Japanese language adventure - Cascadian Abroad

Kawagoe Festival 2015

October 27, 2015 by Robert Haddan

Last fall, we enjoyed a day at the Kawagoe Festival, the largest and oldest festival in our little slice of Japan. Check out last year’s post for the festival’s history and a video of the floats.

Otto-san and KenKen watching the parade. Three generations of two different families hosted me for this year's Kawagoe Festival. — Otto-san and KenKen watching the parade. Three generations of two different families hosted me for this year’s Kawagoe Festival.

This year’s festival was a different experience. We’ve tried our best to stay in touch with our old neighbors—Tomoko and her two young girls—who moved to another part of town. This past spring, we were invited to a hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party with them. Japanese families are multigenerational, tight-knit units, so we got to know some of their extended family as well.

One of the large floats (or dashi) makes its way through a narrow side street in central Kawagoe

We missed out on an invite to Obon in August due to our travels through Asia, but Tomoko reached out last week to extend an invite to Kawagoe Festival. To see the festival through the eyes of locals was truly an honor.

I met the family near the train station at 7 p.m. It wasn’t more than five minutes in before the father-in-law was buying beers for the group.

As we walked through the city, Tomoko pointed out Kawagoe Kindergarten, then pointed to her sister-in-law, herself, her mother and her children. All three generations had attended the ivy-covered school. Pretty cool!

Two of the massive floats meet in the middle of the road, stopping to "battle" each other with music and dance. The float on the right won this particular battle. — Two of the massive floats meet in the middle of the road, stopping to “battle” each other with music and dance. The float on the right won this particular battle.

We watched the dashi—massive, multi-decked festival floats—as they traveled toward each other down the streets of central Kawagoe. They stopped when they met, “battling” each other with live music and dancing. Tomoko’s sister-in-law indicated which float had “won” the battle.

The kids buy their second bag of cotton candy of the night. Festival time is a time for letting loose.

We wandered through the festival, which fills three square miles of Kawagoe’s shopping streets, for about an hour. The kids loaded up on candy from the various vendors before stopping to take a photo with a police car. Around 8:30 p.m., it appeared we were on our way out.

The kids stop to pose for a photo with the local police

Tomoko said she’d give me a ride home. But first, we stopped at one of the stands where they bought steamed buns—nikuman in Japanese—for all of us.

The family takes a trip down the reflexology foot path leading into Kumano Shrine

The whole group walked and walked until I wasn’t even sure where we were anymore. After about 25 minutes, we arrived at the sister-in-law’s house. They invited me in and everyone started getting comfortable.

It was the first time I’ve ever been in a proper Japanese home. While we’re a little loose with the no-shoes-in-the-house rule, they were not. Shoes were removed in the entry way. No socks on the entryway floor; no shoes in the house. We all washed our hands upon entering. Other than that, it was just like any other home. Comfy couch, television front and center. A piano sat against the wall, serving more as a shelf than a musical instrument.

The father-in-law turned on the TV and brought out a couple more beers—one for me, one for him. The kids started getting out their toys. The mother-in-law headed into the kitchen. It was clear we weren’t going anywhere for awhile.

Hasumi holds her bag of candy, which would be doled out a piece at a time for the rest of the evening

Out came the steamed buns. Then some homemade cheesecake. And some tea. And some mikan oranges. One by one like a four-course dessert set. Hasumi, Tomoko’s youngest girl, brought me pieces of her konpeitō (rock candy), two at a time. Everyone asked questions: What Japanese foods do you like? How do you say __________ in English? Is it OK to say __________?

Around 10 p.m., Tomoko’s mother started looking at her watch. Around 10:30 p.m., we started packing up the kids and made the short walk down the street to Tomoko’s car and headed home.

I thanked them profusely for all of their kindness and went inside… an authentic Japanese festival experience in the books.

Navigating by Star(bucks)

May 20, 2015 by Robert Haddan

I’m self-diagnosing a case of selective attention deficit disorder. It’s brought on my projects that aren’t particularly interesting to me. Treatments include watching baseball, going for a run or doing just about anything else.

I have a couple of those projects on my plate this week, so I decided to remove the distractions. I loaded up my computer and headed to Starbucks to work for a bit. There’s plenty of good workspaces around town, but the coffee giant is the only one that offers free WiFi.

The closest Starbucks in Kawagoe Station is usually crowded with commuters and since the station is our transportation hub, I wanted some new scenery. I pulled up Google Maps and plotted out some of the other shops in the area. That landed me in nearby Fujimino City.

Fujimino is the first stop on the express line toward Tokyo from Kawagoe Station, but we’ve never had reason to go there, so this was a good chance to explore the area a bit. I arrived around lunchtime and had plotted out a couple potential lunch spots.

The curry lunch set at Arcturus Cafe in Fujimino. The small shop has a couple tables in a greenhouse surrounded by flowers in bloom — The curry lunch set at Arcturus Cafe in Fujimino. The small shop has a couple tables in a solarium surrounded by flowers in bloom

I chose Arcturus Cafe, which I’m told by Wikipedia may be named for the brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere. Macrobiotic cafes like this are one of the few safe bets for a vegetarian meal in Japan.

I chose one of the two tables in the solarium at the back of the restaurant. Outside, rose bushes and other greenery pushed against the glass. I ordered the curry set. Japanese curry is available nearly everywhere, but it’s made with chicken, so it’s usually on the no-fly list. Potatoes and mushrooms took the place of the chicken. It was fantastic!

Arcturus also bakes its own bread using a naturally fermented yeast. The soup and salad set is served with fresh bread and coffee. I can’t wait to go back to try it.

The quiet surroundings of Starbucks in Fujimino offered a nice work environment

After lunch, I headed to Starbucks to actually get some work done. The Starbucks is about 10 minutes from the station, so the crowd was pretty thin in the early afternoon with most of the customers coming through the drive-through.

A taste of home... beers from Newport, Oregon's Rogue Ales & Spirits — A taste of home… beers from Newport, Oregon’s Rogue Ales & Spirits

After I finished my work, I popped into the Aeon department store down the street. I remembered from a trip to the Aeon near Costco that they have a large liquor section with a decent selection of craft beers. Sure enough, they had three different choices from Oregon’s Rogue Ales & Spirits. I took one of each: Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Dead Guy and Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout.

I tried to make a joke with the cashier that both the beer and I were from the same place. She laughed and said a whole bunch of other stuff that I didn’t really catch. Can’t win ’em all…

My projects will keep me busy for a few more weeks and I plan to use my new method of navigating the area by Starbucks locations to find a few more new gems.

Fighting For You! Election Season in Japan

April 23, 2015 by Robert Haddan

This guy's fighting for the future of Kawagoe's kids (未来は子どもたちのために)

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a good Japanese mystery to investigate. A couple weeks ago, workers began installing long white boards all over town with squares numbered 1-50. A large date—April 26—appeared at one end with a whole lot of indecipherable Japanese surrounding it.

The election poster board, called kouei keji ba (公営掲示場) or public posting area

A few days later, nearly all of the boxes were plastered with election posters from all of Japan’s major political parties. It’s time to elect our local mayors (kuchō/区長) and assembly representatives (kugikai/区議会)! I say “our,” but as foreign citizens, we don’t get a vote. At least we have plausible deniability if it all goes south… “Not my kuchō!”

In addition to the posters, candidates ride around in vans with loudspeakers, sharing their message with the people. They wear white gloves as they wave out the window, apparently a symbol of honesty.

The posters themselves were pretty standard fare, although I did notice a couple of trends. First off, several candidates seemed to be taking the theme of “fighting for you” literally. I counted six posters with candidates raising clinched fists, ready to punch the opposition right in the face. Some of my favorites…

This guy will not only fight for us, but might also organize a pickup basketball game!

The next candidate had comic-style posters of him fighting for the people of Kawagoe on his website during the election. Kinda cool.

Manabu-san looks way too happy for someone who has spent 25 years working in Kawagoe City Hall (25年間川越市役所勤務の経験を市政に生かします！).

Misao-san took a slightly different route with the “Who has one finger and wants your vote? This guy!” theme

Odaka-san has a bit of a "Um, I'll fight for you?" look about him, but as a local fire chief, and PTA president, he's got the goods. — Odaka-san has a bit of a “Um, I’ll fight for you?” look about him, but as a local fire chief, and PTA president, he’s got the goods.

The other prominent theme is the use of cartoonish representations of the candidates. It says “Look, I’m fun!” Some of the best…

Maki-san is bring “a new wind to Kawagoe” (川越市政に「新しい風」を)

Tetsuya-san is a 53-year-old working in — Tetsuya-san is a “53-year-old working in full bloom” (働きざかりの５３歳)

Kirino-san has doubled-down with the fist-pumping cartoon

I'd say this is actually a fairly good likeness of Yamaki-san — I’d say this is actually a fairly good likeness of Yamaki-san

Mizuyo-san loves Kawagoe and apparently loves to bicycle as well

Sekiguchi-san looks a lot happier in his caricature than in his actual picture

Sunday Surprise

January 13, 2015 by Robert Haddan

A mysterious sign appeared in our neighborhood trash collection area around New Year. In addition to being the receptacle for our weekly waste, the concrete bunker also serves as the neighborhood bulletin board. Usually the messages are related to trash pickup, but I could read enough of this sign that I knew it wasn’t about garbage.

South American Music Concert Sign — This mysterious sign appeared in our trash bunker…

I snapped a photo and, after a few minutes with Google Translate, I discovered the local community center was hosting a South American music performance. I slapped it on our calendar and we made plans to attend.

On the day of the performance, we climbed to the second floor of the community center, greeted by a row of shoes placed on newspaper. A basket of slippers sat nearby and we dutifully replaced our shoes with the public slippers. Many brought their own slippers, so we’ll know for next time.

The band was made up of nine very skilled Japanese musicians. A couple of them played the zampoña (pan flute), two others played the charango (lute) and an energetic drummer pounded away on the bombo legüero, all the while urging the crowd to clap along. They reminded us of a less-authentic—yet equally talented—version of an Ecuadorian group we sought out at the Oregon State Fair every summer.

We were handed a couple sheets of paper when we came in. One was a schedule and the other a lyric sheet. Over the course of an hour, the audience was encouraged to sing along with about half of the songs. I couldn’t read fast enough to sing along, but I was surprised at how well I was able to follow along while our fellow listeners harmonized with the band.

After the show, people shuffled into a room across the hall for snacks. We tried to slip out quietly, but were stopped by one of the organizers who spoke just enough English to get his point across—it’s very important that you stay and celebrate. OK… shoes off, slippers back on.

Snack time — Our neighbors gather around the great feast celebrating the new year

We were glad we did. We told the man our address and he attempted to find our neighborhood table. In the end, I think we were just added to a table with some empty space as we didn’t recognize anyone at the table. Immediately, our new neighbors poured us green tea and began asking questions. One man spoke excellent English while another couple had a daughter living in the U.S. and learned a little bit of English each day on the internet.

Each table had the same spread: pizza from the recently-opened Domino’s, assorted hosomaki (thin sushi rolls), sandwiches, fruit and desserts. We waited and watched how they handled the food (some ate the pizza with their hands, others with chopsticks!) and followed suit (pizza with hands… our chopstick skills are good, but this was some next level stuff!).

At the end of the meal, the best English speaker asked if we wanted some New Year dessert soup. Oshiruko is a cold, sweet bean soup often served with mochi cakes. Ours came with small, multicolored, flower-shaped cakes that resembled the marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal.

After lunch, a man named Naka, who participated in the local English Club, came over to talk with us. Shortly after, he brought over another member—Kuni—who works as an investment banker and spent five years in the 1980s working in the World Trade Center in New York City. They asked the usual questions (where are you from, why are you here, etc.) and we talked about how difficult it is to learn each other’s languages.

While we talked, the organizers passed out rubber bands to everyone in the room. We were about to play the biggest game of Rock, Paper, Scissors (janken/じゃんけん) that I’ve ever participated in.

We paired off and began to battle. In the one-and-done format, if you win, you get the other person’s rubber band and move on to the next opponent. I beat Kuni in the first match, but then lost to a man from the next table who slow-rolled my scissors (choki/ちょき) with his rock (guu/ぐう).

A lady from our table made it all the way to the final group. Although she didn’t win it all, she did return with some sort of coffee-related prize.

We helped cleanup the table as best as possible. As we picked up, each of the ladies nearby placed a handful of the leftover Lindt truffles in front of us. We must have taken six or so with us.

We walked home and I couldn’t help but shake my head. It seems like every time we venture out into our neighborhood, something special happens. We’re still a bit of a spectacle, but people accept us into their communities so readily that the novelty wears off quickly and, before long, we’re just another neighbor.

Kyoto: Fushimi Inari and Kiyomizu-dera

October 6, 2024November 25, 2014 by Robert Haddan

After two wonderful days in Osaka, we set out on the second-half of our Kansai adventure, bound for Kyoto. But first, coffee!

I only mention the coffee stop because it was the morning of November 3, yet the Starbucks at Temmabashi Station was already decked out for Christmas with an updated drink menu and American holiday music blaring through the speakers. But, as the saying goes: “When in Starbucks, do as the Starbuckians do.” We ordered the seasonal Snow Maple Toffee Latte, a take on a Canadian/New England treat called Maple Taffy (which the internet says is made by pouring boiling-hot maple sap over snow).

With a lethal dose of caffeine and sugar coursing through our veins, we boarded the Elegant Saloon 8000 express train to Kyoto. Other than the comfortable forward-facing seats, I didn’t notice anything particularly special about the train, but all along the 30-mile route, photographers with tripods and $10,000 lenses were set up, waiting to capture a photo of the train with the hills of central Japan in the backdrop. I snapped a horrible photo of the train once we arrived in Kyoto because it seemed like the right thing to do.

Changing Colors — The changing colors of the Japanese maple trees in Kyoto

So, right… Kyoto. An amazing, dynamic and diverse city, the former imperial capital of Japan boasts more than 2,000 temples and 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We intentionally scheduled our trip for early November to see the sights surrounded by the changing colors of autumn and we were not disappointed.

Fushimi Inari Taisha Torii — A few of the thousands of torii (shrine gates) lining the path to the inner shrine of Fushimi Inari Taisha

We started our day at Fushimi Inari Taisha, the shrine dedicated to the kami (god) of rice (among other things). The shrine is famous for the thousands of torii (shrine gates) that lead to the inner shrine in the middle of Inari Mountain.

Inari is also the kami of industry, so in an offering to the god, Japanese businesses have donated each of the torii. Each gate is marked with the date it was placed and the name of the donating company. To the uninformed foreigner (us), you’d probably assume the words to be something spiritual. However, to the Japanese-literate, it’s an endless string of advertisements. Pretty cool advertisements though!

We spent a couple hours hiking up/down the trail to the middle of the mountain, where a view of the entire city opens up. We stopped for lunch, which of course included inari sushi (a fried-tofu pouch filled with sushi rice, named for the kami). We also had a bowl of kitsune soba. Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes play a significant role in Japanese folklore. They’re also said to be fond of aburage (fried tofu), hence the namesake dish.

Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto. One of the UNESCO sites, its current structures date back to the 1600s. The impressive main hall, with its large veranda designed to accommodate thousands of pilgrims at any given time, was built without a single nail.

I’m a big fan of the Buddhist temples and the smell of incense that fills the air. Despite the large crowds (turned out we were there over the Culture Day holiday weekend), there’s still plenty of opportunity to find a moment of Zen.

English Students — Two separate groups of students practiced their English on Viktoria. They were clearly unimpressed with me.

One (or two) such moments occurred when small groups of students descended on tourists to practice their English. They asked three pre-written questions with no follow-ups. The shrines and their large crowds must be popular for this homework as we experienced this in Asakusa back in May as well. The earnest students left a good feeling as we ventured into the temple.

Artist — An artist working on a sketch of Kiyomizu-dera’s main hall

From the veranda of the main hall, you can see a grand view of the city and, across the way, the temple’s lonely pagoda rises from the trees. A scenic walk leads to the pagoda. An older Japanese man sat near the trail, oblivious to the crowd around him as he made a beautiful color sketch of the iconic main hall.

Kiyomizu-dera Pagoda — The pagoda at Kiyomizu-dera

We reached the pagoda after a lovely walk, where I’ll admit to committing a cultural faux-pas. A very nice lady of Asian decent was snapping photos of her travel companions by the pagoda, so I asked her if she would take our photo as well.

Me: Shasin wo totte morae masu ka?
Her: I’m sorry, I don’t speak Japanese.

Shoot… As a person who is offended by the general clumping of cultures, I felt terrible, but she didn’t seem to mind. I’m guessing it’s one of those things that the other person doesn’t think twice about, while you beat yourself up over it for a couple days. The picture turned out lovely though!

Kyoto Tower rising from the edge of the city’s downtown area

We headed to our temporary Airbnb home near Kyoto Station. We’d need to rest up with two days and 2,000 temples to see.

Cascadian Abroad :45—Kyoto

Odds and Ends

October 20, 2014 by Robert Haddan

School is back in session, so October has been about settling back into routine and planning the next round of adventures. But Japan is still throwing twists and turns our way. Here’s a few interesting tidbits from the last couple weeks:

Phun with phones

One of the reasons we decided not to get phones in Japan is, frankly, there’s not really anyone to call here. The international plans are expensive and the video chat technology is way better for keeping in touch with family and friends back home. But, there’s the occasional need to make a local call, so with a little finagling, I can now make local phone calls from my computer.

However, there’s still the problem of the language barrier. I’ve been running a lot over the last few months. It’s a great workout, but it’s also high impact and leads to a lot of aches and pains, so I decided to schedule a massage. I got a recommendation from one of the GTFs for a local masseuse and decided to try and schedule an appointment over the phone. As usual, I wrote out my script and dialed the number.

Gogo wa yoyaku dekimasu ka? Do you have an appointment for this afternoon?

The voice on the other end of the digital line indicated that she didn’t have any availability today. I asked about the following Monday and that I was available anytime. She seemed to say that anytime on Monday would be fine. Itsudemo daijōbu desu.

Monday morning, I headed over to the massage place. As I walked up the stairs, I saw someone leave the office. As I approached the door, the office was dark and locked up. I’d been bitten by the Japanese cultural characteristic of never saying no.

But, as usual, it turned into a positive. I wandered around the floor and found another massage studio right around the corner. A small, one-woman operation called Sun and Moon. We established that an appointment that day couldn’t happen since she had a dental appointment. We began to set a time for the next day, but both of us were a little unclear of the details.

She asked me to follow her across the hall to a shop owned by a couple from Nepal who both spoke English. After settling the details of the appointment, the man asked me to sit and have tea. We sipped Masala chai and talked about Nepal, Japan and America. I mentioned that we’d like to travel to India and Nepal. He offered his brother’s home if we needed a place to stay. We chatted in English for about 30 minutes before I headed out.

As usual, for every frustrating experience, several positive experiences follow that highlight the kindness of the people we encounter everyday. The following morning, I had an excellent massage. She served me a cup of green tea at the end of the appointment. I told her I was a runner, so zenbu ga itai ne! Everything hurts! She laughed, said she could never be a runner and asked if I was running the Kawagoe Marathon, which got a laugh out of me. When we hit a snag in our conversation, she grabbed her phone and translated from Japanese to English… Did it hurt?

In fact, nothing about this particular experience hurt at all.

Blue beer

Don’t adjust your sets. This is Abashiri Brewery’s Okhotsk Blue Draft, colored with blue seaweed. The accompanying meal is shiitake mushroom french dip sandwiches on homemade rolls.

The beer section of the local grocery store rarely surprises me anymore, but a shock of blue caught my eye the other day. Hokkaido’s Abashiri Brewery is playing with color as well as flavor with their Okhotsk Blue Draft. The beer pours a greenish-blue (I backlit the glass to see more of the blue color), but instead of using dyes or other horrible chemicals, they’ve achieved this naturally. The water comes from melted icebergs that have floated into the Sea of Okhotsk. The color comes from blue seaweed and gardenias. It’s categorized as a “vegetable beer” thanks to the use of Chinese yams (which have copious health benefits).

How’s it taste? Well, it’s light and bubbly with a subtle beer flavor. But it’s blue! Abashiri also makes green and red beers using plant pigments for the coloring.

Blood moon

I know I’m a couple weeks behind on this one, but the blood moon from the lunar eclipse visited us at a reasonable hour. While Cascadians had to get out of bed early to see the sight, we got to see it around 8:30 p.m. and managed some good pictures before going to bed.

How Do You Say…

October 6, 2024October 7, 2014 by Robert Haddan

I recently started reading a book called The Japanese Have a Word for It. Among other things, it discusses the loaded words of the Japanese language. While there are plenty of one-to-one relationships between Japanese and English (i.e. inu = dog), there are plenty of words that don’t translate cleanly. These words represent complete ideas or cultural nuances that go beyond a simple translation.

For example, the word shoganai is an important descriptor for Japanese culture. In American English, it might translate to “there’s nothing we can do about it, so why worry about it?” but it’s a phrase that defines Japan and its people. The trait helped the country bounce back after World War II and, more recently, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It’s also perceived as a weakness by many foreigners as an excuse for people who let life steamroll them, although I know I use the phrase “it is what it is” pretty regularly when things are beyond my control.

The book leads off with a brief history of the Japanese language as a “secret code.” The book claims the complexities were intentional as a way to keep foreign influence at arm’s length. As a result, there’s a cultural belief that the language is so difficult to learn that foreigners would never be able to pick it up. It probably contributes to many of the stereotypes foreigners face here, even those who speak fluent Japanese (the following video is short and hilarious).

So, to veer completely off that topic, the book’s introduction made me think about how difficult it must have been to be a foreigner in Japan before translation dictionaries or the internet. I spend a couple hours most days following internet rabbit holes to figure out how to say things, identify odd-looking groceries or translate the important-looking document that arrived in the mail.

We’re also able to stay plugged in to interests and events from home in a way that we couldn’t have imagined 50 or 100 years ago. When our brains reach Japanese overload (which happens frequently), we can flip on the Apple TV and watch our favorite shows on Netflix or stream the latest episode of The Daily Show on our laptops. I was able to watch the Portland Trail Blazers 2014 playoff run as it happened and caught a bunch of Chicago Cubs games this year.

I even have the audacity to be upset when the 1080p video internet streaming of a real-time sporting event from the other side of the globe has the nerve to pause for 5 seconds to buffer. Oh well… shoganai!

Some of that complexity still gets me on a daily basis though. The difference between kirei and kirai is a subtle “key-ray” vs “key-rye,” but the former means “beautiful” while the latter means “to hate.” Kawaii and kowai are really close (“ka-why-e” vs “ko-why”, but the first means “cute” while the other means “scary.”

Anyway… excuse the rambling nature of this post. It all made sense in my head!

Sitting on the Sidelines

September 19, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Today I was out for a run in the middle of the day, one of the many perks of my current non-employed status. I ran past one of the nearby parks and saw some guys playing baseball. I decided to take a little break and sat down to watch them for awhile.

The “guys” were probably 65 years old on average. They were taking batting practice, rotating in and out like a well-oiled team. Long fly balls corralled with two hands. Line drives snagged with nifty backhand catches. Ground balls around the infield tossed with precision to first base. I didn’t see a single error.

I sat and watched with knowledge of the social role reversal taking place. Usually it’s the old guy reliving his youth from the sidelines, but not today. I wished I had a glove. I wished one of them would ask if I wanted to take a turn at the plate. But, I just watched for about 10 minutes before finishing up my run.

Getting in the game here can be hard. I’m still not super comfortable communicating and got out of practice a bit over the summer. But there are days where the spirit of taking advantage of the situation overcomes the hesitance.

I had a free day for lunch last week and decided to go out in the neighborhood. For some reason, the local ramen shop is intimidating. It’s just a hole in the wall with a counter and about a dozen seats.

I walked past the first time, but after a block I’d psyched myself up enough to go in. I sat down at the counter and asked if the miso ramen was vegetarian (it was-ish, but I’m pretty sure the broth had some pork fat in it…). The security guard on his lunch break sitting next to me gave me a hard-boiled egg from the bowl on the counter and told me it was abunai or dangerous. He motioned as if I should put it in my pocket and laughed hard.

Another man down the counter spoke a tiny bit of English and used it all. He overheard my order and asked “You are vegetarian?” Then, when I went to get water from the self-serve machine, he asked if I could read the sign (which, surprisingly, I could!). I read it in Japanese and he read it in English. As I was leaving, he patted me on the back and said “no problem,” which I’m pretty sure is the second phrase they teach in Japanese schools after “Hello.”

After a few minutes though, the novelty of the American wore off and we all ate our meals in peace.

It felt good to “get in the game” and be a part of the community.

If Only Somebody Had Told Me…

August 30, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Most of the posts on Cascadian Abroad are very positive and reflect our experiences honestly and accurately. Some of the more difficult experiences (that, again honestly, make up only a small part of our time here) are usually couched with humor and sarcasm. But it hasn’t all been easy.

A few weeks ago we had an e-mail dialog with a woman back in the U.S. who was deciding whether or not to come to Japan to teach next spring. It was an interesting thread as it really made us think about the experience so far and what we wish we would have known before we made the decision to come to Japan. Her and her fiancé are in a similar position as we were back in our decision-making process, so we were happy to provide some information.

Had we known these things in advance, it wouldn’t have changed our decision to come and actually might have expedited our decision while helping us better prepare for the move. I’d like to share some of those things today.

Finding a job in Japan will be difficult

Since her spouse was also leaving a career in the U.S., they had questions about finding work. My visa allows me to work up to 28 hours per week, but finding a part-time job isn’t an easy task. Most English-speaking jobs in our area still require at least business-level knowledge of Japanese. I’m still working up to toddler-level Japanese, so most of those opportunities are off the table. The couple of contacts I’ve made have projects that are “in the works,” but they are moving on Japan Time, which is akin to Island Time.

Not very many people speak English

Americans are pretty ethnocentric (although I think it’s not just Americans), so prior to coming to Japan, we got a lot of “Don’t worry, they’ll probably speak English.” That may be true in parts of Tokyo or other large cities, but where we live, it’s just not the case. Some people learned a little bit in school, much like we speak a little bit of Spanish or French or whatever language class we took for two years in high school. Those who know a little are more than happy to try and communicate with you, but (no duh!) I’ve found that I need to learn Japanese to communicate in Japan.

Our adventure started in a whirlwind fashion, but I think if we had more time it would have been helpful to take Japanese classes in the U.S. with English-speaking teachers. When you’re starting from scratch, or rebooting nearly 20 years removed from high school Japanese, learning in-context is tough, especially with a language not based in a Latin/Roman script.

People will stare at you

One thing that alternately annoys me and fascinates me is that we stick out like a sore thumb in our neighborhood. Some people are interested, some stare with suspicion, some children cry and scramble into their parents’ arms (all true stories). The suspicious stares are a little hurtful as is the feeling when a mother hastily grabs up her child when you walk by, purely because of the color of your skin (and, yes, it feels odd to write that as a Caucasian person).

Mostly though, people are really kind to us. We were coming home from a walk today when a man came up to us and, in his best English, invited us to “this town’s festival.” Our neighborhood had a little carnival in the park. A few people smiled wide at us and greeted us. A man gave us a ticket for a kakigōri (Japanese shaved ice). A couple days ago, the druggist who helped me find cough medicine last week remembered me on our next visit and asked if the medicine helped. Many people are interested in where we’re from and I wish that I knew more Japanese to be able to answer all of their questions.

Ship a BUNCH of your favorite things

We had the opportunity to ship two large boxes about six weeks before we left the U.S. Add in a couple checked bags and our carry-ons, that’s all we would be bringing on our adventure. Trying to figure out what you’d want or need in a place you’ve never been is tough. I have way too many pairs of socks and nice pants and we’re all out of Kirkland Signature Natural Creamy Peanut Butter already. Japan’s customs restrictions mean we can’t ship a lot of our favorites products from the States, which isn’t that big a deal because it’s pretty spendy to do so anyway. But, being forced to adapt, I’ve perfected a shiitake mushroom “beef” jerky and veggie bratwurst!

Let go and enjoy the adventure!

I’ll admit, I was way too uptight about some of the little things. Leaving behind everything you know isn’t easy, but the things we’ve seen over the last five months have made it all worthwhile. I know my poor wife gets a lot of “How’s Robert doing?” questions, expecting to find me huddled in a corner crying. My answer? I snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef two weeks ago, saw the Sydney Opera House last week and climbed to the summit of Mount Fuji four days ago.

I’m fine, thanks.

Tongue Tied: Adventures in Japanese

July 8, 2014 by Robert Haddan

I went to the grocery store today. This isn’t unusual. I shop for groceries every couple of days. We eat a lot of veggies and have limited storage.

The script is usually the same. The cashier greets you, asks if you have a store card and rings up the order. There’s a handy bag-tag if you have your own reusable bag, so usually that’s not even part of the conversation.

Something funny happened today though. I walk up to the register and the clerk, probably in her mid-20s, says the Japanese equivalent of “You don’t have a card.” I laughed out loud… one look at the American and she knew my story. She kept talking to me, which was both great and frustrating.

I’m reaching the point in my Japanese language adventure of understanding in context. I’m pretty good at the grocery stores or restaurants now as long as the speaker doesn’t deviate from the standard spiel too much. But I’m also still a little behind in comprehension and response. That two-second delay is just enough for the speaker to move on or just give up altogether.

I read something recently about learning a language. I’m still in the “translate this to English in my head” phase of learning Japanese. When you actually learn the language, you understand the Japanese itself and are no longer translating to the English equivalent.

Today I understood everything the clerk said, which was exciting. I asked her to leave my rice ball out so I could eat it now and she responded oishii desu ne! or “It’s good, isn’t it?! She asked if it was hot out since I was wearing short sleeves and said it was too cold in the store.

The frustrating part is, in that two second delay, all I can muster is Hai or “Yes.” I know the response is Atsui desu ne! or “It IS hot!” but the words don’t come to mind until the conversation has moved on.

I’ve written before about my frustration in not being able to communicate. But I run across enough people like the clerk that are patient and, frankly, don’t seem to care that I can’t keep up my end of the conversation.

I was riding the train the other day after a four-mile run that ended up at Starbucks, ultimately resulting in a Dark Mocha Chip Frappuccino. The guys across from me on the train were snickering a bit. I heard “Starbucks” at one point and their dodging eyes told me I was probably the butt of a harmless joke, but they seemed nice about it, so I engaged them.

Oishii desu. I said, letting them know this Frappuccino was a tasty, tasty treat. He asked me if I spoke Japanese and I replied with my new standby: Nihongo ga chotto wakarimasu… demo ganbarimasu! or “I only understand a little Japanese, but I try my best.”

For some reason, this is killing people! Both men laughed big, belly laughs. I’ve asked a couple people who actually DO speak the language and they think it’s just a level of appreciation that I’m trying, but I’m seriously considering taking this act on the road!