I feel like everything and nothing has happened since I was here last. Last week was an insane week of busy merrymaking, starting with Kat's arrival and the perfunctory night out to welcome her at Ingrid's, and culminating with Ingrid's birthday party at P Paradise. In between were nearly three days of celebrating Joanna's birthday-- involving a crammed party at the Boobie Palace (our apartment), a night out at Ingrid's (where else?) a night out at the onsen, and kaiten sushi (the kind that goes past you on a conveyeur). There was also a Goodbye party for Dan and Jon, and a Hello party for Andy and Kat-- Kat couldn't make it because she's training in Okoyama! Turns out that Kat is not only a cool chick, she's also a vegetarian, so she and Joanna are well matched. I don't feel so bad about leaving for my new apartment... if I ever get my act together and properly move out. Right now half my belongings are in the new apartment, but all things useful (my clothes, makeup, futon) are still at the Boobie Palace. Think I might be suffering a little separation anxiety? I'll miss waking up to a cup of tea and a bit of gossip with Joanna. Ah well... nothing gold can stay...
I ditched Ingrid's party early-- fabulous though it was. You should have seen her decked out in her stunning red gown and sparkling tiara; she looked like a contestant for the Miss Universe competition! It seemed like nearly the entire gaijin population of Tokushima was there-- for a few pictures, you can check out Dani's blog: http://www.daniinjapan.blogspot.com -- I haven't met her yet, but she's living somewhere in this city too, and she knows how to attach pictures to her blog. Anyhow, I was feeling a little fed up with getting dressed up and being charming and avoiding the things that really needed doing-- such as preparing for July's art show and packing my belongings for the move. I decided to walk home, although I should have trusted my instincts and taken a taxi. I was dressed to the nines in a cunning black cocktail dress and high black heels, long rhinestone-and-gold dangly earings, my hair piled high on my head-- as per Ingrid's instructions (" You must dress up, look fabulous for my birthday, darling!"). I realized that I perhaps looked a little racy for stalking the streets of Tokushima, but as nothing dangerous had occured before, I figured I would be alright. Well, that was a stupid assumption. I walked facing traffic, as I didn't want any cars sneaking up behind me, but one guy got a good look and circled the block, pulling in to a sidestreet I passed. He was standing by his car as I walked by, and said "hello,"-- I responded with "konbanwa" (good evening) and kept walking. He started asking me to come with him, just for one coffee, just for a little talking, but I said no thank you, no thank you, and kept hurriedly walking on. I was nearing my own side street where I would turn to get to the apartment, and was just beginnning to calm down when a car pulled onto the sidewalk in front of me, blocking my path. I stood well back, not sure what to think. The driver pulled forward and back several times, never completely clearing the sidewalk so I could pass, so I just hung back, baffled. Finally he rolled down the window and asked, "where you from?" Now completely freaked out, I waved my hand in the "No" gesture and said "No thank you!" and scooted around his car and around the corner onto my side street-- I didn't feel safe though, and so ducked into an alley and pressed myself flat against a wall. Sure enough just a moment later, he came slowly cruising in his car down the street looking for me. I scampered home, ducking into alleys whenever I heard a car coming-- once safe inside the apartment, I sent a frantic message to Yoshino, who kindly equipped me the next day with the number for the English-speaking police and a rape alarm. "Why do you attract offenders?" He asked me. Gee whiz, I dunno-- maybe because I inspire fantasy? Let's face it, Japan has a pretty repressed society, and repression can lead to some pretty kinky behavior. You need only count the number and variety of Love Hotels and Soap Shops to know that there is an undercurrent of desperate sexuality behind all of these good manners and gentle kindnesses.
Anyway, I'm off today-- Joanna and I were going to go to the beach, but it's raining, so I'll just keep plugging along with the moving-- which is proabably the better choice anyway. This afternoon were are going to be the welcoming committee for yet another new teacher. 'Tis the season for new recruits!
Until next time,
Endrene
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Friday, June 23, 2006
JUST A FAST POST, AS THIS COMPUTER IS DOING WEIRD THINGS AND THE STAFF HERE CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT (APPARENTLY). ALL IS WELL, THE NEW DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT (APPARENTLY). ALL IS WELL, THE NEW ROOM-MATE ARRIVED BEFORE I COULD MOVE OUT (STILL DON'T HAVE THE CODE FOR THE NEW APARTMENT) BUT THE COOL COULD MOVE OUT (STILL DON'T HAVE THE CODE FOR THE NEW APARTMENT) BUT THE COOL THING IS THAT SHE'S REALLY SUPER; HER NAME IS KAT, AND SHE'S FROM ST. CATHERINES, ONTARIO. IT'S NAME IS KAT, AND SHE'S FROM ST. CATHERINES, ONTARIO. IT'S JOANNA'S BIRTHDAY TODAY AND WE'RE ALL ST. CATHERINES, ONTARIO. IT'S JOANNA'S BIRTHDAY TODAY AND WE'RE ALL 3 OF US GOING TO AN ONSEN-- THEY WON'T KNOW WHAT HIT 'EM! sORRY FOR THIS WEIRDNESS, I'LL STOP NOW...
AS ALWAYS, NAMASTE
ENDRENE
AS ALWAYS, NAMASTE
ENDRENE
Sunday, June 18, 2006
I'm on my way to the post office this morning to retrieve the long-awaited parcel from home... I think mom sent it in early May? Anyhow, I'm excited-- this is better than Christmas! New shirts! New underwear! New underwear that FITS! (I hope!) I'm almost saving money here by default... I can't shop, so I don't. It's just that easy!
What a beautiful day! It's bright and warm and breezy, the palm trees are swaying and all of the greens are brighter, thanks to the last few days of cool weather and gentle rain. Awa Odori practice is going on everywhere; as I was riding my bike home last night, I could hear the monotonous clang of the awa cymbal coming from under the bridge. I'm really looking forward to the festival in July; the streets will be packed with throngs of people in yukata (summer kimono) and everyone will be dancing, dancing, dancing.
Last weekend (thursday and friday for me) I was highjacked by the Japanese! I didn't do any laundry, or packing for my move, nothing. (Can't move yet anyway, as I don't have a key for my new apartment.) Instead I went with Bubu to the Mori's house; Mr. Mori is a university friend of Bubu's, and he is a building owner and property manager. He had tried to find me an apartment in one of his buildings, but I found one first. This didn't dampen his interest in me, and the potential for practicing his English, so I was invited to dine at his house with his family; mother, wife, and daughter. What a house! What a meal! I had jaga nikku (a kind of stew-- apparently before a young man proposes, he asks the girl if she can make jaga nikku-- if she says no, she can't cook at all, and he shouldn't marry her). There was also tempura, sashimi, natto, rice, salad, etc, etc. I also ate some biwa fruit (not 'bimbom' like I'd earlier said-- tasty little apricotty-things). Granny sat and talked with me through her grand-daughter-- mostly about a Korean actor that she fancies. Her grandaughter said that granny had fallen in love, and had the heart of a young girl again! It was a late night, and many of the old themes were rehashed, as Bubu had a new audience to regail with tales of the "hen wa gaijin" (strange foriegner). She likes sushi! She likes natto! She can understand some Japanese! She knows how to properly eat with chopsticks! She knows how to kneel on a tatami mat! WOW! I'm a wonder...
The next day I recieved an early message from Yoshino, asking if I wanted to go to an 'oriental fortune teller'. Intruiged, I agreed. We drove out into the countryside south of here, and stopped in the middle of nowhere at Yoshino's favorite okonomiyaki restaurant; you get to make it yourself on the little table in front of you! It was quite tasty, and Yoshino asked me, "does it grab you?" Yes, it grabbed me very much-- I love an opportunity to play with my food! We went from there to pick up his friend Yurie, who was to act as the 'narrator' (translator)-- but her English was about the same as Yoshino's. No matter. On to the fortune teller... she was in this tiny little hut of an office-trailer, which was jam-packed with papers and colorful decorations made of paper and ribbons, dirty coffee cups, nail-polish remover, photographs, a small TV, videos... All three of us went in together, filling up the last of the available space. The fortune teller seemed to be in her fifties, not terribly glamorous or mysterious-- more like a friendly, bossy auntie. Yurie went first, and I didn't catch much of what was said to her at all. I was next, and my 'narrators' managed to translate about 70% of what was said to me: The last three years have been difficult and unbalanced for me, but this year I am on my way up; 2007 is meant to be even better, and it is a good year for romance (!). I am meant to be a teacher of some kind. I am a leader. I am good at teaching, but not good at being taught. My spirit is like water; I am adaptable and can become accustomed to anything easily. I cannot become stronger in spriit, because it is not in my nature; I have a gentle heart. So instead of trying to change the world by becoming stronger, I should change the world by teaching the children to have gentle hearts. All in all, I was quite touched, and enjoyed the reading. Yoshino was last, and his reading was quite negative; she suggested that he was in a dark time of life, and that perhaps he should look into arranged marriage. He was pretty upset afterwards; he's not a believer in this stuff in the first place, so I think he was annoyed that the first time he ever had his fortune told he got bad news!
The three of us went from there to a beautiful, vacant beach; Japanese people believe that beach season doesn't begin until July, so regardless of how nice the weather is in June, no one goes until July! We went down to the far end and poked around the tidal pools, finding sea slugs and anenomes and hermit crabs... and even a fugu! (puffer fish) I kept chasing him around and poking him, trying to make him puff, but I think he was too freaked out to do it. I tried clambering up some of the more trecherous outcroppings, but Yoshino demanded I get down, saying, "Oh! Dangerous! Your father will be angry!" The water was warm and seriously inviting, so I ducked around a seawall and stripped down to my skivvies and jumped in. I had said earlier that I was going to go swimming, but neither Yoshino or Yurie had really believed I would. After about 15 minutes, Yoshino asked (from a safe distance of 100 feet away), "Naka-chan, may I join you?" (Naka-chan is a famous seal that lives around here. He's famous because he doesn't belong here.) So Yoshino stripped down to his boxers (as he did this, I had to keep well away, and not look, otherwise he would yell "Mitenai! Mitenai!" -- "Don't look!") And Yurie also joined in, wearing her shirt and panties. The water was deep and green and rocky, and I opened my eyes as I swam under water, chasing crabs and fish. Yurie declared that I was a mermaid, as I was still swimming and playing long after she and Yoshino tired. (I think that my natural buoyancy may have helped me there!) Yoshino, being very shy, stayed about 40 feet away from both Yurie and I at all times.
Anyway, the story goes on from there (of course)-- I had dinner that night with Yurie and her mom, which was another adventure altogether. BUT I must get on to the post office, and then off to work! Here I go...
Namaste
What a beautiful day! It's bright and warm and breezy, the palm trees are swaying and all of the greens are brighter, thanks to the last few days of cool weather and gentle rain. Awa Odori practice is going on everywhere; as I was riding my bike home last night, I could hear the monotonous clang of the awa cymbal coming from under the bridge. I'm really looking forward to the festival in July; the streets will be packed with throngs of people in yukata (summer kimono) and everyone will be dancing, dancing, dancing.
Last weekend (thursday and friday for me) I was highjacked by the Japanese! I didn't do any laundry, or packing for my move, nothing. (Can't move yet anyway, as I don't have a key for my new apartment.) Instead I went with Bubu to the Mori's house; Mr. Mori is a university friend of Bubu's, and he is a building owner and property manager. He had tried to find me an apartment in one of his buildings, but I found one first. This didn't dampen his interest in me, and the potential for practicing his English, so I was invited to dine at his house with his family; mother, wife, and daughter. What a house! What a meal! I had jaga nikku (a kind of stew-- apparently before a young man proposes, he asks the girl if she can make jaga nikku-- if she says no, she can't cook at all, and he shouldn't marry her). There was also tempura, sashimi, natto, rice, salad, etc, etc. I also ate some biwa fruit (not 'bimbom' like I'd earlier said-- tasty little apricotty-things). Granny sat and talked with me through her grand-daughter-- mostly about a Korean actor that she fancies. Her grandaughter said that granny had fallen in love, and had the heart of a young girl again! It was a late night, and many of the old themes were rehashed, as Bubu had a new audience to regail with tales of the "hen wa gaijin" (strange foriegner). She likes sushi! She likes natto! She can understand some Japanese! She knows how to properly eat with chopsticks! She knows how to kneel on a tatami mat! WOW! I'm a wonder...
The next day I recieved an early message from Yoshino, asking if I wanted to go to an 'oriental fortune teller'. Intruiged, I agreed. We drove out into the countryside south of here, and stopped in the middle of nowhere at Yoshino's favorite okonomiyaki restaurant; you get to make it yourself on the little table in front of you! It was quite tasty, and Yoshino asked me, "does it grab you?" Yes, it grabbed me very much-- I love an opportunity to play with my food! We went from there to pick up his friend Yurie, who was to act as the 'narrator' (translator)-- but her English was about the same as Yoshino's. No matter. On to the fortune teller... she was in this tiny little hut of an office-trailer, which was jam-packed with papers and colorful decorations made of paper and ribbons, dirty coffee cups, nail-polish remover, photographs, a small TV, videos... All three of us went in together, filling up the last of the available space. The fortune teller seemed to be in her fifties, not terribly glamorous or mysterious-- more like a friendly, bossy auntie. Yurie went first, and I didn't catch much of what was said to her at all. I was next, and my 'narrators' managed to translate about 70% of what was said to me: The last three years have been difficult and unbalanced for me, but this year I am on my way up; 2007 is meant to be even better, and it is a good year for romance (!). I am meant to be a teacher of some kind. I am a leader. I am good at teaching, but not good at being taught. My spirit is like water; I am adaptable and can become accustomed to anything easily. I cannot become stronger in spriit, because it is not in my nature; I have a gentle heart. So instead of trying to change the world by becoming stronger, I should change the world by teaching the children to have gentle hearts. All in all, I was quite touched, and enjoyed the reading. Yoshino was last, and his reading was quite negative; she suggested that he was in a dark time of life, and that perhaps he should look into arranged marriage. He was pretty upset afterwards; he's not a believer in this stuff in the first place, so I think he was annoyed that the first time he ever had his fortune told he got bad news!
The three of us went from there to a beautiful, vacant beach; Japanese people believe that beach season doesn't begin until July, so regardless of how nice the weather is in June, no one goes until July! We went down to the far end and poked around the tidal pools, finding sea slugs and anenomes and hermit crabs... and even a fugu! (puffer fish) I kept chasing him around and poking him, trying to make him puff, but I think he was too freaked out to do it. I tried clambering up some of the more trecherous outcroppings, but Yoshino demanded I get down, saying, "Oh! Dangerous! Your father will be angry!" The water was warm and seriously inviting, so I ducked around a seawall and stripped down to my skivvies and jumped in. I had said earlier that I was going to go swimming, but neither Yoshino or Yurie had really believed I would. After about 15 minutes, Yoshino asked (from a safe distance of 100 feet away), "Naka-chan, may I join you?" (Naka-chan is a famous seal that lives around here. He's famous because he doesn't belong here.) So Yoshino stripped down to his boxers (as he did this, I had to keep well away, and not look, otherwise he would yell "Mitenai! Mitenai!" -- "Don't look!") And Yurie also joined in, wearing her shirt and panties. The water was deep and green and rocky, and I opened my eyes as I swam under water, chasing crabs and fish. Yurie declared that I was a mermaid, as I was still swimming and playing long after she and Yoshino tired. (I think that my natural buoyancy may have helped me there!) Yoshino, being very shy, stayed about 40 feet away from both Yurie and I at all times.
Anyway, the story goes on from there (of course)-- I had dinner that night with Yurie and her mom, which was another adventure altogether. BUT I must get on to the post office, and then off to work! Here I go...
Namaste
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
So much to say, so much to say, so much to say! By the way, if anyone is thinking of sending me a present (bold of me to suggest such a thing) maybe you could burn a cd with some of your favorite music? Or even tape a radio station? I'm a bit of a technophobe and have not yet learned how to do such a thing (downloading music), and the radio station in Tokushima is abhorrent. And I'll apologize here to my friend Ryan, who is ethically against any such piracy (rightfully so)... but... Well, I have no valid excuses for encouraging you all to be pirates. I just miss listening to music from home. Arrrr, me mateys!
Anyway, back to the crack. ('Crack' is gossip, according to my Newcastleite roomie). EARTHQUAKE!! Yes indeed, folks, I have now experienced a real earthquake. Five AM on tuesday morning I awoke very suddenly, like people sometimes do before their alarm goes off. You lie there for a few moments, wondering--why am I awake? and then your alarm goes beepbeepbeep. Except this time, there was no beepbeepbeep. Instead, my room began to sway, my overhead light swinging; I felt as though enormous arms had scooped up the earth and were rocking it like a baby, with terryfying effects. All I could do was lay there, eyes popping from my head. I had only two thoughts: "What should I do? There's no furniture in my room to hide under!" and "Oh, %$!#&! I'm naked! They're going to rescue me, and I'm going to be naked! What if I'm not wearing anything when the building collapses? Should I get my shoes first, or should I put some clothes on?" The shaking might have lasted for 30 seconds or two minutes, I don't know. But as soon as it stopped, I was up, throwing on a pair of yesterday's pants and a dirty inside-out-and-backwards t-shirt. I called for Joanna as I frantically ran around the apartment, trying to decide what was most important. Put on shoes? Get my passport? Turn on the TV? Turn off the gas? I opted for tearing open the sliding glass door to look at the river, to see if a tsunami was coming. Joanna came out of her room and (more calmly than me) suggested we turn on the TV for some sort of report. The epicentre was in Kyushuu, just east of Hiroshima. There, it registered about 5 on the measurement scale (I don't know if they use the Richter scale in Japan). Here in Tokushima it was a 3. We eventually decided we were safe and went back to bed. When I told my students about my terrified earthquake antics later that day, most of them were highly amused. Many of them woke up during the shaking, and then just rolled over and went back to sleep! I can't imagine being so calmly accepting of inevetible disaster... but I suppose there aren't a lot of options. You can live your life in fear, but then you're only living half a life.
Hmmm... what else? Ah yes, I'm moving!! I'm taking a one-room apartment close to BuBu's shop. It's miniscule; the entire apartment is not much bigger than my current bedroom. There's one gas burner, a wee bar fridge, and a toilet/bath combo, which is very unusual in Japan, as it's considered quite dirty to bathe where you poop! You usually only see such a combination in the tiny little business hotels. The tap over the sink actually swivels so that it also performs as the tap for the bathtub; the entire apartment is quite the miracle of space-saving ingenuity. I won't have any furniture save for a small coffee table that Bubu's family is donating to my cause. I'm actually pretty enthused about my impending sparse lifestyle. I'd like to have a few pillows so that when I'm entertaining guests, they won't have to sit on the hardwood floor, but I don't imagine I'll bother getting a television or a dvd player or a couch or a bed or anything like that. What do I need them for? I'll have my futon for a bed, which I fold up and put away every morning. I'll have a few plants which I'll bring from my current apartment, my books, my art supplies, my little stereo. I've got a nice little balcony, so perhaps I'll get a chair so I can have my tea out there in the morning. The main thing is that I will only be responsible for myself, and that was part of my mission when I decided to come to Japan. I wanted to prove to myself that I am capable of functioning as an independent human being before I moved into the next stages of my life, whatever they may be. So far, so good!
We have a new teacher, a Scottish fellow named Andy. They poor bloke never learned how to ride a bicycle, so he's been having quite a time in Tokushima, the City of Cyclists. He's fallen off quite a number of times and will be well scarred up before he leaves this country! I have to pick him up on my way to work on Saturday, his first full official day at Nova Kitajima Fuji Grand; I'll be leaving VERY early. I've seen him out a couple of times now, and it's quite nice to have a new friendly face in town. However, I think I'm turning Japanese-- like most normal Westerners, he makes eye contact when we're talking, and I find myself having a hard time looking back, as is the Japanese custom-- you don't look anyone in the eyes too long because it's considered too aggressive! Anyway, maybe he can help bring me back to that fact that I AM a Westerner, and that eye contact isn't such a bad thing.
Went to Takamatsu with Yoshino last week; we had a great time, taking or bikes in the back of his station wagon. Takamatsu is the biggest city on this island, and it's about 45 minutes from Tokushima, depending on which roads you take. To get there we went through the countryside, stopping to see some famous sand hoodoos (quite like the ones on the way to Summerland from Penticton) and a shrine that was apparently filled with male and female body-part art and sculptures-- I say apparently because unfortunately, it was closed! The countryside was breathtaking, and I ooohed and aaaahed as we drove through the lush mountains and past deep gorges with deep cool streams. I saw palm trees and small houses and bimbom fruit trees (like apricots, but more tropical) little narrow streets and rich green valleys. When we got to Takamatsu, I was almost disappointed to be there; I prefered the scenery and diversity of the countryside. We first went into the Takamatsu Prefectural park; it's been cultivated for nearly 360 years, and it was quite spectacular, particulary the display of Japanese irises growing in the centre of one of the ponds. (I took lots of pictures for you, mom!) One park guide caught me messing with the carp (I was trying to pet them, of course) and instead of scolding me, he gave me a 15 minute in-depth explanation of the history of the park in perfect English. The one phrase I remember from his lecture was, "This park is arguably one of the most beautiful in Japan." I remember because I was impressed with his accurate use of the word 'arguably'. Funny how being an English teacher can suddenly make you aware of the intricacies and the ridiculousness of language in general. How often do we speak without saying anything at all?
Anyway, from there we got the bikes and rode around Takamatsu. We stopped to eat famous udon noodles-- which I had enormous difficulty eating because of my conditioned terror of making slurping sounds; I have since been admonished by several of my Japanese friends, who tell me that you cannot taste if you do not make noise! At the time though, I was so embarrased and upset by my inability to slurp that I was nearly crying, my steaming bowl still full in front of me while Yoshino had finished his. He encouraged me by telling me to "image the carp" that we had fed in the park-- with their great big sucky mouths! He also said, "Oooh, good sound!" whenever I managed a half-assed slurp. I was glad to get out of there when we were done. We went from there to a wax museum that depicted the history of the samurai wars that had happened in the area hundreds of years ago; the costumes and the faces were quite effective, but I've always been a little freaked out by life-size dummies of any sort, and so I was glad to get out of there as well. Smelled funny, too. The drive back was on a bigger highway, so no real spectacular scenery, although the sunset was gorgeous. Yoshino always plans such adventersome days, I quite like having as a friend. I'm going to have to do something for him sometime-- cook hamburgers maybe?
Anyway, I best get out of this smoky cafe and back out into the rain; it's quite windy and wet today, but very warm, so it's really not a big deal if I get soaked. Wish me well-- I've got a challenging couple of weeks ahead!
Namaste
endrene
Anyway, back to the crack. ('Crack' is gossip, according to my Newcastleite roomie). EARTHQUAKE!! Yes indeed, folks, I have now experienced a real earthquake. Five AM on tuesday morning I awoke very suddenly, like people sometimes do before their alarm goes off. You lie there for a few moments, wondering--why am I awake? and then your alarm goes beepbeepbeep. Except this time, there was no beepbeepbeep. Instead, my room began to sway, my overhead light swinging; I felt as though enormous arms had scooped up the earth and were rocking it like a baby, with terryfying effects. All I could do was lay there, eyes popping from my head. I had only two thoughts: "What should I do? There's no furniture in my room to hide under!" and "Oh, %$!#&! I'm naked! They're going to rescue me, and I'm going to be naked! What if I'm not wearing anything when the building collapses? Should I get my shoes first, or should I put some clothes on?" The shaking might have lasted for 30 seconds or two minutes, I don't know. But as soon as it stopped, I was up, throwing on a pair of yesterday's pants and a dirty inside-out-and-backwards t-shirt. I called for Joanna as I frantically ran around the apartment, trying to decide what was most important. Put on shoes? Get my passport? Turn on the TV? Turn off the gas? I opted for tearing open the sliding glass door to look at the river, to see if a tsunami was coming. Joanna came out of her room and (more calmly than me) suggested we turn on the TV for some sort of report. The epicentre was in Kyushuu, just east of Hiroshima. There, it registered about 5 on the measurement scale (I don't know if they use the Richter scale in Japan). Here in Tokushima it was a 3. We eventually decided we were safe and went back to bed. When I told my students about my terrified earthquake antics later that day, most of them were highly amused. Many of them woke up during the shaking, and then just rolled over and went back to sleep! I can't imagine being so calmly accepting of inevetible disaster... but I suppose there aren't a lot of options. You can live your life in fear, but then you're only living half a life.
Hmmm... what else? Ah yes, I'm moving!! I'm taking a one-room apartment close to BuBu's shop. It's miniscule; the entire apartment is not much bigger than my current bedroom. There's one gas burner, a wee bar fridge, and a toilet/bath combo, which is very unusual in Japan, as it's considered quite dirty to bathe where you poop! You usually only see such a combination in the tiny little business hotels. The tap over the sink actually swivels so that it also performs as the tap for the bathtub; the entire apartment is quite the miracle of space-saving ingenuity. I won't have any furniture save for a small coffee table that Bubu's family is donating to my cause. I'm actually pretty enthused about my impending sparse lifestyle. I'd like to have a few pillows so that when I'm entertaining guests, they won't have to sit on the hardwood floor, but I don't imagine I'll bother getting a television or a dvd player or a couch or a bed or anything like that. What do I need them for? I'll have my futon for a bed, which I fold up and put away every morning. I'll have a few plants which I'll bring from my current apartment, my books, my art supplies, my little stereo. I've got a nice little balcony, so perhaps I'll get a chair so I can have my tea out there in the morning. The main thing is that I will only be responsible for myself, and that was part of my mission when I decided to come to Japan. I wanted to prove to myself that I am capable of functioning as an independent human being before I moved into the next stages of my life, whatever they may be. So far, so good!
We have a new teacher, a Scottish fellow named Andy. They poor bloke never learned how to ride a bicycle, so he's been having quite a time in Tokushima, the City of Cyclists. He's fallen off quite a number of times and will be well scarred up before he leaves this country! I have to pick him up on my way to work on Saturday, his first full official day at Nova Kitajima Fuji Grand; I'll be leaving VERY early. I've seen him out a couple of times now, and it's quite nice to have a new friendly face in town. However, I think I'm turning Japanese-- like most normal Westerners, he makes eye contact when we're talking, and I find myself having a hard time looking back, as is the Japanese custom-- you don't look anyone in the eyes too long because it's considered too aggressive! Anyway, maybe he can help bring me back to that fact that I AM a Westerner, and that eye contact isn't such a bad thing.
Went to Takamatsu with Yoshino last week; we had a great time, taking or bikes in the back of his station wagon. Takamatsu is the biggest city on this island, and it's about 45 minutes from Tokushima, depending on which roads you take. To get there we went through the countryside, stopping to see some famous sand hoodoos (quite like the ones on the way to Summerland from Penticton) and a shrine that was apparently filled with male and female body-part art and sculptures-- I say apparently because unfortunately, it was closed! The countryside was breathtaking, and I ooohed and aaaahed as we drove through the lush mountains and past deep gorges with deep cool streams. I saw palm trees and small houses and bimbom fruit trees (like apricots, but more tropical) little narrow streets and rich green valleys. When we got to Takamatsu, I was almost disappointed to be there; I prefered the scenery and diversity of the countryside. We first went into the Takamatsu Prefectural park; it's been cultivated for nearly 360 years, and it was quite spectacular, particulary the display of Japanese irises growing in the centre of one of the ponds. (I took lots of pictures for you, mom!) One park guide caught me messing with the carp (I was trying to pet them, of course) and instead of scolding me, he gave me a 15 minute in-depth explanation of the history of the park in perfect English. The one phrase I remember from his lecture was, "This park is arguably one of the most beautiful in Japan." I remember because I was impressed with his accurate use of the word 'arguably'. Funny how being an English teacher can suddenly make you aware of the intricacies and the ridiculousness of language in general. How often do we speak without saying anything at all?
Anyway, from there we got the bikes and rode around Takamatsu. We stopped to eat famous udon noodles-- which I had enormous difficulty eating because of my conditioned terror of making slurping sounds; I have since been admonished by several of my Japanese friends, who tell me that you cannot taste if you do not make noise! At the time though, I was so embarrased and upset by my inability to slurp that I was nearly crying, my steaming bowl still full in front of me while Yoshino had finished his. He encouraged me by telling me to "image the carp" that we had fed in the park-- with their great big sucky mouths! He also said, "Oooh, good sound!" whenever I managed a half-assed slurp. I was glad to get out of there when we were done. We went from there to a wax museum that depicted the history of the samurai wars that had happened in the area hundreds of years ago; the costumes and the faces were quite effective, but I've always been a little freaked out by life-size dummies of any sort, and so I was glad to get out of there as well. Smelled funny, too. The drive back was on a bigger highway, so no real spectacular scenery, although the sunset was gorgeous. Yoshino always plans such adventersome days, I quite like having as a friend. I'm going to have to do something for him sometime-- cook hamburgers maybe?
Anyway, I best get out of this smoky cafe and back out into the rain; it's quite windy and wet today, but very warm, so it's really not a big deal if I get soaked. Wish me well-- I've got a challenging couple of weeks ahead!
Namaste
endrene
So much to say, so much to say, so much to say! By the way, if anyone is thinking of sending me a present (bold of me to suggest such a thing) maybe you could burn a cd with some of your favorite music? Or even tape a radio station? I'm a bit of a technophobe and have not yet learned how to do such a thing (downloading music), and the radio station in Tokushima is abhorrent. And I'll apologize here to my friend Ryan, who is ethically against any such piracy (rightfully so)... but... Well, I have no valid excuses for encouraging you all to be pirates. I just miss listening to music from home. Arrrr, me mateys!
Anyway, back to the crack. ('Crack' is gossip, according to my Newcastleite roomie). EARTHQUAKE!! Yes indeed, folks, I have now experienced a real earthquake. Five AM on tuesday morning I awoke very suddenly, like people sometimes do before their alarm goes off. You lie there for a few moments, wondering--why am I awake? and then your alarm goes beepbeepbeep. Except this time, there was no beepbeepbeep. Instead, my room began to sway, my overhead light swinging; I felt as though enormous arms had scooped up the earth and were rocking it like a baby, with terryfying effects. All I could do was lay there, eyes popping from my head. I had only two thoughts: "What should I do? There's no furniture in my room to hide under!" and "Oh, %$!#&! I'm naked! They're going to rescue me, and I'm going to be naked! What if I'm not wearing anything when the building collapses? Should I get my shoes first, or should I put some clothes on?" The shaking might have lasted for 30 seconds or two minutes, I don't know. But as soon as it stopped, I was up, throwing on a pair of yesterday's pants and a dirty inside-out-and-backwards t-shirt. I called for Joanna as I frantically ran around the apartment, trying to decide what was most important. Put on shoes? Get my passport? Turn on the TV? Turn off the gas? I opted for tearing open the sliding glass door to look at the river, to see if a tsunami was coming. Joanna came out of her room and (more calmly than me) suggested we turn on the TV for some sort of report. The epicentre was in Kyushuu, just east of Hiroshima. There, it registered about 5 on the measurement scale (I don't know if they use the Richter scale in Japan). Here in Tokushima it was a 3. We eventually decided we were safe and went back to bed. When I told my students about my terrified earthquake antics later that day, most of them were highly amused. Many of them woke up during the shaking, and then just rolled over and went back to sleep! I can't imagine being so calmly accepting of inevetible disaster... but I suppose there aren't a lot of options. You can live your life in fear, but then you're only living half a life.
Hmmm... what else? Ah yes, I'm moving!! I'm taking a one-room apartment close to BuBu's shop. It's miniscule; the entire apartment is not much bigger than my current bedroom. There's one gas burner than my current bedroom. There's one gas burner, a current bedroom. There's one gas burner, a wee bar fridge, and a toilet/bath combo, which is very unusual in Japan, as it's considered quite dirty to bathe where you poop! You usually only see such a combination in the tiny little business hotels. The tap over the sink actually swivels so that it also performs as the tap for the bathtub; the entire apartment is quite the miracle of space-saving ingenuity. I won't have any furniture save for a small coffee table that Bubu's family is donating to my cause. I'm actually pretty enthused about my impending sparse lifestyle. I'd like to have a few pillows so that when I'm entertaining guests, they won't have to sit on the hardwood floor, but I don't imagine I'll bother getting a television or a dvd player or a couch or a bed or anything like that. What do I need them for? I'll have my futon for a bed, which I fold up and put away every morning. I'll have a few plants which I'll bring from my current apartment, my books, my art supplies, my little stereo. I've got a nice little balcony, so perhaps I'll get a chair so I can have my tea out there in the morning. The main thing is that I will only be responsible for myself, and that was part of my mission when I decided to come to Japan. I wanted to prove to myself that I am capable of functioning as an independent human being before I moved into the next stages of my life, whatever they may be. So far, so good!
We have a new teacher, a Scottish fellow named Andy. They poor bloke never learned how to ride a bicycle, so he's been having quite a time in Tokushima, the City of Cyclists. He's fallen off quite a number of times and will be well scarred up before he leaves this country! I have to pick him up on my way to work on Saturday, his first full official day at Nova Kitajima Fuji Grand; I'll be leaving VERY early. I've seen him out a couple of times now, and it's quite nice to have a new friendly face in town. However, I think I'm turning Japanese-- like most normal Westerners, he makes eye contact when we're talking, and I find myself having a hard time looking back, as is the Japanese custom-- you don't look anyone in the eyes too long because it's considered too aggressive! Anyway, maybe he can help bring me back to that fact that I AM a Westerner, and that eye contact isn't such a bad thing.
Went to Takamatsu with Yoshino last week; we had a great time, taking or bikes in the back of his station wagon. Takamatsu is the biggest city on this island, and it's about 45 minutes from Tokushima, depending on which roads you take. To get there we went through the countryside, stopping to see some famous sand hoodoos (quite like the ones on the way to Summerland from Penticton) and a shrine that was apparently filled with male and female body-part art and sculptures-- I say apparently because unfortunately, it was closed! The countryside was breathtaking, and I ooohed and aaaahed as we drove through the lush mountains and past deep gorges with deep cool streams. I saw palm trees and small houses and bimbom fruit trees (like apricots, but more tropical) little narrow streets and rich green valleys. When we got to Takamatsu, I was almost disappointed to be there; I prefered the scenery and diversity of the countryside. We first went into the Takamatsu Prefectural park; it's been cultivated for nearly 360 years, and it was quite spectacular, particulary the display of Japanese irises growing in the centre of one of the ponds. (I took lots of pictures for you, mom!) One park guide caught me messing with the carp (I was trying to pet them, of course) and instead of scolding me, he gave me a 15 minute in-depth explanation of the history of the park in perfect English. The one phrase I remember from his lecture was, "This park is arguably one of the most beautiful in Japan." I remember because I was impressed with his accurate use of the word 'arguably'. Funny how being an English teacher can suddenly make you aware of the intricacies and the ridiculousness of language in general. How often do we speak without saying anything at all?
Anyway, from there we got the bikes and rode around Takamatsu. We stopped to eat famous udon noodles-- which I had enormous difficulty eating because of my conditioned terror of making slurping sounds; I have since been admonished by several of my Japanese friends, who tell me that you cannot taste if you do not make noise! At the time though, I was so embarrased and upset by my inability to slurp that I was nearly crying, my steaming bowl still full in front of me while Yoshino had finished his. He encouraged me by telling me to "image the carp" that we had fed in the park-- with their great big sucky mouths! He also said, "Oooh, good sound!" whenever I managed a half-assed slurp. I was glad to get out of there when we were done. We went from there to a wax museum that depicted the history of the samurai wars that had happened in the area hundreds of years ago; the costumes and the faces were quite effective, but I've always been a little freaked out by life-size dummies of any sort, and so I was glad to get out of there as well. Smelled funny, too. The drive back was on a bigger highway, so no real spectacular scenery, although the sunset was gorgeous. Yoshino always plans such adventersome days, I quite like having as a friend. I'm going to have to do something for him sometime-- cook hamburgers maybe?
Anyway, I best get out of this smoky cafe and back out into the rain; it's quite windy and wet today, but very warm, so it's really not a big deal if I get soaked. Wish me well-- I've got a challenging couple of weeks ahead!
Namaste
endrene
Anyway, back to the crack. ('Crack' is gossip, according to my Newcastleite roomie). EARTHQUAKE!! Yes indeed, folks, I have now experienced a real earthquake. Five AM on tuesday morning I awoke very suddenly, like people sometimes do before their alarm goes off. You lie there for a few moments, wondering--why am I awake? and then your alarm goes beepbeepbeep. Except this time, there was no beepbeepbeep. Instead, my room began to sway, my overhead light swinging; I felt as though enormous arms had scooped up the earth and were rocking it like a baby, with terryfying effects. All I could do was lay there, eyes popping from my head. I had only two thoughts: "What should I do? There's no furniture in my room to hide under!" and "Oh, %$!#&! I'm naked! They're going to rescue me, and I'm going to be naked! What if I'm not wearing anything when the building collapses? Should I get my shoes first, or should I put some clothes on?" The shaking might have lasted for 30 seconds or two minutes, I don't know. But as soon as it stopped, I was up, throwing on a pair of yesterday's pants and a dirty inside-out-and-backwards t-shirt. I called for Joanna as I frantically ran around the apartment, trying to decide what was most important. Put on shoes? Get my passport? Turn on the TV? Turn off the gas? I opted for tearing open the sliding glass door to look at the river, to see if a tsunami was coming. Joanna came out of her room and (more calmly than me) suggested we turn on the TV for some sort of report. The epicentre was in Kyushuu, just east of Hiroshima. There, it registered about 5 on the measurement scale (I don't know if they use the Richter scale in Japan). Here in Tokushima it was a 3. We eventually decided we were safe and went back to bed. When I told my students about my terrified earthquake antics later that day, most of them were highly amused. Many of them woke up during the shaking, and then just rolled over and went back to sleep! I can't imagine being so calmly accepting of inevetible disaster... but I suppose there aren't a lot of options. You can live your life in fear, but then you're only living half a life.
Hmmm... what else? Ah yes, I'm moving!! I'm taking a one-room apartment close to BuBu's shop. It's miniscule; the entire apartment is not much bigger than my current bedroom. There's one gas burner than my current bedroom. There's one gas burner, a current bedroom. There's one gas burner, a wee bar fridge, and a toilet/bath combo, which is very unusual in Japan, as it's considered quite dirty to bathe where you poop! You usually only see such a combination in the tiny little business hotels. The tap over the sink actually swivels so that it also performs as the tap for the bathtub; the entire apartment is quite the miracle of space-saving ingenuity. I won't have any furniture save for a small coffee table that Bubu's family is donating to my cause. I'm actually pretty enthused about my impending sparse lifestyle. I'd like to have a few pillows so that when I'm entertaining guests, they won't have to sit on the hardwood floor, but I don't imagine I'll bother getting a television or a dvd player or a couch or a bed or anything like that. What do I need them for? I'll have my futon for a bed, which I fold up and put away every morning. I'll have a few plants which I'll bring from my current apartment, my books, my art supplies, my little stereo. I've got a nice little balcony, so perhaps I'll get a chair so I can have my tea out there in the morning. The main thing is that I will only be responsible for myself, and that was part of my mission when I decided to come to Japan. I wanted to prove to myself that I am capable of functioning as an independent human being before I moved into the next stages of my life, whatever they may be. So far, so good!
We have a new teacher, a Scottish fellow named Andy. They poor bloke never learned how to ride a bicycle, so he's been having quite a time in Tokushima, the City of Cyclists. He's fallen off quite a number of times and will be well scarred up before he leaves this country! I have to pick him up on my way to work on Saturday, his first full official day at Nova Kitajima Fuji Grand; I'll be leaving VERY early. I've seen him out a couple of times now, and it's quite nice to have a new friendly face in town. However, I think I'm turning Japanese-- like most normal Westerners, he makes eye contact when we're talking, and I find myself having a hard time looking back, as is the Japanese custom-- you don't look anyone in the eyes too long because it's considered too aggressive! Anyway, maybe he can help bring me back to that fact that I AM a Westerner, and that eye contact isn't such a bad thing.
Went to Takamatsu with Yoshino last week; we had a great time, taking or bikes in the back of his station wagon. Takamatsu is the biggest city on this island, and it's about 45 minutes from Tokushima, depending on which roads you take. To get there we went through the countryside, stopping to see some famous sand hoodoos (quite like the ones on the way to Summerland from Penticton) and a shrine that was apparently filled with male and female body-part art and sculptures-- I say apparently because unfortunately, it was closed! The countryside was breathtaking, and I ooohed and aaaahed as we drove through the lush mountains and past deep gorges with deep cool streams. I saw palm trees and small houses and bimbom fruit trees (like apricots, but more tropical) little narrow streets and rich green valleys. When we got to Takamatsu, I was almost disappointed to be there; I prefered the scenery and diversity of the countryside. We first went into the Takamatsu Prefectural park; it's been cultivated for nearly 360 years, and it was quite spectacular, particulary the display of Japanese irises growing in the centre of one of the ponds. (I took lots of pictures for you, mom!) One park guide caught me messing with the carp (I was trying to pet them, of course) and instead of scolding me, he gave me a 15 minute in-depth explanation of the history of the park in perfect English. The one phrase I remember from his lecture was, "This park is arguably one of the most beautiful in Japan." I remember because I was impressed with his accurate use of the word 'arguably'. Funny how being an English teacher can suddenly make you aware of the intricacies and the ridiculousness of language in general. How often do we speak without saying anything at all?
Anyway, from there we got the bikes and rode around Takamatsu. We stopped to eat famous udon noodles-- which I had enormous difficulty eating because of my conditioned terror of making slurping sounds; I have since been admonished by several of my Japanese friends, who tell me that you cannot taste if you do not make noise! At the time though, I was so embarrased and upset by my inability to slurp that I was nearly crying, my steaming bowl still full in front of me while Yoshino had finished his. He encouraged me by telling me to "image the carp" that we had fed in the park-- with their great big sucky mouths! He also said, "Oooh, good sound!" whenever I managed a half-assed slurp. I was glad to get out of there when we were done. We went from there to a wax museum that depicted the history of the samurai wars that had happened in the area hundreds of years ago; the costumes and the faces were quite effective, but I've always been a little freaked out by life-size dummies of any sort, and so I was glad to get out of there as well. Smelled funny, too. The drive back was on a bigger highway, so no real spectacular scenery, although the sunset was gorgeous. Yoshino always plans such adventersome days, I quite like having as a friend. I'm going to have to do something for him sometime-- cook hamburgers maybe?
Anyway, I best get out of this smoky cafe and back out into the rain; it's quite windy and wet today, but very warm, so it's really not a big deal if I get soaked. Wish me well-- I've got a challenging couple of weeks ahead!
Namaste
endrene
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Hit a wall. Felt like the honeymoon was over this past week; just wanted a real barbeque, a campfire, a conversation in real English (and not about teaching or what's right/wrong with Japan). Contributing factors: 1) A bout of tonsilitis and getting lost while looking for the hospital. 2) A new room-mate is coming, potentially making our cosy Boobie Palace (as it has been dubbed by some perceptive local gaijin) even cosier, possibly crazier. 3) Tactless Japanese men. "Oh, En-Chan-- your apartment is not so small. It seems small, you and Joanna are so fat! Wa haha!" Yeah. Funny. 4) Drunk neighboor from upstairs coming home at 4 am... to the wrong apartment. When the doorbell rings and someone's pounding on the door at that time of day, you can only assume there's some sort of emergency!! My adreneline kicked into high gear as I peered through the peephole to see an angry looking Japanese guy trying to fit his key in our lock... Joanna said not to open the door, but by that point I was delerious with fright and aggression (don't know what my plan was exactly) so I opened the door and told him to go away, but he'd already heard our unfamiliar voices through the door and had taken off. Thank goodness. Met his wife in the elevator yesterday, and she only commented on the weather, so I assume he didn't say anything to her!
Had a good long chat with Maz at work yesterday, and she assured me that most foriegners hit a point where the work starts to seem repetitive and they long for the comforts of home; it was good to hear that what I was going through was normal. At any rate, I'm back to good now-- straightened my shoulders and adjusted the attitude. Eating a box of Kraft Dinner helped, too! (thanks again, Tony!)
Anyway, I thought for a laugh I would share some of my favorite Engrish text-messages. My Japanese friends sometimes send the funniest things to my cell phone, and I love them for it!
From Yuta:
Sorry! I entered and ordered menu. But I wait to come you!
From Bubu:
Please call me after work. We have to talk more about your ploblem. OK? You likes make me surprise.
And then about next topics. this is very important problems. We ate levers last night, but that levers were special one. If you buy it in supermarket it is dangeras to eat. If you want to eat levers please ask me. OK?
From Yasu:
I am in sick bay of ship named the Grandma! But, the captain is absent now, so I am lonely... It's a joke! I think you will be tired to work with sick. So hang in there!
From Shin:
By the way, Endrene, recently DANIEL POWTER is in fashion!! He is singer. He plays piano very well. Now, He is the most famous canadian in the world!! Do you know??
Betcha Daniel Powter didn't know he was the most famous Canadian in the world! But here, Japan IS the world, so if he's famous in Japan...
Anyway, to balance out my earlier nagativity, I'll list some of the things I absolutely LOVE about living here.
1) The strawberries. The happiest, sweetest, most asthetically pleasing strawberries ever!
2) The fish section in the grocery store-- it's so beautiful! So many different types and sizes and colours, all variety of clam and shellfish and seaweed... I just like to look and breathe in the salty ocean tang.
3) Yaki Nikku! Ohhhh, luscious, melt-in your-mouth Kobe beef...
4) Hanging up my wash to dry... it's quite a calming activity. I never thought I would feel that way...
5) Onsens! Bathing in the hotsprings with other women feels like a very ancient and restorative practice. I really feel like I'm in Japan when I'm at an onsen.
6) The celebration of every season. Not only do the foods change with each sub-season (late winter, early spring, spring, early summer and so on), but so do the fashions, the house decorations, the beverages sold at the supermarket... etcetera!
Had a good long chat with Maz at work yesterday, and she assured me that most foriegners hit a point where the work starts to seem repetitive and they long for the comforts of home; it was good to hear that what I was going through was normal. At any rate, I'm back to good now-- straightened my shoulders and adjusted the attitude. Eating a box of Kraft Dinner helped, too! (thanks again, Tony!)
Anyway, I thought for a laugh I would share some of my favorite Engrish text-messages. My Japanese friends sometimes send the funniest things to my cell phone, and I love them for it!
From Yuta:
Sorry! I entered and ordered menu. But I wait to come you!
From Bubu:
Please call me after work. We have to talk more about your ploblem. OK? You likes make me surprise.
And then about next topics. this is very important problems. We ate levers last night, but that levers were special one. If you buy it in supermarket it is dangeras to eat. If you want to eat levers please ask me. OK?
From Yasu:
I am in sick bay of ship named the Grandma! But, the captain is absent now, so I am lonely... It's a joke! I think you will be tired to work with sick. So hang in there!
From Shin:
By the way, Endrene, recently DANIEL POWTER is in fashion!! He is singer. He plays piano very well. Now, He is the most famous canadian in the world!! Do you know??
Betcha Daniel Powter didn't know he was the most famous Canadian in the world! But here, Japan IS the world, so if he's famous in Japan...
Anyway, to balance out my earlier nagativity, I'll list some of the things I absolutely LOVE about living here.
1) The strawberries. The happiest, sweetest, most asthetically pleasing strawberries ever!
2) The fish section in the grocery store-- it's so beautiful! So many different types and sizes and colours, all variety of clam and shellfish and seaweed... I just like to look and breathe in the salty ocean tang.
3) Yaki Nikku! Ohhhh, luscious, melt-in your-mouth Kobe beef...
4) Hanging up my wash to dry... it's quite a calming activity. I never thought I would feel that way...
5) Onsens! Bathing in the hotsprings with other women feels like a very ancient and restorative practice. I really feel like I'm in Japan when I'm at an onsen.
6) The celebration of every season. Not only do the foods change with each sub-season (late winter, early spring, spring, early summer and so on), but so do the fashions, the house decorations, the beverages sold at the supermarket... etcetera!
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