You know you've been in Japan too long when...
...a teacher remarks to the students that 'You should have no problem finishing your rice today, because there's seaweed! So eat up!' and you not only find absolutely nothing strange with this comment, you agree with it.
...you keep your AC on 28, and it feels cool to you because you spend the entire day in an office with an average temperature of 30 with only your handheld fan to keep you company.
...you really really want to eat cold noodles for dinner. Zaru Soba YUM.
Tuesday, July 14
Wednesday, July 8
How I passed my Japanese driving test on the first try...
Yesterday I drove to the not-so-near town of Yurihama (about 1.5 hours by car) for the second time to continue my license-getting process.
The Crank.
I have until now been driving under the auspices of an international driving permit, which was acquired through my neighborhood AAA and valid for one year. OH LOOK, I've been in Japan for over 11 months. In reality, I should have taken care of all this license mess weeks, nay months, ago. But in the end I was doing it the way I do everything, close to the deadline with moments to spare.
Changing an American drivers license (or a South African one, or a few other countries) to a Japanese license is for many a lengthy and painful process, but easier than getting a Japanese license from scratch. First, you have to get JAF (the Japanese equivalent of AAA) to translate your license from English to Japanese. Then, you have to make an appointment at the prefectural (state) driver's license center. Then, you go in (1.5 hours each way), and give them your paperwork (including the translation, your American license, etc) and have a short interview (in my case, they spent about 15 minutes asking me about my driving history in Japanese).
Then you wait for 1-2 weeks while they check through your paperwork. Then they call you and set up an appointment for you to come in and do your test. Your first test.
My appointment was yesterday. I waffled between confidence and panic. Would my preternatural ability to pass stupid tests come through, or fail me? I read through some materials provided by our prefectural advisor and hoped for the best. On the way to the driving center (1.5 hours drive), I practiced the skills that I knew would be tested.
Turn while braking and don't accelerate through the turn.
Check every mirror and your blind spots before completing a turn.
Drive very close to the left side of the road.
Stop fully and completely behind the stop line.
Once I got to the testing center (1 hour early), I again read through my materials in between reading google news and facebook on my phone. Once it was time for my appointment, I went through the paces. First, fill out an application (and shock my application advisor with my ability to write Japanese). Then, eye test. Then, written test. Then, watching a video about the practical driving test. Finally, the moment of truth, the driving test.
I watched the video really carefully, mimicking and practicing with thin air what the people in the video were doing. But I was still extremely nervous. My application advisor and a test administrator came out with me to the old taxi that would be my testing vehicle. I was still very nervous. I was then told to check out the car and familiarize myself with it, then we would have a 'practice', then the real test would begin. I sat down and adjusted the seat and took stock of where all the controls were. The test would begin when I got into the car, and finish when I exited the car and closed the door.
I got back out of the car, and my advisor got in the back seat while the test administrator was in the passenger seat. I followed the steps prescribed in the materials and the video. Look around the car to make sure there are no obstacles. Open the door, sit down, close the door, and lock it. I went for my seatbelt but remembered that comes later. Check the seat position, and the mirrors, adjust accordingly. Seatbelt. Check to see if the parking break is engaged. Press down on the brake. Check the gear (park, good.). Turn on the engine. Put the car in drive. Check in all directions to make sure it's clear. Drive forward.
OH WAIT. The parking brake is still engaged. At this point I'm sure I've failed. But I mutter a quick 'Sumimasen' (I'm sorry) and continue, this time with the brake disengaged.
Now is our 'training time'. The test admin tells me to make a circle. I do so, and worry the whole time I am doing it wrong. I check the mirrors constantly since the course is so small I'm basically turning constantly. My signal won't stay engaged because I'm turning so much. I hold it down and hope for the best. We make the round and he tells me to pull out onto the 'road' part of the course, and that my test will begin now. I'm ridiculously nervous and pull into the wrong side of the road. He corrects me, I apologize and fix myself. Then he says 'Your test begins now.' No harm no foul perhaps? But I still think I've already failed.
From here on it's a blur. I'm turning a lot. The only thing I am vividly aware of is my head checking my mirrors and blind spots at least once every 10 seconds. I fail to get to 50 km/h on the straightaway as prescribed in the pre-test prep, but I do manage 40... When I pull into the narrow 's-curve' and 'crank' portions of the test, I'm almost happy because they seem way easier than trying to turn at the test admin's every whim. I keep up the best I can but I'm STILL sure I am screwing up royally. I feel peace with this and hope that my post-test critique will give me information I can use to pass next time.
The S-curve.
We make the rounds for what feels like an eternity and no time at all, and return to the starting point. I complete the final steps. Brake. Engage parking brake. Turn off engine. Unbuckle seatbelt. Check out the window to make sure no one will be hit when I open the door. Open the door, step out, close the door.
Test administrator gets out of the car and says 'ok!'
I don't understand that this means I've passed until my advisor gets out and says 'ok! Passed! You pass!'. huh? I passed? Are you serious?
On the walk back to the center, I get asked where I went to driving school. I get asked who helped me pass the test. It's all very amusing to me and I say some stuff about 'friends' helping me out. I had no formal training! I get no critique whatsoever...despite the errors I am sure I made.
Oh well! No use in complaining. I've won! I beat the test! I wait, get my picture snapped, get my license, and head on my merry way home. Success!
And I can still barely believe it.
The Crank.
I have until now been driving under the auspices of an international driving permit, which was acquired through my neighborhood AAA and valid for one year. OH LOOK, I've been in Japan for over 11 months. In reality, I should have taken care of all this license mess weeks, nay months, ago. But in the end I was doing it the way I do everything, close to the deadline with moments to spare.
Changing an American drivers license (or a South African one, or a few other countries) to a Japanese license is for many a lengthy and painful process, but easier than getting a Japanese license from scratch. First, you have to get JAF (the Japanese equivalent of AAA) to translate your license from English to Japanese. Then, you have to make an appointment at the prefectural (state) driver's license center. Then, you go in (1.5 hours each way), and give them your paperwork (including the translation, your American license, etc) and have a short interview (in my case, they spent about 15 minutes asking me about my driving history in Japanese).
Then you wait for 1-2 weeks while they check through your paperwork. Then they call you and set up an appointment for you to come in and do your test. Your first test.
My appointment was yesterday. I waffled between confidence and panic. Would my preternatural ability to pass stupid tests come through, or fail me? I read through some materials provided by our prefectural advisor and hoped for the best. On the way to the driving center (1.5 hours drive), I practiced the skills that I knew would be tested.
Turn while braking and don't accelerate through the turn.
Check every mirror and your blind spots before completing a turn.
Drive very close to the left side of the road.
Stop fully and completely behind the stop line.
Once I got to the testing center (1 hour early), I again read through my materials in between reading google news and facebook on my phone. Once it was time for my appointment, I went through the paces. First, fill out an application (and shock my application advisor with my ability to write Japanese). Then, eye test. Then, written test. Then, watching a video about the practical driving test. Finally, the moment of truth, the driving test.
I watched the video really carefully, mimicking and practicing with thin air what the people in the video were doing. But I was still extremely nervous. My application advisor and a test administrator came out with me to the old taxi that would be my testing vehicle. I was still very nervous. I was then told to check out the car and familiarize myself with it, then we would have a 'practice', then the real test would begin. I sat down and adjusted the seat and took stock of where all the controls were. The test would begin when I got into the car, and finish when I exited the car and closed the door.
I got back out of the car, and my advisor got in the back seat while the test administrator was in the passenger seat. I followed the steps prescribed in the materials and the video. Look around the car to make sure there are no obstacles. Open the door, sit down, close the door, and lock it. I went for my seatbelt but remembered that comes later. Check the seat position, and the mirrors, adjust accordingly. Seatbelt. Check to see if the parking break is engaged. Press down on the brake. Check the gear (park, good.). Turn on the engine. Put the car in drive. Check in all directions to make sure it's clear. Drive forward.
OH WAIT. The parking brake is still engaged. At this point I'm sure I've failed. But I mutter a quick 'Sumimasen' (I'm sorry) and continue, this time with the brake disengaged.
Now is our 'training time'. The test admin tells me to make a circle. I do so, and worry the whole time I am doing it wrong. I check the mirrors constantly since the course is so small I'm basically turning constantly. My signal won't stay engaged because I'm turning so much. I hold it down and hope for the best. We make the round and he tells me to pull out onto the 'road' part of the course, and that my test will begin now. I'm ridiculously nervous and pull into the wrong side of the road. He corrects me, I apologize and fix myself. Then he says 'Your test begins now.' No harm no foul perhaps? But I still think I've already failed.
From here on it's a blur. I'm turning a lot. The only thing I am vividly aware of is my head checking my mirrors and blind spots at least once every 10 seconds. I fail to get to 50 km/h on the straightaway as prescribed in the pre-test prep, but I do manage 40... When I pull into the narrow 's-curve' and 'crank' portions of the test, I'm almost happy because they seem way easier than trying to turn at the test admin's every whim. I keep up the best I can but I'm STILL sure I am screwing up royally. I feel peace with this and hope that my post-test critique will give me information I can use to pass next time.
The S-curve.
We make the rounds for what feels like an eternity and no time at all, and return to the starting point. I complete the final steps. Brake. Engage parking brake. Turn off engine. Unbuckle seatbelt. Check out the window to make sure no one will be hit when I open the door. Open the door, step out, close the door.
Test administrator gets out of the car and says 'ok!'
I don't understand that this means I've passed until my advisor gets out and says 'ok! Passed! You pass!'. huh? I passed? Are you serious?
On the walk back to the center, I get asked where I went to driving school. I get asked who helped me pass the test. It's all very amusing to me and I say some stuff about 'friends' helping me out. I had no formal training! I get no critique whatsoever...despite the errors I am sure I made.
Oh well! No use in complaining. I've won! I beat the test! I wait, get my picture snapped, get my license, and head on my merry way home. Success!
And I can still barely believe it.
Monday, June 15
Curses!
The year thusfar has netted me three minor sports injuries...
In February, I banged my shin on a metal rail while snowboarding.
In May, I threw out my back while running and spent 2 days in constant pain hardly able to move, and about a week severely impaired, and it's still not 100%.
And, this weekend, I fell off a skateboard and hit my hand on the ground, spraining it minorly in the process.
Who knows what else the year has in store for me!
Maybe bad luck comes in threes...and I'm done with it.
In February, I banged my shin on a metal rail while snowboarding.
In May, I threw out my back while running and spent 2 days in constant pain hardly able to move, and about a week severely impaired, and it's still not 100%.
And, this weekend, I fell off a skateboard and hit my hand on the ground, spraining it minorly in the process.
Who knows what else the year has in store for me!
Maybe bad luck comes in threes...and I'm done with it.
Monday, June 1
Picspam
I've set up a flickr, and am dumping copious photos there for your perusal and enjoyment.
I can't be bothered to actually write entries...PSH.
Maybe tomorrow.
Here's the link: go for it!
I can't be bothered to actually write entries...PSH.
Maybe tomorrow.
Here's the link: go for it!
Friday, May 8
ひさしぶりね It's been a while
I haven't felt like blogging much lately. However, I have a free period at work (rarer these days) and some half-hearted motivation at the moment so here we go.
May 2nd through 6th I was off work in what is known in Japan as Golden Week. Golden Week is a series of national holidays in April (29 - Showa Day, the birthday of the emperor sometimes known as Hirohito) and May (3 - Constitution Day, 4 - Greenery Day, 5 - Children's Day). Since this year's Constitution Day fell on a Sunday, a 'make-up' holiday was given on Wednesday.
I celebrated with some light travel. Many people expect me to travel a lot, but really I don't. I came to live in Japan I guess, and I am not currently itching to go to Taiwan or Hong Kong or Australia or anything. I mean it would be nice to go to those places, but at the same time it's a lot cheaper for me to go places within Japan and I still have tons of fun.
Back to vacay. Vacation was great. I spend Saturday shopping at an outlet mall in Osaka, then Sunday visiting an ancient temple complex built into Mt. Hiei in Kyoto with my good friend from college Adrianne. Following that, me an 5 other friends booked it to Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture for 3 days, 2 nights of...whatever we would find there.
The weather was not so wonderful, rained on and off, but we really made the most of it. Monday we got to Shirahama and after scoring some ramen, hung out on the beach for a while. For dinner, we ate some surprisingly tastey Japanese cuisine prepared in a hole in the wall by a lone Japanese man with a collection of tacky animal figurines on his shelves. Four of us then settled in for the night at our inn, and two of us...slept outside. In the rain.
The next morning, we had some Lawson's (a popular convenience store) for breakfast and then hung out at the beach some more. The weather was pretty awful, raining hardcore all morning, so we decided to check out some 温泉(onsen), hot springs, since that is the other thing Shirahama is famous for. We went to the nicest Onsen I have ever been to. There were multiple baths, and a few outdoor options. I think we spent nearly 4 hours there, with our schedule something like bathe, walk to a different tub and bathe some more, eat lunch, chill, bathe, rinse off, go home. It was great!! Of course, Japanese baths require you to be totally naked, so the girl portion of our crew (Raz and I) went one way, and the boys (Satoshi, Joe, Karl, and Dan) went the other.
After the onsen, Karl and Dan (the outdoor sleepers) decided that with all the rain we'd been having, they would head back early to Osaka. That left 4 of us on the beach, relaxing and enjoying the few moments of rainless cloudcover. Satoshi and I sampled the local microbrew (He got the Pale Ale, said it tasted like Sam Adams from the states. I tried the American Wheat, thought it resembled Shiner. We were both pretty happy since it tasted different from the many somewhat indistiguishable Japanese lagers.)
There was some fear of the rain starting up again, so we grabbed more convenience store food and went to eat dinner at the hotel. The next morning we got up fairly leisurely, made our travel plans back, and with 2 hours to spare decided to jump into the ocean despite the weather. I will say it was cold. But, I was also the only person who didn't shiver in the water. Joe ascribed it to me having extra padding. Oh Joe. Don't you understand women at all? I kid, I kid.
Back to work now. Tomorrow I get a cat!
May 2nd through 6th I was off work in what is known in Japan as Golden Week. Golden Week is a series of national holidays in April (29 - Showa Day, the birthday of the emperor sometimes known as Hirohito) and May (3 - Constitution Day, 4 - Greenery Day, 5 - Children's Day). Since this year's Constitution Day fell on a Sunday, a 'make-up' holiday was given on Wednesday.
I celebrated with some light travel. Many people expect me to travel a lot, but really I don't. I came to live in Japan I guess, and I am not currently itching to go to Taiwan or Hong Kong or Australia or anything. I mean it would be nice to go to those places, but at the same time it's a lot cheaper for me to go places within Japan and I still have tons of fun.
Back to vacay. Vacation was great. I spend Saturday shopping at an outlet mall in Osaka, then Sunday visiting an ancient temple complex built into Mt. Hiei in Kyoto with my good friend from college Adrianne. Following that, me an 5 other friends booked it to Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture for 3 days, 2 nights of...whatever we would find there.
The weather was not so wonderful, rained on and off, but we really made the most of it. Monday we got to Shirahama and after scoring some ramen, hung out on the beach for a while. For dinner, we ate some surprisingly tastey Japanese cuisine prepared in a hole in the wall by a lone Japanese man with a collection of tacky animal figurines on his shelves. Four of us then settled in for the night at our inn, and two of us...slept outside. In the rain.
The next morning, we had some Lawson's (a popular convenience store) for breakfast and then hung out at the beach some more. The weather was pretty awful, raining hardcore all morning, so we decided to check out some 温泉(onsen), hot springs, since that is the other thing Shirahama is famous for. We went to the nicest Onsen I have ever been to. There were multiple baths, and a few outdoor options. I think we spent nearly 4 hours there, with our schedule something like bathe, walk to a different tub and bathe some more, eat lunch, chill, bathe, rinse off, go home. It was great!! Of course, Japanese baths require you to be totally naked, so the girl portion of our crew (Raz and I) went one way, and the boys (Satoshi, Joe, Karl, and Dan) went the other.
After the onsen, Karl and Dan (the outdoor sleepers) decided that with all the rain we'd been having, they would head back early to Osaka. That left 4 of us on the beach, relaxing and enjoying the few moments of rainless cloudcover. Satoshi and I sampled the local microbrew (He got the Pale Ale, said it tasted like Sam Adams from the states. I tried the American Wheat, thought it resembled Shiner. We were both pretty happy since it tasted different from the many somewhat indistiguishable Japanese lagers.)
There was some fear of the rain starting up again, so we grabbed more convenience store food and went to eat dinner at the hotel. The next morning we got up fairly leisurely, made our travel plans back, and with 2 hours to spare decided to jump into the ocean despite the weather. I will say it was cold. But, I was also the only person who didn't shiver in the water. Joe ascribed it to me having extra padding. Oh Joe. Don't you understand women at all? I kid, I kid.
Back to work now. Tomorrow I get a cat!
Monday, April 6
Hanami Barbecue! 桜より焼肉
Hanami - combination of two Chinese characters, 花 ('hana') meaning flowers, and 見 ('mi') meaning look, see, watch. Sometimes translated as 'flower/cherry blossom viewing,' my preferred translation here would be 'Going to see the cherry blossoms with eating and drinking in large groups.' But I do admit the shorter version has its merits.
We planned to have a nice Hanami picnic last Saturday, until the rain came and washed the barbecue plans out the window with it. So that plan was scrapped, changed to dinner at Pentola Mamma Italian restaurant, and we changed the date to Sunday.
Sunday, I trucked out one of the barbecue grills left to me by my predecessor to Minatoyama Park. Satoshi prepared some veggies for barbecuing (onions, bell pepper, kabocha squash, and shiitake mushrooms), and I iced the pants off a Japan-sized cake. (unfortunately I forgot to take a picture, so hopefully someone else got one)
Once at the park, we set up our tarp, table and chairs, grill, and started to get going (around 6 PM). Took us a while to get the grill going, had to get one of the Japanese girlfriends to go ask for some firestarter. Also I didn't bring the top to the grill so we mac-guyver'ed a solution by using a smaller one and propping it up with chopsticks.
It started getting kinda colder but around the grill it was warm enough. People trickled in and by then end there were about 12-14 people there. We ate kilo after kilo of pork and beef. Yummay. The sake got pulled out and passed around, but I was the safety driver! and didn't have any paint thinner this time.
I left the park around 10:30 PM smelling of smoke and beef. YUM.
昨日花見のバーベーキューをした。めちゃ楽しかった！私と智志はケーキと焼く野菜を持っていった。友達たくさん居た。たくさん焼肉を食べちゃったぁ。湊山公園は本当にいい場所やな。パーティーのあとに焼肉のせいで臭かったけど、次のバーベーキューを楽しみぃ。
We planned to have a nice Hanami picnic last Saturday, until the rain came and washed the barbecue plans out the window with it. So that plan was scrapped, changed to dinner at Pentola Mamma Italian restaurant, and we changed the date to Sunday.
Sunday, I trucked out one of the barbecue grills left to me by my predecessor to Minatoyama Park. Satoshi prepared some veggies for barbecuing (onions, bell pepper, kabocha squash, and shiitake mushrooms), and I iced the pants off a Japan-sized cake. (unfortunately I forgot to take a picture, so hopefully someone else got one)
Once at the park, we set up our tarp, table and chairs, grill, and started to get going (around 6 PM). Took us a while to get the grill going, had to get one of the Japanese girlfriends to go ask for some firestarter. Also I didn't bring the top to the grill so we mac-guyver'ed a solution by using a smaller one and propping it up with chopsticks.
It started getting kinda colder but around the grill it was warm enough. People trickled in and by then end there were about 12-14 people there. We ate kilo after kilo of pork and beef. Yummay. The sake got pulled out and passed around, but I was the safety driver! and didn't have any paint thinner this time.
I left the park around 10:30 PM smelling of smoke and beef. YUM.
昨日花見のバーベーキューをした。めちゃ楽しかった！私と智志はケーキと焼く野菜を持っていった。友達たくさん居た。たくさん焼肉を食べちゃったぁ。湊山公園は本当にいい場所やな。パーティーのあとに焼肉のせいで臭かったけど、次のバーベーキューを楽しみぃ。
Tuesday, March 17
YES WE CAN.
Sales man(everything translated from the Japanese except YES WE CAN): Why don't you come in? YES WE CAN! I designed these t-shirts. Yes we CAN! Aren't they nice? There's a pink and white one. Maybe the lady needs a cute new bag? Over here! Yes we can! Dickies brand, it's popular in the US right? Yes we can!"
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