月別アーカイブ: 2009年5月

WEEK 2

06/05/09

After work I went to Karaoke with my co-workers. I finished later than everyone else so we met up in Big Echo. They had already been singing and drinking for a while so I had to play catch up. I sang a few songs and then we moved on to a nightclub that was nearby. As it was the end of Golden week, the night club as dead except for four boys sitting at a far table who were dancing among themselves. We drank and chatted for a few hours and then finally left. My family were coming back tomorrow.

07/05/09

My family arrived back from Hiroshima. They had gone to see the shrine that lies in the ocean. They have now official been to more places than I have in Japan, so I wish I could have gone with them. They showed me pictures of where they went and it looked beautiful. We hung out in Ueno and got drunk in a local bar. We chatted for hours and ate a lot. It was a pretty relaxing day.

08/05/09

I worked. Not much to say about it really.

09/05/09

We went to Yokohama and watched the giant robotic spider running a mock ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqolwulVlsc ) (La Machine). That was pretty cool. After we had watched the spider we went into this old warehouse that had been converted into a shopping centre. There was a food court and while we were eating a young lady came and asked if she could interview us for the local radio station. Turns out, we didn’t know anything about Yokohama, so I doubt she would have used our answers.

10/05/09

Me and my family went to a random place on a whim. It was called Nasu. We found it in the guide book that was available at my family’s hotel. I slept on the train, and we ended up in the mountains. There were lots of carved statues of a small man with large hands praying and a mountain path to walk along.  When we had gone full circle, we put our feet in an onsen. It was really hot and I could see my feet turning red.

  As we got on the coach and returned to the train station we travelled through a forest, it was really nice and there was grass in between the trees, I have never seen that in a forest before. What’s more, as we passed through the forest, I saw a route master bus (Double-decker bus) between the trees!!! It was really old and had “Victoria Station” written on the front. That was quite random; I have ridden that bus in London too.

Service in Japan

In my opinion, I think there are 2 main things that Japan has to offer to the rest of the world (amongst many other things). One is technology, and another is “service”.

So today, I want to talk a little bit about the service industry in Japan. As you know, and as I’ve written many times already, I came from Canada, a country whose service is entirely incentive based, through this little annoying thing called “tip”. Don’t get me wrong, I think people should be rewarded for a good service, but not with money. It’s just that… anytime I received a good service I Canada, I felt like they did it entirely for the purpose of the money (which is not far from the truth).  This could also mean that if the service provider sensed that you were a lousy tipper, you were going to receive a B or even C grade service. Having the appearance of an Asian woman, I’ve often been stereotyped as the “10%” and often been denied of good service.

So how is the service in Japan? I don’t know where to begin! Is it just me, or does everyone feel like the most important person whenever they walk into a restaurant, a supermarket, convenient store, or even McDonalds? Every worker that passes by you in the store will say “いらっしゃいませ” (welcome) and bow their head to the floor for you!  I was so embarrassed of this at first, but it’s kind of nice once you get used to it. Whether or not their actions and words are sincere, at least it’s not motivated by money. I think the rest of the world could learn a little from this.

However, one thing that I need to comment on (no wonder I’m told I’m cynical all the time), is that Japanese apologies a little too much. From the perspective of the North American culture, “I’m sorry” and “Thank you” are two completely separate phrases. However, I often feel that the Japanese use them interchangeably. I understand that this is their way of showing respect, but as a foreigner unaccustomed to the Japanese culture in the beginning, I always felt like I did something wrong whenever someone said “すみません” to me, but now I realize that they were just trying to show their appreciation…?

And the terrible thing is, I caught myself the other day saying “すみません” (I’m Sorry) when I should have been saying “ありがとうございます” (Thank you). The Japanese culture.. it really gets to you.  

First post

Shoot. It’s been almost 2 months since I arrived in Japan. I remember wearing a thick coat and a scarf on my way to Minami-Otsuka for the first time but the weather has changed dramatically since then. It’s getting hotter and hotter everyday and has almost reached 30 degrees today.

I chose Japan because I knew the experience would be either so special or a complete nightmare. Luckily it’s a little bit of both. On one hand it’s so different from where I come from (I was born in Korea and moved to the UK when I was 10) but then again I think it has combined characteristics of both countries. The nightlife is almost identical as that of South Korea – getting pissed and singing your heart out in a karaoke bar/dazzling neon lights and immaculately well-dressed ladies – probably because they are neighbouring countries. But the overall atmosphere has that unique sense of lonliness and coldness, characteristics that may only exist in island countries, like the UK and Japan.

Most travellers come to Japan to experience something completely different and it certainly is a unique place. I have a little over a month left here in Tokyo and will keep you guys posted.

Gambatene.

Rubber Johnny

On Satuday I went to the Design Festa in Odaiba. There was an unbelievable amount of artists exhibiting their works at that place that after 5 hour of looking around I felt mentally exhausted. Luckily about ten minute before closing this guy who made animals and things out of balloons was selling his stuff for 100 yen each. It was too good an offer to turn down so I got myself  a little ballon guy with a purple hat and his tounge sticking out , I thought that he would be a nice addition to the guest house. On the train ride home my friend and I were trying to think up a name for our new inflated friend, we eventually came up with the name Rubber Johnny,we both felt it was the most appropiate name we could think of.

I let  Rubber Johnny settle in on the couch. He was well recieved amounngst everyone at home, but after a couple of days I noticed was something wrong. Rubber Johnny wasnt looking too well. He was drooping  on the couch and looking really under the weather balloon. I very abruptly had to come to terms with the fact that  Rubber Johnny was on his way out. I would hate to of witnessed Rubber Johnny’s slow and agonising demise so i did the right thing and made sure Rubber Johnny would go out with bang.

I got some fire works in Akabane. That night we all went to a park nearby, set up a firework underneath Rubber Johnny, said our good byes and then watched his head explode. All that remained was the  mangled and melted remainents of what once was. It was how he wanted to go…I think.

Grape mentos and Coke Zero

After a few drinks on a Friday night at the guesthouse we started to watch some videos on youtube. We came across the old Mentos and Diet Coke clip. Our house manager could  not believe it actually worked and was determined for us to test it out. After an argues search we discovered that Japan seems to no longer sell diet coke, so we settled for coke zero. Then the next hurdle would be to find some Mentos. After a late night search through 3 convienient stores  all we could find was grape mentos at Seven Eleven. I was doubtful it would work having strayed from the original recipe and knowing from watching Mythbusters that the regular fruit flavored mentos does not work due to it’s smoothed out surface.

Every one at the house gathered out  front to watch.  We cracked open the 2 litre bottle of zero, dropped in 4 mentos and …..success!!! It worked a treat (no pun intended) shooting a fountain of coke  about 3 metres up in the air. It turned out that the grape flavoured Mentos had a similar surface as its mint flavored friend. It did leave a decent size puddle of soft drink on the ground, but at least we wouldn’t be drinking grape flavored Coke for the rest of the night.

design festa

Last Saturday my bf and I made our way to Odaiba for the first time for the 29th Design Festa held at the Tokyo Big Sight. I had no idea what to expect, but I like art and want to be a graphic designer – so I thought it would be a good place to be inspired.

The monorail trip was really cool, the way that Odaiba is set out is fantastic. The architecture and the open space was such a contrast to the cramped city sights of Shinjuku or Shibuya. It looked like a lot of work and thought had gone into creating this seaside wonderland. Unfortunately we would have to explore it another day.

Tokyo Big Sight was well pretty damn big, with a giant saw right marking that we were in the right place. The pathways to the entrance were teeming with people coming in and out of the exhibition. Carrying bags of goodies. I couldn’t wait to get inside.

As soon as we entered, I already new that we wouldn’t be able to see all the work on display. There were THAT many artists with their stalls set up across two massive floors and so many rooms. First item on our agenda though, was to meet up with another housemate and his family. We found each other with out hesitation-despite lack of phone ownership, and started our way through the aisles of art.

There are sooo many talented artists here in Tokyo, I was amazed at the standard that was exhibited. Many of the artists sold their works in the form of postcards- i wish i had had enough money to buy them all! That’s how good the majority of them were. From traditional art to computerised images, it was so overwhelming! I was inspired to start making something of my own, and I actually wish I had known earlier so I could have a go at selling my photography. It was inspiring yet demeaning at the same time as I thought to myself it would be impossible to compete with such a high standard. We ended up buying about ten different pieces – due to lack of funds, but picked the ones we liked the best anyways.

I think the design  festa is such a great idea for artists to let themselves be known and share their work with the greater community. I wish that Sydney had something similar.  By the time it came to closing, my feet were aching and we still hadn’t gone to see one of the halls- but i wasn’t too fussed, (my feet really hurt lol).

Homesickness

I’ve been in Japan for a little over 2 weeks now, and already I’ve began to feel really homesick.

This didn’t happen when I left for college, or when I went on an extended vacation in the U.S…so why Japan? (I seem to be always asking myself this question lately)

Well to draw few differences between Canada and Japan,

1.       First of all, to state the obvious, “space”.  I really do miss my personal space. Although I am getting used to being cluster phobic, I still try to avoid the JR Yamanote line 8 in the morning.

2.      Secondly, the nature. I really do miss seeing the squirrels and the geese everywhere… not to mention the forests and the beautiful national parks.

3.      Lastly and most importantly, people in Canada smiled… and I could hit up a conversation with any random stranger…

And to draw few similarities between Canada and Japan,

1.       Well, I guess the weather.

No wonder I got homesick so easily.      

Just a side not here tho, I’m not putting down Japan in anyway. I love this country, it’s just really really different from Canada and I have fully adjusted to it.

So how do you deal with homesickness? Here are some good tips:

1.     Plan a trip doing something you know you’ll enjoy. Eg) going to the Onsen etc. I’m actually going to Okinawa soon!

2.     If you start to feel homesick, do something about it. It can be as simple as fining someone to talk to, taking a bath, reading a book, watching TV, etc. anything that will make you feel better. This way. The feeling will pass quickly.

3.     Eat and sleep as well as possible. When you’re tired and hungry, things can seem a whole lot worse.

4.     Find a Japanese boyfriend.

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” on Guitar in Inokashira Park

I had a Japanese exam yesterday. I thought that it went ok.

As a consequence I have been doing little else apart from working and studying for the past week.

I met up with Japanese friend in Shibuya last night. We had dinner which was nice.

Currently it’s Saturday. I’m in the communal room watching TV. Video hits is on.

Some of the clips are good. I like the Banzai clip with Kimura Kiera. Minimal yet fun.

Last night after I left my friend in Shibuya, I came back to Kichijouji. I determined to walk around a bit looking for a green tea flavoured soft serve place. I couldn’t find one so I started to go in the direction of the guest house. While I was buying another type of ice cream at the convenience store I bumped into some of the other house mates on a beer run from the park.

I momentarily considered swapping my ice cream for beer but thought the better of it. We walked to Inokashira park.

I sat around for a while with the others in the park.

One of the house mates played Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit on acoustic guitar.

He is french but sang the English lyrics well.

A  drunk offers us some food that I decline with my politest Japanese. Despite his drunkeness, he wasn’t too insistent.

We talked a bit about a date I had been on. I tried to ask some of the japanese housemates about the dating rules in Japan but I am still confused. Just play it by ear I think.

Soon after I finish my ice cream I leave for the house. Once there, I see that one of the Japanese house mates was watching the american version of Vanilla Skies with Tom Cruise on the communal TV. I haven’t  seen it in a while. It’s pretty good.

my first lesson

So I arrived in Japan exactly 2 weeks ago from Canada.

What am I doing here? to teach English.Why Japan? Well, to fly those flying cars of course… Having lived in Canada for most of my life, I have been raised to believe (by the ignorance of North American culture) that Japan has colonized the moon, that there is a large group of genetically modified super Japanese who live on the moon and of course, that they’re soon going to wage war on the Japanese who are still living on earth. If you don’t believe me, this picture is from google image Canada.

…But what I actually found when I came to Japan… was highly motivated business man keen on learning English to strive in this world that is moving rapidly towards internationalization.  This is where I come in.I am a full time GABA instructor, and part time private instructor. In the 2 weeks that I’ve lived in Tokyo, I’ve managed to find few clients who were interested in taking private English lessons with me.

And today, I had my first lesson. The first client (ever) was H san. To make the matters complicated, H san currently resides in US, and he wanted to have the lesson over skype. I didn’t know what to say or how to act at first, but the conversation flowed very smoothly. Maybe it was the fact that H san was very talkative and I didn’t have to do much to keep the conversation going. I actually really enjoyed the lesson, and we planned to have more lessons together over skype. So far so good.

The second client was O san. Here’s where it went wrong. The lesson was fine, the flow of the conversation was fine, O san was fine, but the environment was not.  By environment I mean with O san, we planned to meet at a café near Shibuya station. However, the café we initially planned on meeting at was packed.. so we randomly walked into a different café that looked nice from the outside and that seemed pretty quiet. Well, this café was a borderline maid café. Enough said.  

The last client of the day was K san. I had a great time with K san. With K san, I felt like I was talking to a friend rather than a client. We talked about drinking, partying, clubbing, music, movies, favorite childhood memories etc. I never knew teaching English would be so fun. So that was my first day of teaching experience.

If anyone is interested in teaching English, I had a lot of luck with these sites:

www.senseibank.com

www.findstudents.net

www.my-sensei.com

cheers (:

Izu Islands

Izu Islands – Oshima, Niijima, Kozu shima, Shikine jima,and Hachijo jima are all beautiful islands off the coast of Tokyo.  I went to Kozu Island right after Golden Week and had such a relaxing time away from Tokyo yet still near enough to get back in couple of hours.

The best part of visiting and especially diving in these islands is that you end up meeting some of the most friendly people near Tokyo. In their tiny little islands away from all the air pollution, stress of living in the big city, they lead a very simple and healthy life and welcome you with a big smile.  The dive shop owner let me stay at his dive/inn for a very reasonable price including dinner. Even the boat ride out to the islands is tranqulizing if you bring a sleeping bag along and set it on top of the night ship that departs from the pier near Hamamatsucho station around 10pm and gets to Kozu Island around 6am. While you are staring at the stars and a cool breeze pass by, a deep sleep sets in only to wake you up to ship captains loud horn from the speaker above your head to wake up passengers with the first stop at Oshima Island with a rainbow going over it at about 4am. It’s such a sight that you may think that you’re still dreaming in your warm sleeping bag. By the time you wash your face and come out of the dream world, you find yourself in a island that looks like one of the movie settings in Jurassic park with lush jungles and wonder if a dinosour would pop up from the corner of the mountain which almost all izu islands have. Once you dive into the ocean the dream continues and you are surrounded by gorgeous island fish and corals. Followed by a delicious and healthy island dinner with fish, rice and cold beer.

Enjoy Izu Islands!!!!