11.01.07
I'm here!
I took a taxi to the airport- it was easiest. The flight was less than two hours long but there was a meal of rice, squid, potatoes, cucumbers, some other kind of seafood and yougurt. It was good, even the unknown. At Narita Airport in Tokyo I checked my luggage in to the storage and headed off to the hotel in the shuttle bus. The hotel wasn't very nice but it was clean. I took a forty-five minute shower, whcih was nice after the hectic day of tying loose ends in Korea and navigating the airports. Then I turned on the television. What did I see? You'll never guess. No, not Yu-Gi-Oh, not Power Rangers, not Bonzai. Give up? It was (pause for dramatice suspence) Walker Texas Ranger with Japanese voice-overs. I laughed in horror and turned the channel, thinking nothing could be worse than that. I was wrong. It was some pay-per-view porn channel that was all blurry and fuzzy, thank goodness. I turned the channel immediately. Then I found Pokemon! After that was Naruto. Then there was some sort of news report with sign-language translator-newsman. Then Bewitched with Japanese voice=overs. And also, Shane would have loved this, some strange show that only the Japanese would think of sort of like Bonzai, sort of like Bill Nye, sort of like the show where they do stupid stunts. Anyway, they were talking about body ailments like heartburn, zits and herneas. It was hilarious. First they would show people doing daily activites and then the problem would come because of something they ate or whatever. Then there was a diagram to medically explain the problem. It was all highly dramatic.
Back to airport next morning to catch subway to Shinjuku for my interview. Took almost 2 hours! Tokyo is that huge! There are no pictures because- stupid moment #3- I forgot my camera case at the luggage storage place. (Thank goodness they still had it when I got back.) I got lost countless times on the short walk to and from the office building and I stopped to ask friendly neighborhood locals. Most spoke beginning english so I found the places. I knew when I started in the morning that I would not be working here. The company was the impersonal let's-be-grown-up-businessperson type, which I cannot do and am frankly disgusted by. Plus I only wanted part-time since I want time to write and to live and they only sponsor visas for full-time. So after collecting my luggage at the airport, I took a bullet train to Furukawa & Dan picked me up. It was about 10 pm. Long, long day.
Dan and his wife Andi are great! They are so so cool! Dan works for the JET language program & Andi does private lessons & teaches a couple of hours each week at the local school. They taught me some awesome new curse words! When someone does something mean like cutting you off in traffic, you say "pig monkey"! Oh and they have the most amazing toilet in my existence. The seat is heated and there is a water faucet right above that automatically turns on for you after you flush. The water, instead of wasting away down the drain, refills the tank! It is a grand invention & should be used everywhere. I will take a picture because, like corn pizza, it is unbelieveable.
Dan & Andi know a couple of schools round here that I might get on at, for part-time even! I hope one works out because I really like it here. Oh and I have a traditional room with mats and a bed on the floor. Tomorrow, the town.
13.01.07
Today we went to a few local groccery stores. They have pretzels here- there were none in Korea except the disgusting cheese-flavored kind! Sadly, sadly, no Stauffer's animal crackers. There is a store here that imports some American brands, and then a large local groccery. Of course I had to buy sweet potatoes. There is a cool 100 yen shop, like a dollar store but not as junky. The town is fairly small, only a bit larger than New Ulm, and doesn't look its best in winter, but the people are really nice. I had a few Korean won mixed with all my Japanese yen & accidently tried to pay with won. There's also a library with a small english section so I borrowed Fellowship of the Ring which I'd been wanting to reread for a while now. My computer has wireless which is pretty cool.14.01.07
Wow. Today was awesome. Very, very cold, but so much fun! Dan & Andi attend a Japanese church- it's some sort of vague Pentecostal/Baptist denomination, but Dan says it is the closest they could find in doctrine. Anyway, it was all in Japanese and was fairly interesting. The preacher was pretty animated so you would sort of tell what he was talking about. One of the speakers told about how when he was younger he drank a whole bottle of sake with friends, drove home & crashed. I actually understood the gist before Dan explained.Then we went to Sendai- or the Sendai subway station area. Seems most subways are connected to or next to "malls" or big shopping districts, so we ate at a bagel place for lunch & then wandered around. The stores are all along the street but no cars can drive through so it's like a mall with no roof & very high stores. There was a Shinto religious procession, as there always is Jan. 14th. They all walk together to the Shinto shrine to burn their special New Year's decorations for good luck. The truly heathen part is that they only wear little white shorts; the few women wear the shorts & a shirt, and they march through the streets ringing bells in 35 degree weather with harldy a stitch on. I will never become a shinto.
Then we met some gaijin (pronounce guy-jeen- means foreigner) friends of Dan and Andi who also are teachers, went to a few stores, to Starbucks, to a few more stores and then to an Indian restaurant for curry and rice. (All of the waiters were Japanese.) I did not like the rice but the curry was excellent- we had two kinds, a tomato-based chicken and then a spicy chicken. The bread they give you is about the size and shape of a bicycle seat but very flat. Oishii desu ne!
Their friends are really cool as well- it was so nice to have an intellectual english conversation! The guy is extremely tall and the girl is very short and grew up in Kuiwait. Everyone had lots of awesome travel stories to tell, it was great.
16.01.07
Dan and Andi teach a 2 hour community ed class and I went along today. It was so much fun- all the students are adults, lots of wives or mothers. I introduced myself and then Dan and Andi showed picutres of their trip to Cambodia so it was a very relaxed class. Oh, and Dan tried to explain how we were actually related and drew a diagram- it was hilarious! But most of them seemed to understand- they were so shocked at my enormous family. Afterwards we went to the local "Perkins" which is named 'Joyfull'. Lots of the restaurants have funny english names. Anyway, I tried nato, which is fremented steamed beans. They resemble snot, taste, texture and appearance-wise, but they're not too bad with rice. It is very hard to eat though because it is very sticky-stringy. Are you spewing yet? And I also tried and loved edamone- boiled & salted soybeans in the pods. You squeeze the beans out of the pods & eat them- they are soooo delicious! It was really fun to listen and try to understand and speak Japanese. I probably got as much of a Japanese lesson as they did english! Then a few of us went to a tiny cafe- one of the wives runs a coffehouse- and talked some more, spending about half and hour trying to explain grant proposals- I has very good time.Oh yes, on Saturday there was an earthquake! It was such an odd sensation; it was nothing major in this area, it felt like you had just sat down after getting dizzy, but when you think of the massive plates of earth that cause it, it is pretty amazing. It was more severe to the north I think, but it lasted a good 45 seconds. Earthquakes are why houses don't have central heating here- the shifting might loosen or damage the pipes. So people make do with space heaters. It is very cold- that is one thing I do not like at all.
18.01.07
I sleep on the floor. The spare room is covered with mats and then I have a little futon on the floor in the center. It is quite comfortable, just a little big as it takes up the entire center of the room. My days are spent studying Japanese, writing and applying for jobs. I decided to learn how to knit. Andi is knitting a blanket for Mandi's coming baby and it is really nice. And Dan does magic! It is pretty cool; I didn't know that. He started juggling in highschool and then progressed into card, table and street magic. He uses it when he teaches, and I think it's great. This Christmas, he & Andi went to Thailand and Cambodia. They really enjoyed Cambodia, where they homestayed with a local family. There was electricity but no running water, and they had to sleep under a mosquito tent. They got around by tuk-tuk, which is a small cart pulled by motorbike- the up-dated version of the horse & buggy. They visited the killing fields where you can still see the skulls of the victims.Still on the death note (which is a great show by the way), there is a small shrine near the apartment; you just walk down the street and on the bike trail for about ten minutes and you're there. The first time I went was at dusk and it was sort of creepy in the cold and blue and vacant park, but sort of peaceful with no one but the ancestors hovering around. I have pictures on Facebook; sorry, the ancestors were uncooperative and would not let me photograph them.
Did I mention they have prezels in Japan! Yatta! Korea just had disgusting flavored ones but here the local liquor import store also imports pretzels.
23.01.07
Three of the community center students took Andi and I out to lunch today at a very posh, 5-star hotel. Just the lobby itself was enormous, but uncluttered, in the asian style. Ok, enough about the building, on to the food.We were taken down a few steps into the restaurant area, which overlooks the gardens outside through wall-sized windows. Our tables were tucked into a little wooden enclosure, and the tables are heated. That is, there is a heater underneath the table-top to warm your legs and feet, but it doesn't melt your ice cream or anything. (Dan & Andi have one of these in their apartment, a small coffe-table size.)First they served tea with of course handle-less cups. The tea was very good, made somehow from black beans. We did not have to wait long for the food. There were so many different things. There was some kind of soup with green onions and chicken broth- very difficult to eat with chopsticks, pickles plum, some sort of flower-petal salad which I did not like, tofu soup, rice, a small wine glass with the best fruit juice ever, fish and tempura. The fish was eaten Chinese style; you put it along with vegetables into a soft white roll and eat like a pita. The tempura did not go well with my health food habits. Tempura is deep-fat-fried vegetables. Yuck. Most foreigners like this. The outside of the vegetable is coated with fatty batter and then fried, and the crinkly, crunchy fried bits are still stuck to the outside so it's like eating grease. Most foreigners like this. Then I kept telling them I didn't want dessert, but they ordered me a bite-sized piece of chocolate cake anyway. Of course I didn't eat it; I ate the strawberry off the top and gave the rest to Andi.
The hotel is famous for it's glassworks and for good reason. They had a little shop full of exquisite, expensive glass pieces that were amazing to look at. We also walked around the grounds outside, though it was chilly. Then they served us tea as we sat on the terrace. On the terrace was a hand-warmer- you know how omeless people use fire in barrels- this was in a ceramic pot and was a very slow-burning, non-flame something-or-other surrounded by lots of rock and ash and was really nice; the sides of the jar were too hot to touch.
After that, we drove up to a lookout point from where you can see the bay and some of the many, many islands in it. I'll have to visit again when it's warm enough to go to the beach.
The two ladies were so funny; they were so concerned about the asian-style toilets, but I said I was a pro from living in Korea. The western toilets here in Japan, however are quite complicated and use highly advanced technologies. Most have heated seats, some have the water-function like Dan & Andi's, and some have knobs and settings and lights and probably a built-in fridge so you never have to get up. One even talked. This is not a type-o, it talked. I don't know what it said but one can imagine...
27.01.07
I began my homestay today. I really didn't know what to expect; all I knew was the person's name Yoko, and that she loved oragami. So Dan, Andi & I drove to Furukawa to meet her, since Andi has a class at the community center on Saturdays. As I was waiting in the empty entrance-way, two little bow-backed old ladies came in, looking at me. Japanese old people are quite small so I must have looked like Goliath. Anyway, I said 'ohayoo gozaimasu' & they said 'ohayoo gozaimasu' and then they went past and all was silent. When they thought they were out of earshot, they started earnestly talking in hushed voices, but I caught the word 'gaijin' so I know they were talking about me. It was sort of funny.Anyway, then came Yoko. She was, of course, shorter than I, had short black hair, glasses and a big smile. We didn't have much trouble communicating; she takes private english lessons from Andi. She did use a lot of Japanese, but she spoke slowly so I could follow, and it was great. First we drove to a stationary shop to buy card stock for oragami. Then we drove to a nearby mountain- Yakuraiza I think the name was- and stopped at a shrine. Of course she wanted me to ring the gong, so I did. This shrine didn't have quite the somber feel of the one in Korea; I think the monk here was a bit more of a people person. After the shrine, we stopped at a nearby friend of hers who owns a little gift shop and pottery studio. Some of the pottery was gorgeous; she liked blue and white, sort of like the Dutch china, so everything was bright, with bold patteren. Some was huge, some were just little tea cups that fit in your palm.
After chatting, we were on our way again, heading for home but Yoko noticed a rainbow. It was really vivid, so we stopped and got out. It was complete; we could see both ends, and above it, much more faint was another rainbow, like an echo. It was really pretty.
Yoko's house is amazing. It is large, but very homey, with lots of Japanese crafts and knick-knacks. She has a set of kokeshi dolls from when she & her husband were married, the biggest of which is about the size of a baby, the smallest is about as tall as your hand. (Kokeshi (dunno spelling) are painted wooden dolls, generally with just a cylinder for the body and a ball for the head. The paining is beautiful, and the ones that look like kids are the cutest things.) She showed me a music box that her son had made in highschool. It was incredible- a little wooden man sat on top and turned the crank and made the music. She said it was one of her favorite treasures.
I stayed in a long-rectangular room with dark wood and sliding doors and mats, very traditional Japan, except for the white-railed nursing home bed. Her mother-in-law had recently moved to a care home, the room had been hers.
They decided to take me out to eat for supper and made reservations at a restaurant owned by a friend. Beore that, we did some oragami, and Yoko is brilliant at it. She made some really intricate things. Mine of course looked like kindergarten art class products, but it was fun anyway.
The restaurant couldn't have been more Japanese. It was really cool. Mostly darker wood, dim lighting, a few pictures of flowers on the walls- real dried flowers in the pictures. Each table was enclosed by high wooden dividers so we could hear but not see the neighboring booths. The tables were sunk into the floor (you took your shoes off at the door), but there was enough space underneath that it was just like a regular table; you didn't have to kneel or sit Indian-style. The waitresses, however, had no kneel to serve, and when they knelt, our heads were about level- that's how low the tables sat.
There were three little hors d'ovours at each place. I, of course, made sure none had beef and tucked in. One was tiny piece of chicken with sauce and vegetables, another was tofu, and the last was fish eggs wrapped in seaweed. I hesitated, they were such a pretty pink color and the dark green seaweed around made it look like a nickle-sized slice of watermelon. Oh well, I thought and ate it. It wasn't bad, having sort of a mild fish taste. Then I started chewing. It was awful. The salty, fishy taste stabbed at your tongue like a pin. I gave one terrified thought 'Nemo!' before I swallowed. Fortunately, the sake had arrived so I washed away the bitter taste. But the bitter memory will last for all time. We had sake hot and sake cold- very different feel. The glasses are about the size of a shot glass so you'd need about 30 to get drunk. I had about 2. I think her husband was amused because I don't drink. I don't know if he thought Americans in general like to get drunk or young people in general like to get drunk. I think it's both. Anyway, the food came; we all sort of shared the dishes. There was a pot of tofu, fish, noodles, something with beef, and I ordered a vegetable dish that was cooked in a thick stone bowl. It would have been good but for some reason, there was squid in it and I do not like squid at all. So they let me order something else. I didn't want to cause so much trouble, so I just ordered a big riceball with seaweed, as there was plenty of other food.
We drove home, had green tea, and Yoko & I stayed up and chatted for a bit while I knitted and she watched the Japanese sign-language program. She's pretty good; she must watch often. Then of course, I had to have a bath. The bathtubs here are quite deep, but shorter, almost a cube, and many times the entire room is the 'bath' room; the toilet is in a separate room. So first you tinse off with the shower and then go into the bath. It being 11:30pm, I didn't fill the tub, but it was nice nonetheless. I was quite tired since I'd been staying up watching youtube nights, so fell asleep right away, toasty warm in the old-lady crib.
28.01.07
13.02.07
Warp ahead again. My job starts in March, part-time teaching, part-time administrative for a small company that prepares highschool students for the TOEFL exam and helps them apply to english-speaking universities. I think i will like it; the owner is very nice and has been so helpful. I'm in my own place now, a one-room efficiency that's rather expensive. The utilities are at a set rate of about 200$ so I've got the heat at around 83 degrees, the highest it will go. It's just like summer! There is a 99yen shop down the street with lots of fresh veggies- fruit is pretty expensive here. The 99yen stores are much better than American dollar stores; their stuff is a little better quality and they have more food. But for some reason rice is very high-priced here. And there are 7-elevens on every other block round these parts. There was one in my area of Busan but here, like peace-signs, they seem to have taken root and flurished. Another flourish is- and I am appalled- 80's hairstyles for men. David Bowie, Bon Jovi 80's. Well, I've only seen one or two sporting the extreme Bon Jovi look, but they go all out with the hairspray and the highlights. They don't really have distinguished mullets yet; it's more the feathery big-headed look that is in right now. But don't worry nephews, I'm sure mullets are soon to come.Prepare yourself for a shock.
I'm engaged.
Just kidding, just kidding- that Korean prince thing didn't work out.
Ok. Prepare yourself for a shock.
One afternoon as I was contemplating existence and wondering how I could make better use of my time, I turned on the tv. Japanese tv is so strange; you never know what you might find when you tune in. I've seen a school program where the class is entirely monkeys. I've seen the Japanese Ru-Paul, a show where they teach Japanese sign language, and a show where they talk about strange pets and gourmet cuisine at the same time. Today, however was different. Prepare yourself for a shock.
Instead of turning on the tv, I should have gotten some writing done or studied kanji, but sometimes I will catch an american movie, sometimes even some old ones, which they play in english with Japanese subtitles. They have many foreign programs, but most they dub with Japanese voices, like Walker and Bewitched. There is some extremely stupid and cheesy to no end British show that I think hired all the monsters from Power Rangers. But at least they're not starving in the streets now and can provide for their families. Prepare yourself for a shock.
One such dubbed show was on today. It was Full House. AUGGHHHH! I stared for a moment or three in petrified horror and turned the station. No wonder the 80's are in here. Poor Japan. We get good imports like Hamtaro, Godzilla and Hello Kitty but they are stuck with Walker and Full House. Whatever cheese is lacking in their diet is made up in programming.
06.11.07
WARNING! The following contains mild references to bad language. Stop reading now.I use Firefox browser, and am quite fond of it, and I installed a program that filters out bad language. I modified the program so it changes the words to what I want. So instead of *** I see 'donkey', instead of God's name in vain I see 'Great Scott!', you get the idea.
Anyway, in Japanese romaji (Japanese spelt with English letters), there are many instances of a certain four-letter word, such as in 'apooa', 'pooe iru', 'depooa' and so forth. Well I had changed aforementioned four-letter combination to 'poo' and forgotten about it. Thus I got 'apooa', 'pooe iru', 'depooa' and so on. Now I had never seen or heard these Japanese words before and it confused me greatly; normally I just read the Japanese characters. I was going to attribute it to some odd form of slang or spelling until I ran across the word 'poohead' on another website, and suddenly everything became clear. All my poosumon were answered. Fortunately this happened before I made a donkey of myself and asked some Japanese person what 'poo' was...
