Crazy Lady

While we were in Okinawa we went to Bise, a old area with a tree lined road that arches to form a leaf covered walk way. This Okinawan women walked up to us and very friendly started chatting. Her hair was ginger and frizzy almost like an afro and she looked so happy. I understood she was then pointing to the sky and saying there was an American plane and can we hear it. I was a little confused, I couldn't see or hear anything. She was saying “Wakarimasu, ahh, anata wa wakarimasu, ne” (You understand don't you!). I explained I understood, but I couldn't see any plane, but she kept saying it. Maki looked a little odd and then told her she understood to calm her down. She took our photo for us under the trees and left. It wasn't until after she left I really understood how crazy she was as Maki explained the blanks in my Japanese understanding. She wasn't just imagining American planes, she was saying the sun was an American plane! She was saying “You see that fiery ball in the sky, it's an American plane! You know what I mean don't you, don't you!?” こわいよ！ But in Okinawa, even the crazy people are friendly.

John VS Gundam

My parents once brought me some Gundam figures for Christmas. I loved them because they involved building them and then fighting them, what more could a little boy ask for on Christmas day. So when I heard there was a large one the other side of Tsuyama, a special trip was in order. This metal monster took a diehard fan 7 years to build and the details are incredible. At 7 metres tall, it's an imposing thing.

10,000 Eisa

While in Okinawa we managed to catch a festival of 10,000 Eisa Dancers. Eisa is the traditional Okinawa dance and this was preformed on the main street in Naha with over 10,000 dancers marching, singing and some playing instruments. It was good to see so many different styles and I learnt a lot from the ちょんだら (Eisa drunken, oldman, clown type character) for the next time I preform ;D

Annoyances – Part 3 – The Heat

I'm sorry, last one. I know I've mentioned about the heat already, but up until recently, I think I've been dealing with it well. It's more the constant and relentless heat. Everyday is so uncomfortably hot. Maki thinks I had a kind of heat stroke that you get over a period of days while we were in Okinawa. And it's actually hotter in Okayama as the mountains keep the heat in and the wind out. Here are my top 5 things for you to know when it's really hot:

• You only need the cold tap for a shower.
• You sweat sat in the shade.
• You make that noise like when you take that first sip of tea, “oooow”, when you go into somewhere with air-con.
• You get excited about a cloudy day.
• You get sunburn with a factor 50+ suntan lotion.  

Annoyances – Part 2 – Bureaucracy and Conforming

Thanks to all the friends who's been in touch after 'Part 1'. I'm definitely luckly to have such good friends. A little more to vent out my system and hopefully back to happy-to-be-in-Japan John.

Japanese people generally follow the rules and that's a good thing. They conform and those who don't still conform in their own ways. This makes a better society as everyone works for the 'greater good', which historically comes from when communities had to work together to grow enough rice to survive. The darker side of this comes from the Japanese phrase "the nail that sticks out, gets hammered down," i.e. conform or get hammered. I like the sense of community, but what gets me is there is no 'bending' of the rules for the greater good. Rules are rules, even if they are stupid rules, and Japan has a lot of stupid rules and no one wants to question the rules as they don't want to be the 'nail that sticks out'.

In the same vein I feel no one wants to be the one making the judgment call or the hard decision as everyone is so scared of being wrong and then having the community judge them. A perfect example of this in my view is the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. They spent so long before it blew trying to make the decision of what to do because no one wanted to be the one to make it in case it was the wrong one. Granted, no one wants to be wrong, especially over something so serious, but when making no decision is the deadliest option, surely any decision would be better.

I like to debate, I think it's sensible to question people sometimes and sometimes the Dutch view on rules does make more sense (it's a not crime unless its affecting or hurting someone else). I have been dealing with conforming and just accepting Japanese culture, after all, I'm the foreigner. But while sometimes the way the culture works does make sense, sometimes I just want to scream “THIS IS CRAZY!!!”.

Annoyances – Part 1 - The Language and Communication

While I am having fun and making the most of being in Japan (As I hope you've seen), living somewhere so culturally different does have it's drawbacks. Life abroad, for me, is more 'extreme'. The highs are high and the lows are low; and Japan just got to me with a three fold attack of communication, the heat and the bureaucracy. I feel I need to vent a little to get this out my system and move forward and hoping my friends and family can give me some words of encouragement. Although I am still actually on holiday and I feel wrong being so annoyed on such a long vacation, but there is no holiday from Japan at the moment.

The language and communication was always going to be a problem. Japanese is ubber difficult, I while I really want to learn, with the grammar completely mixed up, 3 alphabets and tons of subtext, I would never be easy. People either assume I can speak no Japanese at all or I am fluent, never the grey area that I am actually in. Most people here in the countryside, once I stubble on a word they give up and don't try to repeat or explain in a different way. They assume I cant understand by any means. I know they are just not used to foreigners but it makes Japanese learning more challenging.

At school I'm asked to speak English and it's my job so I don't really get to practice there. While I'm out with Maki people always speak to her directly and avoid me at all costs, even the other day when I asked a waiter a question, he turned to Maki and answered to her and when they speak to Maki it's always too fast to grab the words. Japanese friends I make want to learn / practice their English and while I want to make more Japanese friends, I feel my Japanese isn't good enough on it's own. If I knew a little bit more it would be easier and if I knew a little less I would be learning more. Sometimes I feel like my Japanese is getting worse and every time I learn something new, there is always an exception to the rule and the more I learn the more complex it seems to become.

Not being able to read is a b****. Reading menu's is the worst. It either takes me half a day or I have to rely on picture or help from someone.

But put simply I don't understand, a lot. And 5 months of being clueless has taken it's toll. What at first was funny misunderstands has turn to frustration and I miss the freedom of general conversation, the getting of a joke and the interaction of strangers. I'm now studying harder than before encouraging Maki to speak to me more, hoping I can step up a level, but frustration at the language and not understand is at boiling point. I know it'll pass, but I must be strong.

Random English of the Month - Car Dreams

Anyone any idea what a 'dress up car' is and how it will help me achieve my dreams, please let me, and everyone else, know.