Continuous Good Management

I suppose it’s that time again for another update from the land of Japan.  I’ve been getting a number of complaints saying I need to write another entry.  OK, you might have a point.  This will only be my 2^nd entry since being in Japan for over 3 months.  The way I look at it though, if I wrote every week it might not be nearly as exciting or interesting (big assumption being you do find it interesting or entertaining).  Anyway, enough B.S. – let’s get to the meat of this entry so I can go to bed at a timely manner.  I’ve put 30 minutes on the clock – GO!

Cultural observations and other odds and ends:

1.        Paying at the grocery story.  For better or worse, I’ve somewhat figured out the set dialogues associated with checking out at the grocery store. “Do you have a bag?”  Do you want a receipt?” etc.  In the beginning, those kinds of questions always put me in a slight panic mode where I ended up sitting there saying something to the English equivalent of  “uhhhhh” for what always feels like ages.  As long as they stick to the regular questions, I’ve comfortably navigated this obstacle – unless of course the grocery store is having some kind of point system campaign where if I earn X amount of points before X date, I can get X amount of money back.  Lots of X’s in there – the point is, sometimes I get tripped up by questions or sentences about the special campaigns, which are subjects unto themselves in Japan.  ANYWAY – the point I’m trying to get to here is that I noticed one other small thing some time ago that really made me feel stupid.  This is going to be a bit difficult to explain, but I must preface this story with the fact that when you pay in Japan (at any type of store), it is very common to see a money tray of some sort where you hand over your money.  For whatever reason, exchanging money from hand to hand doesn’t seem to be nearly as common (based on my own personal experience).  Well, at some stores, my grocery store in particularly, I noticed the flat tray (where you place your money), also has a bowl at the end of it (imagine maybe a flat envelope whose edge is attached to the top rim of a bowl).  Before I became more astute in my observations I always placed my bills on the tray and threw the coins in the bowl area.  Maybe some of you have seen something like this or have already figured it out, but one day I finally saw someone in front of me in line pay…they placed the bills AND the coins on the flat part –  The cashier then counted each coin, thumbing each one into the bowl after it was counted.  Ingenious.  How did I not notice that?  How did I not think of something so simple?  My instant thought was….”how long have cashiers in this country been grumbling about me?” 

2.       Ingenious - part 2.  I went to the kind of sushi restaurant where the sushi comes around on a track on different plates.  At the end of the meal, you pay by the plates.  Well, when I paid, the server came around, stacked the plates, and whipped out a measuring stick of sorts. It measured the number of plates on it, as well as numbers for different types of plates.  In one second, the price was totaled. I couldn’t believe it.  Again, something so simple, but something I had never seen before.  I just imagined how nice it must be to not have to hold your finger next to each plate and slowly move up the stack (or down depending on what kind of “half empty/full” person you are).  Admittedly, I didn’t frequent Sushi restaurants very often in the U.S., so some of you may very well have seen this before, even in the U.S.

3.       Rice Dates.  I am now under the impression rice is even more important than I expected.  I was impressed to learn that on the rice bags in the stores here, they have written which season it was harvested from.  As you can probably guess, the more recently harvested rice is usually considered better tasting.  If you ask me, it still tastes like rice.  Good news – the new rice harvest was just brought it – get it while you can!  Sarcasm aside, it does actually seem kind of cool that people are aware of when certain foods are “in season.”  I always felt a huge disconnect with food in the U.S. as we can import anything quite easily year round.  What do you mean strawberries have a season?!  Huh, apples too?!  You’re crazy.

Language notes –

Well, I’ve been in overtime for 11 minutes now, but I did want to mention one last thing before I go.   Japanese and English are two very different languages.  Every day I probably realize this in new ways.  One of the most frustrating things for me to hear from people who are trying to help me learn…”we don’t really say that” or “we don’t say it that way.”  Direct translation just doesn’t work out very well a lot of the time.  But until I get a better grasp of things, it feels like the only thing I can do.  Got to start somewhere, right?  Language envelops culture.  It is the way we express ourselves and communicate with others.  It is a window into our surroundings and the way we live amongst others.  That is why, when I receive a piece of candy with the following English message written on it, I really have to ask myself quite a few questions when it comes to communicating in Japanese…

“Memories of yesterday are carefully handed down to tomorrow today.  I wish you continuous good management from now on, too. An excellent gift for a good friend.  I present you with my whole heart.”

1.       In going from English to Japanese, does my Japanese sound equally strange? (I’d be lucky if it sounded this comprehensible)

2.       Was this pumped into Google translate, or did someone legitimately take time to try and translate this to English?

3.       Directly translated, how normal would this actually sound in Japanese?

All in all, I’m not sure if I’m encouraged by the message.  But hey, hopefully I can still have good management.Wish me luck!!!!

  

Humble Beginnings

Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen!

It has been brought to my attention by a fair number of people (maybe 3 or 4?) that I have done a terrible job of informing people about my life in Japan.  Due to minimal demand and my laziness of not wanting to rewrite a similar message to multiple people - Memoirs of a Ginger is back! 

To catch some of you up to speed, I am now living and teaching English in Himeji, Japan.  I arrived nearly 2 months ago - and just recently, I finally met some other people who have been here a shorter amount of time than me.  Does this mean I can cast off the "fresh off the boat" title?  Probably not.

  Himeji has roughly 500,000 people and is located about 1 hour west of Osaka. Japanese people often describe Himeji as "countryside." At first this seemed to be a rather amusing description, but I'm slowly beginning to understand what is meant by countryside.  Sure, it's no Dallas, OR but I do seem to run into people I know with a higher frequency than I would expect for a city with this population.  Most places close by 9 PM and there are only a handful of bars and restaurants that remain open (at least from what I have discovered) past this time.

The feeling is nice though.  It makes me feel like I've fallen into a particular niche.  I'm not completely "lost" in a sea of people, nor am I in a tiny village where I might not be able to find the hair clippers I recently bought to cut my hair by myself. (I only had one mirror so I'm sure the evenness in the back is something entertaining for my students whenever I write something on the board).  I've started to recognize the same people on my way to work.  I've made it my goal to become friends with a man I regularly pass. He  works at a parking garage.  So far he has withstood my charming head "nods" and occasional "good day" comments.  I'm starting to suspect it may not be worth it...but a part of me still likes to imagine that one day I can walk to work and I'll say "hey Joe!  What's kickin?!"  We would exchange pleasantries for 30 seconds or so and, of course, always end in a high-five - "see ya tomorrow champ!"  My lack of language abilities aside, I suspect trying to make friends with this man who works at the parking garage isn't something that is culturally common.  Of course, I'm weird like that.  It probably isn't even very normal in the U.S. either.

Humble pie comes in many flavors in Japan, especially at the grocery store. I can read 2 of the 3 alphabets, but it doesn't do me a whole lot of good without the 3rd one (Kanji - aka Chinese Characters).  Milk?  Well this has a picture of a cow on it...it's white....seems like Milk to me!  Low fat, whole milk? Irrelevant.  At that point the price does the talking.  Breakfast - check. Other meals?  I have a cookbook that instructs me on which ingredients to get.  9 times out of 10 when I finally give up trying to find it on my own, the person I trouble asking kindly points to the item directly in front of me.  Of course.  Haha, I suppose it's nice to know that I didn't trouble them too much. Then, the 1 in 10 times I am able to find something on my own....there's 30 different kinds of whatever it is I want.  Our grocery stores are equally complex, but at least I can read the BS and "try" and make an informed decision.  Shaving cream for sensitive skin?  For hydrating purposes?  gel? regular?  Menthol? I think toothpaste always made me the most crazy.  Extreme clean, advanced, whitening,  and regular.  Given the options...what does regular really have to offer, and what does advanced actually mean?  Anyway, I digress.  The point is, when I find something it doesn't mean I have found what I need.  Sometimes I ask people for help, other times I roll the dice.  "These things can't be that different, can they?"  Soup stocks can be bought in a concentrated form, and not.  I learned the hard way.

After going to the grocery store, the next most common challenge is figuring out what to do with the unused food.  Does it have to be stored in the fridge?  Does it expire quickly?  Can I keep it on a shelf?  Will it transform over night like a Chia pet?  Little decisions that used to be second nature now take moments to minutes of consideration.  Using the rice cooker is one thing, but setting the timer to have the rice ready for when you get home from work - now that's something! (I'm fairly proud that I got that one worked out - thanks to my co-workers of course)  Washer?  Beyond "power" and "start" I haven't made too much headway on that front.  Different size load, warm, cold?  Those other buttons have to do something!  Using the heater once it gets cold enough is a looming cloud on the horizon.

Even ironing has required a certain learning curve.  Admittedly, before coming to Japan I probably ironed as many times as the number of fingers I have (still being generous).  I did do it enough to know that there is a big difference between trying to iron something that has been hung to dry versus something that you put in the dryer.  It is pathetic to admit that the first time I ironed a shirt here.... it took me 40 mins.  Only an idiot doesn't know that it's better to shake and straighten out the shirt as much as possible before you hang it up.  It's obvious now, but everything is 20/20 hindsight.  What other simple life tasks have I not figured out yet?  Scary to think about.


What else?  Well, many things.  Too many.  But let's end things here for the time being.  Even though the language is extremely difficult, and basic tasks of life have required much trial and error - everyday gets better.  My job is incredible, the people and friends I've met so far are incredible.  I came here knowing that life would be a challenge.  With great challenges comes great rewards - I'm beginning to feel these rewards and looking back on some of these "lessons" is a point of amusement for me.  While this post may seem a bit negative in nature, I hope you can see the positive side to it.  If it really was a point of contention for me, I wouldn't be able to laugh about it.    Don't worry though - more challenges and rewards to come.  : )