Made It!

Shrine in Osu shopping area

July 7, 06
I am so happy to be here. I really needed this change of scenery and complete stimulus overload. It is so wonderfully familiar. I love the bikes everywhere. It reminds me of Amsterdam in that regard. The women are virtually all uber femmes and the men are so effeminate with their big hair-dos, make-up and trendy gear. Fashion trends are big, whether it is the over the top hip hop homeboys, the glam punks, the black lolitta Goth look, or reggae hippie dudes. And the urban scape is so - like the Godzilla movies! I keep expecting to see Godzilla come stomping out through the city streets.
Like I have gone on and on about – I knew this was meant to be when I
got bumped up to business class and spoiled silly by my neighbour passenger, Eddy the electrician, who was off to teach electrics in the Philippines. Ginormous leg room, private telly, free alcohol. The universe was telling me that I made the right decision.
I was greeted at the airport by Garth, our company rep. Kevin, a colleague and myself were taken to our apartment and then given a quick tour of the neighbourhood. Supermarkets and a ton of convenience stores were open quite late. There is a 99-yen equivalent to a penny) store (mostly food) and the most amazing 100-yen store - both are in close vicinity and I have been visiting every day! I just want to buy everything cuz it is so cheap and they have the most amazing things – for so cheap. Alcohol can also be found at the 99-yen shop and everywhere for that matter.
I love the fact that I can get by with my Japanese and the fact that for once I am not struggling in life, as I see my poor comrades suffer with the language in this country.

It is bloody hot and humid, but I am getting used to it already and actually enjoying it. I may be eating my words in the next month when the temperatures will climb 10 degrees extra. It reminds me of Bali and the fact that I am somewhere a long ways from home. I carry a virtual towel so that I can mop the sweat from my face. I have even worn my first suit in this weather and proud to survive the day.

Another shrine in Osu shopping strip - note the fox like guardians

The food! I have been eating take home sushi from the markets everyday and eating has been my favorite dilemma of the day – What shall I eat today? I love the fast food style Ramen-ya. I love the okonomiyakis (pancake veggie dish). I had the best one recently with a variety of tasty sauces prepared in front of me. I am not cooking, as I don’t want to buy tons of ingredients seeing that we are here for a short time. I have spent my day offs sight seeing the entire day.
I saw tons of Sumo wrestlers going off to the competitions that are taking place right now. Too bad my camera ran out of batteries. I love the bazillion temples and shrines, that once again remind me of Bali, except this time it is not so foreign. This is part of heritage and I can see how exotic it is in it’s own natural setting rather than in Diaspora. I have offered so many prayers at each shrine, that I am sure the Bodhisattvas have tired of me – “Oh no, not her again, what does she want now. Not health, happiness and prosperity for her and all her loved ones again, and peace and love throughout the world.”
I love the little side streets that give a traditional contrast to the modern big city concrete streets. And the little food stalls where everyone crams in together to eat their snacks. The Japanese love their little dogs. I have seen several dog owners gaze adoringly at their little hound as it poops and lovingly pick up the shit.
I have seen homelessness. Little make shift tents set up outside of Nagoya castle. I can’t get used to seeing little old women as cleaning ladies. Shouldn’t they be retired? Why are they working? I have seen other foreigners sticking out. It is very strange to see the reverse – the occasional white face amongst an ocean of Asian features.
The women are so skinny! And they all seem to be wearing high-heeled sandals. No practical footwear for these women. How can they run around with their perfectly painted toes squished into those sandals? And the schoolgirls – some of them look like they might be centerfold fodder, but I guess that is true back home as well. It’s just that there are so many of them with their very short schoolgirl skirts and shiny lip-gloss. No wonder the men are smitten or perved out. The women all seem so beautiful and dainty. And dry. How do they do it? Why am I the only one sweating?
The neon lights in Nagoya are dazzling. I am so not used to it. There is a Ferris wheel downtown and I want to ride on it when it is all lit up. It is all so unreal. They have these huge neon televisions/billboards atop buildings, I suppose for those motorists stuck in traffic. The energy is sizzling. The traffic is unreal and so are the hordes of people. I have yet to be squished onto a train and I hope to avoid that experience.

Sakae at night with ferris wheel in the back
Sakae is the happening spot especially at night and in the day – the shopping is wall to wall. And so are the temples. I came across the ruins in downtown Sakae, of the Kobayashi temple and

had a real chuckle over that.

Our apartment - The Fairmount
I am sharing the apartment with a colleague and we have free wireless internet, something we are all so happy about. I have a small tatami bedroom with Japanese futon for bedding and a grain pillow. I love it. I love the smell of tatami. There are sliding screen doors. My flat is air-conditioned, thank goodness, air conditioners a fact of life here. We have a western toilet (in public,it is squat toilets all the way) and Japanese bathtub. My roommate is quite young and shy and homesick and spends most of her time on her computer interneting. My other colleagues are mostly young guys, eager to be worshipped no doubt as the foreign gods that they are. Still most of them are quite nice with the exception of one annoying egomaniac that happens to be Canadian. How embarrassing. Most of us are Canadians from BC. Followed by the Aussie contingency and the meager American crew. Many of us here are trying to pay off our student loans.

My room and futon..............................................our shower/tub

I can’t wait for my cell phone. It might be another 2 weeks as I wait for my Alien card. Not only do these cell phones have the usual video set-ups, but they have GPS tracking, internet, free text message and incoming calls, but now they can be hooked up to your bank account so they can pay for things like a debit card. My colleague, Yu Chao and I, are both obsessed with cell phones and continue to check out the latest goods and plans, which are pretty good. Free phone for starters. Yu Chao can’t wait and went off to get a prepaid phone, which you can get without an alien card. I think I will tough it out. Transportation is expensive. Today we traveled to one of the classes and it cost us 30.00 and took us an hour and a half to get there. First there was the subway, followed by the train, followed by the bus, followed by walking. There and back – 30 bucks. Thank goodness the company covers the commuting expenses.
All my bosses appear to be western foreign men, up until the regional managers – then it is all Japanese men. It reeks of sexism, but maybe the women choose not to remain in Japan. Still the company is doing a good job of taking care of us and offering support with a help line that we can call. However we are all paying for our expenses, whether it is housing, photocopying or futons. Garbage is very complicated and sorting it requires a handbook to separate the various recyclable goods. I hope I answered everyone’s questions and obviously I’ve gone on quite a bit in a scattered manner. I am having my moments of missing dear friends – that is something I just can’t find here.