NOT singing in the rain

Possibly the item which represents the greatest cultural divide between the Japanese and gaijin is...

The umbrella.

Yes, you read that correctly.

One of the first things I think of when thinking about my Japanese grandmother and the time I lived with her and my aunt back in 2000 is how every time I was getting ready to leave the apartment, she asked me, without fail or regard for season or real-time weather conditions, was whether I had my keys and my umbrella with me. Every single time. It really got annoying after a while and I couldn't understand why she always asked me. Of course I had my keys, how would I get into the apartment after work if I didn't have them? Even if I didn't, I would just wait outside until she came home to let me in if for some reason she wasn't already at home. And, of course, I didn't have my umbrella with me because it wasn't even raining and it's a pain in the butt to have to carry an umbrella around all day, especially when it doesn't even end up raining. I always said, "Hai (yes)," in response to her questions, before I walked out the door, key in one hand and no umbrella in the other. I probably got caught in the rain a couple times, but having just survived a semester in Brussels (otherwise known as Hell on Earth but with lots of rain) and grown up in rain- and season-free Southern California, I didn't mind getting a little water on me if for no other reason than I could blame the rain as the reason my hair never looked as perfect as all the straight-haired Japanese girls' hair looked.

Fast forward seven years later. I literally, within the last month, just figured out why she always asked me if I had my umbrella.

My grandmother, now suffering from dementia, doesn't really talk to me anymore. It's ironic that now that I could probably understand at least fifty percent of what she'd be saying to me that she no longer has the ability to say it. She can, however, still understand most of what we say to her, so I practice my Japanese with her and ask her to write things in kanji for me to try to help keep her mind sharp. Nonetheless, I can't really ask her about the umbrella situation since she'd have trouble probably first with the question ("What a stupid thing to ask! Doesn't everyone want an umbrella when it rains?"), and second articulating the answer. So, it was by pure chance and my keen observation skills that I figured this out: It's the job of grandmothers and mothers all over Japan to verify that those who they send out into the world are equipped with their keys, their bento, and their umbrella. That is the only explanation for how I found myself a couple weeks ago, quite literally, the only person in Tokyo (okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration) who had forgotten their umbrella on a day when it rained.

I had actually not forgotten it originally. I had been staying at my dad's hotel (Gotta love free breakfast in a lounge that has a view of Mt. Fuji on a clear day... plus, I always steal the newspaper.) and after enjoying a breakfast of scrambled eggs, a perfectly toasted bagel with butter and onion cheese, fresh fruit, warm croissant, delish pastries, perfectly foamed cafe au lait, and orange juice, that I neither had to prepare nor clean up after, I stopped by the room to gather my things for Japanese class. My dad asked me if I had an umbrella because it looked like it would rain. I said no, so he wisely (Yes, Dad, I said 'wisely,' it's in print, for all the world and posterity to see, be excited.) suggested and offered that I take one of his. (Being a good Japanese properly raised by my similarly umbrella-obsessed grandmother, he has two that he always keeps in his bags in Japan.) I agreed with him, took the proffered umbrella, and said goodbye as dad headed off to his meeting. I had already put everything in my bag and had set the umbrella next the bag, but I still had some time 'til the shuttle to the station would leave, so I settled in on the settee for a couple minutes with my stolen newspaper. After an article and some CNN, I checked the time, picked up my bag and umbrella and headed out the door to the elevator. As usual, I realized I'd forgotten something (I don't even remember what it was now - something stupid, I'm sure.) by the time I rounded the corner for the elevator bay, and so made a u-turn for the room to retrieve the forgotten item. I dropped my bag and umbrella on my bed to look for whatever it was I'd forgotten, found it, grabbed my bag (I was cutting it close on shuttle time by now), and jetted out the door, down the elevator, through the hotel lobby, up the shuttle steps, down the aisle, and into a seat, where I immediately realized that I'd forgotten my umbrella. Shit! But, then again, maybe no problem, seeing as how the sun had come out and the clouds were clearing. At the station, I got on the train with sunny skies outside.

Two stops later, I walked out into a warm drizzle that had a worse bark than bite, meaning it looked bad, but once I was out walking in it, it wasn't the downpour I'd originally feared. Luckily, I had my newspaper with me. I flipped it over to the Sports section - Who reads that crap anyway? - to form a triangular hair and face cover and continued down the street, very pleased with myself for having remembered to steal it in the first place and for having read all the important stuff already in the second place. The 15-minute walk I had in front of me didn't seem too bad now that I had some Japanese baseball player's picture to protect me from the rain. I enjoy that walk and have started to make it a regular part of my day. I can listen to my music, sing along if I feel like it(All foreigners are crazy anyway, right?), smile at the little dogs I pass (ditto), etc. Except on this day. I almost had my eye taken out when someone with an umbrella hit me in the face as they walked by. Then there were the more than usual stares for this gaijin-friendly neighborhood. Slowly, it dawned on me: I was the ONLY person out on the sidewalk who had forgotten to bring an umbrella with them. Really. The ONLY ONE. There were two guys I passed on bikes who didn't have umbrellas, but based on the serious raingear they were sporting, my assumption is that this was on purpose. No one in Japan forgets their umbrella. No one. Except me. And now I understand why seven years ago, my grandmother sent me out into the world every day after making sure that I was protected - not from crime (there's nothing to protect from), but from the elements. I guess that's the Japanese way of showing you care. :)

Please, sir, I want sumo.

I've always enjoyed watching sumo on TV. In fact, you could say it's my favorite televised sport. The reason for this? It's so frickin' simple! There are no interceptions or fouls or yards or number of balls or runs or strikes or any of that to worry about. It's simple and works like this: two guys get into the ring, do a little bit of psychological warfare with starting and stopping, and then, finally, they suddenly go at each other. The goal: either push the other guy out of the ring or get him to fall down (or touch some part of his body besides his feet to the ground) inside the ring and WIN! That's it. Really. That's all. It's great! It's easy to get really into the competition without having to be a die-hard fan who follows all these different players and the team's track records and blah blah blah to care about what's going on. You pick one guy and root for him until that round is over and you start all over. The rounds usually take less than 30 seconds and then "Next!", and you move on to the next set of guys. To me, this is what sports should be about - simple competition that doesn't cause hundreds of English football hooligans to try to kill each other or police officers.

A couple weekends ago I went to watch one day of the sumo tournament with my dad. It was the first time I've ever been to see sumo live (Not counting the fake sumo matches I used to have with my dad when I was about 7 years old... somehow I never one those matches. Hmm.). Before we went to our seats, we took a look around the sumo museum, which is found in the lobby of the sumo arena. There was an exhibit on a special group of sumo wrestlers from the mid-1800s who are the "Big Boys" of sumo. I know, I know. You guys are all ready with your "fat sumo wrestler" jokes, but these guys were really, really big. Not just in belly circumference, but in height as well. In fact, the tallest sumo wrestler ever to play is from this "Big Boys" group, stacking up at 227 centimeters - that's 7 feet 6 inches!! Where did they find these guys??

















We had a great view on the same side of the arena as the Royal Box, which was empty, no member of the Imperial family taking any interest in this the 8th day of the 15-day tournament. When my parents came to watch sumo on a similarly normal day more than 20 years ago, they happened to have a perfect view from the left side of the arena of the Royal Box, in which was ensconced a certain Prince Charles and Princess Diana of England along with their hosts the Emporer and Empress of Japan! No such luck today, though there was a really adorable little girl, about 3 years old, sitting behind us, shouting, "Hakuho, Gambatte! Hakuho, Gambatte!" wishing 'good luck' to her favorite competitor.



























Here's video of the final match of the day, between the guy who was the top-ranked in Japan and another wrestler. The top guy is on the left.



I like the little slap the winner gives to the other competitor at the end, but my dad said that's bad sportsmanship. In any case, it was good entertainment and really fun and easy to watch. They had a lot of support for non-Japanese speakers (English commentary headsets were available to rent for only 100 yen - about a dollar - and a lot of the brochures explaining sumo were in English as well). Sumo is played in Tokyo 6 times a year, every other month's tournament taking place outside of Tokyo in another big city somewhere in Japan.

p.s. The little girl's favorite, Hakuho, ended up winning the tournament as a whole. He overtook the top guy later in the final match of the tournament on the 15th day.

She WANTS to work hard for the money

Okay, everyone...

I'm looking for a new job! The English-teaching thing just isn't cutting it financially or intellectually, so I'm on the hunt for something that pays better but, more importantly, is intellectually stimulating - at least some of the time. If you've got any leads or connections in Tokyo that you think might be useful, I'd really appreciate if you passed them on to me. I'm putting Japanese-learning on hold (or going to part-time) for a bit as I need a change.

So, here's what I'm looking for:

- something interesting (read: makes me think; is a challenge)
- something with travel would be great, though I'll still want to be based in Tokyo
- something working with people (teaching English one-on-one a couple times a week can be pretty tedious - I can only listen to myself talk for so long!)
- I'm open to almost any field, even if I've never worked in it before - again, the idea of something new and challenging is very appealing
- I have a pretty varied background from working at a magazine to a human rights organization to an international development organization to a coffee house! (I make a mean pot of foam.)
- I'd love to be able to use French (fluent) at work and my Japanese is, um, well, basic.

So, I know that doesn't really narrow it down too much, but I'm still figuring this all out. However, in the meantime, like I said, if you have any leads or connections, or know someone who does, to some work in Tokyo, I would REALLY appreciate if you could help me out. In return, you know you've always got a floor/air mattress to crash on any time you're in Tokyo (as long as you're not a psycho-killer who I don't know)! Plus, if ever the day comes when I can return the favor, I'll do my best to help you out.

Thanks for taking the time to read this! I hope that wherever you are in the world when you see this, that all is happy and well with you.

ありがとう ございます！
Merci beaucoup!
Thanks a bunch!
Muchas gracias!
Danke schun!
Grazie mille!
Anks-thay a unch-bay!

p.s. Check out my blogspot version resume by clicking here. For the nicely layed out version, send an email to: herewegoTYO@hotmail.com. Thanks!

If I could escape

I'd dance my way out. As the man said, "I just wanna dance!!" (5 points if you know that movie reference.) Friday, get here quick!



p.s. This video may be an example of the worst case of Yellow Fever I've ever seen. Does Gwen have a total Asian fetish or what, with her Harajuku girls entourage surrounded by yellow gold?!?!

p.p.s. I still really dig this song and video though. Does that mean I have an Asian Fetish?

p.p.p.s. Can a half-Asian person have an Asian Fetish?

Memoirs of a...

I have really gotten behind on this whole blog thing, so I'll make this short and sweet.

About two months ago, I went to Kyoto with my dad. This was my second visit to Kyoto. The last one was seven years ago and fueled by my newfound (and continuing) obsession with all things geiko/geisha/maiko. I've always had some interest in geisha, but reading Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha in the week before my first trip to Kyoto really put me over the top. I would visit temples in the daytime and stalk maiko-san and geiko-san in the evenings. It was great. After the trip, my interest continued and I've gone on to read several books by both Western and Japanese writers about what life is like for geisha. This thread will be discussed in another post, but anyway, you get the idea of what I focused my evening/dusk energy on during this trip.

Kyoto is the old (but not oldest!) capital of Japan, before the seat of power was moved to Edo (Tokyo). And, very luckily, Kyoto was spared from the American attack on Japan in World War II, so it has retained many of the buildings and neighborhoods which have been standing in that city for hundreds of years - a major accomplishment in a country where traditional housing consisted of a lot of wood, straw, and paper (a.k.a. kindling). There are more temples and shrines than you can imagine and the main activity in visiting Kyoto is to visit these temples. I saw all the major ones on my last trip, so this trip had several off-the-beaten-path goals for my dad and I:

My must-sees:
1) Kamishichiken - one of the five geisha neighborhoods around Kyoto. This one is smaller and was described as more evocative of old Japan than the more famous Gion. We hit this first thing Saturday. The neighborhood was quiet and small, but I was able to buy a great purse made from the silk material used to make obi (the sort of sash used for kimono) and get a feel for what a geisha 'hood looks like in daylight and how the women go about their daily lives. Granted, we didn't see any maiko-san, but the clerk at the pickled veg shop told us that we'd just missed one! Ugh!

2) A particular Japanese sweets shop that was mentioned in one of my books as the place to buy cakes and that those in the know in the geiko community always get their gift cakes from. The best part about it is that it is down this tiny alley and definitely fell into the off-the-beaten path category - in fact, it was barely even on any path, the alley was narrow. We bought three kinds of sweets. They were pretty good, but, to be honest, the coolest part was knowing that I was eating something that was from a sort-of secret institution, ya know?

3) Ichibei - This is the old mistress-keeping neighborhood of Kyoto. Here the mistresses of important and rich men were kept in a stone-walled quarter that could only be accessed through non-descript doors. The book I read about this in described it as a little-known area where you can still see the old houses the women were basically imprisoned in. Well, I guess it must have been little-known at the time that book went to press, because it was fairly packed when we went. It's in the Higashiyama district (see below) where there was a major even going on that night, so the area didn't quite have that off-the-beaten path feel. BUT, it was still really pretty to see with all the lanterns and it did give the idea of what the streets must have been like back in the day. Although there were a fair amount of people around, it was still really quiet and peaceful at that magic dusk hour. After walking around this area, we were off to...


My dad's must-sees and must-shows:
1) Hanatouro - literally meaning "Flower and light road," according to a website I found about. Japanese readers, please feel free to correct that if necessary. Basically they line the streets of Higashiyama with lanterns. The streets in this area are all old and narrow and look really beautiful with the lanterns. This lantern event only happens in March, so my dad wanted to be sure to show me this as I wouldn't be able to see it any other time of year. Not to mention that I doubt I'll be getting back to Kyoto any time soon - it's suuuuper expensive to get there, considering train prices that I was used to in Europe. There's also a performance area off the main street where they had taiko drum performances and maiko-san dance performances. Here's a video of the maiko-san dancing. (By the way, the singer's voice is supposed to sound like that. I asked my dad just to be sure, he said that she has a good voice. She is singing in a traditional style while playing the shamisen, a sort of banjo-like instrument.)

2) Tenryu-ji - One of the most important Zen Buddhist temples in Japan (one of the five found in Kyoto). My dad has visited almost all of the five, so we wanted to add this temple to our visit. The garden here was amazing. It was too bad the cherry blossoms weren't out, but the structure of the garden and the grounds was amazing anyway. There was a nearby bamboo forest that we visited as well. These forests used to be more common around Japan, but, as you can imagine, there's little room left for them these days. We took an old steam train through a gorge nearby. None of the trees were blooming at that time, but the trees themselves were everywhere and I can just imagine what it must look like when they're all in full bloom.


Okay, that's the nitty-gritty, most important stuff that we saw this time in Kyoto. I'm planning to see the Miyako Spring Dances there next year, so I'll have more adventures to report then. Sorry for the super delay in getting this out.

To leave you with a sweet taste of Kyoto and more temptation to visit me in Japan, check out the photos I posted below:

Me in the plum tree garden... we got there just a little too soon for full blossoming. :(

Plum tea and rice crackers in the plum tree garden.

Different kinds of tofu with different dipping sauces.

Maiko-san after their dance performance at Hanatouro.

At the entrance of the old courtesan/mistress neighborhood where the rich guys stashed their "special lady friends."

Plum blossoms.

These are not the real thing. See if you can spot the tell-tale signs of the real McCoy versus these girls by comparing them with the girl in the photo below.
















The real deal - a maiko-san I got a picture of as she was running between appointments.











My dad and I couldn't figure out what this little torii might be for considering it was about a foot above the ground. My dad's guess was that it's for dogs. I think he was joking.

California knows how to party

For the first time ever, I almost got on a plane drunk. Luckily, the horrible hangover sobered me up pretty quickly and I was able to suffer through a last hour of packing and get to the airport on time.

I almost never go out the night before a flight because I've usually got like 6 hours of packing waiting for me. But last Saturday, I'd already done the bulk of the time-consuming packing, so I figured why not. I'd get home around 2am and still have time to finish packing and sleep a bit (luckily I didn't have to leave for my flight until around 10am).

Yeeeah... that didn't happen.

What did happen was a lot of fun with a lot of fun people. See exhibits A through J:































































































































Anyway, long story short, fun was had by all. All I can say is that I won't be going to anymore bars that have sawdust on the floors unless I'm in an area of the world where cowboy boots are actually a daily accoutrement.

California Dreamin'

California is still here, no earthquake having plunged it into the Pacific. The weather is a not too hot, not too cool 75 degrees Farenheit (or about 22-23 Celcius for all you weird metric people). The foggy marine layer that comes from being only 15 minutes from the ocean has burned off by noon every day, like clockwork, revealing beautiful, sunny blue skies for the afternoon and into the the early evening. Yes, I am trying to make you jealous. Truth be told though, this kind of weather is pretty boring when it's all you've got all year round. I wouldn't appreciate it nearly as much if I weren't coming from still-cold Tokyo and looking ahead to two months of rain. I much prefer having seasons where leaves change color in the fall, snow falls in the winter (usually), trees and flowers bloom in the spring, and where you want shave your head and shower twice a day because it's sooo hot in the summer.

I have been reveling in all things Americana since landing Friday morning: freshly baked cookies from tube dough bought at the supermarket (yes!), rice krispy treats based on my own recipe (it's a secret), catching up on good TV (especially my Law & Order and The Daily Show fixes), buying things that are not a total rip-off in price, walking on carpet (instead of flooring), getting a mani-pedi for only 30 bucks (you can be sure that I'll be getting another one before I leave), driving a car... fast!, and riding bikes with my dad and shopping with my mom. As a wise man at McDonald's once said, "I'm lovin' it!"

If you're still not sure what a mani-pedi is, here's an idea of how a typical visit goes: