This past weekend (Apr. 2-5) I spent 3 1/2 days in Taiwan. The main point of the trip was to see the island nation for the first time, and I’ll freely admit that I completely underestimated the sheer number of experiences to be had (sights to be seen foods to be tried, etc.) that a small island nation can hold. It’s true that I’m fully aware of the vast number of places, foods, festivals, and other things that Japan (a small island nation) has to offer, but this didn’t factor into the mental calculus when I decided to take a couple of days off during Spring break to visit a place a tenth the size of Japan. Needless to say, I plan to visit again at some point over the next year and a half.
As you can probably tell by the title of my blog post, the trip turned out incredibly well. This was primarily due to a few things: my fantastic host, Sohan Manek, a classmate of mine from Georgetown who now teaches English in Tainan; my Taiwanese friend who lives here in Japan, Iku, who handmade a pamphlet for me of things to see and eat in her homeland, the 1000 little things that can go wrong on a trip that simply didn’t, and of course the perfect weather (about 78 degrees and sunny for most of the time I was there) didn’t hurt either.
The flight from Osaka’s Kansai international airport to Taipei is a brief two hours, and so after getting up at 4:30 AM in Tokushima city and taking a 5 AM bus to the airport, I was able to make it in around noon. While in the immigration line, I noticed a boy wearing a University of Texas sweatshirt and simply had to comment on it- turns out he and his family are from Austin (my home town) and have lived in Shanghai due to his father’s work for the past 4 years. They will return to Austin in the fall and the kids will be heading to St. Andrew’s, my high school’s rival school. Small world. Sohan met me at the airport, and we took off on the 45 minute bus ride into the city (Taipei, I discovered, is like Tokyo, Osaka, and Seoul in that its airport is a fair way outside of the city center itself).
We made it to the city center and headed straight for the Taipei 101, which was the world’s tallest building from 2004-2010- at 509 meters it was the first building in the world to break the half-kilometer mark, and to ascend to the 89th floor observation deck we rode the fastest passenger elevator in the world (took us about 30 seconds to get up there- which I’m pretty sure is less time than it takes the elevators in New South or the Walsh building at Georgetown to make it to the 4th floor). Though the day was cloudy, there were moments of clarity when we were able to see vast swaths of the city. The free audio tour of the building was interesting, though we couldn’t see many of the landmarks that were pointed out to us by the mobile-phone-looking audio device. Sohan and I were particularly amused by the mascots of the building (bomber-man look-alikes called “Damper Babies” with fun names and catchphrases), the fact that Taipei 101 had been certified as the world’s tallest by the Council on Tall Buildings (would love to be a member of this), and the labeling of their Tuned Mass Damper that is designed to stabilize the top of the building against typhoon-force winds (called “Super Big Wind Damper” on the signs).
After descending (an ear-popping experience despite the atmosphere-controlled elevator car) and having lunch, we headed on to our hostel, called “Chocolate Box”. After making the inevitable “you never know what you’re going to get” jokes on the way, I was pretty impressed with the laid-back character, cleanliness, people, and ultimately the location of the hostel- it was within a 5 minute walk of one of Taiwan’s major night markets, two subway (MRT) stations (Guting and one other), and a great deal of late-night spots.
We met up with a friend of mine from when I studied abroad in Japan in high school, Kota, who is now living in Taiwan. We then headed to two of the night markets to find something to eat. Iku’s pamphlet had instructed me to try 6 specific different foods: Zhen-zhu-nai-cha (pearl milk tea), cong-you-bing (scallion cake), chou-dou-fou (stinky tofo), yu-yuan (yams), dan-bing (Taiwan’s version of an omelet), and gan-mei-shu-tiao (sweet potato fries). Of all of these, I was able to eat about half over the weekend, and tried a great number of other things as well. The night markets are basically areas in which the tight warrens of streets are completely lined with stores selling clothing, electronics, house-wares, a multitude of other things, and of course food. We grabbed big cups of the pearl milk tea (or bubble tea, as it’s called back in the States), and made our way through the throngs of people of the night market by our hostel. After having thoroughly explored this one, we decided our dining options weren’t up to snuff, and decided to head to the Shilin night market, the biggest in Taipei. There we looked around the stores for a bit before entering a large building full of cooking smells and people sitting around patio furniture eating any number of mysterious looking things while downing their none-too-creatively dubbed “Taiwan Beer”. We found empty seats at a stall, and ordered a few rounds of steamed pork dumplings, shrimp fried rice, and beer. The meal was delicious, filling, and ended up costing the equivalent of about 8USD ($) between the three of us. Yum. We then headed out in the area around our hostel for a fun-filled night of experiencing the night life in Taipei, mainly at a fun bar called Roxy 99.
The next morning Sohan and I awoke early to catch 9:50 train to Hualien. Unfortunately, we hadn’t been able to reserve seats and so the two of us crammed ourselves into an entry way for the duration of the 2 1/2 hour journey (which wasn’t bad at all). After arriving in Hualien, we checked into the Formosa Backpackers Hostel. I definitely enjoyed this hostel as much as the first- the owner was fun, interesting, and very informative on every topic that we could think of: from the best places to rent (and repair) scooters, buy jade, or grab a beer to the lasting cultural legacy of the Japanese occupation/control of the island for the first half of the 20th century (Taiwan was called “Formosa” under the Japanese). There we met a wide array of fun other foreigners, primarily English teachers living in Taiwan (and one couple that had been on my program in Japan last year).
We then rented a pair of scooters (the equivalent of $15 a piece for 24 hours, man I love Taiwan) to explore Hualien and the surrounding area. This included the Taroko National Park, quite possibly the most awe-inspiring place of natural beauty that I have ever visited (sorry, Niagara Falls, the Cascades, the Rockies, Santa Elena Canyon, etc.). I’ll be putting photos up in a facebook album soon (I’ll post the link as soon as I do), but it’s the first place that I’ve ever been where I felt that I lack the ability (in photography, writing, etc.) to convey the scope of its beauty.
I thought that the wikitravel.org website had a good description of the landscape of the gorge:
“The most phenomenal aspect of the park is the amazing relief. In a single afternoon you can travel from rugged coastal cliffs through a maze of subtropical forested canyons to high elevation subalpine coniferous forests.
In about 20 kilometers the landscape rises from sea level to some of the tallest peaks in Taiwan at over 3800 meters. That's steep!
The force behind the steep valleys and narrow canyons is a (geologically speaking) relatively fast rate of uplift combined with ample water. Over the last 70 million years, these two forces collaborated to form the world's deepest marble canyon. The slot canyons here are remarkable with narrows sections a thousand feet high and only a dozen yards apart, reminiscent of the Virgin River in Zion National Park in Utah, USA. Ignore the fact that Zion is in the desert, and made of sandstone and Taroko is subtropical and comprised of marble, and these two gorges have a lot in common.”
http://wikitravel.org/en/Taroko_Gorge
We drove the scooters up narrow roads that clung to the sides of its massive cliffs while periodically stopping to take pictures or hike to one of the multitude of natural attractions and take pictures. Though most of my time in Taiwan was spent in sunny weather, the overcast skies and low-hanging clouds gave our journey up the gorge almost an ethereal quality as the clouds swirled around the mountain-tops (think the mountains in the movie Avatar). We first stopped at the Eternal Spring Shrine, a building with two waterfalls flowing through it that was located about 50 feet up a 1,000-foot cliff. We then saw the Swallow Grotto, a place where over the summer thousands of birds make their nests in hollows in the canyon wall. After that we walked through the Cave of the Nine Turns before ending our journey in the village of Tienhsian at a Buddhist shrine where we sat down to have spiced tofu and tea. The view was breathtaking heading both into and out of the canyon, as you notice a great deal of things that had been behind you on the way up.
That night we went out for dinner (fried rice) and a couple of drinks at a local bar, where we met a few other foreigners and enjoyed a surprisingly good live act that had covers of everything from Santana to Frank Sinatra. The next day after breakfast we headed first inland through tropical green fields (after taking a wrong turn), and then down along the coast (where we’d originally intended to go). It was striking for me to be able to see the Taroko gorge just 30 minutes from the town one day, and then drive down the gorgeous coastal road the next.
After returning the scooters, we had lunch (dumplings), went shopping for souvenirs, etc., and then headed to the train station. The majority of the afternoon was spent on the train to Tainan, the town where Sohan lives and is teaching English. We got in around 10:00 that night, then went out with his friends to a couple of the bars/clubs that they frequent.
All in all, though it turned out to be a breathless 3-day rush across the island, I am glad that we were able to do so much in such a short amount of time, and had an incredible trip with the places we saw, people we met, and (all the) food we ate. I would definitely recommend a trip to Taiwan, and as I wrote earlier, I’m looking forward to heading back.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Herbivorous men, Small faces, Ear of Bread
Quote of the week: “Makiko sensei is queen, John sensei is God”- Elementary 4th Grader
Strange food tried this week: Seaweed Jelly (grosser than Natto)
Sooo last week after watching Michael Cera (the boy from Juno) meet the cast of Jersey Shore with a bunch of friends, I endeavored to explain Jersey Shore (and Guidos more broadly) to my two Japanese friends our age. After struggling through a description of spray on tans, hair gel, and excessive muscle building, I decided that this is one cultural point that I should just let slide primarily for two reasons: 1.) even I don’t really understand Guido culture, and 2.) it was much more fun explaining “WTF”, “LOL”, “BRB”, and “ROFL”- concepts that I have an appreciably tighter grasp on.
Here’s a problem we’ll never have in America- a declining birthrate exacerbated by a new culture of “soushouku danshi” (or “Herbivorous men”). These are Japanese men that reject the traditional macho, hard-drinking, woman-chasing, salary-man stereotype of Japanese masculinity and have opted instead for a persona more along the lines of Japanese women- they are soft-spoken, they like to travel or go shopping (ok, maybe I like this too), don’t drink much alcohol, and wear hipster-esque-clothes (think skinny and highly fashionable). They also are less likely to make the first move around women. I’d meant to tell you about these guys months ago when I first heard about them, but my friend Adam reminded me of them when he had a discussion with a group of 30 year old Japanese women at a friend’s house about bad dates they’ve had- one of the women’s complaints was that the man was literally one of these: she said he didn’t eat enough and he was almost too soft spoken to hear. Though there are definitely meek boys in America, it strikes me as pretty funny that this is an emerging trend here in Japan, still a hugely patriarchal society (and one which is threatened by its declining birth rate). (http://capriboi13.livejournal.com/30140.html - a list of traits)
Recently, my friend Rich-- who is from Melbourne, Australia and I met during his semester abroad at Georgetown my sophomore Spring—decided to visit me in Japan during part of a 3-week Asia tour during his vacation from working at the Age, one of Australia’s largest print/online newspapers. We had two great days hanging out with my American & Japanese friends (including one I met on the plane to Seoul), seeing the sights, and eating famous Osaka food (yum). At one point four of us foreigners (Rich and I, Alex from Kobe and Chi Chi from N. Hyogo) were standing on the street trying to figure out what to eat for a few minutes when one of us looked up to notice a sign reading “Osaka Food Information Office” directly in front of us. Our observational skills were obviously in need of a bit of work. Instead of spending a full 5 days in Tokyo, Rich then decided to come to Tokushima for a couple of days in order to see the Japan in which I live- that is to say, outside of the two major metropolises. I greatly enjoyed showing him around a bit- taking him to the local favorite Ramen shop, to dinner in the city with other JETs, hiking up a frigid mountain (until the rain turned us back), and touring around my middle school. We walked around my school during the sports club practices, observing a few (Judo, Kendo, volleyball, basketball), and completely disrupting/joining others (table tennis). One comment that Rich got from a student was that he had a small face, which I thought was a really strange thing to say. I later asked my adult English conversation class, and found out that this is traditionally a sign of beauty. Who knew? The same goes for having a white face. I’ve started going to sports practices at my school a couple of times a week, and yesterday at tennis practice one of the girls remarked that I had a white face. While I’d always taken this as a matter of fact (though I was hoping she hadn’t meant “pasty”), apparently this was a good thing as well.
Speaking of physical appearance, the top 3 things that the Japanese will notice (and remark) about you as a foreigner:
1.) Your height
2.) The color of your eyes
3.) The color/length of your eyelashes (no kidding)
It was great to have Rich around for a few days, and a lot of fun. He’s working on a piece about his trip to Osaka (and possibly about Tokushima as well)- I’ll link them on this page when I receive them.
Most interesting Japanese word this week: パンの耳 (pan no mimi)- "Ear of bread" (literal translation)...can you guess? Right, exactly like you thought: bread crust.
Strange food tried this week: Seaweed Jelly (grosser than Natto)
Sooo last week after watching Michael Cera (the boy from Juno) meet the cast of Jersey Shore with a bunch of friends, I endeavored to explain Jersey Shore (and Guidos more broadly) to my two Japanese friends our age. After struggling through a description of spray on tans, hair gel, and excessive muscle building, I decided that this is one cultural point that I should just let slide primarily for two reasons: 1.) even I don’t really understand Guido culture, and 2.) it was much more fun explaining “WTF”, “LOL”, “BRB”, and “ROFL”- concepts that I have an appreciably tighter grasp on.
Here’s a problem we’ll never have in America- a declining birthrate exacerbated by a new culture of “soushouku danshi” (or “Herbivorous men”). These are Japanese men that reject the traditional macho, hard-drinking, woman-chasing, salary-man stereotype of Japanese masculinity and have opted instead for a persona more along the lines of Japanese women- they are soft-spoken, they like to travel or go shopping (ok, maybe I like this too), don’t drink much alcohol, and wear hipster-esque-clothes (think skinny and highly fashionable). They also are less likely to make the first move around women. I’d meant to tell you about these guys months ago when I first heard about them, but my friend Adam reminded me of them when he had a discussion with a group of 30 year old Japanese women at a friend’s house about bad dates they’ve had- one of the women’s complaints was that the man was literally one of these: she said he didn’t eat enough and he was almost too soft spoken to hear. Though there are definitely meek boys in America, it strikes me as pretty funny that this is an emerging trend here in Japan, still a hugely patriarchal society (and one which is threatened by its declining birth rate). (http://capriboi13.livejournal.com/30140.html - a list of traits)
Recently, my friend Rich-- who is from Melbourne, Australia and I met during his semester abroad at Georgetown my sophomore Spring—decided to visit me in Japan during part of a 3-week Asia tour during his vacation from working at the Age, one of Australia’s largest print/online newspapers. We had two great days hanging out with my American & Japanese friends (including one I met on the plane to Seoul), seeing the sights, and eating famous Osaka food (yum). At one point four of us foreigners (Rich and I, Alex from Kobe and Chi Chi from N. Hyogo) were standing on the street trying to figure out what to eat for a few minutes when one of us looked up to notice a sign reading “Osaka Food Information Office” directly in front of us. Our observational skills were obviously in need of a bit of work. Instead of spending a full 5 days in Tokyo, Rich then decided to come to Tokushima for a couple of days in order to see the Japan in which I live- that is to say, outside of the two major metropolises. I greatly enjoyed showing him around a bit- taking him to the local favorite Ramen shop, to dinner in the city with other JETs, hiking up a frigid mountain (until the rain turned us back), and touring around my middle school. We walked around my school during the sports club practices, observing a few (Judo, Kendo, volleyball, basketball), and completely disrupting/joining others (table tennis). One comment that Rich got from a student was that he had a small face, which I thought was a really strange thing to say. I later asked my adult English conversation class, and found out that this is traditionally a sign of beauty. Who knew? The same goes for having a white face. I’ve started going to sports practices at my school a couple of times a week, and yesterday at tennis practice one of the girls remarked that I had a white face. While I’d always taken this as a matter of fact (though I was hoping she hadn’t meant “pasty”), apparently this was a good thing as well.
Speaking of physical appearance, the top 3 things that the Japanese will notice (and remark) about you as a foreigner:
1.) Your height
2.) The color of your eyes
3.) The color/length of your eyelashes (no kidding)
It was great to have Rich around for a few days, and a lot of fun. He’s working on a piece about his trip to Osaka (and possibly about Tokushima as well)- I’ll link them on this page when I receive them.
Most interesting Japanese word this week: パンの耳 (pan no mimi)- "Ear of bread" (literal translation)...can you guess? Right, exactly like you thought: bread crust.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A Day in the Life of a JET
1/28/10
I very recently realized that I am yet to write a blog post detailing a typical day in my life as an Assistant Language Teacher on the JET program.
7:30- Not being much of a morning person, I generally get up at about this time to make it to my nearby middle school by 8:05.
8:05- The students must arrive by 8:00, and have a short home room in the morning. Around 8:10 on most mornings all of the teachers assemble in the teacher’s room for a short meeting - the head teacher for the day will make any announcements, along with whichever other teachers would like to make one to everyone. The heads of school will generally speak next, followed by smaller group announcements among the teachers for each grade.
8:40- First period begins. Classes in Japanese Junior High Schools are generally 45 or 50 minutes long (depending on if it is a special schedule or not). The first four periods last from 8:40-9:30, 9:40-10:30, 10:40-11:30, and 11:40-12:30. There are also 1-2 periods of classes after lunch. I teach 4 classes a day- as I’ve previously described, I will generally teach based on a lesson plan agreed upon by myself and that grade’s English teacher, with whom I team teach. “Team Teaching,” has a very broad interpretation across different schools in Japan. Some JETs feel that they are under-utilized and serve simply as human CD players- reading passages out of the book for the students to follow along and repeat or dictating sentences for the students to write down. Thankfully, my teachers see this a bit differently- though I spend upwards of 10-15 minutes per class doing this sort of thing (and it is very important), the rest of the time usually involves me explaining and then running an activity or two that I have come up with based on their current place in the curriculum. These activities can be anything from word games to bingo, working through any kind of worksheet I’ve come up with, or the ever popular “Tsunami” game. Some example questions from today’s game with the 3rd (9th in the US) graders: How do you say “I like walking in the park” in Japanese? To I something want eat (unscramble the sentence). Name two former Prime Ministers of Japan. How do you say “韓国” (kankoku) in English (it’s Korea). Name two professional sumo wrestlers. What are you going to do after entrance examinations next week?
12:30-1:30- Lunch Time- Students eat lunch in their classrooms, and most teachers eat in the teacher’s room. Trays, silverware/chopsticks, and plates are brought in along with containers of hot food from the food preparation building (couldn’t think of a better name for it in English- kitchen didn’t really seem to fit) by students wearing face masks and hair nets- the food is doled out on the trays and handed around. The food isn’t bad, but that’s coming from an adult- . I haven’t heard the students complain too terribly much about it outside of the classroom. The meal usually involves rice or noodles, soup, and some kind of meat (it seems to be fish about 85% of the time). Much like most American schools, they get milk with their lunch every day. When they are finished, everything is neatly stacked and taken back to the building next to the school.
1:30-2:20- 5th period- another class period
2:30-3:20- 6th period- they have 6th period 4 days a week- usually used for an extended home room or a make-up class. I do not generally teach during this period.
After 6th period- Cleaning Time! Something that Japanese schools have that I never saw in America is cleaning time. Students go to their assigned places all over the school to sweep and wipe down the floors, clean classrooms, and sweep/rake outside. JETs at my school have usually been on outside cleaning duty, so that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing.
3:40-3:50- One last short home room, then school’s out.
4:00- I get off of work.
After school-
Students will generally have club practice from 4:00-6:00 or 6:30- this can be any of the sports clubs (baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, ping pong, or that great Japanese creation- “soft tennis”), or art, band, etc.
Contractually, a JET is basically finished from this point in the day, and one of the main things that some of us struggle with is how to fill our time. Though many of us are content with playing video games and napping in the afternoon, I’ve found that there are quite a few of us who aren’t content with simply laying around. This is something I’ve really figured out since the winter break:
A few days a week I will go to club practice- usually in either tennis or basketball. Apart from the basic running of errands, I’ve begun filling in my time with a variety of (hopefully) constructive activities- studying for the LSAT/GRE at my local coffee shop, taking lessons and learning a new (as yet undisclosed) skill, studying Japanese, studying my lines for the upcoming Tokushima JET musical (the Lion King- Tokushima version), cooking dinner for friends several evenings a week, and gradually becoming better about corresponding with friends with whom for one reason or another I lost touch in the Fall.
Other JETs do things such as taking Japanese lessons in Tokushima city, learning a Japanese marshal art or skill such as Kempo or Tea Ceremony, or various other things in their communities. Though I we do live in rural Japan, my friend Rich, who recently visited, put it best after seeing my area: it’s true that there are rice fields and agriculture, but Japan simply isn’t big enough to have “rural” areas the way that the United States and Australia do, so he called it more of a rural and urban fusion. Part of the reason for this is Japan’s small size & large population- 130 million people in the land mass of the US state of Montana- and part of it is due to the fact that over 73 percent of Japan is mountainous and so habitable areas are relatively few compared to most places.
Every Thursday evening for two hours I will have my Adult English Conversation Class. This class is made up primarily of housewives over 40, with the exception of two girls my age. After having them quiz each other on what they did that week (and then presenting to the class), I will usually present a topic of conversation (things as broad as the differences between Japanese & American cultures, or as narrow as a list of English idioms) and spend the rest of the time speaking about that.
Evenings are usually spent cooking for friends, reading, or having people over for a movie night. I will also frequently watch the latest episode of the Daily Show, or even Jersey Shore if I’m thinking of indulging a guilty pleasure for mindless television.
For the ALT, weekends hold any number of possibilities. Tokushima is only two hours out of Kobe and Osaka, and so I have now spent quite a few weekends there. On 3-4 day weekends, groups of us have also made it to Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Being in a rural/urban area places me very close to a wide variety of outdoor activities, and so it is definitely easy to take advantage of this and spend a weekend at the beach, one hiking in the mountains, or relaxing by a river in between 1,000 ft. peaks. The Tokushima JETs primarily spend the weekends during the first couple months of the year in rehearsal for an annual musical to be put on in March, the justification behind this being that it gets one out of their house and together with other people during the frigid winter.
That about sums it up for a day in the life of a JET in Tokushima prefecture. Please let me know if you have any questions or anything helpful to add, thanks!!
I very recently realized that I am yet to write a blog post detailing a typical day in my life as an Assistant Language Teacher on the JET program.
7:30- Not being much of a morning person, I generally get up at about this time to make it to my nearby middle school by 8:05.
8:05- The students must arrive by 8:00, and have a short home room in the morning. Around 8:10 on most mornings all of the teachers assemble in the teacher’s room for a short meeting - the head teacher for the day will make any announcements, along with whichever other teachers would like to make one to everyone. The heads of school will generally speak next, followed by smaller group announcements among the teachers for each grade.
8:40- First period begins. Classes in Japanese Junior High Schools are generally 45 or 50 minutes long (depending on if it is a special schedule or not). The first four periods last from 8:40-9:30, 9:40-10:30, 10:40-11:30, and 11:40-12:30. There are also 1-2 periods of classes after lunch. I teach 4 classes a day- as I’ve previously described, I will generally teach based on a lesson plan agreed upon by myself and that grade’s English teacher, with whom I team teach. “Team Teaching,” has a very broad interpretation across different schools in Japan. Some JETs feel that they are under-utilized and serve simply as human CD players- reading passages out of the book for the students to follow along and repeat or dictating sentences for the students to write down. Thankfully, my teachers see this a bit differently- though I spend upwards of 10-15 minutes per class doing this sort of thing (and it is very important), the rest of the time usually involves me explaining and then running an activity or two that I have come up with based on their current place in the curriculum. These activities can be anything from word games to bingo, working through any kind of worksheet I’ve come up with, or the ever popular “Tsunami” game. Some example questions from today’s game with the 3rd (9th in the US) graders: How do you say “I like walking in the park” in Japanese? To I something want eat (unscramble the sentence). Name two former Prime Ministers of Japan. How do you say “韓国” (kankoku) in English (it’s Korea). Name two professional sumo wrestlers. What are you going to do after entrance examinations next week?
12:30-1:30- Lunch Time- Students eat lunch in their classrooms, and most teachers eat in the teacher’s room. Trays, silverware/chopsticks, and plates are brought in along with containers of hot food from the food preparation building (couldn’t think of a better name for it in English- kitchen didn’t really seem to fit) by students wearing face masks and hair nets- the food is doled out on the trays and handed around. The food isn’t bad, but that’s coming from an adult- . I haven’t heard the students complain too terribly much about it outside of the classroom. The meal usually involves rice or noodles, soup, and some kind of meat (it seems to be fish about 85% of the time). Much like most American schools, they get milk with their lunch every day. When they are finished, everything is neatly stacked and taken back to the building next to the school.
1:30-2:20- 5th period- another class period
2:30-3:20- 6th period- they have 6th period 4 days a week- usually used for an extended home room or a make-up class. I do not generally teach during this period.
After 6th period- Cleaning Time! Something that Japanese schools have that I never saw in America is cleaning time. Students go to their assigned places all over the school to sweep and wipe down the floors, clean classrooms, and sweep/rake outside. JETs at my school have usually been on outside cleaning duty, so that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing.
3:40-3:50- One last short home room, then school’s out.
4:00- I get off of work.
After school-
Students will generally have club practice from 4:00-6:00 or 6:30- this can be any of the sports clubs (baseball, softball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, ping pong, or that great Japanese creation- “soft tennis”), or art, band, etc.
Contractually, a JET is basically finished from this point in the day, and one of the main things that some of us struggle with is how to fill our time. Though many of us are content with playing video games and napping in the afternoon, I’ve found that there are quite a few of us who aren’t content with simply laying around. This is something I’ve really figured out since the winter break:
A few days a week I will go to club practice- usually in either tennis or basketball. Apart from the basic running of errands, I’ve begun filling in my time with a variety of (hopefully) constructive activities- studying for the LSAT/GRE at my local coffee shop, taking lessons and learning a new (as yet undisclosed) skill, studying Japanese, studying my lines for the upcoming Tokushima JET musical (the Lion King- Tokushima version), cooking dinner for friends several evenings a week, and gradually becoming better about corresponding with friends with whom for one reason or another I lost touch in the Fall.
Other JETs do things such as taking Japanese lessons in Tokushima city, learning a Japanese marshal art or skill such as Kempo or Tea Ceremony, or various other things in their communities. Though I we do live in rural Japan, my friend Rich, who recently visited, put it best after seeing my area: it’s true that there are rice fields and agriculture, but Japan simply isn’t big enough to have “rural” areas the way that the United States and Australia do, so he called it more of a rural and urban fusion. Part of the reason for this is Japan’s small size & large population- 130 million people in the land mass of the US state of Montana- and part of it is due to the fact that over 73 percent of Japan is mountainous and so habitable areas are relatively few compared to most places.
Every Thursday evening for two hours I will have my Adult English Conversation Class. This class is made up primarily of housewives over 40, with the exception of two girls my age. After having them quiz each other on what they did that week (and then presenting to the class), I will usually present a topic of conversation (things as broad as the differences between Japanese & American cultures, or as narrow as a list of English idioms) and spend the rest of the time speaking about that.
Evenings are usually spent cooking for friends, reading, or having people over for a movie night. I will also frequently watch the latest episode of the Daily Show, or even Jersey Shore if I’m thinking of indulging a guilty pleasure for mindless television.
For the ALT, weekends hold any number of possibilities. Tokushima is only two hours out of Kobe and Osaka, and so I have now spent quite a few weekends there. On 3-4 day weekends, groups of us have also made it to Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Being in a rural/urban area places me very close to a wide variety of outdoor activities, and so it is definitely easy to take advantage of this and spend a weekend at the beach, one hiking in the mountains, or relaxing by a river in between 1,000 ft. peaks. The Tokushima JETs primarily spend the weekends during the first couple months of the year in rehearsal for an annual musical to be put on in March, the justification behind this being that it gets one out of their house and together with other people during the frigid winter.
That about sums it up for a day in the life of a JET in Tokushima prefecture. Please let me know if you have any questions or anything helpful to add, thanks!!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Christmas Break ’09-’10: Best Skiing Weather Ever, Birdie the Chocolate Lab, New Years in Seoul, Seoul’s 100 year snow, Chicken Feet (Pt. 2)
For the second part of my break I was able to go to Seoul, South Korea for a week and stay with the wonderful Park family, whose sons go/went to St. Stephen’s (my high school), and who are good family friends. My visit entailed experiencing the true difference between the Korean diet and pretty much any other food I’d ever had, being pulled up on stage at a Korean comedy show, having my most international New Year’s ever, seeing some of the coldest weather I’ve ever seen in person, and even going on a weekend ski trip with the family.
Food, in Korea, is not for the faint of heart. Virtually every thing that I ate during my week there was spiced in some way, from the kimchi-flavored lettuce to be used in lettuce wraps at the Korean BBQ restaurant to the chicken feet (yes, chicken feet) we snacked on while waiting for one of our meals. For those of you who don’t know, “kimchi” can basically include any of numerous Korean dishes made of picked vegetables and spices, the most common of which is the cabbage variety. Though the smell, texture, and general look of the dish aren’t the most appealing things in the world, it ends up making a pretty delicious addition to most Korean foods. Wikipedia fact of the day: kimchi is so ubiquitous in Korean gastronomy that the Korean space agency made a form of it to travel to space with their astronauts. I wonder if they make space Tex Mex…
Anyways, every meal that I had in Korea was shared family-style, even the one at Outback Steak House. After ordering, the waiter would bring out banchan, or a variety of side-dishes (including kimchi) that we ate before and during the meal. My biggest surprise (beyond the vast array of tastes arrayed before us) came when we actually began our meal. I found out fairly quickly that Korean table manners are different than any I’d experienced before- while in the States my mother had always strictly enforced the no-reaching-in-front-of-your-brother-to-get-last-piece-of-food rule, this simply was not present at the Korean table. Also, in Japan it is bad manners to pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks, so that when Mrs. Park offered me a piece of pork over the BBQ, I at first almost thought she wanted to feed it to me. The Japanese taboo comes from the fact that in traditional funerals that was the way that they passed the bones of the deceased after cremating them. After getting over the differences in table manners, I was ready to dig in to the cuisine, which included kimchi-pancakes, BBQ pork cooked on a grill in the middle of the table, various forms of what the Japanese would call nabe (dishes cooked in a big water-filled pot in the midde of the table), fried rice, white rice, small dehydrated fish, steak (thanks to Outback), cucumber soup, kimchi-(insert vegetable here), and of course the deboned, boiled, and kimchi-basted chicken feet (chewy and spicy, but surprisingly tasty).
Along with any good Korean meal must come some form of alcoholic beverage. During my time with the family we sipped on raspberry wine, Korean beer, souju (a vodka-like liquor made from potatoes), and makkoli/makgeolli (a milky and sweet rice wine).
Speaking of food, the boys, Alex and Jason, took me to Nanta, a Korean comedy show that I can only describe as the fusion of “Stomp,” Iron Chef, and a Jackie chan movie. Needless to say, it was pretty entertaining. At one point in the show, I was pulled up on stage and thrown into a mock wedding with one of the smallest women in the audience- if you’re lucky I may someday show you the photo proof of this event.
My most international New Year’s Eve/Day ever:
Because I was in Seoul for New Year’s, I had the opportunity to witness the way that the capital of Korea celebrated ringing in 2010, which they did quite literally by ringing a massive bell in the center of the city. The bell-ringing was preceded by several musical performances by Korean pop groups, appearances by various celebrities and government figures, and music performed on traditional Korean drums. Unlike New York City, New Years festivities were split up across Seoul, with the various performances at each being broadcast on TV’s at the other stages.
In saying that I had an “international” New Years, I mean that during the course of the evening/night/next morning I experienced a bit of American, Mexican, and of course Korean cultures: Outback Steakhouse with the Park family for dinner (I say this is American, because I’m not sure if they actually have them in Australia- I’m doubtful, for some reason), then met up with some American friends in downtown Seoul to head to the bell-ringing (we went to the main stage). At midnight, we ate grape candy and made a wish with a group of Mexican friends we’d made (you eat 12 grapes and make a wish at midnight in Hispanic culture), and then the next morning I awoke to a traditional Korean New Years breakfast, including fish and a soup called tteokguk, which consists of a broth and thinly sliced rice-cakes. It is a tradition to eat tteokguk on New Years because it is believed to grant the consumer luck for the forthcoming year and for him or her to supposedly gain an additional year of life.
When it comes to sightseeing, I walked around the city for two days and nights with Alex, and he gave me a pretty complete run-down of the northern half of the city, including the Shincheon area (popular for shopping and restaurants), Seoul Tower (from which one had a panoramic view of the entire city), a street lined with vendors of various souvenirs and treats (name forthcoming), the Seoul Lights Festival, the largest of the five national palaces in the city, and a peaceful canal-turned park in the middle of the city.
Though I don’t speak Korean, I was fascinated to observe people and note differences that I thought I saw between Korean and Japanese ways of interaction. This may be a product of having lived in the countryside for 5 1/2 months now, but whereas the Japanese are closely observant of personal space and downright apologetic when it is accidentally invaded, I found that brushing past people in the big city without a word to be the norm. Many of the interactions I noted in restaurants and stores were much less formal than what I’ve grown accustomed to in Japan, but I have to assume that Japan’s hyper-active and politeness-oriented service industry is the outlier on this one. Finally, I found Koreans to be much more direct in their interactions with one another, whereas I’m now used to the self-effacing and hinting nature of the way the Japanese express themselves. Of course, these observations were hindered by my lack of familiarity with the language, but they seemed to be the most self-evident.
Though I wasn’t able to make it to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea on this trip (something I’d been greatly looking forward to), the Parks took me on a ski trip for the weekend at the Phoenix Ski resort (which also had an indoor water-park that I found to be pretty remarkable), so I did end up making it out of Seoul for a few days.
I’m incredibly thankful to the Park family for giving me the chance to fully experience Seoul in a way that I would have had little chance to do otherwise. I’m definitely looking forward to making it back there at some point, hopefully after working a tad bit more on my Korean. I would highly recommend making the trip to anyone who isn’t afraid to try new (and spicy) cuisines, who is a fan of history, and wants to experience a truly different culture, distinct even from those in surrounding countries.
Food, in Korea, is not for the faint of heart. Virtually every thing that I ate during my week there was spiced in some way, from the kimchi-flavored lettuce to be used in lettuce wraps at the Korean BBQ restaurant to the chicken feet (yes, chicken feet) we snacked on while waiting for one of our meals. For those of you who don’t know, “kimchi” can basically include any of numerous Korean dishes made of picked vegetables and spices, the most common of which is the cabbage variety. Though the smell, texture, and general look of the dish aren’t the most appealing things in the world, it ends up making a pretty delicious addition to most Korean foods. Wikipedia fact of the day: kimchi is so ubiquitous in Korean gastronomy that the Korean space agency made a form of it to travel to space with their astronauts. I wonder if they make space Tex Mex…
Anyways, every meal that I had in Korea was shared family-style, even the one at Outback Steak House. After ordering, the waiter would bring out banchan, or a variety of side-dishes (including kimchi) that we ate before and during the meal. My biggest surprise (beyond the vast array of tastes arrayed before us) came when we actually began our meal. I found out fairly quickly that Korean table manners are different than any I’d experienced before- while in the States my mother had always strictly enforced the no-reaching-in-front-of-your-brother-to-get-last-piece-of-food rule, this simply was not present at the Korean table. Also, in Japan it is bad manners to pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks, so that when Mrs. Park offered me a piece of pork over the BBQ, I at first almost thought she wanted to feed it to me. The Japanese taboo comes from the fact that in traditional funerals that was the way that they passed the bones of the deceased after cremating them. After getting over the differences in table manners, I was ready to dig in to the cuisine, which included kimchi-pancakes, BBQ pork cooked on a grill in the middle of the table, various forms of what the Japanese would call nabe (dishes cooked in a big water-filled pot in the midde of the table), fried rice, white rice, small dehydrated fish, steak (thanks to Outback), cucumber soup, kimchi-(insert vegetable here), and of course the deboned, boiled, and kimchi-basted chicken feet (chewy and spicy, but surprisingly tasty).
Along with any good Korean meal must come some form of alcoholic beverage. During my time with the family we sipped on raspberry wine, Korean beer, souju (a vodka-like liquor made from potatoes), and makkoli/makgeolli (a milky and sweet rice wine).
Speaking of food, the boys, Alex and Jason, took me to Nanta, a Korean comedy show that I can only describe as the fusion of “Stomp,” Iron Chef, and a Jackie chan movie. Needless to say, it was pretty entertaining. At one point in the show, I was pulled up on stage and thrown into a mock wedding with one of the smallest women in the audience- if you’re lucky I may someday show you the photo proof of this event.
My most international New Year’s Eve/Day ever:
Because I was in Seoul for New Year’s, I had the opportunity to witness the way that the capital of Korea celebrated ringing in 2010, which they did quite literally by ringing a massive bell in the center of the city. The bell-ringing was preceded by several musical performances by Korean pop groups, appearances by various celebrities and government figures, and music performed on traditional Korean drums. Unlike New York City, New Years festivities were split up across Seoul, with the various performances at each being broadcast on TV’s at the other stages.
In saying that I had an “international” New Years, I mean that during the course of the evening/night/next morning I experienced a bit of American, Mexican, and of course Korean cultures: Outback Steakhouse with the Park family for dinner (I say this is American, because I’m not sure if they actually have them in Australia- I’m doubtful, for some reason), then met up with some American friends in downtown Seoul to head to the bell-ringing (we went to the main stage). At midnight, we ate grape candy and made a wish with a group of Mexican friends we’d made (you eat 12 grapes and make a wish at midnight in Hispanic culture), and then the next morning I awoke to a traditional Korean New Years breakfast, including fish and a soup called tteokguk, which consists of a broth and thinly sliced rice-cakes. It is a tradition to eat tteokguk on New Years because it is believed to grant the consumer luck for the forthcoming year and for him or her to supposedly gain an additional year of life.
When it comes to sightseeing, I walked around the city for two days and nights with Alex, and he gave me a pretty complete run-down of the northern half of the city, including the Shincheon area (popular for shopping and restaurants), Seoul Tower (from which one had a panoramic view of the entire city), a street lined with vendors of various souvenirs and treats (name forthcoming), the Seoul Lights Festival, the largest of the five national palaces in the city, and a peaceful canal-turned park in the middle of the city.
Though I don’t speak Korean, I was fascinated to observe people and note differences that I thought I saw between Korean and Japanese ways of interaction. This may be a product of having lived in the countryside for 5 1/2 months now, but whereas the Japanese are closely observant of personal space and downright apologetic when it is accidentally invaded, I found that brushing past people in the big city without a word to be the norm. Many of the interactions I noted in restaurants and stores were much less formal than what I’ve grown accustomed to in Japan, but I have to assume that Japan’s hyper-active and politeness-oriented service industry is the outlier on this one. Finally, I found Koreans to be much more direct in their interactions with one another, whereas I’m now used to the self-effacing and hinting nature of the way the Japanese express themselves. Of course, these observations were hindered by my lack of familiarity with the language, but they seemed to be the most self-evident.
Though I wasn’t able to make it to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea on this trip (something I’d been greatly looking forward to), the Parks took me on a ski trip for the weekend at the Phoenix Ski resort (which also had an indoor water-park that I found to be pretty remarkable), so I did end up making it out of Seoul for a few days.
I’m incredibly thankful to the Park family for giving me the chance to fully experience Seoul in a way that I would have had little chance to do otherwise. I’m definitely looking forward to making it back there at some point, hopefully after working a tad bit more on my Korean. I would highly recommend making the trip to anyone who isn’t afraid to try new (and spicy) cuisines, who is a fan of history, and wants to experience a truly different culture, distinct even from those in surrounding countries.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Christmas Break ’09-’10: Best Skiing Weather Ever, Birdie the Chocolate Lab, New Years in Seoul, Seoul’s 100 year snow, Chicken Feet (Pt. 1)
Welcome back to my blog after an all-too-long hiatus! As the title of this entry entails, I’ve just returned from a 2 1/2 week journey that took me from little Awa city to Kobe, Portland, Osaka, and Seoul. I’ll take you through my trip (and observations through it) in as concise of a way as possible.
Dec 18- I leave Awa city after teaching my last classes of 2009. These were to JHS (junior high school) 2nd graders (read: 8th grade), and I enjoyed running around the school all day in a Santa hat, alternately bellowing out the occasional “ho ho ho” in my best Santa voice, or allowing the students in the hallways turns of wearing it and giving me their best Santa (or maybe John sensei) impression- somehow this activity was more popular amongst the girls. Having the fantastic Chris to drive me to the bus stop, I boarded for my 18 day journey and promptly made my way to my host family’s house in Kobe (note: I studied abroad in Japan for 11 months during my sophomore year of high school). I then had a relaxing evening with my host mother and 26-year-old host sister, catching up on family matters and watching my eldest host sister’s wedding video (see previous blog entry). As entertaining as the video was hearing about my eldest host sister’s exploits in running her own household for the first time, and bearing witness to a phone call home when she didn’t know what to do with a plugged toilet- this reminded me of calling my mother freshman year of college to ask whether to use hot or cold water when washing my clothes.
Dec. 19-28: Portland
I was off again early the next morning to catch an 11 am flight to Tokyo from Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Osaka, the second largest airport in Japan. This was a further 2 hour bus ride from Kobe. At the airport, I made a new friend in a lady from New Zealand, and she subsequently gave me her information in Auckland and let me know I was welcome to stay any time. I love kiwis J I then boarded my flight with a fellow JET from Tokushima who was heading home to California for the break, Henry, and then flew from Tokyo directly to Portland. That flight was interesting in that I sat with an American man who had moved to Singapore to work in IT 20 years before, and had married and settled there. As I’ve always considered either working abroad for a little while (like the present) or finding a career that sent me abroad often, I was keenly interested to hear his perspective on not only adapting to and assimilating into a different culture abroad over time, but also his views as an expat on America’s current foreign and economic policy. He was not overly complimentary of the Obama administration’s current policies, but acknowledged that the situation was a difficult one and asserted that he believed many of his critics were overly critical of medium-longer term policies that had not had time to reach fruition. He had a fairly positive view of the administration’s economic policies, which was interesting in that he was living in Asia during their financial crisis of 1997 for which the US was roundly criticized as not having done enough to stave off.
A strange (or interesting) thing about flying East over the Atlantic to the West coast is that one arrives a good deal of time before one actually left, chronologically speaking. After a 9 hour flight, I landed in a time zone that was 17 hours behind the one I’d just left, and so left at 4 in the afternoon and arrived at around 7:30 in the morning.
I arrived in Portland where my aunt and uncle awaited me at the airport. It was wonderful to be on American soil again for the first time in 5 months. They promptly took me home to meet their 7 month old chocolate lab, Birdie, who was just as awkward, gangly, playful, and adorable as a chocolate lab should be. She not only added her puppy energy to the house, but also enhanced all activities from eating breakfast (head resting on your knee), refilling the Christmas tree water (joining you to see what you were up to), and even a Portland tradition: playing four-square with the neighbors (she served as an active obstacle).
I greatly enjoyed helping my uncle pick out a Christmas tree, eating American-style pizza, and relaxing to read a book in a house that had central heating. As an unexpected bonus, unbeknownst to me my parents had been unable to cancel my cell phone plan, and so I received several texts on my arrival, which I then happily discovered I was able to respond to.
Two days after my arrival Mark, my younger (albeit taller) brother arrived from Texas, and the four of us (aunt, uncle, myself, Mark) took off to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood to ski for a couple of days (google it for pictures or check my facebook- absolutely beautiful place). The lodge itself was built during the Great Depression in the middle of Mt. Hood national forest as a project to bring jobs to the area (much like Georgetown’s White-Gravesnor building). As the name suggests, the lodge and ski slopes rest on the upper reaches of where trees stretch on the mountain. The highest lifts give a stunning panoramic of the mountain itself, the lodge and hills below, and Mt. Jefferson, the Three Sisters, and Mt. Batchelor in the distance (the closest, Mt. Jefferson, was 40 miles away). The lodge is built like an old-style European ski lodge, with wings branching off from a single, massive, three-story room with a huge chimney in the middle, accommodating fire places on each of 4-5 sides- yes, the most perfect place in the world to curl up with a book and a cup of hot chocolate after a long day of skiing. Also exciting was an outdoor heated pool and hot tub, which had a wonderful view of the sky at night. The weather could not have been more perfect for our trip- though it had snowed a few days previous to our excursion, the sky could not have been more clear and the vistas more gorgeous for our time there. I took a great deal of pictures of the mountain and the view from the lodge, as well as a few from the top of the highest-available lift. All told, between skiing the entire day and enjoying the comfort of the lodge at night (with of course great company), it was entirely idyllic and restful.
We returned to Portland, and enjoyed Christmas-eve dinner with family friends. I was informed by our wonderful hostess at the dinner that she had a daughter currently teaching English in Seoul, South Korea. Seeing as that a trip to Seoul would constitute the second half of my winter break, she enjoined me to get into touch with said daughter to see if we could arrange a meeting. This did end up occurring, but later in my story.
My parents arrived on Christmas day, and it was incredible to be able to see so much of my family for the holidays, and look forward to seeing the rest this summer. The final three days of my stay were a flurry of Christmas- and family-related activity: I very much enjoyed having an American-style Christmas evening of dinner and opening presents. I did my best to bring presents that best represented the culture of my specific prefecture: from coasters and paper made at the Awagami paper factory (since the 16th century) 10 minutes from my house, to things died with traditional Aizome indigo dye, and various artifacts from the Awa-Odori dance festival (the largest dance festival in Japan, see early entry). Even more fun than searching for these was discovering that the 100-yen (read: dollar) store was a gold mine for stocking stuffers for my younger brother and cousin. It was rife with gag gifts such as a clear, heavily made up mask upon which was written “You can be a drag queen!” and also the fake, inflatable bags made to increase chest size. Sprinkled in with the more obvious gag gifts were the things with awkward English phrases written on them, such as the bag meant to “support your more comfortable amenity life” (Mark is free to comment on the others).
I was able to see both Avatar and Sherlock Holmes. Though Avatar’s textbook plot and sometimes inane dialogue would have seriously affected another movie, the out-of-this-world (no pun intended, sadly) visuals entirely made up for them and made it a movie going experience that I’d like to repeat. I fully concurred with the opinion that instead of the movie being eye candy, it was eye crack-cocaine. As I am no movie critic (and generally very easily amused), I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes as a less-brainy-than-expected action flick.
I spent my time in Portland indulging myself in various food cravings that I had endured while abroad. Dairy is not part of Japan’s traditional diet, and beef consumption only became widespread there after the lifting of an import ban in 1991 dropped the price of it drastically. Therefore cheese (one of my favorite things in the world) is pretty difficult to find (at least out in the country), beef comes in strips and McDonald’s hamburgers, pizza is often thin and contains such ingredients as squid, tuna, and corn, and there is no Mexican food to speak of (within an hour drive at least). My cravings were easily satiated in the period of less than 24 hours in Portland: I was able to enjoy an enchilada dinner, partake in an American pizza, eat a steak, and buy some sharp cheddar cheese at the store. Talk about a hog heaven of consumption.
This is not to say that I don’t love Japanese food, but getting a taste of home was a welcome experience, especially before the sea-change that was Korean food.
It was also nice to drive a full-size car again on the right side of the road, though I must admit I several times repeated the mistake I had in first arriving to Japan of walking to the wrong side of the car (as the steering wheels are located on opposite sides). The audacity and poor driving skill of people in my prefecture happens to be something of legend in Japan. Drivers are either very slow or very fast, the concept of “slowing down” on yellow is entirely unheard of, and one must often wait any number of seconds after a light has turned green to safely traverse an intersection for fear of one of the 15 cars that makes a right (left in the US) turn after the light has actually changed because they had patiently waited for the yellow and red-light runners coming the opposite direction. For the rest of my life, I will likely refer to any driver with less-than-stellar skill behind the wheel as a “Tokushima driver”. But I digress.
The rest of my time in Portland was spent relaxing with family, visiting my grandmother and grandfather, and seeing other friends in Portland. Mark and I had the opportunity to sip hot cocoa in downtown Portland with our friends Erika and Mai (who both speak Japanese), visit Powell’s City of Books, the city-block-sized independent bookstore (and one of my favorite places in the world), and go with our friend Nadia to Portland’s infamous Voodoo Doughnuts shop at 2 in the morning (which reminded me verrry much of the many hipster-esque places in Austin).
In all, I was extremely happy to be able to spend a few days in the States before heading back out here to Asia. My next visit will hopefully be in late July/early August to Washington, DC and Austin, we shall see J
Up next: Korea!
Dec 18- I leave Awa city after teaching my last classes of 2009. These were to JHS (junior high school) 2nd graders (read: 8th grade), and I enjoyed running around the school all day in a Santa hat, alternately bellowing out the occasional “ho ho ho” in my best Santa voice, or allowing the students in the hallways turns of wearing it and giving me their best Santa (or maybe John sensei) impression- somehow this activity was more popular amongst the girls. Having the fantastic Chris to drive me to the bus stop, I boarded for my 18 day journey and promptly made my way to my host family’s house in Kobe (note: I studied abroad in Japan for 11 months during my sophomore year of high school). I then had a relaxing evening with my host mother and 26-year-old host sister, catching up on family matters and watching my eldest host sister’s wedding video (see previous blog entry). As entertaining as the video was hearing about my eldest host sister’s exploits in running her own household for the first time, and bearing witness to a phone call home when she didn’t know what to do with a plugged toilet- this reminded me of calling my mother freshman year of college to ask whether to use hot or cold water when washing my clothes.
Dec. 19-28: Portland
I was off again early the next morning to catch an 11 am flight to Tokyo from Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Osaka, the second largest airport in Japan. This was a further 2 hour bus ride from Kobe. At the airport, I made a new friend in a lady from New Zealand, and she subsequently gave me her information in Auckland and let me know I was welcome to stay any time. I love kiwis J I then boarded my flight with a fellow JET from Tokushima who was heading home to California for the break, Henry, and then flew from Tokyo directly to Portland. That flight was interesting in that I sat with an American man who had moved to Singapore to work in IT 20 years before, and had married and settled there. As I’ve always considered either working abroad for a little while (like the present) or finding a career that sent me abroad often, I was keenly interested to hear his perspective on not only adapting to and assimilating into a different culture abroad over time, but also his views as an expat on America’s current foreign and economic policy. He was not overly complimentary of the Obama administration’s current policies, but acknowledged that the situation was a difficult one and asserted that he believed many of his critics were overly critical of medium-longer term policies that had not had time to reach fruition. He had a fairly positive view of the administration’s economic policies, which was interesting in that he was living in Asia during their financial crisis of 1997 for which the US was roundly criticized as not having done enough to stave off.
A strange (or interesting) thing about flying East over the Atlantic to the West coast is that one arrives a good deal of time before one actually left, chronologically speaking. After a 9 hour flight, I landed in a time zone that was 17 hours behind the one I’d just left, and so left at 4 in the afternoon and arrived at around 7:30 in the morning.
I arrived in Portland where my aunt and uncle awaited me at the airport. It was wonderful to be on American soil again for the first time in 5 months. They promptly took me home to meet their 7 month old chocolate lab, Birdie, who was just as awkward, gangly, playful, and adorable as a chocolate lab should be. She not only added her puppy energy to the house, but also enhanced all activities from eating breakfast (head resting on your knee), refilling the Christmas tree water (joining you to see what you were up to), and even a Portland tradition: playing four-square with the neighbors (she served as an active obstacle).
I greatly enjoyed helping my uncle pick out a Christmas tree, eating American-style pizza, and relaxing to read a book in a house that had central heating. As an unexpected bonus, unbeknownst to me my parents had been unable to cancel my cell phone plan, and so I received several texts on my arrival, which I then happily discovered I was able to respond to.
Two days after my arrival Mark, my younger (albeit taller) brother arrived from Texas, and the four of us (aunt, uncle, myself, Mark) took off to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood to ski for a couple of days (google it for pictures or check my facebook- absolutely beautiful place). The lodge itself was built during the Great Depression in the middle of Mt. Hood national forest as a project to bring jobs to the area (much like Georgetown’s White-Gravesnor building). As the name suggests, the lodge and ski slopes rest on the upper reaches of where trees stretch on the mountain. The highest lifts give a stunning panoramic of the mountain itself, the lodge and hills below, and Mt. Jefferson, the Three Sisters, and Mt. Batchelor in the distance (the closest, Mt. Jefferson, was 40 miles away). The lodge is built like an old-style European ski lodge, with wings branching off from a single, massive, three-story room with a huge chimney in the middle, accommodating fire places on each of 4-5 sides- yes, the most perfect place in the world to curl up with a book and a cup of hot chocolate after a long day of skiing. Also exciting was an outdoor heated pool and hot tub, which had a wonderful view of the sky at night. The weather could not have been more perfect for our trip- though it had snowed a few days previous to our excursion, the sky could not have been more clear and the vistas more gorgeous for our time there. I took a great deal of pictures of the mountain and the view from the lodge, as well as a few from the top of the highest-available lift. All told, between skiing the entire day and enjoying the comfort of the lodge at night (with of course great company), it was entirely idyllic and restful.
We returned to Portland, and enjoyed Christmas-eve dinner with family friends. I was informed by our wonderful hostess at the dinner that she had a daughter currently teaching English in Seoul, South Korea. Seeing as that a trip to Seoul would constitute the second half of my winter break, she enjoined me to get into touch with said daughter to see if we could arrange a meeting. This did end up occurring, but later in my story.
My parents arrived on Christmas day, and it was incredible to be able to see so much of my family for the holidays, and look forward to seeing the rest this summer. The final three days of my stay were a flurry of Christmas- and family-related activity: I very much enjoyed having an American-style Christmas evening of dinner and opening presents. I did my best to bring presents that best represented the culture of my specific prefecture: from coasters and paper made at the Awagami paper factory (since the 16th century) 10 minutes from my house, to things died with traditional Aizome indigo dye, and various artifacts from the Awa-Odori dance festival (the largest dance festival in Japan, see early entry). Even more fun than searching for these was discovering that the 100-yen (read: dollar) store was a gold mine for stocking stuffers for my younger brother and cousin. It was rife with gag gifts such as a clear, heavily made up mask upon which was written “You can be a drag queen!” and also the fake, inflatable bags made to increase chest size. Sprinkled in with the more obvious gag gifts were the things with awkward English phrases written on them, such as the bag meant to “support your more comfortable amenity life” (Mark is free to comment on the others).
I was able to see both Avatar and Sherlock Holmes. Though Avatar’s textbook plot and sometimes inane dialogue would have seriously affected another movie, the out-of-this-world (no pun intended, sadly) visuals entirely made up for them and made it a movie going experience that I’d like to repeat. I fully concurred with the opinion that instead of the movie being eye candy, it was eye crack-cocaine. As I am no movie critic (and generally very easily amused), I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes as a less-brainy-than-expected action flick.
I spent my time in Portland indulging myself in various food cravings that I had endured while abroad. Dairy is not part of Japan’s traditional diet, and beef consumption only became widespread there after the lifting of an import ban in 1991 dropped the price of it drastically. Therefore cheese (one of my favorite things in the world) is pretty difficult to find (at least out in the country), beef comes in strips and McDonald’s hamburgers, pizza is often thin and contains such ingredients as squid, tuna, and corn, and there is no Mexican food to speak of (within an hour drive at least). My cravings were easily satiated in the period of less than 24 hours in Portland: I was able to enjoy an enchilada dinner, partake in an American pizza, eat a steak, and buy some sharp cheddar cheese at the store. Talk about a hog heaven of consumption.
This is not to say that I don’t love Japanese food, but getting a taste of home was a welcome experience, especially before the sea-change that was Korean food.
It was also nice to drive a full-size car again on the right side of the road, though I must admit I several times repeated the mistake I had in first arriving to Japan of walking to the wrong side of the car (as the steering wheels are located on opposite sides). The audacity and poor driving skill of people in my prefecture happens to be something of legend in Japan. Drivers are either very slow or very fast, the concept of “slowing down” on yellow is entirely unheard of, and one must often wait any number of seconds after a light has turned green to safely traverse an intersection for fear of one of the 15 cars that makes a right (left in the US) turn after the light has actually changed because they had patiently waited for the yellow and red-light runners coming the opposite direction. For the rest of my life, I will likely refer to any driver with less-than-stellar skill behind the wheel as a “Tokushima driver”. But I digress.
The rest of my time in Portland was spent relaxing with family, visiting my grandmother and grandfather, and seeing other friends in Portland. Mark and I had the opportunity to sip hot cocoa in downtown Portland with our friends Erika and Mai (who both speak Japanese), visit Powell’s City of Books, the city-block-sized independent bookstore (and one of my favorite places in the world), and go with our friend Nadia to Portland’s infamous Voodoo Doughnuts shop at 2 in the morning (which reminded me verrry much of the many hipster-esque places in Austin).
In all, I was extremely happy to be able to spend a few days in the States before heading back out here to Asia. My next visit will hopefully be in late July/early August to Washington, DC and Austin, we shall see J
Up next: Korea!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Getting Married in Japan
Setting the scene:
Organ music plays. The priest, bedecked in his vestments, walks down the aisle ahead of the nervously shuffling groom. He asks the congregation to stand, and as the music hits a crescendo, in walks the bride resplendent in a beautiful white wedding dress- the train of which follows neatly behind her. The bride's face is partially obscured by her white veil, and she carries a bouquet of white roses in her hands. While walking together down the aisle, she and her father are careful to match their steps. The father measures his steps carefully, taking speacial care not to tread on her dress. Reaching the altar after a halting march, the father hands her off to his soon-to-be son-in-law, making a small bow in the process.
The priest offers several prayers expounding on God's love for man and the eternal bonds of matrimony that will bound the new couple. He leads the congregation in a hym, sung in a monotone redolent of a gregorian chant. The ceremony climaxes in the exchanging of the rings, lifting of the veil, and tender kiss. "Under the power vested in me by ______, I now pronounce you man (/husband/etc.) and wife", and the couple parades out under a shower of rose petals.
On to the banquet- while everyone sits around various tables facing a main, central one- the new couple is toasted with champagne, everyone is treated to a wonderful meal (foie gras, steak, lobster, etc), and there are several tear-filled speeches punctuated by a slideshow of embarrassing childhood photos. Throughout all of this, the background is permeated by the constant murmur of sappy music.
Sound familiar? While one could easily associate this description with any given wedding ceremony and reception in the United States- it's one that I generally find harder reconciling with my previous knowledge of Japan. Only about 3% of the Japanese population professes Christianity. On top of that, the joyous and often even out-of-hand nature of American weddings and the receptions that follow had very little chance in my mind of occuring in a conservative, often painfully ceremonial culture such as Japan's. The Japanese love nothing if not a ceremony. School semesters begin and end with them. They mark the beginning and end of one's work in a company. School cultural festivals, sports days, and other special days all include them. They are employed in virtually every situation possible. Japanese ceremonies are generally serious, closely choreographed affairs- the participants know their moves and bows to a T. They are also almost unflinchingly serious and stiff while going through the motions.
Thus, it was with a fair bit of wonder (but not with much surprise), that I saw the motions of a Western wedding (complete with priest) take place before me, with all the seriousness of the typical Japanese ceremony. I was sitting in a hybrid. This continued to the wedding pictures, where the photographer did her best to get all of those involved to crack a smile (I feel like my beaming face will sorely stand out in the picture of everyone there). I did get my host, sister, the bride, to beam for a picture of us- which I was quite proud of haha.
The banquet was very closely choreographed- seats were typically arranged in the Japanese order of precedence (with the younger siblings/friends/extended family on the outer reaches, and the parents and Japanese bosses of the husband in the center), an MC talked us through each presentation (even the places for applause), and there were a number of speeches (the predictable ones- groom & groom's family, bride, a relative or two, and not-so-predictable- two of the bosses, etc.). One of my favorite aspects of Japanese culture is its bipolarity when it comes to ceremony- they know that there is a time to be very serious, and a time to unwind afterwards. This is generally when the alcohol begins to flow, as the reception turned out to be (we each received a glass of red wine, white wine, champagne, full). Japanese people aren't allowed to refill their own drinks in formal situations. This leaves a golden opportunity for socializing, as you can take one of the large beer bottles from your table, and walk around the room filling people's drink for them while making conversation (this is true for any Japanese party/occasion where drinking of any sort takes place).
The most touching parts of the reception were the slide show full of pictures of the bride & groom during their cute childhood (and awkward teenage) years. True to their personalities, my host sister was beaming in each of her photos, and her Kyoto University (read: Princeton)-educated husband was a study in serious faces. Another great part was a slightly-intoxicated uncle of the groom getting up to sing a song he'd written for the fathers of the bride & groom. I couldn't understand all of it, but overall it was a chiding song urging them to let go of their babies, and imagining the years to come. This prompted the youngest guest to the wedding, the two-year-old nephew of the groom, to want to sing a song he'd learned in nursery school (about a silly) cat, and he was duly humored.
Unlike American weddings, this was about it- after desert was served and finished, and final speeches made by the families, the guests left and went home at around 8:30. This was another big contrast from my view of American weddings lasting well into the night with dancing, etc.
The entirety of the wedding took place at an old Japanese-style mansion in one of the nicest neighborhoods of central Kobe. Though, as you can probably imagine, space is at a premium in Japan, the house and gardens surrounding it took take up at least an acre. The house was previously owned by the founder of a large insurance conglomerate, and so the 4-story house itself and gardens have been kept in immaculate condition. Wandering around the grounds, there is little to give away the fact that one is in the middle of a packed city of several million people. The chapel in which the ceremony was performed was a beautiful small building in the back that could probably only fit about 60 people in total.
The three most popular ways to get married in Japan are: the Western, hotel-style (often in a hotel with a built-in chapel, the bride wears a wedding dress); the Japanese, shrine-style (at a Shinto shrine, traditional kimonos are worn); and a Western, Christian-style celebrated at a location dedicated to weddings and other ceremonies of the type (my host sister's). According to my host father, the one my host sister and her husband chose was relatively rare (because it's a bit more expensive), but I'd have to say it seemed to be the best, most beautiful type of fusion. As stiff and formal as it was at times, it was still touching. I have the feeling that compared to this, attending a Western-style wedding in a hotel (even if accompanied by Christian vows) would smack of counterfeit. Though I know I shouldn't judge the other two types of weddings before I've actually attended them, for now the one this weekend will remain the ideal Japanese-Western/Christian fusion in my mind.
Organ music plays. The priest, bedecked in his vestments, walks down the aisle ahead of the nervously shuffling groom. He asks the congregation to stand, and as the music hits a crescendo, in walks the bride resplendent in a beautiful white wedding dress- the train of which follows neatly behind her. The bride's face is partially obscured by her white veil, and she carries a bouquet of white roses in her hands. While walking together down the aisle, she and her father are careful to match their steps. The father measures his steps carefully, taking speacial care not to tread on her dress. Reaching the altar after a halting march, the father hands her off to his soon-to-be son-in-law, making a small bow in the process.
The priest offers several prayers expounding on God's love for man and the eternal bonds of matrimony that will bound the new couple. He leads the congregation in a hym, sung in a monotone redolent of a gregorian chant. The ceremony climaxes in the exchanging of the rings, lifting of the veil, and tender kiss. "Under the power vested in me by ______, I now pronounce you man (/husband/etc.) and wife", and the couple parades out under a shower of rose petals.
On to the banquet- while everyone sits around various tables facing a main, central one- the new couple is toasted with champagne, everyone is treated to a wonderful meal (foie gras, steak, lobster, etc), and there are several tear-filled speeches punctuated by a slideshow of embarrassing childhood photos. Throughout all of this, the background is permeated by the constant murmur of sappy music.
Sound familiar? While one could easily associate this description with any given wedding ceremony and reception in the United States- it's one that I generally find harder reconciling with my previous knowledge of Japan. Only about 3% of the Japanese population professes Christianity. On top of that, the joyous and often even out-of-hand nature of American weddings and the receptions that follow had very little chance in my mind of occuring in a conservative, often painfully ceremonial culture such as Japan's. The Japanese love nothing if not a ceremony. School semesters begin and end with them. They mark the beginning and end of one's work in a company. School cultural festivals, sports days, and other special days all include them. They are employed in virtually every situation possible. Japanese ceremonies are generally serious, closely choreographed affairs- the participants know their moves and bows to a T. They are also almost unflinchingly serious and stiff while going through the motions.
Thus, it was with a fair bit of wonder (but not with much surprise), that I saw the motions of a Western wedding (complete with priest) take place before me, with all the seriousness of the typical Japanese ceremony. I was sitting in a hybrid. This continued to the wedding pictures, where the photographer did her best to get all of those involved to crack a smile (I feel like my beaming face will sorely stand out in the picture of everyone there). I did get my host, sister, the bride, to beam for a picture of us- which I was quite proud of haha.
The banquet was very closely choreographed- seats were typically arranged in the Japanese order of precedence (with the younger siblings/friends/extended family on the outer reaches, and the parents and Japanese bosses of the husband in the center), an MC talked us through each presentation (even the places for applause), and there were a number of speeches (the predictable ones- groom & groom's family, bride, a relative or two, and not-so-predictable- two of the bosses, etc.). One of my favorite aspects of Japanese culture is its bipolarity when it comes to ceremony- they know that there is a time to be very serious, and a time to unwind afterwards. This is generally when the alcohol begins to flow, as the reception turned out to be (we each received a glass of red wine, white wine, champagne, full). Japanese people aren't allowed to refill their own drinks in formal situations. This leaves a golden opportunity for socializing, as you can take one of the large beer bottles from your table, and walk around the room filling people's drink for them while making conversation (this is true for any Japanese party/occasion where drinking of any sort takes place).
The most touching parts of the reception were the slide show full of pictures of the bride & groom during their cute childhood (and awkward teenage) years. True to their personalities, my host sister was beaming in each of her photos, and her Kyoto University (read: Princeton)-educated husband was a study in serious faces. Another great part was a slightly-intoxicated uncle of the groom getting up to sing a song he'd written for the fathers of the bride & groom. I couldn't understand all of it, but overall it was a chiding song urging them to let go of their babies, and imagining the years to come. This prompted the youngest guest to the wedding, the two-year-old nephew of the groom, to want to sing a song he'd learned in nursery school (about a silly) cat, and he was duly humored.
Unlike American weddings, this was about it- after desert was served and finished, and final speeches made by the families, the guests left and went home at around 8:30. This was another big contrast from my view of American weddings lasting well into the night with dancing, etc.
The entirety of the wedding took place at an old Japanese-style mansion in one of the nicest neighborhoods of central Kobe. Though, as you can probably imagine, space is at a premium in Japan, the house and gardens surrounding it took take up at least an acre. The house was previously owned by the founder of a large insurance conglomerate, and so the 4-story house itself and gardens have been kept in immaculate condition. Wandering around the grounds, there is little to give away the fact that one is in the middle of a packed city of several million people. The chapel in which the ceremony was performed was a beautiful small building in the back that could probably only fit about 60 people in total.
The three most popular ways to get married in Japan are: the Western, hotel-style (often in a hotel with a built-in chapel, the bride wears a wedding dress); the Japanese, shrine-style (at a Shinto shrine, traditional kimonos are worn); and a Western, Christian-style celebrated at a location dedicated to weddings and other ceremonies of the type (my host sister's). According to my host father, the one my host sister and her husband chose was relatively rare (because it's a bit more expensive), but I'd have to say it seemed to be the best, most beautiful type of fusion. As stiff and formal as it was at times, it was still touching. I have the feeling that compared to this, attending a Western-style wedding in a hotel (even if accompanied by Christian vows) would smack of counterfeit. Though I know I shouldn't judge the other two types of weddings before I've actually attended them, for now the one this weekend will remain the ideal Japanese-Western/Christian fusion in my mind.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Silver Week- Tokyo- Post #1- Itinerary
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, of this week were all national holidays, granting those of us with jobs here an extended, 5-day weekend. The week itself is officially called Silver Week, and the holidays (in order): Respect for the Aged Day, National Holiday (I think a filler), and Autumnal Equinox Day. People use these days for various things (moving, visting family, etc.)- we JETs, as is typical to us, used them for travel. I spent 4 full days (Sat. morning-Tues night) in Tokyo, and in a couple of different posts I'll try talk about the highlights of my trip.
I will try to order posts in this way: Itinerary (1), Food (2), Night life (3), Shopping (4), Otaku/Nerd Culture (and other counter-cultures) (5), Tokyo vs. Tokushima (OR Why I Prefer the Country life- at least for now) (6)
First post- Itinerary Overview- hopefully this will give context to the post(s) after this- sorry if it turns a little long, was just orienting myself by remembering which order things happened in which order:
Friday, September 18- Night bus from Tokushima Stn.-Tokyo's Shinagawa Station
Tokushima-Tokyo is approximately an 8 1/2 bus ride, if you do it at night. Chris, B, Celia, Henry, and I decided on this, because it was 2 fewer nights of accomodation and was pretty convenient. In all, it cost 18,000 yen ($180) for the round-trip. We left Tokushima at 9:30 pm and arrived at 7 am- too early to check into the hotel, but we could drop our stuff off there. Stayed at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel- a really nice place right next to Tokyo's Yamanote Circle train line, which hits all of the major places that we tourists would want to go.
Saturday, September 19-
1.) Shibuya Starbucks- 2-story Starbucks with huge windows onto Tokyo's version of Times Square- some of the best people watching in the world, hands-down
2.) Ikebukuro- great district for bars/restaurants- we went to an American-style pizza buffet (Shakeys)
3.) Akihabara- Brief visit to Akihabara Electric Town- Tokyo's (and nerds') consumer electronics and anime Mecca- blocks and blocks of stores
4.) Nap- no matter how much we slept on the night bus, the afternoon still called for a nap
5.) Ebisu beer festival with Celia, B, & Henry- we met up with fellow Tokushima JET Maggie and her friend Michael for a few pints of beers and pub grub, Japanese-style- great way to spend a cool evening outdoors
6.) Lockup- a prison/horror-themed bar located (fittingly) in a multi-story basement. Think haunted house with themed drinks, waitresses dressed like guards, and periodic visits by "monsters" in gas/hockey masks
7.) Pure- a club in Shibuya with the largest percentage of foreigners of anywhere we went
Sunday, September 20-
1.) Harajuku (w/Celia, Henry, B, & Nick- another JET from DC)- shopping district also famous for its counter-culture stores, people dressed like dolls, etc.
2.) Odaiba (w/CHB, Nick, and Zach (another DC JET))- an island with massive malls, one of which is ostensibly modeled after the mall in Las Vegas with the ceiling painted as the sky
3.) Shimbashi- went exploring a bit with Nick in Shimbashi- huge, modern buildings and lots of shops
4.) Ikebukuro-Dinner w/Ayaka, Masae- two of my good friends from when I studied here sophomore year of high school. We went to a Yakitori place, and the food was amazing.
5.) Ikebukuro- went to Hub, and English-style pub w/Ayaka, Masae, HBC
6.) Shibuya w/Nick, Sumner, etc., Harlem- after HBC went to bed, met up with Nick, Sumner, and some other JETs and went out in Shibuya to a club called Harlem
Monday, September 21-
1.) Late wake-up
2.) Akihabara Electric Town with Nick, Sumner, and host-brother Ari while B etc went Harajuku shopping again
3.) Shinagawa- Dinner at a health-nabe place with Aya, Hina, and Andrew- all former St. Stephen's (my HS) students; Aya was the exchange student at my school for 1 year, Hina spent 4 years as a boarder from Tokyo, and Andrew did the same exchange program as I did, is now a Georgetown junior in the SFS, and is currently studying abroad for the year in Tokyo at Waseda University.
4.) Shibuya- Camelot night club with Chris, Celia, B, Henry, Nick, Sumner, and Andrew
Tuesday, September 22-
Ari & Mika day- Ari is my host brother from my time in Japan before- I lived with his family for 11 months, and he spent the subsequent year as an exchange student at my high school. His girlfriend, Mika, is an awesome girl who spent a year at Lewis & Clark in Portland, OR, ironically one of the college visits that Ari and I did when he was in the US (it was jr. year of HS, so we did a few coll. visits)
1.) Harajuku- Ramen, Meiji Jingu (Meiji emperor's shrine), Yoyogi Park
2.) Shinjuku- huge restaurant/bar/electronics district where we stayed for Tokyo Orientation- went to a book store with books in English (only bought 4), then bought a Playstation 3
3.) Waseda U- strolled a little around the campus of Ari's university, one of the two best private schools in Japan- he studies basically what I did- International politics, government, economics
4.) Ari's apartment- he pays almost 3 times as much for an apartment less than half the size of mine- but he lives within walking distance of Waseda, in the middle of Tokyo
5.) Korean BBQ- one of my favorite meals I've had so far in Japan, yum
6.) Bus ride home
I will try to order posts in this way: Itinerary (1), Food (2), Night life (3), Shopping (4), Otaku/Nerd Culture (and other counter-cultures) (5), Tokyo vs. Tokushima (OR Why I Prefer the Country life- at least for now) (6)
First post- Itinerary Overview- hopefully this will give context to the post(s) after this- sorry if it turns a little long, was just orienting myself by remembering which order things happened in which order:
Friday, September 18- Night bus from Tokushima Stn.-Tokyo's Shinagawa Station
Tokushima-Tokyo is approximately an 8 1/2 bus ride, if you do it at night. Chris, B, Celia, Henry, and I decided on this, because it was 2 fewer nights of accomodation and was pretty convenient. In all, it cost 18,000 yen ($180) for the round-trip. We left Tokushima at 9:30 pm and arrived at 7 am- too early to check into the hotel, but we could drop our stuff off there. Stayed at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel- a really nice place right next to Tokyo's Yamanote Circle train line, which hits all of the major places that we tourists would want to go.
Saturday, September 19-
1.) Shibuya Starbucks- 2-story Starbucks with huge windows onto Tokyo's version of Times Square- some of the best people watching in the world, hands-down
2.) Ikebukuro- great district for bars/restaurants- we went to an American-style pizza buffet (Shakeys)
3.) Akihabara- Brief visit to Akihabara Electric Town- Tokyo's (and nerds') consumer electronics and anime Mecca- blocks and blocks of stores
4.) Nap- no matter how much we slept on the night bus, the afternoon still called for a nap
5.) Ebisu beer festival with Celia, B, & Henry- we met up with fellow Tokushima JET Maggie and her friend Michael for a few pints of beers and pub grub, Japanese-style- great way to spend a cool evening outdoors
6.) Lockup- a prison/horror-themed bar located (fittingly) in a multi-story basement. Think haunted house with themed drinks, waitresses dressed like guards, and periodic visits by "monsters" in gas/hockey masks
7.) Pure- a club in Shibuya with the largest percentage of foreigners of anywhere we went
Sunday, September 20-
1.) Harajuku (w/Celia, Henry, B, & Nick- another JET from DC)- shopping district also famous for its counter-culture stores, people dressed like dolls, etc.
2.) Odaiba (w/CHB, Nick, and Zach (another DC JET))- an island with massive malls, one of which is ostensibly modeled after the mall in Las Vegas with the ceiling painted as the sky
3.) Shimbashi- went exploring a bit with Nick in Shimbashi- huge, modern buildings and lots of shops
4.) Ikebukuro-Dinner w/Ayaka, Masae- two of my good friends from when I studied here sophomore year of high school. We went to a Yakitori place, and the food was amazing.
5.) Ikebukuro- went to Hub, and English-style pub w/Ayaka, Masae, HBC
6.) Shibuya w/Nick, Sumner, etc., Harlem- after HBC went to bed, met up with Nick, Sumner, and some other JETs and went out in Shibuya to a club called Harlem
Monday, September 21-
1.) Late wake-up
2.) Akihabara Electric Town with Nick, Sumner, and host-brother Ari while B etc went Harajuku shopping again
3.) Shinagawa- Dinner at a health-nabe place with Aya, Hina, and Andrew- all former St. Stephen's (my HS) students; Aya was the exchange student at my school for 1 year, Hina spent 4 years as a boarder from Tokyo, and Andrew did the same exchange program as I did, is now a Georgetown junior in the SFS, and is currently studying abroad for the year in Tokyo at Waseda University.
4.) Shibuya- Camelot night club with Chris, Celia, B, Henry, Nick, Sumner, and Andrew
Tuesday, September 22-
Ari & Mika day- Ari is my host brother from my time in Japan before- I lived with his family for 11 months, and he spent the subsequent year as an exchange student at my high school. His girlfriend, Mika, is an awesome girl who spent a year at Lewis & Clark in Portland, OR, ironically one of the college visits that Ari and I did when he was in the US (it was jr. year of HS, so we did a few coll. visits)
1.) Harajuku- Ramen, Meiji Jingu (Meiji emperor's shrine), Yoyogi Park
2.) Shinjuku- huge restaurant/bar/electronics district where we stayed for Tokyo Orientation- went to a book store with books in English (only bought 4), then bought a Playstation 3
3.) Waseda U- strolled a little around the campus of Ari's university, one of the two best private schools in Japan- he studies basically what I did- International politics, government, economics
4.) Ari's apartment- he pays almost 3 times as much for an apartment less than half the size of mine- but he lives within walking distance of Waseda, in the middle of Tokyo
5.) Korean BBQ- one of my favorite meals I've had so far in Japan, yum
6.) Bus ride home
Advice for those considering the JET Program
A friend of mine who is currently a senior at Georgetown wrote to me about a week ago letting me know that he is considering applying for the JET program and asking questions about my experience with it so far, the application process, etc.
Below is my response to his e-mail. Thanks to the detailed nature of his e-mail, I was able to write about a lot of things that someone thinking of applying to JET may be concerned about (including concerns that I had).
I agree that it's the program is an amazing opportunity- I had pretty much the same impression last fall when I was applying, and it hasn't changed since. The lack of being able to specifically choose your location can be a downer for some, but I feel like the positives of the program overwhelmingly outweigh it. As for your application- because we didn't get a ton of feedback on it, it's hard to say. Some things I would definitely recommend though:
-They are looking for people who will be good cultural ambassadors and have a real and abiding interest in Japan's people, history, and culture- which I'm sure you are definitely all of those things. Do your best to express this in your application essay. If I can find it later when I get home, I'll try to send mine along.
-Recommendations: pick people in your life who will back up the claims you make in your application essay(s), and make sure to explain to them as in-depth as possible not only why you want to do this program, but also what the program is looking for in its new JETs. Also, make sure to do this as one of your FIRST things- even 3-4 weeks is too little time (as I found out the hard way).
-Make sure you go through the checklist multiple times and read the fine print. I'd forgotten that the program wants a SEPARATE transcript from your study abroad (ask the OIP) included with the application materials.
-Of course, you'll see that they want everything in triplicate- it's a pain in the butt, especially when asking the people writing your recommendation to make sure they make 3 copies of it, but you have to do it.-If I think of any more, I'll let you know.
Another pain is just how long the application process is- you hear if you get an interview at the end of January, actually have it in February, hear of your acceptance in early April, and hear of your placement in May. The biggest drag on me was the fact that my roommates simply couldn't wait until April 10 to sign a lease for the next couple of years in DC, but it all worked out ok (and I had a few different friends with whom I could've lived if JET didn't work out). This may be obvious, but do your best to have a plan B & C for not only jobs, but housing, etc. too.
The interview wasn't particularly challenging (esp. compared to those consulting intverviews haha). They basically ask you to reiterate a lot of things you said in your essays, teach a quick (2 minute) lesson (mine was about my favorite American holiday), and they may ask you to demonstrate your Japanese (not terribly important, they're more just curious). Make sure to not get too worked up and to speak conversationally, but SLOWLY- I spoke a bit quickly b/c I was nervous, and they called me out on it haha. I would say the actual hardest question they asked me was "You've been to Japan before, and your language ability is most likely above being a JET ALT, why do this as opposed to other options?"
The Program up to now- like I said before, my general impression hasn't changed from before I came. In orientation, etc., the Program will tell you ESID (every situation is different) repeatedly, and it really is true. Generally, however, I feel like the other JETs around me are very happy with how the program works out. Those of us with Japanese language ability have a much easier time than those without (though you do have access to a good number of English speakers- other JETs, your supervisor, the Japanese English Teachers in your schools). A lot of your time on weekends you'll spend with other JETs- traveling, doing things- so in that sense it's a lot like study abroad, where your social circle is fairly limited, and I think that's where some people have problems.
Generally, though, it's pretty much as-advertised- we're paid a ridiculous amount (and subsidized in our rent, etc.) for work that's a lot of fun, people are genuinely glad to have us here and are very, very nice (which I'm sure you knew from before), and kids are kids, no matter where you are.
The various orientations that you will have will cover pretty much any possible concern. I had a full-day Q&A session in June, a half-day pre-departure orientation in July, and then 3 full days of Tokyo orientation. The orientations are extensive, detailed, and extremely helpful. Another useful resource is http://www.ithinkimlost.com - it's an unofficial JET discussion board online that's hugely popular. Though my prefecture has its own, closed one, ithinkimlost is great. It even has a section for people who think they'll be applying.
Below is my response to his e-mail. Thanks to the detailed nature of his e-mail, I was able to write about a lot of things that someone thinking of applying to JET may be concerned about (including concerns that I had).
I agree that it's the program is an amazing opportunity- I had pretty much the same impression last fall when I was applying, and it hasn't changed since. The lack of being able to specifically choose your location can be a downer for some, but I feel like the positives of the program overwhelmingly outweigh it. As for your application- because we didn't get a ton of feedback on it, it's hard to say. Some things I would definitely recommend though:
-They are looking for people who will be good cultural ambassadors and have a real and abiding interest in Japan's people, history, and culture- which I'm sure you are definitely all of those things. Do your best to express this in your application essay. If I can find it later when I get home, I'll try to send mine along.
-Recommendations: pick people in your life who will back up the claims you make in your application essay(s), and make sure to explain to them as in-depth as possible not only why you want to do this program, but also what the program is looking for in its new JETs. Also, make sure to do this as one of your FIRST things- even 3-4 weeks is too little time (as I found out the hard way).
-Make sure you go through the checklist multiple times and read the fine print. I'd forgotten that the program wants a SEPARATE transcript from your study abroad (ask the OIP) included with the application materials.
-Of course, you'll see that they want everything in triplicate- it's a pain in the butt, especially when asking the people writing your recommendation to make sure they make 3 copies of it, but you have to do it.-If I think of any more, I'll let you know.
Another pain is just how long the application process is- you hear if you get an interview at the end of January, actually have it in February, hear of your acceptance in early April, and hear of your placement in May. The biggest drag on me was the fact that my roommates simply couldn't wait until April 10 to sign a lease for the next couple of years in DC, but it all worked out ok (and I had a few different friends with whom I could've lived if JET didn't work out). This may be obvious, but do your best to have a plan B & C for not only jobs, but housing, etc. too.
The interview wasn't particularly challenging (esp. compared to those consulting intverviews haha). They basically ask you to reiterate a lot of things you said in your essays, teach a quick (2 minute) lesson (mine was about my favorite American holiday), and they may ask you to demonstrate your Japanese (not terribly important, they're more just curious). Make sure to not get too worked up and to speak conversationally, but SLOWLY- I spoke a bit quickly b/c I was nervous, and they called me out on it haha. I would say the actual hardest question they asked me was "You've been to Japan before, and your language ability is most likely above being a JET ALT, why do this as opposed to other options?"
The Program up to now- like I said before, my general impression hasn't changed from before I came. In orientation, etc., the Program will tell you ESID (every situation is different) repeatedly, and it really is true. Generally, however, I feel like the other JETs around me are very happy with how the program works out. Those of us with Japanese language ability have a much easier time than those without (though you do have access to a good number of English speakers- other JETs, your supervisor, the Japanese English Teachers in your schools). A lot of your time on weekends you'll spend with other JETs- traveling, doing things- so in that sense it's a lot like study abroad, where your social circle is fairly limited, and I think that's where some people have problems.
Generally, though, it's pretty much as-advertised- we're paid a ridiculous amount (and subsidized in our rent, etc.) for work that's a lot of fun, people are genuinely glad to have us here and are very, very nice (which I'm sure you knew from before), and kids are kids, no matter where you are.
The various orientations that you will have will cover pretty much any possible concern. I had a full-day Q&A session in June, a half-day pre-departure orientation in July, and then 3 full days of Tokyo orientation. The orientations are extensive, detailed, and extremely helpful. Another useful resource is http://www.ithinkimlost.com - it's an unofficial JET discussion board online that's hugely popular. Though my prefecture has its own, closed one, ithinkimlost is great. It even has a section for people who think they'll be applying.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Coming up: School Sports Day and Cultural Festival
An elaborate, 2-day affair that all middle & high schools put on in Japan. It's tomorrow and the next days, so more to come soon :-)
Sunday, September 6, 2009
I'm Published :-)
This past summer I did an internship at the Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a foreign policy think-tank in DC. During the last couple of weeks of working there, the other interns and I were able to collaborate on a paper critiquing Japanese immigration policy and speculating on what the future may hold in a DPJ (see earlier post)- controlled government here. A few days ago, the final version was finally completed/approved, and the Japan Chair will publish it on its website soon. I'd like to congratulate my fellow Japan chair interns on their hard work- I haven't posted about my internship yet on this blog, but it was a wonderful, educational experience, and the other interns (Anna, Laura, Miko, Yana) were all very, very intelligent and very hard working, and helped set a precedent that I was constantly attempting to keep up with :-)
http://csis.org/program/japan-chair
http://csis.org/program/japan-chair
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Listen to the wisdom of Prof. Green in the NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/world/asia/02diplo.html?em
Bottom line- with a change of political power in Japan for the first time in 54 years, there is concern that America's "strongest alliance" could be facing a shift. These concerns came to the forefront on Monday after an article written by Yukio Hatoyama, head of the newly-elected Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was translated- in the article, Hatoyama charged that Japan's economy was the victim of "the victim of American-inspired free-market fundamentalism." He is now back-pedaling, saying that the article was never meant to come out in English.
Prof. Green's take- hold off on any widespread conclusions on what the DPJ will do with the US alliance based solely on campaign rhetoric, etc...they're still working on figuring it out.
Bottom line- with a change of political power in Japan for the first time in 54 years, there is concern that America's "strongest alliance" could be facing a shift. These concerns came to the forefront on Monday after an article written by Yukio Hatoyama, head of the newly-elected Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was translated- in the article, Hatoyama charged that Japan's economy was the victim of "the victim of American-inspired free-market fundamentalism." He is now back-pedaling, saying that the article was never meant to come out in English.
Prof. Green's take- hold off on any widespread conclusions on what the DPJ will do with the US alliance based solely on campaign rhetoric, etc...they're still working on figuring it out.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Invited to my first Japanese wedding!!
As most of you know, I studied abroad in Japan for sophomore year of high school. I lived with a wonderful family in Kobe for 11 months, named the Shimizu's. My host brother, Ari, ended up spending the following year studying abroad at my high school in Austin.
Ari's oldest sister, Yukari, is getting married in Kobe at the beginning of October. The Shimizu family called me today (first Ari, then my host mother, father, and Yukari) to invite me to the wedding, tell me that I could stay with them, and that they would cover my travel expenses. I hadn't been able to get into touch with any of them until now because their home phone has been disconnected (but they were able to see that I've tried to call them a few times since arriving a month ago), and they gave me my host mom's phone # and told me that if I needed anything at all to let them know.
Such nice people :-)
Easy thing about Japan with wedding gifts- you just bring cash in a ceremonial envelope! Instead of worrying about the relative advantages of getting them a fruitcake or a toaster, I just hand them cash. The interesting part comes, however, in determining how much to give them. In Tokushima, relatives of the couple will usually give 20,000-30,000 yen, or about $200-300. Having lived with them for 11 months, I'm assuming I qualify for this category :-) Friends will usually give the equivalent of about $100-$200.
Ari's oldest sister, Yukari, is getting married in Kobe at the beginning of October. The Shimizu family called me today (first Ari, then my host mother, father, and Yukari) to invite me to the wedding, tell me that I could stay with them, and that they would cover my travel expenses. I hadn't been able to get into touch with any of them until now because their home phone has been disconnected (but they were able to see that I've tried to call them a few times since arriving a month ago), and they gave me my host mom's phone # and told me that if I needed anything at all to let them know.
Such nice people :-)
Easy thing about Japan with wedding gifts- you just bring cash in a ceremonial envelope! Instead of worrying about the relative advantages of getting them a fruitcake or a toaster, I just hand them cash. The interesting part comes, however, in determining how much to give them. In Tokushima, relatives of the couple will usually give 20,000-30,000 yen, or about $200-300. Having lived with them for 11 months, I'm assuming I qualify for this category :-) Friends will usually give the equivalent of about $100-$200.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Jogging and eggplants
So I just was finishing up a jog, and stopped just outside my apartment building to walk for a minute. I noticed one of the farmers whose fields surround my apartment building, and started a quick conversation with him. After discussing such important topics as how nice it is to be young (he apparently was a very young looking 78) among other things, I asked him what kind of plants her grew. After giving me a quick tour, he asked if I eat eggplant. Before I can say anything else, he's cut three eggplants from the nearest bush and deposited them in my hands...I love Japan :-)
Now all I have to do is figure out how to cook them...
Now all I have to do is figure out how to cook them...
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Japan's election explained by an expert
http://csis.org/publication/japan%E2%80%99s-august-30-election
This is a link to a publication out of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), written by Dr. Michael Green. As well as being a Georgetown Professor and the Japan Chair at CSIS, Dr. Green spent 3 years on President George W. Bush's National Security Council (NSC) as the president's special adviser on Japan & Korea.
During my time at Georgetown, I took two of Prof. Green's classes, as well as worked for him at CSIS for 8 weeks this summer doing an internship.
This is a link to a publication out of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), written by Dr. Michael Green. As well as being a Georgetown Professor and the Japan Chair at CSIS, Dr. Green spent 3 years on President George W. Bush's National Security Council (NSC) as the president's special adviser on Japan & Korea.
During my time at Georgetown, I took two of Prof. Green's classes, as well as worked for him at CSIS for 8 weeks this summer doing an internship.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
And you thought 8 years of one party being in power was bad…
…try 54. The conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has controlled the lower (more powerful) house of the Japanese Diet (parliament) for the last 54 years. To put this into perspective, the last time Japan had a power change was when Dwight Eisenhower was the President of the United States. The “1955 system” as it is called here and abroad was created when the two most powerful conservative parties in Japan joined together the form the LDP, and with the exception of a brief period in 1993-94, they’ve been in power ever since. Somehow the fact that the opposition parties here have taken up the Obama theme of “Change” and chanting “Yes We Can” doesn’t seem as hokey as it really should- when it comes to party change, they’re looking good for the first time in over half a century.
This Sunday Japanese voters will go to the polls to elect the Diet’s more powerful lower house. Since the leadership of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2001-2006), who as a charismatic Japanese leader (seemingly an oxymoron in itself) was able to enact some real reform in the Japanese system (privatization of Japan’s largest banking system, the Postal system- yes, they keep their money at the post office), the LDP hasn’t been able to keep a PM around for longer than a year, and they’ve lost the majority in the less-powerful upper house of the Diet. This Sunday will see the first lower-house elections since 2005, when Koizumi was still in power. Current LDP PM Taro Aso’s approval ratings have hovered around 20%, sometimes dipping into the single digits. Though he has handled the economic recession fairly ably, his gaffe- and scandal-prone administration is likely to see the first pure opposition victory in the lower house since before 1955.
This “opposition” comes in the form of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Lead by Yukio Hatoyama (and formed by Ichiro Ozawa, an LDP defector), they are campaigning for “Change,” though this can always be a relative term in Japanese politics. Regardless, there are many signs that the Japanese electorate has become fed-up with the countless failed policies, corruption scandals, and unpopular PM’s of the LDP. To be fair, the DPJ has had its share of corruption scandals, etc., but they have not had the chance to have a majority government in power in order to show whether they’re able or not to steer the country in what they see is a positive direction.
The Japanese political system for beginners: Japan has a bicameral legislature (like ours) that is elected through proportional representation (not like ours). Their system much more resembles England’s than our own. Like in many, many other countries in the world, their head of government, the Prime Minister (equivalent to our President) is not directly elected into office. Instead, the PM is elected within by the party in the Diet with the most seats. This makes up for a much weaker Executive branch (the cabinet), especially in Japan, where consensus policy making is endemic. Unlike the US government, which upon a major party change in the Executive may be left to fill about 7,000 positions (which the Obama administration is still working on), the Japanese government is primarily run by a powerful bureaucracy. This means that only about 200-300 people change after any given election, even with a possible “major” power shift. Things that have gotten in the way of any type of power shift in the past half century: an ineffective opposition (imagine the Democrats, Libertarians, and any other left party being unable to come to any agreement, and none being able to muster a majority by themselves), the Japanese electorate’s loyalty to local politicians (despite widespread corruption scandals in the LDP), and the close ties between the government, the bureaucracy, and large groups of business corporations (this relationship is called the “iron triangle”). For these reasons, the Japanese government has been slow to change, and there have been very, very few people/Prime Ministers that have been able to enact any type of real change in the government (Koizumi being the notable exception).
We shall wait and see what happens this weekend. Because I work in a rural Japanese middle school, my co-workers aren’t the most politically outspoken/active people, though I have found a few people that I can speak to about the election. More on the Japanese sentiment later, though the next time I write there may be the first change of government here since, well, pretty much since my parents were born…
This Sunday Japanese voters will go to the polls to elect the Diet’s more powerful lower house. Since the leadership of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2001-2006), who as a charismatic Japanese leader (seemingly an oxymoron in itself) was able to enact some real reform in the Japanese system (privatization of Japan’s largest banking system, the Postal system- yes, they keep their money at the post office), the LDP hasn’t been able to keep a PM around for longer than a year, and they’ve lost the majority in the less-powerful upper house of the Diet. This Sunday will see the first lower-house elections since 2005, when Koizumi was still in power. Current LDP PM Taro Aso’s approval ratings have hovered around 20%, sometimes dipping into the single digits. Though he has handled the economic recession fairly ably, his gaffe- and scandal-prone administration is likely to see the first pure opposition victory in the lower house since before 1955.
This “opposition” comes in the form of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Lead by Yukio Hatoyama (and formed by Ichiro Ozawa, an LDP defector), they are campaigning for “Change,” though this can always be a relative term in Japanese politics. Regardless, there are many signs that the Japanese electorate has become fed-up with the countless failed policies, corruption scandals, and unpopular PM’s of the LDP. To be fair, the DPJ has had its share of corruption scandals, etc., but they have not had the chance to have a majority government in power in order to show whether they’re able or not to steer the country in what they see is a positive direction.
The Japanese political system for beginners: Japan has a bicameral legislature (like ours) that is elected through proportional representation (not like ours). Their system much more resembles England’s than our own. Like in many, many other countries in the world, their head of government, the Prime Minister (equivalent to our President) is not directly elected into office. Instead, the PM is elected within by the party in the Diet with the most seats. This makes up for a much weaker Executive branch (the cabinet), especially in Japan, where consensus policy making is endemic. Unlike the US government, which upon a major party change in the Executive may be left to fill about 7,000 positions (which the Obama administration is still working on), the Japanese government is primarily run by a powerful bureaucracy. This means that only about 200-300 people change after any given election, even with a possible “major” power shift. Things that have gotten in the way of any type of power shift in the past half century: an ineffective opposition (imagine the Democrats, Libertarians, and any other left party being unable to come to any agreement, and none being able to muster a majority by themselves), the Japanese electorate’s loyalty to local politicians (despite widespread corruption scandals in the LDP), and the close ties between the government, the bureaucracy, and large groups of business corporations (this relationship is called the “iron triangle”). For these reasons, the Japanese government has been slow to change, and there have been very, very few people/Prime Ministers that have been able to enact any type of real change in the government (Koizumi being the notable exception).
We shall wait and see what happens this weekend. Because I work in a rural Japanese middle school, my co-workers aren’t the most politically outspoken/active people, though I have found a few people that I can speak to about the election. More on the Japanese sentiment later, though the next time I write there may be the first change of government here since, well, pretty much since my parents were born…
My 23rd Century Cell Phone
Upon arriving in Awa city, getting a Japanese phone was one of my highest priorities. Wandering into a Japanese keitai shop is kind of like a cross between attending an electronics industry convention and walking into the Sharper Image for cell phones. A typical Japanese cell phone, for example, may come with an LCD screen that swivels 90 degrees, GPS tracking, a bar-code reader, digital TV, credit card functions, video conferencing and a camera and is unlocked by face recognition. On top of that, several phones have begun to appear with waterproofing (for those of my friends that drop their phones in pools or toilets) and even solar-powered rechargeable batteries. You can get up to a 10 megapixel camera on your phone, they all record video, and indeed it’s pretty impossible to get a phone without a camera- I heard of another JET who was trying to save money by getting as few gadgets as possible, and chances are they got one with most of these features for free.
So, as you can imagine, when I chose the “free” option for cell phones at the store, I wasn’t expecting to be able to watch TV on my phone through a miniature antenna, or take high quality pictures/movies, surf the web easily, or about 100 other things that my little flip phone can do. For Japanese people that don’t use e-mail for business, it is also common here to have a single e-mail address- that of their cell phone (we don’t do instant messaging here haha)- I recently heard of a 31-year-old Japanese woman (the girlfriend of a fellow JET) who has just gotten her first e-mail address outside of her cell phone.
This is because e-mail and easy web surfing have been readily available on the Japanese market since before we knew these things existed in America. A short rundown by the NY Times states that for the mass consumer market, the Japanese developed: e-mail capabilities in 1999, camera phones in 2000, third-generation networks in 2001, full music downloads in 2002, electronic payments in 2004 and digital TV in 2005. Part of the reason that we haven’t seen more of these cell-phones in the States is two-fold- one, what the NYT calls the “Galapagos Effect”- as Japanese cell phones became more and more advanced, other countries had little incentive to develop their networks at the same pace as advances in Japanese cell phone technology because their own domestic cell phone industries would suffer. So, the Japanese have continued to develop their phones, and the average user here has, what would be considered abroad, a super-advanced phone. Second is the fact that recently we have become enamored with software-based phones as opposed to the gadget-packed (hardware-based) phones from here in Japan. Our typical phone of choice will most likely be an iphone, which as little value on the surface, but as we all know is jam-packed with useful light-saber, beer drinking, and music recognition software.
Interestingly enough, the iPhone has begun to make an appearance here, but so far it’s stood about as much of a chance on the Japanese market as our phones do elsewhere. I guess it’s just a matter of taste…
So, as you can imagine, when I chose the “free” option for cell phones at the store, I wasn’t expecting to be able to watch TV on my phone through a miniature antenna, or take high quality pictures/movies, surf the web easily, or about 100 other things that my little flip phone can do. For Japanese people that don’t use e-mail for business, it is also common here to have a single e-mail address- that of their cell phone (we don’t do instant messaging here haha)- I recently heard of a 31-year-old Japanese woman (the girlfriend of a fellow JET) who has just gotten her first e-mail address outside of her cell phone.
This is because e-mail and easy web surfing have been readily available on the Japanese market since before we knew these things existed in America. A short rundown by the NY Times states that for the mass consumer market, the Japanese developed: e-mail capabilities in 1999, camera phones in 2000, third-generation networks in 2001, full music downloads in 2002, electronic payments in 2004 and digital TV in 2005. Part of the reason that we haven’t seen more of these cell-phones in the States is two-fold- one, what the NYT calls the “Galapagos Effect”- as Japanese cell phones became more and more advanced, other countries had little incentive to develop their networks at the same pace as advances in Japanese cell phone technology because their own domestic cell phone industries would suffer. So, the Japanese have continued to develop their phones, and the average user here has, what would be considered abroad, a super-advanced phone. Second is the fact that recently we have become enamored with software-based phones as opposed to the gadget-packed (hardware-based) phones from here in Japan. Our typical phone of choice will most likely be an iphone, which as little value on the surface, but as we all know is jam-packed with useful light-saber, beer drinking, and music recognition software.
Interestingly enough, the iPhone has begun to make an appearance here, but so far it’s stood about as much of a chance on the Japanese market as our phones do elsewhere. I guess it’s just a matter of taste…
Monday, August 17, 2009
Awa Odori- The largest dance festival in Japan
Odoro ahou ni The dancers are fools
Miru ahou The watchers are fools
Onaji ahou nara Both are fools alike so
Odorana son, son Why not dance?
In describing the simple facts of Awa Odori (the dance festival), Wikipedia does a pretty good job: “The Awa Dance Festival is held from 12 to 15 August as part of the Obon festival (my note: Obon is Japan-wide) in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku in Japan. Awa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.3 million tourists every year. Groups of choreographed dancers and musicians known as ren dance through the streets, typically accompanied by the shamisen lute, taiko drums, shiobue flute, and the kane bell. Performers wear traditional obon dance costumes, and chant and sing as they parade through the streets. Awa is the old feudal administration name for Tokushima and odori means dance.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awa_Odori).
That just about sums it up, so I guess that’s about all that needs to be said…
Ok, I guess I can talk about the experience a little bit. Obon is a time in Japan that is very interesting because the time for summer festivals originated as a Buddhist custom to honor the deceased spirits of one’s family. This is the time that people usually return to their ancestral homes and clean the graves of their forebears, while the spirits of their ancestors supposedly visit the household shrines that sit in every Japanese home. As any good Texan can tell you, this shares a lot of similarities with the Mexican custom celebrating the "Dia de los Muertos" ("Day of the Dead"). Obon has been celebrated in Japan for over 500 years, and has traditionally included a dance, such as with Awa Odori.
Awa Odori was part of the “Hachigatsu (August) Bon,” which is based on the solar calendar, and the most commonly celebrated one across Japan. Generally, the bigger the city, the bigger the festival, which usually includes fireworks displays (both the visual kind and the loud booms that they have for things like Las Fallas in Valencia, Sp.). We went to one of these displays at Naruto (just north of Tokushima city) the first Friday I was here, and I put a few pictures of that on Facebook. I also was able to witness part of the even smaller Yoshinogawa City festival (which is just across the river from me). During Obon, each village’s dance can depict the region’s history and specialization. For example, regions with a history of mining (like some areas on the island of Kyushuu) may simulate the movements of mines (digging, cart pushing, lantern hanging, etc.), while everyone dances in unison in a group.
Obon festivals in Tokushima (and especially Awa Odori) have been famous for their size, exuberance and anarchy since the 16th century. According to local custom, Awa Odori’s existence as a huge, independent city-wide dance festival dates back to 1586, when the local daimyo (lord) Hachisuka Iemasa, hosted the drunken celebration of the opening of Tokushima Castle. The locals, having consumed a great amount of sake, began to drunkenly weave and stumble back and forth. Others picked up commonly available musical instruments and began to play a simple, rhythmic song, to which the revelers invented lyrics.
On Friday, all first-year JETs and a few of the returners joined a dance troop (ren) called Arasowaren, which loosely translated means “promoting peace and understanding.” This is the larger of the two internationally-oriented dance troops in Tokushima, with over 220 participants. After changing into our Yukata and donning a headband, we attended the pre-dance party. This party included speeches by the leaders of the festival, dance lessons, and of course the Japanese party pre-requisite tables of beer and snacks. After learning the dance and subsequently doing it around the room with the other members of the troop, we were ushered out into the streets to begin our 3 ½ hour experience in of Tokushima city during Awa-odori as part of the Arasowaren. Much of the time was spent weaving around and between other dance troops and spectators to reach our dance places. During this time, we had plenty of opportunities to gawk at the variety of ways that people have created to dance the relatively simple dance steps.
Of course, the main point of that evening was our dancing itself. In various designated parts of the city, we would line up in 5-6 lines, and dance 100 yds. or so through the streets, followed by our band of shamisen, taiko, shinobue, and kane. We danced through two especially large sets of stands during our journey through the streets of Tokushima city. It was a bit nerve-racking to dance a dance we’d learned a couple of hours before in front of a couple of thousand people. I was hoping to get lost in the crowd of gaijin (foreigners)- after all, we all look alike.
In more dramatic fashion: The city itself during our dance was an orgy of sound, lights, smells, and people. Colorful lanterns hung from all the bridges, along the streets, and down the alley-ways. Booms from the fireworks periodically reverberated throughout the city, temporarily drowning out peoples’ shouts (generally: “Yattosa! Yattosa!- which lacks semantic meaning, but helps to encourage the dancers) and the sound of the instruments. Festival food was cooked on literally every corner, or, as John M. would put it: pretty much yaki- anything: yakitori, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, etc. People were crammed into every possible space; they were either dancing, watching, or being pulled into the dance while trying to watch. Indeed, for the more wild, night-time dances, spectators are often encouraged to join.
The two nights we went to the festival were pretty hot, but no one really seemed to care, as the city danced with abandon until the police kicked the noisemakers and dancers off of the main streets, then the side streets, and then finally the arcades/pedestrian thoroughfares. What one who has been here may know of the generally subdued, reverential, humble side of the Japanese culture was nowhere to be seen on either night. While during the day the dances tended to be more organized and stylized (called Nagashi), as the each evening progressed dancers switched to a frenzied dance called Zomeki. Indeed, one of the most surprising things for me to see were young (say, college-aged) dancers having drinking contests where people sat on one another’s shoulders, and the one on top would swig from a huge bottle of sake and pass it on, only then to be spun by the bottom person.
I mentioned that we went to the festival on two successive nights (Friday and Saturday, the two concluding nights). Friday is the one in which we danced, and on Saturday we were set free to go out and witness the mayhem as spectators (as much as one can neglect to participate). This is where the majority of my pictures came from (before my camera ran out of memory due to the videos haha). I’ve uploaded all of the pictures that I have onto Facebook, and hopefully will be able to upload the videos sooner rather than later.
Anyways, this marks the conclusion of a pretty long entry, so if you’ve made it this far, otsukaresamadeshita (literally: I was mr. tired), or “great job” haha.
Miru ahou The watchers are fools
Onaji ahou nara Both are fools alike so
Odorana son, son Why not dance?
In describing the simple facts of Awa Odori (the dance festival), Wikipedia does a pretty good job: “The Awa Dance Festival is held from 12 to 15 August as part of the Obon festival (my note: Obon is Japan-wide) in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku in Japan. Awa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.3 million tourists every year. Groups of choreographed dancers and musicians known as ren dance through the streets, typically accompanied by the shamisen lute, taiko drums, shiobue flute, and the kane bell. Performers wear traditional obon dance costumes, and chant and sing as they parade through the streets. Awa is the old feudal administration name for Tokushima and odori means dance.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awa_Odori).
That just about sums it up, so I guess that’s about all that needs to be said…
Ok, I guess I can talk about the experience a little bit. Obon is a time in Japan that is very interesting because the time for summer festivals originated as a Buddhist custom to honor the deceased spirits of one’s family. This is the time that people usually return to their ancestral homes and clean the graves of their forebears, while the spirits of their ancestors supposedly visit the household shrines that sit in every Japanese home. As any good Texan can tell you, this shares a lot of similarities with the Mexican custom celebrating the "Dia de los Muertos" ("Day of the Dead"). Obon has been celebrated in Japan for over 500 years, and has traditionally included a dance, such as with Awa Odori.
Awa Odori was part of the “Hachigatsu (August) Bon,” which is based on the solar calendar, and the most commonly celebrated one across Japan. Generally, the bigger the city, the bigger the festival, which usually includes fireworks displays (both the visual kind and the loud booms that they have for things like Las Fallas in Valencia, Sp.). We went to one of these displays at Naruto (just north of Tokushima city) the first Friday I was here, and I put a few pictures of that on Facebook. I also was able to witness part of the even smaller Yoshinogawa City festival (which is just across the river from me). During Obon, each village’s dance can depict the region’s history and specialization. For example, regions with a history of mining (like some areas on the island of Kyushuu) may simulate the movements of mines (digging, cart pushing, lantern hanging, etc.), while everyone dances in unison in a group.
Obon festivals in Tokushima (and especially Awa Odori) have been famous for their size, exuberance and anarchy since the 16th century. According to local custom, Awa Odori’s existence as a huge, independent city-wide dance festival dates back to 1586, when the local daimyo (lord) Hachisuka Iemasa, hosted the drunken celebration of the opening of Tokushima Castle. The locals, having consumed a great amount of sake, began to drunkenly weave and stumble back and forth. Others picked up commonly available musical instruments and began to play a simple, rhythmic song, to which the revelers invented lyrics.
On Friday, all first-year JETs and a few of the returners joined a dance troop (ren) called Arasowaren, which loosely translated means “promoting peace and understanding.” This is the larger of the two internationally-oriented dance troops in Tokushima, with over 220 participants. After changing into our Yukata and donning a headband, we attended the pre-dance party. This party included speeches by the leaders of the festival, dance lessons, and of course the Japanese party pre-requisite tables of beer and snacks. After learning the dance and subsequently doing it around the room with the other members of the troop, we were ushered out into the streets to begin our 3 ½ hour experience in of Tokushima city during Awa-odori as part of the Arasowaren. Much of the time was spent weaving around and between other dance troops and spectators to reach our dance places. During this time, we had plenty of opportunities to gawk at the variety of ways that people have created to dance the relatively simple dance steps.
Of course, the main point of that evening was our dancing itself. In various designated parts of the city, we would line up in 5-6 lines, and dance 100 yds. or so through the streets, followed by our band of shamisen, taiko, shinobue, and kane. We danced through two especially large sets of stands during our journey through the streets of Tokushima city. It was a bit nerve-racking to dance a dance we’d learned a couple of hours before in front of a couple of thousand people. I was hoping to get lost in the crowd of gaijin (foreigners)- after all, we all look alike.
In more dramatic fashion: The city itself during our dance was an orgy of sound, lights, smells, and people. Colorful lanterns hung from all the bridges, along the streets, and down the alley-ways. Booms from the fireworks periodically reverberated throughout the city, temporarily drowning out peoples’ shouts (generally: “Yattosa! Yattosa!- which lacks semantic meaning, but helps to encourage the dancers) and the sound of the instruments. Festival food was cooked on literally every corner, or, as John M. would put it: pretty much yaki- anything: yakitori, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, etc. People were crammed into every possible space; they were either dancing, watching, or being pulled into the dance while trying to watch. Indeed, for the more wild, night-time dances, spectators are often encouraged to join.
The two nights we went to the festival were pretty hot, but no one really seemed to care, as the city danced with abandon until the police kicked the noisemakers and dancers off of the main streets, then the side streets, and then finally the arcades/pedestrian thoroughfares. What one who has been here may know of the generally subdued, reverential, humble side of the Japanese culture was nowhere to be seen on either night. While during the day the dances tended to be more organized and stylized (called Nagashi), as the each evening progressed dancers switched to a frenzied dance called Zomeki. Indeed, one of the most surprising things for me to see were young (say, college-aged) dancers having drinking contests where people sat on one another’s shoulders, and the one on top would swig from a huge bottle of sake and pass it on, only then to be spun by the bottom person.
I mentioned that we went to the festival on two successive nights (Friday and Saturday, the two concluding nights). Friday is the one in which we danced, and on Saturday we were set free to go out and witness the mayhem as spectators (as much as one can neglect to participate). This is where the majority of my pictures came from (before my camera ran out of memory due to the videos haha). I’ve uploaded all of the pictures that I have onto Facebook, and hopefully will be able to upload the videos sooner rather than later.
Anyways, this marks the conclusion of a pretty long entry, so if you’ve made it this far, otsukaresamadeshita (literally: I was mr. tired), or “great job” haha.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Where I am on Googlemaps
I think this should work. It's a map of a few locations around me that I'll update periodically.
Link: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=102168810899671429508.000470c354d8f32a62f30&dirflg=d&doflg=ptk&z=19>
Link: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=102168810899671429508.000470c354d8f32a62f30&dirflg=d&doflg=ptk&z=19>
Ame, ame, go away....
Monday, August 10, 2009- 9:45 AM
It’s now been raining for the past two days- large parts of my prefecture are covered in water, and it looks like about half of the teachers weren't able to make it into the office of my base school (Awa-chou middle school) today. Thankfully, I was able to make it in my little car, though I was seriously scared that the two feet of water I had to go through getting out of the parking lot would flood its engine. The road is apparently flooded farther to the east (towards the rest of Awa city) of me, and some of the teachers were surprised I was able to make it in. It helps that I live within a quarter mile of the school. Though we didn't feel the apparently 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck off of Japan's East coast yesterday evening, these two days of rain have been incredible- they must be due to the monster taiphoon that's just slammed Taiwan and China. Hopefully things will clear up by the time we dance in the Awa odori dance festival in Tokushima city on Thursday/Friday...
It’s now been raining for the past two days- large parts of my prefecture are covered in water, and it looks like about half of the teachers weren't able to make it into the office of my base school (Awa-chou middle school) today. Thankfully, I was able to make it in my little car, though I was seriously scared that the two feet of water I had to go through getting out of the parking lot would flood its engine. The road is apparently flooded farther to the east (towards the rest of Awa city) of me, and some of the teachers were surprised I was able to make it in. It helps that I live within a quarter mile of the school. Though we didn't feel the apparently 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck off of Japan's East coast yesterday evening, these two days of rain have been incredible- they must be due to the monster taiphoon that's just slammed Taiwan and China. Hopefully things will clear up by the time we dance in the Awa odori dance festival in Tokushima city on Thursday/Friday...
Phew
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Phew, what a first week; 3 packed days/nights in Tokyo, and then 5 full days here in Tokushima. I can tell you one thing: being active all day and every day has helped me to get over any potential jet lag, though it has been nice to be around a lot of nice people going through the same thing.
I’ve now met most of the other JETs in my immediate vicinity, and a few others from the prefecture as well. In Awa City (Awa-shi), 3 of the 4 of us are new: John M., who’s an active board member of the Association of JETs (AJET), has been a huge help in getting me situated and answering a lot of questions about living here. He knows a lot more than even he gives himself credit for, as he told me it wasn’t until he was answering all of my questions that he really realized that he’s been here a whole year now and how much he’s learned in the meantime. The two other new JETs around here are Chris and Thad. Thad is a great guy from Iowa, who’s spent the past 3 ½ years teaching abroad in Italy (so we both speak a language that very, very few people in this area apart from the Americans speak haha), and is an active practitioner of Buddhism. This is interesting in that he adheres to the tenets of the religion so far as he doesn’t drink alcohol or eat meat, something that he has been told many “practicing” Buddhists here in Japan have left behind them. It’s interesting to see that Japan, not a particularly religious country, but one that I’ve always assumed followed (at least in practice) what little their religions (Shinto & Buddhism) required of its adherents, is little different in this day and age from many European countries with Catholicism, or even many parts of America. Not that I’m a total cynic and think that tradition/religion/etc. everywhere has been gradually (and completely) abandoned over generations, but it’s interesting to see such widespread and complete disregard for some traditions in a country that is very much attached to its traditions. Chris is a great guy from Dallas who went to Stephen F Austin State University in Nacadoches, Tx and graduated in 2008. I find it funny that I’ve already met 5 Texans that are in this area (Annie & Becky from Austin, Chris & Adam from Dallas, and Sarah from Lubbock), though I guess the Japanese consulate in Houston must get a lot of people applying from our state. Chris came to the Group A orientation, which occurred a week before mine, so that he’s got a much better idea of what’s going on than I do so far.
Yesterday, we went into Tokushima city (the city of 250,000 that’s about an hour to my East on the coast) and met up with a variety of new and old JETs to take a short city tour and go out for the night. The tour was quick and easy, and we were shown the closest store to buy foreign goods (read: peanut butter, taco mix, and funyons haha). Compared to how I’m sure it was 23 years ago (when the JET program began), I’m sure that people in rural places have it much better nowadays: walking through a Japanese grocery store, I find that though the brand names, packaging, and language may be different, you can find a remarkable number of things that one would buy back home: spaghetti & tomato sauce, many types of meat, all kinds of fruits, potato chips, eggs & dairy things, etc. Of course, the majority of items in the grocery store are more along traditional Japanese lines: all types of soba (noodles), ramen, a huge seafood section, miso, natto, and a ton of other things that I haven’t learned to read yet.
On a completely different note, it’s been raining cats and dogs here for the past 36 hours or so. I’m assuming it’s some weather system associated with the massive typhoon that just hit Taiwan (and is hitting mainland China as we speak). On the plus side it’s just warm summer rain, but many of the streets have been flooded in the small towns on either side of the Yoshinogawa (Yoshino river). Driving around, I’ve actually been afraid that one of our little k-cars would get a swamped engine from the foot or so of water we’ve seen on the roads.
In Japan, there are two main types of vehicles: yellow plates & white plates. White plates, with white license plates, are your normal run-of the mill cars- everything from Toyota Corollas to Land Cruisers, etc. K-Cars, or yellow plates, have smaller (650 cc max) engines. To any of you who have seen my beast of a car, it looks like a glorified HotWheels car (but a little bigger). Driving one is a lot like driving a go-cart with the whine of the engine (especially with 4 passengers) and just the small size of it. However, k-cars, we’ve realized, are the best possible thing for a JET to have: the mandatory government insurance (shakken) is much, much cheaper than the white plates, and thus they’re much easier to maintain. Despite appearances, my little car (nickname undetermined as of yet) can comfortably fit 4 people, with plenty of head room to spare- in making their cars look like boxes, the Japanese have crammed as much space into as little as possible (typical).
Anyways, the Tokushima city excursion (and the one to the Naruto City fireworks show the night before) has given me the opportunity to meet more and more JETs from our prefecture. Though Tokushima city is an hour to the west of me (mainly because the two-lane road there has lots of traffic lights), I’ve found that Tokushima JETs hang out with each other quite a bit. Be it through simply friendships & trips or any one of the various (and numerous) events organized by AJET, the JETs in the area seem pretty well connected. One of my main reasons to come to Japan to live here a second time was so that I could continue to develop my Japanese. From experience in Osaka as well as Alicante, I know that in order to vastly improve your language skills, you need to hang out and speak to locals (in that language). So far, I haven’t done a ton of that, but I feel that I’ve been justified in seeing a great deal of my fellow JETs for two main reasons: 1.) there simply just aren’t a lot of people out here, and 2.) getting situated/oriented has been much, much easier with people like John and Balacz (another JET from across the river) around to answer literally every single question that I have. It’s also been nice to hang out with the other new JETs, see how much they know about the Japanese language, people, and culture, and gauge the reasons why they’re here.
The JET program allows you to stay in Japan from 1-5 years, recontracting every year. In telling people how long I would be staying here, I mainly based my estimates off of my life back home (I’d like to go to grad school and start a career at some point) and my limited experience with alumni JET and living in Japan itself. After being here a week (yes, only a week), and speaking to a few of the returning/new JETs (especially the returners), I feel that my estimates of 2-3 years were pretty solid; people come to Japan and do the JET program for various reasons- everything from getting out of the States for a year, to having a new and exciting experience, to being here to catch the latest trend in Anime. A great deal of those people are the ones that stay for one year. After speaking to Balacz (pronounced “Balaj”), who’s been here for two years already, I’m much more confident in my earlier estimates. After telling him about my familiarity with the culture and the reasons why I’ve come back (namely: 1.) work on my Japanese language skills, 2.) get a more in-depth understanding of the culture, 3.) a more in-depth understanding of politics here, 4.) work as a teacher- there are others but those are the main ones), he was fairly confident in his opinion that I was here not only for the right reasons, but those that would keep me here several years. Obviously, time will tell, but it was nice to see that someone who knows a lot more about these things than I do was of the same opinion.
Phew, what a first week; 3 packed days/nights in Tokyo, and then 5 full days here in Tokushima. I can tell you one thing: being active all day and every day has helped me to get over any potential jet lag, though it has been nice to be around a lot of nice people going through the same thing.
I’ve now met most of the other JETs in my immediate vicinity, and a few others from the prefecture as well. In Awa City (Awa-shi), 3 of the 4 of us are new: John M., who’s an active board member of the Association of JETs (AJET), has been a huge help in getting me situated and answering a lot of questions about living here. He knows a lot more than even he gives himself credit for, as he told me it wasn’t until he was answering all of my questions that he really realized that he’s been here a whole year now and how much he’s learned in the meantime. The two other new JETs around here are Chris and Thad. Thad is a great guy from Iowa, who’s spent the past 3 ½ years teaching abroad in Italy (so we both speak a language that very, very few people in this area apart from the Americans speak haha), and is an active practitioner of Buddhism. This is interesting in that he adheres to the tenets of the religion so far as he doesn’t drink alcohol or eat meat, something that he has been told many “practicing” Buddhists here in Japan have left behind them. It’s interesting to see that Japan, not a particularly religious country, but one that I’ve always assumed followed (at least in practice) what little their religions (Shinto & Buddhism) required of its adherents, is little different in this day and age from many European countries with Catholicism, or even many parts of America. Not that I’m a total cynic and think that tradition/religion/etc. everywhere has been gradually (and completely) abandoned over generations, but it’s interesting to see such widespread and complete disregard for some traditions in a country that is very much attached to its traditions. Chris is a great guy from Dallas who went to Stephen F Austin State University in Nacadoches, Tx and graduated in 2008. I find it funny that I’ve already met 5 Texans that are in this area (Annie & Becky from Austin, Chris & Adam from Dallas, and Sarah from Lubbock), though I guess the Japanese consulate in Houston must get a lot of people applying from our state. Chris came to the Group A orientation, which occurred a week before mine, so that he’s got a much better idea of what’s going on than I do so far.
Yesterday, we went into Tokushima city (the city of 250,000 that’s about an hour to my East on the coast) and met up with a variety of new and old JETs to take a short city tour and go out for the night. The tour was quick and easy, and we were shown the closest store to buy foreign goods (read: peanut butter, taco mix, and funyons haha). Compared to how I’m sure it was 23 years ago (when the JET program began), I’m sure that people in rural places have it much better nowadays: walking through a Japanese grocery store, I find that though the brand names, packaging, and language may be different, you can find a remarkable number of things that one would buy back home: spaghetti & tomato sauce, many types of meat, all kinds of fruits, potato chips, eggs & dairy things, etc. Of course, the majority of items in the grocery store are more along traditional Japanese lines: all types of soba (noodles), ramen, a huge seafood section, miso, natto, and a ton of other things that I haven’t learned to read yet.
On a completely different note, it’s been raining cats and dogs here for the past 36 hours or so. I’m assuming it’s some weather system associated with the massive typhoon that just hit Taiwan (and is hitting mainland China as we speak). On the plus side it’s just warm summer rain, but many of the streets have been flooded in the small towns on either side of the Yoshinogawa (Yoshino river). Driving around, I’ve actually been afraid that one of our little k-cars would get a swamped engine from the foot or so of water we’ve seen on the roads.
In Japan, there are two main types of vehicles: yellow plates & white plates. White plates, with white license plates, are your normal run-of the mill cars- everything from Toyota Corollas to Land Cruisers, etc. K-Cars, or yellow plates, have smaller (650 cc max) engines. To any of you who have seen my beast of a car, it looks like a glorified HotWheels car (but a little bigger). Driving one is a lot like driving a go-cart with the whine of the engine (especially with 4 passengers) and just the small size of it. However, k-cars, we’ve realized, are the best possible thing for a JET to have: the mandatory government insurance (shakken) is much, much cheaper than the white plates, and thus they’re much easier to maintain. Despite appearances, my little car (nickname undetermined as of yet) can comfortably fit 4 people, with plenty of head room to spare- in making their cars look like boxes, the Japanese have crammed as much space into as little as possible (typical).
Anyways, the Tokushima city excursion (and the one to the Naruto City fireworks show the night before) has given me the opportunity to meet more and more JETs from our prefecture. Though Tokushima city is an hour to the west of me (mainly because the two-lane road there has lots of traffic lights), I’ve found that Tokushima JETs hang out with each other quite a bit. Be it through simply friendships & trips or any one of the various (and numerous) events organized by AJET, the JETs in the area seem pretty well connected. One of my main reasons to come to Japan to live here a second time was so that I could continue to develop my Japanese. From experience in Osaka as well as Alicante, I know that in order to vastly improve your language skills, you need to hang out and speak to locals (in that language). So far, I haven’t done a ton of that, but I feel that I’ve been justified in seeing a great deal of my fellow JETs for two main reasons: 1.) there simply just aren’t a lot of people out here, and 2.) getting situated/oriented has been much, much easier with people like John and Balacz (another JET from across the river) around to answer literally every single question that I have. It’s also been nice to hang out with the other new JETs, see how much they know about the Japanese language, people, and culture, and gauge the reasons why they’re here.
The JET program allows you to stay in Japan from 1-5 years, recontracting every year. In telling people how long I would be staying here, I mainly based my estimates off of my life back home (I’d like to go to grad school and start a career at some point) and my limited experience with alumni JET and living in Japan itself. After being here a week (yes, only a week), and speaking to a few of the returning/new JETs (especially the returners), I feel that my estimates of 2-3 years were pretty solid; people come to Japan and do the JET program for various reasons- everything from getting out of the States for a year, to having a new and exciting experience, to being here to catch the latest trend in Anime. A great deal of those people are the ones that stay for one year. After speaking to Balacz (pronounced “Balaj”), who’s been here for two years already, I’m much more confident in my earlier estimates. After telling him about my familiarity with the culture and the reasons why I’ve come back (namely: 1.) work on my Japanese language skills, 2.) get a more in-depth understanding of the culture, 3.) a more in-depth understanding of politics here, 4.) work as a teacher- there are others but those are the main ones), he was fairly confident in his opinion that I was here not only for the right reasons, but those that would keep me here several years. Obviously, time will tell, but it was nice to see that someone who knows a lot more about these things than I do was of the same opinion.
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