This week (今週間) in numbers:
Note: I am going to start using some Kanji that I know well. They are translations of the word/phrase just before them. They do not change the meaning whatsoever, so you can safely ignore them if they annoy you. I will try not to overdo it. I'll try, anyway...
Kanji (漢字) I recognize consistently: 475
Time I recognize what people are saying in Japanese (日本語) (percent): 20
Time (時間) I can follow the gist of the conversation in Japanese (percent): 70
Class clown success in distracting strictest teacher (先生) (percent): 10
Class clown success in distracting least strict teacher (percent): 90
People (人) wearing facemasks (percent): 3
Vietnamese e-books bought: 4
Total time spent learning Vietnamese (minutes): 30
Russian words I learned: 1
Time my Russian friend was excited about me speaking my one word (minutes): 30
Other Russian friends she brought to hear me speak (言う) my one word: 1
Days (日) completed of Oprah and Deepak Chopra’s meditation series: 22
Meditation sessions (twenty minutes「分」each): 10
Hot baths taken for muscle tension: 3
Massages received (90-minute treatments): 2
Times I used a spoon, fork or knife to eat: 0
Days my roommate brought home free fruits and/or veggies from work: 5
Time I recognize what people are saying in Japanese (日本語) (percent): 20
Time (時間) I can follow the gist of the conversation in Japanese (percent): 70
Class clown success in distracting strictest teacher (先生) (percent): 10
Class clown success in distracting least strict teacher (percent): 90
People (人) wearing facemasks (percent): 3
Vietnamese e-books bought: 4
Total time spent learning Vietnamese (minutes): 30
Russian words I learned: 1
Time my Russian friend was excited about me speaking my one word (minutes): 30
Other Russian friends she brought to hear me speak (言う) my one word: 1
Days (日) completed of Oprah and Deepak Chopra’s meditation series: 22
Meditation sessions (twenty minutes「分」each): 10
Hot baths taken for muscle tension: 3
Massages received (90-minute treatments): 2
Times I used a spoon, fork or knife to eat: 0
Days my roommate brought home free fruits and/or veggies from work: 5
Looking in All the Wrong Places
As it turns out, I was looking for the wrong foods in the wrong places. Granted, almost everything is expensive here, such as these delicious green-tea KitKats, but the food situation is not as bad as I thought. In the right markets and at the right times, the right foods are affordable. It further turns out that my roommate is an expert at knowing this system, as she works in produce delivery. We have a hard time communicating with each other due to the language barrier, but after she came home for the third day in a row with an armful of fresh greens and said they were “free,” we finally got the conversation to make sense. I was elated, and now better fed. Thanks to the above, I have been able to decrease red meat intake significantly, which makes this "usually-vegetarian" happy.
RELAX!!! Just like the nice machines are telling you to...
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To help with stress and tension, I did end up getting the massage I had planned. It was a bit bizarre the first time, but good. It was much more relaxing the second time when I already knew what to expect. They hooked me up to three different machines to help with the massage, including “electric shock therapy” for my back muscles (their name for it, not mine), a waterbed with super-strong jacuzzi-style jets underneath, which my friend is enjoying in picture two, and a heated moving roller coaster-style lullaby chair (picture one). Oh, and all the machines talk to you. It felt a little creepy at first, but then again, the public toilets talk too, so I should be used to it by now.
Adaptation seems to be, to a substantial extent, a process of reallocating your attention. - Daniel Kahneman
I am adapting to life in Japan so fast it sometimes makes my head spin. Only when I think about it, though. Most of the time, I just go with the flow and don’t notice the things that are so different anymore. They’re just things. Like the facemasks people wear in public places so they don’t get sick, or the talking heated toilets, bowing to everyone, food in general, the Big Ben-themed school bell, sleeping on the floor, the sliding rice-paper doors, or not being able to read anything.
It’s actually depressing to write that list, and my brain won’t even let me reread it, because it makes me feel overwhelmed all over again. So I’m not going to say any more about it. Instead, I’m going to send you over to my favorite language blogger Benny the Irish Polyglot, who recently visited the Land of the Rising Sun. He writes about Japan’s “quirky cultural tidbits” here.
Speaking of adapting, I heard a large (50+) group of people speaking American English. It was my first time hearing so much English while here in Japan. It was a jarring feeling. They had just raced, and the video above is of their team, the vocal winners closest to the camera. They were a group of women whose husbands were in the Navy, and they live on base long-term.
It’s actually depressing to write that list, and my brain won’t even let me reread it, because it makes me feel overwhelmed all over again. So I’m not going to say any more about it. Instead, I’m going to send you over to my favorite language blogger Benny the Irish Polyglot, who recently visited the Land of the Rising Sun. He writes about Japan’s “quirky cultural tidbits” here.
Speaking of adapting, I heard a large (50+) group of people speaking American English. It was my first time hearing so much English while here in Japan. It was a jarring feeling. They had just raced, and the video above is of their team, the vocal winners closest to the camera. They were a group of women whose husbands were in the Navy, and they live on base long-term.
Word of Mouth (or: if you can’t read, ask someone for help. Or a lot of someones.)
I hardly bother Googling places anymore. “WHAT?!?” You may ask... I do still use it sometimes, but for finding places it is almost useless right now. “Few to none” of the sites I want to see have English versions, and I am a long way away from gleaning useful information from Japanese writing, let alone actually reading it. So I just stopped looking. I barely use the English side of my dictionary for the same reason. The translation doesn't make sense over half the time anyway, so I might as well skip the dictionary and just ask someone.
Instead, I rely heavily on word of mouth, like I did for the massage from my friend of a friend of a friend. And I ask for help A LOT. Even though I carry a map, I get lost constantly. Also, Japanese people are almost always happy to help, even in the middle of the night. Note: The Japanese addressing system is completely different from the US system, or most other places in the world, which makes it challenging to navigate. If you are interested in more details, read Derek Sivers’ excellent explanation here.
Instead, I rely heavily on word of mouth, like I did for the massage from my friend of a friend of a friend. And I ask for help A LOT. Even though I carry a map, I get lost constantly. Also, Japanese people are almost always happy to help, even in the middle of the night. Note: The Japanese addressing system is completely different from the US system, or most other places in the world, which makes it challenging to navigate. If you are interested in more details, read Derek Sivers’ excellent explanation here.
Vamos a Bailar La Salsa
Speaking of word of mouth, I was invited to a Salsa lesson and dance at a Salsa bar over the long weekend, and I had an absolute blast. Enjoy the video of the two accomplished dancers: the Peruvian bar owner and a Japanese man. The culture of salsa is completely different here. Though there were numerous excellent dancers, there was only one Latina in the room who grew up dancing. It’s a much more relaxed environment than Salsa in Tucson, for example. And, despite being the only white person in the room as usual, I felt less “out of place” there than almost anywhere else in Okinawa so far.
A couple nights later, I went to another Salsa bar where they were teaching a beginning Salsa lesson. The teacher was rude to me, and also I couldn't take part in the lesson because I was a few minutes late. The teacher and the two other Japanese people I talked to would speak to me only in English. I also saw/heard at least four American men speaking English, with no attempt whatsoever to speak Japanese. I looked it up afterward, and this bar is highlighted in "Okinawan Nightlife" on an English-language website. Not exactly a good place to practice my Japanese. Or even have fun, after that intro. I left pretty quickly. Bummer.
A couple nights later, I went to another Salsa bar where they were teaching a beginning Salsa lesson. The teacher was rude to me, and also I couldn't take part in the lesson because I was a few minutes late. The teacher and the two other Japanese people I talked to would speak to me only in English. I also saw/heard at least four American men speaking English, with no attempt whatsoever to speak Japanese. I looked it up afterward, and this bar is highlighted in "Okinawan Nightlife" on an English-language website. Not exactly a good place to practice my Japanese. Or even have fun, after that intro. I left pretty quickly. Bummer.
Let's Fight Fire with Fire Extinguishers!
For the first time, I was able to understand a non-trivial Kanji word/phrase that I didn’t know beforehand! It happened this morning, and I had no idea how to read/pronounce it, but I recognized that “消火器” meant “extinguish” + “fire” + “utensil/tool” = "fire extinguisher." I followed the arrow pointing below it and was rewarded with the sight of the expected fire-fighting tool. Yay!
SO EXCITED!!!
I have been pushing myself hard to learn the Kanji for a couple of reasons. I focused much more on speaking and listening while back in the States, because I wanted to be able to communicate with people when I got here, to be able to use natural conversation as a learning tool.
While I was successful at the above, I walk down the street and don't know what any of the buildings or shops are for except by looking for pictures or peering in through the windows (if it is on the first floor, which many are not). It is hard to find, say, a gym to work out in, when I can't look in a phone book, online or even recognize one when I pass it on the street.
Unlike with conversation, I don't know enough Kanji to even be able to guess even 10% of the meanings of the signs, maps, posters or anything else written, so using the world around me for learning just can't happen yet. However, I am determined to change that as soon as possible, which is why I have been studying Kanji so hard. Back to my books and apps!
That's all for now. Have a great week!
Sam
SO EXCITED!!!
I have been pushing myself hard to learn the Kanji for a couple of reasons. I focused much more on speaking and listening while back in the States, because I wanted to be able to communicate with people when I got here, to be able to use natural conversation as a learning tool.
While I was successful at the above, I walk down the street and don't know what any of the buildings or shops are for except by looking for pictures or peering in through the windows (if it is on the first floor, which many are not). It is hard to find, say, a gym to work out in, when I can't look in a phone book, online or even recognize one when I pass it on the street.
Unlike with conversation, I don't know enough Kanji to even be able to guess even 10% of the meanings of the signs, maps, posters or anything else written, so using the world around me for learning just can't happen yet. However, I am determined to change that as soon as possible, which is why I have been studying Kanji so hard. Back to my books and apps!
That's all for now. Have a great week!
Sam
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