Volume 14, Number 11 |
As part of its activities, the Tsukuba Information Center sponsors a bilingual discussion group on what usually is the fourth Wednesday of every month (though this month it is early due to the holidays) from 2 to 4 pm, with invited guests giving a presentation from their area of expertise or experience. This month, we are pleased to have Mr. Luca Orazi from Italy, who will be speaking on the subject of Comparative Culture through Japan, Germany and Italy on December 13.
Luca has been a student from Italy studying at the University of Bayreuth in Germany specializing in German literature, culture and history. He came to Tsukuba in September as a trainee at the University of Tsukuba for a short stay, finishing up this month. He will be sharing with us his experiences here in Japan (including biking all the way to Kasama!) as well as his life as a foreigner in Germany and interesting facts about his own country, Italy.
The Coffee Hour is meant to be an informal exchange of information and opinions. English and Japanese are both used with efforts made to make sure those who can't understand one or the other are able to at least get the gist of the conversation. Likewise, you don't need to commit yourself to the entire two hours and can come and go freely. So drop by, whether for a short time or for the entire two hours, and enjoy some free refreshments along with a stimulating discussion.
"Doro Ichi" is the name given to a special outdoor market specializing in "daruma" New Year's dolls and other New Year's decorations. This special one-day market will be held in front of the Yatabe branch office of city hall on Thursday, Dec. 28th, and should be an interesting sight even if you are not interested in actually buying any decorations for your home or apartment. If, however, you would like to pick up some unusual souvenirs to take back with you, this should be a good opportunity.
The term "Doro Ichi" literally means "mud market" and has two possible linguistic origins. One is that traditionally December was the month when "dorobo" (thieves Ñ literally "mud sticks") were most active. The other theory is that it had to do with the muddy roads of December and that when people went shopping on such roads, they tended to get muddy.
Fifteen foreign residents who have not attended Japanese elementary or middle schools will be selected to show off their linguistic ability in a Japanese speech contest in Mito on Jan. 20 (Sat) from 1 Ð 4:30 pm. The speeches are limited to 5 minutes and can be on any subject you choose other than religiously or politically oriented themes. The application deadline is Dec. 20 and needs to be accompanied by a 400 - 600 character-long speech outline in Japanese. A number of prizes will be awarded. For more information, call Seiko Hashimoto or Taku Iwasaki at the Ibaraki International Association in Mito at 029-241-1611. Email : intasso@po.net-ibaraki.ne.jp
For those of you who have not experienced a Japanese style New Year, you need to be prepared for the closing down of practically everything for at least 2 days. Most stores close down early on New Year's Eve and don't reopen until the 2nd or later. This is much shorter than "in the good old days" when stores were closed down until the 3rd or 4th, but one still needs to be sure to stock up on the basics, such as bread and milk. Of perhaps greater significance in this "cash society" is that the banks will be closed from December 31st to January 3rd. The "cash card" (ATM) machines will not be operational on Jan. 1, 2 and 3, and so you need to have enough cash on hand for your expected expenses (plus some for the spur-of-the-moment purchases at the various New Year's sales you'll run across).
While there is room for debate as to whether the last New YearÕs Eve of the 20th Century was last yearÕs or is the one coming up, this coming Dec. 31 will still be a special time. One event of note will be the OLD ZIPS Beatles Band playing live at the Tsukuba Center Daichi Hotel 2001 Countdown Party! It takes place from 9:00PM-1:00AM on the bridge between Seibu and the Daichi Hotel including the amphitheater area, and there will be several other live bands performing in the cold including the ZIPS. You'll find great international food and drinks from many vendors, live entertainment, Millennium theme displays, three midnight weddings at the Daichi Hotel, and lots of people out partying!
A popular tradition in Japan is "hatsu moode", the first visit to a shrine to pray to the local gods for good luck in the New Year. Many try to combine this with a sunrise vigil on New Year's Day. One popular place to do this is on Mt. Tsukuba. Sunrise is at 6:49 am, and the cable railway from Tsukuba Shrine and ropeway from the Tsukuba San Keisei Hotel going to the top of the mountain begin operating at 4:30 and 5:30 am respectively. The Mt. Tsukuba Shrine provides Ama-zake (sweet alcoholic drink made from fermented rice) free of charge to all visitors beginning at 6 am on the first of January and continuing to the third. If you really want to go "gung ho" on the Japanese experience, you can even fork over ´3000 for a "go-kitou" Shinto New Year's prayer for success in business, health, a passing grade in school or whatever your heart desires! (No guarantees!)
Another popular excursion is to visit Kashima Shrine, located about 75 min. by car east of Tsukuba in the coastal town of Kashima (home of the Kashima Antlers of the J-League professional soccer league). Purported to have been founded in 660 AD, it is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in all of Japan. The grounds of the shrine are spacious, with many interesting buildings and other points of interest, and is worth a visit any time of year. If you go on New Year's Day, be prepared for huge crowds! The Narita Temple is another very popular destination for Japanese wishing for a heavenly blessing, and well worth a trip for those wishing to experience the spectacle.
Another interesting New Year's outing that lets you experience a Japanese tradition is to visit the Imperial Palace in Tokyo to see the emperor and empress (from a distance, of course). The main gate of the palace will open to the public from 9:30 am to 3 pm on the second of January. The emperor, empress and his family will greet the crowds 7 times during the day. And when we say "crowds", we mean just that; so if you're interested, go early! This is just about the only day you can actually get inside the Imperial Palace grounds.
There are plenty of other interesting places within walking distance of the Imperial Palace if you still have time after your royal greetings. And since businesses are generally shut down for the day, the streets (and of course, the trains) are empty. If you've ever thought about driving around in Tokyo in your car, this is the time to do it Ñ no traffic and easy parking.
Another popular New Year's custom in Japan is the flying of kites. The stiff breezes make this time of year good for getting some really big and heavy kites airborne, with the bigger ones taking many people to control. One good place to see them is at the Toride Kite Festival on January 13 (or following day in case of rain) between 10 am and 2 pm. The event takes place on the Tonegawa River bank away from any power lines. Another festival worth seeing that is also in Toride is the Tonegawa Dondo Matsuri, which centers around the burning in a giant bonfire the various New Year's decorations (such as "kadomatstu", the bamboo and pine branch decorations used to welcome the New Year) on Jan. 15 at 5 pm. In the coals of the bonfire, people roast senbei (and perhaps even marshmallows these days) on long sticks. For further info, call 0297-74-2141.
Do you know what would have happened if it had been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men?
They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, brought practical gifts and there would be Peace On Earth.
Assuming you're one of the many foreigners who will be stuck in your home away from home during the holidays, please read on. If you are one of the "lucky" ones to have your pricy reservations for a trip home, then Bon Voyage!
Imagine that you're pushing your shopping cart down the aisle at Daiei, humming along with the Muzak-to-shop-by wafting down at you from the PA system: "I'll be home for Christmas... " when the depressing thought hits you that this year, you won't be home!!! Before you slide over the edge into a "Blue Christmas", consider some opportunities which may help to make the season bright.
In addition to various public concerts and exhibits, churches in Tsukuba are hosting special celebrations. There is an international pot luck dinner at the Tsukuba Christian Center on Dec. 9 from 6 pm featuring a couple of turkeys along with all of the trimmings. Everyone is welcome. If you can, please bring a dish to share along with your own plates if you prefer, or particularly for singles, you can bring a drink, a loaf of bread, etc. There is also a free organ and trumpet concert on Sunday, Dec. 10 at 4 pm. The church organ is a work in progress, a completely handmade, pipe organ that is an incredible story in and of itself. While a high energy physicist by profession, Toshiyuki Mitsuhashi has put a lot of "high energy" into his hobby of organ building, and he has constructed one of the premier organs in all of Japan. It is well worth hearing.
The International Christmas Worship Service at Tsukuba Gakuen Church (behind the gas station across from Daiei) will be held a week early, on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 17th at 2:00 pm., followed by refreshments in the Christian Center next door. On Christmas Sunday, Dec. 24, the 10:30 a.m. Japanese service (which is translated into English over earphones every Sunday) will be followed by a Christmas luncheon with lots of good food. Visitors are welcome. Also, there will be a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service Dec. 24th at 7:00 p.m. featuring a well-trained choir. It will be followed by Christmas caroling at several locations beginning at 8:15. Another event of interest to parents of younger children will be a church school Christmas party with Santa on Saturday, Dec. 23 at 2 pm. For more information, call 55-1907.
If you are a bit homesick for Christmas lights (or if you come from a country where that isn't such a tradition, and just want to see them), the Tsukuba Christian Center/YMCA is decorated with thousands of colored bulbs, including lighted angels, etc. There will also be an "open house" every evening from Dec. 20th through 24th from 6 to 9 pm with various goodies and drinks prepared for those who would like to come and experience a little of the Christmas spirit. On Christmas Eve, the open house will begin immediately following the candlelight service.
The Tsukuba Catholic Church in Matsushiro has the following Christmas/New Year's season schedule for the international community: Sunday, Dec. 17, 3 pm, Spanish Mass followed by a party; Saturday, Dec. 23 10am, Children's International Christmas Mass and party; Sunday, Dec. 24, Japanese Christmas Eve Mass 7:00 pm and International Christmas Mass 12:00 am midnight. On Christmas Day, there is a Japanese Mass at 10:00 am. A New Year's Eve International Mass begins at the stroke of midnight, and a New Year's Day Mass in Japanese begins at 10 am. For information, call Father Narita at 36-1723.
The Nozomi Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tsuchiura (Komatsu 3-23-27) also has special holiday programs, including the following: Christmas Sunday will be held Dec. 24, with a bilingual service at 3:00 pm followed by a pot luck. There will also be a childrenÕs Christmas program on Dec. 23 at 5 pm. The New Year's Day service is at 2:00 pm. The church is also beautifully decorated with lights and a nativity scene that is well worth seeing. It is located a little over 1 km south of Tsuchiura Station on the edge of a steep hill overlooking the city. For further information, call Glenn Hieb at (0298) 21-3578.
The Tsuchiura Christian Church has the following activities: A bilingual Christmas service will be held on Dec. 24 at 10:30 am followed by a pot luck dinner at 12:00 and a Christmas movie. For more information, contact Paul or Faith Axton at 56-2167.
Tsuchiura Megumi Church, located near the junction of Tsuchiura-Gakuen Sen and the 6-go Bypass will have two Christmas services on Dec. 24th at 9 am, 10:45 am, with a candlelight service from 6 pm. There will also be a special opportunity on Dec. 9 to hear the husband of the famous author, Ayako Miura, who recently passed away. Mitsuyo Miura will be speaking at 10:30 am, and it will be translated over earphones. For further information, call 22-2244.
The Assemblies of God church will feature a Christmas program on the 17th at 10:30 am that will include presentations of Christmas from around the world. Activities at this church are mostly in English. For further information, call Pastor Richard Swan at 57-9006.
If it's the secular shopping hoopla that you miss, you'll love getting yourself trampled while checking out the seasonal offerings at the department stores. The real stampede, however, is in Tokyo, and for merry masochistic madness, a day at Akihabara or Harajuku is unsurpassed as pure holiday in"SANTA"ty!.
Christmas cakes have become a Japanese tradition as well established as New Year's "omochi". Our advice, however, is to go easy on these white, strawberry-topped concoctions, sweet enough to give Santa diabetes. You may well be invited to one or more "bonenkai" (forget-the-year parties), where you will be enticed to down enough beer and "sake" to make you forget not only the year, but your name and how to get home. While we naively hope for sobriety in this season, we realize that there will be some plastered gaijin here and there. If you end up being one, don't drive! The police are lurking in wait to lift your driver's license.
By Joseph G. Robbie
As the jammed jumbo jet tilted sharply right, swerving in a tight arc for its final approach to Narita Airport, Keri Canyon's sweaty fingers gripped tightly the in-flight magazine, as if that would help. The motion sickness receptacle, known in the vernacular as "barf bag", lay on her knees, as yet, unused. The flight from Vancouver to LA had been uneventful; however the Pacific crossing had been hell. Turbulence from the get-go.
The meals were OK, but who wanted to eat? She'd already seen the movie twice. She had been assigned a seat in the middle of a long row, with kiddie families on both sides. No one to talk to. The magazine was her only distraction, until the beverage cart came by. She ordered a glass of red wine, and then another. "To help me sleep", she reasoned. Yet on an empty stomach doing cartwheels already, the grapes began to rollick. Rather than really sleep, the young teacher stumbled into a slumber of jagged edges. Now, definitely sapped and dragging, she prepared to meet, for the first time, her new home for at least the next two years: Japan!!!
An exotic land of isolation and mystery. Would she be able to make it here?
And if so, with how many? Could she learn to ÒscrutÓ the inscrutable? Where would life lead her here? "A whole new world, a new beginning" to paraphrase Aladdin. Despite her weariness, she was excited.
Customs and immigration was a breeze. The natives and foreigners went to different lines. Although the Japanese lines moved much more quickly, they were longer. Her passport, working visa, and luggage in order, Keri moved on to the main terminal. The information packet from her new employer, a nationwide private English school dubbed Nogo, contained explicit directions on how to proceed by bus to the science city of Tsukuba. There she was met at the station by a representative of Nogo and driven to the main regional office for a welcome and an orientation. She desperately wanted to take a shower and change before meeting the star suits. "Shoganai, it can't be helped", sympathized the driver, and she'd learned her first Japanese phrase.
The three at the conference table, all men, stood and tossed down a moderate bow as she entered. They seem satisfied with her tentative reciprocation, so she was invited to sit. The stern, slim, gray haired man in the middle spoke first. Yamada's words were interpreted by Kubota san, a repatriated national who had spent his childhood in California.
The gist of the chairman's speech was: Welcome to Japan and your new job. We expect you to work hard and uphold our reputation in the country and community as one of the largest, and therefore, no doubt, one of the best, English schools. My door is always open, except when I'm playing golf or pachinko, ha, ha, ha.
Yamada Junior spoke then, repeating much of the same. Finally Kubota, who served as instructor supervisor, gave Keri an outline of her regular duties, a code of teacher conduct document, an employment contract, and her class schedule. She was required to sign each, and then awarded a copy.
Next came a tour of the facility, one of three in Tsukuba. There were six tiny classrooms, a reception office, a textbook/library area, a supply closet and a single bathroom. The walls were hung with blown up photos of class activities, students and teachers. A large bulletin board contained promotional flyers, announcements, and postcards from clients past. Keri was introduced to Asuka and Hiromi, the office ladies. Their welcome was warm, yet she sensed from them an aura of sympathy.
By now it was 6pm local time. The meeting ended. Kubota gave her a ride to her apartment, about four blocks away. It was a simple second floor studio with a small balcony. There was a kitchenette, a microwave, a washer in the bathroom, though no dryer. A few pots, pans, plates, and such were found in the drawers. It was clean and included an air conditioner.
"Not bad," remarked Keri, "but there's no bed!"
Kubota opened the shoji closet and showed her how to prepare the futon for sleeping. Keri thought it was kind of like camping out. After showing her how the shower worked and explaining the concept of the ofuro native style bath, her new boss announced that Keri should freshen up and be prepared for dinner at an izakaya at 8:00.
Alone at last, Keri plopped down on the futon and contemplated the wonder of it all. She was really here! She promised herself that she would give this employer her absolute best, like the true professional ESL teacher that she was. They were providing her with this unique and seemingly lucrative opportunity and she intended to demonstrate that their decision in hiring her had not been misdirected. She was going to be a team player.
She hung a few items in the closet, then jumped into the shower to wash off the travel grime. Feeling much refreshed, Keri selected a conservative, dark blue business suit to don for dinner. She was still drying her hair when the doorbell rang precisely on the hour. The handsome Kubota stood before her with a hand in his hand. It was his wife's. So Rieko was introduced and off they went.
The cramped but peppy Suzuki wound its way through dark and narrow streets on the outskirts of town. Keri couldn't see much, but that whole left-side driving thing made her queasy. As they backed into a parking space, she noticed that most other cars had also parked that way.
"Must be how they do it here," she figured. She felt as if she were learning something every minute. The plants, streets, fields, houses, cars, people Ñ everything was new to her. "I love it!" she squealed.
The izakaya was large, but typical. Did they want a table or tatami booth? But the others had already spied them. Yamada Senior stood up and yelled, "Ooi". The three walked over to a large table in the middle where waited the rest of the staff, with wives and a few kids present. Seating herself between Kubota and Junior, Keri was immediately presented with a full mug of Kirin beer. Senior stood and offered a complex toast, some of which was translated to her. Thus, with shouts of "Kanpai!" all round, ensued her first intense cultural experience. (To be continued)
The politically correct form of this holiday favorite is as follows: On the 12th day of the Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival, my Significant Other in a consenting adult, monogamous relationship gave to me: TWELVE males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming, ELEVEN pipers piping (plus the 18-member pit orchestra made up of members in good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in their union contract even though they will not be asked to play a note), TEN melanin deprived testosterone-poisoned scions of the patriarchal ruling class system leaping, NINE persons engaged in rhythmic self-_expression, EIGHT economically disadvantaged female persons stealing milk-products from enslaved Bovine-Americans, SEVEN endangered swans swimming on federally protected wetlands, SIX enslaved Fowl-Americans producing stolen non-human animal products, FIVE golden symbols of culturally sanctioned enforced domestic incarceration, (NOTE: after members of the Animal Liberation Front threatened to throw red paint at my computer, the calling birds, French hens and partridge have been reintroduced to their native habitat. To avoid further Animal-American enslavement, the remaining gift package has been revised.) FOUR hours of recorded whale songs, THREE deconstructionist poets, TWO Sierra Club calendars printed on recycled processed tree carcasses and ONE Spotted Owl activist chained to an old-growth pear tree.