2002-07-10 - 9:51 p.m.
Next week is my last week of work. In a little more than a month, I’ll be heading back to America. While I’m very excited about a lot of what I’ll return to, there’s also a lot of things I’ll miss about Japan. My decision to leave Japan was based mostly on wanting to be closer to the people I love in the States, and partly on dissatisfaction with my job here in Japan. Moreover, even if I left my position with JET and moved to Tokyo, there really aren’t any opportunities for employment in anything other than English teaching. That said, if this were a one sided equation -- if I got to decide whether I wanted to stay in Japan without considering the factors drawing me home -- I would probably stay here another year. Now that I feel reasonably well adjusted here, there are things I would have liked to try if I had more time like ikebana (flower arranging) and taiko drumming. Below are some things I will miss about Japan.
Convenience stores. “Conbinis” as they’re called here, are a mainstay of my diet, especially on weekends. Seven Eleven over here is a whole different animal. At the average conbini you can buy good quality rice balls, sushi, soba or somen noodles, salads, yogurt, cheese, sandwiches, and all kinds of desserts and baked stuff, not to mention all of the unhealthy snack stuff you’d expect. I also pay my telephone and gas bills, make color copies for 40 cents, buy concert tickets and use the ATM at the conbini. MiniStop, Lawson’s Seven Eleven, Sunkus, Daily Yamazaki, AmPm, you will be sorely missed.
Baths. I love bathing in Japan. Both at home, the sento (public baths) and the onsen (hot springs), bathing is considered an important and redeeming activity. Thus, a lot of time is allotted for bathing, and it is perfectly normal to soak in the tub for a half hour every night of the week. Onsen offer what must be the most relaxing getaways from the city -- padding around in a robe and soaking in beautiful surroundings. While onsens are populated by strangers on vacation, sentos feel like neighborhood gatherings, as people come after a day of working or shopping to talk, soak, and scrub each other’s backs.
Trains. The trains here are great. They run (almost always) on schedule. They’re clean and the stops are always announced. They’re a bit expensive, and they stop running at midnight. But still, I love the velour seats. Unlike in New York, you don’t have to check for liquid before you sit down.
My cell phone. This will be a hard habit to break. I tap out dozens of text messages everyday to my friends, check the weather, take pictures, play games when waiting for trains, get my horoscope... and it’s pink.
Tofu. First of all, the attitude toward tofu is much better in this country. It is seen not as a tasteless health food eaten by hippies, but as a food just like any other, or perhaps better than any other. At the grocery store I can buy not only the white block you’re familiar with, but deep-fried tofu for adding to stir-fries, tofu and vegetable patties for eating on their own, and fried tofu pockets to boil in soy sauce, sugar, and sake to make inari sushi. A delicacy I tried here for the first time is yuba, the skin of boiled liquid tofu -- like the skin off of pudding.
Tokyo. I love big cities, and Tokyo is a fabulous city. The busiest, craziest areas are unlike anything I’d ever seen before -- seas of people, towering video screens, music and sales pitches being blasted over loud speakers. The calmer, residential areas have a different charm, with their tangled telephone wires, mix of tilted old houses and garish new apartment buildings, the grandma-run food counters and the vociferous stray cats. And, though I know safety is an illusion everywhere and at anytime, Tokyo feels like a very safe city.
Weird stuff everywhere. Vending machines selling flower bouquets. Aquariums on train platforms. Teenagers wearing the latest fashion trends -- from Little Bo Peep outfits to gothic maid costumes to lab coats and nurses’ uniforms “bloodied” with red paint. David Beckham fever. Bad English inscriptions like “Beauty with nature. Fresh breeze I can feel fine. This is our Lifevision” on tissue boxes, trash cans, and notebooks. Admittedly, I’ve lost the ability to recognize wacky things here.
I also have a list of things I WON’T miss, but this entry is long enough. A typhoon is coming tonight -- and everyone is hoping for a day off...
