Being a real Chinese for one day

February 14, 2010 fell on a Sunday this year. For many Americans, they celebrated along with the President's Day long weekend. Here in Japan, women (and only women...men buy things for women on White Day. Another blog topic later) were busy buying chocolates to give to their lovers, boyfriends, husbands, friends etc. In China and for Chinese people all around the world, including myself, we celebrated the first day of Chinese New Year!

Luckily for me, I was able to celebrate Chinese New Year so I can pretty much ignore the whole Valentine's Day thing. I didn't plan on this and it just happened by fate, I believe. A few weeks ago, I was asked by our honbucho (Japanese word for the director) to do an interview with a prospective student. This student, Barbara, was originally from Hong Kong but has been living in Japan for 12 years. Barbara's English level was excellent so it was an easy interview and we hit it off right away. Long story short, we emailed back and forth to meet outside school and we ended planning a trip to see the Chinese Lantern Festival in Nagasaki on Chinese New Year.

I have not celebrated Chinese New Year for a whole day since I was 10! For the past couple of years, I did make an effort to celebrate like going out to eat Chinese food or making Chinese food at home. I have seen some of the New Year's festivities in San Francisco too but it was usually a few hours of wandering around Chinatown before doing some shopping in Union Square. This year, I actually spoke Chinese almost the entire day with Barbara and even got a red envelope! When I was home with my family, I usually speak half English and Chinese so I actually felt that I haven't been this Chinese for a very long time!

So the day started early for me as I met Barbara and her boyfriend, Andrew in the morning for a 2-hour+ bus ride to Nagasaki. When we arrived, Mengya, the girl I trained with, who is also Chinese, greeted us along with one of her students. Our group was like a little United Nations meeting. There was me, American-Chinese, who could speak English with Mengya. Mengya, Canadian-Chinese, who could speak Mandarin Chinese to Barbara's boyfriend, Andrew. Barbara, who could speak Japanese to the student. Nevertheless, it was English which we communicated most of the day.

Once we were outside the bus station, we could see the lanterns hanging all around the city so it was really festive and the city was just packed with people. Here's Barbara and I in Chinatown.

This year is the Year of the Tiger 虎. Apparently, tiger is a sign of courage, fearlessness, and a fiery fighter , revered by the ancient Chinese as the sign that wards off the three main disasters of a household: fire, thieves and ghosts. On New Year's day itself, it is beneficial to celebrate, to be happy, to have smiling faces, and to refrain from scowling, quarreling, or criticizing anyone. Here's a tiger centerpiece at the center of the lantern's festivities:

Food is also an extremely important part of Chinese New Year's celebration. Originally, Barbara and I have planned on eating Chinese food but we ended up eating Japanese for lunch and Korean for dinner. Ha ha! We have absolutely no regrets because everything was delicious. Especially for lunch, we went to a restaurant that is famous for their chawan-mushi (Japanese steamed egg custard), which has ginko nuts, shrimp, crab, mushroom any many more ingredients in it. Look at the colorful, delicious-looking food as we all sat around a traditional Japanese dining room with tatame floors.


Last but not least, it wouldn't be complete to celebrate Chinese New Year's without seeing some dragons. On the way to the Confucius temple to pay our homage, we encountered a dragons parade. Yes, it was me who squealed at the beginning of the video. He he! Anyway...

Gung Hay Fat Choi! Shen Nien Kwai Le! 恭禧發財! 新年快乐!

Eat, Work, Love

So many small but interesting things happened during the week that I am having difficulty remembering them. I have been amazed that sometimes, a week went by and I felt like I have lived so much. When I was in Santa Barbara, I had a good life and it was easy to remember what happened. I was in a very familiar bubble with the same people I know for a while. Here, I see new faces all the time. I think I talk to about 100 students each week. I am still on sensory overload with my surroundings. Not that I am complaining here but I wish there is an easy way for me to remember it all because I feel like I am just swallowing my experiences and haven't had the time to digest.

Well, before I forget another interesting episode, I should just take this opportunity to record it. It's my first day of the weekend today. I woke up at 1pm because I stayed up too late to talk to my sister. Then my dad called after I woke up so I stayed in bed and spoke with him until 2pm. It was a nice outside, cold but sunny day so I decided to go explore the other side of town across the river. I found a big Asahi Beer factory and discovered how close it was to bike to all the popular destinations in Fukuoka. My bike is like my car and I am getting a work out from it too! Yay! So after roaming around in my bike, I was starving so I decided to treat myself to a nice meal. I choose a Japanese pasta restaurant. The only Italian thing about the place was that they used spaghetti. Even if they use cream and cheese for their sauces, the pasta tasted nothing Italian. Craving something that tasted like home, I settled for a meat sauce dish which comes with an raw an on top. It's like the red version of a spaghetti cabonara. It was really delicious but I wish I didn't have to eat it with disposable chopsticks. And there was no bread to scoope up the sauce! After dinner, I went to Starbucks to study Japanese. I was weening off Starbucks back in the US but here, it's better than going to Seattle's Best. (I so wish Coffee Bean will open one here. I have no doubt they will do really well.) An hour later, the girl I bought the bike from, Olinka and her roommate, Amanda joined me to hang out. Olinka is a strong, spiritual Mexican woman, around the same age as me. We hit it off right away when she sold me the bike. As we shared about our lives, I learned that she came to Japan after having done ayahuasca. I have only heard of ayahusca once on a TV show but in just one night, I met Olinka and this other Japanese guy whom we met randomly at a restaurant and did it while he was in an ashram in India. They were both so excited and enthusiastic talking about their experiences which made me wondered if I will want to do it in the future. Anyway, all of this coincidence happened because I was craving for Mexican food so Olinka took me to one in town and it was good! The Japanese owner spent 2 years in Guadalajara to perfect his skills and recreated a fairly authentic Mexican restaurant in the middle of a Japanese metropolis. Oh, all the tortillas were homemade. Ola!

Other than this interesting night with Olinka, I also had a really good week at work. As I am starting to get to know more of my students and getting more comfortable with the materials I have to teach, I realized I have some amazingly smart students - old and young. For example, one students used her best English in class to describe a show she saw on TV where you can trick your brain when you feel hungry by doing 10 seconds of quick steps and how it worked for her. Another student compared the rest of the Japanese with the Okinawans when paying respect to the dead. Many students are more than happy to offer me information about Japan and share their knowledge with me and their classmates. Like I said before, I wish I can just remember them all!

Perhaps the biggest lesson I learned this week is about letting go. Breaking up is hard enough itself but what I realized is that I am also losing my bestest friend - someone whom I have confided in with almost everything and whom I adore but I can no longer just tell him what I am thinking or how I feel. I now have to process these information on my own and figure it out. It is not that I wasn't able to do it on my own before but I enjoyed having his opinion and sometimes, simply to have someone to listen to and he was a great listener. He had allowed me bounce things off him and offered nothing but a few nods of acknowledgements. I know our breakup doesn't come any easier for him and maybe even harder in some ways so I wanted to respect his time and space. But, I feel so sad at times because as Tom Petty sings it "Good Love is Hard to Find".

Siging off with a deep breathe. Namaste.

It's Tuesday again. Another week here in the land of the rising sun. As I sat quietly at an onsen (hot springs) tonight, I reflected on the ups and downs of this past week. There were some really high times and then the low - very low, to the point I felt depressed. Luckily, I know how to bounce back and not let it get to me for too long. Plus I have some really good friends back home who are keeping taps on me, making sure I am staying afloat, and rooting for me even though we are thousands of miles away. Anyway, this was my roller coaster week:

Monday: Day 1 of being single. Getting out of bed was hard. Resisted all temptations of a breakup.

Tuesday: Work was a great escape but must put on a happy face.

Wednesday: Snow storm distraction (see previous post). Heard about the Haiti earthquake.

Thursday: Less snow. Lots of news about Haiti. My heart finally feel less heavy.

Friday: A little shaken from a FB status. Worried friends. Friendly neighborhood kitty came to keep me company. Donated money to Haiti. Felt good.

Saturday: Crazy busy work day but good. Learned a lot from my students and started to have a better grip on the flow of the lessons. Then crazy fun night out with co-workers and students.

Sunday: From the very high the night before followed by a very low day. I didn't want to get out of bed. Feeling lonely and homesick, I moped around until I found motivation to head out for some window shopping. I went to Canal City where there are lots of stores like Gap and Zara. Not only it gave me a little comfort of home, the thumping US rap and pop songs were a great distraction.

Monday (today): It was a nice sunny day and I was quite excited to go to my first Japanese lesson in the morning. Got a private lesson from an 85 year-old Japanese woman who volunteers at the community center where the lessons are held. She was really sweet and told me she likes sake. LOL! Another old lady who likes to drink (Chan is the other one). Maybe that's the real secret of longevity here. Sake and beer with good food = good life = longevity. Feeling good from the lesson, I randomly went to a ramen restaurant and ordered a lot of food. I am always a little proud of myself that I have the balls to just walk in to a place, order food with hardly any Japanese and manage to have a good meal. But what I was most happy about today was that I walked all the way to the next town, found the recycle /thrift store I researched on (with the help of my iPhone), bargained a little with the shopkeeper, bought and managed to get a coffee table delivered to my house!

What I learned this week is endurance and embracing challenges with good intentions and positive attitude. With a little help from my friends, I should be able to find green patches in the rough roads ahead.

Peace.

A snowy day in Fukuoka

Well, it finally snowed properly in Fukuoka today and the whole of Kyushu. I think we caught the cold front from China. Feeling kinda cold when I woke up, I opened up the drapes to my balcony and saw snow. For a second, it was like Christmas! and then it quickly daunted on me that I had a 15-minute walk to the train station. When I was ready to head out the door, it was snowing heavily. After a block, my umbrella was broken and I was covered in snow. No doubt I would've turned into a snowman if I had continued walking to the train station so I waved a taxi down. 1200yen later in a warm car, I felt much better and was ready to work! This is all new to me! How I miss sunny So.Cal!

The photo I took when I woke up.

Some heavy snowing 10 minutes before I headed out the door.

The bush outside my work's building. So pretty!

One the way home from the train station, it was not snowing so I was able to walk home but a layer of snow is still sitting on the staircase.

My co-worker, Wasim took this photo at the station where he lives in Kurume, which is further south from Fukuoka. There were a lot more snow and and it was snowing. The poor guy was covered white when he got home!

A month deep in Japan

Sorry for the long delay, folks. I guess I am having a pretty good time here that I have not been able to find time to write. However, I did take a lot of photos. For now, here are a selected few (well, 132 from my 500 photos) with captions. I will write more soon. I promise. Enjoy!

By the way, あけましておめでとう akemashite omedetou/Happy New Year!

A month deep in Japan

iPhone & and Ghengis Khan Party

Yay! It's the weekend after a very long week. I absorbed so much this week which is making me feel like I have been here at least for a month but it has only been over 2 weeks.

So, it was a great day today. Kelly, the outgoing teacher, who is fluent in Japanese, was super awesome enough to help me get my cell phone set up. Getting a phone, especially an expensive phone like the iPhone 3GS is a long long long process in Japan. In the past, foreigners were able to easily buy cell phones but many of them left the country without making their payments so now, not only I had to bring my official documentations (another long process at the city hall) which show my new address and registration as a resident in the city. I also had to bring my gas and electricity set up paperwork, bank info (again, another long process to get it set up), and health insurance card (which I don't have yet because guess what, it takes a friggin long time for to process) to prove that I am here to stay for a while. Then, you are not automatically approved so it basically becomes a minimum of a 2-hour tedious, almost nerve wrecking process just to get a cell phone. Needless to say, I was pretty happy when I got approved and also quite relieved that it was done.

Earlier in the day, I met Kelly at her host family's house. Chan, the host mother, invited me to her Genghis Khan (what the Japanese called lamb) aka Mongolian BBQ dinner party that night so after the cell phone, Kelly and I went to Daimaru department store to the Hokkaido Fair to sample some food and also get her an omiyage (gift). I bought her this amazing, melt-in-your mouth cheesecake called Snaffle from Hokkaido. I am not a big sweets fan but it was to die for. Then we returned to Chan's house which is big enough for a party of 9-10 people. There were sake, beers, wine, champagne. Then there were tofu appetizers, endless pieces of grilled Genghis Khan, mushrooms, onions, cabbages. And there were more - grilled mackerel, cheese, onigiris (rice balls, which was really good grilled with soy sauce and butter), rice crackers, tsukemono (pickles), some really really good Hokkaido (where Chan is from) ikura (salmon fish eggs)...with rice if you wish. Last but not least, coffee with my omiyage - buttery Snaffles. I am sure I missed something because the food and drinks just kept coming and I could hardly keep up. During dinner, Chan wanted to give me an extra futon pad for my apartment. Not only this was the best meals I had since I arrived (and I had a lot of really good food for the past 2 weeks), I was so touched to receive such kindness from a stranger who just met me. Though I didn't know the host or any of the Japanese guests at the party and all of them spoke very little English (Chan doesn't speak any), all of them engaged with me and made me feel welcomed in the most natural way. And I got invited to another party next week!

Looking back, I had only imagined an experience like this. It was a little surreal to experience it and I came away feeling extremely blessed. Below are some photos from today. おかげさまデ! (Okage-sama de)

Chan - the host mother.


The dinner party


The Food

Wow! I am living in Japan!

A lot has happened since my last post. I have finally finished my 10-day training and have been awarded the "you-are-now-an-official-teacher-pin" by my district director (honbucho) to put on my suit jacket. Most of everything here have some form of ceremony or formality.

My work started yesterday and I have already taught a class today. It went well but I still need more practice but I think the students were happy. I actually started at a good time of the year because it's like dead week next week so I get to teach a few special lessons. There is this one called "Hello Tiffani" where the students will present some information on Japan and I get my plan my lesson around it. There is also a karaoke Christmas songs class but luckily, no one has signed up. Otherwise, I would have to learn all the Christmas songs and practice my singing in the shower. After next week, we get 1 week off for the winter holiday so I will start anew with my students in January.

I have also moved into my apartment yesterday. It's definitely a shoe box but it's a really cute, modern place. It has a balcony and a tiny loft where my futon is so I need to climb up to my bed. I get home really late each night so I haven't really unpacked. Once I have settled in and decorated a little bit, I will post a grand tour here. I will also post some new photos soon, probably during the holiday. My apartment is about a-10 minute train ride from downtown and it still has lots of traditional Japanese neighborhoods and homes in the area.

Walking home from the train station tonight, it daunted on me that "wow, I am really living in Japan!" Though I am not studying much, I can understand more Japanese than last week. Once in a while, I would surprise myself that I actually understand that the cashier is asking if I have one of those club cards or if I want chopsticks. Speaking of chopsticks,I am eating Japanese food everyday, grabbing bento boxes for lunch and dinner at convenient stores or supermarkets at different department stores. Oh...and I even take off my shoes when I enter my apartment. I find my gradual adjustment and transformation fascinating. It's like my brain and mind have decided to magnify my life.

Before I end the blog today, I want to pay homage to someone that has changed my life. Susan Cortez, my old boss, and the best boss I ever had passed away suddenly last Saturday. I still can't believe she is gone. Since I heard the news, I have been wondering if I would be here in Japan without her. I still remember the interview she gave me with Marine (my other supervisor and friend) at Fielding. She was so easy to talk to, so warm and kind. Then in 2005, she suggested that I apply for the Events Coordinator position and in 2007, she encouraged me to run for the staff representative position at the Fielding Council. It was her trust in me and her mentorship that I was able to build a successful career at Fielding. Other than work, she was also just a wonderful human being. I loved talking to her about gardening, figure drawing, and the love of cooking. I will miss her and I hope she finds peace wherever she is.


Wendy Susan Cortez
August 31, 1944 - December 12, 2009