Fancy Seeing You Here

Another wonderful Japanese long weekend. Perhaps I should just stay at home and catch up on my sleep, do a little cleaning, maybe leisurely see some friends and catch up.
...
No, that'd be too easy. Instead, let's go traveling. After all, it's a long weekend.

Fun thing about traveling here is you just kind of think to yourself, "Hmm. Where's a city I have visited yet? Okayama? Well then! Let's go!", and off and away you go. I get the feeling that that’s how my friends decided this weekend: Throwing darts @ the map, and then playing Janken to decide the winner (I could write an entire blog about Janken [And in fact, I think I may in the future], but for now http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janken). Just like that, Okayama beats out Hiroshima, and we're off!

Strangest thing I found about being in Okayama was how it reminded me so of Toronto. The size of the streets, the buildings, and, of course, the streetcars. Okayama is one of only a handful of cities in Japan to still feature streetcars. And so seeing it made of think of it as Japan's TTC. It was quite surreal to walk the streets, but they carried with them that nostalgic and melancholic feeling all at once.


First thing: The park.　The park was incredibly lovely, and was juxtaposed to other Japanese parks in that it had large expanses of grass, which apparently here is unheard of. It any event, it reminded me greatly of home. Funny thing happened in said park. As we're meandering around on a hill, we happened to spot two other foreigners way across the field. You may think, "Oh, always on the lookout", or something, but you have to realize that being here amongst millions of black haired people causes blond to stick out like a pink elephant – One's eyes are just drawn to it, I suppose. Anyway, we innocuously thought nothing of it and continued on. Minutes later, we were walking passed them when we realized that we knew that blond! @ least, one of them. It was a friend of ours from Tottori, but one who lives on the other side of the prefecture and we rarely get the chance to see. She was showing her Australian friend from Shimane around before the latter returned to the Land Down Under in several weeks' time. A whiles of catching up and we moved off to check out the castle.

It was no sooner that we were not five meters from exiting the park, when I caught the immediate gaze of yet another foreigner walking right passed me. We stared at each other for what seemed an eternity before we pounced upon one another like a pair of oppositely-charged magnets. For you see, this particular girl – a Canadian I might add – was a friend of mine that I had met on the airplane sitting across the aisle. We hung out all during Tokyo orientation and that was the last time I saw her. We talked over MSN, but since she lives north of Tokyo, and this several hundred kilometers from me, I knew it would be the longest while before I saw her again. And so you can imagine my surprise @ running into her at a random park leagues from both our houses as she was down for the weekend visiting her friend.

Nothing particularly noteworthy thereafter – walked around the shopping area, ate bbq-esque burgers, and sat @ Mister Donut for several hours. The girls went the internet café to sleep (I’ll explain in a minute), and I met up with my friend and her best friend for drinks at a Canadian bar. Thereafter, retired at aforementioned internet café. Now, this is not such a phenomenon – we have them back home too. But! The scope of which they're going on here is something else. So... you can rent what are basically private rooms at which you can watch more movies than do exist or read more manga than are contained books in a university library. A few places – this one in particular – allowed for one to rent a room overnight.

So for ￥2000, we got a "room", about the size of a sofa plus leg space, a TV with maybe 10 channels, a PS2, a DVD player, a computer, and unlimited internet. And from this you could choose to watch literally thousands of movies all for free and immediately onto the comp. Considering they also throw in breakfast in the morning, a blanket for you to use, and a towel should you wish to use the shower (They have shower facilities), it all isn't bad for $20 CAD when all one wants to do is rest their head for a few hours.

Next morn, we did the Okayama Prefecftural Museum of Art, which was featuring work done by local artists in the area. I tell ya, the human mind still amazes me that people can come up with some of the things that they do. Simply stunning they were.

And as fast as it began (both the trip and the blog), it was just about over. Nevertheless, I do intend to hit it up again in force come spring when the parks are in full bloom.

(Short entry this time. Ray's 疲れた [tired])

Sit Here, and The Universe as you know it ends

In order to write this blog, you should be aware of the duress it took to convince my hand to release the exothermically pleasing cup of coffee that is providing the same effect as a micro-kotatsu (It would take me far too long to explain kotatsu. Please visit the following for more detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu). My extremities have been taking a beating lo these few weeks, and more is yet to come. But for now, I suppose that they can endure the cold in the name of relating yet another Japanese life-experience to the interested, the polite, and the just plain bored.
Musing on my ride in this morning, I've decided to compose a quick blurb on my train's social conventions. Now, I can't speak as to whether or not this happens on the commuter trains back home, but I know that it doesn't happen on the subway or the bus.

So every morning, the lot of us pile on the same 7:31 train on track 4. I use the lot of us in the sense that it's the same people: The same students heading to the same school, and the same adults heading to the same jobs. The cool thing about it is the regimentation of it all. There are three cars to the train, and everyone always rides in the same car. The people who took car three yesterday are taking car three today as will take car three tomorrow. And more to it, they sit/stand in the same spot day after day. I can close my eyes right now and describe just who's sitting in what box of four at any point in my car. This applies to sitting more so than standing because in the mad rush to make the door in the last minute or two, people will just cram on. That being said, in one arrangement or another, the people who were standing yesterday are standing today as will be standing tomorrow. The regularity of it is such that if someone is missing, or is not sitting where they should be, you can actually notice it. This is a thing to say considering that I've only been riding this train three months and do not spend each morning actively memorizing the order.

It ends not here. When we arrive at the stations, you know just which people are getting off, and just which ones will be getting on. More to it, the people waiting at the stations know just where to stand so that as the train pulls up the door will be right in front of them. You don't just arrive at the station and wait for the train - you wait at your spot. And as getting on and off goes, occasionally seats will open up here and there, but unless you sit there matter of course, don't even think about it. Vacant places will remain so until arrival at the appropriate station, at which time the appropriate body will occupy it.

The whole commute is a thing of beauty, actually. One cannot help but marvel at the sublime simplicity and order of it all. What's odder still is that this does not repeat in the evening - most likely on account of everyone coming home at different times. You'll notice the same people getting on at certain stops, but we all sit very much where we please.

All said and told, today something out of the ordinary happened. In all sense and purpose, it was nothing - An occasional passenger, someone I do not usually see, happened to sit in one of the box seats that opened up. Now, while there is certainly nothing wrong in the least with sitting in a paid-for seat, this seemingly innocuous act set off a chain reaction that was detectable only by those trained to see it. By sitting in the seat, a group of boys who usually sit there was forced to occupy another seat/stand up. This forced two other girls who normally occupy the seat taken by the boys to sit next to me. This in turn caused a group of boys who usually take the seats beside me to stand, and the added standing contributed to further standing congestion that made the train – to me, at least – noticeably seem fuller than any other given day. It was just one of those moments when you kind of feel a spark hit you as though something is not right in The Universe; like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. I found it remarkable because it just goes to show that I've been here thus long that something as the seating of a train would cause me to go, "???"

This blog should be testament to the morning train commute. Such that I would devote an entire entry and several minutes of my life towards a relatively minor and circumscript affair is testament to how profound such a minor perturbation can leave such a resonance later on in the day.

That, or my mind was just so idle that it created a mountain out of a molehill.

NOTE: The actual positioning varies +/- 1 meter, 19 times out of 20.

Super Fun Happy Pumpkin Day

***YES, I know how late this is. YES, I've been putting it off. YES, I've been lazy. YES I've been busy. Have we established that I'm a putz now? Yes? We can move on? Great! Please enjoy.***Right-o. Japanese Halloween. Guess this day was coming. It's more or less the same as Halloween anywhere else.

Except no one - adult or child alike - dresses up in costume. And there's no trick-or-treating. And no one decorated their house. And no one gives out candy. And no one carved Jack O'Lanterns (Because there are no orange pumpkins in Japan). And no one has Halloween parties (sorta). But yes sir, in all other ways, it's just like being back home.

One thing that is lacking here is the costumes during the day. No one goes to work or more importantly school dressed up. I can recall - oh, so long ago it seems - going to high school and the flock of teachers would be dressed up as I don't know what. But here, it's all about the professionalism. I even had the bright idea for a costume as dressing up in the kids' uniform; I think they'd have gotten a kick out of it. But sadly, the dream is gone. And as for the kids? Inconceivable. They effectively sleep in their uniforms. If they're going to school at all, even if it's to get something from their desk on a Sunday afternoon (School's are open 7 days a week here for activities on the weekend), they have to be in uniform. So it's just not in the cards for them to be dressed down for something as trivial as Halloween.

But this is not to say that the Halloween spirit was absent from school that day. After the first class, a few kids came to my desk chiming, "Trick-or-treat!"

Sidebar: On Monday, I did a presentation about Halloween to a few classes detailing the highlights of our wonderfully nonsense holiday. Throughout the entire thing, I had perhaps two of thirty sets of eyes upon me while the rest were doing just about everything they could not to listen. By the end, I'd thought that perhaps one or two kids heard my explanation of Trick-or-treat. How wrong I was.
/Sidebar

I had bought some candy the night before because I'd expected a few kids to know about Trick-or-treating, but imagine my surprise when dozens of kids made their way to my desk throughout the day with their hands outstretched and a slightly-incorrect-but-nonetheless-adorable version of "Trick-or-treat". That was but one side of the coin. The cool part of "Trick-or-treat" @ school was the teachers who participated too. Here and there, one would ask what I was doing, and I'd poorly explain in Japanese. When finished, I'd tell them to say it, and reward them with a piece of candy accompanied by this little twinkle of five year-old gleamed in the corner of their eye.

The day tears on. For all my classes I did a powerpoint on Halloween. For the most part, they seemed only mildly interested in our weird traditions, and only slightly more so when I showed them pictures of costumes. The highlight came when a picture of a guy dressed as a bottle of lotion and an innocently indicative arrow came on the screen. Most of my classes didn't give it a second thought, but one student raised his hand and asked me about it. I played it off as, "Oh, I don't know. People sometimes wear weird costomes," and it was then that my teacher chimed in with an oh-so naive, "Oh, it appears that it says hand lotion on his costume. He must be a bottle of lotion." It was all the willpower I possessed to keep myself for bursting at the seams. I then devoted the only mental channeling that I had spare - which was very little save I explode with chuckles - to pray to God not to have either her or the student follow up. Someone was awake @ the switch that day, because they both dropped it, and I was but too happy to quickly continue on.

After school that day, we had English club and today we were making Jack O'Lanterns. This is a huge deal because there are no pumpkins in Japan. Well, that's not entirely correct. It would be more apt to say that there are none of the huge orange pumpkins that we see in abundance that time of year back home in Japan. The pumpkins here for the most part are green or beige, and fit in the palm of your hand. Thus, it was with a stroke of luck that I just happened to be placed at an agricultural school, where one teacher just happened to be growing huge pumpkins for a competition, which also just happened to be judged the day before. Therefore, he had no futher use for the two 20+ pound pumpkins that he grew, and they were ours to destroy.

The thing I liked about it all was that there was as many teachers as there were students. Because A) Halloween isn't celebrated here as it is in the West, and B) There aren't any Jack O'Lantern-esque pumpkins to be found, most people in Japan have never carved a pumpkin before. So for these 30, 40 year-old teachers, this was a first for them. I almost felt like a proud pappa teaching his son to fish and then watching him reel in a bass on the first cast. 'Cause an hour later and we had two of the biggest Jack O'Lanterns that I've ever done, and they did it all themselves. I was incredibly proud and happy for them 'cause everyone was having a great time - teacher and student alike. Even the principal popped in to take a few pics of himself with the smiling orange faces.

So even though I didn't get to dress up as I usually do by day and party the night away later on, I would definately mark this Halloween up there as one to remember.

Canada, by a Canadian, for Japanese, written about by a Canadian

Tumbling down the daily rabbit hole that is my high school day in Japan, I chanced to find myself in the library, and there stumbled upon a book written about Canadian life for those who know either little Japanese or little English. The following is a few passages that I found quite interesting. I'm wondering what kind of mindset we're now seen in when a Japanese is asked about Canadians. I am well aware that they are taken out of context and are not meant to patronize. I simply found it amusing some of the aspects of our culture that were chosen to be highlighted.

Coffee Craze
"For many people, the coffee shop is the first stop of the day. We can't seem to function without that first cup of coffee. It is a staple in both our business and social lives."

Dating
"Most Canadians begin dating in junior high school. This relationship usually consists of holding hands, thinking you are in love and... breaking up after three weeks. This continues into high school, the only difference being at 16, most people get their driver's license. It's a parents' nightmare, especially dads. Now the boys are picking up the girls usually in a beat-up car with a stereo that costs more than the car."

"Nowadays Canadians are waiting until later to tie the know. After all, we are only young once. Our twenties are the best time to have fun!"

Dressy or Casual?
"We love being comfortable even at the cost of looking like a slob."

"... when given the option, a lot of us would most likely choose jeans and a T-shirt over dress pants and a shirt. Therefore, when traveling to Canada, designer goods and high heel shoes are best left at home."

Exercise
"... If you get a chance, you may want to check out a gym. You can work off a little stress and laugh while learning about people we have come to call "muscle heads." They are the guys who flex in the mirror. This is done for their own benefit although they may feel that they are benefiting the entire gym."

Family Holidays/Turkey Dinner
"No matter what the holiday is, you can expect to see a turkey on the table and turkey always means leftovers. It's delicious, but in the end of the following week when we are still eating turkey sandwiches, turkey soup and mom's turkey hash, we're happy that the next family holiday isn't for another two months."

The Great Outdoors
"Many people survive the workweek knowing that they are going to their cottage on the weekend to relax."

(About hunting and fishing) "Usually these activities are enjoyed by Canadian men. It's a guy thing! It gives them a chance to feel at one with nature and more importantly, a chance to brag to their friends if they should happen to catch something."

Japan in the Eyes of Canadians
"We imagine everyone rides bicycles, eats rice, and knows Karate."

"In general, we believe that Japanese people are very smart. They provide some of the world's best cars and technology."

"For me (the author) ... The biggest mystery is sleeping on the train. All Japanese people fall asleep on the train and wake up immediately at their stop. Not before and not after. This never works for me."

Hockey
"Nothing gets Canadians more riled up than a good game of hockey."

Party On!!!
"Canadians love to party."

"Basically any situation is a good situation for a party."

"If you're looking for a party, it won't be hard to find and don't worry if you drink too much and make a fool of yourself. Your friends may make fun of you all week until next weekend when they make an even bigger fool of themselves. This behavior is quite common in Canada."

Public Drinking
"For a country that enjoys drinking, the rules as to where you can buy liquor and where you can drink it are quite strict."

Smoking
"One could almost admire the determination of a Canadian smoker who braves the -20 degree weather in the dead of winter just to have that cigarette."

Sense of Humor
"Most Canadians are sarcastic by nature."

Sensitive to Being Called Americans
"We don't like it when we are mistaken for our southern neighbors, whose reputation is markedly different from ours."

"Achieving success at the cost of Americans, especially in the world of sports, helps us maintain our national pride."

Vegetarianism
"There is also a group of people who have no better reason other than "everyone else is doing it" or "maybe I will lose some weight." They usually stick to the diet until the first summer barbecue."

What You See is What You Get
"Japanese may spend extra time trying to make a good impression, but keep in mind Canadian manners are quite different. In Canada, what you see is what you get."

Which Way to the Beach?
(About Polar Bear Swims) "Wading in is torture. You will be okay once you survive the initial shock."

Winter Blahs!
"Apparently university classes are more important than your life and you should brave the storm."

"The sight of snow makes us sick and we being asking, 'What the hell am I doing here?' "