Sunday, May 24, 2009
Swine Flu
There has been no school for an entire week in either Kobe or Osaka, Japan because of a swine flu scare. Apparently there were about 123 cases of the flu in the area, which has a population of many many million, (I haven't looked it up--ok). Immediately, the city government decided to shut down all the schools, and for the first couple of days, the down town area of Kobe looked like a ghost town. Apparently the flu they have here is very mild, lasting only about 3 days, and they have regretted their decision for economic reasons. One industry which IS making out like a bandit, so to speak, is the mask industry. I was in a mall in Kobe last Tuesday, and I saw a long line stretching out into the hall of the mall at a drug store. I was wondering if there was a flu vaccine or something, but someone told me that they were lined up to buy masks, as many businesses had run out. In fact, the train is a little weird with about 80 to 90 per cent of the folks in masks. On a particularly long train ride the other day, I was contemplating the fashion aspects of masks. The woman sitting next to me was wearing a shell pink blouse with a matching pink mask. There were a few blue ones. Most are white, but you have your pleated ones, your square ones, your pointed ones etc. etc. This would be yet another accessorizing decision for me to make in the morning. I just can't deal with it, ok? Besides, I see no need to try to conform with all these conformists, as I don't blend in very well anyway.
Someone asked me what is going on over here. The problem is, I can neither read nor understand the news, so I go on a little hearsay from English speakers, and am more or less blissfully ignorant. I assume I resume teaching on Monday, but I'll wait to hear from my school, which occasionally remembers to let us foreigners in on what's happening.
Someone asked me what is going on over here. The problem is, I can neither read nor understand the news, so I go on a little hearsay from English speakers, and am more or less blissfully ignorant. I assume I resume teaching on Monday, but I'll wait to hear from my school, which occasionally remembers to let us foreigners in on what's happening.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Money in Japan
One of the biggest adjustments to life in Japan is getting used to the money culture here. The exchange rate is quite easy at the moment. A yen is about equal to a penny, so you just remove 2 zeros to figure out the cost. For example, you can get 2 large apples at my local store for 400 yen (that's right--4 bucks for 2 friggin apples!) At the same store, however, I can get a bottle of local wine for 295 yen ($2.95). This is not necessarily lending itself to healthy eating on my part.
What is difficult, however, is my own money habits. In Fort Collins, I used to carry $10 or $20 in my wallet and conduct most transactions with my debit card. Japan is still a cash society, however. A few touristy places like hotels and expensive restaurants take foreign credit cards, but almost everyone uses cash all the time. I have taken to carrying 2 and 3 hundred dollars with me now. I have a cash card to use at the bank ATM's to withdraw money. These atm's are a little picky, however. They're not open all the time (my local one doesn't open till 8) so if I want money before I go to an early class, too bad. What really gets me is that if you go in on weekends, they charge you extra for the transaction. (These ATM's have to get home to their families too.)
When I first got to Japan, I figured it would be like Europe--atm's everywhere that would take my US debit card and deliver money. Not so. The only place that would take a foreign card was 7-11 stores. Thank God for them anyway. Prices are interesting. Restaurants are not that different from the US. There are cheap ones and expensive ones just like home. At first glance, the price for lunch looks a little high in a normal restaurant. But it isn't really because there is NO tipping in Japan. The price listed is the price you pay. It's very refreshing, and makes going out to eat a lot simpler than it is when you're trying to figure the tax and tip etc. Prices at the grocery stores seem high, particularly when you have foreign tastes as I do. But produce seems over the top here. I don't care--I bite the bullet and buy those expensive apples and strawberries. A lot of the produce here is dressed up in little bonnets. I've seen that at home also, but it gets ridiculous here. I want to eat the melon, not take it to church. One thing that amazed me when I first got here was the price of rice. I figured I should get a bag of rice since my place comes equipped with a rice cooker. I think I paid $16 for a bag of rice(maybe 2 pounds)--maybe about twice the size of a bag I would buy at home. Not cheap at all, particularly considering it is the staple here. Anyway, I'm getting used to all of this, and I can almost understand what they're saying when they tell me the cost. Luckily, I have the cash register to look at to be sure. All a learning process.
What is difficult, however, is my own money habits. In Fort Collins, I used to carry $10 or $20 in my wallet and conduct most transactions with my debit card. Japan is still a cash society, however. A few touristy places like hotels and expensive restaurants take foreign credit cards, but almost everyone uses cash all the time. I have taken to carrying 2 and 3 hundred dollars with me now. I have a cash card to use at the bank ATM's to withdraw money. These atm's are a little picky, however. They're not open all the time (my local one doesn't open till 8) so if I want money before I go to an early class, too bad. What really gets me is that if you go in on weekends, they charge you extra for the transaction. (These ATM's have to get home to their families too.)
When I first got to Japan, I figured it would be like Europe--atm's everywhere that would take my US debit card and deliver money. Not so. The only place that would take a foreign card was 7-11 stores. Thank God for them anyway. Prices are interesting. Restaurants are not that different from the US. There are cheap ones and expensive ones just like home. At first glance, the price for lunch looks a little high in a normal restaurant. But it isn't really because there is NO tipping in Japan. The price listed is the price you pay. It's very refreshing, and makes going out to eat a lot simpler than it is when you're trying to figure the tax and tip etc. Prices at the grocery stores seem high, particularly when you have foreign tastes as I do. But produce seems over the top here. I don't care--I bite the bullet and buy those expensive apples and strawberries. A lot of the produce here is dressed up in little bonnets. I've seen that at home also, but it gets ridiculous here. I want to eat the melon, not take it to church. One thing that amazed me when I first got here was the price of rice. I figured I should get a bag of rice since my place comes equipped with a rice cooker. I think I paid $16 for a bag of rice(maybe 2 pounds)--maybe about twice the size of a bag I would buy at home. Not cheap at all, particularly considering it is the staple here. Anyway, I'm getting used to all of this, and I can almost understand what they're saying when they tell me the cost. Luckily, I have the cash register to look at to be sure. All a learning process.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Golden Week
It's Golden Week here. What that means is we have a five day holiday. Why that is, I don't know, but my policy is don't ask, don't tell. We went to Nara on Saturday. That's a small town about an hour or so away by train that has a wonderful pagoda and park, and a temple with the biggest Buddha you will ever want to see. The park is overrun by extremely tame and greedy deer, and it makes for a lovely walk (if you watch where you step). I got to browse in some fun touristy shops and came away with some cool Japanese paper dolls for my dining room wall. We had some great tempura for lunch, so were not tempted by the myriad of booths selling tasty items. All in all, a satisfying day.
The next day was festival day for Mikage, the town I live in. There were 5 floats representing 5 different neighborhoods. They mess around making noise in the morning, then from 6 to about 10 p.m. they parade around beating drums and singing some kind of chants. Some people are sort of pushing the floats, others are on top of them dancing with fans or feathers or glow sticks. Others are walking in front of or behind the floats, and each neighborhood has it's own pattern of kimono for the men. Lots of noise and spectacle.It was fun to watch for a while, but it got monotonous. I can only imagine how boring and tiring it would be for the participants to parade around for that long, but I'm told they are fueled by beer and sake.
Yesterday, we went to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. We only did part of it, as there is so much to see. But this was a completely different experience than Nara. We went to the silver temple (Gincacuji) first. The temple is no big deal, but the gardens are spectacular. I was reminded of stylized Japanese paintings I've seen where the forests are beautiful but quite unrealistic looking. That's exactly how the trees looked here! And the azaleas are still in bloom and awesome looking. Amazing place, but pretty hard for me to justice with my cheap little camera. Then we walked along the philosophers walk, philosophizing away. We started looking for geocaches, and we found 4 and managed to see some great old neighborhoods of Japan. Kyoto is famous for Maiko, who are apprentice geisha's, and I was hoping to see some. However, we were told by a Japanese gentleman that they were on holiday that day, so we had to be satisfied with some regular Japanese ladies in kimonos. I still have lots to see there, so I plan to return often. Beautiful place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
