...about acquiring a driver's license in Japan.
As an American, in order to transform my license from North Carolina into a Japanese one, I have to take a written and a practical test. I have to do it by July 29th, because that is when my non-renewable International Driving Permit expires and I DON'T want to be stuck here without a license. So, after driving for 12 years, I must be able to pass a piddly little driving test, right?
WRONG!
No emoticon can convey the sense of absolute agony, frustration, and nervousness that I have experienced the past 3 weeks. That's 3 attempts in 3 weeks, and I still haven't managed to pass. Taking a driving test here is similar to doing a tea ceremony: you have to know exactly what to do and execute it in a precise fashion. If you do anything less than perfect, you fail.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Saturday, June 17, 2006
It's been almost a year now since being stuck on this tiny little half-island in the belly of Kyushu. Suzie, my dearest friend out here, and I are pretty much alone down at the bottom of this peninsula, with only movies and the occasional un-working Erich to keep us company. We kind of drew the short straw in terms of having lots of people to hang out with: the JETs closest to us have their own friends, and the people in Shimabara are lovely but an hour away. Carlos, our other dearest friend, is leaving this year and I will be SO SAD when he leaves!
Out with the old, in with the new...
So Suzie and I have been praying that the 2 new JETs placed closest to us are sane. (Well, I've just been praying for their sanity...Suzie is probably praying for hot Scottish men...actually, I wouldn't mind that either!) Just decent people...that's all I ask.
I guess we'll see next month...
But I'm forgetting the original purpose of this post: we finally made a Japanese friend! Her name is Ayako, and she works at the local convenience store. We met her one day when I was trying to buy edamame, and she said in perfect English, "I'm sorry, but I can't sell these to you because they are expired." My jaw dropped to the floor, I forgot all about the edamame, and a friendship began.
Ayako is lovely - she majored in English at university, and she currently has a Dutch boyfriend who she talks to on the Internet. Her English is so good that sometimes I forget she really is Japanese. And she lives right here in Kazusa!
It's funny how when you want something bad enough, it just appears at the local Family Mart and won't sell you edamame.
Out with the old, in with the new...
So Suzie and I have been praying that the 2 new JETs placed closest to us are sane. (Well, I've just been praying for their sanity...Suzie is probably praying for hot Scottish men...actually, I wouldn't mind that either!) Just decent people...that's all I ask.
I guess we'll see next month...
But I'm forgetting the original purpose of this post: we finally made a Japanese friend! Her name is Ayako, and she works at the local convenience store. We met her one day when I was trying to buy edamame, and she said in perfect English, "I'm sorry, but I can't sell these to you because they are expired." My jaw dropped to the floor, I forgot all about the edamame, and a friendship began.
Ayako is lovely - she majored in English at university, and she currently has a Dutch boyfriend who she talks to on the Internet. Her English is so good that sometimes I forget she really is Japanese. And she lives right here in Kazusa!
It's funny how when you want something bad enough, it just appears at the local Family Mart and won't sell you edamame.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Great Kansai Adventure
PARENTAL ADVISORY: Blatant profanity and some negativity are apparent in this entry. Sometimes, I'm just weird.
So, last week was the conference for recontracting JETs. What that means for a lot of us is a chance to go to a big city, party with other gaijin, and make asses out of ourselves. I am definitely one of those people!
Suzie and I started off the journey on the overnight bus...what a mistake. Thinking back on it, we should have brought either alcohol or tranquilizers...or maybe a gun. Should have taken the Shinkansen, but in my effort to make myself look like a thrifty gaijin, I ended up screwing us over. Sorry Suzie!
After arriving at Osaka (instead of Kobe; one of my cost-cutting measures), we took a train to Himeji, the city where the famous castle stands. It was pouring down rain, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. The highlight of the excursion is this photograph:
At first, we thought it was a raindrop, but I doubt a raindrop would have that whitening effect. The weird thing is that we had just been reading about how samurais would kill themselves, then be beheaded and washed in this special area near where this photo was taken. No conclusions have been drawn, but most people concur that it is definitely weird (except Will, "I'm not fockin' stupid, mate!").
After the brush with the ghost, we headed to Kobe to check into the hotel for the conference. Along the way, I couldn't help but notice the degree of urban sprawl in the Kansai area: it seemed to never end. I have a greater appreciation for my inaka lifestyle after seeing how ugly everything is there...I love green forests and mountains! So we checked into the Portopia hotel, and it had fabulous and very large rooms:
Unfortunately, my roommate and I didn't hit it off but luckily, Suzie was right across the hall. There were many Nagasaki people there who had also stayed an extra night, so we all hung out together that night along with a really sweet girl from Okayama. We met some random people at the convenience store, and ended up chatting out there for a while. We then proceeded to the hotel bar, which was on the top floor of the hotel. It reminded me of the bar from Lost in Translation, so I tried to take a "Suntory moment" photo:
But sadly, due to our douchebaggery (mainly mine), it didn't really work. ;)
The Conference:
yadda yadda yadda internationalization yadda yadda i'm a douche yadda yadda look at me i'm genki yadda yadda let's only have presentations about high school yadda yadda yadda -Actually, there was a really awesome presentation about learning Japanese, in which we learned pick-up lines and some REALLY bad words- yadda yadda yadda -It's not that I don't appreciate the effort that went into it, it's just that hardly any of it applied to me- yadda yadda yadda
What really matters: After the conference
The first night wasn't so great. Went to a Chinese buffet, but there wasn't anything veggie so I ended up paying 1500 yen for a salad. Wandered around a few bars after that, but the party seemed to be in a place we couldn't find. Went home at 2am, making it an early night. Talked to some random people in the lobby, saw my first mukade (poisonous centipede). That's right - not in the humid backwaters of Kyushu, but in Kobe!
The second night was much better. To start off with, we found a superb organic vegetarian restaurant. The night could have ended there, and I would have been satisfied but it got even better, because we were all in such a good mood after our fabulous meal. Here we are chilling in a nice bar:
While wandering the streets, Suzie randomly managed to break the heel of her shoe off. This resulted in her hilarious effort to mend the shoe with sugarless chewing gum. I suggested trying the sugary kind instead, which seemed to work a bit better. While we sat on the street waiting for it to dry, money started falling out of the sky. It was our night!
We walked (Suzie limped) to a club to cap the night off, and it turned out to be spinning drum and bass. Perfect! Danced for a while, got hit on by a drunken JET, and rolled out of there a little earlier than everyone else, since my roommate insisted on turning in the key at 7:30am.
Oosaka
Many people don't realize that Osaka actually has 2 o's. Don't forget to say it with a longer "o" sound if you come to Japan, because they won't know what the hell you are talking about! We went to this megalopolis after the conference, and I was quite impressed. Our capsule hotel was kind of lame, though. One shower on the women's floor? You've got to be kidding! But at least it was in a love hotel district. Look at this gem:
We had a good laugh in the capsule lobby because some people noticed that Will was with a big group of ladies and were calling him "playboy." During our okonomoyaki dinner later, I was harassed by a father-son duo who insisted that they were samurai. I think the son fancied me because he gave me a towel. Osaka people are weird.
Later, we stumbled upon the best bar ever. Ever! I swear, if God could create the perfect bar for me, "Rock Rock" would be it. They were spinning Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines, The Hives, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. Everyone was dancing and having a good time, there was a chillout room, an area to stand outside, you could actually walk up to the bar and order a drink, and the people were fun. We partied there until dawn.
The next day was miserable, though. The capsule hotel wouldn't let us leave our bags there, so we had to wander around various stations for 2 hours before finding a locker big enough. After that, however, we found a great veggie food place, where I got a pizza with fake ham on it! Mmmmm. And then we found the jackpot of all that is weird and idiosyncratic about Japan:
And it gets better:
Japanese people are obsessed with their dogs. I think the most illustrative example is the "Dog Cafe Italiwan." We wandered up there, and found a place where dog owners can eat with their dogs. The waitress brings out a tray of food, along with a dish for Fido. Hmmmm, still not sure how hygenic that is. Then we wandered up to the pet store, where I saw the CUTEST thing ever: a pug puppy was chasing its tail for like a full minute, then without interruption, squatted and took a shit. I just about died.
Then: vintage stores and toiletry shops and Mexican food, Oh My! (can you tell I'm getting lazy, now?)
After nearly missing the overnight bus (we came within a minute of missing it), we were cruising on it back to Nagasaki.
Final Thought: I need to get out more.
So, last week was the conference for recontracting JETs. What that means for a lot of us is a chance to go to a big city, party with other gaijin, and make asses out of ourselves. I am definitely one of those people!
Suzie and I started off the journey on the overnight bus...what a mistake. Thinking back on it, we should have brought either alcohol or tranquilizers...or maybe a gun. Should have taken the Shinkansen, but in my effort to make myself look like a thrifty gaijin, I ended up screwing us over. Sorry Suzie!
After arriving at Osaka (instead of Kobe; one of my cost-cutting measures), we took a train to Himeji, the city where the famous castle stands. It was pouring down rain, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. The highlight of the excursion is this photograph:
At first, we thought it was a raindrop, but I doubt a raindrop would have that whitening effect. The weird thing is that we had just been reading about how samurais would kill themselves, then be beheaded and washed in this special area near where this photo was taken. No conclusions have been drawn, but most people concur that it is definitely weird (except Will, "I'm not fockin' stupid, mate!").
After the brush with the ghost, we headed to Kobe to check into the hotel for the conference. Along the way, I couldn't help but notice the degree of urban sprawl in the Kansai area: it seemed to never end. I have a greater appreciation for my inaka lifestyle after seeing how ugly everything is there...I love green forests and mountains! So we checked into the Portopia hotel, and it had fabulous and very large rooms:
Unfortunately, my roommate and I didn't hit it off but luckily, Suzie was right across the hall. There were many Nagasaki people there who had also stayed an extra night, so we all hung out together that night along with a really sweet girl from Okayama. We met some random people at the convenience store, and ended up chatting out there for a while. We then proceeded to the hotel bar, which was on the top floor of the hotel. It reminded me of the bar from Lost in Translation, so I tried to take a "Suntory moment" photo:
But sadly, due to our douchebaggery (mainly mine), it didn't really work. ;)
The Conference:
yadda yadda yadda internationalization yadda yadda i'm a douche yadda yadda look at me i'm genki yadda yadda let's only have presentations about high school yadda yadda yadda -Actually, there was a really awesome presentation about learning Japanese, in which we learned pick-up lines and some REALLY bad words- yadda yadda yadda -It's not that I don't appreciate the effort that went into it, it's just that hardly any of it applied to me- yadda yadda yadda
What really matters: After the conference
The first night wasn't so great. Went to a Chinese buffet, but there wasn't anything veggie so I ended up paying 1500 yen for a salad. Wandered around a few bars after that, but the party seemed to be in a place we couldn't find. Went home at 2am, making it an early night. Talked to some random people in the lobby, saw my first mukade (poisonous centipede). That's right - not in the humid backwaters of Kyushu, but in Kobe!
The second night was much better. To start off with, we found a superb organic vegetarian restaurant. The night could have ended there, and I would have been satisfied but it got even better, because we were all in such a good mood after our fabulous meal. Here we are chilling in a nice bar:
While wandering the streets, Suzie randomly managed to break the heel of her shoe off. This resulted in her hilarious effort to mend the shoe with sugarless chewing gum. I suggested trying the sugary kind instead, which seemed to work a bit better. While we sat on the street waiting for it to dry, money started falling out of the sky. It was our night!
We walked (Suzie limped) to a club to cap the night off, and it turned out to be spinning drum and bass. Perfect! Danced for a while, got hit on by a drunken JET, and rolled out of there a little earlier than everyone else, since my roommate insisted on turning in the key at 7:30am.
Oosaka
Many people don't realize that Osaka actually has 2 o's. Don't forget to say it with a longer "o" sound if you come to Japan, because they won't know what the hell you are talking about! We went to this megalopolis after the conference, and I was quite impressed. Our capsule hotel was kind of lame, though. One shower on the women's floor? You've got to be kidding! But at least it was in a love hotel district. Look at this gem:
We had a good laugh in the capsule lobby because some people noticed that Will was with a big group of ladies and were calling him "playboy." During our okonomoyaki dinner later, I was harassed by a father-son duo who insisted that they were samurai. I think the son fancied me because he gave me a towel. Osaka people are weird.
Later, we stumbled upon the best bar ever. Ever! I swear, if God could create the perfect bar for me, "Rock Rock" would be it. They were spinning Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines, The Hives, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. Everyone was dancing and having a good time, there was a chillout room, an area to stand outside, you could actually walk up to the bar and order a drink, and the people were fun. We partied there until dawn.
The next day was miserable, though. The capsule hotel wouldn't let us leave our bags there, so we had to wander around various stations for 2 hours before finding a locker big enough. After that, however, we found a great veggie food place, where I got a pizza with fake ham on it! Mmmmm. And then we found the jackpot of all that is weird and idiosyncratic about Japan:
And it gets better:
Japanese people are obsessed with their dogs. I think the most illustrative example is the "Dog Cafe Italiwan." We wandered up there, and found a place where dog owners can eat with their dogs. The waitress brings out a tray of food, along with a dish for Fido. Hmmmm, still not sure how hygenic that is. Then we wandered up to the pet store, where I saw the CUTEST thing ever: a pug puppy was chasing its tail for like a full minute, then without interruption, squatted and took a shit. I just about died.
Then: vintage stores and toiletry shops and Mexican food, Oh My! (can you tell I'm getting lazy, now?)
After nearly missing the overnight bus (we came within a minute of missing it), we were cruising on it back to Nagasaki.
Final Thought: I need to get out more.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Highlights from my past few weeks
Sports Day:
The enkai that followed was interesting - I don't think I talked to a woman all night. The PTA was there, and all of the fathers of my students talked to me and got me drunk - how all enkais should be.
Golden Week:
Fukuoka was great - I stayed in a capsule hotel for the first time. But I really want to stay in one of these!
The everyday:
The rain has been pretty constant, but when it gives way to sun, the beach near my house is beautiful. Suzie and I often go running/walking on it after school.
My mom and Ward loved Japanese food!
They tried things that I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole, like natto. I'm proud of them - they did really well here!
Sorry for the hasty update - I have to get ready to go to Kobe. Tonight, Suzie and I are taking the overnight bus, and we have a day to explore before going to the JET Renewer's Conference. I hope we can get to see Himeji-jo, the best castle in Japan.
The enkai that followed was interesting - I don't think I talked to a woman all night. The PTA was there, and all of the fathers of my students talked to me and got me drunk - how all enkais should be.
Golden Week:
Fukuoka was great - I stayed in a capsule hotel for the first time. But I really want to stay in one of these!
The everyday:
The rain has been pretty constant, but when it gives way to sun, the beach near my house is beautiful. Suzie and I often go running/walking on it after school.
My mom and Ward loved Japanese food!
They tried things that I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole, like natto. I'm proud of them - they did really well here!
Sorry for the hasty update - I have to get ready to go to Kobe. Tonight, Suzie and I are taking the overnight bus, and we have a day to explore before going to the JET Renewer's Conference. I hope we can get to see Himeji-jo, the best castle in Japan.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Cherry Blossoms!
They are not in full bloom yet, but the cherry blossoms are out! I hope to have some better pictures by the weekend.
I've been going insane these past 2 days at work, because they put up an Internet filter that blocks everything: Gmail, Livejournal, Flickr, you name it. I don't use the Internet that much at work, but to check my gmail is a necessity...especially when there are no classes. I feel like my connection to the world has been ripped out for no reason. So after much tearing out of my hair, I managed to stream gmail through my cell phone. Please forgive me if you receive a response like this: "how r u? its good 2 hear from u...sory I snd stupd."
I've been going insane these past 2 days at work, because they put up an Internet filter that blocks everything: Gmail, Livejournal, Flickr, you name it. I don't use the Internet that much at work, but to check my gmail is a necessity...especially when there are no classes. I feel like my connection to the world has been ripped out for no reason. So after much tearing out of my hair, I managed to stream gmail through my cell phone. Please forgive me if you receive a response like this: "how r u? its good 2 hear from u...sory I snd stupd."
Friday, March 24, 2006
There comes a point in any ALT's career when you just wish for something exciting to happen. Days upon days of sitting at a desk can be really boring, and although the occasional class provides some excitement, it's seldom that anyone says or does anything remotely interesting. During cleaning, I try to talk to the students, but all I can usually squeak out is the old standby "I'm fine, and you?" As I sit at my desk twirling my hair, I find myself imagining what it would be like to be an ALT in one of the so-called "bad" schools, where the students ask you about penises and sex and boobies.
And then it happened: in my last 1-1 class of the year, we were playing a game where each student has a letter, and we ask them to spell out different words. Before the game started, a particularly outgoing boy had found himself the letters S-E-X and was holding them up proudly. I wanted to laugh so bad, but looking at my stern JTE's face told me that if I did, I'd get in trouble.
So I laughed inside, and continue to pray for moments like this.
In other news, the Japanese Alps are gorgeous, and snowboarding was ace:
And then it happened: in my last 1-1 class of the year, we were playing a game where each student has a letter, and we ask them to spell out different words. Before the game started, a particularly outgoing boy had found himself the letters S-E-X and was holding them up proudly. I wanted to laugh so bad, but looking at my stern JTE's face told me that if I did, I'd get in trouble.
So I laughed inside, and continue to pray for moments like this.
In other news, the Japanese Alps are gorgeous, and snowboarding was ace:
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
The ni-nensei that went up a hill but came down a san-nensei
Being a teacher is one of the most depressing jobs in the world.
Picture this: Kodama-sensei, homeroom teacher of 3-1, is sitting at his desk, on which is a beautifully-decorated placard that all of his students signed. There is also a signed rugby ball from the culture festival and a huge bouquet of flowers. After the graduation ceremony this morning, he sits at his desk all day and looks shell-shocked while the students galavant outside, excited and happy.
This particular batch of graduates is especially hard for the teachers, I think. They are the most enthusiastic, intelligent kids I've ever met. There's Hiroki, the boy who loves English. He wants to be an English teacher...or maybe he just said that to impress me. Then there's Eri and Chihiro, who are very quiet in class. When they asked me to sign their yearbooks yesterday, I was so touched because I didn't know they liked me. Many of the quieter students are like that - but maybe they just like me because they sense that I am quiet, too. And even the "bad" students of this group are not that bad: this boy whose name I forgot always left his tests blank, made no attempt to speak English, but usually smiled (smirked) at me anyway. Today, he caught my eye and said something like "I understand English" (in Japanese, of course).
I will miss these kids...but more than that I am dreading the inevitable: the takeover of the NI-NENSEIS! (second-years)
Junior high school boys are between the ages of 13 and 15. Ni-nenseis are 14 years old. This is the age where girls finally stopped having cooties, but the boys are still scared shitless. For example, a ni-nensei will run up to me, say "HELLO!", and run back to his friends to have a good laugh. While a first or third year boy will politely help me put some chairs away, a ni-nensei will go out of his way to ignore me. They also like to embarass me in class by making me pronounce difficult Japanese names, and then laugh about it all class long. My JTE summed all of this up when she poignantly said, "It's a difficult age." No shit, sherlock.
The question is, when will they transform into the polite san-nenseis (third-years) I love so much? It better happen soon...or I might need to bust out some kancho...
Picture this: Kodama-sensei, homeroom teacher of 3-1, is sitting at his desk, on which is a beautifully-decorated placard that all of his students signed. There is also a signed rugby ball from the culture festival and a huge bouquet of flowers. After the graduation ceremony this morning, he sits at his desk all day and looks shell-shocked while the students galavant outside, excited and happy.
This particular batch of graduates is especially hard for the teachers, I think. They are the most enthusiastic, intelligent kids I've ever met. There's Hiroki, the boy who loves English. He wants to be an English teacher...or maybe he just said that to impress me. Then there's Eri and Chihiro, who are very quiet in class. When they asked me to sign their yearbooks yesterday, I was so touched because I didn't know they liked me. Many of the quieter students are like that - but maybe they just like me because they sense that I am quiet, too. And even the "bad" students of this group are not that bad: this boy whose name I forgot always left his tests blank, made no attempt to speak English, but usually smiled (smirked) at me anyway. Today, he caught my eye and said something like "I understand English" (in Japanese, of course).
I will miss these kids...but more than that I am dreading the inevitable: the takeover of the NI-NENSEIS! (second-years)
Junior high school boys are between the ages of 13 and 15. Ni-nenseis are 14 years old. This is the age where girls finally stopped having cooties, but the boys are still scared shitless. For example, a ni-nensei will run up to me, say "HELLO!", and run back to his friends to have a good laugh. While a first or third year boy will politely help me put some chairs away, a ni-nensei will go out of his way to ignore me. They also like to embarass me in class by making me pronounce difficult Japanese names, and then laugh about it all class long. My JTE summed all of this up when she poignantly said, "It's a difficult age." No shit, sherlock.
The question is, when will they transform into the polite san-nenseis (third-years) I love so much? It better happen soon...or I might need to bust out some kancho...
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