If I were asked by someone what my worst experience in Japan was, I would have to say that this week would come very close to being the winner. I spent the last week hobbling around in a leg cast, and it left me unable to leave my house. But it’s not quite as bad as you think. What happened to my leg? Here is my sad little story.
Author Archive for jasohill
I don’t usually don’t like to post stories that have made the rounds on the blogosphere. But this particular article is just too funny too resist. The story comes to us from the AFP, and can be read here.
TOMY toy company has designed an exploding piggy bank that shakes violently when you don’t add money to it in a timely manner. This “punishment” is supposed to shame you into saving more money. Oh, Japan, I should have seen this one coming. As if people here didn’t have enough shame as it is. The bank is called the ”人生銀行” or “Life Bank”, and is ready to go on sale any day now.
If you are interested in any of their other 人生 products, you should check this out. It might be the most annoying alarm clock ever devised. They call it the “Life Clock” or “人生時計.”
In order to bring you content above and beyond what the AFP is bringing you, I intend to purchase an exploding bank and play around with it. Stay tuned.
人生銀行 - Product page.
In what is perhaps the most awesomely translated game name I’ve ever heard coming out of Japan, I learned what the game “Concentration” means in Japanese the other day.
First of all, I should explain that I use “Concentration” as a way to practice vocabulary with young learners of English. I usually choose eight words, then print out two sets of them. During a class we’ll practice the target vocabulary, then I’ll lay out the cards on the black board in a 4X4 pattern. Young children love this game, and they enjoy trying to get a matching pair of words.
Well, the other day, I was playing this game with a group of first graders and the teacher mentioned how much she like the game herself. I asked her if this was a game that is played in Japan. She mentioned it was quite popular and is called “
神経衰弱(shinkeisuijaku)” in Japanese. I didn’t get a chance to look it up until recently, but when I did, I almost fell out of my chair. I asked her again about the name. I asked why it was translated into “Nervous Breakdown.” She couldn’t give me an answer.
I can only imagine what late night session of “concentration” by a group of overzealous salarymen lead to the game being called “Nervous Breakdown.” Somebody had to be playing this game at gunpoint.
I love Halloween, originally uploaded by jasohill.
I was at the the Murone Steak and Halloween party again this year. If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know I try to get out to this party every year. We started out at Hilltop steak out in Senmaya, and moved on to the community center, located somewhere near the Iwate, Miyagi border.
The kids party was awesome, with well over a hundred kids showing up in some of the most wonderful costumes(most of them not relating to Japanese manga and anime characters.) The after party also a lot of fun. I got the chance to meet some of the new JET programme participants this year. Overall, it was well worth the two hour drive.
A big thanks to Greg Anthony for throwing it. This is his eight time doing it.
I was at one of my elementary schools, having my self a nice little chat with one of the teachers. She asked me if I had a problem with doing two classes on the 24th, instead of the one I was scheduled for. I expressed that it wasn’t a problem at all. In fact it was a pleasure to enlighten and educate those sweet little faces. She was very pleased with this and happy that I never had a problem with any requests. I did mention that I would only have a problem if I were to be double booked. She laughed and said, “その時のため、分身の術(sonotokinotame, bunjin no jutsu.)
Basically, in English it means “For those times, you’d need the special body splitting techinique(used by ninjas)” She was so shocked that I understood what she was talking about, she almost fell over. I told her I learned it in a book. I will never reveal the true source of my information.
Shitty Japanese animated show about pansy, teenage ninjas never make good reference material.
Faces at the Tokyo Game Show, originally uploaded by jasohill.
The Tokyo game show came and went again this year. I can’t say there was really anything all that interesting going on this year. There weren’t any new console announcements, or highly anticipated games to speak of. The only thing I took away from it were some decent photos, and a chance to catch up with some friends. I suppose in many ways, that is what it’s all about, but it’s a heck of a lot of money to spend.
One thing I should mention is that it was ridiculously hot this year. I walked around in a soaked shirt most of the day. Not that this was bad enough, but the stench of fanboy order was also in the air. Japan doesn’t like deodorant, and this is a fact you could smell. I might just consider saving my pennies next year.
What started out as a pleasant trip to Sendai, almost turned into a nightmare in my sleepy little prefecture. This all steamed from an email we received from a friend living in Morioka, advising us to come home as soon as possible. We only got a taste of what was to come when the bus driver told us the highway was closed and we would be late by over an hour.
It appears that Typhoon 11 left more damage than anyone could have anticipated. Many of Iwate’s rivers, already near overflowing from the storm, unleashed their fury yesterday, forcing evacuations all over the prefecture. My former home, Ichinoseki was under about fivefeet of water, and many parts of Hanamaki and Morioka were almost evacuated due to rising waters levels. I was very lucky to be living on higher ground. My home wasn’t damaged.
The secondary effects of this flooding weren’t even noticable to me until today. It appears many parts of the rail between Hachimantai-Matsuo and Hanawa were washed out completely. If I didn’t already have a car or the ability to drive, I would been unable to get to most of the schools I teach at. Even the road I use to jog is lying under water. Many of the rice fields in my town are now submerged as well.
I’m sure there will be more to tell about this story. I will will update you as information becomes available. I am attempting to get information of people that were evacuated and casualties.
Update 1: This article tell of two people carried away by flood waters in Morioka. The search is continuing for them today.
Update 2: An article from the Asahi shinbum gives a quick summary of the people involved so far.
This is the latest episode of Transplanted. Transplanted is a podcast I do about people living abroad. I like to talk with ex-pats and ask them about their experiences abroad.
This week, I speakwith Dean Ruetzler, an English instuctor working in Japan. He talks about his life in Japan and his former life in Finland. If you are planning on living overseas, you may wish to listen in and find out what he has to say on the subject.
La Lune, originally uploaded by jasohill.
Did you catch the total lunar eclipse on August 28, 2007? It wasn’t hard to see from Matsuo, Hachimantai City. All I had to do was look up. There were clear skies all evening. Still, it wasn’t an easy subject to capture. Even though my lens is a 200mm zoom lens, I still had to do a lot of cropping to get this image.
Many of my students has no idea how a lunar eclipse happens, so I spend the first fifteen minutes of my classes today giving them a quick astronomy lesson. Most seemed bored, but there were a fair number of students that wanted to know more. I’m glad I was able to reach out to them.
Update: English meaning section. I almost forgot to post what the Japanese word for Lunar Eclipse is. In Japanese you say gesshoku(月食) for a lunar eclipse and nisshoku(日食）for a solar eclipse. They mean “Moon Eat” and “Sun Eat.” If it’s a total eclipse of sun sun, you say kaikishoku(皆既食）、and of the moon, kaikigesshoku(皆既月食.）The more you know…
Recently, I have found my problem solving skills to be in a state of atrophy. This might be due to the lack of challenge at my work place, or perhaps laziness in general. Going from a stressed out University student to glorified human tape recorder(read:ALT) carries with it some serious consequences; many of which I probably won’t realize until long after I am out of Japan. As a way to improve my mind, I have been reading more, attempting some challenging logic puzzles and playing some sudoku. I have found the results of my training to be quite satisfactory, and my head no longer seers in pain at basic computations.
However, Japan always seems to find a way to brake my brain in two. I’m not sure if it is the culture to blame, or rather the company in particular, but I am flabbergasted at what I encountered on Thursday evening at a local dry-cleaners. I had dropped off a dress shirt there the other day and was going to pick it up. I thought this would be a routine trip. Oh, how wrong I was. Here is how things played out. The dialogue was in Japanese, but it has been translated into English for your enjoyment.
