Home and Work - My Everyday Japanese Life

After my first full week of work, and ending my second week in Japan, I already feel quite at home. Japan really is a lovely place to live, with so much variety in what it has to offer. Even Tokyo is widely varied - Hino City, Tokyo couldn't be more different to the Down town area.

The train station is the life-blood of Hino. Supermarkets, dry cleaners, and convenience stores are crowded around the area, and are scarce anywhere else. Here in Hino, the residents are friendly, and the landscape green. Most housed have spectacular gardens squeezed impossible into minuscule lots. Everything is very clean, and, though there isn't a Starbucks, I can buy coffee on almost every corner from a vending machine (enabling a growing addiction...). It's quiet, calm, and quaint. Yet, just a short 30 minutes away, the Tokyo Metropolis looms.

Work is one hour away, door to door. The Tokyo University of Technology is a small university, with around 5.000 students and an oddly large amount of nude female statues. Shalvin, my co-worker, and I believe this to be due to the nature of the school. Being a technology-focused school, most of the students are, to be kind, slightly awkward males. We believe that the university is using the statues to give these men a social education they most likely are not receiving at the moment.

My classes, an extra curricular conversational English course, average about 4-5 students. It's a basic level, so they don't speak very well yet. Everyday, though, I see them improving, which what I love most about teaching. I really enjoy my students, and we get along really well. We laugh a lot - the Japanese are very quick to laugh, and laugh loudly. It's on of the things I love most about their culture.

All in all, I'm loving everyday. Japan was a GREAT choice!

A Day in Harajuku

Last weekend, Ian, Sian, and I took a day to explore Harajuku, one of the famous wards of Tokyo. New friends and new places always make for promising new experiences - and so it was!

I've wanted to see Harajuku for a long time, ever since Gwen Stefani made her love for this area public in her song, 'Harajuku Girls'. The fashion is supposed to be wild, the atmosphere eclectic and artsy. I was not dissappointed when I finally got to go and see for myself.

The area was dominated by shopping. From huge chain stores like Gap and Forever 21 to tiny boutiques, THIS was a shoppers paradise. As for me, I preferred the quirky Takeshita street, crowded by funky pedestrians and boutiques alike.

(I LOVED the rabbit mannequins!)

(A whole in the wall coffee place... or should I say stuck in the median?)

Not only does Harajuku have everything a shopper can ask for, it's also home to a breathtaking park. We walked around for a bit, side by side with kimono-clad ladies and tourists alike. We caught a wedding procession too, which was a sight to see.

Then, we made our way to an art gallery - full of crazy and unique art. There, we found a japanese pancake house, and tried oconomiyaki (a Japanese pancake). You're given a bowl layered neatly with batter, an egg, veggies, crispy rice, and seafood. You mix it together for a minute, and then pour onto the heated griddle in the center of your table.

Then, after five minutes, you flip. Wait another five minutes, and cook and egg beside the pancake.


Then, you've got to put the egg on top of the pancake (easier said than done!) and flip again for one minute. Good food, and great fun!

Yo-ho, Tokyo!

Well, needless to say, the last week has been a whirlwind of excitement. Immersing yourself in ‘brand new’ always is, and Japan is definitely full of that crazy stuff!

Because I have so much to relate, I have broken up the hefty portion of ‘brand new’ and divided it into categories. Please comment, I love to hear back!

TRAVEL: Leaving Home Behind

After a wonderful 7 months in gorgeous Miami, I finally said good-bye to my family, my puppy, and Nordstrom. Up at 3:45am on Wednesday morning (yikes), I flew to Chicago, and, after a 3 hour lay over, spent 13 hours on the plane to Tokyo. Though the flight was extremely long, and my legs were aching by the end, it wasn’t unbearable. American Airlines had a nice selection of recent movie and TV releases, but not nearly as much to choose from at my Continental flight to Beijing. The food on the flight was also inferior, and I swear the seats were smaller. Just something to keep in mind when planning long distance travel.

Arriving to the Narita airport, I was escorted to my new home (via several trains and therefore several different excorts. I finally arrived at my new apartment and fell into bed around 9:30pm, or 8:30am my time. Almost 29 hours of travel. I was tired.

MY NEW HOME: Hino City, Tokyo, Japan

Hino City is a very nice place. Contrary to the downtown area, which I visited the nights following my orientation this past weekend, it is calm, quiet, green, and suburban. There are winding streets, a nice amount of supermarkets, restaurants, and convenience stores situated around the train station. The backroads through the neighborhoods make for good jogs in the mornings. The streets are almost freakishly clean, and there are vending machines for coffee and other beverages on nearly every corner.

My apartement is SO CUTE. Very small and compact, it is perfect for me. I have a bathroom, shower, tiny kitchen area, washing machine, and some other home appliances. It even has, to my delight, a lofted room, which is only 4 feet tall. I put my mattress (a really thin pad) up there. It’s my secret hideout of a bedroom, and I LOVE it.

Tokyo is 1/2 away by train. Most of the other instructors are in my general area (the west suburbs) and we exchanged emails at the orientation to keep in touch. So far, it seems we have an awesome group of people. I’m so excited to get to know them better.

LIFE AND CULTURE

The Japanese have a strict societal code of politeness. There are several different levels of politeness in their language. Bowing is also profuse; even to check out at the supermarket, you bow your head a bit to the cashier. The Japanese employees of Westgate were very nice. They are a bit goofy in their humor, and love to laugh. They are always smiling and polite; even if it is only superficial, I love it. The world would be so much better a place if everyone was kind to each other.

The food is amazing. Period. Sushi, sashimi, ramen, dumplings, all of it. It is very healthy and fresh, not to mention delicious. I’ve tried a few odd things since arriving – various types of seaweed, natto (famous Japanese sticky soybeans), and octopus, all remarkably good.

Other notable differences include taking off ones shoes when entering a restaurant (sometimes), the cleanliness, the fashion, the noticeable amount of french language around, low tables and furniture, a very complicated and structured system for sorting and taking out the trash (apparently involving different types of bags), and the obsession with vending machines and coffee. In terms of the latter, I am definitely on board.

My life will begin to get pretty busy soon. I start teaching tomorrow, at the Toyko University of Technology. I’m teaching a Basic level of English students (very beginner), and will have about 40 students total. I have to be on campus at 9, and leave around 6:10, five days a week. It’s a long day, but I have a few breaks in there. I should be able to finish all lesson planning during the workday, which is nice.

OTHER THOUGHTS

One thing I was really struck with this past week was the difference of this program, versus the one in China. Barring the living and cultural differences (theses two countries are leaps and bounds apart!), the benefits are much better here. My apartment is insanely better than the one provided for me in China (remember the frozen laundry, extended periods of no water, and reeking drain from the shower/ bath?). The atmosphere is much more professional, with teacher evaluations, professional dress, a large amount of material available for lesson planning, and a very detailed cirriculum full of ideas, goals, and focus. I was given so much guidance, in the form of escorts to various locations (supermarkets, city hall, orientation and home locations) and handouts regarding language, culture, agendas, ect. They are really taking care of me here, and making me feel secure and at home. I really didn’t get that in China.

Anyway, that’s about it. I’ve had a ton of fun so far, and am looking forward to even better times ahead.

(On a side note - I got a job in Istanbul for next year, and purchased my ticket today. This next year is gonna rock!)