Yes. I finally got kancho'ed.
(I have no idea how you conjugate a verb like that)
For all of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, check the wikipedia page for Kancho before reading further.
My home branch here in Hiroshima is a bit unusual in that it doesn't offer kid classes. This means that most of the staff there are those who have specifically requested to not have to teach kids. I was just put there by chance but I wasn't really complaining. It's not that I fear teaching kids or worry that I'm bad at it but I just prefer talking with adults. Some of the high school kids can be alright but so many of them spend 90% of the lesson staring at the table.
A few months ago things changed a little. One day of my schedule was changed so that I would be trekking out to a kids-only branch to teach a bunch of kids classes back to back. Talk about jumping in the deep end. I can't imagine how difficult it would be for someone who'd never had siblings or younger cousins. I still found it pretty intimidating, trying to control a class of kids between the age of 3 and 12 while trying to impart a little English as well. Thank heavens I've had a bit of experience looking after my cousins and baby-sitting. I still think I'm dangerously unqualified to be teaching kids but oh well.
It's certainly taught me a lot of interesting Japanese (which I mentioned in an earlier entry on this blog). In fact that's one of the things I enjoy most about teaching kids. Listening to them chatter away to each other in Japanese. As soon as there is any silence one of the kids will pipe up, it's impossible to keep them quiet unless I'm doing something to distract them. Of course most of the kids assume that foreigners can't speak or understand any Japanese. I've had kids say, upon meeting me for the first time, "wow, you have a strange face" or "why are you so hairy?" in Japanese. It doesn't offend me at all, in fact I love the honesty and relish the chance to learn new vocab (even if it is childish vocab). That sort of honesty is something that is almost impossible to find amongst adults in Japan (huge generalisation I know, so take it with a cup of salt). I'm not saying I really really miss random idiots on Brunswick St telling me to get fucked or they'll happily put their fist in my face, but the odd insult certainly does make you all the more aware of how polite Japanese society is (on the surface at least.)
So onto the juicy details.
It was a kinder class (kids 3-6 years old) and we were part way through singing "Heads, shoulders, knees and toes" (a big hit with these kids since it has easy actions and vocab that they are somewhat familiar with) when I realised I had lost visual contact with the trickiest little girl in the class. I always wondered why she tried to get around behind me. I've known about Kancho for a long time but once I arrived in Japan I somehow forgot all about it. I thought she was just sick of my face and wanted to hide. No, no. She wanted to bury her fingers up sensei's pooper. Luckily for me my suit pants that day were nice, thick, strong, woolen ones. Every other kid in the class saw my facial expression and knew what had happened. They burst into hysterics while I spun around to face my conqueror. She had one of the most evil grins I've ever seen on a little girl. Still clutching her fingers in the telltale Kancho style she backed away from me cackling all the while. I floundered for a moment, not having the faintest idea how to deal with this situation.
Without thinking too hard about the potential consequences I snapped at her and blurted out "DON'T DO THINGS LIKE THAT!" in Japanese which brought a thunderous silence to the room. Amazing how quickly you get some respect when you demonstrate that you can say the same things that Mum and Dad can say. The little girl was stunned for a moment but quickly gained her composure. Much to my surprise she did not resume her usual cheeky, obstinate behaviour but instead bowed a little and gave me a short, obedient "hai".
My schedule is back to normal now so I'm not teaching any kids. I do miss them occasionally but I'll be glad if I can go the rest of my time in Japan without having my anus violated.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
...it makes my dookie twinkle!
I have finally consumed that which most of you would probably call a waste of cash. To you I say, what trip to Japan would be complete without eating beef worth more per kilo than many people spend in an entire week on food?!
My preparation for these little updates usually involves whatever shit flies around my head on the streetcar ride home. It was tonight that I was trying to recall my most expensive meal ever and I think the title still rests with a large family meal at France Soir (fixed the name. ed.) in Toorak. I don't recall them ever having steak that cost as much as the stuff I ate here the other day though.
It was a completely ordinary Tuesday night in Hiroshima. I was hanging out at Yuki's place in one of Hiroshima's frosty suburbs just watching a man with a fish-eye lens camera ride a rhino around a field while taking photos and trying not to fall off (very tame by TV standards over here). Yuki was cooking (she cooks at her place, I at mine... for the most part) yakisoba (click the link if you don't know it) but she surprised me with an entree first. It was very thinly sliced beef, fried in a dark brown sauce. Beef really isn't a regular item on many people's menus in Japan (or at least those on a teacher's salary) so I got stuck into eagerly. It was amazingly soft, fatty and scrumptious. In fact it was so good that the regular old yakisoba struggled to entice once the beef was gone.
I almost didn't check but since it was my job to take out the trash I figured I'd pass a cursory glance over the beef package's sticker. 3000 yen (34AUD), I noticed... "shiiiiet!" I thought, I'd better make sure the next meal I make for Yuki is more than crappy chicken curry. Then I noticed the weight of the beef that now lay in my belly. 280 grams. "SHIIIIIEEEET!" Yes a quick little calculation will tell you that the beef cost more than 110AUD per kilo.
I'm really glad I only found out after the meal or the psychosomatic price-value effect may have interfered with my judgement. I can safely say the beef was good but it definitely isn't $110/kg good!
Oh, for all of you who don't have any idea what the title of this post is all about, apologies... I'm in a stupid mood and I've been drinking Dr.Pepper with vodka...
My preparation for these little updates usually involves whatever shit flies around my head on the streetcar ride home. It was tonight that I was trying to recall my most expensive meal ever and I think the title still rests with a large family meal at France Soir (fixed the name. ed.) in Toorak. I don't recall them ever having steak that cost as much as the stuff I ate here the other day though.
It was a completely ordinary Tuesday night in Hiroshima. I was hanging out at Yuki's place in one of Hiroshima's frosty suburbs just watching a man with a fish-eye lens camera ride a rhino around a field while taking photos and trying not to fall off (very tame by TV standards over here). Yuki was cooking (she cooks at her place, I at mine... for the most part) yakisoba (click the link if you don't know it) but she surprised me with an entree first. It was very thinly sliced beef, fried in a dark brown sauce. Beef really isn't a regular item on many people's menus in Japan (or at least those on a teacher's salary) so I got stuck into eagerly. It was amazingly soft, fatty and scrumptious. In fact it was so good that the regular old yakisoba struggled to entice once the beef was gone.
I almost didn't check but since it was my job to take out the trash I figured I'd pass a cursory glance over the beef package's sticker. 3000 yen (34AUD), I noticed... "shiiiiet!" I thought, I'd better make sure the next meal I make for Yuki is more than crappy chicken curry. Then I noticed the weight of the beef that now lay in my belly. 280 grams. "SHIIIIIEEEET!" Yes a quick little calculation will tell you that the beef cost more than 110AUD per kilo.
I'm really glad I only found out after the meal or the psychosomatic price-value effect may have interfered with my judgement. I can safely say the beef was good but it definitely isn't $110/kg good!
Oh, for all of you who don't have any idea what the title of this post is all about, apologies... I'm in a stupid mood and I've been drinking Dr.Pepper with vodka...
Monday, January 29, 2007
カラオケ or how I learnt to stop worrying and love the song!
It took me a while, but I finally got my photos from my trip to the Kansai region of Japan over the New Year break up onto Flickr. Have a look and leave a comment if you'd like. For the first time ever I'm actually pretty proud of a few of my photos. If anyone wanted to see the most impressive parts of Japan in less than a week I would definitely recommend the Kansai region (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, etc...). I know I haven't exactly seen the entire country but of the places I have been Kansai really blew me away.
Now onto the main topic for tonight's little update. In case you were wondering, those four characters up there say "KA-RA-O-KE" and yes, oh how the mighty have fallen. Don't worry too much, I haven't started buying SMAP albums (don't google that if you don't know them, just be glad of that fact) or enjoying J-pop or anything crazy like that. However, I have finally learnt just how a mainstream-pop-hater such as myself can enjoy karaoke.
Karaoke is everywhere in Japan (or at least everywhere I've been). There are massive multi-level buildings with many booths decked out with big flat televisions, stereos, microphones and seedy couches. They're almost always busy, whether its school children, young professionals or older people wanting to impress each other away with some slow Japanese ballads. One of the most insane things about karaoke is definitely the cost. From what I've seen the going rate seems to be about 8AUD per person per hour. Lots of the huge commercial places have insane amounts of rules too, such as no drinking (BYE!) and no huffing drugs out of paper bags (yes, they even have hilarious cartoon images to accompany that one, sorry but I couldn't get a photo).
It wasn't until a friend of mine managed to direct a big drunk group of us into a little bar he knew of with a great bar and an even greater karaoke setup that I was finally able to understand what all the fuss was about. Unlike the usual setup which involves private rooms of about 4-6 people singing to each other, this bar had the karaoke setup out in front of everyone. The size of our group and the lack of other customers on that particular night meant that we were able to dominate the machine for a good many hours. At this point I was still highly skeptical and was much more interested in getting a few good glasses of beer in front of me. It wasn't until I realised that this karaoke machine possessed a much much much more impressive collection of English language songs than the usual Japanese karaoke machine.
Quick side note, if you ever wondered where the copyright holders of the music of Billy Joel, BoyzIImen, Bon Jovi, Brian Adams (that's enough and we're still in the B's) were getting all their fat sacks of royalty money from, wonder no more. It is the karaoke bars of Japan! (and probably many other parts of Asia too). The average karaoke joint's collection of English songs really is the worst of the worst of the worst of pop music of the past 30 years with a heavy bias for the late 80s and early 90s.
Anyway, back to "G's Bar" where we were before. I was getting all prepared to down as much beer as quickly as I could until I could safely sit through a Bon Jovi track without wanting to rip my own head off when I heard the beginning thumps and bumping baseline of Another One Bites the Dust. (This song holds a special place in my memory due to its prevalence at baseball games that my old man used to take me to in my much younger days)
There it was, my karaoke yellow-brick road stretching out before me and Freddie was right there ready to take me by the hand. Queen. That's all I need now for any karaoke excursion to put me on a fantastic high (accompanied on "the rocks" by Mr.Osake). Seriously, all the shit, horrible, tragic music that makes it onto the pages of karaoke books only to be discovered by delirious morons who will happily tell you that Bon Jovi really was the world's greatest song writer can just fuck off and keep doing their thing far far away from me. Over here in this corner, we have Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust and Bicycle Race and I defy any person with a musical bone in their body to resist their allure!
For even better karaoke adventures all you need to do is invite your Japanese friends along. I still think Japanese sounds worse than English when sung but when you walk in a karaoke joint you've already thrown the rule book out the window and pissed on it. My Japanese sucks (still... maybe forever) and I can't read enough kanji when I'm drunk to really sing along properly but I never stop enjoying watching my Japanese friends belt out some oldschool Japanese songs. I've got one verse of one Japanese song down pat now so I'm able to join in albeit a fleeting cameo, it's just a pity that it's a power-pop song for a female voice. No worries mate, the falsetto loves the workout.
I would still much rather have the access to fantastic live music that a city like Melbourne affords but there is no way I'm leaving Japan any time soon so while I'm here I'm going to learn to make the best of the poor music situation. So, grab a nice big fat stack of 1000 yen notes and join me in the sake-soaked seedy leather couch and belt out a good hard verse of Bicycle...
you say black
I say white!
Now onto the main topic for tonight's little update. In case you were wondering, those four characters up there say "KA-RA-O-KE" and yes, oh how the mighty have fallen. Don't worry too much, I haven't started buying SMAP albums (don't google that if you don't know them, just be glad of that fact) or enjoying J-pop or anything crazy like that. However, I have finally learnt just how a mainstream-pop-hater such as myself can enjoy karaoke.
Karaoke is everywhere in Japan (or at least everywhere I've been). There are massive multi-level buildings with many booths decked out with big flat televisions, stereos, microphones and seedy couches. They're almost always busy, whether its school children, young professionals or older people wanting to impress each other away with some slow Japanese ballads. One of the most insane things about karaoke is definitely the cost. From what I've seen the going rate seems to be about 8AUD per person per hour. Lots of the huge commercial places have insane amounts of rules too, such as no drinking (BYE!) and no huffing drugs out of paper bags (yes, they even have hilarious cartoon images to accompany that one, sorry but I couldn't get a photo).
It wasn't until a friend of mine managed to direct a big drunk group of us into a little bar he knew of with a great bar and an even greater karaoke setup that I was finally able to understand what all the fuss was about. Unlike the usual setup which involves private rooms of about 4-6 people singing to each other, this bar had the karaoke setup out in front of everyone. The size of our group and the lack of other customers on that particular night meant that we were able to dominate the machine for a good many hours. At this point I was still highly skeptical and was much more interested in getting a few good glasses of beer in front of me. It wasn't until I realised that this karaoke machine possessed a much much much more impressive collection of English language songs than the usual Japanese karaoke machine.
Quick side note, if you ever wondered where the copyright holders of the music of Billy Joel, BoyzIImen, Bon Jovi, Brian Adams (that's enough and we're still in the B's) were getting all their fat sacks of royalty money from, wonder no more. It is the karaoke bars of Japan! (and probably many other parts of Asia too). The average karaoke joint's collection of English songs really is the worst of the worst of the worst of pop music of the past 30 years with a heavy bias for the late 80s and early 90s.
Anyway, back to "G's Bar" where we were before. I was getting all prepared to down as much beer as quickly as I could until I could safely sit through a Bon Jovi track without wanting to rip my own head off when I heard the beginning thumps and bumping baseline of Another One Bites the Dust. (This song holds a special place in my memory due to its prevalence at baseball games that my old man used to take me to in my much younger days)
There it was, my karaoke yellow-brick road stretching out before me and Freddie was right there ready to take me by the hand. Queen. That's all I need now for any karaoke excursion to put me on a fantastic high (accompanied on "the rocks" by Mr.Osake). Seriously, all the shit, horrible, tragic music that makes it onto the pages of karaoke books only to be discovered by delirious morons who will happily tell you that Bon Jovi really was the world's greatest song writer can just fuck off and keep doing their thing far far away from me. Over here in this corner, we have Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust and Bicycle Race and I defy any person with a musical bone in their body to resist their allure!
For even better karaoke adventures all you need to do is invite your Japanese friends along. I still think Japanese sounds worse than English when sung but when you walk in a karaoke joint you've already thrown the rule book out the window and pissed on it. My Japanese sucks (still... maybe forever) and I can't read enough kanji when I'm drunk to really sing along properly but I never stop enjoying watching my Japanese friends belt out some oldschool Japanese songs. I've got one verse of one Japanese song down pat now so I'm able to join in albeit a fleeting cameo, it's just a pity that it's a power-pop song for a female voice. No worries mate, the falsetto loves the workout.
I would still much rather have the access to fantastic live music that a city like Melbourne affords but there is no way I'm leaving Japan any time soon so while I'm here I'm going to learn to make the best of the poor music situation. So, grab a nice big fat stack of 1000 yen notes and join me in the sake-soaked seedy leather couch and belt out a good hard verse of Bicycle...
you say black
I say white!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Quick apologies... if anyone cares
Judging from the number of responses I received (less than 10) there aren't many of you out there who care much about being able to view my private photos. But in case you are wondering, no I haven't uploaded any photos at all since November. Sorry, but I made the switch from iPhoto to Aperture recently. While Aperture is an amazing program, it has a relatively steep learning curve so I am still unable to export my photos to Flickr. I'll rectify this as soon as possible.
Some people have told me they are unable to see the link to Flickr on the right hand side. I have no idea why this is happening but I care so very little about programming and code in general that I'm not going to try to fix the problem. Suffice to say you can use this link here and then bookmark it.
Again, if you want to see my private photos now you will have to sign up for a Flickr account and then message me with your Flickr account so I can give you permission. I know making yet another account on the internet just to view some idiot's photos is a pain, but I personally reckon Flickr (not to mention people's privacy) is worth the hassle.
When I do get around to uploading some photos I will let you know here.
Some people have told me they are unable to see the link to Flickr on the right hand side. I have no idea why this is happening but I care so very little about programming and code in general that I'm not going to try to fix the problem. Suffice to say you can use this link here and then bookmark it.
Again, if you want to see my private photos now you will have to sign up for a Flickr account and then message me with your Flickr account so I can give you permission. I know making yet another account on the internet just to view some idiot's photos is a pain, but I personally reckon Flickr (not to mention people's privacy) is worth the hassle.
When I do get around to uploading some photos I will let you know here.
LOVE CHRISTMAS!
Things have settled down now post-New Year holiday and all that. I've finally returned to soccer after 4 months or so sidelined with my stupid ankle injury. I played a great return match scoring two goals but perhaps more enjoyable was the fact that my Japanese skills have improved so noticeably that my team mates commented. I still feel like I would put myself in the "cannot speak Japanese" basket largely because my ability to construct sentences is still hopeless. However my listening and reading and writing skills have improved drastically so while I might not be able to answer many questions correctly, I can follow a conversation so long as the topic stays away from existentialism or economic theory.
I want to return to my previous style of relatively short entries on interesting topics, so in that vain here comes a piece on Christmas, Japanese style. I know it's late and it would have been much more interesting and relevant pre-December 25th but oh well.
I'm sure 99% of you are aware that Japan is not a Christian nation. Hence Christmas is wonderfully free from any Christian ties (if they even exist in Australia anymore). It is a perfectly capitalist event now with the almighty dollar (or yen) the only god. Japanese Christmas in a nutshell is more like Valentine's Day with a splash of a strange Santa/reindeer motif. Here are a few pictures I found on Google that might explain it better than my words can.
That there is a bentou (lunchbox) in Christmas style.
Christmas is so unimportant here that it isn't even a public holiday. The most important part of the entire affair is Christmas Eve when couples get together for romantic dinners and walks around town admiring the insanely tasteless Christmas light displays. If you've ever wondered what cherubs, love hearts, mermaids, dolphins, and trains have to do with Christmas, come to Hiroshima next Christmas and take a walk down Peace Boulevard where you will be able to see all the aforementioned and much more in twinkling light displays up to 30m tall.
Another crucial part of Japanese Christmas is the Christmas cake. Ahh, something in common with our own you're thinking. No such luck I'm afraid. This is Japanese Christmas cake.
I'm not sure if you can read the price tags there but they seem to start at around 2,500 yen (-AUD27) for the tiny ones. I got to sample a few and I must say they are entirely unimpressive and bland. Plain sponge cake with generic icing, whipped cream and strawberries on top. There are fantastic cakes available in Japan (especially in Kobe) but the Christmas cake ain't a great example.
Quite a number of my students were generally surprised to learn of the difference between an Australian Christmas and their own. They were particularly shocked to learn that we don't eat Christmas cake anything like the monsters pictured above. The fact that in Australia, one of the only times of the year I eat oysters (at least regularly) is on Christmas day seemed to amuse them.
Being away from Australia and all my family and friends at Christmas made me realise a few things (close window now if you want to avoid personal waffle now). Being an atheist, Christmas has nill religious significance for me but that doesn't mean that I can't or don't enjoy some of the religious music of the season. Furthermore I do think Christmas in Australia is a really nice vehicle for family and friends to get together and have a jolly good time. Christmas changed a lot for me when I moved out of home and being absent from my family Christmas(es - one perk of separated parents is the dual Christmas) definitely made me long for the sight of a table covered in delicious treats and the satisfied post-meal relaxation on the couch. The holiday has clearly been savagely beaten by capitalism and if people want to agree to shift the date for their own family get-together to another time that doesn't coincide with inflated prices and massive crowds then go for it. In one regard this is why I envy the Canadians with their Thanksgiving. From what my new Canadian friends tell me, it seems to be the same family-oriented festival of food but without the tacky trappings of Christmas.
Oh, the title of this post "LOVE CHRISTMAS" comes courtesy of the enormous light display on the biggest department store in Hiroshima. I don't think they mean it so sound like an imperative but that's how it sounded to me since it was positioned above the masses of cashed-up shoppers flowing in and out of the department store.
I want to return to my previous style of relatively short entries on interesting topics, so in that vain here comes a piece on Christmas, Japanese style. I know it's late and it would have been much more interesting and relevant pre-December 25th but oh well.
I'm sure 99% of you are aware that Japan is not a Christian nation. Hence Christmas is wonderfully free from any Christian ties (if they even exist in Australia anymore). It is a perfectly capitalist event now with the almighty dollar (or yen) the only god. Japanese Christmas in a nutshell is more like Valentine's Day with a splash of a strange Santa/reindeer motif. Here are a few pictures I found on Google that might explain it better than my words can.
That there is a bentou (lunchbox) in Christmas style.
Christmas is so unimportant here that it isn't even a public holiday. The most important part of the entire affair is Christmas Eve when couples get together for romantic dinners and walks around town admiring the insanely tasteless Christmas light displays. If you've ever wondered what cherubs, love hearts, mermaids, dolphins, and trains have to do with Christmas, come to Hiroshima next Christmas and take a walk down Peace Boulevard where you will be able to see all the aforementioned and much more in twinkling light displays up to 30m tall.
Another crucial part of Japanese Christmas is the Christmas cake. Ahh, something in common with our own you're thinking. No such luck I'm afraid. This is Japanese Christmas cake.
I'm not sure if you can read the price tags there but they seem to start at around 2,500 yen (-AUD27) for the tiny ones. I got to sample a few and I must say they are entirely unimpressive and bland. Plain sponge cake with generic icing, whipped cream and strawberries on top. There are fantastic cakes available in Japan (especially in Kobe) but the Christmas cake ain't a great example.
Quite a number of my students were generally surprised to learn of the difference between an Australian Christmas and their own. They were particularly shocked to learn that we don't eat Christmas cake anything like the monsters pictured above. The fact that in Australia, one of the only times of the year I eat oysters (at least regularly) is on Christmas day seemed to amuse them.
Being away from Australia and all my family and friends at Christmas made me realise a few things (close window now if you want to avoid personal waffle now). Being an atheist, Christmas has nill religious significance for me but that doesn't mean that I can't or don't enjoy some of the religious music of the season. Furthermore I do think Christmas in Australia is a really nice vehicle for family and friends to get together and have a jolly good time. Christmas changed a lot for me when I moved out of home and being absent from my family Christmas(es - one perk of separated parents is the dual Christmas) definitely made me long for the sight of a table covered in delicious treats and the satisfied post-meal relaxation on the couch. The holiday has clearly been savagely beaten by capitalism and if people want to agree to shift the date for their own family get-together to another time that doesn't coincide with inflated prices and massive crowds then go for it. In one regard this is why I envy the Canadians with their Thanksgiving. From what my new Canadian friends tell me, it seems to be the same family-oriented festival of food but without the tacky trappings of Christmas.
Oh, the title of this post "LOVE CHRISTMAS" comes courtesy of the enormous light display on the biggest department store in Hiroshima. I don't think they mean it so sound like an imperative but that's how it sounded to me since it was positioned above the masses of cashed-up shoppers flowing in and out of the department store.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu (Happy New Year)
Yes, a happy new year to all reading this. It is the year of the wild boar now (いのしし inoshishi in Japanese, a word I heartily enjoy) and it is freeeeezing in Hiroshima right now. I went for a walk this morning at 8:30 and it was so cold that my ipod screen stopped working and my fingers went numb. Good times.
Sorry for the prolonged break over the festive season but judging from my web traffic over that time very few of you were checking in so no biggie.
My manager asked me to do a heap of overtime during December so I got an extra five days off making a nice two week period of no work over the New Year period. I spent a hell of a lot of that time reading a heap of books, drinking coffee, studying Japanese and just generally hanging out with Yuki. I visited Mitaki-dera (dera=temple) on New Year's Day which was crazy busy as to be expected. It's an amazing temple, built high up into the side of a mountain with a waterfall running behind/beneath and then out the front of it. It was a beautifully tranquil way to reflect on 2006 and welcome 2007, listening to monks' low, hypnotic chanting over the sound of massive bells being chimed and the gushing of the waterfall. There is a path winding up the mountain that supposedly passes through a bamboo forest filled with Buddhist statues. According to a friend it is particularly quiet and eerie around dusk so I'm going to head up there soon and investigate.
I have a whole heap of topics I need to type up here soon including Christmas (which is particularly crazy in this country) and teaching Japanese kids (who have taught me such awesome phrases as "I peed myself" and "you're ugly" and "you stink", hooray for kids).
I'm uploading a bunch of photos from Mitaki-dera and other recent adventures around the place so check the flickr account for the goods. I have decided to mark most photos with people's faces visible as private so you will have to make a Flickr account and contact me before you will be able to see them. Sorry, but I want to respect other people's desire for privacy.
Normal programming shall resume shortly, stay tuned...
Sorry for the prolonged break over the festive season but judging from my web traffic over that time very few of you were checking in so no biggie.
My manager asked me to do a heap of overtime during December so I got an extra five days off making a nice two week period of no work over the New Year period. I spent a hell of a lot of that time reading a heap of books, drinking coffee, studying Japanese and just generally hanging out with Yuki. I visited Mitaki-dera (dera=temple) on New Year's Day which was crazy busy as to be expected. It's an amazing temple, built high up into the side of a mountain with a waterfall running behind/beneath and then out the front of it. It was a beautifully tranquil way to reflect on 2006 and welcome 2007, listening to monks' low, hypnotic chanting over the sound of massive bells being chimed and the gushing of the waterfall. There is a path winding up the mountain that supposedly passes through a bamboo forest filled with Buddhist statues. According to a friend it is particularly quiet and eerie around dusk so I'm going to head up there soon and investigate.
I have a whole heap of topics I need to type up here soon including Christmas (which is particularly crazy in this country) and teaching Japanese kids (who have taught me such awesome phrases as "I peed myself" and "you're ugly" and "you stink", hooray for kids).
I'm uploading a bunch of photos from Mitaki-dera and other recent adventures around the place so check the flickr account for the goods. I have decided to mark most photos with people's faces visible as private so you will have to make a Flickr account and contact me before you will be able to see them. Sorry, but I want to respect other people's desire for privacy.
Normal programming shall resume shortly, stay tuned...
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Resolution to the tooth saga
Alright, so I've been busy again recently. Too busy to even get on Skype with my dear old Mum, sorry Mum. In the next few days I'll endeavour to type up a few of my recent distractions.
Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what happened as a result of my visit to the dentist. Well, guess what Mum, I've had two root canals done now! Yes, after spending thousands on my teeth in the past year, they continue to be the single most annoying part of my body. I can definitely add this experience to the long list of insane experiences here that have surprised me by showing me my ability to handle difficult situations (particularly of a personal nature) are much better than I thought.
As luck would have it, one of the students at my eikaiwa (English conversation school) just happens to be a dentist. Best of all she is a lovely lady and was only too happy to help me out in my hour of need. Filling out the forms entirely in Japanese was as enjoyable as ever. I'm getting better at writing the characters for my street address here but I still have to look at a card in my wallet to get it completely correct. The receptionist spoke very little English so we had a great conversation in a mix of baby English and Japanese with a whole lot of body language and mime. Actually that's one benefit I can say for this experience, my Japanese vocab now includes such gems as "cavity", "tooth", "dentist" and "appointment" ("pain" and "painful" were already there, thankfully).
The layout of the dental surgery was very different to an Australian one. Consider a hairdressing salon minus the mirrors plus a whole lot of drills and lights and some low partitions between the chairs. The same dentist seems to be performing at least three operations at once, darting between the chairs. This was incredibly disconcerting at first but the army of incredibly polite and cute (as always) assistants were on hand to allay any fears and perform the menial tasks.
My X-ray revealed big troubles in little teeth. Not one but two would have to have root canals performed on them (which the Intertubes tell me is actually called a "pulpectomy"). The dentist delivered this news in a very friendly manner, devoid of any of the concern and condescension that I was so used to from my Australian dentists that I was completely nonplussed. Perhaps all that condescension was lost in translation. Perhaps root canals are pretty par for the course on people my age over here (entirely believable if you've seen the average Japanese person's not-so-pearly whites). Perhaps the Japanese believe politeness transcends the need for stern, frank medical advice. Whatever the case, the operation was under way before I had even had time to really consider the severity of my situation.
It wasn't until big, long metal wires were being thrust up through holes in my teeth right up into my brain (or so it felt) that I began to panic. It took the dentist three times the usual amount of anaesthetic to completely numb my two teeth (or so she said). In fact in the end she had to continue the operation while I still had a small amount of sensation in one of the teeth, an entirely terrifying experience. She only hit the nerve bang on once but it was enough to send tears streaming down the sides of my face.
Once the operation was over, the dentist hit me with the really really good news. I was going to have come back every Monday for the next four weeks in order to get the holes checked and cleaned. Hopefully on my fifth visit she can seal up the holes. So for those of you who maybe didn't put two and two together there, yes, that means I will be visiting the dentist on Christmas Day.
Anyway, continuing on, once out of the chair I proceeded to have one of my most lonely and scary moments in Japan. I used up almost all of the cash in my wallet paying for the day's festivities so I needed to find an ATM before I would be able to purchase the pain killers and analgesics I so desperately required. As luck would have it, my bank UFJ, did not seem to have an ATM anywhere within walking distance. The anaesthetic was beginning to wear off, it was a freezing 5 degrees outside, I was alone and in no state to be trying conversation in a foreign language. I tried my luck with the Post Office ATMs but the bastard machine kept telling me my card wasn't supported despite the UFJ logo being displayed above the keypad. I tried two other banks' ATMs and met with similar results. I was just about to cry for my Mum in the middle of Hiroshima when I bumped into a friend with great Japanese skills. Talk about lucky escape. Armed with his linguistic prowess we managed to retrieve money and aforementioned pharmeceuticals in short time.
The dentist had assured me that the analgesics she prescribed for me were the "strongest in Japan". If that's the case, I truly do weep for this country. Someone teach the government here the joys of codeine and ibuprofen ... and fast. I'd rather not give too much away here, but suffice to say a fellow Australian "helped out a mate" and so I was able to get some decent sleep that night.
So much for keeping these entries short!
I have to run off to work now, so I will leave you with a crappy haiku I typed into my phone one night while waiting for my food at a local restaurant.
I watched a man eat
udon. Slurping, he watched me
wait for mine to come.
Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what happened as a result of my visit to the dentist. Well, guess what Mum, I've had two root canals done now! Yes, after spending thousands on my teeth in the past year, they continue to be the single most annoying part of my body. I can definitely add this experience to the long list of insane experiences here that have surprised me by showing me my ability to handle difficult situations (particularly of a personal nature) are much better than I thought.
As luck would have it, one of the students at my eikaiwa (English conversation school) just happens to be a dentist. Best of all she is a lovely lady and was only too happy to help me out in my hour of need. Filling out the forms entirely in Japanese was as enjoyable as ever. I'm getting better at writing the characters for my street address here but I still have to look at a card in my wallet to get it completely correct. The receptionist spoke very little English so we had a great conversation in a mix of baby English and Japanese with a whole lot of body language and mime. Actually that's one benefit I can say for this experience, my Japanese vocab now includes such gems as "cavity", "tooth", "dentist" and "appointment" ("pain" and "painful" were already there, thankfully).
The layout of the dental surgery was very different to an Australian one. Consider a hairdressing salon minus the mirrors plus a whole lot of drills and lights and some low partitions between the chairs. The same dentist seems to be performing at least three operations at once, darting between the chairs. This was incredibly disconcerting at first but the army of incredibly polite and cute (as always) assistants were on hand to allay any fears and perform the menial tasks.
My X-ray revealed big troubles in little teeth. Not one but two would have to have root canals performed on them (which the Intertubes tell me is actually called a "pulpectomy"). The dentist delivered this news in a very friendly manner, devoid of any of the concern and condescension that I was so used to from my Australian dentists that I was completely nonplussed. Perhaps all that condescension was lost in translation. Perhaps root canals are pretty par for the course on people my age over here (entirely believable if you've seen the average Japanese person's not-so-pearly whites). Perhaps the Japanese believe politeness transcends the need for stern, frank medical advice. Whatever the case, the operation was under way before I had even had time to really consider the severity of my situation.
It wasn't until big, long metal wires were being thrust up through holes in my teeth right up into my brain (or so it felt) that I began to panic. It took the dentist three times the usual amount of anaesthetic to completely numb my two teeth (or so she said). In fact in the end she had to continue the operation while I still had a small amount of sensation in one of the teeth, an entirely terrifying experience. She only hit the nerve bang on once but it was enough to send tears streaming down the sides of my face.
Once the operation was over, the dentist hit me with the really really good news. I was going to have come back every Monday for the next four weeks in order to get the holes checked and cleaned. Hopefully on my fifth visit she can seal up the holes. So for those of you who maybe didn't put two and two together there, yes, that means I will be visiting the dentist on Christmas Day.
Anyway, continuing on, once out of the chair I proceeded to have one of my most lonely and scary moments in Japan. I used up almost all of the cash in my wallet paying for the day's festivities so I needed to find an ATM before I would be able to purchase the pain killers and analgesics I so desperately required. As luck would have it, my bank UFJ, did not seem to have an ATM anywhere within walking distance. The anaesthetic was beginning to wear off, it was a freezing 5 degrees outside, I was alone and in no state to be trying conversation in a foreign language. I tried my luck with the Post Office ATMs but the bastard machine kept telling me my card wasn't supported despite the UFJ logo being displayed above the keypad. I tried two other banks' ATMs and met with similar results. I was just about to cry for my Mum in the middle of Hiroshima when I bumped into a friend with great Japanese skills. Talk about lucky escape. Armed with his linguistic prowess we managed to retrieve money and aforementioned pharmeceuticals in short time.
The dentist had assured me that the analgesics she prescribed for me were the "strongest in Japan". If that's the case, I truly do weep for this country. Someone teach the government here the joys of codeine and ibuprofen ... and fast. I'd rather not give too much away here, but suffice to say a fellow Australian "helped out a mate" and so I was able to get some decent sleep that night.
So much for keeping these entries short!
I have to run off to work now, so I will leave you with a crappy haiku I typed into my phone one night while waiting for my food at a local restaurant.
I watched a man eat
udon. Slurping, he watched me
wait for mine to come.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
When it rains it pours
I'm typing this while looking out on a spectacularly rain-soaked Hiroshima. I'm sure there are much more extreme climates for rainfall, particularly in the tropics, but at least compared to Melbourne this city is pretty amazing. The rain is so dense and the city's drainage systems so poor that it's only a matter of minutes before Hiroshima begins to feel like it is sinking back into the ocean from whence it came. (To the best of my knowledge the city is built largely on "reclaimed land". I assume this is why the rivers running through the city rise and fall at least a metre each day with the tides).
You might think this is another whinging update but the truth is far from it. I love a good downpour, especially when observed from the comfy couch of a cafe with hot coffee (I wish I could use "great" instead of "hot" but it is Japan after all). People of all walks of life continue to commute on their bicycles even when the rain is coming down so hard that it makes motorcyclists think twice. Women in business suits, high heels and burdened with LV handbags continue to pedal away with perhaps a thin plastic poncho their only protection.
If you're desirous of some resolution to my last post, I shall indulge you shortly. However now I must head off to work (at the leisurely hour of 3pm, oh yes).
You might think this is another whinging update but the truth is far from it. I love a good downpour, especially when observed from the comfy couch of a cafe with hot coffee (I wish I could use "great" instead of "hot" but it is Japan after all). People of all walks of life continue to commute on their bicycles even when the rain is coming down so hard that it makes motorcyclists think twice. Women in business suits, high heels and burdened with LV handbags continue to pedal away with perhaps a thin plastic poncho their only protection.
If you're desirous of some resolution to my last post, I shall indulge you shortly. However now I must head off to work (at the leisurely hour of 3pm, oh yes).
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
A dark place
Maybe it's the painkillers. Maybe it's the alcohol (an incredibly irresponsible combination I know). Maybe it's the fact that it's 2:30am and neither of the aforementioned seem to be doing the slightest to quell this throbbing, aching, agonising pain coming from my front right tooth.
This is by far my darkest moment in Japan thus far. I spent well over $2,000 on dentists before leaving Australia (removing wisdom teeth and other such maintenance) SPECIFICALLY to avoid situations like the one in which I am now festering.
"Everything looks good" they told me.
"Come and see us when you get back" they said, laying the foundations for my false hopes; that all would be merry in my mouthful of money pits.
Now, it wouldn't be so bad were it not for the fact that Japan is devoid of painkillers that do ANYTHING at all related to "killing pain". Not even when I went to the hospital with a busted ankle, gritting my teeth as my friends helped me limp in the door, did they give me anything strong enough to be even detectable let alone useful. There are products for sale with little pictures of stylised men clutching their heads and throats which I'm beginning to believe are more intended to indicate your behaviour post-consumption rather than pre.
"You've gotta take about 8 of them at once." one expat here told me. Thanks for the advice, dear, and while I may be stupid and reckless enough to mix my painkillers with whiskey, I won't go shoving half a packful of something down my throat when I can't read a single word on the packaging.
I really don't understand it. Maybe it's because Japanese have a lower average body mass and just like they get drunk quicker, the analgesics have more effect at lower dosage. Maybe it's a cultural thing, pain builds character. "The will of the samurai" or something like that. Whatever it is, right now I would sell a kidney for a crate of codeine and ibuprofen. Stupid cliche I know, but you really don't know what you've got till it's gone. Deprive people of their usual analgesics and I bet you'd have riots and/or a booming heroin trade before morning.
So tomorrow (well later today) I have to go and find a Japanese dentist. If you'd seen the average person's teeth here you would have to doubt their existence but luckily the Hiroshima city website insists they do. From what I can understand of my private health insurance arrangements I have to pay 100% of the private health system costs up front and then wait months and months for reimbursement. Oh rapturous joy. Still, being broke sounds like a piece of cake compared to this agony I'm in now.
I realise this entry is probably quite embarrassing, both for its puerile tone of self-pity and its utter lack of points of interest for anyone reading it. Well, consider this me jumping the shark. Or maybe I'll come back and delete it once I've returned to sanity's shores.
This is by far my darkest moment in Japan thus far. I spent well over $2,000 on dentists before leaving Australia (removing wisdom teeth and other such maintenance) SPECIFICALLY to avoid situations like the one in which I am now festering.
"Everything looks good" they told me.
"Come and see us when you get back" they said, laying the foundations for my false hopes; that all would be merry in my mouthful of money pits.
Now, it wouldn't be so bad were it not for the fact that Japan is devoid of painkillers that do ANYTHING at all related to "killing pain". Not even when I went to the hospital with a busted ankle, gritting my teeth as my friends helped me limp in the door, did they give me anything strong enough to be even detectable let alone useful. There are products for sale with little pictures of stylised men clutching their heads and throats which I'm beginning to believe are more intended to indicate your behaviour post-consumption rather than pre.
"You've gotta take about 8 of them at once." one expat here told me. Thanks for the advice, dear, and while I may be stupid and reckless enough to mix my painkillers with whiskey, I won't go shoving half a packful of something down my throat when I can't read a single word on the packaging.
I really don't understand it. Maybe it's because Japanese have a lower average body mass and just like they get drunk quicker, the analgesics have more effect at lower dosage. Maybe it's a cultural thing, pain builds character. "The will of the samurai" or something like that. Whatever it is, right now I would sell a kidney for a crate of codeine and ibuprofen. Stupid cliche I know, but you really don't know what you've got till it's gone. Deprive people of their usual analgesics and I bet you'd have riots and/or a booming heroin trade before morning.
So tomorrow (well later today) I have to go and find a Japanese dentist. If you'd seen the average person's teeth here you would have to doubt their existence but luckily the Hiroshima city website insists they do. From what I can understand of my private health insurance arrangements I have to pay 100% of the private health system costs up front and then wait months and months for reimbursement. Oh rapturous joy. Still, being broke sounds like a piece of cake compared to this agony I'm in now.
I realise this entry is probably quite embarrassing, both for its puerile tone of self-pity and its utter lack of points of interest for anyone reading it. Well, consider this me jumping the shark. Or maybe I'll come back and delete it once I've returned to sanity's shores.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Kindness
Japan can feel like a cold country sometimes, especially for those who don't speak the language. Many expats here will be able to tell you what it feels like to sit on a train/street-car/bus and have people choose to stand for the whole journey rather than sit next to a foreigner. Stories like that are common so I've decided to post a positive little missive to provide contrast.
Less than 3 hours ago I was eating lunch with a friend in one of our regular little haunts, Nakau (click for photos). The food was cheap and tasty as usual although a group of 8 office girls in their early to mid 20's wouldn't stop staring at us and giggling which makes it a tad difficult to eat. We finished up and took off in the afternoon winter sunshine. A few blocks away we heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching us from behind so we spun around. There in front of us was a very flushed Nakau staff member clutching 580 Yen in her outstretched hand.
"You left some money!" she told my friend in Japanese while politely bowing.
No sooner had my friend accepted the money when the staff bowed again and took off at top speed back towards the restaurant. It definitely gives you a warm feeling to know that people in this country will not only NOT take your money when given the opportunity, but they will run a good 300m or so to return it to you!
On a very related note, this same friend left their ipod in a netcafe connected to a computer. A staff member caught up to them a good 500m away from the netcafe while my friend was waiting to cross a busy street. Out of breath but no less polite, the staff member dutifully returned the ipod to my startled friend. I assume being a 185cm tall white woman certainly helps these staff members in tracking down forgetful foreigners.
Less than 3 hours ago I was eating lunch with a friend in one of our regular little haunts, Nakau (click for photos). The food was cheap and tasty as usual although a group of 8 office girls in their early to mid 20's wouldn't stop staring at us and giggling which makes it a tad difficult to eat. We finished up and took off in the afternoon winter sunshine. A few blocks away we heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching us from behind so we spun around. There in front of us was a very flushed Nakau staff member clutching 580 Yen in her outstretched hand.
"You left some money!" she told my friend in Japanese while politely bowing.
No sooner had my friend accepted the money when the staff bowed again and took off at top speed back towards the restaurant. It definitely gives you a warm feeling to know that people in this country will not only NOT take your money when given the opportunity, but they will run a good 300m or so to return it to you!
On a very related note, this same friend left their ipod in a netcafe connected to a computer. A staff member caught up to them a good 500m away from the netcafe while my friend was waiting to cross a busy street. Out of breath but no less polite, the staff member dutifully returned the ipod to my startled friend. I assume being a 185cm tall white woman certainly helps these staff members in tracking down forgetful foreigners.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Autumn is stunning in Japan
I've uploaded a bunch of photos from my very recent trip to Sandankyo with my girlfriend, Yuki. The colours really were amazing, quite often so bright they seemed artificial. I'm beginning to feel pretty limited with my little Canon IXY70 but it's just so convenient and portable that I couldn't part with it.
Enjoy the red leaves over on my flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/sa-e-mo-n/
Enjoy the red leaves over on my flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/sa-e-mo-n/
Monday, November 27, 2006
Let's try something new...
Alright, so through careful consideration of the mountains of feedback I've received from all my dear readers (one skype call from my brother Nick) I have devised a new system here. For want of a better label we could call it "random musings". Yeah, hardly unique on the Internet. I'll still write up lengthy recollections of events and happenings but I shall intersperse this with much shorter musings on a more frequent basis. More accurately perhaps, I'll still intend to write those long posts and invariably fail to deliver. I think the shorter musings will have a much higher success rate. So without further delay here's the first:
Japanese highways.
Expensive.
Magnificent engineering feats.
I can still remember my bus ride out of Tokyo (much cheaper to get home to Hiroshima on the highway bus, 11 hours, than the bullet train, 4.5 hours) which left the very central Tokyo station and, after only a few city blocks, rose up onto a highway/expressway (I never know which is the correct term to use) and proceeded to glide out of Tokyo without having to stop at a single set of lights. Pretty incredible, although understandable considering it is one of the most densely populated cities in the world and there was no shortage of government money when they were trying to pull their economy out of recession.
For those readers of mine who have played any of the Need for Speed games of late (which I suspect is a worryingly high percentage) you can picture the highways of Japan as being very much like in that game. Huge concrete rivers that allow cars to whip around the city uninterrupted. The only downside is the insanely high tolls. Driving between Hiroshima and Kobe (about 450km I think) would cost you over $100 in highway tolls, or so I have been told by friends here.
The thing that really blows me away every time I travel across Japan is the enormous numbers of bridges and tunnels. The country, or at least Hiroshima prefecture, is so mountainous that the highways look like the engineers just said "fuck the mountains, we're going in the most direct route and that's that." They just draw an imaginary line between one city and the next and just dig tunnels or construct bridges to fill that line with highway. On a recent trip to Sandankyo (a small town in the NW of Hiroshima prefecture) we went through so many tunnels I lost count. One of them was at least 3km long according to my rough calculations. It all adds up for a pretty spectacular driving experience although it can feel strangely claustrophobic, especially in areas where the highway is bounded by enormous soundproof walls.
You would think that with all these amazing highways that you could get some nice high speed driving done. Well scratch that thought, the limit on all the highways seems to be 80km/h! It just doesn't make sense, the roads are in such amazingly good condition they could be 200km/h autobahns. Maybe its a conspiracy between the government and the Japan Rail companies that operate the shikansen (bullet train). Faced with the choice of a 11 hour drive to Tokyo that would cost me at least 200AUD in fuel and another 200AUD in tolls or a 4.5 hour train ride in big comfy seats with refreshments that costs about 200AUD I know which I'd choose.
Oh here's some highway vocab for those of you who care. "Intersection" in Japanese is インター which is "intaa" in katakana (the alphabet reserved for foreign words and names). It really is amazing how many English words the Japanese have adopted.
That's about enough for a random musing. Let me know if you liked it and I will keep it up.
Japanese highways.
Expensive.Magnificent engineering feats.
I can still remember my bus ride out of Tokyo (much cheaper to get home to Hiroshima on the highway bus, 11 hours, than the bullet train, 4.5 hours) which left the very central Tokyo station and, after only a few city blocks, rose up onto a highway/expressway (I never know which is the correct term to use) and proceeded to glide out of Tokyo without having to stop at a single set of lights. Pretty incredible, although understandable considering it is one of the most densely populated cities in the world and there was no shortage of government money when they were trying to pull their economy out of recession.
For those readers of mine who have played any of the Need for Speed games of late (which I suspect is a worryingly high percentage) you can picture the highways of Japan as being very much like in that game. Huge concrete rivers that allow cars to whip around the city uninterrupted. The only downside is the insanely high tolls. Driving between Hiroshima and Kobe (about 450km I think) would cost you over $100 in highway tolls, or so I have been told by friends here.
The thing that really blows me away every time I travel across Japan is the enormous numbers of bridges and tunnels. The country, or at least Hiroshima prefecture, is so mountainous that the highways look like the engineers just said "fuck the mountains, we're going in the most direct route and that's that." They just draw an imaginary line between one city and the next and just dig tunnels or construct bridges to fill that line with highway. On a recent trip to Sandankyo (a small town in the NW of Hiroshima prefecture) we went through so many tunnels I lost count. One of them was at least 3km long according to my rough calculations. It all adds up for a pretty spectacular driving experience although it can feel strangely claustrophobic, especially in areas where the highway is bounded by enormous soundproof walls.
You would think that with all these amazing highways that you could get some nice high speed driving done. Well scratch that thought, the limit on all the highways seems to be 80km/h! It just doesn't make sense, the roads are in such amazingly good condition they could be 200km/h autobahns. Maybe its a conspiracy between the government and the Japan Rail companies that operate the shikansen (bullet train). Faced with the choice of a 11 hour drive to Tokyo that would cost me at least 200AUD in fuel and another 200AUD in tolls or a 4.5 hour train ride in big comfy seats with refreshments that costs about 200AUD I know which I'd choose.
Oh here's some highway vocab for those of you who care. "Intersection" in Japanese is インター which is "intaa" in katakana (the alphabet reserved for foreign words and names). It really is amazing how many English words the Japanese have adopted.
That's about enough for a random musing. Let me know if you liked it and I will keep it up.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Sheepish photo update
Yeah, so really, it's pretty ridiculous the amount of material I've had to write about but just been too distracted/unmotivated/lazy (take ya pick) to do so.
I've really forgotten just how much I've actually written up here, but as far as I can remember, the following has so far passed without record:
- I sprained my ankle badly during a tournament match with my soccer team and hence got to experience the Japanese hospital system first-hand.
- I had a really decent week-long trip to Tokyo with my sister, Eleanor.
- I've managed to hook up with a beautiful Japanese girl who just happens to have impeccable English.
- I visited the 3rd most famous landmark in all of Japan, Itsukushima shrine on the island of Miyajima (where I'll be heading back this coming weekend with any luck, to take in the breath-taking Autumn leaves.)
- I've had some really decent nights out, even got to see Adam F when he came through Hiroshima recently.
- I celebrated my birthday at a fantastic restaurant with a great group of friends and even got some presents to boot!
- I missed out on one of the most famous sake festivals in all of Japan (in Saijo, just east of Hiroshima city) because I was sick that weekend, major bummer :(
I'll get around to writing proper entries eventually. Hahahaha; seriously. In the meantime enjoy the 50 or so new photos over on my Flickr account. (The link is over on the right navigation bar, mum)
I've really forgotten just how much I've actually written up here, but as far as I can remember, the following has so far passed without record:
- I sprained my ankle badly during a tournament match with my soccer team and hence got to experience the Japanese hospital system first-hand.
- I had a really decent week-long trip to Tokyo with my sister, Eleanor.
- I've managed to hook up with a beautiful Japanese girl who just happens to have impeccable English.
- I visited the 3rd most famous landmark in all of Japan, Itsukushima shrine on the island of Miyajima (where I'll be heading back this coming weekend with any luck, to take in the breath-taking Autumn leaves.)
- I've had some really decent nights out, even got to see Adam F when he came through Hiroshima recently.
- I celebrated my birthday at a fantastic restaurant with a great group of friends and even got some presents to boot!
- I missed out on one of the most famous sake festivals in all of Japan (in Saijo, just east of Hiroshima city) because I was sick that weekend, major bummer :(
I'll get around to writing proper entries eventually. Hahahaha; seriously. In the meantime enjoy the 50 or so new photos over on my Flickr account. (The link is over on the right navigation bar, mum)
Friday, October 20, 2006
Happy Birthday... me!
Alright, so this bout of homesickness brought on by my birthday (October 19th fuckers, thanks for the inundation of messages) has brought me out of blog retirement.
In my usual style I've left it until the early hours of the morning when I am slightly soaked in sake and in no mood for writing.
I've uploaded two photo sets, one from Miyajima (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyajima) and one from the first three days of my trip to Tokyo with EP. I'll go through the remaining 3 days worth of Tokyo photos and finish uploading the highlights soon.
Tiny summary until I come back and write properly: Life is going well. I cannot stress how enjoyable life is when you only work 20 hours a week and your hours are 5pm to 9pm. It's not the most convenient shift for socialising with people who work a 9-5 job, but ahh well.
It's funny, I always feared that life in the daily grind would kill my soul and that, until retirement, I would trudge zombie-like through my working days. Well fuck it, I don't need to be a rich man, I'm perfectly happy living modestly and enjoying loads of free time for doing interesting things in a foreign country.
Who knows, maybe I'll "grow up" in a few years and realise that 9-5 really isn't that bad. Until then, enjoy the rat race people, I'll have another sake for you and then sleep it off in the dappled sunshine under a tree next to one of Hiroshima's many beautiful rivers.
In my usual style I've left it until the early hours of the morning when I am slightly soaked in sake and in no mood for writing.
I've uploaded two photo sets, one from Miyajima (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyajima) and one from the first three days of my trip to Tokyo with EP. I'll go through the remaining 3 days worth of Tokyo photos and finish uploading the highlights soon.
Tiny summary until I come back and write properly: Life is going well. I cannot stress how enjoyable life is when you only work 20 hours a week and your hours are 5pm to 9pm. It's not the most convenient shift for socialising with people who work a 9-5 job, but ahh well.
It's funny, I always feared that life in the daily grind would kill my soul and that, until retirement, I would trudge zombie-like through my working days. Well fuck it, I don't need to be a rich man, I'm perfectly happy living modestly and enjoying loads of free time for doing interesting things in a foreign country.
Who knows, maybe I'll "grow up" in a few years and realise that 9-5 really isn't that bad. Until then, enjoy the rat race people, I'll have another sake for you and then sleep it off in the dappled sunshine under a tree next to one of Hiroshima's many beautiful rivers.
Monday, August 14, 2006
SUMMER IN JAPAN IS TOO MUCH!
Enough fucking about, its high time I put some words on paper and i think this blog is going to lose its PG rating.
Apologies in advance to any relatives who would rather remember me as the young innocent teenage Simon, but the masses are emailing me and telling me they want more dirt. I will not be offended at all if you would rather not read on.
Summer here really is hell on earth. I don't know how the hell the Canadians and Scots put up with it because it's close to sending me completely mental. More than 5 minutes outside at ANY time of day even 4am will have you dripping sweat in no time. If I didn't like Hiroshima so much I'd seriously consider applying for a transfer to Hokkaido.
I went to the baseball yesterday evening on a whim and ended up drinking about 8 cans, sweating so much I looked like I'd just been for a swim and generally making a filthy mess of myself... Baseball is an awesome sport for just pissing away a Sunday evening with some friends, you only have to pay attention maybe 50% of the time and the Japanese lllove a good beer or 10 at the game. The Carp got destroyed by the Giants 11-6 with some of the worst pitching I've seen since I got here, including an accidental walked run... that pitcher didn't get pulled until 2 innings later!
Alright its been over a month since I last put anything proper up here... let me cast my mind back.
I've been on a few proper trips around Hiroshima prefecture now, once to Onomichi and once to Iwakuni. Japan is pretty damn easy for a traveller sans car especially if you have some basic travel-vocab down.
Onomichi is an incredibly picturesque little town on the Seto Sea about 75 minutes east of Hiroshima on the JR Sanyo line. I spent an agonisingly hot but beautiful 5 hours walking the temple trail through the town which takes you past at least 30 different temples and shrines. Didn't see one other gaijin the entire time in Onomichi which made it feel much more isolated. Despite going there with absolutely zero planning I managed to end up finding a "rope-way" (Japanese English for "cable car") to the top of the biggest mountain in the town where a supurb little lunch cafe served the town's speciality "tako ramen" (fried octopus with ramen noodles in a tasty broth) with panoramic views of the nearby islands in the Seto Sea.
Mt.Senkoji is beautiful in quite a peculiar way. It's not spectacular but it has some odd little magic moments. Clearly this is well known since at almost every one of these spots an artist was sketching/painting away.
While I think of it, odd observation time. Japanese tourist groups, as in Japanese tourists being lead around by Japanese tour guides, definitely live up to the stereotypes. They power along at a crazy pace with cameras going full speed. Normally there's a very attractive girl in a uniform with a tiny skirt and a neck scarf holding a flag/standard with the tour company's logo up the front of the group. They speak way too fast for me to catch much from my eavesdropping but they do seem to drop in a lot of "keep moving please, this way please"... time is money on these tours I guess!
I plan on going back to Onomichi sometime when its not so damn hot and riding a bike the entire length of the bridge that spans all the islands from Onomichi to the major island of Shikoku. I was talking about it with some British guys who run a bar here called Spud Love (yes they all have adorably cute Japanese wives, such is the way here) and they said its a terrific weekend plan. Cycle on Saturday, end up in Matsuyama which is right near Dogo Onsen (the most famous hot spa in all of Japan apparantly) and kick back all day there Sunday until you have to leisurely catch the ferry back to Hiroshima in the evening.
Time for another segue... how awesome is some directionless, unedited writing? self-indulgence thy name is "Internet Blog".
I've dropped my stupidly hostile behaviour of trying to avoid other expats here, sure you meet some morons but there are also some great people over here. I should explain, I got sick of hanging out with expats when a few of them began Japan-bashing in ridiculously cliched, unintelligent ways but I've since met enough great people to have my faith restored. I've met quite a few expats who run bars or nights at clubs here, they will not shut up about Hiroshima being the best city in Japan (they've lived in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka amongst other places) but I'm still looking forward to making my own mind up first hand.
One great thing about this city (and living so close to the centre of downtown, with its gorgeous parks and rivers) is how many random encounters you can have just walking around on your own. I went to buy a Sega Dreamcast for $35AUD off a guy who advertised on Gethiroshima.com. I expected it to be a 2 minute exchange but it ended up (through pure chance) with him, two of his friends and I all drinking beer/chuhai and shooting the shit for about an hour in the muggy evening in the Peace Park overlooking the A-Bomb dome.
I've got to head off to the Yakitori place under my building now to meet up with a bunch of people. I've got heaps more I've started to remember that I'll try and put up here later tonight. I don't think this ended up being anything other than G rated again... mmmm too bad, maybe my mum and dad really did raise me with too many manners, or maybe I don't want to kiss and tell to the entire Internet with all those prying eyes...
You know what, if you're reading this and you want me to continute updating it (or you would like to give some constructive criticism - NO more requests for photos of girls, the internet has enough porn for you already) then please EMAIL ME. swfenton at gmail dot com.
Apologies in advance to any relatives who would rather remember me as the young innocent teenage Simon, but the masses are emailing me and telling me they want more dirt. I will not be offended at all if you would rather not read on.
Summer here really is hell on earth. I don't know how the hell the Canadians and Scots put up with it because it's close to sending me completely mental. More than 5 minutes outside at ANY time of day even 4am will have you dripping sweat in no time. If I didn't like Hiroshima so much I'd seriously consider applying for a transfer to Hokkaido.
I went to the baseball yesterday evening on a whim and ended up drinking about 8 cans, sweating so much I looked like I'd just been for a swim and generally making a filthy mess of myself... Baseball is an awesome sport for just pissing away a Sunday evening with some friends, you only have to pay attention maybe 50% of the time and the Japanese lllove a good beer or 10 at the game. The Carp got destroyed by the Giants 11-6 with some of the worst pitching I've seen since I got here, including an accidental walked run... that pitcher didn't get pulled until 2 innings later!
Alright its been over a month since I last put anything proper up here... let me cast my mind back.
I've been on a few proper trips around Hiroshima prefecture now, once to Onomichi and once to Iwakuni. Japan is pretty damn easy for a traveller sans car especially if you have some basic travel-vocab down.
Onomichi is an incredibly picturesque little town on the Seto Sea about 75 minutes east of Hiroshima on the JR Sanyo line. I spent an agonisingly hot but beautiful 5 hours walking the temple trail through the town which takes you past at least 30 different temples and shrines. Didn't see one other gaijin the entire time in Onomichi which made it feel much more isolated. Despite going there with absolutely zero planning I managed to end up finding a "rope-way" (Japanese English for "cable car") to the top of the biggest mountain in the town where a supurb little lunch cafe served the town's speciality "tako ramen" (fried octopus with ramen noodles in a tasty broth) with panoramic views of the nearby islands in the Seto Sea.
Mt.Senkoji is beautiful in quite a peculiar way. It's not spectacular but it has some odd little magic moments. Clearly this is well known since at almost every one of these spots an artist was sketching/painting away.
While I think of it, odd observation time. Japanese tourist groups, as in Japanese tourists being lead around by Japanese tour guides, definitely live up to the stereotypes. They power along at a crazy pace with cameras going full speed. Normally there's a very attractive girl in a uniform with a tiny skirt and a neck scarf holding a flag/standard with the tour company's logo up the front of the group. They speak way too fast for me to catch much from my eavesdropping but they do seem to drop in a lot of "keep moving please, this way please"... time is money on these tours I guess!
I plan on going back to Onomichi sometime when its not so damn hot and riding a bike the entire length of the bridge that spans all the islands from Onomichi to the major island of Shikoku. I was talking about it with some British guys who run a bar here called Spud Love (yes they all have adorably cute Japanese wives, such is the way here) and they said its a terrific weekend plan. Cycle on Saturday, end up in Matsuyama which is right near Dogo Onsen (the most famous hot spa in all of Japan apparantly) and kick back all day there Sunday until you have to leisurely catch the ferry back to Hiroshima in the evening.
Time for another segue... how awesome is some directionless, unedited writing? self-indulgence thy name is "Internet Blog".
I've dropped my stupidly hostile behaviour of trying to avoid other expats here, sure you meet some morons but there are also some great people over here. I should explain, I got sick of hanging out with expats when a few of them began Japan-bashing in ridiculously cliched, unintelligent ways but I've since met enough great people to have my faith restored. I've met quite a few expats who run bars or nights at clubs here, they will not shut up about Hiroshima being the best city in Japan (they've lived in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka amongst other places) but I'm still looking forward to making my own mind up first hand.
One great thing about this city (and living so close to the centre of downtown, with its gorgeous parks and rivers) is how many random encounters you can have just walking around on your own. I went to buy a Sega Dreamcast for $35AUD off a guy who advertised on Gethiroshima.com. I expected it to be a 2 minute exchange but it ended up (through pure chance) with him, two of his friends and I all drinking beer/chuhai and shooting the shit for about an hour in the muggy evening in the Peace Park overlooking the A-Bomb dome.
I've got to head off to the Yakitori place under my building now to meet up with a bunch of people. I've got heaps more I've started to remember that I'll try and put up here later tonight. I don't think this ended up being anything other than G rated again... mmmm too bad, maybe my mum and dad really did raise me with too many manners, or maybe I don't want to kiss and tell to the entire Internet with all those prying eyes...
You know what, if you're reading this and you want me to continute updating it (or you would like to give some constructive criticism - NO more requests for photos of girls, the internet has enough porn for you already) then please EMAIL ME. swfenton at gmail dot com.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Patience please!
I've just uploaded a stack of photos to Flickr.
I know I am really overdue for a proper update here, I'll try and set aside enough time to do so tomorrow before work.
For now you can enjoy some photos of Iwakuni (a town 40 minutes south west of Hiroshima), home of the famous Kintaikyo bridge. Also included are photos of August 6th's Peace Memorial Day activities. It's been quite a day, beginning with a speech from Prime Minister Koizumi at 8am and finishing with an unauthorised drum'n'bass party into the early hours of the following day.
I know I am really overdue for a proper update here, I'll try and set aside enough time to do so tomorrow before work.
For now you can enjoy some photos of Iwakuni (a town 40 minutes south west of Hiroshima), home of the famous Kintaikyo bridge. Also included are photos of August 6th's Peace Memorial Day activities. It's been quite a day, beginning with a speech from Prime Minister Koizumi at 8am and finishing with an unauthorised drum'n'bass party into the early hours of the following day.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Where the magic happens
I know I'm well overdue for an update, but ever since I bought myself a MacBook the inspiration just hasn't been forthcoming!
Just in case you're curious, this is a photo of my new toy.
You can see there some of my favourite things here in Hiroshima when trying to live on the cheap. Big Cup Noodle, I don't think that needs an explanation. A can of Asahi is hiding behind the noodles. To the right of that is a 1L carton of delicious iced coffee with cream. To the right again is a Carona (normally I wouldn't go near them but they were so cheap the other night at Lawson's that I couldn't pass) that comes with a little sachet of lemon in true ultra-convenient Japanese style.
I'm really not feeling the creative flow here so I've just uploaded a whole bunch of photos. I'll put a proper update here another time when the brain worms are functioning properly.
Just in case you're curious, this is a photo of my new toy.
You can see there some of my favourite things here in Hiroshima when trying to live on the cheap. Big Cup Noodle, I don't think that needs an explanation. A can of Asahi is hiding behind the noodles. To the right of that is a 1L carton of delicious iced coffee with cream. To the right again is a Carona (normally I wouldn't go near them but they were so cheap the other night at Lawson's that I couldn't pass) that comes with a little sachet of lemon in true ultra-convenient Japanese style.
I'm really not feeling the creative flow here so I've just uploaded a whole bunch of photos. I'll put a proper update here another time when the brain worms are functioning properly.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
This update brought to you by Kirin
Well after a night of eating and drinking at a tiny 'mom&pop' izakaya that some friends and I found on a random walk through Naka-ku (the name of the downtown suburb in which I live) tonight, I've found myself in front of an iBook with internet so what better time to put up an update. 'Random drunken thoughts' shall be our theme for today.
Japanese food. It's a strange beast. Just when you think you're a little bit sick of rice and edamame (google it, salty snow-pea like snack in short) and miso soup, you discover 879463 new dishes. I had zarusoba (so named because of the plate "zaru" on which the soba noodles are served) for the first time last weekend and on a hot day there is nothing better. So simple, essentially just chilled noodles with a bowl of soy, spring onion and wasabi to dip them in before noisily slurping them down. Of course with Japanese food nothing is EVER really that simple. I'm sure the arrangement and the garnish took more time to prepare than you'd assume. The rice ball-esque dish served alongside (sorry, forgot the Japanese name) which had hints of plum and fish, made for a deceptively good feed.
Pocari Sweat has been replaced by 126Yen 1L cartons of lemon iced tea as my new favourite drink, consuming an obscene number per week at the moment.
Soccer is going well despite me putting in a shocking performance last weekend (one of the Japanese guys even out headered me, which he thought was hilarious) and Ive uploaded a few photos of some team members and the penalty kicks that decided last week's match. (ugh, penalty kicks... if I never have to see another one of them in my life I'll be happy). No World Cup talk this week, I'm thoroghly sick of talking about it with students at work.
While drinking at a bar a few weeks ago (I'm sure that's how a lot of stories are going to start on this here blog) I met a young bloke from Kansas who just happened to be employed as the mascot for the Hiroshima Carp baseball team. Fascinating story behind getting that job, but I can't put it up here. Anyway, he's a really nice guy and he offered to get me some free tickets to the baseball! So last weekend Jay and I went along and got seriously sunburnt, learnt some chants (and some foul Japanese), ate the most overpriced craptastic "Fried French" (French Fries, as only the Japanese could write it) and had a great day. Through a complete fluke we bumped into a Japanese woman that Jay had once taught and she kept feeding us tasty Japanese snacks all afternoon while she tried to teach us the chants for the Carp. Holy moley the Japanese baseball fans know how to chant! They have an entire makeshift brass band up in the stands and they blast out a variety of tunes all game. The entire crowd seems to know all the words and the noise level only subsides for short moments (they even have a song for ALL IN or SIDE AWAY).
It turned out to be a real nail-biter of a game. The Carp took an early lead when one of their big hitters smashed a three run home run in the bottom of the 2nd. The Tokyo giants managed to claw back two runs in the top of the 6th but the real drama came when they tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the 9th. Fast forward and its bottom of the 9th, nobody on base, 2 outs, the Carp Pinch Hitter at bat. He pops one over the shortstop and manages to make it comfortably to first. The next guy at bat smashes about 5 foul balls into the crowd when the PH steals second. The tag at second was so close (the second base player was actually airborne above the sliding runner) that the umpires had a conference on the mound for a good 5 minutes (this is when I got my lesson on Japanese curse words from the surrounding fans). The final decision was SAFU much to our delight. Next pitch and the batter smacks it right in the gap between right and center field, the crowd leaps to its feet and our hero PH runs home at lightspeed. The throw from outfield was awesome, but not quick enough, "SAFU" is the call and the Carp dugout rush out onto the field in delight. The fans were singing and chanting their hardest and the atmosphere was just spectacular.
It's a pity in a way, but I'm really starting to get used to life here. I say a pity because it's making it much harder to think of all the odd things that you would probably like to read about. I don't want this to turn into just another boring diary, it's where I want to record all the zany things about Japan. Habitualisation puts pay to that eh. Let me try and rack my brain (and not repeat earlier updates).
The humidity here really is hell on earth. It's not even the height of summer yet and already I start sweating in my shirt after only 5 minutes outside. Japanese people seem to think 28 degrees is the best setting for indoor climate control systems so I get no real releif there either.
I AM DYING WITHOUT MY MELBOURNE COFFEE! Seriously, the coffee here is just shocking. Starbucks is about the best there is, oh woe betide. I paid over $5 aussie the other day for a "ko-hi ra-te" (cafe latte) that was so bad I just had to start laughing to myself. Oh well, at least I got my $5 worth of ultra polite service with extra "arigato gozaimasu" thrown in on top.
I don't want to go into too much detail over it (you never know who's reading this 'ere internet thing) but I've been exposed to the somewhat savage side of my employer recently. It hasn't soured me all that much but it's certainly made me realise that "job security" is a luxury not many people enjoy over here.
My Japanese lessons are progressing but I feel like I've taken a bit of a step backwards since my teacher is forcing me to get my reading and writing up to speed with my conversation skills. It's so incredibly frustrating,l I feel like a five year old trying to write his first sentences at primary school. A conversation that would take me 30 seconds to say outloud takes me a good 30 minutes to write down and even then it has quite a few spelling errors (the difference between some Japanese words is an incredibly subtle vowel change, although English probably has more so I cant complain too much). I've got a Kanji dictionary too and I'm memorising them at a rate of about 2 per day. It's so unbeleivably liberating to be able to understand the basics like "hot" and "cold" and "exit" and "entrance".
Japanese food. It's a strange beast. Just when you think you're a little bit sick of rice and edamame (google it, salty snow-pea like snack in short) and miso soup, you discover 879463 new dishes. I had zarusoba (so named because of the plate "zaru" on which the soba noodles are served) for the first time last weekend and on a hot day there is nothing better. So simple, essentially just chilled noodles with a bowl of soy, spring onion and wasabi to dip them in before noisily slurping them down. Of course with Japanese food nothing is EVER really that simple. I'm sure the arrangement and the garnish took more time to prepare than you'd assume. The rice ball-esque dish served alongside (sorry, forgot the Japanese name) which had hints of plum and fish, made for a deceptively good feed.
Pocari Sweat has been replaced by 126Yen 1L cartons of lemon iced tea as my new favourite drink, consuming an obscene number per week at the moment.
Soccer is going well despite me putting in a shocking performance last weekend (one of the Japanese guys even out headered me, which he thought was hilarious) and Ive uploaded a few photos of some team members and the penalty kicks that decided last week's match. (ugh, penalty kicks... if I never have to see another one of them in my life I'll be happy). No World Cup talk this week, I'm thoroghly sick of talking about it with students at work.
While drinking at a bar a few weeks ago (I'm sure that's how a lot of stories are going to start on this here blog) I met a young bloke from Kansas who just happened to be employed as the mascot for the Hiroshima Carp baseball team. Fascinating story behind getting that job, but I can't put it up here. Anyway, he's a really nice guy and he offered to get me some free tickets to the baseball! So last weekend Jay and I went along and got seriously sunburnt, learnt some chants (and some foul Japanese), ate the most overpriced craptastic "Fried French" (French Fries, as only the Japanese could write it) and had a great day. Through a complete fluke we bumped into a Japanese woman that Jay had once taught and she kept feeding us tasty Japanese snacks all afternoon while she tried to teach us the chants for the Carp. Holy moley the Japanese baseball fans know how to chant! They have an entire makeshift brass band up in the stands and they blast out a variety of tunes all game. The entire crowd seems to know all the words and the noise level only subsides for short moments (they even have a song for ALL IN or SIDE AWAY).
It turned out to be a real nail-biter of a game. The Carp took an early lead when one of their big hitters smashed a three run home run in the bottom of the 2nd. The Tokyo giants managed to claw back two runs in the top of the 6th but the real drama came when they tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the 9th. Fast forward and its bottom of the 9th, nobody on base, 2 outs, the Carp Pinch Hitter at bat. He pops one over the shortstop and manages to make it comfortably to first. The next guy at bat smashes about 5 foul balls into the crowd when the PH steals second. The tag at second was so close (the second base player was actually airborne above the sliding runner) that the umpires had a conference on the mound for a good 5 minutes (this is when I got my lesson on Japanese curse words from the surrounding fans). The final decision was SAFU much to our delight. Next pitch and the batter smacks it right in the gap between right and center field, the crowd leaps to its feet and our hero PH runs home at lightspeed. The throw from outfield was awesome, but not quick enough, "SAFU" is the call and the Carp dugout rush out onto the field in delight. The fans were singing and chanting their hardest and the atmosphere was just spectacular.
It's a pity in a way, but I'm really starting to get used to life here. I say a pity because it's making it much harder to think of all the odd things that you would probably like to read about. I don't want this to turn into just another boring diary, it's where I want to record all the zany things about Japan. Habitualisation puts pay to that eh. Let me try and rack my brain (and not repeat earlier updates).
The humidity here really is hell on earth. It's not even the height of summer yet and already I start sweating in my shirt after only 5 minutes outside. Japanese people seem to think 28 degrees is the best setting for indoor climate control systems so I get no real releif there either.
I AM DYING WITHOUT MY MELBOURNE COFFEE! Seriously, the coffee here is just shocking. Starbucks is about the best there is, oh woe betide. I paid over $5 aussie the other day for a "ko-hi ra-te" (cafe latte) that was so bad I just had to start laughing to myself. Oh well, at least I got my $5 worth of ultra polite service with extra "arigato gozaimasu" thrown in on top.
I don't want to go into too much detail over it (you never know who's reading this 'ere internet thing) but I've been exposed to the somewhat savage side of my employer recently. It hasn't soured me all that much but it's certainly made me realise that "job security" is a luxury not many people enjoy over here.
My Japanese lessons are progressing but I feel like I've taken a bit of a step backwards since my teacher is forcing me to get my reading and writing up to speed with my conversation skills. It's so incredibly frustrating,l I feel like a five year old trying to write his first sentences at primary school. A conversation that would take me 30 seconds to say outloud takes me a good 30 minutes to write down and even then it has quite a few spelling errors (the difference between some Japanese words is an incredibly subtle vowel change, although English probably has more so I cant complain too much). I've got a Kanji dictionary too and I'm memorising them at a rate of about 2 per day. It's so unbeleivably liberating to be able to understand the basics like "hot" and "cold" and "exit" and "entrance".
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Rainy season brings the sads
Well, one month in and the homesickness has finally gotten a grip on me. The rainy season was very late this year but it's finally set in. I wasted most of this weekend feeling glum, reading books/magazines and listening to music trying to convince myself I was back in North Fitzroy as it was pouring down outside.
Still, it ain't been all bad recently... let's see if I can cheer myself up by typing up some of the good things I've been up to lately.
I went out exploring the backstreets of Hiroshima's downtown last Saturday after my Japanese lesson and stumbled across a punk record shop that doubles as a curry cafe. For just over $6 aussie I got a huge spicy curry, rice, side salad and tea. Not only that but the guy running the joint was incredibly friendly and chatty. He even slung me a free copy of his own band's CD. The mix of music was pretty bizarre, punk from every continent covered all but one wall which was a shrine to "new wave" and electropop records... strange.
Some friends took me out to this club, Jamaica, that didn't impress from the outside (I recognise that evil thump.... tha-thump-thump of R&B penetrating concrete) but inside was wall to wall girls; incredible girls. Someone built you a heaven, Jow, and lo it is "Jamaica" in Hiroshima. It didn't take me too long to get chatting to a lovely young thing by the name of Kimiko but that's where we'll leave that one. I will say that being a beginner in any language can lead to some questions coming out a hell of a lot more blunt than a native speaker would phrase them. The music took a turn for the better around 1am when the R&B fool packed his bags and was replaced by some seriously decent techno. Japanese people can outdance Australians to R&B, no doubt, but their efforts with the techno were pretty hilarious... still it was a really good vibe in there and I was wishing my clubbing buddies could have been there with me. Oh, odd thing about clubs here, they very rarely have a cover charge and if they do then you normally get the full value of the fee back in drink cards.
(Kav, I managed to find a 'glitch' night here but sadly it is pretty poorly attended. I stuck around till 3am when it headed into the 'extreme bangin tek' zone which I was in no mood for.)
I don't quite know how I did it but on less than 4 hours sleep I got up on Sunday and went with Akira (really nice Japanese guy I met) to his weekly soccer training & match. This was one hell of a new experience, not only were these guys much higher skilled than any team I've ever played with but they play on GRAVEL! A sandy, rough gravel that loves to rip skin off knees. I'm still trying desperately to heal my right knee which has been bleeding sporadically into my suit pants ever since, hooray. We did 2 hours of training in the ever increasing heat where it was decided that due to my height and uhh... "slightly lacking fitness", that I would be put up front and so I drilled headers from corner kicks and controlling long passes on my chest. I don't think I've worked that hard in a long time. When the game finally came around I was already drenched in sweat but the adrenalin kicked in and I had a great match, managed to contribute to two goals and narrowly missed curving my own long strike into the top right corner.
I must have impressed the team enough because they've asked me to come back next week and join them full-time. Time to improve the fitness and buy a proper soccer kit. Nobody wears knee pads or elbow pads yet none of them seem to bleed after falling over hard in the gravel, I need to learn their technique or I'm going to have no skin left on my legs. After the game Akira took me to a little ramen place where I finally had some SPICEY food. Weird how much I missed eating chilli, the Japanese just don't seem to dig on spicey things.
Later that same Sunday was my Welcome party with the Nova staff (both ex-pat and Japanese) with all you can drink and all you can eat. That shochu is powerful stuff. I'd write more if I could remember any of it ;)
I've been watching a hell of a lot of the World Cup but it's pretty dangerous letting people know you're an "ostoraria-jin" here at the moment... quite a bit of anger at finishing last in their group. I didn't get to watch the Croatia game because the Japan-Brasil match was at the same time and obviously took broadcast priority. I can safely say my arse will be planted in front of a big screen for the Italy game coming up this week.
Would love to write more but yada yada no laptop yet, SOON I promise. No photos this time because I forgot the camera but I haven't been very good at remembering to snap a lot of shots, it's taking me a while to get into the habit of busting out the camera all the time.
I can read hiragana and katakana faster and faster each day and I'm even able to remember some kanji now but conversational Japanese is still progressing slowly. I think there must be a tipping point, once your listening comprehension reaches a certain point it must get a lot easier (it better! I'm sick of asking people to repeat themselves slowly).
Quick little "odd spot" for you: my ability to use chopsticks continues to amaze the locals. I've had waitresses stare dumbstruck at me eating ramen and sashimi confidently with chopsticks. I don't know if it is genuine or if they just feign it to flatter the gaijin but they do seem genuinely suprised if you can use chopsticks and/or order food and drinks in their language. "mou ikkai, kudasai" is a useful one, "one more (or same again), please" I think is the rough translation.
I've got 1 on 1 Japanese lessons lined up now and I bought a text book which really helps with my reading and writing so maybe this "12 months and you can be somewhat fluent" advice from the recruiters wasn't all lies.
Oh one last thing, I hope this doesn't mean I'm going to hell but I have eaten the much controversial whale. The dish I had was part of a huge dinner at an izakaya and the only part of the name on the menu I could read was "bacon" in katakana, so I didn't think twice when my Japanese friends ordered it. I gotta say, it was pretty tasty with the mustard and raw onion they served it on. Please don't tell Greenpeace!
Still, it ain't been all bad recently... let's see if I can cheer myself up by typing up some of the good things I've been up to lately.
I went out exploring the backstreets of Hiroshima's downtown last Saturday after my Japanese lesson and stumbled across a punk record shop that doubles as a curry cafe. For just over $6 aussie I got a huge spicy curry, rice, side salad and tea. Not only that but the guy running the joint was incredibly friendly and chatty. He even slung me a free copy of his own band's CD. The mix of music was pretty bizarre, punk from every continent covered all but one wall which was a shrine to "new wave" and electropop records... strange.
Some friends took me out to this club, Jamaica, that didn't impress from the outside (I recognise that evil thump.... tha-thump-thump of R&B penetrating concrete) but inside was wall to wall girls; incredible girls. Someone built you a heaven, Jow, and lo it is "Jamaica" in Hiroshima. It didn't take me too long to get chatting to a lovely young thing by the name of Kimiko but that's where we'll leave that one. I will say that being a beginner in any language can lead to some questions coming out a hell of a lot more blunt than a native speaker would phrase them. The music took a turn for the better around 1am when the R&B fool packed his bags and was replaced by some seriously decent techno. Japanese people can outdance Australians to R&B, no doubt, but their efforts with the techno were pretty hilarious... still it was a really good vibe in there and I was wishing my clubbing buddies could have been there with me. Oh, odd thing about clubs here, they very rarely have a cover charge and if they do then you normally get the full value of the fee back in drink cards.
(Kav, I managed to find a 'glitch' night here but sadly it is pretty poorly attended. I stuck around till 3am when it headed into the 'extreme bangin tek' zone which I was in no mood for.)
I don't quite know how I did it but on less than 4 hours sleep I got up on Sunday and went with Akira (really nice Japanese guy I met) to his weekly soccer training & match. This was one hell of a new experience, not only were these guys much higher skilled than any team I've ever played with but they play on GRAVEL! A sandy, rough gravel that loves to rip skin off knees. I'm still trying desperately to heal my right knee which has been bleeding sporadically into my suit pants ever since, hooray. We did 2 hours of training in the ever increasing heat where it was decided that due to my height and uhh... "slightly lacking fitness", that I would be put up front and so I drilled headers from corner kicks and controlling long passes on my chest. I don't think I've worked that hard in a long time. When the game finally came around I was already drenched in sweat but the adrenalin kicked in and I had a great match, managed to contribute to two goals and narrowly missed curving my own long strike into the top right corner.
I must have impressed the team enough because they've asked me to come back next week and join them full-time. Time to improve the fitness and buy a proper soccer kit. Nobody wears knee pads or elbow pads yet none of them seem to bleed after falling over hard in the gravel, I need to learn their technique or I'm going to have no skin left on my legs. After the game Akira took me to a little ramen place where I finally had some SPICEY food. Weird how much I missed eating chilli, the Japanese just don't seem to dig on spicey things.
Later that same Sunday was my Welcome party with the Nova staff (both ex-pat and Japanese) with all you can drink and all you can eat. That shochu is powerful stuff. I'd write more if I could remember any of it ;)
I've been watching a hell of a lot of the World Cup but it's pretty dangerous letting people know you're an "ostoraria-jin" here at the moment... quite a bit of anger at finishing last in their group. I didn't get to watch the Croatia game because the Japan-Brasil match was at the same time and obviously took broadcast priority. I can safely say my arse will be planted in front of a big screen for the Italy game coming up this week.
Would love to write more but yada yada no laptop yet, SOON I promise. No photos this time because I forgot the camera but I haven't been very good at remembering to snap a lot of shots, it's taking me a while to get into the habit of busting out the camera all the time.
I can read hiragana and katakana faster and faster each day and I'm even able to remember some kanji now but conversational Japanese is still progressing slowly. I think there must be a tipping point, once your listening comprehension reaches a certain point it must get a lot easier (it better! I'm sick of asking people to repeat themselves slowly).
Quick little "odd spot" for you: my ability to use chopsticks continues to amaze the locals. I've had waitresses stare dumbstruck at me eating ramen and sashimi confidently with chopsticks. I don't know if it is genuine or if they just feign it to flatter the gaijin but they do seem genuinely suprised if you can use chopsticks and/or order food and drinks in their language. "mou ikkai, kudasai" is a useful one, "one more (or same again), please" I think is the rough translation.
I've got 1 on 1 Japanese lessons lined up now and I bought a text book which really helps with my reading and writing so maybe this "12 months and you can be somewhat fluent" advice from the recruiters wasn't all lies.
Oh one last thing, I hope this doesn't mean I'm going to hell but I have eaten the much controversial whale. The dish I had was part of a huge dinner at an izakaya and the only part of the name on the menu I could read was "bacon" in katakana, so I didn't think twice when my Japanese friends ordered it. I gotta say, it was pretty tasty with the mustard and raw onion they served it on. Please don't tell Greenpeace!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The sound of one Aussie clapping.
As usual I've wasted most of my session in this netcafe talking to people on msn and
replying to emails, so I'm going to be rushing to fit everything into this update. Oh, I
lost my last update a week ago when the computer in the netcafe crashed so that's why it has
been so long between updates.
Lots to cover, lets start with the World Cup, Australia vs Japan to be precise. Hot damn,
what a game. I watched it in a very busy pub right in the heart of Hiroshima. Myself, two
fellow Australians, one Yank and roughly 150 very blue, very noisy Japanese screaming
"NIPPON! NIPPON! NIPPON!" amongst other things. It was a very rough 80 minutes of soccer for me to endure, plenty of smirks and grins from the other people in the pub. When Cahill
finally scored there was a sudden silence penetrated only by my "YOU RIPPEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!". I realised all too late that it probably wasn't the best way to
make friends. I copped a few boos and hisses from some of the girls nearby but overall the
Japanese were quite friendly to me afterwards. A few business men gave me gruff handshakes
adding comments like "Australia... very rough team" or "Cahill... too good." There were
quite a few tears and seriously distraught looking fans walking home. A Hiroshima radio
station interviewed me for my "Aussie opinion" on the match, I hope I wasn't too drunk by
that stage during our little post-match celebration. I really appreciated the phone call,
Nick et co... it was really comforting to hear some fellow jubilant Australians after that
incredible game. Oh, they have VB stubbies here but they cost 700 yen ($8.50 or so) and taste nothing like the VB I remember so I won't be bothering with them again.
I had my first date with a Japanese girl. No kissing and telling on this here blog, but I
will say that the cultural and language barrier can make for some seriously awkward
situations. According to some friends here, I got off to a shocking start by kissing her on
the cheek (a serious taboo here) but hopefully she just thinks that's the foreign man being
foreign. After dinner I thought she was shooting me down in flames, but a long story short,
we have another date lined up soon (she wants me to cook her an "Australian dinner"... errr,
might have to bust out an easy pasta dish and hope she isn't expecting a kangaroo steak or
something.)
There's quite a few things about Japan that I still find really surprising, totally
contradict my expectations:
- There's hardly any anime on TV, maybe one or two shows per day and not a single one that
looks any good. No Samurai Champloo or GITS:SAC that's for sure. Naruto and One Piece a
plenty... yawn.
- I've only eaten sushi once since I got here. Japanese people just don't seem to eat it
often at all. I picked up a huge lunch pack for 500 yen at a supermarket, more than you'd
get in Australia for $10 and far superior quality with a much wider variety of ingredients
too.
- Public transport in Hiroshima isn't very packed at all. Maybe it's an unusual city by
Japanese standards, but I get a seat almost every time I travel (and I get my wonderful
buffer zone - Japanese people would rather stand than sit next to a gaijin.)
This is hopeless, I'm hitting a mental block now, I had heaps of things to write about! I
should keep a pen and paper journal so I don't get stuck like this...
Ah, I know, crazy English in Hiroshima! I saw two little kids walking with their mother (or
older sister, I'm so bad at guessing age over here) and they were wearing matching tshirts
that said "Fuck you, buddy!" and "Piss off!" in pink, yellow and blue with cute little
fonts. I had a good laugh then, but I've realised now that it's a pretty common thing to
have tshirts with really obscene and/or surreal, abstract, non-sensical English phrases.
Still, it makes me grin every time I see a good one.
I got to experience my first earthquake last Monday. It hit about 5 in the morning (and even
managed to wake me up) and the paper here said it measured 5 on the Japanese scale. I have
no idea how that relates to the Richter scale but I'm sure it couldn't have been more than
about a 3, since there were no reports of building damage and only a few minor injuries. I
vaguely remember waking up to the sound of everything in our apartment shaking and
vibrating, looking out the window (dumb move apparently, windows can explode and cut you up
pretty bad) and seeing all the streetlights shaking violently. Definitely a strange
experience, not one I'm keen to repeat but it didn't stop me from getting straight back to
sleep.
I've met some Japanese guys that play in an outdoor soccer team on Sundays and they invited
me to come and try out for their team so I'm pretty excited about that. They seem to expect
pretty big things from an Aussie, so I hope I don't seriously disappoint. There's some
English/Scottish/Kiwi expats that organise a friendly game every now and then too. They said
they'd give me a yell when the next game is on, so I should finally have an opportunity for
some serious exercise and a chance to meet heaps more people.
After three weeks here it's becoming harder and harder to think of things to type here as
the whole culture and city is starting to feel more and more like home. My Japanese is
reaching the stage where I can make chit chat with people I bump into in my building's
elevator but my lessons (reading and writing) are slow going. I can read Katakana and
Hiragana very very slowly, but even that feels quite liberating.
Most of the latest photos I've uploaded were taken at Hiroshima Castle and the Shukkien garden nearby. Both were incredibly beautiful and tranquil places. I regularly clear my head by just plonking my rump on a bench in the shade at one of the many parks and taking in the 'tranquility'.
Please keep the emails coming, I promise my replies will get more frequent when I finally
have a laptop.
replying to emails, so I'm going to be rushing to fit everything into this update. Oh, I
lost my last update a week ago when the computer in the netcafe crashed so that's why it has
been so long between updates.
Lots to cover, lets start with the World Cup, Australia vs Japan to be precise. Hot damn,
what a game. I watched it in a very busy pub right in the heart of Hiroshima. Myself, two
fellow Australians, one Yank and roughly 150 very blue, very noisy Japanese screaming
"NIPPON! NIPPON! NIPPON!" amongst other things. It was a very rough 80 minutes of soccer for me to endure, plenty of smirks and grins from the other people in the pub. When Cahill
finally scored there was a sudden silence penetrated only by my "YOU RIPPEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!". I realised all too late that it probably wasn't the best way to
make friends. I copped a few boos and hisses from some of the girls nearby but overall the
Japanese were quite friendly to me afterwards. A few business men gave me gruff handshakes
adding comments like "Australia... very rough team" or "Cahill... too good." There were
quite a few tears and seriously distraught looking fans walking home. A Hiroshima radio
station interviewed me for my "Aussie opinion" on the match, I hope I wasn't too drunk by
that stage during our little post-match celebration. I really appreciated the phone call,
Nick et co... it was really comforting to hear some fellow jubilant Australians after that
incredible game. Oh, they have VB stubbies here but they cost 700 yen ($8.50 or so) and taste nothing like the VB I remember so I won't be bothering with them again.
I had my first date with a Japanese girl. No kissing and telling on this here blog, but I
will say that the cultural and language barrier can make for some seriously awkward
situations. According to some friends here, I got off to a shocking start by kissing her on
the cheek (a serious taboo here) but hopefully she just thinks that's the foreign man being
foreign. After dinner I thought she was shooting me down in flames, but a long story short,
we have another date lined up soon (she wants me to cook her an "Australian dinner"... errr,
might have to bust out an easy pasta dish and hope she isn't expecting a kangaroo steak or
something.)
There's quite a few things about Japan that I still find really surprising, totally
contradict my expectations:
- There's hardly any anime on TV, maybe one or two shows per day and not a single one that
looks any good. No Samurai Champloo or GITS:SAC that's for sure. Naruto and One Piece a
plenty... yawn.
- I've only eaten sushi once since I got here. Japanese people just don't seem to eat it
often at all. I picked up a huge lunch pack for 500 yen at a supermarket, more than you'd
get in Australia for $10 and far superior quality with a much wider variety of ingredients
too.
- Public transport in Hiroshima isn't very packed at all. Maybe it's an unusual city by
Japanese standards, but I get a seat almost every time I travel (and I get my wonderful
buffer zone - Japanese people would rather stand than sit next to a gaijin.)
This is hopeless, I'm hitting a mental block now, I had heaps of things to write about! I
should keep a pen and paper journal so I don't get stuck like this...
Ah, I know, crazy English in Hiroshima! I saw two little kids walking with their mother (or
older sister, I'm so bad at guessing age over here) and they were wearing matching tshirts
that said "Fuck you, buddy!" and "Piss off!" in pink, yellow and blue with cute little
fonts. I had a good laugh then, but I've realised now that it's a pretty common thing to
have tshirts with really obscene and/or surreal, abstract, non-sensical English phrases.
Still, it makes me grin every time I see a good one.
I got to experience my first earthquake last Monday. It hit about 5 in the morning (and even
managed to wake me up) and the paper here said it measured 5 on the Japanese scale. I have
no idea how that relates to the Richter scale but I'm sure it couldn't have been more than
about a 3, since there were no reports of building damage and only a few minor injuries. I
vaguely remember waking up to the sound of everything in our apartment shaking and
vibrating, looking out the window (dumb move apparently, windows can explode and cut you up
pretty bad) and seeing all the streetlights shaking violently. Definitely a strange
experience, not one I'm keen to repeat but it didn't stop me from getting straight back to
sleep.
I've met some Japanese guys that play in an outdoor soccer team on Sundays and they invited
me to come and try out for their team so I'm pretty excited about that. They seem to expect
pretty big things from an Aussie, so I hope I don't seriously disappoint. There's some
English/Scottish/Kiwi expats that organise a friendly game every now and then too. They said
they'd give me a yell when the next game is on, so I should finally have an opportunity for
some serious exercise and a chance to meet heaps more people.
After three weeks here it's becoming harder and harder to think of things to type here as
the whole culture and city is starting to feel more and more like home. My Japanese is
reaching the stage where I can make chit chat with people I bump into in my building's
elevator but my lessons (reading and writing) are slow going. I can read Katakana and
Hiragana very very slowly, but even that feels quite liberating.
Most of the latest photos I've uploaded were taken at Hiroshima Castle and the Shukkien garden nearby. Both were incredibly beautiful and tranquil places. I regularly clear my head by just plonking my rump on a bench in the shade at one of the many parks and taking in the 'tranquility'.
Please keep the emails coming, I promise my replies will get more frequent when I finally
have a laptop.
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