"The Festival is Here, Let's Go for Soup" Week 7-October 19th-October 25th

Week 7 begins with me rising early to take in the festival that began yesterday in Kasugai.  From side show wrestling matches to small rides for kids as well as a bevy of food and beer it looks, smells and feels a lot like a fair in the States.  After talking a walk around, having a hot dog on a stick as well as a very good, cold Kirin draft beer I decided to hop on my bike and head to Nagoya for the remainder of the sunny, warm day.  Before leaving I headed to Kazuhiko’s for an Asahi and a few misokatsu sticks outside the restaurant as he was hosting some friends to celebrate.  One interesting thing of note is how in the States most “fair food” consists of junk food most of it eaten from a cone, cup or on a stick (hence my choice).  One of the more popular food stalls at the Kasugai festival was ramen soup.  It was almost comical as men and woman, many with children in tow carried huge bowls of soup through the crowded fairgrounds looking for a place to eat.  Something about boiling soup being carried around at a fair seemed strangely out of place, it just does not seem to be ideal to be eating and carrying scalding hot soup in Styrofoam bowls with kids flying around everywhere.  No kid is going to need a skin graft if I bounce a corn dog of his noggin but damn I was actually scared watching some of these people go by.  After catching a 3PM train I hit the Nagoya International Center where I leisurely read the past Friday’s USA Today as well as a recent Sports Illustrated crowing about how Manny had made the Dodgers relevant again (Phil’s put an end to that noise).  After also checking in on a Japanese school where I may be able to take some lessons weekly on my day off on Mondays I then headed to Dotour Coffee to use the Internet for a few hours before catching a train back home.  The only stop I made was one stop from home where a student of mine told me I could find my new favorite place, Mos Burger.  The Japanese burger chain is awesome and their smallish burgers (ok I had two) with onions and tomato sauce are pretty splendid indeed.   As I said I would I finished the night watching Mission Impossible 2 (my favorite of the series, 1 was a little too Eastern European drab, Phillip Seymour Hoffman made 3 a little cartoonish) on my TV where I happily set my TV to English and fell asleep soon after the movie ended. 

     Mondy had me realizing how much I am missing football (I cannot even talk about the Phillies right now) when as I ate my toast and had some coffee I flipped by a scrambled channel on my TV and heard a familiar voice.  That voice was Al Michaels broadcasting the Live Sunday night NBC NFL matchup pitting the Seahawks against the Tampa Bay Bucs.  I felt like I was in one of those traps from the Saw movie series being forced to watch real American football through the scrambled signal.  It was then I realized how deep my addiction to American sports was that I was actually frothing at the mouth to watch a Bucs/Seahawks game.  Hopefully I have rectified that situation or will on November 17^th when they come to install my DSL rate Internet connection as well as Yahoo TV (they hit me at the right time), which will give me several English channels (I cannot wait for CNN International).  It may sound crazy but I cannot deny I will think I am in heaven to get ready for work and be able to see some American news.  It is so bad my mother had to tell me about Tina Fey’s awesome Sarah Palin sketches.

Japanese Randomness #1

Some products here are just too strange for words.  One of the oddest is a new scent being peddled in Japan by AXE body spray; the spray is called Dark Expressions and actually smells of all things, chocolate!  The spray sports a commercial with a guy spraying himself and then turning into a “chocolate rabbit” version of himself and having woman wildly chasing after him.  The climax has the woman so enamored with the man they start breaking off pieces of his body from his torso and “devouring” him.

One word, nightmares.  Let’s leave it at that.

Japanese Randomness #2

Recently two Monday’s ago was another holiday in Japan but due to it falling on Monday it was just my normal day off.  When reconvening at school on Tuesday I asked my students what they did for the holiday, many had answers similar to what you might find at home, had dinner with family, visited relatives etc.  Only one student spoke of a family tradition which she said was popular in Japan in which the patriarch climbs a ladder and drops rice balls down for the family, mostly children to catch.  When I asked why this was done, perhaps believing it had some religious significance she deadpanned “For fun”.  I then followed up and asked if it was messy since I assumed the rice balls would break being dropped from such a height, again matter of factly she replied as if a silly question, “Of course not the rice balls are in a bag”.  It was at that moment I just stopped asking questions.

Japanese Randomness #3 

While stopping at FamilyMart to make a few calls home and grab a cold BOSS coffee coming home from work I walked to the cold drink case and noticed a new product had been “cut in”.  I did a double take as I saw new gleaming bottles of Pepsi White with Yogurt.  Wow that is two things I was never demanding be put together, it doesn’t strike me like chocolate and peanut butter “slam dunk” match-up.

Japanese Randomness #4

For some reason there seems to exist a Japanese guy who is known for slapping people across the face.  On at least three occasions I have seen this mid fiftyish, square jawed Japanese guy slapping people across the face on TV, be it a game show or the like.  On the news the other day I saw him walking into a press conference for Japan’s World Cup soccer team and to the delight of the people on hand slapping Japan’s striker across the face.  The really odd thing is not that he does this but he wails them so hard it must make there head rattle.  Each and every time he slaps them people start laughing like I do when I watch Dave Chappelle do stand up.

Wow I am in Trouble

Since I arrived in Japan I have been fortunate to have dropped a few more pounds most likely do to the fact that you reconsider going for junk food at night when you have to hop on your bike a ride a quarter mile for it.  I have noticed that a lot has been under construction since I arrived in Kasugai right next to my apartment.  My questions about it were answered tonight as the sign was finally erected, the green and red of 7-11 proudly displayed on the soon to be ready plot.  If I get to know the night clerk well enough I could actually drop some yen down to the parking lot from my balcony and have him toss me a container of “spicy chicken” that is popular at convenience stores here in Japan.  The odd thing about the chicken, which is delicious, is that it is not the least bit spicy (actually greasy chicken would better sum it up) but I keep forgetting this is Japan.  Anyway the point being I better keep myself if check because distance will no longer be an issue.

  Well enough of my musings on Japan please check in with me soon as I hope to get more pictures up as well as have more pointless stories and worthless opinions and views on my home here in Japan.

"Tonkatsu to Gohan" Week 6-October 12th-18th

Well to answer the cliffhanger from last week, yes I did make it home on the 6:08AM train to Kasugai, after a brief bike ride to my apartment I actually fell asleep as I was falling towards my bed (the floor) and slept until 1PM when I was awakened by my cell phone.  My fellow English teacher and I had plans to head to Gifu to take in some cormorant fishing on the Nagawa River, after cleaning up and changing I was back on the bike to the station and we were on our way to Nagoya (again!) and then Gifu by 3:00PM.  After a stop at the Nagoya Foreign International Visitor’s Center and dinner at the Hard Rock (that’s 2 meals there now) we boarded the train to Gifu to meet our 7:15PM boat.  Now that I set it up, to explain cormorant fishing is an ancient tradition that dates back nearly 700 years ago in which fisherman use 6 or 7 cormorant (sea birds) attached to the boat via rope lines to fish for small sweet trout or ayu as they are known in Japan.  The highly trained birds are fitted with neck rings so they cannot swallow the trout and when they catch them they return to the boat to drop the fish into the basket.  Now since some of you reading may have concerns about the bird’s treatment as I did but I can assuage any fears you may have.  Not that I am a person known for championing the rights of animals and their plight but that does not mean I wanna pay $39.50 on a Sunday night to see them mistreated.  First off a wild cormorant’s life span is usually 6-8 years but the birds that are trained to work in this ancient art will often live to double that due to their treatment by the master fisherman.  Secondly since most of the current trade is done merely for adoring hordes of Japanese and Western tourists the “catch” is no longer going to feed a family or the like so most of it is given back to the birds for their dinner after the night is over.  Lastly the boat operator explained that the birds will only “work” if they are treated properly meaning if the are not well fed or cared for they will stop performing the function they are so trained for.  The spectacle of watching this ancient form of fishing was really amazing and the dichotomy of Japan was again in full view as a nearly centuries old tradition took place in front of us all the while modern Japan’s office buildings and boutique hotels shone on the shores nearby.  Two things came to mind after I had left, one was who was the first guy to come up with this idea and what did people think of it?  Also too I could not help but wonder if people ever had an issue with eating something a large water bird swallowed ¾ of the way.  I am guessing if you were living in rural Japan in 1408 and someone drops 10 pounds of sweet trout on your table you are not gonna make a big deal that it was obtained from a bird’s esophagus.  Lastly even though they are attached to the boat by a rope at no point were the birds ever pulled hard back to the boat or was the rope even necessary really to corral them in any way.  If I am honest with myself though and some one asked me to dive in the river shallows for like steak and cheese burritos with out the rope around my neck I would probably just swim away to shore and eat the thing by myself so there does need to be control of the birds to some degree.  After returning late from Gifu I slept in Monday and spent the rest of the day running some errands in town and doing some food shopping.  The week at work began with an interesting turn of events as I try to realize why the Japanese work so hard to feed me (their hospitality I assume).  After stopping in to a new Bento lunch eatery I attempted to order Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) and rice to go.  The owner responded with the Japanese word “ni” meaning two.  Assuming since I was ordering off the menu I thought he was confirming that I wanted two things, Tonkatsu and rice.  Of course as he set off to the kitchen to rally the staff I knew I was getting two full lunches, which I happily paid for not wanting to make him feel bad for misunderstanding my order after all the care he took to prepare it for me.  One of the most difficult things is to voice any displeasure in Japan over anything.  When you go to a Bento place for a $6.00 lunch and the entire staff comes out from the kitchen to bow and laud you with “domo arigato goyzimas” or “Thank You so very much” its hard to then say they got it wrong.  This has been one of many times the Japanese seem to have self confidence issues over the size and amount of food they eat.  Certainly in some cases things are significantly smaller but in almost all cases the size (even for me) is perfectly adequate.  On more than several occasions though the Japanese have seen me and assumed I did not want just want one muffin but five or like in Okayama I noticed I was served four rice balls when other people were given two.  There is no doubt that it is the Japanese nature to be accommodating that this occurs since they know I am a much larger American but it is funny sometimes.  I know soon I am going to order some spicy chicken and the owner is going to actually hand me a rope with four live chickens attached to the end thinking there is no possible way I could just want the sandwich.

The children at school and my interaction with them continues to get better so much so that I look forward to seeing my regular group every week.  Teaching is a truly difficult job with the parental conferences, the scheduling and planning but there are so many moments with the kids that make you smile I really look forward to it.  The kids have no filters for their actions like much of the other people here in Japan do so they don’t just view you as different but like a friend they can’t wait to see.  You walk down the street as middle age businessmen stare at you like you landed from Mars only to step into school and have a 4 year old come running up to you for a hug before they go to class.  This week I had a 5-year-old boy push me from behind towards a classroom at school as I was in mid conversation with another teacher, fearing he needed some type of real help I followed him to find he wanted to show me some new Pokemon characters he had carefully lined on the windowsill for my viewing.  From my preteen group who will not let me begin class until I have wrote on the whiteboard all the “inside jokes” that have occurred during class to today when a 9 year-old female student came running up to talk to me and say hello and while talking to me gently took my hand to hold the kids always have me smiling at sweet they are.  I have taken many lumps thus far in the teaching game with both peers and the like but as soon as I feel this is not a long-term career I am touched or put in awe by how great the kids are and how I look forward to seeing them.

     Friday excitement is building as the Kasugai annual late summer festival is beginning to rev up.  As I arrived at work Friday already large tents and platforms were being erected directly across the street from school in the City Hall Plaza.  Although I work through the fair all day Saturday I should be able to get over their Sunday to check it out.  I closed out the week like several others by stopping in to the Backbeat with my co net and again our fellow Japanese teacher who usually joins us.  I know I talk about this place quite a bit but I have to say my regular stop after work on Friday is one of the things I look forward to the most here in Japan.  While international travel is intoxicatingly exciting at times and the prospect of happening upon a centuries old shrine at any moment can be amazing but I am beginning to believe that there is something inherent in all of us that craves things we know and people who know us from time to time.  What is so special about this place is from the owners and some of the regulars (one particularly comical one) it feels like a group that knows me and happily looks for me each week.   Upon entering I get some assorted handshakes, bows and loud shouts, which feels good, to know someone is happy to see you coming through the door.  This week I did meet Mikka’s friend, Eriko who just returned from Australia.  She seemed real nice and we spent a few hours talking with Kazuhiko and Mikka, which was great.  We talked about maybe getting together and going to the Hub in Nagoya sometime soon.

They Are Still Interested During school this week I was briefing my most advanced group of pre teen students' parents on what had been covered during class.  One student's mother who is always there but never asks a question listened intently as I gave a read out of the lesson all the while looking like she had something to say to me.  Once I finished and the group began to head out she paused and held up her finger for a question, as I moved in expecting a detailed question on her son's English she asked me quietly "You no buy your shirts in Nihon (Japan), too big"?  As I began to laugh I explained that no I can not buy dress shirts in Japan because of the size.  With that she smiled, thanked me and headed out the door.

"That Thing You Do" Week 5-October 5th-11th

Week 5 begins with me on a mission for a new and improved bike.  While my orange bike was a welcome gift from the outgoing NET what I neglected to mention is the condition of the bike itself.  From a dented front fender to the worn out treads the bike had seen better days, add to it that it appeared to be a mere 24 inches when one much larger would be better for me I decided to purchase a new one after a tire incident in which the tread cracked and began slowly releasing air from the back tire.  I spent most of Sunday checking prices at a few of the stores in Kasugai before settling on a full service bike shop right near the school.  As I had mentioned before bikes in Japan are merely for getting place to place so the prices are significantly lower than the bike market is in the States.  For about 17,500 yen ($160) I picked up a brand new sea foam green 27-inch bike.  Oddly enough in Japanese random fashion the model stenciled across the frame is FROMAGE, which being the French word for cheese left me scratching my head.  After paying an extra 300-yen to have it registered with the shop it appears I now am able to have minor issues repaired for free at the shop for a few weeks.  I took advantage of this right away the following day by having the seat and handle bars raised to their max height as well as having an extra large basket fitted on the back for errands requiring the ferrying of larger bags i.e. grocery store, dry cleaning pickups etc.  I spent the remainder of Sunday doing some grocery shopping before heading home for the Sunday movie at 9PM on Channel 61.  As great as DVD’s and Internet related content can be I still like the feeling of watching something on my TV as rare as that may be due to the language barrier.   The movie of the week are almost always American movies so they are broadcast in dual language tracks allowing me to switch over to English and watch them on my small flat screen TV just as if I were back in the States.  Although this weeks movie, Poseidon starring Kurt Russell was not my favorite it still feels good to watch a movie on TV like you used to at home.  I am already getting excited for Mission Impossible 2, which according to the commercials is next week’s movie.

     Monday I slept in and then got dressed for a day out as I headed to Nagoya around 11AM to use the free WIFI at Dotour Coffee Shop near the station.  From there I took my first trip out of the Nagoya area on the local JR train to a town roughly 30 miles north of Kasugai called Gifu City.  Unfortunately for me I did not arrive in Gifu until almost 4PM so I was now not going to be able to see both items on my list, namely the large golden Buddha statue and shrine the town has as well as all the sites in Gifu Park like Gifu Castle which sits atop one of the large mountains in town.  The castle can be reached by taking the Kinkazan Ropeway cable car to the top of the mountain.  Since the Buddha shrine was closing in less than an hour I decided to head to Gifu Park which was open until 6:30PM aboard a local Gifu city bus.  After taking a few photos at the park I boarded the cable car and reached the top leaving me about 40 minutes to take some photos of the city below before heading down on the last car at 6:30PM.  It seems there are many more things to see in Gifu and as it is only about 10 dollars round trip on the train I hope to make several trips back to the city in the future.  After leaving the park I strolled across the street to a Chinese chain restaurant called Bamiyan for some friend rice and gyoza before beginning my trip back to Kasugai.  The only real story of note was I attempting to ask some passerby’s which route I needed to take via the bus to return me to the Gifu JR station.  Thus far buses seem to be the most difficult to maneuver in Japan since all the signage both on the bus and at all the stops is in Kata Kana and Hiragana.  When taking either the JR (local) train, the subway or certainly the Shinkansen (Japan’s version of Amtrak) you will almost always see English translations both when boarding, riding or exiting both the train and the stations.  As I crossed the street I spied a middle age woman making her way down the dark street across from Gifu Park.  As soon as she caught sight of me standing in the bus shelter she immediately edged closer to the rail on the other side of the sidewalk and began looking down at the ground her gait slowly increasing as she approached.  Realizing she was a little freaked out by me on this desolate stretch of road I thought about letting her pass without trying to ask her which way to “Gifu eki” but since the street was so quiet I feared I might not get another opportunity.  As she neared I summoned a Sumimasen (Excuse Me) only from the look on her face when I spoke it seemed her worst fears were confirmed that this foreigner was going to try to talk to her as she attempted to pass by.  With a wave of her hand she sped up as if in an Olympic Speed Walking event and began heading down the street as if a pack of wolves were close on her heels.  I am sure only her Japanese politeness stopped her from altogether shrieking with terror and running in the opposite direction.  Fortunately for me not more than 2 minutes later another slightly younger woman approached and when asked she was only too happy to explain that yes this was the place to wait for the bus and confirmed that it would stop at the Gifu train station.  Also fortunately she seemed to have some mothering instinct as she sat next to me on the bus, explained when the station was approaching and since she was also going there too walked me into the departure area even though I was already clear where to go from there.  As I headed for the platform for Nagoya she gave a smile and a wave before setting out on her own train.  Once again my travels in Japan prove that you can never be sure what you will find, one person thinks you are a foreigner bent on attack while another takes you almost by the hand to help you.

     Another week at school passed with little change, more long hours at school with much planning as we have a week of supplemental lessons to teach for Halloween.  The only thing that has become more apparent is how stringent the life of Japanese children especially teens seem to be in Japan.  On many nights at school often I have private lessons with students that begin as late as 8 o’clock in the evening and while I had the luxury of not beginning work until noon my students were up as early as 5 or 6 and have had an entire day of school before coming to Amity for their English class.  In many cases students depending on how rigid their particular school curriculum is attend regular classes on Saturday or at the very least go to school to meet with study groups, attend school club meetings or have sports practice.  When attending these things at school it is not done in casual weekend wear as all students are expected to be in full uniform when at school even during the weekend.  It is not strange for me to see children out on the streets even on a Sunday in their full school uniform.  Japan as far as I can tell seems to be an extremely tired and overworked population though that it what is expected.  You only need to take one trip on any sort of public transit to see children, teens and businessmen and woman slumped down dead asleep regardless of the time of day to realize they seem not to be getting proper rest.  In talking to one of my 15 year old female students she explained how often she does not go to bed until 2 or 3 AM after dinner and hours of study and homework only to rise at 6 or 6:30AM to begin it all again.  Early on in my teaching I made the mistake of explaining how American students leave school usually no later than 3PM.  When explaining this to a group of Japanese high school students they looked at my like I was kidding them with the prospect of what for them would be a half-day.  Even at Amity there are groups of students who come every Saturday for 3 or 4 classes on what most would consider their “day off from real school”.

     As the week was drawing to a close I made my stop to the Backbeat after work Friday to check in on Kazuhiko and Mikka this time I was joined by my friend Ryan, my co net as well as one of the female Japanese teachers from my school.  Kazuhiko was excited I was bringing some other friends along as the four of us plus the 4 or 5 regulars made for the largest group I had seen at the place since I started going there.  After 3 or 4 beers we headed home around midnight with Kazuhiko making sure I would be back next Friday as one of Mikka’s Japanese friends who lived for a time in Australia would be stopping by.  I am still not clear but Mikka’s slight smile as he told me of her visit made me think my new Japanese friends might be eyeing a “set up” but I can not be sure.  More to follow on this topic.  After work Saturday I quickly rode back to my apartment, changed and headed out to the station so as to get the earliest train I could to meet up with Ryan in Nagoya.  After a change to the subway I arrived in Sakae at about 9PM and headed over to a bar called the Hub.  For the first time since I arrived in Japan I encountered a packed bar loaded with mostly foreigners and had a couple of pints until Ryan arrived with some friends.  Adam the basketball player from California I met two weeks ago was also with them as he was back from an away game the Dolphins had played in Osaka.  Although I was convinced I was going to take the last train back to Kasugai at around midnight as Ryan planned to I was having a little too much fun and ended up heading out with a new friend, Darren to a club a few blocks away called JB’s where Darren knew some DJ’s who were going to be playing that night.  Whether due to the loud music, crowded location Darren and I got separated after 1AM and I lost track of him completely by 2.  Fortunately I met some English guys and a group of Japanese girls for the remaining time and as it approached 4AM I figured I was ready to go.  Two interesting things were it was the first time I have ever seen a beer vending machine in a bar.  It actually is a great idea, if the bar was too crowded just pop 500 yen into the machine for a cold Coors can right there.  Also the music at clubs is hilarious, never do the Japanese feel the need to be too cool for school when spinning music, while at JB’s not only did the club go nuts for Oasis’s Don’t Look Back in Anger (not exactly a club anthem) but even more funny, That Thing You Do by the Wonders from the Tom Hank’s movie from a few years back.  I stumbled out in the early Japanese morning before settling in a booth at where else Denny’s (just like home) and ordered a meat and rice dish called Doria (I think) as well as a cup of coffee.  In more Japanese politeness related news the waitress did not even wake me when I fell asleep for about thirty minutes my coffee cup still in hand.  After scanning the place to see who was laughing it appeared half the people in there were doing the same thing so I paid the bill and headed out to wait for the 6:08AM train home to Kasugai.

Why do several of my stories involve me sleeping in more and more public of places?

Catch up with Week 6 of the blog for all the details, will I make it home safely, are my new friends really playing matchmaker, why are the Japanese determined to feed me so much, will I attempt to again “eat outside” and why are cormorants such darn good fisherman.

"Eating Outdoors is not Done Here" Week 4 September 28th-October 4th

Week 4 has me being jarred awake by the sound of a vacuum cleaner running as well as people loudly talking.  As I awoke it was not entirely clear where I was but then it quickly came back to me, after hailing a cab for my co-net and sending her back to Kasugai at 3:30AM I returned to Manboo Internet only to find it full.  After a brief walk around Nagoya Station I hailed a cab and asked the driver if he knew of a nearby “capsule hotel”.  The driver after discussing it with a fellow driver drove me down some narrow side streets and dropped me off in front of a building made it seemed of just glass and neon.  After forgetting to remove my shoes again and being admonished by the desk clerk I paid my 3100-yen (29 dollars) and was handed a complimentary pair of blue boxer shorts to put on.  Not wanting to appear rude while not yet down with wearing hotel boxer shorts I took off my jeans in the locker area just off the lobby and pulled the boxers over my own.  From there I removed my golf shirt, stored my shoes and was then led by the desk clerk up the stairs to a large room where roughly 50 men slept in a large conference room in separate recliners.  After being shown to my recliner at the front of the room I then got into my chair just as a man came by with a blanket for which to cover myself with.  As I sat in my chair reclined it back into a sleeping position I actually started laughing at the strange night and how it had just gotten even stranger.  Being as it was now after 4AM I quickly fell asleep only to be woken at 8:30AM in the way described earlier.  At 8:30 the place was immediately turned over as men headed for the bathrooms and then back to their lockers to change.  The most interesting thing was the small breakfast area off the main room where several men sat at low tables by the floor eating breakfast and interestingly enough drinking draft beer.  I am all for “hair of the dog” but the thought of a beer at this hour with my head pounding from the Kirin I drank last night was out of the question.  As I tumbled out into the bright streets of the Nagoya morning I headed immediately for the station to find something to eat as well as something to deal with my now pounding headache.  An hour later after an Egg McMuffin, a bottle of water as well as a local energy drink called oddly enough Pocari Sweat and some Japanese Tylenol I was feeling more myself and spent the next few hours at a local Internet café catching up on email.  I spent the remainder of the day heading off to the Ozone station to a local mall before returning to Kasugai at around 8PM and my earliest night asleep since I arrived in Japan.  I spent Monday close to home running a few errands and then meeting my Co-net and Manager for the remainder of the day.  I was able to obtain my new Softbank Cell Phone as well as hit the hyaku yen store (100 Yen store) for some needed school and home supplies.  My final stop was dinner at Denny’s in Kasugai with both of them.  I initially laughed when I saw the Denny’s standing next to my school when I arrived but was immediately warned it was not like Denny’s from home and they were right.  We chose the place because my manager thought it would be funny to see if we recognized the food and we certainly didn’t.  I have spent several nights or make that early mornings in a Denny’s but never did I see octopus or squid on the menu, I settled on a bowl of tomato pasta and some fries and called it an evening.

     As I have come to learn thus far in Japan the group is valued above all else and individuality is not something that is either recognized or encouraged.  Today at school I had the odd experience of causing quite a ruckus when as I was readying a lesson I went to the staff room and began heating some water in the school provided kettle.  After the water came to a boil I added it to my Nissan Cup of Noodles grabbed the rest of my lunch (salmon onigiri and a banana) and began to head for the small park across the street in the City Hall area.  Immediately as I gathered my things, food in hand I was met with mostly quiet laughter and odd looks.  Not realizing what the issue was I hurried out the door into the rare sunny weather to eat my lunch during the hour-long period.  Later in the evening after everyone had gone home I asked my Manager with a smile why everyone thought my behavior so odd.  She explained that taking your lunch outside is not something done; you either eat out at a restaurant or eat in the staff room.  When I laughed slightly and repeated, “No one eats their lunch outside on a beautiful day” her tone grew slightly more serious as she responded, “Did you see anyone else eating there” to which I had to reply, no.  This rather innocent story sums up some of my experience in Japan, there is the way you do things and everything else is the way they are not done.  Explaining to her my reasoning, from the fact it was not raining for the first time in 6 days to the fact that the staff room as small as it is with its stacks of papers and toys as well as 4 other people in it leaves a lot to be desired as a proper spot to tear into lunch or the fact that it grows rather expensive to eat every meal out were immaterial, simply put what is done and what is not done is the important point.  And while you are never told not to do anything (the polite nature of their culture forbids it in most cases) you clearly feel what you are doing is quite odd indeed. In Western culture our individuality is what makes us who we are but as I have learned thus far in Japan, “sameness” or the following of long held ways and traditions seem to give them their identity no matter how small or trivial the matter may seem.  It ‘s for these reasons that often Japan can seem so interesting and exhilarating one moment and maddening and isolating the next.  As I have come to learn just when you think you have figured the culture out you experience something else that totally turns what you thought you knew on its head, attempt to pigeonhole the Japanese as somewhat cool and detached automatons as in the experience I had with my Co Teacher two weeks ago yet watch as I did tonight on TV as professional baseball managers thank their fans for a seasons worth of support with tears streaming down their faces.  And with the maddening and strange their are moments that simply make all the difficulty worth it.  As I was enduring the Cup of Noodles incident I was juggling not only setting up a future lesson while speaking and greeting parents at a time when the school lobby can resemble Grand Central Station at rush hour.  As I attempted to manage both tasks before getting out to lunch I saw my new 6-year-old female student walking thru the door for a lesson with one of the Japanese teachers.  This student who looked on the brink of tears her first time in a private lesson with me came running up to me in mid conversation and threw her arms around me screaming “Brian sensei”.  The funny thing about this is due to her small stature she kept throwing her arms around my leg gently pressing her cheek to my knee with a huge smile on her face.  After recognizing her with a hug and a smile she repeated this each and every time I reappeared from the staff room all the while her mother politely pulled her away so I could resume the job I was involved in.  After saying my goodbyes to her before heading out the door and promising to see her Saturday for our weekly lesson I smiled realizing she had made my day more than she probably knew.

     The end of the week passed quietly short for some other interesting items that seem to back up my belief that sometimes things appear one way only to have them turned on their head another.  My first interesting experience occurred when I stopped into my now regular spot the Backbeat for a beer after work on Friday.  Once again as the 3 other times I visited, the place was quiet with a male City Hall employee I had met before as well as Kazuhiko the owner and Mikka his girlfriend/bartender quietly talking.  As has been since I met them they were happy to see me and Kazuhiko even took great pride in showing me the English dictionary he had bought so better to speak to me.  After a beer as I was ready to leave (early school Saturday) Kazuhiko asked me to stay to hear him play some music, before I knew it is was 1:30AM as he played his way thru at least 10 Beatles and John Lennon songs on the small stage.  I was even able to request my two favorites (Don’t Let Me Down and Beautiful Boy).  As much as the culture shock wears me out from time to time, and how sometimes being stared at or having people wanting to say hello to you when all you want is to go home can be tiring there are times here that it feels like my home and that perhaps I am have the opportunity of a lifetime to live here in Japan amongst its people.  Sitting in an empty, tiny bar on the other side of the world listening to my new Japanese friend belt out Beatles tunes in his second language I could not help but smile at my fortune at being here to experience all this. 

     As if Friday wasn’t good enough Saturday was probably my best day here in Japan thus far.  After a busy day teaching at the school the staff took myself, our new Japanese teacher and my co-net out for a welcome dinner.  Although the Amity staff had cautioned us prior to departure that the Japanese staff would be quiet and business like during work hours I still was taken aback when I joined the group at the restaurant.  The all female staff at the school though friendly and helpful take work very seriously, little small talk or laughing during the day is a stark contrast to the normal “gallows humor” most Americans share at work.  Complaining lightly about work, sharing personal stories and the like are common in America but not Japan.  I immediately noticed the difference they had talked about when arriving.  As the last to arrive at dinner they began yelling “Kawaii” or “cute”, gently ribbing me as I entered the restaurant seeing me out of my work clothes and in my jeans and my bright blue Lacoste shirt.  As we gathered to go in two teachers wanted to take pictures standing next to me with me holding my hands over their heads showing how much taller I was than them.  From there on out the night was great as we laughed and talked like friends over dinner.  They had tears in their eyes from laughter as my manager implored me to tell them the many funny and ridiculous things I had done since arriving in Japan.  From my story of sleeping in Nagoya, my penchant for eating outdoors or of Kazuhiko calling me “Kasugai Mafia Man” when he saw me in my black suit and sunglasses everyone enjoyed themselves and ate like friends rather than just co-workers.  And while there is still much to learn I feel like I learned more about my new peers over sesame chicken and cold oolong tea than any book or manual could have ever taught me.  After the restaurant finally kicked us out well past closing we parted ways in the darkness of the parking lot and a reserved bow of thanks to the staff before setting off for home seemed like it fit for the first time.

Sayonara

 

“Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans”

                                                                                          John Lennon                                                                                                                                               Beautiful Boy

 

     Camera Update:  I swear I am close to rectifying my lack of pictures on the blog.  I have a package enroute from the states that I believe contains my camera plug.  I would have never thought it would be this difficult.  Since I purchased a new Sony camera for the trip I honestly thought I was taking the camera to its homeland so I give little thought when I could not locate the USB plug before departure.  Since being in Japan I have checked various Electronics Megastores all the while unable to locate the necessary plug.  Once I receive the plug look for corresponding albums for each week of the blog.