Saturday, March 29, 2008
Kuma-chan, okite!
The Japanese garbage trucks sing a song, much like American ice cream trucks. In fact, the first time I heard it, I just assumed it was an ice cream truck. (They don't seem to exist in Osaka, by the way.) Anyways, now every time I hear the singing garbage trucks, I always smile, imagining a bunch of newly arrived American children chasing after the garbage truck and their horrified expressions upon discovering a bunch of trash instead of delicious ice cream.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Yube wa..
So last night, two of my private students (who take a lesson together) decided to treat me to dinner to thank me for the lessons. My opinion remains that it was a good excuse to go and eat a delicious dinner, a semi-traditional "kushikatsu" style Japanese dish. And boy was it good!
It was my second time going to a restaurant in the area of Osaka called Shin Sekai (literally "New World") that is famous for its kushikatsu shops and nearby transvestite community. One of the landmarks of Osaka City is Tsutenkaku Tower, which I have yet to go up. (Note: the second picture of Shin Sekai shows the edge of a building to the right - that is a convenience store (convenie in Japanese-English) that I sometimes buy a snack at after work on Monday nights.)
You see, I teach English on Monday nights as a part-time gig at a very chic bar located at the base of the tower. As such, I am in this area every week, and the pictures I have linked are very familiar sites that I see every time I'm in the area.
Ironically, out of the many restaurants in Shin Sekai, both times I've gone for kushikatsu have ended up with me in the same exact restaurant, at the same exact table.
Anyhoo, after dinner the guys wanted to shock me with sights of "real" Osaka City. They drove me first to the homeless capital of Japan, an area where all the houseless people live ("homeless" seems inaccurate since they do indeed have homes, just not houses...). What they didn't know is that I ride my bicycle through the area literally twice a day on my way to work; nothing shocking or new for me there.
Next, they took me on a drive through the local prostitute district. Again, I ride my bicycle through this district every Monday night, to and from the bar I teach English at, so it was nothing new. Granted, the first time I found this place, I had my fair share of shock.
I'm not sure if I posted about it before, but I can't find it after a brief search so I'm going to write the story (again?).
I was exploring Osaka City on my bicycle in the spring of 2007. I was about halfway between my house and one of the "downtown" areas, when I took a street I had never been down before, and after a few minutes I came across an old grandmother-type's house. She was sitting in her living room, except that the living room was in a garage-like opening. And it looked VERY cozy, too! Nice furnishings, comfy looking couch, etc. Everything very bright and colorful.
Another surprise was that the grandmother smiled and nodded her head, greeting me. Quite uncommon in Japan, because people are very reserved. Further inside the house, I noticed her grand-daughter sitting on one of the comfy looking couches and I thought about how nice for them to be enjoying the fine spring weather and visiting each other.
I continued down the street and the next house had the same set-up. "Japan has very unique architecture", I foolishly thought to myself.
The next house, and the next, were also the same set-up, and also had the same old woman / young whore combo. Yes, that's when it occurred to me; I had heard about this area but never expected to actually wander into it unexpectedly!
Needless to say, that was a shocking experience since it was so open and obvious, and in the middle of the day. Last night, the area was a heckuva lot busier, but nothing I hadn't seen before, so their devious plot to shock me failed utterly.
Still, the guys I teach are a lot of fun and I was happy to enjoy a fine meal together and have them give me a bit of a tour of the seedy side of Osaka.
Anyways, thought I would post about it to share some of my experiences in this urban jungle, and give some context to my life in Japan.
It was my second time going to a restaurant in the area of Osaka called Shin Sekai (literally "New World") that is famous for its kushikatsu shops and nearby transvestite community. One of the landmarks of Osaka City is Tsutenkaku Tower, which I have yet to go up. (Note: the second picture of Shin Sekai shows the edge of a building to the right - that is a convenience store (convenie in Japanese-English) that I sometimes buy a snack at after work on Monday nights.)
You see, I teach English on Monday nights as a part-time gig at a very chic bar located at the base of the tower. As such, I am in this area every week, and the pictures I have linked are very familiar sites that I see every time I'm in the area.
Ironically, out of the many restaurants in Shin Sekai, both times I've gone for kushikatsu have ended up with me in the same exact restaurant, at the same exact table.
Anyhoo, after dinner the guys wanted to shock me with sights of "real" Osaka City. They drove me first to the homeless capital of Japan, an area where all the houseless people live ("homeless" seems inaccurate since they do indeed have homes, just not houses...). What they didn't know is that I ride my bicycle through the area literally twice a day on my way to work; nothing shocking or new for me there.
Next, they took me on a drive through the local prostitute district. Again, I ride my bicycle through this district every Monday night, to and from the bar I teach English at, so it was nothing new. Granted, the first time I found this place, I had my fair share of shock.
I'm not sure if I posted about it before, but I can't find it after a brief search so I'm going to write the story (again?).
I was exploring Osaka City on my bicycle in the spring of 2007. I was about halfway between my house and one of the "downtown" areas, when I took a street I had never been down before, and after a few minutes I came across an old grandmother-type's house. She was sitting in her living room, except that the living room was in a garage-like opening. And it looked VERY cozy, too! Nice furnishings, comfy looking couch, etc. Everything very bright and colorful.
Another surprise was that the grandmother smiled and nodded her head, greeting me. Quite uncommon in Japan, because people are very reserved. Further inside the house, I noticed her grand-daughter sitting on one of the comfy looking couches and I thought about how nice for them to be enjoying the fine spring weather and visiting each other.
I continued down the street and the next house had the same set-up. "Japan has very unique architecture", I foolishly thought to myself.
The next house, and the next, were also the same set-up, and also had the same old woman / young whore combo. Yes, that's when it occurred to me; I had heard about this area but never expected to actually wander into it unexpectedly!
Needless to say, that was a shocking experience since it was so open and obvious, and in the middle of the day. Last night, the area was a heckuva lot busier, but nothing I hadn't seen before, so their devious plot to shock me failed utterly.
Still, the guys I teach are a lot of fun and I was happy to enjoy a fine meal together and have them give me a bit of a tour of the seedy side of Osaka.
Anyways, thought I would post about it to share some of my experiences in this urban jungle, and give some context to my life in Japan.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
ATMs in Japan... a short rant
OK, so in America, or at least my part of America, ATMs exist for just about one purpose as far as I know; to dispense cash. An average person using an ATM takes all of one minute from start to finish, transaction completed.
In Japan, ATMs provide basically most of the services you'd need a bank teller for in America. You can update your financial records, check your account history, transfer funds between accounts, make deposits, count your change, and so on and so on.
So when I need to pick up a quick $20 equivalent from the ATM, I generally find myself in line behind three people and always think "this won't take long", since I forget that I'm in Japan. Thirty-five minutes later, I can complete my transaction in less than a minute... but I usually stand there and triple check my account balance or something just to make it seem worthwhile, to justify this investment of time that I will never get back.
The ironic thing is, you'd think the need for an efficient way of getting cash out of your bank account would be imperative in Japan, which is a cash-based economy compared to the luxury of America's debit and credit cards. Japan has those, to be sure, but their use is quite limited; generally only large-expenditure businesses like travel agencies or department stores and the like will accept them.
On a side note, since my return to my old job at NOVA, I have learned what it means to truly hate one's job. This is a valuable life skill since I don't want to go in to work anymore. It's my first time truly hating my job, and I never realized how much having a job could suck until now. Before it was always a minor inconvenience at worst... but with our company's active policy to destroy foreign staff's morale and get us to jump ship, I often feel like I'm still clinging to the Titanic no matter what...
In other words, I've begun job searching. Again.
Luckily, this time the market isn't flooded and there's actually quite a few jobs.
Will keep you updated on my job hunt... right now I'm thinking I might try being a "hosto" which would basically mean I got paid the big bucks (or the small bucks, depending on how I do) to wine and dine lonely women. In other words, I could get paid to get drunk and flirt with women... I do believe that this would be my dream job! (^_^)v
Please drink responsibly.
In Japan, ATMs provide basically most of the services you'd need a bank teller for in America. You can update your financial records, check your account history, transfer funds between accounts, make deposits, count your change, and so on and so on.
So when I need to pick up a quick $20 equivalent from the ATM, I generally find myself in line behind three people and always think "this won't take long", since I forget that I'm in Japan. Thirty-five minutes later, I can complete my transaction in less than a minute... but I usually stand there and triple check my account balance or something just to make it seem worthwhile, to justify this investment of time that I will never get back.
The ironic thing is, you'd think the need for an efficient way of getting cash out of your bank account would be imperative in Japan, which is a cash-based economy compared to the luxury of America's debit and credit cards. Japan has those, to be sure, but their use is quite limited; generally only large-expenditure businesses like travel agencies or department stores and the like will accept them.
On a side note, since my return to my old job at NOVA, I have learned what it means to truly hate one's job. This is a valuable life skill since I don't want to go in to work anymore. It's my first time truly hating my job, and I never realized how much having a job could suck until now. Before it was always a minor inconvenience at worst... but with our company's active policy to destroy foreign staff's morale and get us to jump ship, I often feel like I'm still clinging to the Titanic no matter what...
In other words, I've begun job searching. Again.
Luckily, this time the market isn't flooded and there's actually quite a few jobs.
Will keep you updated on my job hunt... right now I'm thinking I might try being a "hosto" which would basically mean I got paid the big bucks (or the small bucks, depending on how I do) to wine and dine lonely women. In other words, I could get paid to get drunk and flirt with women... I do believe that this would be my dream job! (^_^)v
Please drink responsibly.
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