2001-09-01 - 5:05 p.m.
First -- I'm an aunt!!! My sister gave birth to a girl at about 4pm on August 31. Her name is Elizabeth Virginia, "Beth" for short. Have to learn the Japanese word for aunt...
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A couple notes about TV -- I came here expecting to see Iron Chef all the time, but it turns out that this US cult favorite is SO OVER in its home country of Japan. Apparently it's been off the air here for 3 years, so what we see in the US is old. The Bobby Flay challenges are current though. In case you were wondering. From the strange gameshow department, I saw one the other night where the contestant had to answer questions while standing on a high dive, and when he ran out of time, a big red balloon slowly inflated behind him and pushed him off the platform. Many gameshows here have "foreign" contestants, usually a white person in a cowboy hat who speaks fluent Japanese. Also many news anchors are white people who speak Japanese. Another reason to pick up the language, eh?
After a late night talking with my co-ALTs (Sean is back from Nepal so we're a big happy JET family again), I awoke at 7am Friday morning to the sound of pouring rain. This was rather unfortunate, as I had planned to make the hour-long trip to Chiba City that morning to get my re-entry permit (a passport document that allows me to travel & re-enter Japan). I decided to be hardcore about it though, so I put on my new head-to-toe rain gear and cycled to the train station.
Upon getting to Chiba City, I had to find an ATM. This seemingly simple task went something like this (and this is how many things go these days). I went up to a clerk in the train station and asked, "ATM wa doko desu ka?" (where is an ATM?"). The clerk answered me in Japanese without using hand motions, which was too bad because I was really hoping to get some hand motions. Guessing, I pointed in a random direction, looked at him inquisitively, and got a nod. With this information, I headed off in the implied direction and found the ATM. Moreover, it was the ATM for MY BANK! Great, I thought, this will be easy. If there's one think I've learned in Japan, it's how to use the ATM for MY BANK. Smuggly, I pushed the button that said "withdrawal" in Japanese (HA! Knew THAT one!). I entered my password (No problem!). Then came the part where you have to put in the amount you want to withdraw. I punched the numbers, but nothing happened. I tried every button on the screen until finally it spit my card back out at me. I did this about 5 times, with the watchful security camera pointed straight at me. I'm sure some guard was having a good laugh. Finally, I pulled out this little ATM guide that JET gave us. After studying it for no less than 5 minutes, I figured out that I had to enter ONE number, then push the button for either 1,000 yen or 10,000 yen. Except the screen didn't SAY 1,000 yen (in a way I could read it), rather, there were the Kanji SYMBOLS for these 2 amounts. Lessons learned: 1) Don't get smug, you're still in Japan; 2) I am capable of crying in front of an ATM when I feel it has betrayed me.
After getting my re-entry permit, which was a cinch, I did a little shopping in a couple of Chiba City's fabulous malls. I was wandering around, looking at pillow covers and wondering why I was in Japan looking at pillow covers anyway, when I noticed a group of 4 girls giggling and looking at me. They walked by me slowly, then back again, and finally they stopped and one of them bravely said "Hello!" "Hello!" I said. They giggled. "Shopping?" the brave one offered. "Yes. Are you junior high school students?" They looked at each other and consulted in Japanese before one of them answered "Oh yes!" We had a short conversation in English about their ages (12 and 13), where they lived (Chiba City), and where I lived. They scurried off, but continued to pop up and giggle or watch me from afar as I shopped. When they saw me leaving the cash register, they shouted, "Bye bye!" and then met me at the escalator. "America?" The brave one asked. "Yes, I'm from Washington, DC," I answered. "I like English very much!" the brave one blurted out. "Are you English teacher?" "Yes," I responded, "I am an ALT." This seemed to be the best news they had heard all day. The encounter kept me smiling for hours.
Friday afternoon, all of us ALTs had to get dressed up in suits to formally meet our boss, co-workers and the mayor at city hall. First, we were brought into the "big boss'" office. A man stood holding a tray with four certificates on it. Individually, big boss greeted us and handed us a certificate. The local paper took photos. It was all very ceremonial, but the interesting thing was that we had all already met the big boss. He actually took me out to lunch one day. But the important thing was that the introduction be made formally and ceremonially. Then, we addressed the 30-40 person staff of the Board of Education. The supervisor who introduced me let the group know that I am a vegetarian, but it's okay because I can eat many Japanese foods, like soba, for example. We each gave short speeches in Japanese -- I think I stumbled through mine well enough. Everyone clapped and smiled, anyway. Finally, we were taken up to the top floor to meet the mayor of Kimitsu. The 7th floor looked completely different than the other floors I'd visited in this same building. Downstairs, the offices consisted of open spaces with cluttered desks pushed together to form communal work spaces, creating a kind of Montessori school effect. Upstairs, it looked like, well, a mayor's office. We were ushered into a swank meeting room with large cushioned chairs and a great view of the city. The mayor came in, we all stood and bowed, and again gave short speeches in Japanese. Two women discreetly served us hot tea. Oddly, this encounter was almost comforting. Having grown up meeting political types, the magnitude of the event, the nervousness I felt in wanting to say the right thing, and even the mayor's politician-like appearance felt very familiar.
This morning, after getting the call from my mom about the baby, I took a bike ride out in the country side. Sure enough, the farther I got out of the center of Kimitsu, the more people stared at me. An elementary school had just let out from its opening ceremony and many of the childred looked downright stunned when I said "konnichiwa." Old women tending to their rice paddies stopped their work to get a better look at me. Drivers did double takes, and passengers pointed me out to others in the car. Actually, I get stared at almost everywhere I go in Kimitsu. I would love to know what goes through people's minds. I imagine it ranges from "what's that white person doing in the supermarket?" to "that must be the new ALT." One thing is sure -- I stand out. Even the mayor remarked that he had seen me dancing in the summer festival.
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P.S. Some of you might be interested in checking out Lela's diary at http://lela712.diaryland.com. We spend a lot of time together and as Lela's boyfriend pointed out, you get more details by reading both of our diaries together. In any event, she's damn funny.
