It's now June 1st, which is the first day of summer, right? After all, it's the first day of winter in Australia, and our seasons are opposite.
But... maybe it isn't. This week I mentioned to a couple of classes 'only 3 days until summer!' and they looked baffled. No it isn't, they said. When does summer start? I asked. July, they all agreed.
...?
I asked Pete when summer starts. He said: June 21.
So, we have three different countries saying three different things. Shouldn't there be some kind of international agreement when it comes to something as basic as seasons??
Anyway, I asked my students:
"When does spring start?"
"The beginning of March."
"So... spring is... March, April, May, June...?"
"March, April, May."
"But summer starts in July...?"
"Yes, June is the rainy season."
"That's not a season."
In my kids' classes I frequently ask 'what's the season?' and then show the answer ('spring!'). I don't really know what to do there...
[Edit: Today, I asked Ryu. He said that summer starts in *late* July! And finishes at the start of September. So summer is less than two months, I asked? Yes, he said; spring and autumn are longer than summer and winter. Hmm...?]
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Keyboards
Using Japanese keyboards is really messing with my punctuation.
At work, I use Japanese keyboards; the letters are all in the same location, but some of the symbols are different. Apostrophes are now on the '7' key, the apostrophe is a colon :, the @ symbol is next to the P, etc.
At home, I have a MacBook I bought in Japan. On the keyboard are printed the Japanese keyboard symbols. However, I've formatted my keyboard so that it uses the standard English format. If someone who couldn't touch type symbols tried to use my computer, they'd be in for a lot of confusion. Pressing the " key gives you a @, pressing ( gives you a *, pressing ) gives you a (, and so on.
Anyway, I can usually make the mental adjustment, and hit different keys according to where I'm using a computer. But sometimes if I've been using the work computers too much, I come home and keep screwing up.
***
While on the subject of keyboards, I thought I'd explain how Japanese people can type Japanese. As you may know, the Japanese written language consists of three character sets - hiragana and katakana (which are phonetic - ka, ke, ki, ko, ku, etc), and kanji (the Chinese characters, of which there are thousands, and most kanji have several potential pronunciations, depending on what word they are in).
(You'll need to have a computer which enables Japanese characters, to see the next part properly.)
However, typing in Japanese is actually quite simple. You write using English characters, and the computer converts them as you type.
For example, let's say I want to say 'Nihongo o benkyou shite imasu' (I am studying Japanese).
I type 'ni', and after I finish writing the 'i', the text changes to the Japanese hiragana character: に
Now, I'm still writing the same word, so I just continue typing. ho becomes ほ, n becomes ん, go becomes ご。
にほんご (nihongo)
Now I have finished this word and I want it to translate it into kanji. So I press space.
日本語 (nihongo)
Space doesn't create a space; it changes the characters. If the computer has chosen the wrong kanji, you can press space again and it will give you a list of potential kanji for those syllables. This is a boon for studying Japanese, if you don't know how to write something in kanji.
Anyway, 日本語 is the correct kanji, so I hit 'enter'. Enter confirms a word and lets you enter another word. (If I hit enter a second time, I can go to a new line.)
So I continue typing my sentence, 'Nihongo o benkyou shite imasu'. I type 'o', enter, be n kyo u, space (changes to kanji), enter, shi te i ma su, enter.
日本語を勉強しています。
It's very cool, and it makes me feel like I can write kanji. ^_^ Actually, though, this kind of technology (and it's a similar process on mobile phones) has led to a lot of younger people being less skilled at actually writing kanji. It's so easy to get the computer to write it for you...
If you are typing a word that *doesn't* have kanji, but is a common foreign or 'loan' word, the computer will translate it into katakana. For example, if I write こーひ and press space, it will change to コーヒ (ko-hi, which is 'coffee').
If you do write something that isn't a legitimate Japanese syllable (for example, a random consonant not followed by a vowel), the computer will not translate it correctly. For example, Starbucks may come out as Sたrぶcks. (ta and bu are legitimate characters). For foreign words, you can press a key on your keyboard to leave them as English characters, or convert them into katakana.
It's nice having a proper Japanese keyboard, because I can immediately switch to Japanese mode at the press of a button. ^_^
At work, I use Japanese keyboards; the letters are all in the same location, but some of the symbols are different. Apostrophes are now on the '7' key, the apostrophe is a colon :, the @ symbol is next to the P, etc.
At home, I have a MacBook I bought in Japan. On the keyboard are printed the Japanese keyboard symbols. However, I've formatted my keyboard so that it uses the standard English format. If someone who couldn't touch type symbols tried to use my computer, they'd be in for a lot of confusion. Pressing the " key gives you a @, pressing ( gives you a *, pressing ) gives you a (, and so on.
Anyway, I can usually make the mental adjustment, and hit different keys according to where I'm using a computer. But sometimes if I've been using the work computers too much, I come home and keep screwing up.
***
While on the subject of keyboards, I thought I'd explain how Japanese people can type Japanese. As you may know, the Japanese written language consists of three character sets - hiragana and katakana (which are phonetic - ka, ke, ki, ko, ku, etc), and kanji (the Chinese characters, of which there are thousands, and most kanji have several potential pronunciations, depending on what word they are in).
(You'll need to have a computer which enables Japanese characters, to see the next part properly.)
However, typing in Japanese is actually quite simple. You write using English characters, and the computer converts them as you type.
For example, let's say I want to say 'Nihongo o benkyou shite imasu' (I am studying Japanese).
I type 'ni', and after I finish writing the 'i', the text changes to the Japanese hiragana character: に
Now, I'm still writing the same word, so I just continue typing. ho becomes ほ, n becomes ん, go becomes ご。
にほんご (nihongo)
Now I have finished this word and I want it to translate it into kanji. So I press space.
日本語 (nihongo)
Space doesn't create a space; it changes the characters. If the computer has chosen the wrong kanji, you can press space again and it will give you a list of potential kanji for those syllables. This is a boon for studying Japanese, if you don't know how to write something in kanji.
Anyway, 日本語 is the correct kanji, so I hit 'enter'. Enter confirms a word and lets you enter another word. (If I hit enter a second time, I can go to a new line.)
So I continue typing my sentence, 'Nihongo o benkyou shite imasu'. I type 'o', enter, be n kyo u, space (changes to kanji), enter, shi te i ma su, enter.
日本語を勉強しています。
It's very cool, and it makes me feel like I can write kanji. ^_^ Actually, though, this kind of technology (and it's a similar process on mobile phones) has led to a lot of younger people being less skilled at actually writing kanji. It's so easy to get the computer to write it for you...
If you are typing a word that *doesn't* have kanji, but is a common foreign or 'loan' word, the computer will translate it into katakana. For example, if I write こーひ and press space, it will change to コーヒ (ko-hi, which is 'coffee').
If you do write something that isn't a legitimate Japanese syllable (for example, a random consonant not followed by a vowel), the computer will not translate it correctly. For example, Starbucks may come out as Sたrぶcks. (ta and bu are legitimate characters). For foreign words, you can press a key on your keyboard to leave them as English characters, or convert them into katakana.
It's nice having a proper Japanese keyboard, because I can immediately switch to Japanese mode at the press of a button. ^_^
Monday, May 25, 2009
Ding-dong
Despite my earlier predictions, I haven't noticed any particular increase in mask use around Yokohama/Kawasaki/etc, despite that the H1N1 flu has reached Kawasaki. The vast majority of people on the street aren't wearing them at all. I think some of the fear factor has died down.
However, people's personal behaviour doesn't necessarily reflect what's happening in companies and schools. Since companies and schools have some kind of responsibility for their charges, a number of them have made mask-wearing mandatory. A number of my students have to wear masks when going out and meeting clients, etc.
***
Had a ridiculous 10-minute exchange with some Japanese guy at my door tonight.
It seems like when people come to the door here, they don't just give a decorous knock, wait a few moments, then ring, then wait again. No, it's pound-pound-pound and immediately ringing the bell twice, then pounding again, all before you've even had time to stand up. It gives you a real feeling of urgency, like there must be some kind of emergency happening, and you'd better get to the door QUICK!
So anyway, I got there and the first thing he asked me was how long I'd been living here. My immediate thought was 'oh no, perhaps he's one of my neighbors and he's going to complain about hearing noise from my apartment'. But I told him, and his next question was where I was from. I said Australia, and he said: "oh! Ian Thorpe!' I looked at him blankly (because I still had no idea who he was or why he was at my door) so he mimed some swimming strokes. He then said I was beautiful - bijin, kawaii. ...
The ensuing conversation consisted of him firing off very long sentences, followed by my blankly repeating the last 3-4 words of that sentence).
Him: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah dekiru desu ka?
Me: ...dekiru desu ka... uh...
And when I did correctly understand him, I didn't know what he was on about.
Him: Can you read Japanese?
Me: I can't read kanji.
Him: When do you you think you'll be able to read?
Me: ?? (thinking I must have misunderstood the question)
Him: When will you be able to read? June? July?
Yeah, I should be able to master 2000 or so kanji in the next couple of weeks, no worries. Shouldn't take longer than that to master the entire Japanese written language, no worries.
Finally asked him 'um, sorry, but who are you?' Finally discovered that he was selling newspaper subscriptions. I find it very difficult to believe that he could persist in a 10-minute one-sided conversation with someone who understood not a lick of his Japanese, and imagine that I'd be interested in subscribing to a Japanese newspaper. He tried to persuade me I might be able to read some of it.
I don't know how to say 'I'm not interested' in Japanese, but I did latch on firmly to the word 'muri' (impossible), and after repeating it several times, he finally went away. >_<
However, people's personal behaviour doesn't necessarily reflect what's happening in companies and schools. Since companies and schools have some kind of responsibility for their charges, a number of them have made mask-wearing mandatory. A number of my students have to wear masks when going out and meeting clients, etc.
***
Had a ridiculous 10-minute exchange with some Japanese guy at my door tonight.
It seems like when people come to the door here, they don't just give a decorous knock, wait a few moments, then ring, then wait again. No, it's pound-pound-pound and immediately ringing the bell twice, then pounding again, all before you've even had time to stand up. It gives you a real feeling of urgency, like there must be some kind of emergency happening, and you'd better get to the door QUICK!
So anyway, I got there and the first thing he asked me was how long I'd been living here. My immediate thought was 'oh no, perhaps he's one of my neighbors and he's going to complain about hearing noise from my apartment'. But I told him, and his next question was where I was from. I said Australia, and he said: "oh! Ian Thorpe!' I looked at him blankly (because I still had no idea who he was or why he was at my door) so he mimed some swimming strokes. He then said I was beautiful - bijin, kawaii. ...
The ensuing conversation consisted of him firing off very long sentences, followed by my blankly repeating the last 3-4 words of that sentence).
Him: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah dekiru desu ka?
Me: ...dekiru desu ka... uh...
And when I did correctly understand him, I didn't know what he was on about.
Him: Can you read Japanese?
Me: I can't read kanji.
Him: When do you you think you'll be able to read?
Me: ?? (thinking I must have misunderstood the question)
Him: When will you be able to read? June? July?
Yeah, I should be able to master 2000 or so kanji in the next couple of weeks, no worries. Shouldn't take longer than that to master the entire Japanese written language, no worries.
Finally asked him 'um, sorry, but who are you?' Finally discovered that he was selling newspaper subscriptions. I find it very difficult to believe that he could persist in a 10-minute one-sided conversation with someone who understood not a lick of his Japanese, and imagine that I'd be interested in subscribing to a Japanese newspaper. He tried to persuade me I might be able to read some of it.
I don't know how to say 'I'm not interested' in Japanese, but I did latch on firmly to the word 'muri' (impossible), and after repeating it several times, he finally went away. >_<
Monday, May 18, 2009
Everybody panic!
As you may've heard, the H1N1 flu has come to Japan, and quite a few cases have popped up, mostly in Hyogo and surrounding areas.
Japanese people seem very health-conscious. I read an article recently about someone travelling to foreign airports, such as Heathrow, where the only people wearing surgical masks were Japanese tourists. And you'll certainly see a *lot* of Japanese wearing those masks to protect themselves against real or perceived nasties. (Or, if they themselves have a cold and don't want to spread it.)
In this country, even when there are *no* health scares around, you'll find very detailed 'how to wash your hands correctly' posters. In some companies, professional, full-grown adults - I'm not kidding - are even being instructed on appropriate hand-washing procedures during company hours, with everyone in the office required to participate in a hand-washing 'class'. Japanese people are the ones that have health checks every year from childhood, and have to collect their own urine in little bottles, or record information about their BMs for school camps. Who go to the doctor for any minor cough or cold.
Unfortunately, in my cynical opinion, it sometimes seems like the reason companies etc are so concerned with employees' health is because they offer very little opportunity to take sick leave, and want to keep their employees healthy so they can be in the office, where they belong. It's like 'you should look after yourself; if you get sick, it's your fault for not protecting your health'.
Japanese people are very concerned with hygiene and cleanliness. This is certainly not always a bad thing, especially in the major cities which feature a huge population in a small area. The more we can suppress the spread of sickness, on crowded trains etc, the better.
However, in such a culture, you can imagine that this H1N1 flu has caused some fairly strong reactions. Even back when there was only one confirmed case in the country, some companies were introducing measures like saying every employee must wear a mask at all times, cancelling business trips, prohibiting all employees from traveling (even in their personal lives), or closing schools (this is a bit more understandable in Hyogo etc, where many of the affected people were students who spread the flu during volleyball tournaments, etc). University classes have been cancelled, and so on.
Of course, measures have been stronger in the affected areas, but even here, a lot of companies are starting to pass down new guidelines and restrictions to their employees.
My company has not done anything excessive, though they did cancel a few meetings, I think. I am not sure why meetings are considered more dangerous than merely coming to work every day and seeing a hundred students pass through, but I'm just relieved my job hasn't been affected. Hopefully there won't be a huge nationwide epidemic, but at the same time, with over a hundred people already affected, I don't think there's ultimately anything we can *really* do to halt its spread, apart from close down all inter-city trains etc, and effectively prohibit people in Hyogo etc from travelling anywhere.
I can't say I'm particularly concerned about the flu. Sure, I wouldn't want to catch it, but it doesn't seem to be terribly dangerous. Having over a hundred cases does sound scary, but if you think about all the flus and viruses and colds that 'go around' all the time, and don't have their numbers recorded, it's probably not that much. Anyway, I'm not well-informed enough about it to properly talk about the medical risks etc, so I'll finish there.
[Update: Tokyo has now recorded its first case of the flu. I expect that within one day, 80-90% of people on the street will be wearing masks. Even a couple of days ago, a student told me how she went to buy masks, but the first two pharmacies were sold out. At the third, there was a huge scuffle of people fighting over the masks.]
Japanese people seem very health-conscious. I read an article recently about someone travelling to foreign airports, such as Heathrow, where the only people wearing surgical masks were Japanese tourists. And you'll certainly see a *lot* of Japanese wearing those masks to protect themselves against real or perceived nasties. (Or, if they themselves have a cold and don't want to spread it.)
In this country, even when there are *no* health scares around, you'll find very detailed 'how to wash your hands correctly' posters. In some companies, professional, full-grown adults - I'm not kidding - are even being instructed on appropriate hand-washing procedures during company hours, with everyone in the office required to participate in a hand-washing 'class'. Japanese people are the ones that have health checks every year from childhood, and have to collect their own urine in little bottles, or record information about their BMs for school camps. Who go to the doctor for any minor cough or cold.
Unfortunately, in my cynical opinion, it sometimes seems like the reason companies etc are so concerned with employees' health is because they offer very little opportunity to take sick leave, and want to keep their employees healthy so they can be in the office, where they belong. It's like 'you should look after yourself; if you get sick, it's your fault for not protecting your health'.
Japanese people are very concerned with hygiene and cleanliness. This is certainly not always a bad thing, especially in the major cities which feature a huge population in a small area. The more we can suppress the spread of sickness, on crowded trains etc, the better.
However, in such a culture, you can imagine that this H1N1 flu has caused some fairly strong reactions. Even back when there was only one confirmed case in the country, some companies were introducing measures like saying every employee must wear a mask at all times, cancelling business trips, prohibiting all employees from traveling (even in their personal lives), or closing schools (this is a bit more understandable in Hyogo etc, where many of the affected people were students who spread the flu during volleyball tournaments, etc). University classes have been cancelled, and so on.
Of course, measures have been stronger in the affected areas, but even here, a lot of companies are starting to pass down new guidelines and restrictions to their employees.
My company has not done anything excessive, though they did cancel a few meetings, I think. I am not sure why meetings are considered more dangerous than merely coming to work every day and seeing a hundred students pass through, but I'm just relieved my job hasn't been affected. Hopefully there won't be a huge nationwide epidemic, but at the same time, with over a hundred people already affected, I don't think there's ultimately anything we can *really* do to halt its spread, apart from close down all inter-city trains etc, and effectively prohibit people in Hyogo etc from travelling anywhere.
I can't say I'm particularly concerned about the flu. Sure, I wouldn't want to catch it, but it doesn't seem to be terribly dangerous. Having over a hundred cases does sound scary, but if you think about all the flus and viruses and colds that 'go around' all the time, and don't have their numbers recorded, it's probably not that much. Anyway, I'm not well-informed enough about it to properly talk about the medical risks etc, so I'll finish there.
[Update: Tokyo has now recorded its first case of the flu. I expect that within one day, 80-90% of people on the street will be wearing masks. Even a couple of days ago, a student told me how she went to buy masks, but the first two pharmacies were sold out. At the third, there was a huge scuffle of people fighting over the masks.]
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Omiyage
Last week was Golden Week, so a lot of staff and students went on vacation. Accordingly, in the last week, there has been an ever-increasing pile of omiyage (souvenir gifts) in our office, courtesy of many generous people. ^_^
So this week, we had the following, record-breaking stack of boxes in our tea room:
chili chocolates from South Korea
wafers from Nagoya
coconut cookies from the Maldives
chocolate macadamias from the Maldives (different person)
chocolate macadamia Merlions from Singapore
coconut chocolate from the Maldives
chocolate coins from the Maldives
assorted chocolates from Brazil
sesame chocolate from somewhere
fish-shaped sable cookies from somewhere
chocolate mochi from Osaka
dango from Mie prefecture
So this week, we had the following, record-breaking stack of boxes in our tea room:
A bad day
In class:
Me: Are there any animals you're afraid of?
Minami: Birds. When I was a child... I was crossing a bridge... and there was a chicken.
Me: Uh-huh...
Minami: And the chicken kind of... flew up at me... and stuck out its foot... and kicked me in the face...
...
Me: You were... jump-kicked in the head by a chicken.
Minami: Yes.
Me: Are there any animals you're afraid of?
Minami: Birds. When I was a child... I was crossing a bridge... and there was a chicken.
Me: Uh-huh...
Minami: And the chicken kind of... flew up at me... and stuck out its foot... and kicked me in the face...
...
Me: You were... jump-kicked in the head by a chicken.
Minami: Yes.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Slip, dab a tiny bit, slap
The Cancer Council would be distressed if they could see the status of sunscreen in this country. For some reason, sunscreen here seems to be designated a beauty product, and is sold in miniscule containers the size of my bottle of foundation. They're also priced like cosmetics, which is certainly a deterrent to anyone wanting them for the use of the whole family. They're also packaged in a quite pretty, girly way, making it look like a woman's product.
The other day I failed to bring my bottle of Aussie sunscreen with me, and had to borrow some from Pete. I felt quite guilty taking enough for my arms *and* face, from his 30g bottle, especially when I knew it had cost him about $15.
It's true the sun here is a bit less strong than in Australia, but you can still get burned. It seems quite a few Japanese women protect their skin by a) wearing cardigans or long sleeves, even in hot weather (>_<) or b) carrying a sun umbrella (which seems like an unnecessary hassle to me...)
The other day I failed to bring my bottle of Aussie sunscreen with me, and had to borrow some from Pete. I felt quite guilty taking enough for my arms *and* face, from his 30g bottle, especially when I knew it had cost him about $15.
It's true the sun here is a bit less strong than in Australia, but you can still get burned. It seems quite a few Japanese women protect their skin by a) wearing cardigans or long sleeves, even in hot weather (>_<) or b) carrying a sun umbrella (which seems like an unnecessary hassle to me...)
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Miscellaneous
I'm back at work after a good Golden Week. In Japan, there are three Big Weeks of the year, when most people have holidays. As you can imagine, having a whole nation of people on holiday at the same time has good and bad points.
Good points:
-you can see any of your friends, as you all have holidays; families can easily spend time together
-if they didn't force them to take this break, a lot of Japanese people would probably work the whole year through with no time off at all
Bad points:
-every touristy place is CROWDED
-roads are hugely congested
-hotel prices and airfares skyrocket
I had a student who drove up to Tochigi Prefecture. The journey of 30km took him over 5 hours. !!! The Government reduced the toll on the highways (yep - you have to pay to use the highways here) so the already congested roads were packed beyond belief. Fortunately, I never had any problems with this.
***
The video shop on my street, which closed recently, has reopened as a fruit and vegetable shop. There was clearly a gap in the market for it - literally, a 500m gap. It's nice for me, because it's on my walk to the station. Before, if I wanted to buy fruit, I'd have to walk an exhausting 50m away from the station to get to the supermarket from my house. (Yes, I live 50m from a supermarket. ^_^)
This is a place where small stores can still fill an important role. In my suburb, especially, there are lots of tiny 'mom and pop' stores. When I went in there for the first time, the owner offered me a piece of grapefruit to try. I bought a bag of six apples for 150 yen (about $2). This is an AMAZING price for Japan, where it is very possible to pay more than that for *one* apple. (And most apples here are Enormous. These ones were normal-sized.)
I can get most basic vegetables here, but one thing I don't like is that capsicums are expensive here, no matter what the season. Here, capsicums are called 'paprikas' (?!) and a single one usually costs from $2.50-$3.50.
I'm going to teach a special class called 'Food English'. The main goal in this class is to try to dispel some of the Japanese English. So, as you may know, Japanese has adopted a lot of English words into the language. However, some of the words don't have their original meaning, or have been so katakana-ised that they don't sound anything like the original.
Other Japanicised words are words that are originally from French or Italian or other languages, but Japanese people think they are English and use them in English conversation.
Here are some examples of Japanese English and the translation:
chou cream (pronounced 'shoe cream') = cream puff
soft cream = soft serve ice cream
taruto = tart (you can see it's come from English, but the pronunciation is unrecognisable)
cookie and cookie = cookies & cream (ice cream flavour)
donuts = donut (they pluralise it even if it's singular, because in Japanese it's donatsu - same with shirt (shaatsu))
piman = green pepper (we don't have these in Australia; they're like small capsicums, but they have very little flavour)
one-piece = smock/tunic (that kind of long top... actually, we need a decent name for that in English...)
marron = chestnut
wear = clothes
soft drink = non-alcoholic drink (coffee and tea are listed under 'soft drinks' on menus here)
maniac = fan
arubaito = part-time job
anketto = questionnaire (apparently it's from the French 'enquête')
horumon (sounds like 'hormone') = offal
English words are popular here, but even if the English is written on a menu, it's still safer to pronounce it Japanese-style. Today I recklessly ordered a 'Bailey's Cinnamon Latte', using normal English pronunciation, while pointing to the Bailey's drinks (there were only two drinks on the poster - cinnamon and hazelnut). I had to repeat myself, and then the clerk asked me 'cinnamon or hazelnut?' ("shinamon, he-zurunatsu?")
Speaking of coffee, the staff at my local Starbucks have taken to writing little 'thank you' messages and smiley faces on my daily cappuccino.
(I'm sad to say it really is a daily habit and I am very predictable. Today, I only bought a banana*, and the girl, slightly confused, asked me if I wanted anything else. Other times, I haven't had to open my mouth. Once, the guy had caught sight of me and finished making my cappuccino before I could even get to the counter to order it. They are very nice people, at my Starbucks. ^_^)
*(Am ashamed to relate that the reason I only bought a banana was not because I was forgoing the coffee. It was because I had just finished my cappuccino at a different branch of Starbucks, which didn't sell bananas.)
Good points:
-you can see any of your friends, as you all have holidays; families can easily spend time together
-if they didn't force them to take this break, a lot of Japanese people would probably work the whole year through with no time off at all
Bad points:
-every touristy place is CROWDED
-roads are hugely congested
-hotel prices and airfares skyrocket
I had a student who drove up to Tochigi Prefecture. The journey of 30km took him over 5 hours. !!! The Government reduced the toll on the highways (yep - you have to pay to use the highways here) so the already congested roads were packed beyond belief. Fortunately, I never had any problems with this.
***
The video shop on my street, which closed recently, has reopened as a fruit and vegetable shop. There was clearly a gap in the market for it - literally, a 500m gap. It's nice for me, because it's on my walk to the station. Before, if I wanted to buy fruit, I'd have to walk an exhausting 50m away from the station to get to the supermarket from my house. (Yes, I live 50m from a supermarket. ^_^)
This is a place where small stores can still fill an important role. In my suburb, especially, there are lots of tiny 'mom and pop' stores. When I went in there for the first time, the owner offered me a piece of grapefruit to try. I bought a bag of six apples for 150 yen (about $2). This is an AMAZING price for Japan, where it is very possible to pay more than that for *one* apple. (And most apples here are Enormous. These ones were normal-sized.)
I can get most basic vegetables here, but one thing I don't like is that capsicums are expensive here, no matter what the season. Here, capsicums are called 'paprikas' (?!) and a single one usually costs from $2.50-$3.50.
I'm going to teach a special class called 'Food English'. The main goal in this class is to try to dispel some of the Japanese English. So, as you may know, Japanese has adopted a lot of English words into the language. However, some of the words don't have their original meaning, or have been so katakana-ised that they don't sound anything like the original.
Other Japanicised words are words that are originally from French or Italian or other languages, but Japanese people think they are English and use them in English conversation.
Here are some examples of Japanese English and the translation:
English words are popular here, but even if the English is written on a menu, it's still safer to pronounce it Japanese-style. Today I recklessly ordered a 'Bailey's Cinnamon Latte', using normal English pronunciation, while pointing to the Bailey's drinks (there were only two drinks on the poster - cinnamon and hazelnut). I had to repeat myself, and then the clerk asked me 'cinnamon or hazelnut?' ("shinamon, he-zurunatsu?")
Speaking of coffee, the staff at my local Starbucks have taken to writing little 'thank you' messages and smiley faces on my daily cappuccino.
(I'm sad to say it really is a daily habit and I am very predictable. Today, I only bought a banana*, and the girl, slightly confused, asked me if I wanted anything else. Other times, I haven't had to open my mouth. Once, the guy had caught sight of me and finished making my cappuccino before I could even get to the counter to order it. They are very nice people, at my Starbucks. ^_^)
*(Am ashamed to relate that the reason I only bought a banana was not because I was forgoing the coffee. It was because I had just finished my cappuccino at a different branch of Starbucks, which didn't sell bananas.)
Monday, May 4, 2009
Izu trip - day 1
Atami - Day 1
On the weekend I went to the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka. From Yokohama, it's about 2 hours south by train (assuming you don't take the expensive shinkansen, which we didn't).
I went with my coworkers Nami (manager), Aya (assistant manager) and Pete. It was probably one of the best weekends I've ever had. They are all nice, fun people, and we went to some beautiful places; the food was good, the weather was good, we did some fun things...
So, first we went to Atami. We were staying in a kind of ryokan (traditional inn) slash hotel. In my experience, a ryokan differs from a hotel in two main ways: there are more rules, but they take better care of you, especially regarding food.
The main rules involve following a rather strict time schedule (Pete commented, 'oh, I didn't realise we were staying in a military hotel') and making sure you're wearing the right kind of footwear.
The scenery near our ryokan was beautiful. After checking in and having the customary cup of green tea awaiting us in our room, we went down to the beach. Now, up close, that beach was disgusting - the far end of it was strewn with garbage, and we found a dead albatross buried in the sand.
However, we had a lot of fun. Aya had brought a beach ball and we took lots of silly pictures and wrote in the sand.
Of course, the next day we realised that there was a nice, clean, non-black beach just 100m further down the road...
After that, we went to get in a hot bath before dinner.
I love hot springs. Atami is very famous for its hot springs; in fact, there's even a hot spring complex in Yokohama that pipes in its hot water all the way from Atami. Pete went into the guys' side and the rest of us into the girls'. We had a small indoor hot spring bath and a small outdoor one, rimmed with rocks. Very relaxing!
After the bath, it was time for dinner. Dinner starts strictly at 6, and when we went into the dining room we found many tables laden with meals, each serving prepared, ready for the guests.
Atami - and the Izu peninsula - is very famous for seafood. (I think I've mentioned this, but it seems like every place in Japan is very famous for something. Whenever you say you're going somewhere, people will say 'oh, you should try their local soba' or 'you should eat ramen there'.) Accordingly, seafood we ate.
That meal was pretty impressive. There was a huge sashimi boat in the middle of the table. I didn't eat any of it except to try one piece of tai (snapper). Then, each of us had several small dishes, such as tiny, flavoured shirasu (baby sardines); what tasted like potatoes with a thick coating of nikujaga-like paste; small shrimp to be eaten whole, head, legs and tail; an oyster; edamame (soy beans), tsukemono (pickled vegetables).
That was just for starters. We each had a kind of pot; a waitress lit candles/fuel things under each of them. These 'candles' burn fiercely for several minutes, cooking what's inside the dish. Inside were clams, which opened as they became hot, and mushrooms and bean sprouts.
We were brought a whole fish, a big orange one, divided into four bits. Me and Pete claimed the middle parts; Nami got the tail and Aya the head. Pete didn't like the eye staring at him while he was eating. We also had as much rice as we wanted, and miso soup with crab legs in it. To finish, we had ice cream and green tea. It was a very satisfactory dinner. ^_^
After dinner we went to karaoke, as our ryokan had karaoke rooms. We had an hour included with our ryokan. Then we had an hour of ping-pong, in a huge room we had to ourselves. This was a lot of fun, though I'm not good at ping-pong...
After this we went back to our ryokan and set it up for bed. Usually, ryokan staff will set up the futon while you're at dinner, but we had to do it ourselves, laying out the futon, sheets and quilts. Our room had tatami mats and paper sliding screen windows, so we opened a window to let in the cool night air.
Ryokan and hotels in Japan provide you with yukata (casual Japanese robes) you can wear in and around your room. They're a great idea for places with hot springs, because they're less hassle when dressing and undressing. Also, in Atami, with its holiday feel and quite a few hot springs around, you can see a few people walking on the street wearing yukata. (I think usually you'd only wear yukata within the confines of a hotel. It's like nightwear.)
Then there's shoe etiquette. You wear your normal shoes outside, then put on the ryokan slippers for walking up to your room, then you leave the slippers outside your room and go in your room in your bare feet or socks. If you use the bathroom, there's a set of bathroom slippers in there. You can also borrow the ryokan's zori (wooden sandals that go with yukata) to wear outside. It's easy to forget what you're supposed to be wearing...
We had another hot spring bath before bed. ^_^
On the weekend I went to the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka. From Yokohama, it's about 2 hours south by train (assuming you don't take the expensive shinkansen, which we didn't).
I went with my coworkers Nami (manager), Aya (assistant manager) and Pete. It was probably one of the best weekends I've ever had. They are all nice, fun people, and we went to some beautiful places; the food was good, the weather was good, we did some fun things...
So, first we went to Atami. We were staying in a kind of ryokan (traditional inn) slash hotel. In my experience, a ryokan differs from a hotel in two main ways: there are more rules, but they take better care of you, especially regarding food.
The main rules involve following a rather strict time schedule (Pete commented, 'oh, I didn't realise we were staying in a military hotel') and making sure you're wearing the right kind of footwear.
The scenery near our ryokan was beautiful. After checking in and having the customary cup of green tea awaiting us in our room, we went down to the beach. Now, up close, that beach was disgusting - the far end of it was strewn with garbage, and we found a dead albatross buried in the sand.
However, we had a lot of fun. Aya had brought a beach ball and we took lots of silly pictures and wrote in the sand.
Of course, the next day we realised that there was a nice, clean, non-black beach just 100m further down the road...
After that, we went to get in a hot bath before dinner.
I love hot springs. Atami is very famous for its hot springs; in fact, there's even a hot spring complex in Yokohama that pipes in its hot water all the way from Atami. Pete went into the guys' side and the rest of us into the girls'. We had a small indoor hot spring bath and a small outdoor one, rimmed with rocks. Very relaxing!
After the bath, it was time for dinner. Dinner starts strictly at 6, and when we went into the dining room we found many tables laden with meals, each serving prepared, ready for the guests.
Atami - and the Izu peninsula - is very famous for seafood. (I think I've mentioned this, but it seems like every place in Japan is very famous for something. Whenever you say you're going somewhere, people will say 'oh, you should try their local soba' or 'you should eat ramen there'.) Accordingly, seafood we ate.
That meal was pretty impressive. There was a huge sashimi boat in the middle of the table. I didn't eat any of it except to try one piece of tai (snapper). Then, each of us had several small dishes, such as tiny, flavoured shirasu (baby sardines); what tasted like potatoes with a thick coating of nikujaga-like paste; small shrimp to be eaten whole, head, legs and tail; an oyster; edamame (soy beans), tsukemono (pickled vegetables).
That was just for starters. We each had a kind of pot; a waitress lit candles/fuel things under each of them. These 'candles' burn fiercely for several minutes, cooking what's inside the dish. Inside were clams, which opened as they became hot, and mushrooms and bean sprouts.
We were brought a whole fish, a big orange one, divided into four bits. Me and Pete claimed the middle parts; Nami got the tail and Aya the head. Pete didn't like the eye staring at him while he was eating. We also had as much rice as we wanted, and miso soup with crab legs in it. To finish, we had ice cream and green tea. It was a very satisfactory dinner. ^_^
After dinner we went to karaoke, as our ryokan had karaoke rooms. We had an hour included with our ryokan. Then we had an hour of ping-pong, in a huge room we had to ourselves. This was a lot of fun, though I'm not good at ping-pong...
After this we went back to our ryokan and set it up for bed. Usually, ryokan staff will set up the futon while you're at dinner, but we had to do it ourselves, laying out the futon, sheets and quilts. Our room had tatami mats and paper sliding screen windows, so we opened a window to let in the cool night air.
Ryokan and hotels in Japan provide you with yukata (casual Japanese robes) you can wear in and around your room. They're a great idea for places with hot springs, because they're less hassle when dressing and undressing. Also, in Atami, with its holiday feel and quite a few hot springs around, you can see a few people walking on the street wearing yukata. (I think usually you'd only wear yukata within the confines of a hotel. It's like nightwear.)
Then there's shoe etiquette. You wear your normal shoes outside, then put on the ryokan slippers for walking up to your room, then you leave the slippers outside your room and go in your room in your bare feet or socks. If you use the bathroom, there's a set of bathroom slippers in there. You can also borrow the ryokan's zori (wooden sandals that go with yukata) to wear outside. It's easy to forget what you're supposed to be wearing...
We had another hot spring bath before bed. ^_^
Friday, May 1, 2009
Seoul
Well, I've just come back from being in Seoul, South Korea, for three days. I enjoyed Seoul. I was comparing it with Japan a lot, because the two countries have a lot in common, I think.
Seoul, though perhaps a less popular tourist destination than Tokyo, is more tourist-friendly and tourist-oriented. It seems like most people speak a little English, or at least, are not intimidated by foreigners coming up and speaking foreign languages to them. A lot of stores seemed to have products geared to a foreign market, too. I think one benefit is that Seoul seems to have a tighter concentration of tourist-popular areas. Seoul is a big city, but a lot of the popular places are in walking distance in the middle. Whereas in Tokyo, the popular places are all quite widely spread.
The people were a bit more friendly and outgoing than in Japan. Several people randomly said "hi" to me, shopkeepers were genuinely smiley and friendly, and I got 'interviewed' by a couple of Korean uni students in different locations.
However, on the 'dealing with foreigners speaking English' point it's a bit difficult for me to compare the two countries.
See, I knew very little about Korea before going there; my only research consisted of finding out about some famous sightseeing places. I had booked it so soon before going (I was literally confirming the flight two days before leaving), I didn't have time to do much research. The day before leaving, I found out purely by chance, talking to one of my students, that the water is unsafe to drink. And I only realised, through putting two and two together, that Korea's toilets are like China's - you often can't flush paper, but should put it in a bin beside the toilet.
My ignorance about Korea included the inability to say even one word in Korean. During my stay I became just about familiar with how to say 'hi' and 'thank you', but that's about it. It took me a full day to learn 'thank you'. For some reason, Japanese words stick in my mind much more easily; I think because Japanese pronunciation is much more straightforward.
Anyway, as a result, I could only rely on English, gestures and so on. So I'd go up to people and just randomly speak English. I have actually never tried this in Japan. In Japan, almost without exception, I will speak Japanese first, and only switch to English if I get completely stuck and the other person has to 'rescue' me. So I don't know how Japanese people would react if I only used English. But in Korea, communication was never a problem.
Seoul seemed a bit more polluted and humid than here. The mornings were kind of hazy.
Korean food was delicious. As you'd expect, there was a lot of kimchi. Sometimes I'd order a dish and get anywhere from 4-7 little side dishes accompanying it, with various vegetables and kimchi. To be honest though, it was a bit spicy for comfort. The best thing I had was chijimi, the vegetable pancake. I had one with stalks of green onions, and octopus. Really good! But I ate far too much.
Spiciness aside, in some ways Korea is a better place for food than Japan, I think. You can get some Japanese food there, if you like Japanese food (and I do like a lot of Japanese food), but Korea has much better snacks, and a much better coffee culture. In Japan, at least half the snacks and desserts you see are pretty miserable-looking, and there are only two or three coffee chains that produce decent cappuccinos in the whole city.
I thought perhaps Japan's poor coffee was just an Asian thing. But Korea is bursting with cafes, and has loads of coffee store chains, all of which are as good as any I'd find in Australia. It was nice to be able to try some different coffee places, not just go to Starbucks all the time. Also, the Korean coffee shops had much nicer-looking desserts than in Japan.
Also, everywhere you go in the shopping areas, there are little carts and stalls, everywhere, selling freshly-made pancakes and waffles, and various fried and barbecued things I couldn't identify. I tried a few and they were delicious. ^_^
There's going to be a festival from this weekend, so some things were being set up for that. I don't know if this is normal, but we saw lots of police officers. I mean, buses and buses of police officers. And setting up sandbags, etc. Many of them had riot shields. I walked past the entrance to an underground shopping mall, and passed about thirty cops, all sitting in neat rows on their riot shields, looking at the entrance. They looked pretty young though. I'm glad I wasn't coming out of there; I'd be rather taken aback to emerge to that sight. I have no idea what that was all about...
I also saw a few cops walking down the street holding up 'Free Hugs' signs...
I went with an ex-coworker. We did some of the usual sightseeing things, and went to a club. I also got a body treatment massagey thing. Very nice. ^_^
As for the tourist places we went to, you can see them on Flickr. Okay, I really should go to bed. Tomorrow I'm off to Atami, a hot springs town in Shizuoka!
Seoul, though perhaps a less popular tourist destination than Tokyo, is more tourist-friendly and tourist-oriented. It seems like most people speak a little English, or at least, are not intimidated by foreigners coming up and speaking foreign languages to them. A lot of stores seemed to have products geared to a foreign market, too. I think one benefit is that Seoul seems to have a tighter concentration of tourist-popular areas. Seoul is a big city, but a lot of the popular places are in walking distance in the middle. Whereas in Tokyo, the popular places are all quite widely spread.
The people were a bit more friendly and outgoing than in Japan. Several people randomly said "hi" to me, shopkeepers were genuinely smiley and friendly, and I got 'interviewed' by a couple of Korean uni students in different locations.
However, on the 'dealing with foreigners speaking English' point it's a bit difficult for me to compare the two countries.
See, I knew very little about Korea before going there; my only research consisted of finding out about some famous sightseeing places. I had booked it so soon before going (I was literally confirming the flight two days before leaving), I didn't have time to do much research. The day before leaving, I found out purely by chance, talking to one of my students, that the water is unsafe to drink. And I only realised, through putting two and two together, that Korea's toilets are like China's - you often can't flush paper, but should put it in a bin beside the toilet.
My ignorance about Korea included the inability to say even one word in Korean. During my stay I became just about familiar with how to say 'hi' and 'thank you', but that's about it. It took me a full day to learn 'thank you'. For some reason, Japanese words stick in my mind much more easily; I think because Japanese pronunciation is much more straightforward.
Anyway, as a result, I could only rely on English, gestures and so on. So I'd go up to people and just randomly speak English. I have actually never tried this in Japan. In Japan, almost without exception, I will speak Japanese first, and only switch to English if I get completely stuck and the other person has to 'rescue' me. So I don't know how Japanese people would react if I only used English. But in Korea, communication was never a problem.
Seoul seemed a bit more polluted and humid than here. The mornings were kind of hazy.
Korean food was delicious. As you'd expect, there was a lot of kimchi. Sometimes I'd order a dish and get anywhere from 4-7 little side dishes accompanying it, with various vegetables and kimchi. To be honest though, it was a bit spicy for comfort. The best thing I had was chijimi, the vegetable pancake. I had one with stalks of green onions, and octopus. Really good! But I ate far too much.
Spiciness aside, in some ways Korea is a better place for food than Japan, I think. You can get some Japanese food there, if you like Japanese food (and I do like a lot of Japanese food), but Korea has much better snacks, and a much better coffee culture. In Japan, at least half the snacks and desserts you see are pretty miserable-looking, and there are only two or three coffee chains that produce decent cappuccinos in the whole city.
I thought perhaps Japan's poor coffee was just an Asian thing. But Korea is bursting with cafes, and has loads of coffee store chains, all of which are as good as any I'd find in Australia. It was nice to be able to try some different coffee places, not just go to Starbucks all the time. Also, the Korean coffee shops had much nicer-looking desserts than in Japan.
Also, everywhere you go in the shopping areas, there are little carts and stalls, everywhere, selling freshly-made pancakes and waffles, and various fried and barbecued things I couldn't identify. I tried a few and they were delicious. ^_^
There's going to be a festival from this weekend, so some things were being set up for that. I don't know if this is normal, but we saw lots of police officers. I mean, buses and buses of police officers. And setting up sandbags, etc. Many of them had riot shields. I walked past the entrance to an underground shopping mall, and passed about thirty cops, all sitting in neat rows on their riot shields, looking at the entrance. They looked pretty young though. I'm glad I wasn't coming out of there; I'd be rather taken aback to emerge to that sight. I have no idea what that was all about...
I also saw a few cops walking down the street holding up 'Free Hugs' signs...
I went with an ex-coworker. We did some of the usual sightseeing things, and went to a club. I also got a body treatment massagey thing. Very nice. ^_^
As for the tourist places we went to, you can see them on Flickr. Okay, I really should go to bed. Tomorrow I'm off to Atami, a hot springs town in Shizuoka!
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