Lionesses and Tiger Cages and Care Bears, Oh My!

This week in numbers

Vietnamese roommates: 2
Vietnamese words/phrases I have learned: 9
Vietnamese words/phrases I have forgotten: 8
Hours of Vietnamese language listening per day: 2
Hours of Japanese conversation per day: 5
Walking distance to school in minutes: 10
Hours per weekday spent in classes: 4
People in my class: 10
Countries represented in my class: 8
Countries outside of Asia represented in my class: 1
Times I have been asked how tall I am: 250
Times I have been asked if I play basketball or volleyball: 150
Times I have been asked where I come from: 120
Times I have lied about where I come from: 6
School staff and teachers whose names I know: 9
Percentage of school days I have eaten lunch in the staff lounge: 100
Percentage of the time I understand what I am eating: 15
Apples I have bought and eaten: 6
Cost of above apples, in dollars: 11
Milliliters of unsweetened green tea per day: 800 (3 cups)
Milliliters of water per day: 500 (2 cups)
Rank of a 400g (1 lb) bag of granola among all purchases: 1
Times I have been to the ocean: 1
Meals per day that include rice: 2.5
Percentage of the time I am the only person of my race in the room/area: 98
Children who boo/hissed in unison as I went by on my bike: 200
Days completed of Oprah and Deepak's meditation series: 7

Note: Above are averages, approximates or guesstimates where appropriate.

settling in

My “settling in” week has been exquisitely frustrating and rewarding and humiliating and empowering. Quite a package, eh?

Now that things have calmed down a bit, I have finally been able to create space in my life for a daily meditation practice. The first order of business has been a slow but thorough cleaning of my apartment/dorm room. For me, cleaning, especially the floors, is a grounding and meditative experience. It is a great way to be thankful to the space I am living in. Plus, it keeps the 2-3 inch cockroaches to a minimum (I am glaring at one as I write this sentence). They are pretty happily in residence; this place hasn’t had a thorough cleaning in, um... I have no idea how long. Maybe years. I also have been meditating for 20 minutes daily with Oprah and Deepak. Namaste, guys!

Students

In my class of ten people, we represent eight countries: Bangladesh, Nepal (2), Vietnam (2), Russia, China, Philippines, Japan (teacher) and USA (that would be me!). I am with two Nepali students in this picture. I have never felt so aware of my race as I am here in Japan. It is a learning experience to almost always be the only one in the area of my race. When people refer to me in the third person, they will often do so as “you know, the White person. Yeah, the American girl.” I have experienced this for short periods in the past, but never all the time like I do here. There is only one other very-light-skinned, non-Asian individual in my school, who I see in passing once or twice per day.

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social skydiving, throwing the covers over my head, and fun with problems

I have also made it a point to engage in at least 2 hours per day in natural Japanese conversation. I get one hour per day when I eat lunch in the school lounge with the teachers and a few other students, and the other hour I wander around and get lost and find someone (or several someones) to talk to, either by sitting down and having lunch, asking for directions, petting their cat, or going shopping and talking to people in the store. My goal is to do this with “beginner’s mind,” with genuine curiosity about the other person. The whole idea makes my inner introvert cringe and want to hide and read random stories on the Internet.

Occasionally, I give in and do exactly that (read useless stories on the Internet). Like the time I tried to use an ATM for the first time and found out that none of my 2 debit and 2 credit cards worked. I had 500 Yen ($5) in my pocket, and it was Friday night. The banks wouldn’t open until Monday. I was NOT a happy camper. Or the time I got yelled at for swimming in the snorkeling/diving only area. Or the time I got boo/hissed by several hundred school kids for my state of (un)dress according to their cultural standards. Or the time I... ahem, anyway, moving on.

Yummy Food!!

Despite having some hard moments like the above, and quite a few more, I am adjusting very well. My roommate is a dream. She is a great cook, and all I have to do is clean the dishes and the apartment (which I would have done anyway), and she cooks incredible Vietnamese cuisine, and we eat dinner tonight every night. Technically I have another roommate, but I’ve only seen her twice since I moved in, so I’m not sure exactly what her status is. Strike that, she just walked in the door, so I’ve met her three times. And now she is screaming.... Apparently she just found aforementioned cockroach while trying to take a shower. I escorted Mister Cockroach outside of our building so she could shower in peace. No, I didn’t kill him. Yes, I am a bleeding heart or whatever that makes me. Get over it.

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School

Also, my school is awesome. The staff and teachers are amazing, excellent people, and I am learning in leaps and bounds. Most of the time I feel like a total idiot, but I purposefully asked to be put in a class that was a little too hard for me, as a challenge, and an exercise/lesson in humility. It’s a hard lesson, but I’m learning it. Kicking and screaming and dragging my feet, but I am learning it.



It’s been an eventful first full week in Okinawa, and I am off to bed to find out what tomorrow brings.

Peace,

Sam

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p.s. Yes, the title is completely random. It made me giggle. Sorry if you were waiting for the punch line; there isn’t one. Though I did learn the Japanese word for “Tiger cage,” which was the inspiration for the quote. And we were arguing about lions and lionesses in my grammar class. So I guess there is a punch line.

p.p.s. Sakura (cherry blossom) photos below, by request! Sorry if they are slow to load; i tried compressing them but they lost too much clarity in the smaller file sizes.