こんにちわ Konnichiwa from Tokyo!
It has indeed been a long time since I’ve written so I’m happy to be in touch again. Although Japan is still a very perplexing place for me in many ways, I have managed to create a suitable life for myself here and, at last, am finding my days packed with activities.
To begin, I will mention that I have joined a salsa team! Joining a team was one of my goals here so shortly after arriving I sought out all the dance clubs and teachers in Tokyo. One night I was dancing at a club called Salsa Caribe and someone recruited me right off the dance floor! Perhaps due to limited English, to my amusement, his pitch concluded bluntly with, “So why don’t you join my team.” I went to their tryouts and am now dancing with them on a weekly basis. I’m hoping to perform soon and will certainly get a video posted when I do.
The team I joined actually went to the World Salsa Championships in Florida this December, although this does not necessarily mean they are some of the world’s best. There is ANOTHER couple who went, however, named Hiro & Taku, who did very well and certainly COULD BE some of the best. I aspire to dance like them! I joined their six-month course and had my first lesson yesterday. I’m especially excited because the male is very tall so his movements are definitely something for me to emulate. The course is quite expensive, but it’s an opportunity I certainly would not want to pass up.
Last week I went to a Japanese wedding party! It looks like I must go to at least one wedding in any country that I live in – although I still haven’t been to a big wedding in the States…. The wedding party was for a couple on the salsa team and was held at a club in a place called Roppongi. There was an MC, salsa performances, food, drink, wild bartenders who lit lots of things on fire, and silly activities. Then, at the end, everyone listened intently as a letter from the bride’s mother was read aloud. Everyone became completely absorbed in what was being said and started crying (men included - being macho here is not a common value), and I, being the only foreigner, just stood by humbly, not understanding a word and observing respectfully.
Every week I cook a big batch of food one time for two hours and eat the same meal throughout the week. I boil two big pots of vegetables, throw in many spices and sauces and combine them with rice and tofu. The kitchen consists of one burner and a sink and zero counter space so I bring over a small table and cut the vegetables on that while sitting on the floor – this routine has actually become quite standardized and efficient!
My Japanese is improving but my progress is slow and the language is proving to be very difficult – much more so than Spanish or Hebrew, or even Arabic was. In Japanese I can rarely successfully look up a word on my own because each search in the dictionary yields ten results for the same word and I never know which word is current or common to use and which ones are from 200, 500 or 1000 years ago. Furthermore, the pronunciation of many words completely changes depending on the context. The running joke for me is that every time I learn something I try to use it and it’s wrong! In order to really learn about this culture, however, and to make simple tasks easier, such as finding a Yoga studio or a movie theater, and to understand what’s happening during my salsa lessons, I must learn Japanese, so I am beginning to study more often.
Work is going well. I’ve had plenty of embarrassing flubs trying to get students’ names straight. Differentiating the Hiroakis, Tomoakis, and Noriakis or Tomokos and Motokos, or Yoshiyukis, Kazuyoshis, and Kuniyoshis is a pretty substantial task for a foreigner. For the most part, however, I’m getting to know my students well and am also enjoying teaching.
I’m finding myself very busy and rarely in my apartment. Because Tokyo is so large, it’s usually best to just stay in town once arriving. Yesterday, for example, I left at 10:45am for the first salsa lesson from 12:00-2:00pm, stayed in town until the team lessons from 5:30pm-9:30pm, took a subway to see Avatar from 10:00pm – 1:00am (whose 3D effects are one of the most astonishing things I have ever seen – I highly recommend going before it leaves theaters), and then, since the trains had stopped running, went out in that area all night and returned home at 7:00am this morning. Because the trains stop running from about 1:00am to 5:30am, it is very common to stay out all night here.
Speaking of Tokyo’s size, it is bigger than I ever could have imagined. The next biggest city over from Tokyo is Yokohama. I live in Kawasaki city, which is halfway between the two (about 25 minutes by train to either). In America, there are fields and farms between cities; in Japan, there are cities between cities. The train ride is a fascinating journey through one seemingly never-ending urban metropolis.
The word for foreigner here is “Gaijin,” and given how different Gaijin tend to look and how unfamiliar they tend to be with Japanese customs, they often stand out here much more than in places like Europe, Israel, or even Egypt. I’ve done plenty of foolish things and my Australian co-worker, Robin, and I enjoy joking about our “Gaijin errors.” I will leave you with a story about one of my favorite Gajin errors, which occurred last week.
After work I quickly change clothes and rush off to dance salsa with a friend. As I zip down subway stairs I see that the train doors are about to close so I spring across the platform and jump on. Like so many trains here, however, this one is packed with people. When this happens, the best thing to do is go in tail first and just push until the little crannies on the train are filled and more space opens up. I do this, but the doors close simultaneously and trap half of my arm outside of the train with my briefcase dangling from that hand! Meanwhile, inside the train, my other hand is occupied with my nice home-cooked food in a Tupperware container (in proper Gaijin fashion – no local person eats on the street here), preventing me from trying to open the door. I quickly set the container on the floor of this packed train and try to pry the door open but cannot. Thankfully, a white-gloved train attendant soon runs over and pries the door open for me.
After that fiasco, being totally packed in like sardines, I get to enjoy physically touching every snickering person around me. To top to it off, I then look up and see that I caught the train going in the opposite direction. I can’t help but laugh on the inside, but, knowing that I am already in an absurd situation, I stand fast and am sure to acknowledge my mistake silently.
When I finally get on the train going the correct direction, not feeling Gaijin enough, I decide to pull out my food and start eating again. Apparently I wasn’t able to close the lid on the food container very well though so as I pull it out, sauce flies out from the corner splattering shamelessly across the train floor. Tokyo trains are quiet and CLEAN, so this is not a welcome addition to my chain of Gaijin errors. Fortunately, however, this train is not so packed, so I am able to clean up the mess. Ten minutes later, having finished my meal and ready to go, I continue on wand have a lovely night as the only tall white guy in the Salsa club.
That is all for now!
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