Goodbye Kuriyama

It appears that the time has come to say goodbye to this little town of mine. I still have a few posts I want to write, but for the most part, they will be written when I'm back in Canada. I hope you stick with me.

I'm currently writing this on my smartphone on the floor of Cian's apartment, as he takes a nap while waiting for the water and gas people to drop by and do their thing.

I said goodbye to Kuriyama yesterday. On my last night, I decided to go for a bike ride to revisit some of the spots I'd spent the most time over the year. I started by biking over to Kuriyama High School, where I spent many a day teaching, working and doing other things. I snapped a quick photo in the dark, but it doesn't really do it justice.

Then, I biked over to Jessica's house, taking the route I always took. I thought about the movie nights, the Glee marathons. I thought about baking cookies in the microwave and the massive amount of junk food we consumed in preparation for NaNoWriMo.

 

I then biked back past Homac to Kuriyama Park, our town's one true pride and joy. I sat there in the park, thinking about the first time we biked there, going on a hike up the tiny mountain, sliding down the elephant slide, laying out a blanket and reading in the sun. I thought about swinging with my students and my Canada Day BBQ.

 

Then, I headed back down the main street, to my apartment. I sat in my empty place for a while, drinking a beer and remembering the dinners I'd had with friends, the effort I put into biking home with 8 giant bags from Homac in an attempt to make it my own. I thought about the town and everything it had given me.

I finished my drink and went to sleep, ready for the next phase in my adventure. Southeast Asia, you'd best be ready for me!

10: Western Life

I think this one is the best. Japanese people seem to have this sort of fascination with Western culture. Especially in Hokkaido, where so many people have never left Japan, this often leads to some interesting conversations.

It is interesting to me that none of my students want to learn English, but they love the idea of the West. They have random English on their shirts, their lunchboxes, their pencil cases, everything! 

My students, posing with me like a celebrity!

They also use western symbolism in their own fashion without knowing what it means. For example, the union jack and star spangled banner are everywhere, but basically nobody knows that these are actually the UK and American flags. The Canadian flag, sadly, is slightly less prevalent as a fashionable pattern.

I also use my country's symbol as fashion, but I know what it means!

Also, people seem to think Westerners aren’t human! I’ve been compared to a doll, complimented on my American features, and treated with everything from reverence to disgust; all without people even knowing my name. I’m just a human guys, don’t get too worked up about it!

And this concludes my 10 perplexing things about Japanese culture. Sorry it was so irregular, hope you enjoyed!

9: The Way the Japanese Deal with Illness

The way Japanese people deal with illness is different than anything else I’ve seen. I actually like it. Sometimes.

Basically, in Japan, if you are sick, you go to the doctor. It doesn’t matter what you are sick with. If it is a cold, you go to the doctor. If it is the flu, you go to the doctor. If you happen to have burned yourself by spilling hot chocolate all over your stomach in a fit of stupidity, you go to the doctor. (I didn’t actually go to the doctor for this, but they wanted me to).

The funny thing is, though, that even though EVERYONE goes to the doctor for EVERYTHING, they still seem to have enough space for everyone! It takes absolutely no time to get an appointment, even for a specialist.

While I’ve been in Japan, I’ve seen an eye doctor, two general practitioners, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, and a dentist. And it took pretty much no time to get these appointments. I just showed up and in we went. This is really great.

However, when you ARE sick, the medicine you are prescribed doesn’t seem to do much of anything. It is very week, but they prescribe so much of it! I don’t know what to make of this.

Finally, if you have a problem, you don’t go to see a GP then get a referral to a specialist. You just go see the specialist immediately. I woke up one day with pinkeye, and we went to an eye doctor. That wouldn’t happen back at home.

Healthcare in Japan is interesting. I kind of like it.

8. The Adoption of Western Symbolism

There is absolutely nothing funnier to me than Engrish. Even if it is spelled perfectly and is completely grammatical, English in Japan is just so... Japanese.

Here are some great examples, taken from my own experiences:

I find it fascinating that this English is written on pencil cases and shirts; billboards and street signs, packaging and postage stamps; and yet nobody seems to know what any of it means. Nobody even has to make sure it makes sense, because the only people it causes any problem (read: amusement) for are the practically negligible number of foreigners.

You would think that if you have this much English, albeit ridiculous English, in your culture, that you would make an effort to learn the language, but this is only true for students that aren’t at my schools. Apparently.

Anyway, Engrish is funny. That was my main point.

This isn't Engrish, but it's hilarious.

7: Helpless Women

Dear Japanese Women,

You are smart, funny and sexy. You have brilliant ideas and you can do anything you set your mind to. If you want to learn English, you can learn English. If you want to play sports, play sports. If you want to be a doctor, nurse, hairdresser, anything, you can do it.



So seriously, stop acting like you can’t do anything. It isn’t cute.

I know that you think boys will like you more if you pretend that you can’t do things, but your attitude is getting in the way of you actually achieving anything. If I see one more student giggle in class and say “I don’t know, I don’t understand!” while smiling and nudging her friends, I might just smack some sense into them.

If I see you swinging a bad badly on purpose on the field, I will laugh at you.

That being said, I realize that not all Japanese women are like this. Many of them are strong, independent and really great. It just seems that the culture perpetuates this idea that women are less than men and are expected to act as such if they want to be seen as proper women. And that’s not cool.


So chill out. You're awesome.


Love,


Jeri

I don't have photos of Japanese girls, so here's one of me and my mom in Japan!

#6: Japanese Fashion

I’m sure many people, both Japanese and foreign, absolutely love Japanese fashion. They feel like it fits perfectly into their little vision of the world. Unfortunately, I am neither of those people. Japanese fashion never fails to confuse and perplex me, both out in the real world and while I’m at work.

Let’s start with work. I work at a Senior High School, where the dress code is professional. No t-shirts, no jeans. You all know what professional is. Imagine my surprise when I showed up on my first day in a pencil skirt, a white button-down blouse, and a pair of heels, and only about half the office was wearing anything remotely businessy. What was the other half wearing, you may ask? I’m glad you did.

I have no photos of me looking businessy, but here's one sort of!

They were wearing track suits. Track suits with perfectly matching tops and bottoms, manufactured by adidas, nike, or any other sports brand you could think of. In fact, I’m pretty sure that Japanese schoolteachers are single-handedly keeping these companies in business. Forget running shoes and fancy pacemakers, track suits are their market. I didn’t let this get to me, though. I just assumed that all these teachers wearing track suits must have been PE teachers. Imagine my surprise, 8 months later, when I am invited to my first enkai and I finally get around to asking what subjects the teachers teach.

“My neighbour teaches PE, right?” I asked my supervisor, looking over at his track-suit.
“Right.” she replied, following my gaze.

“And my other neighbour?” My glance skipping over to another tracksuit-clad teacher.

“He teaches history.” she replied.

“Not PE?” I asked, surprised.

“Nope.”

“What about her? And him? And him?” I asked, picking out teachers at random.

“Japanese. Science. Also History.”

“None of them teach PE?” I asked, completely floored at this point.

“Nope, how many PE teachers did you think we had?!” my supervisor asked.

“Quite a few,” I admitted sheepishly, looking at the ground as my face turned red.

My point is that track suits are standard business attire at a high school, and for some reason I’m not allowed to wear jeans. I would personally never wear a track suit, but I can understand why others would if they are socially acceptable. I’m sure the things are comfy!

Then there is the question of what I am allowed to wear. When I was back in Canada, I knew what was business appropriate and what wasn’t, and I dressed accordingly. Here, that has mostly been completely thrown out the window. For example, My pencil skirts that I thought were great are too revealing. They have slits in the back. So I can walk. Also, any time I wear a shirt that shows a hint of collarbone, I suddenly have 50 teachers asking me if I’m cold. I get it guys, I’ll cover up a bit more. These things are okay, though. I understand them, even if it means I have to buy more appropriate shirts.

Appropriate work attire?

Once I get out of work, I figure I have a decent idea of how I’m supposed to dress myself in my spare time. I am a 21 year old girl, so I like to look youthful and stylish, but I try not to forget that I am still a teacher and have to be professional. I walk out my house feeling pleased with myself, wearing a floral tank top, jeans rolled up to my knees, and ballet flats. Then I realize that no one else shows their shoulders. Ever. I realize I don’t have a cardigan with me, so I throw my scarf around my shoulders, hoping that people think it’s some sort of new fashion. I don’t think I have to worry though. 

TOO MUCH SHOULDER!

A group of girls walks past me in skirts so short that I’m pretty sure I could see their underwear if I tried. These are my students. I’m learning the rules. Legs are fine, but I can’t show my shoulders. Got it. I’ve learned the rules. 

Me doing Japanese fashion right (sort of)!

Also, since they wear so many layers up top, they can have really frilly undergarments. I haven’t seen a single bra in a store that wouldn’t show under a t-shirt. Frankly, Japanese underwear scares me.

But there’s more! I had gotten the hang of dressing myself in Hokkaido, then I went to Tokyo and saw the Lolita fashion. These girls dress up in these victorian-era dresses, altered so that they are shorter, and accessorize with stockings, mary janes and headdresses.. The name comes from the female name Lolita, which according to Wikipedia referred to Japan’s links to Portugal, where the girls are pretty and modest.  The trend started in the 1970’s and grew from there. I can’t say I really get it.

Lolita fashion

Finally, Japanese women seem to dress for style rather than comfort. I know this happens in most places, but they take it to the extreme. Japanese women wear 4 inch heels hiking. Hiking! There is wanting to look cute and then there is being crazy!

I’m sorry that that pieces was kind of all over the place, but I hope you got from it the main point: Japanese fashion confuses me.

#5: Table Manners and Etiquette

This one isn’t perplexing so much. I understand where a lot of the rules and etiquette come from. It doesn’t make it any harder to follow though.

You cannot pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks, because that’s what they do with bones at a funeral. You cannot stick your chopsticks in your rice because they stick the chopsticks in the ashes at a funeral? Is that right? 

Also, you must start and end each meal with a saying. The saying at the beginning is “itadakimasu” or “I gratefully receive”, loosely translated. The saying at the end is “gochisosama deshita”, or “it was a feast”, designed to convey respect and gratitude for the food you’ve just eaten.

When drinking alcohol, you’re not supposed to refill your own glass. Wait for someone else to do it for you, and always offer to fill someone else’s if you see that they’re getting low.

Finally, slurping your noodles is alright. In fact, you should do it. Apparently it is so that you can eat the hot ramen without burning yourself, thereby keeping the maximum taste.

This is just my experience, and could be completely wrong. If I’ve made any glaring errors, please correct me in the comments. I quite like the table manners, although I do at least one thing wrong at every single meal.

Perplexing Thing About Japan #4: The Pornography/Sex Culture

Okay, to be fair, I don’t know THAT much about the pornography laws. From what I can tell based on a quick look at wikipedia about 5 seconds ago, it seems that in Japan, under Article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan, people who sell or distribute obscene materials can be punished by fines or imprisonment. This particular code has remained the same since it came into being back in 1907. However, what has changed is what Japanese society deems as “obscene materials”.

Despite this clause in the Criminal Code, there is quite a thriving porn industry in Japan. In order to get around the clause, they simply obscure the genitals (or part of it? I don’t know, I’ve never actually watched Japanese porn).

Besides all this, there also seems to be quite a market for things beyond the norm, I don’t want to get too much into it, since this blog is a place for peace and love and normalcy, etc, but anime porn is quite big in Japan, and I’m pretty sure you can buy magazines upon magazines at any convenience store. I don’t really understand it. Also, pretty much any other fetish you can imagine exists here, from what I’ve been told.

There also seems to be a very disturbing subculture built around the sexualization of youth. Before child pornography itself was banned in Japan in 1999, apparently ⅔ of child porn was Japanese. Now, instead, adults are dressed as children, with school-girls being particularly popular. This is not just subculture, but it quite popular, perpetuated by girl groups like AKB48. It’s really worrisome, and I try not to think about it too much.

Now, like I said, all I know is what I learned from wikipedia and what I see around me in real life, but it’s definitely an interesting thing. If you’re interested in reading more about it, I would recommend that you read the wiki. Or watch the porn, I don’t judge you.

Perplexing Things About Japan 3: Face Masks

This one is going to be quite short. Basically, you know those surgical face covering masks? Japanese people seem to love those things. I’m not entirely sure why, but at least 2 or 3 of my students are always wearing them.

Why, you ask?

Because the students are sick, and wearing a mask prevents the spread of infection. In fact, I should probably be wearing a mask at work as I type this because I’m pretty sure I’ve got a little bit of a cough. 

Except here’s the thing. I’ve seen people wearing masks by themselves inside their own cars, which is doing absolutely nothing to spread germs to the people around them because there are no people around them. Also, they actually will take off the masks to cough or sneeze, which undoes all the germ trapping that the mask is supposed to be doing.

If you are sick enough to wear a mask, you are sick enough to stay home.

Perplexing Things About Japanese Culture Part 2

2. The indirectness

About 6 months ago now, I was told that I was being too loud in my apartment by my supervisor. She lives in Sapporo, which is about an hour and a half long drive away, so I had no idea how she could possibly know this. That is when I realized that my neighbour had put up with my noisiness for 2 months, then finally decided to talk to my supervisor about it, who in turn related the tale to the kyoto-sensei, who replied to my supervisor, who talked it over with my neighbour again, and then eventually came to me and said something along the lines of “Jeri, I understand that the customs are different here than back in Canada, but in Japan the walls are thinner, so if you could make a little less noise that would be great.”

I said “yeah, no problem,” and ever since then I’ve been the model tenant. Of course I can’t know this for sure, because no one has come to me recently, but I think that I’ve been more quiet.

What really confuses me, though, is why my neighbour couldn’t just come knock on my door at the first sign of a problem, and mention to me that I was being a little too loud. Then he wouldn’t have had to endure 2 to 3 months of my unchecked loudness before I finally got the memo that it was unacceptable. As of now, 7 months later, I still haven’t really spoken to him, but I hope that everything will work out as planned.

Oh Japan, why you be so indirect?


I don't have any photos for this, so here is some Engrish I saw recently:

Perplexing Things About Japan 1: Toilets

So, I've decided to write a list about some of the most perplexing cultural aspects of Japan, but I had too much to write about so it's going to be a series of posts. Here goes!


Before I get into why they are perplexing, I suppose I should start by explaining them to people that are not familiar with them.

Basically, there are 2 different types of toilets here, western and squat toilets. The squat toilets are just that, you squat down on top of something that sort of looks like a urinal that has been knocked over and shrunk. It’s cool. You do your business, apparently it’s actually better for your colon (see here and here), all good things.

The western toilets are where the Japanese seem to have gone a bit crazy. They are like regular toilets, but more Japanese. Basically, any possible add on you could think of for a toilet to have, they’ve got it. Have you ever wondered why your toilet has no bidet for your unclean bits? Move to Japan, and you won’t have to do without! What about toilets that will play flushing sounds without actually flushing so people won’t hear you doing your business? We’ve got that too! You can control the volume of the flushing sound, the strength of your bum washing, how much soap you want, basically you name it, you can probably find it somewhere on a toilet in Japan.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that the toilets in Japan are awesome. I mean, there is no limit to what they can do! If someone came up to me and told me that the toilet in the other washroom was actually a rocket ship designed to send the user to the moon if they pushed the right buttons, I wouldn’t even be surprised.

But what I don’t understand is WHY. Why do we need toilets that are so high tech that you can’t even find the flush? Why do we need toilets that sing to us and talk to us? Why do we need toilets that have heated seats and lids that open automatically when you enter the stall? (sidenote: I actually really love the heated seats)

Also, in my school teacher’s bathroom, there is one stall with a traditional squat toilet, one with a regular western toilet, and one with a decked out japanese toilet. Why do we need 3 different options when going to the bathroom? Surely something as short-lived as using the bathroom doesn’t mean we need 3 different ways of doing so? Oh well, to each his own, I guess.


So yep. Toilets are weird.

Oral Surgery in Japan

I need to get my wisdom teeth taken out. Unfortunately, this is no longer an option for me, but more of a necessity. My straight teeth are slowly becoming less straight as my back molars grow in, and this is starting to bother me.

I know, I know, it’s not what you look like on the outside that matters, but who you are on the inside. Seriously, though, screw that. I want straight teeth.

So with that in mind, when I heard that one of my ALT friends had gotten all four of her teeth taken out in Japan for ONLY $100 DOLLARS, I knew that I would get it done here. It was now or never.

ANYWAY.

I had my first appointment a few weeks ago. I got my supervisor to call and get me an appointment. She spouted out a bunch of words that I didn’t understand, and let me know that I had an appointment with Dr. Saito on at Omni Dentix on Friday, February 3rd.

I don’t particularly like going to the dentist, or any medical professional for that matter, so when that Friday rolled around and Jessica drove me in for my appointment, I begged and pleaded with her to stick around until I was done.

“Stop being a little baby about it,” she said. “I’m going shopping, act like a grown up.”

She didn’t really say that, but I’m sure she would have if she wasn’t so ridiculously nice. Instead, I put on my big girl face all by myself, and told her to have fun shopping. I’d call her when I was done.

I sat down in the waiting room, filled out the forms, and waited for them to call my name. When I was finally called, I was brought into an impeccably clean, stylish room, with about 8 dental workspaces separated by chic barriers. Seriously, the most posh dentist I’ve ever been to. I was greeted by a dental hygienist who spoke no English, and when I gestured to the chair to ask whether I should sit down, she shook her head, and pointed at a tiny little stool thing.

“That’s a little weird,” I thought. “Oh well.” And I sat down on the tiny little stool. Immediately, she ran towards me, and shook her head, pointing at one of the tiny stools that was in a different dental area. It was occupied not by a human, but by a purse, scarf and jacket.

Oh. Oops.

I sheepishly climbed off the place I was supposed to put my stuff, and did things the right way. Go me.

The doctor then came in, told me I needed an x-ray, and made me take out all 7 of my earrings. One of them just wouldn’t come out, so after about 10 minutes of effort, Dr. Saito just told me that it was fine, and that it shouldn’t make that much of a difference. Great. So I go in, get my teeth x-rayed, and come out relatively unscathed. I go to put my earrings back in, and drop one on the ground. Dr. Saito comes back in and looks really confused when he sees me crawling around, muttering to myself in English with my little dental bib still on.

And we wonder why the Japanese people think foreigners are strange.

I straightened up, gave another sheepish smile (I think I’m getting quite good at it) and sat back down in the dental chair, accepting the fact that my earring was forever lost. He then went into an explanation about wisdom tooth removal, and how the roots of my bottom teeth were dangerously close to the nerve that runs across my jaw, which meant that I could end up numb for days, weeks, or possibly permanently.

“I see,” I said, trying not to openly panic. “And approximately how common is that?”

“Well, it’s happened twice and we’ve been open for over seven years,” he replied. “No need to worry. Also, your roots curve in, so we might have to saw your teeth in two to be able to take them out. And you’re only getting local anaesthetics. But don’t worry, it will be fine.”

He then left while I got my top teeth cleaned. Apparently, according to Japanese insurance policy, they are not allowed to clean all your teeth at once, so they must clean your top teeth during one appointment and your bottom teeth during another. Don’t ask, I don’t know.

Then, I grabbed my card, paid for my appointment (only $17!!) and went to meet Jessica, a new appointment made for extraction 2 weeks later.

I fretted and worried for the next two weeks, but my next appointment came way too soon.I was practically crying as Jessica drove me into Sapporo for my appointment, scared to death that something would go wrong. “BUT YOU ARE GOING TO BE THERE THE WHOLE TIME, RIGHT?” I asked Jessica. “Yes, dear. I’ll be right outside waiting for you.”

Seriously, Jessica, you rock. I can’t sing your praises enough.

Once again, they called my name, and this time led me into the room where it would all go down. The oral surgeon came in, and with surprisingly good English, told me exactly what was going to happen. I admitted that I was a little nervous, and he assured me that it was all going to be okay. I liked this guy already.

He wasted no time, putting some numbing cream on the spot, and leaving for a few minutes while it worked its magic. When it was done, he came back in with a giant scary needle, and quickly assured me that it would be over before I knew it. I opened my mouth, and he shoved the needle into my skin about 2395846 times, making sure the entire area was numb. I was holding my breath the entire time, and halfway through he had to tell me to breathe, because I was too tense for him to put the needle in again. Oops.

After the anaesthesia, he left for a little bit longer so it could become effective, then came back. He mentioned that there was going to be a bit of pressure, but if I felt any pain I should raise my left hand.

And then he put a giant set of pliers in my mouth and yanked out my tooth. I mean, not quite, but almost! He put a lot of pressure on my tooth, and I raised my left arm in pain, then he injected more anaesthesia in, and all of a sudden he was waving my tooth in front of me!

That was it! No having to cut it, no anything!

I was all excited that it didn’t even hurt and ready to have the next three teeth pulled out, when he said “Well, that’s it for today!”

“What? I thought I was going to get them all taken out?”

“No, we only do one at a time! Otherwise, you’d never be able to eat anything!”

“Oh, so I have to come back three more times?”

“Yep!”

Great.

He gave me a piece of gauze to stick in the area and keep there for 30 minutes, and with that, I was done. I paid, picked up my prescription of antibiotics and painkillers and hopped back into the car with Jessica.  On the way home, the anaesthesia started to wear off, and man did my mouth hurt. I popped 2 of the heavy-duty painkillers, and my mouth went back to it’s previously painless state.

Pretty sure the painkillers I was given were just like extra strength tylenol, but they did the trick, and I managed to get to sleep immediately when I went home.

The next day, I was feeling fine, so  I took the drugs as prescribed and went out to sing karaoke with Jessica and some other friends. We also drove all the way back into the city for a check-up, which Jessica was more than happy to do. Have I mentioned how much she rocks recently? Well, she does.

Anyway, one week later I had my stitches taken out and I made an appointment for my next one. I’m left with just a hole where the tooth used to be and no pain whatsoever!

Here’s hoping that it will be equally easy when I go to get the next 3 taken out!

Sapporo Yuki Matsuri

Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Jeri who dreamed of one day traveling to Japan and witnessing the glory of the giant ice and snow sculptures at Sapporo’s Yuki Matsuri. She waited and waited, until she could wait no longer. Then, one day, all her dreams came true.

Okay, so that story isn’t completely true. It’s more like “Once upon a time Jeri got placed in Hokkaido and subsequently learned that the one awesome thing about the winter was the aforementioned festival”. But hey, both are equally valid reasons to attend, right?

Whether you’d been dreaming about it for ages like imaginary Jeri, or had only heard about it this year like real Jeri, chances are you were looking forward to the Yuki Matsuri this year. Let me tell you something, it did not disappoint.

 

I don’t live in the city, so I didn’t have a chance to visit until the weekend. When Friday finally rolled around, I was ecstatic and giddy as I hopped into Jessica’s car at 2 pm to go pick up Tracy and head into the city. We drove for an hour, sampling classics from my winter playlist, and finally arrived, parked the car, and walked out towards Odori park, where the festival was being held. 

 

According to the website, there are thousands of spectacles to behold at the festival. They had 2,416,000 visitors last year, virtually doubling Sapporo’s population (although I’m slightly confused as to how they count visitors at a free festival). The festival also boasts 228 ice and snow sculptures at its three sites. Most of them are small, but many are massive and unbelievably impressive. In fact,  there is so much snow needed for these sculptures that it takes them 6.500 five-ton trucks to move it all around. With all this in mind, I was ready to check out the sites for myself.

The first thing I saw when we got to Odori was a giant castle made of ice. The intricacy and detail of the sculpture was stunning, and I couldn’t take my eyes away. Everywhere I looked I saw smaller pieces of art made of snow, the subjects being anything from Totoro to the Taj Mahal. 

 

The second thing I noticed was the insane amount of foreigners that had come into the city. In general, I just assume that if I run into another foreigner in the city, I probably know them. I know this isn’t always accurate, but it holds up a lot of the time. Not this weekend. As soon as we got there, the three of us were accosted by a group of very drunk American Navy soldiers who promptly made it their duty to make Jessica very uncomfortable. Tracy and I acted like bad friends and laughed and snapped photos. Oops.

 

We walked along the park, admiring the artistry and ducking into a conbini every so often to try to bring some feeling back to our numb toes. Once we had travelled the length of the park, we decided to walk to the Susukino festival site, with help from Jesse, our incredibly wonderful Sapporo guide. 

 

The sculptures at that site were more beautiful in a sense. Since they were made of ice and not snow, they seemed more delicate, more dainty than the ones at Odori. We walked and looked and walked and sat in ice cars and had our pictures taken, and did all the wonderful fun Sapporo Snow Festival stuff. At that point, we were starting to get hungry, so we decided to indulge in what is probably the best (and most underrated) part of the festival: festival food.

 

 

We returned to Odori and frequented the Indian food stand, since as a vegetarian, it was probably the only stall I could eat at. I got hot mango juice and vegetable curry, which turned cold as soon as I sat down to eat it. In the never-ending war of temperature, the heat of my food definitely lost this battle. That being said, the food was delicious and hit the spot. Also, if you haven’t tried it, hot mango juice is absolutely delicious. It’s my new winter drink. For real. The others satiated their taste-buds at the international area of the festival, where they could purchase the kebabs that they had been craving all afternoon. Was it worth it? I don’t know, ask them.

 

 

Then, finally, came the moment we had all been waiting for. Ever since we had showed up, Tracy had wanted to go to an ice bar. She’s from Australia, you see, and is completely unused to all the interesting and exciting things that the winter can bring. That said, with our stomachs full, we headed to one of the many ice bars. We ordered warm drinks and stood next to a table made of ice, smiling and chatting with each other while reminiscing about the wonderful day that we had had. It was truly a great, albeit cold, end to a great, albeit cold, day.

In conclusion, if you missed the festival this year, shame on you, but I  just gave you the highlights so fret not. If you were there, I hope you had as much fun as I did!

The Interview

I figured I'd write about my interview so that anybody looking to prepare for interviews next year could have a little bit of help, so here goes!

To prepare, I asked everybody I knew to help me come up with possible interview questions, and I made answers to all of them. I did as much research as possible on Japanese culture, language, history, politics and geography. I memorized some phrases in Japanese (my language ability at the time was zero). I did practise interviews with my friends. I bought a business suit, which I recommend to anyone regardless of whether you get the job. I scoured the forums for tips.

The day of the interview, I had class beforehand, conveniently located in the building right next to the interview building on McGill campus. I went to class in my suit, then I walked to the building. I arrived about 30 minutes early. There were 2 former JETs working the tables outside, and I highly recommend using this time to ask any questions you have about the job and their experience, no matter what the questions are. It was really helpful.

Then, they called my name. I walked into a bright room and sat down on a tiny wooden chair 6 feet away from the 3 interviewers. One was Japanese, and two were foreign. They did the whole sort of good cop bad cop thing, with two being very strict, and one of the foreigners being super down to earth and accessible.

Some of the questions I was asked:
- where did you say you wanted to be placed? Why did you pick this placement?
- why did you choose to do JET?
- what do you want to do in your life and how do you think JET will help you get there?
- what cultural aspects of Japan are you most excited to experience?
- what cultural aspects of Canada would you teach Japanese people about?
- tell us about a time when you overcame an obstacle to achieve something.
- do you know what the JETAA is? What would your role be in the JETAA?
- what are the three main goals of the JET programme and how would you contribute to them?

After this, I was asked to do the role play portion. They told me they the JTE had just left the room and I was in a class full of seventh graders. I was supposed to teach them about winter in Canada. During this period, one of them (the happy one) played the role of the super genki student. The Japanese lady played the role of the troublemaker, throwing erasers at the other two and the foreign lady played the role of the tired student, sleeping at her desk. During this part I ended up attempting more class managing than teaching, and I was pretty sure I bombed. But that's just my experience.

Then, they told me they'd let me know, and off I went.

Words of Advice:
- I did a lot of research on Japan that I didn't need, but Id recommend doing it anyway. Just in case.
- show up very early.
- prepare questions to ask, but don't be surprised if you aren't given the chance to ask them. In my case, they said if I had any questions to ask the two ladies outside.
- Be succinct, but answer their questions.
- invest in a suit and wear it.
- no matter what happens, stay calm and go with it. One of the main characteristics they emphasize is adaptability. You will probably have to show this.
- smile when you walk in the room and as much as you can during the interview.
- don't worry too much! They just want to see what you can do!

Sorry that was so long, but I hope it helps!

Christmas in Japan

Alright, as promised for the maybe 3 readers who consistently read my blog, here's my post about Christmas traditions in Japan.

I decided to write on this topic because of the tens of classes Id been asked to give on the opposite topic, Christmas in Canada. The more I taught about it, the more perplexed my students seemed and I realized that this was because their customs were completely different to ours. I mean, sure, they celebrate Christmas, but they celebrate it in the most curious way. Like anytime they adopt Western culture, they celebrate Christmas in an attempt at Westernism that is so amazingly Japanese. Because of this, I’ve made a list of my top five Japanese Christmas traditions.

5. Christmas Cake

For some reason unknown to me, Japanese people buy cake to eat on Christmas Eve, whether it be with their families or friends. And not just any kind of cake. In general, the cake is a very special white sponge cake, covered with whipped cream and strawberries. It’s like strawberry shortcake, but in actual cake form. In fact, I actually got to make this with some of the san-nensei Home Economics students before I went home for the holidays. It is delicious!

4. Dating

For many young Japanese people, Christmas is seen as a dating holiday. Many young couples go out on super romantic dates, and profess their love to each other, or whatever people do on dates. I haven’t been on one in a while, so I kind of forget.  I’m also unsure of how this tradition started, but I know that many Japanese women get quite upset when they are single on Christmas. The poor things.

3. One-way Gift Giving

Apparently, since the Western idea of Christmas is relatively new in the country, they have adopted some practises but not others? Japanese parents tend to give their children gifts, but the children are not expected to give any back. Also, I don’t think they give anyone else gifts, just their kids. And only until they are the age when they stop believing in Santa Claus. Because like in Canada, the parents ARE Santa. Sorry, kids.

2. The complete absence of Religion

One of the most perplexing parts of these Christmas rituals is that according to the very scientific completely scholarly source of Wikipedia, less than one percent of Japanese people are Christian. The main religions are Buddhism and Shintoism. Because of this, many Japanese children think that December 25th is the birth of Santa, not Jesus, and even more people don’t even realize that Christmas in other parts of the world has a religious origin. 

1. KFC on Christmas.

This has got to be one of the best things about Christmas in Japan. I know I’m a vegetarian, so I shouldn’t be repping this, but many Japanese people eat Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas. This tradition has become so popular that many KFC chains offer special Christmas packages. Once again, I’m not entirely positive how this tradition started, but from what I understand, it is all part of an advertising campaign done by KFC back in the 1970s, when they started promoting the idea that Christmas = Kentucky. This was done because apparently one group of expats realized that in the absence of turkey, fried chicken was the next best thing. Obviously, KFC capitalized on this possibility and the trend grew and grew, being adopted by the Japanese people as an essential part of Christmas in Japan.

So yeah, that’s Christmas in Japan! Next time, I may or may not write about something more relevant to my life. We’ll see how I feel.