OK, so my brother came and we had a very good time traveling around and whatnot. I didn't have much of a chance to post while he was around since we were busy and I also kind of wanted a break from posting.
But here's a quick summary and I promise to write more about the interesting parts later:
We went to four Nippon Professional Baseball games, saw three superhero movies, swam in two water parks, and we fed wild monkeys (don't worry, it was monkey-food!).
What could have been better?
Anyway, apparently there is a tsunami warning at the moment (not a major one) due to the big earthquake near the Philippines. I'm not worried since we've had plenty of warning and I live on top of a steep hill. I was actually more worried yesterday morning at around 4 o'clock when an earthquake woke me up suddenly (usually you can hear them coming but since it struck suddenly I knew that the epicenter had to be close). That earthquake was a 4 on the Shindo Japanese scale according to the Japan Meteorological Agency and a 5.7 on the Richter scale. Nothing in my room fell down or anything though, it wasn't that big.
That's all for now. I'll write more soon!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Getting a Japanese Driver's License - part 2 of (?)
Left at 8:45 and drove to Tome. Caught the 9:30 bus to Sendai. Dozed during the 1.5 hour ride. Arrived at Sendai station around 11. Got a quick snack then got the 15 min. subway to Izumi-chuo station. Randomly saw a teacher from my school, what are the chances? Around 11:30 got the number 5-2 bus to the Driving Center. Arrived with plenty of time to spare as the registration process goes from 1:00 to 1:30 so I sat in the foreigner waiting-area along with two guys.
I reviewed what Anne had told me about her test while eating another snack. To pass the time I looked at my JET diary (day planner) that also has random useful information like "How to read a nutrition label in Japan," "How to write an address on an envelope," and "Meanings of the most common Japanese road signs." Of course that last one turned out to be useful for the multiple-choice quiz. Between 1 o'clock and 1:30 I successfully handed in my proof of residence paper (which is a new requirement as of this month since they changed the foreigner registration system), I also passed my eye test and the multiple-choice quiz in that time period. The two other guys didn't pass (but as neither Japanese nor English were their native languages I guess it wasn't that surprising)- the test is offered only in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and English I believe. One other foreigner showed up after that and he managed to pass (he had very good English). After taking the quiz I was given a map of the day's course and a booklet that contained tips about the practical (all in Japanese so it was mostly useless to me except for some sections that had pictures).
After waiting around with no indication of when the test would take place, around 3 PM I was suddenly called up along with the other guy who had passed the written quiz. That man was taking the standard-transmission test but since we were the only foreigners there and the cars were going to do the same course we both got into the manual car to observe one of the testers drive the course. I was planning to pay attention to when the instructor put on his blinkers before each turn but he had his hazard lights on so that was no help. He also went straight through the red-light in the center of the course even though it hadn't turned green yet, which seemed odd to me...
Once the tester finished showing us the course he told me to wait for the automatic-transmission car to come. It arrived almost immediately and then it was my turn to brave the course... sigh. I wish that more foreigners had been there that day since I would have requested to go a bit later so that I could observe them driving the course. If multiple people are there then you also have the chance to sit in the back seat while the person ahead of you in line goes (but of course, speaking during the test is prohibited). Before starting the test I asked if I could wear my sunglasses since it was a bit bright out but the tester told me that I couldn't since he needed to be able to see where I was looking... jerk. Also, before getting into the car you're expected to check the tires and all around and under the car (just in case any little kids or animals have scrambled under there in the last five seconds).
The first minute of the test was fine. I successfully got up to 50 km/hr (a whopping 31 mph) when instructed during the first straightaway and I made sure to stay closer-than-seemed-appropriate to the left curb. The car was large compared to the k-car I'm used to driving but it wasn't too bad. I made the first right turn and then a left at the traffic-light before turning into the crank. Almost immediately my back left tire went over the indent since my turn wasn't wide enough. Technically you're allowed to fall into the indent up to three times as long as you back up out of it and then continue but I wasn't quite sure what to do since my tire had gone into (and out of) the indent already. I figured that I had already failed since backing up would mean falling into the indent again. So, I just kept going and successfully managed to stay out of the indent after that (even though I knew it didn't matter at that point since I had already failed). Next I went left and through the intersection headed towards the S-curve. Unfortunately I didn't come to a complete... stop... at a stop-sign. That was just careless of me since even in Japan you're still supposed to wait three seconds... during the driving test. So the tester pointed out my mistake and then I managed to get through the S-curve. When making my final approach to the traffic-light intersection I was definitely feeling depressed since I knew that I had failed. I was supposed to turn right but I didn't get into the right-hand turn lane like I was supposed to since I completely didn't notice it. This may seem strange to you since in the US turning lanes are usually very clearly indicated with arrows and lines (white lines indicate the edge of the road and differentiate between turning lanes while yellow lines show you where the opposing lane begins). But in Japan all the lines are white so at a quick glance it's sometimes hard for me to tell whether a particular lane is on my side or in the opposing lane (especially if a turning lane is on a straightaway or if I'm out of it since I know that I just failed a test).
Anyway, the tester told me that I hadn't passed after giving me another recap of all of the parts I had messed up. He then gave me the pink paper of death (since I had failed) which said something like "go back to staff room." ...
Final recap of my wasted day:
two-way bus ticket from Tome: ¥2300
subway to Izumi-chuo: ¥390
bus from subway to Driving center: ¥170
bus back to Sendai station: ¥550
test "handling fee" (whatever that is): ¥2200
practical test fee: ¥1550
total: ¥7160 (approximately $90)
Getting this whole ordeal out of the way: priceless... I bet you saw that coming, haha.
I signed up to take the test again on Thursday since I'll be in Sendai anyway... picking up my brother from the airport! Next time I hope to tell you more about my planned trip with my brother (whom I will call Mike since I like that name). I can tell you that it will be truly epic since we will stay at five different hostels and travel at least 2,740km (~1,700 miles).
I reviewed what Anne had told me about her test while eating another snack. To pass the time I looked at my JET diary (day planner) that also has random useful information like "How to read a nutrition label in Japan," "How to write an address on an envelope," and "Meanings of the most common Japanese road signs." Of course that last one turned out to be useful for the multiple-choice quiz. Between 1 o'clock and 1:30 I successfully handed in my proof of residence paper (which is a new requirement as of this month since they changed the foreigner registration system), I also passed my eye test and the multiple-choice quiz in that time period. The two other guys didn't pass (but as neither Japanese nor English were their native languages I guess it wasn't that surprising)- the test is offered only in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and English I believe. One other foreigner showed up after that and he managed to pass (he had very good English). After taking the quiz I was given a map of the day's course and a booklet that contained tips about the practical (all in Japanese so it was mostly useless to me except for some sections that had pictures).
Here's a slightly skewed photo of the course map they gave me. The Driving center (starting point) is on the right. In the center of the course is a working traffic light. On the right-hand side in the middle of the page you can also see "the crank"- a series of 90 degree turns on a narrow road with small indents along the edges so you can tell very easily when you go off the road. Below the crank is the S-curve, which is pretty self-explanatory I guess (it also has the indented edges).
After waiting around with no indication of when the test would take place, around 3 PM I was suddenly called up along with the other guy who had passed the written quiz. That man was taking the standard-transmission test but since we were the only foreigners there and the cars were going to do the same course we both got into the manual car to observe one of the testers drive the course. I was planning to pay attention to when the instructor put on his blinkers before each turn but he had his hazard lights on so that was no help. He also went straight through the red-light in the center of the course even though it hadn't turned green yet, which seemed odd to me...
Once the tester finished showing us the course he told me to wait for the automatic-transmission car to come. It arrived almost immediately and then it was my turn to brave the course... sigh. I wish that more foreigners had been there that day since I would have requested to go a bit later so that I could observe them driving the course. If multiple people are there then you also have the chance to sit in the back seat while the person ahead of you in line goes (but of course, speaking during the test is prohibited). Before starting the test I asked if I could wear my sunglasses since it was a bit bright out but the tester told me that I couldn't since he needed to be able to see where I was looking... jerk. Also, before getting into the car you're expected to check the tires and all around and under the car (just in case any little kids or animals have scrambled under there in the last five seconds).
The first minute of the test was fine. I successfully got up to 50 km/hr (a whopping 31 mph) when instructed during the first straightaway and I made sure to stay closer-than-seemed-appropriate to the left curb. The car was large compared to the k-car I'm used to driving but it wasn't too bad. I made the first right turn and then a left at the traffic-light before turning into the crank. Almost immediately my back left tire went over the indent since my turn wasn't wide enough. Technically you're allowed to fall into the indent up to three times as long as you back up out of it and then continue but I wasn't quite sure what to do since my tire had gone into (and out of) the indent already. I figured that I had already failed since backing up would mean falling into the indent again. So, I just kept going and successfully managed to stay out of the indent after that (even though I knew it didn't matter at that point since I had already failed). Next I went left and through the intersection headed towards the S-curve. Unfortunately I didn't come to a complete... stop... at a stop-sign. That was just careless of me since even in Japan you're still supposed to wait three seconds... during the driving test. So the tester pointed out my mistake and then I managed to get through the S-curve. When making my final approach to the traffic-light intersection I was definitely feeling depressed since I knew that I had failed. I was supposed to turn right but I didn't get into the right-hand turn lane like I was supposed to since I completely didn't notice it. This may seem strange to you since in the US turning lanes are usually very clearly indicated with arrows and lines (white lines indicate the edge of the road and differentiate between turning lanes while yellow lines show you where the opposing lane begins). But in Japan all the lines are white so at a quick glance it's sometimes hard for me to tell whether a particular lane is on my side or in the opposing lane (especially if a turning lane is on a straightaway or if I'm out of it since I know that I just failed a test).
Anyway, the tester told me that I hadn't passed after giving me another recap of all of the parts I had messed up. He then gave me the pink paper of death (since I had failed) which said something like "go back to staff room." ...
Final recap of my wasted day:
two-way bus ticket from Tome: ¥2300
subway to Izumi-chuo: ¥390
bus from subway to Driving center: ¥170
bus back to Sendai station: ¥550
test "handling fee" (whatever that is): ¥2200
practical test fee: ¥1550
total: ¥7160 (approximately $90)
Getting this whole ordeal out of the way: priceless... I bet you saw that coming, haha.
I signed up to take the test again on Thursday since I'll be in Sendai anyway... picking up my brother from the airport! Next time I hope to tell you more about my planned trip with my brother (whom I will call Mike since I like that name). I can tell you that it will be truly epic since we will stay at five different hostels and travel at least 2,740km (~1,700 miles).
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Desserts in Japan
OK, I definitely need to add more pictures to this post later...
It's funny how desserts can be so different depending on the country. I didn't notice it so much when I studied abroad in Australia (except that there they sometimes use a really delicious chocolate powder on top of ice cream instead of a syrup- grrr, I can't think of the name) but comparing Japanese desserts with American ones can be quite amusing.
For instance, many foods that are considered non-dessert items in the US are served as desserts in Japan. These items include: pancakes, yogurt, and plain fruit. I'm not really sure what the story is with pancakes (or "hotcakes" as they're called here) - maybe the fact that it has the word "cake" in its name had something to do with it. I suppose that the toppings are usually pretty sweet too (like syrup, fruit/jam, or even chocolate). That reminds me, in Japan "jelly" (think PBJ) is called "jam," and "jello" (think Bill Cosby) is called "jelly"... Anyway, I'm not sure why yogurt is a dessert either, I mean frozen yogurt is considered dessert in the US too but regular yogurt just seems like a breakfast food to me. As for fruits, I consider them to be snack or possibly breakfast items most of the time. I say that fruit crosses over into the dessert category only when chocolate is involved (chocolate-covered strawberries anyone?).
About ice cream in Japan, it is extremely hard to find cartons of ice cream to keep at home (most "large" ones seem to be about two pints). But ice cream bars and treats are very popular and the grocery store has several sections dedicated to them. When you order an ice cream sundae at a restaurant, chances are that you'll get soft-serve ice cream (disappointing). When you order a parfait at a restaurant, chances are that you'll get a combination of soft-serve ice cream as a top layer and yogurt as a bottom layer (with the various flavors/syrups/fruits/cones in between and sprinkled on top). Where I'm from a sundae has real ice cream and a parfait is just yogurt.
I'll have to write another post later about purely Japanese desserts and treats like daifuku (mochi with red bean paste) or zunda (sweetened, mashed green soybeans)...
I feel hungry now. I saw a large pizza when watching a US TV show the other day (Breaking Bad if you must know) and now I seriously have a craving for Regina Pizza... they have such good food there.
Anyway, I'm going into Sendai tomorrow for my first attempt at the driving test. Once I fail that I plan to retake it next week before my brother gets here on the 2nd.
It's funny how desserts can be so different depending on the country. I didn't notice it so much when I studied abroad in Australia (except that there they sometimes use a really delicious chocolate powder on top of ice cream instead of a syrup- grrr, I can't think of the name) but comparing Japanese desserts with American ones can be quite amusing.
For instance, many foods that are considered non-dessert items in the US are served as desserts in Japan. These items include: pancakes, yogurt, and plain fruit. I'm not really sure what the story is with pancakes (or "hotcakes" as they're called here) - maybe the fact that it has the word "cake" in its name had something to do with it. I suppose that the toppings are usually pretty sweet too (like syrup, fruit/jam, or even chocolate). That reminds me, in Japan "jelly" (think PBJ) is called "jam," and "jello" (think Bill Cosby) is called "jelly"... Anyway, I'm not sure why yogurt is a dessert either, I mean frozen yogurt is considered dessert in the US too but regular yogurt just seems like a breakfast food to me. As for fruits, I consider them to be snack or possibly breakfast items most of the time. I say that fruit crosses over into the dessert category only when chocolate is involved (chocolate-covered strawberries anyone?).
About ice cream in Japan, it is extremely hard to find cartons of ice cream to keep at home (most "large" ones seem to be about two pints). But ice cream bars and treats are very popular and the grocery store has several sections dedicated to them. When you order an ice cream sundae at a restaurant, chances are that you'll get soft-serve ice cream (disappointing). When you order a parfait at a restaurant, chances are that you'll get a combination of soft-serve ice cream as a top layer and yogurt as a bottom layer (with the various flavors/syrups/fruits/cones in between and sprinkled on top). Where I'm from a sundae has real ice cream and a parfait is just yogurt.
Here's a selection of ice cream bars from an Aeon supermarket. In the picture on the left notice the Dole fruit bars, various ice cream cups and cones, and in the back some mini Haagen Dazs cups. In the right-hand picture notice the Power Rangers bars in the front and the various boxes and bags of "ice cream candy" cakes, and more bars farther back.
I'll have to write another post later about purely Japanese desserts and treats like daifuku (mochi with red bean paste) or zunda (sweetened, mashed green soybeans)...
I feel hungry now. I saw a large pizza when watching a US TV show the other day (Breaking Bad if you must know) and now I seriously have a craving for Regina Pizza... they have such good food there.
Anyway, I'm going into Sendai tomorrow for my first attempt at the driving test. Once I fail that I plan to retake it next week before my brother gets here on the 2nd.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Apartment Party!
My apartment building is split into two sections of four apartments each and all of the tenants are employed at the various schools in the area. In my section there is a married couple (the wife, Natsu, works at one of my elementary schools and the husband, Ryo, at one of Anne's), an elementary school principal (Mori-san, also from one of Anne's schools), and Tanaka-san (from one of my elementary schools). I'm not exactly sure how it started but I think it was the principal who came up with the idea of having a small dinner party so that we could get to know each other better (and I think he also wanted to practice his English). So it was decided that Natsu would do the cooking and the party itself would be held in Mori-san's apartment.
Maybe it's because we're girls, but Ryo-sensei asked Anne and me to help out his wife with the cooking too. I've gotta say, Japanese women are pretty amazing when it comes to cooking. Keep in mind that a typical Japanese kitchen contains neither an oven nor a dishwasher. Natsu was able to cook chicken, quiche, and ratatouille (<- thank you Pixar for teaching me to spell this) using only a small toaster-oven, two gas burners, and a fish grill. In fact, most women in Japan are expected to cook a fresh dinner every evening even if they work during the day as well (they're not big into leftovers like we are in America). Natsu's family actually owns a restaurant in Kesennuma and she said that she really enjoys cooking (as you can imagine, her dishes were delicious). Anne and I had a good time hanging out with Natsu before the dinner-party started. We helped out by making some rice balls and sticking toothpicks into some side-dishes - nothing too complicated (luckily).
The party itself was entertaining. It started around 7:20 and didn't end until 11:30 even though it was a school night! It turned out that Mori-san had quite the collection of bourbon which Anne was impressed to see since she used to live close to Bourbon county in the US. There was plenty of beer, sake, and wine to go around (plus calpis soda for me). We had several interesting conversations over the course of the evening and I was pleased to find that for most of the purely Japanese ones I was able to mostly follow what was being said (toward the end it got more difficult as I got more tired though). Ryo speaks English well (and apparently can speak German really well) while Mori-san's English was so-so (he said he used to speak it better when he was younger but he's forgotten a lot of the vocabulary over the years). For a while we spoke about the differences between different languages and how going from Japanese to English is very difficult because Japanese doesn't have some of the sounds that English does (like "l", "v", or even to an extent "w"). Ryo-sensei said that for him going from Japanese to German was easier since there weren't as many new sounds to learn. He lived in Germany for a while but he noticed that many foreigners in Germany tended to speak English over German so he thought speaking English would be a good thing to learn too.
We talked for a while about how English is a global language but can be very different depending on the region. I mentioned that my elementary students call the last letter of the alphabet "zed" (instead of "zee" like in the US) since a previous ALT had taught them that way. Anne and I showed off our language skills a bit by saying the alphabets in French and Spanish, respectively. We also mentioned that in the US the accents can be quite different depending on the region (we specifically talked about southern accents). Ryo said that he had once tried to read Tom Sawyer but he found it too difficult to get past the dialogue between the characters. When he first encountered the word "ain't" and tried to look it up in the dictionary he couldn't find it (of course). So, even though he still has the book he has never been able to read the whole thing. Anne and I said that if he had questions about it then we could try to help him out.
Anyway, when the teachers found out that my brother is coming to visit soon they said that we should have another dinner party with him, so that should be fun!
Maybe it's because we're girls, but Ryo-sensei asked Anne and me to help out his wife with the cooking too. I've gotta say, Japanese women are pretty amazing when it comes to cooking. Keep in mind that a typical Japanese kitchen contains neither an oven nor a dishwasher. Natsu was able to cook chicken, quiche, and ratatouille (<- thank you Pixar for teaching me to spell this) using only a small toaster-oven, two gas burners, and a fish grill. In fact, most women in Japan are expected to cook a fresh dinner every evening even if they work during the day as well (they're not big into leftovers like we are in America). Natsu's family actually owns a restaurant in Kesennuma and she said that she really enjoys cooking (as you can imagine, her dishes were delicious). Anne and I had a good time hanging out with Natsu before the dinner-party started. We helped out by making some rice balls and sticking toothpicks into some side-dishes - nothing too complicated (luckily).
The party itself was entertaining. It started around 7:20 and didn't end until 11:30 even though it was a school night! It turned out that Mori-san had quite the collection of bourbon which Anne was impressed to see since she used to live close to Bourbon county in the US. There was plenty of beer, sake, and wine to go around (plus calpis soda for me). We had several interesting conversations over the course of the evening and I was pleased to find that for most of the purely Japanese ones I was able to mostly follow what was being said (toward the end it got more difficult as I got more tired though). Ryo speaks English well (and apparently can speak German really well) while Mori-san's English was so-so (he said he used to speak it better when he was younger but he's forgotten a lot of the vocabulary over the years). For a while we spoke about the differences between different languages and how going from Japanese to English is very difficult because Japanese doesn't have some of the sounds that English does (like "l", "v", or even to an extent "w"). Ryo-sensei said that for him going from Japanese to German was easier since there weren't as many new sounds to learn. He lived in Germany for a while but he noticed that many foreigners in Germany tended to speak English over German so he thought speaking English would be a good thing to learn too.
We talked for a while about how English is a global language but can be very different depending on the region. I mentioned that my elementary students call the last letter of the alphabet "zed" (instead of "zee" like in the US) since a previous ALT had taught them that way. Anne and I showed off our language skills a bit by saying the alphabets in French and Spanish, respectively. We also mentioned that in the US the accents can be quite different depending on the region (we specifically talked about southern accents). Ryo said that he had once tried to read Tom Sawyer but he found it too difficult to get past the dialogue between the characters. When he first encountered the word "ain't" and tried to look it up in the dictionary he couldn't find it (of course). So, even though he still has the book he has never been able to read the whole thing. Anne and I said that if he had questions about it then we could try to help him out.
Anyway, when the teachers found out that my brother is coming to visit soon they said that we should have another dinner party with him, so that should be fun!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Summer Vacation is Soon!
OK, so apparently July is already halfway over, so I'm thinking it would be a good idea to change the format of my posts so that I feel more motivated to write in a timely manner. I'm going to attempt to write shorter posts more often (ideally 2 - 3 times a week). Let's see how it goes!
Anyway, I successfully gave all of my paperwork to the Driving Center and my practical test is scheduled for next Thursday (I figured I would schedule it during summer vacation). School is still in session and will be until Friday the 20th, then all of my schools will be off until August 27th. Of course, that doesn't mean that the middle school students won't be at school, classes won't be in session but many kids will be working on club activities. Since I'm technically a city employee I will be expected to be preparing for my upcoming classes and also studying Japanese and whatnot. This may be difficult as my brother will be visiting for a large chunk of the vacation (from August 2nd to 24th).
It's going to be awesome. We'll probably end up hanging out around Minamisanriku for about a week, then traveling to Tokyo and beyond for a week before heading back up north. Some of the things we may do include watching a Rakuten Eagles baseball game in Sendai, playing Japanese video games, karaoke and conveyor-belt sushi, climbing Mt. Tatsugane, going to a monkey park, going to a water park, visiting Tokyo Sky Tree, going to Disneyland, seeing the Avengers once it comes out, and going to some local summer festivals. Like I said, awesome!
One more story for now:
On July 4th of course I mentioned to the students that it was American Independence Day and pointed out that I had attempted to wear red, white, and blue (like the flag!). Meanwhile Anne was also telling her students a bit about the Fourth of July and once her English teacher had translated "independent," one of the students asked him (in Japanese) who the US became independent from. The teacher pondered for a moment and then said, "France..." Luckily Anne was able to follow the transaction and immediately stepped on the teacher's answer, explaining that of course it was Britain (and that's why we speak English in America).
More soon!
Anyway, I successfully gave all of my paperwork to the Driving Center and my practical test is scheduled for next Thursday (I figured I would schedule it during summer vacation). School is still in session and will be until Friday the 20th, then all of my schools will be off until August 27th. Of course, that doesn't mean that the middle school students won't be at school, classes won't be in session but many kids will be working on club activities. Since I'm technically a city employee I will be expected to be preparing for my upcoming classes and also studying Japanese and whatnot. This may be difficult as my brother will be visiting for a large chunk of the vacation (from August 2nd to 24th).
It's going to be awesome. We'll probably end up hanging out around Minamisanriku for about a week, then traveling to Tokyo and beyond for a week before heading back up north. Some of the things we may do include watching a Rakuten Eagles baseball game in Sendai, playing Japanese video games, karaoke and conveyor-belt sushi, climbing Mt. Tatsugane, going to a monkey park, going to a water park, visiting Tokyo Sky Tree, going to Disneyland, seeing the Avengers once it comes out, and going to some local summer festivals. Like I said, awesome!
One more story for now:
On July 4th of course I mentioned to the students that it was American Independence Day and pointed out that I had attempted to wear red, white, and blue (like the flag!). Meanwhile Anne was also telling her students a bit about the Fourth of July and once her English teacher had translated "independent," one of the students asked him (in Japanese) who the US became independent from. The teacher pondered for a moment and then said, "France..." Luckily Anne was able to follow the transaction and immediately stepped on the teacher's answer, explaining that of course it was Britain (and that's why we speak English in America).
More soon!
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