It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas

I'm sorry that it's been over two months now since my last post... I have a lot to get you caught up on, but that's going to have to wait until January.

So the Christmas season has been in full swing here in Japan for awhile now. Decorations went up around Kanazawa right before Halloween. I thought things started too early in America, but I think Japan is even quicker on the draw! It’s interesting to me that they celebrate Christmas at all since only about 2% of the country’s population say they are Christian. It’s a purely commercial holiday. The Christmas “traditions” here include eating fried chicken and Christmas cake with strawberries. Most people seem surprised when you tell them that’s not what we eat on Christmas in America. I’m not sure how their fried chicken tradition started, but there’s speculation that it’s because Colonel Sanders looks suspiciously like Santa.

I’ve started getting into the holiday spirit as well. I found some Christmas decorations (and old cards) that my predecessors left. Some friends and I decorated my apartment the weekend after Thanksgiving. My favorite decoration is the photo card from a family that I don’t know! (You may not be able to see it very well, but it's to the left of the tree.)

On Saturday night, a big group of JETs went caroling at the train station to raise money for a little girl who needs an operation. I spent the rest of the weekend baking cookies... way too many cookies... I've spent the last few days eating cookies... way too many cookies...

The weekend before last was filled with holiday activities as well. Two of my friends work at an after-school program with elementary kids and needed volunteers to sing carols in English with the kids at a local hospital. The kids were cute and it was fun to sing. As a bonus, the teachers threw a party for us with lots of delicious food and ume-shu (plum wine… mmm…). We also got our first snow that day along with some loud thunder! The snow was more like mini snowballs than flakes though and it didn’t stick around for very long. It was long enough to put me in a festive mood though!

At school, we’ve been making Christmas cards and letters in class and having Christmas-themed activities. One of the 8th grade classes made Christmas cards for me as a surprise. Here are a few of my favorites:

Looks like I have a bit more work to do...

Yes, that says "Peace on English". Awesome!

I think this one is my favorite because it's so bizarre. Not sure if you can read it or not, but smoking Santa is asking how old I am. Here's a closer look at Santa and his dirty habit:

Tomorrow night I’m off to spend the winter holiday in Vietnam and Hong Kong. I’m traveling there with my friends Kate and Katherine. Winter vacation doesn’t actually start until 12/26, (yes, there’s school on Christmas as it’s not an official holiday here) but I’m taking several days off. We’ll be in Vietnam for Christmas (12/19-12/30) and Hong Kong for New Year’s (12/30-1/2). It’s supposed to be in the 80s in Vietnam, so I’m not counting on a white Christmas. I’ll be thinking of all of you at home and I hope you enjoy the holiday season!!! Peace on English!

Returning Japanese

Oh, before I forget (did I mention I have a hard time getting myself to bed?), I had another first today. I returned something I had bought for the first time! Yes, it may sound minor to you, but it's all about low goals here. Yesterday, I had purchased the textbook for my Japanese class which started today. Unfortunately, I found out I had gotten the Romanji version but should have gotten the Hiragana/Katakana/Kanji version instead. So, five minutes before class started, I rushed into the bookstore (conveniently located in the same building as class) and grabbed the other book. I successfully found and used the right phrase and exchanged one book for the other. I was so proud! Then, my teacher pointed out in the middle of class that the new book I purchased was the Japanese/CHINESE version, not the Japanese/ENGLISH version. Sigh... After class I had to go back and return the Chinese book and exchange it for the English one. I don't think the guy behind the counter was too pleased, but at least I got some good practice in. Maybe now I can return that sweater I decided wasn't quite the right color. Or, maybe I'll just live with it - don't want to get too cocky.

Ahh...choo!!

Another milestone - I've officially gotten my first cold in Japan. So far symptoms include a headache, sore throat, burning, watery eyes and slightly runny nose. I know how much everyone loves it when people talk about their illnesses, so I'll try to keep you updated as it progresses! It must have looked like I was about to cry in class today as it really hit me right toward the end. My teacher was concerned I was upset at the way class had gone. I was a bit as the students in this class are always terrors - throwing things, talking to each other and ignoring us, running around the room (generally being disruptive) but I assured him it was just the onset of a cold.


You'll be relieved to know that there's been no sneezing yet, but oddly enough, one of the hardest things to get used to in Japan relates to sneezing. No one ever says anything after someone else sneezes. There's no "bless you" or "gesundheit" followed by a "thanks" or "excuse me". A sneeze goes virtually unnoticed. I didn't know how ingrained it was in me to say "gesundheit" until I came here. I have the hardest time holding my tongue. I'm thinking it would probably embarrass the sneezer if I brought it up so I just try to say it internally.


People also wear little white hospital masks when they're sick. It's really funny to see people out and about shopping, riding their bikes, conversing on the train, etc. while half their face is covered with a white mask. They'll wear the silly-looking mask (no offense to those of you in the medical field - they look distinguished on you) but when they aren't wearing one, they won't cover their mouths when they cough. Puzzling... I'm not going to get a mask.


I've come up with several theories as to why I got a cold, but I'll limit myself so you don't get too bored. Here are the Top 5 Reasons Jackie Might Have Gotten Sick:

5) I have a hard time getting myself to bed at a decent hour and can't nap (nothing new there) so never quite get the optimal amount of sleep to keep my defenses up.
4) The seasons are changing. It's still warm with a cool breeze during the day (perfect) but it gets chilly at night now.
3) I went to Osaka with Ali-who-had-a-cold this past weekend.
2) In Osaka we stayed out dancing until the trains restarted in the morning. We left the club around 6am but then wandered around in the rain searching for the right train station for about half an hour. We got about four hours of sleep, then spent the day exploring in the windy city (it actually reminded me a bit of Chicago, only much bigger).
1) A great amount of my time is spent in the same environment as about 1000 middle schoolers. If that isn't a breeding ground for disease, I don't know what is!

Don't worry though! I'm drinking lots of fluids and taking a bunch of vitamin C. Others have said it should be a quick one, but if it lasts too long I'll brave the Japanese medical system. Now, it's a bit after nine p.m., so I'm going to attempt to sleep. Nighty-night!

The Roach Motel aka My Apartment

So about a month ago, I stepped outside of my apartment and found a big, black cockroach laying in wait on the outdoor balcony/hallway. I managed to smash it with my shoe, which apparently is the wrong thing to do since any eggs inside go shooting out all over the place and can still hatch. Well, I figured things were okay since it was outside and all but I did use some cockroach spray on the area. After a few sleepless nights dreaming of bugs crawling all over me, I managed to forget about it except for when I'd talk to Mom and Dad and they'd ask if I'd seen more of them.

This past Sunday night they asked me again and I assured them that it was an isolated incident and that I hadn't seen any since then. Monday night I came home, turned on the light in the bathroom, and there was a giant brown cockroach on the wall, uncomfortably close to my toothbrush. I tried to trap it with the plastic lid to my hair mousse as I didn't want to smash it and that was the closest thing I could grab. I almost got it but the lid proved to be too small and it scurried into a tiny crack between my sink cabinet and wall to safety. Gross.

I immediately called Mike to discuss strategy as he's been battling cockroaches for awhile now. I think (or at least hope) he has a slightly larger roach population than I do though - I think he said he's trapped ten in one night before. Last night I spent constructing complicated houses with super sticky floors and sickly sweet smelling bait inside. I've put the traps around my bathroom and kitchen along with the poison that they eat then take back to kill all their little roach buddies. I also put all of my food in the fridge, whether it belongs there or not. Hopefully that will do the trick, but as of right now, the traps remain empty. Maybe this was the only one and he was just passing through on the way to my neighbor's place. Stay tuned.

Gorge-ous

One Saturday, Ali, Kate, Leslie and I took Leslie’s car to Tedori Gorge in the Hakusan area for a quick little afternoon trip. We got lost a couple times on the way there (and back) as the roads here aren’t marked very well. Many of the streets don’t even have names. If they do, they may be written in English along with the Kanji in one place but not be labeled in English a little further down the road. The same goes for tourist spots. The streets in Kanazawa also wind around a lot. Although many castle towns are laid out in a grid or have the castle to one side of the town, here the castle is in the middle and the streets surround it in a sort of maze. Some claim that it was a form of protection for the castle, but others say it was just poor city planning. The view of the gorge was definitely worth the drive though!

Trains and Buses, Buses and Trains

Public transportation is great here and is oddly the cause of most of my exercise. The trains and buses are always on time and I am always late. I can be found frantically biking and/or running to the station or bus stop at least once a day. At least the weather has gotten a bit cooler now so I'm not as sweaty!

There are several bus stops conveniently located a couple of blocks away from my apartment. When you get on a bus in Japan, you grab a slip of paper from a machine by the door. This slip of paper has a number on it (the number of your stop on the bus’s route). This number corresponds to a board at the front of the bus which will tell you what your fare for the trip is. The amount of the fare is digitally written underneath your number and gets adjusted the further from that stop you go. When you get off the bus, you put the correct change that matches the board in the coin machine by the driver. I usually take the bus to my schools on Monday and Friday. Transportation cost to my Monday school is $2.60 each way and $6.80 each way to my Friday school.

I used to take the bus to the school I go to on Tues-Thurs, too, but I’ve found the train is cheaper. It cost $3.70 each way by bus but it’s only $1.80 each way by train. What a deal! My apartment is located about 12-15 minutes from Kanazawa Eki (the main train station pictured below) by foot and 5-7 minutes away by bike, depending on traffic lights. I go two stops (7 minutes) on the train then walk another 7-10 minutes to the school.

Okay, sorry, enough about my boring commuting times and costs. Here are a couple train related stories to wake you up…

Before school started, my friend Ali and I took a trip to Kyoto (someday, I’ll hopefully blog about it). We were at the train station about half an hour before our train was due to depart back to Kanazawa. A train pulled up and most everyone who was in line got on. It didn’t look like the Thunderbird Express train we had taken there (yes, the train was really called the Thunderbird Express) but we decided to get on anyway as trains often come early and sit on the tracks and our train was the only one listed on the board. Anyway, you can probably tell what’s going to happen next. Yep, the train doors closed as soon as we got on and it started moving… in the wrong direction. We had gotten on the wrong train with no idea where it was going or how long it would be before it stopped. At this point there was only 20 minutes before the Thunderbird was supposed to fly away. Luckily, the train stopped after about five minutes and we were able to hop off. We rushed to a different platform and just managed to catch a train that we hoped was heading back to the station. With six minutes left, the doors of the train opened back at Kyoto Eki and we plunged into the throng of black-haired, black-suited commuters. We had of course arrived at Track 7 and had to get to Track 0 (I know, Track 0 seemed odd to us, too). I picked up my suitcase on wheels and was sprinting around people shouting “Sumimasen!!” (“Excuse Me!!”). We jumped into the Thunderbird just before the doors shut and collapsed in our seats, laughing hysterically in relief while the Japanese just looked at us bemusedly.

Last week, I was hurrying to catch the train home from school and tried to jump on as the train doors were closing. Unlike my beloved MetroTransit Light Rail, the doors of the train didn’t seem to have any sensors on them and kept closing. I was stuck halfway in the train and halfway out. I managed to wriggle in so only my bag (with my laptop in it) was stuck in the door. I was still attached to my bag though as the strap was around me. Some giggling high school girls tried to help by pushing the button to open the doors back up but it wasn’t working. Finally the doors gave a little and I was able to pull my bag in and the train started rolling. My face burning, I sat down and decided that next time I would just wait the twenty minutes for the next train.

Okay, those are enough embarrassing stories for now. I’m sure I’ll have more for you soon enough.

Biker Babe

This is a picture of my less than beautiful lilac “mama-chari” which I’ve named Perle (well, that’s the name on it anyway). A “mama-chari” is the most common type of bicycle around these parts. It’s a one-gear road bike with a basket. It feels pretty wobbly and I somehow managed to wrench it while trying to get it out of a bike rack so the handlebars are currently crooked. I’m sure the low tire pressure doesn’t help the ride either. I keep meaning to get them pumped up but I’m always in a bit of a rush. Even with these flaws, my lovely Perle is the envy of all the neighborhood kids due to its waterproof basket cover. It’s super handy as you never know when it’s going to start pouring. It also hides the fact that the bottom of the basket is rusting out.

I was scared to ride my bike for quite some time after I arrived. I’m not much of a bike rider as it is and the crazy traffic and busy sidewalks here were daunting. Bicyclists are supposed to ride on the sidewalk here, not the street, and there doesn’t seem to be any rules about what side of the sidewalk to use. Pedestrians are really bad about moving out of the way. You’re supposed to ding your bicycle bell notifying them you’re behind them but many times they’ll just ignore it. My favorite is when there is a group of people taking up a whole sidewalk and they’re staring right at you but don’t move. Of course, even if they do move, you never know if they’re going to go to the right or left.

Cars are another big biking hazard. Drivers are bad about looking to see if there’s a bike before pulling out of the narrow streets or turning. I’ve been told that drivers in Ishikawa are famous in other prefectures for their terrible driving. They might even be worse than Illinois drivers! My co-worker Patricia has been hit by a car on her bike three different times and had to go to the hospital once. Many other JETs have also been hit by cars. Helmets are definitely a good idea!

I’m getting more and more confident riding my bike though and am really glad to have it. It makes getting around town really convenient and I do love that covered basket! I often have the Wicked Witch tune going through my head as I zip around on my bike with the wind in my hair… um… did I just type that out loud?