You know, the longer I’m here the more I’m noticing. At first it was the obvious things. Now it’s just the everyday differences---and similarities—between Japan and America that keep a smile on my face and a question mark above my head.
Here are a few short memoirs in the past month:
1. I joined a gym last week! It’s NOT a New Year’s resolution in case you’re wondering or judging my hypocrisy. It’s a substitution for not being able to run on the snowy, icy streets. I wasn’t going to join the gym because it’s sooooo expensive. I have to go to Koriyama which is a $10 round trip train fare. In travel alone, It takes me about 45 minutes to go to the gym…one way. The fee itself isn’t so bad: about $50 per month but on a 2 times/week limit. You do the math. Anyways, the deciding factor in the end was that they offered a zumba class on Friday’s. I’m so salsa deprived that I joined.
About the gym: looks like a normal Gold’s Gym (because it is) but all the treadmills are in Japanese. And the TV’s. And the instructions on the machines. And the weights are in kg. This is where the “let’s just try it” attitude comes in handy. The great part about this place is the camaraderie. Rachel has been going for the past 6 months and made some friends between the receptionist lady and the body builders. Just imagine how much two American girls stand out in the middle of the Japanese free weight section. There are several guys who have no fear, just come up to us and start talking (sometimes in limited English, sometimes in Japanese).
They’re all pretty hot, just going to put that out there.
The evening is always filled with laughter and lots of man-grunts across the room. It’s weird to see all these skinny Japanese guys at the gym, barely broad enough to qualify as a wide receiver, intensely working out like they’re going to the Olympics. Anyways, I joined this zumba class. Obviously I’m the white girl, but I thought I had a chance considering my salsa background.
Nope. I was the most ungraceful, unbalanced, uncoordinated person out there.
Good news is that is was super fun and the instructor is awesomely peppy and encouraging.
More good news: I went to my second zumba class the other day and noticeably improved.
The one different thing about the Japanese gym is that when you leave you say goodbye to everyone in a fashion that resembles “you are all working hard.” In Japan we say it ALL the time at work, “gokurosamadesu.” Basically you’re acknowledging that everyone else is working and you’re leaving….hence you should feel obligation or at least say that you recognize your lack of work. It’s weird, but kind of nice.
2. Train stories: Since I’ve been taking the train more often with Rachel I’ve seen some crazy characters. First my pet peeve: people who are sitting in seats with their junk all over the seat across from them or next to them when 50 people are standing up because it’s crowded. Hey lady, there’s an overhead rack for your shopping bags. Since I’m standing, let me put them up for you and then maybe I can take a seat on this half-hour journey.
There’s the overworked business man who sits politely with his briefcase against his knees, head bowed to his chest as he tries to take a little nap. This is not to be confused with the drunken businessman, usually seen on Fridays. You can tell them apart because the latter will smell like beer and tilts his head back to take a nap, mouth hanging open and sometimes listing perilously to the oblivious high school girl sitting next to him texting on her cell phone.
While walking to the train station Rachel and I saw a man up ahead coming our way. It was snowy and dark, lit only by some streetlights and residual Christmas decorations. All of a sudden the man walks to the hedge between the sidewalk and the street and toe-kicks it, sending a flurry of snow into the air. He kept walking as before, only to again decide that it was much to fun the first time and again kicked the snow-laden bushes to his amusement…and ours. This time he veered to correct his course and as we passed him the distinct scent of booze wafted our way. I’m not sure how many poor bushes were abused on his way home but at least he was enjoying himself.
You know when you do something a million times and you feel like you could write a book on it, do it with your eyes closed or in your sleep? Well, riding the train is one of those things. I’ve only been here 9 months and don’t think twice about it. Imagine the Japanese who have practically lived on the train schedule in Funehiki. Well, apparently things can still go wrong. There we were, Rachel and I, on our way home from the gym and we see some cocky high school kids riding a few seats back. There was a girl about their age, standing by the door completely engaged in her smart phone activities. As the train pulled into the next station several people got up to leave, including our rambunctious characters. As they passed the girl and stepped halfway out of the train the door closed. A kid stuck his arm in the way to stop it, only to realize that this door was not your typical apologetic elevator door. Elevators serve people who are too lazy to walk up the stairs and have all the time in the world, therefore lightly closing their doors and promptly opening again if met with resistance from the smallest child. “Oh! I’m so sorry little child!” The elevator door might exclaim. “Are you hurt? Should I call the fire department on my little red phone? Here, let me open my doors again for you.”
Not the Japanese train doors.
They’re ruthless, punctual, and unforgiving.
“Outta my way!” Demands the Japanese train door. “I have a schedule to keep and you need to FALL IN LINE, PRIVATE!”
If you wish to override this door all you have to do is push the “ping pong” button---that’s the sound it makes. It’s like magic. But if you don’t push the button and think you can make it on your own strength you’re terribly mistaken.
Back to our young friends: stuck in the door. They struggled with the train door, hollering at each other and trying to force it open wide enough to escape. It would have been a terrible sight indeed if not for the comical figure in this scene. Yes, our young female heroine standing right next to that precious green release button.
You forgot that she was texting.
Yes, she stared at that screen and completely ignored the dying boys right in front of her. After a few seconds of watching their fruitless efforts Rachel and I were about to get up and push it ourselves, when finally she glanced over the top of her screen, sighed, and nonchalantly pushed the “open” button only to resume her previous task. The expression “idiots…” was written all over her face.
Hilarious.
Oh, one more awesome thing I learned about the train. If you buy a train pass, it’s super easy to just flash it in front of the reader and it will automatically deduct from your account. But did you know that you can have the card in your wallet, put it against the reader and it will detect it?! Super awesome and convenient. Not only am I never going to buy another train ticket, I also never have to open my wallet. Yessssss.
Anyways, that’s the train.
What else have I done…oh yes, the New Years luncheon with Enchou Sensei. As promised before break he took us all out to a nice restaurant that served traditional New Years food. It was littered with different kinds of fish, octopus, veggies in sauces, soup (nabe), and different kinds of mochi. There were many other things that I can’t even remember or describe, but the greatest part was Enchou Sensei.
“Ah, minasan, please order something to drink. You can have anything. Please order some beer or nihonshu (sake). We always drink it with the New Years meal.”
He ordered oolong tea. His wife ordered ginger ale.
It was 11:00am. No way I’m drinking alcohol on an empty stomach and early in the day. I ordered oolong tea too.
“Susie-san, you’re drinking tea?”
“Yes. I like oolong tea.”
“Why don’t you have some sake or beer?”
“Um, thank you, but it’s a little early to drink for me…”
He laughed but didn’t seem satisfied with my answer.
Is that so weird? Apparently no one cares what time of day it is around here—drinking is justified by the occasion, not the action.
3. Around the town
Today I made coconut rum banana bread. Yes, it was everything I hoped for and super delicious.
Today I woke up to the sound of skateboarding at like, 6:30 am and though, “Gosh! Dan! Why do you have to wake up so early?!” And then I realized, it was snowing yesterday and a good chance that there was still some snow/ice on the ground. Boy was I right. It had continued to snow throughout the night and everything was painted white. Turns out the noise was the yochien workers shoveling the driveway for Saturday school.
Dan and I made a snow-bunny.
Here are a few short memoirs in the past month:
1. I joined a gym last week! It’s NOT a New Year’s resolution in case you’re wondering or judging my hypocrisy. It’s a substitution for not being able to run on the snowy, icy streets. I wasn’t going to join the gym because it’s sooooo expensive. I have to go to Koriyama which is a $10 round trip train fare. In travel alone, It takes me about 45 minutes to go to the gym…one way. The fee itself isn’t so bad: about $50 per month but on a 2 times/week limit. You do the math. Anyways, the deciding factor in the end was that they offered a zumba class on Friday’s. I’m so salsa deprived that I joined.
About the gym: looks like a normal Gold’s Gym (because it is) but all the treadmills are in Japanese. And the TV’s. And the instructions on the machines. And the weights are in kg. This is where the “let’s just try it” attitude comes in handy. The great part about this place is the camaraderie. Rachel has been going for the past 6 months and made some friends between the receptionist lady and the body builders. Just imagine how much two American girls stand out in the middle of the Japanese free weight section. There are several guys who have no fear, just come up to us and start talking (sometimes in limited English, sometimes in Japanese).
They’re all pretty hot, just going to put that out there.
The evening is always filled with laughter and lots of man-grunts across the room. It’s weird to see all these skinny Japanese guys at the gym, barely broad enough to qualify as a wide receiver, intensely working out like they’re going to the Olympics. Anyways, I joined this zumba class. Obviously I’m the white girl, but I thought I had a chance considering my salsa background.
Nope. I was the most ungraceful, unbalanced, uncoordinated person out there.
Good news is that is was super fun and the instructor is awesomely peppy and encouraging.
More good news: I went to my second zumba class the other day and noticeably improved.
The one different thing about the Japanese gym is that when you leave you say goodbye to everyone in a fashion that resembles “you are all working hard.” In Japan we say it ALL the time at work, “gokurosamadesu.” Basically you’re acknowledging that everyone else is working and you’re leaving….hence you should feel obligation or at least say that you recognize your lack of work. It’s weird, but kind of nice.
2. Train stories: Since I’ve been taking the train more often with Rachel I’ve seen some crazy characters. First my pet peeve: people who are sitting in seats with their junk all over the seat across from them or next to them when 50 people are standing up because it’s crowded. Hey lady, there’s an overhead rack for your shopping bags. Since I’m standing, let me put them up for you and then maybe I can take a seat on this half-hour journey.
There’s the overworked business man who sits politely with his briefcase against his knees, head bowed to his chest as he tries to take a little nap. This is not to be confused with the drunken businessman, usually seen on Fridays. You can tell them apart because the latter will smell like beer and tilts his head back to take a nap, mouth hanging open and sometimes listing perilously to the oblivious high school girl sitting next to him texting on her cell phone.
While walking to the train station Rachel and I saw a man up ahead coming our way. It was snowy and dark, lit only by some streetlights and residual Christmas decorations. All of a sudden the man walks to the hedge between the sidewalk and the street and toe-kicks it, sending a flurry of snow into the air. He kept walking as before, only to again decide that it was much to fun the first time and again kicked the snow-laden bushes to his amusement…and ours. This time he veered to correct his course and as we passed him the distinct scent of booze wafted our way. I’m not sure how many poor bushes were abused on his way home but at least he was enjoying himself.
You know when you do something a million times and you feel like you could write a book on it, do it with your eyes closed or in your sleep? Well, riding the train is one of those things. I’ve only been here 9 months and don’t think twice about it. Imagine the Japanese who have practically lived on the train schedule in Funehiki. Well, apparently things can still go wrong. There we were, Rachel and I, on our way home from the gym and we see some cocky high school kids riding a few seats back. There was a girl about their age, standing by the door completely engaged in her smart phone activities. As the train pulled into the next station several people got up to leave, including our rambunctious characters. As they passed the girl and stepped halfway out of the train the door closed. A kid stuck his arm in the way to stop it, only to realize that this door was not your typical apologetic elevator door. Elevators serve people who are too lazy to walk up the stairs and have all the time in the world, therefore lightly closing their doors and promptly opening again if met with resistance from the smallest child. “Oh! I’m so sorry little child!” The elevator door might exclaim. “Are you hurt? Should I call the fire department on my little red phone? Here, let me open my doors again for you.”
Not the Japanese train doors.
They’re ruthless, punctual, and unforgiving.
“Outta my way!” Demands the Japanese train door. “I have a schedule to keep and you need to FALL IN LINE, PRIVATE!”
If you wish to override this door all you have to do is push the “ping pong” button---that’s the sound it makes. It’s like magic. But if you don’t push the button and think you can make it on your own strength you’re terribly mistaken.
Back to our young friends: stuck in the door. They struggled with the train door, hollering at each other and trying to force it open wide enough to escape. It would have been a terrible sight indeed if not for the comical figure in this scene. Yes, our young female heroine standing right next to that precious green release button.
You forgot that she was texting.
Yes, she stared at that screen and completely ignored the dying boys right in front of her. After a few seconds of watching their fruitless efforts Rachel and I were about to get up and push it ourselves, when finally she glanced over the top of her screen, sighed, and nonchalantly pushed the “open” button only to resume her previous task. The expression “idiots…” was written all over her face.
Hilarious.
Oh, one more awesome thing I learned about the train. If you buy a train pass, it’s super easy to just flash it in front of the reader and it will automatically deduct from your account. But did you know that you can have the card in your wallet, put it against the reader and it will detect it?! Super awesome and convenient. Not only am I never going to buy another train ticket, I also never have to open my wallet. Yessssss.
Anyways, that’s the train.
What else have I done…oh yes, the New Years luncheon with Enchou Sensei. As promised before break he took us all out to a nice restaurant that served traditional New Years food. It was littered with different kinds of fish, octopus, veggies in sauces, soup (nabe), and different kinds of mochi. There were many other things that I can’t even remember or describe, but the greatest part was Enchou Sensei.
“Ah, minasan, please order something to drink. You can have anything. Please order some beer or nihonshu (sake). We always drink it with the New Years meal.”
He ordered oolong tea. His wife ordered ginger ale.
It was 11:00am. No way I’m drinking alcohol on an empty stomach and early in the day. I ordered oolong tea too.
“Susie-san, you’re drinking tea?”
“Yes. I like oolong tea.”
“Why don’t you have some sake or beer?”
“Um, thank you, but it’s a little early to drink for me…”
He laughed but didn’t seem satisfied with my answer.
Is that so weird? Apparently no one cares what time of day it is around here—drinking is justified by the occasion, not the action.
3. Around the town
Today I made coconut rum banana bread. Yes, it was everything I hoped for and super delicious.
Today I woke up to the sound of skateboarding at like, 6:30 am and though, “Gosh! Dan! Why do you have to wake up so early?!” And then I realized, it was snowing yesterday and a good chance that there was still some snow/ice on the ground. Boy was I right. It had continued to snow throughout the night and everything was painted white. Turns out the noise was the yochien workers shoveling the driveway for Saturday school.
Dan and I made a snow-bunny.
I currently have several books open: Reading Lolita in Tehran, Miss Marple, おきゃくさま, Diary of a Wimpy Kid (in Japanese), Emma, The Bible, and The Case for Christ. I’m one book shy of finishing another CS Lewis series but I haven’t started it yet. Trying to pace myself, you know.
Let’s not even count how many gospel choir composition projects I’ve started or are running around in my head.
In teaching news, my 6th graders are taking a big English test today, one they’ve been studying for since September. I’ve only had them once a week for the past 6 months, their other class dedicated solely for this exam. This coming week I’ll have both 6th grade classes twice a week again. I hope they are ready for it.
Let’s not even count how many gospel choir composition projects I’ve started or are running around in my head.
In teaching news, my 6th graders are taking a big English test today, one they’ve been studying for since September. I’ve only had them once a week for the past 6 months, their other class dedicated solely for this exam. This coming week I’ll have both 6th grade classes twice a week again. I hope they are ready for it.
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