Brenda in Japan

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Brenda McKinney is an American living and working in the Kansai region of Japan. This is an account of her life and adventures among the fine people of Nihon.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

The Weekend Review: Ushimado Miracles

The weekend started off a bit rough, worrying me that the string of bad luck that I enountred in America had followed me to Japan.

On Friday, I basically went to bed after the enkai (work party), but it all started on Saturday morning (when I was actually up early and in a chirpy mood). I decided to run some errands, so first things first, I biked to Kakogawa (30k RT?) to discover the bank I needed to go to was closed ALL weekend due to the holiday on Monday. I decided not to sweat it and headed to meet a friend for lunch. I waited for about 40 (embarassing) minutes, however, before I decided it was time to leave and asked for a raincheck. I guess the guy I was meeting went to another place so we both got stood up due to miscommunication. Either way, the staff asked me TWICE if he was coming and I got a lot of pity looks, so I was in a bad mood, hungry and sweaty again from the bike ride by the time I got home. I decided to just make the most of the rest of my free time, so I made lunch, packed a bag for the weekend and headed to the post office to send off transcript requests, which was also closed for the weekend. Mochiron! What bad luck!

While the a.m. obviously did not fare well for me, the good news is that things picked up and it was otherwise a fabulous renkyu (long weekend). I attended probably one of the best Japanese classes I have been to yet (felt more challenged, exactly what I am looking for) and I just returned from a very relaxing weekend at a lovely seaside resort town in Okayama Prefecture.

Kelly was originally supposed to join us on the trip, but she couldn't go, so my new neighbor Tu agreed to come. We left after my class on Saturday afternoon meeting my friends Art, Adela and Robyn in Himeji, who were patiently waiting for us in Art and Adela's pinkish-red, literally boxy, adorable little car. The scenery on the way from Himeji to Ushimado City was amazing: rolling, green hills, numerous inlets from the sea, and momentary glimses of the small, rocky islands. There were five in our group (Adela and Art from Sayo, Robyn from Ono, and my neighbor Tu), but had two large rooms at the "foriegner cabin" we stayed at. Okayama has several of these cabins, actually, which I think were started as a campaign to encourage tourists to travel outside of cities (providing very nice housing at a cheap prices, at that time for foreigners only). The place we stayed at was called Ushimado Villa, which was set on a mountainside and overlooked the sea, sleepy fishing village, and olive gardens below. Luckily, the entire front of the building consisted of windows, so it was

Having a car made it easy to get around and explore, but we really spent the weekend just hanging out; enjoying wine, playing card games, watching movies (surprisingly loved Grindhouse), swimming and having some really good fresh fish and fruit! I was also able to explore some nearby farms, a really beautiful, old cemetary and a big temple on morning runs. On our second day, we did venture out to find the beach and ended up taking the car ferry to a nearby island, Maejima. We were pleased to find a small, secluded beach where the temperature was perfect for swimming. After wading around in the water for a while, hunting down the best pieces of sea glass on the beach (they were everywhere) and relaxing on the sand for a while, we made the decision to lock up our valuables in the car and swim to another small island chain nearby (accessible only by sailboat). We made it across the chanel in about 30 minutes (wearing only our suits and swimming with our sandals on our hands), but most of us got stung by jellyfish on the way (they got me twice... it hurts!) and Robyn cut her foot on the oyster shells. Despite the sacrifices, it was nice to enjoy the breathtaking views and walk along the beaches of the small, almost deserted islands (three in all, connected by two curved sandbars).

After the island, we actually all drove back to Art and Adela's house in Sayo. Adela works at an Agricultural school in the country. Her setting is so much different than mine (her school has a barn!), but I was a little envious by the sheets of real grass she was able to put down in her small, back yard area. Lena and I often discuss that "normal" grass is one of the things we miss most being here. We went to a monkey park for a while (the monkeys are cute, but the mothers are so aggressive!), to a really great italian restaruant, and then all headed home to crash after a busy weekend of... well, relaxing.

If you are ever in Japan and want to check out the foreigner cabins, here is a website for the ones in Okayama. I've heard there's some other really excellent locations and I was truly blown away by the experience: http://www.harenet.ne.jp/villa/. I'm gearing up for another week, so hope you have a lovely weekend and stay safe... wherever you are! -b

More Cultural Differences: Medical stuff

When I got back to work after being gone for several weeks, I was really relieved how easy it was to step back in (even after having arrived in the country just 12 hours earlier). My work was very supportive and accomodating with the medical emergency I had at home, and I was just happy it was over. I was a little surprised that everyone on staff AND all my students knew exactly what had happened (well, a slightly incorrect version of the story) and was embarassed - and got a little shy - when the students from my favorite class ran up to see my mouth when they saw me. But again, it was still nice to see them and people are not as discreet about medical topics here as they are in America, so I considered it a cultural experience and was ready to move on.

Then I got this text message from a coworker on Monday (a holiday), right after coming back from Okayama:

"I will go to say to dentistry school doctor with me tomorrow ok? i will go for thanks when i talked about a tooth."

OK, I was confused. The message was from a friend on staff who had basically found a dentist in the area (presumably hers) that could do the procedure. So now my school wanted me to go to the doctor who gave my school a price quote (when I was deciding whether to do surgery here or at home)?? And a dentistry SCHOOL?? Nobody told me it was a school. The whole thing took me a little off guard.

I had not gotten a chance to answer yet when I got this:

"It near school. time without a class you and nozaki teacher. will go with three."

Which means we would be going with a translator during my only free period during the day. I guess I was comfortable in assisting the colleagues that had helped me with my emergency (and always help me with so much!), but was growing increasingly uncomfortable with how public my (somewhat traumatic) experience was becoming and did not understand why I needed to discuss it with a doctor I did not know, trust, or have any other connection to. Especially in person.

First thing on Monday morning, I went to Nozaki Sensei for a little clarification with the message. Nozaki Sensei explained to me that because the dentist had given his time to asnwer our questions about potentially doing the procedure in Japan (or maybe his secretary did), we would have to thank him, I assume to preserve the working relationship between the school and his office. I also immediately thought this could be a "saving face" thing since I did not use his services (so the blame fell on my shoulders and not my school).

She also explained the dentist was curious, so we would be going in to answer his questions about my procedure. I was candid and just told her that I was getting really uncomfortable, that I did not want to discuss my medical history with a doctor I did not know (especially since this situation is a bit sticky), and explained that, in the US, we are more private about medical issues. She understood this and explained it to the the other teacher.

In the end, we made a compromise. Nozaki Sensei did not accompany us to translate (so there wouldn't be an explanation), but I did go to the office with the coworker that texted me. It seems it was my school's dentist (not a dentistry school) - I think, at least - but we basically waited for the dentist for 15 minutes, I told him I was now OK and smiled (he wanted to see the tooth), and we bowed a lot. The place was basically one big room with multiple chairs (public), the dentist never took off his mask when he talked to him (slightly impersonal) and nobody spoke English, however. So while I now know a dentist to go to if I need one in a hurry here, I think I did the right thing by choosing to do everything at home.

I have come to understand a lot of things about Japan in the last year, but the approach to medical issues, or things concerning the body, is still somewhat grey to me. It seems that Japanese people are very open about nudity (like at hot springs or in the home...even nude pictures and porn everywhere), but I sometimes wonder if this ties into them just being more open about issues concerning the body in general. They're OK with showing the body, for example, but are far, far less comfortable with intimacy (even holding hands in public) than we are in America, so maybe it's just the physical aspect (?).

As a mostly homogenous culture, I have also wondered if this is because so many people have more similar genetic make-ups, thus feeling that their bodies are more similar anyways, but I have not confirmed this and am sure it ties into history more than it does the genetics of the people in Japan. I do know, however, that I have been uncomfortable in the past when people have told me very specific and detailed medical information about themselves and others that I honestly did not need or want to hear (ex: "she can"t make it to our formal tonight because she has really bad diahrea from her dinner last night and it is turning a funny color.")...and this is about people I barely know.

It's interesting how the smallest and strangest things can get you when you think you've got it down. In the end, I was fine with bowing and showing my school some respect for all of the support they give me, but let's just hope that's the end of THIS dental story for a long, long time!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

On Hiatus

Hello to all! The big news is that I'm finally back in Japan.

The trip home was amazing and I had a wonderful time in Hawaii, but I'll have to update you more on those things later. I have generally always been a very lucky person, but I have encountered a few patches of bad luck in the last few weeks, causing me to have to extend my vacation at home by a week for some minor (but unexpected) surgery and now take a break from internet-related activities (email, blogging and graduate school apps) due to the death of my dear little Macbook computer (all I know is that the Mac Store had it for 20 minutes to replace the casing and now we have to wipe the harddrive...thank goodness my pics and music are backed up!). Thus, it is going to be a little while before I get back into the groove of keeping this thing updated.

On the other hand, I am generally doing pretty well. While I miss my friends and family at home a lot more after getting to spend time with them, coming back to Japan has been strangely normal. I've only had a few days here now, but coming back with a general knowledge of the area, a solid community at home and work, and especially somewhat of a foundation in the language has prepared me more than I realized and given me a different perspective of life here. to be realistic, I would say my eyes are a little less starry than they were over the last year and before I left, but just because the first Honeymoon stage of living here is officially over doesn't mean it's not good to be back. I've returned to discover that this will truly always be a place I was once "from" for a little while. And that matters.

We have Sports Day this week, so not many classes, but no promises on posting until my Mac is back. In the meanwhile, hope the rest of the summer went well and more soon! Matta ne! - Bren