Practical Shoes Off...Party Pants On!

It begins! I pulled away from my last school on my circuit (incidentally, another one to invite me to an enkai on the same day as training) and belted along with the stereo the whole way home! Tomorrow, I’m off to Morioka once again for “area” training.

Area. I live in Kitakami. Still grinds my gears, but whatever.

Our training is mostly to get some new tips on using the board and how not to teach a class. Riveting stuff. And we’ll be presenting activities we’ve used that did and didn’t work so hot. I’ve a got quite the cache of the good, bad and let it never see the light of day again. It’s just a matter of picking one or the other. 

Then it’s just a matter of doing laundry, cleaning my apartment and packing and the adventure begins! Everything is planned right up until the Geino Michinoku Matsuri at the start of August. After that, I’ve just got a vague idea of what I’m doing, but I’ll keep posting here throughout the course of summer vacation.

I can’t wait! Seeing new parts of Japan! Eating new food! No responsibilities, no lesson plans: no worries! My heart goes out to the poor kids who’ll be doing a ton of work all summer long, but dude: I paid my dues when I was their age. I’ve done the homework thing, I’ve had tests to study for. Now the comfortable teaching pump is on the other foot and I’m writing tests and running activities.

My mom had the right idea when she changed her career focus from being a parole officer to a middle school teacher. Summers free, holidays…the work is grueling at times, but it’s times like this that the payoff is so great! Tonight, I’m celebrating by painting my nails and trimming my bangs.

A rebel without a cause over here.

Redhii no Hinkaku

After the past week, grinding out lessons and making my way through the day in-day out routine I’ve established, I was rewarded with the most amazing treat: my dad, visiting me for the weekend! I am a well-known daddy’s girl, so when my father told me he’d be in Asia for a business conference this month, naturally I was over the moon! After a few days of meetings and his own adventures, I met him on Thursday evening at the Kitakami station.

I arrived at the station early enough for the arrival of the first shinkansen, but unfortunately, I had neglected to tell him which exit to use. So hoping for the best, I stood at the gate on the West Exit, watching people come up the escalator as local trains came through. Then, the first shinkansen arrived. I looked eagerly for another Western face, standing on my toes, craning to see around banners and columns. No such luck. The next train would arrive in about 20 minutes, so I settled against a dummy oni to wait. At that time of night, people were coming back to Kitakami from work and students coming home from club activities. Other students were milling around the station as well, but I didn’t pay them much attention. 

But I noticed one teenage boy milling a little close to me. I’d move from the gate to the wall, and he’d shift position across the station. I went to stand by the oni, and he moved to the gate. After a while, I pulled out my Nook for some reading and forgot about him…until he walked up behind me, and stood right next to my shoulder and about a head taller than me. He said nothing, didn’t clear his throat, but held his badly cracked iPhone in my line of vision. I thought he was showing me the damage…then I read the screen.

“We have sexual intercourse”

Oh the things I could have said, the cards I could have played. And yet, to avoid making a scene, I rolled my eyes, said “Okoru” and he walked away. Whether or not he was put up to it by friends is entirely up for debate, but wow. Just, wow. 

I would say his English was good, but with as many translator apps as there are, I don’t think I can give him full credit. And there was no punctuation. So. Yeah.

I went back to the gate to watch people coming up the escalator from the last shinkansen. As I stood there, growing more concerned and considering driving to the other side, I heard a voice over my shoulder say “Konbanwa.”

And there was Dad! I have gone months without seeing my family before, when I was in college, but this is different. Being in another country, living half a world away makes that distance just that much more profound. Skype and email helps keep us close in one way, but there is nothing like hugging a family member around the neck and know they’re here for you.

If you're wondering how much my dad cares, here's a list of everything he carried here in his suitcase for me:

2 pairs of shoes

a decomposing copy of "A Light in the Attic" 

My "How to Mellify a Corpse" book

a framed picture of my grandmother, Haruko

a very heavy bottle of vitamins

and an even heavier bag of dried mango

All together, it weighed almost 7 lbs!

Our first mission was to get some food in the man. Chatting the whole way, we went out for some fast Japanese food (gyuudon) and to give Dad a chance to meet his roommate for the weekend: the kiwi, James Lyall. Many thanks to James for opening up him home to a complete stranger. I mean, James knows me: shouldn’t that send red flags up for any other living person with a lick of common sense?

I still had to work on Friday, so my dad got a chance to explore Kitakami on his own. He’s done a LOT of solo travel, so there was no concern. He’s been to Japan recently too, so he knows what’s up. He’s a savvy dude. Reportedly, he visited the Kitakami heritage store, Tenshochi Park, the Michinoku Folklore Village…walking everywhere from the station! 

Suwa-jinja Shrine

That evening, James, Dad and I went out for dinner. No plans? No reservations? For once, actually not a problem! We went into Kitakami just jonesing for some “Itarian.” As we walked down the street, James suggested swinging by our favorite pizza place, Italian Kitchen Mountee, to see if we could get seats. We hadn’t had much luck in the past, but the couple of times we have gone, we haven’t been disappointed: Junya (who speaks great English) makes PHENOMENAL pizzas and orgasmic desserts. As luck would have it, there was a free table and the party officially began with beers for them and wine for me. Seriously, if you come to Kitakami (for whatever reason) do everything in your power to secure a reservation at Mountee! My recommendations:

Antipasta appetizer

Peperoncino pizza

Funghi pizza

Dolce sampler—tiramisu, cheesecake and raspberry panna cotta.

 In Dad’s words: “Custard. Uh-oh.”

Junya also brought us a pizza he made by mistake…along with a little dish of honey. I know what you’re thinking, but honestly, white pizza and a drizzle of honey! We were skeptics and now we are believers, reborn in the eyes of the pizza gods! 

After dinner, we made our way to Bar Roots for another drink and some Japanese reggae atmosphere. Remember: Welcome to Roots; don’t ask questions. 

A horticulturalist to the bone

On Saturday, James was heading to Sendai for an engagement party and Dad and I were going to get to spend some quality time together. First, however, I had to repay James for the favor of hosting my father. What better way to repay such kindness than with pancakes? So, our grand day out consisted of showing him one of the second hand stores in Kitakami (he was pretty impressed by the gross abundance of manga and intrigued by the UFO-style claw machines), walking through Kitakami to see a temple, the leftover bamboo and paper wishes from Tanabata, and to do some shopping at the 100 en store. The entire time, we were stalked by the campaign vans, screaming at us, imploring us to vote for each candidate. 

 

 

...before eating it.

Always a good role model, Dad plays with his food...

By then, it was time for lunch at Kappa Zushi, then driving to Otokoyama hill and climbing up to the statue of Yasuragi no zo. I was a little embarrassed by how little I know about Kitakami still including the significance of the beautiful goddess. 

Then we drove back down the hill and to Tenshochi park. We walked through the shop there looking at the traditional products of Kitakami including cast iron, nanbu kata zome (a sort of Japanese tye-dye), zogan bori woodwork (wood boxes, coasters and chopstick rests inlaid with tiny mother-of-pearl in beautiful designs), sambei, and oni masks. Then we walked along the Kitakami looking for birds. Dad got me into bird watching at an early age, and the man is impressive in his knowledge, picking out details while I searched through my birthday present: a book of Japanese birds! 

By then, it was about halfway through the afternoon and I was pretty tired, not sure about him. I feel bad that I was only able to give him a sampling of Kitakami. There are so many beautiful shrines, other museums, another great temple…but in one day, even scratching the surface can be a challenge. Instead, we went back to James’ and chilled in the A/C while Dad showed me pictures from his and Mom’s trip to Holland. Following, we went back into Kitakami for a traditional Japanese dinner. 

So in many restaurants in Japan, you can open the restaurant and point at the picture of what appeals to you. We went into one store with some appetizing looking food in the window…and discovered the models outside would be our only available visuals. Thanks to some picture-taking on my part, we were able to order. Again, I am humbled. But we eventually got our food (ramen for me, ebi tempura for him) and watched a Japanese variety show. This one was about exotic pets including a joey and a baby monkey in a blue sweater. 

After that, we grabbed some ice cream to go at Strawberry Cone and went back to my apartment for a Skype date with my mom and brother. Earlier in the day, Dad was walking around my place taking pictures like a C.S.I., taking pictures of my bathroom, kitchen and main room. It was mostly for my mom’s benefit because I still haven’t sent home any pictures of my place. I wanted to wait until I made it look more homey (I still want a small sofa or something for entertaining and some proper mood lighting), but it’s been 4 months and a mother’s patience stretches only so thin. Love you, Mom!

While we waited for my mom to log onto Skype, we ate our ice cream and I showed Dad some of my own pictures and shared a little more about my previous experiences. The four of us ended up talking for about an hour and a half before we called it quits on our end, completely bushed. It was a little surreal after so many weeks of talking to the three of them on my computer to have one of those faces sitting next to me and talking to the other two. It felt great, in a word. I love my family and felt so close to them at that point, in more ways than one. 

So today, I picked Dad up from James’ and drove him to the station at 8am. He told me he was glad to see I’m doing well, and he knows I’m going to be alright. His encouragement and confidence in me gave me confidence in turn. Now I’m burning to not only get back into the schools for these last three days but blaze my way through the rest of the school year. I have to remind myself that they believe in me and are proud of me. I definitely am often too critical of myself, which wrecks havoc on my self-esteem, but knowing that they are behind me and have such faith in me: I can relax. As my mom said last week

“Remind yourself… ‘Ms. Frizzle is fiction and I don’t have to be her my first year.’” 

I have to do what I can and take pride in that. Be happy in your abilities and others will be happy with you. I sound like a fortune cookie, saying that, but it’s what I’ve taken away from this past week. I love my family and I’m so thrilled that I was able to share my new life with my dad and show him what I’ve done so far. 

Now, if only my brother would come visit…

So Long, Scotty!

As we approach the start of summer break, I’m solemnly reminded that this job simultaneously makes time fly and slowly drain the life force out of you with every passing lesson plan. Every day, you wear a mask and exude energy and positivity no matter what you’re feeling inside. Your frustrations, your concerns, they don’t belong within 25 kilometers of the teacher’s room. Some days, your smile doesn’t quite reach your eyes. We call this normality. At this point, everyone, Japanese teachers, English speakers and especially the students, are ready for a break.

Side note: not that the students get much of a break. Even though there are no classes, some of the older students still must come to school nearly every day for club activities and extra studying. In a few cases, summer break amounts to a whopping 36 hours. 

My decadent summer vacation begins in just over a week and will last roughly three weeks. I’m counting down the days until I’m on the night bus heading towards Tokyo for three days! I’ll be going up to Fukushima for a couple days more, home in Kitakami for a weekend of festivals then meandering through northern Tohoku for beaches, caverns and more festivals. But as excited as I am to finish this term, I am also very sad that one of my new friends won’t be coming back after the break.

Scott is going back to California, and while we haven’t known each other long, we’ve still managed to become friends. True, we don’t know each other’s deepest darkest secrets, and most of what we do know of each other came out over drinks at nomihodai or Mama-san’s table, I’m going to miss him nevertheless. And I know I’m not alone: Scott’s just a naturally likeable guy, so he’s easily made plenty of friends who will be sad to see him go.

But I’m a firm believer that there’s no point in dragging yourself through a mire of misery and frustration when you could just as easily pick yourself up, dust off and take another path. Everyone who doesn’t live under 30 feet of bedrock knows the scene of “The Lord of the Rings” when Gandalf is dangling over the abyss, staring piercingly at the Fellowship. Just before his fingers release and he sweeps into darkness, he rasps: “Fly, you fools.”

“Well, DUH” the frustrated masses scream! Use some of that Middle Earth magic, call up the so-called “neutral” giant eagles and FLY TO MORDOR rather than losing your friends and minds going on foot…or Ent as the case may be. 

Okay? The truth is plain and simple: don’t fight an uphill battle. Do what is going to make your life easier and happier. Scott is a great example of this, and I have so much respect for the man. He is doing what is best for him, and that takes quite a bit of courage. 

It’s funny: we of the enlightened age preach about doing what makes us happy, but while the choice to pick up and walk away from a situation in which we are unhappy, we thwart ourselves by fighting stoically on. People are proud and stubborn. That’s the truth. And many of us are scared of taking an uncertain step in a different direction than the one we’ve set out on. The unknown is scary or exciting depending on perspective and personality. I know I have a hard time with it. 

 

We've had our laughs, and I'll never forget the numerous good times! Scott was the first to propose that everyone would have a serial killer alter-ego based on their pet-peeves. This is the kind of humor you come across with ALTs. 

Scott aka Tiny Dancer: cuts off the feet of people who shuffle when they walk, and leaves a brand new pair of Nike’s by their stumps.

Quiet Justice: pet peeve—inconvenient, noisy, misguided and confused protesters. They die. That’s all you need know.

Noodles: noodle slurpers beware. If your food is good enough to inhale, it’s good enough to choke on.

Red Asphalt: and you thought you knew road rage. 

 So, Scott, I wish you all the best! It was great spending time, camping, hiking, drinking with you and we’re all going to miss the pleasure of your company. But I hope you realize the lasting impact every person has on the lives of the people they meet. You stay outta trouble, you hear?

The Butterfly That Stamped

Vent day. Oh. My. God. I’m getting so frustrated. I’m running a bit of a risk writing about this, but I’m getting freaking annoyed. SO, picture if you will:

There is a wonderful thing in Japanese work culture called the “enkai.” Translation: drinking party. Co-workers gather at a bar or an onsen after work hours for some bonding time. More formal parties start with maybe a speech, everyone shouting “kanpai,” clinking glasses with everyone in the immediate vicinity and then the atmosphere relaxes. The night is passed in copious drinks, eats and jolliness. 

I’ve attended an enkai at another teacher’s house where the atmosphere was very casual: we ate home-cooked and store-bought food, and ended the night singing karaoke (“Sk8r Boi,” thank you very much). 

General rules at an enkai include never pouring your own drink, starting the night sitting formally in a kneeling position then relaxing after the initial “kanpai,” and maintaining decorum. As you may have been reminded again and again by your company, you represent your company and your country so keep it clean! What happens at the enkai stays at the enkai…unless you’re a foreigner and you make an ass of yourself.

I was recently invited to an end-of-semester enkai by one of my schools. The team is meeting at the Hanamaki onsen for bathing and then drinks and food afterwards. I was very excited at the prospect of going…a little apprehensive because since I’m not part of the event pool, I had to pay twice as much as everyone else AND since onsens are naked zones and tattoos are still a bit taboo, my fellow teachers might learn something new about me. 

The big day is July 25^th. The problem: I want to go, but I may or may not have training that day. Now, my original schedule for the year says I’m supposed to have training on the 25^th. A little more than a week ago, I was told my training would be in Kitakami but on the 24^th instead. Joy! I went to the teachers the next day I was at that school and said I would be at the enkai, paid my fee and skipped home happy and giddy. 

That same night, the company scheduler called me and basically said “by the way, nope, you’re going to Morioka on the 25^th for training.” I was very confused, but couldn’t very well tell the person on the phone that I’d already made plans…well, in retrospect, I could have and maybe I should have. But my convoluted brain said “work before play.” 

Starting to get hot under the collar because I was being told different things, I sent a few emails in search of the truth…4 days later I’m still waiting for a reply from the company and from the teachers who invited me. I’m not in a happy place. I either need to be allowed to go on this enkai or I need to get my money back. I’m not in any position to be hemorrhaging yen, especially with summer break coming up, and time is running out! There is so little communication going on between me, the company and the school in question, which is one of my biggest pet peeves! I hate being held in suspense! 

But nothing soothes like the sight of something cute. So today, I took a little “guilt trip” and stopped by my local Homac’s pet shop to gawk at the puppies and kitties. 

Works like a charm. Just look at dose widdle nosies and dose big pwetty eyesies!