Chapter 5 : A fresh start: sans internet, sans money

Not much has happened since I last blogged. I still don't have internet. I keep trying to explain to my supervisors that I need my NTT phone line activated before I can do anything, but they won't listen. Either that, or I'm not saying it right in Japanese. A "professional" is supposed to come over today and discover this.
Drove to Yamano mura the other day, that's my other school. It's far away in a smaller(yes, smaller) village on the other side of a mountain. People complain about the long journey, but I actually found the ride to be quite beautiful. The mountains are completely covered with trees and every now and again I pass close to a river.
The school is very small, but also very nice. At most, I'll have only four or five students to a class. The principal has a huge brick oven where he and the students make pizza sometimes. There's also a marathon coming up, which they asked me to join. I don't want to jinx it, but I think I'm going to like this school the best.
Still studying(or should I say re-learning?) Japanese. The difference now is that I'm actually making progress; not just memorizing things for an upcoming test and then forgetting them. That was my problem back in the States, coupled with the fact that I didn't really NEED Japanese to survive. Here, of course, it's different.
Am actually warming up to karaoke. Got standing ovations the last couple of times.
Today marks the beginning of school for the students. Made a speech(in English AND Japanese)in the gym this morning, and then stood for an hour while everyone else made theirs. Once again, I overdressed, showing up in a suit while everyone around me wore what they call "cool biz"(short-sleeved shirt and tie). I was easy to spot.
Money continues to slip through my fingers. I've already gone through the two thousand dollars I brought with me, and am steadily eating into my first paycheck. I know things in Japan are expensive, and I know culture shock and jet lag have temporarily altered my common sense, and I KNOW now is the time for gatherings, eating, drinking and celebrating, not to mention furnishing my new overseas life, but this is a little too much. I haven't even payed my bills yet, and already I've spent twice the amount I usually do in one month. I'll have to pay that "professional" when he comes over and tells me something I already know. *sigh* I guess it can'T be helped.
Tomorrow is the birthday of a famous hamburger joint in a nearby city. All the nearby JETs are attending. I'm excited. I think I've said before that I had the best hamburger of my life over there. We'll see how it goes.

Chapter 4: Mukade

"Japan is a very friendly place."
I've heard this a hundred times, but I never realized the all-encompassing meaning behind that phrase. Even the BUGS aren't afraid to get all up in your face and welcome you to Japan. Since I've been here, I've killed enough bees, crickets and flies to be qualified as an amatuer exterminator. I share my apartment with three large spiders(that I know of) and actually keep them around to keep the insect population under control.
It's safe to say that, back in Vegas, all arthropods adopt the "live and let live" philosophy and tend to keep to themselves, which is great because just about the only kind of spider there is the black widow. Out here, you see them everywhere: on the bridge, in your house, in the trees, and even at school, but none of them are poisonous.
Except mukade
Mukade are a type of poisonous centepede. Apparently, they like to drop from the ceiling onto the heads of unsuspecting sleepers, or hide in the tatami and ambush tender bare feet. Their bite may not be deadly, but it is very painful, and will leave you with a swollen appendage for some time.
The other night, I awoke to a tickly sensation on my arm. Reaching out, I grabbed something squirmy and threw it. I turned on the light to see a small, half-dead centepede writhing on my tatami. I imediately thought this was the mukade, and prepared for the killing ritual.
Killing mukade is a lot like killing a vampire in the West. There's a lot of folklore behind it. Many Japanese say that you should never step on mukade, for it will call more. Likewise, you cannot burn them. If you cut one in half, the head will still come after you. You must either boil it in water or submerge it in oil. In this way, the mukade cannot call out, and so you are safe.
I had no oil, and it would take too long to boil the water, so I flushed it. Take THAT, mukade.
Later, I found out that what I had slain was not a mukade, but a house centepede. Apparently, mukade are bigger.

Chapter 3: You're Never Alone in El Sol

The evening started out with me trying to find El Sol, the local bar in Kamioka. I'd only gone there once with Warren, so I couldn't remember exactly where it was, only that it was on the other side of the river, in the downtown area.
After some searching, I eventually asked a man in the street. He had no clue what I was talking about, which didn't surprise me(Warren warned me that almost NO ONE in town knows the bar even exists, except perhaps the coolest locals and gaijin), but he stopped a taxi - actually STOPPED a taxi - and asked the driver. The man in the back seat was drunk, but he knew the place, and, inspired by my gaijin presence, said, "You! Come!" in English. With much polite hesitation and thanks, I got in the taxi and they took me to El Sol.
Once there, I found a seat at the bar and chatted with Keiko, the bartender. Keiko is somewhat famous among the Kamioka gaijin because she can speak English and a little Spanish as well. She's also quite pretty, and so is always being hit on by the local barflies.
Almost immediately, two guys joined me at the bar. They bought me a beer, and started asking me all sorts of questions: where are you from, how do like Japan, would you join my soccer team, and do you want another beer?"(this one at least three times) One thing lead to another, and I soon had two new best friends and dangerously low inhibition. Toora-san is my age, and Takushi("sounds like `taxi`" is his favorite joke) is 31, and hopelessly in love with Keiko.
They bought me drink after drink as the night wore on, and we talked endlessly about movies, sports, and of course, our dreams. Toora-san taught me the finer points of Japanese alcohol, and every now and then reminded me that I had promised to join his soccer team. Keiko successfully dodged every one of Takushi's come-ons, and I was having a good time. Not only that, I noticed that, since my two new friends had joined me, I had not spoken a lick of English. Blame it on the booze.
Takushi-san(whom Toora-san assures me is quite rich) payed for my drinks and even my dinner, and just when it looked like we would turn in for the night, they invited me out for ramen(and more drinking). I am quickly learning that this is the Japanese way; to have several parties one after another, and that refusal is impossible.
Ramen it is, then.
At the restaraunt, Takushi and Toora tried explaining to me how to subtley decline an offer without being impolite. They did this while offering me more beer.
I can't really remember whether or not I ever got the hang of it...

Chapter 2: dinner with Kuma-sensei

Made another friend at work the other day. We'll call him Kuma-sensei because the first part of his name means `bear`. It might just be me, but I find it really funny that I'm out here in the middle of nowhere surrounded by people with names like "forest" and "bear" and "mountain". It's probably more common than I'm imagining.

As it turns out, Kuma-sensei lives just above me in the same apartment. He invited me to dinner, and we ended up going out of town to this really fantastic sushi place. The area is famous for sushi because it's right next to the Sea of Japan. The sushi was good, but I have a feeling Kuma-sensei took me as much for his own enjoyment as mine.

Since being here, people have been asking me strange questions, like, `Do you like natto?`(a fermented bean that's notoriously gross, but apparently very healthy), and then flashing evil grins when I say I've never tried it. such was the case here. Kuma-sense treated me to dish after dish of sushi, most of which were delicious. There were a few that I didn't quite agree with, but being in the Land of the Rising Sun, I couldn't very well say that it was "nasty". Instead, when asked, I replied that it was "interesting".

Here's a breakdown of the sushi we ate:

eel - good
egg - very good
salmon - delicious
tuna - delicious
tako(octopus) - interesting
Squid - very interesting
natto - so interesting that Kuma-sensei had to finish it for me.
By the end of the dinner, Kuma-sensei had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. He treated me, though, so I have no complaints.
Gaijin seem to have the power to make Japanese people buy things for them. I must examine this power and utalize it fully.

Chapter 1-in which Ignorance Leads to Gluttony

Warren lent me his rice cooker, and with Tanaka-sensei's help, I managed to get it working. The rice came out perfect, I'm proud to say. However, not knowing that cooked rice could be stored in rice cookers for several days, and, not wanting to be wasteful, I ate the entire batch.
Live and learn.

Pre-internet 1: Friday, August 1st: Kamioka -cho

Went jogging today and got lost. Don`t know exactly how I managed that in such a small town, but I guess I`m capable of anything. Kept missing the little(tiny) street that lead to my apartment, and so kept ending up either at the(only) supermarket or the(only) gym. I think I must have combed the entire town(minus that one street, of course) in my search. Beacause it is a small town, I figured word would get around that the crazy gaijin was lost and wandering aimlessly, so I kept jogging wherever I went and pretended to enjoy the scenery(which is actually VERY nice). Better for them to think that I`m crazy about fitness.
I`d gotten up early because I`d actually planned on getting lost my first day, but even with the extra hour, time was running out. Showing up late for work on my firday would not make for a good first impression. I started to get worried.
Though I could not find my apartment, I was able to remember where Miss Shige`s ryoukan(Japanese - style inn) was. Ms. Shige(not her real name, but close enough) is this really nice lady who moonlights as an English teacher at my school. I stayed at her family`s ryoukan the night I arrived in Kamioka, before moving in to my apartment. The ryoukan was actually across the river in the downtown area. I arrived, sweaty and pitiful, and asked if she knew where I lived, an interesting question, which I recommend everyone ask at least once in their life. She was very understanding and actually drove me home! One thing I`ve noticed is that the people here in Kamioka are INCREDIBLY nice. They`ll go out of their way to do almost anything in order to make me feel more at home. More examples of that later.
Back home, I called my supervisor, Mr. Yama. Turns out I didn`t have work today.
I might go out again.