Interesting Happenings

A lot has happened since our last blog. This one should be good. Where to start? Let's see... A new 7Eleven opened up down the block and it drew a big crowd. Before the actual opening day locals were out front snapping pictures of the new establishment. This isn't some super-duper 7Eleven equipped with tanning beds and quiche, just an average 7Eleven. So, I found the neighborhood photographers a little odd.

Something that's even more odd is the cleaning lady at my often patronized Gold's Gym. In the middle of the day when men are walking around naked in the locker room, the cleaning lady is just feet away sweeping the floor. None of the men leaving the shower area seem to care if a fifty-something year old lady is in the locker room with them. Two questions: Is the floor that dirty that it needs to be cleaned during business hours? Would it be equally okay for a male cleaning person to be doing the same in the ladies locker room during business hours? I'm thinking that the answer to both questions would be "No." (FYI-I don't shower at the gym, I shower at home...that's just too weird).

Here's one more for you. In most restrooms in the U.S. there's a modesty panel that's between the urinals and the doorway of a men's restroom. The purpose being to keep any innocent eyes from catching an unintentional view of some old man's Full Monty. Oddly, this safeguard doesn't exist in Japan. In most men's restrooms, anybody walking by can catch a good view of men urinating should they look in that direction at the same time that someone is opening the restroom door. It's interesting how men's and women's body privacy seem to be viewed differently here. Personally, it doesn't make me too uncomfortable. But I can see how it would be uncomfortable for some guys.

Please allow me to share my recent hospital experience with you. It's WAY different than our health care system in the U.S. First off, Mom if you're reading this, your son is fine, take a deep breath. Back to the story.... this past Monday night I was experiencing some strange symptoms that I thought could be telling me that I was having a heart attack (FYI-I'm currently 33 years old and in the best shape of my life with zero of the risk factors for heart problems). Regardless of my current health condition, I was naturally a bit worried when I was experiencing unusual chest pressure and numbness in my left arm all the way down to my fingertips. So, I went to the nearest hospital to have some blood drawn and tested, get a urine analysis, get some x-rays, obtain a CT scan, an EKG and consult with two separate doctors (one a hematologist and the other a neurologist) who both examined me thoroughly. They also scheduled me for an MRI two days later in a neighboring town which I did go to and have completed as well. Without drawing this out any further, the end diagnosis was a pinched nerve in my neck (this injury dates back to my football days in high school) which was causing the strange sensation in my chest and arm that freaked me out. Prognosis: I'll be fine if I just rest for a few weeks and stop working out at Gold's Gym as if I'm training for the Mr.Olympia competition. I must admit, I do go a little overboard (intensity and duration) when I visit the gym and see my weight machines and dumbbells that I've been thinking about all week (tear). Now, I know what you're thinking...How much did it cost? Do you and Veronica have enough money left after your hospital visit to feed yourselves until your next pay check? Get this...my total bill (FOR EVERYTHING) was about 130 dollars. Shoot, I can spend 130 bucks on a week's worth of groceries. The best part was, when I told my work colleagues how much it had all set me back, they were very apologetic saying that, "It's too expensive! They raised individual health care costs recently to unreasonable levels. If you had had all of that done a few years ago, you would have only spent about 80 dollars." Do I dare say it. Why can't the U.S. offer similar affordable health care to its citizens? The answer has a lot to do with the people who are making money (due to the high cost of health care in America) and their willingness to bribe lawmakers (I mean, contribute to their campaign fund) in order to keep the system the way it is so that they can maintain their unreasonably high income for activities that SHOULD BE punishable by law. Am I putting it too harshly? I don't think so. America has other countries beat in a lot of different categories related to quality of life. This most definitely is not one of them. If you are an American, you need to live by two main rules. Number one, don't get sick...ever! Number two, don't get old.

This gets me to my last topic today. America's emphasis on individualism versus Japan's emphasis on the community or group. It's not until you leave the individualism infused environment of the U.S. that you see how detrimental that view is to the overall health of the community. Over the years, I've heard many students say to other students, "Wow...sucks to be you." Who says that? Seriously, how is that going to help fix the problem? This type of attitude also helps to foster the feelings of hate and loneliness in a society. Last week, a fifteen year old girl at my junior high school died. The outpouring of support that the students and teachers gave to this girl's family was enough to make even the toughest of tough guys cry. For example, I've never seen a teacher in America volunteer their entire weekend to help console and assist a grieving family like I saw here last week. It was an uplifting moment during a very sad time. These are the moments that are remembered most throughout one's life that help give a person peace of mind and comfort. I wish the U.S. had more of that. It's not as though we can't be more communal and supportive, we just choose not to. Why is that? Can Americans unlearn poor habits and adapt healthier ones? If we're not too pig-headed and proud I think we have a chance of doing so. Veronica and I have made it our mission to raise our future children in an open-minded setting that's very multinational and worldly. We hope that this will foster a sense of the "greater good" in our childrens' heads and that they will grow up being fully aware of their impact on their community. Maybe there's other new parents or future parents in America that share this view with us. Let's hope.

Peace and Love,

Jon & Veronica

FYI--The pictures this post are of Valentine's Day dinner, the students waxing the school floor (hey, many hands make light work right?), and Veronica's St. Patrick's Day hallway board at school.

Cute Kids, Waru Gaki, and Haircuts, Oh My!

It seems that in the past few months there have been a lack of new gained experiences that are uniquely Japanese. I don't mean in the sense of visiting new areas, or seeing famous places, which we obviously did over winter vacation while having fun with Kristin, but new experiences when it comes to everyday life (la vie cotidienne) that are different from our American experiences. It seems that nowadays we are getting used to everything and not much is "new" and exciting. I am happy to report now that the last couple weeks have been filled with different "new" and exciting unique Japanese experiences that I would love to share with you!

One amazingly wonderful thing that is different here is how much I like my job and "bosses" as opposed to my last job in the States - and how much they like me! (Sorry Deli people if you're reading this, I'm not talking about YOU!) This was especially evident on January 26th. On the Sunday of that week I came down with some kind of illness that was flu-like and lasted about a week. Since I normally never get sick, and especially not for that length of time, I'm sure it was a Japanese strain that I had never been exposed to. It was at its worst for the first few days, but being someone who doesn't like to shirk responsability, I dragged myself to work on Monday. When Tuesday rolled around I forced myself to call in sick. Wednesday I still wasn't feeling good, but two days of calling in sick to me were unthinkable so I dragged myself in. (Plus we don't get paid for days we call in sick!) The vice principal, principal and head teacher took a look at me, conferred for a moment and then the head teacher came over to me, felt my forehead, declared I had a fever and told me to go home. They assured me that they would not call the Board of Education or my company to let them know that I was not at school. "For us, you are at school today, yes? Please, we will not call. Kiotskete, ne?" This meant that I would be paid for not working on Wednesday. I can't conceive of this happening in any American company, especially not where I worked last. From an ethical standpoint I don't know if it was the best thing to do, because I didn't work and got paid, but the idea that someone wanted to extend such kindness warmed my heart and I had the urge to cry. Japanese kindness is wonderful!

Another wonderful new experience was my visit to an elementary school. I went to teach 5 classes - two "English" classes, two "Social studies" classes and one combining the two. I taught 6th and 5th graders all about myself and all about American culture. Going into it was a little nerve racking since I wasn't sure how much English ability the kids would have and I knew that the Japanese teachers would not be fluent in English. Once I got there, I was surprised at the kid's ability and only had a few moments where I was unable to explain something. The difference between the elementary school and the junior high I normally teach at was that the kids had not gotten to the "I'm too cool for school" phase and so almost all of them were really excited to learn all about me and America. It was also really fun to play "Red Light, Green Light" (a 'typical' American game) and answer their enthusiastic questions. Plus, Japanese kids are SO cute! :)

Over time, I've discovered that my junior high is probably not typical of Japanese junior high schools. My school is declared "the worst junior high in Ashikaga" and I am discovering why. There are a few badly behaved kids that unfortunately make the whole school stand out as "the bad seed." I think I've mentioned before some of the pranks the kids have pulled, but let me add some more. It recently occurred to me to ask Jon if a fire alarm going off at school was an almost every day occurrence. He told me no, which came as a surprise to me because at my school this is definitely the case. The other day I was asked to go help a teacher with an issue. I followed her into a girl's bathroom where we found a desk and a chair locked into two different stalls. We had to maneuver ourselves into the stalls to remove said objects. Just a couple weeks ago, I was looking out the window of the teacher's room when trash began to rain from the sky. Straws, chalk and other objects fell onto the front steps of the school. One piece of chalk with particular good timing and aim happened to strike a student in the forehead as he looked up to see what was falling from the sky. I was told not to go pick up the trash because "they might throw more and we don't want you to get hurt". The worst of the misbehaved kids have discovered that saying "fuck you" is not something I appreciate, so of course they make sure they say it often, and loudly to me. On the week that I was sick, a group of them headed me off as I was leaving school and got up in my face saying "fuck you, girl" several times. What's funny is that the reactions that the teachers have toward these kids is not as I would expect it to be. They laugh at the kid's antics, and when those kids get especially angry, they only push them into a room and have a talking-to with them. It doesn't seem to be helping matters any. The latest of their antics was this Thursday when I gave a demonstration lesson to the other junior high ALTs and some English teachers. I guess they figured out where our discussion was held after the lesson because we were rudely interrupted by one kid opening the door and yelling out "fuck you, man" before running away. After I ran and locked the door to prevent another rude interruption, they contented themselves with yelling the same type of thing from the hallway - and including my name. Despite these unpleasant kids, I want to emphasize again how much I LOVE my job and most of the kids! It is never boring, that's for sure.

Well, spring is officially here in Japan. Last week on Thursday was the first day of spring according to the Japanese calendar, and coming right along with spring came our first snowfall. As you can see in the picture, it wasn't much to speak of, but funnily enough, when I got to school the morning after the snow fell, I discovered that school had been delayed an hour. Better safe than sorry, I guess? It was interesting to hear about Japanese traditions to welcome spring in. They include throwing soybeans out of your house to expel evil spirits, eating soybeans, and planting heads of sardines in the garden and hanging them from your porch also to expel evil spirits. Maybe the bad smell keeps them away. :)

I've been trying to avoid getting my hair cut by cutting off all the split ends I can find while bored at school. I was afraid of a hairstylist misunderstanding my wishes and meeting with a hair disaster! However, it's been more than a year since I've had my hair cut, and it was getting a little crazy. So, this week I finally decided that enough was enough and asked an English teacher to help me set up an appointment. Displaying typical Japanese kindness, she called the salon to set up an appointment with her stylist and gave me a discount card of 60% off! Yesterday with much trepidation I set off for the salon. Of course, I had nothing to be worried about, and aside from the person I was with at the moment announcing to the salon what I had just finished doing (yell - "shampoo!" answer by all other employees - "please, enjoy!"), it wasn't much different from an American haircut. Of course, it took me a couple tries and a lot of body language to get the stylist to understand what I wanted, but we got there in the end. My stylist was a young, skinny guy, with very 80s hair - long and curly permed all pushed over to one side. I had a lot of fun watching him cut my hair. With all the swooping and lunging, I felt that I was watching the "haircut ballet". In the end I was very happy with the results and, wanting to make sure that he understood that I liked it, I told him I loved him, and bowed. After all, the students are always telling me that in English, so hopefully he didn't misunderstand!

I'll finish up with a thought about Valentine's Day. How are all of you going to celebrate? Here, the tradition is that women give men chocolate. Then, a month later on March 14th, the men return the favor and give women chocolate. Although many of us probably agree that Valentine's Day is a commercial, unnecessary holiday that just pressures us into buying romantic paraphanelia, at least in Japan the giving is equalled out, right? We hope that you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day and a great week! Ai shiteru all!