the Earthquake

I was not quite ten weeks pregnant when the 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Tohoku region of Japan. Although Geordie and I made it through without any injuries or damage, it changed our lives. For today's Nanowrimo writing session, I spent a good chunk of it writing down my memory of that day. Here's an excerpt about the exact moment the earthquake hit, just those first few minutes as it happened and before I knew the full extent of the damage.


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March 11.

A Friday. A good day, then, because Geordie would be coming home. He’d meet me as I was finishing work, and we’d probably have dinner together in Loc City. Ramen, maybe. Then home to relax a bit together and to talk about the week. Those were all the plans we had made.

My shift started at five, though I usually went in early, around four. I did my hair in the morning but would not bother with getting fully dressed until three or so. A little after one, I sat down to the computer to write an email to my brother. I had been putting it off, as I often do; I am not the best of penpals. As I wrote, the apartment began to shake – another earthquake, a minor occurrence in Japan, for the most part. It gave me something to share with Ryan, and I added a sentence about it to his email.

The ‘quake started small. It felt like any other ordinary earthquake, one of dozens I’d felt since I arrived in Japan. After the few seconds of shaking, you go back to your usual business, as though nothing had really happened. One had woken me from my sleep on Wednesday morning, a little stronger than usual but nothing to get worked up about.

But the shaking did not stop. Instead, it intensified. That made me pause.

“Don’t panic,” I said aloud to myself. It would die down in a moment; it always did. I had never before been in an earthquake that had actually scared me.

Then a can of soup fell off the shelf above the kitchen sink, and I knew that this was not an ordinary earthquake, that it was something big, that I could not just sit there and wait for it to stop. Other things began to fall, including one of my rose pictures in the hall. I leaned over my computer and took down my diploma so it wouldn’t fall on the monitor.

I stood and pulled open the curtains of the sliding glass door at the front of the apartment. Across the narrow street was an empty house, and a couple hours earlier, two men had shown up to do some work on the interior. They ran out into the street as the shaking continued, holding their arms out to balance themselves. They spoke to each other. Often, I could hear when people on the street spoke, but because of the noise of the earthquake, I couldn’t hear the workmen. Some earthquakes are quiet, but with some come a rumbling, a deep and earthy sound like terrestrial thunder. This earthquake brought that sound.

Everything in the apartment moved, rattling about, a surprisingly tremendous noise. I suddenly did not what to stay in the apartment any longer.

I had on only a t-shirt and a pair of around-the-house boxer shorts. Grabbing the closest pair of pants to me, I pulled them on and put my cell phone and wallet into the pockets. I went into the hall and pulled on my heavy winter coat, leaning against the wall for support. Without bothering with socks, I slipped into my shoes and reached for the front door. My hands shook as I laid them on the door handle, and I thought that it was not just because of the earthquake’s shaking and the cold. After at least one minute, the ‘quake still had not abated. It felt like it would never end.

I can’t say how long exactly the earthquake lasted – somewhere between two and three minutes perhaps – but it felt like an eternity as I stood on the street and watched the houses shake on their foundations. The street moved – back and forth – and the electric lines overhead swayed and jumped, pulled taut before sagging and then going taut again. No tall buildings were in the area, so I didn’t worry about anything falling on me, but those wires made me uneasy. It was hard to stand up straight; I rocked from side to side as though I were on a boat.

Most of the buildings on my street were residences, but because it was the middle of a week day, not many people were at home. Only a few came out into the street, and all of them save for the workmen and myself were elderly. They clung to fences or carport supports and said very little. A crash came from the home across from my apartment, and one of the workmen ran back inside.

After a time, just as it felt like the earthquake would never end, the earth began to calm, and the shaking died away. It did not stop altogether, not immediately, but the buildings ceased their swaying, and it was possible to walk easily again. I stood in the street, pulling my coat around me, shivering with cold and fear. I did not know what to do.

My direct neighbor in the apartment home came outside and into the street, looking around amazed but unshaken. She said to me in Japanese, “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m okay,” I said. “Are you?”

“I’m alright.” She nodded her head and added, “That was very big, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Very big,” she repeated. “Probably a 5.”

It did not occur to me until later, after I knew the full magnitude of the earthquake, that I realized she meant that by the Japanese scale, which tops out at 7.

She waved at one of our neighbors down the street and called to them, leaving me alone. My thoughts flew to Geordie; I didn’t know where the earthquake had originated, but I was sure he had felt it to some degree. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed his number. All lines were busy, as I had guessed they would be. That didn’t stop me from trying again.

I went back into the apartment to survey the damage. Only one plate in the sink had broken, probably from the soup can that had dropped on it. Books and other odds-and-ends had fallen off the coffee table and my tall bookshelf, but nothing had broken. My desk had been pulled away from the wall. The wall on the left side of the window over the couch had cracks at the window’s edges. Everything was in disarray, but that seemed to be the extent of the damage. The power was off.

The aftershocks came steadily, some of them stronger than other earthquakes I had felt in the previous two years. The sliding doors that separated the two rooms rattled constantly, and I knew I could not stay there. I decided to dress properly and go to work. I could think of nothing else to do.

Japan: a photo gallery (II)

Another ten of my favorite photos from life here in Japan. This group starts at the beginning of 2010, the year Geordie and I started dating. I was less active in 2010 than I had been in 2009, but I still got to see a lot of wonderful things in Japan, and I had the added bonus of having Geordie for company.



Geordie and sheep at Hitsujiyama Park in Chichibu, March 2010.



Weeping sakura at the Daruma temple in Takasaki, April 2010.



Daibutsu at Kamakura, April 2010.



Kenroku-en in Kanazawa, May 2010.

Waterfall in Nikko, November 2010.

Geordie makes friends with a black lemur at the Nagasaki Bio-Park, Jaunary 2011.

Geordie (and Rabbit) and the deer at Nara Park, March 2011.

Windmill at Kasumigaura, May 2011.

Dancers at the summer Susono Awa-Odori Festival, August 2011.

Jizou memorial statuettes for deceased children
at Hasedera Jizou-do, October 2011.

Japan: a picture gallery (I)

I had another busy day today and didn't get much writing done. So, what I'm going to give you in this post are some of my favorite pictures from my life here in Japan. This week has been hard as Geordie and I say goodbye to this beautiful country we've come to love so much.

These are just the first ten of twenty pictures I want to post. I encourage you to click on the pictures to see larger versions - some of them are much better when they're bigger! Look for more in the next posting.


Let's start this off right: Mt. Fuji from Gotemba, March 2009.



A lion guardian at a shrine in Takayama, January 2009.



Weeping willow tree in Takayama, January 2009.



Sakura over a shrine in Utsunomiya, April 2009.

A huge statue of Kannon-sama in Takasaki, April 2009.

Wisteria at Matsumoto Castle, May 2009.

With Benni-sensei in Maebashi, during an autumn festival, October 2009.

Behind us is an omikoshi - a portable shrine - which is carried around
the town, presumably to show the god its domain (or to show the people
their local god). Benni-sensei and I were among the group of
shrine-carriers, and we were also honored by being asked to carry
for a short time the lanterns that led the way in front of the omikoshi.

Easily one of my best expriences in Japan.

Maple trees at Mt. Tsukuba, November 2009.

Tsurgua Castle in Aizu-Wakamatsu, New Year's Day 2010.

Meoto Iwa, the wedded rocks, in Ise, January 2010.

Japanese Travel Journal: Utsunomiya (宇都宮)

I am struggling to get updated here. For this installment, I present you with my trip to Utsunomiya.

This is the first time I saw anyone from Isesaki after I had moved to Matsudo. This is not so impressive as it sounds, because we all met in Utsunomiya 12 days after I moved. The way Benni-先生 greeted us, you'd think it was closer to 12 years.

We went to Utsunomiya for gyoza. I'm pretty sure I've already posted about my love for gyoza, and the Isesaki ladies wanted to foster this as much as possible. In addition, they also love gyoza, so that helped. I cannot understand why anyone would not love gyoza, but that's beside the point. We wanted to eat as much gyoza as possible. This turned out to be quite a lot. Also, the girls helped me pick out a watch while we waited for Benni先生 to show up. Akikoさん and Yukariさん helped me program it, because the instructions were all in Japanese. This made all of us very happy (not that the instructions were Japanese but that the three of us were able to get it sorted out).

We ate at three different places, though the third place was a combination of 5 restaurants and we could order from any of the menus. At the first two restaurants, we ordered a plate or two of gyoza and shared it amongst ourselves before moving on. The first restaurant was a tiny place where you ordered the food at a ticket machine, after which you presented the ticket to the waitress. Because there were seven of us, we had to split up, so Akikoさん, Yukariさん, and myself shared an order each of boiled and fried gyoza (the fried was better). After that, we slipped out to the place next door and ordered GIANT gyoza. The rest of the girls showed up just as we were finishing, which is why we had time to wait to program my watch.

Together, we all headed out to the third location, which was an awesome conglomeration of gyoza restaurants (Utsunomiya is famous for gyoza - there are upwards of two dozen restaurants specializing in this most awesome of foods, probably more). I think we ordered about seven plates of gyoza at this place, from three different menus. There was chiso (a basil-type herb) gyoza, crunchy gyoza, not-so-crunchy gyoza, shrimpy gyoza, spicy gyoza, salty gyoza - holy cats, there was a LOT of gyoza. Boy, were we stuffed. And to everyone's astonishment, Benni先生 polished off a bowl and a half of rice along with it, the half being what I couldn't eat.

[This is nothing - I once witnessed her eat a huge bowl of ramen, an order of gyoza, and THREE bowls of rice in one sitting. Her stomach is bottomless.]

After gorging ourselves on gyoza, we went off in search of other exciting things to do. We began by buying gyoza omiyage. Half of the ladies bought frozen gyoza to take home - complete with styrofoam cooler to transport them in. Then they bought me a cellphone strap of a little plastic plate of gyoza, which I've become a collector of (the cellphone straps, not the little plastic plates of gyoza). These ladies are so totally the awesome.

While wandering around Utsunomiya, we discovered a shrine in the middle of the city and because I love shrines, we immediately explored it. I like going to shrines with the ladies because they will explain things to me the best they can. Benni先生 either has no answer to my questions or ignores me entirely (in her defense, she's just naturally oblivious sometimes). Even if the ladies don't know the answers to my questions, they will do their best to figure it out or explain it somehow, even if it means translating something.

The cherry blossoms were nearing the end of their blooming stage, but they were still very beautiful and stunning. The wind blew gently that day, but it still scattered blossoms all through the air. They kept falling and falling, a shower of pink and white petals. There seemed to be no end to them.

With the sun going down, we decided it was time to end our gyoza adventure. We set a date for our next gathering (Nagano - Matsumoto Castle in May), and then they dropped me off at the train station. And thus ended our trip to Utsunomiya. Quite satisfying, I must say.

days of wine and takoyaki

Last Saturday, Benni-sensei and I were invited to a takoyaki party at the Maebashi school (which is also closing in the coming months). This is one of the schools where Kozue-sensei works, and Hamish-sensei is also pretty cool, so it stood to reason that it would be an entertaining night. Add in the fact that we just happened to go to Beisia that afternoon and thus just happened to run into Naofumi-san who just happened to be free to accept our extended invitation to the party and it gets even better. I love to hang out with certain of my students, and Naofumi-san is definitely one of them. He can be highly amusing and a very good sport.

Of course, there was alcohol at the party, as is only right for a party with no kids around. Most of the students live within walking or biking distance of the school (or they crash on any of the numerous couches at the school - why don't we have any couches? it's so unfair), so safe driving practices are almost always in effect, from what I've seen. Fortunately, having no car, it's not something I need to worry about - it's just a matter of finding someone willing to drive me back to Isesaki. Which turned out to be another good reason to have Naofumi-san around, because at 5am, he was one of the few remaining drivers going that way anyway.

But I get ahead of myself. First came the food and the wine. One of the Maebashi students had taken a trip to Yamanashi, which is particularly famous for wine. And it was very good wine indeed. And there was takoyaki, which I enjoy reasonably well but especially when it's homemade. Take-out takoyaki is nothing compared to the homemade variety. Also, there was gyoza, but it took a backseat to the takoyaki festivities. Primarily because someone found an abandoned Kit-Kat in the office and decided to put it to use.

I don't know who started it, but Naofumi-san was involved. I cheerfully volunteered to try the cheese takoyaki (yummy) and the kimchi takoyaki (eh, but I'm not a great fan of kimchi), and I was the only one who also cheerfully volunteered to try the chocolate takoyaki (interesting but not as bad as it sounds). It was only a little bit of chocolate, hardly enough to have any effect on the taste, but the looks on everyone's faces was worth it. I did refuse to eat the strawberry takoyaki; that goes far beyond the realm of sensibility. Nobody was conned into eating that one, and eventually Kozue-sensei ate it by mistake and immediately ran off to spit it out.

This was followed by an amusing game thought up by a Malaysian student. He calls it "what goes around comes around," and it's certainly the most disgusting party game I've had the misfortune to play. The general idea is to play russian roulette with a fetid concoction of whatever liquids are available. For us, this included (but was not limited to) wine, beer, tomato juice, lemon juice, mayonnaise, takoyaki sauce, oolong tea, and Zima. Add various flavored chips, Kit-Kats, and bonito flakes to the mix, and you can imagine the wonderful liquid that resulted. Hamish-sensei even threw in some foul-smelling cheese that he found in the fridge. In order to determine the loser of this game, all involved draw cards, and the lowest card gets to take the shot.

We played three rounds of this, which is a testament to how much most of us had already had to drink. As fate would have it, the first and last rounds were both lost by the Malaysian student (after the last round, he quite comically threw up his hands and shouted, "I suck at my own game! How is this possible?") The middle round was lost by Naofumi-san, and he did us Isesaki folk proud by not just taking a tiny sip but a great big gulp of what was easily the foulest of the batches. That he did it reluctantly but jovially says a lot. Like I said, he's a good sport.

Two rounds of Uno were played, though it wasn't much of a competition because people were starting to succumb to the late hour and the alcohol. About seven of us decided to head out to a nearby bar, which I'm definitely glad we did because it was an AWESOME bar. It has a piratey theme to it, including fake palm trees in the corners, blunderbusses on the walls, and a rickety wooden dumb waiter to deliver drinks to the second floor. There is also a life-sized Yoda, which doesn't really fit with the pirate theme but nobody seems to mind. We stayed only long enough for one drink, but it was fun.

Upon returning to the school, I realized it was nearly 5am, and I had plans to go to Kumagaya the next day, so I decided it was time for me to head home. Naofumi-san was also ready to leave, so he offered me a lift so that nobody else had to worry about driving to and fro. I got home in time to get four hours of sleep before having to get up to head on my way to Kumagaya. Surprisingly, I made it through Sunday morning with only the slightest of hangovers, so I figure I must not have been too drunk. I've been worse off.

So, all in all, a most pleasant way to say goodbye to Maebashi. Our farewell party will not be as depraved because we're inviting all the kid students. I'm hoping I get a chance to chill with my stupendous adult students too, because I like them, and I'm going to miss them.

And yeah, I'm definitely moving on April 1st. It's not completely finalized, I'm waiting to hear back on the details. But if it goes through, I'll be much MUCH closer to Tokyo - as in, maybe a 20 minute train ride - but still not too far away from Isesaki if I want to hang out for a weekend. It's not been perfect here, but overall, I don't have a whole lot to complain about.

Benni-sensei's reverse birthday

Benni-sensei's birthday is this week, and Sunday, she had a little taco party to celebrate. She invited three of us over to her apartment for the afternoon (another GEOS teacher, her best friend, and me). As always with Benni-sensei, I had only a vague notion of what was planned, but that's okay. All I had to do was show up, and that was simple enough.

Kozue-sensei (from the Maebashi school) picked me up at the train station in Maebashi and told me that we needed to stop by the nearby mall to get some chicken from KFC. Apparently, Benni-sensei was afraid the tacos wouldn't be enough. So, off we went to Keyaki Walk, where we ordered a box of chicken and wandered around the mall for a while. There's a really nice bookstore in the mall, and it even has a small English section, so we browsed there for a bit. I finally bought a book to help me practice reading and writing both kana and kanji. I'm pretty solid on the hiragana, and the workbook I use in my lessons with Benni-sensei is helpful with conversation, but I want to work on my kanji recognition. Doubt I'll ever really be able to write kanji correctly, but I'd at least like to recognize some of it.

After picking up our chicken (note: Japanese KFC is merely "okay" in terms of fried chicken; I was not overly impressed), we drove over to Benni-sensei's apartment and immediately dug into the food. There were only four of us, so we had more food than we knew what to do with. We decided to wait on the tacos, instead focusing on the KFC and a couple bags of Doritos for lunch. We also decided that we needed a diversion between lunch and dinner, and because it was Benni-sensei's birthday after all, we asked what she wanted to do. She suggested karaoke, and off we went.

It was an amusing birthday party - Benni-sensei had asked us not to bring gifts (we did anyway), and she gave gifts to us. Granted, they were souveniers from her trip to Thailand, but it was still kinda funny. She also treated us for the karaoke, which we protested vehemently, to no avail. She insisted. I've never attended a reverse birthday party, and it was interesting switch. Reverse birthdays and un-birthdays deserve more attention.

Continuing with the party . . . Japanese karaoke is highly amusing, even without alcohol. We stayed for three hours, singing both Japanese and English songs (they tried to teach me one Japanese song - something about a bear, pretty simple, like a kids' song - but it didn't go all that great). Benni-sensei studied music in college in Los Angeles, and she has a beautiful, trained voice, so it's nice to listen to her sing, even if I don't understand exactly what's being said. Also, it was incredible fun singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" with her. Benni-sensei has seen "Wayne's World" and agrees that head-banging is necessary when singing this song. We startled Kozue-sensei and Shinobu-san with our exuberant head-banging.

We'd worked up an appetite with the karaoke, so we went back to the apartment and absolutely gorged ourselves on tacos. Benni-sensei had asked me to make guacamole, and we also had refried beans, Pace Picante salsa, and jalapenos to top off our tacos. The taco shells were small, and I have no idea how many I ate. They were absolutely delicious and messy and fun. We enjoyed ourselves immensely.

The awesomest thing about Benni-sensei's apartment? It's right next to a train bridge, so you can watch the trains go by. Every time one passed by, we all stopped what we were doing and waved at it. Benni-sensei says she does it all the time.

Definitely a very fantastic birthday party. Benni-sensei's presents from Thailand were matching purse bags for us - orange for Kozue-sensei, purple for Shinobu-san, and chocolate-brown for me. I'll have to take a picture of it, it's really pretty. It has flowers and an elephant stitched on it. I like it.

I've been having very entertaining weekends this month, and next weekend should also be entertaining: we're finally having our New Year's party at the school. Going to an izakaya with my students should be incredibly entertaining. Add in that I don't have any kids' classes this week (hurray for William's perfect attendance! there's no need for me to do any make-up classes), and January looks to be ending on a high note.

Thus far, 2009 hasn't given me too much to complain about.

Wednesdays are amusing.

Wednesdays are now officially my easy days. I had one class moved to Saturday, so now I only have a kids' class and my two-hour block with Naofumi. Easy-peasy.

The kids' class is a small Intermediate class, with two boys who are between 10-12. One of them is really quiet, and the other one is really bright, and they get along well together. They're nice boys, and I've gotten to the point where I can mess with their heads a bit.

For Christmas, my BFF Heather sent me a ginormous box of goodies, including an action figure-type thing of Obi-Wan Kenobi, my favorite Star Wars character. I have it sitting on my side table in my classroom, and the boys noticed it immediately when they came into the room. They were enthralled, and once I explained how I got it, I'm not sure what they found funnier: the fact that my friend gave it to me as a Christmas present, or the fact that I like Star Wars. In any case, they joked about it quite a bit before settling down for class.

One of today's vocabulary words was "bike," which was partially confusing to them because they identified the picture as a "bicycle." Sometimes the vocab in the GEOS books is a little weird (a track suit is considered a jersey? okay, that's a new one on me, but hey, I'm not paid to publish this stuff ). My quiet boy grinned and started humming and then quite clearly sang out, "Bicycle! Bicycle! Bicycle!" well enough for me to recognize it as a small snippet of the Queen song. Then they both started chanting it and grinning like maniacs.

I'm fairly astounded at how popular Queen sometimes seems here. I watched a program a couple weeks ago that was solely dedicated to the awesomeness of Queen. There was even a Japanese guy who did a fairly astounding impersonation of Freddie Mercury (the pronunciation was a little off, but he looked JUST LIKE him and the mannerisms were insanely accurate). Also, at the local Cainz Home, Queen is heard quite often over the radio system. I don't complain about this. However, I now have "Bicycle Race" stuck in my head.

Fast forward to my class with Naofumi, which started with a discussion on what we did during the holiday break. (Oddly enough, he participated in a bicycle marathon. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.) Also, he watched movies. We discussed "Dark Knight" a bit before I made him tell me the plot of "Million Dollar Baby," which I have not seen.

This was surprisingly difficult for him and not because of a language issue. He was genuinely concerned about offending me by talking about "sad" and "nasty" plot points. I'm not sure how paralysis from the neck-down is considered "nasty," but that's how he referred to it while describing the fight. He kept pausing and asking me if it was okay to continue. To be fair, I probably should have let it pass and spared him some discomfort, but really, he should have known better. After all, I had just told him how much I liked "Dark Knight," and I've mentioned before that I love westerns and war movies. Paraplegia, welfare fraud, and euthanasia aren't difficult topics for me, but that's not saying a lot. I'll generally discuss anything and everything without much embarrassment. Besides, I'm not sure anything can top the catheter and prostate exam discussion I had with one of Benni-sensei's students.

Still, I found it interesting. He has no problems discussing politics with me, but he felt uncomfortable bringing up sensitive plot points in a movie. He kept saying how sad it was. Which prompted me to say that I love movies with sad endings, and he looked at me like I was a little crazy.

I dunno, maybe I am. All I know is, after putting up with me for three months, he'd know better by now. Oh, well, just goes to show that nothing is as it seems. Life is full of little surprises.

In other news, during my second hour with Naofumi, my throat started to clench up and it became hard to swallow. And now, I feel the makings of a full-bore sore throat starting. Which tells me that I have a cold and will probably not be in the best of health tomorrow. It had to happen eventually. Personally, I'm surprised that I've managed to avoid illness thus far. And I was actually getting a little worried. After all, if I don't get sick, my immune system doesn't get the chance to strengthen itself. Not that I'm excited about getting a cold. It's just nice to put an end to the anticipation. It was only a matter of time.

I don't feel like total crap yet. If Murphy's Law is truly in effect, my worst day will be on Friday, when I need to be at 100% to deal with my three kids' classes in a row. Or on Saturday, when I deal with the 2yo twins for the first time. With any luck, I'll survive to spend Sunday in bed.

further evidence of winter in Gunma-ken

Yes, it was snowy in Takayama. But you know what Takayama doesn't have? Incredible, frigid Siberian wind. If I had to choose between heavy snow and this ridiculous dry wind, I think I'd choose the snow. There have been a couple of days when the wind was steady at 10mph, with much more powerful gusts that make it incredibly difficult to ride a bike without suddenly veering into stone walls or curbs. A couple of days, I've chosen to walk instead of ride simply because I knew it'd be a struggle to actually get anywhere.

Further, it's a very dry wind. Winters in Gunma are typically very dry - there's currently an advisory out warning about the dangers of dehydration. We haven't seen any precipitation in about two weeks, but it feels like longer. Everything's all brown and dry. Benni-sensei's hands are all cracked from the lack of moisture in the air (and there are more commercials for healing ointments and lotions than I can count). It certainly explains why my hair has been considerably less frizzy lately. I'm surprised my hands aren't cracked and peeling too, as they usually are that way during winter. It's been warmer the past couple days, though, with temperatures in the higher single digits. It'd be quite pleasant out if not for this ridonkulous wind.

Here are some pictures I took on the 24th, just to give you an idea of the view I sometimes I have of the mountains north of Isesaki. I had to climb onto a skywalk to get them, but it's nice to know that there's a view to see. This is Mount Akagi, which is the largest mountain in Gunma. It doesn't come to one tall peak, but as you can see, is spread out a bit. One of my students told me that Akagi-san is famous for its silhouette: because it has many small peaks, it resembles a woman lying on her side. You can't really see that from the angle of these pictures, but in other places in Isesaki, that's exactly what it looks like. The best such view is near the Isesaki bus station, which I pass on the way to the train station. Next time I'm walking that way, I'll try to remember to take a picture of it.

watashi wa eigo no sensei desu

Today I had my first official Japanese lesson with Benni-sensei. Up to this point, my Japanese education was limited to watching "as much TV as possible" and tracing hiragana to practice learning it. My Japanese handwriting sucks but at least I'm getting the hang of recognizing the kana.

I mentioned that I bought a Japanese textbook a few weeks ago, and this was our first chance to use it. My first lesson was on introductions - how to ask someone's name ("Namae wa nandesuka?") and how to respond ("Sara desu."), followed by how to ask about someone's job ("Shigoto wa nandesuka?") and how to respond ("Watashi wa eigo no sensei desu.") Also got an intro to meeting people ("hajimemashite" ~ "how do you do" and "doozo yoroshiku" ~ "it's nice to meet you"). It's not much, but it's more Japanese than I could understand and say this morning! It's a start.

Also, she's having me practice writing my name in katakana, which is both important and not overly easy for me. As I said, my Japanese handwriting sucks wholly and completely (at least, I think so) because it takes a certain finesse to make it look "right." Japanese writing is almost like a form of art, with precise strokes that blend together so nicely. My penmanship looks like geometry, which I would definitely NOT consider art, but maybe that's just me.

Anyway, after my lesson, Benni-sensei had me practice on Hitomi-san, which is incredibly fun because she's always thrilled, no matter what. But then, Japanese people tend to be impressed when non-natives put any kind of attempt into understanding/learning/practicing anything to do with Japanese culture. It's a nice change from Americans, who expect everyone to adapt and adopt as quickly as possible (this is, of course, a gross generalization, but it seems to me to be the attitude of the majority). It's like how Hitomi-san was so excited when she found out I liked Japanese food or how gleeful they can be when I try something new and like it. And they don't treat me with contempt if I don't understand or don't like it. Granted, they treat me a little like a silly gaijin, but that's what I am, so it's okay. It's way better than frowning and acting like I'm less than them.

But, yeah, I got mad praise for my pronunciation and my memorization, so I'm not a complete failure when it comes to Japanese. Actually, pronunciation is fairly straightforward, as it's a lot like Spanish, in that everything's pronounced pretty much as it's written. It's not tricky the way English is. As for memorization . . . yeah, that's to be expected too, because even I'll admit I've got a mind that retains way too much information. There's a reason I'm good at Trivial Pursuit. Hopefully that will continue to serve me well.

sara-sensei and the futile battle to keep warm

As far as I'm concerned, it is officially winter. Doesn't matter that we still have about three weeks to go before the solstice, doesn't matter that it's going to get even colder as winter draws nearer. For me, winter is here: snow is on the mountains. Not a lot of it, but enough to be visible from Isesaki.




Last week, some wet weather came down from the mountains - I'm getting pretty decent at weather prediction, but I think it's common sense to see clouds enveloping the mountains and looming over the valley and figure that rain is coming. Except, up in the mountains, it's not rain, it's snow, as you can see in the pictures.

You have to remember where I'm from (ahem, Florida). Snow is a big deal for me. Waking up to 14 degrees in my room (that's 57 degrees in Fahrenheit) is a big deal for me. Riding my bike to work in a freezing Siberian wind is a bid deal for me. Staying warm has become a pretty important part of my life lately.

One of Benni-sensei's students, Kazuhiro (I think I've mentioned him before), suggested to us one day that we go to UniQlo and check out something called HeatTech. It's a very thin material, and it's made as both shirts and shorts, meant to be worn under regular clothes. It's designed to keep heat in the body, thus keeping body temperature up. It's very warm and very comfortable, and the XL size fits me nicely.

Can we say awesome? The fact that I can fit into Japanese clothing thrills me to no end, even if it is the largest size in the store. What's really great is that it really does an excellent job of keeping me warm. The heater in my room at school doesn't quite get the job done, and even wearing a long-sleeved shirt and suit jacket didn't help much in keeping warm. The HeatTech shirts have really helped with that. At home, I usually wear one under a t-shirt. My apartment heater works fine, but because I'm heating such a small space, it can get stuffy really fast, so I usually only turn it on in the mornings.

This means that, while riding around on my bike, I usually wear 4 layers: HeatTech shirt, blouse, suit jacket, and overcoat. And gloves. And leggings and tennis shoes. That's how cold it is. During the day, when the sun is shining, I usually leave the overcoat at work, but sunset is around 4:30pm, and it gets cold really quick after that. I am now enamored with vending machines that sell hot drinks, because they are HOT. I'm especially fond of hot green tea, and every once in a while, I'll treat myself to one of the sweet cream lattes from the school machine.

But, it's going to be a struggle for me to not freeze to death this winter, because it's not even winter yet. And everyone tells me that the wind will get worse and the weather will get colder. And then they cheerfully tell me that it's usually dry, so there's not much snow. This doesn't really make me feel better, because there's that whole "cold Siberian wind" thing that bothers me. I'm starting to believe that the overcoat is the second-most important thing I brought with me to Japan (the first being the laptop, of course, I'd be going stir-crazy without it).

But, yeah. FREEZING.

J-Rock

It's considerably trite to say that I like music, considering that most people do, but it's a straightforward truth. I like music, and I was unsure how I'd like Japanese music, because if you live outside of Japan, chances are you know J-Pop and that's it. And J-Pop is some of the most irritating music I've heard, but I think American pop is pretty irritating too, so maybe it's just me.

Anyway, now that I've been watching TV pretty regularly, I've seen a couple of music countdown shows, which basically review the best singles and albums of the week. Most of it is J-Pop, and my general rule is that if it looks like a girl or boy band, it's probably going to make me want to hit the mute button as fast as possible. This is especially true in the case of such groups like Perfume and Speed; calling them bands would be a misnomer because these girls don't play instruments, they just sing shrilly. Boy groups aren't much better because they're kinda sappy and do a lot of coordinated dancing and often look a little too effeminate for my tastes.

BUT. All is not lost when it comes to Japanese music. I have thus far discovered two groups that I not only like but have enjoyed so much that I went out and purchased their cds. I have also compiled a list of singers/bands that I want to learn more about because I think I might like them too. Most of them are very "rockish" and utitilize real instruments and not a bunch of electronica.

The first is Naifu, a group that is making their debut. They are an actual band that plays actual instruments (which I've noticed is the first step in catching my interest), and they have a definite "rock" sound. Their second single, "Mysterious," is in the top ten and has been used as an opening theme to an anime show called "Detective Conan," which I've seen a couple episodes of and plan to watch from now on. It's kind of a rock-love ballad, and I've found a couple of translations online, and I like the lyrics. (nota bene: a lot of Japanese music uses English in small ways, usually as titles or with a word thrown in here and there in the lyrics - in this case, the song title is actually in English, but the rest of the song is 98% Japanese.)

The second band is Asian Kung-Fu Generation, which I've decided is just downright awesome. They write almost 100% of their music themselves, and some of it is just plain brilliant. Their most recent album was released this year, and after hearing the single "Fujisawa Loser," I went out and bought it, and I've listened to it pretty much non-stop for the past three days. All of their songs are sung in Japanese, but they also supply English translation lyrics with their album. "Fujisawa Loser" is my favorite, but I also like "Inamuragasaki Jane" (which references the Beatles) and "Kamakura Goodbye." All of the songs are named for stops on a train line, and it's really just a great cd. There's a lot of indie and alternative influence in their style, and that's something I can appreciate.

My only complaint? iTunes has next to nothing when it comes to J-Rock, even in the Japanese store (which I can't buy from anyway, so maybe that's a good thing). Also, my iPod is nearly full, so I won't be able to add much more music to it - not that this is inherently a bad thing, considering I could play music on it for 5.5 days before songs started repeating themselves.

Bottom line: Japanese music is more than just J-Pop, and that makes me happy.

rewind: my motel room

So, you want to see pix of my apartment? Well, too bad! (Seriously, I'm working on getting videos, but it's taking longer than I anticipated, for reasons I don't want to get into right now). Instead, you get to witness the marvelousness of my motel room, in which I dwelled for six nights. Actually, I slept remarkably well in this tiny little room, and I spent hours in it without going insane. I'm not sure what that suggests about my psyche.


I am standing next to the bathroom door and directly in front of the room door. That's how small the room was. Enough room for bed, desk, chair, and TV. Japanese TV is hilarious, by the way (except for the news, which is boring in any language). There are more shows of people sitting in panels and making guesses about things than I could count. I watched anime, cooking shows, travel shows, generally anything that caught my eye and was more than just people sitting around and talking.


The bed, which was just big enough for me, though the blanket was a little short. Very low, but very comfortable, more so than my apartment bed because the motel bed has a thicker mattress and sits on something soft. The pillow was a little weird, and I'm glad Genna told me about them beforehand. It wasn't filled with anything soft; instead it was filled with pellets (I think she said they were wheat germ? One of my students said that "macaroni" is also used sometimes). Seriously, you could single out the pellets and roll them between your fingers. Everytime I moved, it made weird crunchy noises. And yet, it was surprisingly comfortable. Although the pellets themselves were a little hard, they made a nice cushion. My real complaint was that it was too damn small.

The toilet, which was quite majestic in its own way. The bathtub/shower is to the left, and it was very small. The important thing here is the toilet, which has buttons. None of which I pressed, because I know how a bidet works, and I preferred not to get sopping wet. But the toilet does all kinds of wondrous things, and its pressure is magnificent. I LOVE Japanese toilets. I have yet to break any. Americans could learn a lot by studying Japanese toilet technology. My apartment toilet isn't as fancy or space-agey, but I like it just the same. It has something the motel toilet doesn't: a faucet on the top where clean water comes out so you can rinse your hands off. That is totally nifty.

And here's a view of the motel itself. First Inn is strictly a business motel, which explains why it's a little spartan in its functionality. It has both Japanese and Western style rooms, and the staff - speaking no English at all - was very helpful and considerate. I basically live right across the street from it and see it every day.

And, as you can see in the background, MOUNTAINS! I can't walk anywhere in this town without seeing mountains, the novelty of which still hasn't worn off for me.

Okay, so that was the motel. I hope to get an apartment post up by the end of the weekend, but I make no promises!

Japanese Food Journal - Izakaya

An izakaya is a Japanese bar - there are bars and pubs in Japan, but an izakaya is more traditional in spirit, having separate rooms with low tables and cushions for sitting and a menu with a smorgasboard of options to choose from. (at least, that's how the one I went to was like) Patrons order from the menu and pass the dish around the table, so it's more of a free-for-all than a sit-down meal. Drink-wise, you can get just about anything, from traditional sake to imported wines to beer to cocktails familiar to even a casual drinker.

The best part about going to an izakaya is the company. I found myself seated amidst our Japanese hosts, and they very kindly introduced me to the essence of going to an izakaya, which is, quite simply, to eat, drink, and be merry.

They ordered the food items, I simply enjoyed the food. I told them I'd try anything they offered to me, and they didn't disappoint me when they started setting food on the table.

We began with an assortment of veggies, pickled, if I'm not mistaken. The carrots and yellow cucumbers were my favorites. The only thing I didn't really enjoy (for the entire evening) was daikon, Japanese radish. It looks nothing like the little red radishes that Americans know, but it doesn't taste any better than them. I'm not a big radish fan anyway, so I wasn't surprised that I didn't like it. It was the only thing I took that I didn't finish completely - one bite was plenty.

This was followed by Korean pancake, roughly equivalent to okonomiyaki, though apparently made with less cabbage and more curry. This is very popular in Japan, but I prefer okonomiyaki. With the Korean pancake, there's more pancake than filling, and with okonomiyaki, I like how much flavor goes popping into your mouth with every bite. It's more fun to eat and tastier too.

Then was brought out a pot filled with octopus and squid for us to cook over heat. It was so-so. Again, both of them are fairly rubbery, and I get bored chewing, and the flavor is very subtle and not very interesting. I had only a little bit of each, which was enough for me.
My hosts were delighted to find out that I like sashimi, so they ordered some. The tuna was absolutely heavenly, no surprise there. It just melts away in your mouth, mmmm. The scallops were also good, and there was a white fish I can't remember the name of that was quite tasty.

At this point, a bowl with small chunks of meat was passed around, and when I asked about them, I was told it was an "organ." I had only the vaguest sense of what that meant, but I tried it anyway and thought it was good. Not so tender, a little tough, but with an excellent flavor. After further questioning, I was told it was from a bird, and another of the English teachers and I came to the conclusion that it was gizzard. To which point our hosts readily agreed, and there followed a hearty discussion about the consumption of turkey.

They saved the best for last though. Near the end of the party, I was offered a small plate with a row of thinly sliced meat, seasoned and lightly cooked. My host placed a large bit of chopped leeks on a piece of the meat and presented it to me. In answer to my question, she said, "Cow's tongue." Well, I'd come too far to be scared of a muscle, and it looked good and smelled good, so down it went. No disappointment there, except that I didn't get to have another piece of it because it was eaten in no time flat. That was quite sensational, and I wouldn't balk at eating it again.

So, other than the daikon, I am pleased to report that my first trip to an izakaya was a roaring success, and I can't wait to do it again.

for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izakaya

Japanese Food Journal: Takoyaki

Takoyaki, for the uninitiated, are octopus dumplings. I shall remember it fondly as my first real introduction to Japan.

I didn't get to spend much time at Will's farewell party, because I was dead on my feet, so while it was my first outing in Japan, I don't think it counts because I wasn't lucid. I did, however, get to have a couple onigiri (rice balls) and a few plums, which are delicious and are now my new favorite fruit. They're aren't like the plums we get at American grocery stores, being smaller in size and much sweeter.

Anyway, Will was invited to a takoyaki party on Sunday, and he asked if I wanted to go too, and I said sure. (when I agreed to go, I'm not entirely sure I had any idea what I was agreeing to, that's how out of it I was). I was still quite tired Sunday when I woke up, but I didn't want to just slouch around in my motel room, so I was glad to go to Maebashi with him. Sunday had a lot of firsts for me, including my first train ride, in which I probably took far too much glee.

But this is about food, specifically takoyaki.

I get the feeling that octopus can be served many different ways, but this was a specific type of party, one that dealt with takoyaki balls. There is a cooking machine designed just for making takoyaki balls. I have no idea what went into the batter because I didn't make any myself (being too enamored with the food presented to me and too engaged in conversation), but I'm assuming it's octopus, batter, and some veggie-type things. Whatever it was, covered in mayo and tonkatsu sauce, it was delicious. Octopus I'm not so keen on by itself, but in ball form, it's less rubbery and more palatable.

Also served was a delicious beef and potato dish brought by another one of the guests. It was rather like a stew, bone-in beef served in its brother. The beef just fell right off the bone, and it was so tender and juicy. I believe it's called nikujaga, but I neglected to write it down, so I could be wrong. Whatever the name, it was heavenly. The potatoes were perfectly done too, and quite flavorful.

There were two new vegetables that I tried. The first was Japanese eggplant, which is different from the Italian eggplant that Americans are used to. It's smaller and not the same color, but it also tastes very good grilled. There was also a cucumber-like vegetable used in a salad, and that I didn't like so much. It had a very bitter taste, and I could have done without that.

But for the most part, everything was insanely yummy.

And there was pocky, quintessentially Japanese. Mmm.

After the takoyaki party, we went out to an izakaya, which is a food journal entry all unto itself.


to read more about takoyaki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki

the skinny on my internet situation

I still do not have internet in my apartment, which is the only thing causing me any grievance at this moment. My rent includes internet, and it is supposed to be super-easy to use, but so far, I have only met a wall of non-cooperation. For now, my internet is reduced to my use of the computer at work, and that means no Skype for me. I am hoping to have this rememedied by next week, but I must rely on the availability of the Japanese teacher to explain the (Japanese) instructions to me. William (the previous teacher) thinks it is broken somehow, so he couldn't show me how to use it or what to do to get it fixed. I think it requires making a phone call to Leo Palace, and I'm not sure if I can do that on my own, given my extremely limited command of Japanese.

I can't promise it will be up and running by next week, but I'm hopeful. It is a challenge I am willing to face, and I will be victorious! Until then, I'll do what I can with what I have.