The Japanese verb for to drink is nomu, so from that the meaning of the above title should be fairly evident. For better or for worse, this is definitely a drinking culture. Every day I have been in Japan, I have had at least a drink and on some days, quite a bit more than one. I would not go as far as to call it an alcoholic culture, but rather one in which alcohol provides the much needed bridge between the world of officialdom, of work, of routine and formality, and that of relaxation, of simply hanging back, kicking off the slippers, and slowly allowing your body to spread out on the tatami (mats in watsushi, traditional Japanese rooms). In my personal case, alcohol has also helped with the language barrier a little bit because it gets broken down. I guess alcohol plays a similar role anywhere it is consumed, but its much more ritualized here, as many other things are....Ok, enough of a cultural note, let me say a few things about the last couple of days...
On Monday, there was an event on the beach sponsored by an organization known as Japan Tent, which brings international university students who are studying in Japan to stay with families across the country for a little while. I went to eat, and it turned out to be a good opportunity to eat and drink a lot of good food and spirits in the middle of the day, and then hang out at the beach for like three hours. (Work is difficult, n'est-ce pas?)
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights I spent at the family home of the kocho-sensei (the principal of the school). His family was quite nice, although they did not know any English whatsoever. As is customary for many families in Japan (as it also was in Russia and in some Russian families in America, including my own), he lives with his wife, his mother, and his grandmother (yeah, pretty amazing, he is 57; his grandmother turns 100 on August 23rd; I have never met anyone who is that healthy and that old...). Monday night, there was a big dinner. (Have I mentioned the fact that the Japanese love to eat small portions of a million different servings). We must have polished off like 5 or 6 large cans of beer and got stuffed. The next day, he had to stay at school late, so I just went home by myself and was fed. That night, I finally got some alone time (after like 10 days incountry) so I got out the Murakami and began the Chronicle for the second time (what an amazing book...) Oh, I forgot, on Tuesday, there was also an all-school assembly for a variety of things. First, the volleyball team (did I mention that every kid is involved in some sort of club or sport and even though it is summer vacation, all teachers and students still come to school everyday - for practice and whatnot. The teachers are all meant to be busy, or at least pretend to be, and its fun to watch them shoot the shit while pretending like they're actually doing work) anyway, the volleyball team accomplished some sort of acclaim and were going to the national tournament, so the students had to give them props. They ran in to a drum roll (I cannot imagine an assembly in the US with a huge taiko drum roll), and the students saluted them. Then there were various speeches, all very formal, etc., until finally it was our turn (Ryan, the person leaving, and Roman, the person coming) to give short talks. There was a formal procession in front of the students, and then he got up on stage and talked for a little while. Then I get up there, and like 200+ people are staring at me, and I had to say a few things about myself in Japanese. I was not nervous at all (as I did not really know what I was saying - I had some help in translation) but the experience was tremendous nonetheless. After the customary applause, we walked off the stage and the kids proceeded to watch a video about a very important topic here in Japan, Peace Memorial Day (as some of you history folks might know, exactly 60 years ago, on August 6th, 1945 a horrific event occurred here in Japan, followed by another three days later. Ever since then, the anniversary has been celebrated as a day of peace and rememberance, and this year especially, it will be very somber...) Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand. On Wednesday, the Board of Education for which I work held a welcome party for me and a farewell party for Ryan. It was quite an experience... it started around 6:30, when the head of the BOE gave a short toast, and we kanpai'd (kanpai=cheers). There were like thirty people in this tatami room, all sitting on little pillows on the floor (oh, another thing, my legs have recently been killing me, as I have little experience sitting down Japanese style). And so the beers were opened and started flowing. In Japan, custom dictates that at official gatherings of this type, you are not allowed to pour your own drink and that someone else has to do it for you. Also, the glass in not allowed to become empty and the only way you can indicate that you are done drinking is to not touch your refilled glass (a lot of liquor is wasted this way). At any rate, they also served a bunch of food and a little later, brought out some locally brewed sake. Let me just say that by 7:30, I was sufficiently warmed up to be rolling around on the tatami. The Japanese sure know how to relax. At this point, I had to give a brief speech, which was a lot of fun. Then, a bunch of folks (I am really bad with names over here...) came by and kept pouring and pouring and pouring (copy/paste that about a hundred times). When the shebang ended only around 10:00, I was, in no glamorous words, wasted, as were some of my co-workers at the BOE, whom I do not know very well, because I spend my time in the junior high school, mostly. (That welcome party is coming soon). After all that, I was driven back to the principal's house and he had to deal with my drunken self...
The next morning, at 8:15 PM, everybody from the town hall gathered in the gymnasium, lined up in rows, for an official assembly of some sort. First, the mayor of this little town (which has a population of 15,000) said a few words to the crowd, then some people who are new introduced themselves, and then my hungover self had to introduce myself (I could see the panic on my superviser's face as I trodded through the all newly familiar routine of saying that I am Roman Marchenko, from Chicago, IL, and that I don't speak much Japanese, and that I like basketball, and all that...) After that little ceremony, I came back to my desk at the school, which has become my sanctuary, where I can spend my time however I like. (I do not have official duties for about another month, which gives me plenty of time to learn the language and write obnoxiously long blogs, but at the same time, its awful hard to fill sometimes...) At any rate, I am excited, because tonight is the first night I get to spend at "home," so I can finally unpack, and start to really settle in, and truly figure out what I need to do. It will be interesting to actually cook something by myself, after 10 days of stupendously good food...
Ok, sorry for the atrocious length, but I had some things to get off my chest...I'm trying to gear up for a post that's more substantive rather than merely informative like this one had been. But in any case, take care....all are missed....gambatte kudasai...
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16 comments:
what is the "domesticated animals" situation like? less/more/strays/different/same?
Vasya, I haven't see too many animals around these parts actually...I think they may be scared of them (Either the Japanese of the animals, or the animals of the Japanese, or both, who knows...); iak, thank you for the comment on the notes - from what i've seen so far, there's like two tv channels, although I haven't watched much - there's some crazy shows that I absolutely cannot understand, but there's some cool ones, like variety shows, where people do some pretty amazing shite. and the time difference, once and for all is 14 hours (I am fourteen hours ahead of you) So what I do is, say it is 4:20 PM here, I subtract two hours (2:20 PM) and then change the PM to AM (2:20 AM) and that is what time it is over there...pretty simply actually...
take care all...
first of all, the time difference I have judging from the time zone map I have should be 15 hours between Japan and Chicago, but due to the daylight savings crap or whatnot it might actually be 14. But not 10 or 12. Goddamnit, now I forgot what I was going to write, I have to go back to the blog and reread it.
ok, I remember now. It's ironic, how on the verge of the day they remember how the US dropped two nuclear bombs on their country and destroyed an unspeakable number of lives - future lives too, the Japanese people stand and cheer for you and listen to how you like to play basketball in the US, while their grandparents got murdered by your government... This is not meant to be an assault on you or the US for that matter, just a note on the irony.
olya, what happened to their grandparents is horrific, but there was no other effective way to put an end to the conflict. but, that's for another time and place to discuss. and they cheer for roman because he is so much larger than them. if they don't cheer, he will squash them with his ginormous palms like tiny japanese bugs.
Nomu, ha? How about coffee? Is it part of the drinking culture? Have you tried good home brewed coffee? I mean, very good, something like twins make in Pinball 1973?
First, I just wanted to pipe in and echo the previous comments of how inspiring it is to read about your exotic adventures in the land of the rising sun. Don't underestimate how new and fascinating your stories are, so nothing is insufficiently 'substantive'!!
Second, just for your personal information: you don't live in Shio, Ishikawa, but in fact in a town of Hodatsushimizu. No, seriously. Wikipediameister: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shio%2C_Ishikawa
Finally, would it be too presumptious of me to demand that you bring this as a souvenir?
http://www.livejournal.com/users/mozgovaya/?skip=40
(see pic in entry from June 8th).
:)
All the best; write more, and often!
roman, your blogs are so inspiring. you write about such a foreign world, but having you write and explain the foreign culture somehow makes it more real. the pictures are great too. it's good to finally have some visual aids to go w/ your stories. so do you remember i told you about a friend who's lived in japan? well, according to her, the japanese feed you (not you in particular) because they think that we westerners eat a lot, so they're trying to make sure that your habits are satisfied. also, she mentioned that some vending machines sell worn girl's panties, have you seen those yet?
dude, whats the deal wit the peace 2 finger thing in the pictures?
To address the irony of the bomb - I think its a tricky situation. I'm not really sure yet how the Japanese feel about their country's behavior during World War II, but from what I have read and studied about it, it appears to have been highly and atrociously aggressive and militaristic, which is why (although I personally am highly opposed to the decision to have dropped the bomb) I can understand the need to have used it to stop the war (common consensus holds it that the Japanese government would have kept fighting until almost every man, woman, and child in Japan was no longer able to do so); so the bomb is a sign of not only a horrific act on the part of the Americans, its also an opportunity for the Japanese to reflect on their own history and attempt to figure out how their behavior in the past may have lead to such a thing (and more importantly how to prevent it from ever happening again); after the war, American influenced Japan more than any other country ever has, perhaps with the exception of China throughout the last two millenia. But, while it may appear ironic, it is not necessarily so. Sorry for the history lesson...
Ototoi (I have the sneaking suspicion that I know exactly who you are....clever name) Japan is definitely more of a tea culture than coffee culture, although I am continuing to drink it regularly. Sugar is a very rare thing, and even though you can find just about 100 varieties of some kind of tea at the supermarket, none of it will have any sugar in it. (I have had some pretty good tea by the way). Katya, you are right, I do live in Houdatsushimizu, but here's the breakdown. Earlier this year, in the Spring, there was an official merging of two smaller towns, Shio and Oshimizu (they are like 1km apart) and the new town became Houdatsushimizu, but many people still think of them as two separate entities and I happen to live in the Shio part of the new town, which explains the location...Anya, I have yet to see those vending machines, but I have yet to have been in the appropriate neighborhoods, I guess. Might I add that I am slightly looking forward to them...As to the feeding thing, no man, the Japanese eat a crap load themselves, and it seems like its all pretty healthy, lots of vegetables, fish, and rice...DM, thanks for the post, man, I think you raise a topic that deserves its own blog...
Thank you guys for reading this stuff, its a pleasure to write it...Take care...
speaking of food, roman, have you yet, or do you at any point intend to try fugu (the russian roullet of foods, but, apparently, the exquisitemost delicacy in japan)???
katya-my magazine writing professor wrote an article on fugu. he travelled to japan and went boating with some fisherman that caught it. he then went to the restaurant where he watched the chef prepare it and then ate it. he followed it from the sea to his plate. it's a pretty cool article.
you have to have a special license to prepare it because, as you know, if you undercook it...
speaking of it being 4:20 pm in Japan... i know from your "basic principles" post that this is a special topic, but have you observed any other way that the japanese relax other than drinking?
elina, do you have a link to that article (or can you email it to me)?
katya,
he gave it to us as a handout. i'll try to dig it up in my old school papers and copy it for you...
Katya, I haven't yet heard of it or tried it, but I'm sure it'll float up one of these days...
Misha, you know something, I really don't think that they relax in any other way that involves foreign substances introduced into the body; they do take a bath everyday though, that counts as relaxation; on that note, there's a bunch of plants growing right outside of my house on a hill that look remarkably familiar (although I'm pretty sure its purely a physical resemblance...)
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