“One night to be confused; one night to speed up truth.”

I’m attempting to write a blog now, but I’m not sure how far it will progress.  This is mainly due to the fact that I’m not seeing things quite as soberly as I normally would, which is strange, as I’ve only had 3 drinks in the past 5 hours.*

Tonight–and this week as a whole, really–have been fairly interesting.  Yesterday, I played Truth or Dare during my English Challenge class, and the range of questions posed were between, “Can you speak Chinese?” to “Do you play the piano?”  The most popular dare was definitely to sing and dance (with some dares being just singing; others just dancing).  Today, we played “Two truths and a lie,” and let’s just leave it at that I one.  However, one of my student’s “truths” was that her sister is “really old;” i.e. she is 26.

We went to a fascinating beer garden tonight that had dressed itself up as best it could to look like a South East Asian establishment (shame it didn’t dress up it’s prices to match).  It was actually quite charming (I took a picture, but it basically looks like a building under construction), and my mayo-ebi salad(ish) was delicious.  However, my stomach started to feel a bit weird later, and I’m pretty sure it’s because they don’t de-poop their shrimp in Japan, and we all know I have a weak stomach. So my co-worker M and I broke away before the others to head back early, but on the way to the station, M said, “”Shall we do purikura?”  which I just can’t say no to.

We followed the suggested pose for…well, all of them.

Finally, I caught the train, and as luck would have it, I caught a seat as well.  Since I knew the terminal station was Shiki, I put my headphones in and fell asleep.  The next thing I know, I’m being roused by a security guard to let me know the train was empty, and I abruptly jumped up and ran off the train.  Tonight was the first time I’ve ever fallen asleep like that; I may have been sleeping with my head tllted back and my mouth open; but who can tell?

I waited for the next train to come, and it seemed to take forever.  As it pulled in, I began to wish it had–in the compartment of the oncoming train that I was in queue for was one of my students.  I would hesitate to say she is my worst, so let’s just say she’s not my star student.  Which is not to say I don’t like her–she makes an effort and all, but in today’s two person class…well, I was glad when it ended.  But she is so fashionable; she’s probably my best dressed student.

In my head I was thinking, “Now what is she up to so late at night?”  Then I checked my watch and discovered it was only 10:30, which made me feel pretty old.  As the doors opened and she got off, I wasn’t sure if she would see me; and for a moment, it looked like I might be in the clear, but then she suddenly looked to her side and said, “Jillian!”  (because who am I kidding?  I must be the only blonde in a mile radius).  Now, my mind went through a panic about which language to go with, and in the end, I pointed down the tracks and said, “Tsuruse!”  (my station), followed by, “Have a good niiiiight!”  I have no idea if she replied or not, but I imagine Monday should be interesting.

*Not saying I had those drinks spread out over 5 hours…

Week 2: Week in full; Jhili’s Best of Ghibli

Friday marked the end of the first work week.  I feel like the past week has been a whirlwind of information and activities.  It’s Saturday night, and I’m at home; I realized that Tuesday has been the only night this week that I hadn’t gone out and met people, and I needed a break.  Some expansion from my last post–Friday night I went out with some of Hera’s old students (and my friends as well) in Shin-Okubo, which is Koreatown.  We had my fave Korean food, yum yum chicken at my fave k-town restaurant, but I was disappointed that the chicken had changed in my absence.  It was still tasty, and I would still recommend it, but I feel there is a sadness in my heart now when I think of that chicken and what it used to be.  And of course, since we finished dinner early on a Friday night, we had to follow food with song, and we headed to karaoke.  No one was really drinking, and I found myself once again disappointed; this time with myself–my voice definitely sounds better through alcohol-veiled ears.

Saturday night I went out with a couple in the same company as me; we went to an izakaya in our neighborhood.  I’m trying to learn out to ask more about the ingredients in food, considering there always seems to be a vegetarian in the group (though to be fair, my co-worker that night is technically a pescatarian).

This trend continued Sunday, when a group that included a vegan went out after orientation.  Fortunately, she had brought along a card listing her restrictions in Japanese; the staff scurried about trying to figure out a dish that worked for her.  They came back with a random assortment of veggies, but you can tell their coup de grace was a rice dish where they had cooked the meat separately, and kindly served us as well.  My company-mate poked about for a bit before discovering it had indeed been cooked with eggs.  Honestly, I don’t really think you can have a decent going-out life in Japan if you expect to stay a vegan and eat at restaurants.  It’s a bit like this.

Monday I saw the Capps; their son Logan is so big now, but fortunately he doesn’t really talk; that might have been too much of a shock for me.  I was a bit sad because he used to love me; now he seems terrified of me.

Tuesday I tried to get a cell phone at Softbank, only to be confronted with a nearly $150 bill for “canceling” my contract early in October; which is funny, since my contract ended in July.  Honestly, I’m pretty sure Softbank just makes up stuff as they go along.  I can’t believe a company with such poor customer service stays in business.  It’s probably because they nabbed the iPhone first–plus they do have pretty good commercials.

Wednesday was the first day of work.  One really nice thing about my school is that every day, the first 40 minutes are always a prep period.  We usually have one other prep period, plus about 2 breaks equalling about an hour since we have periods of 40 minutes with 10 minutes in between classes.  I only teach basic level students (if you taught at Aeon, think Take Off), quick definition being that they have a basic grasp of grammar and vocabulary, but can’t always manage tenses or questions beyond those with “Yes/No” answers.  Whereas at my old company, 50 minutes with that level of students could often feel achingly long; 40 minutes feels like a major rush to cram everything in.  But the plus side of teaching the same lesson the whole day is that if something doesn’t work, you can make adjustments and test it out right away.  So my first period generally suffers, while my last class is smooth sailing.

After work Wednesday, we co-workers who live in the same direction all got off at my station and went to a kaitensushi (or revolving sushi) in my neighborhood (and yes, there was some street beers to be had while we waited for our table).  It was such an enjoyable meal that we decided to make Wednesdays Sushi Day.  It’s nice that my co-workers felt this way, since I probably would have done it even if they didn’t want to join in.

Today’s Members: Mai, Junko, Natsumi, and Momo

Thursday, I met some of my friends from Chuo University for a yakitori dinner in Ikebukuro.  Young Japanese girls can be the best to go out with, because with all the food and one drink, the bill was only 1,300 yen each (izakayas usually get you for at least 2,000 yen per person).  Then, we decided to go to a nearby arcade to do purikura; the Japanese phot

obooths where you always feel very happy with how good you look.  However, many of my students used these types of pictures for their profile cards, and seeing as the pictures

are really no help in identifying them, I’m prone to think they are a much more caricatured look than I once thought.

Friday, we gathered our teachers and those from nearby schools and headed to Shibuya to the 180 yen highball place.  I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a real name for the place, but they have the world’s best namban chicken there.  For those who haven’t had the pleasure, this special chicken is fried and topped with a potato-salad like sauce (sans potato).  I can’t even guess how many drinks the average person ordered, but when the bill came, we ended up splitting it 2,100 for those who had eaten and 1,300 for those who hadn’t, which is amazing.  Also, we discovered another impossibly amazing dish: fried mochi cheese with honey and mayo sauce for dipping.  Side note: honey and mayo may be one of the best unexpected duos in the world.

And today, I got up early, did a little skyping, then went to a nearby onsen with my friend Nanako.  And when I say nearby, I mean the town I used to live in, Shiki.  I was quite afraid I would run into one of my ex-students sans clothing, but fortunately, I only saw anonymous nudity.  It wasn’t too surprising, as we still had to take a bus from the station to reach the place, but seeing as it was only 800 yen for a pretty sizable hot spring, I would definitely say it was worth it.  I was originally supposed to go to a Thai festival in the afternoon, but a lack of cell phones made it difficult to contact people, and since it started pouring rain, I figured it wasn’t worth the effort to search for people in a sea of umbrellas.  Plus, I had already made plans to go to the same festival the next day, so I wasn’t too bothered to make an effort.

And I’m glad, because it feels so nice to veg in my lovely apartment.

Cultural Stuff for the Week
(Or rather, Weak Cultural Stuff, since it’s about movies)

This week, I finished watching two Miyazaki movies–”Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” and “Castle in the Sky.”  I was a bit surprised, because I had figured I would like “Castle” better than “Nausicaa”, since I had thought the latter looked dated in terms of animation, and the former seemed more mystical, which I tend to be drawn to in Miyazaki films.  Plus, I borrowed the DVDs from the Capps, who told me the Japanese version of “Nausicaa” crashes on their disc, so I could only watch the dubbed version.  But overall, I found that it was a really well-plotted story with a touching message.  Jason C. had told me that almost all Miyazaki/Ghibli movies have the same signatures; one of them being environmentalism, which was heavy point in this film.  Another trait is the presence of a strong female protagonist, which I think is really amazing (especially coming from Japan).  Nausicaa is a strong female who protects her people and basically the whole world, and yet it doesn’t feel overly sentimental.

With “Castle,” again, I felt that there was going to be a more fantastical element, since the characters were searching for a floating castle, and there seemed to be a stills with the lead children befriending a giant robot.  I felt like I usually do when I read Haruki  Murakami novels; there is this wonderful built-up to something magic, and yet it doesn’t quite follow through.  I felt like they could have explored the magic to this city in the sky more rather than focus on the journey to find it.  That’s not to say I didn’t like it; it was still a good movie.  As with a lot of these films, it has that bit of steampunk styling; what would have been had we gone the way of dirigibles for air travel.  But if you haven’t seen a Miyazaki film, it wouldn’t be first on my list of recommendations.  Actually, my list of recommendations for Miyazaki/Ghibli (English names only):

Spirited Away (Amazing–the lead character is transported to an Edo-style world filled with strange spirits)
My Neighbor Totoro
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Princess Mononoke
Whispers of the Heart (one of the few that are very real-life)
Howl’s Moving Castle
Castle in the Sky
Arriety
Grave of the Fireflies (super depressing, but well-animated and meaningful).
The Cat Returns (a weird, kind of sequel to “Whispers of the Heart.”  I actually saw this one first, and so I had way different expectations for Whispers; mainly, I kept waiting for the cat to come to life).
Ponyo (Waited the majority of this movie for a plot to show up)