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."