Tokyo Metro Observations

There was this American guy and Korean woman in front of me on the train talking about how she some Italian guys had asked her out when she was studying in the language. And for some reason (cough:blindingjealousy:cough), he couldn't understand that she had said no and therefore didn't go out with them. I wanted to spell it out for the moron. ::roll eyes::

I didn't like the way he talked to her. He seemed aggressive and accusatory in his tone. I hope that was just the wrong impression I got, and that he's really a lot nicer to her.

Ahh! Massage!

I wrote this two days ago, on Thursday, but didn't finish it until now.

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Got a 30-min massage during my lunch break and so had no time for lunch. :T I munched on snacks to keep my stomach from growling. Next time, I'm making an appt or going after work, since they're open until 11 pm.

I didn't have an appt, so I had to wait. But I'm definitely going to be a regular here...expert hands at ¥2,500 for 30 mins?! Definitely won't find prices like these in Tokyo. The only thing I don't like was that it was just a big room with curtains separating the massage beds. I don't like those places because you can hear everyone, and it's hard to relax.

And the other (strange yet interesting) thing that I noticed was that when the husband spoke to me in Chinese, he spoke very loudly, like how most (many?) Chinese people speak in restaurants, with their families and friends--and I say this as a Chinese/Taiwanese person. But when he spoke in Japanese to his customer, whom he was treating when I walked in to the establishment, he spoke much more quietly and soothingly. I'd much prefer the latter for relaxation.

The owners were a Chinese couple who have been in Japan for 10 years. I talked a bit with the wife, who treated me, during the massage about why I was in Japan, how long I've been here, where I'm from, etc.

It's so sad, but now I can write my name in katakana, but no longer in Chinese. The husband said, "We'll teach you!" The wife wrote down a character and asked if that was the right "Pei" (in "Pei-chee"), and I said "Yes! That's it." The husband thought it was funny that I could only recognize the characters in my name, but not write it.

In the end, the wife gave me a coupon for ¥1,000 off the next massage. That was pretty amazing, since i only spent ¥2,500, and will already be able to get a big discount. most places in Tokyo don't offer any discounts for repeat customers, maybe only 10% off or ¥1,000 off a ¥6,000+ massage if you're a first-time customer. (I guess those places care more about getting customers, but not keeping them.)

She also wrote her cell number on a business card and said I could call any time to make an appt or if I had problems with Chinese or Japanese. I think she was offering to translate if I ran into any problems, but I'm not sure, because she spoke in Chinese, and I only sort of understood what she said. Sigh. I really gotta beef up my language skills.

Happy

I'd been struggling for several weeks with some classes that I teach, especially one of four 4-year-old boys. They were so loud and out of control; I felt really helpless and at a loss. It was terrible because the kids' moms were all watching me fail to control and teach their kids.

I'd been wanting to observe a colleague--any colleague's--classes to see how they handle such difficult situations, but when I'm in school, I'm always teaching when they are.

I'd started chanting to become a better teacher, for he happiness of my students, especially the ones I'd been having a hard time with (and no, it's not easy to chant for people you can't stand).

On Thursday, I went to an SGI meeting that I was fortunate enough to attend because it happened to be a national holiday, which meant I had the day off instead of working 2-10 pm like usual.

At the meeting, I expressed how much difficulty I'd been having with some of my students, and how I couldn't stand them. One senior member said, "The key that you keep saying is 'I can't stand them.' That means it's not them; it's you. You're allowing them to get to you. You should chant to raise your life-condition so that they can't get to you no matter what they do."

My initial reaction, though I didn't show it, was self-defensiveness and denial. How could these brats' behaviors be my fault? But I knew that the member was right--my environment is a reflection of my life-condition, and I *should* chant to be able to--as I've heard somewhere--to be calm even in such a situation as carrying a bale of burning hay on my back or sitting on a block of ice.

Another member, Pochak, gestured to two other members, Camilo and Oliver, as people who have also struggled with having difficult people in their environment.

Camilo--whose eye I kept catching at the study course a few weekends ago for some reason but whom I didn't talk to while there--came up to me after the meeting and invited me to observe his class at the pre-school where he teaches. Just what I was looking for! (But he also mentioned having coffee, which unnerved me a little because I just mentioned my bf at that meeting).

Anyway, we met up today to talk about my classes. What I learned from him was like the bridge between the highly idealistic theories I'd been thinking and reading about in President Ikeda's book, "Soka Education," and my reality.

Even though my school has a policy of not touching the students (thanks to fears--real and imagined--of inappropriate conduct) and I am personally not comfortable about hugging kids who are not my relatives or not crying, for example, Camilo said that hugs are very important. It shrinks the distance between teacher and student. I wanted to try this today, but didn't get to it.

He also said that his role as a teacher isn't just to transmit knowledge or to give information. Students can get that from books on their own.

His role is to teach values like compassion, respect, and consideration, to have the ability to say "I'm sorry" when they do something hurtful and to understand why they're saying it.

Basically, the subject you teach is not the goal, but a means to teaching these values.

He said his students write letters (as much as they can, anyway, since they're only four), saying, "I love Teacher Cam." I'm envious, but more than that, I want to be that kind of teacher--whom kids love and respect, because I also love, respect and trust them.

My "infant" class today (the school calls them "infant classes," even though the students are actually toddlers and young children), which I'd been dreading right until I walked into the classroom, actually turned out much better than usual. It was almost eerie how well-behaved they were, how responsive, and much more quiet (there are two who love shouting their answers), than I'd ever seen them.

And, I had a chance to teach compassion: When Yusuke took all the letters of the alphabet foam board and left he other two scrambling to wrest some from his grip, I said, "Yusuke, stop (and he actually stopped!). Look. How many do you have? (and I counted 1-2-3-4-5-6). You have six. How many does Aoi have? (and I showed Aoi's hands). Zero. How many does Ryunosuke have? (and I showed Ryunosuke's hands). Zero. Ok, give two and two." And be actually did it!

Normally, he would just do whatever he wanted and I wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. It was always physically and mentally exhausting to try to capture their attention, make them stop fighting, make them share, etc. But I didn't have any of those problems today. It was amazing.

I want to chant more and get more results like this.

I'm surprised that I'm able to see results this soon after chanting. That must mean I'm doing my human revolution, which means I'm changing my karma, which means I'll be able to move on and get a better job sooner rather than later. Yippee!

Relief

I've been worried about my parents' financial situation recently, because have recently closed one of their two offices, and will soon be closing the other one. That meant they would both be out of a job and without a source of income, I thought.

So I worried about whether or not my brother and I would need to give them money, and if so, how much they would need, and if we could actually be able to help them.

Toward the Buddhist study course this past weekend, I read some things from President Ikeda and while at the course, also received guidance from a senior in faith, that encouraged me and gave me more confidence about the situation.

Taking the senior leader's words to heart, I emailed my dad with some of President Ikeda's guidance. The email, along with my dad's response, follows below.

From: Peggy
To: Patrick
Cc: Ray [my brother]
Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2011 10:50 PM
Subject: Guidance

Hi Dad,

How are you? I just got back last night from a study conference in Ito, on the Izu Peninsula (where Nichiren Daishonin had been exiled). It's kind of like FNCC, but only two days instead of four. I learned a lot and made new friends. I have a renewed determination to chant more and do my human revolution.

Before the course, I'd been asking myself why you and Mom have to face this difficult financial situation you are now in, especially after so many years of sincere practice.

But the following guidance from President Ikeda explained it very well for me:

"We all have our own karma or destiny. But when we look it square in the face and grasp its true significance, then any hardship can serve to help us lead more rich and profound lives. And our actions in battling our destiny become an example and inspiration for countless others. In other words, when we change our karma to mission, we transform our destiny from playing a negative role to a positive one. Anyone who changes their karma into their mission is a person who has 'voluntarily assumed the appropriate karma.' Therefore, those who keep advancing, while regarding everything as part of their mission, proceed toward the goal of transforming their destiny."

Also, President Ikeda said:

"Life is full of unexpected suffering. Even so, Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'If you can live through that [a difficult situation], you can live through anything. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I've lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'' That's exactly right. Struggling against great difficulty enables us to develop ourselves tremendously. We then call forth and manifest those abilities dormant within us. Difficulty can then be a source of dynamic new growth and positive progress" (Faith into Action, p.107).

This guidance reminded of the period when you and mom had a million dollars of debt, and you were able to overcome that situation. Because of that experience, I know you can change poison into medicine in your current situation as well.

At the course this past weekend, I had a chance to ask my about our family's financial situation at a Q&A session with WD leader Mrs. Yokota.

She said*: "The economy is depressed globally, but we must never lose confidence that we can change poison into medicine. President Ikeda said that it is during challenging times that we can move the universe to manifest as shoten zenjin [protective forces]. We must continue to chant until the poison has changed to medicine. But we can't make this happen with a weak, wobbly attitude or with a strong determination that lasts only a short while. This will be a time of perseverance and patience. Be confident that you will win in the end."

Please share this with Mom. I am chanting for you both.

Love,
Peggy

* [She also said, "It is during times of struggle when we can develop close family ties," which is something I've been trying to figure out how to do for awhile now. But I didn't share this part with my dad because it's a weird self-conscious thing to do.]

On Oct 24, 2011, at 10:43 PM, Patrick Chen wrote:

Hi,

Peggy,

Thanks for sharing the guidance you received with us. True, we both have had financial karma. We have overcome it and changed into today's situation. Right now, we are okay without owing [money] to anyone. Instead, we have invested in the net-leased property [and will be receiving enough income to live on]. On top of all these I am continuing to do the real estate and import business....I believe we will be okay. We will have more time to do Kosen Rufu [participate in Buddhist activites] for sure.

We both determin to [c]hant lot more, especially after returning form FNCC we have learned so many people overcame obstacles one after another by chanting millions of Daimoku. To tell the truth I have never made determination to chant 1 million in three months (3 hours a day) yet.

Thanks for your concern about us. We are okay. Nothing to worry. Actually, you should worry about yourself: when you are gonna getting married. You are approaching 32 soon.

Regards,

Dad

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I am so relieved my getting married is my parents' biggest concern. I was really worried that they wouldn't be able to survive without some serious financial support from my brother and/or me.

The marriage question is something I've been thinking about for awhile. What I learned this past weekend was that you have to decide that you want to get married, that is, you have to make a determination that you want to marry a particular person, at or by a particular time.

Otherwise, like with anything else in life, if you just have a vague sense that you want to do something, you'll be waiting a long time for something that may or may not happen. "Be determined! Chant and take action!" That's the take-away message I got from this past weekend.

I want to get married and have kids, but one of the reasons this hasn't happened yet is that I feel like I haven't even established a career yet. I'm thinking of getting a Masters in Education so I can teach English literature. I don't want to go from job to random job, then enter parenthood, at which time I'd have to put on hold any progress or pursuit of a career for many years.

I got to talk to a few Women's Division members about this, and I'm glad I did. One of them encouraged me to pursue my education first, because it's a lot harder with kids--which means, if I want to have kids before I get too old, I need to take action NOW.

Many members have mentioned the education program at Soka University in Japan. I never knew that they had so many different programs, and many in English, too. Since I started working at this "assembly-line" teaching job, I've become more interested in Soka Education.

Soka education is humanistic and treats students as individuals with great potential, who should be inspired to be creative and to think creatively--basically, the antithesis of a traditional Japanese education.

Growing up as an SGI member, I'd always known that it's first president, Makiguchi, was an educator who first applied the Buddhist principles to his classrooms in response to the factory-like approach to education in place at the time, in the 1920s.

But it has been by teaching Japanese students and experiencing the sadness that is the Japanese education system that I have really begun to understand and appreciate Makiguchi's situation and efforts.

Some of my students don't have an opinion whatsoever on whether or not they like something. For example, for a question like "Do you like camping?", some don't know whether to answer "yes" or "no," and even among those who can say that much, most can't explain why they do or don't like it, and it's not always for a lack of language ability. It's just sad.

I think there's a better approach to education, and Soka education is definitely a better one.

The Pursuit of Happyness

The other day, I went to an SGI meeting at a member's home. It was in a luxury building in Akasaka, Tokyo. The first 15 floors are offices, I think, because to get to the apartment, I had to take an elevator to the lobby on the 16th floor, then take another elevator from there to the 24th floor.

Eeven though I saw only the living room, I know the apartment was really nice. I went home and looked up he rent for an apartment in this building. The rent for a 3-bedroom for one month was my salary for a full year.

I wanted to be like Will Smith's character in "The Pursuit of Happyness," where he asks the guy in the luxury car what he did for a living to get that.

Left Behind

Just realized today that among my close group of college friends, I'm the only one left who has been in a long-term relationship AND isn't either engaged or married, minus the one friend who doesn't want to get married.

I should be happy for them, and I am. But I'm also a little depressed. :T

London

I wrote the following when I was London this past week (Wed 9/6 - Tues 9/13).
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During my brief layover at Paris De Gaulle airport, I realized that French men are very tall and some are quite good-looking. Or maybe it was their accent that made them seem better-looking than they really were. :p A lot of dorks probably get women that way.

I want to visit Paris properly one day, with Vence. I think it'll be very romantic, even of it is cliche.

London has many more immigrants than I had pictured. All those Hollywood movies led me to believe that it was populated with Caucasians, but the ridiculously long line at immigration upon arrival at Heathrow was my first hint that this wasn't the case.

Then the trains between North London and Southwest London were also full of people speaking Arabic, Hindi and other Southeast Asian languages. There are also many tourists (and residents too, probably) from China and Hong Kong.

London has many annoying sounds -- the annoying and insistent beeps of airport-staff driven carts at Heathrow airport; the equally annoying and high-pitched beeps of the subway (The Tube) as the doors close. Why couldn't they play cheerful melodies like Japanese trains do?

London has many beautiful sounds--the British accent, especially from those who are dark-skinned, whom I least expect to have British accents.

London has many beautiful sights, including the posh and well-dressed men and women.

London also has many ugly sights, including strange fashions on the (generally) less-beautiful men and women. I know this probably sounds terrible, but some Brits are really not good-looking by any stretch of the imagination--maybe my expectations were too high.

I didn't expect to see garbage in the subways (I think I have been spoiled by the ultra-clean Japanese environment), the prevalence of newspapers and/or magazines on the train seats, which might have been for the better since there's no free wi-fi on the trains like in Japan. Oh, I can already see that I'm gonna have a hard time living anywhere else after Tokyo.

Some interesting observations: British men are very tall, but the ceilings in The Tube trains are not. The ceilings only reach full height at the middle; the sides (along the length of train) are slanted, like in some top-floor/attic apartments, probably because the tunnels were built so narrowly a hundred years ago.

There's a lot of advertising in the subway: framed posters and prints dot the hallways, staircase and escalator shafts, and portions of tunnels in front of the platforms. Interestingly, there are many more ads for movies, plays, and musicals than in Tokyo. The latter has more advertising from small, local businesses.

Apparently, there's a musical version now of "Ghost," the famous movie that starred Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze in the late '80s. I'm kind of curious.

It's already autumn in London, so everyone is wearing coats and jackets, but sometimes just t-shirts and shorts (on women, with or without tights). A lot fewer women wear heels, especially very high heels, as compared to Tokyo. it's amazing that Tokyo women can still walk by the end of the day, especially given that they have so much more to walk to and at train stations. They even shop in those things. Me, I can barely handle a two-hour party in medium-high heels and 10 minutes in the kind of shoes that I've seen them wear.

In NYC, we have the "If you see something, say something" campaign in the subways and buses. In London, they ask commuters to report anything suspicious to a "member of staff." (I think it's funny that the Brits drop off articles like "the" in cases like this, or treat some words as singular when Americans view them as plural, and vice versa. It's English, but it still sounds funny to me.)

Speaking of suspicious-looking bags, when Wanjin, Chun-Hao and I were at Waterloo Station, there was an unclaimed bookbag on the bench we were sitting on. When a woman asked if the bag belonged to us and we said no, she actually reported it. One of the Tube employees came, unzipped it to peek inside, and removed it.

I was surprised the woman actually reported it, but maybe the bombings had shaken up the people more than New Yorkers were by 9/11. But I guess the difference is that the London bombing was in the subway while 9/11 was in skyscrapers. I know someone who was a journalism intern in NY at the time, and she had to interview people in the aftermath. She has since developed a phobia of flying.

// Now at Carlton Mitre Hotel- I'm a little frightened by the security at this hotel. They gave my room key to my relatives when they checked in. That means anyone claiming to be my relatives could just get my room key and go in my room. There's a reason why most hotels ask to see the credit you used to book the room with, as a means of ID and security. It's a little creepy.

On the upside, the hotel itself is really nice, with plush pillows, thick fluffy towels and slippers, wood furniture, and free minibar! Too bad I don't drink anymore. And the hallway carpet could seriously use updating--it looks black in the center, where guests have walked on for probably the past decade.

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All in all, a good trip. I wish I could have seen more, but I thought it would be enough to tag along with whatever itinerary my cousins had planned for their parents. It didn't really pan out that way, so I only saw Big Ben and Westminster Abbey from the outside, and took a trip on the London Eye. The latter was about half an hour long, and a cool experience, but a little boring after about 15 minutes. I mean, how long can you marvel at the same sights, even if they are from different angles and heights? It was £15 or so, so I'm not sure I'd do it again.

There was a group of Irish (I think, or maybe some other part of England) women in the same "pod" of the Eye as me, and I know they were speaking English, but I couldn't understand a freaking thing. Accents are so interesting.

I want to go back to London for a visit. What little I've had of British cuisine was generally unimpressive (the fish of "fish and chips" was great, but the chips were just thick-cut french fries, not particularly well seasoned, nor was it at all crispy.

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Have I mentioned how much I hate Resona Bank? Long rant but god dammit, I fucking hate Japanese bureaucracy. It doesn't make any freaking sense.

Off to London I Go!

Didn't shower or sleep last night (should've gotten up to shower since I was awake anyway). Mad rush in and out of the bathroom, to the airport this morning. So many people! Is this what rush hour looks like?

Sorry if I stink, fellow commuters, but it's a bitch to carry the suitcase and big bookbag up and down so many flights.

Since I slept maybe only 3 hours last night, I hope I can catch some zzs on the plane--7 hours to Paris, then one hour layover before flight to London.

Banking in Japan

Sometimes I really hate Japan and all its bureaucratic bullshit.

The school's manager of foreign teachers said I had to open an account with Saitama Resona Bank, in Saitama, "so the school doesn't get charged a fee."

So I had to open an account at Saitama Resona Bank--not to be confused with Resona Bank even though they have the same parent company, colors and logo. And no, this is not something that the manager mentioned. I only know this because it came up in passing during a conversation with a Japanese teacher.

The first time I tried to open an account, I was told I needed a hanko (personal ink seal), even though many banks now accept signatures, especially from foreigners who have never even seen a hanko before in their lives.

Since I was on break at work at Kawaguchi, I only had time to place an order for one, to be picked up the next day.

Second time was after I picked up my hanko the next day (all the way in Kawaguchi). The bank was closed even though I had checked the hours the day before and could have sworn it was going to be open. Then I had to rush to work in Omiya.

The third time, in Ageo, even though the nice lady at the information counter had a chart in English with a list of documents I'd need, the one providing service didn't actually speak English, so she had to get someone else to help. The second person told me I should come in with someone who could read and speak Japanese because all their forms are in Japanese.

I have never asked my (non-teacher) friends to help me because we don't have the same day off. And I wasn't about to ask a colleague to go with me to Saitama on their day off just so I could open a stupid account. And while I'm in Saitama, I'm working, and so are the other teachers and managers, so who could help me, really?

But then, when I went to pick up my paycheck at the main school last time, Mr. Azuma in accounting said I can open the account near my home, and he knows I live in Minato-ku. Why didn't anyone tell me this before?

So today, I decided I'd go to Azabu Juban because it's close to my home and next to Roppongi, which has the highest concentration of foreigners in Tokyo. So they should speak English, right? No. And not only that, they told me to open an account at Mitsubishi Bank next door instead, because they would be able to provide services in English, which would be all well and good for any other person, but my stupid school has to use *this* bank. And this, after I told them I *had* to open an account with their bank, because my school uses it for payroll.

I swear, sometimes I fucking hate Japan.

When I was registering at a cooking school (not even an accredited or degreed program; just an hobbyist program), I had to fill out an application with my employment info, including employer address and phone number, my name and address in English and furigana (and no, my friend couldn't just write it for me; she had to write it separately first for me to copy), and my birth year according to the emperor/era. So much bullshit for an application where the money must be paid in full in three days' time anyway; not like there was credit being issued and a card or account would be charged on a monthly basis, like for a cell phone or Internet account.

Like I said, a lot of bureaucratic bullshit.

Going to London!

I'm going to London for my cousin Wanyu's wedding. She and her sister have been living in London off and on for the past few years, and both want to make it their home.

I haven't mentioned them much to my friends because these cousins were born and raised in Taiwan, so I was never close with them.

I'd see them for a day or two whenever I visited Taiwan, but that was six times in my entire life. I got to see them this past May, when I went to see my grandma, who was really sick. My grandma got better, and I got to see my cousins, some of whom I hadn't seen in 15 years.

I'm honored that WanYu even invited me to her wedding because we were never close, and maybe she did so only because of family obligation. But we've been messaging each other on Facebook a few times a week to plan to accommodations and other details of my stay in London. She's so helpful and patient. I think I'd be really annoyed if someone had a million questions when it was so near my wedding; I'd be super stressed out.

I'm grateful for this opportunity to become close to her. I hope our friendship grows even more, and that I'll be able to do the same with her sister, brother, and my other cousins.

I'd always envied those people who had big family reunions and got to see each other at least once or twice a year, for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I'd had a big family in the form of the SGI members in NYC, but since I've been moving around so much these past few years and some of my closest SGI friends had moved back to their native countries.

Or things had changed between my NY-SGI friends and me because I had been away for so long, and was no longer in that routine of going to activities with them, eating with them afterward, and hanging out together.

I don't usually handle change well, especially when it comes to my relationships. But I guess that's life.

I'm very appreciative of the fact that I could see my cousin Shirley and our very good friend Amy when I was in NY, even if it required me to drive two hours to NJ or Philly to do so. I kind of got used to the drive.

Anyway, I'm excited about going to London. I'd never been there before, and this will be the first time I'm seeing my relatives outside of Taiwan and the US.

I was a little worried about the flight, though, since he only ones that the travel agency and I could find were either a direct flight with Virgin Atlantic for ¥195,000 (just take off the last two zeros for USD equivalent), or the cheapest indirect flight for ¥30,000 less with Singapore Air, but which would more than double the travel time, from 12 to 26 hours *each way.* (There were some other flights, but the prices and times weren't much better).

I'd seriously considered the latter, because Koko said that when he'd had a long layover at Singapore airport a few years ago, they had all these free amenities like video games, massage chairs, etc. They even have a special bus tour for transit passengers (is that the right word?), where they drive you around the city but don't let you off because you don't have a visa. I hope they have bathrooms on those buses.

But then I remembered having to sit on a 12-hour flight for a week-long trip (NY-Hawaii in 2005), and it was really torture.

I decided I was going to bite the bullet and take the Virgin Atlantic flight, but when I called to the travel agency today, they said that flight was gone. I was kind of pissed because they told me I could wait until two days before departure to book it.

I went to the travel agency's office later and got a better option: an indirect flight with Air France with a 45-min layover going and 50-min returning for almost ¥20,000 less than Virgin's direct flight. And it's only ¥16,000 more than the Singapore Air flight with the 6- and 2-hr layovers. The flight times are better too. I'd avoid rush hour when I arrive and leave London. I'd probably be squished on the trains when I arrive back in Tokyo, though, because my flight arrives around 9 am. But that's ok. At least I'm not hurrying to catch a flight at that point.

Whew! What a load off my back. There was a Travelex near the travel agency so I even exchanged some yen for pounds. I hope I have enough.

Sigh. I feel exhausted already, and my workday hasn't even begun yet. I'm starting work in a little less than 20 minutes, so I hope this local train gets me there on time. I'm starting to work at the Fujimino school on Fridays, taking over the classes of a teacher who left recently.

I hope I can teach at schools closer to me. I want to get home early enough to make and eat dinner, instead of skipping it altogether, as I have been doing for most of the past four months that I've been working. But I've been trying to eat dinner more regularly, and packing fruit in my lunch bag to munch on a few hours after lunch. I feel a lot better mentally and physically after that. I wish there were more fruit smoothie places; I'm sick of eating bananas and don't have time to blend this and that every morning. I need to find a better way.

Well, I guess these are things I can chant about--especially about being assigned to closer schools. I'm so envious of my colleague, Cynthia. She lives within walking distance from a school where she teaches twice a week, and she only spends ¥3,000/month on transportation. Remember that in Japan, the amount of money you spend is a factor of distance (generally), so the father it is, the more money you'll spend. I usually spend ¥23,000/month on the train.

Anyway...London!

Rajio Taiso

For my school's outing (actually an intense English immersion program called "boot camp"), we've doing "rajio taiso" every day at 6:40 AM. Way too freaking early, but it does wake your body up and stretch stiff muscles. 

"Rajio Taiso" ("radio calisthenics") is a Japanese national calisthenics program broadcast by NHK radio. It's done at many schools and companies first thing in the morning. 

It's probably good to do this kind of thing every morning and afternoon or evening, especially after sleeping on a lumpy bed or sitting all day in front of a computer.

According to Wiki:

"Rajio taisō were introduced to Japan in 1928 as a commemoration of the coronation of Emperor Hirohito.^[1] The idea for radio broadcast calisthenics came from the US, where during the 1920s the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. sponsored 15-minute radio calisthenics in major cities in the US. Visiting employees of the Japanese postal insurance division brought samples of the exercises from the US back to Japan.^[1] The exercises were widely used to improve the health of Japanese soldiers both at home and abroad during the 1930s and 1940s. The exercises were introduced to several other pacific nations, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia during Japan's colonization period.

"After Japan's defeat in 1945, the broadcasts were banned by the occupying powers as being too militaristic in nature.

"After several rewrites to the exercise routine, it was reintroduced by NHK radio in 1951 with the support of the education ministry, health ministry, the Japan Gymnastic Association and the Japan Recreation Association."

Strange Dream

I had a dream last night, but the context was that it was a movie based on a book called "On the Centennial Anniversary of Great Aunt's Passing," which doesn't exist in real life.

And somehow, I was the main character, whose late great-aunt hadn't died 100 years before, but had just turned 98 when she died. Apparently, she had a much younger, denim vest-wearing boyfriend who was asking me (!) for her hand in marriage shortly before she died, but I refused. I think it was because I didn't want her to get her hopes up and have a happy but short-lived marriage since she was dying soon anyway. Also, I didn't trust the guy for some reason.

It's about cultural and generational gaps about a Japanese-American family.

Now I know what artists mean when they say that their work "came to them in a dream." So strange!

Whew!

My grandma is fine. Whew! My mom was just calling cuz we hadn't talked in awhile. I told her to please just leave a message next time, after the stream of Japanese and the beep. She said, "Oh! I always just hang up when I hear the Japanese!"

On the edge...

My grandmother was really sick this past May (the doctors were giving her a matter of days), and although she made a complete recovery, now, every time I get a few missed calls from an international number, I think it's my parents, calling to give me the bad news. :T

I had 3 missed calls tonight, around 9:15, 9:30, and 10:50. I have to wait another 20 or so minutes until I can get home and call back. :T So stressful.

There must be something wrong with me

In the middle of the night last night, I woke up wondering why it was so freaking hot, since I'd turned on the A/C. I looked at the remote and saw that I'd mistakenly turned on the heat instead! (In my defense, everything is written in Japanese, so I looked for the mode with two Chinese characters that meant cold air, or something.) I'd even turned the temp up from 25 to 30 degrees Celsius! How does stuff like this keep happening to me?!

Late Again :(

I'm going to be late for work--again. I've already been late 8 times since I started this job at the end of April. I'm really bad about punctuality, and it doesn't help that I have to take 2-3 trains to get to the schools. So if I miss one train, it throws me off and creates a domino effect.

For every three infractions incurred (including lateness and not calling when you're going to be late), you have to sign a written warning. After two written warnings, you lose your bonus (about $200 at the end of the year). Starting with the third written warning, the school starts deducting a day's pay. I've already signed my third written warning and with today's lateness, I am just one more away from my fourth warning. Sigh. And I was just talking to Myungeun yesterday about this and how I've been trying to be on time more.

She said doing gongyo and chanting even 10 minutes in the morning really helps. I haven't chanted much in the past two months. I think I did gongyo like once. I did it the other day; it seemed that thugs went a little more smoothly, like not having to wait for the elevator, no crowd on the train, etc. I should start doing it again, more consistently. I keep missing the train, taking the wrong one, or taking the right one and getting off at the wrong stop.

The trains usually announce the upcoming stop right after leaving the current one and make another announcement when that stop has arrived. A few weeks ago, I was listening to my music and thought the announcement for "This is Azabu Juban" had been been a while back, so I got off at the next stop, thinking it was my stop.

I thought the escalator layout was a little different and walked all the way up, past everyone else who was in the "standing lane" before I realized that it was the wrong station. So I had to take the escalator back down (and see some of the people I had pushed past) to wait for the next train.

On Friday night, I'd set my alarm clock for 10 (changing it from one that had been set for 6:15 pm), and forgot to change the pm to am. So I didn't wake up until 12 noon, when Koko woke me up and asked when I had to be at work. I had to be on the train already. x_X I was about 50 minutes late, and was almost late for my first class. If you miss your first class, they deduct half a day's pay. :T

Tanabata - Star Festival

This was what one of my students, Tomoki, wished for, for Tanabata. Before he got one of the Japanese teachers to translate what he wanted to say, he had drawn a similar picture on the board, but with a mole on the character's face, a fat body, and sticks for arms and legs.

Tomoki had also tried to get Kanta, a male classmate, to act out what he wanted to say. No wonder Kanta kept saying no and trying to run away. With Tomoki pulling his arm and Kanta trying to get away, I thought his arm was going to break off.

Tanabata, I'm told, is the holiday that celebrates the one day a year that Orihime (Weaving Princess, a heavenly being) and Hikoboshi (Cow Herder Star, a name which my pre-schoolers yesterday found hilarious), a mortal, could meet after having been forcibly separated by her father.

To celebrate, people write wishes on colorful pieces of paper and tie them to a bamboo tree or, in urban areas, some other tree (or "tree") of what looks like dried tree branches with long, feathery leaves. The trees are set up at public places like train stations, department stores, and English conversation schools like the one where I teach.

This holiday actually comes from Chinese culture, where it's called QiXi Jie (or Qing Ren Jie or, Lovers' Day) and celebrated according to the lunar calendar. Somehow, I remember food, like bah-tsang (or jungzi) being involved. But that have been another holiday.

In any case, Tanabata is celebrates on the seventh day of the seventh month, and since the Japanese use the Gregorian calendar for many holidays, it was on July 7th. Chinese and other people who use the lunar calendar for holidays will celebrate it this year on August 6th.

Stupid Jumpers

This is one of two nights a week I have diner with Koko (and it's only 3 nights this week because I'm subbing for a teacher who works from 10-7 rather than the usual 1-9 or 2-10). And I get off the wrong stop (again!! this keeps happening more and more often). I thought he announcement said Ikebukuro but it was Ukifumado.

The next train came not 15 mins later like it was supposed to, but nearly 30. Then we stop two stations later while the conductor makes an extremely long announcement. Then the final destination changes to from Shinjuku to Akabane. At this rate, I'll get home close to my usual time, without dinner! :( I hate the Saikyo line! Stupid jumpers! Why can't you do it in a way that won't affect anyone else?!

Closed! :(

I had heard many good things about a pizzeria in Oji (30 minutes north of me where I transfer to go to some of my schools). The only NY-style pizza in the greater Tokyo area. I was gonna go straight from Omiya to Shinjuku when I decided today was gonna be the day that I finally try this pizza.

Then I got there and saw the gate closed, and this sign posted. I can't read it except the first part, which I'm guessing is "Esteemed Customers" (which phrase the Japanese use for customers in a store, on the train, etc) and the last part, which I think is Roccozu Pitza.

I think I see the character for "eki" or station there. Did they move to (near) another train station? Or maybe it says "thank you" because the last few characters of the second line says "gozaimasu" and I only know that to be used with "Arigato." This is the kind of patchwork reading/guessing I do all the time here, by the way.

Missed My Chance!

Oh dammit- I just realized that he last bill in my wallet that I counted wasn't a 1,000-yen note but 5,000 (yen notes are not numbered on all four corners like dollars are). So I could have gone to the buffet after all. :T Ah well. Maybe next time.

Another Day, Another Quiche

I am at Dean and Deluca at Shinagawa station, enjoying this lovely onion and smoked salmon quiche. I am going to the immigration again, this time to pick up my work visa (yay!), but they are closed for an hour for lunch so I am having--well, brunch, really--here.

My first choice would have been the buffet at Shinagawa Prince Hotel, which I heard was amazing. But I don't have enough money (it's 2,500 yen for lunch and 5,000 for dinner), especially since I have to spend 4,000 buying a revenue stamp (I think that's something like a money order) for the visa process later.

Today, I have to do a million things:

* Pick up my visa in Shinagawa (30 mins south of my home by train and bus)

* Pick up my monthly salary in Higashi Miyahara (an hour north of here)

* Get a cheap haircut somewhere, anywhere. Koko has been complaining that I've been shedding so much, maybe because it's hot, so I tie up my hair in a bun every day, and when I undo it, a bunch of hair comes out. I always shed hair, but not this much. I'm not going bald; I just have too much hair! I think it'll be good to chop off a few inches. Tokyo is getting too hot for this shit.

* Buy dress pants

* Buy dress shoes (flats)

* Meet my young women's leader to get some application from her

* Go to Shinjuku and check out the huge 100-yen shop there for knick-knacks to use in my classes

* Check out the second-hand shop in Shinjuku San Chome to see if it has any nice men's bags. Koko wanted to buy a bag for work and after many days of looking everywhere, including the expensive department stores in Tokyo (SOGO, Queen's Isetan, Takashimaya, etc), the only one he liked was a Bottega Veneta tha cost $3,000--yes, USD.

So I'm going to try to find something similar at the what the Japanese call a "recycle shop." The one I want to go to is one I've passed a few times before and snubbed, because well, I could care less about buying Prada, Gucci, etc. But apparently Koko has more expensive taste, haha.

Well, he's not like that most of the time (his casual clothes are from places like Uniqlo, the GAP of Japan). I want to get him something nice for his birthday because it's the first that since we started dating (5 years ago) that I'm working full-time with a decent salary. But I don't know about buying a bag that costs more than my monthly salary.

What It Means to Have a Tiny Fridge

It means stress. It means not being able to buy groceries for the week in one trip--not that I could carry everything in my two arms or in my bookbag anyway, since we don't have a car or even a "grandma cart" here, which no one actually has here. The only "grandma carts" hey have here are the ones with little seats on the top, and the carrying capacity is less than what I could carry myself, unless something was small and heavy, of course.

Having a tiny fridge also means having to buy a cooler (or two or three) for our BBQ tomorrow, which Koko thought it was so easy to have. He had actually invited our friends over last Sunday but we had to postpone it because we had already accepted an invitation to my colleagues' joint birthday party.

I've spent all week thinking about the things I'd need to prepare for it. Koko is good at planning things like budgets, career and education goals, but he has no idea how much work it takes to host a BBQ.

This is like the time in California when he thought it would be a good idea to have his colleagues come over right after work one day for a BBQ. That meant I had to prepare everything myself--buying and marinating the skewers (the wooden sticks for which must first be soaked for half an hour), marinating the chicken wingettes and drummettes, making the burgers, making sure hat I buy fish and veggie burgers incase someone didn't eat meat, making the iced tea, etc.

Now I only have one day to do all this, and I have to cut back on the kinds of foods, because I don't have a pan or container big enough for skewers and don't know if I'll have time to make them even if I did.

I wanted to make a salad earlier this week (as well as to buy some grilling veggies and cheese) and they took up the whole fridge, as you can see in the picture. We'll have to buy a cooler or two, depending on the size, to store he raw meat until it's ready to go on the grill.

We'll also need a small, foldable table, like the ones most Koreans have in their homes, or like what Japanese have for--I'm assuming--tea, since they call it chabudai.

Oh crap, and plates, utensils, napkins and cups.

Sigh.

I love making food and having people over, but it always stresses me out, especially when there's a ton of stuff to do and to buy, and no time or space to do it in. :T

Freaking Hot and Humid

This is the fan I was using all day at the office and on the train this afternoon. It says "Bambi" on it in stylized katakana, one of the two Japanese syllabary or alphabet systems. I'd switched from a bigger one so I could use it on the train without hitting the person next to me, but it's so small as to be almost completely useless.

It's so freaking hot and humid. And it's only June. It probably wouldn't be this bad if Japan weren't "setsu-den"ing (saving electricity) now, but...I feel like I'm gonna pass out. My face flushed just from walking to the train station earlier today in the mid-day sun. I think something like 600 people were admitted to the hospital two days ago for heat stroke.

After stewing all day in my own juices, I am now on the train where there is at least some air-con. it was supposedly on at the school today, but the windows' letting in so much sunlight, the relatively high A/C temp (28 degrees Celsius), and the big space all combined to make it feel like it wasn't on at all.

I only spent three or so hours in an A/C'ed room today:

* 1-1.5 hours while recording the audio tracks for the school's self-produced textbook. (If you ever wonder why the dialogue tracks on language-learning CDs are so lame, blame the textbook writer, not the speakers!)

* One hour while eating lunch

* One hour while teaching

I would've taught more classes if the senior teacher today let me, if only to be in an A/C'ed room. Heck, I would have taught all six of his classes. But I couldn't, because he was training someone and either letting the trainee observe or teach in most of his classes.

I'd like to think that the reason this train reeks of sweat isn't me, but I can't be sure. I am so hot and sweaty, I want to drink a gallon of iced tea while standing under a cold shower, then replace all the blood in my body with said iced tea. x_X

These days, when I get home from work, I'm so disgustingly hot and sweaty that I literally peel off everything (yes, literally, since everything is stuck on my skin, I can't just slip out of my skirt or shirt; I have to peel them off) as soon as I step in the door and jump in the shower.

There's no amount of wet wipes (of which we have large sizes, and many) that would get rid of the stickiness. I need to start carrying wet wipes with me so I can wipe down when I get to work.

I had to go to the bathroom as soon as I got to work today (not for the usual reasons), but to splash some cold water on my face. I don't know how women are still wearing all that makeup. Mine would have melted into a brown puddle onto my shirt.

Ugh.

Ok. Enough complaining about the weather. For now. I

I'm gonna read my Murakami book and hope it takes me to a faraway and cool place. Like a cave. Filled with iced tea.

It's 86 and Melty

It's freaking hot in Tokyo now. But it's not just the heat; it's the humidity. And don't forget that Japan is made up of islands, so anywhere you go in Japan is gonna be sticky.

I'm wearing a skirt and pantyhose (you'd think that for something so thin and see-through, it'd be cool, but it's just like wearing a blanket on your legs). Instead of my usual thin, knit top, I'm wearing a short-sleeved, button-down shirt and skirt and already feel like I'm melting.

If I had to wear a suit with a long-sleeved shirt, undershirt, and jacket like I see many salarymen still wearing, I'd pass out for sure.

The only upside is that I treat myself and sometimes my colleagues and students to ice cream.

For lunch, I'm having (from Mos Burger) a chicken teriyaki sandwich and a vanilla ice cream cup with real, big blobs of mochi, green tea pudding/jello chunks, adzuki beans, and some kind of cereal flakes (!). I don't think they're corn flakes, but rather rice Kellogg's rice flakes. Definitely crunchy and thick enough to withstand the wetness of the ice cream. Sounds like a strange combination, but it was pretty good.

I read an article today comparing some product prices in the US and in Japan--for American foods as well as comparative, like an American beer versus a Japanese beer. It found that ice cream was cheaper in Japan than in the US.

After a trip to the local 7-11, I have to say I agree. I got a box of generic chocolate ice cream popsicles and it was only 198 yen. Sure, that might sound a lot or like regular prices when you convert it to dollars, but don't forget that their dollar stores are 100-yen stores, so it's like getting a box for less than two bucks.

I don't think any American supermarkets carries similar products at these prices. I've seen similar for Asian flavored (red bean, green bean, mango, coconut, etc) at the Chinese supermarket in NY for a little more than this. Maybe the box was three bucks.

Anyway, I'm gonna go back to my burger. I always forget that Japanese people love putting blobs of mayo in their burgers, though. x_x

Reading Again

For some reason, it never occurred to me to read an interesting book on the train in Japan. I've only ever had Japanese textbooks, music, and magazines with me.

I went to Minato's main library yesterday--the one across from city hall--and picked up a small, illustrated book of Japanese rakugo (comic storytelling) and read it very quickly on the train just traveling to and from meeting my friend Emi. I really enjoyed them. I guess they're kind of like folk tales, but meant to entertain more than to educate.

For example, the introduction to one of the stories was about a rich guy who decided that he didn't need eight servants, so he got rid of half. Then he realized four was too many, so he got rid of two. Then, he realized he and his wife didn't need servants after all, so he fired them too. Then he thought that his wife was a burden, so he divorced her. Finally, he thought he was a burden too, so he hanged himself.

The other stories (including the actual story that followed this introduction) aren't as dark as this, but they have a similar sense of absurd humor, which I love.

Nearly all the stories had a lazy, good-for-nothing character in it. It makes me think that effort and hard work are part and parcel of Japanese culture. The few Japanese dramas I've seen also emphasize effort and hard work. I guess it makes sense, then, that this is a society where people suffer from "karoshi," death from (over)work. They work these crazy long hours, are expected to drink a lot many nights a week, sleep (or try to) on the trains, and for lunch, eat Yoshinoya or Sukiya--the McDonald's of beef bowls. And a beef bowl is exactly what it sounds like--a large bowl of fatty beef with a few slices of onions in a soy-based sauce, over rice. It's cheap (only about 250-380 yen, depending what you get) and fast, but not terribly good for you, as you can imagine.

Anyway, the little rakugo book reminded me how much I loved reading when I was younger, and how I should really get back into it.

Today, I started reading "Birthday Stories," an anthology of short stories edited by Haruki Murakami. He has a story in it too, which I'm looking forward to reading because I'd never read anything of his before. Maybe I'll start reading more Japanese authors.

Oh, and speaking of Murakami, Google's search engine page yesterday featured Takashi Murakami's artwork. I wonder why. Was it his birthday or something? I love a lot of his artwork from what I've seen at the Brooklyn Art Museum a few years ago--very cute.

I realized recently that I don't like most art museums. Unless I'm looking at (being in/under/around) sculptures, installations, or architecture, I get very bored and want to go home. Has anyone else experienced this?

NYC-hominess

Oops, forgot to click "send" last night-

On the Namboku line on the way home. I forgot that I was supposed to take the Mita line instead and ended up walking an extra 1/4 mike from where I was transferring from (Oedo line, at Kasuga). Sometimes being automatic mode is good, but then here are times like these.

So exhausted. I think the super-bright fluorescent lights in some of the classes didn't help my eyes. Otherwise, why else would my eyes feel like I'd been reading for hours when I barely read a passage or two per hour?

The other day, I heard some women on the train speaking in Korean and I felt like I was back home again. Too much time in North Flushing? Haha.

Deflated

Feel like my bubble just got deflated. My upper-elementary school kids today (who are nomally talkative with each other but uncommunicative in their responses to my questions) seemed to be helping each other out today for the first time, the way my last Friday students were. I was so happy to see that.

Even Misaki, the sole girl in the class, who normally doesn't say anything because the boys only talk to each other, tried to help Kyosei as he tried to explain what he did over the weekend. (Apparently, he had wanted to buy a pen but grabbed a marker in the same bin by mistake.)

And even my Step 2* class, which is full of some really smart kids but who are really quiet, seemed to be more talkative today. I heard the boys laughing for the first time during my lesson.

* In Japan, there are English language proficiency tests called Eiken (or "Step") tests. Most of the people who take it are in school (elementary, JH, HS or even college), with level 5 being the easiest and 1 the most difficult. I know-- this numbering order confused the hell out of me for a while. There are two intermediate levels as well, such as pre-2 and pre-1. The Step level of a student isn't necessarily correlated to his or her age. Kids with parents are fairly proficient in English and/or an international school education, in which all classes in English and are full of non-Japanese or half-Japanese students, will have greater proficiency at the age of 4, for example, than a 12- or even 30-year-old who is taking his first English class. It sounds logical, but if you teach the advanced 4-year-old first, then the lower-level teens and adults, it can be very frustrating when the older students can't communicate or understand half as much.

Anyway, during my last class of the day, Ryosuke and Kotaro kept talking, even they they intermittently apologized when I stopped talking to the class suddenly to stare at them. I even tried to crack a few jokes at Kotaro's expense (other teachers have said that embarrassment usually works pretty well), but then he and his buddy figured out how to tell me, in English, that I was being rude. I shrugged, but I felt bad. Sigh. I guess it's just not my style.

I don't want to be one of those excessively strict teachers. But they are very disruptive at times, and it's hard for me, let alone the other students, to focus on the lesson. I'm not sure how to manage them. I'd done a point system thing a few weeks ago that seemed to work well, but he following week, it failed. And today, I didn't bother doing it, but maybe it's a matter of setting the ground rules and being consistent. Oh, I know! Maybe I can get one of the Japanese teachers to translate my rules to them. But I have to some up with them first.

Other causes for deflation today- I broke two, possibly three, office rules regarding food:

1. Students cannot eat or drink in the classrooms, and I had given a kid some water (because he said he was thirsty!)
2. No eating in front of the students
3. And especially no eating in front of the parents

Perhaps these sound strict, but I can see that doing any of these would result in an excessively dirty school, not to mention an unprofessional appearance. Sigh.

Oh, and I was informed that I had to sign my second written warning. Teachers incur an infraction for every lateness, failure to call in advance when late, among other things. After 3 infraction, you sign a written warning. After two written warnings, you lose what's called an attendance bonus. :T

I guess I'm ok with it since it would have been only about $300 anyway for the year. But then I got a little speech by the manager of foreign teachers (at least, I think that's his title), saying that during his first three years at his school, he had lived farther than Shinjuku (where he thinks I live near) and was never late. Shinjuku is a good half hour northwest of me, and the schools are all at least 30-60 minutes beyond that.

I know I really don't have an excuse for being late despite living the farthest out of all the teachers, I think. It's not like I wake up late; I actually wake up early enough, but always underestimate the amount of time I spend on things, and therefore end up being late. If you know me, you must know that I can't be punctual to save my life. I was 30-60 minutes early every day for my first week, and now I'm barely punching in on the dot. I don't know how to get back to that, or to develop a reasonable sense of time and punctuality.

I guess in the end, I didn't do anything horrible, but I hate the feeling I get when I'm being reprimanded.

Hiroshimayaki in Azabu Juban

Koko and I went to a little restaurant in Azabu Juban yesterday for "Hiroshimayaki" or Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancake of sorts). Sorry, I didn't catch the name, but it was on the middle of a block, on the second floor, with indoor and balcony seating.

Koko's co-worker had brought him there and he liked it, but I thought it was a little disappointing. Both of ours had yakisoba (stir-fried soba) inside and an omelette on top. For the filling, mine was shrimp and squid. His had sliced beef, like bulgogi.

I thought the omelette was rubbery and the soba hard and overcooked. While it was maybe a good idea in theory, its execution left something to be desired. Each dish was about 1,400 yen, including a tiny almond tofu dessert, which was quite tasty and infinitely better than the main course.

The Hiroshimayaki would have been better (de-)constructed as a stir-fried noodle dish like pad Thai. The sauce, like many Japanese sauces, was both very sweet *and* salty. But at least there was just the right amount so as not to drown the pancake but to enhance its otherwise bland flavor.

A Nice End to a Rough Week

After a pretty rough week (all those stress dreams about teaching to students who couldn't understand me or who couldn't produce an answer), I'm relieved to end it with a class in which the students regard communicating in English as a fun puzzle. What a joy!

With the help of the school manager, they wrote this message. :)

It was a "welcome" because even though i've been teaching for this company (which owns many schools throughout Saitama), it was my first time teaching these particular students. I was taking over an outgoing teacher's classes.

I thanked them for the message. They asked if it was ok, and I said, yes, my name was spelled correctly. And then I corrected their grammar, haha.

What else makes teaching them a joy so far?

1) There are two students in the class--one with stronger skills (Takashi) than the other (Hideaki), and the stronger student will always try to help the weaker one, eg. by translating my question for him when he says"Nani?" ("what?")

2) They try their best to answer my questions and will even draw on the board or use other ways to describe what they're saying if I don't understand.

3) They not only answer my questions, they volunteer information too. It helps improve their English and me to get to know them better. The better I know them, the more enjoyable the class is, and the easier it will be for me to give examples, etc.

4) They seem to really enjoy learning English. They asked if ad-libbing (the blanks in the new sentence structure) was ok. Today, they learned the following:

A: Can you ['go shopping' or some other verb] with me on [day of the week]?

B: Sorry, I can't. I have to ['do my homework' or some other verb].

So they came up with "Can you go skiing with me *for three months*?" and "Can you have dinner with me *every day*?" instead of plugging in the days of the week like any other (boring/bored) students would have done.

4) They teach me things too--Takashi said his birthday was May 15, the same day in 1947 when Okinawa became part of Japan. Before, it was part of the US (because of occupation).

5) They show a great curiosity by asking me questions too, like how tall I am, where my parents are from (because I look Asian but don't speak Japanese. Some upper elementary kids have been quite confused by this fact).

They also told me that the local soccer team, the Urawa Reds, was playing today, and that the stadium was near Urawa-Misono, the last stop on the Namboku line (which is the train closest to me).

I explained all the red t-shirt-clad people I saw on the way home afterward. I don't know if the team won, but everyone seemed to be in high spirits. It was almost as if I had gone to the game too. I definitely want to see the Reds now.

MOMA in Japan

Not only is there a MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in Japan, it's in Saitama, of all places. I don't know enough about Saitama to knock it much, but it is more suburban and even rural in some parts. Some people, namely bored teens and snobby Tokyoites, call it "Da-Saitama" combining "dasai" (which means "boring") and the name of this prefecture.

So a MOMA here rather than somewhere in central Tokyo was a big surprise. And even more surprising: it's in the middle of a park--one that's quite lovely and verdant, by the way.

I barely took a few steps into museum corridor, but didn't go further because I only had 10 or so minutes left of my lunch break and I wanted to walk around the park a bit.

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I haven't yet figured out how to upload multiple photos to a single blog post.

Today's Lunch: Kyushu Ramen

My colleagues were talking about how wonderful Kyushu was right before lunch, how nice the people are, etc. so when I walked around and saw "Kyushu" on a sign, I decided it would be a good idea.

This restaurant was tiny, with a long counter and bar stools like at so many noodle shops for salarymen (though some don't have seats at all; they're designed for salarymen who need to eat and run).

Like other such noodle shops, there was a vending machine through which you select and pay for your meal. Like a soda machine, but instead of getting a clink and a can of Coke, you get a little ticket. At some places, there are duplicates--one for yourself and one for the cook. Here, there was only was for the cook.

Right after I ordered, the cook asked me something and pointed to a menu with various numbers. They weren't for side dishes, and he wasn't asking me what portion size noodles I wanted, like at other places. (The funny thing about Japan is that at many shops, everyone pays one price for a noodle soup, then you have the choice of supersizing, downsizing, or regular-sizing your noodles. If I had a bigger appetite, I'd supersize every time, just to get my money's worth.)

Anyway, I couldn't figure out what he was saying at all until the owner, I think, came over and spoke to me in English.

It turned out to be a menu of choices of the number of minutes that you'd like your noodles to be cooked--"like pasta," he said, though I'd never been posed such a question at any Italian eatery before.

Apparently, the standard cooking time at this place was 45 seconds and when it came, I could see why people might prefer 3-minute ramen instead. It was still white and hard in the center. But there were so many more numbers/minutes as options...would anyone really want 30-minute noodles? It'd be just a pile of mush.

So...it was ok. Not a lot of food for 650 yen, especially considering that this was Saitama and not central Tokyo. I've gotten 50% more food for the same price in other similar restaurants. And the broth, while good, was excessively salty.

Ah well. Now I can say I've had Kyushu ramen.

At Minami Urawa

Waiting for the Keihin-Tohoku line to go to work. I'd gotten on the train that ended here instead of in Omiya, forcing me to transfer to another KT train.

Oh, that was quick. The train is here already. Hurry up and bring me to my stop- I have to pee!

Good News / Bad News

The good news is:

1) I figured out how to make an easy, drinkable "meal replacement" type drink: barley milk.

I used to drink oat milk in the States if I didn't have time for a meal. As with the barley milk above, there's no milk involved, but it has a milky texture/appearance. But no one sells oat milk here, and shipping it from home would be insanely expensive.

Last week, I tried to make brown rice milk first since we have more than 5 kg left. But it was a flop because the hull made it taste more like watery, flavorless congee, despite my adding some sugar, vanilla oil and cinnamon.

Alton Brown had a recipe on his "Just Barley" show for a barley drink, but his called for straining the liquid after processing and blending.

I made my own version today with cooked pressed barley (in the rice cooker), water, and agave syrup. It's yummy and although I thought I was putting a lot of sweetener, it didn't taste too sweet. I just eyeballed everything, but maybe next time, I'll follow a recipe more closely so I'll know just how much agave syrup is going into the thing.

Rough recipe was:
- 1 Japanese rice cups of pressed barley (actually, a little less than one full cup since I was using these little packets, and two of them were a little less than a cup)
- 2-1/2 rice cups of water for cooking
- Water as needed to pulse and blend
- Maybe 1/3 or 1/2 cup of agave syrup (not sure...)

Made about 800 ml (two skinny Thermos-ful), plus one overflowing coffee mug, I drank on the spot.

2) Oh dammit. I forgot what other other good news was. But I do love my blender already! :D So far, I'm glad I bought it. One of my fellow cook/foodie friends here in Japan said she didn't like any of the Japanese brand blenders (she has a KitchenAid), but I figured Zojirushi has decent rice cookers and other appliances, so why not? And generally, Japanese consumer electronics are supposed to be very good and durable (except maybe for Sony).

I got a Zojirushi blender with rubber gasket on the lid, glass jar, mill blade and two small containers for milling--a small, plastic one and a larger, glass one. It even came with a little, flexible plastic tool, with one well-designed bristly end for cleaning all the parts of the blender, and a spatula on he other end for scraping down the inside of the jar. I love the thoughtfulness.

(I have a Japanese humidifier back in NY that also came with a bristle brush, and that was stored on the inside of the base unit--which is convenient and keeps it from getting lost. I'd seen another blender before I decided on this one, maybe a Japanese brand--I forget--which had a jar in such a shape that you could put it upside down on top of the base, so it saves space and prevents the buttons from getting dusty).

The only downside of this blender that all the instructions are in Japanese. x_X I'll have to get a friend to help me with it. Good thing there are pictures. I can probably figure out most of it from online; most principles should be the same. Eg. Pulse in short bursts rather than blend for prolonged periods of time (ie. more than a minute at a time), etc.

3) I placed my order yesterday for my electric griddle/grill/takoyaki maker. It's a Tiger brand, which I'd never heard of. I hope it's not the same one that makes computers in the US, because a friend used to work for them and they had really shady business practices.

Bad News:
1) I didn't have time to do gongyo this morning, even though I woke up at 9 am. It's quite early for me, especially on a workday. I remember the first few weeks of work, I couldn't wake up before 10 or 10:30 because I was so tired.

Now, I'm less tired, though I'm not sleeping as well.

2) I've been having a lot of stress dreams lately, in which I am teaching English to people who don't understand me at all--which is really the case sometimes. Sigh.

If you are students, please do yourselves and your teachers a favor: If there's anything that you don't understand, please ask for clarification rather than pretend to get it.

And, when asked a question, please respond with "yes," "no," or even "I don't know." Or at least *try* to explain. Nothing is more annoying than a classroom full of blank stares. Except maybe kids who openly mock me, disrespect me by containing to talk despite several requests for them to stop, or take advantage of the fact that I don't know Japanese.

Test Post: Bento from Ito Yokado in Ageo, Saitama

This is my test post for mobile blogging. Whatever I send to a particular email address is supposed to be posted to my blog, so let's see if it'll support both text and photos without looking too strange.

Edit: Ah, dammit. On my phone, I'd put this blurb above the pic, and some text below it, but the below text didn't show. Here's the rest of the original post:

This was my lunch yesterday--a very Korean-tasting assortment of salted/pickled veggies, a few slices of black pepper pork, and a perfect-sized bed of rice. All for 298 yen! 

Also, I had (not pictured, sorry) two taiyaki with custard cream filling. Teriyaki is like an eggy pancake batter cooked in cast-iron molds, usually the shape of a fish, and usually filled with the more traditional "an," or red bean paste.

Location: Ageo, Saitama, Ito Yokado Dept Store, level B1 food court, Hana-ya bento box vendor

Last-minute Trip to Taiwan

Last Sunday around 1 PM, my parents called and said my Grandma was extremely sick. Her kidneys were failing, she was unconscious, and she had been admitted to the hospital. As I learned from watching "House, M.D.," failing kidneys is just a short step away from death. My dad was crying, and in my 31 years, I've seen him cry only one other time. He asked if I'd go to her funeral, since the doctors said she could go at any minute. I said yes.


We had planned to go to Odaiba for one of our Golden Week outings (Golden Week is a holiday week in Japan, which consists of three holidays, including Children's Day), but I spent most of the day crying and moping around the house instead. 


I decided to fly to Taiwan to see her while I still could, to be there in case she woke up, and if not, I guess I'd be early for her funeral. It was difficult to decide how long to take off from work, especially since I'd just started two weeks ago.  I thought, "What if I go now, when Grandma's just sick, come back to Japan, and then she passes away? I don't think I'll be able to take off work again for her funeral." But how much time would I need to know whether she was getting better and I could leave for Japan, assured of her health, at least for the time being? How long would it take for her to make the transition from serious illness to death, and how many days would it be until the actual funeral? It's hard to think about your family's health and mortality in such practical terms, but I had to decide how much time to take off from work and when my return flight would be.


Ah-gu (my mom's brother) picked us up from the airport and drove us to my dad's sister Han-si's store. From there, we went to her husband's restaurant to have dinner and were joined by her husband, two sons, and my other male cousin, whom I hadn't seen since 1989, and his girlfriend. Then we went to the hospital together. 


It was hard to see my grandma hooked up to oxygen and feeding tubes. Her eyes were closed, and we tried talking to her, but she didn't respond. She wasn't responding when she was first admitted to the hospital, but my uncle said she was when he saw her earlier that day, so she must be sleeping. I didn't know what to think or feel except...bad...and sad. I had spent so much of my life resenting her, because my brother was always her favorite. 


Every time she visited us, which was once every year or two for several years, then less often as she got older, she would bring us gifts. But my brother would get lots of them, and I got like, one. One time, I got a lipstick, and it wasn't even from her. It was from my aunt. But every time she needed someone to do something for her, she'd ask me and not my brother because he wouldn't help her. Then, she'd tell me, "What a good girl you are, helping your grandma." She'd also nag me about various things. I'd roll my eyes and one time, we even got into a yelling match, which, if you know Asian families, simply does not happen. You do not talk to your elders like that.


So I felt bad for having felt this way, having not treated her better, not having called her all those times when my dad told me to call her. Regret is such a shitty feeling.


I guess I should cut to the chase and say my grandma is doing much better. She is lucid, though confused sometimes about who people are, what she's done or will do, etc. For example, she said at one point, when I asked her, that I was her daughter, and other times, she simply couldn't think of my name (though when I asked if she knew who Raymond was, she'd say yes. Go figure). But at least she knows her own name now, and is referencing stuff from her own past, though she also makes up stuff too (but they may just be old memories). For example, when I saw her today around noon, she said she ate congee for breakfast (not true; she's been on a liquid diet since she entered the hospital) and that she went for a walk near the seaside (also not true; but again, these may have been things she used to do in the past). 

It might sound inappropriate, but sometimes the things she says are funny. It's hard to explain. Maybe it's one of those "you had to be there" type of things. For example, when Aunt Han-si asked her (about another person in the room), "Do you know who this is? Whose daughter is this?", Grandma said, "Yes, I know. She's her mother's daughter." 

Or, when my cousin Gah-ho (Ah-jim's elder son), asked her, "Who am I? What's my name?" she'd always say "Gah-shiang," which is actually his brother's name. Or she would say, while making an unsuccessful attempt to get out of bed, "I have to leave. I have to go water the crops," though she had a farm probably 60 years ago. 

The doctors say that they're just waiting for the blood [clot, I think] in her brain to dissipate, then they can release her...maybe in a few more days. They're not sure what caused the blood [clot]; maybe she had fallen and hit her head. She had fallen many times as she had gotten older. I don't know what caused all those falls either.

What seemed to have caused her to fall unconscious and enter the hospital is possibly that there was a hole in an artery or blood vessel near her liver, so not all the toxins in the blood was getting filtered, and since she was taking a lot of medication and urine was building up in her body, the ammonia in her system was making her confused. She was in a coma for 3-4 days. She was admitted on April 30th. She seemed to be more lucid, energetic, and talkative after having a bladder/bowel movement.

So it was a huge relief, but it was very difficult to see her that way--so frail and helpless. There's a home aid type of person who's helping her change her diapers. My dad, Koko and I spent a day at the hospital--from 8 am to 7 pm--and had to change her diaper. I can't even describe how messy and difficult it was. My dad and Koko had to turn her over or hold up her legs (as one would a baby) so I could change her diaper and clean her, but it was extremely difficult since she's a lot bigger and heavier than a baby, and less flexible at that. Plus, she had these tubes connected to her that we had to avoid tangling or ripping out, and her poop was liquid. >_< I think we used like half a pack of baby wipes.

We had to call a nurse to help us. The nurses at the hospital don't really do anything except bring the liquid food and medicine, which the home aid or Ah-jim (my dad's sister-in-law) administers to her. But at least they'll help you if you really need it.

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Overall, it was a very good trip--Grandma's getting better...to about 80-90% of her condition before she was admitted to the hospital. I never had appreciation for her, but this trip changed things dramatically for me.

I got to see some of my cousins whom I haven't seen in 10-15 years, especially since when I go back, I go with my mom, and we stay at her mom's house and spend 99% of our time with her side of the family. One of my cousin's on my dad's side was like 7-8 years old when I last saw him. One of the few memories I have of him is of him being scared that our grandma was gonna whip him with a shu-seiyah (a small bunch of dried grasses) for misbehaving. And now he's 25 and running his own business in China. 

Another cousin, Pei-ling, had gotten married and now has two kids, ages 7 and 9. I also got to meet my cousin, Gah-Shiang and his two sons, now in their mid-20s. I hadn't seen any of them in about 15 years. It's crazy when you see someone when they're little, and then again when they're all grown up.

On my mom's side, I  got to see Cindy, Stella, and even their brother TJ (I don't know why that's his English name; I'd asked him, and I'm not sure he knew how to explain it to me, because his Chinese name isn't remotely close). Stella is getting married in August or September, in England, where both she and her sister live. But she's gonna have a reception in Taiwan too. Hopefully, I can make one of them--maybe the one in England. I've never been there before.

While Koko and I were on the train on the back to our apt from Narita airport, he checked his email and saw that his mom had emailed to say that her mother is sick, and that since she's very busy at work, Koko's dad is going to check on her.  Then she emailed again to say that her condition had worsened and that she was gonna go see her. =T

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He just got off the phone with his parents, and apparently, his grandma had stopped eating and getting out of bed. They called a doctor, but he couldn't find anything physically wrong with her. Since she wasn't eating he took her off her meds for one thing, but let her keep up her heart meds regimen. Koko thinks that, whatever the reason why she stopped eating in the first place, not eating was probably making her feel weak and not want to get out of bed. His parents have been with her for almost a week now (they live 7 hours away by bus/train), and are not sure what to do with her but to stay for this week and see what happens.

Koko never had a good relationship with his grandma either (for different reasons), but it seems like he's gonna go through something similar to what I just went through. =T

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One of the first things I did after I'd heard about my grandma's condition was to read President Ikeda's guidance about life and death in "Discussions on Youth." In some ways, it was very depressing for me to read, since some of the questions were from youth who had already lost their grandparent and who regretted not having spent more time with him. At other times, I really appreciated the honesty and frankness of President's guidance. I don't think I'd ever read anything so honest.

Here are some of the things he wrote:

"How we view life--the perspective we have on life, on death, on the human condition--is the basis for everything.

Japan today is in deep darkness. It has reached a deadlock, as has much of the rest of the world. What is the root cause of this?

It is a distorted understanding of the fundamental question of life and death. Society's leaders and the majority of people have avoided thinking about this most important of issues, brushing it aside in the pursuit of immediate wants and desires. And we are now seeing the consequences of this negligence. Therefore, if we do not turn our attention to the fundamental issue of life and death, nothing will ever really change. No matter what superficial measures we may take, it will be comparable to trying to treat an illness with pain relievers without addressing the cause. Though our symptoms may temporarily ease, we are only deceiving our bodies, and we will not get better" (p. 376).

"Every one of us has a mission, a mission we were born to fulfill. that is why, no matter what happens, we must press on in life through all things. The Japanese word for mission means to use one's life. For what purpose do we use our lives? For what purpose have we been born in this world...?" (pg. 378).