First Saturday - Japan series #1

I finally arrived. The truth is I arrived almost 5 days ago, but it feels as if I just got here. (Pardon the tone of this entry as it might be a little grumpy. I currently have strep throat and being sick and not at home is unpleasant.)

There about five million cultural differences between the US and Japan that I would love to point out, but I figure most of them will come out in time. For now, I think I will just focus on my weekend.

As mentioned before, I am in Hiroshima. My exact address is still a mystery to me. (I will have to ask H about that today.) My apartment is on the 10th floor of this building. I am in the southeast part of the city, mainly residential neighborhood called, Minamiku. It is close to work, but the drawback is that it is a little far from the city center and the farther away you get from the center the more communication problems arise. I do have a phrase book, which for the past few days has become my bible. The people here seem to be extra friendly (maybe because all the annoying tourists are in the center of town) and are willing to patiently read (after I make a very poor attempt in pronouncing what I want) to words that I point in the book.

Getting lost is very easy here due to the very poor city planning and ultra narrow streets. Luckily, on the first day here, H did show me how to get form the lab to my apartment. My strategy for getting around is to say "Hiroshima Daigaku Byuoin, yuki no basu tei wa doko desu ka?" (Where is the bus to the Hiroshima University Hospital) Then it is just a ten minute walk from the hospital to my apartment.

My other favorite phrase is "Sumimasen, nihongo wa wakarimasen." (Pardon me, I cannot understand Japansese.) With just two phrases, I have been able to survive quite nicely so far.

My friend H and his wife took me out on Saturday. When in Boston, H used to work like a mad man and would never take a weekend off. I told him not to worry about me, and he told me he has a life in Japan so he does not work as hard here. I was kind of taken aback because you always read about the Japanese work ethic. See, stereotypes already being torn down.

H and his wife decided to show me downtown Hiroshima. Y needed to buy a matching pajama set for her friend that is getting married next week. I asked if that was for the bachelorette party, but apparently in faux pas number 302 that I made that day that was their wedding gift. (They do not give kitchenware, and his/her pajama set is over 200 dollars.)

Downtown Hiroshima is one huge mall. There many department stores, small curio shops, electronic shops etc.. The Japanese seem to be enamoured by high-end name brands. Names like Coach, Louis Vitton, Kate Spade, Burberry, etc. are displayed in the windows. Even the iPod is popular here, which I find odd because the alternatives are so superior.

For lunch we went to eat okonami-yaki. It is famous in Hiroshima. It is all cooked on a large griddle. It is two thin flour pancakes stuffed with cabbage, scallions, bacon, octopus, shrimp, sprouts, and anything else you would like. The cooks then flip is over and fry an egg on one side of the pancake. The finishing touches are some parsley and special okonami-yaki sauce. It is delicious and very filling. According to H, it is considered junk food. Oddly enough it is the first sign of a lot of vegetables I had seen in awhile. (More about that in later posts)

After shopping and lunch, we did a little sight seeing. We went by the baseball stadium (Hiroshima Toyo Carp), the A-bomb dome and the Peace memorial. We also decided to play a few rounds of pool.

Even without my favorite phrase of "I do not understand japanese," I am pretty sure people know I am a foreigner. 1) I dress differently. Despite the fact that I am dressed slightly more neatly than normal, I am still way underdressed for a japanese woman. 2) I do not wear makeup or have a hairdo. 3) I play pool not well but decently enough to show that I had spent some time playing when I was younger. The only other two women in the pool hall, Y and some other girl at the table closest to the window, were giggling a lot, definate beginners.

After all of that, we went for a sushi dinner at Hiroshima Port. You could see a bunch of small islands from the docks. They were all green and partially covered in the fog. It was beautiful, but too dark to take any good pictures. It was a very good day.

Of course, I have tons more to say, but I trying to pace myself a little. So for now, sayanora.