This is a 3-fer, and marks the end of my first month at Sunami JHS!
These are transcribed entries from the journal I am writing in at school. I started the journal for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being that I didn’t have Internet yet so I couldn’t post things online. The other being that I had free time on my hands. These entries are slightly modified, but mostly for grammar. I suppose you’d never know either way. Surprisingly, I had way more to say than I thought. Unsurprisingly, I have been bad (abysmal) at keeping my online entries up to date with my written ones. Someday, the dates will match but for now…These are the voyages of a long time ago in a galaxy far far away:
May 20, Suiyobi (Wednesday)
I don't know if one can say enough about the brilliance that is yakiniku. Last night Bobu bobu and I tried to go out for sushi, but we were stymied when the place we wanted to try decided to be under renovation till June. This was a surprise because we had walked by the sushi place earlier this week and they had been open with no signs about closing down. Because we were so disheartened by this turn of events (well, really, we were just hungry, but Bobu is kind of an Eeyore) we settled on a yakiniku place near Bobu's house, and OMG. The pure delight of freshly grilled meat will never cease to amaze me. Who ever invented fire, you rock. (I'm looking at you Prometheus, totally worth it man. Props.) And I bet that cro-magnon who invented BBQ was the coolest pre-guy in the history of pre-history. Also, I spoke Japanese to the waiters to ask them about beer, and then order food and said beer. (Name biru ga arimas ka? Name biru i pai. Kobe beef, hitotsu, onegaishimas) It felt pretty good. I wouldn't say I'm "comfortable" with the language yet,but there's been some definite improvement.
Speaking of getting comfortable, I am finally feeling good about my school. Not so many surprises anymore, and I've talked to pretty much all the teachers at least once, and I recognize most of my kids know a good percentage of names. But too bad, I'm switching schools at the end of the week. I'm pretty bummed and a little nervous to go through the whole "gaijin teacher" production again. Also, my commute time is about to triple. That's right, this is the part of the season where Alex goes and teaches in the boonies of Japan. Rice paddies and bamboo forests, here I come!
Warm/hot days in Kimitsu are great. One, because, well, its warm, which is a new and exciting twist from life in WA. And two, warm weather always seems to put the children in a frenzy. Blue skies and warm sun, and poof, the kids get loud, agitated, and feisty. Its fun for me because they are more interesting and talkative when they are excited. They also seem more inclined to speak English - go figure. We'll see how I feel about warm weather after track practice today, though...
May 21, Mokuyobi (Thursday)
Sometimes I forget that Japan is a Pacific island/ foreign place. I get lulled by the trains, cars, and concrete into feeling that I am just in a very strange part of America. But then a big mother-'effing bee flies into the classroom and everyone (me included) freaks out! This bee was, no joke, the size of my pinky finger, with wings as long as dragonfly's. Also, they are supposedly pretty dangerous, but jeezzz, sooo big! On top of that, yesterday Winston said that he say a spider that sounded like it could have eaten my bee. And then I remember I live on a Pacific Island, thousands of miles away from redwood forests, Point D., or Shell Ridge.
Back to the more mundane, I just figured out that I am getting a pretty sweet deal on my travel expenses. My company reimburses me for my commute gas at 15 yen per kilometer. This translates into about 900 yen per week. I spend about 1000 yen per week on gas, counting random car trips to the mall, Bobu Bobu's, or restaurants. I figured my gas efficiency costs me about 10 yen per kilometer, which is a sweet deal for me. However, I was warned that the reimbursement stays the same over the summer, when I'm going to want the a/c cranked up (thus destroying my gas mileage - gas meterage?) so maybe I won't count my chickens just yet. And yes, I did spend some time playing with numbers to figure this out. I can also tell you that as long as I spend less than 180 yen per liter, I'll be in the black for commuter costs, (Currently, gas is at about 117 per liter) that I commute 60 km a week to work and back, and spend approx. 600 yen on commuting. And I can get about 12 km to the liter. Nerd Alert.
So one one of the more unruly kids started throwing around the word "bitch" today in class. That was a frustrating moment because I have absolutely zero punitive power and only as much authority as the kids decide I have, so there wasn't a whole lot I could do. He started calling the teacher a bitch, and my disapproving face only excited him, so I just ignored it till he moved on. Maybe I didn't handle it as well as I could have, but I was a little stunned, honestly. It was slightly upsetting to hear him cursing in the classroom and really jarring to hear students cursing at teachers, and equally confusing when I was the only person in the room who seemed to notice. Ahh, the perils of teaching foreign languages to 13 year olds. *sigh*
May 22, kinyobi (Friday)
So today is my last day at Sunami JHS for a month or so; starting on Monday I work at Seiway JHS. I bought gifts for the teachers at Sunami, a kind of thank-you-for-helping-me-out-farewell-and-see-you-again thing. I'm a little nervous because I've bee told that gift giving is kind of a big deal in Japan, but I'm clueless about the actual etiquette. I've decided to lean on the "gifts are always good" credo and hope that the thought and gaijin forgiveness make up for whatever social faux-pas I'm about to make.
I find that the Japanese are pretty tolerant of my social blundering, and for the most part, they find it bemusing and harmless. Last night I went to sushi (successfully this time) with Bobu and damn it was good. Mistakes and corrections were made - which shows that I was enjoying immersion that day: any day where I don't get points on how to be Japanese from the Japanese is not so much a day that I couldn't have used the advice as much as I was avoiding the interactions. For example, I now know that at the sushi place we went to, you're supposed to get your own water, and that when you eat sushi you are not supposed to put the rice in the soy sauce - you're supposed to flip it over and put the fish in the sauce. That last bit of info was news to me, and imparted by a gentleman who sat down to eat next to me (we were at the bar-type seating) and would periodically point out Japanese things to me: "Miso soup", "Shouyu, gohan, chigao," (soy sauce, rice, incorrect) "hashi," (chopsticks) ect.
He was also the one who brought to my attention the fish tank on one side of the restaurant when one of the workers was pulling some fish out of it. The fish catchers proceded to the side of the restaurant where the big cleavers were... that's fresh, and they were delicious! The best piece of the evening was actually clam, but I don't remember what it was called in Japanese or in English. Guess I'll have to go back! 2 months in, and this is the first sushi I've had; I don't think I'm going to wait another two months. Its just too bad that Winston can't eat fish, he's really missing out, and I think I only saw maybe 3 kinds of non-fish dishes in the whole joint.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Cold Showers
So, I grew up in California. I think I can honestly say that I've lived in hot places before now. Not the hottest in the world, but yeah, hot weather has been had. Never before, however, have I enjoyed cold showers as much as I do now. To be fair, never before have I really enjoyed cold showers at all. Maybe it was a kid thing back then, but man, I take cold showers everyday here, and it feels AWESOME! I suppose it's probably the humidity that does it to me. I mean, I'm never really dry to begin with, so hot water (or even warm water) just feels silly. And its not like the cold water is soothing: I still get goosebumbs and have that difficulty breathing that comes with cold water, but man, its sooo refreshing! Sometimes the simple things are what make life great. I try to avoid taking showers all the time to cool off, but I'm sitting at about 2 a day right now. Although, in my defense, I am working out nearly everyday, and then that second shower isn't really optional, you know? That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Here's another story for you all:
These are transcribed entries from the journal I am writing in at school. I started the journal for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being that I didn’t have Internet yet so I couldn’t post things online. The other being that I had free time on my hands. These entries are slightly modified, but mostly for grammar. I suppose you’d never know either way. Surprisingly, I had way more to say than I thought. Unsurprisingly, I have been bad (abysmal) at keeping my online entries up to date with my written ones. Someday, the dates will match but for now…These are the voyages of a long time ago in a galaxy far far away:
May 19, kayobi (Tuesday)
I spent 4 hours straight studying Japanese today, and I can't decided whether I learned a ton or absolutely nothing at all. Maybe I can't tell the difference right now because my brain is totally fried. I don't have any classes today because the kids are taking mid-terms. This means that I have exactly zero work today, so when my day started at 8 am, I fired up the 'ole Japanese brain centers and went to town. I read about the Japanese proficiency test you can take: the easiest level (there are 4 levels: 4 is the easiest, and 1 is hardest) requires mastery of 80 kanji. the site I was reading says that level 4 can be passed easily after a year of part-time study. "A year?" says I this morning, "boff!" I decided to work out all 80 kanji in one day.
4 hours later...I awoke in a daze. Saved by the lunch bell and burned out on pictograms, I conceded that perhaps this will take more than a day. New goal: one week. (current status: umm, no. More than a week needed - my brain can't work on memorization that intensely for that long, I have decided that I'm going to slow-roll the kanji) The site said that the test I was studying for is offered once a year, in December. My goal, whether I actually take the test or not, is to be able to pas levels 3 and 4, about 250 characters altogether, by then. I've decided that total immersion doesn't so much increase one's ability or comfort with learning a new language as much as necessitate it. There's nothing like being in a country of people who are all fluent in Japanese to make me feel really slow for not having figured it out. All of a sudden, 4 hours of studying every day doesn't sound so crazy, and 250 characters just seems pitiful. At 200 characters, I will have the same number of kanji memorized as an 8 year old Japanese child, and 80%+ of the characters out there will still be total gibberish, ugh. Learning languages is such a pain! I don't know why we ever invented more than one - what were we thinking!
However, it does stoke the ego a bit when I talk to some people who have been here for a year or more and have "just started" to learn Japanese. And Bobu Bobu is always upset at how quickly Winston and I are picking up Japanese after he struggled with it for over 4 years in England. He still feels like he can't talk to anyone here, which I know is totally untrue. He just gets flustered and frustrated when he realizes that he isn't fluent in Japanese. I've taken it upon myself to boost his confidence in (or at least his exposure to) Japanese by unashamedly asking for his translation help whenever I need a hand. We had an exciting afternoon when I had him call our internet company about arraigning an installation appointment.
Most recently, I arrived home after work to find a note attached, not to the door of our apartment, but to the wall next to it, written in Japanese. After some investigation and a chat with a neighbor (for 'chat' see: wakarimasen - "I don't understand") I deduced that the note was for Winston and I and had something to do with garbage collection. I took a picture of the note and sent it to Bobu to ask for a translation. He is not, as it turns out, "a free translation service," (oops) as his reply informed me, but yes, the note was about the intricacies of the garbage system in Japan. We didn't use the city-issued garbage bags, and that is a big no-no, apparently. For those of you who are unaware, yes, the garbage/recycling system in Japan is more convoluted than the states, (or at least Washington and California) and for the record, I have been checking, and we are not the only ones to use un-official bags, so there!
These are transcribed entries from the journal I am writing in at school. I started the journal for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being that I didn’t have Internet yet so I couldn’t post things online. The other being that I had free time on my hands. These entries are slightly modified, but mostly for grammar. I suppose you’d never know either way. Surprisingly, I had way more to say than I thought. Unsurprisingly, I have been bad (abysmal) at keeping my online entries up to date with my written ones. Someday, the dates will match but for now…These are the voyages of a long time ago in a galaxy far far away:
May 19, kayobi (Tuesday)
I spent 4 hours straight studying Japanese today, and I can't decided whether I learned a ton or absolutely nothing at all. Maybe I can't tell the difference right now because my brain is totally fried. I don't have any classes today because the kids are taking mid-terms. This means that I have exactly zero work today, so when my day started at 8 am, I fired up the 'ole Japanese brain centers and went to town. I read about the Japanese proficiency test you can take: the easiest level (there are 4 levels: 4 is the easiest, and 1 is hardest) requires mastery of 80 kanji. the site I was reading says that level 4 can be passed easily after a year of part-time study. "A year?" says I this morning, "boff!" I decided to work out all 80 kanji in one day.
4 hours later...I awoke in a daze. Saved by the lunch bell and burned out on pictograms, I conceded that perhaps this will take more than a day. New goal: one week. (current status: umm, no. More than a week needed - my brain can't work on memorization that intensely for that long, I have decided that I'm going to slow-roll the kanji) The site said that the test I was studying for is offered once a year, in December. My goal, whether I actually take the test or not, is to be able to pas levels 3 and 4, about 250 characters altogether, by then. I've decided that total immersion doesn't so much increase one's ability or comfort with learning a new language as much as necessitate it. There's nothing like being in a country of people who are all fluent in Japanese to make me feel really slow for not having figured it out. All of a sudden, 4 hours of studying every day doesn't sound so crazy, and 250 characters just seems pitiful. At 200 characters, I will have the same number of kanji memorized as an 8 year old Japanese child, and 80%+ of the characters out there will still be total gibberish, ugh. Learning languages is such a pain! I don't know why we ever invented more than one - what were we thinking!
However, it does stoke the ego a bit when I talk to some people who have been here for a year or more and have "just started" to learn Japanese. And Bobu Bobu is always upset at how quickly Winston and I are picking up Japanese after he struggled with it for over 4 years in England. He still feels like he can't talk to anyone here, which I know is totally untrue. He just gets flustered and frustrated when he realizes that he isn't fluent in Japanese. I've taken it upon myself to boost his confidence in (or at least his exposure to) Japanese by unashamedly asking for his translation help whenever I need a hand. We had an exciting afternoon when I had him call our internet company about arraigning an installation appointment.
Most recently, I arrived home after work to find a note attached, not to the door of our apartment, but to the wall next to it, written in Japanese. After some investigation and a chat with a neighbor (for 'chat' see: wakarimasen - "I don't understand") I deduced that the note was for Winston and I and had something to do with garbage collection. I took a picture of the note and sent it to Bobu to ask for a translation. He is not, as it turns out, "a free translation service," (oops) as his reply informed me, but yes, the note was about the intricacies of the garbage system in Japan. We didn't use the city-issued garbage bags, and that is a big no-no, apparently. For those of you who are unaware, yes, the garbage/recycling system in Japan is more convoluted than the states, (or at least Washington and California) and for the record, I have been checking, and we are not the only ones to use un-official bags, so there!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Just the Beats
More in my quest to one day fully update my journal entries:
These are transcribed entries from the journal I am writing in at school. I started the journal for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being that I didn’t have Internet yet so I couldn’t post things online. The other being that I had free time on my hands. These entries are slightly modified, but mostly for grammar. I suppose you’d never know either way. Surprisingly, I had way more to say than I thought. Unsurprisingly, I have been bad (abysmal) at keeping my online entries up to date with my written ones. Someday, the dates will match but for now…These are the voyages of a long time ago in a galaxy far far away:
May 18, gestsuyobi (Monday)
Frisbee frisbee frisbee frisbee, haaaamer haaaaamer. I found my people last Sunday: it was awesome. They are a ways away, about 2 hours and 1700 yen away - on the West side of Tokyo. But they play ultimate! Stall counts, stacks, sevens, hucks, cups, picks, flicks, bids, layouts, in lights and darks...I am fulfilled. Like they do everywhere, the players have put together a community and, like anywhere, I fit into the ultimate community in Tokyo. After less than a full day of pickup, I've already been asked to join both teams that play there, and I made friends with a bunch of the regulars. It was all wonderfully natural; like I say, the ultimate community is my community. Of course, at over 3000 yen a go, it's an expensive membership. Ahh well, everyone has their vices, and I have a few cost (And time) saving ideas, foremost being finding a friend to share carpooling costs. Fortunately, I've got some time to figure that out because this weekend they have special practices in Chiba which I'm invited to - of course - and Chiba has the virtue of being considerably closer, which has the related benefit of being significantly cheaper. And, the week after that, there won't be any pickup because everyone will be at the nationals tournament in Nagano. I was not invited to that, but I'd like to think that's only because the rosters for the tournament were already closed.
Also, a lot of the players are Japanese, and although they all seem to have remarkably good English, they (of course) use a lot of Japanese on and off the field. This is exactly what I need because I can listen to them, for one, but I can also practice (Japanese) and switch back to English if necessary. Yay! Inevitably, I bonded much more quickly with the native English-speakers, but I have high hopes to make friends with the Japanese players. There are a ton of really awesome people there, I am thinking. Strange how 17$, 2 hour commutes can seem so reasonable when one is desperate enough. (Present day weight in: still SOOO true!)
I also finally got my haircut (a kato in Japanese) this weekend. It turned out pretty awesome, which I think is rather remarkable. (I don't normally use the phrase "rather remarkable" but apparently I'm a huge sucker for alliteration) I usually am at a loss to explain how I want my hair cut in America - and frankly, most of the time, I don't even know what I want anyway (I know, collective gasps all around) - but in Japan, a few gestures and a little broken Japanenglish: "Shoto?" "Shoto?" "Choto?" "Choto" "ii ?" "ii des." seems to be more than enough. Its a sweet, unexciting haircut: just the thing for Sensei Arex. And now that its getting hot, ditching the extra layers up top was nice.
As an added bonus I got to freak out all of the kids at school with my new doo, because, as we know, Japanese kids are wild, and anything I do differently than normal is a great way to set them off. Actually in training we were told not to change our hair during the school year because it would be too much for the kids...but I think they were referring mostly to the elementary schools. Regardless, I was a little nervous about the cut, until I thought about it, and realized that as crazy as my kids are, I'm pretty sure they can handle a haircut, and it would probably be worth a few laughs. I was right, on both counts, and as an educational moment (both ways, actually: they taught me the name for hair: kami no ke) I made them all tell me how good looking I am in English; I have a sweet job.
These are transcribed entries from the journal I am writing in at school. I started the journal for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being that I didn’t have Internet yet so I couldn’t post things online. The other being that I had free time on my hands. These entries are slightly modified, but mostly for grammar. I suppose you’d never know either way. Surprisingly, I had way more to say than I thought. Unsurprisingly, I have been bad (abysmal) at keeping my online entries up to date with my written ones. Someday, the dates will match but for now…These are the voyages of a long time ago in a galaxy far far away:
May 18, gestsuyobi (Monday)
Frisbee frisbee frisbee frisbee, haaaamer haaaaamer. I found my people last Sunday: it was awesome. They are a ways away, about 2 hours and 1700 yen away - on the West side of Tokyo. But they play ultimate! Stall counts, stacks, sevens, hucks, cups, picks, flicks, bids, layouts, in lights and darks...I am fulfilled. Like they do everywhere, the players have put together a community and, like anywhere, I fit into the ultimate community in Tokyo. After less than a full day of pickup, I've already been asked to join both teams that play there, and I made friends with a bunch of the regulars. It was all wonderfully natural; like I say, the ultimate community is my community. Of course, at over 3000 yen a go, it's an expensive membership. Ahh well, everyone has their vices, and I have a few cost (And time) saving ideas, foremost being finding a friend to share carpooling costs. Fortunately, I've got some time to figure that out because this weekend they have special practices in Chiba which I'm invited to - of course - and Chiba has the virtue of being considerably closer, which has the related benefit of being significantly cheaper. And, the week after that, there won't be any pickup because everyone will be at the nationals tournament in Nagano. I was not invited to that, but I'd like to think that's only because the rosters for the tournament were already closed.
Also, a lot of the players are Japanese, and although they all seem to have remarkably good English, they (of course) use a lot of Japanese on and off the field. This is exactly what I need because I can listen to them, for one, but I can also practice (Japanese) and switch back to English if necessary. Yay! Inevitably, I bonded much more quickly with the native English-speakers, but I have high hopes to make friends with the Japanese players. There are a ton of really awesome people there, I am thinking. Strange how 17$, 2 hour commutes can seem so reasonable when one is desperate enough. (Present day weight in: still SOOO true!)
I also finally got my haircut (a kato in Japanese) this weekend. It turned out pretty awesome, which I think is rather remarkable. (I don't normally use the phrase "rather remarkable" but apparently I'm a huge sucker for alliteration) I usually am at a loss to explain how I want my hair cut in America - and frankly, most of the time, I don't even know what I want anyway (I know, collective gasps all around) - but in Japan, a few gestures and a little broken Japanenglish: "Shoto?" "Shoto?" "Choto?" "Choto" "ii ?" "ii des." seems to be more than enough. Its a sweet, unexciting haircut: just the thing for Sensei Arex. And now that its getting hot, ditching the extra layers up top was nice.
As an added bonus I got to freak out all of the kids at school with my new doo, because, as we know, Japanese kids are wild, and anything I do differently than normal is a great way to set them off. Actually in training we were told not to change our hair during the school year because it would be too much for the kids...but I think they were referring mostly to the elementary schools. Regardless, I was a little nervous about the cut, until I thought about it, and realized that as crazy as my kids are, I'm pretty sure they can handle a haircut, and it would probably be worth a few laughs. I was right, on both counts, and as an educational moment (both ways, actually: they taught me the name for hair: kami no ke) I made them all tell me how good looking I am in English; I have a sweet job.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Clarity, and more stories
Sometimes, in brief moments of clarity, I can put my life in perspective, and when that happens, wow. I tend to freak out enough that all that clarity goes right out the window. Apparently, while I can live my life, actually thinking about it is beyond me.
I'll try to reconstruct what I mean. So, last weekend, I took the train into Tokyo (One of the biggest cities in the world) to go party with my (internationally populated) frisbee team. We were celebrating the last tournament that we attended. (the one where I took a plane to central Japan, played ultimate all weekend, and our teams ended up with 1st place, 3rd place, and the spirit awards, and then took the bullet train back, so I could go to work Monday morning) On the way to Tokyo, I have to take the trains through Chiba, (which was having a huge fireworks show, so the train station was filled with women in kimonos -kimonos are soo cool!) and ultimately ended up lost in Tokyo looking for the party. (I am constantly going through phases where I am either totally adept at navigating Japan or I might as well be blindfolded and spinning in circles) Now, the party itself was at Sam's house. (Sam lives on an American compound, and so he has this really really swank 2-story appt with a balcony on the 11th floor of the building that is easily bigger than my entire house, and that looks out on the Tokyo skyline - that's where I party) At this party, we had some really awesome microbrew beer from Kyoto (which were prizes from the tournament) along with as much bbq as you could shake a stick at.
At this party, there were international models (not as cool as it sounds, actually: interpret this how you will) and people, literally from all over the world. (I used Japanese, English, and a little Chinese) At one point, Yosh threw one of my frisbees off the balcony, (its on YouTube if you want to see it yourself- with a very original title: Frsibee off a Roof) and he probably has the best arm on the team, so it goes for quite a ways. These are my friends...in Tokyo...because I live in Japan. Woah.
I stayed up till about 6am, slept for a few hours on Sam's couch, woke up, had some rice and a powerbar for breakfast, and then went to play ultimate for a few hours. (on the way to ultimate, we magically managed to find the disc Yosh threw off the roof the night before) After that, a bunch of us went to an onsen (its like Japanese public bath, but really nice: its a cultural thing here) to relax and clean up, and then we went out to dinner. At dinner, someone (a Japanese person) invited me to go see a huge fireworks show in Tokyo next weekend, and of course I said, "well, I'm pretty busy with all of my NOTHING to do." Ok, so I didn't really say that; I'm always down for fireworks in Japan. (hanabi, in Japanese, it means flower-fire) I didn't have work the next day (because, I have a job which gives me 4 weeks of summer vacation!- in Japan) so I wasn't worried about getting home in a timely manner. I finally headed out of Tokyo in time to get home about about 11pm. When I got home to my house (in Japan) I promptly fell asleep, and I'm not going to lie, that felt nice.
So, yeah, true story. And now, I'm taking some relaxing time to type all this up, and enjoy some quite time. Winston and Alix get back from Kyoto today, and we are deciding between going to the beach tomorrow (The ones that I scouted out last weekend) and Tokyo Disneyland on Wednesday, or Disneyland tomorrow, and the beach on Wednesday. (in my Japanese car) It's a tough choice, so wish me luck, ok? ;)
These are transcribed entries from the journal I am writing in at school. I started the journal for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being that I didn’t have Internet yet so I couldn’t post things online. The other being that I had free time on my hands. These entries are slightly modified, but mostly for grammar. I suppose you’d never know either way. Surprisingly, I had way more to say than I thought. Unsurprisingly, I have been bad (abysmal) at keeping my online entries up to date with my written ones. Someday, the dates will match but for now…These are the voyages of a long time ago in a galaxy far far away:
May 14, mokuyobi (Thursday)
The school is back on track now that all the teachers and san nenseis are back from Tokyo. I didn't realize it, but everyone was taking it way easy and relaxed for the 3 days that we were short staffed and short studented. It was pretty nice, actually. Of course, only having to teach 1 class a day didn't hurt either. But now, Kocho Sensei and the English teachers are back with all the the 3rd year teachers, (along with 1/3 of the students too) and I have 4 classes today and Friday.
To mark the occasion, I took the last bit of fresh coffee (as opposed to making instant coffee), but man, we drink bad coffee here. I had forgotten just how bad. I have a goal/dream for myself that I will one day go the the alleged Pete's Coffee in Chiba and pick up a big bag of coffee and give it to the teachers as a present. Then we can drink real coffee for a while. My other dream- well one of a few - is to just by an espresso machine and start making my own beverages at home. An expensive hobby, but it might be totally worth it. Think about it: lattes all the time, anytime! Just thinking about it almost makes the coffee in my mouth taste good.
Speaking of home-made beverage dreams, I also have this idea that I should start brewing beer in Japan. I think these plans speak to my level of desperation for real coffee and beer. If I can't find them, well Bob Saget, I'll make them! I don't know if this will actually happen, but it could be fun to do, and beer would be sweet... (Update: at Sam's party, I found out that Sam's boss, who lives down the hall from Sam, does, in fact, brew his own beer in Japan. I told Sam that he had to introduce me!)
I shouldn't really complain, though. I have found a few drinkable beers in Japan - what Winston and I have termed "real beer," as opposed to the ubiquitous extra-light lagers that dominate the beer aisle in Japan. We found a "black beer" that passes for a pretty light porter, and a stout that is about as creamy as water. At least they have flavor though.
Also, one hobby at a time, right? First I'm going to figure out frisbee in Japan, although honestly, nothing is more in the frisbee spirit than brewing your own beer, except for maybe drinking beer...while at frisbee tournaments. Ultimate is a much more pressing necessity than beer or coffee. Of course, there also skim boarding, which I'm confident will reel me in at some point. Winston is so in to it, and, frankly, my car is probably the best way to get to the beach, so I will probably end up getting a board of my own and start skimming with him. He's also decided that once the rainy season starts, (June and July) he can try skim boarding in parks because they will all be flooded. I don't know if that is the best idea. (update: did not happen)
Hmmm; beer, coffee, frisbee, and skim boarding: (sort of) I wonder what I'm going to miss when I come back to America?
May 15 kinyobi (Friday)
The Japanese really like to do things right- not so much in a "do it right the first time" or "a stitch in time" kind of way, but in a "this is the right way, so what other way would I do it?" kind of way. My favorite example is when they cross out errors. In America, (I think?!) if you make a mistake, you put a line through it, and move on. (See my notebooks for plenty of examples) When the Japanese make a mistake, they go to their pencil cases (first of all, everyone has a pencil case: students and teachers, and they take them everywhere with them) and get out a ruler. They put the ruler parallel to the page, in the center of the lines on the page, and then they put a line through it. Sometimes, they go to their pencil case to get a red pen and put the line in red pen. Every time. Then, they put the ruler and red pen away, and then start writing again. In America, we just don't care to take the time to be that precise. You know all of those things that "would only take a minute" to do but would be really nice/thoughtful, if totally unnecessary? Japan is big on doing those things. And it is kind if nice. It feel like a different way to value time. where "I don't have time to do that" is just not something you say, or -I think for the Japanese - even think.
When its always worth it to take a minute to pay attention to detail, you become less frantic about time, and I admire it. It also syncs up with a lot of other Japanese quirks, like answering requests for favors. This was something our trainers at Interac warned us about and that Winston and I still mess up on. Since its impossible to say no (or refuse people) in Japan, the Japanese will always help you if you ask them directly. And since the Japanese just do things right, they will go to great lengths to fulfill your request. Regardless of what you ask. Even if it was a rude/improper or - from you perspective - an unimportant request. (something you wouldn't mind being told "no" to) Even if they don't know the answers to your questions, or exactly how to help you.
This willingness (cultural obligation?) to help can clash with our American expectations pretty simply. For example, Winston once asked his teachers how to get to Kujukuri beach, and as a result, 3 teachers and 30 minutes later, Winston was handed a map and written directions to the beach starting from our house! Non of the teachers actually knew how to get to Kujukuri off the top of their heads, and certainly not from our house, but since Winston asked them, they made sure that they found complete directions for him.
This is also the reason, I think, that every time I ask K. Sensei about a new Japanese word, she always takes out her dictionary, even if she already knows the translation. She is being careful and accurate for my sake, because I asked her for a translation. This is the tricky part for us as foreigners, because in America, if someone asked me for a translation, I would just give one off the top of my head if I could, and I couldn't I'd just say "I don't know" and be done with it. And that is pretty much the level of commitment I expect when I ask for help, too. That would not fly in Japan, so unfortunately what I expect to be a simple question can turn into a 5-10 minute ordeal in the blink of a Japanese eye.
They explained to us at training that the Japanese only make requests that they know the other person will be comfortable with fulfilling. Conversely, everyone always says yes in party because the implicit assumption is that you wouldn't ask unless you really needed the help. An interesting spin on "be careful what you wish for."
I'll try to reconstruct what I mean. So, last weekend, I took the train into Tokyo (One of the biggest cities in the world) to go party with my (internationally populated) frisbee team. We were celebrating the last tournament that we attended. (the one where I took a plane to central Japan, played ultimate all weekend, and our teams ended up with 1st place, 3rd place, and the spirit awards, and then took the bullet train back, so I could go to work Monday morning) On the way to Tokyo, I have to take the trains through Chiba, (which was having a huge fireworks show, so the train station was filled with women in kimonos -kimonos are soo cool!) and ultimately ended up lost in Tokyo looking for the party. (I am constantly going through phases where I am either totally adept at navigating Japan or I might as well be blindfolded and spinning in circles) Now, the party itself was at Sam's house. (Sam lives on an American compound, and so he has this really really swank 2-story appt with a balcony on the 11th floor of the building that is easily bigger than my entire house, and that looks out on the Tokyo skyline - that's where I party) At this party, we had some really awesome microbrew beer from Kyoto (which were prizes from the tournament) along with as much bbq as you could shake a stick at.
At this party, there were international models (not as cool as it sounds, actually: interpret this how you will) and people, literally from all over the world. (I used Japanese, English, and a little Chinese) At one point, Yosh threw one of my frisbees off the balcony, (its on YouTube if you want to see it yourself- with a very original title: Frsibee off a Roof) and he probably has the best arm on the team, so it goes for quite a ways. These are my friends...in Tokyo...because I live in Japan. Woah.
I stayed up till about 6am, slept for a few hours on Sam's couch, woke up, had some rice and a powerbar for breakfast, and then went to play ultimate for a few hours. (on the way to ultimate, we magically managed to find the disc Yosh threw off the roof the night before) After that, a bunch of us went to an onsen (its like Japanese public bath, but really nice: its a cultural thing here) to relax and clean up, and then we went out to dinner. At dinner, someone (a Japanese person) invited me to go see a huge fireworks show in Tokyo next weekend, and of course I said, "well, I'm pretty busy with all of my NOTHING to do." Ok, so I didn't really say that; I'm always down for fireworks in Japan. (hanabi, in Japanese, it means flower-fire) I didn't have work the next day (because, I have a job which gives me 4 weeks of summer vacation!- in Japan) so I wasn't worried about getting home in a timely manner. I finally headed out of Tokyo in time to get home about about 11pm. When I got home to my house (in Japan) I promptly fell asleep, and I'm not going to lie, that felt nice.
So, yeah, true story. And now, I'm taking some relaxing time to type all this up, and enjoy some quite time. Winston and Alix get back from Kyoto today, and we are deciding between going to the beach tomorrow (The ones that I scouted out last weekend) and Tokyo Disneyland on Wednesday, or Disneyland tomorrow, and the beach on Wednesday. (in my Japanese car) It's a tough choice, so wish me luck, ok? ;)
These are transcribed entries from the journal I am writing in at school. I started the journal for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being that I didn’t have Internet yet so I couldn’t post things online. The other being that I had free time on my hands. These entries are slightly modified, but mostly for grammar. I suppose you’d never know either way. Surprisingly, I had way more to say than I thought. Unsurprisingly, I have been bad (abysmal) at keeping my online entries up to date with my written ones. Someday, the dates will match but for now…These are the voyages of a long time ago in a galaxy far far away:
May 14, mokuyobi (Thursday)
The school is back on track now that all the teachers and san nenseis are back from Tokyo. I didn't realize it, but everyone was taking it way easy and relaxed for the 3 days that we were short staffed and short studented. It was pretty nice, actually. Of course, only having to teach 1 class a day didn't hurt either. But now, Kocho Sensei and the English teachers are back with all the the 3rd year teachers, (along with 1/3 of the students too) and I have 4 classes today and Friday.
To mark the occasion, I took the last bit of fresh coffee (as opposed to making instant coffee), but man, we drink bad coffee here. I had forgotten just how bad. I have a goal/dream for myself that I will one day go the the alleged Pete's Coffee in Chiba and pick up a big bag of coffee and give it to the teachers as a present. Then we can drink real coffee for a while. My other dream- well one of a few - is to just by an espresso machine and start making my own beverages at home. An expensive hobby, but it might be totally worth it. Think about it: lattes all the time, anytime! Just thinking about it almost makes the coffee in my mouth taste good.
Speaking of home-made beverage dreams, I also have this idea that I should start brewing beer in Japan. I think these plans speak to my level of desperation for real coffee and beer. If I can't find them, well Bob Saget, I'll make them! I don't know if this will actually happen, but it could be fun to do, and beer would be sweet... (Update: at Sam's party, I found out that Sam's boss, who lives down the hall from Sam, does, in fact, brew his own beer in Japan. I told Sam that he had to introduce me!)
I shouldn't really complain, though. I have found a few drinkable beers in Japan - what Winston and I have termed "real beer," as opposed to the ubiquitous extra-light lagers that dominate the beer aisle in Japan. We found a "black beer" that passes for a pretty light porter, and a stout that is about as creamy as water. At least they have flavor though.
Also, one hobby at a time, right? First I'm going to figure out frisbee in Japan, although honestly, nothing is more in the frisbee spirit than brewing your own beer, except for maybe drinking beer...while at frisbee tournaments. Ultimate is a much more pressing necessity than beer or coffee. Of course, there also skim boarding, which I'm confident will reel me in at some point. Winston is so in to it, and, frankly, my car is probably the best way to get to the beach, so I will probably end up getting a board of my own and start skimming with him. He's also decided that once the rainy season starts, (June and July) he can try skim boarding in parks because they will all be flooded. I don't know if that is the best idea. (update: did not happen)
Hmmm; beer, coffee, frisbee, and skim boarding: (sort of) I wonder what I'm going to miss when I come back to America?
May 15 kinyobi (Friday)
The Japanese really like to do things right- not so much in a "do it right the first time" or "a stitch in time" kind of way, but in a "this is the right way, so what other way would I do it?" kind of way. My favorite example is when they cross out errors. In America, (I think?!) if you make a mistake, you put a line through it, and move on. (See my notebooks for plenty of examples) When the Japanese make a mistake, they go to their pencil cases (first of all, everyone has a pencil case: students and teachers, and they take them everywhere with them) and get out a ruler. They put the ruler parallel to the page, in the center of the lines on the page, and then they put a line through it. Sometimes, they go to their pencil case to get a red pen and put the line in red pen. Every time. Then, they put the ruler and red pen away, and then start writing again. In America, we just don't care to take the time to be that precise. You know all of those things that "would only take a minute" to do but would be really nice/thoughtful, if totally unnecessary? Japan is big on doing those things. And it is kind if nice. It feel like a different way to value time. where "I don't have time to do that" is just not something you say, or -I think for the Japanese - even think.
When its always worth it to take a minute to pay attention to detail, you become less frantic about time, and I admire it. It also syncs up with a lot of other Japanese quirks, like answering requests for favors. This was something our trainers at Interac warned us about and that Winston and I still mess up on. Since its impossible to say no (or refuse people) in Japan, the Japanese will always help you if you ask them directly. And since the Japanese just do things right, they will go to great lengths to fulfill your request. Regardless of what you ask. Even if it was a rude/improper or - from you perspective - an unimportant request. (something you wouldn't mind being told "no" to) Even if they don't know the answers to your questions, or exactly how to help you.
This willingness (cultural obligation?) to help can clash with our American expectations pretty simply. For example, Winston once asked his teachers how to get to Kujukuri beach, and as a result, 3 teachers and 30 minutes later, Winston was handed a map and written directions to the beach starting from our house! Non of the teachers actually knew how to get to Kujukuri off the top of their heads, and certainly not from our house, but since Winston asked them, they made sure that they found complete directions for him.
This is also the reason, I think, that every time I ask K. Sensei about a new Japanese word, she always takes out her dictionary, even if she already knows the translation. She is being careful and accurate for my sake, because I asked her for a translation. This is the tricky part for us as foreigners, because in America, if someone asked me for a translation, I would just give one off the top of my head if I could, and I couldn't I'd just say "I don't know" and be done with it. And that is pretty much the level of commitment I expect when I ask for help, too. That would not fly in Japan, so unfortunately what I expect to be a simple question can turn into a 5-10 minute ordeal in the blink of a Japanese eye.
They explained to us at training that the Japanese only make requests that they know the other person will be comfortable with fulfilling. Conversely, everyone always says yes in party because the implicit assumption is that you wouldn't ask unless you really needed the help. An interesting spin on "be careful what you wish for."
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Beach, beach, beach, beach!
Ohwow. Summer is soo awesome! I am wrapping up my first week of summer, and in about an hour I'm heading in to Tokyo for our post-Tajima party. (Tajima was the tournament we went to about 3 weeks ago) So, how have I spent my first week of summer break? Well, not posting on my blog, obviously - sorry. I had work on Monday, and then Winston, Alix, and I celebrated Alix's birthday (and summer!) by going out to that most holy of restaurants : yakiniku. We went to this place that one of the other ALT's said had really amazing meat (the prime ingredient in yakiniku - read back a bit if you need a refresher on how I really feel about it) - and it did - and then we came back to watch movies. It really just turned into one movie, because then Winston and I decided that to really celebrate Alix's birthday, we should go light off the rest of the fireworks we bought on the 4th of July.
The very next day, Alix and Winston departed for Kyoto and I was on my way for a 3-day excursion to Ooami, my staging point for three days of beach! Joe, a really awesome, if slightly crazy, ALT lives in Ooami and has pretty much offered up his place for all of our summer beach needs. He lives about 30 minutes away from kujukuri, and about an hour away from a half dozen beautiful, clear, golden (and white, and some black) incredible pacific ocean beaches. I LIKE this place. So, we went to Shirako beach one day (white sand beach), then went down the coast to explorate beaches off of Kujukuri. We found this awesome string of beaches that pepper the coast, and spent the day at one of many. It had some of the best skimboarding beach I've seen to date, and I had a blast. The sun was hot and the water was cool, and I am in heaven. On the last day (Thursday? I'm loosing track already) Joe and I met up with one of his Japanese friends - note: Joe is a cheater, because he can actually speak Japanese, and so he has tons of Japanese friends everywhere. Also, Joe is crazy social (to put it mildly) and so tends to meet people wherever he goes. - and we went to a different kujukuri beach. That day, however, the waves were really crazy and the tide and the wind was wicked strong, and after about 2 o'clock, they kicked everyone out of the water. That was fine; we just hung out on the beach, and talked and relaxed. I drove back to Kimitsu that night (in record time - turns out 8pm is a great time to drive across Chiba, good to know!) and spend Friday doing a bunch of nothings. With that one day of rest under my belt, I'm off to Tokyo for the weekend!
No time for reminiscing today, I've got places to be!
The very next day, Alix and Winston departed for Kyoto and I was on my way for a 3-day excursion to Ooami, my staging point for three days of beach! Joe, a really awesome, if slightly crazy, ALT lives in Ooami and has pretty much offered up his place for all of our summer beach needs. He lives about 30 minutes away from kujukuri, and about an hour away from a half dozen beautiful, clear, golden (and white, and some black) incredible pacific ocean beaches. I LIKE this place. So, we went to Shirako beach one day (white sand beach), then went down the coast to explorate beaches off of Kujukuri. We found this awesome string of beaches that pepper the coast, and spent the day at one of many. It had some of the best skimboarding beach I've seen to date, and I had a blast. The sun was hot and the water was cool, and I am in heaven. On the last day (Thursday? I'm loosing track already) Joe and I met up with one of his Japanese friends - note: Joe is a cheater, because he can actually speak Japanese, and so he has tons of Japanese friends everywhere. Also, Joe is crazy social (to put it mildly) and so tends to meet people wherever he goes. - and we went to a different kujukuri beach. That day, however, the waves were really crazy and the tide and the wind was wicked strong, and after about 2 o'clock, they kicked everyone out of the water. That was fine; we just hung out on the beach, and talked and relaxed. I drove back to Kimitsu that night (in record time - turns out 8pm is a great time to drive across Chiba, good to know!) and spend Friday doing a bunch of nothings. With that one day of rest under my belt, I'm off to Tokyo for the weekend!
No time for reminiscing today, I've got places to be!
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