日本語でできますか？よし〓

MY FIRST ATTEMPT TO BLOG FROM MY CELL PHONE... HOWS THIS...

slumber parties

japan is the land of unintentional slumber parties. most people here sleep every night on the floor atop a futon cushion they've hauled out of the closet and covered with layers of blankets. and every morn, the mattresses are refolded and stowed in the hollow space behind paper sliding doors. you see these 'beds' draped over balconies, airing out in the new spring air. you catch grandmothers beating the shit out of these cushions with fly swatters that seem way too small for the job. so when we all get together for a byob [bring your own bedding] party, the sheer volume of mattresses and blankets we use is crazy.
here we are enjoying breakfast that mama megan cooked up at her place on the morning after a great night out.

here's the stack of bedding that it took to keep us cushioned and warm in the niigata winter.

i survived the graduations

i made it through the mad graduation season. the rundown in brief sans photos of teachers drinking and students cause we know what a stir that'd cause...
that saturday was a drinking party with about 45 teachers from naoetsu high school in a local hotel’s banquet hall following their graduation ceremony. it was the first of these types of gatherings i’ve attended that had western seating, i.e. tables and chairs. as i only teach there for 3 hours on fridays, i’m not acquainted with many of the teachers and i’m still kind of a novelty. these parties are extremely social and fun. as with all these events, upon entering you draw a number to decide your seat. my table included one english teacher who i don’t know that well as we don’t teach together and 7 others i’d never met, which was perfectly fine with me. the first 30 minutes was spent honoring the homeroom teachers who had graduated classes that day, listening to their speeches and presenting them with gifts. then the kanpai speech and toast. for the next 30 minutes most people dug into the food, which surprisingly wasn’t all that great. then the mingling begins. using a tall bottle of beer as my ploy, i made the rounds, plopping down beside teachers i wanted to introduce myself to or ask questions of, and refilled their glasses as part of the traditional ice-breaking routine. many of the instructors i bow to in the hallways of the school but have no idea what they teach or what they are really like. initially most of the teachers are wary of speaking to me, instead they talk about me with others like i’m not present and are shocked when i reply in japanese to the questions that weren’t posited to me. after realizing i can carry on a bit of a conversation in their native tongue, they loosen right up. i was disappointed when they announced it was time for the ceremonial ‘bonzai!’ which is the official closing of the party. this time we raised our arms above our heads and roared ‘bonzai!’ 8 times, once in honor of each teacher of a graduating class. after the main event, there was a 2nd party held at a nearby karaoke bar. everyone was flitting so i was able to make the rounds. i also got roped into singing any and every English language song that any teacher borderline thought they might know the words to; the carpenters to celine dion. i will forever have a great memory of this quiet, distinguished teacher transformed; we were standing in the center of the floor between the parallel lines of tables, he was wearing his tie as a headband, starched white shirt unbuttoned, hopping towards me, thrusting his pelvis as we sang abba’s dancing queen. at some point i was using his tie to feign whipping him as he contorted his face in fake pain. whereas in america, this type of behavior would perhaps warrant taking sick leave to avoid facing colleagues the next day, here this is all perfectly acceptable and nothing to be embarrassed about. after an hour or so, that party officially concluded with a ‘bonzai’ and then the 3rd party officially commenced in the same bar at the same tables with the same participants. just another shred of evidence indicating how deeply entrenched they are in the idea of structure and regiment. quite a few of the teachers had already retired at this point and i was wondering who i’d rope into taxiing back towards my neighborhood with me to save a little expense when 2 of the teachers invited me on to a 4th party in takada. we daiko-ed [where the taxi comes with 2 men and one of them drives your car to the destination while the other follows in the company car. the japanese really have a lot of things figured out about the service industry] to suizokan, which means aquarium but is also some double entendre for drinking too much when you examine the kanji characters. it was a pe teacher, the man who owns the bar and works at naoetsu high school and me. the last time i’d gone out with this school’s staff, the teacher/owner watched out for me and this night was the same. he made sure i was following the conversation alright, introduced me to the other patrons and picked up the tab for my share of the drinks [well, since he owns the place he probably just wrote it off]. i bowed out a little early [about 2am] because sunday was minamishiro high school’s graduation so i worked 8:30 to 5:15 and then headed straight to our celebration held at a local sushi bar. another crazy few hours of beer and sake accompanied by interesting conversation with a few of my favorite teachers. the next morning, the alarm buzzes at 6 am. at 6:45 i begin my commute by bike, train and bus to yoshikawa high school for their graduation festivities.
en route to the school on a frozen morning

spent a couple hours in the morning shivering and freezing in the gym as i watched the ceremony. its so interesting that these three schools are vastly different in students’ levels, staff dynamics, geographical locations but still every commencement ceremony is identical, same red and white banners and decorations, same bonsai plants placed on podiums on the stage, same somber/stoic mood, same bowing regiment carried out by every student. at 5:30 we walked to a nearby restaurant for the obligatory drunk fest. the cuisine was excellent and plentiful this time, a trend common to ma and pop establishments that are off the beaten path. i caught the train back into town with a few other teachers and we stopped for a couple beers and some dumplings at a cute shop near naoetsu station. i’m into my 20th month living here and this was my second round of gradutions. these events highlighted an interesting dilemma for me personally. i’ve thought a bit lately about a social limbo in which i find myself, one in which i’m balanced between not being a novelty but also not being a full-fledged peer. i’ve been around long enough that most of the teachers are no longer curious about me and my antics but, at the same time, i can’t interact like true comrade or friend either. conversation, especially in-depth ones, are more labored than they would be with a japanese counterpart. i found that i enjoyed my time out with the teachers from naoetsu, those who know the least about me, the most. this realization emphasizes something i’ve known about myself for a while; i thrive in new, unknown situations. it’s also a little demoralizing because there is much more to me than the introductory conversations about ‘where ya from, whatcha like to do’ would reveal. unfortunately, i’m slightly disarmed of my wit and intellect as a result of the language barrier. i considered this problem before i came, realizing that understanding the nuances of culture and inter-personal interactions wouldn’t come easily. it’s honestly been much harder to meet people and gain true friends than i’d imagined. don’t get me wrong, i do alright, much better than some foreign cohorts, or i wouldn’t have made it this long. just an honest musing…

hong kong, part 2

thought i should finish this off before i head back to china later this month. [did i even tell you guys i'm going to beijing and shanghai on 4/28!!?!? woohoo!]
after an unbelievable day in macau and a sunrise ferry ride, we arrived back at the hostel about 7am and took a long sleep before we were able to motivate with a little help from starbucks [funny how it makes me feel guilty to admit that i look forward to that chain’s overpriced cuppa joe whenever i head to the city. their caramel macchiatos really have nothing on the ones served in my town at café nest except they’re portable and they're everywhere...]. with genki [translate: lively] juice in hand, we headed to jardine’s bazaar, a permanent market area that looks collapsible because of the haphazard way tarps and rods are strung together to form the shops.

this market’s mainly known for its clothing although there were plenty of butchers and food stalls to round out its appeal.

we wandered through a department store and the basement gourmet shop and grocery store. couldn't believe it when we ran across this sign touting our prefecture's fabulous rice:

i often wonder why i’m so fascinated by places where food is bought, sold and consumed. i asked myself this question again as i exited with several bags of ‘hard to procure in japan’ items. the complex was fronted by a huge Christmas display around which wrapped a line of eager kids waiting to hop on claus’ too-thin-to-really-be-santa’s lap. carrie tried to convince me that we needed to commemorate the moment, but i straight out refused after we saw that santa claus was played by a caucasian. could he even understand the kid’s excited cantonese whispers?! i hope so.

we had to hurry back anyway and primp for the evening which would begin with quidam, a cirque du soleil performance to which carrie and i sprang for front row seats. [yes, my wallet and $1500 were stolen the night before i went to HK. no, i didn’t let that stifle my extravagant tastes.] the performance was a magical puzzle, the pieces of which were skits exploring the waking and dreaming of a young, bored girl. the cast featured everything from Chinese yo-yo experts to amazing acrobats working strings of ribbon hanging from the rafters to armies of robot like actors. it was breathtaking, erotic and surreal. since photo taking isn't allowed inside, here's a beautiful shot of us out front.

we were starving but decided to tough it out while we searched for a chic restaurant in soho that the guidebook touted. passed this greasy spoon on the way which illustrated the r and l issue in asia.

using address numbers as our guide, we paced the same strip several times before settling on a wine bar with a good view. we later inquired about the mysterious spot we’d been hunting and found out the place we’d chosen replaced it less than a year ago. it was getting late, they said they were serving food, then had only a snack menu. we weighed our options, decided we needed a decent meal as the foundation for the wild night ahead, so we readied to leave as they approached with free glasses of champagne and a slightly larger menu which was enough to coax us back into our seats at the high top table. the staff was truly friendly, each of them spending a lot of time at our table chatting. they offered several suggestions for dance spots that we would check out. we decided we weren’t hip or rich enough for the first club as we stood behind the ropes leading to the entrance as some apparently famous singer made her entrance amidst camera flashes. our next option was dragon eye. in so many cases simply pretending that you know what you’re doing is enough to give you access to a myriad of unknown places. i got the impression that in hong kong that air of confidence wouldn’t amount to squat as the country appeared to be crawling with pretentious, versace-clad, big spenders. this theory was supported at the next club where we saw several people who weren't on the guest list get turned away, but we managed to enter due only to our foreign women-ness. turned out it was models night there. ha, ha. met some cool fellas and ended up making the rounds with them to sugar club and insomnia.
thanksgiving day was a blur of eating and shopping. a big contributing factor to us finally dragging out of bed were the huge plates of cheese fries and bloomin’ onion that awaited us at the nearby outback steakhouse. after we gorged and lined the pockets of that corporate giant, we made our way south to a skeazier part of town that was home to a grubbier market with pushier hawkers...

and more butchers...

this district is famous for its imitation designer brands. we dined on the sidewalk at a bustling kiosk and people watched for a bit before making our way back to causeway bay to clean up and hit the town.

we started at a small club that was plying the women with free grand marnier martinis. when we were about to be sick from the syrupy cocktails we hopped on, eventually finding ourselves in line for the hei hei club. we stepped up for the search, paid our money and strutted into the absolutely packed disco. in a bizarre twist, i met a beautiful hair stylist who happened to work at a Japanese salon, so although he didn’t speak English and i have no Chinese skills, we were able to communicate. it wasn't until the next evening, when we were gorging ourselves on proper sandwiches and tons of pale ale at a brewery, when we met a guy and a girl seated next to us, that we realized hei hei club is one of the hottest tickets in town.

the girl told us stories of getting turned away, or them refusing to let the most unattractive of the group in. they were amazed that we had no trouble. now, come to think of it, is that a commentary on how they graded our appearance? we spent that night at a grubby little hip-hop club. the following day we asked the hostel's owner to suggest a place where we could sample perhaps the most popular of all chinese delicacies; dim sum, an assortment of steamed and fried dumplings served in succession. luckily the spot was only a short walk from our room. the huge restaurant looked like it had been used the previous evening for a 1983 prom and there hadn't been time to take down any of the decorations. it was packed and hectic. we sat and waited to be lead to a small table in the corner from which we could watch the mayhem.

the menu was a 2 ft. wide ordering form with hundreds of lines of vertical chinese that was dizzying. because japanese kanji is based on borrowed chinese characters, we were able to recognize which dishes were chicken, pork or beef, but that was it. we were trying to solicit suggestions from the staff, none of whom could speak much english, when they pulled us up and urged us to walk around and look at other people's food. we returned to our table not sure how to go about making the connection between what we'd seen that looked tasty and the indecipherable script on the menu when the man and woman seated next to us offered to help in english. they asked us a few questions about what we liked and then ordered a few things for us.

some of the dumplins were tender goodness, some of them were sweet gooey and gross. at least everything was cheap so we kept pointing, guessing and ordering more till we were pleasantly full.
then it was back to the market.


we picked up some uber-cheap glasses we'd ordered from a sketchy eyewear shop for only $20, and surprise, they work! that night we found ourselves in several classy spots, fitting for our last night out in this high-class town. the people from the brewery had suggested a bar on the 17th floor of a high rise on the edge of the mainland which offered an unbelievable view of hong kong island. although we were dressed for the evening out, our nicest jeans stood in stark contrast to the apparel that surrounded us there. we purchased $16 martinis and found some standing space from which to enjoy one of the most incredible skylines i've ever seen. we didn't dare plop down on an overstuffed couch, as every seating area looked like a v.i.p section.

*sidebar: speaking of amazing skylines...check out this guy's website featuring an article on the top 15 skylines in the world complete with great pictures. as evidence to support my claims, he ranks hong kong #1.

then it was on to a glitzy ritzy dance club where i met usher [not really, but he looked and danced like him]. carrie had retired a bit earlier and the fellows asked me to join them for a late/early breakfast but i declined on the fact i had a 8:30am plane to catch. to spare myself the horror of recounting the details, we missed the plane anyway due to our lack of respect for lines at the check-in counter, spent hours talking with representatives of every airline trying to find a route that would land us somewhere, anywhere in japan that day. at one point we were gonna fly separately, me into Nagoya and carrie into Tokyo, until cathay pacific came through on 4 minutes notice for a flight. we paid our $500 and sprinted. by the time we arrived in japan we’d missed all the connecting trains to our town and spent the next 7 hours in an expensive sleeper car touring the countryside before reaching a station that’s about 45 minutes from home at 6am.
we were emotionally and physically exhausted.

can’t believe i made it to work the next day. my last few trips had gone off remarkably well, so it was about time for a test of determination in the face of vacation adversity. although this trip was colored by stress from the night before departure until the moment i arrived home, it was still a great adventure. hong kong is a bit rich for me, many of its people priding themselves on wealth and the appearance of it. however you don’t have to get far off of the beaten path to meet genuine souls with an earnest curiosty about you and the world. i was glad to discover that hong kong offered atmospheres running the gamut from pretentious to poor, exquisite to plain, unbelievable to totally comfortable.