Life near the Embassies

The area in which we live is covered with embassies from different nations - each day we walk by the Republic of San Marino (just had to look it up - it's in Europe surrounded by Italy - apparently it is the oldest constitutional republic in the world - who knew???) and South Africa - Depending which way we walk, I can go by Lithuania, Qatar, Austria, Finland, and China. Also within about a 10 minute walk is a brand new HUGE embassy for Pakistan.

When we looked at this apartment, I had no bearings on where we were, but as we've explored I have found some interesting places that are very close to us. On the one hand, this allows us to have access to many police officers (or koban) in the area - I mean they literally are on every street corner. This is mainly due to the proximity to the Chinese embassy I am sure. However, on any given day, it seems that the American embassy (which is adjacent to Chris's work) has more police presence. There are at least 2 -3 police buses and multiple standing guards there each day.

Now for the best part (please note level of sarcasm here...), a few weeks ago as I walked towards the Chinese embassy, I noticed a gated entrance which I had previously wrongly assumed to be a back entrance to the embassy - as I looked I noticed it had arabic writing - then I saw the sign - Arabic Islamic Institute of Tokyo - I later would discover that on Friday's at noon they have prayers and there are many, many, many men who come to the institute. This place is less than a minute's walk from my front door (sorry mom). I always try very hard to not be prejudiced and try to "rise above" and not stereotype an entire group of people for the stupidity of a few - but you know what, I can't help but be a bit uncomfortable at times...

Times like when I receive a letter in my mailbox from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Minsitry of Higher Education, which contained the following information...

"We would like to inform you that the month of fasting will completed within 1 or 2 days. Accordingly, Eid al Fitr Prayer will be held... on this occasion, the institute will host the Eid prayer gathering guests (about 5 hundred Muslims including the Ambassadors of the Arabic and Islamic countries). Although we are tyring to avoid any nuisance to our neighbors, due to the gathering of the guests, if you have any inconvenience, please inform directly our staff, or the policeman patrolling nearby the institute. Under the Umbrella of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Tokyo, Arabic Islamic Institute of Tokyo, The Director, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Hassan Alzeer."

The letter said the event would be Sept 30th or Oct 1st and would last from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM - since it is now 8:30 PM on Oct 1st - I'm guessing the event has come and gone with no inconvenience to me. So it looks like things can be peaceful and hopefully will continue to remain that way...