The Japan Experience

i am back! i cannot believe it! the strange thing is that it feels just normal and at the same time it is nothing to do with my daily routine in Tuebingen. I had not been away long enough for it to grow unfamiliar. At the moment i am pretty knackered, preparing for an early night, and could not be happier, with ramen in my stomach and a hot shower to look forward too… more to come!

p.s. maybe it is worth mentioning that i was a bit superstitiously convinced something bad would happen because the JAL system just would not let me book the plane on friday, whcih had been the plan, and after cancelling and restarting once, i ended up accidentally booking saturday… i know i am supposed to be scientist, but… nevermind. i am here and i am fine.

Ah well, my life in Germany is just too boring to blog about it – not that that would be a sign of it being bad – but that other blog never caught on. However, I go back to Tokyo! Just for 15 days, but I start reliving the excitement from then. Preparation this time is entirely different, though: I keep thinking about all these things I want to do that I have not yet done, and of objects I want to take either way – most of it Omiyage (edible gifts). In particular, I want to bring “European Pocky” for Ryoko there and Senbei for my Japanese course here (はい、日本語の勉強おします。). Also: one of the nicest things about living abroad for me is always when you take back everyday objects and then keep using them – I am still happy each time I make use of my Japanese hairclip-dispenser and I mourn the loss of my cheapo-transparent Japanese umbrella – I will bring back five this time, I think. But what I most look forward to (apart from the people, obviously) is cheap, nice, healthy, fresh, tasty food – and that’s impossible to take back. Sigh. From the list of things that I missed out on, going to an onsen town in the mountains is still the most serious omission, I guess. I will try to animate someone to join me for the weekend in the middle of the stay. Stupidly, I will miss the sakura, the cherry blossom, for the second time. Last time I was too late, this time i am too early. Nevermind…

I did actually write this at the airport but never posted it. I had intended to keep blogging about my inverse culture shock – at the Winchester conference I had written an entry titled “Day 89 +2: top ten things I already hate about being back to the UK” but I cannot find it anywhere…

But there is no point about remaining in the past – Jo keeps sending me all these songs whose lyrics are always about living in the moment or, at best, looking ahead – she’s right!

Therefore, having just arrived in Tuebingen, I started a new blog brezelland.wordpress.com about a Rhinish girl and her cultural experience of living in Swabia – or maybe also a “see your own country through the eyes of a foreigner after having been away soooo long” thing… Hope you guys will follow it with equal interest 🙂 so long, this may have been the last post in this blog – though you never know… bye!

it all happened so quickly… After I checked out my room, I was taken by my letting agents to their dormitory and left my guesthouse without really saying good bye to anyone. This morning I got up at 6.30 and got on the Narita express in Shinjuku at 8:03, early enough to cut the crowds with all my luggage (I had failed to arrange delivery and was really physically struggling, not being used to carrying anything anymore).

Now I am at Narita airport, with gruesome weather: thunder, lightning and heavy rain – Japan is angry and crying that I leave. Maybe we cannot take off? The lights and screens just went off – should I be worried?

When I passed immigration, the woman asked me three times if I really did not want to come back – “Honto?!?!” – now my one year visa is invalid, no way back, and she also kept my flashy Japanese gaijin ID card, I had not realised I cannot keep it as a souvenir. I should have asked, but I only realised when I had already gone through.

I distracted myself with taking paparazzi shots of the Japanese athletes departing to Beijing at gate 61 (I fly out from gate 64) and buying perfume. But now, 23 minutes before boarding, it dawns on me that it is quite real. This place, sitting here, is so unlike anything I got accustomed to – neither will any future place.

Japanese athletes on their way to Beijing

oh, don't you just hate those sunderstorms...

During summer sales, all shops had summer kimonos, called yukatta, on display. They were so cheap and so beautiful. I feared i would have trouble fitting in, but i just HAD to buy one! Fortunately, I discovered at home that they are gigantic – and, to my desperation, that the pictures explaining how to tie the masses of fabric only give a poor indication of how to achieve an outcome that looks actually Japanese. I asked my colleague Ryoko, the only other woman at Ikegami Laboratory, for help. She is an expert, and, fortunately, agreed to take the time to introduce me to the art of yukatta wrapping – which is only a fraction as difficult as wrapping a proper kimono!

First, I was facing another problem, though: Most shops sell wooden sandals in one to three sizes, the largest of which corresponds probably to European 38. It is strange, they do not have a lot of size variety here, even Japanese wear sandals that are way to small for them – but for me, it was just impossible. So I went to the top floor of Tokyu Department store in Shibuya station, where they have a very posh traditional dress section. The yukatta there were SOOOO beautiful, I had to constrain myself a lot not to buy a new and nicer one, custom made… In that section, there is a little old man sitting on a stage all day, putting together wooden sandals – you have all kinds of bases and all kinds of ties, so i picked fabric to go with my dark red yukatta, and yes – size LL as base would fit me! In the end, the sandals were twice the price of the yukatta, but it was worth it!

The following friday, I practiced tying it under Ryoko’s strict regime in the office, standing on my yoga mat. First, you have to pull it up and in, before you fix it with the first layer of string. There are a number of essential steps not to be missed already there, that will make all the difference later. Is the string properly hidden? is the back pulled properly down? I learned a lot about kimono etiquette, e.g., that it always needs to be very closed up at the front, but showing a little bit of neck at the back is quite sexy. Just don’t overdo it, because that will look slutty… then the next layer of string, for everything to stay in place, and then the belt, the obi, which I find the most diffiuclt part, even though Ryoko taught me a very simple ribbon… I rush over a number of essential points here, I photocopied 10 pages out of Ryoko’s kimono tying book, to help me do it by myself. It is not easy, and it really is important to do it right at first for it not to fall apart later during the day…

Practicing with Ryoko in the office – front and back

When I put it on by myself yesterday, heading out for the fireworks (see next post), I was desparate. I just didn’t seem to be getting it right, and when I finally tried to rush for the train (rushing is difficult in a fishtail-tied robe, I tell you…), I felt I had done a poor job. On the metro, however, I realised that Ryoko had taught me really quite well. The trains were full of women in yukatta, as there were five fireworks in Tokyo that night, and many of them were much less tidily tied than mine – a lot of Japanese women made all these mistakes that Ryoko had warned me about. So I relaxed. I got a lot of curious, positively surprised and also impressed looks on the train – the effort was very well received publicly… It is a shame it was the one and only time for me to actually wear that outfit 😦

This happens if I tie it by myself...

Yesterday’s fireworks were a bit of an anti climax in some ways, but still it was a very interesting night. Firstly, from the side of the fireworks, I was a bit disappointed, but that is the fault of the other foreigners, not of the fireworks: Many people had told me that fireworks in Japan would be by orders of magnitude better and bigger than anything I have seen before – I think their fireworks must be a bit crap then, frankly. Most commercial fireworks I have seen in Germany are very similar in scale – noticeably Rhein in Flammen, the firework I grew up with set my standards. Well, maybe I learned something new there, namely that it is not customary in all countries to pay millions of tax euros and get Chinese experts over for that kind of event.

(It’s not like there was anything WRONG with the fireworks, they were very pretty – I just had too high expectations!)

Then also from the social side – we went to watch the firework from the roof of the Riken Brain Science Institute – which is great, because, apparantly, fireworks are very busily attended, so you rarely ever get a chance to see anything. I, however, faced the opposite problem: Having expected an occasion to wear out my yukatta, my summer kimono (see next post), I found myself alone with Keisuke and his girlfriend Yoko, Takashi and his kids, Fujisan, the head of Keisuke’s lab, and a postdoc from Hong Kong whose name I forgot and who went back to work up to a deadline after the fireworks. It was more a hang-out-with-beer-and-fast-food-before-going-home-from-work kind of thing, not an occasion.

So, why was it still a good night? Well, firstly, because I really like these people and I am quite glad to be able to spend time with them before I board my plane the day after tomorrow. Secondly, it was very exciting to see Fujisan’s lab: It is possibly the coolest lab I have ever seen – everything is so stylish, silver shades on the ceiling, black shiny walls behind the screens. Comfy, stylish and practical office chairs, a very chique seating corner with red armchaires, a little coffee corner with an espresso machine, and every object in the room designy, from the inclined dustbin to the mac-style tissue dispenser. Apropos mac, they all work on macs, obviously. (For the moment, let’s not think about whether it is a good move to banish ugly but useful things, like whiteboards… it is just too cool the way it is!)

The heartpiece of the room, however, is a megamegamegascreen that is fitted into the black wall behind the seating corner, and the motion capture system surrounding it – when I came, there was a wildlife documentary about insects with a lot of amazing close-up shots, the perfect place to see that kind of stuff. But, you can do virtual reality stuff right there as well! Which led to the somewhat surreal situation that a western woman in traditional japanese clothes, surrounded by casually dressed Japanese wears a motion capture glove and hat in a futuristic cool high tech office…

I should be working not blogging – just this little point: Everyone who is not yet convinced that Tokyo has a lot going for it – please make sure that a full blown beach resort is located just 50 minutes on the local train from the centre (780 yen = ca. 4 pounds, 6 euro).

Kamakura (not Karakuma, as I claimed earlier) is not the most beautiful of beaches (compared to, lets say, Canary Islands, the Caribbean, California, Italy, France or any other beach holiday destination…). It is a bit dirty, a bit crowded, the sand is not so nice, there are no waves. But: it definitely does the job! It is warm (as opposed to Brighton beach), you can swim (bonus: no issues leaving your valuables with your towels if you go for a swim – this is Japan!), you can lie around lazing, there are beautiful people all around you, and chill-out beach bars and restaurants, playing raggae and holiday island tunes. What better way to spend a sunday or saturday afternoon?

Also, I heard there are more picturesque beaches close by…

Osnabrueck Mensa

The "calle de la amargura" outside UTC San Pedro campus - bars and cafes, no shortage of nice food

Then, in Costa Rica, outside the San Pedro campus, there were a number of nice food shops: many times, it was the national dish, gallo pinto, fried rice and beans with fried plantanes and egg or meat – but other options were readily available, there was no shortage of choice. Not to forget about the drink selection: rather fresh tropic fruit juices or rather fresh tropic fruit milk shakes? or coconut water from a freshly opened coconut? It is a plentiful country.

The plastic food display of the food selection of the shokudo

In the shokudo, the cantine of Tokyo University, you can choose from: stir fry which is freshly prepared for you as you watch with the ingredients you pick – a variety of ramen (= noodle) dishes, more thai style, korean, chinese or japanese, more meaty, more vegetably, more plain, more spicy? The same variety for rice dishes, and a big salad bar with fruit, veg and some cooked snack food type things. There are other nice and affordable restaurants in and around campus – but I just love good cheap simple food. I get hungry as I write – it is 12.30, time for the shokudo! Yippieh!

Can it be true? In a week from now I will be back in UK? My mind is set to leaving mode – I will probably not buy new credit for my prepaid phone. I try to gather all the change and spend it. I lost my SUICA card (for subway) and started buying individual tickets, rather than buying a new card. I think about what to throw away, what to post to Germany, and what take to the UK. I tried to have a good bye party and/or beach trip – for the clubbing, only Sergio and Keisuke came, for the beach it was Sergio alone. Yesterday, I made another attempt and forced people out to have a good bye dinner, and Yuta, Eric, Takashi, Ryoko and our guest whose name i forgot made the effort, but i feel there is not a big culture for that, maybe they just wanted to be nice… and nice it was.

I find it a bit symbolic, that saying good bye will be private, in that sense… I have lived much more individualistic here than ever before – sociable Marieke has not made many friends. But I am still happy – in the morning, my private battle with my hamstrings and the tightness in my hips in yoga class. Then me talking to the world in email. Then lunch, sometimes in company, many times by myself. Then me and scientific facts, thoughts, ideas, advances, throw-backs. Me and the rest of the world via internet in the early evening. Dinner, alone most of the time. Then either more work, or socialising with random people who are up for it, or me and my guesthouse room. Finally, there is me and my head on the pillow as i drift away into sleep… The strange truth is that I do not need more than that.

I took a far reaching decision that is not so far-reaching after all – I have a one year work visa for Japan, which will expire when I leave the country, if I do not apply for a re-entry permit. I wanted to apply for one – but, thinking about it, what’s the point? It’s 4000 yen (20 pounds, 30 euros) and half a day lost sitting in the immigration office. If I come back for a visit, my tourist visa would do for up to three months. For those who don’t know it yet, I have a job in Germany which will  go at least till June 2009, probably longer – the visa will have expired after that. And, even given the next to impossible case that everything goes wrong in Germany and I get a job here instead – I would get a new visa. Let’s face it: I am not going to come back.

The numbed sadness accompanying all these steps and decisions I am taking feels like a strange inversion of the curious excitement I felt when preparing for this trip three months ago. I knew it would be an adventure, a time I would never forget – but I never knew I would like it here so much.

(no priority ordering)

I will definitely miss

• Friendly smiles
• My colleagues!
• Yoga
• Food (particularly nice cheap tasty healthy simple everyday food)
• The climate (I insist I prefer hot weather!)
• Cosmopolitan feel/trendiness (I know I am not trendy but I like to be around people who are! 😉 )
• Clubbing possibilities
• Kanji all around me – each time you recognise a new one you feel happy about your progress!
• The never ending chain of surprises about how things are different
• being able to trust everyone
• the convenience and efficiency of everything

I will maybe not miss so much

• Looks to my feet to check if i am really that tall or just wearing ridiculous heels
• Constant hot-cold-hot-cold-hot-cold when going in and out, because of excessive airconditioning.
• Paper walls in the guesthouse, knowing everything my roomneighbour has been up to during the day because he tells it to his girlfriend on the phone.
• A slight absence of possibilities to just let it out, misbehave, be loud, not care.
• Not being able to communicate
• Feeling plump and clumsy
• Life in transit
• Clothes in limited and small sizes
• The time zone thing – which makes it really bad that friends and family are far away
• The wastefulness (i.e., not a lot of awareness of being energy efficient, avoid producing rubbish etc.)

It was really difficult to compile the negative list!