Hikone and Such

UPDATE!

Typical onigiri and sandwich convenient store food

So I’m in Hikone City now which is on Japan’s largest lake, Lake Biwa! It is very serene and surrounded by mountains. Rice Crabby paddies are around too, but not in such quantities that this place would come off as the stix.

My apartment is the building on the right

One of my first duties was to purchase a sweet feminine bike, basket and all. I told myself I’d break the norm and get a mountain bike, but after trying them all out I realized how much more comfortable and convenient the standard bikes are. The basket has already been beyond useful.  Especially when I’m collecting homeless cats to stash in random people’s mailboxes…I cannot describe how much bliss I get riding along the lake or town without a helmet and without road rules or bike laws with the wind going through my dreadlocks. It’s especially nice while the weather is still somewhat cool and comfortable. It’s true you never forget how to ride a bike but you definitely get worse, or at least I did. I come so close to sideswiping other bikes and pedestrians on a daily basis, especially after having a few Suntory whiskeys in me ;)

My town actually has a Michigan State University branch in it! The students all left early due to the earthquake and tsunami but I think a new wave of them are heading over this summer.

My parking lot hehe

I joined a gym as well, purchased a mifi thing..which is amazing…why are the States not mass producing these! You just carry the thing in your pocket and have wireless internet anywhere you go at high speeds. Anyone can connect to it too, as long as they have the password. Similar to aircards I suppose but not as cool. My cell phone continues to baffle and bark at me but I’m getting more efficient at using it…it’s like a company walkie talkie.

My standard softbank phone

I keep looking for this area in my town where yakuza supposedly hang out so I can challenge them to a walk off…it’s a walk off…or a dance off ;) but alas I have yet to see any in this area just yet. I know there’s a huge shopping mall area where some hang one stop over.

I’ve met a bunch of people of course. My co-workers in the area have been warm and welcoming, inviting me to lunch and a party this Sunday but we’ll see if I go. I actually prefer the company of natives/locals. I experience more of the real Japanese cultural experience hanging out with them. I keep going to this place called bar Paraiso which is just a 2 minute bike ride from my place. They love speaking to me in English there and asking me about NY USA… it seems some previous employees have taught them some naughty things as they randomly blurt out that they have boners in English - _ - tsk tsk Nicole.

I’ve asked many people here what their dreams or intentions are. Foreigners come for many reasons, but some of the typical answers:

Obama town in Japan! Pretty rural and boring though -_-

1: to escape something from home, people, a broken relationship, pressure from family, it’s easy to hide in japan, all you have to do is turn your computer off and you are off the grid. There’s a strange sense of independence here. The areas are dense and crowded and people DO hang out, but at the same time people have this lonely/loner mentality as they go about their days, it’s intriguing. One thing I used to pride myself for back at home was being an amazing judge of character. But here I’m so confused by everyone. Everyone is a mystery to me.

Delicious Italian Cuisine Japan Style near my gym called Cannery Row

2: Some people just want to see the culture of japan. These are more anti social types who go traveling every chance to shrines, other areas, mountains, so on.

3: Some the girls - _- . Sure Japan has very exotic and pretty faces walking around but as a sole reason to come here… I tend to not like the people who give me this answer as much :P

4: This one kind of bothers me too. A few people…maybe more than a few. Come just because. It was a job that came available so they took it. And that’s fine, but then all they do is complain about how. They don’t like Japanese food, they hate visiting anything historic, they don’t enjoy or rant about cultural conflicts…why are you in Japan…what did you expect? Go somewhere else.

The locals I’ve met are all about getting married and running away to the US (They find their areas in Japan boring) or pursing their careers long term here.

Today I go on a business trip to a town called OBAMA where they sell president Obama merchandise…I will post pics once I’m there. Luckily, I’m only there for 2 days. I’d rather get to know my homie Hikone city a little more and establish a good routine at the gym and with my Japanese lessons. Adding martial arts to the queue as well. So much to do.

As long as this is in my pocket, internet access anywhere :)

My birthday is next week on June 3^rd! I feel so old hehe physically, but so young mentally :P We have a big office meeting that day so we’ll see what happens after :P I’m hoping to go to Osaka with a co-worker from PKC, maybe,  and a couple locals I met at bar Paraiso to celebrate at a very popular bar/club in Osaka called Acacia! Ja matta!

The Lake near my home

My New Life in Japan

Nagoya Castle

Japan is sahhhweeeeet! I'm currently in Nagoya. It is awesome and all worries have melted into oblivion. So far, the culture shocking aspects of moving to Japan have been for the better. There are so many aspects I’ve fallen in love with that just one post would go on for pages, BUT there are a few things I hate having to get adjusted to so it might be quicker and more interesting to quickly touch upon that and I’ll christen this first Japan post with a list of those not so loved aspects of this country thus far:

Disgusting Fetus Egg I was talked into trying.

1: The garbage system. It’s absurd. Such a system would only work in Japan. Americans are way too lazy and fat, myself included, to adhere to such an implementation. Japan is huge on recycling. At first, it was the most time consuming process for me. Every single piece of garbage has a very specific place to be thrown out and several items have to be broken down. For example, let’s say I’ve been seducing ladies with my siren song all day and my throat’s a little parched. I go to the closest vending machine, which is probably 10 feet away from any given location (vending machines are everywhere and sell a variety of goods…anything from water and snacks to beer and panties) and purchase a plastic soda drink or water. I finish the drink, probably in place, since drinking and or eating while walking is considered rude in Japan (even snacks), then I have to get rid of the thing… garbage cans are a rarity. The USA has spoiled me in terms of having them readily available at every turn. I can’t just toss the thing in ANY garbage receptacle. There are friggen five types of bins… and I heard in some areas more.

Burnable, PEP bottles (like soda bottle or water plastic bottles), non-bottle form plastic, a bin for things like cans and certain metals, and then the non-burnable/non-recyclable bin. But it gets even gayer -_- … pardon my language. If I have a plastic bottle to toss, I’m SUPPOSED to take the paper wrapper off, throw that in the burnable, take the cap off, put that in its special place, then toss the bottle in the PEP bin. YOU’RE ALSO EXPECTED TO DO THIS AT HOME and garbage trucks for certain bins come on certain days. It’s frustrating and annoying to the point where I think twice about buying certain things at times because I’ve ended up just stashing a bag of trash collected over the day’s course in my backpack on several occasions.

Night on the town...with...sigh....spiderman

2: Bathroom’s VERY RARELY have paper towels. Some don’t even have soap. Sometimes machines do the drying for you, just like toilets pretty much do everything short of shave you, which isn’t bad, except for the fact that I hate washing my hands and having several bathrooms offer nothing to dry.

3: Crosswalks : XD this one is minor, but Japanese are so proper and formal, especially when it comes to adhering to the rules that pedestrians will wait at a one lane 7 ft wide street side walk with no traffic in sight, until the light changes and the little green man flashes giving the go ahead to cross. It’s not really a problem for me since I’m a foreigner I’m already expected to break most of the rules so my feet make it rain on those crosswalks on the red “don’t walk” sign, but I only do it when no one else is in sight. If there are others around I’ll patiently wait just to try and build up some respect for myself and other “gaijin” alike.

4: Another super minor one but the trains and buses stop running at midnight and taxis are renowned for being the most expensive luxuries in this country. So if you’re out partying, drinking, dining, hanging, anywhere remotely far from your apartment or place of residence, you either go home early, stay out until 5am when the trains start back up again for a fun memorable night, or pay the price of a cab.

5: Getting used to the metric system…of course the whole world uses it and it’s probably better or more convenient once you get it down, but being an American I’m stubborn and prefer to not have to input things into a formula every time I see the metric system in use ie: degrees Celsius or kilometers and several other measurements.

6: I’m still referred to, mistaken for, recognized as, or called Spidey, Spiderman, or Toby McGuire. Sometimes, it can be a good thing or used to my advantage, but in the long run…ugh :P

My new friend Ukari! She's been very helpful showing me around and introducing me to other natives.

And that’s it…so far...Aside from the garbage thing and those minor other details, I can’t think of any complaints at all. So I’ll quickly spit out a couple things I like or find interesting.

-You can drink beer outside or anywhere and practically all bars stay open until the sun rises.

-Vending machines are everywhere and offer everything, even hugs <3

-The transportation system here is amazing, the best I’ve ever seen, and given that Japan is smaller than the state of California, you can get anywhere relatively quick.

-TV commercials, advertising on the streets, and marketing here are hilarious and entertaining

-The clothing styles are out of control in a cool way, I used to think people watching was boring.

-Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, people don’t lock up their bikes half the time and you hear stories about wallets left behind on benches only to be found in the same place the next day. On a minor side note, I haven’t seen or heard anything at all in relation to the earthquake and tsunami on this half of the country.

Bro-mancing the only other Hispanic

-Drugs and anything to do with driving under the influence or while intoxicated are soooo taboo, that if you are caught driving with either you lose your license here for life, foreigner or native. Any drug related offenses will probably get you deported as a foreigner.

Life seems surreal since my arrival to Japan. There are times I’ve felt completely lost, disconnected, and overwhelmed – in a good way. Other times, mainly when working, training, and commuting, I feel as if I’m in a more familiar and natural state. In terms of work, and maybe life, the hardest challenge to meet here is the “do your best, even if you’re going to die, try your hardest” mentality. It’s one of the many mantras the company goes over every morning with the employees during the daily pep talk. Every profession is done to the utter most state of perfection and with complete professionalism. If you’re a garbage man, you’re the best garbage man the world has ever seen. I’m in envy of such discipline and thankful to see every single person going above and beyond in whatever job they undertake. The level of customer service, energy, enthusiasm, and respect for each other cannot go higher; this is one of the main reasons I fell in love with Japan; in America, there are days where it feels like absolutely no one cares and everyone’s miserable.  I came early for training and assimilation purposes, but officially, I don’t start the REAL business until the 25^th of May. (At least, that’s when my training wheels come off, so to speak)

But enough about work, for now…

Blue Steel...of course

I’ve met so many people and done so many things in two weeks. People always say time goes by so fast, but my co-workers and I have been saying how it’s so weird that these past two weeks have felt like months, since every day starts at 6-7am and ends either around or well past midnight. The days have been beyond eventful and every night brings something new to the table. Japan is 13 hours ahead of the east coast in the USA. I’m probably delirious from lack of sleep so I’ll use today to try and catch up J

My post today was pretty general and long but I think it’s a good icebreaker into specifics. I’ll cover actual things I’ve done and people I’ve met next time!

~See you

Making out with my beer