Browse Author
Bryan
Welcome Chuck
“Charlie Phoenix was born at 6:15 on June 14th. She logged in at 8# 3oz. Parents and baby doing fine. A picture to follow.”
Not In Portland, Rain and Heat
All the action these days is happening far from here, in Portland Oregon, where my brother and his wife Susan are at this very moment working on giving birth to a new baby. Hopefully we’ll hear soon what is going on and see how it all turns out.
Many people seem to be excited about the World Cup action in South Africa. I’ve been watching now and then, but I haven’t been really following it carefully. Many of my students follow it, so I’m doing my best to follow along as well. So far it has been fairly interesting, but I really don’t like all the drama with the fake injuries and complaining. Kind of takes away from the reality and prestige of the sport, I think.
The rainy season continues here – and I’ll be carrying an umbrella for the rest of the week dodging raindrops. Hopefully the rain will wrap up in about three weeks and then the heat will come in a big way. The other night we turned on the air conditioner for a few minutes, and that marks the first time this season using AC. It’s just a matter of time before we ramp up the cooling equipment again.
Long Weekend
I had an “artificial” long weekend this time, and I made the most of it. Friday I followed a carefully orchestrated plan to run some errands at the city office, get a complete physical examination at the doctor’s office, and send out three packages at the post office. As it worked out, I finished everything before noon, so I had the afternoon to relax and use the pressure cooker to make pulled pork for sandwiches.
The city office went very smoothly. There was a big line for the department that I was inquiring about, and so they had distributed numbers. I took number 14 and sat down to wait for my turn. I was surrounded by other folks waiting around as well. Seemed like a normal bunch – although one guy smelled a little rank. The guy called off numbers, and when he called out for number 10, nobody answered.
This caused a big scene.
For some reason, they couldn’t believe that nobody would answer – so they spent about five minutes calling out number 10 again and again. After the continuous calling, I looked over and realized the guy calling the numbers was looking directly at me while he called. Then I looked around and saw that everyone else was looking at me, too. I knew quite well that I was holding number 14 – I didn’t even dignify their stares with a glance at my card. I just looked back. But it was clear that everyone figured that since I was foreign I had no idea what number was being called. What’s more, I think a few people looked kind of pissed because I was holding everything up.
But I wasn’t holding anything up. I has holding number 14.
Finally, the guy came over to me, and changing to English, said “Ten?” I just held up my card with the number 14 written on it in bold, and he bowed his head and went back. I looked back at the people around me and suddenly I wasn’t so interesting anymore. Jesus Christ!
Number 10 never showed up, so I got my business taken care of and I was back out and headed back to Okubo. The post office went pretty easily. An old lady tried to cut in front of me in line, but I’m so used to that now that it doesn’t bother me at all. When she cut in front I took two giant steps out of line to the left so that everyone could see that I was no longer at the front of the line. Once the old lady got her stamps I moved up and took care of everything pretty quickly.
At the doctor’s office I signed up for a physical, and I was a big hit with the nurses. At first they assumed that I spoke no Japanese, and so I was able to overhear some interesting conversations. The physical took about 90 minutes, and at the end of it I got a clean bill of health and was set free to go eat something for the first time that day.
Back home I cooked some pork in a pressure cooker with some beer and BBQ sauce (thank you Costco), and it turned out to be a pretty good pulled pork dish. For the rest of the weekend Kuniko and I were eating pulled pork sandwiches, and they really hit the spot.
Sunday the rainy season officially hit, and we were confined to our home for most of the day while it came down in torrents outside. Luckily we had enough wine and pasta to survive.
Now this week it is back to my regular schedule, with a big taco party at the end of the week. Should be fun!
The NHK Guy Has Feelings Too, Golden Arches
Last night after work I was cooking dinner before Kuniko got home, and the doorbell rang several times. The first time was a package delivery, and the second was – the NHK man.
I’ve written before about the infrequent visits of the NHK man to try to collect cash for the TV shows you’ve been watching for free for years.
So I was not exactly happy to see him, and I shifted into my “only speak English” mode. As soon as he saw me open the door he had to stop his canned speech halfway and he stuttered a little before recovering nicely and speaking in English. He asked me if I lived in the house, and I said yes, and then he made his first mistake.
He asked if I spoke English in my household. Oops – that is a yes. At that point I could see he gave up on collecting money from me, but he decided to keep talking in English. And instead of being a miserable experience, I really enjoyed talking to him.
Maybe it is because I have been here a while, but I had kind of forgotten how excited some people get when they have a chance to speak to a foreigner. This guy was very friendly, and a little caught between his job and just chatting, but in the end we had a very nice conversation and it kind of reminded me that maybe I should stop and chat with some of the people around me instead of just walking by.
So it looks like we are in the clear and don’t have to pay NHK fees, but that is about right since we hardly ever watch NHK – at least, at lot less than the average family.
Also, interesting discovery last night while walking home – just about five minutes walk from our house they have been working on a new building, and yesterday I saw that it was in fact a McDonald’s. We don’t eat at McDonald’s that often, but it will be weird to live so close to one. Maybe I can get a part time job.
Busted for TUMS
About a month ago one of the American on-site inspectors that works at the same company as I do went back for a visit to his hometown in America. At the time he asked me if I wanted anything, and I requested a bottle of TUMS for the next time I eat too much hot sauce or yakiniku. He said no problem, and off he went.
Although he was scheduled to be on holiday for a week, he just got back yesterday. Turns out he was stopped as he tried to come back to Japan, and sent back because his visa was not correct. So he had to cool his heels in America until he got a new visa, and while the paperwork was moving along slowly he sat around and didn’t get paid.
Finally yesterday he came back to work, and I bumped into him coming out of the station in the morning. He apologized for taking so long on the antacids, and we joked about his situation – it was pretty embarrassing for him (and maybe for the customer he works for). Now everything is back to normal, and today he promised to deliver the aforementioned TUMS. When I first heard about his troubles coming back to Japan, the image that flashed through my mind was his luggage being searched and some alarms going off because of way too many TUMS. Luckily, it wasn’t the case.
At the end of the day two of my former students stopped by the classroom to visit. One gave me a souvenir from his recent trip to Hong Kong, a small canister of chocolates. It was good to talk to them – one is very busy recently and the other has some slow time, so they are balancing the load a bit between them. We made tentative plans to catch a beer in the near future.
Off to work – today is cloudy in the morning but it should heat up this afternoon. I might even be able to roll up my sleeves on the way home.
No Tie No Problem
I’m very slowly getting into the cool biz spirit – yesterday I went to work without a jacket, and today it is without a tie. The weather is cloudy and warm, with plenty of humidity, so the open neck is much appreciated.
I can tell I am used to living in Japan when I felt a little self-conscious yesterday without a jacket. Actually on the way to work I bumped into one of my students who is a salesman, and he was without a jacket and a tie, so I guess it is time for me to loosen up. I hope they recognize me at work…
Last night was low-key as Kuniko was working late helping with one of her students. The student that ran away came back, and she made a visit to the home to check in and see how things are going. Who knows whether the girl will stick around, but I’m hoping she does for Kuniko’s sanity. She was pretty stressed while the girl was missing.
This week is a four day week for me. I took Friday off to run errands, send packages, and have a doctor’s appointment. Should be a busy day on Friday, so I’m using my work days to rest up in anticipation. I’m going to need to schedule creatively to get everything done. One of the things I really don’t like about Japan is that things are not designed for families of two that both have full time jobs. For example, the post office is only open from nine to five, so if I want to mail something internationally, I either have to take a day off (like this week) or bring my packages to work and mail them at lunchtime (which is not cool).
I also need to return my insurance card to the city office, but because they are only open from nine to four, I have to take a day off to do it.
Why doesn’t anyone complain? Because usually only one person per family works full time, and so it is rarely a problem. When both people work, then things get complicated.
A Surprise Weekend Guest
On Friday night after work I met up with Kuniko to try out Hola!Achaho in Sannomiya for dinner. This was our first time to try it, and we were very pleased to find that it has a similar menu and style to our old favorite, Sigassiga. While we ate and drank and talked Ms Fujiwara (the wife of the Sigassiga chef/owner) kept us in food and drink. It was nice to see her again, and near the end of the meal Mr Fujiwara himself dropped by and was surprised to see us. All in all a good night, and I’m sure we’ll be back to Hola!Achaho again soon.
The point of the dinner was to get together with Kuniko before her overnight trip on Saturday. Since I wasn’t going to be able to see her at all this weekend, we wanted to spend some time together relaxing. On Saturday morning she got up at the regular time (5:00 a.m.) and headed off to work. I tried to sleep in but in the end I got up as well, and did some chores around the house. Most of the day was pretty relaxing – doing some shopping, cleaning, and enjoying the beautiful weather. I bought some things to grill for dinner – spareribs, a small piece of salmon that was sold as sashimi, and a package of shiitake mushrooms.
In the early evening I got a phone call from Kuniko, and she said that she was heading home. Due to some drama with one of her students, her principal thought it would be best to skip the trip and stay home. She didn’t complain about his decision, and neither did I. We spent the evening partying (again) and toasting the health of her principal.
The grilled foods turned out OK. I was sure the spareribs would be delicious, but I wasn’t sure about the marinade I used for the shiitake mushrooms. As it turned out maybe a bit too much lemon juice. Any ideas for a good marinade for mushrooms? I’ll experiment a little more in the future. I was a little ambivalent about cooking the salmon, and cut a little bit off and ate it raw – it was excellent. In the end I glazed it with a little olive oil and Italian dressing and grilled it for just a few minutes. When you aren’t worried about whether it is raw or not then cooking it becomes a lot easier. The result was a very juicy and delicious cut of fish – the outside was seared but the inside was very tender – so I think it turned out OK.
Sunday we enjoyed having Kuniko around. In the morning some NTT guys came over and spent an hour or so upgrading our internet to a fiber optic connection. It turns out that it is about the same price as the DSL we were using before. After futzing with the passwords and my router for about an hour I finally got it working without installing their CD full of crapware and support software. Now our download speeds are around 2 megabytes per second – plenty fast for the time being.
Kuniko requested a Mexican dinner, so we picked up veggies at the store and made burritos full of beef, beans, avocados, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. So good. There are enough leftovers for us to eat for a couple more nights as well.
I’m off to work soon. We have changed to ‘cool biz’ at work, which means for the next 3 months I don’t need to wear a tie or jacket. Still, today is pretty cloudy and so I’m still wearing a tie to work. The jacket can stay at home today, I think.
Hola!
It was pretty tough to get out of bed this morning. Kuniko was working late last night – she had to visit the home of one of her students to try to convince the student to start coming to school regularly. The girl has been having some problems lately, including occasionally running away from home. Yesterday she decided to run away from home again, and I think they’ll finally call the police and try to figure some other solution out. Strange doings in private school land.
Today after work Kuniko and I will meet in Sannomiya to have dinner at Hola!Achaho, the sister restaurant of the now defunct Sigassiga. This will be our first time to eat there, so we’re hoping that the menu is similar. I made reservations the other day, and the master of Sigassiga’s wife recognized me and said they are looking forward to seeing me at the new place. That was a good sign.
It should be an early night, actually. Kuniko has a busy weekend, so I want to get her home ASAP. She is pretty stressed with this student’s situation, so she looks like she needs a getaway. Hard to believe she just got back from a week in Canada.
Warning – Post on Politics Ahead
Today I came home with a little more energy than the previous days, so I suspect that by the time Friday hits I’ll be back to even. The human body, how does it work?
The big news around here yesterday was that the prime minister of Japan resigned, along with the shady guy in the background that was actually the prime minister. We’ve had four prime ministers in the last four years, so this is nothing new.
There are a lot of reasons why this guy quit, and most are quite complex and require a lot of background that I don’t feel like typing out at 5:30 in the morning. These important issues not withstanding, it seems like the major reason the latest PM didn’t work out was that he was indecisive.
Indecisive as a normal everyday Japanese person is perfectly OK. Most restaurants in Japan recognize this and focus on course meals so that there are less decisions. Nobody asks what kind of dressing you want on your salad, how you want your meat and what style of potatoes you’ll have. Too many decisions.
In business meetings, there usually aren’t any strong opinions; they have been worn down over time like rocks on a beach, and by the time it comes to a decision in a meeting, there is little dissent and mostly just formality.
But in a politician, this kind of non-aggressive behavior can’t stand. Here is a guy facing a ton of problems, and sometimes somebody just needs to say, “Sorry, I know that everyone won’t be happy, but I’m in charge and this is what we’re going to do.”
Instead Mr. Hatoyama spent eight months going back and forth on these issues, and in the end did very little. So the wheels turn, and somebody else will take a shot.
I was talking about this with a student, and when we talked about weak leaders he mentioned that it was a similar situation back before World War II when a succession of weak leaders led people to start to say, “How about those militant politicians – they seem pretty aggressive…”
And you know how that worked out.
As a non-voting member of the community I can do little but observe and make snarky comments, but it is interesting to see how people react to events like these. Whether you care about politics or not (and I tend to fall in the latter category), they affect everyone, and shouldn’t be ignored.
Dragging Around
For the second day in a row I came home last night bushed from the workday. I don’t know why this week has turned into a slog, but every day when I get home I can feel it. Last night I was hoping to stay up and watch my favorite Japanese TV show but we abandoned the attempt and instead went to bed around 8:45. What wimps…
This weekend is going to be a little strange. On Saturday Kuniko has to attend an overnight school event so she won’t be back until late Sunday evening. In addition, we’re having a new internet service provider come in and install new internet on Sunday. So if you don’t get any new posts after Sunday you know something bad happened. Hopefully it will be smooth.
After the last three night of Japanese food I think we are taking a different turn tonight as we have two beautiful avocados sitting on the counter. We may make avocado toast on bagels – thanks to Costco bagels are easy to come by these days.
Relaxing is Draining, Apparently
It is back to work for both of us this week, and getting back into the swing of things proved to be pretty tough. I was pretty bushed by the end of the day, and I’m not exactly sure why. Probably a hard weekend of sitting around the house listening to music and drinking champagne.
The buzz at work mainly is revolving around a new contract that was officially announced the other day. This means a full production schedule for the next six to eight years, which is always good from a long term standpoint.
This week (as anticipated) our dinner menu is pretty much only Japanese food. After spending a week in Canada Kuniko was craving food from home, so we’ve been eating lots of very healthy foods. Tonight Kuniko should get home earlier than I will, so we’ll see what is on the menu this evening. The refrigerator holds no clues at the moment.
OK, I’m off to try drinking some coffee to amp up my energy levels this morning. Maybe that is all I need to start my day on the right foot.
She’s Back
On Saturday afternoon I made the trip into Itami airport to meet Kuniko and escort her home after a week in Canada. The students and teachers arrived at the gate and after exiting they performed the traditional closing ceremony (because there had been an opening ceremony before they left). Speeches were made, photos were taken, and then we were free to go. Unfortunately one students’ mother was about an hour late, so we all waited patiently for her to show up before we could leave.
Hanayama sensei gave us a ride home – his wife had also come to the airport, and she drove us to our doorstep. It was really nice of them – it saved a lot of time and hassle. As for Kuniko, she was tired, but it sounds like it was a pretty good trip. The students behaved well, and she really enjoyed the area. It turns out she spent most of the time on Salt Spring island, and although it was a little quiet it was a good place for the students to learn. She brought back a bunch of souvenirs, including some delicious smoked sweet salmon, a bottle of blackberry port wine, a couple of bottles of Cholula, and even some wasabi flavor kit-kats from Tokyo.
We slept in today and fit in a nap into our schedule, so we should be all charged up and ready for another week at work. Kuniko is marking papers as I write this, but I think she’ll be ready to go back to school early tomorrow morning.
Once More Into the Underworld
After a tiring day of classes yesterday I met up with two of my students and someone new to go grab some sushi for dinner. It turned out that we did in fact go to the sushi place I occasionally visit for lunch. The owners recognized my students and then saw me and their eyes lit up. The wife of the sushi master came out and took our drink order, and dropped in now and then to join the conversation. She could have been my mother the way she told the other members of my culinary adventures in their shop – detailing my favorite dishes and listing my sushi credentials. My dinner companions were suitably impressed, and nobody commented on my chopstick skills. At the end of the dinner the sushi chef even sent over a plate of my favorite sushi rolls (shisomaki) on the house.
After dinner one of my students wanted to head to Sannomiya for another stop, which turned out to be down a slightly shady road in the heart of downtown. The place was run by an older couple, and they both worked hard to entertain us and keep the drinks flowing. We had a deep expense account with us last night, and like any good shopkeeper they sensed that and made us very comfortable. The karaoke came out, and again I was called on to sing in English. Last night’s selection – “Honesty” by Billy Joel, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”, and “My Way” by Frank. I am still finding it hard to like karaoke, but as one of my students said, sometimes you just have to do it.
This was another opportunity to see the hidden part of Japanese business, and see how important these kinds of restaurants are to the social system in Japan. There are thousands of these kinds of places hidden away throughout Kobe, and getting to see how they operate firsthand is always interesting.
We wrapped up the party around 10:30, and I got home around 11:30 – so it wasn’t too late a night. Today I have no special plans after work, but I am looking forward to meeting Kuniko at the airport tomorrow.
No Wife No Food
Yesterday while teaching classes some of the students expressed worry that I might not be eating well since my wife is on a trip to Canada. It is still kind of traditional here in Japan for the wife to cook the meals, and in a way it makes some practical sense, as most company workers have to work so much overtime they get home around ten or eleven at night. Single workers live in company housing that includes a cafeteria, so they don’t have to cook either.
Anyway, most of my students know the cooking arrangement in my family, but even so, some were concerned. One student offered to take me to a sushi restaurant tonight, and it sounded so good I accepted. Leftovers can wait a night, I guess. The more he talked about the sushi restaurant, the more I started to think that it is the nearby sushi restaurant that I occasionally patronize for lunch. Should be interesting to see if it is the same place.
When I got home last night I made a salad and was watching “hanetobi” on TV when the phone rang. It was Kuniko’s mom calling to invite me over for dinner this weekend. I told her that Kuniko was coming back on Saturday, so maybe we would come over together in the next few weeks. It was very nice of her to offer.
OK – I’m off to work and then to a sushi dinner. Hopefully there won’t be too much sake on a school night…