Food and pictures

I took a tofu cooking class today. It was a little far from the apartment, but completely worthwhile. I learned how to make tofu burger patties with an amazing sauce made from shiitake, shimeji and enoki mushrooms; garlic, soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin. I also made Shinoda-maki (fried tofu rolls), ninjin no shira-ae (carrots dressed with mashed tofu), kinoko no takikomi-gohan (rice with mushrooms), miso soup AND...soy milk pudding! I am so excited to have learned some more Japanese dishes and can't wait to try them out at home. There were many other English teachers in attendance which was a nice little taste of something familiar. At the same time it was almost strange being around so many Westerners. It seems as if most of them have western friends with them here or have other native English speaking coworkers. On one hand this would be nice, but really I am glad I don't. I like that I am constantly surrounded by and work with only Japanese people. I like that I seem to be having a completely different experience from many ESL teachers abroad. But it sure was nice to meet so many people in a similar situation as myself.

October 21

While working at Hotoku one week in October we went on a field trip to Yamadaike Koen, the park that is across the street from our home, to collect donguri (acorns). What is done with these acorns afterwards I have yet to find out. I have seen a few acorn figurines, but that's all. It was a lovely fall day chillin' in the park with my kids and their parents. There's just something so lovely about eating lunch outside on a tarp without shoes on.

Because I had another day off on November 3rd for Cultural Day, Rob and I headed to Hoshida Enshi Quasi-National Park for some good 'ole fashioned hiking. When I was stuck in bed with a giant leg, he and Evan went there and turns out there are several different hiking trails. We took the route with the suspension bridge. As you reach the mid section you start to feel some swaying, but the view was too nice for my stomach to upset the mood. A few temples scattered along the trails hidden by the thick forest and yet another magnificent sunset made for a good day.

Having been promised an orange pickin' field trip for several weeks and having them canceled due to weather or mothers' classes I was stoked to finally have the opportunity on November 7th with Hotoku. We took the cute yellow school buses towards the hills where you could see the sky line of Osaka in the hazy distance, and again it was refreshing to be removed from the city, even if only for a few hours. We of course picked a few oranges. Mostly we ran around, ate the oranges, and sledded down a a mud hill. I should also mention how oishii, delicious, these oranges are. They were very tart much like a tangerine or cutie.

November 20

Yamadaike in Autumn, it's nice that it goes so late here. It has been getting quite a bit cooler here each day. My scooter rides to and from work are nippy and being inside a building without insulation has been keeping us cold, but the colors are intoxicating and warming.

November 23

Last Wednesday I yet again had a day off, this time for Labor Thanksgiving Day. We took the opportunity to wander around Hirakata and cook ourselves an American Thanksgiving meal, chicken replaced the turkey since you can't find any in the grocery stores here. And no Thanksgiving is complete without a few park neko friends.

A few extras:

Karaoke with Yuko and Masa

LOVE this girl!

If only they weren't 8000 yen...

Had to stop and talk to the owner for a minute.

Hoppin' temple in the middle of Dotonbori on a Saturday night.

Restaurant in Dotonbori

Japanese product

They just wanted to talk to us about baseball, and did impressions of Hideki Matsui of NY Yankees fame's batting stance. Also, the guy on the left approached us by asking what time it was. He was wearing a watch. 

Observations

Beyond keeping you up to date on the events and details of our lives since we crossed the vast Pacific, I want to make a note of what I consider one of the most drastic and interesting cultural differences I've encountered in my six months in Japan. I am still unsure if I consider it a positive or negative difference and may never be in the position to say. Although I can say that I am extremely happy to be from where I am and feel very lucky to have my background, this is something that I learn more and more the further away from it I get.

The most interesting thing has been observing and living in a society that has such different gender roles and expectations than my own. I quickly learned that I am no longer in an environment where women are just as likely to be working full time as men, while kids are shuttled off to nannies, grandparents or day care. Where men are just as likely, and expected, to help out with household chores. Where it is completely acceptable and somewhat common to not have kids or a family at all.

Within the first month of being here I was asked in an adult lesson what I studied at university. When I gave my answer of Art and Gender Studies I received baffled looks. Trying to explain Gender Studies and Feminism was something I have never had to do before and found myself staggering over my sentences. These two women the same age as myself had never heard of such things, which made me the baffled one. They explained to me that as far as they know, nothing of that nature exists in Japan. Furthermore, women are expected to stay home with the children and tend to household duties while the husband is off making a salary. 'We my not like it, but that is just how it is' were the words that stumbled off my student's lips. I am very often told how lucky I am to have a husband who enjoys cooking and is willing to help with the chores. I know I am, and maybe this is another example of all that I take for granted, but that is just how things work in my situation.

Working in a private kindergarten I have seen a few more gender roles come out to play. During lunch hour (which is eaten at your desk in the teacher's room as there are no cafeterias) it is always a female employee who sets out all of the lunch boxes and tea for everyone. When I am at Hotoku, the school that Nami works at, she always gets the tea ready for everyone and places the lunches out and calls me in to eat after everything is prepared and all the other teachers are ready to eat. When I am at Kasugaoka and Sanae, the schools where I work with Mr. Takaoka and Mr. Nakamura, I am just ushered in to eat whenever we are hungry without worrying about getting tea or lunch for anyone else and without waiting for them to start eating.

It is only females who are home room teachers and 'office ladies' while the males are principles, gyms teachers, English teachers, bus drivers and maintenance. Of course, there are exceptions, there are a couple female gym teachers and English teachers and even one principal, but there are no male homeroom teachers who spend the entire day with children. Thinking back on my own experience in elementary school I can say the same, I didn't have a male homeroom teacher until middle school. Why is that? All of the homeroom teachers are under 30 which leads me to believe that once they are married and start their own family they leave their careers.

Students are usually picked up by mothers around 2PM, a few whose parents I assume are both working stay longer. There are often events and classes in the middle of the day that the mothers come observe and the adult classes are mothers of students which also take place in the middle of the day.

Aside from what I see everyday at school there are personal encounters that make me realize the differences. Rob was hiking with some friends the other day and everyone was impressed with his homemade sandwich. The first question asked after seeing it was 'Ohhhhh, did your wife make that for you?'. I had not, I was in bed sleeping actually. Later in the evening when they all decided to get dinner he was asked if his wife would be upset that he would be getting home late. Obviously I was not.

When visiting with Shinobu at one point we briefly addressed the fact that she has very few female Japanese friends. She explained that because she is outgoing and has more of an 'American personality' Japanese girls think that she is mean because she speaks her mind and therefore they don't like her. This trait is one that I am drawn to, especially when it is so hard to come by, and we get along famously.

There are definitely different gender roles than what I am accustomed to. Women are expected and often have no other choice than to be the homemakers and take care of their male counterparts, whether they be husbands, fathers or brothers. Women are expected to act polite and dainty at all times. They speak in very high pitched voices in order to make themselves sound more feminine and similar to anime characters. Of course, I am brand new to this culture and am only describing my observations and thoughts on the matter. I think that any Japanese person would claim 'things are changing in my country now', yet it is still a subtle difference from America. I have not in any way been personally affected by these new old school roles, other than in my curiosity. 

Six Months In

After six months of living in Japan, I must admit that everything seems a bit more normal. This has caused our updates to be fewer. Things are still exciting, I still find myself bursting out laughing as we walk around the heart of Osaka. We often turn to each other and exclaim 'I can't believe we live in Japan!' and I still can't. Everyday events have become much more normal and average. Our weekends are becoming busier with less time spent at home. It's been almost, but not quite, strange making a transition back into social beings. Though things are becoming more mundane they still excite me and make me giggle. I don't ever want to forget how unusual, special and silly this experience has been and continues to be. Even a taiko drum performance at school or a relaxed picnic in a park with some new friends is something unique. Every single day is filled with so much adventure and allure. Every experience is new and often confusing. The amounts of things we are learning is growing exponentially every single day. I feel much more like I belong here and sometimes forget that I stand out like a sore thumb.

Even when we first arrived, as I was describing to someone what life is like in Japan I said that it's not so different from life anywhere else I've been. People are still people; doing the things they have to do in order to survive and be happy. They fall into whatever routine is custom; they go to work, play, eat, sleep, and reproduce just like everyone else. It's the smallest details that make the largest differences. It's the fashion, mannerisms and language that are so different and interesting.

A few weeks back we went to our friend Shinobu's apaato for a takoyaki party. This is a dish special to Osaka usually sold as street food. It's little fried balls with pieces of tako (octopus) on the inside and very delicious. A special pan is needed to make them and most own their own. Shinobu's was an electric one and we were able to sit around the table and eat as we cooked more. She has a two year old son, Rantaro, who quickly adopted Rob as his new best friend. He would only scowl at me when I tried to win his heart.

That same weekend we met up with a couple we had met this summer at one of Harry's concerts for a night of karaoke in Umeda. This was ridiculously fun. It felt so perfectly normal that this is what we would be doing on a Saturday night. Next Wednesday I have a day off due to another National Holiday and we are going to Kobe with them as our tour guides. 

The Saturday night before Halloween we met up with Nami in Dotonbori for a Halloween party. The safest thing one can do while in Japan, and traveling in general, is to drop any expectations so of course we didn't know what a Halloween party would be like in Japan. Turns out they're not so bad. We went to a 5-story night club called Giraffe in the hippest neighborhood in all of Osaka. The party started at 6PM and we were ushered out the door by 10 so that they could start admitting the second round of patrons. Everybody was dressed up, though not as creatively as in the U.S, and there were the most foreigners I've seen since being here. We made a few friends and were quite popular on the dance floor, mostly just because Japanese people don't dance very much. It was the perfect first night in a club.

Speaking of Dotonbori I have to admit that we are some what addicted to that place. It is the most interesting block of city I have ever stepped foot on. Last weekend we went to Osaka to check out the History Museum and had quite an adventure locating a yarn shop, which we eventually found in a different location by complete accident after we had given up the search. We ended up staying until the last train because we could not tear ourselves away from the epic people watching. It is a popular spot for meeting up with friends before going out with tons of people shopping, gawking and promoting. In particular, there are young men dressed in suits, pointy snake skin boots, umbrellas placed like canes, and long blonde straight hair styled in a sense that reminds me of David Bowie in Labyrinth. (I actually refer to the men of this fashion as David Bowies) Lord knows how long these men spend primping and priming themselves for a Saturday night. I became suspicious of these guys as I noticed them approaching people who would stroll by. I thought they might be drug dealers but that seemed like a big stretch based on how strict laws are of such things. After speculating for some time, we finally asked some other Japanese boys who had started talking to us and they told us they are hosts.

A host is a young man who works in a host bar which is the type of place that you go when you are lonely and want to pay the opposite sex to hang out with you. After learning this we watched the captivating documentary, The Great Happiness Place which is available for streaming or on DVD from Netflix. Turns out this is a very complex and riveting industry that is also completely legal, even if it sometimes steps foot over the blurry line of prostitution. These are bars that employ attractive young men who are payed on commission depending on the amount of drinks and services they can convince women to purchase. The majority of women who attend such bars also work in the industry as hostesses and prostitutes. The patrons often 'fall in love' with these men because they are told all the things they wish to hear and are treated in all the ways they desire to be treated. This is all done in order to make the big bucks and that they do, sometimes making as much as $10,000 a month. I am intrigued and will never look at a 'David Bowie' in the same way again.

On a completely different note, we have been taking Japanese lessons every Sunday morning and I feel that it's finally improving. I still cannot hold a conversation in the slightest which makes me feel half retarded, but I can decipher more of what people spit to me. Nami told me she thinks I am understanding more when students speak to me, which was refreshing to hear when it feels like I'm not making any progress. I did get really excited on the playground when a student asked me 'Nan sai desuka?' (How old are you?) and I was able to answer 'ni juu roku sai desu'. I know that it is absolutely ridiculous that after six months of living in a country I still can't have a conversation in the native tongue but please understand how extremely difficult Japanese is. When I am at school I only use English because, well, that's what I was hired for and until recently we weren't spending too much time with Japanese people. When we are with our friends everyone is so eager to practice English that we aren't often in situations where Japanese is a necessity, but I am trying really hard to master this complex language.