Live from Japan!

The homesickness is still here. I definitely feel like I am on the upswing, so it is only a matter of time before I am completely recovered, I imagine. (All the upcoming excitement is sure to help as well – anniversary trip, calm-digging weekend, fireworks) The whole culture shock and homesickness-thing is so interesting. It often comes to me when I least expect it and only goes away on its own schedule. In an effort to speed its departure, I am going to spend this next week or two focusing on all the things I love about Japan and all the reasons why I am glad I am still here now and will still be here for the next year (at least).

Reason Number 1 – I love that every bit of unused space has stuff growing in it. It isn’t just covered in grass (don’t get me wrong, I do miss walking barefoot in the grass), instead it is covered with future food. There are rice paddies, vegetable gardens, and fruit trees everywhere you look. I love that. I also love that it makes everything look so green and alive.

Right now, I am loving the rice paddies the most. The plants are getting bigger and they are the most beautiful shade of light green.

. . . computer mouse?

As I’ve mentioned before, most temples and shrines sell Ema. These are little placards on which you can write a wish or a prayer and the monks at the temple will pray over them for you. At the shrine I mentioned yesterday they had these Ema for sale. They also had this huge sign displaying the Ema.

It is the year of the rat and so they had a rat prominently featured on the Ema. But I am really unclear as to why they have a computer mouse just below it. It isn’t the year of the mouse, after all.

In September my high school here will have a group of fifteen students visit from a high school in Portland. We have been doing many things to prepare for their visit, one of which was visiting the schools website.

They have a page all about their Japan trip, which is fun. And they also have other pages showing different school activities. One of the pages is of the school prom photos.

My old supervisor took one look at the prom pictures and was horrified. There were strapless dresses, spaghetti straps, and cleavage all over the place. (Side note – she had to ask me what the word for the “crevice between the breasts” was. That was a bit awkward.) In Japan that type of revealing attire is almost unheard of.

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The other weekend while walking though the streets of Nagoya, we suddenly could hear loud music wafting our way from a nearby park. Looking over, what should we see, but four men clad in leather, dancing in a circle Rockabilly style! Occasionally, one of the group would move the the center and show of their stuff. A couple had some good moves, but you could tell a couple were just starting out, their moves limited to rhythmically hopping. Thoroughly amused we moved on, only to discover that on the other side of a fountain, was the advanced group. Simillarly clad, but with more refined moves, and hairstyles.

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Yesterday, at the end of my post, I talked about deterring theft at convenience stores and gas stations. Today I thought it was worth mentioning one of the plans that the Japanese have.

Behind the counter at every gas station, convenience store, and other similar establishment there is (at least) one ball filled with a permanent dye. The idea is that if someone comes into the store to steal or attempt to steal, the clerk should throw the ball of dye at them before they escape. That way the perp will be marked (for a good long time) with the incriminating dye.

A clever, non-violent, idea….don’t you think?

Perhaps next time I will tell you about the plan at school.

. . . pay for plane tickets.

I must say that this is the very first time in my life that I have bought two airline tickets at a convenience store.

First I booked the flight online and once I had booked the flight it gave me a confirmation number and instructions to go to a Lawsons (convenience store chain) within three days to pay in full. If I didn’t show up at Lawsons within the allotted time my flight would be canceled.

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…for using the toilet.

Thank goodness for the amazing pictorial instructions, otherwise I might have been totally lost!

Step One – Pull Down Your Pants

Step Two – Sit On The Toilet

Step Three – Do a Shit (This is the literal translation from Japanese)

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Growing up I always remember hearing the phrase, “knee high by the fourth of July,” when we were talking about corn. Well, they must have a different phrase here because it is only the middle of June and the corn is almost ready to harvest.

Just thought you all might be interested . . .

Kind of funny to have Aaron posing with the corn. We all know how much he likes the stuff. . .

Now, corn that high means one thing. We are in the throes of summer. It is hot, it is humid and we are already getting used to wearing only our “house clothes” come evening. It is a change from the beautiful spring that we had and certainly not a welcome one.

Our good friend, Tanaka, introduced us to one of his favorite foods at an izakaya (bar) that his friend owns. In Japanese it is called (Kare no kara age) which loosely translates to Fried Flat Fish. The R’s and the L’s in the name of this food are a bit difficult for the Japanese, thus the name of this post.

Anyways, I must say that the first time the fish was brought to the table I was a bit skeptical. After all, it was the whole fish and I generally steer clear of that sort of thing. As a rule, I prefer that my food bear little resemblance to its original form. I don’t care for the powerful, in-your-face, reminders of seeing the whole creature on my plate. Staring up at me.

Despite my skepticism, I gave it a try. This food is a little strange because it is fried more than once. When the whole fish is fried a handful of times the bones become soft enough that they can be eaten. Once you are done with the fried flat fish very little remains on your plate, aside from a few crumbs.

The first time I stayed away from the bones and fins and stuck mostly with the delicious fishy meat, but the second time I was a bit more adventurous. Bones, yum! Fins, yum! Meat, yum! It was all good, except I couldn’t quite bring myself to eat the head. Maybe next time…

When we first arrived in Japan, late last summer, we had an immediate and extreme bursts of firsts. Our first time in Japan, first trip to the hospital, first kaiten sushi, first public bath, first time struggling to get things done in this strange land. The list could go on and on.

Now, with over ten months under our belt, the firsts are becoming more spread apart and less jarring. At the same time, however, the firsts are generally becoming more difficult. They are things that we have put off, for good reason. They are things that are more difficult to accomplish when we can’t communicate effectively. And yet, they are things that cannot wait another 14 months until we return to the States. They must get done.

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