Hiroshima: an adventure in two parts, 2

The man with the purse sat down beside us and adjusted the strap on his leather boot. It was our second day in Hiroshima and our first stop was breakfast at a trendy coffee shop. Betsy and I relished our anpan (bread with sweet bean paste inside) and took note of the incredibly stylish people around us. The urban Japanese individual doesn't leave the house without his or her designer shoes, tight pants, wild hairstyle that defies heat and moisture, and purse (yes, both men and women make use of purses). I like to think that I have some style, but compared to the young adults of Hiroshima, I'm just another frumpy white guy.

Nonetheless, our plans for the day were to go to Miyajima, the third most beautiful place in Japan. I told Betsy we should go to the first and second most beautiful places in Japan, but she likes to settle (closed-minded racist). Miyajima is an island that has been a declared sacred place and thus those near death or the heavily pregnant are not allowed to stay overnight. The most famous sites to see are a large torii a few meters out in the water (trust me, if you ever seen any guidebook about Japan you've seen this torii), the Itsukushima-jinga (shrine), and a monkey sanctuary. To get to the island from the city, one must take a streetcar (similar to the San Francisco trolley) all the way down to the coast and then board a ferry to cross to the island. Our streetcar ride took FOREVER and along the way I kept asking old women if they would like my seat (one lady graciously took my seat, another refused…but that might be because she was about ten feet away in the car and I had to shout "sumimasen (excuse me), dozo (please take my seat)!"…I was really only asking to practice my Japanese).

Once on the island, Betsy and I found ourselves mixing with about 50,000 other people all there to see the beauty and mystery of Miyajima. There are tame deer near the dock that greet visitors and eat all the return-ferry-ride tickets and clothes they can get (the deer didn't get us, we read the warning signs and avoided the deer food vender). Some of the high heel-wearing Japanese women didn't fare as well and ended up being assailed by the ravenous deer.

Betsy thought it would be awesome to rent bikes to explore more area, but we soon learned that the island is filled with steep hills that make bike riding just an intense leg work out (way to go, Betsy). Still, we did manage to work off our morning anpan before eating oysters and kara-age (delicious fried chicken) for lunch.

After Miyajima we headed back to the city for dinner with another JET (Lisa from Nakatsu and her boyfriend Jeff!) at a ramen restaurant where you order you food via a vending-like machine (delicious, trust me). Then since it was a full moon, we got some mochi (sweet rice balls) and chilled out in the peace park (the tradition in Japan is to eat mochi and relax on the night of the full moon).

Betsy and I left the following day with a vow to plan other such trips. I had such a blast with her because we can commune with one another about having difficult teaching jobs. Unlike Japanese elementary and junior high school students who are precious and cute, our high school students are dirty terrors with no respect. Not all of them, but some of them (really just the boys) are rude and crude and not knowing the language makes teaching a challenge (and the fact that neither one of us knows much about being an educator). Learning that our situations are similar encouraged me to keep trying and pressing forward…life should only get easier. Plus Betsy likes to eat yummy Japanese food as much as me (and thank goodness we weren't together much longer because we both would have been fat and broke).

Well, it's Saturday and I need to wrap up my workday (yes, I'm at school on a Saturday). The good new is that I just got my own computer at home and will soon be posting pictures to go along with all these stories. Until next time, thanks for reading.

Hiroshima: an adventure in two parts, 1

The waitress carefully studied Betsy and I and came to the conclusion that Betsy was more Japanese-friendly than me (a grossly erroneous assessment if you knew what a closed-minded racist Betsy really is). The waitress proudly put a pair of chopsticks in front of Betsy and decided to give me a knife and fork. A knife and fork! Like I'm one of the lame gaijin (foreigner) who come to Hiroshima just to stand out and be obnoxious.

This lunch incident took place in a little place across the street from the Hiroshima Peace Park. Since Monday, September 19, was a holiday ("Respect for the Aged Day") I decided to take a much anticipated weekend trip to the big city of Hiroshima and see my dear friend, Betsy Herzog (UNC alum and NC native...currently living in Okayama-ken as a first year JET). I was dining on a dish called "mixed fried lunch" and reflecting on the sites and stories found around the site of the first atomic bomb. I had arrived in Hiroshima by the shinkansen (bullet train) that travels at speeds of 285 km/hr.

Hiroshima is a beautiful city with clean streets and green parks. The famous sites of the A-bomb Dome (one of the few structures that survived the bomb's blast), the Hiroshima Peace Museum, and all the monuments to peace in the surrounding area give visitors an opportunity to reflect on history and appreciate the value of living in a world without conflict (something we still are trying to achieve). Betsy and I toured around this area on Saturday and I found my mind wondering to the scenes of massive destruction that followed the atomic bomb's detonation and how amazed I was at seeing a rebuilt city. Hiroshima is an awesome place filled with gaijin tourists and Japanese people who can speak English (two things one does NOT find in Ajimu).

After the peace memorials, Betsy and I took a further step back in history and went to see Hiroshima-jo—a traditional Japanese castle made of wood and stone (complete with a moat!). The structure was very impressive and had some sweet katana for me to drool over (I love samurai weapons). At the castle we met three gentlemen from Louisiana who asked us if we were touring Japan and we told them, "no, we live and work here in Japan." We live and work in Japan. At that moment I realized I'm not just a tourist in this far eastern country, but I am a resident. I live in Japan! My time in this country is not measured by days of a vacation, but rather by months of my young adult life.

Anyway, next came dinner in downtown at an "okonomiyaki mall". Okonomiyaki is food made with vegetables and meat mixed in with batter and cooked to create a sort of pancake-omelet-like dish. Hiroshima is famous for the dish and Betsy and I found a mutli-storied building full of little okonomiyaki stands (complete with a few other gaijin!) to dine in. Food was really a focus for the weekend and I think Betsy and I were constantly eating something tasty.

Day one of the Hiroshima Adventure ended with a stroll through what may have been the red light district of the city. There were all these young girls dressed up like they were going to prom trying to get men to come into their establishments. At first Betsy and I thought it was prom night…but then we realized that Japan doesn't have prom and that these girls were only there to entice men to come into "snack bars." No one asked me, so we just got ice cream and called it a night. Day Two was soon to come and that meant more adventure, more food, and more laughter!

The Universal Language

Despite NASA's claim that math is the universal language, I have come to believe that music is the one form of communication that links all living things together. Not just any music either, but show tunes and Disney songs are what establish common ground between people of different nationalities (and maybe the Carpenters too when traveling in Asia).

Today during cleaning time—the 20 minute block of time when every everyone at school must sweep, spray, or buff the various surfaces of the school—I sang Disney's Aladdin's "A Whole New World" with some of the students. Our assigned cleaning task is walking down the length of one side of the long school building with metal tongs and dustpans picking up bits of trash. Apparently they are singing some Disney songs in music class and I told them I preformed various pieces from both "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin" back in the 5th grade. With our shared enthusiasm for lovely duets, picking up trash has never been so much fun. When I started dancing around while singing, two of the girls ran away screaming and laughing, but I think that means they were so amazed that they couldn't stand to be in my presence (like God and the Israelites).

Oh right, NEWS FLASH! I got a car! Yep, a little four-door Suzuki that reminds me a lot of my 1987 Honda Civic from back in high school (the one my sister maimed when she hit a trashcan in a parking lot). The car is small and powerless with a blue exterior, but when one lives in the inaka (countryside) any car will do (because traveling to neighboring towns to buy goods is a necessity). I've had to learn how to drive on the left side of the road…as well as get adjusted to narrow lanes and small parking spaces…and defend myself from crazy Japanese drivers who will pull out in front of you at any moment! But all in all, driving is rather fun and I'm grateful for the wheels (don't worry, mom, I've only gone down the wrong side of the road twice).



This weekend I'm headed to Hiroshima to see a friend and have an adventure outside of Oita-ken. I will be taking the shinkansen (bullet train) so my journey there will be lightning fast (I think). Everyday I feel myself settling in a little more and while I long for home, family, and friends, I also feel comfortable and content here in Japan. Until next time, thanks for reading.

Lycanthropy, Feces, and a Typhoon, oh my!

First, let me assure everyone that I am still alive and well despite the typhoon that swept across Japan the other day. I got a day off from school and spent it watching the wind blow sheets of rain across the rice fields. Typhoons, or taifu in Japanese, are like baby hurricanes and here in the valley of Ajimu we are protected from harsh weather by the surrounding mountains. The little stray cat that runs around my apartment building is safe too (but I neglected my bike and found it the next morning in a rusty heap in the weeds…whatever, it still wobbles fine).

I just finished week two of teaching and things have improved since my first day. One of the most enjoyable parts of the day is when students come into the teacher's room to talk to me at my desk. They can strike—er, come, at any point in the day including lunch when I'm busy dropping noodles all over test papers. They usually come in pairs so their friend can help translate for them and visvera. Here is a brief list of conversation topics the students have presented me with in the last week:

1. Lycanthropy (you know, the mythical virus that turns one into a werewolf)
2. Sesame Street (yes, Japanese High School girls watch Sesame Street)
3. Jennifer Lopez
4. My eyelashes
5. Other words for poo (I told them feces and wished Blake/Chris/Mike
could have been here in that moment)
6. Carolina
7. Terrorists
8. Split ends

Whatever the topic, I always end up laughing...sometimes really loud and I worry that my co-sensei (co-teachers) think I'm being obnoxious. But everyone seems to enjoy the fact that I'm around.

My Japanese language skills are improving! And good thing to because I need to figure out what people are always asking me. Being the goofy foreigner means I just go around saying "What?" and then giving a thumbs up whenever a student speaks correct English.

Well it's Friday and I have a big weekend of Japan ahead of me, so let me wish you all the best. Otsukarasamadeshita!

First Day of School

"Laughing in Japan: English Summer Seminars"