Progress

Earlier this week, I received some bittersweet news: I'm being transferred to a branch in Katsura, just on the outskirts of Kyoto!

They told me it was solid for September 1st but that they desperately needed someone at that branch ASAP, and would I be willing to go August 1st instead? I told them I already had plans to climb Mount Fuji on the 6th & 7th and that I have already worked most of the extra days I needed to get time off for my brother's wedding in the States. I need almost a whole week off in August for the wedding. If they were willing to do that, I was in.

They got back to me right away the next day and said they'd work with me, so I'm starting training there four days from now!

Pros:

• commute time is now 35 minutes each way instead of 95 minutes, giving me 10 more hours of time a week
• no more sitting in front of the computer with my eyes bugging out all night
• no more night shifts (they are only open 10am to 9pm), so my sleeping and eating habits can resume some normalcy
• I will be live in front of students who live in my area
• I will be interacting with more Japanese staff at my location

Cons:

• I earn less money, so much of my free time will have to be with private students to make up the difference
• the schedule they gave me means I have to move or cancel ALL of my existing private students
• the schedule they gave me has me working Wednesday and Friday nights as well as Saturday mornings. Guess when aikido classes are...
• it all happened so fast, without the opportunity to mentally prepare myself for the fact that I WILL MISS THE FRIENDS I MADE AT THE MULTIMEDIA CENTER AND THE TIME WE SPENT TOGETHER THERE!! Thank you all for making an otherwise miserable experience not only tolerable, but enjoyable and rewarding.

By the way, Happy 6-monthiversary in Japan, folks! I'm one step closer to how I wanted my life here to be. I can feel the upswing, and I'm loving the breeze.

Staying Present

Randy & I had a rough week. We spent a lot of time talking and thinking about our future. It was provoked by the realization that if I am serious about going to medical school to become a D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy), which I am really feeling drawn to do, that I have a long road ahead of me. And I'm turning 35 in less than 2 months. This made me want to get going on that path sooner rather than later. If I pursue that, I will have to go back to about two years of undergrad to get some pre-med credits first.

We have discussed living together in another city like New York or perhaps on Maui for a year or so. We have discussed potentially having kids at some point. He wants us to have time to cultivate our relationship while living together before making any big decisions, which I can understand and agree would be good for us. I also feel like I want to get this med school process started soon after returning to the States, which would mean making some decisions before I return. Otherwise the application process lag time will delay everything. He wants us to have time together living in California (SF or LA or a combination of the two) for some months before we decide to go somewhere. I don't want to settle down there and try to rebuild a clientele or start a school program that I would be walking away from less than a year later.

In order to satisfy his need for time together without any major transition, and in order to satisfy my need to even start studying before fall of 2009, it occurred to me that I may need to leave Japan sooner than later. Right now, that feels like something I would regret later, and I tend to not do things I know I may regret.

In addition, he really wanted to go to Burning Man together next year, as did I. I really wanted to go to Thailand before returning from Japan in order to get additional massage training I would need in New York or Hawai'i anyway and would boost my interest in massage. He really wanted to join me there for part of the time. These things are coinciding with one another and are seemingly mutually exclusive both chronologically and financially.

Point being, I was getting caught up in the future and not truly living in the present. When I step back, I realize that New York, Hawai'i, Thailand, Burning Man, medical school, kids, and most of all, sharing it all with someone I love is all a beautiful bonus in my life. Poor me, having to choose between such wonderful opportunities.

Today, I am here. We will sort it all out in due time.

Canni-buri-ism

**WARNING** This next posting is not for the weak of stomach!!

Just before leaving my house last night, I saw a large gokiburi (a roach...see earlier posting entitled Gokiburi Showdown). I threw my shoe at it and wounded it. Moving closer, I smacked it hard with the heel of my shoe and then put the shoe on and left the house, running almost late for work. I figured it would be there to be cleaned up when I got home.

Today, I arrived back in my apartment, and it looked different. Upon closer inspection, I realized the the antennae and wings and a couple legs had been removed.

Upon CLOSER inspection, I realized that the body and head had been eaten by other roaches, leaving only the hard shell behind!

I have been so careful not to leave any food out, so as to not encourage their existence here. Little did I know that the carcass of my victim would become dinner for others.

I killed one and it just helped others to live longer. Is there an end to this war?!?

My Collon

It's been brought to my attention that I haven't really been sharing my daily experience, and really only talking about the major events, both in my life and in Japan. Well I didn't really think that many of you would be interested to hear me gripe repeatedly about how long my commute is. Or how little time I have to myself. Or the fact that it's so hot here that my saran wrap isn't just stuck together, it has actually MELTED into one blob, and the top of the refrigerator has to be cleaned repeatedly to prevent mold from growing out of the condensation collecting there due to the disparity in temperature between the air and the fridge itself.

But as my friend Emily's blog reminded me, one of the lighter more fun parts of my daily life is how clueless Japanese ads and product names are. They don't translate well at all sometimes. Randy and I went to the top of Mount Misen on Miyajima and found a sign that described an opening in the rock as "a hole to the extent that a fist enters." Sounds pretty fishy to me.

Then the other day in the grocery store, I was looking through the sweets aisle for something new to try and decided to buy these. And yes...according to the Japanese writing, it's pronounced "colon."

p.s.-In case you're wondering, my Cream Collon was delicious!

Folded In

When baking, recipes often ask you to "fold the egg whites in" to the mixture or batter. This is a way of incorporating them without completely decimating the bubbles you've whipped into them. It's more like you put them in and take some of the mixture/batter and gently lay it on top of the eggs like a blanket. It keeps the end result light and airy.

This culture is so opposite to what I grew up with. If something negative happens, it's their fault. If something positive happens, it's apparently because of me. In the States, there's a tendency to blame others for negativity and take the credit for positivity (a la the often portrayed "that's my kid!" when he does well and "he obviously takes after you" when he screws up).

There's so much gratitude flowing for anything I do. My landlord gives me small gifts every time I pay my rent. My students give me small gifts at my private lessons. I don't quite get it. In one case, I pay money, and in the other, they pay me, and in both cases, they are falling over themselves to express their gratitude.

There's such an impulse ingrained in people here from a young age to not disturb others and their flow in life. There is a constant apology coming my way from others. If I push past someone, they apologize to me. If I ask them to explain something and they don't know how to explain it, they feel inadequate that they don't know English(!) and apologize again. When I was first learning to ride my bike here and didn't yet know the "rules" of the sidewalk, I ran right into the back of a schoolgirl. I was so concerned because I thought I'd hit her hard, and as I desperately asked if she was okay, she repeatedly cried "Sumimasen!" (excuse me/sorry) with tears coming down her face as if to say it was her fault.

Recently I've caught myself doing some very Japanese things here that I didn't notice I'd begun to do. At the dry cleaners yesterday, I apologized (in Japanese) to the people in line behind me. I wasn't there a long time...no more than three minutes. It was simply because I was first in line and they were behind me. They broke into smiles and said that it was nothing, but the way they said it indicated that I did the right thing by apologizing.

What is happening to me? Without noticing and without the violence of bursting my bubbles I think I'm being folded in...

Shinsen-en

After a tiring night and day of the festival (so much for relaxing days off, eh?), my friend Kathy decided to stay in Kyoto to do a little sightseeing. We made our way to the Nijo Castle, only to discover that it's not open on Tuesdays in August. So I took her to a nearby garden/shrine that I'd ridden by on my bike but never stopped at to check out.

It was such a beautiful and peaceful place built on top of what used to be swamplands in front of the castle. It now holds small performances and ceremonies and is visited by worshippers at its shrine and patrons of its traditional restaurant.

Only when I looked it up a few minutes ago did I realize that it was instrumental in the history of the GIon Festival. Of all the places for us to go, we "happened" to choose the one connected to the parade we'd just come from. And here we just sat and had ice cream and got bit by a few mosquitoes!

You can see the beauty of it all HERE.

Gion Parade

The day after our night out, many friends and co-workers came to meet Sabine and I in downtown Kyoto for the parade of floats.

Historically, there was a plague killing many Japanese almost 1200 years ago, and the emperor at the time believed that praying to the god of the Yasaka shrine (located in the Gion district of Kyoto) would put an end to it all. A ceremony was devised and representations of the 66 different regions marched from the Shinsen-en Garden (see the next post above for more on that) to the shrine. Miracualously, the plague came to a stop not long after, and the ceremony was repeated whenever Japan faced a major catastrophe. Eventually, it was done preventatively, and the parade became a tradition.

One of the marvels of the parade was the engineering required at the time to turn corners. As the wheels only move forward and don't turn at all, they had to come up with something else. They lay down rows of bamboo perpendicular to the front wheels, grease them up, roll the wheels forward onto them, tie a rope around the wheel and pull/push the float along the perpendicular track of the bamboo. It takes a looooong time to do, even today, as it's a painstaking process that requires about 30 men or so.

The other noteworthy things about the parade is that in modern times, it is a mark of status to be "chosen" to be riding on the floats. The boys and their families pay the equivalent of $100,000.00 to ride on it for one parade!

Pulling the floats, however, can be done by just about anyone, including foreigners. Perhaps you'll see me out there next year...

Parade day photos can be seen HERE.

Discrimation

Warning: this is a rather long exploration and explanation of a challenging experience. If you wish only to hear about the “good” things, you can skip this one… The one right before and right after are more light and interesting, complete with photos.

One thing happened that really soured my night for a little while at the festival. We saw people going inside one of the houses to look at its treasures, and we decided to check it out. When we got to the front of the line, the “doorman” held his circular fan out in front of me as if to say “hold on a moment.” I thought maybe they were at capacity for the moment. Then he let a few other people in from the other side of him. At first I thought he knew them, but then I realized this wasn’t the case, so we moved over and got in that line. Once again, when it came to my turn, he held up the fan. He let a few other people in and then went inside and slid the door shut. In a minute or two, he came back out and let more people in but not us. Every time I tried to step forward, I had the fan put up in front of me. Maybe we needed tickets, I thought. But nobody else had any either.

I asked him in Japanese, “Ii desu ka?” (Is is okay?), and he replied “Dame desu” (it’s no good). He then went back inside and slid the door shut again. Sabine said something like “I guess we’re back to ‘niggers’ and ‘Jews’ again.” I don’t know how it feels to be black or a Jew, but I do know this felt like crap. We’d done nothing to provoke this. And it wasn’t that we weren’t allowed as much as the way we were being treated.

We started walking away, and I went back briefly to shoot this picture of him. I’d felt helpless and almost baffled at the fact that in the modern world of Japan, something like this would happen. I took the photo in an obvious way to maybe have him examine his actions and let him know that I saw him for who he was. Perhaps neither of those were accomplished, but it made me feel better either way. Something similar happened one time when all the foreigners who came in (including me) were placed at the end of the conveyor belt in a sushi shop. The Japanese patrons were all seated in front of the chef as they arrived, getting the fresh sushi. We got whatever happened to be left after they’d taken what they wanted.

I had heard before coming here that there was an invisible barrier between Japanese people and foreigners. I was told I’d never truly be accepted, no matter how many years I was here, and even if I were to marry a Japanese woman. I would most likely never be invited to a wedding or even a family’s house for dinner. On the surface, Japanese people have all been super friendly, and at the same time, I have sensed caution and a bit of skepticism sometimes (except for the flirty girls, for many of whom I’m just a fetish).

After being cut off from the rest of the world for generations, I can understand a hesitant approach to outsiders. 90% of Japan is homogeneous (Japanese marrying within their nationality and having pure-bred Japanese babies). It’s how they’ve survived on these small islands for so long. Not to mention that the Western world brought them firearms, Christianity, and then took advantage of them economically…not exactly the best impression to make. Currently, Americans and other Westerners are thought to be loud, inconsiderate, and sometimes destructive as tenants and while out drinking. I don’t doubt it. And perhaps my photo-taking only fed his image of Westerners.

I’m not defending anyone here. I’m only saying that I sadly can understand why I might be treated differently here. I realize my every action and attitude is scrutinized. It is only when I truly behave with respect, interest in the culture, and put forth effort to communicate in Japanese that the veil is usually lowered. Otherwise, I’m “just another foreigner.”

This experience was challenging for me because nothing I could have done would have made a difference. I realize how valuable this is for me to contemplate, and for that, I am grateful to the doorman.

Festive Kyoto

The whole weekend had been very rainy, and word from friends who went to see the Gion Matsuri (festival) on Sunday was that it was too crowded to move more than a couple blocks in two hours’ time. I had been looking forward to the festival for many weeks and felt determined to go, no matter how tired I was, how rainy the skies were or how crowded the streets were. I had my yukata and I’d arranged to only work six days that week to make it happen. I was going. I picked up my friend Sabine from the station, we got ready, and headed out. On our way, we saw SO many people in yukata…it was like the city had been transformed and reminded me of Halloween, except that everyone was dressing with the same theme in mind.

We got there to discover that it wasn’t nearly as crowded as we’d heard (although I heard reports later that there were about 400,000 people all total in that one square kilometer area over the course of the three days). The streets were closed to traffic. The floats were all prepared for the parade the next day, draped in tapestries, covered in strung-up glowing lanterns, and emanating music played by the young men up on the second story.

We were actually allowed to go into a nearby house, (take off our shoes, of course), climb the stairs to the second floor, and cross a bridge leading up into one of the floats. It was a great view and beautiful feeling to be that close to the bells and drums.

We avoided the main streets and kept to the smaller side streets, drinking a beer and sharing a grilled squid-on-a-stick. There were all kinds of food stands with candied fruit, chocolate-covered bananas, grilled meats, and all kinds of unfamiliar delicacies.

There were also plenty of games with prizes. My favorite to watch was a wide tank full of fish, where you are given a small scoop with a net made of thin paper. You scoop up as many fish into your bag as you can until the net becomes soaked and is ripped open by the wriggling fish. You get to keep the fish, and not wanting that responsibility, we didn’t actually play, ourselves.

The other remarkable occurrence is that many homes in the area were allowing visitors to come inside and see their treasures. These included ancient paintings, split doorway curtains, tapestries, painted screens, flower arrangements, small sculptures, and other antiquities. We filed in to a few hallways to view some of these, sometimes finding small shrines in the back as well.

Just asking in one doorway to use the bathroom, I followed a few people down a long dark alley to where it opened up, revealing a displayed tapestry that was over 1000 years old! It had threads of spun gold and other materials, depicting a double dragon. Good thing I’d had that beer and had to relieve myself, or I’d never have seen it!

The other nice surprise was a compliment on my knot. The yukata has a belt, called an "obi," that you are supposed to tie in a particular way. Following the diagrams from my receipt, I did my best at home. Apparently I did alright because more than one person was impressed. But then again, Japanese people are often impressed that Westerners can even use chopsticks, so it could have been a comment more on the novelty than my actual skill!

To see more photos from the festival, click HERE. As always, you can click on them to enlarge them or right-click to save them.

Typhoons 'n Earthquakes 'n Tsunamis, Oh My!

Ok, so I'm only kidding about the Tsunamis, which I guess isn't funny.

Japan did, however, get hit by a typhoon and then earthquake, all in two days' time! The typhoon went over Kyushu island, where Nagasaki and Fukuoka are (not the same island I'm on, but very close) on Saturday. There were threats that it would hit my region, but besides a lot of rain, a little wind and a few dark clouds later that day, I didn't notice much change from usual.

Did you know the only difference between a typhoon and a hurricane is that they originate on different sides of the International Date Line?

And then we had an earthquake in the Niigata prefecture. Actually, I slept through it and only found out because my friend Naomi (in Northern California!) sent me an e-mail asking if I was ok. I didn't feel a thing.

I've been asked how I can live somewhere with such crazy natural disasters. Well honestly, there were tornadoes in Wyoming, hurricanes in Virginia, blizzards in Connecticut, earthquakes in California, fires or floods in more than one of each of those, and at this point, I feel like you just choose which ones you'd rather face. Next month I'm climbing an active (but dormant) volcano, so maybe I'm not the best person to ask...

*Bing!* You are now free to move about the globe...

Today I got my re-entry Visa, which basically says that the Japanese government will allow me to leave the country and then come back here and work again. Whoo Hoo! Now I just need to buy a wedding gift and get fitted for a tux somehow here. I'm sure they'll do it for me, although in centimeters instead of inches!

Besides that, I'm just working my butt off, looking forward to the festival next week and having visitors from Osaka come stay with me. I'll be sure to post photos of me in my yukata once I have them...

My Schedule and Service with a Smile

I just completed a schedule for myself and realized why I'm so tired! There's no room on there for "me" time (well, barely). I feel like I'm in a loop that never ends. I don't actually talk to Randy all of the green times, but we do our best to make most of them happen for part of that time. Anyway, here's a copy of it because some of you wanted to know when to reach me. Good luck! Remember that California is 16 hours earlier than my time and the East Coast is 13 hours earlier than me. (you can click on it to enlarge it)Anyway, the other thing I wanted to mention today is how amazing the customer service is here. Not only did I receive a package here yesterday from my friend Somkith in SF, but it only took 4 days! When I missed delivery, I called a number, and they redelivered it to my house within 90 minutes. Can you believe it? They offered 90 minutes, 3 hours, 5 hours, 7 hours, or anytime the next day. The U.S. could learn a little from the customer service in Japan.

If you ask someone in a store where something is, they literally run to show you or get help for you. Sometimes, as my friend Dave discovered, you can end up with 4 or 5 people around you, all trying to help you accomplish your mission. If you ask directions from a stranger on the street, they will usually walk you all the way to where you were going or at least get you a good block on your way. I've had my Japanese teachers call me to give me information I asked about in passing. One even sat on my phone for me the other day for 10 minutes, trying to get through to the movie theater for me, since I couldn't understand the movie phone thing. I've had strangers miss their stop so that they could show me mine. When I asked at the International Community Center about buying a used scooter, they went onto the internet, did a search for 15 minutes, and printed out pages of locations I could go to find them.

Sometimes it's a little too much, but for a foreigner who is still learning the ropes, it's quite helpful.

Exhausted (already!)

I just worked my 7th day in a row, and I will continue on for the next 12, totaling 19 in a row without a day off. I am covering shifts in advance in order to get time off for my brother's wedding next month. In the last 24 hours, I worked two jobs, but I had a 10 & 1/2 hour break in between so I thought I'd do something nice for myself. That proved to be difficult.

I got off work at 7:30am and then had to kill time until my Japanese class at 10am. I have plenty of errands to run, but nothing was open at that time. After class I went to see Zodiac at the theaters, and the only time it was showing resulted in me waiting for 2 hours for it to start. That delay meant that I wasn't going to have time to call Randy in between jobs. Due to working overtime and Randy visiting his family in Oregon, our schedules haven't lined up, and I haven't talked to him in almost three days now.

The movie was good, but I had to literally run from the theater to the subway to get to the train to get to my bicycle to get to my next job on time (I arrived with one minute to spare). It seems ironic to me that relaxing was such a rush and hassle. I've now been awake for 27 hours and have to wait another one to be able to talk to Randy for a measly 15 minutes before he starts work.

This is definitely not what I had in mind when I came here.

It was just a frustrating day. Things are good in general, and I know that after more sleep, my mood will improve.

Parliamo Italiano!

Today was my first Italian lesson here in Japan. "Italian?!?" you might ask. Well I studied it for a few semesters about five years ago or so. I now work with many people at the Multimedia Center who speak Italian, French, German, Spanish, and Chinese. They mostly keep to their own group, but I did meet Elena, an Italian woman who agreed to give me lessons once every three weeks.

It was great. After the initial 3o minutes or so, I was able to tell stories about my trips to Italy. I surprised both of us, I think. I remember much more than I had realized. I also forgot some extremely simple words and grammar points. Ahh balance. So this will be good for me in more than one way.

Many people have asked if it would get confusing learning two languages at once. Studies (and my experience years ago) have shown that it's actually better for your retention rate to learn more than one at a time. If you learn one language, stop those classes, and then learn another, your brain tends to overwrite the old one with the new, so to speak. It's not that you forget everything; it's more that you have one area of your brain for foreign languages and they sort of duke it out for space.

If you learn more than one at a time, it forces your brain to expand how much it uses at a time, thus allowing both new languages to coexist. I have done this before, and the confusion of words only lasts for the initial few weeks. In the beginning, if you don't know a word, it comes to you in another language, but not usually your native one...usually another foreign language you've learned. This was evident to me today as I filled in missing Italian vocabulary with French, Japanese, and even Spanish at times (which I barely know), proving that part of my brain is activated.

Anyway, I'm excited to have Italian back in my life and for it to enhance that learning center in my brain so that I start thinking from there more often for Japanese's sake as well.

Now if I could only find someone willing to teach me Arabic...