During my second weekend at Hitachi Chemicals some coworkers had a welcoming party for Bryan and me at a local izakaya (Japanese style bar). We ordered sashimi, noodles, and many other yummy things I cannot remember. This was also my first time trying real Japanese sake, and it was rather delicious. We all introduced ourselves in English so that my coworkers could practice their English-speaking skills. Then we basically spent the rest of the night eating, drinking, and talking about our travels, life in the Americas and in the Philippines, and how it compares to Japanese life. I also learned that I am definitely the youngest person at Hitachi Chemicals, granted I actually don’t work there. They taught me several words/phrases in Japanese that are more colloquial/slang and useful during conversations with friends.
In the middle of this party there was an earthquake, not massive or anything, but it still feels very…interesting. This was my third one while being in Japan and in my life (there were some in Mexico City when I interned there, but I was either sleeping or didn’t feel them for whatever reason so I don’t count those). Overall it was a fun-filled night and we all got to know each other a little better.
On March 18th my work group had my official welcome party after work. We took a chartered bus from work to an izakaya in downtown Tsukuba. Again my coworkers ordered a feast for me: sashimi, raw chicken, soup, yakitori, noodles, and many, many other things. Again I drank sake, another type of Japanese spirits, and Japanese beer. We talked about places in Japan, media, cuisine, and well a vast array of interesting topics. Then randomly this older coworker who calls me Feru-chan (and insists that I call him Hide-chan as opposed to Nakamura-san) sitting to my right commented that I look exactly like Johnny Depp (“Joni-de” in Japanese, similar to “Bura-pi” for Brad Pitt :p). Two female coworkers sitting at the end of the table excitedly agreed with him, that especially like Captain Sparrow. I think it was the fact that I was a foreigner with dark, long hair and facial hair that made them think that, but I thanked them anyway. I like Joni-de anyway, especially in Edward Scissorhands, which they hadn’t seen or heard of, but I’ll take Captain Jack. It was a wonderful party and after some toasts and some sort of welcoming song I gave them some obleas (a type of Mexican candy…if you didn’t know) from SATX and took some photos before returning to the bus.
Because it was a weeknight my boss was still busy with work so he unfortunately could not make the party. However, he held a second party at a different izakaya near the dormitory, so I went with some of my braver coworkers who were in the mood for more food/drink/conversation. At the after-party we had takoyaki, more raw chicken, and other traditional izakaya food. I asked a coworker to surprise me with drinks so he ordered some unknown green drink which was tasty (and had a somewhat fluorescent color) and another one with a sour plum in it. The conversations again covered a wide range of topics from amines to animes.
I feel welcome into this country, company, and culture although there are still many difference between us, as I am clearly a foreigner, an outsider. But at least I’m somewhat more integrated than a mere tourist and at the very least I had great conversations and a full belly.
I’ll leave y’all with a Hide-chan-ism. Basically I had told them how my great-grandfather was Japanese, but due to extraordinary circumstances I didn’t know where in Japan he came from. Hide-chan, upon hearing this, deduced that my hi-sofu was probably from the island of Kyushu since around that time many people emigrated from there, although mostly to Hawaii or Brazil. Furthermore, I have a lot of facial hair, and the Kyushu people are known to be hairier that the average Japanese. Having solved the mystery Hide-chan sat back and finished his nth cup of sake.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Food and Drink/食べ物と飲み物
After two weeks in Japan I have yet to eat sushi, surprising right? Don’t worry world, I plan to eat my fill of sushi in the next 3 months. So what have I eaten? Well, during the work week I eat breakfast and dinner at the dormitory (assuming I don’t skip a meal). For lunch I usually buy a box lunch, bento, at the company. Then on the weekends I either buy food at the konbini or Kasumi or go out with some people (but not sushi yet). The bento lunches usually have some fried meat/fish/egg, pickled vegetables, rice, miso soup, some other vegetable in sweet soy sauce, and sometimes noodles. The breakfasts and dinners are also very similar. Thus I have eaten a lot of unhealthy things and I probably gained weight, I wonder what the Japanese secret is for staying thin.
One thing famous in the Ibaraki prefecture that is always in our dorm is nattoo. Basically it is fermented soybeans, and you eat them with soy sauce and Japanese mustard. And sometimes a raw egg. It has a distinctive odor which you either hate or tolerate. When you mix all the ingredients it becomes a sticky goo. It’s pretty tasty though, I think.
Wait a raw egg? Yeah I’ve had raw eggs on rice, with nattoo, and on other foods as well. I’ve also have raw fish/seafood, raw chicken, and raw beef (I think). One time I even tried eating raw horse, but they were out at the restaurant, maybe next time. It is actually tasty, but I think many people in the “Western” world tend to shy away from raw things because of germs or other things perhaps. Maybe the eggs and meat in Japan are healthier or maybe there isn’t that big of a problem in the first place, I’m not sure. But I’ve tried them several times, they taste good, and I haven’t gotten sick.
I’ve tried okonomiyaki, which is a pancake-like food with a bunch of different things mixed together. I tried a cheese one, a seafood one, and two different type of meat ones. There is a special sauce you can put on top of it (as well as mayo) along with thin flakes of fish and some green ground-up vegetable. Also delicious is takoyaki, which has a similar taste but is made with octopus (tako). One time after tennis practice I went with the team to an Italian place and I had a squid and anchovies pizza (and Tabasco sauce), it wasn’t terrible.
I have also tried tendon (tempura over rice) and gyuudon (beef over rice), very delicious and unhealthy. Speaking of more unhealthy food, curry is very popular here. I personally did not think it was that great tasting, but it is definitely easy to find for a quick snack, if needed.
Sweet bread is also abundant, which is great for a sweet tooth like myself. Also good desserts include different types of mochi, hanko, and Chinese-style sweet tofu (I forget the name).
Drinks, not many Japanese people drink tap water even though it is clean. I definitely refill my nalgene bottle every morning. There are vending machines selling drinks all over the place. They have both cold and hot drinks, and you can find soft drinks, water, tea, coffee, beer, energy drinks, and even milk (sold by Fanta…). Cold coffee at the supermarket is sometimes cheaper than other drinks, which is yummy for me.
On the alcoholic front, I have tried sake, which is very delicious and I learned before coming here you never serve yourself any drink; you always pour for and are poured by others. Japanese beer is so-so, but I’m more of a darker beer kind of person anyway. There’s another type of Japanese drink that is similar to sake but made from wheat or potato that is usually drunk with a mixer, I tried it with cold green tea. I also had a similar drink with a sour plum in the bottom that you crush and mix in with your drink to flavor it. Lastly one of my coworkers busted out a bottle of tequila one day after dinner and we all did some shots with salt, no lime, since many of my coworkers did not have experience with tequila.
Overall very good food and drinks. All the speak of raw food also reminds me of a Japanese tongue-twister: nama mugi, nama gome, nama tamago (raw [type of fish], raw rice, raw egg). Try that 5 times fast.
One thing famous in the Ibaraki prefecture that is always in our dorm is nattoo. Basically it is fermented soybeans, and you eat them with soy sauce and Japanese mustard. And sometimes a raw egg. It has a distinctive odor which you either hate or tolerate. When you mix all the ingredients it becomes a sticky goo. It’s pretty tasty though, I think.
Wait a raw egg? Yeah I’ve had raw eggs on rice, with nattoo, and on other foods as well. I’ve also have raw fish/seafood, raw chicken, and raw beef (I think). One time I even tried eating raw horse, but they were out at the restaurant, maybe next time. It is actually tasty, but I think many people in the “Western” world tend to shy away from raw things because of germs or other things perhaps. Maybe the eggs and meat in Japan are healthier or maybe there isn’t that big of a problem in the first place, I’m not sure. But I’ve tried them several times, they taste good, and I haven’t gotten sick.
I’ve tried okonomiyaki, which is a pancake-like food with a bunch of different things mixed together. I tried a cheese one, a seafood one, and two different type of meat ones. There is a special sauce you can put on top of it (as well as mayo) along with thin flakes of fish and some green ground-up vegetable. Also delicious is takoyaki, which has a similar taste but is made with octopus (tako). One time after tennis practice I went with the team to an Italian place and I had a squid and anchovies pizza (and Tabasco sauce), it wasn’t terrible.
I have also tried tendon (tempura over rice) and gyuudon (beef over rice), very delicious and unhealthy. Speaking of more unhealthy food, curry is very popular here. I personally did not think it was that great tasting, but it is definitely easy to find for a quick snack, if needed.
Sweet bread is also abundant, which is great for a sweet tooth like myself. Also good desserts include different types of mochi, hanko, and Chinese-style sweet tofu (I forget the name).
Drinks, not many Japanese people drink tap water even though it is clean. I definitely refill my nalgene bottle every morning. There are vending machines selling drinks all over the place. They have both cold and hot drinks, and you can find soft drinks, water, tea, coffee, beer, energy drinks, and even milk (sold by Fanta…). Cold coffee at the supermarket is sometimes cheaper than other drinks, which is yummy for me.
On the alcoholic front, I have tried sake, which is very delicious and I learned before coming here you never serve yourself any drink; you always pour for and are poured by others. Japanese beer is so-so, but I’m more of a darker beer kind of person anyway. There’s another type of Japanese drink that is similar to sake but made from wheat or potato that is usually drunk with a mixer, I tried it with cold green tea. I also had a similar drink with a sour plum in the bottom that you crush and mix in with your drink to flavor it. Lastly one of my coworkers busted out a bottle of tequila one day after dinner and we all did some shots with salt, no lime, since many of my coworkers did not have experience with tequila.
Overall very good food and drinks. All the speak of raw food also reminds me of a Japanese tongue-twister: nama mugi, nama gome, nama tamago (raw [type of fish], raw rice, raw egg). Try that 5 times fast.
People
Before leaving for Japan I searched for people living in Tsukuba on CouchSurfing so that I would know some people to have a meal with or show me around or to travel with. I ended up talking with several people, mostly students at the university, but many of them were going to return back home for their break which is in March. However, I was able to meet up with some people who stayed in Tsukuba. One person in particular was a French girl, Amelie, who right away invited me to a going away party (with predominantly Spanish-speakers) for her Peruvian friend. I went with two of my coworkers who had never been to a foreigner party before. I am not sure what they thought of it, since it had Spanish music, dancing, and mingling in Spanish. I thought it was fun, but I didn’t meet anybody since I was trying to make sure my coworkers were comfortable.
Later on that first week Amelie invited me to dinner with another Mexican girl, Gracie, who both live in Hanabatake like me. I took a different coworker who lives on my floor to the dinner who speaks English very well (he studied for one year in Canada). It was an interesting dinner full of English, Japanese, and Spanish, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, hopefully my coworker thought so too. One awesome surprise of the evening was that Amelie had brought me her extra bicycle to use during my stay in Tsukuba, which I was not expecting at all. It is not a very good bike, which she warned me, but it is better than no bike, so I was very pleased.
On a different occasion Amelie, Gracie, and I went to this place called Cybex for karaoke, my first time doing karaoke ever. Cybex in itself is an interesting place/concept. It is a huge building with karaoke rooms, pool tables, arcade games, and not sure what else. Basically you pay for a certain amount of time and you can do any of the above, and drinks and ice cream are included in the price. I had to register for a Cybex card and then we initially paid for 4 hours (¥1250 or so, not too shabby). I though 4 hours of karaoke was kind of a stretch but it went by super fast and was really fun. Two more of Amelie’s friends joined us for karaoke a little later, and I was by far the worst singer. After the 4 hours were up we ended up staying for an hour more before parting ways and biking the 20 minutes back home.
As for people from work, I hang out with certain people from my lab, most of whose names I have finally remembered, and some of whose names I still don’t so I have to discretely glance at their nametags if I want to talk with them. They have taken me to several restaurants, izakayas (Japanese bars), tennis practice, shopping centers, and even Tokyo. I have been invited to a BBQ at a coworker’s house (which I think is very rare for Japanese to open up their homes for such events, but I am thinking of making guacamole for them, if I find avocados…) and two day trips with two different coworkers.
At work every morning I am usually tired, since I am not a morning person, but I am usually in a good mood since I like my work and well I usually am anyway. Anyway, every morning as I am walking down the hallways at work and I cross paths with anybody we give each other a small bow and an “ohayou gozaimaaaaasu,” some people heartier than others. Every time I do this, however, I break out into a huge smile, I am not sure why. There is something about that particular exchange that makes me really happy. I can’t explain it, but it definitely brightens my day.
So far my experiences with people in Japan have been positive.
Later on that first week Amelie invited me to dinner with another Mexican girl, Gracie, who both live in Hanabatake like me. I took a different coworker who lives on my floor to the dinner who speaks English very well (he studied for one year in Canada). It was an interesting dinner full of English, Japanese, and Spanish, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, hopefully my coworker thought so too. One awesome surprise of the evening was that Amelie had brought me her extra bicycle to use during my stay in Tsukuba, which I was not expecting at all. It is not a very good bike, which she warned me, but it is better than no bike, so I was very pleased.
On a different occasion Amelie, Gracie, and I went to this place called Cybex for karaoke, my first time doing karaoke ever. Cybex in itself is an interesting place/concept. It is a huge building with karaoke rooms, pool tables, arcade games, and not sure what else. Basically you pay for a certain amount of time and you can do any of the above, and drinks and ice cream are included in the price. I had to register for a Cybex card and then we initially paid for 4 hours (¥1250 or so, not too shabby). I though 4 hours of karaoke was kind of a stretch but it went by super fast and was really fun. Two more of Amelie’s friends joined us for karaoke a little later, and I was by far the worst singer. After the 4 hours were up we ended up staying for an hour more before parting ways and biking the 20 minutes back home.
As for people from work, I hang out with certain people from my lab, most of whose names I have finally remembered, and some of whose names I still don’t so I have to discretely glance at their nametags if I want to talk with them. They have taken me to several restaurants, izakayas (Japanese bars), tennis practice, shopping centers, and even Tokyo. I have been invited to a BBQ at a coworker’s house (which I think is very rare for Japanese to open up their homes for such events, but I am thinking of making guacamole for them, if I find avocados…) and two day trips with two different coworkers.
At work every morning I am usually tired, since I am not a morning person, but I am usually in a good mood since I like my work and well I usually am anyway. Anyway, every morning as I am walking down the hallways at work and I cross paths with anybody we give each other a small bow and an “ohayou gozaimaaaaasu,” some people heartier than others. Every time I do this, however, I break out into a huge smile, I am not sure why. There is something about that particular exchange that makes me really happy. I can’t explain it, but it definitely brightens my day.
So far my experiences with people in Japan have been positive.
Tsukuba (つくば)
So I am living in a Hitachi Chemical owned dorm (turns out it is male-only for Hitachi Chemical’s single men, but they can only reside here until the age of 35, after that they have to move out or get married and move into Hitachi Chemical’s family “dorm”, but it’s a nice deal since rent is a cheap ¥10,000/month) in the part of Tsukuba called Hanabatake. I live close to several convenience stores “konbini” such as Sunkusu, 7-11, and Lawson. These konbinis are used for purchasing cheap food/drinks, the latest manga, ATMs, paying bills, and a bunch of other truly convenient things. There’s a grocery store called Kasumi also nearby and a hyaku-en store, which means 100 yen, so like a dollar store. I live 1 block away from the main road, Higashi-oodori (East Big Street), south of work, and north of Tsukuba Daigaku and Tsukuba center. There are many restaurants within walking distance, from soba to sushi to McD to raamen to an “Italian” place. Also the McD does not have free wi-fi, come on Tsukuba get on the free wi-fi bandwagon already.
There are three major shopping areas/malls in Tsukuba, I’ve been told. At Tsukuba center is the bus station and the Tsukuba Express (TX) station which goes to Tokyo in about 40 minutes (for around ¥1,100 one way). Also at the center there is large second-hand store, which is still too expensive in my opinion. I went to try and find some traditional Japanese wear for men, but it was rather hard for me to distinguish between the different kinds of robes; next time I should go with a Japanese person. There is even one hotel that might be my home away from dorm, since they have free wi-fi in their lobby! However, it’s rather far from my place so I probably cannot go there with frequency, plus I don’t want them to kick me out for abusing their internet without renting a room.
The houses near my dorm usually have large plots (huge tracts of land if you will) for farming. It is interesting to see this mix of rural and urban lifestyles; I think I want something similar when I eventually settle down, if ever.
A popular place to visit in Tsukuba is Mt. Tsukuba (Tsukuba-san). My boss (Takane-san) took me and some of my coworkers (Yamaura-san and Kamo-san) up to the summit. We did not actually hike all the way up since they said it took too long, so we took the cable car instead. On Tsukuba-san there is a very old Shinto shrine. We went up to it and they showed me how to do the praying ritual. First one must wash their hands and mouth at a nearby fountain. Next you walk up to the front of the shrine and toss in some money into the offering box. After that you bow twice, clap twice, and bow once more (if I remember correctly). While doing this, you can say a prayer or a wish if you so desire. At the top of the mountain there are many omiyage-ya (souvenir stores). One thing I noticed was that the picture of the frog is representative of Tsukuba for some reason, similar to Guanajuato.
Frog in Japanese is kaeru.
There are three major shopping areas/malls in Tsukuba, I’ve been told. At Tsukuba center is the bus station and the Tsukuba Express (TX) station which goes to Tokyo in about 40 minutes (for around ¥1,100 one way). Also at the center there is large second-hand store, which is still too expensive in my opinion. I went to try and find some traditional Japanese wear for men, but it was rather hard for me to distinguish between the different kinds of robes; next time I should go with a Japanese person. There is even one hotel that might be my home away from dorm, since they have free wi-fi in their lobby! However, it’s rather far from my place so I probably cannot go there with frequency, plus I don’t want them to kick me out for abusing their internet without renting a room.
The houses near my dorm usually have large plots (huge tracts of land if you will) for farming. It is interesting to see this mix of rural and urban lifestyles; I think I want something similar when I eventually settle down, if ever.
A popular place to visit in Tsukuba is Mt. Tsukuba (Tsukuba-san). My boss (Takane-san) took me and some of my coworkers (Yamaura-san and Kamo-san) up to the summit. We did not actually hike all the way up since they said it took too long, so we took the cable car instead. On Tsukuba-san there is a very old Shinto shrine. We went up to it and they showed me how to do the praying ritual. First one must wash their hands and mouth at a nearby fountain. Next you walk up to the front of the shrine and toss in some money into the offering box. After that you bow twice, clap twice, and bow once more (if I remember correctly). While doing this, you can say a prayer or a wish if you so desire. At the top of the mountain there are many omiyage-ya (souvenir stores). One thing I noticed was that the picture of the frog is representative of Tsukuba for some reason, similar to Guanajuato.
Frog in Japanese is kaeru.
First week
Monday March 8th was my first day at Hitachi Chemicals. Maybe it was jetlag, or excitement to start working but I woke up especially early, around 5am. I showered and ate my complimentary breakfast (miso soup, rice, probably something fried, and something else pickled) and then I met up with a fellow coworker at 7:30 am in the dormitory lobby to walk to the bus stop together. All the bus goers lined up on the side of the street, actually in line, so I also joined them. My guide and I chit chatted some as we tried to get to know each other better, but for the most part everyone else was quiet, either staring at their phone, listening to music, or just thinking about the day I suppose. I met the other intern at Hitachi Chemicals who had been there for a week already. He is Filipino and his name is Bryan. So when the bus arrived we all boarded from the back of the bus while taking our little ticket from a machine which determines the distance traveled and thus the price of the bus fare. So we all stood, since it was crowded, and we rode for 15 minutes or so before arriving at the company. I paid the fare of ¥370 (around $4, hella expensive for a short bus ride, but it’s the only form of public transport to the science company area place where I work, so they can basically charge whatever they want) and went to the HR offices to settle paperwork stuff, have my orientation, and meet my coworkers.
The first order of business after waiting alone in a room for 30 minutes with a cup of coffee and listening to the radio aerobics on the intercom was my uniform. We all have to wear uniforms, probably as an effort of unification for the coworkers. The Hitachi Chemical uniform colors are light blue with some darker blue on the sides. After trying several sizes and a special order on shoes I finally received two sets of LL jackets/shirts and W88 pants, and size 28 shoes (which pinch, but its bearable). Next I did the contract thing and agreed to the rules and was given my safety training. “Safety is the most important” I was told many times, that is why we are absolutely not allowed to have our hands in our pockets. Makes sense, right…false. After my look of bafflement my boss explained that if you have your hands in your pocket and you fall you cannot break your fall with your hands, and safety is very important. Are these people clumsy and falling left and right? Did they get sued by somebody who was terribly injured due to the pesky hand-in-pocket problem that is destroying our planet as we know it? It’s not that big of a deal, except that I do it all the time since it is quite comfortable and it makes me happy and happy people make happy interns at chemical companies and happy interns make happy…well never mind I’ll just have to be more conscious of my hands. I think it’s more of a courtesy thing instead of a safety thing; otherwise we would be wearing helmets in case the sky falls down and well we wouldn’t be working with chemicals in the first place.
Next I was shown my desk, the changing room, the bathrooms, the break room, and finally the lab where I will spend most of my time. After an introduction to my project(s) I was given papers to read and on the first day I found some important references and some information they hadn’t seen which basically solved the problem they were having. But we still had to reproduce the experiments and that will take some time. (yeah it’s vague but company confidentiality and stuff, all you have to know is that I am doing R&D in their Advanced Materials group and that I like what I’m doing). At the end of the day my boss told me that this isn’t MIT and that I could slow down (he did a research fellowship a couple years ago at MIT in Materials Science for two years so he knows MIT) as if I were on steroids or Powerthirst (I knew my hours of youtube would pay off one day).
My contract states that my work hours are 8:30am to 5:00pm with a 45min lunch break. Not too shabby, except the bus gets in 30mins early and I still have only left on time once. Yeah lab work takes a long time sometimes.
I leave you with an introduction conversation in English with one of my coworkers:
“Hello. My name is [insert Japanese surname]. I like Dragonball Z. Do you?”
“I don’t know”
“…” leaves the room
The first order of business after waiting alone in a room for 30 minutes with a cup of coffee and listening to the radio aerobics on the intercom was my uniform. We all have to wear uniforms, probably as an effort of unification for the coworkers. The Hitachi Chemical uniform colors are light blue with some darker blue on the sides. After trying several sizes and a special order on shoes I finally received two sets of LL jackets/shirts and W88 pants, and size 28 shoes (which pinch, but its bearable). Next I did the contract thing and agreed to the rules and was given my safety training. “Safety is the most important” I was told many times, that is why we are absolutely not allowed to have our hands in our pockets. Makes sense, right…false. After my look of bafflement my boss explained that if you have your hands in your pocket and you fall you cannot break your fall with your hands, and safety is very important. Are these people clumsy and falling left and right? Did they get sued by somebody who was terribly injured due to the pesky hand-in-pocket problem that is destroying our planet as we know it? It’s not that big of a deal, except that I do it all the time since it is quite comfortable and it makes me happy and happy people make happy interns at chemical companies and happy interns make happy…well never mind I’ll just have to be more conscious of my hands. I think it’s more of a courtesy thing instead of a safety thing; otherwise we would be wearing helmets in case the sky falls down and well we wouldn’t be working with chemicals in the first place.
Next I was shown my desk, the changing room, the bathrooms, the break room, and finally the lab where I will spend most of my time. After an introduction to my project(s) I was given papers to read and on the first day I found some important references and some information they hadn’t seen which basically solved the problem they were having. But we still had to reproduce the experiments and that will take some time. (yeah it’s vague but company confidentiality and stuff, all you have to know is that I am doing R&D in their Advanced Materials group and that I like what I’m doing). At the end of the day my boss told me that this isn’t MIT and that I could slow down (he did a research fellowship a couple years ago at MIT in Materials Science for two years so he knows MIT) as if I were on steroids or Powerthirst (I knew my hours of youtube would pay off one day).
My contract states that my work hours are 8:30am to 5:00pm with a 45min lunch break. Not too shabby, except the bus gets in 30mins early and I still have only left on time once. Yeah lab work takes a long time sometimes.
I leave you with an introduction conversation in English with one of my coworkers:
“Hello. My name is [insert Japanese surname]. I like Dragonball Z. Do you?”
“I don’t know”
“…” leaves the room
Travel and first impressions
My first flight from San Antonio to Houston was less than an hour and just as I was getting comfortable enough to sleep (as I hadn’t really slept the night before to be at the airport by 5:00am) we landed. This was the first flight where I did not have anything to drink, not even my usual ginger ale, cranberry juice or water (or beer/wine if it’s free…yes some non-American flights have free booze). No snacks either.
Next was my 14 hour flight from Bush Airport to Narita Airport. My seat was all the way to the back of the plane, all the way. I only ended up sleeping maybe for one hour and watching movies the other times. For lunch, they ran out of the beef meal so they gave me the cod, which I didn’t eat, so when snack time came and they gave us the chicken hot-pocket-esque thing and the ice cream, I doubled up on the hot pocket. The before-landing meal was an Asian styled omelet, not too shabby for airplane food. I think I watched maybe 5 movies instead of reading up on my Japanese books (oops…). I re-watched Taxi Driver and Motorcycle Diaries, two really really good movies if you haven’t seen them. I also watched Secuestro Express (movie set in Venezuela about a kidnapping), Rainman, and Stand By Me.
Once I got to Narita, I got my bags and went through passport control and customs very quickly. I waited for a man from my company to pick me up, and once he did we drove the 1.5 hrs to Tsukuba-shi in Ibaraki prefecture. The scenery on the road was that of traditional Japanese architecture amidst a sprinkling of rice fields. In a country where street names are a rarity we maneuvered our way on the left side of the road until reaching the Hitachi Chemicals dormitory.
At the dormitory the house manager was awaiting my arrival with my room key and my building access card. Before I could enter the building though, I was shown my shoe locker and was given my indoor sandals. Given that my shoe size is on the larger size even for American standards (size 12), imagine my feet in Japanese standards. My sandals are probably an American size 8 and my entire heel is exposed, but I don’t really mind. Next I was shown my Japanese style room, fully equipped with tatami flooring and a Japanese (original) style futon. The building tour followed. There is a toilet and washing machine (free to use) at the end of my hall (on the fourth floor). On the ground floor is the dining hall (where I will eat my complimentary breakfasts and dinners with my co-workers), a living/sitting room, and the bath room. The whole building shares the bath room and is technically co-ed I think, but I have a feeling that there are no women in the entire dorm. I have taken one bath so far and let me tell you it is an amazing experience. Sitting down with a stool and bucket as you shower and scrub followed by a pool of hot water to relax in…why doesn’t everybody do this?
Following the tour I was taken out to eat traditional Japanese food with some of my co-workers (and I noticed that they sat me the furthest away from the door, which I have experienced in China as a sign of hospitality). I am still not sure of everybody’s name. I have realized that I can remember names easier if I see them written down (in Roman letters, not kanji). Anyway, they ordered a feast for me: udon, sashimi, fried chicken, tempura, and a Japanese beer. Interesting note, the Japanese eat mayonnaise…on their salads…no thanks. We basically talked about America and traveling and they asked me many questions, etc. It was a good ice breaker gathering, but no talk of my internship yet, although I was told that I will be working with carbon…but that information is reserved for later. They also kept complimenting my Japanese…which is clearly them trying to be nice to the gaikokujin (foreigner), because my Japanese is truly pitiful. However, apparently they didn’t think I spoke any Japanese, so they were expecting an English-only person, which means that I don’t feel as bad for not knowing Japanese.
After dinner we returned to the dorm and I was introduced to more co-workers (again not catching everyone’s name) and we sat in the living room to get to know each other a bit. During dinner my supervisor told me that I should speak only English to these coworkers as a joke…so I obliged. They all asked the same basic questions: how old are you, do you like sports (namely baseball, tennis, or golf), how long was your flight, why did you choose Hitachi/Japan… All the people I met looked my age or younger, but surprisingly they were all in their late 20s, even some in their 30s, and they all told me that I looked a lot older than 22; if only my Japanese genes would kick in when it comes to aging.
After a good but long introductory conversation, I had to retire and I crashed in my comfy futon. I was exhausted, but it was worth it as I am now not jetlagged.
Zyaa mata…
Next was my 14 hour flight from Bush Airport to Narita Airport. My seat was all the way to the back of the plane, all the way. I only ended up sleeping maybe for one hour and watching movies the other times. For lunch, they ran out of the beef meal so they gave me the cod, which I didn’t eat, so when snack time came and they gave us the chicken hot-pocket-esque thing and the ice cream, I doubled up on the hot pocket. The before-landing meal was an Asian styled omelet, not too shabby for airplane food. I think I watched maybe 5 movies instead of reading up on my Japanese books (oops…). I re-watched Taxi Driver and Motorcycle Diaries, two really really good movies if you haven’t seen them. I also watched Secuestro Express (movie set in Venezuela about a kidnapping), Rainman, and Stand By Me.
Once I got to Narita, I got my bags and went through passport control and customs very quickly. I waited for a man from my company to pick me up, and once he did we drove the 1.5 hrs to Tsukuba-shi in Ibaraki prefecture. The scenery on the road was that of traditional Japanese architecture amidst a sprinkling of rice fields. In a country where street names are a rarity we maneuvered our way on the left side of the road until reaching the Hitachi Chemicals dormitory.
At the dormitory the house manager was awaiting my arrival with my room key and my building access card. Before I could enter the building though, I was shown my shoe locker and was given my indoor sandals. Given that my shoe size is on the larger size even for American standards (size 12), imagine my feet in Japanese standards. My sandals are probably an American size 8 and my entire heel is exposed, but I don’t really mind. Next I was shown my Japanese style room, fully equipped with tatami flooring and a Japanese (original) style futon. The building tour followed. There is a toilet and washing machine (free to use) at the end of my hall (on the fourth floor). On the ground floor is the dining hall (where I will eat my complimentary breakfasts and dinners with my co-workers), a living/sitting room, and the bath room. The whole building shares the bath room and is technically co-ed I think, but I have a feeling that there are no women in the entire dorm. I have taken one bath so far and let me tell you it is an amazing experience. Sitting down with a stool and bucket as you shower and scrub followed by a pool of hot water to relax in…why doesn’t everybody do this?
Following the tour I was taken out to eat traditional Japanese food with some of my co-workers (and I noticed that they sat me the furthest away from the door, which I have experienced in China as a sign of hospitality). I am still not sure of everybody’s name. I have realized that I can remember names easier if I see them written down (in Roman letters, not kanji). Anyway, they ordered a feast for me: udon, sashimi, fried chicken, tempura, and a Japanese beer. Interesting note, the Japanese eat mayonnaise…on their salads…no thanks. We basically talked about America and traveling and they asked me many questions, etc. It was a good ice breaker gathering, but no talk of my internship yet, although I was told that I will be working with carbon…but that information is reserved for later. They also kept complimenting my Japanese…which is clearly them trying to be nice to the gaikokujin (foreigner), because my Japanese is truly pitiful. However, apparently they didn’t think I spoke any Japanese, so they were expecting an English-only person, which means that I don’t feel as bad for not knowing Japanese.
After dinner we returned to the dorm and I was introduced to more co-workers (again not catching everyone’s name) and we sat in the living room to get to know each other a bit. During dinner my supervisor told me that I should speak only English to these coworkers as a joke…so I obliged. They all asked the same basic questions: how old are you, do you like sports (namely baseball, tennis, or golf), how long was your flight, why did you choose Hitachi/Japan… All the people I met looked my age or younger, but surprisingly they were all in their late 20s, even some in their 30s, and they all told me that I looked a lot older than 22; if only my Japanese genes would kick in when it comes to aging.
After a good but long introductory conversation, I had to retire and I crashed in my comfy futon. I was exhausted, but it was worth it as I am now not jetlagged.
Zyaa mata…
Introduction
This blog will recount my experiences in Japan. In previous blogs I tend to not write frequently and eventually stop writing all together, hopefully this time will be different. Another thing is that I normally post many pictures, but this time I will not because in my hasteful packing I forgot my camera cord so I cannot upload my pictures. If I solve this problem in the future I’ll start posting pics, but for now it will be longish posts of my verbose and cluttered writing.
Also, if there is anything that y’all want to find out about my time in Japan that I have not covered please feel free to let me know and I’ll try my best to include it.
So enjoy!
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