roundup

I'm so much happier now my best friend Erin has moved to town. It means I have someone to go to izakayas with and meet japanese boys. Recently whenever we go to one, a table of boys will insist that we join them, fill us full of alcohol and then pay for it! awesome! I also went on a gokon recently and met a nice guy, but I will have to wait and see if anything develops there.

My parents are coming after Golden Week and I'm super excited. And then in June a friend from Germany is coming to visit me :) I'm very happy about that too...

<3

久しぶり update

Hello people.

I've decided to make more of an effort to update this blog regularly.

Here's what's new with me.

Have decided to move to Osaka when my contract is up and work in eikaiwa. I don't like my town or position very much, so I have decided to only spend the one year as a CIR.

I went to Tokyo last weekend and had a lovely time hanging out with Waseda friends. Tokyo is in one piece and the only things I noticed that were different were the dimmed lights in Shinagawa station, and the roped off escalators.

I'm feeling happy and positive but a little disappointed with how my JET experience has played out, as well as saddened by recent events.

hostess with the mostest

In contrast to Ina-Den, seeing EigoOkDoctor was a pleasant experience. Unfortunately once he realised I could speak Japanese he insisted we use that but switch to English for any medical terms I might not know.

He tested me for asthma and he said the results showed that my breathing isn't great but not bad enough to qualify as asthma. He's given me 4 different types of pills and these patches you stick on your chest at night. He said I could have some kind of obstruction or even sleep apnea. I need to go back in two weeks and report on how his cocktail of substances affects me. He was really kind and nice, the place was super clean and pleasant.

Three bags of meds!!!




I took the day off today, so after the doc doc, I headed into Sanjo and happened across some lovely shoes!!!

brown brogues I have been wanting for years



yellow heels (I need more colour in my life)



As I was walking back to the station a club scout planted himself bodily in my way and asked me if I work in the evenings and if not did I want to work in his cabaret club? (translation; work as a hostess- a woman who wears skimpy dresses and entertains men with witty banter and flirtation while plying them with alcohol and lighting their cigarettes until the early hours of the morning) It was sooo hard to get away from him... he followed me all the way to the station saying how kawaii I was and how since I am 'bilingual' I will be super ninki with the customers. I would have run away from him but I was wearing my new heels. It was pretty funny.

Going to the doctor in Japan

Tomorrow I'm going to take the day off and head into the city to seek out an English speaking doctor.

I got sick back in February with trouble breathing/sore lungs/coughing. At the time I went to two doctors and spent a day in hospital (had 2 chest x-rays) and they just told me 'oh you're a bit anemic' and 'the cartilage in your ribs might be inflamed.' at the time, I was told 'oh it will clear up in no time, whatever it is, until then take some ibuprofen.'

It didn't clear up and I've suffered through 10 months since then... I kind of felt like 'If nobody can help me all I can do is not complain about it and just hope it goes away on its own...' I mean, I went to two doctors and spent a day in hospital. I don't know what else I could have done back then. I also got a clean bill of health for my medical to come here. ('Oh it's probably just a lingering cold').

But I really can't do it anymore. I haven't been able to take a deep breath in almost 10 months. My chest aches all the time, I have no energy, I feel awful all the time.

Add that to the stress of coming here, and doing this stressful job (working in a foreign language) and I just really can't put up with it anymore. At best, it's a daily annoyance, at worst (like when the weather is cold/I catch a cold) I have to fight for every breath.

After the debacle with Inaka Dentist (Ina-den?), I've decided to go to an English speaking doctor (I hope they really do speak English, not just claim to...) I'm going to ask for asthma testing.

Hope they can help me. I'll report on my first ever Japanese doctor experience tomorrow... wish me luck please.

For the love of God, brush your teeth

I thought I would write a little bit about going to the dentist in Japan, since I have now done so and survived. It cost me a day of my nenkyuu (paid leave), excruciating pain, embarrassment, over a month, but somehow... 0 yen.

Here is what happened. Over a month ago now, I woke up in the middle of the night with crazy toothache on my right side, the same teeth on the top and bottom. I get in to work red-eyed and my co-worker immediately leaps to the phone and gets me an appointment with their local family dentist, who has been treating her and her family since time began. I protest by saying that I don't want to go to a dentist, I'm sure it will be better in a day or so and besides, I don't want to go to a dentist. (I didn't particularly have a fear of dentists before this, but I kind of had a bad feeling about trying to communicate with a Japanese dentist. If only I had stuck to my guns.)

Given instructions and told 'you can go now! don't worry, just go' (despite which, the nenkyuu begins to tick away here) I head downtown and arrive at Inaka Dentist. With trepidation I go in and hand over my health insurance card and wait to be called.

I go in and find an open-plan room with several chairs laid out like at a hair salon. It appears that Inaka Dentist is a dental superman who can work on several people at once. A little drilling here then onto the next one, and round and round he goes. (this is apparently 'normal' in Japan.) Inaka Dentist 'speaks English' and is seemingly baffled/excited by the presence of a real live gaijin upon which to experiment (sorry if I embellish here. I'd like to try to describe the atmosphere as well as I can.) to begin with, he decided to clean my teeth, using the special plaque drill thing or whatever. Actually the nurse does this bit. This is fine, but I haven't asked for this, and I don't much want to pay for this, and by the way, did I mention the right side of my face is on fire?

After the nurse has done cleaning my teeth, Inaka Dentist looms above me. He is not wearing gloves when he sticks his fingers in my mouth. Luckily I know the word for cavity (mushiba) so I understand when he says I have two cavities. However I am not prepared for him sticking the drill into my mouth, as usually in the west this is preceded by some sort of anasthetic. As he starts to drill away at my excruciatingly painful and sensitive teeth, I tell myself he must have simply forgotten the anesthetic (you know how forgetful these medical professionals can be) so I decide to let him know by letting forth the scream I've been holding in. At which, the nurse holds me down while the Inaka dentist cheerfully chants 'itakunai, itakunai' (it doesn't hurt) as he drills a hole in my bad teeth.

Finally I am released and allowed to rinse, by which time I am bawling, shocked, in pain, bewildered, and with big holes in my teeth. Since I can't really stay this way, I agree to let the dentist fill my cavity. (After I have squawked "I want a WHITE filling!!!! WHITE, DO YOU GET IT??? WHITE!!!" just to make sure he doesn't use that nasty-brassy ass metal filling all the Japanese people have.) So he fills in the bottom one, but then, something is wrong with the top one. He says it's a 'loot kanaru'. Wait a minute. I have heard of these, often, on American television shows, often in conjunction with the words 'agony' and 'pain.' I haven't really had much dealings with dentists before this (my teeth have always been pretty healthy). So I have no idea really what a 'loot kanaru' is, besides the fact that it is painful. Luckily, Inaka Dentist is down with technology so he whips out his iPad and shows me a detailed diagram explaining what will happen. He is going to remove the inside of the roots of my teeth. This doesn't sound too great to me. I say I will have to think about it. He tells me I can come back on thursday and in the meantime, he will put a temporary bit of rubber filling in there. I look at his eyes twinkling behind his magnifying specs. I look at the filthy cloth beside my chair, with bits of blood and unspeakable dental matter on. I say sure, fine, just let me out of here. I stumble into the office to pay, the lady says I can pay next time. I insist upon paying, she says 'no charge this time. itakatta deshou? kawaisouni.' (it hurt, didn't it? poor you.) I leave.

The pain in my upper tooth escalates to gigantic proportions. I need to get it fixed. I'm scared. I should probably look up English speaking dentists in the nearest city. I should probably gaman until the weekend then seek out English speaking dentists in the city. Are there any in the nearest city? I just need this one tooth fixed, then I'll be fine. I really should seek out English speaking dentists in the city. I really need it fixed now. It's Thursday morning. Like an idiot, I go back to the same dentist.

This time, he gets out tiny needle-thin wire brushes and sticks them up inside my tooth, into the roots. Again we are talking no anesthetic. It feels like a red hot needle being shoved up inside my brain. I bawl again. (The weird thing is, and others may notice this as well, when you're culture shocked and homesick and something hurts you physically, even something like stubbing your toe, the pain seems to open the floodgates of everything else that's upsetting you as well.) so we're talking super bawling, with snot. Everyone is uncomfortable with the gaijin causing a scene in the open plan dental surgery. Dentist tells me to minimise the pain, he must heal my 'loot kanaru' sukoshi zutsu, or bit by bit (again, this is the way it is done in Japan. multiple, short appointments are seen as kinder to the patient... as well as bringing in the dough by way of the repeat appointment fees.) Since the dentist has dug out quite a bit of my diseased root, the pain starts to go away and I can leave. Again, desk lady tells me I can pay when I come back. Well, we we'll see about that. I go home and feel better. Much better. But I can't eat/bite anything. And then the little bit of rubber filling falls out. I have a huge gaping hole in my tooth. Now I really can't eat anything or drink anything. I need to do something about this hole. Thinking that the worst must really be over, I go back to Inaka Dentist one more time. This time I have looked up the word for anesthetic and I repeat it like crazy until he gets the point and gets out his syringe. This also hurts like crazy, and furthermore, it doesn't seem to work. Everytime he sticks his needles into the root of my tooth and yanks them out it seems to hurt more and more. I tell him more anesthetic or we're done. He gets out another syringe and- I'm not joking here- has some sort of old man spasm and shoots it into my eye.

Time freezes until i say 'uh... that went into my eye.' Inaka dentist looks a bit perplexed and eventually he trundles off to get some eye wash. Then he sticks little splinters of wood into my tooth root, takes an x-ray and seems satisfied. He then packs these little cones of hard stuff in there and melts it with a hot iron. And then he fills it up and my agony is over.

I leave, again not paying, as they have insisted I come back for a check to take another x-ray to make sure it's looking good. Eventually I go back because I figure I have to pay some time, and since it's going to be expensive even after insurance, I better face the music.

But... no. The receptionist says 'no charge.' I am Gaijin and do not understand. She brings out Inaka Dentist. 'In the name of international exchange,' he says, 'no charge'. I find this really hard to believe so I don't leave. Inaka Dentist then says 'ippai naita yaro? itami kirai? kekkou nakimushi yanka? maa, amari itakatta kara, konkai wa no charge desu'. (you cried a lot, huh? Do you hate pain? you're kind of a crybaby, huh? well since it hurt so much, no charge this time)

If you would like a free cleaning, two white fillings, a root canal and several dental appointments all for free, I recommend the following. a) go to an Inaka Dentist, preferably an elderly one. b) be a gaijin girl with big eyes and long hair c) cry.

Or alternatively, bring toothpaste from home, floss, use mouthwash, and brush your goddamn teeth like crazy (three times a day. brush them at work. Japanese people do and now you are starting to understand why.) Never eat candy again. Avoid the Japanese dentist like the plague. Don't let people fool you into thinking that getting a drilling without anesthetic is normal, or that you're a crybaby if it hurts. But basically yes, go to the dentist at home before coming to Japan. Go to the dentist at home when you visit. Do not go to the dentist in Japan. Ever seen a Japanese person with fucked up teeth? Yes, we all have. But there is a reason.

外人さんすげー！日本語なかなか分かるじゃん！

I went out last night with some people from work I didn't know. It was fun, and I had a good time. They're nice people. But I'd like to just write a little about what you might call the 'inaka mentality' towards non-japanese people (ie, that they cannot speak Japanese.)

I spent most of the way there on the train chatting to them in only Japanese. (none of them speak English, I don't speak English day-to day anymore, my job, everything, I do in Japanese.) They asked how long I studied, I said four years at college, I mentioned I have a degree in Japanese, that I studied for a year in Tokyo, and that my job here involves translation and interpretation.

As soon as we reach the restaurant and sit down, they ask the mama-san for an English menu for me. There is a huge fluster and general to-do as she locates their ancient yellowed greasy mispelled English menu, which contains less than half the content of the Japanese one, and proffers it like the holy grail.

Since I am a tame Gaijin and I try not to upset the wa too much or offend people, I tried to be polite. I took it and pretend to read it. It seemed to make them happy.

But what part of 'I can speak Japanese' doesn't transmit?

The thing is, you can't even get mad because they truly, somehow, on some level of thinking, thought they were being kind and considerate to me by getting me an English menu, since I couldn't possibly read the Japanese one. Japanese people are nothing if not kind. But it still sucked.

Thriftyness

Living in Japan is expensive. And, since I want to save some money for the future/potentially buy a Louis Vuitton bag, I'm always trying to save money.

The following are tips I've picked up from various places/magazines.

Set up a direct savings transfer so that some of your money goes monthly into a separate savings account. You don't even have to think about it, and you'll never miss it. If you're prone to impulsive spending you might want to hide your bank card for that account, though. I actually got one of these set up, and it worked for the first month, but then they said they couldn't do it anymore because on my main account, my middle name is spelled メーリー and on the savings account it's spelled メアリー. Japanese bureaucracy at its most stubborn and annoying. I have to go down to the bank I have my savings account with and spend a while trying to get them to change it. Here's a hint- don't let people mess with the katakana for your name because they think a certain way 'sounds better'. stick to your katakana guns people. it's only katakana- there can be no right answer. But I digress.

Secondly- recycle shops, and Book Off! you'll never have to pay full price for things again. Especially good for books, games, furniture and appliances (I'm not so keen on secondhand clothes.)

100 yen stores
Full of useful, cheap, useful, cheap, cool stuff that's also useful and cheap. Just don't go crazy and overbuy things you don't really need. Good for stationery, small household items like toothbrush mugs, glasses and plates, bento boxes, etc.

100 yen grocery stores
use the google map and look up 100 yen grocery stores, like 100 lawson, in your area. You need to be careful though- since everything's 105 yen, you might end up paying 105 yen for a carton of tofu you could get at your local supermarket for 80 yen. surprisingly good for meat and vegetables, as well as various essential sauces.

Using point cards and coupons
Get a T-point card and you can use it at Tsutaya when you rent movies, and when you buy things at Family Mart. Pick up coupons from the supermarket- I got 5% off my groceries today using a coupon I picked up last time I went shopping.

Time your shopping
After 5 or 6pm, supermarkets start pricing down items that are going to expire soon. If you shop after work and keep your eyes peeled for 半価 (half price) stickers.

Make your own bento to take to work
Eating out at lunch costs money. Getting food from the conbini costs money and is generally bad for you. Bringing your own bento saves you money, and you can use up leftovers this way, too.

Quit using vending machines
Vending machines at 140 yen per drink x 2 drinks a day really adds up. try bringing your own flask or bottle from home. If you buy a box of mugicha (barley tea) teabags and stick them in the fridge in a jug of water, you get a delicious tea at a fraction of the cost of those big 250 yen bottles of Ooi Ocha you can buy at the store.

If you use a kotatsu, make sure you use it over a carpet and not the bare floor, or you'll just wind up heating the ceiling of the person below you. A tip I read about is to put newspaper underneath the carpet to keep even more heat in.


If I think of or find any more, I'll stick them up.

Around the House

So people say that it is a mixed bag. Some people get awesome 4 bedroom houses with zero rent. Some people live in glorified dorm rooms.



Here is my little kotatsu which I am always sitting at now it's gotten cold.




Here's my little cold-water washing machine on the balcony. (Japan ruins clothes.)



And here is the glorious view from my window!

My boom: Recycle Shops

The town I'm living in just so happens to have a pretty sweet recycle shop. Unlike their UK counterparts, Japanese recycle shops are run for profit and are seen as a way to reduce landfill waste. You can get pretty good furniture and household appliances nearly new there and incredibly cheap. The larger ones even sell brand name goods in various states of use.

I was given an old Playstation by a fellow JET friend who found it in her house. It's legitimately old (1998?) but still works fine. I picked up a stack of games from the recycle shop for 105 yen a piece. It's pretty fun getting to rediscover old games with Japanese dialogue.



In my collection so far;

Dino Crisis (resident evil. with dinosaurs.)
Biohazard 1, 2 and LastEscape (aka resident evil 1, 2 and 3)
Driver (keep crashing into things)
Parasite EVE (rpg with mutants.)
Um Jammer Lammy (like PaRappa the Rapper, but with guitars. Not as fun as guitar hero.)
Spyro the Dragon (awful Japanese version... looks like crap.)
Final Fantasy 8 (aka the best Final Fantasy ever...)
Tomb Raider 2 (Lara sounds weird in Japanese.)

I'm desperately seeking the following;
Crash Bandicoot, 1 and 2
Parasite Eve 2
Silent Hill
Dino Crisis 2

Other good places to check out are secondhand game shops and Book Off, where I found my Resident Evils.

Pretty soon I'll be 'upgrading' to a Playstation 2! (around 2000 yen at my local recycle store...) then I'll be able to watch DVDs!

If you want a sweet entertainment system for less than 50 dollars, check out your local recycle shop...

gaijin hunting

To recap,

saturday morning- ran the 英語で遊ぼう booth at the children's festival with 4 of the english teachers here. We did the hokey pokey with the kids, and I read ちびゴリラのちびちび. It was really, really fun, and interacting with the kids is one of my favourite parts of this job. Unfortunately, in my contract there is this neat little clause (a など） which basically means my contracting organisation can have me do anything they want. Which is why we spent the majority of the time constructing the tent/gazebo, hauling hugely heavy mats/amplifiers/cd players around, etc, etc, all in the unseasonably hot weather. Also, when my friend got whacked in the head by a falling pole, my supervisors simply stood there sucking their teeth and telling her she'd better find some ice from somewhere. Um... thanks for the help.

Later on I was on my way to the station to meet friends in Sanjo, when I was stopped by two policemen. They asked me my name, address, where I was going, what I was doing, what airport did I enter Japan from, and did I have my gaijin card? (luckily, yes... I ALWAYS have my gaijin card and so should you.) They started off talking to me in English, but I kind of realised これがやばいよ so I switched to Japanese, mentioned I work at City Hall, and oh yes, I went to Waseda University, and then they did a 180 and started being all smiley and friendly- asking me if I have a boyfriend, do I have anyone I like, and how about going to a bar with them in Sanjo sometime?

It was pretty funny, but it still kind of upset me that in Japan you can be stopped by the police for no other reason than being a gaijin. If I hadn't had my gaijin card on me... When they finally let me escape, they said 同じ公務員で頑張りましょうね！ heh.

This weekend has involved shopping for my halloween costume (akihabara maid outfit) a yakiniku tabehodai with friends, and a super-intense cleanup of my apartment. I've also just ordered some books from amazon.co.jp. They let you pay cash on delivery, but I am never home, so I went for payment by conbini slip instead.

Long time no blog

I'm now settled in to my new home in Japan but have been much too busy to update this blog...

I have been focusing instead on my Japanese-language blog (unfortunately only accessible if you have a Japanese cellphone email). Working 9-5 5 days a week entirely in Japanese is making me realise that my kanji and more technical vocab knowledge isn't as good as it should be. Also, right now I have a lot of free time at work so I've decided to dedicate this to studying Japanese.

I'm planning to take the JLPT N-2 next July. If that goes well, I'll go for the N-1, the highest level. The reason I'm not going for N-1 straight away is because my kanji is really weak, and I need to build up with studying the lower levels. the JLPT works on a cumulative scale like this.

There's also a speech contest in November I'm thinking of entering (althought I usually hate public speaking...) I think it would be good experience.

I'm already thinking about work post-this and if I want to work for a Japanese company, JLPT N-1 is going to be essential. If I can add other things to my cv as well, so much the better.

I've just gotten back from a weekend seeing friends in Tokyo! there was yakitori, izakayas, purikura, harajuku shopping, crepe eating, karaoke-ing and lots of drinking. I also got to see my friend's band practice. It was refreshing to hang out with Japanese friends again. Where I live is pretty inaka (rural) and sadly the only Japanese people who will talk to foreigners want to talk to us because we're foreigners. It's hard to get to know someone in that situation. I can't help feeling disappointed when they come out with 'can you use chopsticks?' 'do you have four seasons in America?' why is it that only with my Tokyo friends can I have a proper conversation, in Japanese, about normal things? Oh well.

時間が遅い！

Just bought a new suitcase for hauling my stuff to Japan, since the old one was looking a little battered.

I am soooo excited there is only a week left to go! Finished my summer job yesterday so I'll be going with a little money in my pocket which is reassuring. I'm looking forward to meeting my predecessor and the people in my office! (yes, I do also think about work and not just how great it's going to be living in Japan...)

I hope this week goes quickly... I want to be back already!

Also, I'm very excited because some good friends in Tokyo have organised a joint nomikai for me and 2 other friends from Waseda also returning under the same programme... I'll get to see my old friends again and I can't wait!

leaving on a jet plane!

イエス！ I'll be flying to Tokyo on a Japanese airline for the first time ever!

The service is gonna be ~awesome~

and the food too, maybe?

I'm so excited!!!

Also, I've never flown direct LON-NRT and I've never flown in the evening before (maybe this means I can sleep this time?)

return trips via KLM/scandinavian airlines with european changeovers and 4am starts... those days are over! 万歳！

オリエン

Back from the 2 day pre-japan orientation.

They gave us lots of information...

And I got to meet lots and lots of new people!

It was soooooooo hot, I totally sweated through all the lectures...

I also got to meet the other people doing my same job... There's only three others, besides me... In the whole of the country...

We had separate language classes, and we were drilled on keigo and nuances...

The first day we had five hours of solid Japanese class...

After classes and everything was over, I went to get Subway with some people, then to the bar at the university. And then... I crashed and slept like a log. (I was up from 4.30am...)

It really hit me that I'm actually going back to Japan in less than a month! There's 4 flights, and only two of them are Japanese airlines. Having never flown on a Japanese airline, I'm REALLY hoping I'll get to go on one of those two... (but knowing my luck, it's gonna be BA :P)

bloggy blog

I recently got a new camera! YAY!

and I also started a flickr account- http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksalamander/　どーぞご覧になってね☆

Working hard at my summer job and soon... JAPAN!

But first...

Pre-japan orientation

Graduation

Dying my hair brown

Packing

I really want to eat takoyaki....