Ah...So many new things, so little time. My time in Japan has been
a mere four days, yet it feels like I've been here for however long it takes
for me to feel like it's been ages but before so long that my Japanese
abilities are any good. In fact, my Japanese abilities are literally
laughable.
Beautiful cherry blossoms at my hotel in Tokyo.
After arriving in Tokyo and
spending the night in a hotel that would be considered extraordinarily lavish
compared to my new shoebox apartment, I departed for Nagoya aboard the
Shinkansen (bullet train, 200mph) feeling highly optimistic and ready to take
on the challenges I knew I would face, like reading labels at the grocery store
or navigating the city or ordering food in a language in which I could barely
count to ten. While I feel I did as well as I could preparing for these things,
there is nothing like actually experiencing new things in a new culture.
For example, there’s nothing quite like
seeing a giant Maru look-a-like being walked on a leash, swarmed by tiny old
ladies trying to get its attention cooing "Neko-chan!" (the Japanese
equivalent to "Here, kitty, kitty." The cat obsession here is
excellent by the way.)
There’s nothing quite like self-heating toilet seats on toilets
that have more buttons than the TV remote and more features than my iPhone.
Nothing quite like the distress one can feel only by imagining how those ladies
who are wearing full length panty hose under their jeans feel.
And most importantly, there is nothing like realizing you are
"reading" the vertical Japanese menu sideways...Haha! Yes, go
ahead and laugh, I warned you!
The Donburi I managed to order after my menu faux pas! Yum!!!
Among these strange surprises,
there have also been at least as many pleasurable surprises! My first night in
Nagoya, I nearly gave up trying to find a menu with pictures. I was tired,
hungry, and beyond frustrated. Instead of giving up, I stubbornly went into the
next open restaurant I saw, pictures on the menu or not! Thankfully, I had made
my Japanese language survival notes and brought them with me. I walked through the
beaded curtains and then the glass front door to realize I was the only female
standing in a pub full of 30-something raucous men in work suits. I had made a
promise to myself and I was keeping it - this was the next open restaurant and
I was going to order dang it! Naturally, there were no pictures on the menu, so
I pulled out my handy-dandy notebook and managed to ask for the waiter's
recommendation. All I understood was yakitori, which I actually knew, so I
ordered it. Great success! Once the waiter found out I was a teacher, we
exchanged Japanese words for English words, and I managed to order some “delicious
vegetables.” This prompted a lot of head scratching and wild laughter from the
waiter, chef, and polled audience about what was considered “delicious vegetables.”
I assume this is what was happening anyway…who knows, I could have hilariously
misspoken, but alas, delicious vegetables appeared a few minutes later. My
first dinner out in a Japanese restaurant, and I left full and content from
delicious food and laughter, even if it was at myself!
Overall, the people have been very nice to me when I’m trying to
do anything in Japanese and struggling. Waiters have always made good
recommendations (that’s my tried and true strategy now ha!), and no one has
looked at me like I have three eyes when I’m stammering away, saying who knows
what in my broken Japanese. And the things they have here are so clever! One of the other teachers
mentioned that if you think of something you need in Japan, someone has already
thought of it, created it, and made it easily accessible! A string handle to
carry your plastic drawers, check. A bibb for when you’re eating ramen and the fresh
handmade noodles splatter broth everywhere as you eat, check. Chair socks, check. Flip out coat
hooks on the train, check. In Japan, all of your daily gadget worries are taken
care of! (Except bike locks! I’ve seen hundreds of bikes and not a single lock
being used! That level of trust is pretty amazing!)
Ramen Bibb! Chair socks!
My brain is like scrambled eggs these days, between jetlag and the
language barrier, but I’ve had some amazing food already, and I’m starting to
acclimate. I’m hoping to join a pickup soccer team or yoga class or Japanese
speaking lessons soon, and maybe next weekend I can manage to sleep late or go
to the markets or attend a festival! I’m here only for a short time, so I’ve got
to soak it all in!
We have campus orientation next week, Monday through Wednesday,
and classes start on Thursday! I’m already nervous, but I’m looking forward to
being back in the classroom! I’ll update again soon, but until then, さようなら(sayonara)!
Flowers on the plaza just outside campus.
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