Xapa to the World

Today was a pretty laid-back kind of day.  My sunflowers are doing amazingly, and now the leaves are getting so close together that I think the bloom will come out soon!  So excited!  I can’t wait.

I was invited to go swimming at Nishigawa beach again, but after our last fiasco there (remember the showers), I chose to skip out and have lunch at Quixote instead.  The invitation was from Hitomi, a woman who pastors a church in Osaka.  She’s super-sweet and will be staying in Shimonoseki as Nakayama-san’s guest through Tuesday.  She and I will probably make a visit to Shimo City University, her alma-mater, before she leaves, so I’m hoping I can see some of my new friends from there.

I went to Quixote, and I usually try to take something with me to have translated…not really translated, but to have the kanji written out into hirigana or even romaji (English letters for the syllables), just in case there aren’t a lot of people there to have a conversation with.  I don’t usually have a problem, especially when Satsuki-san is there, she loves to shaberu (chatter).  But today, only Mitsui-san and Tanabe-san (I finally learned the name of the Too-Tired-Teacher-Who-Used-To-Be-In-Yakuza) were there, so things were pretty low-key…especially as well all sat and ate and watched a Japanese mystery tv-show.  It’s so comfortable there…I really feel like it is my hang-out now.  They have no pretense of show or formality…I am one of the gang now…an unusual member who can’t understand everything and has blonde hair…but a member no less.  After Tanabe-san left, I asked Mitsui-san if he really had been in yakuza…to my disappointment, he said no!  it was a joke.  🙂  Oh well…I guess he really wanted me to think he was exciting.  Instead, he teaches jyu-ku (a type of martial arts).  Alas.

I came home and cross-stitched for a while and then decided to get my yukata on.  I was kind of embarrassed to take the train in my yukata and be seen, walking all the way to the station and on the train and whatnot…I’m already a spectacle.  So, I took a taxi, from the taxi company right next door, to Shin-Shimonoseki Station.  It was pretty expensive, but I felt much more comfortable.  It was funny…I don’t know if Japanese taxi drivers are as talkative with their riders as American cabbies are, but my driver was stand-offish at first and then began asking me all sorts of questions.  I did my best to keep up.  I listen for key words like, “Japan….come…when?”  and “Japan…like?”  and “…eat…?”  I think I did pretty well as there was little awkward silence and whenever I just didn’t have enough clues to give any kind of relative answer, I resorted to my “wakarimasen. Nihongo-wa mutsukashi-desu”. (I don’t understand. Japanese is difficult. (to which the driver, and anyone else, would retort, “Mutsukashi-ne!” trans. Yeah it is!))  The “eat” question was a shot in the dark, but when I started listing things I like to eat and don’t like to eat, the conversation kept going, so I think I was alright.

When I arrived to Shin-Shimo-eki, I called Mika-chan and we walked around the station until we found each other.  Then Ruthie and Amy (teachers from Baiko) arrived via train and then we hopped into Mika’s car and drove out to Toyoura district of Shimonoseki.  We bought this really great carbonated drink where you have to pop the top and release this carbonated ball into the bottle, so it gets super-fizzy.  We also got Yakitori and then found a good spot for the fireworks.  Little did we know that the firework shows usually last about an hour.  We watched them through the second “finale” and then discussed the varying images of different countries and cultures we have based on multi-media, and how it is such a skewed vision of what the culture really is.  We decided that people are the same wherever you go in the world, but because of the media, people develop a kind of  exotic view of other cultures.  The fireworks had by this time gone through their 4th “finale” and we decided we were hot so we bought snowcones.  Mine was peach flavored.  We taught Mika-chan how Americans view fireworks with the standard “OOoooooOOOo”‘s and “AaaaaaAAAAAahhh”‘s.  We did that a couple times for fun and Mika got a kick out of it.  By the time we finished our snowcones, the fireworks were in their 10th’s session, about to go into the finale when suddenly, from behind us, we heard a great commotion.  We turned to see a large number of black-suited men surrounding a person.  People were commenting all around us and the black-suited men were shouting out orders and pushing people away.  Ruthie thought it was a celebrity of some sort.  I thought it was the yakuza.  We finally distinguished that it was Shinzo Abe!  The former Prime Minister of Japan!

  Someone must have told him that there were gaijin standing nearby because without looking he bee-lined to us and shook our hands asking how we are doing and where we are from.  He even stopped long enough for a photo-op!  I didn’t notice, but Amy said that other people were taking our picture too!  Hah.  After just a few minutes, he moved on, but then we saw his wife and talked with another younger man who spoke great English.  I think he was one of the entourage.  By the time the initial shock of what had happened wore off, we realized that we missed the final finale of the fireworks show.  Oh well…we had a much greater show!

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133255&l=c287d&id=500635206

FYI.  I was not involved in the earthquake which struck northern Japan.  All’s well in my neck of the woods.  We’ve had a few tremors since I’ve been here, but I have yet to feel a one of them.  Northern Japan seems to be the more volatile of locations…therefore, I am glad to be living in the south.

Things I have learned in the last several days:

The Japanese enjoy quick-witted phrases as much as the general American…ie. after sharing the “awkward turtle” with my new friends, they informed us that socially awkward people are called “KY”.  It comes from two words meaning, “can’t read the air”.  When they are wanting to express someone as “jumping the gun” they say that he (usually it is the men who are impatient…hahahaha….juuuuust joking!) is “flying”.  Also, we told them about XYZ, which they throroughly enjoyed, especially after learning it is from “eXamine Your Zipper.”  They shared with us their expression for such an event which literally translated means, “your window of society is open.”

The Japanese think that cheese with rice is gross…no matter that eggs and veggies and other such goodness are included in the concoction…so long as cheese and rice are in the mix…it’s a no-go.

My friendly neighborhood restaurant might just decide what the lunch special is based on the days that I usually eat there.  It’s a big might…but the evidence is weighing heavily in my favor.

Japanese music arcade games are sooooo muuuuuuch fun!  Kind of like DDR, but with big Japanese drums and flashing colored buttons and guitars…yeah, pretty cool. It’s even more fun when you don’t know the songs at all….hah!

I don’t like to cross-stitch when a pattern requires you to use three strands per stitch (for the whole piece) instead of a general one strand or two strands.  It makes for a long stitching time…good thing I’m free for most of the summer.

That’s all.  Have a great day!

  Here is a great anecdote for you today.  My friends, Ruthie (teacher from Iowa, working at Baiko HS) and Jen (teacher from Canada…used to work here at the Center but now teaches in Kumamoto) and I went to Hikoshima beach this afternoon.  We were going to take the bus, but when Ruthie asked if the bus stopped by the beach, the driver shook his head vigorously and said loudly, “NO!” and shut the doors, driving off.  Ruthie was angry.  So we took a cab and split the fare.  When we got into the taxi, Ruthie (whose Japanese is incredible for only living here for 2 yrs) told the driver what had happened and he said that it was ridiculous…that bus stops almost directly in front of the beach.  Even more angry now, we sat on our way to the beach, when we passed the very bus that would not take us, stopping just one block short of the beach.  It was pretty funny for Jen and me as we didn’t really care what mode of transportation we took, just so long as it was fast and air conditioned.

  As soon as we stepped onto the parking lot, a man picking up garbage stopped us and asked where we were from.  Ruthie and I answered we were from America.  Jen said she was from Canada.  He then told us that he was glad we came to this beach and that if we wanted to use the showers, they were 100 yen per person, and they were only open until 6pm, like the beach (mind you, it was about 3pm at this moment).  We nodded and thanked him and went to stake out a spot on the sand.  It’s a man-made beach, so the sand is still pretty rough and there’s not a lot of wildlife.  In fact, the most wildlife we saw was amongst 6 teenage boys who had decided to cover one of their fellows to his neck in sand and leave him there…occasionally pouring water on his head to cool him off as he yelled out.  We were powerless.  I brought no swimsuit to Japan, but was content to wade along the edge with my jeans rolled up past my knees.  After a while, the other two got tired of the water and we went to our towels to dry off and eat potato chips (pizza flavored, and then salt and lime flavored…the second kind is a new favorite for me…they are called Sicilian chips, hah).

  They were playing some great mood music, some of which added to the Sicilian feel, on the intercom across the beach (again…it’s a man-made beach, with all the luxuries).  Out of nowhere, the music cuts off and a man’s voice comes on the speaker.  It says, “This is contact to the Canadian (awkward pausing).  The beach will be close at 6 o’clock. (awkward pausing)  If you want use shower please be careful of time. (more awkward pausing, with the general noises one makes when searching for the next words to say)  It’s ok? (really awkward pausing)  Thank you.”  Needless to say, it was obvious we were being watched.  Badly holding our laughter in, we look to the office building and see someone standing at the window, probably holding binoculars to their eyes.  We were in histerics at this point.  We had our own personal intercom announcement.  What made it more awkward was that we were the only non-Japanese on the beach, and there was no Japanese translation given, so it was obviously meant for us. 

  Not only that, but maybe 30 minutes later, the same man, with a friend came to our towels to tell us that the shower would close at 6pm, just like the beach, and that it was now 4:30.  We sat for a little while longer, then went back to the water to wash the sand off and cool down…then we decided to go.  We went up to the building to use the free faucets to wash our feet off, and suddenly the man poked his head out of the window to ask if we would use the showers now.  We politely declined and took off for the bus stop.  It was one of the most awkward moments I’ve had here in Japan, but one that I hope to treasure for the rest of my life.