"With a Side of Kanji, Please"

I did something absolutely mortifying today.

I take private Japanese lessons every Thursday morning, and this morning was no different then usual. My typical Thursday schedule consists of me rising around 9, showering, downing a cup of coffee, reviewing a few last minute notes, and then shuffling off to a 20 minute subway ride in the hopes of showing up at the Higashi Betsuin Women's Center by 11. I am usual not fully aware at first, but having to think in another language wakes you up quicker than you can imagine. So I breezed in at 10:55 this morning, and finally feeling the effects of my caffeine intake, started to excitedly talk to my teacher about my plans tonight. But my verbal barrage took a turn towards the worse as my own stupidity quickly reared its head, and my teacher reacted to it.

The conversation alone can convey my faux pas. So, for the mixed reasons of a better explanation as well as for entertainment value, here is the conversation. Translated and transcribed, to the best my memory serves.

(Kate walks in to see Keiko sitting at a table.)

Keiko: Long time no see! How are you?

Kate: Great, thanks. How about you?

Ke: Great. So do you have to work today?

Ka: No, actually. Tonight my students and I are going out for dinner.

Ke: In Kanie?

Ka: No, Takaoka. I'm going to Kanayama first, then Takaoka for dinner at 7. (Kate pauses, an uncertain look on her face.) An end of the year party!

(Keiko does a slight double take, then gives her a confused glance.)

Ka: (repeats uncertainly) End of the year party...? (looks frantically through her dictionary)

Did I say it wrong?

Ke: No, no. Usually they're in December. Between Christmas and New Year's.

Ka: Oh its November. What's today then?

(Keiko keeps the confused look on her face.)

Ke: Today is a holiday.

Ka: (genuinely curious) Really? What?

(Keiko blanches slightly in surprise, as if it had been obvious)

Ke: Kate, today is Thanksgiving.

(Kate gives a long pause)

Ka: Oh.

END SCENE

Keiko then went on to laugh, saying that she had went to a Thanksgiving party the night before, while I was clearly looking forward to Japanese traditions. She went further to say that today, she was the American and I was Japanese.

I laughed too. I just find it sad that my Japanese teacher had to remind me that today was Thanksgiving.

Oops.

It's not like I didn't know of its approach either. All week, people asked me about the holiday, and if I was going to eat turkey on Thursday. ( And to which I replied, while I would love to, how in the world would I prepare it? This is my cooking area:

I can't bake cookies, let alone a whole turkey.)

So even thought I knew it was coming, talked of it all week, on the day of, for some inexplicable reason, it completely slipped my mind. I feel like a horrible American.

One would think the thought of the food alone would keep it foremost in my thoughts. How I salivate over the thought of the Thanksgiving treats today. And one look at my "oven" is proof enough how much I miss baked goods. And while I do miss the food from home, I am fine subsisting on what I do. In fact, it makes me appreciate it more. So if I find really great food like that from home, the scarcity makes the taste that much better.

For when I find a really great cheese in a country severely deprived of fermented milk-based food products, I gratefully shell out the high price and relish it that much more when I finally eat it. And when, on a whim, I decide to pay 500 yen for that tiny bunch of grapes, the wait alone makes the grapes that much better. And ethnic foods, like Mexican and Indian, the kinds I took for granted in their abundance, become special places to find and eat at. (One in particular, Mugal Palace, has become almost a weekly pilgrimage spot. Besides making me a bit of a connoisseur of Indian food for all the items I have tried, it is hands down the best Indian food I've ever had in my life.)

But in truth, and as expected, I now live on a highly Japanese diet. To what I'm sure would be

my mother's chagrin, I haven't had pasta or hard bread in months. I eat rice all the time, and various stir fry are the main dishes I consume.

I even eat salad with chopsticks.

In fact, I have even discovered some food items I will sorely miss when I leave Japan. The fried gyoza found in the food stores are out of this world. Asahi makes this yogurt granola bar that not only is amazingly delicious, but has become my weekly Wednesday afternoon snack. There is a spicy tofu and rice dish at my local convenience store that I cannot live without. And in a country of crab flavored potato chips, I have fallen in love with Azuki Pepsi. And it actually tastes like Azuki paste, or sweet bean paste, a staple of most Japanese desserts.

Which is another odd item I have grown to love.

But eating out is truly the height of my diet in Japan. The food is not necessarily expensive, or well seasoned, but its comforting and filling without being overwhelming. Scrumptious is really the only appropriate word. And izukaya food is designed to be communal, so the whole atmosphere is as social as the food is delicious. From the grilled meats and nabe pots to tabasaki to salads with unnecessary corn. I enjoy it all.

(And deciphering the menus at such establishments is always an added treat, because there are usually several characters none of us can read. Believe me, jokes like "the Kanji salad" or "I'll take the tomato, garlic, and Kanji" seriously never gets old.)

But all that aside, at my end of the year/secret Thanksgiving dinner tonight, though I was surrounded by the Japanese foods I have come to love, I was dreaming of pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. Mulling over mashed potatoes. Fantasizing about stuffing. Pondering the delights of hot biscuits.

And desperately wishing I had an oven.

Out with the Old, in with the New

So summer is officially over.



You will take a glance at the date I am posting this and think I am slightly insane for seemingly declaring the obvious. But if you have not lived in Japan before, you will not understand my reluctance to declare summer over. Because up until the two weeks ago, it was still disgustingly sticky and hot.



I laugh at anyone who wants to declare Japan a four season country. I know four seasons- I lived it for 18 years in New Jersey. It is characterized by temperate seasons with reasonable highs in July/August, reasonable lows in January, with a moderate decline and fall of temperature in between. The best I could classify the weather here is as two very distinct seasons of oppressive heat and a bitter chill with nice little transitional periods of temperate weather that bleed into each other. Because best I can tell, Summer here lasted from the first week of May till about October 4.



Especially in Nagoya.



Tajimi, located about 40 minutes by train outside the city in Gifu, besides being famous for ceramics, also has the dubious distinction of being known as the hottest place in Japan. So much so that national news services descend every summer to document it. This just illustrates the heat of the Chubu region in which I reside. And its not the heat that characterized the summer, but the amazing humidity. Humidity with a strength I had never experienced before. I had trouble breathing at times it was so heavy on my skin. Climbing stairs outside had me gasping like I was 70. I never didn’t sweat. I think I lost about 10 pounds from sweating alone.



A charming picture.



But as the first chill finally rolls into Nagoya, and I can finally wear more than a tank top at night again, I find myself reminiscing about the summer. It was hot, yes, but when I stopped complaining like a cranky old woman, there was lots to enjoy. So thinking back, I’ve composed a list of the things I will miss about my first summer in Japan.



1. BBQs
BBQs in Japan are vastly different from the hot dog and hamburger fests that I’m used to. Yes, there is the coolers of beer and soda, inane conversations about the heat, and sparklers, but there are fundamental differences. Like the traditional smashing of the watermelon, which involves blindfolds, a bat, a version of hot or cold, and then consuming smashed up watermelon bits. Or the way Japanese woman do everything possible to stay OUT of the sun, even resorting to sun visors reminiscent of Darth Vader‘s mask, huge floppy hats, and dark black arm guards that cover the whole arm and look amazingly stifling. Odd to me indeed, but the biggest, and most delightful difference, being the food itself.



It’s an array of grilled meats and vegetables that knock any hot dog out of the water. Steamed and grilled on a large charcoal pit, spices and sauces thrown over the entire heap, its like the ultimate stir fry. Then there’s the seafood, and the grilled rice balls, and everything else amazing you can think of. Men stoke huge grill pits with fans as they constantly switch the large assortment of grilled pork and beef with the sliced and sautéed vegetables.



Its an explosion of goodness in your mouth.



After my first one, I left very full and very happy. And despite the heat, I lounged by the lake in Shonai Ryokuchi Park with a beer in my hand, very content.



2. Fireworks



America has fireworks. They are pretty, light up the sky, give you a little thrill. A nice excuse to lay out a picnic blanket with friends and watch the night sky.



But nothing, I repeat NOTHING compares to the fireworks that Japan has.



The best fireworks displays I have seen back in the states compare only to the small fireworks displays in Japan. The big ones, the ones put on in the port of major cities, are fireworks displays the likes I have never seen before. Performances so long that the fireworks need to take an intermission. And the bright colors pack the sky throughout the entire show in a way that is only comparable to the actual finale of ones back home. And the finale? Its nearly overwhelming how awesome it is.



But the entire atmosphere of the event is worth it, even if it weren’t for the dazzling displays. Fireworks are seasonal, not privy to one holiday, so most weekends you will find a fireworks festival of some kind going on. Whether it be in a big city or a small town, the firework festivals has all the usual trappings of festivals in Japan, with the phenomenal food and traditional games. But these events have an extra special touch to it, for a majority of people attend dressed in yukata, or traditional summer kimono. Brightly colored garments with prints that range from the traditional to cutesy (I saw a fair share of Hello Kitty and leopard print ones), everyone walks around in them, a sea of color and texture, some girls with their hair styled just for the festival.



It is that nice extra element that makes the firework festivals just that more special.



3. Relaxing Outdoor Activities



Japan is a highly industrialized country, there is no denying that fact. Most greenery in cities are relegated to parks, and most suburbs look so much like the city that they bleed unnoticeably into each other. But Japan is also a country of beautiful mountains and breathtaking vistas, so when you can make your way out to get to it, they are absolutely worth it.



Being burned out on city life for such a reason, I decided to spend my summer vacation camping in the Japanese Alps. And as someone who is a professed lover of city life, I was amusingly surprised by the grand desire I had to see the mountains. But stressed from work and the heat, I was ready for a change of scenery. So, backpack in hand, I took the first train to Nagano and then a two hour bus ride out to Kamikochi, one of Japan’s national parks.



And as soon as we got there, I knew the trip was absolutely worth it.



Not only are the Japanese Alps snow and cloud capped peaks in breathtakingly rich greens, but the trails are still wild and fairly untouched. The air is clear and crisp, and the mountain streams that cut through are refreshingly cold and so amazingly blue it would not be out of place in the Caribbean. I spent a week of hiking and mountain climbing and attempting to wade in the freezing cold mountain water. We would walk all day, and then wander back to out tent and trade stories and grilled meat over our camp fire. And when I say walk all day, I actually mean it. One day we left our campsite at 10 am and didn’t come back till about 6 pm. I think we walked about 13 miles that day, but the mountains were so beautiful I never noticed the distance.



When we finally left Nagano, all the stress I almost didn’t know I had was melted away, and I was left feeling refreshed. It was so peaceful and rejuvenating that I cant even inject any snark into this section. All I know is that I cant wait for next summer to explore the rest of the mountains.

4. Beer Garden



The nomihodai, or all you can drink, is a popular concept in Japan. Bars do it very frequently, mostly because even though the Japanese are heavy drinkers, they don’t consume large quantities. But the gist of a nomihodai is what you would expect: all you can drink in a certain period of time for a set price.



The beer gardens take this to the next level. Set up on the roofs of large buildings all around Nagoya, it is really the only “outdoor seating” in Japan. But 30 stories up, its worth the view. You take the elevator up to the roof, play a flat rate of about 3000 yen, and get two or three hours of nomihodai (all you can drink) and tabehodai (all you can eat). You get lead to a table with a small grill for grilling your own meat, and after plopping down you bags, then proceed to the beer taps and buffet. You can get all you want of most Japanese beers (hence the name), and the buffet has every kind of rice and yakisoba and fried food you could want. There is also large sections for yakiniku of raw meat and vegetables, which you load up onto your plate and take back to your table. You then grill it yourself and enjoy fresh grilled meat and veggies dripping with sauce and still hot from the burner.



And if this sounds like something only for salary men and drunk gaijin, you are sadly mistaken. Despite being centered around drinking, I have seen so many families with children and elders at these things. They come as group and watch their parents drink, all while enjoying the large amounts of food or the cheesy entertainment of third rate JPOP wannabes.



But sitting on the rooftop in the sticky Nagoya heat, smoke from the small grills wafting around, a chilly mug of Asahi in my hand, and infectious JPOP blaring from the speakers, it’s the only place to be on a summer night in Japan.

6. Fans



I have to hand it to Japan. Keeping hand fans en vogue is one of the brightest ideas I’ve come across in the stifling heat. Though the thought to me evokes images of wraparound porches in the bayou, or ladies in Baptist churches with big hats, every man, woman and child in Japan uses a fan in the heat. In fact, most companies hand them out with advertisements on it, much in the way that they hand out tissues during allergy season (the Japanese are nothing if not excellent at marketing). And where at first I found it odd, I eventually became a full convert by the practicality of it.



Though its not necessarily something I will miss, fans are something I was very grateful to have this past season. It saved my hair, my makeup, and honestly, my sanity this summer. Sitting on long train rides in the high temperatures, or waiting in crowded areas, it relieved the heat in a way I thought nothing else could.



And for that I think I will for the rest of my life use hand fans.



So that is my final salute to Japan’s summer. The heat and the high cost of electricity from running my ac all the time may be gone, but the memories remain. And as with everything, hindsight only offers the good memories, as the bad ones fall away. So as we go full swing into fall, there are many things I will miss about Summer in the land of the rising sun.

But the humidity will definitely not be one of them.

A little something to pass the time* *(in which I discuss perfect donuts, the Sega store, and my absence from the blogosphere)

I have recently discovered that Japan has perfected something I thought no man could: the donut.



I walk by the Mister Donuts franchise in Kanayama station at least two or three times a week, transferring from the JR train to the Nagoya subway line. And while it beckons me with its glowing orange and white sign, and the high pitched irasshaimasen of the shop girl, I don't always stop there. But hungry and tired this past week, I stopped on Monday and bought a donut.



It is then that I realized how perfect they are.



When the strawberry pink concoction featured above was consumed, my senses were instantly enamored as my brain quickly comprehended that Mister Donuts has fixed all the the flaws I always found in donuts. It is about two-thirds the size of an American donut, so I don't find myself forcibly shoving it down with heavy bites, nor feeling far too full afterwards. And the circular treat, as with most Japanese sweets, is just the right amount of sweetness. Not overly so, so that my teeth hurt and I feel almost sickened by the honeyed taste, but the perfect blend of sugar and cake. In the end, I was full and satiated without feeling gorged and overindulged, nor were teeth regretful of my sugar intake. In other words, it was the perfect donut.



After this almost spiritual encounter, I wanted to shout my experience from the rooftops; preach the good word of morning desserts exquisiteness to anyone who would listen! Who is there to revel in my discovery, to see it with fresh eyes so as to truly appreciate the testament to modern society I had uncovered? It is was then I realized how much I missed blogging.



My blog was not willfully abandoned, and unfortunately I only have the pithy excuse of a busy life and a touch of laziness to explain for it.



The last two months have been eventful ones. Teaching has gotten very busy as the year has gone into full swing, I've begun seeing someone quite seriously, experienced a large national holiday, as well as had my first taste of real tourism. All things considered, many things have happened.



So between being very happy, busy, and content, I have found it quite hard to just sit down and blog. Not that I haven't been writing. Truth be told, with the many experiences I've had in the past two months, as well as every day here in Japan, I have been writing blog posts. Several sit collecting theoretical dust on my hard drive, half-formed and partially composed, waiting to see the light of internet day.



But the crux is that my writing is something I take quite seriously. If it is not perfect or well composed, then I don't want to show it. So until now, I have not taken the time to polish my words to my own standards, and share them.



But this post is me turning over a new leaf. As I finally have a handle on managing friends, work, bills, and a relationship all at once in my new life, I will now work blogging back into it. This means more regular postings, and not only on long and important topics, but more trivial ones; the odd occurrences and fascinations that I find myself coming across every day here in Japan. And as you will see, Mister Donuts is really just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.



But to show I am truly committed to this, and this is not just empty words, I am proposing a self-imposed Blog-a-Day. For the next seven days, I will try to post all that I have written over the last two months, in daily installments. What will you see? Travelogues of my first big trip to Nara; my experiences, both good and bad, of being a foreigner in Japan; feminism in a country that never had a feminist movement; the high, lows, and absurdities of Japanese Television; summer barbecues, watermelon squashing, and Nagashima SpaLand; and the lack of religiosity in Japan coupled with my flirtation with Quantum Physics.



Excited?



I hope so, because looking at that lofty and absurd listing, I am ready to write them with a few surprises in between. Because, even though it is beginning to sound trite I say it so often, every day life here still holds mystery for me. Today, for example, I took my first trip to a mall in Japan. Though the shopping, food, and company made it a lovely day off, it was the Sega store that was the true highlight.



To truly appreciate such a place, take the images of the best arcades you've ever gone into, mentally mash them together, and multiply that by five. That may begin to touch how amazing this store is.



I say store, but really its a giant arcade. But it does not have the usual games. As expected of Japan, the video games are superb and nearly unbelievable. There is huge 3D shooting games, life size MarioKart, virtual goldfish catching in which you see them actually swimming in a mock digital tank, huge crane games which retrieve large packages of food and digital items, as well as a ball shaped capsule containing a giant robot game whose screen in the entire surface of the bubble. Based on the Gundam franchise, the effect is that you move the levers and pedals while feeling as if you are in a circular pod on top of a giant robot that you maneuver. The effect of realism is awe inspiring and slightly unnerving.



Though we loved the games (particularly the pogo stick race game filled with cutesy creatures racing through cherry blossoms which simulates actually being on a pogo stick; Shannon took first, I a very close second), the true highlight of the arcade is the cars you can build yourself and drive around a track within the store. I think that statement should be mulled over a moment. Cars you build yourself and then drive. About the size of power wheels or small go karts, it starts with a simple base in which you build the rest from LEGO blocks the size of large shoe boxes. As if giant LEGOs weren't amazing enough (as well as to make you feel as if you were in a scene the 1989 Rick Moranis classic, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids), you then drive your giant LEGO car around the store.



All in all, an amazing if not really weird experience right in my backyard.



And this, as well as so much more, I want to share with you. So here is to my proposed Blog-A-Day, the amazing absurdity of Japan, and the love I have for writing it all down.



I leave you now with a photo which perfectly represents what I have been doing the last two months, the beautiful kids I teach, and the fun of the job I have been fortunate enough to get to allow me to come and experience everything here.

Where can I watch a Cockfight?

..and other equally useless phrases in Japanese.

Though I am quite glad to have my phase book here, I am constantly astounded by some of the phrases that are put in there, as if they are really applicable to daily life or travel. Yes, there are the standards of directions and “where is there an internet café?,” but some that Frommer’s felt necessary to put in are absolutely ridiculous. For example, there’s a whole section devoted to “getting to know someone” which is a cover for cheesy pick up lines. Like, “You dance so well” and “You have such beautiful eyes” as well as, my personal favorite, “You look like the most interesting person in the room.” Ugh I can just picture the eyebrow wags and tawdry smiles that would accompany those gems.

But with that discovery on the plane, such began my flirtation with the Japanese Language.

Now I began using the Rosetta Stone program in the states, which I have continued here, which really helped me with prounuciation and understanding of sentence structure, if not learning mainly useless vocabulary. But that, combined with the smattering of grammar explanations, the why and wherefores of object particles, and (mostly) useful phrases from my Frommer‘s Book, I’ve garnered enough Japanese to at least find the subway. But more importantly, it helped with two of my favorite activities: shopping, and eating.

I already said I would say something about the shopping, specifically the 100 Yen store, and it is definitely something that garners notice. I had heard Japan was a consumer society, but I wasn’t prepared for how pithy that statement is in comparison to reality. Consumers ARE the society. Stores are everywhere, and Sakae, the Mecca of shopping in Nagoya, is almost overwhelming. Actually, scratch that, it is overwhelming. The whole of Sakae has a massive undeground mall that covers many miles below the city streets. Big department stores, like Mitsukoshi and Melsa, are giant sky scrapers of buildings in the center of town; multiple floors devoted to clothes, jewelry, and electronics. And unlike electronic stores in America, which can seem a little loud, this is a flurry of noise and lights, where every CD is being played by every speaker, and a different anime, movie, or video game is on every screen. Its loud, obnoxious, and, to be honest, kind of awe inspiring. First time I was traveling the stores it was early Tuesday afternoon, not a time I’d expect to be busy. And then I traveled to the basement levels.

This is where, in Japanese department stores, they sell food, at least where I went. Though not loud in the way electronics department is, it is a different and special kind of loud. It is the deafening noise of people. Unless its drinking hours, the Japanese are a generally quiet people. Yet in this section? I was overtaken by the noise and power of the shoppers; little obaa-san pushing past me with no regard as they scoop up every type of food imaginable. Hawkers scream to me, pushing chocolates and sample onigiri on me. Now I’m a generally unruffled person when it comes to noise and busy areas, but without a doubt, I had a deer in headlights look when I entered there. After a few minutes we then rather quickly, and at a near run, escaped from this overwhelming shopping experience. I still feel rattled thinking about it.

But the prize in all this is, the top of the shopping heap, is the 100 yen store. In the 7th Floor of Melsa, there is a magical place where you can get anything imaginable for about one American dollar. And this, my friends, is the 100 yen store.

And really, only a picture collage of some of the items bought would do such place justice.

My snail magnets, sickeningly cute in their own way

This awesome kitchen knife, with my nails to match.

This cutting board, also sickeningly cute.

Orange and green slippers, since I need to train myself not to wear shoes in other people’s homes.

This tea set, which really marks me as a gaijin.

And then, the pinnacle of my collection...

NINJA CHOPSTICKS

Which are apparently too awesome to ever be photographed clearly. Believe me, I tried multiple times.

But shopping aside, that leads me into the more important part of acquiring language. And that is, as every good Italian girl knows, eating.

I have been equally overwhelmed, but in a much better way, by the food so far. From the really good Japanese interpretation of foreign cuisine to real, traditional food, I have been enjoying everything immensely so far. My favorite are the little shops where you can get donburri bowl with rice, pickled vegetables, green tea, and other small concoctions for about 400 yen. You walk in, sit, are served at lightning speed, and yet still get a real cooked and unprocessed meal. It puts new meaning to the term fast food.

And though I spent the entire first week eating out and about in my neighbourhood, my favorite was probably the night I went to an Izakaya. It’s like the equivalent of a traditional Japanese pub, with real rustic touches, like a sliding door, numerous lanterns, and tatami mat seating in the back. Amelia and I traveled to one in Imaike, a neighbourhood near by, and found a random one down a side street. We were greeted exuberant exclamations and smiles, and chose to sit and the counter and watch them a foot away prepare our food. It was smoky, cramped, and absolutely fabulous. Since drinking it traditional, we ordered the local sake (watered down of course), and then went on to order an amazing amount of small dishes of fried tofu, fish, grilled meats, pickled and fried vegetables, and copious amounts of rice. Everyone was smiling and welcoming and we left a little tipsy, extremely full, and only 2000 yen lighter in our wallets.

But I can’t always eat out, so I also finally traveled down to my local supermarket. There are some thing easily recognizable, other things not so much, but I was still seduced by all the smells, choices, and amazing amounts of already made food. I ended up coming back after wandering the store for two hours with a full stock of groceries, a few ready made foods, like an interesting fried prawn and egg sandwich (which is way better than it sounds), and a desire to really learn how to make Japanese food.

So all in all, I love the shopping and the food, yet still are discovering new stores and food every time I wander out. And this is all thanks to my very limited Japanese skills.

And in case you were wondering, if you ever do want to find a fowl fight in Japan? All you need to ask is tookei wa doko de miru koto ga deki masu ka.