Cherry Blossoms!

It's cherry blossom season and you know what that means (like everything else in Japan).....lots of beer! To celebrate the beauty of nature, it is customary here to gather up your spouse, children, kegs of pink colored beer (to match the blossoms of course), blanket and 100 of your closest friends, co-workers and drinking buddies for a day of revelry among the blossoms. Those cherry blossoms do have quite a franchise here; all of the alcohol manufacturers have pink flowery cans and bottles, the stores have fake cherry blossoms blanketing the ceilings and all the restaurants have cherry blossom bread, cakes, rolls, etc. I wanted to dry some flowers and save them but I think picking cherry blossoms is a federal offense, they're very protective of them here. Me, being the typical American that I am, asked when the trees will actually grow cherries. I mean, blossoms are great and all, but when can you eat them? My Japanese friends, mortified by my typical American-ness of valuing utility over beauty, were quite taken aback.
"You can't eat them, they don't actually sprout edible berries!"
What!? This is it!? Whatever dude. But they are beautiful, if you're sober enough to notice......

So I have my apartment finally, its small and will take some getting used to but it has potential. It's even got a little tiny balcony and a sliding glass door so thats kind of nice (yay a window!!!) The carpet is brand new from the last teacher and there is a sofa bed thing which is awesome because most apartments have futons on the floor. Mine is a twin, and half folds up to make a couch. It's nice that there's a bit of a separation between the kitchen and living room, because in some apartments the kitchen is just in the main room. It's right next to an elementary school and I can hear the kids on the playground during the daytime which I kind of like. One of the neighbors has an orange tree that drops oranges onto the front "porch". It's definitely a modest place but I'm getting used to it.


Last week I went to sign up for an internet connection. The previous teacher complained so much that it was dumb to have to take the modem away then bring it back (which it is, and which the company was threatening to do, we dont know why), that the company agreed finally not to move it and even said I could have 3 months free!!!! Ok, let me illustrate how different Japan is, if I haven't already. In America, if you complain, they will probably give you something free, maybe, but they will most likely do it begrudgingly. In Japan, he complained and so they asked when I would be able to sign the application. He told them that I work until 9pm every night (which I do) and so they said that someone would stay till 9 for me. So we go, and I expect them to either not have anyone there after all or for that person to be mad that they had to stay late. When we got there we were greeted by three people at the door and taken into a large conference room where I filled out the application as they served us hot green tea. They were in no hurry and answered every one of my questions, even leaving to go get more information at one point. They continuously apologized profusely for the inconvenince of "making" us come so late even though we specified the time, and in addition to giving me 3 months free, gave us all gift bags including little stuffed animals of the mascot of the company before we left. Then they escorted us to the elevator, pushed the button for us and bowed and apologized as the doors were closing. Crazy. Just crazy.

So there are a bunch of other teachers at my school, let me introduce you:

First, the head teacher is Sali who is Japanese, and yes her name contains the letter L which not many native Japanese people can pronounce. She studied abroad at Cal State Long Beach (how weird does that sound....studied abroad in Long Beach?) so we are new best friends because we both come from the LBC. We're tight, yo.

Next is Dale who is the longest tenured member of the Gotanda school staff. He's been here 4 years now but is finally ready to go home. He just came up for a contract renewal and he renewed for his last 6 months. So we'll both be leaving at the same time, next March.

Then there's Vince, a part-time foreign teacher. I came to replace Vince but he isn't leaving Japan. [Side note: I'm finding that the goal of a male English teacher in Japan is to ultimately find a job at a Japanese company (usually in computers or business or something) and end up marrying a Japanese woman thus negating the visa issue. They teach English because 1) the visa is good for 2 years after you quit and 2) its a good way to meet Japanese women. Pretty much every teacher or former teacher I've met has a job at Sony and either a Japanese girlfriend or wife. (In Japan it's totally acceptable to go out drinking with your students, male or female, in groups or not--it's encouraged really.) Because of this whole system, foreign women teachers are a rare breed. In my training group, I think I mentioned, there were 2 girls and 8 guys. So Vince just finished his full time contract and moved in with his girlfriend. He too is looking for a computer consulting job. Not surprising that he's the one who is getting me free internet and is the go-to guy for computer problems.

So these are my new friends!