, at least.  They will rifle through your open bag, chomping on any receipts, brochures or water bottles they can find, or grab a hold of your clothes when you're not looking, or even taking a bite of your yakitori, meat on a stick, while you are looking the other way.  Don't let their cuteness fool you; they are sneaking, thieving bastards.  But they are cute.  

The deer on Miyajima are considered something like messengers of the kami (gods), and are therefore treated with respect and not harmed by humans.  This means they have no reason to fear us, as most animals tend to.  They walk around like they own the place, and in a way, they kind of do.  I have heard of monkeys acting similarly, higher up on the mountain of Miyajima, Mount Misen, but I didn't see the monkeys on the short trip 12 years ago and the guys in the travel show also failed to encounter them on their hike.  They also failed to bring water, which is clearly a terrible idea.  

Anyways, when Jaiman and I had started planning this trip to Japan, I knew for sure that I wanted to return to Miyajima and actually spend some time on the island.  I had looked at several hotels with Western-style rooms, but somehow my heart was stuck on Miyajima Grand Arimoto, mainly because it had hot springs and the room I was eyeing, although it was a traditional Japanese-style room, had a private outdoor bath.  So fancy!  And, I love baths and hot springs, so a private outdoor hot spring is kind of the pinnacle of my indulgence.  A Japanese-style room is one with tatami mats on the floor, and you sleep on a futon

(pronounced with a long "o") which is basically like thin bedding on the floor.  I decided that it wouldn't kill us to try a traditional Japanese lifestyle for a few days, especially because (other than my stay at the capsule hotel) the rest of our rooms were Western-style, with a bed that, although harder than usual, is much more familiar to American travelers.  Many of the hotels in the area, including this one, had half-board, meaning they give you breakfast and dinner as part of your reservation.  I loved this idea!

So here we were in the late afternoon, with large suitcases, looking for the path to our hotel. I remembered a little bit of the layout of the city; I mean it wasn't a big place like Tokyo or even Hiroshima.  Towards the Torii Gate was the entrance to the Itsukushima Shrine; there were lots of shops and restaurants in the few winding streets before that, and the hike to the summit was somewhere behind the shrine.  Based on the maps I had studied and printed out, the hotel was nestled somewhere just behind where the shops ended leading up to the Shinto shrine.  It was a little bit of a pain to drag our suitcases on the dirt roads, but they held up okay.  We didn't make any wrong turns, but we did stop a couple times just to validate that we thought we were on the right path.  We found a grand little stair case leading up to the hotel, and got ourselves and our luggage into the entrance.  

From there, we were pretty much completely taken care of.  Hotel staff took our luggage for us and escorted us to the check-in counter.  I knew that most of the hotels were sold out in the area, and we noticed a group of young adults who had apparently booked for the wrong day, maybe not understanding the time travel that occurs when flying from America to Japan, and were desperately trying to figure out a way to change their reservation.  Meanwhile, the front desk guy brought us to a pair of sofas and went over some of the hotel policies and helped us with our dinner and breakfast reservations.  
Then he and another staff member took our luggage and escorted us to our room on the third floor.  I whispered to Jaiman on the way, "Oh yeah, I suppose we are kind of VIPs here since we booked the really super nice room!"  After opening our door, I saw that we were to take our shoes off, and then they gave us a tour of the apartment-sized accommodations, having us open each paper wall individually.  We ended our tour in the main room, and they sat us down again, this time on the chairs-with-no-legs like a traditional tea ceremony, and talked with us about a few more things.  It was a little overwhelming and once they left, Jaiman and I just stared at each other for a moment before cracking up. 

We had a little bit of time before our dinner reservations, so we relaxed, took stock of our room and I made a little tour video.  Our host guy hadn't really shown us the onsen, but it didn't take me long to find it and admire it.  We also located the futons in a closet, and in another, the traditional Japanese shoes, kimonos and Japanese pj's they provided.  I couldn't resist, we tried on the kimonos and shoes, and they actually fit!  The hotel staff member had mentioned that if they weren't the right sizes, we could call down to get different ones, but somehow they had found ones that fit us really well.  

When it was time, we went down to dinner on the second floor, and they greeted us and escorted us into this tiny private room with my name on it.  They brought us beer and tons and tons of fish - mostly raw.  The courses just kept coming, endlessly, it seemed.  There was a button behind me that I knew I could push to get our waitress, and sure enough she'd come rushing in as only the Japanese do, seemingly apologetically, to take care of us.  I drank a lot of beer that night - virtually one giant swig for every tiny morsel of fish I choked down.  But I proudly tried everything.  One of my Life List objectives was to

eat a fugu, the blowfish delicacy that can kill people if prepared wrong.  Jaiman googled it after our meal and determined that we had, indeed, eaten fugu that night. I'll go ahead and check that off the list!  

Our waitress was the sweetest thing, and she even talked with me a bit in Japanese about having studied in Hiroshima.  She explained in basic English a lot of what we were eating; not that I remember most of it, but it was at least reassuring to understand some of it.  I don't think she ever used
words like intestine or heart, so that's also a plus. 

After our meal was over, our waitress arranged for the following evening's dinner with us, and asked if we had any requests.  Jaiman really wanted some good unagi, eel, but the eel served in this region is actually called anago.  So we requested anago and beef, and couldn't really think of any other requests so we left
it at that.  

After dinner, we were quite surprised to find that the futons had been set up for us, the tea table pushed into the corner.  It was a little eerie knowing someone had been in our room while we were out; I guess room service does this too, but we just hadn't been expecting it.  It was nice, though, since I wasn't sure if I'd remember how to set up a futon, not that they're all that complicated, but at least this way we know they were done right.  Thankfully, the pillows were slightly larger than the ones I had been given in my dorm during my study abroad program.  They were also not as hard and uncomfortable as I worried they'd be.  In fact, they were a lot like what I slept on inside the capsule, which makes a lot of sense in hindsight.  

The private onsen (hot springs bath) was exquisite.  The water was very hot, and the tub was plenty big.  I obsessed with it the next few days, especially when I woke up early in the morning, around 4 or 5, I would slip into the bath outside and just enjoy the steaming hot bath against the early morning chill.  I drained it to let it fill back up again so Jaiman could try it out; he's not as much of a bath person but he also enjoyed it.  Several times it occurred to me that it was "wasteful" to "keep the water running" all the time; it was so counter-intuitive to always have a fresh bath of hot water ready to go, all for me!  It may have been a very expensive hotel stay, but I think I got my money's worth.  

The next morning we ventured down for our traditional Japanese breakfast.  It was a lot of fish, a small salad, rice and soup with oysters in it.  Not the most appetizing meal for me, and I think I wasn't mentally prepared for that kind of food so early in the morning.  I opted for a lot of plain-ass bread; at least I got some calories in me.  We were a little surprised that our futons were still sprawled out on the floor when we returned from breakfast.  They got put away later in the day.  

We visited the elaborate Itsukushima Shrine;

washing our hands, following the prayer ritual, buying omikuji - fortunes, and generally observing.  The tide was high, so the Torii Gate appeared to be floating, but we knew better.  We had come over on the ferry the night before when the tide was low, and we saw people walking up to it.  It looks like it is buried deep in the seabed, but actually, we were told, it remains standing of its own weight.  

Then we headed up the mountain via two ropeways, one was a smaller 5 -6 seater, and one was a larger vehicle with most of us standing.  We saw, of all

things, a submarine out in the sea!  The ropeways bring you high up the mountain, but not to the summit.  The summit was another kilometer or so of fairly steep hiking.  There wasn't a ton to see along the way, save for the breathtaking view of the sea and smaller neighboring islands, but there was one stop near the top that housed a "lover's sanctuary".  We poked our heads in the little sanctuary but were choked by the smoke; someone had done something wrong in there.  We sat for a few minutes to regain our (read: my) strength before heading to the very peak.  Up there was a large, shady deck you could sit on and enjoy the views from every angle.  There was one floor above it that afforded more of a 360 degree view, but no shade.  Not going to lie, it wasn't the most rewarding summit hikes I've done, but now I can say I've done it, I supposed. 

We had intentionally only purchased a one-way ticket for the ropeways.  I wanted to hike down the mountain, because I am better at hiking down, and because I was hoping to encounter some wildlife (especially monkeys).  We flew down the mountain; I found it easier to basically run rather than taking one step at a time.  By the end, I was exhausted and hurting, and my quads paid the price for the next week or so.  There were some very pretty waterfalls along the way, and we encountered several different kinds of butterflies, but no monkeys.  Near the bottom was a Buddhist temple, and I showed Jaiman how, going up the steps, you run your hands over the scrolls in the railing, spinning each one, and they say you inherit the wisdom of those scrolls.  There were two such staircases; we both went up the first and I rested while Jaiman went up the second and back down again.  I had gotten that wisdom before, and didn't feel like I needed it right then.  We admired the Buddhas and other statues and architecture, and then headed back down into town to get ourselves cleaned up and get some lunch.  

The place we went to for lunch was one of my favorite meals of the trip - I got yaki udon and it was so much like the meals I cherished at my dorms that I scarfed it down.  It could also have been my desire for protein after the crazy hike and the lack of meat from the previous meals, but still.  It was delicious!  I also had some local Miyajima beer, which wasn't great, but I felt special for drinking local stuff instead of the typical Asahi.  

The first several times we saw deer, it was from small distances and the deer left us alone.  The signs around the island warned not to get too close to them, and not to touch them, although I saw plenty of kids riding them like they would their pet dogs at home.  We didn't touch them, and only took pictures of them from a close proximity.  But then we went and got ice cream - I, of course, opted for the deer poop ice cream featuring little nuggets
of chocolate - delicious!  We sat on a ledge, and before long, we had a friendly deer approach us and make licking and biting attempts towards our ice cream.  This, of course, was hilarious, and only moreso when a second deer came up from behind us.  They were double teaming us now, and it made it very hard to avoid the loss of ice cream.  Many of the tourists around us laughed with us, and we were cracking up.  Jaiman was able to snap a pretty funny picture of me, which I will always treasure, before a third deer approached, this one with antlers, and I knew better than to mess with a deer with antlers.  So I stood up and finished my ice cream out of the immediate reach of the adorable thieves.  

There was something resembling an owl cafe, I suppose it was more like a petting zoo for just owls; we thought about going in, they did advertise a specific breed that Jaiman wanted to see, but it was a little pricey and would be closing soon.  We had gone to Fukuro no Mise just a few days before, and had gotten to hold owls for about an hour, so we ended up passing on the owl place in Miyajima.

We then strolled down the walkways lined with shops back towards our hotel, and Jaiman got some yakitori and squid on a stick from a street vendor.  The squid wasn't great, and he ended up feeding the rest of it to a grateful deer resting in the shade.  We sat down on a

bench by the sea, and laughed with the two girls on the next bench over as they were bombarded by two friendly deer trying to steal their snacks.  

Then we walked down into the sand and approached the Torii Gate, the tide being low again, and took some pictures out there.  The base of the gate was covered
with Japanese coins, looking as if they had been there for ages, having been slammed into the wood by the intense waves. 

Soon, it was time for our dinner reservations.  We made sure to pick up the room a bit, knowing that the hotel staff would be setting up our futons again for us.  I had forgotten that we had requested anago, eel, for dinner.  Boy, they gave it to us!  I think we had four courses in all that consisted primarily of anago.  I can eat a piece or two, but I was over it real quickly.  The steak was amazing, and we ended up using the hot plate it came with to cook a lot of the raw fish served to us, even though it was meant to be eaten raw.  Even then, I really didn't eat a lot, and Jaiman did better than me but still was over the anago by the end of the meal.

The hotel had a decent sized gift shop in it, and we had a 10% off coupon as part of our stay, so we checked out some of the goods.  There was also a public onsen bath in the hotel, one side for men and one side for women, so I ventured down that evening just to check it out.  There was an indoor bath and two outdoor baths, reminiscent of the onsen I had gone to with my host mom 12 years prior.  There was nobody in the women's side, but after just a few minutes, I got
bored.  It would be inappropriate to bring my phone in to the public bath with me, whereas, in my private bath, there was nobody to object to taking my phone in with me.  So I went back upstairs and hopped in my private onsen with my phone.  If you want to go to Miyajima and don't want to splurge on the fancy room like we did, you can certainly get the benefits of the hot spring by going to the public bath.

I think two nights is the right amount of time to stay on the island of Miyajima.  I mailed some post cards in the morning and then we checked out and the hotel shuttle took us to the ferry station.  What?!?  They have a shuttle?!?  Okay, lesson learned, I should have arranged for a shuttle to pick us up when we had arrived.  Ah well, now I know.  For anyone visiting Japan, I highly recommend this beautiful little island, along with the Peace Park Memorial Museum in Hiroshima.  Besides, if you're going to Tokyo, you can take a Shinkansen down to Hiroshima, which is another thing we checked off our life lists.  

Kyoto Adventure - Finding the Old Nintendo Headquarters!

Our recent trip to Japan was filled with all sorts of historical and modern adventures.  One such adventure was kind of a silly one, but while we were in Kyoto we decided to seek out the original Nintendo headquarters.  There was nothing to do there, nor at the current Nintendo headquarters, but the challenge appealed to me and the nerdiness appealed to Jaiman, so on we went!





We referenced this blog post "How to Track Down Nintendo's Original Kyoto Headquarters" which made it seem relatively straight-forward, especially because we were able to plug in coordinates from this post to get it on Google Maps.  However, in trying to take a bus to the proximity, we went the wrong way around a loop and then got off at the wrong bus stop, and we spent an excessive amount of time wandering the streets in the wrong area.  Not hard to do, when so much is in Kanji and we're in an unfamiliar city.  (Note: On the day of said adventure, I was positive that Google had led us to a bus stop that didn't exist.  In reviewing the maps and pictures to write this, I see now that the stop that Google had listed was in fact on the route, so I can no longer blame Google for our wandering.)  

We left from Green Rich Hotel and took the 205 bus line.  As I mentioned, we went the wrong way; having crossed the street to get to that bus stop.  I think the bus stop right outside that particular hotel is the correct one to go the right way.  So we should have gone 6 stops according to Google Maps, but the stop was listed only in Kanji for us on the map. The name in Romanji is Kawaramachi Shomen.  
 
Instead, we got off at Nanajo Kawaramachi.  The stop before it would have been Shiokoji Takakura.  (Going the wrong direction, the Kawaramachi Shomen was the one before where we got off; based on Google that stop would have worked too.) 

  

If you go this route, head in the same direction as the bus was going (which should be north if you went the correct way). At this corner, turn left, as indicated by my pointing finger. 














Cross this little bridge and keep going straight.  





















  
  

 Pretty soon, you should see this cute little unassuming building.

 

Bam!  There's the place!  If you're having trouble finding it, and you have GPS, enter these coordinates into Google Maps: 34.99168, 135.76628

 

For the record, we also went to the current Nintendo Headquarters.  Nothing to do at either place but stand outside and take pictures.  Might I recommend that you try to top my Mario jump pic?  (In all fairness, I was still very sore from a hike we had done in Miyajima, so jumping itself was incredibly painful, let alone moving into the strange position in mid-air.)

 

Capsule Hotel - Brilliant or Terrifying?

A lot of people said I was crazy when I told them I'd be staying in a capsule hotel as part of my life list achieving trip to Japan. Now that I've done it, I can authoritatively say that it is awesome, and incredibly practical, and not weird or scary at all. Where else can you walk around with no shoes, in your pjs, and have draft beer served to you for less than $2 a glass? Add to that the fact that you can do your laundry in this place and have a reasonably priced meal (my meal was 600 yen, which is less than $6) served to you while watching TV, charging your phone and/or working on your laptop. And when you're done lounging around, you tuck yourself into your very own cozy little bed. 

Consider this: if you're staying in a hotel with friends or several adult family members, you're sharing one bathroom and maybe sharing beds. You fight over the few plugs, and maybe someone wants to watch TV while someone else wants quiet to read. Not to call anyone out or anything, but my sister has to fall asleep with the TV on, but that's too much stimulation for me so I usually have to wait until she's asleep so I can turn it off, or for the sleep timer to kill it (unless I'm completely exhausted, in which case I could fall asleep at a rock concert). I think capsule hotels are ideal for this type of travel, because there are dozens of (really high tech) toilets and showers to share, you have a general hang out place to eat, unwind and recharge, and your own private space for watching TV or reading or whatever else.

I think capsules are only weird because they are novel; the idea of sleeping in something like a drawer conjures notions of coffins and dead bodies at the morgue. But not once did I feel like I was in a tight enclosure or suffocating or anything like that. I didn't panic when I woke up, and I didn't smack into a wall or bang my head on the ceiling. Even though the pjs provided didn't fit, I felt perfectly sized for the capsule; if anything, I felt I had more room than needed (at least in width).

One of the few drawbacks I see are that you don't have a permanent place to lay your things out. Even if you are staying multiple nights, your capsule assignment changes everyday. In retrospect, that's not necessarily a bad thing; it forces you to pack lightly and stay organized. But still, I know I like to spread out when I travel, so I consider it a drawback.

I did think it was a little odd that the hallway lights were never turned off or even dimmed, and the curtain in the capsule helped significantly, but did not make the capsule completely dark.  Maybe that's by design, I can't say for sure, but if you need absolute dark to sleep, you may have trouble in a capsule.

For those who are taller than me, a capsule may be a little cramped. When I was laying down stretched out, my feet could graze the dividing curtain. I generally sleep in my side with my legs bent, so it wasn't a problem for me. But I would definitely caution anyone taller than 5' 8", especially if you sleep on your back.

The only major drawback I see is that there is no space to cuddle up with a significant other. The chairs in the lounge are all individual seats, and even if you could squeeze into a cuddly position, it wouldn't feel appropriate. I imagine a world where capsule hotels are the norm, and in that world, there would be specialized floors, like double-wide capsules on coed floors, and that would solve the problem instantly.

All in all, I think if I were traveling with a group of friends, and capsule hotels were an option, I would strongly advocate for them over traditional hotels. They are super practical, very inexpensive, and I am absolutely in love with the casual lounge concept. I can honestly say I didn't really want to leave, and I would recommend a stay at my capsule hotel to anyone who is not afraid of challenging the norm.

If I've persuaded you to try out capsule hotels, please note that most capsule hotels are for men only.  The one I found that had just one floor for women is called Shinjuku Kuyakushomae Capsule Hotel.  Perhaps because there is just one floor for women, it seemed to sell out in advance, so be sure to book early if you are a woman.  The hotel had free cancellation on Travelocity, so it doesn't hurt to book it that way even if you're not perfectly clear on your travel plans, as long as you cancel with two days notice if your plans don't work out. 

2019 Update: Comparing and Contrasting Capsule Hotels




Here are some additional pictures from the capsule hotel!  

Luckiest Girl Alive

I recently listen to an audio book called "Luckiest Girl Alive." The beginning made me nauseous, with the narrator's stuck up view of the world. She had a giant rock on her finger, worked at The Women's Magazine and fluctuated between a size 0 and 1 (oh the poor thing had gained a pound and a half! ). I guess I get why the author titled the book so, but I would not consider this character, or even just the front she puts on, as lucky. She worked hard for those things, clearly, and anyone calling her lucky must be jealous, which I guess is the point. Anyways, as the story unfolds, you see that the past she is coming from is terribly unlucky. When everything is revealed, you may conclude that she is truly the unluckiest girl alive, if you assume luck had anything to do with it. The only way for her to be less lucky, perhaps, is to be dead, and that could really go either way.

Anyways, I've always considered myself lucky and fortunate and smart. I say these three together because some people associate the latter two with being lucky, and I think that's a grave disservice to all the people who have contributed to my life, and a downplay of my work ethic and insight. I'm fortunate that my parents supported me through college, that my Dad steered me into a major I loved and excelled at, that they had the money to send me to study in Japan. More recently, I'm fortunate that I have a sister in HR who gives me great career advice, that I have a colleague who has my back and helps me out, that I have an immensely supportive manager. These things are out of my control, so I consider them fortunate aspects of my life. I know all too well what it's like to be stuck with a two-faced, selfish ass-hole of a manager, and while leaving a job is always an option, sometimes staying is necessary or at least smart in the short-term. I am grateful for these blessings.

I am also grateful for the things in my life that I've worked at. I worked hard to get a house right out of college, I went through lots of relationships and growing pains to understand what I want and find a man to fill that role, and I continually work very hard on my career. So I don't consider those things lucky. They are, in my mind, more a result of effort, personal growth, and smart decisions. If it wasn't this house, it'd be another, if I didn't do this for work, I'd do something else, and if I wasn't with this man, I would still know what I want and not settle for anything less. I am grateful for these things, but they are not results of luck.

Luck is always getting the best parking spot in a crowded lot on the first pass. Luck is never getting rained on. Luck is getting good news immediately before a vacation, putting me at ease. You can't work to make these things happen. No amount of effort will stop the rain or free up the parking spot. And some how, right before leaving for Vegas after college graduation, I got a job offer. It happened again just before I left for Japan 10 years later - I got the news of my promotion. I think this is lucky because the timing of hiring people is always a bit unpredictable - things never seem to happen as fast as you think they will even if you don't think you're being overly optimistic. Vacation timing, however, is usually more planned and set, so the loose timing of hiring can float all around the firm timing of vacations. Yes, in the most recent situation, the hiring manager knew I'd be leaving for Japan, but still, he was restricted by other powers and barely was able to give me the news before my departure.

So here I am, on a plane headed for Tokyo with my loving, supportive boyfriend, and I get to enjoy comfortably knowing that I got the promotion. I think I am the luckiest girl alive.

Don't Vote for a $15 Wage - Earn It

I am always a little shocked and appalled when I watch politicians wave around some economic policy that sounds good on the surface as long as you don't consider the implications like it's the silver bullet that is going to fix a crisis that has actually been improved within a historical context.  So naturally, I had a gut check reaction when I heard that all three of the Democratic nominees were blindly supportive of this $15 minimum wage. 

Free market economists argue that the ideal minimum wage is $0, and that the market should be free to determine what the appropriate wage is based on supply and demand of labor.  Maybe that is extreme, assuming that some people would not fight hard enough for a wage they deserve, and that large employers may take advantage of desperate underprivileged populations.  But the opposite of no minimum wage has even more dire consequences.  Corrupt employers already pay below minimum wage under the table, so raising the minimum wage to impossibly high levels for unskilled workers would only

lead to more undocumented workers and a black market for labor.  In addition, automation of low-skilled jobs is only kept at bay by the cost, but again, increasing the minimum wage to a level that is no longer economical for companies would encourage non-corrupt companies to simply automate more of the work or remove the need for work whatsoever.  Fortune's article suggests one such solution: "Hotels may reduce their tendency to automatically clean the rooms of their guests, and may charge extra for doing so."  There are plenty of other sound, economically-based arguments again the $15 wage, here are a couple articles for reference.  

• Why a $15-an-Hour National Minimum Wage Won’t Happen Anytime Soon
• A $15-hour minimum wage could harm America’s poorest workers
• Why A $15 An Hour Minimum Wage Just Won't Work In The US
• Entrepreneurs Are Forgotten in the Minimum Wage Debate

All that being said, I want to address a very different aspect of this argument.  Imagine a world where you could make the same amount with an associates degree as if you didn't graduate high school at all.  How many young people are going to strive for a degree at all with that lack of incentive?  Then picture this: you go to the store the day after Thanksgiving for Black Friday shopping, and instead of your usual 1.5 hour wait, you are waiting 10 hours to buy that 50% off game system for your oldest son because every customer has to go through a slow, glitchy self-checkout and the store cannot afford seasonal help to assist customers.  Every police officer on duty is escorting customers out of these stores to ensure they are not shot or robbed of their hard-earned presents, meanwhile there are no officers available to attend to that car that slid off the road due to ice, or to check on the house that is being broken into by an armed robber.  What's worse, your teenage daughter has nothing to put on her resume because she was never able to work until she got her bachelor's degree, since stores and restaurants couldn't afford to higher high school or college kids. 

I believe that young people deserve the right to work for single digit wages.  They deserve the opportunity to get seasonal jobs for while school is out to earn some extra money for the holidays or to save up for a car.  They deserve to learn what it takes to earn money, and to learn the value of the dollar. 

Proponents of the $15 minimum wage are assuming that people making minimum wage are supporting whole families on that, and therefore they need more money to do so.  While the premise may have some truth to it, I think the $15 minimum wage is exactly the WRONG answer to this problem.  What we should be looking to do instead is to figure out why people are trying to support a family without having gotten any useful education or employable skills, how we can reverse this problem, and how we can prepare young people to earn more than minimum wage before they have a family.  For example, programmers make well above minimum wage, and there are literally dozens of free resources already available online that can help individuals learn how to program.  What's more, there is a shortage of programmers and they are only going to be in increasingly high demand as technology becomes more integrated into everything we have and do. 

In my estimation, it would be far less detrimental to the economy to provide an educational stimulus to allow minimum wage adults to take a paid sabbatical to study programming so that adults that truly need a higher wage to find better paying jobs.  Even this seems like an example of wasteful government spending, since these programs are already free and accessible by anyone with a computer connected to the Internet (which is available for free at the library, if nothing else).  But, this makes more sense to me than the idea of raising the minimum wage to unsustainable levels that will inevitably result in another recession. 

And certainly, programming isn't the only field that could benefit from such an

initiative.  I believe that everyone has potential to excel at something, so if people need more than $8 or $10 per hour, they should seek the kind of help and resources that will get them to the wage they need to support themselves and their families, in whatever field they are passionate about and/or will excel at.  If we start handing out $15 per hour paychecks (or any amount that ensures support for a full family) to people flipping burgers or bagging groceries, what incentives will they have to contribute their deeper, more profound gifts to society? 

Before I belabor my point too much, I will conclude that we should maintain service and labor jobs at wages that make sense for the kind of work being performed, and that we should make the abundant and accessible resources to improve one's financial situation more prevalent.  By doing so, we will lift up the nation and raise the entire productivity of the country, rather than dumbing down our society and pretending that we're spreading wealth to the poor while actually robbing our neediest of the opportunity to work at all. 

Any Prize That I Desire

I've mentioned on more than one occasion that I was never excited to by in my 30s.  I owe this partially to my high-flying goals of what I would be before 30, and partially to the fact that my 20s were really quite amazing.  In my 20s, I studied abroad in Japan, had a spring break trip to Cancun, graduated with an Industrial Engineering degree, bought a house, got a dog, studied Six Sigma in California with the CEO of my supplier, studied kung fu with the warrior monks at the Shaolin Temple in China, bought a first year Chevrolet Volt and paraded it around in electric car shows and parades, got an MBA which included a second stint in China, dated lots of men, studied glassblowing, auditioned for a reality TV show, partied in Las Vegas, started a brewery tour business, tackled and completed some very ambitious hikes, went on a cruise vacation of a lifetime with my family, and a hell of a lot more.  I started this blog in my 20s, after a rough breakup, intending it to be a comedic dating blog, only to be cut short by a really wonderful relationship that put an end to my comically tragic single life.  I am reminded of a passage in Evita; musicals, in my opinion, are so powerful because they have a way of speaking to all emotions and aspects of life, no matter where you are in your life or what kind of life you lead.  Here's what Eva sings:

The choice was mine and mine completely
I could have any prize that I desired
I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire
Or else--or else I could choose time
Remember I was very young then
And a year was forever and a day
So what use could fifty, sixty, seventy be?
I saw the lights and I was on my way

And how I lived! How they shone!
But how soon the lights were gone!

I think this is why I dreaded turning 30, and why I am still not convinced that my 30s will be better than my 20s, as so many others ahead of me have tried to assure me from their experience.  I had a kick ass decade in my 20s, and I really struggle with how I can top it.  What's more, I'm somewhat paying for it now, by way of being overweight, having debt from my schooling, and being tied to a house that has until recently been under water.  In my 20s I consumed life, anything and everything it had to offer.  Fly to California to deliver a presentation?  Sure!  Join kenpo so that I could study martial arts in China?  Sounds good!  Go on a date with a little person and his buddy (at the same time)?  Good for a laugh!  Try my hand at interior decorating?  Let's do it! 

I feel like in my 30s, I should have a focus, and I struggle with what my focus should be, and so I tend not to dive into anything because I'm afraid it's not the right focus.  I feel the burden of responsibility and adulthood weighing on me, in combination with the reality that my life plan hasn't panned out completely - I was going to be rich and in management by now - and it has the effect of indecisive paralysis.  I am grateful for all the things I do have, even little things like the ability to dance and move and think - I learned not to take those things for granted from immobilizing back injuries and migraine headaches.  I am loopy right now from a migraine semi-smothered by drugs, so I hope you'll excuse my if I am a bit tangential.  I am not sure how my sentences will end as I start them, and by the time I finish them I can't remember how they started - that's what I call migraine brain.  I can't hold a full thought in my head, so it becomes something like streaming consciousness. 

I remember the worst migraine brain moment I ever had was when I was working at Honeywell - my head hurt so badly that I realized work was actually not possible because I couldn't think, and it was in the afternoon so I figured I had put in enough time.  I got halfway down the outdoor stairwell when I realized I didn't have my jacket with me.  So I turned around and walked back towards my desk.  But my jacket wasn't at my desk.  It was on a desk in a completely different row than mine where nobody was sitting.  I could not remember placing the jacket there, or even grabbing the jacket in the first place, or dropping it, or walking down that row.  It was as if my migraine caused a five-minute blackout in which I did something that made no sense at all.  I drove home that day, and vomited from the pain immediately after parking in my garage - I almost puked in my car!  After about an hour, I was able to hold down a piece of bread. 

Migraines are no fun, but I am not very eager to try any more serious medication because I saw such treatment destroy my sister's health.  She's better now, thankfully, but she has to avoid her "triggers" and has a cocktail of drugs she uses when a migraine hits.  I use meditation, heat, massage, aromatherapy, and if necessary, OTC drugs to deal with my migraines.  And usually something will work sufficiently for about a day, and the migraine will persist for three days so I have to keep at it until the thing finally leaves. 

But I digress...  my point that I think I was going for was that I haven't been very positive about my 30s because I'm weighed down and have nothing to lift me up.  That is to say that I have no real big aspirations that I'm super stoked for.  I've done so much that I just can't imagine topping it.  I've wanted to go

back to Japan for several years now, in fact, I started yearning to go back during that whole nuclear crisis following the tsunami, which seemed like a bad time to visit but seeing it on the news just stirred me up.  Yet, even as Jaiman and I plan a trip to Japan, I'm not super excited about it.  I want to be, but I'm not.  I love all trips with Jaiman, we have a lot of fun together, and really, I just like spending time with him.  He's a great travel partner, and puts up with my early rising, tackle the world, no rest for the weary attitude.  I think what pains me is the fact that I've wanted to go to Australia for, like, ever, and instead of doing Australia, we're going back to a place I've already been.  Now, granted, I spent my time in Hiroshima, and we're mostly staying in Tokyo, so there is a difference there.  But to most Americans, Japan is Japan is Japan, and Australia is completely different.  I suppose that if we knock out Japan, that Australia will naturally be the next big trip, if I don't ship off to Germany or somewhere in Europe first.  More and more I want to get moved to Europe, and I've been working diligently on my German, despite my dislike for the language and the difficulty I've had with it.  I don't particularly like most German foods or beer, and I hear the weather is pretty dreary there.  Still, it's an adventure of a lifetime to move to a foreign country temporarily, and to be able to take weekend trips to one of many nearby countries that I have yet to explore.  I think it will be great.  But where does Australia play in to all of this? 

I think I first planned Australia in 2009.  When that didn't happen, I was determine to ring in the new year of 2010 there with Rick.  Something fell through, I think it was too expensive, so it didn't happen.  So Christy and I were going to do it in 2011.  School and work got in the way, so it would be 2012, and so on.  Here I am not 7 years later and still haven't made it below the Equator.  Argentina and Brazil are also on the list.  So maybe I need to make my 30s about exploring other continents, like, all the other ones.  And, starting a new business.  And, making my day-to-day life a little better.  I mean really, I have proven to myself that I can accomplish a lot if I set my mind to it, so I just need to name the prize that I want in my 30s. 

It may start with people.  I have done a lot on my own in the last few years, and I spend a lot of time with Jaiman (usually just watching TV, though).  I think I've ostracized myself from my friends, and I think it's time to correct that.  I have found time and time again that sometimes just sharing with someone what is on my mind or what I am trying to achieve has spurred generous contributions to help me achieve my goals.  Even if I don't directly benefit from my friends in that way, having good conversations always energizes me, and I have been feeling a little lackluster lately.  So, I will improve my life by meeting with friends more, and by finding other ways to make my life easier.