Good Day Today

I had a good day today. I want to first rant on why my day was so good, and then go a little deeper into the concept of good days vs. bad days

I had a plan to go do things in a very particular order, and not only did I get to do most of them, when I did them, they turned out to be better than expected. Most of all of this occurred when I was out. First, I was able to catch a Rapid train from my station. I was really happy about that because for every two Local trains that come, a Rapid comes, but I tend to be unlucky and miss it. Rapid trains skip stops and get me to certain places faster, including the places to which I was going today.

My first stop was actually the first stop after I got on the Rapid train at Hyogo station, where I went to Wendy’s to have lunch. Today was the second time I went there by myself and was able to read and eat at my own pace; that was really great. I finished the book I was meaning to finish a while ago, too-the book is titled “The Prodigal God”. It was really good, and despite it straying a little bit from the parable itself, the ending was still strong. I dug out a mini-journal of sorts where I looked at past entries (some about two years old) to see what kinds of things I had been experiencing in my walk with God. To save the preaching, basically I was reminded of some truths that should help me this week. And to top that experience off, I was greeted by a certain female employee who I remembered from last time a few weeks ago. She is really nice, and commented on my Japanese being good last time. I think she remembered me because she kinda smiled when I gave her the list of the things I don’t want on my Double Cheeseburger (pickles, onion and mustard).

I proceeded via another Rapid train to Motomachi station and stopped by probably my favorite store in Japan-Muji. Short for Mujirushiryouhin, Muji is a store that sells only its own brand of materials, but it sells quite a variety. You could buy almost everything there-from furniture to silverware, from clothes to school supplies, Muji does have quite a lot. I also love its concept of keeping things simple. It’s a very well realized brand, to be sure. Now, the prices there are usually not particularly cheap, so today I had to settle without buying anything. It’s nice to browse, for sure. I never thought I would get into window-shopping, if you could call my excursion to Muji today that.

I then went to Uniqlo, which was very crowded. It was a holiday, so that didn’t completely surprise me, but at the same time, it didn’t bother me either. I find if I am in a store or area that is really crowded, and I didn’t want to be there in the first place, the crowdedness kind of makes me antsy. I know a lot of people who can relate to that feeling. But because I was by myself, and I myself was shopping there, I could browse leisurely at the things I wanted.

Uniqlo is usually really expensive; it’s good quality, so it kind of makes sense. However, the first thing I noticed when I walked to the men’s section was $20 pants, and I was ecstatic. I had already expected to have to drop $40 for jeans as I had seen previously, but even some jeans were $20. When I tried the two pairs on, I couldn’t really go with the jeans because despite the low price, they were too skinny. Sorry, but I can’t quite do skinny tapered jeans yet, despite my friends’ recommendation.

The other thing I went to buy was boxer briefs. I had considered some at Muji, as two for $10 seems to be the normal price around Japan. To be honest, it would be unheard of for me to buy boxer briefs in America because of that kind of pricing they are given. It’s actually why I basically have had none. But, Uniqlo had a sale on boxer briefs today-3 for $10. Again, I was ecstatic…and I don’t usually get ecstatic about boxer briefs. To see what they feel like, I bought three different kinds. I am not the kind of guy that sees the need for anything too colorful when it comes to underwear-until I am married. I don’t intend for anyone but me to actually see what I am wearing, so I don’t see the point in buying underwear with writing on it, or a bunch of colors or whatever. One pair that I bought was all dark grey except for the band being yellow. When I went to another Uniqlo today (mainly just out of curiosity of whether or not they had the same sales because I was stopping by the area anyways), I found the same style of boxers but slightly darker and with a green band. Green being my favorite color, I was a little disappointed-I wasn’t going to spend $5 just to get that.

I went to Toys R Us to look for Monokuro Boo, but as I was walking there I realized that I could actually exchange the one I bought earlier and get the one I wanted. After exploring Toys R Us for a bit, I went back to Uniqlo, grabbed the new pair and proceeded to the service counter. I was impressed with my own Japanese at that moment, actually; I was able to successfully trade them in, so I was happy it worked out. I wonder, though, what the employee thought more strange-the fact that a white guy can speak decent Japanese or the fact that this guy actually was exchanging pairs of underwear just for their color. It was more awkward when the second of the two employees-a woman-then put my underwear in my bag for me before I had a chance to do it myself. Awkward, but funny, nonetheless.

Finally, I was able to locate a store that I had been searching for under the JR tracks near Motomachi station for weeks. This was my third go-around. My friend had requested me to search for a store with a very specific style of jeans. This time, I had the name of the store in my head. When I went to look, I couldn’t remember the name of the store, actually. But I had a feeling if I saw the name, I would know. I was able to communicate fairly well with the Japanese owner of the store, and he also complimented my Japanese, for which I was grateful. So, I found it, and now I can go back after informing my friend and buy the pair he wants.

To summarize a bit, I think there are a few reasons that I had a good day based on these experiences. One thing was that I felt good when my Japanese was complimented. Another thing is that I am a stingy person, but also generally want to buy good-quality stuff. My impression of Uniqlo is all the more better because of not only the sales, but their willingness to serve the customer despite the need. I also really like getting Rapid trains because it means I get where I want a bit faster.

Now I want to talk about the concept of good days in general. Throughout my entire life, this concept has stuck with me. I remember receiving a poster from my Nintendo Power magazine that was a calendar for the entire year (I think the year was 1999; it was a Pokemon-themed calendar, too). I spent the entire year only marking the calendar in one way-with circles or x’s. I would mark one circle or one x on each day. What did it signify? It told whether or not I had a good day. Despite me having a number of bad days, I ended up with more circles than x’s at the end of the year.

Should I be happier if I have more good days than bad? Probably. But I don’t think having a bad day should get me too down either. Not to quote Daniel Powter’s song by virtue of this ideal, but I do think that we as Americans (whether in America or Japan) are fairly lucky. Lucky in the sense of being rich in money and resources. While I had a great day today, I don’t think life is about having more good days than bad. I think life is about having days filled with Christ.

Didn’t want to become too preachy, but to be sure, we will all go through periods of hardship. I think God is always there for us when we are having bad days, weeks, months or maybe even a bad year. And I’ve already thought of the typical American company who might say that they’ve had a good fiscal quarter or year. I don’t know that money is the measurement God uses as to whether an individual or a group had a ‘good’ period of time. But if I can say that God helped me to grow in some way today or that God allowed me some amount of joy, then I’ve realized what a good day probably looks like.