The tallest gaijin couple in Japan (that we know of...we haven't looked very hard) blogs about eating, working and playing. Our combined height is 12 foot 3, we hail from middle America and our new host town's claim to fame is a festival featuring men riding huge logs down a mountain. Oh yeah, takai means tall in Japanese (among other things). It's what we wish they would call us. What they actually call us is ookii (big).
A couple of weeks ago we saw fresh wasabi at the grocery store, which is surprisingly rare in Japan. So, obviously, we snatched it up. It was a second past its prime which in Japan meant it was on sale. What a funny looking little root.
First you peel it:
Then you grate it:
We ate it with tempura. Japanese food isn't very spicy at all so it's nice that they use wasabi. There's a wasabi farm near Matsumoto that we hope to visit so we can see how it grows. So far we've had it in tons of snacks and even ice cream. Fresh is the best though.
Hello family and friends!Greetings from Osaka, the most fun place in Japan. It’s also blissfully far from radiation and aftershocks. We decided to come here for 2 nights before we head to Korea for a pre-planned 10 day trip. It’s been just the thing. Yesterday we got off the bus, checked into our hostel, went to Spaworld and then met some friends for dinner. After that an adorable hostess wearing bunny ears pointed us to an Irish pub full of foreigners (reverse culture shock moment!). We did meet a family who left Tokyo a few days ago because there’s no food there in the stores and they didn’t want to be caught in the rush if everyone starts leaving.
So, here’s the update. We know about as much as you do. We watch the Japanese news in English and read Kyodo news, BBC, CNN, etc. We can check the radiation levels in Nagano on a site that we Google-translate to English. There have been a record amount of aftershocks and we’ve definitely felt some of them. As for the nuclear reactor situation, it’s starting to seem like it’s not going to be resolved easily or quickly. It might be a tense situation for weeks or months as they continue to cool the reactors. Our plan is to go back to our house in Nagano when we get back from Korea and continue to watch the situation and check the radiation levels like everyone else. We did bring all our money, documents and backed up our other computer in case we can’t go back for a while. However, it seems like it will just be an ongoing sticky situation with only minimal effects for people in our area. We are really happy and lucky that we have electricity, water, etc as many others do not right now. There is a limit on how much gas people can buy. Also, there were some things missing in the grocery store when we went a few days ago (instant ramen, toilet paper, water, etc.).We may experience some inconvenience in the coming weeks but nothing compared to what they’re dealing with in the eastern part of the country.
Last week was a very confusing and tense time. People from home were hearing over inflated news about the situation. Meanwhile, it was business as usual in Nagano. We finished out our school year with closing ceremony, graduation ceremony and teachers’ party. Our Japanese colleagues seemed cool as cucumbers. However, towards the end of the week those we talked to individually did seem worried. Some of John’s teachers in Matsumoto were planning on sending their kids to Osaka after school was finished. It seemed kind of eerie that everyone was so calm and seemingly nonplussed, but it’s also really comforting and soothing that no one is riled up. We’ve been remarking on how the reaction would likely be much more extreme in the US. We wish there were a middle ground between Californians buying iodine tablets and the subdued response of the Japanese. What’s clear is we all have a lot to learn about radiation, what a safe level is, how it gets and stays in our systems and the effects. One of the most informative explanations of the Fukushima Daiichi situation can be found at The Guardian. Also, you might want to read the Wikipedia "sievert" page here.
To us, in a situation like this, there seem to be two things at play: the actual reality of the situation and the perception of the situation. It’s critical for the Japanese news to be judicious in the information they give, as they can’t have 30 million simultaneously fleeing Tokyo.Thankfully, from our perspective, Japanese people are conscious of the larger good. They are willing to use less gas and electricity, haven’t hoarded food as much as those in other cultures might and are mobilizing to send assistance to impacted parts of the country. At our community center, where we teach a weekly English class, the whole first floor was full of boxes packed and ready to send to the Sendai area.
We are really grateful for everyone’s concern for Japan and us. The Japanese are admirably resilient and we feel a kinship with them and their country after living here for almost 14 months now. The workers at the nuclear reactor are true heroes, putting their life at risk for all of us here. If you are able, please consider donating to one of the many aid organizations working at feeding and housing those affected by the earthquake and tsunami. We ended up donating to Shelterbox but Oxfam Japan, Salvation Army, Red Cross and many others are also options.
We’re planning to be back in Japan on the 29th. Until then we hope to relax and a bit and not check the news as incessantly as we have been. Thanks again to you all for your concern. We’ll keep you updated.
*****Update: The news is saying that at least one of the reactors near Fukushima is "melting down." We are quite a ways away from there (200+ miles), with some pretty large mountains in between. We are not worried at the moment (and don't really see any reason to be in the future), but we are regularly checking the news and keeping up with our friends who either are or speak Japanese.
There's not much to report from where we are, fortunately. Basically we're following the news like everyone else. We live inland in mountainous Nagano prefecture and are about 5 hours by train to Sendai, but this is mostly because part of the trip would be on bullet train. Japan isn't a large country but it's long and we are far from the impacted areas.
On Friday afternoon we were both at school and definitely felt the rumblings of the first big earthquake. It was our first jishin (earthquake in Japanese but it also means self-confidence among other things, when different kanji are used).
Josie's account - I was alone, reading in the small English teachers' room. I felt nauseous and noticed the shaking. Honestly it wasn't shaking that badly - we had just earthquake-proofed our building and I was on the first floor. It just felt very wrong and almost like we were on a big ship or something. I went up to the big teachers' room and a few teachers were watching the huge TV screen. Reports were just starting to come in that an earthquake hit Northeast of us. Everyone was pretty non-plussed. We have had numerous earthquake drills while I've been here. Everyone dons their kerchief (literally - puts on their headscarves we use for cleaning time. Supposedly this is to protect them from debris but I think it's so they look like a team. I mean, what a waste of time if you really needed to evacuate.) They file orderly into the gym (in a real earthquake I was told we'd go outside but they don't want to mussy up their clean indoor shoes for a drill). The teachers count the kids and report that all are there. None of this happened on Friday. I guess this is indicative of how prevalent earthquakes are. Some of the teachers made their kids get under their desks. Mostly, however, it was business as usual. The 3rd graders practiced for graduation in the gym. The images on TV changed to showing the massive tsunami. Teachers checked their phone and tried to call family members. They cancelled after school activities. Basically we still didn't understand that this was the BIG one.
John's account: I was correcting papers at my desk in the teachers room when the shaking began. I had this weird dizzy/nauseous feeling and decided to stand up and stretch. Bad idea. I kind of wobbled to the side and looked around the room. Everything was shaking and the 15 or so teachers were holding onto the sides of their desks. Then it hit me: this is an earthquake. I sat down again at my desk and rubbed my temples, trying to get over the woozy feeling. The shaking stopped and about 10 more teachers came into office. Someone turned on the TV and we saw some of the first quake images and the tsunami warnings. The thought that came to me then (and kept coming back to me over the next few hours) was that nobody was panicking or acting crazy; even when there were two or three more mini-tremors and we watched the images of the damage on NHK. Our vice-principle and head teacher made announcements to the students, parents came and brought some students home, and at the end of the school day the students left. No crying, no frantic phone calls, no praying. Just a lot of nervous laughter and some coy chiding of how I had caused the earthquake.
At 8:10 that morning I had stood before the schools staff and given my farewell speech. During lunchtime I said goodbye to the students over the intercom. Around 3:00 pm I was wondering how was I going to get home because the trains had stopped. My principle joked that if I had to stay the night we could close the curtains and dive into the secret sake stash (of course I find out there is a secret sake stash on my last day...). By 5:30 I was in the entranceway of my school with a circle of teachers around me. I was told Hip-hop sensei lived in Suwa (the town next to mine) and was going to give me a ride home. But first my farewell. The vice-principle stepped forward and said in English, "Japanese farewell." He then proceeded to lead the teachers in no less than seven Banzai's (Banzai = stretch your arms towards the sky, bow, then come back up and yell "Banzai!"). After this I got into Hip-hop sensei's Supra and we circled the parking lot while I gave parade waves. The playlist on the way home consisted of Notorious BIG, Lupe Fiasco, KRS-One, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, The Game, Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, Pete Rock and lots of Nas (Hip-hop sensei's favorite things are Nas, Marlboro Reds, Kobe Bryant, and Air Force 1 shoes ). What a crazy day.
Josie woke up for the 4am 6.2 earthquake that hit in Nagano. The shoji screens were rattling. Soon enough it stopped though and she went back to sleep. John slept right through it. If we had a newer cell phone we would've gotten an alert. Our friends got a text message 30 seconds before that one hit. Friday and Saturday there were a few warnings/messages coming from our town's loudspeaker. They use this to tell us about everything from a town event, a missing grandparent or a natural disaster. It always seems kind of spooky to us (we can picture them saying the Americans are coming during WW2, right?). That's probably more of a factor of us not understanding what they're saying though.
The day after (Saturday here) we did normal errands. The grocery store was as busy as normal but people didn't seem to be buying special supplies or anything.
So, everyone's thoughts and energy should be going to the people near Sendai and Fukushima. As you can see from the footage, it's just devastating up there. Japan is a very prepared, organized and calm country-probably the best place to be if you're going to be in an earthquake. I mean, looting isn't a concern. Their buildings are earthquake proof (though nothing is tsunami proof). However, it's so densely populated that inevitably many many people will be affected. At this point we're all holding our breath about the nuclear reactors.
Factoids:
The quake tilted the Earth's axis 10 cm. Japan's coast moved 8 feet. Plate boundary earthquakes of this magnitude only occur once in 1,000 years. There are about 300 earthquakes in Japan every day. They knew they were due for a big one and were predicting it but they had no idea it would be this big.
Let's hope for a speedy rescue search and clean up and that the nuclear reactor situation is sorted. Also, that the earth settles and we don't have more big earthquakes here in the "ring of fire".
Many people have offered prayers during this difficult time for Japan's people. We suggest directing your energy into donating to the Red Cross or hugging your loved ones and telling them what they mean to you.
We’ve been here for over a year now. It’s funny because we’re at the point where we feel really comfortable here. We’re used to our Japanese life. Sure we still get mail we can’t read. Yes, we basically just figured out our phone. No we can’t read food labels yet. Overall though, it feels normal to be the only foreigner at the grocery store (or school or anywhere really), hear the shrine bells toll every night and pay bills at 7-11.
I guess we’re at the point where we’ve got everything figured out about as much as we’re going to given that we’re not really trying too hard to learn Japanese. (Although lately our teachers have been commenting that we're speaking more these days...) This is the point I reached when I lived in Madrid and Buenos Aires (except there I was learning the language). I usually move on at this point. Once you’ve worked through the cultural differences and language barriers, you start to figure out how to incorporate things from your culture that you need to thrive in a place long term. Then it feels almost too easy and it seems like time to challenge yourself again.
For instance, we’ve sorted out how to make our favorite non-Japanese foods, how to order English books online, how to watch the Twins (MLB.com package), how to watch shows from home, etc. (Do you notice how important the internet is for us?) Maybe we’ve been doing too much of this. We should probably be doing more Japanese cooking, for instance. However, in order to live abroad for a longer period I think you have to balance immersing yourself in the culture and staying sane by retaining aspects of your culture. Some days Japan is just too much and we find refuge in our house full of ENGLISH books, music, shows, friends. You have to balance comforting and challenging yourself. Sometimes just being away from home this long is a challenge and sometimes Japan just makes us crazy. Though sometimes I think it's the starting over and striving to create balance in a new environment that makes me so addicted to traveling/living abroad.
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese
We find some things about Japan amazing. Like the quiet spaces in shrines, temples and nature power spots. We love walking up into the mountains around our house and walking around the big lake. We love our students, both youth and adults. Some things about Japan just seem stifling or depressing though, like the formality, protocols and impenetrable language. I bet once we go home for a visit we’ll notice how living here has affected us in ways we haven’t even noticed. How we’ve over-adopted the gestures and mannerisms since we don’t speak the language. The politeness (can't wait to accidentally bow at some one). Sometimes I think their self-discipline is rubbing off on me. We’ll see. Maybe part of this is a matter of being a bit older, as we are. I remember studying and traveling abroad when I was younger. I was willing to give up more of myself then. Now I feel a little more set in my ways. I know what’s good for me and I want to figure out how to give it to myself. Maybe that’s why I’m still practicing yoga and haven’t taken up judo. Or why I’m baking breads and not eating fish. Now that we’ve created a platform of normalcy here, I hope we can continue to challenge ourselves to learn about Japan and really experience it to the fullest. Having more visitors come in the next few months should help.
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard
We finally obtained some high quality matcha green tea. I know, what took us so long? We knew we liked green tea before we got here. Everyone knows it's good for you - all those anti-oxidants. We fell in love with the whole process when we went to a lovely tea ceremony in Kyoto. As John says, it's like a dance. Every movement is choreographed and rife with meaning.
We already had the accoutrements - whisk and scoop, purchased in Kyoto.
We have chawan type tea cups. We even have a tea shop down the street from our house. I guess we were lazy about finding out the different grades of tea. Also, we knew it would be expensive. But it turns out that one of our adult students does tea ceremonies and was about to make an order for some special matcha she gets at a super price - 1000 yen or $12. So yesterday after work I whisked up my first green tea at home. It's delicious, earthy and healthy tasting but not over powering. You only need a tiny bit so this should last us quite a while.
The other day I got a birthday package from my dear artist friend which contained this hand painted personalized t-shirt.
See what it says?
Yes, I am! There was also some lovely handmade stationary, but no picture does it justice. You better just head to her blog and her website to see pictures of her work. She's a fabric artist and lately she's been learning Japanese dying techniques!
I guess the word is out that Josie like giraffes...
I had a lovely birthday weekend. It just really felt like all was right with the world. And that was before I was given this:
My sweet Swedish friend crocheted her for me (can you tell by the colors?)! Turns out giraffe is almost the same in Swedish - giraff. Not so in Japanese where it's kirin. Isn't she kawaii?
If you have never made homemade pita bread before you should give it a try. Really easy but so rewarding when it puffs up like this! Here's the best recipe I've found so far.
John has accepted a new position teaching at elementary schools in the town adjacent to us, starting in April.
So, we'll be in Japan through March 2012. There is still time for you to visit us!! We'll be home for a visit in August and hopefully somewhere warm over Christmas (Phillipines? Malaysia?). Otherwise, we're happy to host folks!
We're going to South Korea for 10 days at the end of March over our Spring break. We'll be in Seoul and Busan - looking forward to some big city time with cheaper prices than Japan.
Our last couchsurfers told us about bookdepository.com which has free shipping worldwide. As a test, we ordered a book of Yayoi Kusama's work and Remainder by Tom McCarthy.
This week we are missing 1) listening to music while driving, 2) the library, 3) rice other than sushi rice, 4) our friends from home.
We are loving the song "Marathon" by a band called Tennis. Do yourself a solid and give it a listen.
We'll leave you with a few pictures of tanuki, which are Japanese raccoon dogs. They're common in Shinto mythology and known to be "mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and shapeshifting, but somewhat gullible and absent-minded." Also, they are usually depicted with huge testicles.
If they sound familiar, you may recall them from Super Mario Brothers 3.
