Tokyo

They call it the concrete jungle and it seems to be aptly named; afterall the city is hot, humid, and teeming with wild life. And unbelievably so, this small town gal is loving. I've never felt so safe and have been able to get around so easily in such a big city. Nor have I ever met so many helpful people.

Picture this: a co-worker and I rolled into town at 6:00 am on July 5th. Bleary eyed-we rolled our luggage and draged our carcasses out of the bus station... we needed to find the subway station, but where? As we looked at the subway maps and scratched our heads in confusion, a nearby security guard reprimanded 3 hoodilums for skateboarding in the streets.

Upon asking the guard to help us find the red line, one of the so-called "hoodilums" literally came leaping over to us and said "How can I help you?" When he found out where we wanted to go, he tucked his skateboard under his arm and he and his friends led us to the red line, showed us how to pay and sent us on our merry way. This was my first interaction in the big city and I knew right away that I'd like it here.