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Published: March 5th 2008
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MooshiMooshi!
This is the first of a series of entries chronicling my year as an English teacher in rural Japan.
My journey began in Osaka after a 15 hour flight from my hometown of Chicago. I had been hired for a position as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in the public school system here in Japan. Like many college graduates who posses no concrete career goals, I decided to take my free ticket into experiencing a foreign culture in exchange of the simple task of handing down the language of imperialists. It is easy for anyone to join, if, of course, you can spell potato. In Japan, each junior high and high school is required to have a native English speaker on hand to use for correct pronounciation and cultural exchange. Japan is one of the most homogenous cultures on earth, and these ALTs are often the first foreigner these children have ever met. But more on that later. This is just the beginning, after all...
So here I am in Osaka. Tired, disoriented, cotton-mouthed. My transition went smoothly, thanks to the two angels holding a white placard with the name of my company typed neatly in bold print.
Although my bicycle made it over here safely, they wouldn't let me take it on the shinkansen train, so I had to
send it delivery service to my hotel. This delivery service is commonly used here to ship luggage ahead of you when you travel. Although not cheap, many Japanese prefer to use it, and I could see why as my dainty counterparts were unable to lift just one of my four bags.
I arrived in Hiroshima, where my company is based, around midnight and checked into my hotel. By this point, I had been up for about 30hours. I really looked forward to sleeping off the jet-lag, but instead found myself woken by a phone call at 6am and told I must prepare to check out of the hotel and take a bus to the other side of the country, Matsue, Shimane prefecture on the Sea of Japan.
Matsue is a small city nestled between two lakes and bordered on all sides by lush green mountains and quiet rice fields. Just 20 km from the sea, it will be a great point from which to branch out and explore by bicycle. This side of the country is the least
populated in Japan. High mountain ranges take up the middle of Japan, leaving cities to hug each coastline. Thought to be the dwellings of Gods, these mountains have been uninhabited for thousands of years, and transport over the mountains is long and infrequent. As a matter of course, all of Japan's major cities are located on the Pacific Ocean side, where waters are calmer for fishing and ports.
Because of its isolated location, Matsue survived the destruction of WWII, and ancient Japan is preserved here. There are many shrines, wooden castles, and samauri tea ceremony compounds. The houses are all
ordained with beautifully sloped roofs that shine like ebony. Even some traditional thatched roof homes still survive here. This is a stark contrast to Hiroshima, whose architecture is an eyesore of depressing concrete boxes and power lines.
In Matsue, I was met by my correspondent who was to help me acquire all the necessities of living. Mrs. Ishikura not only arranged everything for me, but showed me the true meaning of Japanese hospitality. She is known as Mama San to many, and as she has made it a point to take me under her wing as one of her daughters.
Haruka, her biological daughter, and Masako, adopted, are the same age as me. They work every night at a karaoke and hostess bar owned by Ishikura, pouring drinks, singing, and lighting men's cigarettes. They are modern-day geishas. Although she is supposed to be my English-speaking correspondant, her English is well, lets just say gestures and drawing diagrams usually got us by. The ketai (cellphones) here feature built-in language translators, making mine and their lives easier.
As the new member of their family, the girls took me out to numerous traditional Japanese meals. My hosts were very curious to see what kind of foods a westerner would eat, so out would come tiny dish after tiny dish as everyone silently watched for my reaction.Things that top the list for bizarre that I have eaten so far would be battered&deep-fried leaves, lotus root stew, sweet fish custard garnished with fish egg, and cheese&seaweed sandwiches.
We went sightseeing to Matsue Castle, the oldest original samauri castle in Japan (most are just replicas)
This huge wooden structure with its many peaks sits on a hill overlooking the city and surrounded by a moat.
Nicknamed the Venice of Asia, Matsue is covered in a network
of canals that empty into the lake. I was taken on a charming boat ride that went under the dozens of low wooden bridges. Matsue is also home to a huge variety of birds, with hawks and herrings flying overhead and ducks, geese, and swans floating by below. The Matsue Vogel Park is a refuge with these creatures, where you can watch a hawk show, feed a pelican, and clap fins with the penguins.
It makes me happy to see all the people that ride bikes here, young to old, business men to farmers.
I haven't seen anyone lock their bike. Especially coming from Chicago, this feeling of safety is hard to adjust to. Several times when I practice any sort of street smarts, people laugh and remind me that, "This is
Japan!" I'm sure the situation is probably a little different in Tokyo, but still, in addition to the lack of crime, I have yet to see any graffiti, slums, or homeless people. That doesn't mean there are no poor people in Japan, but rather it seems that everyone takes care of each other, and takes great pride in their personal and community appearance. The same pride goes with
Pelican
Matsue Vogel Park jobs. Even those working in the dregs of the service industry present themselves with great care in their spotless uniforms, diligently performing their job duties as counter girl and gas station attendant. I was given another surprise when I wandered into a department store one morning. It is Japanese
custom for everyone to stand at attention at their posts and silently bow to you as you go by. I have
never experienced something so unusual.
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