Overdue

It's been four months since I left Japan. Aaron n I've been busy with--

*moving into a new aparto
*planning and holding a wedding reception
*finding jobs
*family vacation
*catching up with old friends

But who cares about that? Everyone wants the scoop on how we're adjusting back to US life, culture shock, enlightenment, etc. So...

Reverse Culture Shock hasn't really been a problem. I didn't expect to return the exact person who left. I expected friends, family, life in general to have marched on without me. Just as when I'd visit home from Uni, many things would be the same, but there were always plenty of little changes. Also, 2 years away didn't wipe away 24 years of American culture.

Some little things that did stand out when we returned---

*There are plenty of non-Asians around, and the odds are high that I do not know the person. As part of the foreigner pool in Hyogo, if I saw a foreigner, odds were good that I knew him/her. It took me a few days to realize that I probably don't know that redhead over there.

*So many body types and personal styles.

*People talk too much and about incredibly inane things. I'm sure this was true in Japan, but it was easy not to listen in on others' convos. But since Ams tend to talk loudly [and I'm fully fluent in Eng], I hear EVERYTHING.

*American serving sizes are ridiculously large.

Privatized!

Ha Ha! The Japanese Post Office was privatized a few months ago. I don't know how that exactly played out in terms of changes, but I am comforted imagining a new improved Post Office humming along efficiently.

Evil Post Office

The post office was the worst fiery hoop Aaron n I had to jump through in Japan. I'm always reading ex-pats saying how living abroad is exciting because everyday things become an adventure, like going to the post office. Now, I like the adventures I find in the grocery stores, but when successfully navigating the post office is deemed a major triumph, I get pretty grumpy.

The trouble-- the post office handles lots of transactions; paying bills, money orders, mail. When A n I first arrived, we determined to send money home by the post office. Horrible! The postal worker had no idea how to do it. When he finally figured it out and gave us the forms, I made a mistake on one of the forms. Shouldn't be a problem, right? Oh, no. See, in addition to filling out a new form, I had to redo the forms that had no mistakes. See, the P.O. money orders were for set amounts; each form covered roughly $700. And those forms had to filed in numerical order. So when I goofed on form #2, I had to start all over. And then the P.O. said they didn't have enough forms. Ugh. Our second trip for the money order went no better, despite no mistakes on our part. The P.O. workers were not impressing me, but I was sure the fault was mine. So I pulled out the big guns and brought a teacher. Didn't matter, still took an HOUR.

Soon thereafter, all money was sent home by a remittance company.

Various encounters for sending boxes home were very hit and miss. Not as traumatic as the money order experiences, but annoying enough that we'd dread going.

As I prepared to leave, I agonized about the fate of our library. Aaron n I love books, and like to keep books for rereading. And our small Japan library had still grown to a considerable size. Disheartened, I searched for a media mail option. And I found one! I was so excited! I memorized the vocab, took the books to the larger P.O. and asked about the media mail...
"Eh, what? We don't have anything like that."
"Well, what about the book bags?" [the media mail utilizes special book bags bought at the P.O.]
"Oh, here's an envelope. They're $1 each."
"No, it's a special bag. Y'know, for sending books."
"No, we don't do that."
"Hmm, well I saw it on the P.O. website."
"Fine, I'll check." [surfs internet] "Oh, look at that. Well, we don't do that here. Sorry."

Since I didn't have the books boxed, as I'd needed to buy the special bag, Erika [my gracious friend who was helping me run these last errands] and I leave to go get a box from home. We then go to the smaller P.O. which is staffed with nicer ladies. The smaller P.O. has fewer services, which is why we'd gone to the larger one first.

The ladies were nice, and when I asked about sending the books media-rate despite not having the bag, they went into action mode. Started calling around, asking about how to do that. They informed us that the media-rate is only available in larger cities, but that they could send my box to Himeji, and do media-rate from there. But for some reason they couldn't do that from this smaller post office. Oh, no-- they told me to return to the larger P.O. and do it from there. Ugh. Ok, but can I send these other non-book boxes from here? Why would I do that? It's almost closing time, and I should just go to the larger [more evil] P.O. So Erika and I slog off to the other P.O.

I get a new lady-- a trainee. I try to explain the situation and she just stares at me. Then the horrible man from before comes over and inserts himself into the situation. Again, I explain. He tells me the mumbo-jumbo from last time.
"Ah, but I was just at the smaller P.O. and they called here. They talked with someone about how to do it."
"No, we can't do anything like that."
"Well, they called just 5 minutes ago. Could we ask who they spoke to?"
"They talked to me, but I still have no idea what you want or how to do it."

Grrrr! Obviously, I was pretty frustrated at this point. It was 2 days before I left Wadayama, I needed to ship all this stuff, I didn't have a car, so I'd need to inconvenience another friend to help me... Instead of trying any more, I shipped the easy boxes, and decided to bring a big gun [re: Japanese person] the next day to figure it all out.

And when I did, the ladies asked why I didn't go the larger P.O. like they'd told me.

Here's hoping they get around to privatizing that sucker like the gov's been planning.

Perfect Sushi Bar

Exhausted, I tried reading on the bus to Kobe. Instead of being caught up in my novel, I gazed out the window, watching the countryside slide by. No introspective thoughts came to me. Nothing earth-shattering. No feeling or thought to indicate this was my last ride.

That shifted as the bus entered Kobe. Suddenly it was clear I was leaving-- never to wander Kobe's little shops, find comfort in the import shops. There were so many things I wanted to see that I'd never had the chance to.

I met Joy in the goofy Rock Park. We found a fantastic sushi shop-- the kind I was always seeing in movies and reading about in guides; the kind I never could find in Wadayama or whenever I was looking for one. We ordered the special and damned if it wasn't just that.

Unglaublich

My contract ended on July 24th, a Tuesday. For all intents and purposes, school ended July 19th, a Thursday. July 21st Harry Potter #7 was released. Now, my last day at Barnes & Noble before coming to Japan was the release party for HP #6. I'm usually not into the whole "Full Circle" thing, but I do like my Harry Potter, and this would be the last one ever, so...

Like a mad woman, I managed to prep for my successor, thoroughly clean the aparto, have last dinners with friends, pack all remaining things, navigate the evil post office, all the while doing my full load of classes. There was a fair amount of slipping home to clean in my free hours, but that's just a good use of time! I left Wadayama on the 4:37 pm bus on Thursday, July 19th.

To leave a sweet taste at my school, I bought all the teachers cups of Haagen Daaz and gave a nice, complimentary speech. I wrote up some thank you cards for particular teachers, took some pics with my students. When the time came to leave, many teachers came to see me drive off in Matsuda sensei's car. I was so happy that Matsuda was willing to take me home and to the bus station-- she was my favorite teacher, the one who shared the most of herself and her ideas with me, and hers was the last face I wanted to see.

As we pulled up to bus station, I saw a group of women loitering... they were from Aaron's n my convo class! Many of them had sneaked out of work to come and wait at the bus stop with me. It was so nice! There were a lot of hugs, pictures, and a few teary eyes as I boarded the bus.

Cringe

At my farewell enkai, the teachers were all waxing poetic about how Japanese I am [see previous entry on this and its complimentary status]. So when one teacher asked which city is my favorite, another teacher replied "Oh, it'll be Kyoto, of course!" But when I declared my love for Kobe, the teachers wanted to know why. "It's beautiful, sandwiched between the mountains and the sea, there are many interesting shops, I like the museums, and since there have been foreigners there for some time, people don't stare at me so much."
"Ah, since there are other foreigners, you don't have to feel so ashamed."

******

Talking with a few wonderful friends who are planning to come visit Seattle. Japan is a cash society, with most people carrying hundreds of dollars in their wallets at any given time. My friends know that Americans use credit cards, but they weren't sure what they were going to do... "Well, we can't bring money in the suitcase, in case the luggage is lost. And we shouldn't carry it because someone might rob us.... But Seattle has a lot of Japanese people, so I'll feel safe there."

Konnyaku!!

Wadayama doesn't have any culinary specialties, yet is graced with a from-scratch konnyaku restaurant. Konnyaku is a jellied Devil's Tongue, and is popular in Japan for its texture and its beneficial digestive properties-- mainly, there's not much to it, and it pushes other stuff out with it. Makes you want to eat it, huh?



A lot of people find the chewy rubberiness off-putting, but not me! I looove konnyaku in my bento or in oden. One of my students had worked at the restaurant [before she graduated], and I'd always wanted to go, but the restaurant kept strange hours and was reported to be expensive.




But with Yukiko and Colleen in town, we decided to check it out for lunch. True to Japan's prefered restaurant style, the konnyaku restaurang ONLY served konnyaku. We each ordered the bento and were treated to a stunningly beautiful and tasty meal. Everything had konnyaku! Konnyaku in the miso soup, konnyaku sashimi, deepfried konnyaku, and even konnyaku rice. The rice was tricky-- it was topped with konnyaku furikomi, but as we were eating, we noticed some of the rice grains were a translucent blue... tiny bits of white konnyaku. A delicious and super healthy lunch.

Adult Dress Up

As my days slipped down, I found myself very popular. This was unusual, but I took full advantage! One of my adult students asked me to come over as she wanted to give me a yukata! Sooo sweet!



Chika picked me up, and we drove to Yasuko's daughter's house, where Yasuko and Mineko were waiting. I was given several choices, and settled on a navy one with a bright floral pattern. Yasuko trussed me up [seriously, those things have to be tied tightly]. Feeling a bit fancified, I insisted and got Mineko and Yasuko to dress up as well.

Despite the A/C, we were boiling in the yukata, so we returned to streetwear. Well, Mineko and Yasuko did. I was tested on putting on the yukata solo. Yukata aren't as difficult as kimono to wear, but it's still challenging and a bit of a lost art. I pleased my teachers on the second go, and then I was taught the proper method to fold and store yukata. This is Japan; there is a proper method in which to do everything.

Then Yasuko's daughter announced dinner, which was a wonderful surprise to me! What I'd imagined to be a short visit stretched out to 4 hours with my wonderful ladies. Yasuko showed us photos of her travels to the US and China; Mineko talked about the unique Osaka fashion sense. It was a nice night.

Inconveniencing

My Jamaican friends once asked a Japanese friend, "What's the biggest sin in Japan?" The answer: "Inconveniencing other people." To be seen as a person who inconveniences others by being late, asking too much, etc. will get you a bad rep.



Somehow, saying "no" or "I don't know" fell into this category of inconvenience. Therefore instead of being told that you can't have your vacation days, you're told "I'll think about it." Learning to read between the lines becomes a necessity.

My least favorite time this pops up is with directions. It's very rare to find someone who will just tell you "Oh, sorry, I have no idea where that is." Instead, you're given a healthy dose of directions, and you only learn the directions are completely wrong when you've spent hours searching. I can't understand how giving false directions and wasting someone's time is seen as less inconvenient than a simple "no."

Julius came up with a great way to foil this; when asking where something is, point to the direction you know for damn sure it is not and say "Is it that way?" If the person says "Yes, that way, so many blocks..." you can just disregard anything they say. Brilliant!

Lucky 7s

July 7th found Jade and me in Kyoto for Tanabata. Tanabata is a star festival celebrating the annual meeting of Vega and Altair. Most cities celebrate it on the 7th day of the lunar calendar, but Kyoto obliged me by sticking to July 7th.

As we walked up to Kiyomizudera, we saw tons of classy B&W posters featuring Kiyomizudera with the print "The New Wonders." Not only was it 7/7, it was 7/7/07! Obviously extraordinarily lucky, it was also the day the New Seven Wonders would be announced. And we were at one of the locations! How cool! So we each snagged a free poster and continued up to write wishes to tie on bamboo.



In addition to confessing our wishes, we saw another rite; write a trouble on tissue-thin paper, then put the paper into a deep bowl of water. When your paper dissolves, so will your troubles! There was a woman ahead of us, so we waited for about 5 minutes before noticing she had a stack nearly 2 inches thick! So we slipped around her and slipped our trouble-laden papers into the water.

After lunch, Jade and I went to Heian Shrine [seen in Lost in Translation]-- it was fantastic! If we'd known just how cool it was, we would've planned more time, but as it was, we did a whirlwind tour of the garden, walked across the stepping stones, and then left.

We tried to find the 6 floor handicraft center, but were treated to a multitude of wrong directions [more on this later]. Frustrated, we gave up and headed to the bamboo forest. As is often the case, the beautiful pics in the brochures had been heavily cropped-- the forest was still interesting, but not as deep or as thick as we'd expected.

Having seen the sights and bought the omiyage, we headed home.