May 2005
Friday, May 1, 2005 — Random pictures
Monday, May 2, 2005 — High school reunion
I have a friend from high school, Yuka, with whom I still keep in touch. She lives in D.C. Yuka’s family moved to the U.S. from Japan when she was in junior high school. She grew up in Tokyo and Osaka. Eventually her parents moved back to Japan and settled in Osaka, and she goes to visit them about once a year. We were finally able to connect this year and arrange to meet, since Tokushima’s just a two or three-hour drive from Osaka.
The last time I’d seen Yuka was 1999, when we both interned in Washington, D.C., while we were in college. She and her parents came down to Tokushima to do some sightseeing. She pointed out that our 10-year high school reunion is in two more years. Trippy.
Tuesday, May 3, 2005 — Tacos and Takamatsu
I’ve really missed the presence of one of my favorite teachers, Miyata-sensei, at Kamona. Miyata-sensei was moved to a high school during the yearly staff change. She was going to invite me to her home when my sister came for a barbeque but when I offered to make tacos, she jumped on the chance. Plus, I know she doesn’t really like cooking. ;-)
The last time I’d gone to Miyata-sensei’s place, I’d biked the 40 minutes. It hadn’t been a problem but she offered to come get me this time, which was cool because my sister and I had food on us. We’d prepared as much of the food ahead of time as possible, and that turned out to be a good idea because the Miyata-sensei’s family was waiting eagerly when we all got back to her place.
Her husband speaks excellent English, too, which put An at ease. Her two adorable kids, 7-year-old Nagisa and 5-year-old Tora, don’t speak English but you don’t really need all that much English to get along with kids at that age. An really had a good time playing with them after lunch.
Miyata-sensei and her husband took us to Takamatsu, the capital of the neighborhood prefecture, Kagawa-ken. We saw a temple and went to a famous island, Yashima. It was good to see Miyata-sensei again.
Wednesday, May 4, 2005 — Naruto's whirlpools
My principal at Kokufu, kind man that he is, insisted on taking An and me out. After carefully listening to our sightseeing plan, he decided he'd take us to Naruto to see the famed uzushio, or whirlpools, since that was one place not on our itinerary.
This involved An and me riding our bikes our to his home, which is near where I live, and meeting him and his daughter, who was visiting from Tokyo. Apparently he has a boat docked in Naruto for when he feels like fishing. When the typhoons come, he has to dock it elsewhere. He drove the three of us down there and drove us around the harbor before getting his daughter to bring us up to the observation deck on the bridge that connects Naruto with Awaji Island.
Thursday, May 5, 2005 — The way of writing and the way of tea
An was lucky and got to come to calligraphy for a second time. She chose the kanji for “to learn,” or “manabu,” to write. Afterwards, she got to try tea ceremony. What made this experience so funny was that An typically only drinks water. Only water. So you can imagine what anything besides that does to her system. She doesn’t particularly like green tea either, and beseeched me about having to drink it. I put my foot down. If you’re gonna do tea ceremony, you’re gonna drink the tea, I told her.
Unfortunately for An, Kurohashi-sensei had enough guests to do tea ceremony FOUR times, each time with THREE hosts. That mean each time, we got two or three cups of tea. Granted, the cups are tiny, barely bigger than a thimble-full, but An wasn’t used to the taste at all. After a while, she just gave up and I drank her drink and eventually, Kurohashi-sensei understandingly stopped sending cups An’s way.
We think even that little bit of tea in An’s system wreaked havoc with her body. That night, she didn’t go to sleep until 5:30 a.m.
Friday, May 6, 2005 — Okonomi-what?
Okonomiyaki. Surprisingly hard to say for such a commonplace food in Japan. When you first see it, it’s also rather unappetizing-looking. Just this glop of cabbage, cheese, meat, vegetables and flour. But soooo tasty. The Kamona art teacher, Niu-sensei, invited my sister and I out to dinner at an okonomiyaki restaurant that she frequents.
My sister didn’t start things off well when she ended up unknowingly insulting Niu-sensei’s sister and her sister’s husband. While we were eating, a couple brought in a dachshund and put the dachshund ON THEIR TABLE. My sister remarked that it wasn’t very hygienic. Niu-sensei explained that table was used specifically for their dog. Apparently her sister and sister’s husband frequent the place as well. They left their dog on that table, and went to eat at another one. Whoops.
Saturday, May 7, 2005 — Beachside
My sister had asked whether we could go to the beach while she was here. I didn’t think it’d be warm enough and, indeed, the weather was still pleasantly cool, which meant a dip in the water probably would be uncomfortable. Nevertheless, I know the coast down south of the prefecture is supposed to be gorgeous, so I decided my sister and I would spend a day exploring.
We hopped a train in the morning and arrived in Yuki around lunch time. We walked the 15 minutes or so to the nearby beach, which was completely deserted. The Japanese don’t like going to the beach when it’s not hot, I guess. We had the beach completely to ourselves, and had lunch in peace. My sister pulled up her pant cuffs and ventured into the water, but reported it was still quite chilly. While she took pictures of rocks I read.
After lunch, we wrapped up our stuff and returned to the train station to head a little further south to Hiwasa. I hadn’t been back to Hiwasa since the one and only time I’d come down here, in Fall 2003. How far I’ve come; I could read the train signs and knew the system so much better than the cluelessness that plagued me when I’d last come.
In Hiwasa, we headed up the mountain for a stroll on the walking paths. Afterward, we came down and went in search of the onsen. I’d heard there was an onsen with a great view of the sea. The walk there seemed to take forever. On the way, we stopped briefly at the beach for which Hiwasa is famous; sea turtles come to lay their eggs there. A sea turtle museum is located right across the street from the beach. Finally we arrived at the lone hotel perched on a cliff overlooking the water, which is where the onsen was located. It was a nice way to end our time in Hiwasa.
Finally, we meandered back to the train station and rode the two hours back to Tokushima.
Sunday, May 8, 2005 — Sushi, conveyor-belt style
An put in a special request for the night’s dining: sushi. My friend Kiyomi, an English teacher friend, picked up my sister and me for dinner. There’s a sushi bar right down the street from me but I thought it’d be more fun and relaxing to go with her.
She took us to a sushi restaurant so popular that we had to wait in line, in the car, for a parking space. After about 20 minutes of holding up traffic alongside other eager diners, we finally were waved in by the parking lot attendants. Once inside, there was a giant line, too. The reason why this restaurant chain, Matsuri, is so popular is that each plate of sushi is only 100 yen or roughly $1. Sushi is quite filling, too, so you can fill up quickly on a very cheap amount.
The wait took probably 45 minutes. We preoccupied ourselves with watching the conveyor belts. Truth be told, this was my FIRST time, TOO, in a sushi restaurant. I’d heard of conveyor-belt sushi but had never been inside a place like that. It’s crazy! People sit at a counter or booth, right beside a conveyor belt that whizzes around with dishes of sushi! Tempura sushi, raw-fish sushi, natto (fermented bean curd) sushi, cucumber sushi, plus odds and ends like sweet potato, glistening in a sugar syrup, and apple jelly, followed by the crowning touch of CAKE. Slices of cake were scattered around, from chocolate cake to cheese cake.
By the time it was our turn, I was ravenous. It was so humorous to see the other tables and how much they’d put away. You could tell easily just by looking at the stack of plates. Man, could people eat. Kiyomi, An and I did our best but sushi fills you up quickly. Between the three of us, we polished off about only $20 of food. The tempura sushi was my favorite: shrimp fried in tempura batter and stacked on top of a sushi rice roll. I finished my meal with a mediocre, but still-welcome, slice of cheesecake.
At last, I’d had the great Japanese experience of conveyor-belt sushi. Trust the Japanese to make efficient such an internationally well-regarded institution of its culture.
Friday, May 20, 2005 — Returnees’ seminar
The two Tokushima-ken CIRs organized a seminar for JETs who will be returning to their home countries this summer. There are about 25 of us. I hadn’t seen many of the attendants in months because I haven’t been doing any JET-related activities as of late.
We returnees have three main issues facing us at this point: preparing for our return, possibly facing reverse culture-shock, and focusing on the ever-terrifying job hunt. Much has been said about reverse culture-shock. Typical pieces of advice include jewels like, “People don’t really want to hear all about Japan. Give a short description and move on to other things.”
Claire, a CIR who’d returned to Canada several years ago after studying Japanese in Japan, said her brother told her, “You sound like an ESL student who speaks English well.” That was classic. I wonder if that will be me in two months.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005 — Tick tick tick
Can you believe it? LESS than two more months until I return home. I can’t handle it! I reserved my flight home last week. Japan-based flights are ridiculously overpriced. Sure, I’m traveling during summer vacation, but the price was still shockingly high. To give you an idea: my ONE-WAY flight home costs MORE than my ROUND-TRIP flight home at Christmas and TWICE AS MUCH as my sister’s off-season round-trip flight from the U.S.!
Well, I can’t complain too much. It’s not on my tab. Part of a JET’s contract stipulation is that their school or school district pay for their flight to and from Japan at the beginning and end <sob!> of their time in Japan.
Saturday, May 28, 2005 — Sports Day
In addition to having an annual culture festival, schools also have sports days. It’s the equivalent of the field day I used to have in elementary school, when the kids competed against each other in various athletic and occasionally absurd events all in fun.
It was an all-day affair that took place on the school grounds at Kamona. I was so relieved to be at it, because I really wanted to go last year but NO ONE TOLD ME ABOUT IT. I didn’t even know there were such things, so how could I have asked ahead of time? Last year, I was at Kokufu when Kamona had its sports day and I was at Kamona when Kokufu had its sports day. So this year, I made sure to inquire months in advance of when the schools’ sports days would be. I can’t go to Kokufu’s, which is on a weekday while I’m at Kamona, but I could make Kamona’s, which was held on a Saturday.
Sports day is pretty much a students-only event. The teachers keep tabs on the winners of each event. My role, as defined by my English teacher, was to just cheer the students. As Japanese cheering pretty much consists of yelling, “GANBARE!” (“You can do it!” or “Do your best!”) over and over AND OVER again (Japanese cheers, I find, leave much to be desired), I pretty much stuck with getting as many pictures of my students as possible. After all, I’m leaving soon — my last day at Kamona is June 24, at which point I’ll go to Kokufu for a month — and bringing a camera to class would probably be a distraction, so I have to take pictures when and where I can.
Monday, May 30, 2005 — Sometimes, I just don't understand
One of many things in Japanese culture that I’ve still not gotten used to is the ingrained familial instinct to APOLOGIZE when a Japanese person is TAKEN HOSTAGE IN IRAQ. I do not understand this. In the U.S., if an American is taken a hostage, the family rallies together and usually says something to the effect of, “We’re praying for the best,” or “We know he’s okay.” Not in Japan. In Japan, families ask for forgiveness from their countrymen for their relatives having gotten themselves kidnapped and held for ransom.
“I think he went there, knowing full well that he would be in danger,” said the brother of Akihiko Saito, the latest Japanese person abducted in Iraq. “But I’m very sorry he has caused trouble.”
Every time — EVERY TIME — there’s a hostage story in the newspaper, there’s a quote from a family member saying “sorry our family member has caused trouble.” Why WHY WHY is that their reaction?
Separately, the Japanese government has decreed that its government officials in Tokyo will wear not wear ties or jackets this summer as an energy-saving measure. One solution to the what-to-wear dilemma has been traditional Okinawan short-sleeve button-down shirts that resemble the bright prints of Hawaiian shirts. What cracks me up about this is that it reflects the Japanese anxiety when it comes to breaking protocol and making independent decisions. From The Daily Yomiuri, a national English-language newspaper:
In the mid-‘90s, Japanese companies, like their Western counterparts, caught up in the black T-shirt fad of the Internet go-go years, introduced casual Fridays as a way to loosen up the working atmosphere.
“The idea was it was supposed to relax you,” said Masaru Tamamoto, a leading Japanese political analyst. “But instead, everybody got stressed out wondering what to wear.”
Widely seen as a resounding failure, casual Friday was quietly put out of its misery amid the implosion of the economic bubble. Tokyo’s business districts are again a study in fashion blandness. The orientation program for company recruits still includes instructions on how to dress to fit in.