call now to order...

Toto’s Sound Princess still running strong
from: www.engadget.com

We already know all about how much the Japanese love to trick out their potties, but it’s nice when someone gives us the human side of things, you know? Like the Toto Sound Princess (we think it’d have to be renamed the Toto Deuce if they brought it to America, which they won’t), which, granted, has been out a couple of years now, but come on, it’s still novel. Wave your hand over the sensor, and the soothing, nondescript sound of running water fills the stall. So yeah, if you really want to know, any gadget that can make taking care of business a little eaiser for Naoko Ito in Tokyo is okay in our book, got it?

a while back...

a couple of weeks ago it seemed everyone was tied up for one reason or another...liz was in america, carrie had a friend in town so they were busy making japanese handicrafts and climbing mountains, toru was sick, fumi was out of town... as the weekend approached i was excited by the prospect of time to myself and time to spend with good people i don’t often get to see. friday i hit the mall and bought some new running shoes. not sure why i’ve had the jogging bug lately (perhaps it was buying that high-dollar new bikini) but it’s bad. everyday i can’t wait to head to the park. it’s private time to sweat, burn off stress and think. i can see some changes in the shape of my body, but unfortunately all the blubber i’m losing appears to be from my chest where i have none to spare.
later that night there was a reggae party which i was bent on getting to. carrie, being the party animal she is, left her jet-lagged, too-tired friend at home and went with.

turned out to be a packed house with everyone jiving to dance reggae, the newest trend here in that genre. the music is infectious, with a peppy beat that won’t let you sit still.

saturday i went to a hip hop dance class i joined a while back. at a previous dance party, i got conned into a dance battle of sorts with a man who turned out to move phenomenally well. i quickly paid him his dues and retreated but he was complimentary and explained he practices everyday because he’s a dance instructor. through another friend i discovered details about his class and just showed up one day to his surprise. i try to make it every saturday; it’s a great workout, i could use some new moves and the teacher is really cute (but involved i think).
on the way home from class i ran into simon on the street. we agreed to meet for a late lunch after i’d cleaned up. i don’t often get to see him, which is too bad because he’s super interesting and positive. we chatted forever over sushi.
i couldn’t decide if i was heading to niigata for a ‘welcome new jet participants’ party until i got a little cell phone text of encouragement from a friend there. i threw some things together and set off. it was my first solo road trip and it felt great. windows down, music up, cruising the highway. i met kate at her place and we headed to a cool café downtown to meet the newbies. after that was club hopping; how nice to be in a city. the next day debbie came up and we loafed around, picnicked by the river and they talked me into sticking around for an all-nite beach party. i had nothing to wear as i’d not planned on staying, so i tied a head scarf of deb’s around my top and borrowed a skirt.

we trained and taxied to a spot in the middle of nowhere, it was lookin’ like the beginning to a low-budget horror film until a party popped up. it poured rain and we just danced in it. the crowd was a bizarre mix of types of people- a lot of russians, some wannabe yakuza, and others. about 5:30 we were ready to head home and attempted to call a taxi to no avail. we began walking the curvy road back to civilization wondering how we’d get home when i hear someone yelling my name. it was a guy i’d met earlier in the night. the 3 of us piled into his car [soaking wet]and he drove us all the way home, stopping for smokes and returning from the convenience store with treats for us all. wild nite. wicked morning as i woke after 2.5 hours of sleep to drive home. i rolled out at 8, had to stop for coffee, i’m supposed to be at work at 8:30, it’s a 2 hour drive…you do the math. luckily it was obon, a national time of mourning for relatives who’ve passed away, and everyone takes vacation leave. there were literally only 2 people in the office and they didn’t want to be there either so no prob.
a fabulous weekend it was.

engrish

so the japanese, and most other asians, are notorious for butchering the english language. mispronounciation is understandable and bad grammar during conversations is tolerable; at least they are making an effort to speak. however, i cannot excuse the fact many people are just too lazy to proofread. i can't imagine mass-producing an item with a foreign language on it without double-checking the spelling and grammar. whoever designed the product knows damn well they aren't an english language expert...they should seek professional assistance, or at least check online. there is an absolutely hilarious collection of mistakes from around asia on the web at www.engrish.com.

recently they built a shiny new grocery store around the corner; we're talking national chain, not ma and pop. above the cheese and milk section is a huge sign the reads "daily". ummmm... shouldn't they have conferred with a dictionary before fabricating and posting a 5x15 ft. sign in crazy english. you see, they don't have a letter or sound similar to 'l' so they approximate all 'l' sounds with an 'r' pronunciation. for example: hello as 'herro' or my middle name lynn as 'rinn' or liz as 'rizu' or, the cutest, really as 'rearry'. but they know the 'l' exists in english so then they confuse themselves and throw it in where they could have used their trusty ole 'r' sound effectively. so i haven't snapped a picture of the daily/dairy fiasco yet but i've got a few i want to show you...

it's a 'beatiful lifu' alright...


the world famous 'homo sausage'...



on a car in front of me at a red light...



a friend bought these for a bbq party we had at his house. carolyn and i had a blast trying to explain to him why 'slit hot rolls' are hilarious, drunkenly of course.



the koreans make mistakes too...

matsuri madness

summer, especially the month of august, is when many of japan’s famous festivals [matsuri] are held. every place has its own event showcasing the locales' specialties so there are tons of festivals in every village, town and city around the country. i technically live in joetsu city which is comprised of 2 sides of town that used to be separate entities - naoetsu, near the sea, and takada, the entertainment/shopping part of town where my apartment is located. each neighborhood held its own festival. unfortunately i was busy around that time with teacher parties and fuji rock so i wasn’t able to hit all the festivities. one night we did make it to takada for a parade, some street food, dancing and drinking.

it was bizarre – the events are all held on honcho odori, literally the road outside my apartment building which was in a way convenient but also a little annoying as i tried to make my way home on bike.
these men are carrying mikoshi, a portable shrine, that’s a bit cattywampus, possibly as a result of the insane amounts of beer and nihon shu [what we call sake] consumed at these events.

a couple weeks later was the arai matsuri held in a neighboring town about 20 minutes away where carrie lives. we had plenty of time that day and decided to take a couple of the local japanese women up on their offer to dress us for the occasion.

the appropriate attire is a yukata, the cooler [but still stifling], summer version of the traditional kimono.
the ladies came with all the trimmings we’d need. here you can see the white cotton under-dress you start with.

that’s followed by robe itself. then there are a few strings cinched around the waist to keep all that in place. cinched is putting it lightly…more like yanked and ratcheted so tightly you feel as if your stomach organ might implode. if you were claustrophobic this would be enough to put you over the edge. next comes the ornate belt, or obi, wrapped several times in the same constricting fashion and then beautifully tied into a bow in the rear.

as they finished with me and i began to shuffle out of the room my mind was flooded with thoughts of the ridiculous things we do to achieve accepted forms of beauty…oh, and also the whole binding women’s feet phenomenon.
the japanese ladies suggested i put my hair up as this was the custom. i obliged even though i was having a good hair day already. we donned our cute purses they provided but i had to politely decline the wooden slippers they offered as i couldn’t wear them around the house without pain, no way i was hitting the town in those suckers. you should have seen us trying to squeeze ourselves into carrie's car…bending at the knees was really tough, then we had these bows on our backs that made us twice as thick as usual, and there were sticks in our hair that kept getting caught on the door frames. when we arrived, we wound our way through the streets following carrie’s students’ floats.

liz and carrie both teach in arai at high school and junior high school respectively.
with carrie’s girl’s basketball team and carrie’s friend jan in town from america.

these men are carrying a huge rope made of rice, the largest in japan. i can’t even estimate how heavy it was but it must have spanned the length of a city block and required hundreds of people to carry it.

they would rambunctiously snake the rope down the street, the momentum causing the rope to jerk and toss people over as they attempted to keep up with the movement. a couple times we were on the sidewalk when the huge rope came barreling towards us and we were forced to step in entry ways or between structures to avoid being squashed. wild and tiring. they stopped every ten minutes or so to rest and a huge nihon shu [sake] keg on wheels and coolers full of beer would make their way down the line to fuel the revelers. afterwards we were invited to dance with the mayor’s office group in a parade that wound through the city.

so as to never be caught without alcohol, each group had a push-trailer of sorts that lead their procession stocked with cold beers and chu hi [sho chu liquor and fruit juice girlie drinks] which we breaked to enjoy regularly. plenty of festival food…some cute little old lady kept approaching us with an outstretched grocery bag full of chicken on a stick which we devoured. we met these guys and headed to a local restaurant for some beers and chatting. they work for a chemical engineering company that pays for them to take English classes.

although neither of them had ever spoken with a foreigner before, their language skills were fabulous.
we had a great time in the little ole’ town. it’s refreshing to see everyone with their party faces on, ready to have a good time. unfortunately, when there’s no special event, arai is pretty sleepy and most of the young people either permanently depart for more vibrant places or at least migrate on the weekends toward the nightlife in joetsu.

hoot! hoot!

i braved the ticket machine at lawson's convenience store [way more trouble than you'd think] and scored us tickets to this year's earth celebration on sado island. it's a kodo drumming festival which always has a super-talented, off-beat, somewhat obscure special guest who this year is carlos nunez. three days of percussion concerts, camping, playing on the beach and partying with friends from all over japan. i am thrilled! we'll catch the 2pm ferry tomorrow to the island. details to follow...

saying goodbye really sucks

beth and melly

we've had a string of last hurrahs, goodbye parties, quality time and poignant departures lately. here are some of the more crazy, meaningful highlights, or uh lowlights... [is that a word?]

an old picture of the girls...

melanie left on july 3 for england. although she was the youngest, mama melly managed to keep us sorted and organized. we always had a great time whether we were doing something or absolutely nothing together.

i will definitely miss her story telling technique; the rambling kind that tended to get so off track in a hilarious way. i would also venture to say she was the quirkiest among us...i've never seen anyone else do this internal snorting thing to scratch their ears. melly was a savior when i was in the hospital; she often came to sit for hours on end in that hole, bringing me anything my lil' heart desired. she also had a funny, twisted sense of humor. take as evidence, while i was in the hospital she brought me a tub of homemade guacamole saying 'since i obviously couldn't make it on my own...' if you don't know, making guac is how i got into this whole hand surgery business. she taught me a ton of british slang and proved to be an excellent travel partner, whether we were heading to korea or the ski slope. i will truly miss having melly around. her last night we hit up an izakaya and then retired to carrie's for her last minute packing.

us laughing to try and avoid crying.

one of my favorite melly pics



beth left the following week for scotland after a long decision making process. it was agonizing for all of us girls as we listened while beth worked out her reasoning, knowing we should give honest advice but wanting to simply urge her to stay.

she gets the most talented award for being a helluva actress and songstress. i admire her strong spirit and independence; she would often travel around japan and even to thailand solo. she's also sensitive and compassionate in situations where i would lose patience. this trait makes her a great listener and a gem to have around in a pickle. and to top it all off, when i was handicapped and couldn't properly shower, beth shaved my armpits for me. what a friend. i'll miss her company.
you know we like to stretch out any reason to party...
we had an open mic at the local live music bar...

we had a beach day with all the friends...

followed by an izakaya dinner.

not bad for a self-timer pic with the camera balanced on someone's car...

their departure makes me even more thankful that i've got good friends here. we've shared tons of belly-aching laughter, some tears, embarassing moments, girlie private secrets, each other's companionship and we've all grown and gained much from our time together. while it seemed so short, i take great comfort in knowing that i've forged long-lasting friendships with these two beautiful women.

fuji rock: worth every yen.

i think my fuji rock high is finally starting to wear off. it was such an incredible few days… i didn’t want to come home and when i did return, i couldn’t stop talking about it. mel, carrie, liz and i met on the train heading for naeba ski resort, in a town about an hour away, nestled in lush green mountain valleys. we were carrying hiking packs bigger than us stuffed with boxes of wine, bottles of liquor, gallons of fruit juice, bags of food…i did manage to bring a tent although i had to fasten it onto the outside of my bag. on the train you could spot the other people also en route to the festival…the mood was total excitement. i was so pleased the trek ended up being stress free. when we arrived at echigo yuzawa station we got in line for the shuttle bus. we drank beers and caroused with others while waiting. we fit on the second bus that arrived and the 45 minute trip flew by. arriving at the venue, we called some friends who were already there to come and meet us. we traded in our high-dollar tickets for a couple of wristbands, one for the 3-day event and one for the camp ground. our friend led us up a winding path on a mountain side to a spot where he’d set up camp.

over the course of the event lots of other friends would join us so we ended up with about 20 of us together.

the campsite was on the side of a mountain, a fairly steep mountain as it’s used as a ski slope. it made for some funny times… especially when walking, uh stumbling, home drunk, weaving your way through a sea of similar looking tents… at least we had our sexy headlamps.

one friend did end up passing out in someone else’s tent. they politely asked him to move. ha, ha.
the dynamic at the festival was amazing. we met so many interesting people including these three hotties.

we first spotted them on the train and then ran into them while dancing the night away on the first evening. they decided to move camp and set up their tent with ours. we were glad when we woke up the next morning, slightly foggy, and decided they were indeed cool, it wasn’t an alcohol induced opinion. their senses of humor jived so well with ours and their energy level was enviable. they also knew a lot of interesting cultural stuff that surprised us, like bands and movies. people in our small town are sheltered and i haven’t met anyone here who seems to have such worldy pop-knowledge. it helps they all live in the youth hub of Osaka i’m sure. [we are currently planning a trip to visit them.]
thursday night we wandered through some of the exhibits like these statues made of old cars. the artist was also on hand to chat with us.



friday 7/29/05 was the first day of bands. the schedule ran from 11 am until 6 am each day on 6 stages with more than 125 bands, not including the djs that would provide the soundtrack for our late-night shenanigans.

it was blazing hot in the tent in the mornings, so although we’d been awake to see the day dawn, we couldn’t sleep much after about 8:30. liz and i would get up and stagger up the mountain a bit into a shady spot where we could sleep on the soft lawn. the smell of the grass was intoxicating. after that it was breakfast and jokes with our boy-friends before we all headed off in different directions.

i love that about my friends here, we are all independent and strong enough people that we didn’t have to stay up each other’s butts the whole time. if there was something someone wanted to see, they’d set off on their own if necessary.

there were also plenty of distractions; artist interviews, craft stalls, tons of unusual for japan kinda food.

and plenty of crazy people to socialize with.

we made the 20-minute walk from the campsite to the wooded stage area by 2:00 on friday, early enough to get front and center for our first show.
here’s what i took in on friday:
cake – i couldn’t believe how adult and old they were. i guess it was about 7 years ago when i was really into these guys. their voices and quirkiness were still evident though.
acidman – Japanese hardcore
Kaiser chiefs – one of my ‘must-see’s. quite possibly the best performance of the festival. we were nestled up front amongst the rowdy crowd where the air was just electric.
the music - a super popular british band that sounded like whitesnake and jane’s addiction all in one. couldn’t believe the number of people that were so into them considering i’d never heard of them before.
coldplay – i didn’t see them, simply heard them as we were trekking back to the campsite to change out of wet clothes and stock up on drinks. the rain that absolutely poured every day wasn’t even enough to bring down the fantastic mood.

foo fighters – dave grohl in classic form. they were nutty and rocked out.
everyone eventually collected back at the campsite where we whiled the night away.
on saturday:
los lobos of la bamba fame had to cancel because of flight problems which was disappointing. the sky opened up this morning and drove many people into the few kiosks and venues that were covered.
the bravery – another ‘must-see’. they rocked out and had the whole crowd dancing and amped up. they won over a couple of our british friends who’d never heard ‘em.

asian dub foundation – commanding stage presence and a fab blend of lyrical and musical styles. creative hip-hop and reggae.

beck- i don’t care if he has a wife…i want him now. he played electric and acoustic bits and had an imaginative stage show, including a dinner table set up with great looking food which culminated in a utensil and plate orchestra. awesome.

fatboy slim – i danced my ass off. he played a really long set and everyone was into totally into it.

liz and i planned to make a pit stop back at the camp site but i was so exhausted i passed out. our rockin’ Japanese boys promptly woke me up and we spent the night drinking and chatting.
on sunday:
liz and i listened to the knack as we unashamedly showered with bottles of water behind the porta-potties on a hill side overlooking one of the stages.
the magic numbers - a chill, jammy blend of all sorts sounds. the singer had an intoxicating voice.
aqualung – a british band our friends were into. they were a little too jazzy and barry manilow for my taste. we watched for a bit and then laid down to listen in a patch of woods near the stage.
the futureheads – one of my new favorite bands, even before the concert. a 4-piece that doesn’t really have a clear lead singer because they get into so many catchy voice jams that retain the dance rock sound i love.
doves – chilled out and talented group bordering on hippie.
royksopp – was going to meet a friend here but it was so packed we never found each other which was perfectly fine as i was content to dance myself silly. these guys were a great surprise. blending all sorts of electronic genres and samples into a high energy, smooth sound.
moby – i used to absolutely love this man so i was glad to finally see him live. surprisingly, he played some acoustic songs and a few covers. i was hoping that seeing him in person would give me a better idea of how he creates his music, i.e. what is a sample and what is produced by him, but unfortunately it didn’t. still the set was phenomenal.
the mars volta – these guys are out of control in a good way. there are tons of them but they manage to keep their sound really tight while traveling from one extreme to another. really fun to watch.
sigur ros – an Icelandic group whose music is as expansive and surreal as the landscape from which they hail. you have to hear them to truly understand how ethereal and angelic their sound is. the show was low key, not a whisper from a huge audience, and absolutely mesmerizing. i felt like i was in a drug induced euphoria. thinking about it gives me goosebumps. you should check these guys out.
primal scream – bizarre. i recognized a few of their songs and enjoyed watching them rock out 80s hair-metal style although it wasn’t the best performance ever.

we met up with our Japanese boy friends at the last show and went to the all-night dj tents with them. it was so refreshing to hang out with homegrown boys who are wild and crazy and like to dance and who are able to let go and enjoy themselves despite the conservative roots of their culture. that was one of the overwhelming positives of this festival; being surrounded by intriguing, friendly and like-minded people who know how to have fun. i hated to see the night fade into morning…we literally partied all night so we’d be awake to catch the first shuttle bus at 6am back to the train station. we said goodbye to our new friends, wishing i could return with them to their japan, so different from the city where i disembarked the train and headed straight to work.

while i'm thinking about it...

--i did a homestay in nagoya, japan when i was a high school student about *gasp!* 9 years ago. while here, i took calligraphy classes, aka shodo. i was always botching my drawings; writing the wrong line first, not bending my arcs correctly, etc. mistakes that aren’t surprising considering the perfection with which write. after drawing, you would carry it up to the teacher and bow in front of him while he corrected your paper. the first kanji character that i ever got a big orange swirl on [the mark for correct] was shiawase, or happiness.

after returning to the u.s. i promptly had that kanji tattooed on my foot as a constant reminder of the life-changing experience. recently i was talking to my supervisor and the subject of tattoos came up. i was honest, he asked to see. ha, ha… bare in mind that one kanji character has multiple readings, or pronunciations, which is one reason deciphering them is so difficult. turns out this kanji is also read as koichi, my supervisor’s first name. i told him i was gonna get a heart tattooed around it next week.


--i am going damn near nuts trying to sort out a new driver’s license here. consistent with so many Japanese things, there is a ton of inane paperwork to be done. you need documents that simply verify other documents you’ve already waited in line forever for which just explain other government-issued things, like my i.d. card. tomorrow i’m going to the dmv which is a convenient 2-hour drive away. everyone knows how frustrating the dmv is, just imagine if you had to go there and speak a foreign language. i am not looking forward to this.


--got a new car recently…well, new to me. my old car rental company went out of business so i’m now leasing from a little Suzuki dealership out in the middle of nowhere that the maintenance man from my other high school knew about. he’s my self-proclaimed japanese father and he’s always willing to help me out. his daughter is living in australia so he has an idea about how tough it can be. even though he speaks only a few english words, we communicate well because he talks slow and deliberately, choosing words that i’ll probably know, and never giving up on me when i don’t understand. he’s the cutest thing ever. my car however, is not. it’s ugly. no way around it. a boxy, squatty, tiny, dull metallic, rusty car. at least it has wheels and a motor. i’ll be saving a little money with this new ride, but i would be willing to pay a little more for some style and pizzazz. how vain, i know.


--so the hospital was days of boredom, constant pain, near insanity, but at least it improved my social life. last night i went out with a fella i met while in the hole. he speaks no english so it was excellent practice. we went to one of my favorite spots, the sleeping sheep, right down the street and it was dead. only us until another guy came in a while later. he and the bartender were talking about me, in barely hushed tones, as if i couldn’t understand them [i know the bartenders fairly well so they are aware that i’ve got a little japanese ability.] finally he asked how my arm was doing? i was confused until he began to explain that he was in the hospital at the same time i was. he’d cut his mop of hair so i didn’t recognize him. how nuts; 3 patrons in a bar, all of them were in the same ward of the same hospital at the same time, and it turns out we all have the same doctor. guzen ne! that means coincidence...i just learned that one...i love it when i get to use new words...
my friend had to work early, so after he left i continued to hang out with the guys that were working. they were feeding me shochu and green tea until closing time. afterwards we went to hole in the wall yakitori restaurant to eat and drink. it was late and i was drunk which goes a long way to explaining the raw chicken livers and grilled chicken skin that i ate. i finally made it home about 4:30. those boys sure know how to party.

speaking of the hospital improving my social life…i’m going out tonight again with the doctor that i have a mad crush on. we’ve been messaging on our cell phones for weeks trying to find a time to get together. unfortunately, i’m increasingly convinced he’s married. i know…you’re saying “you haven’t asked him yet?”…no…i know…you’re right…it’s ridiculous…but not knowing is almost better…i can just keep my silly crush and continue to flirt with him without feeling like a home wrecker. aren’t i alleviated of all responsibility in the case of any infidelity by using the ‘i had no idea you were married’ defense? kidding, slightly.

it’s that time of year.

school’s out for summer vacation. to celebrate my teachers organized a party recently. we had a bowling tournament; my team [ishiyama sensei, next to me, and narita sensei, across in the middle] won and i took second overall for the ladies. it was a blast. then we were on to the all you can eat and drink madness at yasune, a huge beer garden that’s reminiscent of the inside of a circus tent. then on to the third party but after all you can drink only a few of us managed to make it this far.

summer also marks the end of contracts for JET participants. this means many of our friends are heading home, some because they’ve exhausted the maximum 3 years on the program, others because they have obligations in their countries, others because they thought they were ready to go home, but as their time comes to a close they are rethinking and remorseful about leaving. a couple of the people in this latter category have scrambled and found private positions. we recently had a huge goodbye party at funaei, one of our favorite holes that recently moved shop into a classy building that doesn’t quite feel right yet.


mel, liz, beth, me and carrie; the girls.


followed by karaoke galore.

beth and melanie are both leaving japan which has made for some emotional moments lately. we had a last big hurrah at the fuji rock concert this past weekend [more to come on that] and it’s incredibly sad to think we won’t have the chance to make memories like that all together again. it helps to remind myself why it was that many of us ended up in japan, doing this job in the first place. we made changes in our lives in an attempt to learn and experience the new. moving on from here means encountering different, exciting challenges. although i know i won’t be fulfilled by this role forever, as many of my friends wouldn’t because we are all a little wild and filled with wanderlust, it just seems that until now our time together has been so short. amazing how attached you can become to people in so few months. it’s been a year now. how unbelievable.