Iris – Page 114 – goinggaijin.com

Excursion

Yesterday I went to Kobe to visit some friends of mine – fellow Austrians. We did not do anything exciting, just strolling along the harbour a bit, dropping in to an exhibition of photographs taken by sailors all over the world (there was a stunning picture of a crescent sun rising over the ocean – we guessed it was taken during a solar eclipse, but we were not sure), and we looked at the city from the viewing platform of Kobe city hall, which is located on 24th floor.

I did not find the city very exciting, it’s rather typical modern Japanese. Kobe is a very old city, and its biggest attraction are some very old houses built in Western style, that form a small neighborhood close to the mountains. My friends said, however, that it would be interesting only for Japanese – apparently the whole city has a somewhat “Western” feeling to it, and the Japanese come here when they want to feel a bit exotic. As I said, to me it seems like an average Japanese city though…

We had dinner together – chili con carne – and we drank and talked and enjoyed the view from their 10th floor apartment… it was nice to speak in Austrian again. I left with the train shortly after 11 (one of the last ones) and when I arrived in Kyoto more than an hour later, I found out to my horror that the last buses in my direction also leave shortly after 11… By that time, the drizzle to which I had left Kyoto had stopped, so I walked home. I arrived around 1:30 – and consequently spent half of today in bed.

Handwriting

Yesterday, I had another German – Japanese language exchange. My partner is much smarter than I am, and I am only slowly becoming confident to speak in Japanese, so mostly we are still speaking in German or English. When we do speak Japanese, my partner makes me write down everything. He teaches Italian and he believes that writing is an important way of learning a language; and he does it himself as well. Although I have practised writing Hiragana and Katakana – and I do use them exclusively when I am studying Japanese – I sometimes have to think about how a syllable looks, especially some Katakana that are not often used. Also, my partner does not like my handwriting very much, he says it looks like characters used in printed matter, and also, especially the Hiragana for U and TSU are not distinguishable enough (and he’s right).

Apparently he finally got fed up with it – and so, he bought me a very cute present yesterday. It’s apparently called “aquadraw” and is meant for children three years and older. Mine consists of four sheets, two each for Hiragana and Katakana, and each character is printed nicely on coloured ground. It comes with a pen that you have to fill with water, and when you trace the characters, they change colors. Once the water dries, the color disappears again, and you can start over. I think this is a brilliant system, and it’s very colorful and cute, I love it. I had to promise to train my handwriting regularly, and I do, partly because it is so terribly cute (my goodness, I’m turning into a Japanese…) and partly because I know my handwriting looks like that of a five-year old and I want to improve it anyway.

Photograph

Welcome to the latest episode of our beloved drama “Fun With Immigration”. You know that I finished my paperwork last Wednesday, and I did not expect anything to happen within at least a week, if not two.

But, lo and behold: This morning I found a letter from the Immigration Office on my doorstep. I was excited and nervous – but also a bit suspicious, as it was not my self-addressed envelope I had to give them together with all the other papers.

The letter – all in Japanese, of course – asked me to bring a single photograph, 3×4 cm, not more than three months old to replace the photograph that was on my application form, which was older than three months (about 2.5 years, actually) and thus could not be used. How on earth they found that out? Well, the first time I was there I was asked if they could make a copy of my passport and the photo in the passport and on the application form are identical. Note that the passport copy was NOT on the list of required documents, hence I thought I could get away with it… (This incident reminds me of a similar one in another country where I was asked to provide a new birth certificate because my original one was “too old”…)

So, once again, I went to the Immigration Office this morning, used their photo booth which is conveniently located in front of the entrance and handed them a brand new photograph, less than ten minutes old. I just hope this will do the trick…In any case, the day was not entirely wasted, as I have found out the following things:

They are actually working on my visa!
The government says “jump” you ask “how high?”
In Japan, people (at least foreign ones) age beyond recognition within three months.
Whenever I have photos taken, I’ll better start making the effort and wear makeup…

Stereotypes

When I visited my soroban teacher the other day to finish the paperwork for my visa, a woman passed by and wanted information about the school because she was planning to enroll her children. She discussed matters with sensei, and after she had her questions answered to her satisfaction, she left – and we went back to our papers.

Before I left however, sensei told me that he was a bit annoyed with the woman. The very first thing she had said was – upon seeing me: “Oh, I thought this was a soroban school and not an English conversation class…” Sensei didn’t respond to that, but he told me that it seems that he was not allowed to have foreign friends, according to that woman.

There are lots of stereotypes around in Asia when it comes to Western foreigners:

You are a tourist who can’t speak the language. Mostly this is indeed the case, so I can’t blame them – as long as they don’t try to cheat you because of that (which has happened to me once or twice…) If they understand that you live here, then
You have to be (a really rich) American. Admittedly, I am exploiting this particular one to some extent, whenever I have a bad day and I’m not as polite as I could be – I claim to be American… Anyway, the one and only thing you can possibly do in Asia is
You are working as an English teacher. Once when I was walking down the street in Korea, a man cycling towards me stopped, quickly jumped down from his bike and almost yelled at me: “You’re English teacher?” “No”, I replied simply, moved further on my way – and left him seriously baffled.

A similar encounter went thus: “You’re a tourist?” – “NO.” – “Ah, you’re an English teacher?!” – “NO.” – “Ah, you are here with your husband!?” – “NO.” At which point the poor woman did not have any imagination left and chose to give up entirely.

I fully understand that stereotypes and prejudices can be useful, and that they are often correct: Most foreigners here are indeed American, most women my age indeed have a husband and children. But, if you keep on hearing the same silly questions and comments over and over again, and if people place a label on you without even trying otherwise, it does start to grate on your nerves sooner or later…

Shapeless

I have been out and about 3 days in a row, which I try to avoid.

Monday I went to the beautiful machiya with the samurai doll exhibition. Yesterday, I decided on the spot to visit my favourite temple in Kyoto. It takes about an hour from my place walking along the river, and as the weather was so nice I felt like going out and soaking up the sun. It turned out not to be the best of all my ideas though – it was still a holiday and the temple was too busy for my taste, I prefer it much more quiet (after all, it is a zen temple…) And today, I spent another two hours walking along the river (other direction though) and when I came home at 2:30 pm after five hours out, I was exhausted. Also, my legs hurt…

It seems that I feel the effects of a sedentary winter spent wrapped in blankets on the futon in front of my computer (not to talk of my eyesight which also seems to deteriorate because of that…) Oh well, I wanted to pick up my aikido training again anyway…

The reason for going out today was to pick up the last bits and pieces of missing paperwork for my visa application. I brought them to the immigration’s office immediately – and now all there is for me to do in that respect is to wait… I may have mentioned that before, but patience is not my forte. They should be relatively quick though and take not (much) more than two weeks for their decision.

Wish me luck!

Children’s Day

Today is the last of the golden week holidays (not counting the one tomorrow that serves as a stand-in for the “missed” Greenery Day yesterday). It is based on a very old traditional holiday, tango-no-sekku that focuses on boys, but, with gender equality and all that, it is now officially called kodomo-no-hi or children’s day.

Many houses with children or boys put up banners that look like carp, called koi-no-bori, and each carp is supposed to represent one boy (child) of the family, and the two largest ones the parents. The (golden) koi is considered a most energetic fish, and flying those banners is more or less a wish for the boys in the household to be healthy and energetic.

Another tradition on this day is to display dolls of samurai in full armour, including miniature helmets, swords and other weapons, war drums… Again, it is meant as a wish for the boys to be strong and healthy, and it is a tradition going back to samurai families only. Special sweets can not be missing, and you can eat kashiwa mochi (red-bean filled rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves) for example.

For me, this day is special too: I came to Japan exactly a year ago. I treated myself to a visit of a traditional machiya, a special type of merchant’s houses, with several courtyards and storage houses, a tea room and Noh stage… The guided tour I took was conducted by a young girl from Poland, interestingly, and instead of the 45 minutes or so it was supposed to take, we spent about two hours in the house as I was the only guest at that time – sometimes it is nice to get out in the rain…

What is my conclusion after one year in Japan? Things have not quite turned out as I had envisioned – everything goes much slower than I had expected – but nevertheless, it’s time to celebrate: I have taken considerable time to search for myself (although I’m not sure I have found me yet) and what I want to do with my life. I have also developed a much more relaxed attitude towards things, although sometimes it feels close to not caring about stuff anymore, which I find scary. All in all I could say that I am feeling more centred somehow, more resting within myself (and now that I write this I wonder if an excentric person is the opposite) and I do not regret my step at all. It was a good decision.

Takoyaki

Takoyaki, or octopus balls, are probably the most widely spread form of Japanese fast food (yes, it does exist). Their origin lies allegedly in Osaka in 193r, but by now you can find them all over Japan; mainly sold by street vendors at all sorts of matsuri, but there are some restaurants specializing on takoyaki as well. street vendors making takoyaki

Takoyaki are made from a wheat based batter similar to the one pancakes are made from (but with dashi, a kind of fish soup, instead of milk). The most important part of making takoyaki is the right type of pan: it has half sphere shaped moulds and is often made of cast iron to allow the takoyaki to cook evenly. It is fun watching street vendors prepare the food, and, as they are very popular and take quite a long time for fast food, you will have ample opportunity while you’re waiting in line… Essentially it goes like this: First, the pan is filled with the batter, then, the other ingredients are spread on top: pieces of boiled octopus and finely chopped green onions and a little bit of red, pickled ginger. More batter can be added on top now, but you’ll have to wait until they are cooked a little, before they are turned over (thus forming a ball) with a little pick.

takoyaki ready to eat

Once the takoyaki are finished, they are taken out of the pan with a pick and put on a plate (or into a plastic box if it’s takeaway). They are then coated with takoyaki sauce (or worchester sauce) and liberally sprinkled with dried bonito flakes and green seaweed powder. On top of all this goes mayonnaise – if so desired.

I like takoyaki very much, and I have them often at a matsuri, mainly because they are so easy to eat – with toothpicks. After several scalding incidents I have now finally learnt to tear each takoyaki open just a little bit and let them cool off before eating them – the inside can be very hot indeed and has probably burnt many a palate…

Golden Week

Today is right in the middle of Golden Week, a string of four unrelated holidays all occurring within seven days during the end of April/beginning of May. Many shops and all offices are closed, and lots of people take time off to travel, both domestic (I expect Kyoto to become quite crowded) and internationally (people fly as far as the US West coast or Europe). This means that during this single week, many hotels and airlines demand higher prices than usual, so I am planning to stay in town – there is enough to see and do…

Golden Week - Calender This year, as one of the holidays falls on a Sunday, May 6th is also a holiday (because there can be no national holiday on a Sunday in Japan – I like that idea!) Anyway, the four holidays mentioned are the following:

Showa-no-hi (Showa Day) on April 29th. It celebrates the birthday of the previous emperor, who died in 1989.
Kenpo kinenbi (Constitution Day) on May 3rd marks the anniversary of the 3rd May in 1947 when the new Japanese post-war constitution was put into effect.
Midori-no-hi (Greenery Day) on May 4th is dedicated to nature and the environment. It also goes back to the Showa emperor who was especially fond of plants.
Kodomo-no-hi (Children’s Day) on May 5th is a traditional festival, and although it is called Children’s Day, this day mainly centres around boys.

Looking at this list more closely, it seems the holidays are not so unrelated after all – three of them are somehow connected to the Showa emperor (whose status in the state changed drastically with the new constitution). Actually, after the death of the Showa emperor, Greenery Day was observed on April 29th (instead of his birthday Tenno Tanjobi), before it was moved between the two May holidays and Showa Day was officially (re-) installed.

okay…

The other day, I went out to dinner with a few people. It was a bar-restaurant mixture; we ordered a large number of various skewered dishes, but the place left me with the impression that it was more a bar than a restaurant, as all the skewers were quite small. We had skewered fish and other seafood, yakitori, beef, lots of vegetables (one of us was a vegetarian), and even some gingko nuts which are always fun to eat (and really taste like nuts).

There was some hilarity about the latter, because we tried to explain to one of our Japanese friends that those things were called gingko nuts and he understood ginko, which means bank in Japanese…

Anyway, we were carefully instructed by the waiter as to how the food would taste best. Some skewers were best without anything, others called for a dip in soy sauce, and yet others – the meaty ones – required only salt and pepper. The Japanese next to me pointed towards the side of the table, said there were salt and pepper and finished his sentence with ii desu. I thanked him, put the salt onto my skewers and then returned it to the spot (he was eating something else at that time). At this point, the friend opposite of me – a foreigner who has been living in Japan for a long time – smiled and said: “He said ii desu – he didn’t just point out the salt, he wanted you to pass it to him!”

So, literally, ii desu means it is good, as ii means good, which means it can also be simply translated as “okay”. But, it’s not quite so simple, of course – ii desu (similar to okay) can be used both in the affirmative and the negative. For example, if you go to a supermarket, the cashier will ask you whether you want a furuko, a plastic bag, and the standard answer to this is ii desu – but you can use it whether you want one or not. The intonation and possible hand gestures (I always make them) carry more meaning than the words in this case. Mostly, when speaking eye to eye, you will be understood this way, thank goodness. However, my friend told this little story about when he was texting another friend of his, asking him whether he would come someplace in the weekend. The – texted – response was ii desu, but nobody showed up in the designated spot at the designated time. My friend made a quick phone call as to the whereabouts of the other person, and the answer was a surprised “But I told you that I wouldn’t come…”

ii desu – probably the shortest and easiest way to be misunderstood in Japan…

392

In the last two months things have not quite gone according to plan: I have not found somebody who is dying to be my Japanese partner in my company; and I have not found a company that would like to hire me – at least not one potent enough to pull it off…

So, Plan B it is. There is something that is called a “cultural visa”, under which you can come to Japan and study Japanese culture. Usually people go for martial arts (Judo, Aikido, Kendo…) or other cultural pastimes like Tea Ceremony, Calligraphy, Ikebana,… I will study soroban – the Japanese abacus I find so interesting. My soroban teacher has agreed to take me on as an official student, and together, we are trying to get one of those cultural visa.

There was some paperwork involved, not so much about my background – after all I am just a student – but about my teacher’s background, as the teacher needs to be an expert in the field. Well, I have just found out that he has taught the main actor of Abacus and Sword how to use the soroban, I hope that is expertise enough for Japanese immigration. We ended up producing a lot of paper for the application, as (several people have now confirmed that) the Japanese love documents and paperwork, and it seems that the larger the amount of documents you produce, the more sincere you are about your undertaking. Once again, form over contents, it seems…

So, I went down to the immigrations bureau this afternoon to hand in my visa application. It was comparatively busy, but I did not have to wait for long in the line to get to the first document screening. Among the big stack of papers there needed to be a return envelope, addressed to myself and provided with a 380 YEN stamp. Okay, I got that, but… the list of application papers did not state which type of envelope was required – so I thought, in typical European manner: Bigger is Better and brought a large envelope. Also, because of the rising taxes, the 380 YEN stamp was unlikely to be correct. At the post office they claimed not to know anything about 380 YEN stamps before April (?), so we went for a 400 YEN stamp in the end. So much for the background, in any case, I stand there at the information counter with my pile of papers, and the immigration officer gives it a cursory glance – until he finds the envelope. From there, the dialogue went like this:

“This is not the right type of envelope. You need a small envelope. And it does not have the right stamp.”
“Okay, so what stamp do I need?”
* shuffling of paper, looking up prices *
“340 YEN”
“It has 400 YEN on it. So, I buy another 30 YEN stamp and put it on the envelope and we’ll be fine?
“No, you’ll need a small envelope.”
“But…??”
* more paper shuffling, searching for a different form *
“I’m sorry, I made a mistake, you need 392 YEN. On a small envelope.”
“But…?? I have 400 YEN here – just send it in the big envelope, I don’t mind.”
“Please get a small envelope and a 392 YEN stamp and come back again. NEXT!”
* handing back the papers with a look that obviously means “But WE mind!” *

On the 20 minute way back to the post office my emotions went on a roller coaster between laughing, crying, screaming, becoming homicidal… The situation was seriously Kafkaesque, and I begin to wonder whether, in the long-term, I will not have more serious problems with this sort of things. After all, I am with Terry Pratchett, when it comes to rules:
“Rules are there so that you think before you break them”…

PS: In hindsight, the real problem may have been the large envelope, as it seems that the Japanese post bases their prices on weight and size. When I went back to the immigration office, equipped with a proper sized envelope, all went fine. I will have to supply two more pieces of paper, but then the application will be processed. Wish me luck!