An Awfully Big Adventure

So its been just a few days over two months and I thought I’d keep all of you back home a little up to date. 

First of all, I am happy to announce that I finally have an apartment, not just an empty couple of rooms. After much purchasing, a couch, a computer desk, some small bits of stuff and a refrigerator taller than my knee, I have managed to make something of a home. I still have a long way to go in the way of human comforts, but I may have a bed coming my way and there is a kitchen bar at the Nitori with my name on it! After that, all that will be missing is my usual great deal of alcohol and a few Mississippians/New Mexicans to share it with. Love my JETs, but I do miss the craziness that is USM.

Next, I thought I would update you guys on a few things I’ve talked about. Namely food. OK so here’s the deal: love great food and want it every day? Visit Japan, don’t live in it. Well, maybe the major urban areas, but definitely not in the inaka. Finding good Japanese food is really just a recommendation away. Finding good Italian takes some sifting through bogus bland places, and finding good Mexican means going to Osaka (but SOO worth it: they have al pastor). Finding good fruit is tricky. Its AMAZING when its in season, and unreachable when its not. Also, while many things in the Japanese diet very much appeal to the western palate, others do not, and vice versa. For instance, you’ll find that the ramen here kicks the crap out of anything you’ll find in the states, the sushi is good, but sometimes disappointing if you like the decadently flavorful rolls, and other foods like Japanese pickles and konnyaku get old REAL quick. Conversely things like dark beer, Dr Pepper and root beer are unpopular here because the flavor doesn’t much appeal to their taste buds. The argument against Dr Pepper is that it tastes like medicine, which I didn’t get at first, until I got a cold. I tried the medicine they give you; lo and behold, its Dr Pepper! So, there. Food.

Second thing, I wanted to talk a bit about it travel within the country. To be honest, I can’t get enough of it. The first is that it can be a little expensive at times, but definitely worth it. Trains run just about everywhere, the subways are cleanest I’ve ever seen, and flying to Korea is evidently super cheap. Secondly, there is so much natural beauty in this place, its unbelievable. On my way to work, I drive through a beautiful valley divided by a little river, I pass by no less than 2 waterfalls, and my school is only a few miles from a world heritage site! How cool is that?? Lastly, while working at a school doesn’t exactly require you to know any Japanese, travelling does. So if you plan to do it, best brush up on your Japanese.

Last on my updates is my plan to be fit, fit, FIT by New Years. If you haven’t been checking out my updates, I am down about 16 pounds from when I last left Hattiesburg, but ever unsatisfied with mediocrity, I am ramping it up to engage in a little athleticism. I’ve been running a few times a week lately, and today I registered for the Kibun Mikan Kainan run for next month, It’s a 10.5k run in Kainan and my first step toward a better body. So far I can do 8k without stopping to walk, but I’ve got a month an a lot of energy. After this run, I am training for a half marathon and hopefully a full one before I leave the country. 

Well, with that I would like to assure you all that I miss you and have not forgotten you in the least. For those of you who found homes in Chicago and Denver, I wish you the absolute best in your new cities! For those of you at the TAD, have a great time for me and spread a little mayhem in my absence. For my New Mexico buddies, eat some green chile for me cuz I REALLY miss it. If you don’t fit into one of those categories, trust me, you’re still very special; I’d just rather tell you one-on-one how much I miss you. ;)

OK guys, have LOTS of fun and please do me a favor; take care of yourselves and each other. Good day.

Now before I get started, I’d like to remind anyone with enough good taste and bad sense to read my blog that anything I say here is simply one guy’s experience. That being said, I can’t help but feel that most of the things I’ll be talking about today are really common across Japan. I’d also like to give a little vocabulary word, and that is inaka. The inaka is the Japanese countryside. With rapid urbanization across Japan and a declining domestic birthrate, there’s a certain octogenarian feel to the inaka that I’m not quite used to yet. The little ba-chans on their scooters whizzing by you in the street. My my… there’s another bit of vocabulary. Ba-chan is the name here for little old Japanese biddies, who I’m convinced are the cutest things in all of creation. But I digress from the subject at hand.

Now some of you might have some preconceptions about what technology is like in Japan. Some of you might think it’s rather third world, but most of you will have the impression that it’s more of a Futureland situation here. What I have come to discover is that Japan is neither ahead of the curve, nor behind it, but rather focuses on different bits of technological convenience than does, for example, the United States. Here are a few things you might find odd about Japan when you come here.

Vending Machines-

Now I think many of us have heard stories about vending machines in Japan vending odd curios such as cigarettes, beer, and used undergarments, which would all be preposterous in most of the US. What most of us don’t hear about is the sheer magnitude and frequency of these machines. As I mentioned before, Kimino is fairly inaka. One would expect one or two little machines inside local public buildings, etc. Not so in Japan!! These things are everywhere! They appear on the side of the street, next to no particular business, on not often frequented streets, and on the sides of fields! They are outside of stores which serve the things being vended inside the store. They vend not only one company’s goods, or even one kind of thing, but at one machine you might find cola, tea, iced-coffee, juice, water, sports drink, and in flavors like melon and sleet. Is it necessary to have these around in such a sparsely populated area? No. Does tea make my morning walk a lot better? Yes.

Household Appliances-

Now here you might be thinking that Joseph is going to tell us about all the cool household appliances there are here. The truth is that the US is about as good as it gets for that. Sorry. In fact, in the Land of the Rising Sun, there is a plentiful lack of home convenience. For starters, lets talk about ovens. There are almost none. You can buy a gas-range with 2 burners, but as for an oven, they are hard to come by and very small. “But Joseph, what about if I want to make homemade cookies?” Sorry kid, you’re outta luck. The truth is that here there is hardly the need for home baking, as sweets tend to be made differently.

Also, let’s talk about laundry. Now this is something I’m still getting used to. Your washer is going to be somewhat smaller than on in the US, so chances are laundry will have to be a much more frequent chore. And your dryer… doesn’t exist. Japan doesn’t really use clothes dryers in the home so you’ll have to put your laundry out to dry outside. Bright side is that all your clothes usually smell pretty fresh from outside. Down side is that dryers are very good at removing lint, which I’m sad to say, hanging is not and everyone in your neighborhood will get to see all your goodies hanging on your veranda.

Lastly, I’d like to talk about central heating/cooling. You guessed it! NOPE! Little wall units are really your best shot here and even then, its no central air. Which brings me to perhaps the cool part of home living in Japan: its absolutely FULL of ideas for energy conservation. Why wall units? Well you really only need to cool one room at a time, don’t you? Why no dryers? They cost a ton on your electric bill. Also, in bathrooms, you have to turn on the water heater, which seems like a pain, but it takes a max of 30 seconds to get unlimited hot water, something most places in the States have yet to acquire.

By far my favorite little Japanese home gem, though, is the toilet. Now I haven’t used all the bells and whistles on this little sweetie yet, but I can tell you it has a heated seat, a built in bidet, a water pressure adjustor, and a little sink over the tank to wash your hands when you’re done. It uses the new water as a source. “So wait… they don’t have good AC, heating, kitchen, or laundry facilities, but they spoil you on the toilet???” Yup! On this island, the can… is King. Do I understand it? No. Does is make going to the John the highlight of my day? Not really. Can I put up with a little relativism. Sure, why not.

Anti-Personal Technology-

Hate rude people? How about dumb people? Hell, do you just sometimes hate people? This is TOTALLY the country for you! One of the creature comforts here in Japan is that one rarely has to interact with strangers. True, in the States, we have some vending machines, the Redbox, and ATMs, but here interacting with technology is everywhere! At a restaurant, bar, or karaoke, it is not uncommon to have electronic menus to choose whatever food you want, and completely at your own leisure. As I said before, vending machines vend a great variety of goods you might need. Grocery stores, even small ones, will often have self-service checkout lines. Even ATMs do more. Here, you can not only get money out, but also deposit cash without ever having to talk to the bank. Now if you’re like me, you might not find this all that great because you’re a people person and need to interact, but there is definitely that option here too, but sometimes, you REALLY just don’t wanna talk to people and then, here is your paradise. Might that be a contributing factor in this society’s introverted attitude? Perhaps. Can I get a hot bowl of ramen, a beer, and a new hat in a line of vending machines? Oh hell, I sure hope so! :)

Infrastructure-

Now if you’re on a trip in Tokyo, this one might not interest you too much, but if you’re virtually anywhere else, this is sure to affect you. Japanese infrastructure is a bit behind the rest of the world. They’ve got one way they like to build and they’re not taking any suggestions on a change. Some precautions if you move here, the roads are narrow, and rather than widening them and making intersections at 90 degree angles, the government uses a system of mirrors to help drivers navigate around narrow turns. Also, you might also notice that rather than a system of electricity or drainage under the road, all electricity is on wires above and water drainage is beside the road in open canals. Does it make driving here dangerous? Hell yes! Does it eliminate the need for racing video games? Very much so!

Now contrary to the title of this entry, my purpose behind it was not to defame, nor exaggerate Japan and technology’s relationship, but rather to shed some light on a subject I found most curious when I got here and thought some people might be interested in what I’ve come to learn. That being said, I hope I have educated you rather than scared you away from a really beautiful culture.

Join me next time as I share my latest adventures and hopefully give a little insight on traveling within the country. Until then, have fun, and take care of yourselves.

So now it’s been a few weeks since I came to Japan and I’ve already had a few adventures. Life here started when my plane landed in Tokyo, and I spent three amazing days there in a very posh hotel learning all there is to know to my job, or so they advertise. Then it was off from Haneda Airport to Kansai International nearer where I live. Sadly I didn’t, and haven’t spent a lot of time in or around Osaka. Thankfully, I’ve been to some GREAT spots instead. These probably aren’t in order but I have no short term memory.

There was my adventure to Shirahama Beach where I got to briefly meet my new fellow JETs in Wakayama, as well as enjoy an amazing firework show. Gotta say, I could tell from first meeting, these JETs are my kind of people. Here I tried Takoyaki: a fried treat in ball form that is made up of (as far as I can tell) spiced breading and octopus. Gross, right?! Actually, pretty yummy!

There was my adventure up to Koya-san. For those of you who haven’t been, Koya is a town on top of a string of mountains that is dotted with Buddhist temples and is known as the birthplace of Shingon Buddhism. We looked around, visited a temple, saw a HUGE cemetery the likes of which I’ve never seen and stopped in for ramen and ice cream.  

There was also a trip up to Kobe, quite possibly the coolest city I’ve seen so far. The big focus on the city is being very international, so the place looks less like historical Kyoto and more like Los Angeles meets London. I went with my predecessor, Gareth, as well as some of the faculty at one of my new schools, Hasekebara Junior High. Here we went on a ferrie ride, shopped a bit, and enjoyed what I believe to be something that is truly lost in translation. We went into a small, but nice cafe where we ordered “cheesecake”. Now the term cheesecake is a bit of an anomaly in the English language, in that it isn’t a cake, and there is no cheese per se on it… usually. We, in fact, were served a very small, round cake with what turned out to be melted cheese on top! Horrifying, right?! Pretty good as well. We explained to out new friends the misunderstanding and we all had a good laugh.

Lastly, there was my trip with new friends from the Kimino BOE and some of the local kids to an island inhabited by the army in World War II. Great to see so much history, but honestly, we really went to hang out and swim, not to mention have a barbecue.

By now, if you’re still reading, you might be wondering two things. The first is “Fried octopus, ramen, ice cream, barbecue, and cake… how the hell is this guy losing weight??” Well, lemme tell you, its not the food. The Japanese diet isn’t the healthiest ever, but its in small portions, and the people are really active. The second question would be “But Joey, what is it REALLY like? Was it like we all think in the States? Any surprises? Any great, fun stuff??” Well, that was more than one question, but here you go.

Japan is both the nation all of us have come to learn about from abroad, and then again, it isn’t at all. Or rather, like my organization loves to say, “Every situation is different”. As for manners, I’d say keep your Sunday best on and smile a lot. Other than that, they know you’re not Japanese, so don’t worry. As for the stricter etiquette, there are definitely more uppity places in Japan, like parts of Tokyo, but down where I am, in Wakayama, life is different. Its much more relaxed, people are louder, and everyone enjoys a good laugh. 

Oh, here’s a part you college folks will love. We’re all used to myths about the calm, reserved Japanese. Well let me tell you, its a spectrum. And to top it off, the Japanese love to drink. They love it so much that it is a part of open society WAY more than the US. If you go to karaoke, there are drinks. Wanna hit up a pub?Japan has the famous izakaya, home of good beer and cheap, fried morsils of every shape and kind. Want to get REALLY shwasty-face? There is also what is known as nomi-hodai which is Japanese for all you can drink. Here, for a price, you can down all you want for a whole 2 hours! DRAWBACK ALERT! The Japanese are very fond of domestic beer and don’t often import. And while the beer here is no Keystone, one does like a bit of variety.

I know I’ve left a ton of details out, but one does what one can on short notice and only so much speed on the internet. So that’s it. New apartment, new job, adventures galore, and a bit of fun along the way. 

Off the subject of Japan, I’d like to say that after a few weeks away from the States, and a month and a half away from Hattiesburg, I do miss (or at least remember fondly) my old life a bit. I mean, for a while there I had it pretty good. I had some of the closest friends I’ve ever had in my life, I had barely met some of the coolest people I’ve ever known, I was getting close to the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, and I found a place that was home. Home was having wine night with Shelley, or out on the smoker’s porch with T.J. Home was long talks with Jordan on her steps and figuring out exactly what the hell Kyle Hanson was talking about. Home was sitting in the green room, drinks at the Keg & Barrel, or midnight adventures at the spur of the moment. Home was trading music. Home was trading sad stories, or funny stories, or favorite food, or ideas about preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Every bad life decision that turned out good, every good idea that made the night great, every bit of it, every single little bit of it made that little town home. Home was knowing and loving all of you, and I’ll never forget it. The education I received during the last three years, on the whole, wasn’t in the classroom. It was with you. Yes, you. And I can never repay you for that. I can start, however, by saying thank you. Thank you.

Tune in next time as I discuss the intricacies of Japanese technology, and sometimes the lack thereof. Until then, take care of yourself, and each other. 

Joseph