I live in Arai-chou which is kind of like the suburbs of Melbourne.
It is close to the city of Hamamatsu which used to be a big city, but many of the people have left so now it feels quite empty. This has lessened Arai-chou's reason for existence, since it used to provide cheaper housing yet still close access to a big city. Thus lots of the young people are leaving Arai-chou for greener pastures.
This means that there are a lot of old people around me and Japan already has one of the greatest proportions of people over 60 already.
It is kind of cool at times.
In Japan, except for Tokyo and I imagine other big cities, houses are divided into groups, which are subdivided again into subgroups. Each group and subgroup has, for want of a better word, a leader. The idea is that we help each other out.
So say one of the people in my group has a death in the family and they have lots of work to do for a funeral or something, I and the rest of the group help them. There is also a folder that is passed around that contains information that I can't read, but would probably be useful if I could. It contains information such as community activities or the latest on Arai-chou and such. I have to pay 20 dollars every 2 months though which I believe is largely saved and used to help out a group member who might need it.
There are also meetings, which I have the first of tomorrow. I imagine it will go something like this...
Leader: So regarding the allocation of funds to assist Mary with her money troubles, I open the table to discussion. Alistair, what do you think?
Alistair thinks: Fuck, Shit! I didn't understand any of that, quick say something otherwise they will think you are weird. You have to rise about the bottom rung of this group otherwise they will just give you all the shitty jobs. Ok.. think back to my study...
Alistair says: I like cats!
Alistair thinks: Genius!
Leader: Ooookaaay... Look Alistair! It's a ball! Do you think you can bounce it?
And so on..
The leader changes every year and there are only 5 people in my group, so if I stay here for 5 years I get to be the leader one day. I hope I don't go mad with power.
It's kind of cool though. Say I have a complaint or a suggestion, I can raise it to the leader who can then raise it at the meetings of all the subgroup leaders. Should my suggestion be pert I get 5 saviour points. If we get enough points we get taken to the promised land. They don't tell us how many points we need, but I get the feeling I am really close!
In my group I can't remember the people's names so I think of them as their most outstanding characteristic. We have:
The Leader
Purple Glasses Lady
Weird Old Lady (She's 93. Really hard to end a conversation with her.. I feel kind of sorry for her though, she seems lonely and yet she still freaks me out)
Friendly Lady (I gotta think of something better)
And myself whom I think of as:
The Foreigner
I like to think we are a superhero group and solve crimes, but then again I am pretty lonely.
I have a barbecue as part of the school I work for on Sunday. All the kids and their friends will come and stare at me for about 2 hours. A good time will be had by all.
I am playing futsal every 2 weeks now with some badass Japanese players and have made friends with some of them. They are scary good.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Its been a while..
I've have started teaching and am now living in my own house. It is pretty damn sweet, but living alone does leave me a bit lonely. I haven't really had the time to try and make friends yet, which will be a tough task considering that almost everyone around me is either old or young.
I continue to be humbled by the kindness Sachiko's extended family show me. Even to the level of guilt. For example it is their custom to provide food to guests with no need for payment. Today I had some awesome pizza given to me and Sachiko's younger brother paid. They all like me a lot and are so kind, I sometimes feel unworthy of the gifts and trust they give me. Well, perhaps unworthy is not the right word, I guess I mean unearnt. I sometimes feel like a just take from them without giving, but I couldn't do anything differently because they wouldn't accept my money even though I want to pay. I guess this is a bit of a cultural clash in a way.
They also wanted to let me stay in there spare house for free. We settled on something of a token price of 300 a month which is pretty awesome.
Today we went to a temple so Sachiko's sister in law, whom is pregnant, could have the baby blessed/prayed for/cleansed of evil or some such. It was pretty amazing, I felt very much like an outsider in this situation to something sacred to these people. I wish I could have taken photos but it was not allowed.
She paid some money and then with lot of other people two monks perform a rite. One was drumming and ringing this awesome huge bell that had the most spacey ethereal sound (would be awesome in a dance track). The other was burning loft of stuff on a table facing away from everyone and doing various chants and motions. This went for about 20 minutes with certain periods involving everyone praying together. Afterwards he went around and touched everyone with his very short metal staff including me whilst chanting something.
I really like Buddhism. The concepts of humility and self-acceptance greatly appeal to me. The ceremony echoed this and was touching. It contrasts starkly with Christianity's seeming focus of denouncing everyone but Christians.
My teaching is going pretty well. I had a few difficult lessons initially but have pretty much found my feet. More on this later.
I've have started teaching and am now living in my own house. It is pretty damn sweet, but living alone does leave me a bit lonely. I haven't really had the time to try and make friends yet, which will be a tough task considering that almost everyone around me is either old or young.
I continue to be humbled by the kindness Sachiko's extended family show me. Even to the level of guilt. For example it is their custom to provide food to guests with no need for payment. Today I had some awesome pizza given to me and Sachiko's younger brother paid. They all like me a lot and are so kind, I sometimes feel unworthy of the gifts and trust they give me. Well, perhaps unworthy is not the right word, I guess I mean unearnt. I sometimes feel like a just take from them without giving, but I couldn't do anything differently because they wouldn't accept my money even though I want to pay. I guess this is a bit of a cultural clash in a way.
They also wanted to let me stay in there spare house for free. We settled on something of a token price of 300 a month which is pretty awesome.
Today we went to a temple so Sachiko's sister in law, whom is pregnant, could have the baby blessed/prayed for/cleansed of evil or some such. It was pretty amazing, I felt very much like an outsider in this situation to something sacred to these people. I wish I could have taken photos but it was not allowed.
She paid some money and then with lot of other people two monks perform a rite. One was drumming and ringing this awesome huge bell that had the most spacey ethereal sound (would be awesome in a dance track). The other was burning loft of stuff on a table facing away from everyone and doing various chants and motions. This went for about 20 minutes with certain periods involving everyone praying together. Afterwards he went around and touched everyone with his very short metal staff including me whilst chanting something.
I really like Buddhism. The concepts of humility and self-acceptance greatly appeal to me. The ceremony echoed this and was touching. It contrasts starkly with Christianity's seeming focus of denouncing everyone but Christians.
My teaching is going pretty well. I had a few difficult lessons initially but have pretty much found my feet. More on this later.
Written on the 4th of April
Tomorrow I start teaching. I am quite nervous.
There is a large amount of pressure on me to do well. This is not anyone else putting it on me, but being applied by myself. I am working for a good friend whom I care about a lot. She is risking a lot with this venture and as the sole teacher a lot of it rests on my shoulders. Well not really I suppose, the biggest factor will probably be the marketing efforts and it is possible that this area cannot support a school. Still, my efforts could be the difference between success and failure of the school. She will be in the room, both reviewing my lesson and providing some assistance where I have indicated I will need it and if necessary, speaking Japanese to the students if I require it.
She has been totally wonderful with all this and I am sure whether it my lesson works out or not, she will be supportive. Yet I have a strong desire to prove myself to her and reward her faith in me.
I am teaching 2-3 year olds tomorrow. They will be shy so I have my work cut out for me to get them involved. It should be interesting. It is sort of funny, I am already looking at it like programming, which it is in a way. You have to control input to be very precise to such young students. Actions and words must be clear and where possible codified and iconic. I must build a template of commands that are distinct and clear.
There is a danger in looking at it like this. It is a mistake as a teacher to focus too much on one's own performance. What the students learn is the only metric. This can lead to missing out on students reactions and state, but instead just focusing on perfect delivery.
Anyways, I think I will be ok. The more nervous I am leading up to a lesson, the less nervous I feel when teaching (well that is the tendency at least). Still, I am not really that nervous, but my habit is to get increasingly nervous until I start. Once I do I do not fear. The only issue is that I am so excited, that adrenaline (or something) pumps to my brain and I become, well, high.
I really do love teaching. If I will love teaching 2-3 year olds remains to be seen, but I think it will be fun.
By the way I will be teaching all ages at the school, not just 2-3 year olds thankfully. There is a lack of adult students at the moment, which is an issue, but so be it. It is very likely that I will move after a year travel throughout Japan, teaching at other places. I will take this chance if I can to teach adults. I like the ability to have real/natural relationships with my students.
There is a large amount of pressure on me to do well. This is not anyone else putting it on me, but being applied by myself. I am working for a good friend whom I care about a lot. She is risking a lot with this venture and as the sole teacher a lot of it rests on my shoulders. Well not really I suppose, the biggest factor will probably be the marketing efforts and it is possible that this area cannot support a school. Still, my efforts could be the difference between success and failure of the school. She will be in the room, both reviewing my lesson and providing some assistance where I have indicated I will need it and if necessary, speaking Japanese to the students if I require it.
She has been totally wonderful with all this and I am sure whether it my lesson works out or not, she will be supportive. Yet I have a strong desire to prove myself to her and reward her faith in me.
I am teaching 2-3 year olds tomorrow. They will be shy so I have my work cut out for me to get them involved. It should be interesting. It is sort of funny, I am already looking at it like programming, which it is in a way. You have to control input to be very precise to such young students. Actions and words must be clear and where possible codified and iconic. I must build a template of commands that are distinct and clear.
There is a danger in looking at it like this. It is a mistake as a teacher to focus too much on one's own performance. What the students learn is the only metric. This can lead to missing out on students reactions and state, but instead just focusing on perfect delivery.
Anyways, I think I will be ok. The more nervous I am leading up to a lesson, the less nervous I feel when teaching (well that is the tendency at least). Still, I am not really that nervous, but my habit is to get increasingly nervous until I start. Once I do I do not fear. The only issue is that I am so excited, that adrenaline (or something) pumps to my brain and I become, well, high.
I really do love teaching. If I will love teaching 2-3 year olds remains to be seen, but I think it will be fun.
By the way I will be teaching all ages at the school, not just 2-3 year olds thankfully. There is a lack of adult students at the moment, which is an issue, but so be it. It is very likely that I will move after a year travel throughout Japan, teaching at other places. I will take this chance if I can to teach adults. I like the ability to have real/natural relationships with my students.
Monday, April 2, 2007
More shenanigans
Re photos. They are all ready to upload, but whenever I try and upload to my webspace, it drops out quickly. I think the wireless is periodically reconnecting or something, so I will try and lan connection when i can.
I am now in Shizuoka.
I have had a touching few days. Sachiko (my employer and former Japanese teacher) and her family are the sweetest people. I feel like a big baby around them, as they constantly tend to my needs and keep me well fed. They also paid for my food when I went out with them. I protested, but when I persisted I was told that it is a Japanese custom to look after the guests.
It is in some ways hard being around them. They are interesting people and I want to know more about them, but my Japanese is not really up to the task. I also worry about boring them with banal conversation as can't often ask or say something poignant. It is also difficult with Sachiko there in a way, as her English is damn good. I basically speak to her as I would a native and she understands fine. It is hard to constantly switch between speaking to her and her family.
Yet these are small complaints amid some wonderful people. The oldest person in her house is he grandmother who is 84. She is fucking trooper. She gardens and clearly pushes her old body to the limit. She was fetching me food and such at dinner. I felt embarrassed to be basically be served by someone that I should be serving, if you know what I mean. She is the most difficult to talk to, as her hearing isn't so good and is the worst due to her age at grading her language. Plus she can't see very well so doesn't know when i don't understand. Nonetheless I enjoy it, we have moments of understanding and humour that are awesome.
Today Sachiko taught some Japanese to some Brazilians. Arai-cho and it neighbouring large city Hamamatsu have a lot of Brazilians. This is because there are close ties between Brazil and Japan, as Japan occupied it until 80 years ago. There are still a lot of Japanese living in Brazil. This means that it is easy for Brazilians to get a working visa in Japan and come and work. Given Brazil is a really poor country and Japan is very rich, Brazilians that struggle to support their families, or Brazilians that struggle in Brazil at all, come to Japan to work. Those with families, which I believe is the vast majority, send as much of their wage home to support them as they can.
What this means is, there are a whole lot of Brazilians who do a crap load of work and who have bugger all money. Sachiko asked one of the students if he played soccer, and he said that he would but he didn't have the time due to work. They all looked quite tired. Pretty sad really. They live in cheap accommodation (Sachiko guessed it at 200 per month) which is sponsored by the town to try and help them.
It was interesting to see them. They have an amazing sense of community. There was noone trying to dominate anyone else in the class, or any sort of vying for position. They just helped everyone else where they could and there was a touching sense of acceptance of each other. You can see the effort they are putting in.
These lessons exist because a man wants to teach them Japanese to help them. The problem was he doesn't know how to teach, so asked Sachiko to teach one lesson and he would continue on from that. I don't think it will work out so well. When he was speaking to the students, he was using damn complex Japanese and speaking fast. The ability to grade language (to simplify) is a core requirement of a teacher. You can't say to someone who is learning Japanese for the first time much of anything, let alone something like "When you are studying and you need some help please write down your questions and bring them to the next lesson" :)
After that we went to see the cherry blossoms. The cherry blossom tree, or sakura (street fighter fans might recognise the name), is the national tree of Japan. Around late March early May is blooms and the Japanese have 'hanami'. This translates to cherry blossom viewing. People gather beneath and around the sakura and have picnics and generally get very drunk. It is pretty awesome, the trees are very beautiful and we saw them at about 80% prettiness. There are some areas that are have masses of these trees and create an amazing site. The way the bright light pink contrasts with the tree and surroundings is really beautiful.
Sachiko's younger brother and his wife and daughter also came. She is, I have deemed, the cutest baby in existence. Sachiko's younger brother is funny and a little bit fat, which Sachiko is not shy of pointing out. I love the strong family aspect in Japanese culture. Everyone knows each other really well, it almost feels like an endless party with different groups of people (members of the family) coming together and having a great time.
I have also moved into my place. This is Sachiko's families old and unused house. It is pretty fucking sweet. It feels so good to have my own place after living in a capsule hotel for so long. This is my first night alone, which is something I have been hungering for. I have been in social situations for so long I just want some to do my own thing. I have been offered to stay for free, but I said I wasn't happy about it and we said we would talk about it latter. So we will probably settle with something less than what it is worth.
I have now applied for homestay with an agency and will also look elsewhere. It will probably be about 2 months until I get something. My task at the moment is to prepare for my first class on Thursday.
This is enough for now I think.
I am now in Shizuoka.
I have had a touching few days. Sachiko (my employer and former Japanese teacher) and her family are the sweetest people. I feel like a big baby around them, as they constantly tend to my needs and keep me well fed. They also paid for my food when I went out with them. I protested, but when I persisted I was told that it is a Japanese custom to look after the guests.
It is in some ways hard being around them. They are interesting people and I want to know more about them, but my Japanese is not really up to the task. I also worry about boring them with banal conversation as can't often ask or say something poignant. It is also difficult with Sachiko there in a way, as her English is damn good. I basically speak to her as I would a native and she understands fine. It is hard to constantly switch between speaking to her and her family.
Yet these are small complaints amid some wonderful people. The oldest person in her house is he grandmother who is 84. She is fucking trooper. She gardens and clearly pushes her old body to the limit. She was fetching me food and such at dinner. I felt embarrassed to be basically be served by someone that I should be serving, if you know what I mean. She is the most difficult to talk to, as her hearing isn't so good and is the worst due to her age at grading her language. Plus she can't see very well so doesn't know when i don't understand. Nonetheless I enjoy it, we have moments of understanding and humour that are awesome.
Today Sachiko taught some Japanese to some Brazilians. Arai-cho and it neighbouring large city Hamamatsu have a lot of Brazilians. This is because there are close ties between Brazil and Japan, as Japan occupied it until 80 years ago. There are still a lot of Japanese living in Brazil. This means that it is easy for Brazilians to get a working visa in Japan and come and work. Given Brazil is a really poor country and Japan is very rich, Brazilians that struggle to support their families, or Brazilians that struggle in Brazil at all, come to Japan to work. Those with families, which I believe is the vast majority, send as much of their wage home to support them as they can.
What this means is, there are a whole lot of Brazilians who do a crap load of work and who have bugger all money. Sachiko asked one of the students if he played soccer, and he said that he would but he didn't have the time due to work. They all looked quite tired. Pretty sad really. They live in cheap accommodation (Sachiko guessed it at 200 per month) which is sponsored by the town to try and help them.
It was interesting to see them. They have an amazing sense of community. There was noone trying to dominate anyone else in the class, or any sort of vying for position. They just helped everyone else where they could and there was a touching sense of acceptance of each other. You can see the effort they are putting in.
These lessons exist because a man wants to teach them Japanese to help them. The problem was he doesn't know how to teach, so asked Sachiko to teach one lesson and he would continue on from that. I don't think it will work out so well. When he was speaking to the students, he was using damn complex Japanese and speaking fast. The ability to grade language (to simplify) is a core requirement of a teacher. You can't say to someone who is learning Japanese for the first time much of anything, let alone something like "When you are studying and you need some help please write down your questions and bring them to the next lesson" :)
After that we went to see the cherry blossoms. The cherry blossom tree, or sakura (street fighter fans might recognise the name), is the national tree of Japan. Around late March early May is blooms and the Japanese have 'hanami'. This translates to cherry blossom viewing. People gather beneath and around the sakura and have picnics and generally get very drunk. It is pretty awesome, the trees are very beautiful and we saw them at about 80% prettiness. There are some areas that are have masses of these trees and create an amazing site. The way the bright light pink contrasts with the tree and surroundings is really beautiful.
Sachiko's younger brother and his wife and daughter also came. She is, I have deemed, the cutest baby in existence. Sachiko's younger brother is funny and a little bit fat, which Sachiko is not shy of pointing out. I love the strong family aspect in Japanese culture. Everyone knows each other really well, it almost feels like an endless party with different groups of people (members of the family) coming together and having a great time.
I have also moved into my place. This is Sachiko's families old and unused house. It is pretty fucking sweet. It feels so good to have my own place after living in a capsule hotel for so long. This is my first night alone, which is something I have been hungering for. I have been in social situations for so long I just want some to do my own thing. I have been offered to stay for free, but I said I wasn't happy about it and we said we would talk about it latter. So we will probably settle with something less than what it is worth.
I have now applied for homestay with an agency and will also look elsewhere. It will probably be about 2 months until I get something. My task at the moment is to prepare for my first class on Thursday.
This is enough for now I think.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Universal Studios
I went to universal studios today. Oh boy that was a mistake.
I have no interest in the whole holywood thing but my plan was to just go on lots of rides. Anyhow, this is how it went down.
1. Arrive, wait in line for 1 hour to buy ticket.
2. Get ticket, wait in line for 30 seconds to get into park.
3. Go to most awesome ride, wait in line for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
4. Ride the ride for 2 minutes.
5. Go find lunch place, wait in line for 10 minutes.
6. Order food, wait in line for 7 minutes to receive food.
7. Sit down and eat food.
8. Go to next ride I want to go on, the estimated wait time was helpfully provided as 2 hours and 20 minutes.
9. Go back to most awesome ride, wait time is 1 hour and 30 minutes.
10. As all decent rides have long waits I go home.
Yeargh. It is such a disappointment. While waiting in the line to buy a ticket the main roller coaster goes over where you wait. Everyone things, fuck yeah, but that joy is at the cost of around 1.5 hours boredom.
The way to avoid this is to buy express tickets, which is a special line for people who have paid extra cash. They go to the front and all other lines stop and wait until that line is exhausted. I assumed that they were the rich people, which is probably true enough, but it is about $30 or so for this service. It costs about $65 to get into the park.
The funny thing about all this is I much prefer a system like the royal melbourne show. I used to hate it how you pay to get in and then pay for every ride, but this avoids the massive queues and is probably about the same value anyway.
Man, I would hate to see it on a weekend or a public holiday. This was on a Monday on a business day. I think the way to do it is to come and line up early in the morning. You could get a lot of rides done as it takes a while for people to get into the park.
I have no interest in the whole holywood thing but my plan was to just go on lots of rides. Anyhow, this is how it went down.
1. Arrive, wait in line for 1 hour to buy ticket.
2. Get ticket, wait in line for 30 seconds to get into park.
3. Go to most awesome ride, wait in line for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
4. Ride the ride for 2 minutes.
5. Go find lunch place, wait in line for 10 minutes.
6. Order food, wait in line for 7 minutes to receive food.
7. Sit down and eat food.
8. Go to next ride I want to go on, the estimated wait time was helpfully provided as 2 hours and 20 minutes.
9. Go back to most awesome ride, wait time is 1 hour and 30 minutes.
10. As all decent rides have long waits I go home.
Yeargh. It is such a disappointment. While waiting in the line to buy a ticket the main roller coaster goes over where you wait. Everyone things, fuck yeah, but that joy is at the cost of around 1.5 hours boredom.
The way to avoid this is to buy express tickets, which is a special line for people who have paid extra cash. They go to the front and all other lines stop and wait until that line is exhausted. I assumed that they were the rich people, which is probably true enough, but it is about $30 or so for this service. It costs about $65 to get into the park.
The funny thing about all this is I much prefer a system like the royal melbourne show. I used to hate it how you pay to get in and then pay for every ride, but this avoids the massive queues and is probably about the same value anyway.
Man, I would hate to see it on a weekend or a public holiday. This was on a Monday on a business day. I think the way to do it is to come and line up early in the morning. You could get a lot of rides done as it takes a while for people to get into the park.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
The benefits of going/living overseas
I have been changing somewhat. Mostly getting stronger it seems to deal with the difficulty of living in a foreign country. I have been thinking a bit about this.
Before I came to Japan there is a truth I hadn't fully grasped. It is not that complex and it is possible someone could have told me, but for it to fully dawn I think I needed to live in a different culture.
That truth being, the parameters of a culture are incidental. So for example, "cool" men in Australia are quite masculine. However in Japan, "cool" men are not very masculine. They have something of a half michael jackson half rock star feel. Or good teeth is a much less favoured attribute in Japan. They have celebrities that have brown or bad teeth.
This is obvious enough to a degree, but there is a freedom you get from really knowing it. I realise that anxieties I have had about myself, in areas that I don't conform to the norm is ok, as the norm is totally incidental anyway. I am not saying I am entirely free from all this, but I have been given a great perspective on it which has helped me.
I do think you have to be careful though, as there are things that are good and bad for humans irrespective of culture. So I don't think the lesson from this is to never change, but to not worry about cultural conformance.
This has made me want to live in other countries more as well. I want to experience many different cultures and keep learning more about humans. I think we are fascinating creatures.
Before I came to Japan there is a truth I hadn't fully grasped. It is not that complex and it is possible someone could have told me, but for it to fully dawn I think I needed to live in a different culture.
That truth being, the parameters of a culture are incidental. So for example, "cool" men in Australia are quite masculine. However in Japan, "cool" men are not very masculine. They have something of a half michael jackson half rock star feel. Or good teeth is a much less favoured attribute in Japan. They have celebrities that have brown or bad teeth.
This is obvious enough to a degree, but there is a freedom you get from really knowing it. I realise that anxieties I have had about myself, in areas that I don't conform to the norm is ok, as the norm is totally incidental anyway. I am not saying I am entirely free from all this, but I have been given a great perspective on it which has helped me.
I do think you have to be careful though, as there are things that are good and bad for humans irrespective of culture. So I don't think the lesson from this is to never change, but to not worry about cultural conformance.
This has made me want to live in other countries more as well. I want to experience many different cultures and keep learning more about humans. I think we are fascinating creatures.
It's been a little while...
I am having a lot of fun. I have made some Japanese friends and this has been really gratifying for me. Partly because they are awesome people and I am proud to be their friends and also because my Japanese is surviving in this Japanese only environment. This is my first prolonged experience talking to people in Japanese, where I don't have the option of switching to English.
The benefit from this is slightly lessoned by the fact that we are drinking quite a lot. I have been to this standing bar with them twice which is really friendly. You buy these big beer bottles and everyone has small glasses. We just keep topping up each others glasses and talking. Lots of fun.
It has been slightly alarming as well. We have these kind of pay battles. The first night out with them I didn't pay anything. I did have something of a pushing battle with this girl to get to the bar and pay.. but I could only go so far. This is all nice enough, but I know they don't have a heap of money and would like to pay my share. Hopefully they aren't so forward with this in the future.
I have been to a bunch of stuff in Osaka such as the imperial castle, which is amazing. The word impenetrable springs to mind. Check out the photos so see how wide the moat is.
I am having a lot of fun. I have made some Japanese friends and this has been really gratifying for me. Partly because they are awesome people and I am proud to be their friends and also because my Japanese is surviving in this Japanese only environment. This is my first prolonged experience talking to people in Japanese, where I don't have the option of switching to English.
The benefit from this is slightly lessoned by the fact that we are drinking quite a lot. I have been to this standing bar with them twice which is really friendly. You buy these big beer bottles and everyone has small glasses. We just keep topping up each others glasses and talking. Lots of fun.
It has been slightly alarming as well. We have these kind of pay battles. The first night out with them I didn't pay anything. I did have something of a pushing battle with this girl to get to the bar and pay.. but I could only go so far. This is all nice enough, but I know they don't have a heap of money and would like to pay my share. Hopefully they aren't so forward with this in the future.
I have been to a bunch of stuff in Osaka such as the imperial castle, which is amazing. The word impenetrable springs to mind. Check out the photos so see how wide the moat is.
Friday, March 16, 2007
A reoccurring thought I keep having is, why isn't all the cool shit in Japan in Australia?
Like phones for example. Why don't these companies selling super cheap awesome phones just send them to Australia and destroy the competition?
Even the hand driers in the bathrooms are totally awesome. There are ones where you insert our hands into a slot and really powerful wind is blown at them from many directions. Or the other variety is the fan is at the sink so you don't need to go anywhere to dry your hands. Both are superior to the box on the wall thing.
This kind of superiority is pretty much consistent across all technology that I have come across. I would think even if the Japanese companies weren't interested in bringing the stuff across, some entrepreneurial aussie would see the awesomeness of say the hand driers and create a similar design and sell it.
Like phones for example. Why don't these companies selling super cheap awesome phones just send them to Australia and destroy the competition?
Even the hand driers in the bathrooms are totally awesome. There are ones where you insert our hands into a slot and really powerful wind is blown at them from many directions. Or the other variety is the fan is at the sink so you don't need to go anywhere to dry your hands. Both are superior to the box on the wall thing.
This kind of superiority is pretty much consistent across all technology that I have come across. I would think even if the Japanese companies weren't interested in bringing the stuff across, some entrepreneurial aussie would see the awesomeness of say the hand driers and create a similar design and sell it.
Yesterday i saw my friend. It was awesome. His name is Takao and he was one of the students I taught as part of my teaching course. He is extremely unpretentious, honest and intelligent.
I met him in Nara which is a very scenic and historical Japanese city. They have many parks and shrines and a buttload of "tame" deer. These deer are everywhere and largely just stand around or eat grass. Their horns have been cut off and every year they are cut back. I found it all quite sad. You see them try and fight by attempting to lock there horns together. They then try and raise there necks to subdue the other, but of course they have no horns to lock so they raise there heads look a bit weirded out and do nothing.
There are various vendors that sell food for the deer. I didn't feel like contributing to what I feel is a pretty wrong so I didn't buy any and feed them, but watched others do so. It is sort of funny in a family guy kind of way.. The deer tend to hang around these vendors and so as soon as someone buys a pack of feed they basically swamp them. I saw two girls buy a pack each and get swiftly cornered with lots of deer snapping at them. Some of them biting and pulling at there clothes.
We went to this shrine Toudai-ji which is the biggest wooden structure in the world. It is also 33% smaller than it was originally built but has been damaged/burnt down a few times. Inside there is a gigantic statue of budda. It's pretty cool.
We also saw many school kids which I found interesting. One thing is there clothes are really freakin cute. The kindergarten boys have um those bobbin hats. I can't remember what the girls had but yeah it was cute and exactingly styled.
We hung around there for a bit then went to Osaka. Osaka is pretty boring if you don't like shopping. You can walk in any direction and there just heaps and heaps of shops, at least from where I am staying. There are no parks or anywhere to sit, you get the feel the whole thing is designed to keep people moving, as you can't keep buying stuff from the one shop.
The number of people is pretty overwhelming, there is a central strip in shinsaibashi which is just a sea of people and goes on for farther than the eye can see. Anyway we had some food, sat in a coffee shop and saw ghost rider. It is so so.
Today I am getting my credit card so I can finally relax about the money I spend. I plan to buy a camera, phone and mp3 player. I have already had a look at the phones and they are ridiculously cheap. Their budget level phones look awesome and all have cameras. They cost about $60. Cameras are also cheap, I can get a 10 mega pixel one for $600. Haven't had a chance to look at Mp3 players yet.
Once I get my camera I'll see if I can hook you up with some photos.
I met him in Nara which is a very scenic and historical Japanese city. They have many parks and shrines and a buttload of "tame" deer. These deer are everywhere and largely just stand around or eat grass. Their horns have been cut off and every year they are cut back. I found it all quite sad. You see them try and fight by attempting to lock there horns together. They then try and raise there necks to subdue the other, but of course they have no horns to lock so they raise there heads look a bit weirded out and do nothing.
There are various vendors that sell food for the deer. I didn't feel like contributing to what I feel is a pretty wrong so I didn't buy any and feed them, but watched others do so. It is sort of funny in a family guy kind of way.. The deer tend to hang around these vendors and so as soon as someone buys a pack of feed they basically swamp them. I saw two girls buy a pack each and get swiftly cornered with lots of deer snapping at them. Some of them biting and pulling at there clothes.
We went to this shrine Toudai-ji which is the biggest wooden structure in the world. It is also 33% smaller than it was originally built but has been damaged/burnt down a few times. Inside there is a gigantic statue of budda. It's pretty cool.
We also saw many school kids which I found interesting. One thing is there clothes are really freakin cute. The kindergarten boys have um those bobbin hats. I can't remember what the girls had but yeah it was cute and exactingly styled.
We hung around there for a bit then went to Osaka. Osaka is pretty boring if you don't like shopping. You can walk in any direction and there just heaps and heaps of shops, at least from where I am staying. There are no parks or anywhere to sit, you get the feel the whole thing is designed to keep people moving, as you can't keep buying stuff from the one shop.
The number of people is pretty overwhelming, there is a central strip in shinsaibashi which is just a sea of people and goes on for farther than the eye can see. Anyway we had some food, sat in a coffee shop and saw ghost rider. It is so so.
Today I am getting my credit card so I can finally relax about the money I spend. I plan to buy a camera, phone and mp3 player. I have already had a look at the phones and they are ridiculously cheap. Their budget level phones look awesome and all have cameras. They cost about $60. Cameras are also cheap, I can get a 10 mega pixel one for $600. Haven't had a chance to look at Mp3 players yet.
Once I get my camera I'll see if I can hook you up with some photos.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
I am spending the day in Kyoto. I am in a bad mood so this is somewhat strange.
I have been to a soaring and huge temple which frankly pissed me off. It is majestic and solemn, quite spectacular really. The annoying thing is it's story. It was built originally to house the painting of a dead monarch. I don't think this is such a bad thing in itself, but they lost many lives constructing it. They had to get the wood down the mountain which was very dangerous as there were avalanches and the temperature was at times freezing.
It just bugs me that they spent all these lives to make something totally awesome just so some dead guy can have a nice place for his painting.
Aaaanyway, kyoto is pretty cool. It is a large city ringed by mountains in this massive bowl. I went up to the top of an observation tower to check it out. They had really good zoom lenses on it, you can spy on people and see what they are doing and what kind of people they are.
I am now siting in a department store contemplating if there is anything cooler than free wireless internet. I'm leaning towards no.
My new plan is to go to a castle and check it out.
To be honest I just want to meet people. I find the people and the culture more interesting than the history. This is hard though and I understand more of the difficulty my Japanese friends experienced living in Australia. It is really hard to make friends given the language barrier. It is also really hard to find a bar or club that has like minded people.
I am staying in Osaka in a very young and uh cool area. This is nice enough, but it is all very showy and i'm not particularly looking to make friends with such people. Regardless, I plan to do some bar hopping tonight to see if I can't meet some cool people.
Bye bye
I have been to a soaring and huge temple which frankly pissed me off. It is majestic and solemn, quite spectacular really. The annoying thing is it's story. It was built originally to house the painting of a dead monarch. I don't think this is such a bad thing in itself, but they lost many lives constructing it. They had to get the wood down the mountain which was very dangerous as there were avalanches and the temperature was at times freezing.
It just bugs me that they spent all these lives to make something totally awesome just so some dead guy can have a nice place for his painting.
Aaaanyway, kyoto is pretty cool. It is a large city ringed by mountains in this massive bowl. I went up to the top of an observation tower to check it out. They had really good zoom lenses on it, you can spy on people and see what they are doing and what kind of people they are.
I am now siting in a department store contemplating if there is anything cooler than free wireless internet. I'm leaning towards no.
My new plan is to go to a castle and check it out.
To be honest I just want to meet people. I find the people and the culture more interesting than the history. This is hard though and I understand more of the difficulty my Japanese friends experienced living in Australia. It is really hard to make friends given the language barrier. It is also really hard to find a bar or club that has like minded people.
I am staying in Osaka in a very young and uh cool area. This is nice enough, but it is all very showy and i'm not particularly looking to make friends with such people. Regardless, I plan to do some bar hopping tonight to see if I can't meet some cool people.
Bye bye
One of the first things I noticed about Japan was the escalators. They are so quite and smooth. In Australia you can almost imagine a bunch of burly gnomes underneath shovelling wood into a furnace to keep it clattering along. "Aye, fetch me a hogshead of pine lads".. In Japan the escalators are firstly beautiful. The uh middle part is glass with the rubber you would expect running around it. Just below wnere you hold, there is a pure white light that seems to serve no other purpose than being sexy. The rate is very consistent and slightly eerie. They hum a pitch which roughly translates to "all is well". There is no perceptible mechanics to them at all and they appear to run purely on the ideal of Japanese efficiency.
Anyway so, I stayed at the hotel, ruing the expense.
It was at this point I realised two things.
1. I had forgotten my laptop charger crucial for finishing my second job.
2. I had a lot of stuff in my bags and it wasn't feasible to carry it all around.
This was frustrating.. But I realised there was a way I might be able to solve both things. I called my teacher, Sachiko and she said I could drop the stuff at her house and my Mum could send the charger to that address.
I embarked on a journey to get to her house. I caught 3 trains to do this and I was amazed by the journey. For the entire trip, there was no break in houses. Everywhere I went through on my 3 hour journey was like the inner city in Melbourne. I am flying through these districts in a bullet train and they never end. Not only that but the concentration of people barely decreases, there are so many 5 story buildings, the flow of them never ends.
I took the train as a chance to talk to some of the people. I enjoyed this, especially fumbling through my Japanese to communicate. I met a man who works at Yakult, two girls who I don't know where they were going and old man and his daughter going to her first day of work.
On the trains there are conductors who walk up and down the train. I have never seen someone so engrossed in there job. They bow before the enter a carriage and bow to the carriage again before they leave. When they speak to you there is not the slightest glimmer of personality nor in anything they do. It is like a deep commitment to their jobs drives them and nothing else disturbs the surface of their conscience.
I find this curious. Would the passengers be insulted should a conductor not bow to them before they leave? How about if one cracked a joke or teased someone in a good natured way? Is this job focused mode the result of those in power forcing their old fashioned beliefs on those below them or simply Japanese culture?
This is very interesting to me. In this example and in others I have rarely seen any personality shown to customers by shop keepers or those that serve them.
So I arrived at the station and was picked up by Sachiko, my former Japanese teacher and soon to be employer. She is such a warm and lovely person, I just love being around her. Some people are so good natured that I show no hesitation in trusting them completely. Sachiko is such a person.
I drove to her house and we sat in there lounge room. Man they have a cool invention. Instead of couches they have a table.. which is sunk into the ground and the room below maintained.. hmm not sure if that makes sense. So you slip your legs under the table and into the room below.. which is heated.. and a doona is around the table to trap all the heat in. Awesome. There is something more communal about being this low to the ground.
I soon met her family.
All in the one house they have:
Sachiko
Her brother
Her brother's wife
Her mother
Her grandmother (84 years old)
Her brother's younger son
Her brother's elder son
Such a setup would never happen in Australia. 4 generations under the one roof. I think it is better though. This way the children are able to understand there grandparents and great-granparents in a way that going to there houses twice a year and eating cake and feeling uncomfortable doesn't allow.
I enjoyed trying to speak Japanese to them and more or less communicated what I wanted to say. The kids were more difficult as they use such casual Japanese that I don't understand a lot of it. The grandmother was especially difficult as my Japanese pronunciation is far from perfect and I think due to bad hearing she couldn't distinguish what I was saying.
The kids are pretty awesome if rambunctious and naughty. One of them told Sachiko that they want me to live with them which is touching. The hospitality was profuse and humbling. I was even given someone's room to sleep in and they slept with someone else. I would have protested if I knew but it was too late by then.
The next day I left minus all my teaching stuff and some stuff for Sachiko. I went to the apple store in Osaka and bought my power adaptor. This was a big relief. I then found the capsule hotel that I was looking for. Man this place is awesome value.
For 3000 yen ($33) you get a capsule, free internet access, dinner, access to laundry facilities, which you do have to pay for but still, access to a bath. This is crazy good value. I also found a really good ramen shop which for 500 yen ($5.50) you can get a big meal. I can live for $39 a day which in the second biggest city in Japan is pretty damn sweet.
I have been largely living it up expect for one big problem. Money.. I can't get it! I managed to leave my credit card at home which is being sent by my mum, and my debit card expired in February.
This has meant that I haven't been able to go around or do much except study Japanese. I have been hungering to hit the bars and talk to some people but haven't been able to afford it. I also want to go to umeda and do some shopping.
I have also been meaning to buy a camera to show you some of this cool stuff but no can do.
It has been an interesting experience for me. I have never before in my life been majorly strapped for cash. I have had wealthy parents and since school pretty much always had a job. Now I can only afford 2 meals a day and must choose the best value place.
Anyways I have just borrowed money from Sachiko and my credit card should get here on Friday. Crisis averted. I feel quite stupid. Sachiko's friend in Osaka met me to give me the money. She was clearly quite sick and shouldn't have been outside. I feel guilty about this, but I didn't really have a choice but to accept this help. I bought this women a present to try and repay her humbling kindness to a stranger in need.
So now I am right for money and I am going to try and live it up a bit more.
Anyway so, I stayed at the hotel, ruing the expense.
It was at this point I realised two things.
1. I had forgotten my laptop charger crucial for finishing my second job.
2. I had a lot of stuff in my bags and it wasn't feasible to carry it all around.
This was frustrating.. But I realised there was a way I might be able to solve both things. I called my teacher, Sachiko and she said I could drop the stuff at her house and my Mum could send the charger to that address.
I embarked on a journey to get to her house. I caught 3 trains to do this and I was amazed by the journey. For the entire trip, there was no break in houses. Everywhere I went through on my 3 hour journey was like the inner city in Melbourne. I am flying through these districts in a bullet train and they never end. Not only that but the concentration of people barely decreases, there are so many 5 story buildings, the flow of them never ends.
I took the train as a chance to talk to some of the people. I enjoyed this, especially fumbling through my Japanese to communicate. I met a man who works at Yakult, two girls who I don't know where they were going and old man and his daughter going to her first day of work.
On the trains there are conductors who walk up and down the train. I have never seen someone so engrossed in there job. They bow before the enter a carriage and bow to the carriage again before they leave. When they speak to you there is not the slightest glimmer of personality nor in anything they do. It is like a deep commitment to their jobs drives them and nothing else disturbs the surface of their conscience.
I find this curious. Would the passengers be insulted should a conductor not bow to them before they leave? How about if one cracked a joke or teased someone in a good natured way? Is this job focused mode the result of those in power forcing their old fashioned beliefs on those below them or simply Japanese culture?
This is very interesting to me. In this example and in others I have rarely seen any personality shown to customers by shop keepers or those that serve them.
So I arrived at the station and was picked up by Sachiko, my former Japanese teacher and soon to be employer. She is such a warm and lovely person, I just love being around her. Some people are so good natured that I show no hesitation in trusting them completely. Sachiko is such a person.
I drove to her house and we sat in there lounge room. Man they have a cool invention. Instead of couches they have a table.. which is sunk into the ground and the room below maintained.. hmm not sure if that makes sense. So you slip your legs under the table and into the room below.. which is heated.. and a doona is around the table to trap all the heat in. Awesome. There is something more communal about being this low to the ground.
I soon met her family.
All in the one house they have:
Sachiko
Her brother
Her brother's wife
Her mother
Her grandmother (84 years old)
Her brother's younger son
Her brother's elder son
Such a setup would never happen in Australia. 4 generations under the one roof. I think it is better though. This way the children are able to understand there grandparents and great-granparents in a way that going to there houses twice a year and eating cake and feeling uncomfortable doesn't allow.
I enjoyed trying to speak Japanese to them and more or less communicated what I wanted to say. The kids were more difficult as they use such casual Japanese that I don't understand a lot of it. The grandmother was especially difficult as my Japanese pronunciation is far from perfect and I think due to bad hearing she couldn't distinguish what I was saying.
The kids are pretty awesome if rambunctious and naughty. One of them told Sachiko that they want me to live with them which is touching. The hospitality was profuse and humbling. I was even given someone's room to sleep in and they slept with someone else. I would have protested if I knew but it was too late by then.
The next day I left minus all my teaching stuff and some stuff for Sachiko. I went to the apple store in Osaka and bought my power adaptor. This was a big relief. I then found the capsule hotel that I was looking for. Man this place is awesome value.
For 3000 yen ($33) you get a capsule, free internet access, dinner, access to laundry facilities, which you do have to pay for but still, access to a bath. This is crazy good value. I also found a really good ramen shop which for 500 yen ($5.50) you can get a big meal. I can live for $39 a day which in the second biggest city in Japan is pretty damn sweet.
I have been largely living it up expect for one big problem. Money.. I can't get it! I managed to leave my credit card at home which is being sent by my mum, and my debit card expired in February.
This has meant that I haven't been able to go around or do much except study Japanese. I have been hungering to hit the bars and talk to some people but haven't been able to afford it. I also want to go to umeda and do some shopping.
I have also been meaning to buy a camera to show you some of this cool stuff but no can do.
It has been an interesting experience for me. I have never before in my life been majorly strapped for cash. I have had wealthy parents and since school pretty much always had a job. Now I can only afford 2 meals a day and must choose the best value place.
Anyways I have just borrowed money from Sachiko and my credit card should get here on Friday. Crisis averted. I feel quite stupid. Sachiko's friend in Osaka met me to give me the money. She was clearly quite sick and shouldn't have been outside. I feel guilty about this, but I didn't really have a choice but to accept this help. I bought this women a present to try and repay her humbling kindness to a stranger in need.
So now I am right for money and I am going to try and live it up a bit more.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Hello :)
So Japan..
Here are some thoughts:
I brilliantly failed to get ready in time for my plane. I ended up packing all night and basically just made it, leaving my room quite messy and my mum the task of cleaning it in the next few days. Oh well, I would like to plead that my stupid second job running 3 months late (stupid client) was in part the cause.
Anyway so I limped in and ended up making the flight fairly comfortably thanks to my mum. I flew to
I find airports interesting, no one really wants to be there and they mope around irritably as if looking for some hidden jewel that will take all their boredom away. Ok well maybe this is just me. I did find a half pack of cheezels, but this only worked for a brief amount of time.
At around 29 hours awake I started watching Dr Phil. During this time I discovered an interesting phenomenon… I was watching it and as you might expect regulating my breathing to avoid throwing up (American family values excreted by a dogmatic bald man is not exactly my thing). However all of a sudden a wave of tiredness hit me and my brain kicked down a notch. Suddenly I was engrossed, each word he spoke thundered through me and I shuddered with revelation. I couldn’t pull myself away and I silently absorbed his wisdom, ready to riot should the flow be interrupted.
Luckily my plane arrive and through an act of sheer will power I averted my eyes, punched myself in the face and managed to crawl away, dragging my bags with me. Be warned people. I suspect that if I had stayed any longer I would have died of starvation in state of ecstasy. Or should the program end I would go insane or become the prophet of Dr Phil or something.
On the plane I had my first experience of
- People who travel tend to be cooler/more interesting than people that don’t.
- They are on holiday, so they aren't working and are generally relaxed.
On the plane there were about 10 stewardesses all female. What I found intriguing is that they assume the role of their jobs to a much greater degree than Australians do. Almost all interaction with passengers is prefaced and er sufaced with polite but inane expressions. There true personalities and feelings and buried deep behind a mask as they interface with us, like robots following a flow chart. Above all they are accommodating and meek.
I was able to get some responses outside this chart on occasion, but they would only do this when it was inadequate for the situation.
Looking through the flight magazines provided gave me more insight into this. There were many airline ads and all of them have the stewardesses smiling, flawless and inviting faces included. It is hard to not feel their jobs are a bit demeaning
I arrived at 8:30
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Welcome
Hello,
I am going to Japan for a year and a half to teach English. I will use this blog to post on my adventures and keep my friends and family up to date with how I am going.
I am going to Japan for a year and a half to teach English. I will use this blog to post on my adventures and keep my friends and family up to date with how I am going.
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