The Inexcusables

It’s common knowledge that when you are getting to know new people that there are certain taboos you are not supposed to bring up. The ‘inexcusables’ are: religion, politics, and money (I guess sex could be one too, depending on the crowd).

Former PM Kan

Yet, the cool thing about being a stranger in a strange land is that there’s a surprising amount of things I can get away with. I’ve already discussed religion with a few of my coworkers, but purely from a cultural or academic standpoint (Since I was a Religious Studies minor they are more understanding of why I have traveled to the most sacred Buddhist area of Japan despite not being worth my own salt). Money hasn’t been brought up yet aside from lamenting about how expensive this country is. Politics, on the other hand…Ah, it’s always a fun one.

Japan’s Prime Minister Kan resigned just the other day. It came as no surprise; He’d faced growing criticism for the way he handled the Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear Crisis triple disaster (then again, ALL leaders do) and his ratings had already been poor. Couple this with the fact that a few weeks ago, the entire nation observed moments of silence to remember the end of the second World War.

Pretty Cure: A crummy Sailor Moon knockoff!

I had talked to one of my coworkers about how I was inundated with depressing war-era movies and that I needed to see something happy and sparkly- preferably My Little Pony but I’d settle for Sweet Pretty Cure 

This led to digressed discussion on: the best war movies, the worst war movies, the best history movies, the worst history movies and then…The clincher!

‘Teigan, did you grandfathers fight in the war?’

‘Yes….’

‘Oh, which side [of the conflict]?’

And I’m mentally trying to backpedal as images of crazy, right wing, imperialist Japanese men at a recent shrine function barrage my mind. No way this can end well! I’m going to be shunned at work! Noooo!

‘Uh…The Pacific side…On a battleship,’ I stammer.

W-sensei barely blinks. ‘My grandpa served in China, like, interior China. Where Chang Kai Shek was’.

O-sensei popped her head up and looked sheepishly around. ‘My father served in Manchuria,’ she said, then giggled at her own age.

And then the conversation carried on. No slamming wheels. We were just normal people talking about old wounds that have long healed- at least, in all our cases. It was refreshing, enlightening, and made me adore the 2 of them even more.

This definitely feels like summer!

The weather has been so-so hot but the humidity has been obscene and it is positively draining. I keep telling myself that it will all be okay in about a month, but right now, I’m melted to my carpet. Whenever I watch the weather reports it seems like Saitama, and particularly my area of Saitama, is the hottest part of Japan! Yuck!

However, seeing as I am deathly terrified of a ridiculous electric bill, I try to keep my air conditioner off. I draw the line at being able to sleep though. During the day I just sweat it out with a fan and drink tons of water (hooray for hydration!).

So last week we had the Saitama Prefectural Orientation, and it was a welcome relief to see all my other friends again (and get to spend a day out of the office to boot!). The first day was kind of dull, but we did get to enjoy a tea ceremony and calligraphy session as part of the cultural workshops.

My mis-spelled name and the properly spelled "Japan"

 Day two was spent at the Saitama Natural Disaster Training Center. It was basically a reproduction of the one I went to in Ikebukuro in 2009, but this one had a typhoon wind simulator. Overall, the company of hanging out with my ridiculous friends made the day.

Scratch that, having my advisor take me and 2 other JETs to her house for homemade Thai curry was the highlight of my week! Not only was the food delicious, the company amazing, but she has cats! Ten of them! YES! So I could get my kitty cat fix =)

Mimi-chan!

 

The rest of the week was spent brainstorming over future lesson plans. Call me lazy, but for the 3 classes I teach at Iwatsuki, I don’t really feel the need to go into full battle mode and try to make plans from September through March without knowing where the students are at…And since most of the teachers are on holiday it seems rather presumptuous to decide “This is what we’re teaching” when I am the lowest person on the school totem pole.

On the other hand, I definitely have my Christmas and Halloween lessons outlined! If I’m able to do it, I plan to dress up for the entire week- I have another school  I will be teaching part time during the week as well, so that should liven things up a bit.

I guess this is more of a generic update that a recap of any one particular adventure. I’ve mostly been hanging out with friends, straightening up my apartment (I swear, I’ll post pictures soon!), eating awesome food and trying to stay cool.

I had 4 days of “Cultural Furlough” off this week, so Wednesday I went to a museum in Ueno and then met up with about 11 other JETs for food and drinks a few stations away. I was also productive and decided to go to the Immigration Office on the rainiest day of the summer thus far to get my re-entry permit. Now I can enter and exit the country as often as I like, but I really did not enjoy the soaked skirt, horizontal wind, and flooded shoes.

Things that make me sad.

 Karaoke was also enjoyed by all. God, Bonnie Tyler makes a great song to karaoke too. But when I’m really feeling into it, I enjoy busting out that classis “Moonlight 伝説“ AKA The Sailor Moon theme. Yes, I have the heart of a child…

Before Rick Astley, but after Bonnie Tyler

Eventually, there will be a sleepover at my place at.　Oh dear, we’re going to have to play tetris to all fit but….Oh well! This is the land of Human Tetris!

But hey, at least I found I can accommodate 4 people for dinner at the Tic Tac Palace!

Scrumptiousness was had!

It's Matsuri Season!

              Matsuri are festivals, and they can range to simply celebrating summer, the return of ancestor’s souls to the family home, various Shinto and Buddhist spirits, martyrdom, phallus, and snow. The majority seem to take place during the summer, a time of bounty and nauseating humidity.

              My friend Lena in Tokyo invited me to come with her to a Bon-Matsuri next to Tsukiji (the famous fish market). Bon, in this case, simply refers to the dance that usually accompanies O-bon, aforementioned festival of ancestral spirits. Of course, we saw this as less of dance-off and more of an excuse to dress in yukata and eat some tasty vendor food.

             Now, I’ve worn a yukata before, but I always have trouble with tying the sash and making it look proper. Too bad I’m so tall and they were designed for short people, so I normally can’t make the quintessential waist fold. Oh well. We managed to wrangle ourselves in, then put our brave faces on while navigating public transportation and getting stared at left and right for being two weird blonde chicks with obvious crises of identity.

              Once we got to the temple courtyard however, all nervousness and cries of agony along the lines of ‘My body wasn’t built for these clothes!’, ‘I’m sweating like a whore in church’ and ‘My yukata/obi looks lumpy!’ vanished. No one cared. And there were tons of people around anyway.

              Apparently, it was cool to dress up in cosplay outfits too. I thought the guy working a beer stand was just a very poorly disguised transvestite, but apparently he was some normal-ish anime character. I heard the organizers didn’t care if you cross dressed, so long as you came out to enjoy the fun.

              Of course, I had to let my inner 10 year old get a picture with pikachu and Ash Ketchum…After some guy from the news saw the crazy blonde duo, swooped in and started taking our photos.

              In the center of the courtyard was a stage decorated with lanterns, taiko drummers and dancers. Lena and I started chatting with an elementary school girl, who thought we must be half since we could speak her language (I don’t even…What? I don’t look remotely Asian!), and we all agreed to wobble our way through the dance. It was ridiculous, mortifying, exhilarating and an absolute blast.

              As Lena and I were leaving, a group of grannies commented on how nice we looked in our yukata. Their surprise when we told them, yes, we did wrangle ourselves into them, was very cute. We walked away with a sense of accomplishment: if the grannies say nice things to you, you have been successful!

Taiko, lanterns and dancing!

Arrival

Welcome to Iwatsuki!

 
Yep, I’ve made it! I survived the whirlwind of Orientation and managed to keep my wits around me (Although I did break down and buy a cheeseburger the other day….). So far, this has been an incredibly positive experience and I’m hoping the trend continues.

First of all, Singapore Airlines, I cannot cheer loud enough for them.  Their service was amazing (they gave us Ben  & Jerry’s ice cream for crying out loud!), and the flight passed quickly. Tokyo Orientation also was over before I knew it. I had managed to make a couple new friends who will be living in the same prefecture as I, so that was a relief.

After going to the ward office in Saitama for a brief semi-formal ceremony, I was carted off to Iwatsuki with my supervisor, Ono-sensei, a simply wonderful woman. She speaks great English and is, essentially, a cat lady. I adore her. She has this infectious laugh that makes me smile whenever I hear it.

Everyone in Iwatsuki has been so kind and happy to see me; any previously horrible experience with the Japanese has been redeemed tenfold (some of you may know what I’m referring to…). In fact, the vice principal of my high school seemed to be very impressed that I was willing to come to Japan in spite of the disaster. I partially think this was his reason for giving one of the teachers 5,000 yen to enjoy dinner!


Ryouta has already come to visit me and remarked that my tiny tic-tac sized apartment is more comfortable than his company dormitory. The more I hear about his dorm/company the more I’m convinced he’s actually been shipped off to a sweat shop/boarding school for criminally inclined boys…

And at this point, I would showcase said tic-tac, but…I’m only halfway moved in. You see, my predecessor quit after the earthquake/tsunami/meltdown fiasco, and thus I moved into a completely new apartment. I opened the door to be greeted by: a tv, a mini fridge, a microwave, and a bed frame. No mattress in sight.  So, I’ve essentially been sleeping on the floor of my apartment and will do so until Wednesday, when my mattress arrives. The crummy part is that I have to take 4 hours of “Nenkyuu” , or paid vacation, to meet the mattress people at my apartment. But, I guess that just means I’ll use the other half of it to leave early and do something cool once I figure out when I want to take my vacation (I have 20 days of it! Woohoo!)

Anyway, once that arrives, I’ll post some pictures. But, my neighborhood is quiet. There’s a large garden on the corner of my block, and I’m a 5 minute walk from a 100 yen store (the equivalent of a dollar store), the post office, a book shop, a grocery store, and a drug/toiletry store. And I’m about 10 minutes from the train station.

Iwatsuki itself is roughly 45-50 minutes from downtown Shinjuku, and 10 minutes via train is a large station with plenty of department stores and eateries. Costco is about 45 minutes away (and does deliveries! I foresee much shopping once I get my first paycheck!). Overall, it’s conveniently located and  I have a healthy dose of “Inaka”, countryside, and city at my fingertips.