It's that lovely time of year when all people on the island of Shikoku (and the rest of Japan) freeze their behinds off. Why? Well, the outside isn't actually super cold but the houses and their lack of insulation make it feel like the arctic. You can actually see your breath when inside. Isn't there something inherently wrong with that?
So, to battle the frigidness, we have heaters. They come in all shapes and sizes. The first is the air conditioner/heater which is usually perched above the doorway. It was great as an air conditioner but as a heater you have to sit in a certain area of the room to get any benefit from it. Then there is what I call a heat lamp. It looks like a fan but doesn't blow and gets hot. Good for short distances but useless for a big room. Then there is also the "kotatsu" which is a table that is heated underneath. You throw a blanket under the lid, stick your legs under and enjoy the ensuing warmth.
I recently found out that the toilet in my house has a heated seat. And while it sounds weird, it's great! The bathroom is as cold as the rest of the house and it's not fun to have to answer nature's call in the middle of a very cold night.
This brings me to the kerosene powered heater. This bad boy has a tank which can be filled with kerosene that can be bought from your local gas station. It's warm but it can smell. There is one in my workplace which gives me a headache if I have it on for more than an hour. Possibly fainting or poisoning myself with toxic fumes is not my idea of an ending so I regulate it's usage by obsessively opening windows and gulping in fresh air or turning it off completely. Unfortunately this polluting machine is the only heater that actually warms up a room.
That said and done, Shikoku hasn't yet reached it's coldest temperatures of the year. So an icicle will write to you in those months.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Snow and its repercussions
Yesterday, I woke up, opened the window and saw that the ground was covered with snow. Usually, when I see the first snow of the season, I'm filled with childish glee and delight and have the urge to go and make snowangels. That former delight was thoroughly mixed with despair as the knowledge I couldn't drive to work set in.
I bundled up appropriately for the weather, meaning sweater, fleece, shell, scarf, gloves and toque. Then I ventured outside only to be met with a really heavy snowfall. The 5 minute walk to the station left me nicely coated in the white stuff.
Now, I'm not a huge fan of the train system here. They are infrequent and certain trains have a tendency to interrupt their trip to sit at a station and, well, just sit. For up to what seems like 10 minutes at a time. Why are they sitting? One reason is that there is only one train track. So, occasionally one train must wait until the other coming from the opposite direction has cleared the track. No, messy accidents that way you see. The other reason is solely to tick me off. I've now made it a rule to dehyrdrate myself before getting on the bloody train for fear I'll have to get off to use the bathroom and then wait up to an hour for the next one.
I bundled up appropriately for the weather, meaning sweater, fleece, shell, scarf, gloves and toque. Then I ventured outside only to be met with a really heavy snowfall. The 5 minute walk to the station left me nicely coated in the white stuff.
Now, I'm not a huge fan of the train system here. They are infrequent and certain trains have a tendency to interrupt their trip to sit at a station and, well, just sit. For up to what seems like 10 minutes at a time. Why are they sitting? One reason is that there is only one train track. So, occasionally one train must wait until the other coming from the opposite direction has cleared the track. No, messy accidents that way you see. The other reason is solely to tick me off. I've now made it a rule to dehyrdrate myself before getting on the bloody train for fear I'll have to get off to use the bathroom and then wait up to an hour for the next one.
But I digress. The train ride was its usual thing, once at the station I boarded a bus and arrived at my school's central campus. Only problem, I wasn't working at the central office on this particular day. So, I borrowed a bike from a coworker and realized how very out of shape I am. The 15 minute ride left me tired and sweaty (due to overlayering, and carting around my 10 pound backpack). I taught, sweat my way to returning the bike, got on another bus and train. I now have great respect for my coworkers who have to bike, no matter the weather, to the separate branch offices. I was one tired puppy by the time I got home.
It snowed again this morning. When I now see snow I nearly break down sobbing. But being bound and determined to be lazy (and also having suffered through many a Calgarian winter) I maneuvered our tiny car down the icy hill, onto slushy roads and into greener pastures (the city is inexplicably blue skied and sunny). The car is now reposing in the parking lot, blissfully unaware that it will have to make a return trip into snowland.
And I have to teach soon so I'll stop the bitch fest here. Cheers all.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Slots in Japan
Hi all, today I'm going to write about Japan's 'we aren't really gambling' gambling system. Known to most as Pachinko. Gambling is illegal throughout all of Japan. So, of course, no one gambles. Ever.
When in Osaka with Will and two friends of mine, way back in October, the group of us thought it would be fun to step into a Pachinko parlor. It's not hard to find, every city/town has at least one. In Osaka, they're a dime a dozen. You can find them from their extremely lit up signs declaring either: "Pachinko!" or "Millions!" At night, the signs are almost blinding. It's akin to seeing the bright lights of Vegas but only much more isolated.
Once you step inside one of these parlors you can barely hear anything for the constant sound of balls hitting each other. Pachinko is played, as far as I can tell, by dropping little silver balls into the top (or somehow inserting these things) of the machine and then sitting back and watching them drizzle down through different notches and slots. I think points are accumlated by where the balls hit when they land on the bottom. I wouldn't quote me on that though, since I've never actually played the game. The four of us, wandered around and looked confusedly at the machines and at all the people staring, mesmerized, at their Pachinko machines. On the floor were multiple tubs, sometimes stacked on each other, full of those little silver balls. After a few more moments of looking bewildered, with no one coming to help us waste our money, we left. Our pupils had to readjust to normal lighting once we were back outside.
Pachinko isn't technically gambling because you only receive a ticket or something similar once you're finished for the night (or day). The parlor itself does nothing to reimburse you for your efforts. But, if you go next door to a handy kiosk (which, of course, is in NO way affiliated with the Pachinko parlor), they'll take your ticket and give you something in return. What it is, I don't know, again because I never got to play. Perhaps cash or some prize.
To an outside viewer, Pachinko looks pretty dull. You sit at a machine and stare relentlessly at balls falling through spokes. But then, slot machines aren't much different. You press buttons (or pull the lever) and stare to see if you've managed to randomly match some pictures.
Though really, in either scenario you're pouring your money down the drain.
When in Osaka with Will and two friends of mine, way back in October, the group of us thought it would be fun to step into a Pachinko parlor. It's not hard to find, every city/town has at least one. In Osaka, they're a dime a dozen. You can find them from their extremely lit up signs declaring either: "Pachinko!" or "Millions!" At night, the signs are almost blinding. It's akin to seeing the bright lights of Vegas but only much more isolated.
Once you step inside one of these parlors you can barely hear anything for the constant sound of balls hitting each other. Pachinko is played, as far as I can tell, by dropping little silver balls into the top (or somehow inserting these things) of the machine and then sitting back and watching them drizzle down through different notches and slots. I think points are accumlated by where the balls hit when they land on the bottom. I wouldn't quote me on that though, since I've never actually played the game. The four of us, wandered around and looked confusedly at the machines and at all the people staring, mesmerized, at their Pachinko machines. On the floor were multiple tubs, sometimes stacked on each other, full of those little silver balls. After a few more moments of looking bewildered, with no one coming to help us waste our money, we left. Our pupils had to readjust to normal lighting once we were back outside.
Pachinko isn't technically gambling because you only receive a ticket or something similar once you're finished for the night (or day). The parlor itself does nothing to reimburse you for your efforts. But, if you go next door to a handy kiosk (which, of course, is in NO way affiliated with the Pachinko parlor), they'll take your ticket and give you something in return. What it is, I don't know, again because I never got to play. Perhaps cash or some prize.
To an outside viewer, Pachinko looks pretty dull. You sit at a machine and stare relentlessly at balls falling through spokes. But then, slot machines aren't much different. You press buttons (or pull the lever) and stare to see if you've managed to randomly match some pictures.
Though really, in either scenario you're pouring your money down the drain.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Japan in December
Hi all, it's quickly approaching my favorite time of year...Christmas! Being in Asia, the season is a bit less festive than in North America. Okay, a LOT less festive. Although there seems to be no shortage of twinkly lights on the outside of some houses. The homes I've seen with Christmas lights are literally draped with them. The blinking and twinkling is too frenetic for these human eyes.
Being the Christmas lover that I am, the lack of it in Asia is depressing. Sure, they have Christmas trees and even carols but something of the holiday spirit is missing. I suppose it's something that just can't be reproduced. I can picture the malls back home being covered with X-Mas periphernalia and carols lilting out at every corner. In Japan, the malls are decked out but in a somewhat stilted fashion. Kind of like my Japanese (or Korean) writing.
Determined to celebrate Christmas despite my location I duly visited the novelty and 100 yen stores to compile a small list of Christmas decorations. The fake tree I got makes Charlie Brown's look enormous. Still, it's been laddered with lights and ornaments that are slightly too large for it. It also keeps falling over but that's alright, we'll just prop it against the wall.
Hope you're all doing well.
Being the Christmas lover that I am, the lack of it in Asia is depressing. Sure, they have Christmas trees and even carols but something of the holiday spirit is missing. I suppose it's something that just can't be reproduced. I can picture the malls back home being covered with X-Mas periphernalia and carols lilting out at every corner. In Japan, the malls are decked out but in a somewhat stilted fashion. Kind of like my Japanese (or Korean) writing.
Determined to celebrate Christmas despite my location I duly visited the novelty and 100 yen stores to compile a small list of Christmas decorations. The fake tree I got makes Charlie Brown's look enormous. Still, it's been laddered with lights and ornaments that are slightly too large for it. It also keeps falling over but that's alright, we'll just prop it against the wall.
Hope you're all doing well.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Being illiterate - Kanji Part 2
I thought I would try to update this thing more regularly. Which means I'll go through a spurt where I update every two or three days, and then sink back into lethargy where I don't update at all. This is one of the former periods.
I was thinking last night about my inability to read here. In China, I didn't even attempt it since every character was so alien to me. In Korea, learning to read was relatively easy and I was reading at a pseudo-decent speed by the time I left. In Japan, with the 3 different writing systems, one is tricked into thinking he/she can read but then some kanji is tossed in to throw everything off. I think the worst part of kanji is that each character can have a Chinese and Japanese pronunciation. When do you use which? Who knows, I think it's something you learn over time. The native Japanese can't explain why they use a certain pronunciation.
The interesting (strange?) thing about this country is that children in elementary/middle school can, of course, speak their language but have a hard time reading all the signs they see around them. You have to have a high school education to really be able to get around and read everything you want (signs, comic books, novels etc.) That struck me as odd. Being raised as an English speaker, I learned to read in elementary school and by the time I entered junior high I had no problem reading signs or books. Not so here, an elementary graduate can probably only read about 50% of the kanji they see.
The breakdown, as I can understand it, goes as such:
Elementary students are taught kyoiku kanji, equaling 1006 characters.
Middle school students are taught joyo kanji, (an addtional 939 characters.)
On top of this there is jinmeiyo kanji, those used in registering names. Lord knows, when this is taught. I would guess throughout junior high, high school, university and right on until DEATH (possibly kanji continues to torture the Japanese soul into the afterlife). I take this to mean that elementary school students are unable to read the official writing of names. I assume they are taught to read at least their own names.
My official thoughts on kanji are: it's way too complicated and I have no desire to learn it. What with the ten different meanings any one kanji could have depending on context, nuance and blah blah blah. Where would I use it after I leave this country? I watch Will study diligently pretty much every night and sometimes the vague thought that I should learn it too crosses my mind but the thought leaves as quickly as it came and I'm left in happy oblivion. Am I lazy you ask? Most definitely! Disrespectful? Probably. Actually, being here makes me realize that I should've studied Korean harder while I was there. My bad.
This is the illiterate, mute gaijin signing off for now. This post is bit longer than I intended.
I was thinking last night about my inability to read here. In China, I didn't even attempt it since every character was so alien to me. In Korea, learning to read was relatively easy and I was reading at a pseudo-decent speed by the time I left. In Japan, with the 3 different writing systems, one is tricked into thinking he/she can read but then some kanji is tossed in to throw everything off. I think the worst part of kanji is that each character can have a Chinese and Japanese pronunciation. When do you use which? Who knows, I think it's something you learn over time. The native Japanese can't explain why they use a certain pronunciation.
The interesting (strange?) thing about this country is that children in elementary/middle school can, of course, speak their language but have a hard time reading all the signs they see around them. You have to have a high school education to really be able to get around and read everything you want (signs, comic books, novels etc.) That struck me as odd. Being raised as an English speaker, I learned to read in elementary school and by the time I entered junior high I had no problem reading signs or books. Not so here, an elementary graduate can probably only read about 50% of the kanji they see.
The breakdown, as I can understand it, goes as such:
Elementary students are taught kyoiku kanji, equaling 1006 characters.
Middle school students are taught joyo kanji, (an addtional 939 characters.)
On top of this there is jinmeiyo kanji, those used in registering names. Lord knows, when this is taught. I would guess throughout junior high, high school, university and right on until DEATH (possibly kanji continues to torture the Japanese soul into the afterlife). I take this to mean that elementary school students are unable to read the official writing of names. I assume they are taught to read at least their own names.
My official thoughts on kanji are: it's way too complicated and I have no desire to learn it. What with the ten different meanings any one kanji could have depending on context, nuance and blah blah blah. Where would I use it after I leave this country? I watch Will study diligently pretty much every night and sometimes the vague thought that I should learn it too crosses my mind but the thought leaves as quickly as it came and I'm left in happy oblivion. Am I lazy you ask? Most definitely! Disrespectful? Probably. Actually, being here makes me realize that I should've studied Korean harder while I was there. My bad.
This is the illiterate, mute gaijin signing off for now. This post is bit longer than I intended.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Japan life - Autumn
Finally I can stop carping about the intense heat and go straight into carping about the intense cold. Well, ok, not really intense but building up to there I think. Japanese houses don't really do much to keep the heat in. I've taken to pestering my students to help me figure out which option says "heat" on the air-conditioner/heater remote. When in my house I bundle up attractively in track pants, t-shirt and some sort of hoodie (hoody?). I'm afraid to get out of bed in the mornings because I don't want my bare feet to touch the cold wooden floor. I miss the "ondol" heating system in Korea (where the entire floor is heated).
On Monday, on my usual drive to work, I spent half of the drive behind a white sedan. While this in itself isn't anything interesting the antics the driver was going through were. He spent that entire half hour slapping and/or hitting himself. And I mean the entire half hour. The slapping and hitting were pretty much continuous. At one point I actually saw him ball his hand into a fist and then, ram himself with it. In the rare 2 seconds he wasn't doing this, he would run his hand through his hair. I don't know, maybe there was a bee or wasp in the car with him. Or maybe he has some strange driving rituals. Who knows?
Anyhoo, I hope this post find all of you who read it well! Cheers!
On Monday, on my usual drive to work, I spent half of the drive behind a white sedan. While this in itself isn't anything interesting the antics the driver was going through were. He spent that entire half hour slapping and/or hitting himself. And I mean the entire half hour. The slapping and hitting were pretty much continuous. At one point I actually saw him ball his hand into a fist and then, ram himself with it. In the rare 2 seconds he wasn't doing this, he would run his hand through his hair. I don't know, maybe there was a bee or wasp in the car with him. Or maybe he has some strange driving rituals. Who knows?
Anyhoo, I hope this post find all of you who read it well! Cheers!
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
More about me
Hey, my week is off to yet another inauspicious start. I locked the keys in the car for the 2nd time in two weeks. (I've never done this back in Canada!!) I paid an exorbitant fee to have someone come and break into my car for me (a hundred dollars, stupidity is expensive), trudged into work and flopped down to plan lessons. The day actually went well teaching wise but then when I was back in the car, I promptly nearly ran over an innocent cyclist. At that point I just about got out and walked home but figured that would be completely irrational.
But, I have hope that the week will end more positively than in started. In the meantime, while I'm at this laptop I'm going to list things I often see on other people's blog/journal sites. That being, inane senseless trivia about myself.
Currently reading: Some book called Playing Away. About a selfish idiot who knowingly cheats on a loving, faithful husband. Also in the middle of Things My Girlfriend and I have Argued About.
Listening to: Nikka Costa, a new discovery for me though she's been around for awhile. Great great stuff if you like soul mixed with funk.
Watching: Office Space. I don't think I paid proper attention the first time I watched it. Damn funny film.
Eating: These strange amalgamations of fortune-cookie type cookie mixed with soy nuts. Bizarre but tasty. Also eating these chocolate filled things with pictures of koala's on them. They're called "Ko-a-ra no machi"
Drinking: Apple juice. Sorry, not very interesting or inspiring.
Useful Japanese phrase of the week: Mochikairi de onegai shimasu. Or just mochikairi. It means "take out" (as in food).
Annoying occurence of the week: Aside from the repeat performance of locking my keys in the car, I was visited by Jehovah's Witnesses. The main lady rattled off in Japanese for a while before I made it clear I didn't understand her. Undeterred, she pulled out an English version of her handy Jehovah's Witness manual which I rejected. These people are equally annoying no matter what country you're in.
Admiring: My heat lamp. It's toasty if starting to scald my face.
Pondering: How to not lock my keys in the car ever again.
Alright this is too much even for me. Take care y'all.
But, I have hope that the week will end more positively than in started. In the meantime, while I'm at this laptop I'm going to list things I often see on other people's blog/journal sites. That being, inane senseless trivia about myself.
Currently reading: Some book called Playing Away. About a selfish idiot who knowingly cheats on a loving, faithful husband. Also in the middle of Things My Girlfriend and I have Argued About.
Listening to: Nikka Costa, a new discovery for me though she's been around for awhile. Great great stuff if you like soul mixed with funk.
Watching: Office Space. I don't think I paid proper attention the first time I watched it. Damn funny film.
Eating: These strange amalgamations of fortune-cookie type cookie mixed with soy nuts. Bizarre but tasty. Also eating these chocolate filled things with pictures of koala's on them. They're called "Ko-a-ra no machi"
Drinking: Apple juice. Sorry, not very interesting or inspiring.
Useful Japanese phrase of the week: Mochikairi de onegai shimasu. Or just mochikairi. It means "take out" (as in food).
Annoying occurence of the week: Aside from the repeat performance of locking my keys in the car, I was visited by Jehovah's Witnesses. The main lady rattled off in Japanese for a while before I made it clear I didn't understand her. Undeterred, she pulled out an English version of her handy Jehovah's Witness manual which I rejected. These people are equally annoying no matter what country you're in.
Admiring: My heat lamp. It's toasty if starting to scald my face.
Pondering: How to not lock my keys in the car ever again.
Alright this is too much even for me. Take care y'all.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Fighting in the new millenium
Remember when the only way to have a fight with another person was to be face to face with them? Well, I don't, always having had the option to fight over the phone, but with the advent of internet there is yet another way to duke it out (mentally not physically)...via email, chat and message forums.
I had a fight once with a friend, all done over a series of emails and it ended our friendship. To this day it is still the most random, idiotic fight I've ever had and I wonder what the hell we were both thinking. I want to believe our friendship was on its deathbed anyway but this might be wishful thinking.
I fought with my mother the same way so we didn't actually speak to each other for weeks. I was overseas at the time and this arrangement didn't make me happy.
The reason this suddenly popped into my head is that, during a fit of insomnia (from which I'm still currently suffering, it's past midnight here) I was browsing on a message forum I frequent and noticed a thread starting to turn very sour. (for internet forum newbies, a thread consists of an original message with all its replies) Now you can fight without even having to hear the other person's voice, much less see their face.
A major problem with internet chatting, messaging and emailing is that tone doesn't come through. What one person intended as a joke, is taken at face value by another. Sarcasm is probably one of the hardest things to express via type and has prompted many a confused reply from friends. Then you send a reply to the confused email explaining what you really meant. Imagine, if you were face to face, or even on the phone, none of that would've happened. Of course on larger message boards some people seem to lurk for the express purpose of dumping on what everyone else has to say.
Perversely, internet is also one of things that keep people in contact who would otherwise drift apart from each other. In the pre-internet days, my mother lost track of her friends in Korea due to a series of moves and general life busyness. She managed to locate them again and now keeps in contact mainly through email. I myself adore email, actually I'm probably unhealthily obsessed with it. Messenger programs are great too, particularly with the addition of sound and video (for free!). A close friend, from my Korea days, and I regularly chatted via messengers and kept up our friendship this way. But I digress...
I can never conclude my posts properly so I'll just say this is the end of it. Oi but I need some sleep. Take care y'all.
I had a fight once with a friend, all done over a series of emails and it ended our friendship. To this day it is still the most random, idiotic fight I've ever had and I wonder what the hell we were both thinking. I want to believe our friendship was on its deathbed anyway but this might be wishful thinking.
I fought with my mother the same way so we didn't actually speak to each other for weeks. I was overseas at the time and this arrangement didn't make me happy.
The reason this suddenly popped into my head is that, during a fit of insomnia (from which I'm still currently suffering, it's past midnight here) I was browsing on a message forum I frequent and noticed a thread starting to turn very sour. (for internet forum newbies, a thread consists of an original message with all its replies) Now you can fight without even having to hear the other person's voice, much less see their face.
A major problem with internet chatting, messaging and emailing is that tone doesn't come through. What one person intended as a joke, is taken at face value by another. Sarcasm is probably one of the hardest things to express via type and has prompted many a confused reply from friends. Then you send a reply to the confused email explaining what you really meant. Imagine, if you were face to face, or even on the phone, none of that would've happened. Of course on larger message boards some people seem to lurk for the express purpose of dumping on what everyone else has to say.
Perversely, internet is also one of things that keep people in contact who would otherwise drift apart from each other. In the pre-internet days, my mother lost track of her friends in Korea due to a series of moves and general life busyness. She managed to locate them again and now keeps in contact mainly through email. I myself adore email, actually I'm probably unhealthily obsessed with it. Messenger programs are great too, particularly with the addition of sound and video (for free!). A close friend, from my Korea days, and I regularly chatted via messengers and kept up our friendship this way. But I digress...
I can never conclude my posts properly so I'll just say this is the end of it. Oi but I need some sleep. Take care y'all.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Crazy Product
Yesterday, in an attempt to go for a hike, I bought some water to drink at the local supermarket. It was unusually cheap at 58yen. Not bothering to read the label closely I picked it up, duly paid for it, then headed back to the car.
Once in the car, I opened the bottle and took a sip. The flavour was strange considering it was water and after I took another swig only to be met with the same weird aftertaste, I looked at the label. It read "DIET WATER" 0 calories. When in the hell did water ever have more than 0 calories?? Have mountain streams suddenly begun containing sugar or fats? Are they adding calories at the purifying plants? I have no idea but now, in Japan, they have diet water.
There may be some "valid" reason behind it but I think this has to be the most useless product ever made. And also clearly nothing more than a ploy to sell to girls who want to be thinner and avoid all the weight they can gain by drinking normal, fat-filled water. I myself, am always fearful that I'll no longer fit into my jeans whenever I take a drink of the clear stuff. So really, no matter how dehydrated or thirsty you are, be careful. You could be adding inches to your waistline.
'Till I update again. Cheers.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Driving in Japan part II
Everyday I commute to Tokushima City to where I work. I know a lot of you have no idea what this means geographically but let me tell you that there are 50km between where I live and where I work.
Now, this might take me about 40min or so under normal circumstances but the speed limit on the local road here is a rapid 50km/h. So it takes me a little over an hour to get to and from work everyday. On the bright side, I'm slowly becoming a better manual-car driver. There is another road called the Tokushima Expressway where the limit is a resounding 80km/h. No one actually follows this and cars regularly whiz by at 100k+. I took my little car to explore this highway only to find the poor thing just couldn't keep up. It only goes up to a 4th gear and anything beyond 80 was really pushing it. At one point I had managed to push it up to 90 and thought the engine would explode at any time. Not to mention I was the front car of an unintended convoy.
There are some other idiosyncrasies about driving in this country, mainly because of the whole driving in the left-hand lane thing. For instance, coming out of parking lots I naturally tend to veer to the right side but here, that's where cars enter. Pulling up to a toll booth the other day made me realize I really hadn't totally adjusted to driving here. I drifted to the left side, and looked up expectantly only to see a smooth expanse of metal. Momentarily confused, I looked to my right to see the toll booth worker looking at me with a "what does she think she's doing?" expression on his face. He was nice enough to come out of his booth and actually hand me the ticket I was supposed to take from the machine.
And that, my friends, is the end of this story.
Now, this might take me about 40min or so under normal circumstances but the speed limit on the local road here is a rapid 50km/h. So it takes me a little over an hour to get to and from work everyday. On the bright side, I'm slowly becoming a better manual-car driver. There is another road called the Tokushima Expressway where the limit is a resounding 80km/h. No one actually follows this and cars regularly whiz by at 100k+. I took my little car to explore this highway only to find the poor thing just couldn't keep up. It only goes up to a 4th gear and anything beyond 80 was really pushing it. At one point I had managed to push it up to 90 and thought the engine would explode at any time. Not to mention I was the front car of an unintended convoy.
There are some other idiosyncrasies about driving in this country, mainly because of the whole driving in the left-hand lane thing. For instance, coming out of parking lots I naturally tend to veer to the right side but here, that's where cars enter. Pulling up to a toll booth the other day made me realize I really hadn't totally adjusted to driving here. I drifted to the left side, and looked up expectantly only to see a smooth expanse of metal. Momentarily confused, I looked to my right to see the toll booth worker looking at me with a "what does she think she's doing?" expression on his face. He was nice enough to come out of his booth and actually hand me the ticket I was supposed to take from the machine.
And that, my friends, is the end of this story.
Monday, October 17, 2005
My week so far
I should make a list of the things that I did right last week. They'd pretty much amount to 0. If you ask me what I did do last week this would be my answer:
1. I accused Will of taking my keys only to discover that I'd locked them in the car. Since I commute everyday and have no spare this was a problem. So, I called Will and after it was found that my keys were dangling from the ignition on the car, I went into a panic, causing him to have to drive a combined 60min out of his way to unlock the door for me.
2. Once I got into the car, it was discovered that I'd not only locked my keys inside but I'd also forgotten to put on the park brake (the car is a standard so it needs the park brake). Luckily for me the car wasn't in neutral which is probably the only thing that kept it from rolling into our neighbour's half of the house.
3. On the weekend, I withdrew a sizable amount of cash for both Will and I, and naturally placed it in my wallet. Then, I promptly left the wallet at home on the precise day we'd needed to have spent at least 10 000yen. In Japan, the use of credit cards (particularly foreign ones) is almost unheard of. Cash is the main way to pay for things. I discovered I'd done this once we were at a highway toll booth where cash was very necessary. Somehow, we managed to scrape by on the 6000yen that was in Will's wallet. This included a 3300yen highway fee, 1000yen parking fee and buying some food and water at the raceway. After this we needed gas and had about 150yen to spend. There was a 7-11 that took all sorts of bank cards and spit out some much needed cash for us. I came home to find the wallet peacefully reposing on the kitchen table.
4. Today, at work, while attempting to open the door, I managed to idiotically get my foot in the way and scrape and bruise the hell out of it. After some swearing and gritting of teeth, I examined the foot to find it bleeding and missing some skin.
All of this started on Thursday and it's now Monday. I want to see what else I can do until Thursday rolls around again.
1. I accused Will of taking my keys only to discover that I'd locked them in the car. Since I commute everyday and have no spare this was a problem. So, I called Will and after it was found that my keys were dangling from the ignition on the car, I went into a panic, causing him to have to drive a combined 60min out of his way to unlock the door for me.
2. Once I got into the car, it was discovered that I'd not only locked my keys inside but I'd also forgotten to put on the park brake (the car is a standard so it needs the park brake). Luckily for me the car wasn't in neutral which is probably the only thing that kept it from rolling into our neighbour's half of the house.
3. On the weekend, I withdrew a sizable amount of cash for both Will and I, and naturally placed it in my wallet. Then, I promptly left the wallet at home on the precise day we'd needed to have spent at least 10 000yen. In Japan, the use of credit cards (particularly foreign ones) is almost unheard of. Cash is the main way to pay for things. I discovered I'd done this once we were at a highway toll booth where cash was very necessary. Somehow, we managed to scrape by on the 6000yen that was in Will's wallet. This included a 3300yen highway fee, 1000yen parking fee and buying some food and water at the raceway. After this we needed gas and had about 150yen to spend. There was a 7-11 that took all sorts of bank cards and spit out some much needed cash for us. I came home to find the wallet peacefully reposing on the kitchen table.
4. Today, at work, while attempting to open the door, I managed to idiotically get my foot in the way and scrape and bruise the hell out of it. After some swearing and gritting of teeth, I examined the foot to find it bleeding and missing some skin.
All of this started on Thursday and it's now Monday. I want to see what else I can do until Thursday rolls around again.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Update
Hey all, haven't updated in awhile. I got busy with work and other stuff.
Just a short note to let y'all (who are actually checking this blog) that an update is coming soon. Hope you'll check back then!
Cheers,
-Yuri-
Just a short note to let y'all (who are actually checking this blog) that an update is coming soon. Hope you'll check back then!
Cheers,
-Yuri-
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Translators
To my great relief, I finally found work here in Japan. Hopefully this means my days as an unemployable pariah are over. Whew. (In the back of my mind I worry that this company will call and reneg on the offer...)
Anyhoo, despite everyone's assurances that I'm insane, I've decided to commute. The job is in Tokushima City which means well, A LOT o' drivin'! Though with the repeated emails and exclamations of "Really? You're going to drive? Are you sure?" from various sources, I'm starting to uneasily wonder if I've made the right choice. But all this is beside the point.
In order to take this job it means I can't do certain other jobs I had previously agreed to do. After some agonizing over what to do I, perhaps selfishly, decided I couldn't pass up the city job over 2 hours a week if I stayed here. So I hied myself over to the Board of Ed to discuss my options. It had been agreed we'd meet when the/an interpreter was available.
I arrived at the designated time to find that the interpreter had "retired." Whether this meant he/she was sick, sleeping, or had actually retired, I wasn't sure. The most important fact was, there was no one who could speak both English and Japanese. I was ushered in to sit down beside the computer where I sat and was served some green tea, that I drank in small sips. The supervisor sat beside me and turned on the computer. Once it was on, he showed me a translating program via the internet.
Let me tell you, translating words using a dictionary doesn't always work. Things get mixed up and literal translations sound just plain strange a lot of the time. The two of us sat there, typing like mad then clicking that magic button which transferred our words into Japanese or English. We spent equal amounts of time puzzling at what the other had written. One time, when I asked if a class time could be changed I got the response: "It is not easy to say because it is very crowded." When I obviously looked confused, he changed one kanji character and I got instead, "It is not easy to say, because there are many participants." Another mistranslation was: "We will by separately worry by this." (when I expressed concern over what would happen to the adult classes I was supposed to teach) It went on like this for close to an hour, with people periodically standing behind us to watch the fun.
In the meantime, on top of the tea, I was served black coffee. Seeing that all the others were drinking theirs black, and feeling rude if I asked for any sugar or cream, I proceeded to drink it black too. It was strong but I kept sipping it, hoping to get used to the taste. Hell, if they can drink it black then so can I! Between the tea and coffee I was also given some cookies to munch on. It was almost like being at a teahouse.
In the end, we got our respective points across though I still wonder if they think I'm an ungrateful b***h for ditching the classes they had set up for me. If they do, I'll never know it because people are unfailingly polite here.
All in all, an interesting day.
Anyhoo, despite everyone's assurances that I'm insane, I've decided to commute. The job is in Tokushima City which means well, A LOT o' drivin'! Though with the repeated emails and exclamations of "Really? You're going to drive? Are you sure?" from various sources, I'm starting to uneasily wonder if I've made the right choice. But all this is beside the point.
In order to take this job it means I can't do certain other jobs I had previously agreed to do. After some agonizing over what to do I, perhaps selfishly, decided I couldn't pass up the city job over 2 hours a week if I stayed here. So I hied myself over to the Board of Ed to discuss my options. It had been agreed we'd meet when the/an interpreter was available.
I arrived at the designated time to find that the interpreter had "retired." Whether this meant he/she was sick, sleeping, or had actually retired, I wasn't sure. The most important fact was, there was no one who could speak both English and Japanese. I was ushered in to sit down beside the computer where I sat and was served some green tea, that I drank in small sips. The supervisor sat beside me and turned on the computer. Once it was on, he showed me a translating program via the internet.
Let me tell you, translating words using a dictionary doesn't always work. Things get mixed up and literal translations sound just plain strange a lot of the time. The two of us sat there, typing like mad then clicking that magic button which transferred our words into Japanese or English. We spent equal amounts of time puzzling at what the other had written. One time, when I asked if a class time could be changed I got the response: "It is not easy to say because it is very crowded." When I obviously looked confused, he changed one kanji character and I got instead, "It is not easy to say, because there are many participants." Another mistranslation was: "We will by separately worry by this." (when I expressed concern over what would happen to the adult classes I was supposed to teach) It went on like this for close to an hour, with people periodically standing behind us to watch the fun.
In the meantime, on top of the tea, I was served black coffee. Seeing that all the others were drinking theirs black, and feeling rude if I asked for any sugar or cream, I proceeded to drink it black too. It was strong but I kept sipping it, hoping to get used to the taste. Hell, if they can drink it black then so can I! Between the tea and coffee I was also given some cookies to munch on. It was almost like being at a teahouse.
In the end, we got our respective points across though I still wonder if they think I'm an ungrateful b***h for ditching the classes they had set up for me. If they do, I'll never know it because people are unfailingly polite here.
All in all, an interesting day.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Sports Day
This is a day when students display their athletic prowess. Well, not exactly but something to this effect. The day started out with some ceremonial greetings from both the principal and vice-principal of the school. The students stood quietly in straight, organized lines listening to them. They were dressed identically, in white t-shirts and dark blue shorts, white socks and sneakers. The only difference was the colour of the headband they were made to wear. It indicated what group each student was in. They were organized according to grade and then by gender.
A short warm-up followed which all the students and teachers seemed to know from long practice. Then the students dispersed, chatting at the sides until their group was due to practice/perform. The first event that I watched involved girls and car tires (I can't recall what grade they were in). Basically what happened is that the girls were divided into two groups, ran to the tires and struggled against their opponents to drag them to their respective sides. What was most amusing was when they came down to the last tire, at this point ALL the girls piled around it, pulling and pulling but to no avail. The thing wouldn't budge what with all the pressure around it.
Events that followed were equally mesmerizing. There was an odd kind of obstacle race which involved: throwing balls into a basket, ducking under hurdles, somersaulting onto a mat, rolling an enormous number cube, getting your face sprayed and then dunking your face into flour, finally the students ran past the finish line. There was also a folk dance that I had to stand in for since there weren't enough girls in the San-nen (third grade middle school) class. That was fun, though I had no idea what I was doing for the first few repetitions.
Keep in mind that all this is being done with inspirational music being played in the background. On the sides vendors sold sno-cones (my favourite! the cola flavour was especially good) and takoyaki which are hard to explain. They are bits of octopus mixed in batter and then baked/fried into little balls. It might sound disgusting to the average foreigner but they're actually pretty good.
All in all it was a good day. Thanks for reading.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Culture Festival
Today I accompanied Will to his junior high's Culture Festival. It usually seems to take place on a weekend and is to celebrate...culture as far as I could tell.
The first thing that happened were the 3 different grades each sang a song. As I can't understand Japanese, particularly if sung, I had no idea what the song might have been about. The students are all in uniform here. The girls wore sailor tops with pleated dark blue skirts and white knee socks while the boys wore short sleeved white collared shirts and black trousers. I'm not sure why Japan thought sailor-type outfits were great for girls but there you have it.
After the singing came a brass band performance and then a rap performance by three grade 9 students. Then the teachers sang another song I didn't understand. A trivia game followed and then some milling around. The fun part was the bazaar. We walked around, bought food from different booths that were run by the students and then I bought a ridiculous looking white vinyl purse for 50yen. Why? Because it was 50yen! Ah I love a good sale.
Afterwards was the closing ceremony, that I skipped, and they day was over. While I don't feel like I got an impressive amount of culture in me it was an interesting enough day. Clean up is extremely efficient. The students are really quick to put away chairs and tables that were used for the food booths. It was all done in about 10 minutes.
I look forward to Sports Day or undoukai tomorrow.
The first thing that happened were the 3 different grades each sang a song. As I can't understand Japanese, particularly if sung, I had no idea what the song might have been about. The students are all in uniform here. The girls wore sailor tops with pleated dark blue skirts and white knee socks while the boys wore short sleeved white collared shirts and black trousers. I'm not sure why Japan thought sailor-type outfits were great for girls but there you have it.
After the singing came a brass band performance and then a rap performance by three grade 9 students. Then the teachers sang another song I didn't understand. A trivia game followed and then some milling around. The fun part was the bazaar. We walked around, bought food from different booths that were run by the students and then I bought a ridiculous looking white vinyl purse for 50yen. Why? Because it was 50yen! Ah I love a good sale.
Afterwards was the closing ceremony, that I skipped, and they day was over. While I don't feel like I got an impressive amount of culture in me it was an interesting enough day. Clean up is extremely efficient. The students are really quick to put away chairs and tables that were used for the food booths. It was all done in about 10 minutes.
I look forward to Sports Day or undoukai tomorrow.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Some very random musings
It's another lazy day for me...there have been too many but nevertheless here we go. I ventured into a coffee shop yesterday to sit and well, drink coffee, write, read and enjoy their air conditioning. While there I pondered about the following subjects:
1. Why am I the only girl in this place? Ooh, did I enter a snack bar unknowingly?
2. Nifty Asian made cell phones! Very advanced...and prettily coloured.
3. How almost all things are packaged individually. Ie, cookies are often individually wrapped and then put into a larger package with other individually wrapped cookies.
4. Print Club/Photo Booths and their popularity
5. How this heat is just refusing to leave. Oi.
6. If I go to Kyoto will I be able to see a geisha? Or even more than one geisha?
Going back to #1, snack bars are places where men go to unwind and relax after work. Notice I said 'men' not 'people'. While the name 'snack bar' is innocuous enough the things that go on inside them aren't. Usually when viewed from the outside, you can see a rather nice building with the windows all heavily curtained off. In snack bars there are hostesses. These are women who go around, serve drinks and tidbits, and chat up the menfolk. Before I left Canada, I had to sign a waiver stating that I would not engage in this kind of work (in addition to prostitution and other unsavoury jobs). While hostesses aren't expected to do anything more than chat and harmlessly flirt with the men, there are some who go further, if you know what I mean. *wink wink, nudge nudge* Perhaps not the most desirable of professions.
At #4 I've listed Print Club. What is this you ask? Well, it is a booth designed for taking photo sticker pictures. We don't see too many of these back home, I don't think they're all that popular. What happens is you first choose the machine of your choice and then, the camera flashes away while you assume rather ridiculous (but sexy) poses. Note that this is usually done with at least one other person. Then, you choose how many of the photos you want printed. The real fun with the Japanese version comes from being able to adorn your photos with the most zany, loud and preposterous looking borders, stars, hearts and whathaveyou. Then, voila! You have print club stickers, ready to dole out to your friends. I commonly put mine on my bank card to dress it up some.
Alright, I'm only going to go over those two since the others look self-explanatory. Hope the weekend went well! Cheers,
1. Why am I the only girl in this place? Ooh, did I enter a snack bar unknowingly?
2. Nifty Asian made cell phones! Very advanced...and prettily coloured.
3. How almost all things are packaged individually. Ie, cookies are often individually wrapped and then put into a larger package with other individually wrapped cookies.
4. Print Club/Photo Booths and their popularity
5. How this heat is just refusing to leave. Oi.
6. If I go to Kyoto will I be able to see a geisha? Or even more than one geisha?
Going back to #1, snack bars are places where men go to unwind and relax after work. Notice I said 'men' not 'people'. While the name 'snack bar' is innocuous enough the things that go on inside them aren't. Usually when viewed from the outside, you can see a rather nice building with the windows all heavily curtained off. In snack bars there are hostesses. These are women who go around, serve drinks and tidbits, and chat up the menfolk. Before I left Canada, I had to sign a waiver stating that I would not engage in this kind of work (in addition to prostitution and other unsavoury jobs). While hostesses aren't expected to do anything more than chat and harmlessly flirt with the men, there are some who go further, if you know what I mean. *wink wink, nudge nudge* Perhaps not the most desirable of professions.
At #4 I've listed Print Club. What is this you ask? Well, it is a booth designed for taking photo sticker pictures. We don't see too many of these back home, I don't think they're all that popular. What happens is you first choose the machine of your choice and then, the camera flashes away while you assume rather ridiculous (but sexy) poses. Note that this is usually done with at least one other person. Then, you choose how many of the photos you want printed. The real fun with the Japanese version comes from being able to adorn your photos with the most zany, loud and preposterous looking borders, stars, hearts and whathaveyou. Then, voila! You have print club stickers, ready to dole out to your friends. I commonly put mine on my bank card to dress it up some.
Alright, I'm only going to go over those two since the others look self-explanatory. Hope the weekend went well! Cheers,
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Typhoon Update
Sorry folks, not too exciting. There was some wind and lots o' rain, but not enough to constitute a flood.
I stayed indoors and taught.
And there is your typhoon update. Today is very sunny and warm.
I stayed indoors and taught.
And there is your typhoon update. Today is very sunny and warm.
Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji
At the moment, Shikoku island is being hit by a typhoon. I've never been through any type of severe weather (save the all too common blizzards of Calgary) so this is a new experience for me. As of yet it doesn't seem to be too bad but I hear that it's supposed to pick up tonight. Expect an update when this weather passes! Now onto the subject of my post...
In Japan, three different sets of characters are used for reading and writing. They are:
1. Hiragana - solely for Japanese words
2. Katakana - for English words phonetically written into Japanese
3. Kanji - Chinese characters that are nicely mixed in with both hiragana and
katakana
Where hiragana and katakana are phonetic and relatively easy to learn, kanji is symbolic and the very devil to master. Each character's meaning needs to be memorized, however once you begin tossing different kanji together to make various words, their separate meanings almost become nil and a new meaning needs to be learned. For instance, when the characters for 'heaven' and 'messenger' are put together the new word formed is 'angel'. While the base words for angel makes some sense, other words put together are more obscure in their relationship ie, 'woman' and 'child' becomes 'like'. Though I suppose the reasoning there is all women are supposed to like children.
In addition to having to memorize about a billion combinations of kanji, the Japanese also need to learn which pronunciation to use. There is a Chinese and Japanese pronunciation for nearly every kanji. Take the kanji for 'mountain'. The Japanese word for it is 'yama' while the Chinese word is 'san'. When do you use which? I have absolutely NO IDEA. I just go around making a fool of myself by reading aloud kanji by their meanings in English. As a result the words make no sense whatsoever and I'm left more puzzled than when I started. I'm already pretty confused to begin with.
Writing a foreign language is a task unto itself. My English writing is neat and orderly if I do say so myself. My Japanese writing is probably similar to that of a young child with severe motor-skill deficiencies. I haven't even attempted kanji. There is a certain brushstroke order that is supposed to be followed when writing most Asian characters. Because I'm so fabulous I make up my own rules and as a result, my characters don't look anything like their book counterparts. I think for certain kanji you have to make as many as 23 different strokes to complete the character.
Thus, the conclusion is, I really haven't learned anything. I can read hiragana and katakana but so much kanji is used in written Japanese that any words I might've known are completely overwhelmed by it. Thus, I'm more or less illiterate, yet again in another Asian country. This has been your friendly neighbourhood post.
p.s. The Kanji shown with this post means 'truth'
Friday, September 02, 2005
Ordering when you can't read the menu
Last week I went with two friends to a cafe/restaurant that could only be described as coming straight from the set of the "Flintstones". Seriously, on the outside it was a yellowish-beige colour and well, rocky looking. Once you stepped inside the stone-age ambience ended and you were presented with a rather quaint but cozy enough looking restaurant.
I thought that a restaurant like this wouldn't have appealed to men but by far, it was men who populated the cafe. Businessmen if their attire was any indication of what they did for a living. Mostly they sat on their own at the tables, browsing through magazines or manga (Japanese comic books). I was informed, I can’t verify if it’s true because I didn’t have a chance to read over their shoulders, that the popular genre of choice is pornography. Again, I can’t verify though judging from the selection of manga at the café, it could very well be true.
Literary predilections aside, once the three of us were seated, the task upon us was to decipher the menu enough so that we could order something recognizable. Two menus were provided, thus providing twice the reading effort. We pored over the small, short menus as if we were trying to analyze a Shakespeare poem. Sounding much like a 3 year old child, I would slowly read aloud those characters I could recognize while following my finger on the page. I don’t think I looked very bright. I don’t think any of us three looked especially intelligent. We would squint and scrutinize those words written in katakana (characters used for English words translated phonetically to Japanese) and cheer once we figured out what it meant. Ie. Ka-pei o-rei was café au lait. There are no ‘l’ sounds in the Japanese alphabet.
I would judge that it took us a good half hour of study (including consulting my phrasebook) to decode the menu to some degree of satisfaction. Then, in a show of stunning solidarity, we all ordered exactly the same dish, yakimeshi or fried rice. We did branch out by requesting different desserts. I opted for jam and toast, the other two received toast (sans jam) and a biscuit (I think it was whole wheat). Actually I’m not sure if this was dessert or just another mini-meal served after the main meal. I’ve learned not to order ice cream as part of a lunch set because it comes out at the same time as the rest of the meal and you’re left with a nice glass dish of soupy cream. Hmm, perhaps you’re meant to eat it first.
Afterwards, we went on a cheese run. This is exciting because there is virtually no good cheese to be found in Japan. Not the likes of cheddar, mozzarella, Monterey jack or etc. You can find brie and camembert. Our endeavours were somewhat thwarted when we discovered the cheese available at a designated supermarket really wasn’t much different from what you could find locally. It was a sad day but I bought some feta to soothe the blow and felt better.
My next plan of action is to go to a department store called Sogo in Tokushima City where I can go insane buying all the western fare that is fabled to exist there.
Reading a foreign menu is something of a challenge that I think everyone should try at least once in their life. If you can’t read it at all, just look blank and point to something at random. You will get some sort of dish, though it may not be easily identifiable. If you can read even a little you’re pretty much set. Nevermind that you’re reduced to the point of starvation by the time you understand what you’re reading.
This post was brought to you by Yuri’s laptop and her fingers. Cheers.
I thought that a restaurant like this wouldn't have appealed to men but by far, it was men who populated the cafe. Businessmen if their attire was any indication of what they did for a living. Mostly they sat on their own at the tables, browsing through magazines or manga (Japanese comic books). I was informed, I can’t verify if it’s true because I didn’t have a chance to read over their shoulders, that the popular genre of choice is pornography. Again, I can’t verify though judging from the selection of manga at the café, it could very well be true.
Literary predilections aside, once the three of us were seated, the task upon us was to decipher the menu enough so that we could order something recognizable. Two menus were provided, thus providing twice the reading effort. We pored over the small, short menus as if we were trying to analyze a Shakespeare poem. Sounding much like a 3 year old child, I would slowly read aloud those characters I could recognize while following my finger on the page. I don’t think I looked very bright. I don’t think any of us three looked especially intelligent. We would squint and scrutinize those words written in katakana (characters used for English words translated phonetically to Japanese) and cheer once we figured out what it meant. Ie. Ka-pei o-rei was café au lait. There are no ‘l’ sounds in the Japanese alphabet.
I would judge that it took us a good half hour of study (including consulting my phrasebook) to decode the menu to some degree of satisfaction. Then, in a show of stunning solidarity, we all ordered exactly the same dish, yakimeshi or fried rice. We did branch out by requesting different desserts. I opted for jam and toast, the other two received toast (sans jam) and a biscuit (I think it was whole wheat). Actually I’m not sure if this was dessert or just another mini-meal served after the main meal. I’ve learned not to order ice cream as part of a lunch set because it comes out at the same time as the rest of the meal and you’re left with a nice glass dish of soupy cream. Hmm, perhaps you’re meant to eat it first.
Afterwards, we went on a cheese run. This is exciting because there is virtually no good cheese to be found in Japan. Not the likes of cheddar, mozzarella, Monterey jack or etc. You can find brie and camembert. Our endeavours were somewhat thwarted when we discovered the cheese available at a designated supermarket really wasn’t much different from what you could find locally. It was a sad day but I bought some feta to soothe the blow and felt better.
My next plan of action is to go to a department store called Sogo in Tokushima City where I can go insane buying all the western fare that is fabled to exist there.
Reading a foreign menu is something of a challenge that I think everyone should try at least once in their life. If you can’t read it at all, just look blank and point to something at random. You will get some sort of dish, though it may not be easily identifiable. If you can read even a little you’re pretty much set. Nevermind that you’re reduced to the point of starvation by the time you understand what you’re reading.
This post was brought to you by Yuri’s laptop and her fingers. Cheers.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Kobe/Nara/Osaka
Hello again and welcome to the umpteenth instalment of Yuri's frenetic blogging. Brought to you by time and the Toshiba Satellite laptop which is better traveled then a lot of my friends. While that sounds like a plug it isn't. (though I do very much like my laptop!)
Over the weekend Will and I went to visit a friend of his in Kobe, Jun. So, we duly hopped onto a bus, watched the driver wave enthusiastically to every other bus driver during the entire 2 and a half hour trip, then pulled up into Kobe's Sannomiya Station. Having been a small town for the past month, the crowded streets of a big city were almost surprising. That and seeing more than a two lane highway was also quite titillating, though the congestion was something I don’t miss.
Our first night was spent with the Jun’s family where we were welcomed with great hospitality and a home-cooked meal that didn’t end. When I say this I mean that food was constantly being cooked and brought out to us. I’m wondering if I should’ve left food on my plate to signal the fact that I was full and no longer needed to eat anymore. After the food fest, I watched the two guys consume large amounts of alcohol and then we went to sleep on traditional futons.
The next day we were up and off to Nara, a place where there are many temples, a lot of natural beauty and alot of...deer! Oh yes indeedy, deer deer deer at every corner and every turn. Of one of the main roads anyway. I'm not sure what kind of deer they were either. I had thought only fawns had the white spots on their bodies but these deer all had them, whether they were big or small.
Now here is how it worked. The deer were trained to want these special deer crackers. You could buy them from the vendor for 150yen. The deer were apparently trained to not want to eat the cracker's lying on the vendor's cart but once you had them in your own hands, hoo boy, watch out! As most of you know male deer have antlers, and they use these antlers to stab at you until you give them some crackers. No, it's not very nice but telling the deer this does little to make them stop. I even got nipped by one of the does and she left a bit of a bruise. You can make the deer follow you around by holding crackers up in the air and feel like the King/Queen of the world! The deer automatically gravitate towards humans until they realize you have no crackers, then you're left severely alone and shunned by these creatures. Most of the afternoon I watched several people trying to feed the deer though it usually resulted in them trying to avoid being butted and bitten. Some actually ran away, screaming, from the ferocious animals. By some, I mean me. Well, I didn't scream, but I did back away.
We also saw some temples too. I'm not sure what to say about them, being a temple snob since I've seen so many in the past 2 years.
Another thing that I did on this trip was goggle at the unusual fashion sense I saw displayed by both the males and females. Generally, I saw no young Japanese with their natural hair colour. No, it was various shades of brown, red, orange and blond. If they did have their natural colour it was overwhelmed by insidious streaking of the aforementioned colours. Not to mention that the mullet seems to have come back into style here. What starts off as a thick head of hair on most girls (and is sometimes teased into a huge pompadour), ends in thinned out trails. Now, yes, I'm in Japan and I realize cultures are different, blah blah blah, but a mullet never looks good on ANYONE. Not 80s hockey players nor trendy Japanese youth. *shudder* Make up was done with painstaking care. Powder, eyeshadow (alot of green) and lots of mascara. I wanted to know how they applied the makeup without having it run off the face as soon as you stepped outside.
Clothing was another thing. In order to be fashionable here you need to layer like there's no tomorrow. Girls would commonly wear:
1. a thin light coloured tank top
2. a slightly thicker more abrasively coloured tank top, and sometimes
3. a thin, short sleeved button down top, but left unbuttoned
Jeans were usually worn with these layers and in this weather I think that's nuts. During a summer where I'm constantly plotting how to jump from one air-conditioned place to another, jeans are just not an option. Girls also usually wore very girly sandals which I very much liked. No really, I sound sarcastic but I really liked them. I want metallic pink strappy sandals with big blue flowers too! (again, this is not sarcasm)
Men sported alarmingly similar hairstyles to the girls, to the point where sometimes I couldn't tell who was who and would commonly wear:
1. a tank top, and sometimes
2. a short sleeved button down top, left unbuttoned or just the tank top
They also paired their shirt/shirts with jeans. You've already read what I think about that. Men usually wore huge near-platform sneakers on their feet. We won't go into what I thought about that.
So to those of you who wanted or expected the lowdown on a Japanese city, sorry but this is what I noticed more. I also want to say once again what great hosts we had. Only in Asia have I met people who are quite so attentive to their guests.
Over the weekend Will and I went to visit a friend of his in Kobe, Jun. So, we duly hopped onto a bus, watched the driver wave enthusiastically to every other bus driver during the entire 2 and a half hour trip, then pulled up into Kobe's Sannomiya Station. Having been a small town for the past month, the crowded streets of a big city were almost surprising. That and seeing more than a two lane highway was also quite titillating, though the congestion was something I don’t miss.
Our first night was spent with the Jun’s family where we were welcomed with great hospitality and a home-cooked meal that didn’t end. When I say this I mean that food was constantly being cooked and brought out to us. I’m wondering if I should’ve left food on my plate to signal the fact that I was full and no longer needed to eat anymore. After the food fest, I watched the two guys consume large amounts of alcohol and then we went to sleep on traditional futons.
The next day we were up and off to Nara, a place where there are many temples, a lot of natural beauty and alot of...deer! Oh yes indeedy, deer deer deer at every corner and every turn. Of one of the main roads anyway. I'm not sure what kind of deer they were either. I had thought only fawns had the white spots on their bodies but these deer all had them, whether they were big or small.
Now here is how it worked. The deer were trained to want these special deer crackers. You could buy them from the vendor for 150yen. The deer were apparently trained to not want to eat the cracker's lying on the vendor's cart but once you had them in your own hands, hoo boy, watch out! As most of you know male deer have antlers, and they use these antlers to stab at you until you give them some crackers. No, it's not very nice but telling the deer this does little to make them stop. I even got nipped by one of the does and she left a bit of a bruise. You can make the deer follow you around by holding crackers up in the air and feel like the King/Queen of the world! The deer automatically gravitate towards humans until they realize you have no crackers, then you're left severely alone and shunned by these creatures. Most of the afternoon I watched several people trying to feed the deer though it usually resulted in them trying to avoid being butted and bitten. Some actually ran away, screaming, from the ferocious animals. By some, I mean me. Well, I didn't scream, but I did back away.
We also saw some temples too. I'm not sure what to say about them, being a temple snob since I've seen so many in the past 2 years.
Another thing that I did on this trip was goggle at the unusual fashion sense I saw displayed by both the males and females. Generally, I saw no young Japanese with their natural hair colour. No, it was various shades of brown, red, orange and blond. If they did have their natural colour it was overwhelmed by insidious streaking of the aforementioned colours. Not to mention that the mullet seems to have come back into style here. What starts off as a thick head of hair on most girls (and is sometimes teased into a huge pompadour), ends in thinned out trails. Now, yes, I'm in Japan and I realize cultures are different, blah blah blah, but a mullet never looks good on ANYONE. Not 80s hockey players nor trendy Japanese youth. *shudder* Make up was done with painstaking care. Powder, eyeshadow (alot of green) and lots of mascara. I wanted to know how they applied the makeup without having it run off the face as soon as you stepped outside.
Clothing was another thing. In order to be fashionable here you need to layer like there's no tomorrow. Girls would commonly wear:
1. a thin light coloured tank top
2. a slightly thicker more abrasively coloured tank top, and sometimes
3. a thin, short sleeved button down top, but left unbuttoned
Jeans were usually worn with these layers and in this weather I think that's nuts. During a summer where I'm constantly plotting how to jump from one air-conditioned place to another, jeans are just not an option. Girls also usually wore very girly sandals which I very much liked. No really, I sound sarcastic but I really liked them. I want metallic pink strappy sandals with big blue flowers too! (again, this is not sarcasm)
Men sported alarmingly similar hairstyles to the girls, to the point where sometimes I couldn't tell who was who and would commonly wear:
1. a tank top, and sometimes
2. a short sleeved button down top, left unbuttoned or just the tank top
They also paired their shirt/shirts with jeans. You've already read what I think about that. Men usually wore huge near-platform sneakers on their feet. We won't go into what I thought about that.
So to those of you who wanted or expected the lowdown on a Japanese city, sorry but this is what I noticed more. I also want to say once again what great hosts we had. Only in Asia have I met people who are quite so attentive to their guests.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)