japan ramblings
Thursday, 9/20 20:05
Something weird about Japan is that almost all of the food contains mayonnaise--pastries, pizza, you name it. Who would have thought? Another thing that I didn’t expect is that they love cream and cheese, although most of the cheese that I’ve found is processed! Cakes are very popular here, thank goodness. Another novelty that I’m enjoying is individual circles of cheese wrapped up like peppermints in candy wrappers that you can set out in bowls for visitors to your home! Everything here is extremely packaged. When I unwrap something, there may be two or three more packages or containers to open before I can finally uncover the product! It’s quite wasteful, of course, but very aesthetically pleasing. Another strange thing is the fashion. Gifu kids are stuck in the 1980s. I constantly find myself staring at every other passerby in amusement and disbelief. Are they seriously wearing that in public? They really looked at themselves in the mirror and thought that their outfit was acceptable? Whoa!
Another thing that I am not used to yet is the amount of people who are constantly on the streets. I experienced my first train ride during rush hour the other day. It was pretty horrifying; I was literally held up on the train by everyone around me, so I didn’t need to grab onto the hand rails to steady myself while the train was in motion. Getting off the train was also pretty interesting. I was carrying a large bag, which I tried to maneuver between bodies. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too successful in my attempts not to whack anyone in the head on my way off the train. When walking down the sidewalk, I must constantly swerve to miss hitting pedestrians and bicyclists speeding past. All of the cyclists ride on the sidewalks here rather than the road! The sidewalks are crowded about 75% of the time. Most people in Japan think of Gifu-Shi as a tiny town; some compare it to the southeast or midwest of the US because it is considered to be such a rural conservative area. Perhaps because I’m from Mississippi, I find the city to be nothing of the sort! Each day I wish for more grass and less people!
Today I broke down. Maybe it was a result of being intensely confused all the time. Maybe it was because I can’t read anything around me or because I can’t ask anyone for help. Maybe it was because I miss my old life in my country with everyone I know. Maybe it was the political rally taking place outside my window of which I couldn’t understand a word. Luckily, Josh was around and said all the right things. I’m intelligent, capable, etc.; it’s just really fucking hard sometimes when everything around you is unfamiliar and, well, foreign.
So the current drama at my work is that the most recent paychecks were two days late for all employees in Gifu-Ken (prefecture), and the associate trainers (my supervisor being one of them) still haven’t been paid; they are supposed to get paid tomorrow, which will make their checks four days late! Welcome to Nova; yay! I think some of the students are picking up on the low morale of some of the employees, which is inevitable after such a thing. Our kids’ trainer, who has worked at Nova for four years, quit yesterday. Apparently, a few months back, Nova got into trouble for refusing refunds to students who didn’t use all of their lessons within the mandated time constraints. The Japanese government didn’t take very kindly to these practices and suspended Nova’s advertising privileges for six months and now limits the number of lessons our staff can sell to students at one time. These restrictions have reduced Nova’s profits--apparently substantially--so that they didn’t have the funds to pay all of their employees on time! Nova also pays our rent, so many employees are worried that our rent may have been late this month. The most disconcerting part about all of this is that the higher-ups in the main Nova office in Osaka have offered no real information about these occurrences to the employees; word just floats around from branch to branch, so I have no idea what is actually happening with our company!
It would really suck if this job doesn’t work out for me because of the arrangement that I have with Prescott College to count this term as part of my Master of Art Program studies. However, if worse comes to worse, my friend David in Tokyo has promised both Josh and me jobs making more than we make now and paying less rent. While that idea sounds great, the idea of another move so soon makes my heart skip a beat, so hopefully all of this Nova shit will calm down, at least until January when my practicum will be complete and I won’t have to worry about losing tuition money if I quit my job.
The good news is that I like everyone that I work with at my branch so far! I also really like the students. I am not too keen on teaching Voice, however, especially when the students are really shy or hesitant to talk, which seems to be pretty often so far. I also really like working with the kids!
I am pretty much exhausted after each shift though. Making conversation in simple terms all day can be draining! After work I find myself analyzing my grammar in my casual conversations with Josh. Paying attention to each word spoken and heard all day is an interesting experience.
Last night Josh and I explored Gifu-Shi a bit and found a video rental store and an Internet cafe with a printer! Of course we got lost for about an hour while trying to find the Internet cafe, but the walk was still fun, and we got to see a new area of our city.
Today, despite my slight mental breakdown, was a good and productive day. I headed to the post office to send some important mail to Prescott College after a late breakfast and then took advantage of the fact that Josh was sleeping in to check out some stores he’d hate to go in--a couple of beauty product import stores and a women’s clothing boutique. Though I have no money at the moment, I was window shopping for the future. I discovered that I may not be able to find any dresses or pants in my size, but there were several cute shirts that fit me on sale for less than $5!
After my window shopping spree, I headed to the train station to sign up for Japanese classes. I met my teacher, set up my lesson schedule, and received my workbook. I signed up for ten lessons and bought the workbook--all for about $38!
I met up with Josh later, and he suggested that I might have received my cash advance from work, so we stopped by the bank to check it out; lo and behold Nova had deposited about $1200 (120,000 yen) in my account! So I went back and bought some hair products at the import store. :) Then we went in search of a bicycle shop for which a friend had given us directions.
On the way we found the cutest area of Gifu-Shi I’ve seen yet! We walked through cobblestone streets lined with vintage clothing shops, coffee shops, and parks. We stopped off at a temple where a man was kneeling on a platform chanting and beating a drum. Two people were seated in prayer fashion in the pews below him, while we stood behind a gate and watched. The room was absolutely beautiful; there were lights covered with paper and wood and ornate carvings along the walls and ceiling. The building itself was colored with red, green, and white, and the roofs were majestically shaped. Their tiles resembled Spanish-style roofs. In the courtyard was a fountain with a beautifully carved dragon’s mouth spewing forth the water. Resting in the fountain were several dainty cups emblazoned with Japanese characters. What exactly we were supposed to do with the cups I’m sure was inscribed near the fountain, but of course we had no idea what any of the writing said.
After this brief stop, we found an outdoor supply store. I bought a giant titanium water bottle that was on sale due to an inventory error. The shopkeeper spoke very good English and directed us on to the bicycle shop. I ended up not purchasing a bicycle today because I really want to buy a used one, and this shop didn’t have any in stock. The bikes there were about $93 and included baskets, racks, and the lights attached to the wheels that are powered by pedaling! They are all cruiser style bikes, and none had a seat tall enough to fit me! One came really close, and I’ve noticed that most people sit really low when they ride cruisers, so I’m sure that it would have worked out. However, I’m holding out for a used one, if possible. One of our friends told us about another bike shop that we plan to check out tomorrow.
After we left the bike shop, we strolled through an open air market where I bought some beautiful flowers and fresh vegetables! One of the shops in this area was a hip hop shop where two young African-American men were working; imagine my surprise to turn a corner in an open-air market in Gifu, Japan and be greeted with a, “Yo, what’s up?” by a large black man! You never know what you’ll see next in this city! Another store in this area was called “Hyper Convenience O.S. Store.” I can’t think of a better way to describe our country! This was a 100 yen (similar to the dollar store but way better!) shop where we bought some groceries. I don’t think I’ll go back though; seeing all of the Japanese clerks wearing American flag aprons while ringing up our cheap shit was a little too weird.
Finally we headed toward home, and I went down to the walk-in clinic across the street from our apartment. After many gestures, pauses, repeating, and waiting, I had prescriptions for two new inhalers, which were filled ten minutes and $90 (including the doctor’s visit and both inhalers with no insurance coverage!) later.
After practicing my Japanese (I feel like a kindergartner when tracing all the characters and associating them with pictures, but, hey, it’s working, I think!), enjoying a yummy dinner, sharing some wine with Josh, and downing my new favorite drink--the ready made cocktail in a can for only 105 yen (about $1.05)--I am beginning to feel much better about my life in Japan.
Something weird about Japan is that almost all of the food contains mayonnaise--pastries, pizza, you name it. Who would have thought? Another thing that I didn’t expect is that they love cream and cheese, although most of the cheese that I’ve found is processed! Cakes are very popular here, thank goodness. Another novelty that I’m enjoying is individual circles of cheese wrapped up like peppermints in candy wrappers that you can set out in bowls for visitors to your home! Everything here is extremely packaged. When I unwrap something, there may be two or three more packages or containers to open before I can finally uncover the product! It’s quite wasteful, of course, but very aesthetically pleasing. Another strange thing is the fashion. Gifu kids are stuck in the 1980s. I constantly find myself staring at every other passerby in amusement and disbelief. Are they seriously wearing that in public? They really looked at themselves in the mirror and thought that their outfit was acceptable? Whoa!
Another thing that I am not used to yet is the amount of people who are constantly on the streets. I experienced my first train ride during rush hour the other day. It was pretty horrifying; I was literally held up on the train by everyone around me, so I didn’t need to grab onto the hand rails to steady myself while the train was in motion. Getting off the train was also pretty interesting. I was carrying a large bag, which I tried to maneuver between bodies. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too successful in my attempts not to whack anyone in the head on my way off the train. When walking down the sidewalk, I must constantly swerve to miss hitting pedestrians and bicyclists speeding past. All of the cyclists ride on the sidewalks here rather than the road! The sidewalks are crowded about 75% of the time. Most people in Japan think of Gifu-Shi as a tiny town; some compare it to the southeast or midwest of the US because it is considered to be such a rural conservative area. Perhaps because I’m from Mississippi, I find the city to be nothing of the sort! Each day I wish for more grass and less people!
Today I broke down. Maybe it was a result of being intensely confused all the time. Maybe it was because I can’t read anything around me or because I can’t ask anyone for help. Maybe it was because I miss my old life in my country with everyone I know. Maybe it was the political rally taking place outside my window of which I couldn’t understand a word. Luckily, Josh was around and said all the right things. I’m intelligent, capable, etc.; it’s just really fucking hard sometimes when everything around you is unfamiliar and, well, foreign.
So the current drama at my work is that the most recent paychecks were two days late for all employees in Gifu-Ken (prefecture), and the associate trainers (my supervisor being one of them) still haven’t been paid; they are supposed to get paid tomorrow, which will make their checks four days late! Welcome to Nova; yay! I think some of the students are picking up on the low morale of some of the employees, which is inevitable after such a thing. Our kids’ trainer, who has worked at Nova for four years, quit yesterday. Apparently, a few months back, Nova got into trouble for refusing refunds to students who didn’t use all of their lessons within the mandated time constraints. The Japanese government didn’t take very kindly to these practices and suspended Nova’s advertising privileges for six months and now limits the number of lessons our staff can sell to students at one time. These restrictions have reduced Nova’s profits--apparently substantially--so that they didn’t have the funds to pay all of their employees on time! Nova also pays our rent, so many employees are worried that our rent may have been late this month. The most disconcerting part about all of this is that the higher-ups in the main Nova office in Osaka have offered no real information about these occurrences to the employees; word just floats around from branch to branch, so I have no idea what is actually happening with our company!
It would really suck if this job doesn’t work out for me because of the arrangement that I have with Prescott College to count this term as part of my Master of Art Program studies. However, if worse comes to worse, my friend David in Tokyo has promised both Josh and me jobs making more than we make now and paying less rent. While that idea sounds great, the idea of another move so soon makes my heart skip a beat, so hopefully all of this Nova shit will calm down, at least until January when my practicum will be complete and I won’t have to worry about losing tuition money if I quit my job.
The good news is that I like everyone that I work with at my branch so far! I also really like the students. I am not too keen on teaching Voice, however, especially when the students are really shy or hesitant to talk, which seems to be pretty often so far. I also really like working with the kids!
I am pretty much exhausted after each shift though. Making conversation in simple terms all day can be draining! After work I find myself analyzing my grammar in my casual conversations with Josh. Paying attention to each word spoken and heard all day is an interesting experience.
Last night Josh and I explored Gifu-Shi a bit and found a video rental store and an Internet cafe with a printer! Of course we got lost for about an hour while trying to find the Internet cafe, but the walk was still fun, and we got to see a new area of our city.
Today, despite my slight mental breakdown, was a good and productive day. I headed to the post office to send some important mail to Prescott College after a late breakfast and then took advantage of the fact that Josh was sleeping in to check out some stores he’d hate to go in--a couple of beauty product import stores and a women’s clothing boutique. Though I have no money at the moment, I was window shopping for the future. I discovered that I may not be able to find any dresses or pants in my size, but there were several cute shirts that fit me on sale for less than $5!
After my window shopping spree, I headed to the train station to sign up for Japanese classes. I met my teacher, set up my lesson schedule, and received my workbook. I signed up for ten lessons and bought the workbook--all for about $38!
I met up with Josh later, and he suggested that I might have received my cash advance from work, so we stopped by the bank to check it out; lo and behold Nova had deposited about $1200 (120,000 yen) in my account! So I went back and bought some hair products at the import store. :) Then we went in search of a bicycle shop for which a friend had given us directions.
On the way we found the cutest area of Gifu-Shi I’ve seen yet! We walked through cobblestone streets lined with vintage clothing shops, coffee shops, and parks. We stopped off at a temple where a man was kneeling on a platform chanting and beating a drum. Two people were seated in prayer fashion in the pews below him, while we stood behind a gate and watched. The room was absolutely beautiful; there were lights covered with paper and wood and ornate carvings along the walls and ceiling. The building itself was colored with red, green, and white, and the roofs were majestically shaped. Their tiles resembled Spanish-style roofs. In the courtyard was a fountain with a beautifully carved dragon’s mouth spewing forth the water. Resting in the fountain were several dainty cups emblazoned with Japanese characters. What exactly we were supposed to do with the cups I’m sure was inscribed near the fountain, but of course we had no idea what any of the writing said.
After this brief stop, we found an outdoor supply store. I bought a giant titanium water bottle that was on sale due to an inventory error. The shopkeeper spoke very good English and directed us on to the bicycle shop. I ended up not purchasing a bicycle today because I really want to buy a used one, and this shop didn’t have any in stock. The bikes there were about $93 and included baskets, racks, and the lights attached to the wheels that are powered by pedaling! They are all cruiser style bikes, and none had a seat tall enough to fit me! One came really close, and I’ve noticed that most people sit really low when they ride cruisers, so I’m sure that it would have worked out. However, I’m holding out for a used one, if possible. One of our friends told us about another bike shop that we plan to check out tomorrow.
After we left the bike shop, we strolled through an open air market where I bought some beautiful flowers and fresh vegetables! One of the shops in this area was a hip hop shop where two young African-American men were working; imagine my surprise to turn a corner in an open-air market in Gifu, Japan and be greeted with a, “Yo, what’s up?” by a large black man! You never know what you’ll see next in this city! Another store in this area was called “Hyper Convenience O.S. Store.” I can’t think of a better way to describe our country! This was a 100 yen (similar to the dollar store but way better!) shop where we bought some groceries. I don’t think I’ll go back though; seeing all of the Japanese clerks wearing American flag aprons while ringing up our cheap shit was a little too weird.
Finally we headed toward home, and I went down to the walk-in clinic across the street from our apartment. After many gestures, pauses, repeating, and waiting, I had prescriptions for two new inhalers, which were filled ten minutes and $90 (including the doctor’s visit and both inhalers with no insurance coverage!) later.
After practicing my Japanese (I feel like a kindergartner when tracing all the characters and associating them with pictures, but, hey, it’s working, I think!), enjoying a yummy dinner, sharing some wine with Josh, and downing my new favorite drink--the ready made cocktail in a can for only 105 yen (about $1.05)--I am beginning to feel much better about my life in Japan.