The True Intentions of Private English Lessons

Wow, it’s been awhile since our last post, which means we’ve been busy! We’ve been socializing after work and just trying to enjoy our last few months in Japan. It's so hard to believe we'll be home in April!

With eight private students now, I’ve also been busy tutoring—yesterday I worked twelve hours in total (three lessons in addition to my regular shift at work). I’ve concluded that teaching English conversation is like working at a hostess club and sometimes, the students' intentions are two-fold—to learn English and date a foreigner. Especially in my own business ventures, I’ve discovered that I attract male students who are all at least five years older than me and am recently pondering one thing—is this some kind of dating service? That’s sure not what I signed up for! Don’t get me wrong, I do have a handful of clients who are studious—focussed on learning English and all that jazz—but the majority seem wrapped up in taking me out for dinner while we chat. They call this a “lesson.” Even when I mention my boyfriend again and again, they don’t seem to care! I've even had one student ask me when I plan on getting married and this makes me wonder what his true intentions are, or were, from the beginning. Haha. It's quite entertaining.

The whole private tutoring situation reminds me of a hostess club—where men go to chat with women, fork over a lot of money, and are basically made to feel like they are kings of the world. Most of the time, I feel like I'm doing essentially the same thing, sans the alcohol. Even at our company, I have the same sentiments. I have private lessons with many business men who like to chat about useless things and don't like to accept corrections. At one of my schools, a co-worker of mine teaches a private lesson to a head honcho of a really big business. He told the staff he strictly wants female teachers and he always showers her with gifts. Most, if not all of these men are married, but just like to flirt and feel special. This whole outlook ties into the patriarchal nature of the country and sometimes makes me want to scream. Unfortunately, it’s just the way things are here and I guess I can’t complain about getting free dinners!

Scott and I also went out with Laura, Colin, Marcus and some other people from work last night. It is Australia Day today and for a premature celebration, Marcus (who is Australian) and Scott went to a bar and even ate barbequed kangaroo (which was excellent, according to Scott).

Last Sunday, Scott and I decided to sleep in (since it’s a rare occurrence these days). We woke up around 11 and headed to Umeda to go to Joyopolis (a three-storey arcade) and see the Umeda Sky Building’s Floating Garden Observatory. I never realized how addictive arcade games can be—especially when they involve winning prizes. At Joyopolis, Scott and I became borderline obsessed with trying to win a stuffed toy from what the Japanese call “crane games.”After observing several people and taking note of their technique, Scott tried to win several things (including candy and stuffed toys) and about 2000 yen later, he finally won a stuffed Snoopy.

The arcades here are also full of picture booths and they’re so popular here—especially with the ladies. These picture booths aren’t your everyday booths where you sit down, have your pictures taken, and walk away with four photos—they’re so much more. Basically, they’re a way for people to take glamour shots of themselves. They have nearly blinding white lights and also a feature where you can add things such as hearts, stars, borders, writing, etc. What’s more...you can enhance yourself by adding hair and even changing the colour of it. Crazy! Naturally, I wanted to test it out and we had a lot of fun messing around.

The Sky Building is a pretty acclaimed landmark in Osaka and its architecture is world renowned. It’s not only the seventh tallest building in the city, but also connects two towers in mid-air by escalators. I have to say, it’s probably one of the most interesting buildings I’ve been in and it was spectacular to get a view of the city on such a clear evening.

Work is going really well for both of us. Scott has been doing some overtime shifts to save money for our upcoming trip to Thailand. We still haven’t figured out the details (including booking a hotel), but I know our spontaneous approach will make things all the more interesting.

We also discovered an incredibly cheap bowling alley right near our house and had a bowling date on Friday night while the staff at the alley mocked our hideous technique. Good news, though...I beat Scott!

It’s really noisy in the city today because it’s election day for the new prime minister. I haven’t really been following along with this (partly because I hate politics and don’t understand anything anyway). All I know is that they need to invent a new way of campaigning. As I’m typing, I can hear loudspeakers in the distance. Garbage trucks aren’t the only vehicles that sing and make an over-excessive noise here—it’s common for politicians to parade through the streets (as well as quiet neighbourhoods like ours) and yell through loudspeakers and wake people up. If this happened in Canada, they sure wouldn’t get my vote! I’ll be glad when the election is over and I can sleep in again!

We’re going to have a relaxing Sunday today and not do too much. Recently, Scott and I have discovered the show, “Weeds” and how great it is, so we’re going to have a “Weeds” marathon. We hope you’re all enjoying your weekends and Happy Birthday to Lynn Ann!

Well, see ya later!

Jo & Scott

xoxo

Two Tourists in Tokyo

Yesterday, as I was walking to work from the train station, I caught a glimpse of snow out of the corner of my eye. I had to do a double-take to make sure it wasn’t just rain, but it was, in fact, a light snow fall—Osaka’s first in a long time. It’s been freezing here lately and I guess I shouldn’t complain because the weather’s nothing in comparison to Canada. With the poorly insulated place we call a home and contraptions the Japanese call heaters (they are also air-conditioners in the summer), our apartment is rarely at a comfortable temperature.

It wasn’t just cold in Osaka—it was freezing as we stepped off the bus when we arrived in Tokyo on Sunday morning. Scott and I left for the big city last Saturday night after work and took a night bus from a nearby station. After a virtually sleepless night on a narrow and cold bus, we arrived at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo at precisely 6:40 a.m. Our plan of action was to drop our bags in a locker and scour the area for some kind of 24-hour coffee joint where we could down a dose of caffeine. We passed a Starbucks and because it was closed, we settled for none other than Macudonarudo (McDonald’s). We had some breakfast (which consisted of hotcakes, an Egg McMuffin, and coffee) and then passed some time figuring out what we were going to do that day. The McDonald’s was packed—even at such an early hour. There were students trying to do their homework, businessmen gulping down coffee before they had to go to work, and people who were still drunk from the previous night.

As Scott and I were discussing some potential plans, a man beside us struck up a conversation and asked us, in virtually perfect English, if we needed any help. I was quite taken aback because I had heard from several people that Tokyo natives were less friendly than Osakans. We had a good chat with him and found out that he had learned English from an American missionary who came to Japan after the war. He also helped narrow down some key Tokyo hot-spots.

At about 9 a.m. our somewhat less-tired selves wandered out of the McDonald’s to explore the city. We spotted our hotel, The Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku, just steps from the McDonald’s but couldn’t check-in until 2, so we headed to Harajuku. You might recognize the name of this area from Gwen Stefani’s songs. The girls from this area, also known as “Harajuku Girls,” have a distinct style that is best summed up as Lolita meets Goth. In other words—extremely ugly. The area is most famous for the Meiji Shrine and strange-but-cool shopping. After we arrived at Harajuku station, we visited the Meiji Shrine. On the way into the main gate, there were several ice sculptures and was kind of reminiscent of Winterlude in Ottawa. It was strange to see something so familiar in Japan! All the ice sculptures were absolutely breathtaking.

We were lucky enough to witness a traditional wedding at the shrine and snapped some pictures as we observed the procession. Because it’s traditional to visit a shrine in the New Year (for the purposes of praying for happiness and health), Scott and I thought it would be appropriate to write our own wish and pretend to be Buddhist. We wrote our wish on a paper, put it in an envelope along with a monetary donation, and then deposited the envelope in a bin while we lifted our hands in prayer. It was a really interesting experience and I’m glad we embraced the culture (even though we were a little hesitant at first)! We also explored the grounds surrounding the Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park. After Meiji Shrine, we decided to go shopping. We strolled down the main shopping alleys, Omotesando and Takeshita-dori. It was really interesting to see the styles and the types of shops on these streets—quite a feast for the eyes to say the least!

We ended up walking to another major area called Shibuya and stopped for lunch at a traditional Japanese Tendon (a bowl of rice with tempura and sauce on top) restaurant. It’s directly south of Harajuku and is also famous for its shopping and the Hachiko Statue. The statue doesn’t seem like that big of a deal at first glance, but it has a pretty significant history in Shibuya. The story goes like this... Way back in 1924, a man bought a dog and named him Hachiko. The man was a professor at a university in Tokyo and Hachiko greeted him at Shibuya station every day as he arrived home from work. When the man died, Hachiko still came to the station every day (for ten more years) and came to be known as the “faithful dog” to many residents of Shibuya. When Hachiko passed away years later in 1935, the city erected a statue to commemorate the dog and his loyalty. How kawaii! I thought the statue was going to be much bigger, but it was more or less a life size mould of the dog.

Later in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel to check in and take a nap before dinner. The hotel was a lot nicer than we expected and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. Although the rooms were tiny, they had everything we needed to make our stay pleasant (including pyjamas that were laid out on the bed for us when we arrived!). We headed back to Shibuya for a lovely dinner that night and wandered around the city before heading back to the hotel.

Monday was a national holiday in Japan, so everything was extra busy. Scott and I headed to a more historic area of Tokyo called Asakusa, which is home of the Senso-ji Temple. As we trekked to the temple, several cart drivers were coaxing us to take a tour of Asakusa. One of them even said, “I give you many Japanese memories!” Haha. The walk into the temple was a long path full of many interesting souvenir and food shops. Naturally, after touring the temple, we sampled several Japanese foods for lunch including yakisoba (buckwheat noodles fried with vegetables and sometimes meat) and okonomiyaki (an egg and cabbage omelette smothered in mayo).

In the afternoon, we headed to Roppongi area, which is in Southern Tokyo. It’s also well-known for shopping (go figure) and because many foreigners call it their home. Laura and Colin recommended going to The Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills, so we did. The art museum also has the Tokyo View, which is an observation deck where you can see the whole city. The sight was just spectacular—as was the art exhibit, which featured a metropolitan theme. We went to a fabulous Thai restaurant that was recommended as one of the best spots to eat in Tokyo and had absolutely no regrets. The food was magnificent! We also went to a bar that night and just relaxed and appreciated the sights of the city.

For our last day, we decided to visit central Tokyo and go to the Imperial Palace, home of the Imperial family. We didn’t get a guided tour, but had fun taking pictures of the building. After the palace, we made a quick stop at the Tokyo Stock Exchange before heading to Ueno Park. The park was probably one of my personal highlights of our visit because of its sheer beauty. It is the home of many museums and cultural emblems of Japan. We stopped for a short paddle-boat ride and then wandered to Ameyayokocho, a famous street market district just south of the park. It evolved out of an open-air black market that sprung up after World War II and today shops sell basically everything for really cheap.

Our last stop of the day was the Tsukiji Fish Market, on the bank of the Sumida River. Although visitors are informed to go at 5 a.m. to make the most of their market-going experience, we opted to go precisely twelve hours later. Although the main part of the market was closed, we still got to feel the vibe of the market and see some fish vendors and sushi shops. The sushi is really well-known in this area because it’s so fresh. Some people even go at the crack of dawn to sample it!

We headed back to Tokyo station to catch the shinkansen (bullet train) back to Osaka around 6:30 that evening and were somewhat relieved to be going home. The past three days seemed fast-paced (after all, we did cover quite a bit of territory in the short time we were there) and we both came to the conclusion that we were happy to be living in Osaka. I can’t really put a finger on why I like Osaka better...it’s something I just feel in my gut.

Last night, we went to a bar in Shinsaibashi for Indie-Night with Laura, Colin, Marcus, and some friends who were visiting from Korea. Just before we went into the bar, I spotted someone in the distance wearing a Queen’s Commerce jacket. I thought I was dreaming for a minute—so I ran up to the guy and asked him if he went to Queen’s. He was Japanese and I figured he had attended Queen’s and graduated in 2001 (like his jacket sleeve displayed). So I asked him, “Oh...you went to Queen’s? I did too.” And the look on his face said it all—he was totally confused. Turns out, he didn’t go to Queen’s. He just picked up the jacket at some thrift shop in Kyoto (who knows how it travelled that far). Anyway, Scott and I both thought it was pretty funny and so weird at the same time.Hope all is well and we miss you. Let us know how you’re doing—we’d love to hear from you!

Take care,

xo

Jo & Scott

Japan-ease

As I originally write this blog, I’m not actually typing on my computer. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m handwriting with my seemingly long-lost friends: pen and paper. This new method of blog-writing was not intentional—it kind of stumbled upon me and I’m glad it did because I can once again see what my handwriting looks like (and also how much my English has deteriorated since being here).

I came into work earlier today thinking I’d have a fuller-than-usual schedule, but no such luck. My School Director informed me that I was only going to be teaching one class of high-strung, rambunctious two-year-olds for half-an-hour (yay!). That being said, I have precisely four-and-a-half hours to kill. I already spent a bit of time finishing up James Frey’s book, My Friend Leonard (which I absolutely recommend if you’re not afraid of raw emotion and lots of swearing). There’s nothing left to do it seems, but write!

Being at home over Christmas reaffirmed my belief of how easy it is to live in Japan. By this statement, I mean daily life here is a hell of a lot simpler and consequently, has made me a less-stressed person. I mean, where else do people have access to alcohol 24/7? When I was home over the holidays, I nearly forgot to purchase a beverage for New Year’s Eve, nonchalantly thinking that I could run into a convenience store to get one. Nothing seemed to stop me and say, “You’re in Canada now,” until I looked outside and saw the snow. This situation would have posed a major dilemma—one that would probably have made me want to go back to Japan for a split second, where accessing liquor has no time restraint. This is one of the things I’ve come to take for granted while living in Japan and I only realized how beneficial it was at the worst possible time of the year.

Because I have so much time on my hands (and because I want you to get an accurate glimpse of Japan), I have compiled a Top Five list of the most convenient things in the country that have significantly impacted my daily life. Here they are...

5. Speedy Mail Delivery

Scott and I were pleasantly surprised to find out how the postal services work in Japan. In our early days here, we received a slip of paper in our mailbox and although we couldn’t decipher it, we had an inkling of what it was. We brought it into work (while we were still in training) and had one of the trainers, Andrew, decode it for us. He told us that it was a delivery attempt slip from UFJ, our new bank, saying our bank cards were ready. Although we were kind of bummed out that we missed the delivery (we thought we would have to go on a mad journey through Osaka to claim our stuff), Andrew informed us that all we needed to do was call the English-speaking delivery line (the number was on the bottom of the slip) and they could deliver our packages as soon as we got home from work. Naturally, we were relieved and called the number right then and there. Shortly after we returned home from a long day of training, we heard a scooter pull up to our door then a doorbell ring. Although we couldn’t really communicate with the delivery guy, we just handed over the slip of paper and the rest was history. By the end of the day, we had our banking information and our bank cards even though we had missed the original delivery. It’s not like in Canada where you get the slip in the mail and then have to track down your package—they do everything for you! Now that’s service!

4. Vending Machine Paradise

I think I mentioned the number of vending machines in Japan in a previous blog, but once again, I’d like to stress how they’re absolutely EVERYWHERE. I’m pretty far on the outskirts of Osaka as I write this and from the window where I’m sitting, I can eye two. Vending machines here mainly sell liquids—pop, canned coffee (an overrated beverage here in Japan), hot and cold tea, beer, sake, wine, coolers—you name it, they have it! Food vending machines are a lot less common, but I’ve seen a few selling potato chips and KitKats. Speaking of KitKats (this is a total side note) but there is a different KitKat flavour every month here. Some past ones include: caramel, green tea, apple, cookies and cream, vanilla bean, and this month’s flavour is strawberry. Anyway, back to the vending machines. They also sell cigarettes and these machines are probably more common than the drink machines. Unlike the regular beverage machines, the ones that sell cigarettes and alcohol automatically turn off at 11pm.

The vending machine must be a popular contraption because you can also find them in restaurants. What Scott and I coined “vendo restos” are also very common here and are essentially a revamped fusion of a traditional vending machine and a restaurant. The machines don’t actually serve food themselves—maybe someday, though. At these restaurants, the vending machine is at the front of the restaurant, displaying pictures and prices of the restaurant’s offerings. All you have to do is put some money in the slot, press the dish you want to eat, and out pops a ticket. You then give the ticket to a hostess, who seats you. We went to a Japanese curry “vendo resto” not too long ago and literally right after we sat down, the food was in front of us, piping hot and delicious to boot. I think the “vendo restos” emerged because of the many business workers who need a fast, but not fast-food lunch. Regardless, the “vendo resto” is a booming industry and whenever we set foot in one, it’s always packed.

3. Nifty ATMs and the Ease of Banking

When you set foot in a major bank branch in Japan, you basically see two, perhaps three types of people. The first is the security guard, who monitors the traffic and anything else risky that might arise. The second type of people are those like you—people in the bank to withdraw or deposit money, pay a bill, or wish their account had magically grown overnight. Sometimes there is a third type of person—a bank employee who can answer questions or help gaijin like us!

The bank machines here are really nifty. They’re all touch screen and they can perform almost any function to do with banking and money. Our first encounter with the lovely ATMs was when we had to pay our first month’s rent. We didn’t even require our bank card if you can believe it! All we had to do to make a transfer was type in our mobile phone number and all the info appeared right before our eyes. Paying our first bill was a little tricky because there was no English language function—luckily a type #3 bank person was standing nearby and could help us navigate our way through the jumbled hiragana and kanji characters that stared back at us. The ATM is even more convenient because it automatically remembers the account and information, so there’s no hassle next time. The machines are also cool because they automatically count the money you deposit and you can deposit not only bills, but coins too. The bank cards are also pretty different because there’s no magnetic strip on them. They have something like a SIN card embedded in them, which is good for people who carry their cards in their pockets and wear off the magnetic strip (ahem...Scott). The only weird thing about the banks here are their hours—they’re not open on Sundays and regular branches only stay open until 8pm. All the convenience stores—better known as “combinis”—have ATMs, though, and people can access them 24/7.

2. The Combini: A True Combini-ence

The infamous combini is probably one of the greatest things about Japan and it has saved my life several times. With combini chains with names like Family Mart, Lawson Station, AM/PM Coco!, Daily Yamazaki, and of course, 7/11, you can tell just from reading the signs that they’re interesting places. And like vending machines, they’re absolutely everywhere, making them none other than convenient! You can purchase fresh meals, produce, alcohol, and pretty much anything else you can think of. What’s more, all the combinis are open 24/7, which means people can scour the aisles drunk and stock up on even more booze or simply check out the magazines or books after a long day at work. If you go into a combini around 6pm, you will most likely see a row of “otaku” (someone who is completely obsessed with something—typically anime, manga, or Japanese culture. They are the type that generally live in their parents' basements at 30 years old and have no social life) gazing at the manga (animated soft-core porn) or anime (comics). You can even pay bills at the combini. Scott and I pay our health insurance there each month and it literally takes five seconds.

1. The Efficiency of Public Transportation

Public transportation in Osaka shines in comparison to the good old OC Transpo in Ottawa and Campbellford too, I’m sure. Toronto and Montreal are a little better than Ottawa with their simple subway routes but still, it’s no comparison to Osaka. In the span of a year, subways and trains are late by an average of six seconds—can you believe it? This makes getting around extremely reliable and also environmentally friendly. I’ve come to realize why the life expectancy here is so long. In combination with the healthy diet (for those traditional followers), Japanese don’t have an excess of fumes roaming around in the air. There are a lot less people who drive here, making the country’s attitude that much greener. It’s so easy to get from A to B here, as I‘ve discovered from my daily trips around the city. Everything about transportation here is easy. All the ticket booths are self-serve and you have to know where you’re going before you buy a ticket. There are huge maps with price points in all stations and after you know where you’re going, you put the money in the machine, press a button that displays the correct amount and out comes a ticket. You even get change if you use a big bill! You then take the ticket and feed it through a machine that puts a small hole in it. The ticket also displays which station you came from. When you reach your final destination, there are gates to the exit the subway, much like in TO or Montreal, but they’re smarter. You have to feed the same ticket into the machine and it can read to see if you paid the correct amount. There’s no getting away with outwitting the machines. If you try, gates close and alarms go off. I had it happen to me once and it was pretty embarrassing, although I was a new gaijin, so I had an excuse. And plus, I come from Ottawa, where public transportation is pretty much nonexistent.

I’ve concluded that every major city should have a subway or train system—it makes life so much easier. There’s also a really cool tool that one of my co-workers told me about when I first started working to make getting around a lot easier. It’s called Jorudan and it’s basically a huge database for all public transportation in Japan. You can search when you want to be somewhere and it’ll tell you the exact directions, time and cost—it’s been a lifesaver for work and travelling.

Anyway, I hope this list has given you a glimpse of how convenient things are in Japan. I’m sure there are many other convenient/easy things I’ve forgotten to mention. Laura thinks the health care system here is pretty convenient, but I don’t really know because I haven’t had to use it yet. It’s also really easy to get your bike stolen...haha.

We're off to Tokyo this weekend, so stay tuned for a post about that! Hope all is well and take care!

xo
Jo & Scott

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2008! We hope you all had an excellent holiday season!

As most of you know by now, Scott and I decided to come back to Canada to celebrate the holidays and what a time we had surprising our families! We booked our plane tickets way back in November and had a hard time keeping our arrangements a secret from our relatives. When we departed for Osaka back in September, we were unsure when we would see our families and friends again, so it was a nice treat to come home and see everyone (minus the good old Canadian winters we somehow don't seem to miss).

Believe it or not, being on a crammed plane and listening to babies shriek for 16 hours had its advantages. What, you might ask? Well, as we stepped off the plane, we were welcomed back to Osaka with lovely 12-degree weather—no snow, no ice!

Unfortunately, our first day of work was January 5, about 30 hours after we arrived back in Osaka—and naturally, it was a rough day for both of us. Since then, our circadian rhythms are slowly becoming accustomed to the time change again (a whole 14 hours) although we have been up a few times during the wee hours of the morning. My theory to battle the jet lag on the flight back to Osaka was to stay awake the entire flight—and I somehow did it (I'll give the crying babies credit for that one). Although we've been snoozing off around 9pm for the past few nights, we've been having more uninterrupted sleeps. I feel like I'm finally back into the Japan swing of things again.

Before we left, Scott downloaded a program on the computer that allows you to play N64 games, so to combat the jet lag the day after we arrived, we played N64 pretty much the whole day! Mario Party, Mario Kart, Zelda—you name it, we played it! Scott even bought some USB converters so we could play the games with controllers from the computer. On Friday, we went into Den-Den Town (electronics capital of Osaka) and purchased some used N64 controllers from that same store with the mysterious QTip (yep, I checked and it was still in the same spot). We also went out for some lunch at an Indian restaurant nearby.

We're thrilled for our upcoming trip to Tokyo this weekend. Tatsu, Kuni's friend who came out with us for drinks, helped us purchase bus tickets for an overnight trip to Tokyo. It's only 4800 yen and is a great alternative to the shinkansen (bullet train), which costs about 15000 yen (approximately $150). We decided to take the bus into Shinjuku station—the hub train station in Tokyo—and then take the bullet train back to save some money for our trip to Thailand in February. We'll be leaving here on January 12 and coming back on January 15. Three days doesn't seem like a lot of time to fit in all the sights and sounds of Tokyo, but we're going to try our best. We've already been trying to plan what to do with Laura and Colin’s help (they went there to visit a friend over the holidays).

Thailand here we come! After some debate about going to Phuket or Bangkok, we booked our tickets to Bangkok this morning on a whim. No hotel or plans yet, but we're hoping something more concrete will unravel once we arrive. We've heard from several teachers that it's not only a beautiful place to visit, but also really cheap. Apparently, it's not hard to find an inexpensive accommodation for the night. Because we won't be able to visit Phuket (since it's too far from Bangkok and won't make good use of our time), we're planning to go to a picturesque white sand beach on a small island called Ko Chang. Although the island is small, it has gained popularity in recent years and is becoming a booming tourist spot. We'll probably head to the beach (which is about 300 km from Bangkok) after exploring the capital's rich culture for two days. Personally, I'm excited to eat some real Pad Thai!

Over the holidays, Scott and I decided that we'll be coming back to Canada after our current contract ends (on March 31, 2008). We plan on doing some more travelling around Asia and possibly Australia before heading back North to get a real job/go back to school!

We hope you're keeping well and it was so great to see some of you over the holidays. We miss you already, but will see you all in four or five short months!

xo

Jo & Scott

Thanking Kuni

One week ago today, I met Kuni through the most random circumstances. What I originally thought would turn out to be a terrible day, actually transformed into a fabulous day. Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to not only meet a new friend, but also appreciate the kindness of a complete stranger.

So, to return Kuni's favour, I thought it would be appropriate to take him out for drinks. We exchanged emails and decided to meet last night at our closest subway station. His girlfriend, Nao, and his friend, Tatsu (who can speak English as well), also came along. Tatsu is an ER doctor and hopes to go to America someday. When Kuni and I were talking by email, he asked if Tatsu could come along because he's interested in finding an English tutor. They were all thrilled to meet Scott too and Nao (who couldn't speak English), kept saying Scott was handsome. Kuni and Tatsu were the translators for most of the evening and were also trying to teach us some Kansai dialect, which is very different from traditional Japanese. I'm sure it was entertaining for them to hear us speak Japanese slang! They kept telling us that we were "rabu rabu," which basically means hot couple! KAWAII!

The five of us walked to a yakitori (grilled chicken BBQ) restaurant and enjoyed some drinks and laughs before heading back home. We all had a fabulous time and are already planning to meet again in the New Year! Kuni and Tatsu even offered to help us arrange our trip to Tokyo in January!

Can you believe Kuni and Tatsu are 32 years old? They look so young!

Until next time,

Jo & Scott

What a Bike Day!

On the topic of Jo's story about her bike... I thought I'd tell everyone how great it is to be a foreigner here... and how ridiculous the people on bikes here are and their general disregard for any type of rules.

As I was on my way to work, I decided to bike to Tennoji, which is about 10 minutes away by bike and hop on the train instead of taking the subway to work... it's 100 yen cheaper and saves me about 10 minutes... plus I'm charging ECC that 100yen so I'm 2 bucks richer at the end of the day! (yahhh!) Anywho, I'm making great time and get into a busier part of the city and have to start my sweet weaving, when I'm right beside and about to pass an old lady on her bike, she decides to turn right... without looking. This is of course when my ride went awry... pretty big collision, I tried to stop in time when I saw what was happening, but it didn't really work and I ended up crashing right into her. Thinking to myself, I obviously can't ask if she's okay since she can't understand me and really if she took the effort of moving her head, this wouldn't have happened. She was obviously thinking the same thing and started to give me the cat glare (think of the biggest glare you've recieved and then square it's intensity) when I decide to give her a taste of her own medicine, give her a sweet gaij glare of my own and take off as she's rubbing her hand that I hit... I felt bad, but really it was her fault... and she bent my basket!

Well, see ya later!

Scott & Jo

P.S. Apparently Jo's had some sweet cat/gaij glare-offs on the train. I think she has a 2-1 record. Good for her!

Kuni Saves the Day

It’s pretty ridiculous witnessing a thirty-something man trying to choke back tears right in front of you. What’s even worse is when full-fledged tears start rolling down his face in between gasps for air. This is what happened at work last Saturday. I was testing his English ability and I guess he just cracked under the pressure (geez, am I that intimidating?). It was a pretty awkward situation and I walked away at the end of the day thinking, “Wow, I’m glad I’ll never be caught crying in public and embarrassing myself.”

I guess I spoke too soon.

Today, I woke up bright and early and everything seemed like a normal Wednesday—I got up at 7:30, made some breakfast, showered, and got ready to go tutor one of my students. After I arrived at the subway station, I parked my bike against the outside wall of the building (like I have been doing for two weeks and like everyone else does). As you may already know from our previous blogs, absolutely EVERYONE has a bike here, which means there is a lack of space for bicycle parking. Apparently, you’re not technically supposed to park your bike outside the subway (for who knows what reason), but regardless, everyone still does.

In Japan, everyone hates the “bike police.” They are people employed by the ward offices (municipal government) and their job consists solely of taking bikes that are parked outside the subway and other illegal areas. There are about two days a month where they do a mass exodus of bikes—and today was my lucky day.

At about 10:30, I waltzed out of subway, Starbucks latte in hand. What could be better? Coffee and a sunny morning—a perfect combination. The station walls looked a little vacant as I turned the corner and as I approached the spot where I had parked my bike, I started panicking inside. One of the bike dudes (clad in a green and yellow getup) was patrolling the area looking as cocky as ever. He was eyeing me. I started to scan the parking sections nearby, but still no bike. So finally, I went up to the guy and asked where my bike was in broken Japanese. Just as I had suspected, he didn’t speak an inkling of English and replied in a long-winded Japanese sentence that was just too far over my head. What’s more, he proceeded to laugh. He probably thought it was funny that a gaijin didn’t know the complex rules about parking bikes. Or maybe he was just happy he could use/abuse his “bike police” power.

At this point, I was panicking. I had heard stories about bikes being taken away for good, with no warning or reason. Normally, when you park in an illegal spot, you get one warning. They put a red tag on your bike saying something like “you better move it or else...” I hadn’t received one in previous days, so I wasn’t worried. Anyway, the bike guy confirmed it was gone. As for where—I had no freaking clue.

So to tie this all in with my little preface, I started crying in public as hundreds of salarymen whizzed past me. The bike snatcher continued to look at me as if to say “I’ve done my job.” Naturally, I was upset and confused. I didn’t understand this bicycle snatching part of Japanese culture in the least. But I was about to.

A random passer-by approached me and started speaking in broken, but comprehendible English. I was semi-relieved. He explained that I had to call a number (that was on a piece of paper taped to the ground where the bike had been). He called it for me and started mumbling some words in Japanese. After he got off the phone, he told me where to go to pick up the bike and I pulled out my subway map to make sure I was going in the right direction. I guess he felt bad for the state I was in and he offered to come with me. I told him he didn’t have to and I could find my way, but he insisted.

We walked to another nearby subway line and began our journey to the Southern-most part of Osaka. He explained that they keep all the snatched bikes in an industrial area near Nanko Port. Although our encounter was extremely random, we chatted on the way to get the bike. He explained that he was studying for the TOEIC test (English proficiency test) and I guess he loved getting some conversation practise. I briefly thought about the dangers of venturing off with a complete stranger before we left, but it never seemed like a big problem. For some reason, I felt completely safe and at ease. His random act of kindness overshadowed everything. In the middle of the whole situation, I phoned Scott and told him what was going on. Basically, I was pressed for time and needed to get my bike back before work. When we got to our stop, we finally introduced ourselves. I had been so wrapped up in this whirlwind of unanticipated fury that I had completely forgotten. Kuni, he told me.

When Kuni and I arrived at the bike place, I had to go in and fill out a form to get my bike back. Thankfully, Kuni did the talking and sorted everything out for me. Then, I ventured though an enormous enclosed parking lot full of confiscated bicycles with a man who worked there. And of course, consistent with Japanese style, they were all arranged and sorted by the date and time which they were taken. I was relieved when I saw my bike amongst a crowd of others and unlocked it before wheeling it to the gate.

The not-so-great thing about having your bike confiscated is the fine that accompanies it. 2500 yen later, Kuni and I left. On our ride to Nanko, we had discussed shipping the bike back by taxi, but the taxi driver refused to squeeze the granny-style ride into his trunk. So, there was only one other option. We both rode the bike back to our home station, Japanese-style. This meant I had to ride on the back sideways (picture riding a horse with both legs on one side) and he pedalled. Although it might seem awkward, it wasn’t...we chatted the whole way home and tried to dodge the police on the way (riding like that is illegal and two fines in one day would just be too much). I felt sorry for him though, as he was probably getting a really good workout. After all, I’m nowhere near the size of a Japanese girl. Haha.

About forty minutes later when we got back to the station, I figured I should return his act of kindness in some way, so we exchanged emails and I told him I wanted to take him and his girlfriend out for drinks and introduce them to Scott. Needless to say, he was pretty interested in meeting a gaijin guy!

I honestly don’t think I’ve experienced anything more random in Japan, but it worked out for the best and I got my “gaij” ride back in time for work. It’s amazing what a random act of kindness can do and how much it made me realize that the world is not as bad as we sometimes make it out to be. And hey, I made a really cool Japanese friend too.

On a completely unrelated note, Scott and I made our second trip to Kyoto on Sunday. We visited two temples that Laura and Colin recommended to us—Kiyomizu and Kinkakuji (also known as the Golden Temple). Yes, these places do exsist! I don’t think words can come close to describing their beauty, so pictures will have to do for now!

Talk to you later! Miss you!

Jo & Scott

A J-Haircut

So, if you've been checking out pics on Facebook or some here, you'd have noticed my hair was getting absolutely ridiculous... I was a little worried my wings were gonna let me fly around Osaka with a big enough updraft. At first I was loving it, then it just started getting out of hand. So yesterday, I decided to go get a haircut.

Luckily there's a nice enough looking place right beside where I was working yesterday, so I showed up early and went in. There was an English-speaking hairdresser there... but of course, I didn't get her. I got someone who knew what "shorter," "longer" and "scinnors" also known as scissors meant. So after looking through ridiculous amounts of Japanese Men's Haircut magazines, we found something that resembled what I was going for... so the English hairdresser came over and I told her what I wanted, she told my hairdresser and she went at it like a pro...

Unfortunately, I guess she didn't know what "longer in the front" meant in Japanese either... I'm pretty sure I resemble Sonic the Hedgehog minus the blue and speed of course.

Before.... mad wings!













After... Where's my pal, Tails?!?










P.S. I'm not as tired and baggy-eyed as that pic shows I am... just an AM pic

Cheers!!

Scott & Jo

This blog has no title because Joanna refused a good title for it

Hello Everyone!

This blog is to tell you about some unfortunate stories I've come across about women here.

The first tale is about a woman I met during an FTL at Umeda (a major part of Osaka). She started off the lesson quite fine. We were having some good conversation and what not; then I asked her how she's been recently and she figured that knowing me for five minutes meant she could tell me her life story... WOW! For the past ten years, she's been (fairly) confined to her house--not travelling anywhere, not going too far away and not doing too much. You must be thinking "Wow, what a husband she must have," but unfortunately you're wrong. She had two cats... CATS! But about a year ago, the first one passed away, after being chronically ill and her desperate attempts to keep it living. She was pretty broken up about the first death, but quite recently (about two months ago), her second, and of course, favourite cat died. To tell the truth, after what she was telling me, I'm surprised she didn't try to bring it back to life in some weird underground biology experiment... It had strokes, illnesses, broken limbs and all the fun stuff, but has miraculously kept on ticking (with her help). Before it died, she had to give it daily injections, feed it special food and CONSTANTLY care for it... This woman is pure commitment. The good side of the story is that she's going on a vacation with her husband! Yay!

The second story is worse. I met a woman recently at a school about an hour away in Wakayama, doing an FTL (of course). She was telling me the same kind of thing--about how she doesn't go on many holidays or trips anymore because she has a dog, which we talked about for a bit. Then we started talking about holidays. In Japan, there's Valentine's Day, where women give men gifts and a month later, White Day, where men give women gifts. She went on to tell me that she gets her husband chocolate every year, but he gives her nothing... so, I awkwardly changed the subject to birthdays. She told me that every year she gets her husband something nice and I asked her what she would like to get for a gift on her birthday and she replied, "A cake." She continued to tell me that every year, her husband forgets her birthday... every year! But here's the kicker--their dog gets cake on his birthday... She laughed it off and I realized that the lesson was over and I had less awkward and happier places to be. Poor lady.

Tonight, Jo and I decided to go for a bike ride after I got home from work for some fresh air and exercise. It was pretty late out--10:30ish. After about 15 minutes, we decided to go through some back streets and stumbled on what we later found out to be Osaka's largest Red Light District, also known as Tobita. We, of course, investigated. The first street we went down had older ladies sitting on chairs with another older lady behind them on a sexy-looking mattress. We went down a few more streets and (luckily for the horny men of Osaka) saw a lot more variety. There was quite an array of women, some looking like they were in their 20s, 30s and (sadly) late teens. Lots of costumes too. While biking through the area, we came across a fairly busy part, where a group of 20-something men told us "Merry Christmas," which was nice of them. Haha. There was also a bunch of salarymen wandering through the streets (except for the first one, which was empty).

After we got home, we did some research and found out that the old woman sitting in the chair in every shop is called the "mamasan," who is pretty much the pimp. You bargain with her for the service and she makes the ultimate decision and sometimes refuses business.
Even though prostitution is technically illegal here, with the shabby force they call police in Japan and many loopholes, nothing is done and it continues to thrive. The industry has expanded so much that there are apparently many non-Japanese prostitutues employed in Japan.

And, to finish this lovely blog, I had a man tell me today that he wished he could divorce his wife, become Muslim and marry four women... he was a Buddhist priest. Sometimes I feel more like a marriage counselor than an English teacher.

Cheers,
Scott & Jo

Osaka's Ready for Christmas

Hello from Osaka!

We hope all is well as you prepare for the holiday season ahead. Walking around Osaka has really made me miss home recently. There are Christmas decorations and strings of shimmering lights everywhere I turn it seems and I can’t help but think of home and everything that reminds me of this festive occasion. On the other hand, I’m glad I don’t have to be outside in the cold, wet slush. How much snow is there right now anyway? It’s about 10-15 degrees during the days in Osaka and the temperature drops quite a bit at night. I’ve been talking to some of my students about what kind of weather to expect in the months ahead and apparently, the temperature never drops below zero—which means, no snow and no ice. I’m thrilled about that!

Speaking of things that remind me of Christmas, believe it or not, there are clementines in Japan! But here, they are called “mikans” and they’re very delicious. Like Canada, mikans are sold only during the Christmas season and people can even grow them indoors here. One of my new private students is an elderly man who likes gardening and at one of our meetings, he brought me a basket of mikans from his garden. I have quite a few private students right now—five—and I’m really enjoying the challenges of teaching one-on-one. My students right now range from elementary level to extremely advanced. One of my other new students is a doctor who plans on travelling to the US to do gastrointestinal work and wants to improve his conversational skills. At first, I was a little nervous when he said he wanted help learning medical terminology in English, but when I started talking about ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and asked how common it is in Japan, he seemed genuinely blown away. I think I’ll be learning a lot from him about what it’s like to work in the health care field in Japan.

On Saturday night, Scott, Marcus, and I decided to do something other than karaoke and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to check out a club (since we haven’t been to one yet). After talking to a few co-workers, we decided to go to a club called “Pure” in Shinsaibashi area. We all had a great time and met some really cool people too. A group of Japanese girls even got me dancing with them on the stage. Haha.

Sunday wasn’t too eventful for us. We decided to take it easy since we’ve been doing some mad sightseeing lately. Scott wanted to go to Den-Den Town, which is an electronics district in Nipponbashi area and is overflowing with shops offering all sorts of electronic goods. We biked into Tennoji (which is about ten minutes from our place) and ate lunch at a really nice market-style European cafe and then headed over the Nipponbashi. Scott was in heaven the entire time we were there—looking at every type of electronic good you could imagine. Den-Den Town for Scott is definitely equivalent to Rinku Town for me! Anyway, we were searching for a cheap phone because we’ve decided to get internet hooked up and if you get a land line, it’s apparently a much faster connection. Sitting on the balcony in the cold to steal wireless signals isn’t quite cutting it anymore. If you can believe it, we had trouble finding a simple phone in what seemed to be the electronics hub of the world. Although there were several cell phone shops, home appliance shops, antique shops, used clothing shops, stereo shops, and porn shops, we couldn’t find a cheap phone. Lucky for us, we eventually wandered down a side street that led us to the phone of our dreams and purchased it for 2000 yen.

On the way back to our bikes, we stopped at a really cool shop that sold new, but mostly old game systems like N64, Sega Genesis, Game Cube, Game Boys, and even the original Nintendo. They also had rows upon rows of games that were re-packaged and extremely over-priced. While I was looking for my favourite N64 game, Mario Party, I came across a small package containing some Q-Tips. I thought it was so RANDOM that I took a picture. What’s even funnier is that there was a price tag on them for 399 yen. There are some weird things for sale in Japan, that’s for sure.

Today’s my day off and I biked into work with Scott. We had a nice little Starbucks date and then I decided to check out a department store called Loft. I don’t know why it’s called a department store when it’s absolutely packed with women’s beauty supplies. I started looking around and after an hour had passed, I left the store. The reason it took me so long was because so many of the products were absolutely ridiculous. Japanese women, I found out, are obsessed with white complexions and the cosmetics companies make several whitening creams for the face and body. What’s even crazier is the instruments they use to narrow their noses (kind of like a nose plug) and electric massage-type contraptions to make a crease in the eye. There were also several cellulite rollers and warming creams that promised to “thin legs and hips to attract to guy’s attention.” Haha. No joke, that is actually what the English portion of the tube said. I guess in a way, the women here are no different from the women in North America—always striving to look or feel better about themselves and, consequently, often fall prey to the latest marketing tactics.

I've also included this picture of some people riding their "charinkos" (slang term for bicycle) on a main street near our apartment. Mothers often carry their children in baskets on the front and/or back of their bicycle (and don't wear helmets...eek) and friends often hitch a ride by standing or sitting on the back.

Well, I’m going to test my Japanese cooking skills and make some “okonomiyaki” for dinner! It’s a famous Osakan food, but I doubt mine will be as tasty as the authentic ones sold on the street corner. I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Bye for now!

Jo & Scott