Category: experiences

It was indeed snowing yesterday morning, and it did so until the early afternoon, just as predicted, although not quite as much as I hoped for. Apparently, it was snowing much more in the North of Kyoto (about 30 cm) and there were 2 m of snow in Hokkaido – well, that’s what I call a decent amount! Anyway, here’s a photo, shot straight out of my window:

By now, it’s not as cold anymore, so instead of snow we are getting rain, which I find rather more depressing, although it’s the same water…

Today, I decided to check out the market for rental apartments and houses. I had already made out a small rental agency not far from my place, and I had made an appointment to come this afternoon and visit a few places. I have always lived in a house as a child, and still, this is what I’m leaning towards. Here in Kyoto, you can either rent an old house or a new apartment for essentially the same price, and as I always loved old houses anyway… They had this lovely old house on their webpage, although not in this area; it was a fairly big, traditional Japanese house with a small garden in front and a larger garden in the back, with a gorgeous old-fashioned entrance gate… It was a bit expensive, but I had set my mind on it and at least wanted to see it.

Unfortunately, somebody had snapped it up just the day before… So, no new old house for me just yet. The agent said that right now it’s not a good month to move, as there are not that many properties around. He asked me if I could wait until January and he promised that there would be more rentals – especially traditional houses – available.

Well, the kids downstairs are behaving a bit better right now – they don’t seem to leave their own rooms much anymore, I guess it’s too cold for them – so I can probably survive another month in the house. I really want to have my own place by the beginning of February though, I hope everything will work out.

Yesterday the latest elections for the Japanese Lower House took place, after barely one month of election campaigns. As I cannot read Japanese newspapers, I cannot tell in detail what a Japanese election campaign entails. Part of it are posters of the people campaigning for any given party, either posted singly at will in windows of shops or even normal houses, or in groups on large signs, strictly ordered by … well, I guess by their rank on the ballot:

Another part of campaigning in Japan is the dressing up in the party’s colours and standing at crossings and waving at the people driving by. Sometimes, the candidate himself will stand there, brandishing a microphone and asking people for support. Often, they are driving through the small neighborhoods in a van equipped with loudspeakers and do the same, the car is full with people waving and shouting at people.

Last week I was waiting at a pedestrian crossing, and such a van arrived. Inside, everybody was dressed in blue and they were waving and shouting – at me, the obvious foreigner who is not (and will never) be allowed to vote in Japan. The loudspeakers were droning an endless row of Please and Thank you!, making you wonder if there is any sort of political program at all. It was hilarious.

The outcome? Same old, same old: More Shinzo Abe for the next four years. The people are not happy with his politics – he wants to turn the nuclear plants back on, has plans to abolish the non-attack parts of the constitution, and is generally considered a political hawk – and the turnout showed that, with only 52.66% of all voters taking part in the elections, a record low.

Sometimes I think it would be better if voting were mandatory, but then there should be an option “NO – I don’t want any of those parties”, and the seats should be divided according to the outcome, with the NO votes represented by empty seats in the parliament. I wonder if this would change politics? Looking around at various countries, it seems that the only option you have these days, no matter where you live, is the choice between pestilence, cholera, and a bit of Aids…

Language is a minefield, even if you’re working with people who you think are great foreign-language speakers…

Last Thursday, at the end of my soroban class – we were running a little late – I wanted to finish the last of my addition exercises. No, sensei said, we’re past 8 already, please go and check your results. Oh, you’re kicking me out?! I replied and started to wrap up.

I should not have said that. Sensei’s reaction was straightforward: Within an instant he got really, really pissed. This simple sentence, jokingly used in English (we say something similar in German even) triggered an angry response as I have not thought a Japanese being capable of. At first he didn’t want to talk to me at all, then he was accusing me of thinking him rude (How can you think that, I never kicked you out) and then he said that he would not help me again.

It took me almost half an hour to smooth the waves, and I am still not sure whether I really understood why he became so angry, other than: well, it’s a language problem. The English phrase “You’re kicking me out?” can be used for example in a bar, when the bartender starts to clean the place, putting up chairs and such, without really asking you to leave. It’s used in a joking way, neither meant to express nor to cause offense, and as such it is understood in the situation at hand.

However, yet again, Japan is different. Apparently, just using the word “kick” in Japanese would be a rather rude thing to do. Add the implication that you as the host are kicking a guest out of your house… And finally, consider the fact that Kyoto is the last enclave of court-derived, serious politeness in all Japan, and there we are…

In the end, I think we’re okay again. I had to explain that we’re essentially navigating three languages, my German, his Japanese, and the English where we meet in the middle, and that of all of those the German is the most straightforward and the Japanese the most turning in circles. I hope I will not make such a mistake again – although, how could I possibly avoid that?

We have a new housemate since last weekend. He will be here for one month and will work in that time as an intern at the University Hospital, which is just 10 minutes away from the house. I happened to be there when he came to Ebisu’s, and when he climbed the steps, I noticed his luggage: He carried – or rather, hardly carried – a large suitcase and a huge backpack, and I already wondered how much stuff a guy can possibly need in a single month.

Well, I watched him prepare dinner one evening, and now I know what he’s been lugging around: It’s food. Don’t get me wrong, we all have our special needs when it comes to food, and we all like to have familiar stuff, even on vacation. A Finnish houseguest filled half the freezer with dark bread, Koreans take their kimchi everywhere (it’s even available at every Korean airport in the duty-free section), Australians are rumoured to bring their Vegemite wherever they go, and I have to admit that when I was in Europe the last time, I stuffed my suitcase with bread and special Austrian sweets (Punschkrapferl, Mohnstrudel, Nusskipferl,…) as well. And with Nutella, of course.

But I think that our new guest lifted the whole thing to a totally new level. When he made a curry dish the other evening, he used a special kind of spicy Thai-sauce, a bag of curry made with some meat, and: two cans of pre-cooked rice, everything brought over from Thailand…

I can understand the sauce, and even the curry – but the rice? Seriously? Japan produces about 120% of their national rice-consumption, and even so, I am sure there is Thai rice to be found somewhere. Bringing staples like this with you is just odd… At least, there will be lots of empty space in his bags that he can fill up with souvenirs when he’s leaving.

I went to see Katsura Imperial Villa today, I will write a detailed post once I have sorted through all my photos… It is quite far from my house, it took me about one hour to get there, taking two buses. The first one got quite crowded and at some bus stop, I offered my seat to an elderly lady. She was not really ancient, but still obviously happy to be able to sit down. Then, she started rummaging in her bag and after a while she touched my hand – and offered me a mint bonbon… She did not eat any, so I guess it was her way of saying “Thanks”. What a nice thing to do!

For the last few days it has been rather noisy in my neighborhood. The main campus of Kyoto university is nearby and currently, the yearly university festival is taking place. Throughout the day, especially in early afternoon, you can hear bands playing and announcements of stuff I cannot quite make out…

This seems to be a time when all the university clubs put on a great show. For example, there are groups devoting themselves to learning traditional dances – Western traditional dances, mind you, and they are even taking the time to make their own costumes. According to a friend of mine who is Bulgarian, they do Bulgarian dances as well, and the costumes they make look even better than the real thing.

Foodstalls are present as well of course, and there are people – mostly girls, dressed in surprisingly scanty clothing for November – who hand out little flyers to draw people to other places and performances that do not take place outdoors. Yesterday evening there was apparently even a fire-performance, but I did not go there after all.

Besides all the students on and around campus, this weekend there are many tourists walking through the neighborhood chasing the momiji equipped with little maps. I hope there will be something left to see when I go to the imperial villa next Friday…

This week, I have been running around like crazy, organising lots of little things and going here and there – and still I have the impression I did not accomplish anything at all…

I have decided to get a Japanese Hanko or Inkan, the seal that is used in Asia in lieu of a signature. I have ordered one and should get it tomorrow, next week I will have to register it at my ward office.

There are also still some things I need to consolidate in Europe – at least everything can be settled via emails and maybe a short phone call or two.

In view of approaching Christmas (in less than 5 weeks!) I have bought a stack of Christmas cards, which I will have to write over the next two weeks, since they take about a week to reach Europe. It was surprisingly difficult to get Christmas cards that do not feature Santa Claus or Mickey Mouse or the characters of Frozen… In any case, I am very glad I don’t have to buy any presents except those for myself, that makes my life easier, especially as I am not sure there will be any this year.

As a way to balance things, I have been walking through my neighborhood to see how far the momiji are. It will take one more week for them to be perfect I think. A friend of mine recommended one of the Imperial Villas (allegedly with the best garden in Japan) to go during the momiji, so I went to the Imperial Household Agency to make a reservation for a tour. The tours are free, but limited to a small number of people, and you have to register with your passport number. I am proud to say that I did (almost) all of it in Japanese, even though the lady at the counter spoke excellent English. On some days I actually think I might be getting there.

Besides that, there was a movie afternoon at the Kyoto International House on Tuesday; it was a Japanese movie from last year with subtitles in English. As subtitles are usually non-existent, I am always happy to go to such special events.

And amidst all this I am trying to keep my soroban studies up and my Japanese studies as well. Well, it’s just the crest of the wave right now, the through – with nothing happening – will come around soon enough again.

Some time ago, I mentioned the house that was torn down in my neighborhood and how fast they were doing it.

Then, nothing much happened for a few weeks although I have seen tons of concrete being infused into the ground, and I have also spoken to the man who has measured the plot and set up the outline of the new house to be built. Funny talking about Pythagoras in such circumstances…

Then, maybe two weeks ago, builders started with the foundations. Foundations nowadays are made of concrete, of course, and they are essentially a flat slab under the whole house with little walls on which the future walls of the house will rest, maybe 40 cm high, not more. In this basement floor and walls, pipes are laid for water and sewage, and on top of that comes a wooden construction that essentially is the floor of the ground floor. Note that I have not seen any insulation being installed between the raw concrete and the wooden floor, but to be fair, I was not there standing and watching all day.

Two days ago, with lots of hammering, they started building the house on top of the foundations. I have heard some hammering and the occasional drilling, but not much more noise throughout the day as it would be usual in Europe. As I had suspected, the house is a fully wooden construction, and yesterday night, the frame was finished and looked thus: Take a closer look, do you notice the numbers on the timber? Every wooden beam has its individual number, obviously the construction plan contains the same numbers. Thus, the whole house can be prefabricated somewhere off site, and only needs to be assembled with the right pieces in the right place and order. No wonder they can be so fast in building a house in Japan! To be quite honest though, the whole thing appears to me rather flimsy. Clearly, the house will gain further strength by adding the walls, so maybe proper joining is not really necessary. Still, I have the impression a really big earthquake and these things are flattened in a heartbeat. Not like that 500-year-old farmer’s house I have seen that survived a very strong earthquake practically intact – albeit 1 metre off its original location…

Today was a lovely sunny day, so I decided around noon to go out. I wanted to take a little hike up to Mount Daimonji, behind Ginkakuji, but I misinterpreted a sign, took a wrong turn and ended up in a cemetery. I like graveyards, so I walked through the rows a little, and it certainly proved worth it.

It was a most interesting cemetery indeed – in front were the normal tombs I have seen so often before on Buddhist graveyards. Many of the tombs were modern, but here and there were old ones, huges stones with inscriptions and here and there a stone torii in front of them.

Further towards the back, however, there were tombs of a different kind: Still in massive stone, one could find ones with inscriptions in Hiragana, Latin, and even in English; with names engraved in Katakana. There was even one with an inscription in Portuguese. On one tomb it said “Do not stand on my grave and weep. I am not here, I do not sleep. I am the thousand winds.” Never before in Japan had I stood on a Christian graveyard. It felt odd somehow. The inscription above is a translation of John 11:25, by the way.

My landlady had guests last week – and because she lives in a very small Japanese house, she had them stay overnight with us in, well, the guesthouse. They left in the early afternoon today for Osaka.

Not three hours later we noticed that our toilets were blocked, both of them… Thank goodness my landlady was around and with the help of our usual builder – who came after 6 pm, on a Friday night! – and a lot of running water, we have now at least one fully functioning toilet again.Things like this do happen on occasion of course, but you can imagine my landlady was not entirely pleased.

There were a few other things that made that visit not too pleasant for her, but I am not going to share them here. I can share one of my own experiences with those guests though: When I came down to the bathroom on Monday morning, I noticed – even in that almost brainless state I occupy the first two hours after getting up – that some of my toiletries were gone: shampoo and soap were missing, and somebody had obviously used my hairbrush and face cream. I was glad one of the new guests was there, so I complained; I mean, who else could have done this?

It turned out that her husband had appropriated my stuff because he thought that those were things left behind by former tenants. I’m sorry – what? You come into a shared house, where you know several people are living right now, and the first thing you assume when you enter the bathroom is that the stuff on the shelf is abandoned? I have to give it to him: He was the first one in all my 18 months of living here to have had that glorious idea…

At least they didn’t take much, and when I complained I got everything back. Also, when I checked my kitchen shelf just before, I found two newly abandoned bananas, and we have a large stash of toilet paper. In case of any more geniuses moving in in the future, I have now labelled my basket of toiletries with my name though.