If you ask a Japanese person what time it is, you just might get a strange look. I leaned last night that the English phrase “what time is it” sounds just like “don’t touch the potato” in Japanese. Sage advice from the Far East.
Wow, karaoke again last Sunday. Will it ever stop? Probably not, at least not for the next couple of years. Nicole arrived a week ago and I thought she should have a Japanese welcoming on her first weekend here. We drove back up to Ikaho and visited the giant Toy/Doll/Candy/Chocolate/Teddybear/Classic Car museum (no penis museum this time, we want to put together a party for that one). We also visited the temple there, and tied our fortunes to trees. We hiked up to a shrine that is perched on the cliff-face above the temple which provides a wonderful view of the temple grounds and the surounding country. We then went down the road about 3 km to a wonderful udon restaurant for lunch.
I managed, with my 40 or so words, to make it clear to our waitress that I didn’t understand the menu. Not only was it written in a forign language, it was written in Kanji, the Japanese alphabet, adapted from ancient Chinese symbols. With a vocabulary of about 40 words, I have the communicative powers of an 18 month old child. That, combined with my repertoire of 9 out of the 50,000 Kanji in the Japanese language, I consider myself only partially literate. I do, however, belive that I could read circles around an 18 month old. Very small circles.
Anyhow, I have digressed. The waitress pointed at a couple of menu items and I think she said that these were the most popular meals. Either that, or that they were the most expencive. Either way, those were the ones we had, and they were very good; Udon and tempura dipped in a light soy sauce, flavored with garlic paste, sesame seeds and leeks.
I wish I had more pictures to share with all of you, but I have been lax in my photography. I hope to put more up soon (which means don’t hold your breath), and the updated site is still pending (again, you may want to keep breathing normally).
I have been working quite alot. I am officially paid for a 25 hour teaching week, spread over 6 days (Sunday being my only day off). I spend about two hours a day preparing for classes, sometimes more, sometimes less. There is often a break of an hour or two between classes, just enough time to grab a bite, or run back to the school for materials before heading to my next company class. I also spend anywhere from 1-3 hours driving from class to class, so a 12 hour day isn’t unheard of and is becoming increasingly more common. This is a long-winded excuse for the lack of updates. I just remind myself that I came here to teach English and I am going to do the best job of it I can. It is very rewarding when the classes go well and the students get it. Very hard work but very high job satisfaction. I also compare my schedule with the scheduals of my workaholic students.
Japanese people have a strong work ethic to say the least. Many work 6 day weeks, 11 hours a day, commuting two hours from Tokyo. All in all, I think I’ve got it pretty good.
So, am I turning Japanese? I don’t really think so.
No photos this time, unfortunately. On Sunday, I had my first karaoke experience here in Japan, or in my life for that matter. In the US I was going to try to sing Creep when Acapulco had karaoke night in the restaurant, but the event was held in the bar area and I was under age so I was asked to leave before my song came up. If any of you have done Karaoke in the US, I think you will be more than prepared for the Japanese version. It is kind of like how I got my teeth for driving on the left side of the road in India, and now Japan is cake. America is the the wild west of karaoke, where you are forced to sing in front of a bunch of drunken strangers who, not knowing you, have no qualms letting you know what they think about your perfomance. Japan, on the otherhand, is very civilized. You are given your own room, where you and your friends can choose your songs and sing in peace. It often involves excessive amounts of alcohol, but unlike in the US, inebriation is not required simply to get the courage to sing.
My playlist included such nearly impossible songs to sing as There There, Debaser, Creep, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, and a few other easier songs like Norwegian Wood, Losing my Religion, and Come Together.