Maru

Please stop. I'm embarrassed for you.

Tomorrow morning my journey across Japan begins! I'll board my first train at 5am and reach my destination, Shikoku, around 10pm. After that, it's two weeks of crawling around the mountains in Shikoku, doing my best to visit each of the 88 temples scatted about the island. Wish me luck!

今晩、駅で電車を待ってた。７時３分に届くはずだった。

７時３分ちょうどに届いた。

で、待ちながら「疲れたな」って思って近く販売機でホットコーヒを買った。

それは日本で２つの好きなことだ。時間厳守と販売機。

This evening I was waiting for a train that was scheduled to arrive at 7.03.

It arrived at exactly 7.03.

While I was waiting, I thought "man, I'm tired" and bought some hot coffee from a nearby vending machine.

These are two things I enjoy about Japan. Timeliness and vending machines. :D

Last night, I had my first all-night karaoke extravaganza!

First, I had dinner with this American dude and his family... sitting in Japan with a Floridan, his Japanese wife and eating homemade Maxican food. But, the tortillas! It's been a long time. After dinner, we went out two hours of Karaoke at Shidax.

Then, I decided to stop by the neighborhood bar and the American dude followed me there. The owners invited me to karaoke after they finished work at 3am, so I hung out until then, and we (owners x2, gon-chan, and American guy) drove to an all-night karaoke place and sang until 6am. Then I took a cab home and slept until noon. :)

This American guy's nickname is 不良外人、 or "bad foreigner"... I have to agree. He's married with two kids and everything I hate about foreigners in Japan. He's got this awful arrogant attitude and no respect for women or his family. He told me he was so happy to hang out with me because he wants to use my apartment as a place to cheat on his wife. He was constantly being lecherous with every woman in sight... >_< WHATTHEHELL? What is it about foreign guys in Japan? How'd I wind up hanging out with this guy? A few weeks ago, he played the "oh, I'm another foreigner!" card on me and took my number. I'd been blowing him off since, but I figured I'd hang out with him once to get him to stop calling... Sigh. Mistake. >_

Hungover, in Japan, and listening to the Gypsy Kings on a Friday morning.
日本にいる金曜日の朝でGypsy Kingsを聞きながら二日酔いだ。

But it's not as bad as it sounds.
でも、そんな悪くない！

(Rewind)
フラッシューバック

On Sunday, my bosses (of sorts) came out from Ohio to meet with us Shansi people and observe our classes. It was good to see them, but a bit odd because I've only known them in the context of Oberlin. They treated us to a delicious dinner at a fancy hotel and we all caught up.
日曜はCarlとDebというシャンシン議長はオハイオ州から授業を見にいらっしゃった。うれしかったけど、ちょっと変だった。前の関係の文脈は違うから。いいホテルでごちそうしてくれてたくさん話した^_^

On Wednesday, Deb came to my class. Under the pretext of it being Halloween, I bribed my class with Kit Kats to secure their good behavior. They were perfect! Huzzah~ But, I did embarrassingly confuse a student's name. >_< That night, we were treated to the most amazing diner I've ever seen. More sushi, dumplings, sashimi, salad, yakitori, Japanese sweet potatoes, and cake than 10 people could eat. To top it off, the host (Goto-san) had delicious sake and home-made plum wine.
水曜、DebとCarlは授業にいらっしゃった。ハロエィンの口実で、学生のいい振る舞いのためにお菓子をわいろを贈った〜。好結果だった！夜はすばらしい夕食をごちそうされた。すごい寿司とぎょうざとサラダと焼き鳥とサツマイモとケーキがあった。十人が食べられたよりあった。それに、Gotoさんが作った梅酒とおいしい酒もあった。

Now the explanation for my current state. Thursday and Friday were the school festival. 4-day weekend!
今は今の状態を説明する。木と金は学校の祭りだったから！４連日！

Craving something spicy, I went out to Mexican food with some friends last night. Despite ordering mine "extra spicy", I found it necessary to specially order more hot sauce. ^_^ The Japanese just can't take spicy food. Of course, to wash away the non-polar capsaicins, a less polar solvent was required. It was quickly decided that C2H5OH would be our optimal choice. My friends are much larger than I (90kg), so I was unable to sustain the pace for long...
辛い物が欲しかったから、昨夜は友達と一緒にメキシコ料理を食べに行った。注文した時、「迢辛い」と言ったのに、もっとhot sauceは必要だった！（以上は化学の話！要約：酔いつぶれちゃった〜）

On the train back, I somehow found myself engaged in conversation with a woman who said she is massage therapist. I think. That, or she's a baker. Something with her hands. But, she was nice and not afraid of gaijin. Yay!
帰る電車で、どういうわけかマッサージの仕事の女性と話せてた。かもしれない。多分パン屋の人。手をよく使う仕事だった。でも、優しくて、外人のことは怖くないらしいからうれしかった！

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21490838/

Seriously?

I found this wonderful bar the other week. It's a small hole in the wall kind of place, but the people who work there are so nice. I've never seen more than four customers there. It's all regulars, they call everybody by ~chan (even the guys), which shows total familiarity.
So, last night I sat down, ordered myself a drink and dove into the conversation. To my left was a sexologist who teaches at a girl's school. To my right was a middle-aged rockabilly biker. The biker and the sexologist were analyzing the problems with Japanese society today. They concluded that guys have the reputation for being too forward with women, but the truth is the women are more aggressive and the guys are shy. Later on, the rockabilly guy taught everybody the 8-step. Then the conversation moved to tango-- everybody agreed that Argentine tango was great, especially the skirts with long slits. The biker sagely pointed out, if you dance with an old woman... never mind. He was a character. Later on, he told us about his time as youth working as a host.
The conversation was hilarious, and before I knew it three and a half hours had passed. Score one for Japan. :)

I've some venting to do, so please do move along if you aren't in the mood for complaints :)

Note: The following is the culmination (I hope it's over) of about a month of similar events. I'll use the most recent three as a representative sample of what things have been like:

Last night: Went to a club with a friend and met two friends of his. Began conversing in Japanese. Soon she tells me "日本人っぽいよ。話しやすい。" "You're Japanese-esque. Easy to talk to." This sounds promising, but immediately afterwards she very pointedly avoids any further conversation. Point: gaijin who are not totally foreign aren't interesting.

Later that night: Asked a woman on the platform (politely, and totally sober) if the train would be late. "Yes" she replies, and moves twenty feet away to board a different train car from me. Point: Gaijin will ask for simple directions one moment, and rape you the next.

Today: Empty seat on crowded train, I sit. Make eye contact with girl adjacent as I sit, so I smile politely. Girl proceeds to surrender her seat on the crowded train and stand for the next twenty minutes. Point: Gaijin are contagious.

Fucking hell. Keep in mind these things happened within the space of 24 hours... then expand that across the last two months.

So...

It's rather pathetic when somebody sits next to you and that makes your day. No, your week. Practically your month. I still remember it, it was two months ago... and it's the most kindness I've received from a stranger here practically since I arrived. And so I write this: Thanks to you, Japan, I've learned the depths of the word "cold", tsumetai as you say, but you'd rather I not learn your language. (I think it confuses you.) The worst thing that might come of sitting next to me in a kissaten, or standing next to me on the train, or even walking past me on the street is that I might make eye contact. I know you've heard the stories about evil gaijin who steal your soul through eye contact or possess your mind through a friendly smile, but I'm not one of those. I promise. And, you know, ladies, please don't flatter yourselves. Just because I smile at you doesn't mean I want to get you in bed. Increasingly, I'm thinking just the opposite-- collectively, I am very unimpressed with the lot of you.

Yours is a culture of convenience, and that makes eating alone rather easy. But you also like your convenience to extend into people. You like other nihonjin, and you like gaijin. But you only like your gaijin when they are in the image of your pre-conceived gaijin of your fantasies-- six foot plus, blond hair blue eyes (or black), and no interest in your language or culture. Truly, just another novelty to enjoy, like the current season's eighteen blends of tea.

Perhaps it's just that the honeymoon phase is over, but shit, Japan, you can do better than this.


Here's to a sound "Fuck you!" to Japan.

My first class was this morning at 9AM!

It went something like this:


8.45-9.05: Students straggle in, look at me standing at the front of the room and gasp in surprise. "Oh!" Every time.


9.05: Well, it's about time to start-- okay. "Quiet please" had no effect... Time for clapping! It worked. For about two names. Talking resumes.


9.10: Starting to panic. What if I never get them under control? Playing "two truths and a lie", nobody wants to volunteer to talk. Crap.


9.20: Becomes apparent I have to strangle the English out of them. Seem intrigued by the fact that I have been skydiving.


9.25: Time to go over the rules! No cellphones, etc. No talking while other people are talking. (This rule was largely ignored...)


9.30: Made some noisy guys at the very back move up close by me. Nobody wants to talk about their breaks, so I start forcing people to ask questions. A typical example:

Me: "Student A, what did you do this summer?"
Student A: "I went to Nagano."
(silence)
Me: "B, please ask Student A about Nagano."
Student B: "Where did you go?"

...but it's progress! They're talking in English, but any response seems to necessitate an extensive consultation in Japanese with their neighbors. Time to put an end to this:


Student A: そうかそうか
Me: "そうかじゃないよ！英語で!'I see'" ("Not 'souka', 'I see'...use English!")
Student A: Yes, yes. I see.
Student A (to Student B): 頑張って！
Me: "頑張ってじゃないよ！英語で！'Good luck!'" ("Not 'ganbatte', 'Good luck'...use English!")
(ad verbatim)

It looks like it'll be tough to get them to switch, but happily I can understand most of their classroom banter, so I can badger them into using the English equivalent.


10.15: Lessons ends earlier than expected, so I have to improvise. They seem to enjoy it more than speaking, though.

10.30: Class ends, I erase the board. Somebody has taken a permanent marker to the board when they wrote their sentence. However, some students helped me scrape it off.


All in all, an enjoyable experience. The kids are nice, I think teaching will be good for me!

Hmmm, where did I leave off?

Work:
Well, last week we met our boss-figure. He showed us the ropes, lined us up against a wall and took our staff pictures. That was the last thing I remember before being drowned in a torrent of information. A entirely friendly, good-natured torrent, but a torrent nonetheless. Mailboxes, course binders, roll call, copy cards, classroom quirks, lunch places, the break room, online resources, the Blackboard equivalent, e-mail, conversation sessions, TOEFL practice sessions, and so much more.

I've heard mixed things about the classes I'm going to take over. General consensus about Japanese college students is that they, having completed the hell of Japanese high school, use college as a time to relax. Further, Obirin is a decent college, but not quite the Harvard of Japan. Further, I'll be teaching all level 2 classes (middle 80% of students), so there's a huge range of interest and ability.

I bought a bike! I do so enjoy it-- it's the typical Japanese utility bike, with a basket in front, a rack on the back, and a pedal-powered light. Colored silver for utilitarian goodness! A clone among tens of thousands of bicycles in the area. I've been exploring the area. It's very hilly, which makes the lone gear on my bike a bit arduous, but it's good for me. I've gotten back into running; having *real hills* is such a pleasure after Oberlin, Ohio. It's surprisingly green in the area; there are lots of trees and people have gardens that looks more like agricultural fields. With Shinjuku station only 40 minutes away!

Miscellaneous:
Mmmm, I went into the weight room here for the first time, and within a minute I had made a huge commotion. These bench presses support the bar at a much narrower point, which means that you need two people simultaneously changing weight or else the whole deal will capsize. Well, when I unthinkingly added 20kg... Thankfully, nobody was hurt. :)

I gave Japanese pizza another shot. It was a bit expensive (Y1500; $13) for a personal sized one, but the toppings were appetizing (spinach, tomato, and shrimp) and surprise! It was good. Score one for Japan.

The not so good:
Feeling a bit isolated, perhaps as a result of having moved halfway across the globe. :) Also, I suppose post-undergrad, this is to be expected-- not much can really compare to the bustling social life of a college student...

So... today I decided it was time to get a cellphone.

What an adventure. I know I just updated yesterday, but this was such an amusing time that I feel it warrants another post.

Around 11am, I wandered into a SoftBank store and made known my wish for a phone. Do you have your passport? Yup! This was going to be easy... or so I thought.

It took about fifteen minutes (with an electronic dictionary) to pick out a phone, and I was able to communicate that I wanted a simple phone (apparently shinpuru and "easy to use" tsukaiyasui are different?), one that didn't function as a TV or credit card or train pass but still made calls. Easy enough.

Then we moved to the contract counter. About the only thing I understood for the next hour was "please sit here". The intricacies of things like early termination fees, complicated warranties, deluxe voicemail plans, and the like were pretty well lost on me. There was a whole lot of circling of numbers and repeating of words and I bet that salesperson could have used a drink. However, she was really nice, and we reached an understanding eventually. It's only going to cost me about $15-$20/month! So much cheaper than the states. We chatted a bit about how I just moved to Japan, isn't it hard living alone, and oh! isn't my Japanese good (the favorite line to foreigners, given irrespective of Japanese ability). She told me to come back in 40 minutes to pick up my phone.

When I returned to pick up my phone, the saleslady looked so happy that I'd be out of her hair for good. As I was about to take the bag, she said something I didn't understand, flashed a huge grin, and threw a few packs of cup of noodle in with my phone. Caught unawares, I meant to ask "why?" but "what's that?" accidentally came out. Yes, yes... I understand that they are for eating :) But why...? Perhaps she pities me?

The mysterious gift of food unsolved, I decided it was time to make my exit, so I thanked her profusely for her (our?) efforts and made my leave.

I've lost almost 5kg since I left Oberlin (no gym~ sad), so I stopped by a sporting goods store to see if I could pick up some weights. I found a 40kg set for about Y6,000, so I decided to purchase it on my way back from the cellphone store. The guy at the store seemed a bit surprised when I announced I'd be carrying the things back, but obligingly wrapped them up.

It was a long walk home. :)

The previously mentioned bank problem has likely been solved by opening a new account online with a more international bank... FirstMerit is just not cutting it. So, with my money and time available to me, I hit the road!

First up was Kyoto. I negotiated the Shinkansen from Yokohama to arrive. If you ever get the chance, I recommend riding it at least once! It's clean, it's convenient, it's fast... and it's kakkoii. They even have a little cart filled with obentou and drinks that goes up and down the aisles. Kyoto station is a beautiful place, with massively high ceilings, I had raamen from a famous shop and ventured out the explore the town. I saw (this is a politically incorrect term in Japan, but used in academia for some reason...and I can't remember the PC way of saying it) burakumin neighborhoods. Basically, disenfranchised people. A lot of these homes didn't have running water until the 1970's. I wrote a paper on them in history class, so it was academically satisfying to see it in real life. The next day was spent doing tourist things, seeing temples and castles and whatnot, and the next day I did absolutely nothing. This was in preparation for asagaeri, literally "morning return." Karin and I went out clubbing, saw the guy from the group Underworld, and danced until 4.30 in the morning. After a deliciously salty breakfast of ramen, we slept on the riverbank until the first train, around 6am.

That evening, I took a bus to Hiroshima. The downside to being a foreigner in Japan is that some people just don't like you-- at one hotel that I walked into, the guy looked at me, put up his arms in an "X" and said "dame". (No good.) Apparently, the Japanese couple who walked in right behind me were fine, though... Three hotels later, I was at a sketchy dive hotel called Hotel Yamoto-- but hey, after no sleep and a 4 hour bus ride, a bed is a bed, right? Wrong. The sheets were decidedly unclean... I won't go into it further. But I did have the sense to check the sheets before I laid down. I slept on the chair the first night. The following day, I wandered around the city until I found the memorial museum, and the A-Bomb dome. I can't describe the place with justice-- you really have to go to the museum to experience it. I walked away depressed as hell. So, I decided to go see a baseball game! Japanese baseball fans are incredibly organized-- I think the teams had professional cheerleaders in the stands-- there was a song for everything. Each player's at bat had a song, each out had a song, a homerun had a song, etc. etc. The home team (Hiroshima Carp) lost 14-1, but it was still a fun experience. The next day, I needed to escape from Hiroshima, so I went down to Miyajima, the land of tame deer and a floating shrine, and climbed a mountain. It was 95° and humid, so I was the only one on the trail. Thoroughly tired, I went back to my hotel room and was about to go to sleep when I noticed the biggest cockroach I've ever seen crawling on the wall. It must have been two and a half inches and disgusting. It seemed totally unconcerned by my presence... I didn't sleep very well. Ah well, the next day I was going to leave, so... Overall, the hotel was worth what I paid: less than $40/night. However, it left all of my clothes with a funky dank smell and some spots of mold. >_< Off to Kobe~

Kobe is a giant shopping center. I don't think there are as many stores per capital anywhere else, Tokyo included. Enough said. Also went to Himeji and saw Japan's best castle. That was pretty cool, but there are only so many castles you can look at before you get tired of them :)

The return trip to Tokyo was on an airplane from Kobe airport, which was surprisingly cheaper than taking the train. Japanese security is so lax-- I never had to show ID. Not once! And I could bring liquids and *gasp* fingernail cutters onto the plane. Huzzah!

I've arrived in Japan!

My adventure started off inauspiciously, with my connection to Chicago delayed to the point where making the flight to Narita impossible. Fortunately, There was a later flight that I could make. However, this new, later flight was almost scrapped when we were delayed during takeoff, and then upon arrival when another bigger, meaner airplane stole our parking spot. I wound up with 15 minutes to dash between terminals at O'Hare. A little exercise was nice, though, with the marathon flight coming. Because I got bumped to a new flight, they put me into Sardine Plus (Economy Plus), which meant when then person in front of me put down their seat, their head wasn't in my lap. I enjoyed that bit of privacy. Unfortunately, the flight attendant for our section was grumpy and I inadvertently made enemies with her when I ordered wine to wash down my anti-histamines. She ignored me for the rest of the flight, and didn't pick up my garbage. Oh well. :)

The past few days have been great. I've been busy getting my apartment livable, buying all the essentials and living out of konbini in the meantime. Went to Ginza yesterday, I'm learning to navigate Tokyo's public transportation system.

Random things: I still look left instead of right when crossing the street. My apartment building is salmon pink. It's hot here-- the heat index today was 118°F!

Bad things: My debit card and credit card don't work. I've contacted both my bank and the credit card company (a 30 minute international phone call made from a pay phone in front of 7-11 because the phone in my room is too old and not touchtone), and both times I was told "It should work, sir, I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do." So, it looks like I've got to survive on what I have until my first paycheck. (Sept. 25?)

今日、オバリンを出ちゃった。思ったより悲しい。今まで、本当に出たいから悲しくないと思ってたが、本当は悲しい。いい思い出といい人がたくさんできたんだ。この経験はお金で買えないと思う。
昨日、アレン先生とアレン先生の奥さんはごちそうしてくれた。タイ料理だった。会話はにぎやかだったから、楽しかった。でも、４年間一緒に研究をしてたし、私は「さようなら」言うのはきらいだし、終わりは大変だった。
大学に来た時と出た時、ほとんど同じ所なのに。 四年間がたつと人は違うね。欲しい事を発見したといいんだが。大学院前に待つほうがいいと思う。人生について色々を考えられるから。２年間後、帰りたいかな　(^_^)

もちろん将来の前には今だ。。。

昨日、ビザの書類が届いた。大使館のウェブサイトによると４−７business daysかかる。１２日に行くはずだから、たぶん困る。だから、木曜日は日本のニューヨーク大使館のに行って、お願いするつもり。


たくさん書いて、すみません。書きながらペンシルベニア州の山林を見ててひまだから、考える時間があるんだ。

昨日は一日中週末の会議のためにポスターを作ったり奨学金のためにレポートを書いたりした。１２時間ぐらいコンピュータをじろじろ見ちゃって目が弱くなった。それでもいい感じだった。ちょう生産的な日だった！

ポスターは２時ごろできた。でも、マックのパワーポイントを使ってて、ポスターは大きなslideだから、遅かった。だから、字を一つ消して、saveをした。

しかし。。。

字を一つじゃなかった。プスターを全部消してしまった。困った！

でも、builds characterだから、初めからまた作った。ギリシアの神話のシシュポス(Sisyphus)の気がした。(丘の上まで岩を動かないけど、上の近いにいると岩は落ちちゃう人だ）

んんん、後は何があった。。。よく料理してる。例えば、おとといはバナナチョコ抹茶マフィンを作った。今日、from scratchぎょうざを作ろうと思ってる。

仕事がもうすぐ終わる！後一週間半。この失業者の気がする夏はすごくつまらなかったのに、追想すると早かった。毎日、何をしてたかな〜　I supposeよく料理したり、うんどうしたりしてた。

でも。。。

ぜんぜん違って新しい生活が始まる！いらいらさせることを我慢する。^_^

これは予定：
８月
１３日：着いて、町田のアパートを見に行く。寝てみる。（時差ぼけかな）
１４日：電車、バンザイ！ぐんまに行く。たぶん北海道に行く。
１５日：今日まではっきりと北海道に行く！さっぽろ駅の中で寝たい。（ホテルより安いんだ！）
１８日〜１９日：町田に帰って、２２日まで東京で遊ぶ。
２２日：京都だ！日本の歴史が見られるから面白そう。週末はclubbingをして朝帰りする！
２？日：神戸に行く！たぶんここから広島に行く。
９月：町田に帰る。授業までどうしたらいいかな。。。１００円ショップで皿や目覚まし時計を買おうと思う。

上で書いたことは夢想だ！今はすごく忙しい。。。

１。）奨学金をくれた組織に急に「長いレポートを書きなさい」と言われた
２。）明日は生物学の学部に研究を発表しないといけない。パワーポイントきらい〜
３。）来週、ロスに行って去年から今までの研究を発表する。これはプスターだ。結果があまりないから、恥ずかしい〜。

じゃあ、働く時間だ！

edit: 数えられないらしい ：）

めがねはまた壊れてる。。。

今、ハリポーターというアディオブック（三冊目）を聞いてる。思ったよりおもしろい。この前にアディオブックを聞いたことがない。ちょっと遅いけど、おもしろい。怠け者だ気がするのに。

独立記念日だ。二百何何年前、イギリスとけんかして、勝った。

だから、花火を爆発されるかな。戦争模倣することでしょ？やっぱりイラクと違ってあのけんかが勝てた。でも、政治に関しすぎるね。

私にとって、ふつうの日だった。しかし、友達は休んでたから、私は昼ご飯の後で仕事をやめて家に帰った。その後、バナナチーズケーキを作ったり、チョコピーナッツパンを作ったりした。　晩ご飯はバベキューだった。何で独立記念日にバベキューかな。たぶんこれも戦争の模倣することかな。戦争は激しいから全部は燃えたでしょう？それで火で殺された人を忘れないためにホットドッグやハンバーガーを食べるでしょうね。

笑、ちょっとおかしいね。でも、休みでよかった！今日は木曜日が、月曜日だ気がするのに。

今日、顕微鏡でミミズの行動を数えながらくしゃみをした。だから、急に頭は前に動いてめがねを壊してしまった！

あぶない！

Edit:

Superglueで修繕ができた。しかし、レンスはどんどん汚れちゃった。。。ちょうがりべんみたいなぁ

昨日は朝４時半ごろ寝たから、すごく眠かった。それで、昼寝をした！
世界で一番いい昼寝だった。今日はいい天気でアパートのまどは全部開いてて、ずっと気持ちいい風がふいてた。それにleadbellyというblues音楽家を聞いてた。
同時に寝てて起きてたから、面白い夢を見た。。。