Udon Making

As party of Maki's birthday weekend, we went Udon making. Udon (Those of you not in the know) is a fat noodle, usually eaten in a soup/sauce. The beginning process was some what unorthodox as we had to stamp, dance and jig on the dough to make it as dense as possible. We then rolled it out bigger and bigger, folded and cut into the square cross-sectioned Udon. I don't want to brag, but its probably the best Udon I've ever eaten.

Teachers and Parents

The role of the teacher and the parent is very different in Japan. The biggest difference for me is blame. In the UK, if a child is misbehaving, we consider that the parents responsibility to correct the situation, in or out of class. Mostly, we believe it to be the parents fault as we should raise the child to have respect for adults and behave well.

Not so in Japan. Here it seems to be the teachers fault if the child is unruly. Teachers are responsible for the children. I was shocked at the festivals we had in my town, as the teachers have to act as chaperones to control and make sure the pupils behave, even though they are on weekends and evenings, its their responsibility. Where are the parents? The problem, I think, that also stems from this is the parents are also medalling. Maybe so in the UK, but the teachers seem very cautious about disciplining the students as if little Johnny goes home and tells his parents and that parent isn't happy, they will levy the PTA to get this teacher removed! I am shocked about how much students get away with in school; getting physical with teachers, talking back, reading books or manga in class and the worst for me, sleeping in class! Why aren't the parents sending these tired kids to bed at night?

So the parents expect the teachers to control their students, but they don't want them to discipline them! Anybody spot whats wrong with this picture?

It's Normal Now

I was talking to a fellow ALT about how the longer you stay here, the more 'normal' everything gets. And we started listing all the things that freaked us out in the first place but we have slowly acclimatised to. Here are just some of them:

Being able to leave your stuff, money, laptops, phones, unlocked cars anywhere and them still being there when you get back. - Normal

Not understand what the hell is going on for 90% of time. - Normal

Seeing your breath in your house as it's so cold – Normal (But I don't like it)

Always having good service. - Normal

Going in a public bath, outside, with a load of naked dudes. - Normal

People staring at you, constantly. - Normal

Pizza being expensive and sashimi being cheap. - Normal

Never being 200 meters from a vending machine. - Normal

Never getting a straight answer. - Normal

Men wearing trainers with suits. – Totally normal

Students sleeping in class. – Normal

Not really knowing what I'm eating. – Normal, normal, normal.

People wearing surgical masks, just casually. - Nooorrrmal.

The catch is, no matter how long I live in Japan, if I was here 20 years, had kids here, only spoke to Japanese people in flaunt Japanese etc., people will always tell me that I use chopsticks really well even though I've used them since I was a child and people will always look at me and think “Well, he must be a tourist.” I will always, still be a '外人' (foreigner) and treated 'different' as such. Sometimes in a good way, but sometimes in a not so good way, but always as a '外人' (foreigner).

Ogres Out, Happiness In

I exited the shower the other day to be faced with my a red ogre (鬼) throwing dried soya beans at me. It's one of those WTF Japan moments.

It was in fact my wife and it was for Setsubun (節分); a festival when Japanese people drive the evil spirits by throwing dried soya beans and making a small chant.

Skiing Mount Daisen

After my Christmas vacation in Hokkaido, I have been bitten by the ski-bug, so begun researching places closer to home where I might be able to ski. Mount Daisen in Tottori prefecture, only an hour and a half from my front door fit the bill. So I set off with some friends and Maki to give it a try. The convenient thing is there are so many mountain in Japan and with winds from Russia bring regular snow to cap the mountain tops it makes for a good skiing/snowboarding country. The weather was clear with blue skies unlike the blizzards we experienced in Hokkaido. After a trying drive up a very slippy road with a 2 wheel-drive car, we were able to park up and get to where we need to be via a shuttle bus. It felt really good and I seemed to be progressing quickly, so decided to venture from the green, beginners course to the intermediate red course. Once at the top of the gondola lift the view was incredible, with a panorama of the coast line and Yonugo town beyond the hills. 

The slope, however, seemed to drop steeply, at what seemed like an impossible angle. It took me a minute or two to pluck up the courage; so did, as it appears, many other Japanese people exiting the gondola. I decided there was nothing but to throw myself down the mountain and hope for the best. The speed was inevitable, but I managed to control it and made it down the slope on two feet. The rush was amazing. “I never figured myself for an adrenaline junkie”, I thought to myself as I boarded the gondola for another run.

Proof of How Japanese People Like to Queue

The Truth About Japanese Vending Machines

Japan and vending machines seem to go hand-in-hand. They are everywhere and you can bet you are never far from one when you're in Japan. There is around 1 vending machine for ever 23 people in Japan. It's so convenient as you never need to worry about taking drinks with you as there is always a vending machine to hand to dispense you some Pocari Sweat (Sports drink that doesn't taste of sweat) or some cold milk tea. And what they offer can be a little of the normal track such as beer and cigarettes (You need a special ID for these as they are age restricted), ice-cream, fruit and veg, hot food like chips, ice, souvenirs, milk, ties and I could go on; however, I am still see the urban myth of the used ladies underwear vending machines, for the discerning fetish-freak (I don't know, some Japanese men are odd when it comes to underwear). Of course, some are much less common, but the drinks vending machines are everywhere. In the winter parts are changed over to off hot beverages. The ice coffee and tea, turns to warm coffee and tea. People are paid money to place vending machines at the front of their homes or businesses as a kind of renting space.

But there are three reasons why only really Japan has so many vending machines in my view. 1) Nobody is going to steal them. If you placed a vending machine in the middle of nowhere in the UK, someone would break it or steal it. Japanese people won't do that. Japan is safe. 2) Japanese people, and this is a sweeping generalisation I know, try to avoid contact with others. They don't have as strong people skills and by using a vending machine takes out the worry of an awkward interaction. 3) They are fast and convenient, as Japanese people like convenience and they work too long to waste time, vending machines suit their needs.