an excursion to the mainland

A blustery typhoon is making its way to the shores of Shikoku. The wind howls outside and whips the branches of trees.
Today i travel to Okayama for orientation, then off to Himeji for training. Both these cities are on the mainland. At 4 in the morning i made some miso soup with wakame (seaweed), Japanese eggplant, soba (buckwheat) noodles, and some kind of mushroom. After having a big bowl, i finally felt as though i was satiated. I plan on calling a cab because of the weather. I may not update this until friday when i return, unless of course i come across an internet cafe in my wanderings across the water. It is finally time to be productive in some way, and i am excited to work, as the past few days have consisted of nothing but brief exploration outings and mild starvation.
I will return a teacher, i suppose, ready to pump these native people full of English vocabulary and grammar. Well, i need to be excited about something.
Onward!

a petty adventure

I decided to venture out today into the wide world despite my hideous countenance. I first visited a small grocery store i had been to the day before--the old woman who owned it gave me a free grape juice, so naturally i have a particular allegiance to this store. I asked her what a Japanese breakfast consists of, and she told me that people drink miso soup or eat break with milk, or surprisingly, tomatoes. Actually, not much surprises me anymore, and it's only been the third day. I purchased a tomato but passed on the bread--it was disturbingly soft. The rest of the food i ended up with were a packet of miso soup and a container of noodles that i was assured had no fish, a very bland azuki bean roll, and a small container of tofu that i was told was edamame (green soybean) flavour. Upon returning home and painstakingly consulting my kanji dictionary, i found that both soup and noodles contained fish extract. This deepened my sorrow, but at least i learned how to say and read the word "extract" (ekisu). I can now attach this valuable word to any animal i wish in order to evaluate my food's ingredients before my purchase. Win some, lose some.
I had eaten the azuki bean roll, and being disappointed with its taste, i was looking forward to the tofu after finding the insulting ingredients in my other groceries. But when i finally had some in my mouth, i discovered that it was not sweet like i assumed it was--it tasted identical to the steamed edamame you get in Japanese restaurants before your food. In other words, it was a vegetable-flavoured silken tofu. The consistency and flavour of the tofu, when combined, made for an awful meal, but i slurped it down anyway because it was one of the few things i knew i could eat.
In the afternoon i made up my mind to venture even further outside, into the downtown area to be exact. This time, i avoided the red-light street, even though i knew the women would not be out at that time of day. The whole idea bothered me, not just the visual part. I walked and walked, passing many storefronts and buzzing cicadas and staring citizens, until i finally reached the beginning of the downtown area. I knew it was downtown because it is the only place where the traffic signs chirp loudly when the walk signal comes on. Yes, much like robotic birds. I was told it was to aid the blind, but i don't buy that story. I am beginning to think that most audible and visual phenomena here are placed specifically to freak out foreigners. Such as the random and unexpectedly spontaneous recorded female voices that blast out from trucks, elevators, cicadas, and even my own head on occasion. Soon i will be hearing the high-pitched recorded voices of Japanese women in my dreams, notifying me i am now on the fifth floor, or advertising some incomprehensible product.
I could not find the sandwich shop, which was partly my mission, so i doubled back and sat down in a park-like area with pigeons. I observed them intently. The males puffed out their necks and stomped and grunted loudly in front of the females, while doing an attractive dance consisting of short bows and head thrusts. Unfortunately, none of the females i watched bought the whole act, and they simply ignored the poor dancers.
After a while i stopped into a doughnut shop originally called "Mr.Donut". I picked up a "kokonatsu chocoreto" and "kastaado kurimu". It's fun to figure out English words from the katakana counterparts. Much like deciphering the semi-intelligible babble of a child. I don't find it difficult, as i have been reading Japanese for a while, but one who is inexperienced must have a grand old time trying desperately to find the English equivalents. I then purchased a soy latte (i was delighted to find one) in a vending machine, which by the way have been the only places i've been buying drinks from. I then purchased a bunch of groceries, mostly vegetables and noodles, in hopes of cooking them. Then my only task was getting back home.
Before i knew it i was hopelessly lost, so i begged a stylish man to tell me where my street was. He turned out to own a barber shop called "Non No" and ended up driving me to my apartment building, a very kind gesture. He is in the process of learning English and we had an interesting hybrid Japanese-English conversation. So i got home safe and sound with my essential and much-needed food. The conclusion of an exciting and nearly dangerous pigeon-filled adventure!

an excursion to the mainland

A blustery typhoon is making its way to the shores of Shikoku. The wind howls outside and whips the branches of trees.
Today i travel to Okayama for orientation, then off to Himeji for training. Both these cities are on the mainland. At 4 in the morning i made some miso soup with wakame (seaweed), Japanese eggplant, soba (buckwheat) noodles, and some kind of mushroom. After having a big bowl, i finally felt as though i was satiated. I plan on calling a cab because of the weather. I may not update this until friday when i return, unless of course i come across an internet cafe in my wanderings across the water. It is finally time to be productive in some way, and i am excited to work, as the past few days have consisted of nothing but brief exploration outings and mild starvation.
I will return a teacher, i suppose, ready to pump these native people full of English vocabulary and grammar. Well, i need to be excited about something.
Onward!

my face is partially eaten, along with my legs and hands

Yes, the mosquitos and various other blood-hungry insects that feasted upon me as i trampled uninvited into the forest are responsible for a mosaic of welts upon my face, hands, and legs. Nature sought revenge and her wish was fulfilled. My body itches constantly and i look like i have a deadly, and most likely contagious, disease. As if i wasn't already alienated.

i am starving

I have really eaten anything all day besides a pastry and some soft drinks. Whenever i ask someone in a grocery store about "bejitarian" food, they give me a funny look, and when i explain i dont eat fish, the look turns to a grimace. We'll see how this episode unfolds.
If i hadn't explained before, Tokushima-shi is a small town. There are rice fields a block from my building in people's backyards. And along the route to the building from downtown, there is a small red-light district consisting of open residence doors, actual red lights shining from inside, and women slapping fans on their theighs and calling out in Japanese, "Big brother!" and "Good evening!". I try to ignore them, but at the same time i wonder what the appropriate reaction should be. An old man stopped me late at night nearby and said in English, "What is your name?" So I repeated the question to him, and then he said "I love you", whereupon I started to walk away and wish him a good evening. The men around laughed. I am glad everyone here is having a grand old time at the expense of my diminishing pride. I was told the whole downtown stretch is owned by Yakuza. There are many young men in suits fumbling around, some with long fluffy mullets advertising girls whose job is to chat mindlessly with the men who pay them, and nothing more. Aside from all the frivolousness going on, it is an extremely safe place and I was told to have no fear at any time. Except if I step on a Yakuza guy's toe.

my abode and forest wanderings

I live with Mike in a three bedroom apartment (i know... isn't this situation ironic) on the 11th floor, which is the top, of a building called "Lion's Mansion". It is situated very close to the train tracks, which havent bothered anyone very much as the train is not nearly as noisy as the ones in New York. It is very small and a little bell sounds when it approaches. Directly opposite from my window is a nice view of a wide expanse of sub-tropical forest atop a small mountain braced by a thick concrete wall and fencing. From outside, the steady drone of cicadas can be heard as well as the raspy caws of the native crow. Could it be related closely to ours? Is it the same as ours? If so, it would most certainly be either a raven or fish crow from its call. I am waiting for Cynthia's input on this one. There are many beautiful dragonflies and butterflies and moths flitting about in the oppressive heat. Mike's room has a tatami-matted floor and paper walls, but mine is simple and Western looking, escept for the futon bed that spreads out across my floor, which came in a large package that greeted me when i first entered the room. It is a bit small, but I really don't plan on having any parties in there.
I took an excursion into the forest this morning, which turned out to be a terrible idea. I was enchanted by it from my window, and felt as though i needed to see it upclose. I walked in its direction and found a number of small gardens with ceremonial engraved stones and statues, in some places surrounded by wild bamboo, directly below the forest. Many stones and statues had stone offering bowls or, resting upon them, plastic cups, both full of rain water. Surrounding the gardens were the kind of traditional Japanese houses I've seen in pictures, with the pointed tubular roofs. The entire place was immensely beautiful. I was so enticed that i entered the forest interior. It was then that i discovered that nearly every gap between trees was draped with large spider webs harboring their two inch-long, yellow and blue decorated creators. I came to the conclusion that it would not be pleasurable to plunge my face into one of them by accident in my stumblings, so i had to be very deliberate and careful with my steps. The blood-hungry gnats that swarmed around my body were thankful for my choice to take it slow. It turns out, I believe, that i successfully pleased all of the arthropods in the forest this morning. I heard odd yelps that sounded like monkeys in th distance but I may have been wrong--i need to inquire about the mammals around here, not to mention the rest of the fauna. I did manage to catch a glimpse of an enormous earthworm with the width of my thumb before it plunged into the rotted leaves below me.
When I finally escaped from the forest's wrath I was both heavily scathed and worried. I was worried because I realized that I exhibited the reaction of the average human to a natural place--pestered by insects, inhibited by the terrain, fearful of spiders. But I then reasoned that I do not belong in that forest, or rather, my species did not spend most of its evolutionary history in there, and therefore I am not evolutionarily prepared for it, although in some ways, eg. fear of spiders and lack of patience with biting insects, some vestigial behavior probably helped to protect me. Perhaps in colder weather when the arthropods are less active, or by taking a better and more clear-cut path, i can enjoy this forest the way i had envisioned i would when i first entered it.

and so we begin...

Now begins the carefully documented and meticulously overexaggerated journal of my life in the city of Tokushima-shi, in the prefecture of Tokushima-ken, on the island of Shikoku and in the country of Japan. A proper introduction would most necessarily include a brief but direct description of my journey to Japan by plane and the tomfoolery that almost necessarily ensued.
The plane ride, approximately 14 hours i believe, was no walk in the park, unless this walk was accomplished in the confines of a cushioned chair with a movie screen playing an olsen twins movie in your immediate and unavoidable view. Luckily, it only lasted two hours, a mere seventh of the ride itself. I was seated between two Japanese girls, one who slept the entire ride and made faces when i needed to use the restroom, and the other who chatted briefly with me about her boyfriend back in Buffalo, NY--she was visiting him. My "non-dairy vegetarian" meals were mostly composed of a combination of grapes, cous-cous, and bread products.
Once we finally landed in Osaka, I came to the sudden realization that I was in Japan, and that I would not be leaving for a year. Somehow, this whole crazy plan actually panned out. I proceeded through the airport and retrieved my luggage before doing all the necessary formalities upon entering a foreign country. I then congregated with my fellow NOVA workers in the arrival hall and eventually handed in my luggage for delivery to my apartment courtesy of my generous company and a friendly British NOVA superior. We then proceeded to the hotel on foot, passing through the narrow Osaka streets, and realized quite soon by the look of things that this was the hip part of town--there were punks abound, all sporting their spiked blond hair and hyper-modern apparel, along with ultra-chic girls and their delicately groomed boyfriends.
After getting settled, some of us set out to explore the inner city. One of the NOVA hopefuls was a loud-mouthed expert on everything Japan, especially Osaka, as he had been here before for four days. He led us around and imbued the team with a "blindingly apparent and embarrassing tourist aura". Not that i minded. It really is quite hard for a Caucasian such as myself to attempt to "blend in" here. Among the sites we saw was a enormous mechanical crab perched above a restaurant storefront, craning its massive legs in all directions, beckoning us to either come in and eat or to be so frightened as to walk in the opposite direction. I did the latter. We stopped at a place claiming to be a Parisian cafe but actually serving Japanese food, with absolutely no allusions to Paris in the decorated interior or in the food names.
Afterwhich, there is not much to say except that i eventually arrived at the bus to take me to Shikoku the next day. The bus ride was enjoyable, especially after having to change my seat to my assigned one after asking what the letter and number meant on my ticket. I spoke briefly with the older woman who sat next to my assigned seat, mostly about how many stops there were till Tokushima, and about how this is my first time in Japan. My Japanese skills do not go far beyond simple and dull conversation, but i always leap at the chance to make a fool of myself.
When i arrived in Tokushima i met my roommate Mike and his friend Kelly. They are nice Americans from Florida and California, respectively. They brought me to a sandwich shop called "Big Brother" which is owned by a man named Norm, an American as well who has a half-Japanese child and has been in Japan since '93. I had my first real meal since my departure--a vegetarian sandwich--a meal fit for kings, fit to satisfy even the most heroic hunger.
And so my Tokushima tale begins.

a brief stroll in the garden

sunshine, blooming flowers, scraping of shoes over the pebbled path. these are precisely the things i live for, yet somehow i do not think i could ever bring myself to sacrifice anything of mine to remake them if they shall ever be undone. and all i possess is this body, this mind, and perhaps you--though i dislike calling it possession. what we have is truly something worth keeping, and all these superfluous entities and phenomena are never anything to rely on. we have ourselves, and this could be the only universal truth.