The weeks leading up to Christmas in Japan are much the same as in America. As soon as Halloween is over, the Christmas decorations go up. And I mean literally as soon as Halloween was over; I had been hoping to get some discounted Halloween decorations but no luck—on November 1st it was too late. All of the stores had removed their Halloween stuff (where did they put it all I wonder?) and started putting their Christmas stuff out. Some of it was pretty standard fare, color-coordinated Christmas tree lights and ornaments a la Martha Stewart, but some of it was also more distinctly Japanese. I found some gorgeous Christmas cards with famous Japanese landmarks decked out in Christmas regalia. I haven’t seen any Christmas tree farms here, which is probably a good thing, since I’ve heard Japan is already the world’s biggest importer of lumber—a lot of which goes towards making the disposable wooden chopsticks I feel guilty about using in restaurants. I think Christmas here is not as family-oriented as it is in the US, and I’ve heard rumors that the traditional Christmas dinner is usually a KFC dinner. Indeed, since Halloween all of the KFC Colonel statues have been wearing Santa costumes. Because Christmas in Japan lacks any religious overtones, there are also some items I can’t imagine seeing in department stores in the US. I was amused to see figure-flattering reindeer and Santa outfits for women and reindeer “poop” (presumably chocolate covered raisins) sold with the slogan “Have a poopin’ Christmas”.
Yesterday, I took another trip to Odaiba with a friend, where the Christmas decorations on the docks are out in full force, and got a picture of Godzilla, complete with glowing red eyes, attacking a Christmas tree along Tokyo Bay (I still can’t add pictures in with text, but I’ve updated the Pictures). I think we’ve all seen the reindeer figures done in Christmas lights in people’s yard displays, but if I find a Godzilla figure done in Christmas lights, I’ll have to buy it. The weather was very nice yesterday, and Odaiba was wonderful, even aside from Godzilla. I went back to the delicious Indian restaurant, and this time they were having a lunch buffet complete with vegetable curry and saffron rice. Afterwards, we walked along the docks, and apparently it was bring-your-miniature-dog-in-costume-day, so there were lots of people pushing strollers, some with kids, some with dogs in costumes. My friend got a great picture of a tiny dog parading around in a pink tutu. On the docks they also have some shows, with magic tricks and such, and last time, a gaijin man juggling on a five-foot tall unicycle wearing a helmet with a plane on a string flying in circles around his head and blowing bubbles. It was quite a sight. Anyway, after watching part of the show it was time for shopping in Venus Fort, which my guidebook calls a shopping experience for women. It was great—there was a Lego store and everything. Unfortunately, it being a school night, I had to head back to Omiya after that. But since I haven’t made it to the onsen with cleaning fish yet, I’ll have an excuse to take another trip to Odaiba when I return to Japan in January. And in the meantime, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for Godzilla Christmas ornaments.
The colored leaves are very beautiful here, but the weather turned cold in the second half of the month. There’s no central heating in either of my two schools, nor do the bathrooms have hot water (although one school has a state-of-the-art toilet with a heated seat), so while it’s not that cold in absolute terms, I’m pretty cold most of the time I’m not in my apartment. For a few days before the school decided to put out the kerosene space heaters, I had trouble marking papers because I couldn’t feel my fingers. But on the bright side, I brought all of my wool socks with me, and the kerosene heater set up in the teacher’s room is directly behind my desk. Also, since I’m a teacher, I don’t have to wear short skirts everyday like the female students. The female students (and not a few female teachers) bring fleece blankets every day to cover their legs—the blankets are usually pretty cute too, often with a carrying case and everything, so I might invest in one.
Earlier in the month, I went to see kabuki (a type of traditional Japanese theater) in Ginza. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stay awake through all five hours of it, but it turned out to be pretty entertaining. I understood most of it thanks to the earphone guide, which most everybody used, including the native Japanese. I think kabuki is a little like Shakespeare, in that modern English speakers can understand it with some difficulty, and there are a lot of references which need extra explanation. Also, kabuki is performed by men only, and there are very intricate costumes and makeup. None of the actors used a microphone, although the auditorium was quite large, but I don’t think anyone had trouble hearing. I didn’t get a chance to see much of Ginza itself, so I’ll have to save that for the next trip.
I also went to Harajuku, fashion street, and got a tourist-y t-shirt with the character for fortune. Harajuku is known for the oddly dressed and made-up people who gather around a famous bridge to be photographed by tourists, like me. Unfortunately, the photographs are trapped in my cell phone still. My travel guide says it’s young women who dress up in costumes and come to the bridge, but there were men too, and not just younger ones. While eating in a restaurant, I saw an older man go by wearing fake breasts and earrings with goldfish in them—he stopped and posed outside the window to let my friend get a picture, of course.
I got the chance to attend one of the many fall festivals the weekend before last. There were interesting parades, lots of delicious food on sticks (and sweet potato ice cream!), and some pretty decorations for sale. I took pictures but I haven’t yet figured out how to get the pictures from my cell phone to my laptop, so those will have to wait.
There was another typhoon this past Saturday, although I didn’t know it was a typhoon. (I thought it was just raining a lot.) I had wanted to go back to Kawagoe to have another look around, but I spent the day in my apartment except for some much-needed grocery shopping. It was still a pretty nice day—one of my coworkers introduced me to the joys of fresh udon noodles paired with cream cheese, which doesn’t sound like a combination that should taste good but it definitely works. After the typhoon the weather was gorgeous, so on Sunday I went to a concert given by the school band, which is nationally renowned I hear, and with good reason.
I’ve now been here for more than two months, and I’ve been thinking a lot about things that surprised me when I got here, but now seem pretty normal. There are no paper towels in any public restrooms I’ve encountered (except for one English-style pub in Omiya), and in the older bathrooms, like the ones at both of my schools, or train stations, there are no hand dryers either, so I usually end up using my cardigan as a towel. Most people think ahead and bring a small hand towel with them everywhere, but I haven’t gotten into the habit yet. As far as the classrooms go, I was surprised to see a sort of stage in the front of the room where the teacher stands. At first I thought it was so I could tower over students menacingly, but now I think it’s so that the students in the back of the very-crowded classrooms can see the teacher. In any case, I’m convinced that someday I’m going to fall off the stage and injure myself and/or the poor students sitting in the front row, but so far so good.
One of the hardest things to get used to has been the distinction between indoor and outdoor shoes. I thought indoor shoes would be like slippers or sandals that I would change into whenever I entered the school, and take off whenever I left the school, but it turned out that the slippers and sandals I brought with me were not proper indoor shoes. Indoor shoes are actually exactly like outdoor shoes, except that they either haven’t been worn outside or have been washed before being worn inside. And it also turns out that there are situations in which indoor shoes can be worn outside without getting strange looks from people. At one of my schools, the vending machines are located outside the school, and everyday I walk through a series of covered walkways to get my chocolate milk without changing into my outdoor shoes. But the distinction between indoor and outdoor shoes is so strong that when we had a fire drill at school today, everybody (myself included) changed from their indoor to their outdoor shoes when they exited the building. In fact, we were all informed in advance that there would be a fire drill so we could bring our outdoor shoes with us to class. However I was happy to hear that if it had been an actual fire, we would not be expected to change our shoes before escaping the building. Not that I would have stopped to ask about etiquette during an actual fire, but still.
Well, no cleaning fish yet—it was raining all last weekend so the trip got postponed. It’s starting to cool off here so the hot springs are looking better and better. Instead of going to hot springs I did some more shopping in Omiya Station and found a nice winter coat.
This week was pretty normal, except that I took the slightly wrong train home for the first time since I arrived in Japan, so it caught me off-guard. I was riding the train home in the evening, and everybody in my car got off at one of the big stations along the way, not very unusual for the evening ride home. Except when I looked around, I realized I was the only one on the train, and I foolishly thought hey cool. I was walking up and down the train, reveling in the emptiness, when the conductor found me and told me I couldn’t be there. (Actually, he held his forearms up in an ‘x’, the Japanese gesture for ‘no’ or ‘bad’, and I eventually got the idea that something was wrong.) He asked me which station I was trying to get to and then told me that this train wouldn’t be going to that station. I wanted to say, but it always went there before! but couldn’t figure out how to articulate that in my limited Japanese. Anyway, the conductor man was nice enough to show me to the next platform over where I caught the right train. It’ll probably be the first of many times.
This weekend was the third three-day weekend in the last four weeks, and since I didn’t have anything else to do, I took a train to Ueno (a district of Tokyo) to have a look around. It’s not difficult to get there, and I’ll probably explore Ueno more fully in the coming weeks, but I did manage to find Ueno Park. Aside from a few carnival rides I’m (unfortunately) too big to ride on, there was also a nice fountain, with a handful of cats wandering around. I also found some nice view of Ueno from the park, so I’ve added those pictures to the Photos category. I’ll have to save the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the historical museum for a future trip.
I’m also discovering that the upside to living in a place where I can’t possibly fit in is that I don’t worry so much about what people will think of me. For example, I decided to invest in a bike helmet despite the fact that no one here wears bike helmets, except small children. The store only sold children’s helmets of course, but luckily I have a small head so it fits just fine, although it is slightly embarrassing to have ‘Kids’ written across the back of the helmet. I rode my bike to the grocery store the other day and I saw a woman looking back and forth between me and her small child, who was, coincidentally, wearing the same helmet I have. It was all highly amusing. Anyway, I’ll get weird looks no matter what I do, and at least this way, my precious brain is safe.
I’ve officially been here more than a month and the apartment is just starting to feel like someplace I want to be instead of someplace I go to sleep (and rarely, cook)—and it only took many thousands of yen worth of suction cup shelves, some paperbacks (in English!), and one stuffed animal (the cat from Kiki’s Delivery Service). I’ve had two consecutive three day weekends now, and this most recent one I spent doing mundane things like cleaning the apartment and surprisingly, cooking. It’s amazing, that even though the apartment is very small and I still don’t have very many things, it only takes a day or two for the place to turn into a complete mess. Most of the mess is packaging from various things I’ve bought. I’ve never had to think so much about packaging before, but it takes so much effort and planning to get rid of the garbage, that I have to think about how I’m going to dispose of the packaging when I buy things. It’s probably good for me, but I wish the garbage didn’t encroach so much on my living space, and also that the day for getting rid of compostable material came more than twice a week. The apartment is like an oven during the day, so the food scraps get very pungent very quickly.
After a month of making the same long commute to my second school twice a week, people I usually see in passing are starting to say konnichiwa, my fellow commuters are starting to sit next to me on the bus instead of standing in the aisle, and the students are starting to wave to me or even say hello. I’m starting to recognize kanji without being told, which is kind of magical, although I don’t know nearly enough to get around yet (fortunately most signs and station names are written in English too). I also got to play ping-pong at work today, and I found a large bakery on the way home from school, so life is pretty good. I’m trying to organize a trip back to Odaiba this weekend with a stop at the hot springs with cleaning fish (like the fish in coral reefs who clean wounds and remove parasites for other fish). For about three-thousand yen I can be a part of the symbiotic relationship. If the trip pans out, I’ll see if I can get pictures without dropping my camera in the water or grievously offending the other guests at the hot springs.
The start of term school festival was last week. It was a lot of fun—I got to buy some pottery, see shows by the gymnastics and synchronized swimming teams, as well as the nationally renowned school band. Apparently a movie came out a few years ago about boys’ synchronized swimming so now it’s all the rage. There were also song and dance numbers (including a rather memorable one by the school principal), a fashion show, a tea ceremony, and some amazing drawings and paintings by the students in the art department. Much as I enjoyed the two-day festival, it did mean I had to work seven straight days, which is why I’ve been falling behind on the blog.
Yesterday I went into Tokyo with some friends to see a world travel fair, with some very nice food and sights in an interesting upside-down pyramid-shaped building. (Still not able to insert pictures into blog entries with this internet connection--so please look under photos.) Afterwards we headed to Odaiba for a good Indian restaurant. We found one along the waterfront with great view of the Tokyo skyline, and ate some incredible Indian food (I probably should have taken a picture of the nan and curry too). Finally we went to a ginormous ferris wheel in Odaiba, despite the fact that I’m afraid of heights. It was totally worth it though, to see the Tokyo skyline from so high up. And today I’m off to visit a beer garden in Shinjuku, which should be spectacular.
Wow. My day began by making a (thankfully short) speech to about 2500 people. I wasn’t nervous until the moment I stepped in front of the podium but afterwards I was shaking. If my comments weren’t the most original or eloquent I’ve written, at least they were loud and well-enunciated. The rest of the day was much easier—and I found a restaurant across the street from where I work that sells wonderful crepes. My status in Japan is all official now that I have my alien card. And the picture is pretty good too—I look frazzled but happy and not bright tomato red like in my first driver’s license photo. I also have an account with an actual Japanese bank, and I only had to fill out the form four times. Opening the account required the use of my hanko, the stamp of my name spelled out in kanji. I don’t know what all the kanji mean exactly, nor could I write it out myself so it’s a good thing I have the stamp, but it looks a lot prettier than when I sign my name, and a lot more official.
Eating out at restaurants is very expensive here, but I find myself unmotivated to cook in my tiny kitchen. It was hard enough to motivate myself to cook when I had counter space and I didn’t have to sort the garbage into four different categories. I also find myself craving social interaction more than any other time in my life, probably a combination of being on my own and not being able to speak the language very well—now all social exchanges have become precious. Maybe tomorrow will bring a greater sense of fiscal responsibility, or an urge to eat cheap and simple pasta dishes.
The apartment doesn’t feel like home yet, but I’ve been able to use my keen powers of deduction to figure out the garbage pickup schedule (I hope), so at least my place is relatively clean. The first part of this work week was incredibly hot, and I attended an English summer camp which turned out to be a lot of fun. Fortunately, it rained during the camp (which was held inside a hotel) and by the time I left I could almost wear a jacket outside. During Indiana summers, rain does not mean cooler weather, and although I love hot, humid weather, I was getting tired of being constantly dehydrated, so it’s probably a good thing. I’ve heard the change of seasons here is very gradual (also not like Indiana), so I’m looking forward to a pretty fall season, with a sprinkling of public holidays and festivals. But before the heat broke, I was able to find a very reasonably priced summer weight kimono at the Japanese equivalent of Old Navy, so I’m all set for the festivals next summer.
And to leave you with a bit of a mystery, I was walking to the mall the other day when I noticed this construction site. You can view the picture under Photos, along with the photo of Ikebukuro I took last weekend—I can’t figure out how to insert photos into posts yet. Any idea what the sign means? Besides the obvious—I was tempted to shout “Go Hoosiers!” but for the sake of international relations, I restrained myself.
Now that I know how to hook up the internet (it turned out it just had to be plugged in), here's my impressions of the first day in my prefecture:
My city is very close to Tokyo. I came from Tokyo this morning by train, which was a little confusing (slightly less intuitive than the Chicago train system, but way more sensible than the San Francisco public transportation system) but on the bright side the trains are almost never late. Someone told me that when the trains get delayed, they write notes for passengers to take to work and school explaining why they were late. I fit everything I had into two large suitcases and a backpack, so I thought I was traveling pretty light, especially since one of the suitcases was sent forward to the school where I’ll be working. But then I had to go up and down staircases in crowded stations with one of the wheels on my suitcase squealing warningly, like it was going to throw in the towel. Fortunately I got the suitcase to my apartment in one piece, but I think its traveling days might be over.
I went to the Japanese family restaurant with my supervisor. It was a lot like Denny’s in terms of the décor, except the food was much better. And a man in the restaurant was nice enough to point me in the right direction when I was staring in bafflement at the two different bathrooms, wondering which one was the ladies’ bathroom. It’s much harder to read the kanji when it’s written in script than in the simple way it’s written in my Japanese textbook.
The apartment is pretty compact, but I found a place for everything. I’m now the proud owner of a futon, and I bought the rest of my things at the Japanese “dollar” store (hyakuen shoppu). The toilet in my apartment is very odd but kind of neat—it has a basin and faucet over the tank so after you flush you can wash your hands with the water that goes in to fill up the tank again. At least I hope you’re supposed to wash your hands with that water. Actually, upon reflection, it’s probably not good to get soap in the toilet tank so maybe I’ll stick to the shower faucet. There’s a huge packet of reading material that came with the apartment, along with a number of warning signs, all of it in Japanese. I think I’ll need an electronic dictionary before I can work my washing machine, but the most pressing matter is how to sort garbage (the instructions are also in Japanese). It looks like every day is garbage day, but each one is for a different kind of garbage, so it gets very complex. It’s a good thing I have the whole weekend to figure it out.
I made it to Japan safely, and with my luggage intact. I’ve also located a source of angel food cake and Häagen Dazs, as well as internet access, so life is good. It gets dark much earlier here, which took me by surprise. It’s very hot right now, so I got to see some heat lightning over the Tokyo skyline. Most signs are still in English here, but that won’t be true once I leave Tokyo, so I’d better take some time to review my Japanese textbook and also sleep.
