Contemporary Happenings

Have to take a quick break from vacation stories to relate up-to-date news.

Around this time, teachers are reassigned to new schools. While it's typical to stay at a school for 3 years, sometimes the duration is much longer [if they can work out a deal with the administration] or much shorter. Accordingly, one of my favored teachers is leaving to head all the way down to Akashi. Waaah! And my beloved Kyoutou-sensei [VP] is leaving after only a year! I am in complete shock about the VP! When he first arrived, he made me incredibly uncomfortable by using his 10 stock English phrases on me everyday; "You changed your hairstyle-- how beautiful." Which is really nice, but hearing it every single day made me feel like the butt of a joke. As the months progressed, he became more comfortable and expanded his English usage. He became one of my favorite people-- he's friendly, always polite, interesting, and has a sense of humor [often lacking in Eng/J language exchanges]. And now he's leaving! It's horrible!

The only plus at the moment is the whole seat change thing. See, the teachers can't keep their usual seats-- if a teacher is becoming a 2nd year homeroom teacher, he needs to move the the 2nd year hm row. This means my L teacher will no longer be my neighbor. And since the teachers were all worried about me "needing" an English speaker, they're giving me Ishii-sensei! Hooray!!! Here's hoping it's not an empty promise.

Ninja!!

The next day we were off to... Ninja Town! Yes, there is a ninja town in Japan! Annoyingly, it takes awhile to get there. But at least your train is ninja-themed!


In Iga, we hiked up the mountain to reach the ninja house and ninja musuem. There are guides dressed in day-glo pink [girls] and dark blue [boys]. You get a spiffy tour, with demonstrations of trick doors, secret hidey-holes, etc. We got the chance to try out the spin door [think Indiana Jones 3]-- the middle-aged lady who went first was adorable! She slid up quickly, moving her hands quickly in vertical strokes, giggled "sha sha sha," and used the door with great speed. Then it was my turn. Yeah, I am not made to be a ninja. I was pretty slow- but funny, judging by the laughter.




We then toured the ninja museum, gawping at the spiffy tools and giggling at the demonstration video. So fun! Aaron n I bought some ninja-etched sake cups to add to our collection. While we didn't spend more than a few hours, this was one of the funnest things I've done in Japan. Goofy smiles for the rest of the day.

Kiyomizu-dera

After our quick tour of Seoul, it was back to Japan. But not back to school! Oh, no- I used some vacation time to pad out a Nat'l holiday. We were on the go for a good week. First up: Kyoto

We hit the Toji Flea Market and bought some fun stuff. Gorged on food stalls- mmm! Then we met up with Julius, who was joining us for the next few days.

Off we went to Kiyomizu-dera, one of the finalists for the "New Seven Wonders." Kiyomizu-dera collects a main temple with several smaller shrines. The main temple has a very sheer drop, which affords a nice view. The Japanese equivalent of "To take the plunge" is "to jump off Kiyomizu-dera's stage." And yes, people actually used to jump off it. If you survived, your wish would come true.



The main attraction is three channels of water. Visitors use a long-handled ladle to drink from one of the streams; love, health, or wealth. But the guide lady insisted all the waters were the same! As we each chose a different stream, we're hoping we're covered.

And one of the best parts of our Kyoto day-- maiko! Maiko are apprentice geisha, and wear flashier kimono, and are paraded around for special events. Hooray for the Nat'l holiday! Even with the ridiculous crowds, I was so happy to finally see the expected, yet elusive, maiko.

Seoul Impressions

Hmmm. We really didn't have enough time. 2 days plus a couple hours just wasn't enough, especially as many things shut down on Sunday. The markets seemed fun, but we just weren't in the buying mood. The street stalls were great, and the soju [Korean liquor] was smoother than what we find in Japan[shochu].

The people were more direct and seemed quite confident compared to Japanese. In only 2 days, we were openly approached and chatted up in English several times. One man came up and told Aaron he must be "Jew-ichi" because he has a big, long nose. Hahahah! There was also more jostling and general pushiness, but this might just be big-city living.

As a big city, I think a guide or some good advice is a necessity. Or just more time. I can't explain how disappointed we were with our 2 dismal restaurant meals [seriously- it's all about those tasty side dishes]. And we had no idea where to go for liveliness-- we just wandered about, which was fun, but not too enlightening. All in all, it was definately worthwhile and interesting, but I just feel that we missed out on a lot.

Seoul, March 19 & 20

Our last real day in Seoul, so we hit the traditional shopping area for souveniers-- Insadong. Found plenty of beautiful paper, prints, pottery. Of course we bought a bit too much, but we needs it! Really! The only downside was lunch. We were pressured into a restaurant by one of the waiters. The pics outside showed a huge spread of side dishes and reasonable prices. So we were less than pleased to find a very expensive menu, and received a measly 4 side dishes. Lame. After that, we stuck to the tasty street stalls.



More shopping around-- went to COEX, a huge mall. Found a Uniqlo shop, but the selection was the same as in Japan. All in all, a day full of window shopping, and gawking at new things. We desperately searched for my ginger cookies, but could only find unglazed cookies. I fell in love with beauty chain called Skin Food that had tons of fun lotions, masks, etc. I'm hoping they go international very soon.

We had to be up early the next day to head to the airport. On the bus, we saw so many things that looked fun, but of course it was too late. But I've noticed things always seem more exciting by the speed of the bus or train. Once you're on foot, you see it's just like where you were.

Seoul, March 18

Up earlyish on Sunday, we wandered out, looking for breakfast. But we were stymied by an endless river of runners. Seems the Seoul Marathon was in full swing, and directly in front of us and breakfast. Hrrmmm. We waited a good 8 minutes, looking for the end-- no dice. As more impatient people Frogger-ed through, Aaron n I decided to do the same. It took quite awhile to get my nerve-- I was sure I'd trip somebody and ruin their marathon. But I eventually made it through, and we walked up to the next street, only to find the marathon was doubled back on this street as well! This time there were subway stations, so we were able to go down and over, instead of through.

I really like encountering these everyday events. I know I'm a tourist, and that most events I find in other cities/countries are ones I specifically travelled to see. But things like the marathon reminds me that I'm not a part of this city/country-- that it has concrete things for its citizens besides the flashy sites.

For breakfast we headed to the foreigner area in hopes of finding a British style breakfast place. A big, heavy breakfast sounded so great... but we settled for some bagel sandwiches. For our dining entertainment, we watched a drunk man drag a chair a good 30 feet, to thwack it against a police car. The police then had a fun time trying to maneuver him into the car. The entire street just stopped to watch this guy wrap his arms around a telephone pole and push the cops away. After breakfast, we toured Changgyeong-gung. We walked around, saw the buildings, sat and watched some crazy ducks, read a bit.




Then it was time to hit the markets. We found our way to the oldest open-air market in Korea, some 600 years old. We didn't buy much, but we did eat the super-fresh octopus! We'd hoped to find a place with the living, whole baby octopodes, but instead we found this easier option. Take 1 living adolescent octopus, pull him outta the water, chop thoroughly, and serve with sauce. Yes, the plate is filled with squirming bits. And the bit are delicious!! The sucker cups grab onto the inside of your mouth as you chew, making for a very interesting time. But seriously-- it's really tasty!

Seoul, March 17

Hooray! Finally, finally, we made it to Korea. We've been planning to go ever since we learned we were headed to Japan. And with only 4 months to go, we zipped over for a very short weekend.

We arrived at Incheon Int'l Saturday evening. As we walked through the airport, there were pottery and art displays from the Silla, Paekche, Koguryo kingdoms, followed with others from the Choson dynasty. With this artistic welcome, I was surprised to then find soldiers armed with sub-machine guns patrolling the airport.

We bused into Seoul, found our hostel, and went out to find dinner. We resisted the tempting street stalls, hoping to find a sit-down restuarant replete with those tasty side dishes. We finally settled on one, had some great fish soup, but were saddened with the kimchee options-- not the best.

We wandered around, stumbling down little alleys advertising hostess bars. Found my beloved candy-coated sunflower seeds [the ones in Japan have too much choco], and discovered coffee flavoured gum. Then it was back to the hostel and sleep.

Wadayama Idol

Given tickets by one of our kaiwa students, Aaron n I attended a local singing show. Basically, it was American Idol, but with a clap-o-meter. Judging by the "EEEeehhhh!"s of the audience, clap-o-meters are hot stuff. After sitting through an agonizing intro-- hosted by a typical mc wearing a typically tacky jacket, accompanied by the typically deferential show lady-- the show began.

It was a VERY mixed bag. There were a couple good singers, and one of my HS students was a contestant! But most of the contestants were retirees singing old traditional songs [enka]. Enka are ok for average male singers, but a female singer needs to be good to navigate jumping all over the register. There was a variety of stage presence styles, and a few singers had organized cheering sections. But after an hour or so, we ducked out. The contest was expected to run 3 hours, and enka just aren't worth it.

Still, it was nice to go out and see what the average Wadayama-ite does on the weekend.

Kosher Sushi

Cuisine is an easily accessible slice of culture. Who doesn't love to try out a new restuarant, sample new flavors, and walk away feeling somewhat less mystified by a country?

But there are those devious restuarants claiming to be [country name here] restaurants, but serve adulterated food. Sure, the changes are made for the local palate, to encourage customers and stay in business... but that's twisting what should be a pure, pristine offering of traditional cuisine.

The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture is spending taxpayers' yen to send officials to L.A. in order to rate so-called "Japanese" restaurants as truly Japanese. Seems there are a lot of American Japanese restuarants serving food that proper Japanese would have trouble recognizing. Guidelines will include origin of ingredients [guess its better to fly in Japanese fish than serve something local and fresh].

This is hilarious because 1. The government is paying for it!! and 2. The Japanese are notorious for twisting cuisine to suit the Japanese palate. Pizza regularly comes with corn and mayo. Or this lovely matcha-flavored eclair.

In the interest of fairness [and my stomach], I will entreaty the French and Italian governments to follow Japan's lead.

To read the full article:

Snow!!

What an incredibly wimpy winter. After last year's record fallls, we were totally let down by the warm weather this year. Still cold, but not very. And sadly, only a few isolated days of soon-melted snow.

But now that everyone's already switched out their snow tires, the snow cometh! The "First Gales of Spring" swept in some seriously frigid days, and today I awoke to a beautiful layer of snow. Happily, the snow is still falling!

My love of snow alternately amuses, confuses, and annoys my coworkers. I have little sympathy for their "driving" motive-- the snow here is usually very wet, there's no black ice, and the average speed limit is a whopping 35 mph.

I'm crossing my fingers for a full day of snow-- then I can relax after work by making a snow totoro!

Variety!

Japanese food is tasty. The only drawback is the lack of variety-- nearly everything is seasoned with the same base ingredients [soy sauce, dashi, mirin are the top 3, with vinegar and sugar rounding out the top 5].

But the flip side is the crazy rotation for snack foods. Puccho introduces limited flavors every season; Ozacks potato chips do as well. After getting hooked on the chocolate tofu, I was disappointed to find it'd been replaced by gooey-and-not-tasty kinako/kuromitsu flavor. Last week I just found a seasonal coffee-in-a-can.



How many Kit Kat flavors do you want? Here you've got original, adzuki bean, white chocolate, strawberry and melon. Spring's new flavor is Cherry Blossom Breeze, but I think that's a yearly flavor. You can usually find Fruit Parfait and Bitter Chocolate. Too bad Kit Kats are inherently evil.

The Fireflies' Light

Third year's graduation seemed a bit easier this year. Not as cold, fewer sleeping parents, but still lots of tears and bowing. Instead of walking to Carpenters, it was a nice classical piece. After the typical speech [all graduation speeches are the same, regardless of language], we all sang the school song, the national anthem, and the nifty "Fireflies' Light."

Hotaro no Hikari is set to Auld Lang Syne's tune. But instead of old reunions, this song is about a dedicated student who studied by the fireflies' light in summer [and the moon shining off the snow in winter]. Now he is moving onto to bigger and better things-- so of course it's a tradition at graduations.

After the graduating students and their parents leave the gym, the remaining students and teachers scramble to clean up. It's actually kinda fun, and there's definately a sense of community. Once the clean up's done, you can track down your fave 3rd years, fresh from their homeroom goodbyes, and snap some pics.

Deep Sea Sushi

Japan has some amazing Oceanographers. And situated near some deep sea trenches, there are always plenty of ugly fish that occasionally find their way into Tokyo Bay. Recently, a goblin shark and a frilled shark were discovered, then thrown into a nearby aquarium. After only a few hours, the exhibits died. I suspect their bodies were not left for science...




To support my theory, I present evidence: Dr. Mori was one of the researchers responsible for capturing the giant squid on camera. The photo-ed squid lost a tentacle to the procedure. Turning up his nose at the fresh treat, Dr. Mori declared that a previous experience determined giant squid to taste horribly bitter. Note: This photo-ed squidy was the first one seen live. That means any sampled giant squid were scavenged.


No food is wasted in Japan...

Patriotism

This is old news, but last yearJapan passed a law requiring textbooks to instill patriotism in students. Also, given their declining international test scores, Japan's considering reinstating longer class hours. Personally, methinks the schools should have a grade-minimum before allowing students into the clubs. Watch the baseball team's grades rise!

Sumo-sized Frustration

Accomplishing things can be incredibly difficult in Japan. Remittance? Only an hour-long ordeal at the Post Office. Even after several visits [and even accompanied by a Japanese person], the process never became easier.

Case in point: sumo. The Osaka Sumo Tournament is this month, and we really want to go. Julius also wants to go, so we have 3 people. But the super-cool box seats seat 4. Practical, we sought out a 4th person before buying the tickets. Such a mistake! See, advance tickets can be reserved by phone form Feb ?th to March 4th. And we missed the deadline. Now in order to buy tickets, we must go all the way to Osaka [3 some hours and over $50 rndtrp] and buy the tickets at the actual stadium. No other ticket venues. And the truly ridiculous part is that these stadium-sold tickets won't be sold until March 11th. There's a week where you can't buy tickets at all! Gah! Dude-- it's sumo! Y'know, the incredibly popular sport with only 4 tournaments a year? Seriously, this is not cool.

Ikebana Update

My lovely flower club deserves an update all its own.

When I last mentioned my kadoh, the teacher was constantly telling me that my arrangements were substandard, and that as a non-Japanese, I would never truly understand the principles involved. This treatment continued for a good 4 months. It was exceptionally frustrating, as there are two newbies in the club, and their arrangements would be redone even more than mine, but without the criticism.

But I stuck with it, and eventually, my suspicions were confirmed. It was less about my lack of ability or even my non-Japaneseness. The teacher assumed I would lose interest after a few sessions, and she was uncomfortable around me. Once she realised I was sticking around, and that I was serious about the club, she relaxed. And now I seem to be her favored student. Apparently I have a natural knack for the flower arranging. Still raw, of course, but since my mother's into roses, I must have inherited a flower talent. Or so the reasoning goes.

A Jumble of Updates

Reading old posts, I realised that a few ongoing stories have now been wrapped up. To finalize this wrap up, here are a collection of updates:

*I passed level 3 of the JLPT. Thank goodness, as I would've been completely humiliated if I failed this year. This doesn't mean much, but it's a nice, small milestone for me.

*I officially said no to another year in Japan. Aaron n I will be back in the states by the end of July, although Aaron'll probably head home a bit earlier. I've always been open about our 2 year timeline, so I was nicely surprised that a few of the teachers sweetly tried to convince me to stay "Think of all the new adventures you can have. And all the puccho flavors you can try!"

Hmmm. I thought there were more. Aw well, I can just throw them up if these mystery stories come up.

Peachy!

Spring has started early, and the stores are filled with the latest seasonal flavor-- peach. Now I can enjoy peach puccho [!!], peach tea, peach Fruits Therapy, and peach blossoms. Feeling pink, new, and energised.

Falling Leaves, No Young Cows

This is for all you Japanese movie and manga buffs. Oh, and history lovers, too.

Our local yakiniku [bbq] place is called Ushiwakamaru. In kanji, the name [牛若丸] reads "Cow Young Complete" which I figured had to do with all the tasty young beef served at the restaurant. BBQ restaurant, "young cow" it all makes sense, right?

But a little wikipedia set me straight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushiwakamaru Seems Ushiwakamaru was the childhood name of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, legendary [but real] samurai from the late Heian Period. Know all those scenes with samurai training by slicing falling leaves? Apparently this is the guy who started it all.

Appropriately for a true samurai, Minamoto was neck-deep in the political intrigues of the time, betrayed, and forced to commit seppuku. After which, of course, he forgiven. Love that gut-cutting.

So Sexy!

When I'm really busy and another student is asking for me, I tend to say "uh-huh." Y'know, as a "I hear ya, be there in a sec." indicator. I do it a lot. And after ignoring the resultant giggles and parrotting for ages, I finally asked what was so funny.

Hee hee

Apparently "uh-huh" sounds REALLY sexy to my students. All bedroom and big eyes.

Marlene, resident sexpot teacher.