I haven't really forgotten you!!

Wednesday

I bet you all thought now that Daniel is in Japan with me I've forgotten all about you! You're wrong. Mostly wrong anyway. It has been great having Daniel around and I did put off writing because it was great spending time with him and showing him around. Unfortunately I put it off for too long - within a few days of Daniel's arrival, neither of our computers were working! Occasionally one will work for a few days, but never quite long enough for me to write.

So, I'm writing this up now - while I'm at school and will type it up the next time I find a computer. (Sunday: Currently one of our computers is working and we've also borrowed a friends).

One of my teachers was absent today (found out 5 minutes after my class with her was supposed to start), so I spent a bit of time practising my address. Interesting order: postcode, city, area (like state), street block, apartment number. Practising the kanji is more difficult, but at least I understand it a little better now.

(Incidently my teacher had a headache, but only had half a day off! She still wasn't well when she arrived at 12:30, but felt that she didn't have a choice. They don't call in relief teachers and the students just have individual study time.)

The weather is really nice at the moment - sunny days, but not hot (according to Naomi, very humid according to Daniel) and cooling off during the evening.

School has been going well - I'm getting to know the teachers and what they want me to do. Some of the highlights have been the special education classes. They are very enthusiastic and the classes have been lots of fun. I have been able to give a lot of suggestions for the classes and ususally run most of it. The kids are also getting to know me (I have lunch with them on Fridays) although some of them still speak fast Japanese to me and are surprised when I don't understand. At least now I know what words they know and can use them in conversation.

I've also had some fun with the year 9 classes. In their textbook was a story about cross-cultural incidents and my teacher asked to me share one of my own with the class. So, I told the story of wearing my outside shoes inside at a school. Although it was rather challenging for them a few of them understood it well.

The year 8 classes on the other hand, tend to be a little more frustrating - I think year 8 kids are the same in every country! But the textbook really doesn't help - the dialogue we were working on this week went something like this:

A: Did you watch Harahara Times last night?
B: Yes, I did. Did you?
A: Yes. It was so exciting!
B: Really? It was boring to me.

They then had to practise this with each other, although could change the TV show and the adjectives.

At the airport..... waiting

At the airport.... very tired and waiting for a very late plane,　but it has been a good few days. Last night　I traveled up to Osaka on a ferry (a very big ferry which was more like a cruise ship) and today I wondered around Osaka. I didnt really do much sighseeing, but I had a good look around Osaka Castle.

You will have to forgive me for the punctuation errors - using a Japanese keyboard, which doesnt always do what you want it to do　like apostrophies or randomly changing to Japanese.

Did I mention that I:m waiting for Daniel:s plane, which is about an hour late? I came rather early because I was sick of walking around. I:m actually looking for a quiet place where I can curl up and sleep for a while. I didn:t sleep well on the ferry - I:m still not used to sleeping in a room with other strangers. The comfort level was also a little low　even compared to what I:m used to. Didn:t sleep well the night before either. I think I might have been a little excited.

There:s so much to write and tell you, but not all now. I:m paying for the internet with 100yen - 1 dollar - coins and I just used my last one. Just wanted to let you know that all is going well - I didn:t get lost in Osaka, Daniel;s on his way, and I;ve got today and tomorrow off work. The teachers have　asked us out to dinner on Friday night - they seem pretty keen on meeting Daniel.

This keyboard is really quite frustrating....there is a tiny space bar and whenever I hit a button on either side where the space bar usually is, it tries to change my writing to Japanese. And I can;t for the life of me find an apostrophe - rreally aorry about the semi colons showing up everywhere - they;re where the apostrophe usually　is and it;s easier to continue using that than nothing at all.

Anyway, going to find a coffee or something. Or some sleep. Good thing i put in an exctra book - already 50pages through!

Japan - the country of the long weekend!

It's funny listening to all you Aussies talking about the long weekend. Anyone would think you don't have many. I on the other hand am not feeling the need for a public holiday as I feel I just had lots. I checked my diary, and it not only feels like I've had lots, I have had 2 long weekends last month and having another one next weekend!

It seems that in Japan people often go away for weekends, rather than taking time off work and going on a holiday. So, I guess this suits the Japanese lifestyle and work ethic. Remember too that traveling in Japan isn't as time consuming as traveling in Australia. Apparently it's unusual for people to spend more than one night at a hot spring, which is a very popular destination.

The thing that really amuses me is that people go away for a weekend (overnight) and buy souvenirs for all they friends or colleagues!

Incidentally I counted the public holidays in Japan and in Australia. 17:10 our (Japan's) win.

So enjoy your long weekend, don't sleep it all away.. enjoy it because it's a long time until your next one!! I've got 3 public holidays next month too!

A Silly Shoe Story...

Now we all know that Japanese people never wear shoes inside (slippers only or inside shoes at school) and Japanese people know that we do wear shoes inside... But I had a lot of difficulty explaining in class today that there are no rules about where you wear your shoes. Sometimes I wear my shoes inside and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I wear slippers, sometimes I have bare feet. Sometimes I even go outside in bare feet! ("You go outside with no shoes?!!!"). They never go outside in bare feet!

The class was about "must" and "mustn't". These were the sentences provided in the text book:
In Japan:
You mustn't wear your shoes inside.
You mustn't wash in the bathtub.
You must drive on the left side of the road.

In America:
You wear your shoes inside.
You must wash in the bathtub.
You must drive on the right side of the road.

When the students asked me if I wore my shoes inside in Japan, I pointed to the first rule.

The students were a little confused about washing in the bath until I explained it was so the floor doesn't get wet. And I found out that Japanese people don't wash in the bath because other people in the family use the water. It also works because their whole bathroom is a giant shower with a bath next to it.

They were rather amazed that we had a few things in common - like driving on the same side of the road and we both use degrees celcius / kilometres / kilos.

But they just could not comprehend that I don't wear special slippers to go to the toilet!! "So what do you wear when you go to the toilet?" "Whatever is on my feet at the time - sometimes shoes, sometimes bare feet."
The way they giggled behind their hands and repeated it to each other made me feel like I had said something scandalous! I must admit that I didn't really comprehend their reaction! I also made some fast readjustments to my thinking, "this is actually important, who would have thought putting on a pair of slippers to go to the toilet would have been that important?!"

I now have the dilemma that I now know how important this is to them, so maybe I should start putting on toilet slippers.... Honestly, it just seems more trouble than it's worth - it's another shoe change into a pair of plastic slippers that usually look quite small, just to go to the toilet. (I have discovered that my size 8/1/2 feet are huge! Ladies LL (Large Large) shoes are about a size 7 and they don't make ladies shoes any bigger than that!).

In Japan - so many rules about shoes
In Australia - wear whatever you feel like!

It will be interesting to how much has rubbed off when I return to Australia.....

By the way, did you know that you often have to take your shoes off at restaurants and in fitting rooms at shops? At restaurants there will sometimes be lockers, otherwise they just go in the entrance. No, I haven't lost any shoes yet, but then again, I don't think anyone would want giant shoes! I guess that also makes it easier to tell them apart. All the kids at school have their name written on their shoes!

Enkai Weekend (work party!)

You haven't experienced Japan until you've experienced enkai! I've now been in Japan for 2 months and have been to 2 work parties plus a weekend which I'm sure counts for at least 5!

Saturday morning meet at the school at 10am, jump on the bus, get handed a beer. Drive for 2 hours (sat next to Urabe - an English teacher) and arrive at a beer factory. Go on tour and get free beer. Eat traditional Japanese food for lunch. This was pretty much the pattern of the weekend - drive, drink beer and eat traditional Japanese food, with a few baths thrown in.

After lunch we went to a winery for wine tasting! Actually, didn't really enjoy the wines much, but the spirits on the other hand... Next to the winery was a place where we could sample Japanese spirits. They were very interesting - especially the sesame spirit - you could distinctly taste the sesame flavour.

We continued onto the traditional Japanese hotel/onsen. Once the bus driver eventually found the place! I've never been on a bus where the driver got so lost, had to ask so many people for directions or take so many 3 point turns!

Notice how the word "traditional" keeps cropping up? That was another very important aspect of the weekend.

Onsen! Hot springs! Take your clothes off in your room, put on your yakuta (dressing grown) go to one of the hot springs (I think the hotel had 6 or so public baths, in different locations in the hotel, some were inside, others outside). Take off everything (but you can cover yourself with a little hand towel) and go wash beside the pool and then jump in! They were very hot and relaxing, although a little hotter than ideal for me. In the time that we were there, I went in three different pools. I much preferred the outside ones as there was a slight, refreshing breeze, but I wasn't sure about only being half in the water....

Traditional Japanese dinner:
I was a bit surprised when dinner was about to start and we were getting ready to go to the dining room, but we were still wearing out yakuta (often it seems that no-one tells me things that everyone knows - at least all Japanese people). Yep that's right - dinner in our dressing gowns! Good thing I put some underwear on while the others were doing their hair - I was just getting as ready as I could before sneaking a look at what they were going to wear. Although it felt a bit strange, and I had to keep checking that I was still decent throughout dinner, it was really comfy!

The food was mostly delicious, although those orange things that look like jelly babies nearly killed me. I seem to think that they might be made of fish eggs. Certainly not orange jelly babies on sticks! Now the sashimi (raw fish) was very yummy, as was the mushroom and lemon soup. As dinner (and drinks) continued the karaoke machine came out and the singing began. I'm already beginning to recognise the favourite songs that come out at every enkai. I'm also surprised that we sing the school song (one of the songs from sport day) and we all put our arms around each other and sing a song that is sung at weddings. I'm getting much better at reading Japanese and was sort of able to sing along, although I could've sung anything and they wouldn't have been able to hear me over themselves!

9pm or so and the party finishes - time to go to the next party! That was held in on of the rooms. Drinks and nibblies came out and we just relaxed and chatted. I did more relaxing than chatting, but you get that! I did talk a bit to the two English teachers that were there and the home economics teacher speaks English very well.

11pm or so and that party finishes - time for another dip in the onsen. This one was outdoors - the breeze was nice and refreshing.

12 or so and it's bedtime! While I'm becoming quite accustomed to the futon on the floor, I look forward to my next trip to a traditional Australian hotel where I can sleep in a bed! And I do miss my pillow! I was rather amused that the traditional Japanese hotel does not have a traditional Japanese toilet, but a western toilet!

Awoken at 7:30 for a early morning onsen dip before breakfast.

Breakfast: yep, you guessed it - a traditional Japanese breakfast! Now I have a personal philosophy: one should never eat strange things for breakfast! And no amount of cultural courtesy will change this. I quite enjoyed the miso soup with small muscles and even the salmon (ok, maybe my definitions of "strange" are changing!). I guess the sweet scrambled egg cubes were ok, but I don't know it will ever be a favourite. The fruit was yummy and I had plenty to drink: green tea (Japanese), coffee, orange juice and beer. I guess it's the Japanese version of a champagne breakfast! But I didn't eat the pickled veges and didn't even try the orange thing (I've sort of gone off orange foods!).

Fruit picking (once the bus driver found the place..)
When I found out that we were going fruit picking I put in my sneakers and some clothes I could move in and not mind getting dirty. I really didn't need to bother. We walked into the grove and and I picked three nashi (cross between an apple and a pear) by gently twisting them off the branch. Every piece of fruit was in a paper bag - no wonder the fruit here is so expensive! The three nashi cost me 900yen = $9, so while not cheap, it should be pretty fresh and do me for a few lunches.

Lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant (I'm sure you can guess) and then home.

I guess the place we went to was about 2 hours away, but difficult to tell with that bus driver and all the toilet stops and souvenir stops!

If anyone wants to visit an onsen when they come and visit, just let me know. At least I now know onsen etiquette!

All in all it was a very good weekend and I got an opportunity to see some of Japan and get to know the teachers a little better. I some interesting conversations with Urabe about the differences between Japan and Australia (she has spent some time in Australia and is interested in Australia). In Australia we are definitely taught to think about things, have our own opinions and question things. We are encouraged to ask questions and there are no stupid questions. In Japan you are not to ask a stupid question or make a mistake. In Urabe's opinion, most Japanese people tend to be pesimistic, while Australians are more optomistic: "she'll be right."

Well, time to get ready for a new week.. hope you all have a good one and enjoy your traitional Aussie homes!

Listening to the rain...

Listening to the rain..... did I mention that it rains lots over here? Usually for only a short while (an afternoon or an evening - not multiple days and rarely whole days). As a result everything is so green. There are lots of trees and mountains and even the weeds on the side of the road are big, green and leafy! There are no water restrictions and it is ok to spend ages in the shower. When people wash their dishes in the sink, they don't use a plug, but wash under running water. I've tried looking for a plug but haven't been able to find one. So, I'm currently washing my dishes Japanese style (but I sure go through lots of detergent this way).

There is also a lot of lightning tonight and eventhough my curtains are closed, it's still flashing through.

I guess I didn't expect Japan to be this green - what with so many people living so closely - but there are lots of trees around which just add to the general clutter. Even Sydney feels open and clutter-free after being in Japan. I'm beginning to understand why people say that Australia is so open and peaceful.

Peaceful... yes, I miss this. Japan is so noisy! I know I've said this lots, but really, tonight I was talking with someone at the train station and I had to stop talking while the announcement was going because I couldn't talk over the top of it. On the bus, the driver talks the whole time into a microphone - about which stop is coming up and lots of "thank you very much"s. This is very interesting, as Japanese people seem to be very softly spoken generally and it's us "westerners" who talk and laugh loudly. I guess we're all accustomed to different types of noises. I'm still getting used to the noises in Japan, but I'm quite happy to go to sleep to the sound of the rain...

Things I'm getting used to...

I borrowed a book from the library today about gaijin (foriegners) and had quite a laugh, so I thought I'd add a few of the pictures to this. And, yes, I have been in all these situations!

It also got me to thinking about how I'm becoming more accostomed to these things.... here are some other examples.....

While shopping:

• Putting my own groceries into plastic bags
• Not handing the cashier the money but putting it in the little tray provided
• Getting a plastic bag - even when I buy one thing and don't need one (Japan is good at recycling but not the "reduce" aspect)

Regarding shoes:

• Taking my shoes off as soon as I get home (in Aus it was usually the third thing: go to the toilet, get a drink, take off shoes - now it's the first - even before putting on the air conditioner!)
• Changing into indoor shoes at work - eventhough they don't go with what I'm wearing (often you will see people wearing a nice shirt and pants with socks and thongs...it just seems wrong)
• Not wearing shoes in a changeroom at shops (the look of horror is the giveaway - they reserve a look just for shoe violations)

At home:

• Not doing my cleaning at midnight (the walls are rather thin)
• Airing my futon once a week or so or whenever I remember
• Mail arriving on weekends
• Sorting and putting out garbage (can only put out certain garbage on certain days)

Out and about:

• Taking an umbrella every time I go out
• Seeing kids in their school uniform on weekends
• Being stared at
• Random coming up to me and saying "hello" and/or practising their English on me
• Squat toilets
• Not automatically using the wrong escalator - I'm sure they're the wrong way around, I keep expecting the up one to go down and the down one to go up
• Not walking across pedestrian crossing unless there is a green signal (pedestrian crossings are at traffic lights and you can't cross if there's a red signal) although I'm still working out when to walk at other times - people give way to me when I'm not expecting it and often don't when I thought they would..... yes, very confusing.
• Ignoring noises - ok, still working on this one, there's noise everywhere - traffic lights play music when you can walk, there's music at stations, in shops, at school (different tunes for different times of the day), trucks driving around selling stuff (I presume)
• Seeing dogs with pretty clips on thier ears being walked by their owner - literally! Owners often carry their dog!!
• People laughing at my accent!