Cultural Differences/headaches

When you live in a foreign country, especially one like Japan, you can't help but notice all the small cultural differences. A lot of them are harmless, but some of them either confuse you or drive you crazy. I intend to cover the peculiar facets of Japanese culture that I have noticed. I also intend to rant about how great America is because being away from the land of the free and the home of the brave makes you appreciate how great Americans have it. So if you're an American, appreciate the awesomeness of Ammerrrrica. I am going to sound like a typical stupid conceited American, but I can't help it. Ask anyone who has lived abroad and in America, no matter how hard you try, nothing can compare to the American lifestyle. You can easily obtain anything you want with ease. I decided to write about this topic because I was at a restaurant the other day and my friend and I were wondering if the waitress would bend the rules so we could get chicken in our salad. We thought about not even to bother asking because once something is decided or a rule is made, it is impossible to bend it. All I wanted was for them to add chicken to my salad and the waitress looked at me as if I was crazy. She said, 'we can't do that because it is not on the menu.' Hmm, in America, people bend the rules all the time. Sometimes it is great sometimes it makes thing fall apart. The fact that in the good ol US of A you have options! That brings me to another rant. At school, we have to teach what is in the textbook because it is going to be on the test. For example, last week we taught, 'I have lived in Japan for one year.' I said, we can also say, 'I have been living in Japan for one year.' The head teacher looked at me and said, oh we can't teach that because it is not in the book...hmm can we make a quick diversion to acknowledge that there is more than one way to say something....nope. I think a lot of that is because Japanese people are so set in their ways that change is so hard to accept. I'll admit that most Americans are the same way, I definitely don't like big changes, which is obvious because I'm writing about how I am failing to adapt completely to Japanese soceity. BUT, I think I am right in saying that Japanese people need to learn how to be more flexible. A funny thing that a lot of Americans who drive over here will notice is that Japanese people almost always back into parking spots. Even when it is completely unnecessary, they will do a 90 degree reverse into the spot. I asked a Japanese friend why they do it and they said, 'it is easier to get out.' I totally agree, but it is also 10 times harder to get in and backing out of a spot is a lot easier than backing into one. This is one of those small differences that are pretty funny to an outsider. I have refused to conform, so every time I go to the mall or a crowded parking lot, my car will be the ONLY one that has not backed into the spot. Another thing that I have come to really respect about America is all the space we have. I never thought that I would miss grass, but man, I miss grass. Space is limited here, so they don't have many grassy fields. Nobody has a lawn, I'm pretty sure they don't know what that is. If someone is rich enough to have a garden, they are Japanese style. I really like Japanese style gardens, but there isn't any room for kids to play. I can't imagine not having a backyard. The next thing I've noticed is that the portions here are so small. Maybe we should make our meals in America smaller, that might fix our current fatty problem. Americans have gotten used to devouring large portions and it shows when you go to a public event. I went to a baseball game here in Japan and I can confidently say that maybe 5% of the people were overweight. Compare that to America, where it seems like 50% of people are now overweight and 15% are obese. When I returned to the States last year, I was absolutely blown away by the fat people walking around. I left Osaka airport and arrived in Seattle, not only were people fat, but man they all seemed to be obese. Japanese people are smaller, but they don't develop the massive appetites that Americans do. I think we could learn from them and stop feeding our children like they are pigs at the trough. The funny thing is, in America, among my friends I probably eat the least. Here I by far eat more than everyone. I went out with some Japanese friends and had a typical American sized meal and they were shocked. I told them that I was a weak eater and I have friends who can eat 3 times as much. The next thing that I have talked about earlier and I'll approach again is the way people treat foreigners here. I get it, we are rare, and you don't see us every day. My American attitude makes me want to punch people in the face for staring. They don't glance, they stare for as long as you are in their peripheral. I was shopping the other day and a woman who was probably 50 did a full 360 degree turn as she stared at me. I don't care if you're intrigued, that is rude. I have gotten used to it and usually don't have a problem, but that was absurd. Aother thing that is great about America is the cultural diversity. There is a mixed girl in one of my friend Katyana's schools and she looks 100% Japanese to me, but she is half white. She lived in America with her family for 2 years and speaks both languages fluently. Because she lived in America and is half, she is not considered Japanese. Kids at school bully her and tell her, 'you're not even Japanese' shut up. She has told her mother that she wants to go back to America. People here need to teach their children not to be racist and be more accepting of 'outsiders.' It is 2012 and they act like it is 1850 sometimes. America is not perfect, but from my experience in public school I can safely say we were way more accepting of 'outsiders.' Lastly I would like to touch on the Japanese open discrimination of people who have tattoos. In the old days, only Japanese gangsters had tattoos. They have rules that don't allow tattoos to be visible when working and when you are swimming at a pool. When I joined the local gym, they asked me if I had any tattoos and I said yes. They grimaced and said I couldn't swim without a shirt on because my tattoo would show. I said, 'I'm not a Yakuza.' They responded by saying Japanese people don't like tattoos. Sometimes in Japan I feel like I am in the twilight zone. Recently I was watching the news and they said that in Osaka they are requiring all governmental employees to take a survey and say whether or not they have a tattoo or tattoos and to specify the exact location. People who have tattoos are going to get fired I would bet....This all happened because some guy who has a tattoo beat up some old woman. So once again, everyone who has a tattoo is a criminal.....deeeedeeeddeeeddeee (twilight zone music). So that is my rant for today, I'm sitting at work bored, watching the NBA finals game tracker on my computer. Not being able to watch sports is so hard sometimes. I need my crack!! ahhh. I went to a Firefly festival last night. It was pretty amazing. It was along this small river and it was completely dark with the exception of the fireflies. There had to be thousands of them flying around. sorry if there are any typos, I just write this without looking back. Miss you all, catch me on skype and let's talk:)

Thomas Kennedy

Losing a loved one is always difficult, especially when that loved one was such an amazing person. My grandfather taught me a lot, the main thing that I will learned from him is to love life, do what you love and aspire to be great. I first learned of his passing when I was on the golf course yesterday. I had been worried about his health and being over here in Japan it is hard to stay in the loop. I basically checked facebook every hour to see if there was a message from my family. So at the half way house yesterday I checked my phone and there it was, a message from my sister, saying that our beloved grandfather had indeed passed away. It is strange that he would pass away as I was playing golf. I found it appropriate that I would be golfing when his time was up. He was the person that sparked my interest in the game of golf. I have vivid memories of going to the Lafayette club with him and practicing at the driving range for hours. He would always tell me, “you need to teach me how to hit it like that.” I would respond, “you need to teach me how to hit it straight!” One of my favorite memories I have of grandpa is from the Father-Son-Grandson Lafayette Club tournament. My mom dropped me off at his house the night before and of course we went to his favorite spot for dinner, Snuffy’s. And of course we both had a cheeseburger and a chocolate malt. Anyone who has ever spent any time around my grandparents will know that Snuffy’s is the Mecca of restaurants for them. After that we went back home and sat in his den and we explored the various books in his library. It was at this time that I discovered his love for history. Being a 12 year old at the time my only interests involved sports and girls. However, after that night I developed a fondness for history, especially UK/Irish and Scandinavian history. We went to bed at 9am sharp. Of course I sat awake until about 10:30 and fell asleep. That next morning I was suddenly awoken by grandpa. He turned on the lights in the room and said, “time to get up.” I got up in a daze, looked at the clock and responded, “but it’s only 5am, we don’t have to be at the course for another 3 hours! Let me sleep in a little more.” To which, he countered, “I already let you sleep in, I’ve been up since 4:30.” That is just the kind of guy he was, always ready to go and he always kept a joke in his back pocket. We went to the course and had a wonderful time with my Uncle David. I’ll never forget that day. Growing up in the city, we didn’t have the opportunity to get lost in the woods or really lose ourselves in a fantasy as children. Luckily for the Kennedy-Budge Petri dish (a nickname for Charlotte, Stephanie, Liane, Colleen, Conor, Timmy, myself, and Julia) we had our Grandparent’s house out in Minnetonka to fulfill our needs. They had this great white house, a stereotypical white house in the boonies that you see in the movies, with a backyard that went on forever. We would wander into the woods behind the house and spend hours playing our favorite game, “Gnomes and Trolls.” I won’t go into details, but basically the old kids were the Good Gnomes and the young kids (Julia and Colleen) were the Evil Trolls. We would come back from a long day of exploring and throwing sticks at the Trolls and we would wander into Grandpa’s Den for a story or a history lesson. He had so many stories, so many books, so many ways to enlighten us. I remember getting pulled into his stories. He took me to distant countries, race car tracks, dirt bike mountain courses and to the 1950s. I will never forget him sitting in that patented leather chair with a book on his lap. He was such a calming presence at family events, even in his final year. He had a hard time speaking in his final year, but every once in a while, he would surprise me with a rant about some historical fact. I was talking to him about this shrine in Japan where the famous Emperor Tokugawa Ieyasu is buried. He responded by telling me, “oh I know him, he was the one who united Japan and moved the capital to Tokyo.” I kind of giggled in response and that is exactly right. Only my Grandpa would be able to recite such a historical fact in his final year while battling the awful Parkinsons disease. In the end, a guy couldn’t really ask for a better Grandfather. He showed me to do what you love and do it well. He was a golfer, runner, race car driver, dirt bike racer, history buff, bookworm and a world class dude. He was amazing at all those things because of his can do, no complaints attitude. When I sit back and reflect on my own hobbies I kind of laugh at the correlation. Golfer, runner, hockey player, water skier, history enthusiast, bookworm. I can’t help, but think that a lot of what I do and who I am is a reflection of my grandfather. As I was playing golf on Sunday and I had just found out that he had passed, I thought to myself, this is exactly what he would want me to be doing.

I think this picture represents our crazy family well. I'll miss you Gramps JB

Thinking about Grandpa back home

I think the hardest part about being over here in Japan is not being able to be there for the ones I love when the going gets tough. After hearing about Grandpa being hospitalized, I realized that I can't be there for him, my nanny or my mother. This creates a pain inside that I haven't felt for a long time. I desperately wish I could just hop back to Minnesota to be there for my family. Grandpa is a strong man and I know he will pull through, he always has. He has that competitive race car driver spirit. Some side notes on life over here. My rib is finally all healed and my knee stopped bothering me so much. I ran in a 5K race last weekend. I ran it in about 23 minutes, not a great time, but respectable, especially with a bum knee that started to act up half way through. The next 5K is in about 2 weeks, I am hoping to finish in about 21 minutes. I also have been working out daily at the gym I joined, it feels good to put on weight. At school I am adjusting to the different lifestyle. Junior High School kids are either really awkward and shy, or big noisy comedians. I prefer the comedians, they are really interested in learning English. Here are some pics from the past 2 weeks or so.

Mt Daisen and the rice fields that are famous in Japan.

The bridge that connects Tottori Prefecture and Shimane Prefecture. It is a beautiful area.

Hakuto Beach. An early morning surf session with my bros. Everyone please let Grandpa and Nanny know that I am thinking about them. JB

Example of what I do at school

Sign languages 手語 are used　　　　　　　　　　　　使用されている around the world.　　　　　　　　世界中の each of them　　　　　　　　　　それら各 is a separate language　　　　　　別の言語である For example,　　　　　　　　　　例えば the Japanese sign 　　　　　　　日本手話 for ‘Thank you,’　　　　　　　　ありがとうのために is different　　　　　　　　　　異なっている from the American sign　　　　アメリカの手話とは Any information,　　　　　　　すべて情報や idea,　　　　　　　　　　　　　考えや or feeling　　　　　　　　　　　感情 can be expressed　　　　　　　表現することができる in sign languages,　　　　　　　手話で just like in oral languages　　　音声言語の場合と同様 A sentence is　　　　　　　　　文は made with 　　　　　　　　　で作られる a combination of signs.　　　　符号の組合せ What does　　　　　　　　　　何を Figure 3　　　　　　　　　　　図３ show?　　　　　　　　　　　　見せる Can you guess?　　　　　　　あなたは推測できますか。

Back into the flow

I am finally readjusted to life over here. I am getting used to all the stares and compliments. I have to admit that I will never grow tired of hearing compliments, but getting stared at will annoy me eventually. I think on average, I am called cool, handsome or tall at least 5 times a day. Last weekend, I was jogging along the coast in Shimane prefecture and I came upon an old couple. Old people in Japan usually either give me the cold shoulder or are very warm and welcoming. As I ran past them I said, Konnichiwa. The response I received however wasn't what I was expecting, the Grandma (Obachan) said, EEEEEE, Kakkoiiiiii! Which means, whooooooaaaa, coooooll. Pretty hilarious getting such a reaction in the middle of nowhere. Here is a map of Mihonoseki, I jogged about 10KM along the coast up and down hills, I was exhausted of course, but the scenery was so amazing I had to continue.

I jogged along the northern part, there weren't any people around, it was very peaceful. However, there were a lot of hawks, and these hawks seemed very territorial. Every time I jogged through their hood, they would circle me and get within ten feet of my head. Their wingspan made them look like flying junior high school children. I actually stopped at one point, made a fist and braced myself because I thought this one was going to stick his talons in me. It was quite the experience.

Here is what the view was like, I have always wanted to find an amazing coastal road like this to run along and I finally found it.

Here is a picture of a coastal town, it brought about images of the documentary The Cove where the Japanese kill hundreds of dolphins.....Luckily there aren't any dolphins around here.

Here is a picture of a desolate village tucked away in the mountains. I love Japanese style roofs. So other than teaching and exploring my new city, I have been trying to get back into surfing, but this rib injury I got 3 weeks ago refuses to completely heal. I think after another week I'll be able to surf. I can do most things, but laying flat on my stomach still hurts my ribs. I also joined the local gym, it is about 2 blocks from my house which is nice. But once again, the layout is super Japanese. A lot of machines, treadmills and ellipticals. But the free weight area is severely lacking. The dumbbells only go up to 45 lbs.....but they do have a bench press, so I can get my beach body back into shape. haha. Being in Japan is the ultimate ego boost, I get complimented all day and then when I go to the gym I am the biggest, most fit guy around...in America I feel like a mouse at the gym, here I feel like King Kong. I have a funny story to share...so I have been reading Haruki Murakami's latest novel 1Q84 (amazing novel check it out) and in the book the main character's father is an NHK collector. What that means is, he goes door to door and collects money from people who have TVs. Public TV isn't free here and everyone has to pay a certain yearly fee to watch like 5 channels...haha. This dates back to the 1960s. They stopped doing door to door collections for a while, but they started back up. So anyways, in the story he goes into great detail about how his father used to take hime along with him door to door collecting these fees that people try to avoid him.Later his dad is a coma dying, but his spirit or ghost or something goes out and starts collecting NHK fees again. So I'm sitting in my apartment on a Sunday night reading this exact kind of scary/surreal part of the book, when all of a sudden my doorbell rings. It kind of startled me, but I got up thinking it was my neighbor Appea. When I opened the door I was astounded to see an NHK fee collector standing at my door...I was really creeped out because the last time I was in Japan I never received a visit from one of these fee collectors and I didn't know they still did it. Anyways, it was pretty strange. The funny thing is, in the book he tells you that all you have to do is tell them you don't have a TV and they won't bug you ever again, so even though I have a TV, I told the collector that I didn't have one. Thanks to Haruki Murakami I don't have to pay the 200$ fee for 'public' TV. Last weekend I learned that my good friend Eric also has a long vacation! I have a 5-6 week vacation from late July until September!! Completely different from my last teaching job that made us teach like indentured servants. So I've been thinking about what to do with all that free time. I decided I want to experience another beach vacation, because, really is there anything better than that?? Eric and I are tentatively planning to go to the Phillipines! Flights to Manilla are only like 350$ and flights to other islands are like 100$ round trip! I am pumped that the flights are so cheap. Once we get there, we will spend maybe one or two days in Manilla. Manilla, like Bangkok is probably not the safest/cleanest of places so we will only be there for a bit. Then we are thinking about going to an island and just hanging out. We would do that for about 2 weeks, that would leave me with another month of free time when I get back to Japan....hmm what to do? It sure would be nice to host some visitors again like I did 2 years ago...hint hint.

Daisen

Living in Yonago is really nice because the scenery here is gorgeous. I am about a 5-10 minute drive from the ocean and about 25 minutes from the tallest Mountain in western Japan.

I don't know when I will get sick of looking at it, but everyday I catch myself staring at it. You can see it from any point in Yonago. The views from my school are especially amazing because they are located out in the countryside. I am itching to go climb it, but I broke a rib last weekend messing around while playing rugby. I am having trouble sleeping, laughing, coughing, sneezing and pretty much anything else that involves my core.

Last weekend I spent most of my time driving around and finding good places to chill. Kaike beach is really nice because you can swim, surf and fish. Of course I won't be fishing (boring...) I am so excited for summer! I have the next couple of days off, usually I would have planned something fun, but I just got here so I haven't had the time to plan a trip with friends. I'll keep you all posted, until next time, MataNe. (see ya) JB

Japanese Public Schools

I have started to teach in the public schools. The atmosphere here is wayyyy different from my former conversation school. People seemed to be more relaxed, well not by American standards, but by Japanese standards they are laxed. Yesterday a typhoon came through and we had a little meeting, within 5 seconds, everyone was in agreement that the rest of the day should be cancelled. Speaking of typhoons, I was driving back from Tottori city on Saturday night, and the typhoon winds were so intense that I thought I was going to get blown off of the road. When I got home, I turned on the news and saw a bunch of overturned trucks. The wind is so strong coming off of the sea and of course the best way to get back and forth from Tottori is along the coast. I only have to teach like 2-5 classes a day, usually I will teach 3. I am at 3 different schools. On Mondays I go to Aimi Elementary School, this school is really nice and they have 200 students total. I teach 3 classes in the morning and one in the afternoon. I like the elementary schools because I basically teach the whole class. I am the head teacher and I get to use Japanese and English. Plus the kids are really fun and excited to learn. The next day, I go to Aimidaini Elementary school, it is way up in the Mountains. The school looks like something you would see in a movie. There are only 12 students in the whole school! It is awesome because that makes teaching so much easier, they can't goof off. I walked into my first period and was shocked, there were 2 students! They were these 2 cute first graders, they looked terrified, I think I may be the first white person they have ever seen...haha. After a while they warmed up to me and we had a great time. Each grade only has 2-4 students. Coming to this school is the best. I know all of the kids names already and they line up to greet me when I come. The rest of the week I spend my time at Nanbu Junior High. This school is only 10-15 minutes from my apartment. I really enjoy driving through the mountains to get to school. At this school I am more of an assistant teacher. The head teacher leads the class and I interject from time to time. I am here more to interact with the students and provide them with native pronunciation. The funny thing about Japanese teachers is that they have certain Japanese ways of doing things and if I say oh, we don't do that in America they get offended. I think to myself, umm, I am here to provide proper insight into the Engrish language haha. I enjoy my time at this school too so far. All of the teachers are nice and it is a great opportunity to practice my Japanese. They seemed relieved that I can speak Japanese. The principal is a really cool dude, he taught at an international school in Saudi Arabia for 4 years, it is pretty rare to come across someone with that background here in the countryside. I had an interesting conversation with the staff here about Prom yesterday, they don't have school dances in Japan, so the concept is completely foreign to them. I showed them my prom picture and the women were going crazy. They thought it was the coolest thing..haha and they thought my date was beautiful, which was true of course. Last weekend I went back to Tottori to see some of my friends. I spent Friday night with Mike, Eric and Josh. We always have a good time when we are together, I enjoy spending time with Eric and Mike because we have the same kind of personalities. We basically just sit around and tell jokes for hours. On Saturday we went to the beach and just hung out. It was nice to see my old beach, the beach that I use to run to and surf at. At about 3pm, my friend Terusan came and picked me up, we had talked on the phone and I said I wanted to buy a wet suit for surfing. We went to this sweet little surf shop. Terusan seemed to good friends with the owner. The owner offered me free lessons, apparently he is a surf legend around here. So we made plans to go surfing in two weeks and he offered me his long board, which is nice because it is much easier to surf using that. I am a bit rusty....I didn't buy a wet suit because it was expensive......$400.... After that I went to Mike's place and crashed until about 6pm. We then went to dinner and then followed that up with a trip to the local club to meet some people and listen to Mike do a Funk DJ set. I don't really know how to dance to Funk, but wed had a good time. Other than that I haven't been doing much, I am just looking forward to 2 weeks from now. A nice long surf weekend is definitely needed. I am still in that honeymoon stage, I don't think reality will hit me until it gets cold again, the summertime here is amazing. Sleeping in tents on the beach, spear fishing, surfing, snorkeling, bbqing...I can't wait! I will keep you all posted, until next time. Buh Bye JB