Public Service Announcement

I'd just like to say that Japan does not do Daylight Savings Time. In fact, I think only America does. Which is why the other morning I received a call at 7:45am, when the caller thought it was 8:45. I don't know what your particular time zone is, but I'm in GMT+9. One more thing - please don't call before 9am if you can help it. I won't get mad if you do, but it's generally hard for me to function towards the end of my work day if I wake up before 9. THANKS (^_^)

Epilogue to An adventure I don't want...

An adventure I don't want to have.

After finishing that post I decided that there was absolutely no point in seeing the Japanese doctor. I called my insurance company and they told/assured me of a clinic in Roppongi where the staff are fully bilingual. In addition to checking with the insurance company, when called to make the appointment I asked as well. I went Tuesday morning and sure enough everything was in English. It was so wonderful to speak full/non-broken English with somebody who could legitimately provide me with information. It also felt good to spell my last name (m, c, capital E...). The doctor told me that the stuff in my finger is a mild allergic reaction to something but it's too mild to warrant allergy testing. My skin is really sensitive, so basically it's my skin sensitivity flaring up again; just in a new and initially alarming form. Crisis averted!! But thanks to everyone who was concerned. (^_^)

Hierarchy +

A little while ago I had the really cool opportunity to visit a local university and talk with a college class. I became friends with a Gaijin that I randomly met at the Starbucks near my house and as it turned out he was a college English teacher who invited me to speak to his class as someone 'fresh' from America (he's been here for 7 years). The students asked me about a number of things, including environmentalism, lifestyle, gun control/ownership, and equality.

At first I didn't understand what they were getting at with equality. I knew that Japanese society was very hierarchical but I thought, are people not born equal in Japan? Then my friend explained to me that they were asking about the Sempai/Kohai relationship. The best approximation of the Sempai/Kohai is a mentor and mentee, but in Japan it goes deeper than that. A Sempai is someone in a social group who is older than you and who most likely entered the group before you did; it's more or less automatic. Generally this means that there is always a person to whom you must defer, and a person who must defer to you. Hierarchy is built into everything. For example, a friend told me the story of another teacher at her Nova branch. This teacher was leaving Japan and so she was having a good-bye party. She invited the Japanese staff from her school to the party, but because the Sempai wasn't going, the other staff, considered to be his Kohai, didn't feel that they could go.

I thought about this a little further after a conversation with a student. She was telling me that she really liked the other students in Nova (businessmen, students, office workers, housewives, etc), but if she saw them in public she wouldn't speak to them. "I'm too shy," she said. "I wouldn't know what to say."

Politeness is essential in Japanese culture and society, and it's built into the language as well. In every language there is friendly or street language that differs from words you use in business or in the classroom. In many languages it's common to find one or two polite declensions or pronouns, like the French 'vous' or the Spanish 'ustedes.' But in Japanese there are entirely different sets of language for being polite and friendly; in addition to that there is a system of bowing where the depth of your bow indicates your position relative to the other person. As there are so many rules, I would also imagine there is a lot of room for mistakes; except mistakes in this area aren't socially acceptable.

A lot of Japanese people claim shyness, but given all the rules, if I were Japanese I'd probably be too shy too!

More players in the game

The Chinese footpoot growing across Africa (The International Herald Tribune)

This article highlights evidence of the growing involvement of Chinese individuals and organizations in the development of Africa. I'm not surprised at this, to me it's inevitable. The rich western nations aren't the only ones with money; they don't have a monopoly on aid, or funds for business and infrastructure development. If they continue to act like they do they will really be left behind when the rest of the world successfully partners with African nations and the political capital of the G8 and international goodwill towards them sharply plummets. The author made an interesting observation that the bulk of the western presence in Africa is aid workers, researchers and the like; while the Chinese presence is comprised of business people and investors. He noted that the West often regards Africa as a place of failure, while Chinese people see it as a place of opportunity. The G8 countries are becoming political dinosaurs of archaic thinking; and their days are numbered.

An adventure I don't want to have

Adventures in medicine are not the kind of adventures you want to have in a foreign country. That being said...

A couple of weeks ago I was doing something totally unremarkable when I realized that thing hurt my middle finger. I looked at the palm of my finger and saw a couple of black spots. I figured it was a splinter that I somehow acquired, and didn't think more of it. And then the black spots didn't go away. They multiplied. I started seeing these little white lumps turn into black spots. I started with 2, and now I have 6. And to boot, my arm has been feeling funny too (although maybe I'm sleeping on it too much?)

So I went to a clinic on Thursday. I called my insurance company, told them the problem, and they found a clinic near my train station and (more or less) made an appointment for me. My doctor spoke a little bit of English. Enough to ask me questions, but not enough to explain anything to me. She looked at my finger and basically said the problem was "too weak" to be able to tell what it was. She couldn't decide if it was a splinter or an insect bite, and said that I should put ointment on it and come back Tuesday.

I was like, something is in my finger. What is ointment going to do??? She said that it would make my finger softer, so she would better be able to tell what the problem was. I asked her why she didn't know, and what she was looking for but she said she couldn't explain it to me in English. I looked at my finger again and noticed that two black dots had actually grown to four. So I asked her to take another look at it. I said look -before there were two dots and now there are four! She offered to get a needle to try to dig it out - whatever it is. (In retrospect it seems odd that a doctor would willingly go poking around under my skin without having any idea what's under there.)

I, however, am deathly afraid of needles. Just to give you a picture of this: in high school I had to get a shot for some reason (vaccination?) and after the fact I fainted. I had been so nervous about getting a shot I fainted as soon as it was over. In college I went through a time where I was pretty consistently getting poked and prodded, and when it came time for a shot my veins collapsed. I was so nervous that my veins literally disappeared and it became difficult for the nurses to find a vein large enough to use. It's pretty serious for me. So while the nurse went to get the needle I started freaking out. I almost started crying and then in my head I was like 'Adelle, get yourself together. You can't cry about this, something is in your finger.' The doctor came back and the needle actually wasn't the long scary kind, it looked more like a sewing needle. I was still pretty apprehensive though. She took another look at my finger, claimed that it was impossible to know anything, and then told me that I had two choices. She could use the needle to investigate, or I could take the ointment and comeback Tuesday.

I chose the ointment.

Although I must admit, I haven't been that serious about putting it on. The pharmacist spoke better English than the doctor, and she told me that the ointment was an antibiotic; something I'm sure the doctor could have communicated to me as well. I've been showing my finger to anyone willing to look - it's not gross, just strange - and one of my friends said that it might be calcium deposits, which happen to people who don't get enough calcium. Another friend suggested that I go to Web M.D., which I did. The symptoms don't entirely match up, but it looks like I could have a finger infection. I'm going to go back to the clinic tomorrow and hope that the doctor knows something. And if she doesn't, I'll just have to find an English speaking clinic, which hopefully won't be too hard. All I want is a person who knows what she's doing and can speak English... two things I didn't see on Thursday. Maybe I'll just bypass this clinic/doctor and ask my insurance people to find me another place. Yeah.

This is my employer

Nova dealt penalty for deception. (The Japan Times)

Nova boss weighs assistance options. (The Daily Yomiuri)

Editorial: Nova suspension order. (The Asahi Shimbun)

Nova has been in and out of the courts for a few months now. In my opinion (and that of many others) Nova treats their students, staff and teachers very poorly. I doubt they will ever be investigated on the latter two, but now the company is being punished for its shady business practices in dealing with students. For the infractions committed, Nova cannot sell any long-term contracts for 6 months. This is a pretty big deal because Nova is kind of like a shark in the water - it must always keep moving - keep signing up students to make money. Although, while this will certainly impact the company I HIGHLY doubt that it will influence my job security. And if it does, well, maybe I'll just go home earlier. (^_^)v

Oy Vay

The exchange rate today is HORRIBLE - $1 costs 124 yen!!! That's a high for the past 5 days and the past 30 days. That means if I transferred 50,000 yen to my American account, I would barely get $400. For every $4 exchanged I lose the next $1. So, $4 to me, $1 to... to... I don't know where it goes. Well, I'm not transferring today. That's just ridiculous.

turningjapaneseithinki'mturningjapaneseireallythinkso

2 nights ago I mastered the art of riding my bicycle while holding an umbrella!! People here do it all the time. It was a little tricky at first, and I'm still not ready to do it every day of the rainy season, but it sufficed for a small round of errands around Mitaka. The key is to lean forward on the bike, so you can grip the handle and the umbrella at the same time. Otherwise disaster strikes when you try to brake. If you try to brake with one hand it's pretty easy to fall off the bike; and, as braking is usually a quick and sometimes unexpected action, if you're not already holding the handlebar it's quite difficult to adjust your grip on the umbrella in a way that doesn't injure yourself or passerby, in enough time to brake. I should try to get a picture of this.

And by the way, I think the rainy season is here! It's been raining for the past few days, but so far so good - I'm staying sane! So now I'm about to find out which is worse: always being cold (a Chicago winter) or always being wet (the rainy season). Wish me luck!

This doesn't really matter, but

I can't believe I don't have Big Pimpin' in my music library!!! How can that happen? I need it for my latest playlist - 'straight thuggin ghetto music'. ::nudge nudge:: ::wink wink::

I also need

• Who Let the Dogs Out by the Baja Men. Yeah, it's important (for the summer).
• You's a Ho by Ludacris. For the memories. It would also be useful for my STGM playlist.

In other playlist news, tonight I'm retiring Motor City (motown/doo-wop); Power/ballad (power ballads); and Gospel Rock (a term I got from Rolling Stone, heavy rock ballads); but I have a couple of new longtime favorites that I discovered through these playlists: Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight and the Pips (?) and Renegade by Styx.

!Recent Discovery!: Macarena is actually a pleasant song to listen to, if you and a bajillion other people aren't trying to do some silly dance to it at the same time.

I don't have nearly enough Tina Turner in my music library.

And in case all of this seems really random, it might be useful to know that I have over 5,000 songs in my iTunes. I'm a little obsessed.

Chocolate + Espresso = luv

I had a really awesome moment today. It started this morning when I woke up to the sounds of children playing (screaming) and birds chirping (hardcore cawing and crowing) coming through my open window. At 6:30am. Given my work schedule, 6:30 is way too early to be awake. Most unfortunately, I couldn't go back to sleep.

Fast forward to 6pm, I'm on my dinner break at work and I really need a pick-me-up to make it to 9pm. I don't like to drink straight-up coffee, so I go to Starbucks for a mocha. (At this point ordering at Starbucks is a non-issue for me. Whether I speak in English or broken Japanese I'm always understood.) So I walk in, find the picture of the 'premium hot chocolate' on the menu and point to it - accompanied with words of course. Every time I order that I marvel at how much more expensive hot chocolate is at Starbucks compared to other places. So I'm letting my eyes wander over the menu, and it's just then that I notice Starbucks actually has plain old hot cocoa on the menu. Having finally figured out how to save money on Starbucks hot chocolate I switched my order and felt a small pang of triumph.

A minute later I'm walking down the street sipping my cocoa and feeling good when I'm like wait a minute - I wanted a MOCHA!
*
Yeah, I was tired.

Top Survival Tips for the Japanese Rainy Season

According to my Rough Guide to Tokyo, June is the rainiest month, with 305mm/12in; this is known as the rainy season. Luckily today was beautiful, but I'm bracing myself for the rain. September, the month that I arrived, is 2nd rainiest month (typhoon season) with 279mm/11in. I distinctly remember disliking the large amounts of rain, and wondering what Japanese people did about it. So I found out. The following is a list of suggestions from my students. If you have ideas please post a comment! (^_^)

1) go to the library to read books

2) go abroad (to a dry country)

3) go swimming/to the gym

4) drink beer

5) wear casual clothes to work (if you can)

6) eat ‘strong’ food (spicy food, cold noodles)

7) drink a genki drink

8) carry a fan

9) keep dry socks at your office

10) take a towel to work

11) go to the movie theater

12) wear cotton dresses/breathable fabric

13) study English at home/go to Nova

14) eat ‘natural’ food (avoid fried and spicy food)

15) plan your (post rainy season) summer vacation

16) take showers

17) buy a pretty umbrella

18) listen to music at home

19) watch DVDs at home

20) exercise at home (especially to fit into summer bikinis)

21) talk on the phone

No Music, No Life*

Today I spent a delightful afternoon listening to music at Tower Records. They have listening stations all over the store that let you listen to as much or as little of an album as you want. Some highlights:

Sergio Mendes/Timeless
I currently have one song by Sergio Mendes in my music library and while I certainly like it, I had no idea about how beautiful and interesting his music is. I caught an aural glimpse when I started playing the first track, Mas Que Nada. Unfortunately the Black Eyed Peas starting making noise - ahem, singing. They're a pretty mediocre musical group; fun, at best. They weren't particularly worse than usual but their style didn't particularly complement Sergio Mendes, or vice versa. It sounded like two different events going on, like the Black Eyed Peas were out having fun or messing around on the microphone while Sergio Mendes is playing in the background. It doesn't sound bad, but it doesn't sound good. Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas produced almost every single track on the album, which is too bad. There were a couple of successful collaborations: Berimbau/Consolacao featuring Stevie Wonder, and Timeless, featuring India.Arie. I actually did enjoy listening to this album, but Will.i.am's vocals are featured on at least half of the tracks, which is 50% too many.

Jennifer Lopez/Coma Ama Una Mujer
At first I was wary of Jennifer Lopez's first 'all-Spanish' album. I've found that with artists who speak two languages, they often sound better in the one they originally recorded in. Take Shakira - she sounds waaaay better in Spanish. In English she sings with a pop sound, but in Spanish she is a true rock musician. Or Christina Aguilera - technically the only songs I've heard her sing in Spanish are translations of some of her well-known English songs but given the fact that that seems to be a practice she has discarded, I can't imagine her Spanish album did well either. But back to J. Lo. From what I heard at Tower, this is a good album. She has a strong voice that is actually better accompanied by true guitar music, and not repetitive dancebeat tracks. Que Hiciste is the first single and it's made a pretty strong impression on me. So here's one artist who has actually done better venturing into new language territory.

Timbaland/Shock Value
The first song on the album opens with a sample of Nina Simone's famous track, Sinnerman. I was just like whoa - what is he going to do with this? At first I was unsure about the smash-up that is Oh, Timbaland, but I like it. It's creative, and I love hearing snippets of Nina Simone's strong distinctive voice pop up on a Timbaland based track. The album is really contemporary and he collaborates with his usual buddies - Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake, etc, but he also covers new ground working with the Killers, Fall Out Boy, and Elton John. I enjoyed the Killers and Fall Out Boy tracks - their own musical style was apparent, but not in a competitive way; this is the difference between a producer like Timbaland and a producer like Will.i.am. Basically Timbaland knows what he's doing. And one more thing - the track with Elton John BLEW me out of the water. I didn't know what to expect because Elton John has many musical incarnations, but I was rockin out in the store. Foot tapping, head bobbing, body swaying; 2 Man Show is a smooth powerhouse. I didn't listen to every single song, but from what I heard the whole album is most excellent.

Christina Aguilera/Back to Basics
Christina is a vocal powerhouse. I find it unfortunate that in her early days she was often compared to Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, and the like; but those days are over. This is a fun album; not the most vocally interesting, but it's important for fun music to also be quality. I've been wanting this album for quite some time so I don't have the first-time-listening perspective, and I don't think I learned anything new about Christina's talent or the albums nuances, but I can say that two really fun songs are Ain't No Other Man, and Candyman.

*Joss Stone*
I'm so excited for her latest album, Introducing Joss Stone, released on March 20th. I listened to snippits in iTunes. Sounds good!

*Gym Class Heroes*
Who are these people? They sound like the musical love child of MC Lars +Blink 182.

Want more musical recommendations? See Let Them Have Music.


*This is the slogan of which music store? Hint: I go there about once a week.