The Zen of Bicycle Bowing

I am glad to announce to all of you that after precisely 3 weeks on a bicycle in Okinawa, I have perfected the perilous Bicycle Bow. This triumph is nothing at which to scoff, so wipe that smirk off your face. The Bicycle Bow is serious business here in my new pacific home. The bow is similar to the American 'raised hand of thanks' (as I hereby dub it): like when oncoming traffic stops to let you turn left (except it's right here) in front of them. And you raise your hand and smile. Thanks! But back to the Bow now.

Bowing, as most of you know, is an intrinsic part of Japanese culture. Indeed, I am hard-pressed to convey to you the omnipresence of the Bow in Japan. One bows upon coming, going, entering, exiting, answering, asking, giving, receiving, etc… one even bows on the phone. That's right, all alone in your house, for no one to see. People are constantly bobbing up and down on this island, and I am not about to single myself out (anymore so than my physical appearance and glaring lack of finesse with chopsticks already does) by snubbing this cultural institution. Catching on to the Bow isn't that difficult in most situations. I open myself to the zen, look around and see what the hokey-pokey IS all about… Being aware of my environment has given me several simple rules to follow. For example, do the baby-bob in time with the word "hai" (yes), do the big-bob when I pass the principle's desk.

BUT: move this motion to the back of a bike and it immediately qualifies as dangerous multi-tasking. It's like pat your head and rub your tummy on wheels. Can I rotate my feet, perform the turn-signal with one arm, and contort my upper body over the handlebars, thus losing the important sense of sight for a brief moment, ALL AT THE SAME TIME?! Last week, the answer was no. My Bicycle Bow involved a teeter, a totter, a wildly flailing signal-arm and a falling foot as the head jerked spastically somewhere in a general southern direction (perhaps taking a detour to the left or right side depending on which of my feet has fallen from the peddle to right my balance).

Yes, how embarrassing. Thank you for letting me turn in front of you, sorry I fell off my bike in the middle of the highway and probably made you late for work, at the same time affronting your culture by maiming the simple art of bowing.

For others of you out there experiencing the same difficulties (or if you still can't pat your head and rub your tummy) let me reassure you that it just takes practice. You know, like defensive driving. Remember when your mom made you read, "Zen and the Art of Driving" before you took the test? Oh wait, maybe that was only our mom. Yes, if you open your mind, one day it will come.

But with it come a multitude of unanswered questions. Do the Japanese find the Raised Hand of Thanks as treacherous an undertaking as gaijin find the Bicycle Bow? Impossible! They could simply morph the signal-hand into a five-fingered palm and back again, without having to move any body appendages. Piece of cake. This leads me further to the question: is there ANYTHING gaijin can do that Japanese people can't? Answer: NO! They can all eat with utensils AND chopsticks, they can all write in our alphabet AND their scripts. They can all stomach raw fish AND cooked fish, and they could kick our ass any day in a round of rock-paper-scissors.

I am disgruntled. But I console myself with the thought that at least Bicycle Bow is under my belt.

JETs Gone Wild!

Yes, this is what happens when you drop 50 gaijin off on a deserted tropical island. There's only so much fun one can have before heading into the bush.

Night in Nago

First of all, let me say sorry for the crooked and scattered nature of the pictures posted in this entry. sometimes they just go funny on me... that's life. This last weekend I hopped a bus to Nago to visit my block #1 buddies. Nago is the "northern capital" of my island. The northern third of the island is very rural and beautiful. I live in the middle third, which is where most of the military presence is concentrated, and the south has the real capital, Naha, which is the biggest city. Though a car on the expressway could make the drive to Nago in half an hour, it takes 1.5 in the bus. No prob, I just looked out the window, cuz the 58 is a coastal highway and it's puuuurdy.

So I went to Juhi's house in Motobu (along with other new JETs Amy, Christina, and Paul, and old JETs New Zealand Ben, Brit Ben, Alina, and Dave) and ate a lot of scrumptious Indian food that Juhi prepared for us. Christina got a bit frustrated with the bread-balls that she was making. Hmmmm.


After that, we went to the famous aquarium. It's got the biggest tank in Asia, I think. We saw all sorts of awesome fish, including a dolphin show and whale sharks.











Here are some more pics:
You still can't tell how ginormous the tank was from this picture, but you at least get the idea of it being big.

These are some cute and friendly (?) jelly fish. They were my favorites.

Swarms of little fishies! I hope they weren't someones supper later.

These critters were really big... there's nothing in the photo to which you can compare it's size to, but they probably could have swallowed your baby whole.

Yay, fish!








Then we hung out on the beach and watched the sunset. If you are wondering how the sunset can be blue in one foto and red in the next, it's because I was experimenting with the different picture-taking settings on my camera.





After that we went to this little festival in Motobu and saw some rockin' Japanese high school bands play while chowing down on fried octopus balls (yummy!)

Today's Fun Japanese Facts #2

Sometimes I think the ice cream truck is coming because I hear melodic tones being broadcast in the street from a moving vehicle. Nope. Reality: my garbage pick-up truck plays classical music as it does its rounds. Pretty useful, actually. The only person I see doing the mad last-second dash when they hear that tune, however, is the local gaijin: Yours Truly. Everyone else must just have the trash days memorized (it's quite a complex system).

When Japanese people go to the beach, they sit on blue tarps. No beach towels for them, no siree. In fact, they think beach towels are WEIRD. Junko-sensei asked me about it the other day. She explained at great length how senseless it is to sit on a towel on the sand. A towel. On the sand. I didn't know what to say, because she was basically challenging all of my intrinsic values. And she really wanted an answer. So I told her that we're all just crazy, tarpless Yankees. Couldn't think of a better answer. "Wouldn't a blue tarp get really hot and stick to your ass when you sweat?" Was what I really wanted to ask. But something from all that orientating in Tokyo had stuck with me, and I kept my mouth shut. Maybe some day I'll get to try out a tarp for myself. See what it's all about. Maybe spread the word in the States when I get back.

There's More Than One Way to Cut a Watermelon

A lot of my days go down kind of like this. Keep in mind, it's only because school doesn't restart again until Sept. 1st.


This is a picture of my desk at work. that big sign has my name written on it, cuz no one can remember it.

Today at work I was invited to Junko-sensei's homeroom BBQ. Though unsure of what this would entail, I gave a hearty grin and uttered the one phrase that will get you anywhere in Japan, "daijoubu desu!" (meaning A-OK, I'm down if you are, sure thing, it's fine, no problem, don't worry… etc) I guess this was official school business so we grabbed a school van and 9 students, and set off. We went to a tropical beach on the side of the highway where we'd rented tables and a grill, and cooked out, played volleyball, and swam for like 6 hours. The kids cooked. I'll tell ya, even the younguns here can whip up an awesome yakisoba in a heartbeat.

The most exciting part of this day for me was the watermelon episode. Someones mom had brought us a watermelon (they cost like 12 bucks here so it was really nice of her) and it came time to eat it. I can't understand most of what goes on in Japanese here, so I watched in some confusion as the kids screeched and played rock-paper-scissors (a national game; indeed, its said that various important political decisions have been made this way, gulp) as if their lives depended on it. Then everyone gathered around the watermelon, gazing at it and making complex hand motions. I offered up my pocketknife, thinking that the problem was a lack of cutting utensil (yes, after living in southern Germany, I now carry around a pocket knife everywhere I go! Thanx, Burki). "No no, that's not it, not necessary!" Junko sensei exclaims in excitement, gesturing wildly in all directions as the watermelon is placed in the ground and a space is cleared. I furrow my brow. A lone 3-nensei (12th grader) approaches the melon. "We will cut watermelon, Okinawan style, ne!" Sensei cries over her shoulder to me, as the kids all crowd her around the circle. I peek over their heads in growing confusion, but with a heightened sense that something monumentous and thrilling is about to happen. I am not disappointed. The lone student kneels next to the melon, breathes for a second, and then WHAM! Like a lightening bolt, raises his arms and KARATE CHOPS the melon open. Is this normal behavior here? I may never know, since watermelons are $12 a pop.


I love you, Japan. Nothing else left to say.

Tokashiki Island

Last weekend we had a new OkiJET conference on Thursday and Friday, which conveniently left us all still together on Saturday to hop on the ferry and take a very short ride that put us in an island paradise. Despite the fact that many of you may envision my daily life happening surrounded by sandy beaches, I actually live in a city. It's still tropical: there are palm trees and ocean breezes and large bugs and flowers where I live, but it's not the cutting edge of Okinawa;-) We went to Tokashiki island (where one JET actually lives), which has a very small but pleasant population, most of which I imagine must be engaged in occupations relating to tourism. There were about 40 of us, and we camped out under huge canopies, in the open air, on raised tatami mats. It was beautiful! I think we did a lot of pinching ourselves, trying to figure out if we were actually there in the postcard. On deserted beaches on a tropical island somewhere in the pacific. Yup, we were. These are coral beaches, which makes the water really blue. People swam and snorkeled until nightfall, at which point we brought our coolers down to the beach, built a bonfire, and had some fireworks. And some more nighttime swimming. The next morning I woke up with my head in an incipient anthill, constructed overnight on my pillow/head, but this was no big deal. After stories of the guy who passed out face down on the beach last year and woke up with a huge swollen eye where a spider had bitten him, who's going to complain about a few ants in my hair. Though I do wonder what attracted them to my head.

Today's Fun Japanese Facts

You know those freezer box-stations in convenience stores where you can pick out your soda? In Japan, these come cold and HOT in the same machine. They're really into canned/bottled coffee here (lattes, cappuccino, something called "depresso"… don't even ask) so I reached into one of these things, and was freaked out to find that one shelf was heating its beverages, while the one directly above it was cooling its beverages. Man, they're so much more advanced here.

You're not cool in Japan unless you have a "dangly" on your cellphone. Everyone has them. It's like a thread-lock for your phone (you don't know what a thread-lock is? Ask the eighties). BTW, all cellphones have internet access here. So you get an email address with your phone. In Tokyo, they have satellite access, and you can point your cellphone at any building and it will tell you what it is, give you a map, whatever. They think we're still in the stone age. Kids here don't even know what text messaging is, it was their parents' generation.

It takes an ice-cold beer exactly 4 minutes to go from icy-freshness to room temperature in my apartment.

Doesn't the Japanese prime minister have weird hair? I just want to get a confirmation from someone on this.

お祭り!!!

The other day I heard drums from my balcony, so I took my handy dandy bike and set off following the music. After just a few minutes, I found it. A lot of people had gathered and were dressed in old-fashioned costumes, with a king and queen they had chosen, and a lot of groups with subdivisions by costume (there were townsfolk that looked like they came from different historical eras, samurai, funny flip-flop wearing folk…) Besides the procession of costumed people simply walking, there were flag dancers, eisa drummers, and a war between a lion and a dragon. Eisa is a traditional dance of Okinawa, not a part of mainland Japanese culture. The flag dancers were very energetic (especially in this heat, in long black sleeves…): they raced about in circles, created formations and waved their huge flags. Then there was a dragon and an Okinawan lion. About 15 guys held up the dragon by poles. It had a ferocious head, and did a snake dance with techno-Japanese beats blasting from a huge mobile sound station that a guy in furry pants was pushing around. I think he might have been one third of the lion, doing double duty with the sound station. Here are some pictures.

Ginowan high school

The kids have summer break right now, so the school isn't very happenin', but us teachers are still required to show up every day and hang out in the office room. We aren't doing much work compared to what will happen once school starts. We have time to do a lot of eating omiyake (souvenir snacks that people have brought back from vacation) and drinking cold ocha (Japanese green tea). I run around town every day with my supervisor, Junko-sensei, trying to get my alien registration, inkan (signature name stamp), bank account and other stuff figured out. This all would have been impossible for me to figure out without her donated time and help, so hats off to Junko-sensei. I really like the school from what I've seen so far. It looks a bit like a tropical jungle when you walk up to it. There are these crazy trees lining the way, and it's about a million degrees in the hallway. The zicaidas are chirping energetically (this occurs in the morning here, and they are much larger and much louder than our NC zacaidas! They're like mini-monsters that could eat you whole). There's a huge swimming pool that you can look out over from the windows, and I hear party music from the pool, I don't know if this plays all the time or if it's playing for a specific reason during the summer. Check out these crazy trees to the right! I love these trees. I have my own PC at my desk, and previous JETs left about 3 tons of lesson plans, organized by grade (!!!) for me in my drawers. But I can't check internet on the computer b/c the system is the same one the students use, and they have all the emails blocked. The teachers' room always has cold ocha and hot ocha to drink out of these really cute Japanese handle-less mugs. They drink tea like water here. Sell it in 24 packs like soda. Tea makes the world turn.

My school is an exception in Japan in that you don't have to remove your shoes when you are inside. I did see one teacher walking the halls today in night slippers, but generally people wear shoes. There's a lot of bowing that goes on here, I have to bow to everyone all the time. Luckily, my kouchou sensei (principle) is cool. They tell me that some kouchous are big meanies, but ours is really laid back. Weirdness about Japan: teachers (and some other occupations too) rotate schools on a 3 or 5 year basis. Teachers fresh out of teacher-school tend to be sent out to the remote Okinawan islands, so that they can get it out of the way before they have families. But even if you have 3 kids and a husband with a fixed job, you'll be rotated out of your job with no control over where you're going, and probably have to either move or commute hours to work. Our principle is being rotated out next April, and everyone is kind of worried about which new principle we will get.

Home, Sweet Home

Here I am, living in Ginowan, Okinawa. It rocks! I really like my apartment. It was a bit lonely the first night, with just a fan, my futon, and computer. But the next morning I made my first appearance at the high school. I had to dress up for the first day, and I was dripping sweat after walking to school at 8.30am (15 minute walk), even though I'd cleverly thought to bring my umbrella to use as a parasol. I gave my jiko shoukai, self-introduction, in front of the smattering of teachers present (most are on summer vacation). The self-introduction is a pretty set formula. One point that I find odd is that you are expected to list your hobbies. Hob-a-whuuut? I don't think that's done in America after age 10. Apparently, the Japanese take hobbies very seriously. They will decide, based on the hobbies you list, whether they have something in common with you, whether they think they can approach you and have something to talk about, etc. So for instance, while "reading" is considered a valid hobby in America, my supervisor told me it wouldn't be a good thing to list as a hobby in Japan because reading is a solitary activity, thus underscoring a potential introvert… dangerous in a communal society like this one! No one can relate to reading, it's not an activity done TOGETHER.

Anyway, after that Sensei gathered up a gaggle of teachers to help us move all of Lisa's furniture to my new apartment. Anything requiring group effort is sugoi in Japan. Now the apartment is very homey. It's incredibly spacious for a Japanese apartment. Usually a family of 4 would live in 3 rooms. I have a kitchen, a 6-mat tatami room, and a living room. If you can visualize, the back wall of the 2 latter rooms is glass sliding doors that open out onto a balcony. I can see the ocean from my balcony, but it's a bit distant. Basically, there's a highway and a small field between us. But this doesn't stop me getting a good view of the sunset over the water, or the fireworks that Japanese people seems to like to set off for all occasions.

The coolest thing about Japanese houses is that they're kind of like Transformers. You think you have a 3 room house, but actually ALL the inner walls of the house are mobile; so I can make my house 2 room, 3 room, or 1 room. The walls are formed of multiple sliding doors (yes, visualize the Last Samurai and you've got it). I don't have to walk out of the way to a "door" no no, instead, I just make a door where ever I want. It's like being able to walk through walls! Almost.

You may be a bit vague on tatami. Tatami is a special Japanese grass. Usually, apartments have at least 1 tatami room, which just means that the floor is made of thick, woven tatami mats. In fact, room dimensions in Japan are measured in "tatami mats" since there are standard sizes, instead of square feet. I think traditionally people do specific things in tatami rooms, but people seem to sleep in them nowadays. Or eat with guests, at those low laying tables that you have to kneel for. Every time a new renter moves into an apartment, fresh tatami is laid. So my mats are still green, and fragrant. Whether or not you like the smell of tatami might make a significant difference in your life. I like the smell, so I'm all set. It rolls over me everytime I open the front door.

Singing Toilets and Typhoons

(LEFT: view from my room in the Tokyo hotel)

Well, friends and family,

After 3 days of orientation with 1,300 other new JETs in the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo, I'm ready to head off into the wild beyond… that's right. Getting on the plane for Okinawa tomorrow. I thought, however, that I should first regale you all with stories of my orientation. For the most part, it's been boring, as you could have suspected. Lots of dressing up uncomfortably, going to seminars, and sparkling chandeliers at our fancy hotel.

A word on the toilets in Japan: other than the frequent squat toilet, they are very high tech. the operation involves an entire handle of buttons with pictures and kanji on them. I haven't yet dared to discover what any of these buttons do BUT: the toilets in Japan are musical. Yes, musical. As soon as your pee hits the bowl, it begins to play the sound of rushing waters... some even have a volume control. One might assume that the noise is intended to help start the pee flow, but it turns out that the music is to MASK the sound of your pee and avoid embarrassing others in neighboring stalls. OK, the toilet story gets better. We went to a restaurant called Heaven and Hell, where you had to go down a dusty corridor and bang on a large Chinese gong 3 times in order to enter. Then a slot opens in the door, and a scary monster asks you for the password, which the kind Chinese server will give you. In the bathroom stall things get really weird. This giant face composes one wall of the stall, the one you're facing when you sit down to pee. You think "ha-ha, a giant plastic scary face" no problem. But, once again activated by pee-pressure, this face begins to sing in Japanese. As you continue to pee, staring suspiciously at the singing giant directly before you, the face suddenly begins to move towards you… the entire wall is moving towards you, making the room smaller and smaller (reminiscent of that scene in Star Wars in the trash pit) but you can't escape because YOU'RE STILL PEEING. The face gets close enough to kiss your knees with it's big puckered lips, then it chuckles, moves back, and says something in Japanese. Whoa. Creeeepy.

Who remembers those buttons on the toilets in Germany? A little flush button and a big flush button, conveniently hinting at #1 and #2. Well, the Japanese have something similar but not quite as subtle. BIG is written on one side of the flush, and SMALL is written on the other. So practical.

Typhoon #8
Then I thought, "orientation is over in Tokyo! Now it's off to orientation in Okinawa!" Instead, it was time to wile away 11 hours in the Tokyo airport, waiting with all the other Okinawa JETs as flight after flight to Okinawa was cancelled and rescheduled due to typhoon #8. The main problem was there was not only a typhoon in Tokyo, but also another one in Okinawa; so even if we'd been able to take off in Tokyo, we wouldn't have been able to land in Naha. The time was, however, well-spent playing group games and taking vigorous walks around the very small airport, sampling many a coffee in between.

We arrived in Naha, Okinawa at 10.30pm. Municipal JETs were to be directly picked up by their supervisors, and kencho-JETs (yours truly) were going to a hotel for orientation the next day. What was my surprise then, to be met by my supervisors who had driven all the way to Naha lugging wives, children, and predecessors, just to greet me for 5 minutes before I was whisked away. Waving a huge welcome sign. Hmmm, warm fuzzy feelings☺