Every day in Japan there are 10001 things that are different from Australia. It's impossible to register them all, and before long you don't notice them at all. But there are just so many. I mean, just talking about the five minute walk to the train station makes me think of lots of things that are different from home.
There are vending machines everywhere; I pass at least eight on my short walk to the station. They sell both hot and cold drinks, in the same machine. It might sound strange to buy a bottle of hot green tea, or a hot can of cafe latte. But I've done it more than once. Around train stations, the vending machines often have sensors so that you can use your train pass to purchase drinks.
Now these train passes are really pretty cool. You buy a card and put credit on it, and it saves you buying tickets every time you use a train. You just touch it to the ticket gate - you don't even have to remove it from your wallet, 'cos the ticket gate can sense the pass through your wallet. They work on multiple train lines, and you can also set them as a commuter pass.
Back to vending machines... a lot of them sell cigarettes. Under 20s are not supposed to buy them (the age of adulthood is 20 in Japan) - but of course there is no regulation whatsoever in place to prevent 12-year-olds buying cigarettes if they so choose. Japan is actually a smoker's heaven, and the cigarettes are also relatively cheap. It's rare to find a cafe where you can't smoke at all. Usually there is a smoking and non-smoking section, but several times I have had to drink my coffee while inhaling smoke. You get used to it, I guess... I've also seen 'smoker's rooms' around the place, which always looks pretty funny to me. There's one right outside Yokohama station, it reminds me of a glass aquarium where the exhibit animals are cigarette smokers, haha...
On the way to or from the train station, you might choose to avail yourself of one of the ubiquitious 'conbeni' (convenience stores). Convenience stores are like mini supermarkets. You can pay bills there - bills arrive at your address with barcodes on them, you just take them into your local conbeni and pay them, it takes all of twenty seconds. I pay all my utility bills, my mobile phone bill, my upcoming Internet bill, etc... recently I bought an airfare (to Sapporo) and was given the option of paying at a convenience store...
Japan really is a cash-based society. People don't use credit cards that often, and when you see, for example, their bill-paying system, you can understand why. I guess it's also a very safe society, so it's safer to carry around more money. I've heard a few people mention losing wallets and having had them returned.
Just looking around a simple convenience store will yield many things unrecognisable to Western eyes. There are lots of bento - boxes of cutely packaged, various Japanese foods - and lots of other little pre-packaged foods. Sometimes I buy a pack of cooked rice, and they'll heat it for you.
There are the usual things you would find in Western convenience stores... cheese, drinks, chips and chocolate, a bakery section... Every time I see the so-called 'bakery' section of my conbeni, I think of something my friends did before I left Australia. As a joke, we all brought the worst and funniest food items we could find - the kind of thing you see in a supermarket and think 'who BUYS that?!' I tell you what, I would win that competition with the contents of the conbeni bakery section. I will be the disgusting food QUEEN! I mean, they have strawberry sandwiches. With actual strawberries and cream smushed in there. But the 'sandwich' bread doesn't even look like bread. I can't describe it...
There's a small section selling money envelopes; they're quite distinctive-looking and have little ribbon threads on them. In Japanese culture, if you give anything, the wrapping is important, and I guess so is discretion. So if you give a gift, it's always wrapped in a nice way. If you give money, it's always in an envelope. For example, I will pay my shamisen teacher by putting money in an envelope. I bought blank envelopes though; for all I know, the ones with writing on them say 'condolences on your loss' or 'congratulations on your wedding'...
There's also a section of comic books. Lots of people read manga (Japanese comics) in Japan, including adults. You often see businessmen reading them on trains; there's no stigma of them being 'for children' (though of course there are lots of manga produced for children). There also seem to be quite a few girly magazines (as in, soft porn) in the conbeni. Sometimes I'm slightly disturbed by the covers of various manga magazines and girly magazines - lots of pictures of girls bursting out of skimpy tops. I've heard that porn is popular and not that stigmatised in Japan. I know I've unwittingly stumbled across it in various unexpected stores and places, though fortunately never anything hard-core.
Anyway, obviously not all the manga and magazines in conbeni are porn, I just can't help noticing those that are, they kind of draw the attention. -_- In Japan, it's normal for people in bookstores to stand and browse the books. It's quite funny to go into a bookstore and see thirty or forty people all standing holding magazines, for example. In Australia, if you did that, surely someone would tell you 'this is not a library'.. hahah...
What else... there are so many different things, just on one street. The garbage system. Confusing, with different types of garbage being collected almost every day of the week. There are posters on lamp posts announcing the days of collection. Garbage has to be tied up in transparent plastic bags so they can see that you are throwing out the right type of garbage. Garbage usually ends up in masses of plastic bags, bound by nets, tied to signposts on the street.
Lots of the small, locally owned shops, seem a lot smaller than any stores in Australia.
Coffee shops. Coffee is very popular in Japan. But coffee shops and cafes are not the same thing, and I have learned to read the signs. There are several places selling coffee on my way to the train station, but I will only drink lattes or cappuccinos. (There are no such things as 'flat whites' here.) This is because Japanese coffee tends to be Strong Espresso. You can get it with milk, but then it becomes Strong Espresso With A Teaspoon Of UHF Crema. Like, I had a coffee at Subway once and couldn't quite believe what came out of the machine. Imagine drinking four or five shots of espresso in one cup. It was horrifying!
Anyway, quite a few places do have cappuccinos and lattes - though there are plenty of coffee shops that don't. Cappuccinos are interesting, as you never know exactly what it will be... sometimes they come topped with chocolate, sometimes with cinnamon, and sometimes with nothing at all. Often with lattes and cappuccinos, I find the froth to be a bit too foamy and bubbly for my taste (okay, I'm a sad, over-fussy coffee snob) so my favourite has become (guiltily...) Starbucks. Starbucks coffees here seem to be a little smaller and stronger than in Oz, so they're much nicer, and have a good consistency of froth. In my defense, though I may patronise Starbucks almost every day, I have at least tried cappuccinos at virtually every possible cafe and fast food restaurant in the area...
Cafes also have a wide variety of other drinks, most of them look sickly sweet, things like 'creme brulee lattes' and 'caramel cream lattes'. I have never seen a Japanese person order a cappuccino or cafe latte at a cafe - it's always strong black coffee, or one of the sickly-sweet conconctions.
One non-coffee drink I am quite partial is the matcha latte. (Matcha is the really traditional Japanese green tea - the kind they do 'tea ceremony' with. It is thick and dark green, slightly bitter, and looks foamy, like soap bubbles. I don't like the taste as much as 'ordinary' green tea, but it's okay.) Matcha lattes are pretty good! It comes with cream, so it's like drinking a hot cocoa... except it's matcha... hmmm...
Thursday 30 June 2011
Friday 24 June 2011
Early impressions (5)
More of my diary from when I first came to Japan (three years ago). Sorry that these are the only posts I make now, but since I'm not in Japan at the moment, I don't have the inspiration to write much that's new. ^_^
This post shows a nice contrast to my post on taking trains. In that post, I said that actually, taking trains in Japan is reasonably simple... but advised readers to procure a map. This old diary entry of mine proves why a map is a good thing. (It also helps if you're not a person like me, who hates asking people for help. Hahaha.)
***
Going to Roppongi, aka 'A little knowledge is a dangerous thing'
[I wrote this on Christmas Eve as a way of venting my frustration. It's probably rather laborious to read, so just imagine doing it!... This is an entirely accurate representation of my worst experience on Japanese trains. :)]
What a day...
This morning I set out for Sakuragicho to enjoy the sunshine. (I love the word 'Sakuragicho'. It just rolls off the tongue.) It was nice too. My plan was to then go to the immigration office in Ishikawacho - I brought my visa papers - and then finish the day by seeing the Christmas lights in Roppongi. (Roppongi is in Tokyo.) Remembering what happened the last times I went into Tokyo, I made sure to bring my train line maps with me. I knew from experience it can be difficult to negotiate the train system if you don't have your own maps.
As it turned out, I forgot to bring my passport, so I couldn't go to Ishikawacho. Instead I came home to get it, decided I didn't have enough time to get back before the immigration office closed, and by that time had started developing a cold. So I decided to chill out until the evening when I went into Roppongi.
As I got on my first train to go to Roppongi, I realised that I didn't have my train maps. Drat! I'd put them in the bag with my visa papers - because I had thought I would be taking that bag with me to Roppongi - but then left it at home. Nice going! You did it again! I was having a really triumphant day with remembering things...
After that, I made just about every mistake it was possible to make!
Anyway, this is the process I took to try to get to Roppongi without a train map:
I took the Yokohama line to Higashi-Kanagawa and then changed to the Keihin-Tohoku line.
I took the Keihin-Tohoku line to Oimachi because I had a vague memory that the train line I wanted went from near there.
It didn't. But by the time I realised that, I was in the Saikyo line station, so I didn't want to go back to JR Oimachi to get back on the Keihin-Tohoku. This Saikyo station at least had a map on the wall. Roppongi wasn't on it. The only thing I knew for sure was that Roppongi was a Tokyo Metro station connected to the Hibiya Line, so I decided the only course was to get myself to a station I *knew* was connected to the Tokyo Metro, so I could at least see a subway map. I didn't recognise any of the stations on the Saikyo line as being on the Metro system. Thus, I took the Saikyo Line to Osaki so I could change to another line.
In Osaki I changed trains. I had to decide whether to go to Shibuya or Shinjuku, as I knew they are both connected to the Tokyo Metro. However, the Osaki map, not being a Tokyo Metro station, didn't have Tokyo Metro stops printed. So I didn't know which Metro train lines connected through Shibuya and Shinjuku. I (wrongly) 'remembered' that Yoyogi was on the Hibiya line, and Yoyogi is near Shibuya, so I went to Shibuya. As it turns out, Shinjuku would have taken me to a line connecting directly to Roppongi. But Shibuya didn't.
At Shibuya, I had a choice between walking to the Ginza or the Hanzomon lines. I knew that there was another line connecting directly to Roppongi apart from the Hibiya line, and I knew for a fact that it wasn't the Ginza line, and I couldn't remember what it was - so maybe it was the Hanzomon line? So I walked to Hanzomon Metro station, which was, of course, further away.
You must realise it took me all this travel time simply to get myself standing in front of a Tokyo Metro map.
Once at the Hanzomon line, all the train maps had English on them, except the map of the Tokyo Metro - the one I wanted to consult. By a Freak Chance, I recognised the kanji for 'Roppongi' - it's made up of three of the few kanji I know - and realised that I had to take the Ginza line and then change in Ginza. Drat!
So I walked back where I'd come from, to the Ginza line, and took the Ginza line all the way to Ginza.
In Ginza, I changed to the Hibiya line and took it for a few minutes.
FINALLY ARRIVED IN ROPPONGI AFTER TWO WHOLE HOURS AND SIX WHOLE TRAINS.
And don't forget, every time I leave a train station to change trains, it's costing me the fare of a subway ticket! -_-
I realise this whole affair makes me sound really incompetent, but the fact is this: because Tokyo is connected by multiple rail networks, often you can NOT find a map you need and so you have to just randomly go somewhere and hope you end up able to get to the right place. I don't know what people do. You might say 'well, if you left your rail maps at home, why didn't you pick up another one at the station?' They don't HAVE them! Or if they do, they're hidden somewhere!
My main fault was in not deciding to just go to a station where I *knew* there was a Tokyo Metro stop, to begin with, and imagining that Oimachi connected when it didn't (actually the stop I wanted was Hamamatsucho, so don't ask me how I got those names confused...).
This was the first time in Japan I ever thought 'I wish I had my car!' It would have been nice to have been able to just drive home, comfortably, in the warm, without having to stand in trains, get off and on, off and on...
Roppongi Hills was okay. They had nice Christmas lights, and a small German 'market', and some carol singers. I had a hot bowl of Chinese soup. It's not quite my scene though. I never like designer shops; in fact, designer things and rampant commercialisation actually kind of annoy me. Also, it's funny to see how my attitude changes when I have a cold and I'm annoyed after spending two hours catching six trains to get somewhere!
You see, Christmas Eve is a time for lovers, and there were soooo many young couples around. Ordinarily I'd be like 'ohh! That's so sweet! Isn't this nice, all these cute young couples!' But with a runny nose and my head all stuffed up, I was like 'geez... there are too many people here... all this lovey-dovey stuff is getting on my nerves... have a bit of self-respect, girls... and don't buy such expensive jewellery, you don't need it...'
Hahah...
Anyway, coming home was much more straightforward, as I'd seen every possible Tokyo train map by this stage. I still had to make a number of choices on my journey home, but this time I learned my lesson and made the right decisions. The lesson is: if presented with a choice between a) an unknown option that *may* be quicker/more direct, and b) a known option which may be slower but will definitely get you to the right destination - always, ALWAYS choose B!
Even a 'straightforward' route home from Tokyo can look like this:
I took the Hibiya line to the end of the line as I could see a way to end up at Kikuna, a station on the Yokohama line.
The Hibiya line went through Ebisu. The announcement said that this station 'connected to JR line'. Yes? Which JR line? It's kind of a relevent detail, you know! So, not knowing if it would be a JR line that I wanted, I stayed put.
At Naka-Meguro I stopped to get on the Tokyu Toyoko line. The first train that came along was an Express train. Well, I didn't know if Express would include Kikuna (I was 95% sure it would, but by now I was a broken woman, unable to face the possibility of getting it wrong yet again), so I had to wait for the next train.
The next train, unfortunately, didn't go all the way to Kikuna. So I had to get off halfway and wait for the next train (along with everyone else on that train). The next train, unfortunately, was a Ltd Express. Again, I didn't know if it would include Kikuna so I had to wait for the next local train AGAIN. (To be fair, the trains are not far apart. But it is absolutely, completely FREEZING tonight, so not much fun waiting on platforms outside.)
Finally arrived in Kikuna. Changed trains to the Yokohama Line and finally returned home.
Yeesh! I should have just stayed home!
***
[Update, 2011: Just to comment on this, express and limited express trains DO stop at Kikuna. At the time I wasn't familiar with station maps and the features of the stations I was to frequent, so I didn't know how to check. I think I was reluctant to ask anyone for help because at that time, my Japanese was very basic, and I had had a lot of rather demoralising experiences in train stations failing to communicate and ending up more confused than when I started.
I can also report that what most Japanese people do in situations like these is check train timetables on their mobile phones. Failing that, of course they would ask the station staff, like a sensible person. Also, I believe train maps can be gotten from many stations; at least from major stations; but you have to go to the information counter and request them; they are not just sitting around for the taking.]
***
Going to Roppongi, aka 'A little knowledge is a dangerous thing'
[I wrote this on Christmas Eve as a way of venting my frustration. It's probably rather laborious to read, so just imagine doing it!... This is an entirely accurate representation of my worst experience on Japanese trains. :)]
What a day...
This morning I set out for Sakuragicho to enjoy the sunshine. (I love the word 'Sakuragicho'. It just rolls off the tongue.) It was nice too. My plan was to then go to the immigration office in Ishikawacho - I brought my visa papers - and then finish the day by seeing the Christmas lights in Roppongi. (Roppongi is in Tokyo.) Remembering what happened the last times I went into Tokyo, I made sure to bring my train line maps with me. I knew from experience it can be difficult to negotiate the train system if you don't have your own maps.
In Sakuragicho
As it turned out, I forgot to bring my passport, so I couldn't go to Ishikawacho. Instead I came home to get it, decided I didn't have enough time to get back before the immigration office closed, and by that time had started developing a cold. So I decided to chill out until the evening when I went into Roppongi.
As I got on my first train to go to Roppongi, I realised that I didn't have my train maps. Drat! I'd put them in the bag with my visa papers - because I had thought I would be taking that bag with me to Roppongi - but then left it at home. Nice going! You did it again! I was having a really triumphant day with remembering things...
After that, I made just about every mistake it was possible to make!
Anyway, this is the process I took to try to get to Roppongi without a train map:
You must realise it took me all this travel time simply to get myself standing in front of a Tokyo Metro map.
Once at the Hanzomon line, all the train maps had English on them, except the map of the Tokyo Metro - the one I wanted to consult. By a Freak Chance, I recognised the kanji for 'Roppongi' - it's made up of three of the few kanji I know - and realised that I had to take the Ginza line and then change in Ginza. Drat!
And don't forget, every time I leave a train station to change trains, it's costing me the fare of a subway ticket! -_-
I realise this whole affair makes me sound really incompetent, but the fact is this: because Tokyo is connected by multiple rail networks, often you can NOT find a map you need and so you have to just randomly go somewhere and hope you end up able to get to the right place. I don't know what people do. You might say 'well, if you left your rail maps at home, why didn't you pick up another one at the station?' They don't HAVE them! Or if they do, they're hidden somewhere!
My main fault was in not deciding to just go to a station where I *knew* there was a Tokyo Metro stop, to begin with, and imagining that Oimachi connected when it didn't (actually the stop I wanted was Hamamatsucho, so don't ask me how I got those names confused...).
This was the first time in Japan I ever thought 'I wish I had my car!' It would have been nice to have been able to just drive home, comfortably, in the warm, without having to stand in trains, get off and on, off and on...
You see, Christmas Eve is a time for lovers, and there were soooo many young couples around. Ordinarily I'd be like 'ohh! That's so sweet! Isn't this nice, all these cute young couples!' But with a runny nose and my head all stuffed up, I was like 'geez... there are too many people here... all this lovey-dovey stuff is getting on my nerves... have a bit of self-respect, girls... and don't buy such expensive jewellery, you don't need it...'
Hahah...
Anyway, coming home was much more straightforward, as I'd seen every possible Tokyo train map by this stage. I still had to make a number of choices on my journey home, but this time I learned my lesson and made the right decisions. The lesson is: if presented with a choice between a) an unknown option that *may* be quicker/more direct, and b) a known option which may be slower but will definitely get you to the right destination - always, ALWAYS choose B!
Even a 'straightforward' route home from Tokyo can look like this:
Yeesh! I should have just stayed home!
***
[Update, 2011: Just to comment on this, express and limited express trains DO stop at Kikuna. At the time I wasn't familiar with station maps and the features of the stations I was to frequent, so I didn't know how to check. I think I was reluctant to ask anyone for help because at that time, my Japanese was very basic, and I had had a lot of rather demoralising experiences in train stations failing to communicate and ending up more confused than when I started.
I can also report that what most Japanese people do in situations like these is check train timetables on their mobile phones. Failing that, of course they would ask the station staff, like a sensible person. Also, I believe train maps can be gotten from many stations; at least from major stations; but you have to go to the information counter and request them; they are not just sitting around for the taking.]
Saturday 18 June 2011
Early impressions (4)
More from my diary when I first came to Japan.
***
I saw a sign that said: "It is keep off per classification yard."
What?
***
In a tourist magazine I read the following disclaimer:
"The publisher bears no responsibility for the contents of this publication."
Then who does?
***
There was this show teaching English. They had an English guy teaching English. The irony is that though the English teacher was teaching correct English, the subtitle guy subtitled it wrongly. Eg:
"Singing song is fun."
"Riding wave is fun."
Should really help to improve Japanese people's English...
***
Every time I find something bearable to have on TV in the background, the show changes into something really irritating. I gradually become aware of hyperactive Japanese guys shouting at each other, and have to resume channel-surfing...
***
The other day I went to the bathroom and found this message in the cubicle:
"HOW TO FLUSH THE TOILET: The toilet will automatically flush when you place your palm at the point." (There was an accompanying illustration.) Only in Japan do you need instructions on how to flush a toilet. I've never seen so many different ways of doing it. Quite often it will just do it, seemingly randomly, of its own accord. Whether you're finished or not!
***
I saw a sign that said: "It is keep off per classification yard."
What?
***
In a tourist magazine I read the following disclaimer:
"The publisher bears no responsibility for the contents of this publication."
Then who does?
***
There was this show teaching English. They had an English guy teaching English. The irony is that though the English teacher was teaching correct English, the subtitle guy subtitled it wrongly. Eg:
"Singing song is fun."
"Riding wave is fun."
Should really help to improve Japanese people's English...
***
Every time I find something bearable to have on TV in the background, the show changes into something really irritating. I gradually become aware of hyperactive Japanese guys shouting at each other, and have to resume channel-surfing...
***
The other day I went to the bathroom and found this message in the cubicle:
"HOW TO FLUSH THE TOILET: The toilet will automatically flush when you place your palm at the point." (There was an accompanying illustration.) Only in Japan do you need instructions on how to flush a toilet. I've never seen so many different ways of doing it. Quite often it will just do it, seemingly randomly, of its own accord. Whether you're finished or not!
Friday 10 June 2011
Early impressions (3)
More of my diary when I first came to Japan.
***
It's getting really cold now. It will get quite a bit colder than this, though. Today I tried to find a nice warm, padded jacket - everyone wears them here - but they all make me look like the Michelin Man.
I've been trying out origami; I bought a book of patterns. It's fun. What I like about it is that you can't rush it, or do other things at the same time. I'm used to surfing the 'net while typing an email while listening to music while channel surfing on TV... But with origami, you have to sit and focus on what you're doing.
I realised that the main reason I'm shy about going into restaurants by myself isn't primarily because I'm shy about speaking Japanese. I just don't like going into restaurants by myself. I mean, even in Australia. Restaurants are social places.
What I am enjoying are frozen dinners, supermarket meals, and convenience store meals. That sounds bad... but they're so good and cheap! For dinner tonight, I had some gyoza (Chinese dumplings - 'jiao zi' in Chinese), a small frozen pizza, some Vietnamese cold rolls, a slice of baked cheesecake and a mini Kit Kat. Okay, I ate too much...
The convenience store has a selection of pre-packaged meals that they'll heat up for you. There are some really good rice dishes, and some pasta dishes, and this nice udon laksa... it's like, sure, if I tried, I could probably cook meals slightly better than the convenience store meals. But these meals are like $4 or $5 and require No Preparation Time From Me. When you get home at 10pm, you don't feel like cooking anything but the most simple stir-fry...
I do have a few bad temptations, as far as food goes. There are some really delicious frozen cream-based pasta meals that I like. I cook them in my toaster oven and slather them with parmesan. One of these meals costs under $4 and it's very filling; not like Australian frozen dinners where you always need something else to supplement the meal...
(I'm finding that most things here are cheaper than back home. I never thought of Australia as an expensive country, but it seems that with the strength of our dollar, we are more expensive.)
Then there's the chocolate croissants, but actually these aren't such a temptation as the bakeries nearest work are not so great; I only eat one when I haven't eaten breakfast and have no time to eat something decent.
Gyoza are a huge temptation. I always loved jiao zi but never found them often back home. In Japan they're everywhere. And they're soooo good... but they're fried in a lot of oil...
I'm also eating burgers a little more often than back home. My usual lunch is at Subway, but some days after an afternoon of teaching, my 'hamu to chedda cheezu tosuto' just isn't enough, so I get a Becker's Burger... they're so good...
I don't know why I'm rambling on about food... it's not like I'm hungry, having eaten so much... I always say you shouldn't go into a supermarket when you're hungry. That's probably why I ended up buying far too much this evening. I bought about eight things I felt like eating and only got through half of them, hahah...
What did I do today, apart from go to church? Hmmm... I came back through Yokohama station and tried to go shopping to buy a padded jacket... it really is so cold... I'm wearing the kind of clothes I would wear for winter in Australia, and the cold just bites through them like I'm not wearing them at all.
The shopping centres around Yokohama station are labyrinthine... I get so lost. I bought a few bits and pieces, including - I'm ashamed to say - more food. I bought Tim Tams (I'm such a sad Australian... you can only find them in specialty shops, but I've found a few of them...). I found Time Out bars as well! And green curry sauce... mmm... I want to eat Thai green curry, enough that I will actually be motivated to cook it. I haven't had it since I moved here. I also bought an Indian curry sauce which looks good. The only curry I've had here is 'curry rice', a peculiarly Japanese invention which, while not bad, is just not the same. I have a rice cooker, but I think I'll just buy pre-cooked steamed rice from the convenience store.
(Convenience stores really are convenient. There are three within three minutes' walk of my house. I even pay my utilities bills at the 'conbeni'.)
You can really find most foods here if you put your mind to it. Though sometimes only a particular variety of a food is common.
For example, virtually all Italian restaurants serve these huge but anaemic spaghetti dishes with a meagre sprinkle of mushrooms or clams or small bacon pieces or whatever... I find the sauces a bit disappointing. I'd love a rich, hearty, tomato-ey lasagna full of mushrooms and onion... mmm... or maybe penne pasta bake... some type of pasta other than spaghetti...
Another example is bread. Virtually all bread is white, and very thickly sliced. It's fresh and delicious. But it's bloating, especially in the morning. I'm so used to eating multigrain bread, which I prefer, that I struggle to eat breakfast at all now. So now I am buying rye bread, the only other option available. It's very similar to white bread - in Australia it probably wouldn't be called rye at all - but slightly more palatable.
Generally I'm eating about as wide a variety of food here as I would back home. And to be honest I don't eat that much Japanese food; only when I eat out with others. When I'm really hungry, I want something filling and hearty, and sometimes Japanese food just doesn't fit the bill. I do love Japanese noodles though, and I like nabe and shabu shabu (both forms of Japanese hotpot).
Okay, I'm really sounding food obsessed... what else did I do today... then I came back home, ate (too much) dinner, *finally* got rid of my HUGE bag of cardboard boxes and papers (this kind of garbage is only collected once a month, so they have been waiting a long time), had a bath, and spent a couple of hours surfing the web collecting idioms and proverbs for use in teaching.
Japanese people love baths, they are for relaxation as well as washing, and nearly all Japanese people love going to hot springs and the like. I've never been big on baths but I'm kind of getting into it, mostly because it's so cold...
Students really have trouble with my accent when I say the sound 'ni-'. For example, a whole class of people were stumped by the simple question "did you have a late night?" They kept repeating the word 'nought?' 'nate?' in confusion. Then again last week, a student couldn't understand me when I said "the ninth floor".
When my co-worker with his 'standard American' accent, says these words, everyone understands. We both tried out saying them to the Japanese staff. To the two of us, they sound so similar, but to Japanese people, apparently not!
I made a resolution today to study Japanese for an average of half an hour a day, each day this week. I am being Too Lazy.
***
It's getting really cold now. It will get quite a bit colder than this, though. Today I tried to find a nice warm, padded jacket - everyone wears them here - but they all make me look like the Michelin Man.
I've been trying out origami; I bought a book of patterns. It's fun. What I like about it is that you can't rush it, or do other things at the same time. I'm used to surfing the 'net while typing an email while listening to music while channel surfing on TV... But with origami, you have to sit and focus on what you're doing.
I realised that the main reason I'm shy about going into restaurants by myself isn't primarily because I'm shy about speaking Japanese. I just don't like going into restaurants by myself. I mean, even in Australia. Restaurants are social places.
What I am enjoying are frozen dinners, supermarket meals, and convenience store meals. That sounds bad... but they're so good and cheap! For dinner tonight, I had some gyoza (Chinese dumplings - 'jiao zi' in Chinese), a small frozen pizza, some Vietnamese cold rolls, a slice of baked cheesecake and a mini Kit Kat. Okay, I ate too much...
The convenience store has a selection of pre-packaged meals that they'll heat up for you. There are some really good rice dishes, and some pasta dishes, and this nice udon laksa... it's like, sure, if I tried, I could probably cook meals slightly better than the convenience store meals. But these meals are like $4 or $5 and require No Preparation Time From Me. When you get home at 10pm, you don't feel like cooking anything but the most simple stir-fry...
I do have a few bad temptations, as far as food goes. There are some really delicious frozen cream-based pasta meals that I like. I cook them in my toaster oven and slather them with parmesan. One of these meals costs under $4 and it's very filling; not like Australian frozen dinners where you always need something else to supplement the meal...
(I'm finding that most things here are cheaper than back home. I never thought of Australia as an expensive country, but it seems that with the strength of our dollar, we are more expensive.)
Then there's the chocolate croissants, but actually these aren't such a temptation as the bakeries nearest work are not so great; I only eat one when I haven't eaten breakfast and have no time to eat something decent.
Gyoza are a huge temptation. I always loved jiao zi but never found them often back home. In Japan they're everywhere. And they're soooo good... but they're fried in a lot of oil...
I'm also eating burgers a little more often than back home. My usual lunch is at Subway, but some days after an afternoon of teaching, my 'hamu to chedda cheezu tosuto' just isn't enough, so I get a Becker's Burger... they're so good...
I don't know why I'm rambling on about food... it's not like I'm hungry, having eaten so much... I always say you shouldn't go into a supermarket when you're hungry. That's probably why I ended up buying far too much this evening. I bought about eight things I felt like eating and only got through half of them, hahah...
What did I do today, apart from go to church? Hmmm... I came back through Yokohama station and tried to go shopping to buy a padded jacket... it really is so cold... I'm wearing the kind of clothes I would wear for winter in Australia, and the cold just bites through them like I'm not wearing them at all.
The shopping centres around Yokohama station are labyrinthine... I get so lost. I bought a few bits and pieces, including - I'm ashamed to say - more food. I bought Tim Tams (I'm such a sad Australian... you can only find them in specialty shops, but I've found a few of them...). I found Time Out bars as well! And green curry sauce... mmm... I want to eat Thai green curry, enough that I will actually be motivated to cook it. I haven't had it since I moved here. I also bought an Indian curry sauce which looks good. The only curry I've had here is 'curry rice', a peculiarly Japanese invention which, while not bad, is just not the same. I have a rice cooker, but I think I'll just buy pre-cooked steamed rice from the convenience store.
(Convenience stores really are convenient. There are three within three minutes' walk of my house. I even pay my utilities bills at the 'conbeni'.)
You can really find most foods here if you put your mind to it. Though sometimes only a particular variety of a food is common.
For example, virtually all Italian restaurants serve these huge but anaemic spaghetti dishes with a meagre sprinkle of mushrooms or clams or small bacon pieces or whatever... I find the sauces a bit disappointing. I'd love a rich, hearty, tomato-ey lasagna full of mushrooms and onion... mmm... or maybe penne pasta bake... some type of pasta other than spaghetti...
Another example is bread. Virtually all bread is white, and very thickly sliced. It's fresh and delicious. But it's bloating, especially in the morning. I'm so used to eating multigrain bread, which I prefer, that I struggle to eat breakfast at all now. So now I am buying rye bread, the only other option available. It's very similar to white bread - in Australia it probably wouldn't be called rye at all - but slightly more palatable.
Generally I'm eating about as wide a variety of food here as I would back home. And to be honest I don't eat that much Japanese food; only when I eat out with others. When I'm really hungry, I want something filling and hearty, and sometimes Japanese food just doesn't fit the bill. I do love Japanese noodles though, and I like nabe and shabu shabu (both forms of Japanese hotpot).
Okay, I'm really sounding food obsessed... what else did I do today... then I came back home, ate (too much) dinner, *finally* got rid of my HUGE bag of cardboard boxes and papers (this kind of garbage is only collected once a month, so they have been waiting a long time), had a bath, and spent a couple of hours surfing the web collecting idioms and proverbs for use in teaching.
Japanese people love baths, they are for relaxation as well as washing, and nearly all Japanese people love going to hot springs and the like. I've never been big on baths but I'm kind of getting into it, mostly because it's so cold...
Students really have trouble with my accent when I say the sound 'ni-'. For example, a whole class of people were stumped by the simple question "did you have a late night?" They kept repeating the word 'nought?' 'nate?' in confusion. Then again last week, a student couldn't understand me when I said "the ninth floor".
When my co-worker with his 'standard American' accent, says these words, everyone understands. We both tried out saying them to the Japanese staff. To the two of us, they sound so similar, but to Japanese people, apparently not!
I made a resolution today to study Japanese for an average of half an hour a day, each day this week. I am being Too Lazy.
Monday 6 June 2011
Teaching English for the first time: general advice
This continues from my first post about teaching English and my post about lesson planning.
Here are some additional, general pieces of advice.
Control your language
One very important skill you will learn 'on the job' is how to grade your own language. You will need to learn how to speak more clearly, to use simpler grammar and vocabulary, and to explain things clearly, with examples.
A lot of students say they can't understand their new foreign teacher. The new teacher, without realising it, is firing off sentences far too quickly, without understanding what students will and won't understand.
This is a problem for many a beginning teacher. We use heaps of idioms and figures of speech in our everyday speaking, without even realising it. It does take some practice, but once you get used to it, you can modulate your language according to each new student. If you see a new student and you don't know their level, you can greet them with very simple English. If they respond in a halting way, you'll know to keep your language very simple. If they speak smoothly and confidently, you can ask your next questions a little more naturally, and give more information yourself. After a few exchanged sentences, you can get a very rough feel for the kind of level of English you can use with that student.
Some tips for speaking to low-level students:
-For low level students, stick to simple questions. If they're struggling a lot, offer example answers. ('Where are you from?' (pause) 'Are you from Yokohama? Tokyo?')
-Say a few words and then pause to give time to process. It takes a while for beginners to mentally translate sentences.
-Smooth the way by using example words that are same in Japanese and English (burger, beer, Japanese city names). Obviously works less well if you don't know any Japanese or which words are similar!
As you get more experience, you'll get more of a feel for things students will and won't know. But bear in mind that most of your students will have learned English through classes and textbooks, so even higher level students may not have very good grasp of idioms.
Keep your instructions clear
Similar to 'controlling your language', when you explain tasks to students, keep it simple and to the point. For lower level students, use gestures and examples to help show your meaning. Also, keep the students with you as you explain the important things.
Example bad explanation: 'Okay, I'd like you guys to form pairs and practise page 50 from the textbook, one of you is gonna ask the other the questions from the top half of the page, and the other is gonna ask the bottom questions; after you finish I want you to solve this puzzle using the answers from the previously answered questions. Okay?'
Example good explanation: 'Okay, please open your book. Look at page 50.' (hold up the book to show the page, wait for students to open)
'Now, you are partners.' (gesturing to each student, putting them in pairs with your gesture) 'You're A, B. A, B.'
'Student A. Please ask your partner these questions.' (gesture to the questions)
'Student B. Please ask your partner these questions.' (gesture)
-(get students to do the exercise)-
'Okay! Now, look at the bottom of the page, here. (gesture) What's the answer to this puzzle?...
Notice the short sentences, the pauses for students to follow you, the gestures, and the delivering key information only at the appropriate moment. Of course, with higher-level classes, you don't want to dumb it down this much, and you can reduce the number of gestures. Still, even with them, you don't want to clutter your most important explanations with lots of unnecessary talking; they'll be straining to work out exactly what you're asking and to get the most important info.
If the exercise is not completely straightforward, you may also want to demonstrate how to do the exercise, by pairing up with a partner and asking them the first question or two from the exercise.
If you are totally new to teaching, I'd recommend actually practising this style of speaking yourself before going in front of a class. You might think 'oh, that sounds so easy', but until you're used to it, you'll likely find yourself putting in lots of 'well, let's see here...'s and 'what I'm gonna ask you to do's and 'oh and if you wouldn't mind...'s. Similarly, you could practise how you would explain the difference between two words, or the meaning of certain vocab words, in a really simple and clear way.
Check students' understanding
After you have explained something, unless the meaning could not possibly be misunderstood, check the students understand it!
For example, if you've just explained the difference between 'his' and 'him', write up a few short example sentences on the board, with gaps ('This is ___ book', 'I talked to ___ yesterday', etc). Get students to try to supply the missing words.
Or if you have just given students an exercise to do, you can check their understanding. 'So, what are you going to write?' 'Are you going to write, or just speak?'
Speaking together
Get students to work in pairs or small groups. Give them as much speaking time as possible. Unless you have a small class, try to limit activities where you ask every member of the class a question, or get every person to report back on what they talked about. Students in pairs get to talk more, and practise more.
If you are doing pairwork, and you have an odd number of students, you must decide whether to make a group of three, or to partner one of the students yourself. If you do the former, try to arrange it so that different people make a group of 3 in each activity. (Obviously, students in a group of 3 get less individual time to talk/practise.) If you do the latter, again, try to partner yourself with different students for different activities, and take pauses to check on the progress of other students.
Correcting students
When students are doing freer conversation, try not to interject and correct their every utterance. In my experience, Japanese students usually *do* want to be corrected if they are making errors, but choose your battles, so as not to discourage them with excessive corrections. If they can't express themselves or really foul up some language, correct them, but if they just leave out a 'the' or 'a', let it slide (unless 'the' and 'a' is the point of the lesson).
When you correct students, here are some handy ideas:
Get them to 'see' the error for themselves. For example, repeat back their error, emphasising the wrong word. ('He HAVE a car?') Or ask a question about it. ('You HAVE WORKED in Osaka last year? Do you work there now? No? Okay, how can we say this?')
Get them to repeat the correct sentence.
After the exercise has finished, put a few sentences you overheard on the board. Get students to look at them themselves and work out which are correct and incorrect.
If someone is making a common error, or several people make the same error, write it up on the board and get students to correct it and think about what the correct English is.
In my experience, many Japanese students have struggled with English learning precisely because they are not confident about just practising whatever language they think of, taking risks, making mistakes. In school, a lot of them practised endless reading and grammar, without much conversation practice. This means that what a lot of students most need is the chance to speak a lot and improve their fluency. Of course they should be helped to speak *correctly*, but be careful you don't correct them SO much that they can't get any flow going.
Nobody is speaking!
It depends on your class. Some classes will be a buzz of confident energy, where conversation flows freely. In other classes, getting any response from anybody will be like pulling teeth. What do you do in this situation?
I can tell you there is no easy answer, but some tips:
-get students speaking in pairs simultaneously; if several people are talking at the same time, nobody feels self-conscious about their voice being heard by the whole class.
-limit the number of questions you ask the class as a whole. Or, ask the questions, but provide the answer within a few seconds.*
-if their silence stems from lack of creativity or ideas, put up some ideas on the board.
-teach them how to ask a variety of questions. Teach them how to answer, and then add extra information. (Eg, if someone asks 'do you like video games?', don't just say 'yes'. You would go on to talk about what games you like, how often you play, etc.)
Here are some additional, general pieces of advice.
Control your language
One very important skill you will learn 'on the job' is how to grade your own language. You will need to learn how to speak more clearly, to use simpler grammar and vocabulary, and to explain things clearly, with examples.
A lot of students say they can't understand their new foreign teacher. The new teacher, without realising it, is firing off sentences far too quickly, without understanding what students will and won't understand.
This is a problem for many a beginning teacher. We use heaps of idioms and figures of speech in our everyday speaking, without even realising it. It does take some practice, but once you get used to it, you can modulate your language according to each new student. If you see a new student and you don't know their level, you can greet them with very simple English. If they respond in a halting way, you'll know to keep your language very simple. If they speak smoothly and confidently, you can ask your next questions a little more naturally, and give more information yourself. After a few exchanged sentences, you can get a very rough feel for the kind of level of English you can use with that student.
Some tips for speaking to low-level students:
-For low level students, stick to simple questions. If they're struggling a lot, offer example answers. ('Where are you from?' (pause) 'Are you from Yokohama? Tokyo?')
-Say a few words and then pause to give time to process. It takes a while for beginners to mentally translate sentences.
-Smooth the way by using example words that are same in Japanese and English (burger, beer, Japanese city names). Obviously works less well if you don't know any Japanese or which words are similar!
As you get more experience, you'll get more of a feel for things students will and won't know. But bear in mind that most of your students will have learned English through classes and textbooks, so even higher level students may not have very good grasp of idioms.
Keep your instructions clear
Similar to 'controlling your language', when you explain tasks to students, keep it simple and to the point. For lower level students, use gestures and examples to help show your meaning. Also, keep the students with you as you explain the important things.
Example bad explanation: 'Okay, I'd like you guys to form pairs and practise page 50 from the textbook, one of you is gonna ask the other the questions from the top half of the page, and the other is gonna ask the bottom questions; after you finish I want you to solve this puzzle using the answers from the previously answered questions. Okay?'
Example good explanation: 'Okay, please open your book. Look at page 50.' (hold up the book to show the page, wait for students to open)
'Now, you are partners.' (gesturing to each student, putting them in pairs with your gesture) 'You're A, B. A, B.'
'Student A. Please ask your partner these questions.' (gesture to the questions)
'Student B. Please ask your partner these questions.' (gesture)
-(get students to do the exercise)-
'Okay! Now, look at the bottom of the page, here. (gesture) What's the answer to this puzzle?...
Notice the short sentences, the pauses for students to follow you, the gestures, and the delivering key information only at the appropriate moment. Of course, with higher-level classes, you don't want to dumb it down this much, and you can reduce the number of gestures. Still, even with them, you don't want to clutter your most important explanations with lots of unnecessary talking; they'll be straining to work out exactly what you're asking and to get the most important info.
If the exercise is not completely straightforward, you may also want to demonstrate how to do the exercise, by pairing up with a partner and asking them the first question or two from the exercise.
If you are totally new to teaching, I'd recommend actually practising this style of speaking yourself before going in front of a class. You might think 'oh, that sounds so easy', but until you're used to it, you'll likely find yourself putting in lots of 'well, let's see here...'s and 'what I'm gonna ask you to do's and 'oh and if you wouldn't mind...'s. Similarly, you could practise how you would explain the difference between two words, or the meaning of certain vocab words, in a really simple and clear way.
Check students' understanding
After you have explained something, unless the meaning could not possibly be misunderstood, check the students understand it!
For example, if you've just explained the difference between 'his' and 'him', write up a few short example sentences on the board, with gaps ('This is ___ book', 'I talked to ___ yesterday', etc). Get students to try to supply the missing words.
Or if you have just given students an exercise to do, you can check their understanding. 'So, what are you going to write?' 'Are you going to write, or just speak?'
Speaking together
Get students to work in pairs or small groups. Give them as much speaking time as possible. Unless you have a small class, try to limit activities where you ask every member of the class a question, or get every person to report back on what they talked about. Students in pairs get to talk more, and practise more.
If you are doing pairwork, and you have an odd number of students, you must decide whether to make a group of three, or to partner one of the students yourself. If you do the former, try to arrange it so that different people make a group of 3 in each activity. (Obviously, students in a group of 3 get less individual time to talk/practise.) If you do the latter, again, try to partner yourself with different students for different activities, and take pauses to check on the progress of other students.
Drilling
Don't be shy about drilling the students. It might seem boring to you, to have them repeat the same sentences several times. But if you've ever learned a language, you'll know that sometimes you just need to get your mouth used to saying the words!
Correcting students
When students are doing freer conversation, try not to interject and correct their every utterance. In my experience, Japanese students usually *do* want to be corrected if they are making errors, but choose your battles, so as not to discourage them with excessive corrections. If they can't express themselves or really foul up some language, correct them, but if they just leave out a 'the' or 'a', let it slide (unless 'the' and 'a' is the point of the lesson).
When you correct students, here are some handy ideas:
If someone is making a common error, or several people make the same error, write it up on the board and get students to correct it and think about what the correct English is.
In my experience, many Japanese students have struggled with English learning precisely because they are not confident about just practising whatever language they think of, taking risks, making mistakes. In school, a lot of them practised endless reading and grammar, without much conversation practice. This means that what a lot of students most need is the chance to speak a lot and improve their fluency. Of course they should be helped to speak *correctly*, but be careful you don't correct them SO much that they can't get any flow going.
Nobody is speaking!
It depends on your class. Some classes will be a buzz of confident energy, where conversation flows freely. In other classes, getting any response from anybody will be like pulling teeth. What do you do in this situation?
I can tell you there is no easy answer, but some tips:
-get students speaking in pairs simultaneously; if several people are talking at the same time, nobody feels self-conscious about their voice being heard by the whole class.
-limit the number of questions you ask the class as a whole. Or, ask the questions, but provide the answer within a few seconds.*
-if their silence stems from lack of creativity or ideas, put up some ideas on the board.
-teach them how to ask a variety of questions. Teach them how to answer, and then add extra information. (Eg, if someone asks 'do you like video games?', don't just say 'yes'. You would go on to talk about what games you like, how often you play, etc.)
-make sure their silence is not caused by total lack of comprehension of the material. If students are in a class that is far too advanced for them (unfortunately, a common occurrence, at least in my experience), there may not be much you can do, except try to schedule bits of respite in the lesson where students can freely use language they *do* know confidently to talk about familiar topics.
*(This is not always recommended; sometimes students genuinely need a long time to understand the question and formulate an answer. You want to give these students the time to think it through. But in other cases, students just don't want to speak out in front of a whole class, especially when they are not confident about their answer. If you have such a class, don't spend half an hour fruitlessly waiting for answers to questions.)
Sometimes you do everything you can and they still don't talk much (in my experience, the worst situation is where you have a class of 3 shy people, because you can't just put them in pairs and get them to ignore their other classmates).
*(This is not always recommended; sometimes students genuinely need a long time to understand the question and formulate an answer. You want to give these students the time to think it through. But in other cases, students just don't want to speak out in front of a whole class, especially when they are not confident about their answer. If you have such a class, don't spend half an hour fruitlessly waiting for answers to questions.)
Sometimes you do everything you can and they still don't talk much (in my experience, the worst situation is where you have a class of 3 shy people, because you can't just put them in pairs and get them to ignore their other classmates).
Thursday 2 June 2011
Random Pictures (6)
Wow. The Japanese diet is known for being quite healthy, while we Westerners are thought to enjoy junk food a little too much for our own good. But I have never seen such a gargantuan stack of calories in Australia.
This is a sculpture at the Sapporo Snow Festival. The character is called Marimokkori, and is a popular character from Hokkaido, also popular with children. I thought 'oh, I have a dirty mind, that creature looks like it's got a boner, ha ha of course that can't be the case'. No. It really does.
I saw this billboard while waiting for a train in Kikuna. And no, I don't know what it is, either.
[By the way, if you have been a regular reader of this blog, you may have noticed how rarely I have been posting lately. That's because I'm actually back in Australia at the moment - these last few posts were pre-written - and running out of things to say. If I ever go back to Japan, I'm sure I will post more actively again, but for now, this blog will be coming to a bit of a hiatus.]
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