Turning Japanese, I think I'm Turning Japanese, I Really Think So.

In April, I started Japanese classes. I certainly haven't learned every nuance of the language in a mere 2 months, but I have greatly improved my ability to bumble my way through the occasional very brief conversation in Japanese. And I know all of my katakana and hiragana characters. The more complicated kanji that sometimes represent whole words, on the other hand, still elude me.

Once I learned all of the katakana and hiragana characters, I started reading every little sign and billboard I saw. It reminded me vividly of when I first learned to read as a child and would call out what was on every billboard as we passed it driving around the city and on family vacations. The first time we went out to eat after I'd learned my Japanese alphabets,  I sat at the table reading off every drink on the cocktail menu, slowly and tediously. Dustin was quite embarrassed. He told me it was like being in a restaurant in the U.S. and overhearing the person at the next table saying, "Mar... marti... martini! Scr... screw... screwdri... screwdriver!" I've since made sure to read my menus silently.

Besides learning a bit of Japanese, my Japanese class has given me a great sense of empathy for my own students. Now, when they stare back at me mouths agape with bewilderment, I can remember back to Tuesday morning when I had the same expression on my own face. When I first started teaching at Peppy, it was easy to find the students' utter lack of understanding at times very frustrating. Trying to learn Japanese, which is so very different than English, has shown me what a difficult task it must be for my young students to tackle English. It's become almost automatic to slow down my speech when I'm teaching.

I've finally reached the point where I speak in Janglish (Japanese/English) most of the time. The grammar and sentence structure are typically English, the vocabulary and the occasional verb are in Japanese. For example, instead of "We're riding our bikes to the train station." I would say, "We're riding our jitensha to the eki."I can make a few intelligible sentences, but I mostly speak in broken Japanese at the moment. By this time next year, hopefully, I will be tackling kanji and be able to have conversations that don't center around what time things occur and where things are located. Ganbatte, me!

In other evidence that I'm assimilating to the Japanese culture... My boss just got an iPhone and he was much better at exploring it and figuring out all of the wonders it holds than I was 7 months ago. I love my iPhone as much as one can love a phone, but I was always pretty disappointed that it didn't have the almost imperative fancy emoticons that all other Japanese cellphones come with. After having his phone for less than a week, my boss found the emoticons under the international keyboards (Check the "emotiji" option under the Japanese keyboards if you've an iPhone of your own and want to be more Japanese.) and shared his discovery with me. Yippee! All further SMSs and e-mails will certainly be sprinkled with the little pictographs, no matter how little sense they make. I will find a time to use the picture of the Russian flag or the blood-filled syringe. I just know I will...

Don't Shop 'Til You Drop, Please

*Wow! 2 posts in one day. You guys are lucky. By the way, are there any "you guys" still out there? I'll probably keep writing even if you aren't, but I'd feel a bit less narcissistic if I knew you were. And I like to here what YOU think about what I'm thinking about.*

I ran across this brilliant video about the ridiculousness of America's consumer culture and I just had to share it (and of course my own opinions on the matter).  As a self-proclaimed environmentalist, I have tried my hardest to eschew the materialism and consumerism of the U.S., but no one's perfect and this is one of the many aspects of my eco-guilt.

Back in high school, I never really loved to shop quite as much as most of my teenaged counterparts, but I took part in it anyways. Darn you, peer pressure! I rarely shop now unless I'm in need of a specific item or I'm on a mission for a gift. Today, in fact, I am wearing a concert t-shirt I picked up back on The Flaming Lip's 2002 tour (I have trouble saying good-bye to beloved pieces of my wardrobe.) and a sweater my mom picked up for me at a thrift store (Thanks, mom!). But my pants were only recently purchased back in February when I just needed some of those "skinny jeans" that tucked so nicely into the boots I wore nearly everyday to keep me warm.

Once I moved out of my parents house, I realized how effortless it was to amass a giant pile of junk in an extremely short period of time. I didn't particularly enjoy hauling all of my belongings from dorm room to parents' house to new apartment etc. etc. etc., yet I still managed to save up a truck full of stuff before leaving on my present journey. Dustin and I have only been in Japan for 7.5 months, but already our apartment is filled to the brim. Most of our belongings are things we brought from home or furniture, but some of it was unnecessary. Example: Did I really need that LEGO® calendar? I did get it from our premier recycle shop (read: thrift store with no charity involved), but it currently sits on my desk still displaying April's dates, because it's kind of a hassle to change and I rarely reference it anyway. 

Japan is definitely a materialistic nation. Japan isolated themselves from the rest of the world for quite a long time before us big bad Americans came over with intimidating black ships and demanded they trade with us (Commodore Perry 1854). After that, being the extremely efficient peoples they are, they modernized rapidly and yearned for the material wealth that the West was enjoying. I can't speak for the entirety of the 20th century in Japan, but here in 2009, the Japanese are a shopping bunch. Whenever I try to make plans with a Japanese friend, they always suggest shopping even if I mention that I'm trying to save money or that I don't really need anything. I've ended up on more than one shopping trip where I just nod in agreement numbly as my friend gushes over this or that. こわいい、ね。(Cute, isn't it?) Going to dinner frequently ends with the suggestion of heading to this store or that for "just a minute." When I asked a young, single Japanese friend what she normally does on a date, she answered without a moment's hesitation, "We go to dinner and go shopping." The consumer culture is so ingrained in Japanese society that it seems to engulf peoples' lives and finances. Even little old Nagaoka has multiple depato (department stores) and huge mall complexes. 

No one's perfect and we're all going to buy something unnecessary every once in awhile, but it doesn't have to be every day or every week or even every month! Before you going shopping the next time you get an urge, ask yourself if you really need it. Watch this and hopefully, you'll see why your shopping can be so harmful to yourself, your planet, and your neighbors near and far.

The Story of Stuff

p.s. There's a new photo album (link to the right) of our fun fun fun BBQ at the beach a few weeks back!

Our Imperialist Nation

One of my Japanese friends asked me the yesterday, "How many states are there in the United States?"

"50."

"Really? I thought you guys had gotten more since the last flag was created."

"Ummm... no. We're not really in the business of obtaining new states as I understand it."

"Oh... I thought the U.S.A. was always getting new states."

Good to see that we're projecting a good image in other parts of the world. Hmmmmm.

Slowing Down

I wrote an article about NOT driving for a website created by the very brilliant Jessica Brothers. You can read it here: 

http://www.spirit-self.com/2009/05/slowing-down

Changes All Around

It's been quite the busy month. As the month began, we spent our Golden Week in Kyoto and Osaka. It was great fun. Dustin lost his phone right before we left. I made dire predictions of us losing each other forever in the big metropolis of Kyoto/Osaka, so of course that's almost exactly what we did. After a two hour breakfast spent waiting for the hotel to open in Osaka, we headed to the subway station and found the platform where we could catch a subway to our hotel. I thought Dustin was right behind me, but he'd stopped to ask a conductor if it was in fact the correct train. As the train pulled away from the station, I stood gaping through the window at a stupefied Dustin, standing on the platform staring at me inside the train.  Luckily, we both made it to the proper subway station and found each other.

We did oh so much in Osaka, so I'll point out the highlights:

• Bow Wow Café: We got to play with dogs while enjoying a tasty beverage. It was fun for a while, but the dogs were highly motivated by expensive treats we refused to buy, so they didn't hang around us for long. 
• IMAX Dinosaur DX 3D: Super Awesome!!! I couldn't understand any of the facts other than most of the numbers, but the visual effects were all I needed to be impressed.
• The World's Largest Giant Ferris Wheel (highly debatable): We went at night, so we got a lovely view of the nighttime skyline. Dustin terrified me by rocking the car, but we made it down safely.
• DiJest: We happened upon a great sports bar that was completely empty, so we had free range of all of the dart boards, golfing, pinball machines, foosball, air hockey, and board games we could handle. I was backgammon champion, of course.

Next stop was Kyoto. Like Osaka, we spent most of our time exploring on foot and eating wonderful wonderful food. While on vacation, we had Indian food, Middle Eastern food, and Thai food, which are all non-existent in Nagaoka. It was amazing. Besides eating and walking and walking and eating and walking some more, we saw loads and loads of temples in Kyoto. Dustin argues that we didn't actually see any since we technically did not enter any of them, but I saw the grounds and outside of at least 5 really giant temples and countless smaller ones. Here are the Kyoto highlights:

• Kyoto National Museum: The architecture of the Special Exhibition Hall was an interesting mix. I thought I was in Paris again until I looked closer at the lounging figures adorning the building and saw their Asian eyes. Inside the gorgeous building, was an exhibition on Zen Buddhism. All of the artifacts from Myoshin Temple were brought to the museum before the original temple was destroyed in a war. Most of the art work was clearly ancient. I enjoyed seeing all of these holy artifacts; however, it would have been more beneficial if I could have read the scrolls and letters, almost all of which were in kanji. 
• Rumic World: Rumiko Takahashi is a manga artist I like. Before coming to Japan, I liked almost no manga or anime, but in the past few months, I've come to appreciate a small selection of anime. (I can't quite read the manga yet.) Ranma 1/2 is an anime that Dustin and I have been watching for some time now about a male martial artist who turns into a girl whenever he's doused in cold water, because of falling into a cursed spring. Seeing the original art and giant portraits not entirely related to the series was really intriguing. If you're interested in anime, all of Rumiko's series are cute and funny.
• Tezuka Osamu Theatre and Mini-Library: More anime! This permanent exhibition in Kyoto Station celebrated Tezuka Osamu's huge volume of work. He's the "Father of Anime." He created Astro Boy, the cute little rocket boy on my bank card, and Kimba the White Lion, who is the basis for Simba from The Lion King. He's basically the Japanese equivalent of Walt Disney. We watched a short video collage of some of his popular anime series and flipped through a few of his manga after posing for pictures near Astro Boy.
  
• Okonomiyaki to Karaoke: Our friend from Nagaoka, Scott, and his parents were also visiting Kyoto, so we met up for some dinner and drinks. We had okonomiyaki, a type of pizza/pancake that's made from flour and eggs and various ingredients. After dinner, we headed to a very local little bar. It had ten seats, three of which were occupied by some neighborhood guys. With me, Dustin, Scott, Scott's friend John, and Scott's two parents, we were a party of 6, so we pretty much filled up the place. At this particular bar, regulars buy a bottle of sake or shochu and the bartender puts their name on it. They didn't have much of a choice as far as drinks went. Dustin ordered a rum and cola and we had to explain how it was made to the bartender before she walked out the door and got a Coke from the vending machine. Surprisingly, she pulled out a karaoke remote and told us we could sing all night long. We immediately got down to it and even pulled one of the innocent bystanders into a Red Hot Chili Pepper's song. When I questioned Scott's dad about his lack of karaoke-ing he said that he wasn't a very talented singer. I said, "Oh, we're all just having fun." He responded with "Yeah, but John and Dustin actually sound good." Burn... It was still a very fun night indeed!
• Sightseeing: I'll lump it all together, since it was interesting to see some great historical sites, but you wouldn't want to be bored with minor details about each one. We saw a very old Japanese garden, important temples including a Golden Temple, a castle, and botanical gardens. We also saw Gion, which is the geisha area, but they were all hidden away and we didn't want to pay $40 each just to see them pour some tea, so we didn't actually see any geishas the whole time we were in Kyoto.
• Arashiyama Monkey Park: For the most part, I'm not a supporter of zoos, since they keep the animals locked up in tiny compartments and often in environments very much unlike their  appropriate environment. This monkey park, however, was an open air sanctuary for the monkeys. Monkeys have been in this part of Japan for a long time, but the city has encroached upon their habitat. The monkey park was a hearty hike up a mountain on the outskirts of Kyoto. The only fences are to mark the territory and can easily be climbed by the nimble monkeys. There's nothing to force the monkeys to stay in the park; they stick around, because they like the nuts and fruit that people are permitted to feed them in a small area of the park. Visitors are put in a cage and they can stick their food out through the mesh. The monkeys come and go as they please. One crawled right up next to me on the bench where I sat and started to rifle through my purse before I snatched it away. My favorite part of the park was just watching the monkeys doing things that reminded me of human behavior. 
• Everyday Monks: Buddhism is very important in Kyoto. It's where Buddhism started in Japan. The oldest temple in Japan is there. Monks weren't exactly EVERYWHERE, but you ran into monks more often than you do in Nagaoka at least. Sometimes, you could catch a monk doing very unmonkly things. We saw a monk leaving a temple at sunset with a briefcase. Another monk was spraying pesticide on the garden around a temple. Finally, we saw a monk on the subway carrying 6 dozen Krispy Kreme Donuts. Hmmm... not very zen.
• Falafel Gardens: There are few things I miss from America, but healthy and easily accessible vegetarian food definitely tops the list. So, I was in vegetarian heaven in Kyoto. We found a falafel restaurant and made plans to make it there on the last day. Unfortunately, we hadn't budgeted very well and we only had $20 left for dinner before we caught our bus home. The falafel sandwiches were quite expensive, so we did the math and determined that we could get 3  half-sandwiches. They were so tasty! We finished them, paid, and reluctantly left, wanting more. As we walked back to the subway station, we passed a 7-11, so we decided to try the ATM despite being told that our ATM cards probably wouldn't work during Golden Week. When I put my card in, it was rejected. But when Dustin put his in, we were surprised to see more money in his account than there was before we'd left for vacation. Dustin's share of the Japanese stimulus plan had come through! We quickly withdrew some money and headed back to the falafel restaurant. After enduring some giggles from the staff, we ordered a huge platter of falafel, hummus, and baba ghanoush and ate until our buttons popped.

We had a lovely vacation and you can see pictures by following the links on the right. There're 3 albums this time! We came back happy, but tired... and determined to make our way back there someday. Dustin was transfixed by one particular museum, the Folk Art Museum, mostly filled with pottery. There were plenty of other ancient baubles that Dustin drooled over in both Kyoto and Osaka. At some point in our trip, Dustin realized that he really missed anthropology.  We've been teaching for 7 months, so I've been involved with my major since I graduated, but Dustin hasn't had anything to do with anthropology in all this time. He wants to get back to studying about human culture, especially in Japan. So... we're hoping to move down to Kyoto/Osaka at some point in the nearish future, so that Dustin can go to graduate school. This won't be for a while, but it's a new goal. 

Another goal is to find a new apartment. We just can't stay in these two tiny apartments any longer. Our kitchen is so small that we don't want to cook nearly as much as we did in the States and when we do cook in our apartment, we can't cook anything elaborate since we only have one burner and no oven. Plus, we're paying more for two tiny apartments than we would for a much more spacious single apartment. Hopefully, we'll be able to find an apartment that will let us sign a one year lease. Both of us recently renewed our contracts for 12 months, so we'll be here for at least another year and a half with Peppy before trying to get down south to Kyoto/Osaka.

The biggest changes are work-related. We both currently work for Peppy Kids Club, which is a division of KTC Holdings, a huge corporation that makes English language education materials and has a wide variety of English language schools. Peppy Kids Club, the company Dustin and I have been working for for the past 7 months, used to teach kids from 2 1/2 until junior high school. This year, they've added high school classes. Dustin doesn't teach any of those classes, but I have 3 high school classes, and I surprisingly enjoy them. We'll also have new baby classes added to our curriculum soon. Beyond Peppy Kids Club, Dustin and I have both also just agreed to work for Goosky's, an English school similar to Peppy, but primarily for younger students. We'll be working with babies (and their mothers) and pre-schoolers. I go to training Tuesday and start at my new school in June. I've also agreed to do a special weekend seminar for high school students hoping to pass a prestigious English test. Summer School is coming up and we've been preparing for that. At the beginning of August, we'll work 7 days straight and our hours will be longer on each of these days and the classes will be twice as big as the ones we teach now. Joy!  And my boss asked me to be his assistant, which I'm pretty sure doesn't really mean anything, but that could potentially produce some more work at some point in the future. So, work has gotten very very very busy. 

Lastly, Dustin and I are coming to Missouri for Christmas! In case you aren't on facebook, I'll repeat the plan here. We'll be coming in the night of December 17 and staying in Kansas City for a few days before coming down to Springfield for a while. We'll be taking care of wedding business, seeing friends and family, and I will definitely be enjoying some burritos. We'll head back to Kansas City on January 2nd before taking off for Japan once more on the morning of the 3rd. I can't wait!

I'm a little overwhelmed with all of the changes present and future, but I'm simultaneously excited! I hope Spring has come to you in the U.S. It blessed us with its presence for about a week in Nagaoka before quickly leaving us in the cold again! I can't wait for warm, sunny days!

Bicycle Thief

Japan is known for being one of the safest countries on Earth. There's little to no crime here. Two things, however, are constantly being stolen in Japan: umbrellas and bikes. Dustin has been the victim of umbrella thievery in the past. Ironically, it was stolen right out of his bike. And as of last week, I, too, have been victimized. 

We had a rare early morning meeting, so I stumbled out of bed, dressed, and made my way to the train station slightly after the ungodly hour of 8:00. I parked my bike across the street from my favorite conbini, a spot in which I frequently leave my bike for the days' travels outside of Nagaoka. I went about my incredibly long day (It only included about 5 hours of actual work, but all of those train rides can wear one out.) and came back to the station in Nagaoka around 9:30 to retrieve my bike and make my way home. To my shock and horror, my bike was NOT in the place I had parked it.

Someone is employed to move the bikes around, so that the maximum number of bikes can be parked on the sidewalks leading to the train station. Initially, I thought my bike must have been moved, so I spent about half an hour walking up and down the streets around the train station searching for my bike. I tried my key in any maroon bike that even remotely resembled my beloved bike, but to no avail.

Eventually, I gave up hope in finding it at that particular mo

ment and I went to the koban (police box) to report the bike stolen. The police officer told me that I would need the registration number of my bike to make a report. I went home defeated, looked for the little slip of paper I'd "filed" away somewhere back in October, and had no more luck finding that than I'd had finding my bike. After asking around, I discovered that the store where I'd bought my bike should have the registration number. 

Luckily, I had the receipt for my bicycle, so I went to the store, and with much of Dustin's help, and even more of Dustin's Japanese/English dictionary's help, we conveyed to the customer service department that the bike I'd bought from them on October 26 was stolen, and I'd lost the registration number, and I needed a copy. Everything

 was made much more complicated by the fact that we registered the bike under Dustin's name since he chose that bike before becoming dissatisfied with its lack of manliness and passing it on to a grateful me. Thus, Dustin had to do most of the talking since it was technically his bike. The very helpful staff retrieved all of the registration slips and started looking for one with "Dustin Asby" printed neatly in the boxes provided. There were completed forms for October 25 and October 27, but none for October 26. There was one shady slip for the 26th that was blank, but no one could be sure that was our bike's registration number. I wrote it down anyways and headed back to the koban. 

                                                     

A cute little grandpa was behind the counter. He explained that he was a retired policeman volunteering. I pointed to the helpful picture menu of all of the things that could be wrong, and indicated that "It was taken." (It's the little one in the far left corner of the picture above.) He started to help us fill out the stolen goods report. Over the course of nearly two hours, we learned the etymology of several Japanese words and explained the difference between "pavement," "sidewalk," and "concrete." At long last, we thought he understood exactly what we were trying to say and we understood most of what he was trying to say. Dustin had to rush off to catch a train, so I was left to put my fingerprints in all of the places where we'd had to change the form, because of mistakes. Needless to say, that form looked like a pepperoni pizza.

The nice little old grandpa was on the phone with the store that sold me my bike and I was signing my last form. I was getting ready to leave, when my little volunteer policeman came over and said, "This number tabun (maybe) your bike." I said, "Yes. Maybe." I realized I'd forgotten to fully explain that aspect of the registration number and suddenly I felt guilty about not disclosing this information. He repeated "This number tabun your bike. Underhand." At this point, my heart dropped and tears rushed to my eyes. This nice little Japanese (read: normally extremely non-confrontational) man was calling me underhanded. I stumbled over my words in broken Japanese, "Sorry. Excuse me. Yes. Maybe. Bike me maybe. I don't know. Sorry." He looked confused and said, "If we find the bike with this number we will call you. Underhand?" Ah! He was asking if I understand... Embarrassed, I muttered, "Hai. Arigato Gozaimasu," and rushed out suppressing the unwarranted tears.

The fate of my bike was now in the police's hands. Meanwhile, I looked at everyone riding a maroon bike with a mixture of jealously and suspicion. I continued to try my key in any and every maroon bike. That night, armed with the potential registration number, I started to look at numbers printed on the bright green stickers on all of the bikes. Parked about 4 blocks from the last location I'd seen my bike was a maroon bike with this same registration number. I was drawn to that one by a sense of familiarity. I excitedly tried my key in the lock, but it didn't budge. I stepped back and noticed that this bike was missing the little Peppy Kids Club phone jewel I use to distinguish my bike from all of the other identical ones. I walked away disappointed, but something made me turn around and try again. And once more, my key failed. This time, however, I noticed that it was because the lock had been busted. I jimmied it back into place and tried my key again; this time with success. My seat had been lowered all the way down, both tires were pretty low, my bike basket was bashed in, and the phone jewel with which I adorned my bike was no where to be found, but I couldn't have been happier to be reunited with my favorite bike in the world. Apparently, a very short thieve stole my bike for three days, potentially wrecked it, and returned it. I like to think that my bike recognized the intruder and made each ride intentionally dangerous and difficult, so that the thief would be forced to return it to its rightful owner. I went out and bought an extra bike lock for both my bike and Dustin's. In the end, I proved to be a better bike detective than the Nagaoka police force. I will never forget the word for bicycle in Japanese: jidensha.

In other adventures, ohanami (cherry blossom viewing party) was divine. We went south to Takada to have a day long picnic under the falling blossoms with some friends. It was a gorgeous day weatherwise, peoplewise, and flowerwise. We all piled our massive amounts of food and drink in the middle; everyone was eating and drinking all day long. When the food and drinks we'd brought with us started to get low, we took to the streets, which were lined with festival vendors, and bought festival goodies such as pancakes stuffed with eggplant, corn on the cob, and a wide variety of meats on a stick. It was Easter Sunday, so we made sure to honor God by joining a Japanese gospel choir wearing afro wigs in a rendition of "This Little Light of Mine." Be sure to check out the two photo albums of pictures from this magical day of fun.

I must now sign off and begin packing for our Golden Week trip to Kyoto and Osaka. We leave tonight on a night bus for a 9 hour bus trip south where it's sunny and warm! Whoo-hoo! We'll be gone for 7 whole days of glorious vacation. Neither of us have had more than the typical weekend off since Christmas, and we're both more than ready to venture outside of Niigata-ken. I promise to write about it at some point in the future when we return. Happy Showa Day, Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day, and Children's Day!

Let's TV

I was wandering around The Daily Beast and I stumbled upon this interesting little article about celebrities selling out overseas by doing commercials they'd never be caught dead in on the U.S. airwaves.  Not surprisingly, most of the commercials were Japanese ones. 

They're pretty funny and they managed to capture quite a wide range of Japanese products that Dustin and I regularly use. My favorite of all of the commercials is the Wes Anderson-directed one starring Brad Pitt. Though you'd never know it, what's being advertised is the cell phone company yours truly uses herself. Softbank is the company most gaijin (foreigners) use, probably because it's one of the few with a useful English helpline. That came in very handy when our first bill was $250 instead of the $8 we'd expected...

The commercial featuring Ah-nold is for an elixir/energy drink. While Dustin might not drink that specific brand (and maybe he does, I don't scrutinize the bottles), he quite often downs an elixir in the morning for a little boost. Elixirs are everywhere. Typical western medicine isn't falling off the shelves like it is back home, but traditional remedies like a mixture of herbs and vitamins are everywhere. The mindset is that you're not just to drink them when you're immune system is down, but for general health. I can't stomach them. They taste like cough medicine, but slimier. Dustin swears by them. He even bought a few of the Final Fantasy brand elixirs when they were in the conbinis for a few weeks.

Finally, there is a Ben Stiller commercial for Chu-Hi. Not only is that my preferrred Japanese-style drinks, lemon (the flavor advertised here) is usually the flavor I choose. Many girls in Japan pick this up from the conbini and sneak it in to a karaoke session. The last commercial in the article, the Harrison Ford advert for Kirin beer, is selling a beer I sometimes find Dustin drinking.

They are pretty funny.  Check them out yourself:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-24/12-best-foreign-celebrity-ads/