January 30, 2006
Japan
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By now, you all must be wondering what I have been up to for the last few days. Well, let me try to give you some idea of what it has been like getting my bearings in Japan.
Working backwards, earlier today I registered with with immigration and opened a bank account (I have a cool little stamp for official business that means “calm mind, enjoyable person,” and I think it was the closest thing Mr. Horiguchi could find to Alan, my other names being almost unpronounceable in Japanese)
Yesterday I accompanied Ben to a company class and met some students I am going to be taking over from him. Afterwards he took me to a dollar a plate conveyor sushi and a pachenco parlor just to hear the terrible noise. Ben described it as his own personal hell, and I guess he wanted to share it a little.
Sunday, Patrick took Ben and me up to a town called Ikaho in the foothills of the mountains. The town is home to beautiful scenery and a peaceful budhist tempel dedicated to the goddess of mercy.
The town is also home to the wildly exciting (drum roll please)…. Penis Museum!
Actually, this is why Patrick took us to Ikaho in the first place, and it was worth the drive. The woman who runs the place tried to explain to us the stereotypes Japanese women have about American men, and although her English was terrible, we got the gist because she was speaking in a univeral language that involved elaborate hand gestures and wild attempts at groping both men and women. Indeed, we soon learned that no one was safe after the over-zealous tour guide chased Patrick’s Japanese girlfriend around the room with a three foot long phallus then asked Ben to “eat! eat!” a vulvic statue while beating him with a penis on a stick.
By the end of the ordeal, our sides hurt and I left feeling like I had a greater understanding of Japanese culture.
January 27, 2006
Uncategorized
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I have arrived in Japan, and am almost to my new home. I was hoping to be able to move right into my apartment last night, but unfortunately I have to wait for the instructor I am to replace to leave. That means I am going to spend my first five nights in a postage stamp sized room at a hotel in Maebashi. Good thing is my boss is paying my rent, and breakfast is on the house. This morning I got up early and decided to jump right into my new world with a traitional Japanese breakfast.
In India, I always felt like I was eating lunch for breakfast. They start their days off with a curry bang that just doesn’t feel right to the western pallet. My first Japanese breakfast had a similar affect. It consisted of a bowl of rice, a plastic wrapped strip of seaweed, an unrecognizable mauve ball that tasted like some sort of ocean life placed alongside five small strips of salty boiled greens, a bowl of miso soup, a salmon steak, green tea, water, and an egg in a cup. Ah, yes, an egg; at last a food item that may sate my western appetite. I reached for it, hoping for the best, but knowing that the cup heralded an unpleasant surprise. I cracked the egg on the edge of my tray and uncooked white oozed out over my hand. The egg went back into the cup and wasn’t touched again.
I ate the salmon, pollished my rice bowl, drank the soup, tea, and water, and enjoyed the new experience with a subued mirth, knowing that it was the first of many learning experiences ahead of me.
I left the hotel in search of a cup of morning coffee, which I found at the local Mister Donut, where “MISTER makes you happy.” I purchased a McDonalds sized cup of coffee for $2.70 and returned to my hotel. I will be meeting my boss in about an hour, and I don’t know what lies ahead of me this weekend. I will accompany the teacher whom I am to replace on his final two days of lessons starting Monday, then I begin life as an English teacher in Japan.
I will keep you up to date as things develoup.
January 24, 2006
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