I visited the Kinokuniya bookstore last week, a huge bookstore with 8 floors. The 6th floor is dedicated to foreign books so you know what that means.. a lot of magazines and books in English! The purpose of this visit was beginning to study the 3rd alphabet of Japanese, so I picked up a few books related to that and sights to see while here. Of course with all of the books for learning I was going to need something that would be the exact opposite of that.
My purchases:
1) Eyewitness Travel: Japan
2) Tokyo's 25 Best- What to See/Where to Go/What to Do
3) Basic Kanji Book Vol. 1
4) Kanji Flashcards Vol. 2
5) Sh*t My Dad Says
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Observation: The Hair
I have seen some strange hairstyles since I have arrived here. On both men and women, and actually more on the former. Riding the subway each day is still one of the best parts of the day as I get to see a little slice of life with each different person around me. Families, the elderly, kids, school girls, hipsters, foreigners, it's a little bit of everything.
And through it all I continue to find the hairstyles utterly riveting. Many of the men here love to stand out with their personal style, and that is reflected very much in the hair. I have seen things that border on mullet, but the rest of the person doesn't quite match the American mullet ideal. For example yesterday I saw this guy who had long wispy bangs, hair worn long to his shoulders, dyed a reddish hue and wearing a white tee-shirt, jeans and sandles. The entire look was very thought-out, and for this guy it was his personal man-style Japanese look. I'm still growing accustomed to the male ideal of what looks masculine. Forever I have been used to the American ideal that is commonly the strong, manly, and not too primped look. Here it is exactly the opposite. In fact, the more you style your look, the better you appear. I have even encountered a man with startling sculpted eyebrows. That one was a little scary.
This is an ad I pass by every day in the train station on my way to work. It's an ad for Softbank, one of the major mobile/cell phone carriers in Japan. They provide the service for iPhones, and as most people have an iPhone, you know they're getting major yen. Anyways I look at this ad daily, and the obvious attempt by each person to be tremendously appealing makes me laugh. It's the expressions on their faces, you can just hear them saying to themselves as they pose.. 'Think sexy! Be sexy! Look sexy!' Except for that 2nd guy from the right. He's the Mona Lisa of the bunch, I can't read him.
Even though it's the recorded 2nd hottest summer in Japan(!) the women here know no limit to their personal perseverance for looking good. Even when it's 90 degrees at 8am on the morning commute, you will see women wearing their hair down even though you know it's got to be killing them. They spend so much time straightning, curling, styling their hair that when I see them I have to wonder how early they had to wake up that morning to complete their look for the day. Still they find the will to rock their high heels and let their hair down even as they are trekking in the intense, hot sun on the way to work.
Another hair thing I continue to notice is that the women all detest having hair on their arms. The ideal look is no arm hair, and so they all get rid of it. I haven't seen a single woman who has any hair on their arms, but for the men they don't hold the same regard for their arm hair. I continue to find this amusing.
Finally, I'd like to just point out that there are disturbing number of hair scrunchies all around me. Know what a scrunchie is? It is a fabric device for putting your hair up. You've seen it before. It's reminiscent of the 80's, when leg warmers were commonplace, Dirty Dancing was the soundtrack to every teen's heart, and the Reagans ran America. Yes.. in the U.S. all the ladies know, if you're rocking the scrunchie it will date you, and make you look exactly the opposite of hip.
In Japan, scrunchies are normal. It's strange.. the 1st scrunchie I saw I had to fight the abhorrent feelings that surfaced and the 'ew' that tried to escape my lips. They are everywhere, so while I am far from embracing them I have tried my best to tolerate them.. just as I am sure the Japanese are tolerating my apparent disregard for my appearance with my arm hair (it's not like I have Robin Williams arm hair) and hair tied up I walk to work in the hot sun.
And through it all I continue to find the hairstyles utterly riveting. Many of the men here love to stand out with their personal style, and that is reflected very much in the hair. I have seen things that border on mullet, but the rest of the person doesn't quite match the American mullet ideal. For example yesterday I saw this guy who had long wispy bangs, hair worn long to his shoulders, dyed a reddish hue and wearing a white tee-shirt, jeans and sandles. The entire look was very thought-out, and for this guy it was his personal man-style Japanese look. I'm still growing accustomed to the male ideal of what looks masculine. Forever I have been used to the American ideal that is commonly the strong, manly, and not too primped look. Here it is exactly the opposite. In fact, the more you style your look, the better you appear. I have even encountered a man with startling sculpted eyebrows. That one was a little scary.
This is an ad I pass by every day in the train station on my way to work. It's an ad for Softbank, one of the major mobile/cell phone carriers in Japan. They provide the service for iPhones, and as most people have an iPhone, you know they're getting major yen. Anyways I look at this ad daily, and the obvious attempt by each person to be tremendously appealing makes me laugh. It's the expressions on their faces, you can just hear them saying to themselves as they pose.. 'Think sexy! Be sexy! Look sexy!' Except for that 2nd guy from the right. He's the Mona Lisa of the bunch, I can't read him.
Even though it's the recorded 2nd hottest summer in Japan(!) the women here know no limit to their personal perseverance for looking good. Even when it's 90 degrees at 8am on the morning commute, you will see women wearing their hair down even though you know it's got to be killing them. They spend so much time straightning, curling, styling their hair that when I see them I have to wonder how early they had to wake up that morning to complete their look for the day. Still they find the will to rock their high heels and let their hair down even as they are trekking in the intense, hot sun on the way to work.
Another hair thing I continue to notice is that the women all detest having hair on their arms. The ideal look is no arm hair, and so they all get rid of it. I haven't seen a single woman who has any hair on their arms, but for the men they don't hold the same regard for their arm hair. I continue to find this amusing.
Finally, I'd like to just point out that there are disturbing number of hair scrunchies all around me. Know what a scrunchie is? It is a fabric device for putting your hair up. You've seen it before. It's reminiscent of the 80's, when leg warmers were commonplace, Dirty Dancing was the soundtrack to every teen's heart, and the Reagans ran America. Yes.. in the U.S. all the ladies know, if you're rocking the scrunchie it will date you, and make you look exactly the opposite of hip.
In Japan, scrunchies are normal. It's strange.. the 1st scrunchie I saw I had to fight the abhorrent feelings that surfaced and the 'ew' that tried to escape my lips. They are everywhere, so while I am far from embracing them I have tried my best to tolerate them.. just as I am sure the Japanese are tolerating my apparent disregard for my appearance with my arm hair (it's not like I have Robin Williams arm hair) and hair tied up I walk to work in the hot sun.
Observation: Love for JJ
The Japanese love Jack Johnson's music. Mostly anywhere I go, I keep hearing Jack Johnson in the background. From the florist, to a boutique, to Uniqlo,to an Indian restaurant, to cruisin' in my cousin's car, to the French restaurant I went to last night. They LOVE Jack Johnson!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
An unexpected hole in the pants
This one time I was putting together some thoughts for a post on how the opposite side of the world is really an opposide kind-of place when in a twist of irony worthy of an Alanis Morrisette song circa-1996, I found an enormous hole in the seat of my black pants.
I was wearing bright pink underwear, and there was no escaping the size of this hole [if my pants were the United States, this hole was comparable to the size of Texas]. Basically the entire backside split on the seam.. thanks a lot for your cheap sewing Kenneth Cole, and it was so large that when I discovered it I actually gasped. Making this situation even more interesting was the fact that this was the first day of my 2nd week in the office. What better way to spice up your Monday then with (insert title of this post here).
Once I discovered the lack of cohesion between left and right side of the backside of my pants, I made a face that I imagine was a lot similar to the face Archimedes made when he figured out how to use water to measure density [before shouting 'Eureka!', duh], or Madame Curie realizing she discovered new ground in physics or chemistry. A face that looked a lot like this.
After this I sat for a solid minute thinking, considering what my options were. I'm new to this desk so the safety pin reserve is nill. I have just received my stapler 2 hours ago, and don't have any staples [I was desperate]. I have no extra pants or anything, even long sleeves to wrap around my waist. What can be done?!
Casually I lean over to the left and ask my neighbor, who has been a terrific and reliable source to the ins and outs of the office, 'Excuse me, I have a hole in my pants. Do you have any suggestions for a quick fix?'
She laughed for a few minutes at my misfortune, which was understandable, and then offered a sewing kit she kept in her desk in case of emergency. Then I asked if she might have a safety pin so I could walk to the bathroom discreetly without having to advertise the pink underpants. 'Safety pin? What is that?' That was one of the few moments where I felt a deep and profound dislike for our language barrier. Then as is often the case in Japan there was the lightbulb, and 'ooh, you mean a pin!!'. Well she didn't have one either, so she offered her cardigan for me to wrap around my waist. I took it, and the sewing kit and was off!
When I got to the bathroom I heard the electronic toilet flush sound effect happening and I silently laughed to myself. Making the mental note that this needs to be mentioned in the opposite blog post, I found an empty stall and set up my top-secret sewing operation. While I was sewing, it took me a bit of time as the hole was larger than I had first thought it to be and also to ensure that these pants wouldn't fall apart in the behind again, I sewed the seam twice. The fact that I was working on this so long, I didn't want people to think it was strange that someone was camping out in a stall....So I thought I'd give it a shot and utilized the flushing toilet sound effect when I would hear anyone come in.
As I was nearing the end of my last minute secret bathroom sewing session, I heard the door creak open. Bam! I hit the flush sound button, and then realized someone was trying to talk to me over it. I asked in Japanese, 'excuse me, what?' not sure who it was or what they wanted. Whatever was said was repeated, but the flushing sound was so powerful it drowned them out again, at this time I also noted how ridiculously loud the sound effect is. As we both realized that we couldn't hold a conversation until it finished, we waited. And so for about 15 seconds there were two people waiting in the bathroom with the sound of a fake toilet flush filling the air. After it finished she repeated herself again.
'I have the safety pin for you.' It was my neighbor, helpful as ever.. and she had asked around for a pin for me. At this point I had just wrapped up, thanked her for her help and accepted the pin from under the door as I donned the new and improved pants.
Freshly united backside in effect, I made my way back into the world. Casually stopping by the colleague's desk who had lent the safety pin, I dropped it off with my thanks. She curiously asked what had happened. 'Oh nothing Yumi, just a regular Monday in my life. No worries.'
I was wearing bright pink underwear, and there was no escaping the size of this hole [if my pants were the United States, this hole was comparable to the size of Texas]. Basically the entire backside split on the seam.. thanks a lot for your cheap sewing Kenneth Cole, and it was so large that when I discovered it I actually gasped. Making this situation even more interesting was the fact that this was the first day of my 2nd week in the office. What better way to spice up your Monday then with (insert title of this post here).
Once I discovered the lack of cohesion between left and right side of the backside of my pants, I made a face that I imagine was a lot similar to the face Archimedes made when he figured out how to use water to measure density [before shouting 'Eureka!', duh], or Madame Curie realizing she discovered new ground in physics or chemistry. A face that looked a lot like this.
After this I sat for a solid minute thinking, considering what my options were. I'm new to this desk so the safety pin reserve is nill. I have just received my stapler 2 hours ago, and don't have any staples [I was desperate]. I have no extra pants or anything, even long sleeves to wrap around my waist. What can be done?!
Casually I lean over to the left and ask my neighbor, who has been a terrific and reliable source to the ins and outs of the office, 'Excuse me, I have a hole in my pants. Do you have any suggestions for a quick fix?'
She laughed for a few minutes at my misfortune, which was understandable, and then offered a sewing kit she kept in her desk in case of emergency. Then I asked if she might have a safety pin so I could walk to the bathroom discreetly without having to advertise the pink underpants. 'Safety pin? What is that?' That was one of the few moments where I felt a deep and profound dislike for our language barrier. Then as is often the case in Japan there was the lightbulb, and 'ooh, you mean a pin!!'. Well she didn't have one either, so she offered her cardigan for me to wrap around my waist. I took it, and the sewing kit and was off!
When I got to the bathroom I heard the electronic toilet flush sound effect happening and I silently laughed to myself. Making the mental note that this needs to be mentioned in the opposite blog post, I found an empty stall and set up my top-secret sewing operation. While I was sewing, it took me a bit of time as the hole was larger than I had first thought it to be and also to ensure that these pants wouldn't fall apart in the behind again, I sewed the seam twice. The fact that I was working on this so long, I didn't want people to think it was strange that someone was camping out in a stall....So I thought I'd give it a shot and utilized the flushing toilet sound effect when I would hear anyone come in.
As I was nearing the end of my last minute secret bathroom sewing session, I heard the door creak open. Bam! I hit the flush sound button, and then realized someone was trying to talk to me over it. I asked in Japanese, 'excuse me, what?' not sure who it was or what they wanted. Whatever was said was repeated, but the flushing sound was so powerful it drowned them out again, at this time I also noted how ridiculously loud the sound effect is. As we both realized that we couldn't hold a conversation until it finished, we waited. And so for about 15 seconds there were two people waiting in the bathroom with the sound of a fake toilet flush filling the air. After it finished she repeated herself again.
'I have the safety pin for you.' It was my neighbor, helpful as ever.. and she had asked around for a pin for me. At this point I had just wrapped up, thanked her for her help and accepted the pin from under the door as I donned the new and improved pants.
Freshly united backside in effect, I made my way back into the world. Casually stopping by the colleague's desk who had lent the safety pin, I dropped it off with my thanks. She curiously asked what had happened. 'Oh nothing Yumi, just a regular Monday in my life. No worries.'
Monday, August 23, 2010
Digging a Hole
Remember when you were little there was always some kid [I'm onto you..] who'd say you could dig a hole in the ground, and if you dug far enough you'd get to China? Maybe no one actually said this, but it was a common grade school-age urban legend that everyone had heard, and the basis for at least a couple of episodes of various Nickolodean shows. I'm pretty sure I remember the Rugrats going for that hole to China.
Well it occurred to me in the last couple of days, if you were able to get past all that liquid hot magma, and dig through to the other side of the world AND managed to land in Japan and not the floating plastic island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, then the Japan experience would really feel like an opposite experience from everything you have known. Not only is it on the opposite side of the world, but it is a culture in many ways opposite to American culture.
1) Cars drive down the other side of the road [very strange the first time you see it, but you could also point out this is something in England they do as well]. To make it even weirder, when you're in a car, the drivers side is on the right side, and passengers ride on the left.
2) The language is traditionally written right-left, top-bottom. Books begin in what an American would expect to be the back of a book and read to what we would expect is the front. Opposite to the nth degree! Things have been changing lately, while written language can still be found right-left, top-bottom, it's common now to find things written in a Westernized left-right.
3) Work hours are different. They work 9am-6pm, with a 1 hour lunch break. This is standard [at least at my company], and even if it's a holiday weekend, they work until the clock ticks 6pm. I am still becoming accustomed to this. I'm trying to adjust my body to the idea of 6pm happy hour... but we are not there yet. And also, I haven't made friends with anyone that does happy hour yet.
[At this point, I had to interrupt jotting down these ideas for this post because I discovered a gigantic hole in the seat of my new pants. I had to take a break to sew up the seat of my pants. How's that for irony? That's another story, but it leads me to a couple other additional observations.
4) Electronic toilets + bidets and flushing sound effects. The toilets were the biggest thing to get accustomed to in my first days. They are called washlet toilets, equipped with feminine bidets, seat warmers, bum washers and on different toilets I have see deodorizers for the air [this was a public toilet, for the benefit of the next guest I presume] and also electronic flushing sound [again I've seen this in the public toilets, to mask the sound of whatever you're doing and allowing the user to retain their modesty.]
5) Hand sanitizer vs. mouth wash. I don't see much hand sanitizer use as you do in the U.S. There, you can hardly stop by a convenience store or drugstore without seeing a huge rack of sanitizer for sale, which is not true here. However in Japan I've noticed that they are majorly into mouth wash, gargling and oral healthcare. After meals when I return from lunch with my colleagues, people all go to the bathroom to brush their teeth or gargle before carrying on with the day. I like this post-lunch break as it's quite refreshing to go back to work with a clean mouth.
6) Napkins vs. warm towel. It isn't customary here to place a napkin in your lap to eat, in fact there really aren't napkins at all, but moist towels handed out at the start of a meal to wipe your hands. From what I've discerned, you use this throughout the meal to dab at your mouth as necessary.
7) Smoking vs. non-smoking. In the U.S. you can't get away with smoking in most public places, in Japan you can't escape the smoke in most public places. I'm told they're now moving towards more restrictions on smoking but at the moment there are a great number of smokers in Japan, and whether you're seated inside or outside of a restaurant, it's common to find people smoking near you. Even if there is a smoking section of a restaurant, keep in mind that space is limited in Japan so while you may be seated in the non-smoking section you're still close to a cloud of smoke.
8)Addresses are written backwards. Addresses are written as: Japan, prefecture, city ward, block address [I live on the 1st block of the main Roppongi road. Hence, Roppongi 1-chome (1st block) in my address.] Also, even the Japanese need maps to navigate new areas.. the streets mostly don't have names, and they aren't numbered. You have to meet at land marks when you plan to meet with people in new areas.
9) Respect your elders. In the U.S. it always makes me uncomfortable when I see a younger person taking up a subway seat when there is an older person, or weaker person forced to stand infront of them. It's common though, but I can never get used to it. It's nice to see in Japan they have a specially reserved seats for the elderly/pregnant/handicapped in the corner of every subway car.
10) Care about your appearance in public. No matter the weather, the distance, the number of stairs, I see the majority of younger Japanese women traveling in high heels! It's amazing their ability to withstand the elements and the stairs [not to mention the excruciating pain of being in heels all day]. Often if I see a female who dresses with care for style, they will most likely be in high heels. Even most of the men here carry their things in very stylish messenger bags with matching shoes. I love this attention to detail, as I am enjoying dressing for the day as I can really go all out in what I choose to wear to work and on the weekends. You really can't do that so much in Philadelphia, and it's something that I had forgotten I enjoy. Also, rarely in the Tokyo-area that I live do you see women going out without make-up on.
In fact, even at the convenience store you'll see the clerk in full make-up right down to their fake eyelashes.
11) In case of emergency- dial 119. This one speaks for itself. :)
Well it occurred to me in the last couple of days, if you were able to get past all that liquid hot magma, and dig through to the other side of the world AND managed to land in Japan and not the floating plastic island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, then the Japan experience would really feel like an opposite experience from everything you have known. Not only is it on the opposite side of the world, but it is a culture in many ways opposite to American culture.
1) Cars drive down the other side of the road [very strange the first time you see it, but you could also point out this is something in England they do as well]. To make it even weirder, when you're in a car, the drivers side is on the right side, and passengers ride on the left.
2) The language is traditionally written right-left, top-bottom. Books begin in what an American would expect to be the back of a book and read to what we would expect is the front. Opposite to the nth degree! Things have been changing lately, while written language can still be found right-left, top-bottom, it's common now to find things written in a Westernized left-right.
3) Work hours are different. They work 9am-6pm, with a 1 hour lunch break. This is standard [at least at my company], and even if it's a holiday weekend, they work until the clock ticks 6pm. I am still becoming accustomed to this. I'm trying to adjust my body to the idea of 6pm happy hour... but we are not there yet. And also, I haven't made friends with anyone that does happy hour yet.
[At this point, I had to interrupt jotting down these ideas for this post because I discovered a gigantic hole in the seat of my new pants. I had to take a break to sew up the seat of my pants. How's that for irony? That's another story, but it leads me to a couple other additional observations.
4) Electronic toilets + bidets and flushing sound effects. The toilets were the biggest thing to get accustomed to in my first days. They are called washlet toilets, equipped with feminine bidets, seat warmers, bum washers and on different toilets I have see deodorizers for the air [this was a public toilet, for the benefit of the next guest I presume] and also electronic flushing sound [again I've seen this in the public toilets, to mask the sound of whatever you're doing and allowing the user to retain their modesty.]
5) Hand sanitizer vs. mouth wash. I don't see much hand sanitizer use as you do in the U.S. There, you can hardly stop by a convenience store or drugstore without seeing a huge rack of sanitizer for sale, which is not true here. However in Japan I've noticed that they are majorly into mouth wash, gargling and oral healthcare. After meals when I return from lunch with my colleagues, people all go to the bathroom to brush their teeth or gargle before carrying on with the day. I like this post-lunch break as it's quite refreshing to go back to work with a clean mouth.
6) Napkins vs. warm towel. It isn't customary here to place a napkin in your lap to eat, in fact there really aren't napkins at all, but moist towels handed out at the start of a meal to wipe your hands. From what I've discerned, you use this throughout the meal to dab at your mouth as necessary.
7) Smoking vs. non-smoking. In the U.S. you can't get away with smoking in most public places, in Japan you can't escape the smoke in most public places. I'm told they're now moving towards more restrictions on smoking but at the moment there are a great number of smokers in Japan, and whether you're seated inside or outside of a restaurant, it's common to find people smoking near you. Even if there is a smoking section of a restaurant, keep in mind that space is limited in Japan so while you may be seated in the non-smoking section you're still close to a cloud of smoke.
8)Addresses are written backwards. Addresses are written as: Japan, prefecture, city ward, block address [I live on the 1st block of the main Roppongi road. Hence, Roppongi 1-chome (1st block) in my address.] Also, even the Japanese need maps to navigate new areas.. the streets mostly don't have names, and they aren't numbered. You have to meet at land marks when you plan to meet with people in new areas.
9) Respect your elders. In the U.S. it always makes me uncomfortable when I see a younger person taking up a subway seat when there is an older person, or weaker person forced to stand infront of them. It's common though, but I can never get used to it. It's nice to see in Japan they have a specially reserved seats for the elderly/pregnant/handicapped in the corner of every subway car.
10) Care about your appearance in public. No matter the weather, the distance, the number of stairs, I see the majority of younger Japanese women traveling in high heels! It's amazing their ability to withstand the elements and the stairs [not to mention the excruciating pain of being in heels all day]. Often if I see a female who dresses with care for style, they will most likely be in high heels. Even most of the men here carry their things in very stylish messenger bags with matching shoes. I love this attention to detail, as I am enjoying dressing for the day as I can really go all out in what I choose to wear to work and on the weekends. You really can't do that so much in Philadelphia, and it's something that I had forgotten I enjoy. Also, rarely in the Tokyo-area that I live do you see women going out without make-up on.
In fact, even at the convenience store you'll see the clerk in full make-up right down to their fake eyelashes.
11) In case of emergency- dial 119. This one speaks for itself. :)
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Great Revelation
In speaking with my department supervisor today I had a major epiphany. I had gone to him to ask his opinion of the best way for me to solicit feedback from the rest of my department. There are only about 20 or so of us, and I know in traditional Japanese culture negative feedback isn't something they easily give. Yet in doing communications here between Tokyo and the rest of IT, I need to identify what their needs are, and what they desire that would allow them to connect better with their colleagues in the US/UK. After a quick discussion we began to speak about my language skills and I jokingly told him how I know my conversation is very casual at best in the office.
His response to me finally woke me up to the reality of how I am perceived. From day 1 I have been my usual self, I've been boisterous, friendly, and me! And although I knew of the Japanese culture, the ideal to fit in rather than being an individual, I thought that I was seen for being a person that has quite a bit of energy. My boss is a very kind person, and very polite but something about how he averted his eyes and agreed that I simply didn't know any better shocked me. I finally realized with a 100-watt light bulb glowing over my head, that they perceive me as the American who spoke a bit of Japanese, but that doesn't quite fit in. I knew this but through my mind began to flash the reality.
Effectively, I'm loud and a bit rude to this culture. A few examples come to mind, when people say hello they give a quick silent nod and avert their eyes, I in turn give a quick wave {seriously--- why do i do this? I'm like Forrest Gump} and a big smile all the while giving serious eye contact. Anytime someone leaves a place everyone says goodbye at the appropriate level dependent on situation or person's rank, I don't know any better so I continually say 'bye-bye' in every single situation {I figured it was universal}, and I sit in an open floor plan office where there are low partitions and people sit across from each other, but when I receive an e-mail that strikes me as funny I don't hesitate to laugh out loud in the middle of my office around the others working.
Instead of being seen as the American that can speak Japanese as I had thought, I'm perceived more as the American who can speak Japanese, but with the manners of a small child. Truth! My lack of refined office-level Japanese, my constant laughter, tendency to speak my mind and effervescent attitude all stand out from the standard Japanese culture.
Now I know what you're thinking, it's okay, just be yourself! They'll accept you for you! This is true, however I'm not satisfied with this. When I lived with Baba and my family in Vermont, Baba did a fantastic job of keeping me in line with my Japanese and teaching me how to be refined and to be an elegant lady. When I moved to Philadelphia seven years ago I embraced the opportunity to be anyone I wanted to be. I burped, I laughed loudly, and as I spent those years learning better who I am, I let my Japanese manners go. I liked it very much, having the freedom to be anything I wanted to be and with no one telling me I couldn't.
Now here I am in Japan, and having the overwhelming realization that I have indeed let myself go. Around the people I work with, I come off as a bit rude by Japanese standards with my aggressive eye contact and general disposition. I'm sure it'd be fine if I didn't adjust, but for me personally that's not what this experience is about. I am here to assimilate as much as I can, and to be taken seriously. Being looked at as an American with child-like manners and level of speak are not good enough, my measure of success is to immerse within this culture and to do well. Yes I may be an American, but I am also Japanese [to some degree] and I've had that in my upbringing.
What has helped me have this epiphany is that today I finally cracked open my Business Passport to Japan book. Now as I have already mentioned, there was Japanese in my upbringing so while reading this book, the topics weren't new to me. They only served to get me thinking a bit more about how I am in the office, and to make me start seeing the bigger picture. That's the thing in being in a new place, I was seeing things from my American perspective, and not the Japanese. When I stopped and began to see myself from the other point-of-view I can see how I appear very unaware of others. This is contradictory to the main tenet in Japanese culture. You are apart of a group, a team and you should always act in a way that is polite to those around you. I had been doing this- by American standards. I had not differentiated it in my mind. Instead, the reality is that I type very loud, I laugh very loud in the middle of others working, and I hold conversations about personal and random things [it was about Michael Jackson today, I was asking people if they liked him-- unanimously yes]. My Japanese is a type of language you would use at home, when you are very comfortable in others' company, not in the office. In Japanese culture there are words such as kohai- to be less experienced or knowledgeable, a newbie if you will and senpai- an experienced senior. These words are very reflective of Japanese culture, in a way that is a bit different from America. You know your place as a kohai or senpai, and so when you speak or ask a question as a kohai you show respect to those with experience, showing that you are aware that they are doing you the favor of imparting their wisdom. A very basic concept when you consider it, but unless you live it each day, easy to ignore. I have been doing a poor job of this, yet everyone has continued to be incredibly patient, generous and nice.
There is this one lady at work, she has been so wonderful to me. We go out to lunch with a group daily, and even from last week I can reflect on how appalling my table manners must have been [It's hard to know how to elegantly pick up and put down your chopsticks, how to properly consume your rice with other things, to cut up your fish, and to eat your soup. effectively-- every aspect of eating out has been challenging for me, I don't feel that I ever quite meet the Japanese standard]. Yet Mayumi-san has been continually gracious. Another aspect of the culture I am acclimating to is that no matter how much you ask people to please honestly tell you when you're doing something wrong, they hardly ever will for fear of being rude, making you feel bad, or worse- embarrassing you in front of others. So they have continued to allow me and my boorish behavior to coexist with them. So anyways, I was telling Mayumi of my struggle to learn the language, and when I arrived at work yesterday there was a bag on my desk. Her 7-year old son has been learning the alphabets (there are 3, remember?) and had mastered hiragana already, so she had brought in his hiragana learning toys for me. We had always joked about how I should be taking lessons with her son, who is in kindergarten, but the fact that she trusted that I really do want to learn it was very touching to me that she would be so kind. She sat down with me and explained how the games work [they are like playskool toys where you touch the buttons on the toy and they speak letters then words outloud], and seemed unsure of whether I would actually want them or she should give these toys to another colleague's 7-year old son. I happily accepted the gifts, and am faithfully playing at home. I think this is also a reflection of my overall perception, the fact that I read at a very grade-school level. Actually, it is less then grade school however I continue to try my best and to learn as much as I can each day. With people like Mayumi around to support me I am hopeful that I can continue to make progress.
Additionally what this story has reminded me of, is the fact that it has a tendency to throw me off the fact that I can have a terrific rapport with someone, yet when i mess up my language or actions they won't let me know. I think it's second nature to Americans that when you become friends, there's an expectation to look out for each other with such faux pas. Unfortunately I let myself get really comfortable from day 1, and I've been overzealous to use my Japanese with everyone that it's come off a bit crass.
I just want to do a better job of showing them the same respect that they show me. And through practice, reading-reading-reading [i have a lot of notes from my 3 weeks with my lovely Japanese tutor, she taught me the ins and outs of polite conversation but I haven't studied up on those since our lessons last month] I hope to improve to a level where I can be...... I'm not sure what the word is. I want to be me, I just want to be a me that can fit in and be respected by those around me at work. At the end of this experience living and working in Japan I want to know that I gave it everything I have, anything less would be an utter injustice to this opportunity.
The important thing to also remember when being in a new culture is to not take yourself too seriously [as much as I sound like I am, I promise I'm not!] and to not be too hard on yourself. As in every other part of life, there are ups and downs, so I just continue to have to remind myself that there is a silver lining. After lunch with another colleague today, I saw it once again.
1:36pm Mizuno-san Hi Sara san
1:36pm Sara Hello again
1:36pm Mizuno-san it was really nice to get to know you.
1:36pm Sara I feel the same way. Thank you for today.
1:36pm Mizuno-san i feel like we are already friends now.
i just wanted to tell you that
1:38pm Sara I can't tell you how glad I am you think so because I feel like that too. I had to stop myself on the elevator from saying how I was glad we were friends...!
I can't wait until the next time we go to lunch. After your vacation of course.
1:39pm Mizuno-san one of my teachers told me once..
if you can eat together with somebody, just two of you,
it tells you that you two are friends.
1:40pm SaraI will remember that. Enjoy the rest of your day, and have a fantastic vacation. I'm looking forward to seeing you again!
1:42pm Mizuno-san if you feel awkward or uncomfortable in any way if you are eating with that person, you two are just acquaintance, but not yet friends.
* while you are eating..
and i felt quite comfortable during the lunch today.
looking forward to talk to you again!
His response to me finally woke me up to the reality of how I am perceived. From day 1 I have been my usual self, I've been boisterous, friendly, and me! And although I knew of the Japanese culture, the ideal to fit in rather than being an individual, I thought that I was seen for being a person that has quite a bit of energy. My boss is a very kind person, and very polite but something about how he averted his eyes and agreed that I simply didn't know any better shocked me. I finally realized with a 100-watt light bulb glowing over my head, that they perceive me as the American who spoke a bit of Japanese, but that doesn't quite fit in. I knew this but through my mind began to flash the reality.
Effectively, I'm loud and a bit rude to this culture. A few examples come to mind, when people say hello they give a quick silent nod and avert their eyes, I in turn give a quick wave {seriously--- why do i do this? I'm like Forrest Gump} and a big smile all the while giving serious eye contact. Anytime someone leaves a place everyone says goodbye at the appropriate level dependent on situation or person's rank, I don't know any better so I continually say 'bye-bye' in every single situation {I figured it was universal}, and I sit in an open floor plan office where there are low partitions and people sit across from each other, but when I receive an e-mail that strikes me as funny I don't hesitate to laugh out loud in the middle of my office around the others working.
Instead of being seen as the American that can speak Japanese as I had thought, I'm perceived more as the American who can speak Japanese, but with the manners of a small child. Truth! My lack of refined office-level Japanese, my constant laughter, tendency to speak my mind and effervescent attitude all stand out from the standard Japanese culture.
Now I know what you're thinking, it's okay, just be yourself! They'll accept you for you! This is true, however I'm not satisfied with this. When I lived with Baba and my family in Vermont, Baba did a fantastic job of keeping me in line with my Japanese and teaching me how to be refined and to be an elegant lady. When I moved to Philadelphia seven years ago I embraced the opportunity to be anyone I wanted to be. I burped, I laughed loudly, and as I spent those years learning better who I am, I let my Japanese manners go. I liked it very much, having the freedom to be anything I wanted to be and with no one telling me I couldn't.
Now here I am in Japan, and having the overwhelming realization that I have indeed let myself go. Around the people I work with, I come off as a bit rude by Japanese standards with my aggressive eye contact and general disposition. I'm sure it'd be fine if I didn't adjust, but for me personally that's not what this experience is about. I am here to assimilate as much as I can, and to be taken seriously. Being looked at as an American with child-like manners and level of speak are not good enough, my measure of success is to immerse within this culture and to do well. Yes I may be an American, but I am also Japanese [to some degree] and I've had that in my upbringing.
What has helped me have this epiphany is that today I finally cracked open my Business Passport to Japan book. Now as I have already mentioned, there was Japanese in my upbringing so while reading this book, the topics weren't new to me. They only served to get me thinking a bit more about how I am in the office, and to make me start seeing the bigger picture. That's the thing in being in a new place, I was seeing things from my American perspective, and not the Japanese. When I stopped and began to see myself from the other point-of-view I can see how I appear very unaware of others. This is contradictory to the main tenet in Japanese culture. You are apart of a group, a team and you should always act in a way that is polite to those around you. I had been doing this- by American standards. I had not differentiated it in my mind. Instead, the reality is that I type very loud, I laugh very loud in the middle of others working, and I hold conversations about personal and random things [it was about Michael Jackson today, I was asking people if they liked him-- unanimously yes]. My Japanese is a type of language you would use at home, when you are very comfortable in others' company, not in the office. In Japanese culture there are words such as kohai- to be less experienced or knowledgeable, a newbie if you will and senpai- an experienced senior. These words are very reflective of Japanese culture, in a way that is a bit different from America. You know your place as a kohai or senpai, and so when you speak or ask a question as a kohai you show respect to those with experience, showing that you are aware that they are doing you the favor of imparting their wisdom. A very basic concept when you consider it, but unless you live it each day, easy to ignore. I have been doing a poor job of this, yet everyone has continued to be incredibly patient, generous and nice.
There is this one lady at work, she has been so wonderful to me. We go out to lunch with a group daily, and even from last week I can reflect on how appalling my table manners must have been [It's hard to know how to elegantly pick up and put down your chopsticks, how to properly consume your rice with other things, to cut up your fish, and to eat your soup. effectively-- every aspect of eating out has been challenging for me, I don't feel that I ever quite meet the Japanese standard]. Yet Mayumi-san has been continually gracious. Another aspect of the culture I am acclimating to is that no matter how much you ask people to please honestly tell you when you're doing something wrong, they hardly ever will for fear of being rude, making you feel bad, or worse- embarrassing you in front of others. So they have continued to allow me and my boorish behavior to coexist with them. So anyways, I was telling Mayumi of my struggle to learn the language, and when I arrived at work yesterday there was a bag on my desk. Her 7-year old son has been learning the alphabets (there are 3, remember?) and had mastered hiragana already, so she had brought in his hiragana learning toys for me. We had always joked about how I should be taking lessons with her son, who is in kindergarten, but the fact that she trusted that I really do want to learn it was very touching to me that she would be so kind. She sat down with me and explained how the games work [they are like playskool toys where you touch the buttons on the toy and they speak letters then words outloud], and seemed unsure of whether I would actually want them or she should give these toys to another colleague's 7-year old son. I happily accepted the gifts, and am faithfully playing at home. I think this is also a reflection of my overall perception, the fact that I read at a very grade-school level. Actually, it is less then grade school however I continue to try my best and to learn as much as I can each day. With people like Mayumi around to support me I am hopeful that I can continue to make progress.
Additionally what this story has reminded me of, is the fact that it has a tendency to throw me off the fact that I can have a terrific rapport with someone, yet when i mess up my language or actions they won't let me know. I think it's second nature to Americans that when you become friends, there's an expectation to look out for each other with such faux pas. Unfortunately I let myself get really comfortable from day 1, and I've been overzealous to use my Japanese with everyone that it's come off a bit crass.
I just want to do a better job of showing them the same respect that they show me. And through practice, reading-reading-reading [i have a lot of notes from my 3 weeks with my lovely Japanese tutor, she taught me the ins and outs of polite conversation but I haven't studied up on those since our lessons last month] I hope to improve to a level where I can be...... I'm not sure what the word is. I want to be me, I just want to be a me that can fit in and be respected by those around me at work. At the end of this experience living and working in Japan I want to know that I gave it everything I have, anything less would be an utter injustice to this opportunity.
The important thing to also remember when being in a new culture is to not take yourself too seriously [as much as I sound like I am, I promise I'm not!] and to not be too hard on yourself. As in every other part of life, there are ups and downs, so I just continue to have to remind myself that there is a silver lining. After lunch with another colleague today, I saw it once again.
1:36pm Mizuno-san Hi Sara san
1:36pm Sara Hello again
1:36pm Mizuno-san it was really nice to get to know you.
1:36pm Sara I feel the same way. Thank you for today.
1:36pm Mizuno-san i feel like we are already friends now.
i just wanted to tell you that
1:38pm Sara I can't tell you how glad I am you think so because I feel like that too. I had to stop myself on the elevator from saying how I was glad we were friends...!
I can't wait until the next time we go to lunch. After your vacation of course.
1:39pm Mizuno-san one of my teachers told me once..
if you can eat together with somebody, just two of you,
it tells you that you two are friends.
1:40pm SaraI will remember that. Enjoy the rest of your day, and have a fantastic vacation. I'm looking forward to seeing you again!
1:42pm Mizuno-san if you feel awkward or uncomfortable in any way if you are eating with that person, you two are just acquaintance, but not yet friends.
* while you are eating..
and i felt quite comfortable during the lunch today.
looking forward to talk to you again!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
My Friend Yumi
Well after tonight, let's hope she still wants to be.
Work has been pretty good all week. It's been tiresome though as I've been speaking Japanese in the office, and working hours are longer than what I'm used to. I want to improve my language skills, and as my favorite Anchorman, Ron Burgundy has taught me, 'when in Rome.' .......Hmm.. actually I don't think R.Burg knew what that meant when he used that, but nonetheless I am immersing myself in this new culture.
So while I've been wanting to post updates to my daily escapades, my schedule has mostly consisted of getting out of work, eating some food and falling asleep rather early. Today I had gotten myself into a bit of an adventure that made me want to finally take the time to sit down and write a little something down.
Even before I began in the office on Monday this week, I had received a few e-mails and online messages from Japanese colleagues eager to meet me. They had heard I spoke a bit of Japanese and were interested in meeting this American new to their office.
From Yumi I received this: "Hello Sara,
My name is Yumi and I am a member of EUS Japan. I heard that you are already in Japan and will show up our office on Monday, Aug. 9th.
Unfortunately, I will take a day off on Monday, 9th. It is sorry that I cannot see you on your first day.
My desk is just in front of yours (we will be face to face, of course there is a low partition in between ours). I hope I can support you on Tomoko's absence.
My team and myself are looking forward to see and work with you soon!"
It was so nice, and I was excited to meet her. When she arrived in the office on Tuesday, we chatted a bit, and I found out she has the ability to speak and write in English a little too and has already helped me with some translations I was working on. That first day she invited me out to lunch with our colleagues, and little by little each day we've chatted a little more. Well tonight, around 6pm when everyone was getting ready to head home, she asked me if I had plans after work. I wasn't feeling as tired as usual, and interested in doing something outside of my usual routine so I agreed to join her in a trip to nearby Shinjuku.
I had already heard quite a bit about Shinjuku, but didn't realize it was so close to our office in the Sendagaya/Yoyoyi area of Shibuya. Shinjuku is a major shopping area in Tokyo, to give you a better idea about it this Elle Decor Goes to Tokyo article has a nice quote that sums it up, "When most people picture Tokyo- the city portrayed in movies and pop culture- they're probably thinking of Shinjuku and Shibuya, the manic, densely populated areas that reputedly inspired Ridely Scott's film Blade Runner, and where Sofia Coppola shot much of 2003's Lost in Translation." It took us about a ten minute walk from the doors of GSK to reach Shinjuku, maybe even less. When we reached it, we went to the famous Tokyu Hands store.
Nine glorious floors of everything you could possibly imagine or want. The Japanese love their department stores, and as I have found they often do things keeping convenience in mind. This building that housed Tokyu hands with its nine floors of home goods, crafts, hardware, etc. also housed a luxury department store. So you can ride the escalator up and down and find home goods and such in Tokyu Hands on one side and Chanel, Louis Vuitton, upscale cafes and stores on the other. All of this based beside the major subway and rail stop-- Shinjuku. Convenience maximized.
Well it was a very brief trip because Yumi just needs to pick up some gardening gloves, and I just wanted to look around. We rode up to the 6th floor and found her gloves, and then I went off in search of a good frying pan. After determining kitchenwares were on the 4th floor, we got on the down escalator. Nothing out of the ordinary here right? Well it would've been except that Yumi didn't know yet that an adventure with Sara requires you to always be on-guard for the unexpected.
As we reached the 5th floor, Yumi was infront of me and I turned and some (cool) thing on the 5th floor [I think it was a clock--- oh man in retrospect, was it worth it?] caught my eye, and I yelped, 'Wait Yumi let's check out the 5th floor!' I did this as I was about to step onto the escalator and fortunately there weren't people directly behind me as I stopped, but I looked down and realized poor Yumi was on the 2nd step of the escalator already going down. Even as I write this now and relive the moment I'm in tears from the hilarity.. You could actually see Yumi processing what I said, realizing I was not riding the escalator down and frantically stepping up the moving escalator.
Now pause for a moment. Have you ever seen someone try to climb up a moving escalator? If you move at your normal speed to go upstairs you will only continue to go down, so you adjust and move a little faster but you're only fighting the rapidly escalating escalator. I failed to mention earlier, how teeny tiny Yumi is. She reaches perhaps to or a bit past my shoulder, and I had put her into this predicament.
Inside of Tokyu Hands, that's Yumi in the center with the ponytail. She is smaller than the other Japanese people around her.
So here we were, me watching, my mouth agape as Yumi goes from comfortably riding the escalator to seeing that she is on the 2nd step and has a fighting chance. I suspect if I hadn't said something at that exact moment, she would've reached the point of no return and ridden down to come back up. However that wasn't the case and as I watched her process and assess the situation.. she made the choice. She was going for it. So with that Yumi stepped up, but the quickness of the escalator got to her, lost her balance for a bit when I saw an older gentleman from the corner of my eye reach out to her to help but she admirably recovered and fought, moving faster and faster to combat the steps that just kept coming at her, and the people boarding the down escalator.
For the record, watching someone unexpectedly fighting in the opposite direction of a moving escalator with people coming at them.... there are no words.
[I can't fight the laughter with every word I type.]
It was just something about being in this extremely proper culture where things happen as they're expected to, and to see how I unintentionally threw a wrench into that. To see someone thrown for a loop while in a situation they've been in countless time before and forced to react quickly, I couldn't help myself from laughing even as I was silently cheering her on.
Simultaneously I remember just watching this in awe and in disbelief that after such a brief amount of time knowing each other, I had already impacted her life by inflicting such trouble with something that should have been so simple.
Yumi powered on though and eventually fought to the top, and from that moment I knew she had passed a test of sorts.. she had persevered and had survived an incredible test of will and spirit. This person would be able to survive sitting across from me for the coming year, and because of this I feel comfortable titling this post, 'My Friend Yumi'. Together we've overcome a bit of hardship, and for me at least, forged a bond. I'm looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead, and to see if Yumi has any tests of fortitude in store for me (probably not). And by the way.. to cook up some fantastic things in my new frying pan.
P.S. As she walked me to the subway station next door, I had to have my picture taken outside Chanel. Thanks again Yumi.
Work has been pretty good all week. It's been tiresome though as I've been speaking Japanese in the office, and working hours are longer than what I'm used to. I want to improve my language skills, and as my favorite Anchorman, Ron Burgundy has taught me, 'when in Rome.' .......Hmm.. actually I don't think R.Burg knew what that meant when he used that, but nonetheless I am immersing myself in this new culture.
So while I've been wanting to post updates to my daily escapades, my schedule has mostly consisted of getting out of work, eating some food and falling asleep rather early. Today I had gotten myself into a bit of an adventure that made me want to finally take the time to sit down and write a little something down.
Even before I began in the office on Monday this week, I had received a few e-mails and online messages from Japanese colleagues eager to meet me. They had heard I spoke a bit of Japanese and were interested in meeting this American new to their office.
From Yumi I received this: "Hello Sara,
My name is Yumi and I am a member of EUS Japan. I heard that you are already in Japan and will show up our office on Monday, Aug. 9th.
Unfortunately, I will take a day off on Monday, 9th. It is sorry that I cannot see you on your first day.
My desk is just in front of yours (we will be face to face, of course there is a low partition in between ours). I hope I can support you on Tomoko's absence.
My team and myself are looking forward to see and work with you soon!"
It was so nice, and I was excited to meet her. When she arrived in the office on Tuesday, we chatted a bit, and I found out she has the ability to speak and write in English a little too and has already helped me with some translations I was working on. That first day she invited me out to lunch with our colleagues, and little by little each day we've chatted a little more. Well tonight, around 6pm when everyone was getting ready to head home, she asked me if I had plans after work. I wasn't feeling as tired as usual, and interested in doing something outside of my usual routine so I agreed to join her in a trip to nearby Shinjuku.
I had already heard quite a bit about Shinjuku, but didn't realize it was so close to our office in the Sendagaya/Yoyoyi area of Shibuya. Shinjuku is a major shopping area in Tokyo, to give you a better idea about it this Elle Decor Goes to Tokyo article has a nice quote that sums it up, "When most people picture Tokyo- the city portrayed in movies and pop culture- they're probably thinking of Shinjuku and Shibuya, the manic, densely populated areas that reputedly inspired Ridely Scott's film Blade Runner, and where Sofia Coppola shot much of 2003's Lost in Translation." It took us about a ten minute walk from the doors of GSK to reach Shinjuku, maybe even less. When we reached it, we went to the famous Tokyu Hands store.
Nine glorious floors of everything you could possibly imagine or want
Well it was a very brief trip because Yumi just needs to pick up some gardening gloves, and I just wanted to look around. We rode up to the 6th floor and found her gloves, and then I went off in search of a good frying pan. After determining kitchenwares were on the 4th floor, we got on the down escalator. Nothing out of the ordinary here right? Well it would've been except that Yumi didn't know yet that an adventure with Sara requires you to always be on-guard for the unexpected.
As we reached the 5th floor, Yumi was infront of me and I turned and some (cool) thing on the 5th floor [I think it was a clock--- oh man in retrospect, was it worth it?] caught my eye, and I yelped, 'Wait Yumi let's check out the 5th floor!' I did this as I was about to step onto the escalator and fortunately there weren't people directly behind me as I stopped, but I looked down and realized poor Yumi was on the 2nd step of the escalator already going down. Even as I write this now and relive the moment I'm in tears from the hilarity.. You could actually see Yumi processing what I said, realizing I was not riding the escalator down and frantically stepping up the moving escalator.
Now pause for a moment. Have you ever seen someone try to climb up a moving escalator? If you move at your normal speed to go upstairs you will only continue to go down, so you adjust and move a little faster but you're only fighting the rapidly escalating escalator. I failed to mention earlier, how teeny tiny Yumi is. She reaches perhaps to or a bit past my shoulder, and I had put her into this predicament.
Inside of Tokyu Hands, that's Yumi in the center with the ponytail. She is smaller than the other Japanese people around her.So here we were, me watching, my mouth agape as Yumi goes from comfortably riding the escalator to seeing that she is on the 2nd step and has a fighting chance. I suspect if I hadn't said something at that exact moment, she would've reached the point of no return and ridden down to come back up. However that wasn't the case and as I watched her process and assess the situation.. she made the choice. She was going for it. So with that Yumi stepped up, but the quickness of the escalator got to her, lost her balance for a bit when I saw an older gentleman from the corner of my eye reach out to her to help but she admirably recovered and fought, moving faster and faster to combat the steps that just kept coming at her, and the people boarding the down escalator.
For the record, watching someone unexpectedly fighting in the opposite direction of a moving escalator with people coming at them.... there are no words.
[I can't fight the laughter with every word I type.]
It was just something about being in this extremely proper culture where things happen as they're expected to, and to see how I unintentionally threw a wrench into that. To see someone thrown for a loop while in a situation they've been in countless time before and forced to react quickly, I couldn't help myself from laughing even as I was silently cheering her on.
Simultaneously I remember just watching this in awe and in disbelief that after such a brief amount of time knowing each other, I had already impacted her life by inflicting such trouble with something that should have been so simple.
Yumi powered on though and eventually fought to the top, and from that moment I knew she had passed a test of sorts.. she had persevered and had survived an incredible test of will and spirit. This person would be able to survive sitting across from me for the coming year, and because of this I feel comfortable titling this post, 'My Friend Yumi'. Together we've overcome a bit of hardship, and for me at least, forged a bond. I'm looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead, and to see if Yumi has any tests of fortitude in store for me (probably not). And by the way.. to cook up some fantastic things in my new frying pan.
P.S. As she walked me to the subway station next door, I had to have my picture taken outside Chanel. Thanks again Yumi.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Single Livin'
I can't express how blissful it feels for me to wake up, pull open the curtains, throwback the balcony doors, put on some Gangstarr and dance while making an omelet in my little kitchen.
Is this what it's like to be an adult? Am I domesticated? I don't know the answers to these.. but I do know that living alone is agreeing with me so far. :)
Is this what it's like to be an adult? Am I domesticated? I don't know the answers to these.. but I do know that living alone is agreeing with me so far. :)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
What better way to celebrate your first night, then with dinner + drinks?
Upon my arrival to Japan, I already had the company of my cousin to look forward to. She and I had been speaking on occasion, and she was just as excited as I was to meet!
My first evening Kotone made her way from Kanagawa [outside of Tokyo] to me in the Akasaka area of Tokyo's Minato-ku ward. Let me kick a little knowledge your way. My cousin lives in the Kanagawa prefecture, and within that in the city of Hiratsuka. That is about an hour [by car] to an hour and half [by train] travel time away from me.
Image from Wikipedia:
Her cousin, Masako arrived at my apartment [through Kotone's Mom's side, Kotone and I are cousins through her Dad's side because her dad and my mom are siblings--we share an adorable Baba] and together we left for dinner in the Roppongi area. Roppongi is a 10 minute walk from my house and it's the foreigner area of Tokyo. The entire experience of living in Tokyo has been utterly fascinating already. Everything is just so STIMULATING! There are new sights, new lights, new language, new people, new styles.. the old mixed in with the new all around me. I see people walking around in summertime kimonos (apparently there was some kind of summer festival happening this weekend, and traditionally people put on their summer kimonos) mixed with foreigners from around the world. People from Europe, Africa, America.. it's very cool and completely new.
I feel as though I may not be freaked out whatsoever because this all still feels like an amazing dream, like a vacation does. Afterall I haven't been able to personalize my apartment yet and it looks like a hotel room anyways. Besides that, I've been able to go out and experience all this new stuff while understanding the language which has significantly cut-back on the fear factor for me. I feel very lucky to have this skill, and frankly it's making life easier here.
So back to last night.. we went out to this Japanese spot to eat, hmmm what kind of food was it? I couldn't figure it out, but Masako had made a reservation for us and though the menu was completely Japanese(i really really hate that I can't read.. i can't order off most menus cause it's exclusively in Japanese, so continue to rely on those around me) Masako and Kotone ordered everything for us to share. We started with some shredded daikon radish in a light mayonnaise sauce mixed with caviar. It was fresh and light. Next we had bite-sized egg pancakes mixed with onions, then uni wrapped in nori with lightly cooked rice in soy sauce. You know that delicious flavor when rice gets hard from being pan-fried in soy sauce, i want to call it slightly burnt but it's not quite that. Well, I've always been a bit apprehensive to eat uni since it's sea urchin, because it's orange, and cause it looks kinda like
orange goo. The plate arrived and Kotone exclaimed in delight, 'I looooove uni!!' then wrapped the nori around the uni and took the entire bite. Then Masako professed her love and ate hers. Well, obviously that doesn't leave much of a choice.. haha and after their incredible show of affection i dove in. Uni tastes like the ocean, and frankly combined with the soy sauce and fresh crisp nori, it was delightful. The final course arrived and it was an omelet like meal with onions, eggs, veggies, octopus covered in sweet tonkatsu sauce. Fabulous!! It was a great meal, washed down with some icy cold Asahi beers in chilled mugs.
The best part of the meal was just hanging out with the girls. Kotone is a lot like me. She is so talkative, energetic, very intelligent and has a great sense of humor. Masako is quiet, very intelligent as well and more on the majime [serious] side. She is also 28-years old, and just all-around very sweet. Together we all hung out and had a nice chill time. We talked about anything and everything. They're so easy to talk to, conversation just flowed as they got to know me and vice-versa. They
wanted to know about my family, what Philly is like, what I like to do, my job.. everything. It was great though, and I really don't think I can express well enough how comfortable it is to relax, not look at your watch, eat good food and hang out.
After dinner, we decided to grab drinks. It's amusing because you hear so much about how the Japanese have advanced technology but it seems everyone has their iPhones! The cell phone technology is relegated to phone/e-mail/internet device from what I've seen, so it seems that the Americans have just been late to join the party. Anyways, wherever we were going, Masako would pull out her iPhone and be searching for the next location as we walked. Kotone doesn't come out to Tokyo too often, and not Roppongi because she parties more in Yokohama, closer to home.
On our way to drinks, Masako asked if I'd taken pictures in a photobooth. I mean I had.. but an American one. Well, well, well to my surprise the Japanese booths are targeted towards young women and they boast an automatic software that makes your eyes appear bigger [appealing to the Asian persuasion-- look at Japanese anime], photoshops away the flyaway hairs and blemishs, and let's you add pictures and whatever you like. Take a look! I have the pictures with me now, they print out as adhesive stickers.
Japanese Arcade Adventure
We went to this spot called the Heartland, and as I mentioned earlier, the Roppongi area consists mostly of foreigners. The bar was cool! They had a couple djs spinning and had a Heartland beer on special (i couldn't figure out if they brewed it themselves but it seemed to be theirs), and what I found amusing was that they loved
spinning 90's jams and reggae.. perfect for me on a hot summer's night!! We had a great time, and hanging out turned into a dance party. We chatted to lots of different people, and had fun together.
Heartland bar part 1
Heartland bar part 2
Interestingly enough, some guy was talking to me and he was an American. Well this guy asks me where I'm from, I say Philly, he's from there too.. lived at 10th and Fitzwater and reveals he went to PENN. When he asked my name, and introduced himself in turn i told him, 'Doesn't matter. You're Penn kid.' Hahaha, i was totally busting
his balls for being a Penn kid it was great. He didn't know how to handle it at all. Silly Penn kids.
Next when I was on my way to the bathroom I saw this Japanese guy wearing a Yankees cap. OF COURSE i'm going to say something. He definitley didn't look like he spoke English, so while I could've said something to him in Japanese obviously I'm going to mess with him in English! My suspicions were confirmed when I was saying things like, 'bandwagon' and 'Yankees suck' and he just gave me some confused looks.. :) The most difficult thing I continue to encounter is trying to figure out how the toilets flush. Control pads on toilets, bidets and strange buttons throw me off, but I'm getting used to it. I've figured out the toilets pretty well [mostly].
Well the girls and I ended up staying out pretty late at the bar..until we were pretty drunk. It just kinda happened! We walked out and I realized I needed to derail any potential hangover so I announced it was time for curry! I wanted to eat curry and we had to figure this out. Out comes Masako's iPhone as we strolled and laughed, until we found the destination her iPhone had pointed us to.... an UDON shop! It was fantastic. It was 3:30 in the morning and the place was PACKED with late night revelers getting their udon on. We sat down and ordered three big bowls, I got my curry udon and it was amazing. Cheap, delicious and quick. Fantastic. The service in Tokyo really is unrivaled too, i'm just beginning to get used to it but am still finding it difficult to let my guard down. These servers/hostesses are very nice and very attentive. You don't even tip in Japan--- see what I mean about it being like a dream?
Udon decisions decisions
And it arrives!
The evening ended around 4:30am when we made our way back to my apartment. As I fell asleep, I remember thinking how it was way too bright. This truly is the land of the rising sun, because it was about 5 in the morning and the sun was up and lighting the world so bright and early. This is something I'm still becoming accustomed to. Fortunately I've wisened to using an eye-shade, and it's made a major difference.
My first evening Kotone made her way from Kanagawa [outside of Tokyo] to me in the Akasaka area of Tokyo's Minato-ku ward. Let me kick a little knowledge your way. My cousin lives in the Kanagawa prefecture, and within that in the city of Hiratsuka. That is about an hour [by car] to an hour and half [by train] travel time away from me.
Image from Wikipedia:
Her cousin, Masako arrived at my apartment [through Kotone's Mom's side, Kotone and I are cousins through her Dad's side because her dad and my mom are siblings--we share an adorable Baba] and together we left for dinner in the Roppongi area. Roppongi is a 10 minute walk from my house and it's the foreigner area of Tokyo. The entire experience of living in Tokyo has been utterly fascinating already. Everything is just so STIMULATING! There are new sights, new lights, new language, new people, new styles.. the old mixed in with the new all around me. I see people walking around in summertime kimonos (apparently there was some kind of summer festival happening this weekend, and traditionally people put on their summer kimonos) mixed with foreigners from around the world. People from Europe, Africa, America.. it's very cool and completely new.
I feel as though I may not be freaked out whatsoever because this all still feels like an amazing dream, like a vacation does. Afterall I haven't been able to personalize my apartment yet and it looks like a hotel room anyways. Besides that, I've been able to go out and experience all this new stuff while understanding the language which has significantly cut-back on the fear factor for me. I feel very lucky to have this skill, and frankly it's making life easier here.
So back to last night.. we went out to this Japanese spot to eat, hmmm what kind of food was it? I couldn't figure it out, but Masako had made a reservation for us and though the menu was completely Japanese(i really really hate that I can't read.. i can't order off most menus cause it's exclusively in Japanese, so continue to rely on those around me) Masako and Kotone ordered everything for us to share. We started with some shredded daikon radish in a light mayonnaise sauce mixed with caviar. It was fresh and light. Next we had bite-sized egg pancakes mixed with onions, then uni wrapped in nori with lightly cooked rice in soy sauce. You know that delicious flavor when rice gets hard from being pan-fried in soy sauce, i want to call it slightly burnt but it's not quite that. Well, I've always been a bit apprehensive to eat uni since it's sea urchin, because it's orange, and cause it looks kinda like
orange goo. The plate arrived and Kotone exclaimed in delight, 'I looooove uni!!' then wrapped the nori around the uni and took the entire bite. Then Masako professed her love and ate hers. Well, obviously that doesn't leave much of a choice.. haha and after their incredible show of affection i dove in. Uni tastes like the ocean, and frankly combined with the soy sauce and fresh crisp nori, it was delightful. The final course arrived and it was an omelet like meal with onions, eggs, veggies, octopus covered in sweet tonkatsu sauce. Fabulous!! It was a great meal, washed down with some icy cold Asahi beers in chilled mugs.
The best part of the meal was just hanging out with the girls. Kotone is a lot like me. She is so talkative, energetic, very intelligent and has a great sense of humor. Masako is quiet, very intelligent as well and more on the majime [serious] side. She is also 28-years old, and just all-around very sweet. Together we all hung out and had a nice chill time. We talked about anything and everything. They're so easy to talk to, conversation just flowed as they got to know me and vice-versa. They
wanted to know about my family, what Philly is like, what I like to do, my job.. everything. It was great though, and I really don't think I can express well enough how comfortable it is to relax, not look at your watch, eat good food and hang out.
After dinner, we decided to grab drinks. It's amusing because you hear so much about how the Japanese have advanced technology but it seems everyone has their iPhones! The cell phone technology is relegated to phone/e-mail/internet device from what I've seen, so it seems that the Americans have just been late to join the party. Anyways, wherever we were going, Masako would pull out her iPhone and be searching for the next location as we walked. Kotone doesn't come out to Tokyo too often, and not Roppongi because she parties more in Yokohama, closer to home.
On our way to drinks, Masako asked if I'd taken pictures in a photobooth. I mean I had.. but an American one. Well, well, well to my surprise the Japanese booths are targeted towards young women and they boast an automatic software that makes your eyes appear bigger [appealing to the Asian persuasion-- look at Japanese anime], photoshops away the flyaway hairs and blemishs, and let's you add pictures and whatever you like. Take a look! I have the pictures with me now, they print out as adhesive stickers.
Japanese Arcade Adventure
We went to this spot called the Heartland, and as I mentioned earlier, the Roppongi area consists mostly of foreigners. The bar was cool! They had a couple djs spinning and had a Heartland beer on special (i couldn't figure out if they brewed it themselves but it seemed to be theirs), and what I found amusing was that they loved
spinning 90's jams and reggae.. perfect for me on a hot summer's night!! We had a great time, and hanging out turned into a dance party. We chatted to lots of different people, and had fun together.
Heartland bar part 1
Heartland bar part 2
Interestingly enough, some guy was talking to me and he was an American. Well this guy asks me where I'm from, I say Philly, he's from there too.. lived at 10th and Fitzwater and reveals he went to PENN. When he asked my name, and introduced himself in turn i told him, 'Doesn't matter. You're Penn kid.' Hahaha, i was totally busting
his balls for being a Penn kid it was great. He didn't know how to handle it at all. Silly Penn kids.
Next when I was on my way to the bathroom I saw this Japanese guy wearing a Yankees cap. OF COURSE i'm going to say something. He definitley didn't look like he spoke English, so while I could've said something to him in Japanese obviously I'm going to mess with him in English! My suspicions were confirmed when I was saying things like, 'bandwagon' and 'Yankees suck' and he just gave me some confused looks.. :) The most difficult thing I continue to encounter is trying to figure out how the toilets flush. Control pads on toilets, bidets and strange buttons throw me off, but I'm getting used to it. I've figured out the toilets pretty well [mostly].
Well the girls and I ended up staying out pretty late at the bar..until we were pretty drunk. It just kinda happened! We walked out and I realized I needed to derail any potential hangover so I announced it was time for curry! I wanted to eat curry and we had to figure this out. Out comes Masako's iPhone as we strolled and laughed, until we found the destination her iPhone had pointed us to.... an UDON shop! It was fantastic. It was 3:30 in the morning and the place was PACKED with late night revelers getting their udon on. We sat down and ordered three big bowls, I got my curry udon and it was amazing. Cheap, delicious and quick. Fantastic. The service in Tokyo really is unrivaled too, i'm just beginning to get used to it but am still finding it difficult to let my guard down. These servers/hostesses are very nice and very attentive. You don't even tip in Japan--- see what I mean about it being like a dream?
Udon decisions decisions
And it arrives!
The evening ended around 4:30am when we made our way back to my apartment. As I fell asleep, I remember thinking how it was way too bright. This truly is the land of the rising sun, because it was about 5 in the morning and the sun was up and lighting the world so bright and early. This is something I'm still becoming accustomed to. Fortunately I've wisened to using an eye-shade, and it's made a major difference.
Challenges of communicating from abroad
I’m beginning to learn for myself, having a blog is hard. Because I try to practice what I preach, and am very often preaching the utilization of social media within work, for personal use and whatever you might fancy.. I'm having a tough time reconciling with just how much time a personal blog requires in maintenance and dedication.
Since my arrival in Tokyo late last week, I’ve been busy thinking about what I want to share with everyone. I keep my camera with me as much as I can, and to remember what I want to share with everyone for later but the problem I am now seeing is just how time-consuming it can be to live something, then to sit down and write about it. Not only to write about it, but to do it justice when capturing in words and video. This blog for me has already been a bit of an experiment but as time goes on tick, tick, tick.. more and more is happening around me.
With that, I just wanted to share that although I may not always be very good at posting I will do my best. I realize in being abroad and so far away from those that know me, everyone wants a piece of the action. People justifiably want to know what’s happening in my world, in a world they’ve yet to experience themselves. So I will continue to carry on as an ambassador of sorts, to bridge my world with yours—with one request. Please be patient with me if I’m slow to upload and update.
Yours,
Sara
Since my arrival in Tokyo late last week, I’ve been busy thinking about what I want to share with everyone. I keep my camera with me as much as I can, and to remember what I want to share with everyone for later but the problem I am now seeing is just how time-consuming it can be to live something, then to sit down and write about it. Not only to write about it, but to do it justice when capturing in words and video. This blog for me has already been a bit of an experiment but as time goes on tick, tick, tick.. more and more is happening around me.
With that, I just wanted to share that although I may not always be very good at posting I will do my best. I realize in being abroad and so far away from those that know me, everyone wants a piece of the action. People justifiably want to know what’s happening in my world, in a world they’ve yet to experience themselves. So I will continue to carry on as an ambassador of sorts, to bridge my world with yours—with one request. Please be patient with me if I’m slow to upload and update.
Yours,
Sara
Monday, August 2, 2010
The first day - Karajan Plaza Market & Brunch
My very first morning in Tokyo I was surprised that I awoke feeling fresh and ready to take on the world. Because I hadn't slept much in the time leading up to my arrival sleeping happened quite naturally (although perhaps because it was aided by my friend melatonin).
The video of my first day adventures happening upon a market at Karajan Plaza was too large to upload here, so here the video is on YouTube.
Day 1 at Karajan Plaza, rice buying at the market
)
The video of my first day adventures happening upon a market at Karajan Plaza was too large to upload here, so here the video is on YouTube.
Day 1 at Karajan Plaza, rice buying at the market
)
Welcome to Ark Towers
I arrived around 8pm Tokyo time (7am US time) last Friday July 30th, and was slightly beyond zombified. Having traveled through time like Marty McFly in the DeLorean, my body still thought that it was early Friday morning, when the world around me was Friday night. That night I struggled for about 25 mins. to order a pizza because I was just so hungry... but couldn't figure out how to use my Japanese phone in my apartment!! Eventually having sussed out what each mysterious button on my phone did, I was able to dial Pizza Hut.
The pizza I ordered was bacon, sliced tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, garlic chips, basil and black pepper. It was delicious! To give you an idea of what a medium pizza costs, it was 2400 Yen. That roughly translates to $27. Ouch! Fortunately when all you need is some sustenance to put you to sleep, it's reassuring to know that regardless of what continent you may be on fresh and fast pizza is there to the rescue!
Here was a brief video I took when within the 1st hour of my arrival. The view from my balcony, and glimpse of my apartment.
The pizza I ordered was bacon, sliced tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, garlic chips, basil and black pepper. It was delicious! To give you an idea of what a medium pizza costs, it was 2400 Yen
Here was a brief video I took when within the 1st hour of my arrival. The view from my balcony, and glimpse of my apartment.
Above the Clouds, Above the Crowds
The trip started out for me at 9am bright and early on a Philly morning at Philadelphia International Airport. My flight was departing at 11:10am to Minneapolis, Minnesota before I continued the rest of my journey onto Narita with a 2nd flight. The trip was 3 hours, and very quick. I was particularly excited because when I had reserved my business class trip, the domestic leg automatically bumped me up to first class. However, when I reached my seat it really wasn't as glamorous as I'd anticipated..
The seat infront of me was marred with ink from errant pens that had gotten away from the people who had come before me.. or maybe they had done it deliberately out of boredom? Couldn't figure that one out, but I see the argument for the latter. The 1st class area of the plane was divided 1 seat on the left, 2 seats on the right. My seat was on the left side, standing alone so I was sandwiched between the window and the aisle. My first impression when i arrived was of the small white pillow, light blue polyester blanket and pint-sized water bottle stacked on my seat. The flight itself was fortunately very uneventful. The most action I saw on this trip was the very large man snoring across the aisle from me, who would softly snore for a while, go quiet and stop breathing, choke and repeat the cycle. The other mildly intriguing thing I encountered was my first airplane meal.
I had a couple of options, but went with the chicken ceasar wrap as it seemed the safest choice. The lunch arrived in a bright green wrap, innocuously lying on my tray beside salt and pepper, a bottle of water, and pre-packaged caramel brownie. As soon as I bit into the wrap something tasted.... strange. I couldn't tell bite-by-bite if I was actually tasting bleu cheese, or if they were trying to emulate bleu cheese, what I did know was that I couldn't find evidence of bleu cheese in my wrap as I forged on. By the very last bite though -- sweet relief! Confirmation there was cheese responsible for the distinct flavor I had been experiencing. Phew.
After a brief period of downtime at the Delta lounge in Minneapolis [a a 1 hour delay for take-off as they fixed the navigational system], I was on a plane to Narita International Airport outside of Tokyo!
The moment I walked into the Biz class cabin things were noticibly different. My 1A seat was snuggly tucked in the front corner next to the windows, with ample legroom. As soon as I sat down a flight attendant popped up out of seemingly nowhere to ask if I wanted a glass of champagne. I didn't realize until that moment, but 'Yes..! A glass of champagne would be delightful.' Even my first impression of the seat was different from the last. A large down blanket, full-size pillow, amenities kit (slippers, eye shade, Korres face cream & chapstick, pen, tiny tube of toothpaste + toothbrush), noise-cancelling headphones and the promise of a new life in a new place waited me.
The trip was 12 hours and 15 minutes. Departing at 3:10pm on Thursday, July 29th I would arrive in Japan at 5:25pm Friday, July 30th. Crazy hours! Because I was so excited in the newness of everything, I hardly slept the entire flight. Every moment was so unexpected, it made my 12 hour flight go by much faster than it would've otherwise. After take-off I was supplied with pretty much anything my little heart could desire. Endless supply of water bottles (again the mini-size Dasani bottles> don't they worry about wasting so much plastic?) for dinner a three course meal of Thai coconut soup [it was cold and suspicious] and tuna sashimi with sesame seeds, for the main course beef tenderloin and shrimp scampi [not bad, the meat was really really rare though, like i found a cow in a field and bit into him] and then an impressive dessert cart with ice cream sundaes, cakes and parfaits.
I napped for only about 2 hours the entire trip. My Japanese culture and language sensei had advised me before leaving Philly that I should take the melatonin sleep supplement you can pick up at Vitamin Shoppes, and to take one in time with the Japanese time zone to prevent jisaboke -- translation: jetlag! So I did this, and had also purchased 'No Jet Lag' on the advice of the Vitamin Shoppe employee. It's some natural type supplement you take every 2 hours during a long flight that is supposed to aid in preventing the detrimental effects of jetleg. On the flight I watched 3 movies on my personal monitor. I finally had the chance to catch-up on films I'd been hoping to see for months. First up- Roman Polanski's murder mystery, The Ghostwriter. Then The Hurt Locker, and finally CrazyHeart. It was a nice way to pass the time.
All around me the shades were drawn and people were in various states of consciousness. The seats I hadn't realized had hoods on them, so when you reclined you retreated into your egg-like pod. I half-expected Mork to pop up from one of these sleepy eggs and say, 'Nanu-nanu'!
From the moment we came in for the landing, I was glued to the window. I was utterly riveted from the moment I saw Japan, by the square-like farms all around the airport, that grew into larger pieces of land separated by winding roads, houses, and buildings. It was obvious that Narita was far, far outside of the city, and this area was a bit more rural than what I would be living in. Nonetheless, it was love at first sight.
Once I landed I almost immediately encountered difficulty in navigating through the airport. Not to say that they didn't have a clear signs in both English and Japanese at every turn, I just find it difficult to make my way through windy airports. After trying my Japanese out on a few people [things were looking up-- we communicated! they understood me!] I made my way to immigration. In fact, the lovely older lady who directed me to my lane commented on how well I could speak and would get by in Japan. From there I made my way through, retrieved my luggage and then to customs! I got through there with no problem, and worked my way over to the exit of the airport. At this point I had done quite a bit of reading up on the best method for me to make it to my apartment. It seemed my best option would be to take the limounsine bus that would travel to the ANA Intercontinental Hotel, located next door to my apartment building. When I came to the ticket counter, I faced the challenge that I continue to face everyday. Do I make my request in Japanese or English? With Japanese there's a risk I might not understand completely, and with English the risk that they may not. Ultimately I went for English-- they work at the airport so I figured they must be well-versed in other languages. I was able to reserve the ticket, and then had a couple of questions, where do i go from here, how long to Tokyo? So I dove into Japanese. This has been my experience in Japan, use English, gauge the person's skill then switch to Japanese.
After 1 1/2 hour on the limousine bus I came off, with the nearly 24 hours of being awake hitting me hard. It was about 7:30pm in Japan on a Friday night and I was weary and ready to change out of the clothes I had been wearing for the last 20 hours.
This is where I hit my first real snag in the trip. When i exited the bus, a helpful ANA intercontinental employee answered my question for directions to Ark Towers by pointing me towards the hotel. I didn't know if that was right judging by the maps I had studied, but decided I'd listen to this guy because after all... i was fresh to Japan. Well I walk in the direction he had me go, struggling with my 2 suitcases, 1 large bag, backpack, and computer bag. I mean it was ugly.. i was struggling to walk with a huge amount of weight on my back, while pulling suitcases with a bag each on top. I realize I have no idea where I am, and going so I ask the hotel's front greeter where I am and where Ark Towers is! She pulls out a map and directs me in the opposite direction.
At this point I'm getting delirious and she walks with me to the street to further emphasize the location and where I should go. Sadly as she walks me to the street, I drop my bag and it takes me a couple minutes to right myself before I can go on.
I go down the street where she had pointed and make an errant turn. It was the worst feeling. Here I was super-tired, struggling with heavy luggage and I just don't know where to go [I know it could be far worse, but at that moment I was feeling pretty down]. I'm just struggling to turn myself and my bags around when out of nowhere, the first guy comes swooping out of no where profusely apologizing and helps me with my large suitcase + bag, telling me he's been trying to find me because he sent me in the wrong direction!
It was a truly trimphant moment. Only, he didn't really know where he was going. At that point I didn't really care because I could revert to auto-pilot and follow this guy while he asked people directions in his impeccable & native Japanese. He knew the general direction, but not exactly where we should be. Eventually after discovering that he is a speedy person, racing up hills this way and that and with me struggling to catch my breath and to keep up.. We made it! I was home.
And that was that.
The seat infront of me was marred with ink from errant pens that had gotten away from the people who had come before me.. or maybe they had done it deliberately out of boredom? Couldn't figure that one out, but I see the argument for the latter. The 1st class area of the plane was divided 1 seat on the left, 2 seats on the right. My seat was on the left side, standing alone so I was sandwiched between the window and the aisle. My first impression when i arrived was of the small white pillow, light blue polyester blanket and pint-sized water bottle stacked on my seat. The flight itself was fortunately very uneventful. The most action I saw on this trip was the very large man snoring across the aisle from me, who would softly snore for a while, go quiet and stop breathing, choke and repeat the cycle. The other mildly intriguing thing I encountered was my first airplane meal.
I had a couple of options, but went with the chicken ceasar wrap as it seemed the safest choice. The lunch arrived in a bright green wrap, innocuously lying on my tray beside salt and pepper, a bottle of water, and pre-packaged caramel brownie. As soon as I bit into the wrap something tasted.... strange. I couldn't tell bite-by-bite if I was actually tasting bleu cheese, or if they were trying to emulate bleu cheese, what I did know was that I couldn't find evidence of bleu cheese in my wrap as I forged on. By the very last bite though -- sweet relief! Confirmation there was cheese responsible for the distinct flavor I had been experiencing. Phew.
After a brief period of downtime at the Delta lounge in Minneapolis [a a 1 hour delay for take-off as they fixed the navigational system], I was on a plane to Narita International Airport outside of Tokyo!
The moment I walked into the Biz class cabin things were noticibly different. My 1A seat was snuggly tucked in the front corner next to the windows, with ample legroom. As soon as I sat down a flight attendant popped up out of seemingly nowhere to ask if I wanted a glass of champagne. I didn't realize until that moment, but 'Yes..! A glass of champagne would be delightful.' Even my first impression of the seat was different from the last. A large down blanket, full-size pillow, amenities kit (slippers, eye shade, Korres face cream & chapstick, pen, tiny tube of toothpaste + toothbrush), noise-cancelling headphones and the promise of a new life in a new place waited me.
The trip was 12 hours and 15 minutes. Departing at 3:10pm on Thursday, July 29th I would arrive in Japan at 5:25pm Friday, July 30th. Crazy hours! Because I was so excited in the newness of everything, I hardly slept the entire flight. Every moment was so unexpected, it made my 12 hour flight go by much faster than it would've otherwise. After take-off I was supplied with pretty much anything my little heart could desire. Endless supply of water bottles (again the mini-size Dasani bottles> don't they worry about wasting so much plastic?) for dinner a three course meal of Thai coconut soup [it was cold and suspicious] and tuna sashimi with sesame seeds, for the main course beef tenderloin and shrimp scampi [not bad, the meat was really really rare though, like i found a cow in a field and bit into him] and then an impressive dessert cart with ice cream sundaes, cakes and parfaits.
I napped for only about 2 hours the entire trip. My Japanese culture and language sensei had advised me before leaving Philly that I should take the melatonin sleep supplement you can pick up at Vitamin Shoppes, and to take one in time with the Japanese time zone to prevent jisaboke -- translation: jetlag! So I did this, and had also purchased 'No Jet Lag' on the advice of the Vitamin Shoppe employee. It's some natural type supplement you take every 2 hours during a long flight that is supposed to aid in preventing the detrimental effects of jetleg. On the flight I watched 3 movies on my personal monitor. I finally had the chance to catch-up on films I'd been hoping to see for months. First up- Roman Polanski's murder mystery, The Ghostwriter. Then The Hurt Locker, and finally CrazyHeart. It was a nice way to pass the time.
All around me the shades were drawn and people were in various states of consciousness. The seats I hadn't realized had hoods on them, so when you reclined you retreated into your egg-like pod. I half-expected Mork to pop up from one of these sleepy eggs and say, 'Nanu-nanu'!
From the moment we came in for the landing, I was glued to the window. I was utterly riveted from the moment I saw Japan, by the square-like farms all around the airport, that grew into larger pieces of land separated by winding roads, houses, and buildings. It was obvious that Narita was far, far outside of the city, and this area was a bit more rural than what I would be living in. Nonetheless, it was love at first sight.
Once I landed I almost immediately encountered difficulty in navigating through the airport. Not to say that they didn't have a clear signs in both English and Japanese at every turn, I just find it difficult to make my way through windy airports. After trying my Japanese out on a few people [things were looking up-- we communicated! they understood me!] I made my way to immigration. In fact, the lovely older lady who directed me to my lane commented on how well I could speak and would get by in Japan. From there I made my way through, retrieved my luggage and then to customs! I got through there with no problem, and worked my way over to the exit of the airport. At this point I had done quite a bit of reading up on the best method for me to make it to my apartment. It seemed my best option would be to take the limounsine bus that would travel to the ANA Intercontinental Hotel, located next door to my apartment building. When I came to the ticket counter, I faced the challenge that I continue to face everyday. Do I make my request in Japanese or English? With Japanese there's a risk I might not understand completely, and with English the risk that they may not. Ultimately I went for English-- they work at the airport so I figured they must be well-versed in other languages. I was able to reserve the ticket, and then had a couple of questions, where do i go from here, how long to Tokyo? So I dove into Japanese. This has been my experience in Japan, use English, gauge the person's skill then switch to Japanese.
After 1 1/2 hour on the limousine bus I came off, with the nearly 24 hours of being awake hitting me hard. It was about 7:30pm in Japan on a Friday night and I was weary and ready to change out of the clothes I had been wearing for the last 20 hours.
This is where I hit my first real snag in the trip. When i exited the bus, a helpful ANA intercontinental employee answered my question for directions to Ark Towers by pointing me towards the hotel. I didn't know if that was right judging by the maps I had studied, but decided I'd listen to this guy because after all... i was fresh to Japan. Well I walk in the direction he had me go, struggling with my 2 suitcases, 1 large bag, backpack, and computer bag. I mean it was ugly.. i was struggling to walk with a huge amount of weight on my back, while pulling suitcases with a bag each on top. I realize I have no idea where I am, and going so I ask the hotel's front greeter where I am and where Ark Towers is! She pulls out a map and directs me in the opposite direction.
At this point I'm getting delirious and she walks with me to the street to further emphasize the location and where I should go. Sadly as she walks me to the street, I drop my bag and it takes me a couple minutes to right myself before I can go on.
I go down the street where she had pointed and make an errant turn. It was the worst feeling. Here I was super-tired, struggling with heavy luggage and I just don't know where to go [I know it could be far worse, but at that moment I was feeling pretty down]. I'm just struggling to turn myself and my bags around when out of nowhere, the first guy comes swooping out of no where profusely apologizing and helps me with my large suitcase + bag, telling me he's been trying to find me because he sent me in the wrong direction!
It was a truly trimphant moment. Only, he didn't really know where he was going. At that point I didn't really care because I could revert to auto-pilot and follow this guy while he asked people directions in his impeccable & native Japanese. He knew the general direction, but not exactly where we should be. Eventually after discovering that he is a speedy person, racing up hills this way and that and with me struggling to catch my breath and to keep up.. We made it! I was home.
And that was that.
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