The Odds and Ends

Wow, I can’t believe I’ve already been in Japan for almost five months! It’s amazing how quickly I got used to life here, even though I still occasionally wake up and think to myself “damn, I’m in Japan? How did this happen?”

My birthday has passed and it’s also nearing Christmas time. My brother and sister (Tomo and Tina) are coming today so I’m going to Nagasaki to pick them up! I can’t wait! We’re gonna travel around Japan starting with the Shimabara area, then on to Fukuoka, Osaka, Kyoto and finally Tokyo. I haven’t been to Osaka or Kyoto yet so it should be interesting. More than anything though, I just can’t wait to see my siblings! I’m really close to both of them so it’s gonna be nice to see them after all this time.

Well on that note, since the year is ending, and I’m going to be mad busy for the next little while, this will probably be my last entry for the year 2005. As such, I thought I would write down a few reflections, observations, and general comments on my life in Japan so far, as well as life in general. I promise it’s not going to be cheesy. Well…..ahem, not too cheesy anyway – a little cheese is warranted now and then, especially during the season of loving, caring, giving and sharing.

First of all, a list of the good things:

-I love how everything in Japan has cute little animated characters on it. Take for example my bank card. Far from being serious and business like, it has a picture of a plump, adorable raccoon with sad eyes sitting in a field. I don’t know why the raccoon is sad. Maybe it has body issues, being so plump in the lean society of Japan. In any case, you can find the raccoon on everything that has to do with my bank. He makes me smile, because I am easily pleased by adorable things that are prone to depression.

-I find it hilarious that 18 year old macho boys in High School have Winnie the Pooh pencil cases and cover them with shiny stickers of various adorable cartoon characters, and then try to front like they’re thugs. It kills me!

-I love how the customer service in Japan is AMAZING! Tipping is just not done here, and can be even considered insulting, so the fact that everyone is so helpful is even more remarkable given that fact. In addition, no customers create problems – you don’t see anyone sending food back, nor complaining that something is not well done, or that they want more of this, less of that, etc etc. Those type things are considered rude, because its presumed that the person helping you is doing their best and if something is off it’s not their fault but rather a fact of life.

This leads to one of my hugest pet peeves about North American society – everyone feels they are entitled to everything back home. I have worked in jobs that required me to deal with customers, and I found it to be one of the most frustrating things ever. Some people just won’t listen to reason! They felt like they are right no matter what, and only worry about their own selfish needs. In many ways, I think that many people in North American society have forgotten how to behave towards each other as decent, considerate human beings. That’s not true of everyone of course, but I know that I would witness at least one instance of a customer abusing some poor employee that had done nothing wrong during any given day. It drove me insane. At the same time, there are times when this treatment is warranted because the customer service is not always the best back home. It works both ways. Of all the things about Japan that I like, the way that people treat each other is probably my favourite thing, and the thing I will miss the most when I return to Canada. Hmmm…sorry, this is supposed to be the list of good things, so moving on….

-I love that in Japan there are pictures on almost everything! Instructions for food, technology, toilets, menus etc., all tend to have pictures showing what to do, or what’s for sale. This makes it really easy to get by without any Japanese reading ability.

-Nomihodais! All you can drink for a fixed (usually low) price….hahaha, poor bastards didn’t know I was coming to their country!

-My Iaido instructor: The funniest man in the world. I adore this guy despite lack of verbal communication between us. He’s 60 and has spikey hair. His favourite outfit is a pair of hot pink tights and a large purple sweater. Its freezing but he always wear only sandals…which he is quick to point out to me as I shiver uncontrollably in the cold. He bought me special slippers for morning practice because I was whining about my feet being cold. He also makes really funny sounds and he loves to drink. What’s not to love??

-Jenny: my best foreigner friend. I am only alive today thanks to the body heat generated by this chick from Detroit. She may look sweet and innocent, but tell her teasingly that she smells like poon one too many times and she’ll launch out an Anchorman-like tirade of insults guaranteed to keep me laughing for hours. She also likes to yell loudly at Japanese girls on the street and then laughs at their terrified ducks for cover – hehe, yes, I would like to think that I’ve been a negative influence on her.

-Kayoko: Favourite Japanese person! She’s so cool. She lived in Spain and the States and doesn’t like the rigidity of Japanese society. She’s also one of the nicest people ever and she’s a ton of fun. She’s the only Japanese person I’ve met so far whom I could tell everything about me to (and we all know how sordid that is, even to westerners) without having her pass out, run away, or call the police on me.

The Bad:

-It’s a little annoying when every time I pick up chopsticks I’m bombarded by “Hashi de josu desu ne!” (Wow, you’re so good with chopsticks!). This makes me feel like a complete moron, especially since I’ve been here 5 months. I mean, firstly, I used chopsticks before I came here, but even if that were not the case it would have been pretty sad if I couldn’t pick it up in the 5 months that I’ve been here, since I do use them everyday.

-The other annoying compliment: “Oh! Your Japanese is so good!”. It’s not. I can introduce myself, order food and ask for directions to the toilet. I hear get this compliment when I say ‘hello’ in Japanese for god’s sake. I just find it highly condescending, although I’m sure the speaker is intending to be nice.

-When I’m tired or hung-over or both, and I just wanna go relax in a hot Onsen, it’s really annoying (as I’m lying naked in the baths) when little old Japanese women won’t leave me alone with questions of “Doko kara kimashita?” (“Where are you from?”). I mean seriously. Do they ALL need to know where I am from? I tell them I can’t speak Japanese and yet still they persist. Sometimes it’s nice, but mostly it’s just annoying.

-Japanese TV. Oh my dear lord, it is the worst programming in the world. I don’t think I can even explain it. If you’ve seen it, you will understand. If you haven’t, I will spare you the agony and allow you the bliss of ignorance.

Reflections:

So, am I glad I came? I had my doubts as I sat on the plane leaving for Japan those many months ago. However, the doubts have all vanished. At first, I was having an amazing time and it felt as if I was on constant vacation. Now, I have settled in to my life here and in many ways it’s as normal as my life back home was. There are good days, and there are bad days. For the most part though, I am still having a great time and learning a lot. I will stay another year for sure, because my Iaido and Jodo are progressing really well and I don’t want to lose the valuable opportunity that I have to develop my martial skills. My Japanese is also coming along, very slowly, but nonetheless surely. In two years it should be more than functional, and that’s a great skill to have.

The toughest thing by far has been missing friends and family from home. Even though I have found people here whom I can talk to, party with and so forth, I still miss the unique group of friends I have in Toronto. I also really miss my siblings, since I am so damn close to both of them, and that has been hard. Especially because they have both been having a bit of a tough year, and I wanted to be there for them. I guess we are all learning to deal on our own though.

So as the year comes to a close, and I get ready to reunite with my family for an adventure across the Land of the Rising Sun, I want to let everyone back home reading this know that I love you all and I miss you all, and I hope you are having a great time doing whatever it is that you are doing. I can’t wait to see you all next summer and I’m sure we’ll all have many interesting stories to tell each other. God, I finally feel like I have left adolescence for adulthood. I am, after all, a quarter century old now. I have mixed feelings about that, but then again ‘mixed feelings’ seems to be my life story. However, so many things that used to keep me awake at night no longer bother me anymore. I have finally accepted myself in all my weirdness and I think that I no longer have to be as hard on myself as I used to be.

What a strange, wonderful, and life changing year 2005 has been. I can’t wait to see what 2006 throws my way, and for the first time I mean that without any sarcasm at all. Shit, I really have changed!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Guys! Mad, mad love to everyone. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX