bring on the year of the dragon!

hello!!!!

seems the time here is going by sooo quickly! today was little miss beka's birthday and it was the first time i wasn't there to celebrate it with her! it was a bit sad for me but i look forward to many more birthdays with her. =)

as for life here, i am settling in fairly easily. i guess i should say "settled". i know where to buy everything i need now. i know which stores have the lowest priced items and im starting to recognize more easily prices in terms of yen, instead of trying to convert things to dollar. today i switched my phone bill to my new japanese bank account, finally registered for the national health insurance, and signed up for online banking. i also bought hair dye and cleaned my house for the new year. being able to accomplish the big things and little things around here feels great.

like ive mentioned, ive yet to really have a bad experience here. even my bad days arent really that bad. im starting to make a list of my likes/dislikes about living in japan. i love so many things about this place, but like any place, there are some drawbacks. like slurpees. there are no slurpees here and theres pretty much no way anyone back home can mail them to me... thankfully its still freezing cold here... so i havent felt the pain of slurpee withdrawals yet. also, i dont like that you can smoke in most restaurants. i dont go out that often, so it doesnt really get to bother me that much... but when i do, i notice it quite quickly. also, flaming hot cheetos. i guess its a good thing i dont have access to them because i can never eat just one anyway... as soon as i open the bag, i eat the whole thing... sah!

this week i had a conversation with a fairly high level student about the difference between nationalism and patriotism. he asked me if we stood during the national anthem. i told him that i did, and that from a young age, we are taught to do so. mostly at sporting events and such, but its fairly common. he said that the older people in japan dont stand for the national anthem because its a reminder of the war. he said his friend told him that when he hears the national anthem, he sees the faces of all of his friends that died during the war... and is reminded of the dangers of nationalism. japan was quite a nationalistic country pre wwii... and now, he says, japanese people try to pay more attention to the difference between nationalism and patriotism- both of which can lead you down the wrong path... its interesting to hear the japanese speak about the war. ive only heard it from a few older people and i almost never ask questions... as my family was obviously fighting on the other side of that war... but the loss is deep, especially among the older generation. it makes me uncomfortable really. so his point was that now, schools are starting to teach children to stand during the national anthem and some of the other generation is still very uncomfortable with the whole idea. it was an interesting conversation. its left me thinking about it since last week... i can definitely see the difference and the problem within people i know... *shrug*

also, its FREEZING HERE! currently, its 32 degrees. tomorrow its supposed to snow. the thought of me in a place that snows sounds like some sort of cruel, sick, joke... but seeing as how every other place in japan already has snow... i cant complain too much. id look forward to the next season... but the next season is rain... haha... so i think ill stick with this for now... at least im experiencing all the seasons? ive never had to do this before so its interesting! lol. having my face freeze... my earrings painfully freeze my ear... all new experiences!
honestly though... ive been staying warm in most places (as most places have the heat on 85 degrees - which coincidently smacks you in the face when you walk in that cold...). the trains all have heat and the underground subways are super awesome so... i dont have to be above ground in the elements too much.

i finally purchased a digital converter for the tv in my apartment. i am not a huge fan of tv but i figure at this point its actually studying/helping my japanese... so i keep it on for background noise. who knows! maybe when i get back ill even be a fan of television? ok, thats probably a stretch. what watching japanese television has taught me thus far: the japanese loveeee love love love food. yep. almost every channel has something on about food ALL THE TIME. lol. once in a while, you have news... in the evening there are a fair share of dramas... and there are a lot of game shows. funny, amusing, crazy, very japanese, game shows. today i was watching this show with a guy in a hamster ball rolling around in a safari trying to get near big, scary wildlife. an elephant poked him with his tusk and the guy went rolling around. it was rather amusing... lol. there was also a segment about robots... there was a robot that looked like r2d2 pulling a rickshaw. how cool would that be? id totally give up my car. well, i dont really have a car right now... lol. hrm...

what else... oh! i had my date with yousuke! i had a really good time. his english is better than he lets on, as he lived in australia for 2 years... hes also been to 30 countries! im sooo jealous! he's a music teacher... and also composes music... from mie prefecture, the next town over. hes about 6 ft... and way cooler than me. lol. we have tentative plans for dinner at some point this week... we'll see!

oh, i emailed a bunch of people offering classes in the area. im super excited! the classes i emailed about are: ikebana (flower arranging), calligraphy, japanese cooking, spanish cooking, japanese conversation, tea ceremony, french conversation, yoga, and the local social Klub. yep, klub with a k "cause its cool that way." soooo cheesy i had to email them too! hehe.

also, i am going strawberry picking with mandy in a couple of weeks! strawberries are sooooo expensive here.... they come in packs of 12 and cost maybe... $13? yea. f* that! strawberry picking is like $20 and all you can eat strawberries for one hour... plus you can bring some home! i am excited about this! ^__^!!!

i am eating way too much taiyaki...

theyre so freaking good! basically, its like a waffle filled with custard inside, served hot! soooooo tasty! i think theyd taste better with vanilla ice cream, but its currently waaaayyy too cold to eat them with ice cream... but when the time comes...!!

and lastly, when i move back i will have no real belongings, so i can actually work on getting the things i really want in a place... like a kohatsu. after getting to use ariels... i am in love. (although i am also in love with her bathroom...)

things to look forward to this year of the dragon: cindy le will be in korea starting feb. 2, which pretty much assures my near future trip to korea, steve is getting married in june, in thailand... and nancy in taiwan.

things to look forward to now: JENNIFER IS MOVING TO JAPAN!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! SHE WILL BE HERE SOON EVEN!!!!!!!!!! MY LIFE IS COMPLETE!!!!!!!!!! i was soooo happy i teared up when i heard! ok, not big tears, but a slight water for sure! ^________^ ureshiiiiiiii!!!!! with ariel and jennifer close by... how could life ever be bad??? if only my sister lived in japan.... lol.

ok. long blog. tired of writing. by the time ya'll read this itll be morning... so have a great day minna (everyone)!

Working girl.

the end of another week is here, but since there is some random Japanese national holiday, i have a 3 day weekend! yay! i love random holidays!  i feel like such a lackey since i worked 2 days, took christmas break, then worked 3 days and have a 3 day holiday... lol.  after my 3 day holiday is PAYDAY! FINALLY!!! WEEEEEE!!!

i got a call from personnel last night.  they told me that they got a call from the school i was at telling them that i was doing a fantastic job. ^_^ she said she was really impressed since it was only my second day of actual work. im glad they like me! i really like them!

my mission thus far has been to settle in, orient myself, and get a grip on the change.  so far that has worked out well.  ive done so much walking that my knee no longer hurts, my clothes fit better, and ive worn out 2 pairs of shoes.  i also understand where my subway exit is in relation to the rest of nagoya and where i need to explore further.  yesterday i signed up for classes at the international center.  i placed in the highest level of conversational japanese they offer but im taking the class mostly to get over my FEAR of speaking japanese... and not so much the grammar practice.

while i was there (the international center), i went to the library to look at the flyers and such and then went to sit down and read a couple of magazines... i was there with my friend mandy and it was pretty obvious that we were engaged in reading... when a guy comes up and sits down RIGHT IN OUR PERSONAL SPACE.  he proceeds to tell me that hes from nigeria and that he wants to get to know me... UUUUUUUGHHHH CAN HE NOT TELL IM IN A LIBRARY?! the short answer is yes, yes he knows how incredibly rude it is to speak in libraries but he continues his assault for near an hour.  he wanted to know whyyyy i wasnt interested in him and whyyyy i didnt want to be friends, etc.  normally i am against lying but i told him i had a boyfriend and he said "well you have a boyfriend in the u.s. and now you can have a boyfriend in japan." -.- uuuuuuuuuuuuugh.  i was really annoyed but i didnt want to let him invade my space so that *i* left.  so eventually he left... but i saw him again, hitting on another uninterested girl in the international center.  >.>

otherwise, we had a really good day.  yesterday night mandy and i went out for italian food and then went to a gaijin bar.  (gaijin= foreigner). bars arent really my thing but i had never been to a gaijin bar before and i really wanted to know what this was all about... so we went, mostly to people watch. ZOMG EVERYONE SMOKESSSSS! coming from california it was just right in my face... and my jacket smells.... sah.  anyway, it wasnt a completely fruitless night.  we met these guys who sat and chatted with us for almost 2 hours. one of them was a businessman and the other is a music teacher (actually quite handsome!).  they spoke little english and mandy is not quite conversational level japanese, so i spent a large part of the night translating and speaking... it was quite a jovial affair really.  i exchanged info with the music teacher, then they left to head back to their respective living places and mandy and i stayed for about 30 more minutes and went home.

next week nagoya is having their semi-anual flea market! i guess its the biggest in the area.... so i am REEEEALLY looking forward to it.  i picked up all sorts of events to go to from the international center.  its quite an active place here... crocheting, ikebana and calligraphy are all on my list of things to *learn* while here... possibly a cooking class... and.... french? its time i get out and make friends with the locals so i can hunker down for the large stretch of working/living here... so it seems i am on my way to accomplishing that goal... which is good.

also, today i learned JENNIFER MIGHT BE MOVING TO JAPAN!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!! ヾ(*・ω・)ノ゜+.゜★ィェィ☆゜+.゜ヾ(・ω・*)ノ  normally i am against hugs, but i think i am going to squish her until i have squished the life from her. -.- the potential of having two of my bestest friends from college living less than an hours train ride makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  tonight there was talk of jdrama watching, japanese book reading, getting back on the classical japanese, haiku writing... and japanese death poem reading! i am one happy girl

and now i shall leave you with quote a bit of our masterful writing (i.e. Ariel's poem):


Longing for old days
of long study sessions, I
think of Common Grounds.

World Traveler Part II: Reverse culture shock!

Being in japan really changes how I view things.  For example, I really enjoy quiet.  Quiet time, quiet hobbies, quiet people, etc., and what amuses me the most is how you can live in a big city like Nagoya and not have a lot of noise.  I’ve never heard noise coming out of anyone else’s apartment in my building and even when you walk by the door, there’s no sound of tv or people talking.  On the train people sit silently (for the most part) and keep their eyes closed.  Some people are amazed at how easily Japanese people sleep on trains but I wonder how much of it is people just trying to keep to themselves… In long lines at the supermarket, people don’t complain that there are not enough cashiers… and if they do complain, its quietly, perhaps to the person standing next to them but never audible enough for others to hear it. It’s a city though and when you walk out and about the city there is plenty of noise.  People are always out and about walking, talking, working mostly… so you can hear noise but in a city as populated as Nagoya, I am in awe that it doesn’t feel loud.

I mention this only because I hadn’t really noticed this until I was at Narita Airport in Tokyo.  It’s a large international airport and I left on Dec. 23^rd so there were tons of people trying to get home.  When I got to my flight area, I sat down and pulled out a book.  As I was sitting there though I started to get angry and I couldn’t pinpoint why! Then I realized it was because it was sooooooo noisy! I had about 30 minutes before I had to board the plane and I was soooo annoyed with the noise that I went and sat at another terminal until it was time to board.  Still I was trying to pinpoint exactly what it was and then I realized it was the first time I had been around so many Americans in a while and I wasn’t used to the amount of chatter!  But it wasn’t just chatter, it was a lot of complaining and whatnot over how slow the airline was… how it was too crowded… how the people weren’t working fast enough….

Anyway, it was a bit of an annoyance that I hadn’t noticed before.  And its not even that Americans are the only culture that complains- people in France did it ALL THE TIME in line at the supermarket.  It was a bit of a bonding experience.  Lol.  I donno, I think you can assimilate to pretty much anything, if you want to, so I wonder what other things I will notice as my time in Japan goes on.  This was the first obvious one that stuck out. 

Also, I did notice how very big the plates are in the US! I understand now why people are always confused when they get to the U.S.... most people think the food is to share! Nope, one plate = all mine! lol.  

Next up: 18 hours in Shanghai, NYE in Kyoto and the end of my winter break!  Pics are already up on FB! ^_^

World Traveler Part I: Mon Taxi Driver

Taking a taxi is not the cheapest form of travel but when you’re carrying a lot of things, it’s often the easiest. Also, I think most taxi drivers are kinda chatty and will talk to you about all sorts of things.  Yamada-san is a self-proclaimed ojisan (old man) and has been driving a taxi for about 25 years.  He is from the mount fuji area originally and moved to Nagoya when he was young.  He told me about how unhappy his parents were with him moving so far from his hometown and wanted to know all about how my family felt about me moving away.  He said that he moved in the mid 50’s so the transportation wasn’t as good as it is now and communication wasn’t as easy.  He was excited that I made such a big move. 

He asked me about my hobbies and what I like to do in my spare time and then wanted to know if I moved to japan for the anime, as many foreigners do. Lol.  I told him that I liked anime but my biggest reasons for moving to japan are to work on my Japanese and to get experience teaching, as I want to be a teacher in the states when I am done educating. 

He asked me where I was going and when I told him I was from Los Angeles, he said that he used to want to go to America when he was younger but now he’s afraid of going to the united states.  He asked me if I was scared with all the guns we have in the u.s. and he said that he watches the news and sees lots of stories of murder and robberies.  I told him that America was big and there are lots of safe places but that some are safer than others… I didn’t really know how else to answer that but I think it was an interesting insight from someone living in a different country. 

Then he wanted to know if I was married.  I said no.  He asked me what the upper age limit is of a guy I would date and I told him about 35, at which point he told me that his son is 40. -.- haha.  He said that his son didn’t have children and was not married and lamented that I didn’t date guys a bit older.  Haha.  He also asked me if I liked Japanese guys, but I don’t know how you answer that with anything other than a “yes” when speaking to a Japanese guy! So I responded accordingly.  Then he asked me for my phone number. Haha.  He said he knew plenty of young men that I should date. -.- He gave me his cell phone number and I gave him mine… He was old! And I was under a lot of pressure! And I cant tell old people no! -.-  Anyway, it was quite an amusing experience. 

I enjoyed meeting Yamada-san.  We talked about lots of other things but I think that was the amusing part… lol.  Yes, this conversation took place in Japanese…