I’m brimming over with things I’ve wanted to tell you all about…

Picture-less

This addition will include no photos as my camera is currently in the shop. There were large, white spots on the LCD, under the glass. I went once to discuss the problem with the retailer, but became frustrated so I returned with Toru, a Japanese friend who’s English is a bit better than my Japanese. Together we explained it needs to be fixed, it is under warranty, I did not break it, etc. Toru was nice enough to put his phone number down so they could discuss the progress with him. They called recently, it is now fixed, but they want me to pay $130. I spent $350 on the camera at the end of September. How ridiculous! Now I am torn…I cannot put Toru in a confrontational position with another Japanese person. I am thinking I should go to retrieve it by myself in case I need to argue, which is very un-Japanese and I am not even sure if it will be productive in this country. I don’t think I should have to pay this exorbitant amount though, considering I have the receipt and warranty card. The other alternative, go with Toru, which means I may actually understand a little of what is going on, but I won’t be able to be stern at all for fear of truly embarrassing him. What great therapy for my impatience and intolerance. It’s also a cultural sensitivity lesson and a half…

misfortune

The teacher who sits behind me, Sato Sensei, lost his wife suddenly about 10 days ago. She had a severe toothache and went to the hospital where she died later that day. They have 2 young children, one in the equivalent to our 8th grade and one in 5th grade. It is so interesting to hear folks talking about him and his situation. He has never been the primary caretaker for the children and now must assume that role. All of the women in the office take great pity on him. They also say he will be unable to care for his parents, who are aged and live in his home. That is another hat the wife always wears. The grandparents are too old to care for the kids while he is away. This, in addition to working full-time, is a tremendous load. There is also a very high standard of care and catering to set by wives who do an enormous amount of work and devote a tremendous amount of time to their home life. I told him in horrible, broken Japanese that “this time his wife was lost in a very rough way. If anything I can do there is, please ask me.” Trying to write in Japanese always makes me feel like Yoda. Another bizarre quirk in the system; for loss of an immediate loved one, you are allowed 8 days off only. This includes time to make arrangements, which are a mess of paperwork and obligatory niceties, like buying gifts for everyone who attends the service [it is usually food of some sort]. They are also insanely expensive. My friend estimates her father’s modest funeral cost over 2,300,000 yen or $23,000. Everyone who visits, in accordance with tradition, presents the survivors with a specific colored envelope, in it is a significant amount of cash, depending on the relation to the family. For someone you are not particularly close with, about $200 will do. This is one reason my co-worker said I was not invited to the funeral, so I wouldn’t have to donate.

Job insecurity

I got an email last week outlining the rough shape Niigata-ken is in financially due to Japan’s declining economy and an unusual amount of natural disasters. This will have a tremendous effect on the jet program. There was a workshop on this at a conference I attended last week in Niigata City and the statistics are grim. Looks like a bunch of people who want to re-contract will be out of a job next year. And if you do manage to keep a position, it will almost certainly mean relocating. Here are the tentative numbers: There are 33 people who want to stay on. There are only 7 high school and 3 junior high school positions. They have talked 8 municipalities into taking on a jet. That leaves 15 people without a job. The board of education hasn’t yet figured out how they will decide who stays/goes. The coordinator urged us all to begin seeking private language teacher positions with city boards of education or with private companies. They are also not taking on any new jets in this prefecture next year. I am absolutely willing to moving, although I enjoy my schools and the people here. It takes a while to build up a rapport; I feel like I am finally breaking through with some people, so it would be a shame to start over but…that is how I ended up in Japan in the first place; on a search for something new and exciting. I also wouldn’t mind living in a bigger city. We should find out something in March after the budget is finalized. Scary.
This would be the 2nd lay-off for me in as many years. What the…?!?

Weather or not…

I’m in a love-hate relationship with the weather. Because of it, I had to buy the ugliest knee-high galoshes you can imagine. They cleverly have ‘elite fashion’ written on the side, as if you couldn’t look at them and tell that I’m on the cutting edge of Milan runway style. All the winter craziness has made for perfect slope conditions however. Yesterday Liz, Beth, Melanie and I headed to Ikenotaira ski resort, about a 45 minute drive South. What a blast. We borrowed some snow clothes, rented snowboards and boots [for about $10] and purchased lift tickets [which they never once checked or asked for]. Mel had been a few times before so she outlined the basics for us…don’t put your hands down when you fall or you’ll break your wrists; to get up, the easiest way is to wallow around on the snow like a beached whale until you can turn you and your board over [I laughed so hard I cried when we all had to do this for the first time]. I was able to stop and start fairly well, although at times I couldn’t control which end of the board was heading down the mountain. I got in a few inadvertent 360s. I didn’t break anything, I’m not so sore today that I can’t move, I returned all the equipment in one piece…I would say it was a resounding success. As I get outta work early on Fridays, I think I may get in some more practice this week. Toru, the Japanese friend, works at a snowboard store and has agreed to teach me what’s up sometime soon.