Hokkaido Kanpai

Festival time!

2012-02-23T06:43:00.000-08:00

In case I haven't mentioned it yet、it snows a lot on Hokkaido. As a result, Hokkaido is home to many ice and snow festivals, the biggest one being the Yuki Matsuri in Sapporo. The festival attracts visitors from all over Japan and the world. Perhaps it is because of this reason that I know very few people who were actually born in Hokkaido that have been to the Yuki Matsuri. I suppose it’s understandable. The trains and sidewalks are especially crowded, it’s hard to find a restaurant that doesn’t have an hour wait, the bars are packed and there are no hotels with vacancy.

Not even the swanky ones!

Indeed, during this time each year, Sapporo is a big, noisy, congested mess. But the festival itself usually makes up for it. There are snow sculptures all over Odori park, ranging from huge and impressive,

The Taj Mahal was known for its traditional bingo games.

To smaller and beautiful

To I don’t fucking know. What is that?

whaaaaaaat.

There are also ice sculptures in Susukino, Sapporo’s red-light district.

This year was also a year of firsts. It was the first time I’d ever been to the light festival in Otaru-

(Which, to be honest, would have been so much more romantic if it hadn’t been windy and freezing).

It was also the first time in about three years I went to the ice festival at lake Shikotsu.

Personally, I kind of liked both of those festivals better. Although they didn’t have the same scale at the snow festival in Sapporo, the fact that they weren’t as famous meant that there were far less people.

It was also the first time that no one from outside Hokkaido came to visit me. For the past three years I’ve had friends come up for the festival and stay with me. It was also the first time this year that nothing dramatic happened. No screaming, yelling, crying, fights or break-ups. Just a nice, drama-free week.

Unless you count misreading the map in Otaru and wandering around in the freezing cold for two hours looking for this restaurant that I’ve determined can only be seen by those with a pure heart as dramatic. Which I do. I almost died.

What could have been.

The mystery of the Easter Bunny.

2012-02-06T06:12:00.000-08:00

The holiday season has come and gone, both in America and in Japan. Talking about the differences between western and Japanese holidays is always interesting, since Japan does recognize a lot of western holidays, but usually they’ve changed them so much that they might as well be a completely different holiday. Christmas, for example, has gotten a bit of an overhaul, here. They’ve got the whole Santa/presents/Christmas lights/insane sales thing down. AKA, all the superficiality of Christmas. A very small percent of people here are Christian, so almost all the Christian imagery has been nixed. On a personal note, I’m not very religious at all, but I always loved Christmas for that special “family-togetherness” feeling. However, in Japan, Christmas is regarded as more of a commercial holiday, kind of like Valentine’s Day. Whereas I usually spend Christmas with my family in front of the fireplace, full from Christmas dinner and watching my nephews play with their new toys while chestnuts roast on an open fire while Jack Frost nips at my nose, or whatever, my Japanese friends tell me they spend their Christmases drunk, or with their girlfriends/boyfriends, or drunk with their drunken girlfriends/boyfriends.

Apparently Christmas in Japan is more of a ‘couple’s holiday’. Also they eat Christmas cake, which I’ve never eaten before and I have not heard stellar reviews for, and …Kentucky Fried Chicken. I don’t know why KFC is ‘thing’ to ‘eat’ on Christmas in Japan, but it is. When I tell my Japanese junior high school students that Americans don’t eat KFC on Christmas, they are genuinely shocked. I try to explain that this would be like eating KFC on New Year’s, to which the room full of 13 year old kids say that that sounds like a really awesome idea, and I know I’ve lost the argument.

Meanwhile, New Year’s is a very important holiday, here. It’s a day that is spent with family and loved ones, eating traditional New Year’s food and sake, gathering at the local shrine to pray and sending traditional New Year’s cards and gifts to family and friends. Children receive New Year’s money from the grandparents and watch annual New Year’s TV specials. Meanwhile, in America, we spend the New Year’s drunk, with our girlfriends/boyfriends, or drunk with our drunken girlfriends/boyfriends.

Then there’s Valentine’s Day, where, in Japan, the girl is supposed to buy a box of chocolates for the guy. The chocolates are fancy and super expensive. If you really like the guy, you’re supposed to make the chocolates yourself. Come March 14^th, AKA “White Day”, the guy is supposed to return the favor and get something of equal value to what the girl got him a month earlier. This all sounds way too complicated for me, and I’ll probably just resort this year to buying the guy a box of KFC, the nectar of the Gods to the Japanese.

I sometimes teach an eikaiwa class for adults. My students are made up mostly of retired men and women who have nothing better to do with their free time, so they decided to learn another language. Oh, and take week long trips to Europe and East Asia. Classes usually consist of one student showing the rest of the class pictures of their trip to Greece and asking me if I’ve ever been. I usually respond by saying there are days where I feel like the Greeks did during the Trojan War, if the Trojans were a bunch of Japanese kids who just won’t shut up, sit down and listen, goddamnit.

Other times, we have an actual class where I teach actual things that are English-related. During this class, we were talking about holidays, which eventually lead into a discussion about the weird things that Japanese and Western people believe. I was told that when a child looses a bottom tooth, they throw it over the house so that the new tooth will grow upwards. If it’s a top tooth, they throw it under the house so that the new tooth will grow down. This sounds strange to me, but not as strange as explaining that Americans put the tooth under our pillow, and a magical fairy-lady takes the tooth while we’re sleeping, leaving us money. My students laughed at the absurdity of this, but as absurd as it is, by the next morning the American kid is a few quarters, maybe even a dollar, richer.

The one holiday that completely baffled them was Easter. Now, once again, I’m not religious, but it wasn’t my explanation of the Christian origin that confused them. Telling them how Christ was killed but then came back from the dead a few days later only invoked a “Huh. OK,” response. This all was fine. It was my explanation about the Easter Bunny that completely blew their minds.

“A rabbit delivers eggs?” one of the older men asked me.

I explained about the symbolism of the rabbit and the eggs, and what this all had to do with spring. He said he understood this, but there was one thing that he couldn’t wrap his mind around.

“How is the rabbit carrying the eggs?” he asked.

“In a basket,” I told him.

“A basket?” he pressed, looking at me like I sat on a throne of lies.

“Right. An Easter basket. It’s a big basket, full of eggs and chocolate and jelly beans and sometimes toys!”

“…Is this a real rabbit?”

“Well…he’s not REAL real, and he doesn’t have a set image, like Santa, but yes. He looks like a rabbit.”

“So it’s not a man in a rabbit suit?”

“No…?”

“And this rabbit carries a big basket of eggs and candy, and hides the eggs?”

“Yes?”

“…With his little rabbit paws?!”

“Uh…I…I guess…”

“How is he able to carry the basket and pick up eggs with his little rabbit paws?!”

“I…um…because Jesus died for your sins…?”

And that is how I learned that, in Japan, with all its weird and wackiness, the idea that a rabbit it able to carry a basket and pick up eggs with its little bunny paws is completely and utterly absurd.

And now that I think about it, yeah, that is kinda odd. How does he DO that?

Happy (a few days late) New Year!

2012-01-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry about going silent there for a few weeks. I escaped Japan during the winter break and went back to Colorado for the holidays. There's nothing really interesting to report, other than I had a good time, ate a lot of food, got some cool swag, and almost had a screaming fit in the airport. Twice.

You know, the usual.

But now I'm back in Hokkaido and winter is in full swing. School doesn't officially start until the 16th, so for the time being I am stuck at the BOE. For whatever reason, I decided it would be the best idea possible to go to work the day after I got back from America. It turns out it was not even close to being the best idea, and one could say that I regret this decision.

Still, despite my poor decision-making track-record, I thought I'd go ahead and make some New Year's resolutions.

1) Sign up for kick boxing classes at the local gym.

2) Climb at least 5 mountains this summer. Including Rishiri and Asahidake.

3) Start studying Japanese seriously. Hopefully take the JLPT N3 in December. I'd add "and pass it", but let's not get TOO crazy, here.

4) Blog at least once a week. I've been getting a lot of positive feedback concerning this blog, and I'm happy to hear people like it. Also, perhaps more importantly, I'm happy to discover that I actually enjoy doing it. And that's a really good thing.

I suppose that's about it. There's lots of other things I'd like to do this year, but they're not super important that I feel I need to list them. I do, however, feel I have lots to look forward to this year, and I'm excited to begin.

So, はじめまして、2012. よろしくお願いします！

My weakness.

2011-12-14T05:09:00.000-08:00

Damn these little adorable Japanese girls, they are my kryptonite. And they know it, too, making them all the more dangerous.

It should be against the law.

Adventures in enkai: My welcome party

2011-12-01T06:36:00.000-08:00

I’m really terrible at making first impressions.

Maybe it’s due to my general awkwardness, maybe it’s just dumb luck, but whenever I find myself meeting someone of a certain amount of importance for the first time(an employer, supervisor, politician, celebrity, the Emperor, etc.) I always end up making an ass of myself. Usually within the first two seconds.

When I arrived in Japan to work as a teacher, I was determined to leave the best impression of Americans I could possibly leave. I would be friendly and approachable, as well as understanding and accepting of the Japanese culture.

I was gonna be the best American I could be.

And for the first few weeks, I did just that. Naturally, my Japanese was bad, and I was still kind of awkward and shy, but I was so determined to be LIKEABLE damnit, I'm sure my supervisor and co-workers didn't think I was horrible. At least, I hope they didn't.

After almost a month and no serious mishaps, I was feeling pretty good about myself.

And then my welcome-party happened.

In Japan, they like to have parties, or 'enkai's, for any reason whatsoever. Enkais mean drinking, and Japanese people sure do love to drink. Even if it only takes them a couple beers to get completely wasted, they will drink and drink often. And one of the many ways they like to drink is with their co-workers.

When I first arrived, I was told that it was likely that my BOE would want to throw me a welcome party. And as soon as he met me, my supervisor would bring up that we were going to have my welcome party sometime soon. The other ALT working at the BOE told me that for his welcome party, they just went out for some yakiniku and it was very casual. I figured that would be the same with me.

One day I received a call from my supervisor. They were going to have my welcome party that night. In fact, right now. Could I please meet them outside in 10 minutes?

Taken by surprise, as I assumed I would have more of a warning than this, I said OK and hung up. I can only defend my next course of action by explaining that, because it was so very last minute, I just assumed that the people at the BOE decided they were bored, had nothing else better to do, and wanted to go out and get a few drinks together, and my 'welcome party' was the perfect excuse to do just that. Thus, I thought it would be a very laid-back affair.

And so, I opted to go in what I was wearing at that moment.

Having just come from Olympia, Washington, where I lived for the past five years, I would accurately describe my fashion-style as 'homeless'. To me, grunge was not dead, but alive and well and totally looking to make a comeback, you guys, just wait and see. My most prized possession was my hoodie.

And this is how I chose to meet my supervisor and co-workers.

I wasn't too worried when I saw them in suits. They had just come from work, after all. My supervisor looked mildly surprised at what I was wearing, but said nothing. Maybe he was too tired from the long day at work. Maybe, after dealing with all the ALTs before me, he had seen it all. Maybe he just simply didn't care anymore. Either way, he told me to get into the car and off we went.

I'm not sure when I first realized I had made a terrible mistake. Was it when we pulled up to the fanciest hotel in the city? Was it when the hotel staff, all prim and proper and well-groomed, looked at me in utter confusion and bewilderment? Was it when I was given an event schedule that had me listed as a "guest of honor"? Was it when I was led into a ball room full of people I didn't know, all of whom were dressed in formal-wear? Was it when I had learned I was at a yearly event for all the principles and vice-principles for the city, including the schools I would be teaching at? Who can say. All I knew at that point was I was screwed and there was no escape.

On an aside, a few weeks prior I had a dream that was very similar to this situation. In the dream I showed up for a formal event in old jeans and a t-shirt. I solved the problem by simply turning the t-shirt inside out. With my dream-logic, this somehow fixed everything and I could proceed without any further embarrassment. Naturally, this was not the case for tonight. So I was forced to dwell on the fact that apparently I am a goddamn prophet later, and focus on the here and now.

I don’t remember a whole lot from that night. I do remember trying to melt into my chair, too mortified to make conversation. I’d like to think I would have handled the situation much better now, but back then I was too embarrassed at looking foolish, I only succeeded in making myself look more foolish. I certainly wasn’t being the friendly, approachable American I wanted to be.

I also remember drinking a whole lot of beer.

At one point they made me go in front of the room and introduce myself to in Japanese. Did I mention yet how terrible my Japanese was back then? It was pretty bad. And the shock of everything up until that point had forced what little Japanese I did know to escape my brain.

In all honesty, no one said anything or even seemed to care, but in my mind they were all judging me, mocking me, marveling at my brutish American-ways. I had ruined everything forever and they all hated for it, of this I was sure.

Needless to say, I did not make any new friends that night.

After the event finally finished, I tried to leave. I was invited to the second party, but I declined, saying I was tired. I almost managed to make it out the doors and to freedom when I was ambushed by the chief of our division of the BOE, as well as the head of the entire BOE. Basically, my two bosses. I would come to know these two a lot better in the future and become very fond of both of them, but at the time I didn’t know them and I was fairly certain they were ex-yakuza bosses. They just had that vibe.

They wanted me to go to a bar with them, and it wasn’t an invitation. I spent the rest of the evening in a somewhat classy bar listening to piano music while my bosses talked to/flirted with the pretty waitresses. It wasn’t all that bad, but considering how badly I just wanted to go home, it felt like torture.

In the end, I survived. I feel that, if nothing else, I learned a valuable lesson that night:

It was time to stop dressing like a hobo.

Brace yourselves

2011-11-30T05:06:00.000-08:00

Winter is coming.

Every year around this time it dumps snow on Hokkaido and then simply refuses to leave until April. This will be my fourth winter in Hokkaido and it never gets any easier. Maybe it's the biting cold, maybe it's the mounds of snow, maybe it's the god-awful ice or maybe(probably) it's the lack of proper central heating in the schools, but I usually find myself dreading the winter. If I was into winter sports, Hokkaido would be heaven. But I enjoy summer sports(in which case, Hokkaido is also heaven), so I find myself going a little stir-crazy when the snow starts to fall.

People ask me what exactly I do during the winter, and I laugh and say "drink" and they laugh along with me, and then go "no, really, what do you do?" and I say "drink" again, but this time there's a lot less laughter.

Not to make myself out to be a big alcoholic or anything, but there really isn't a whole lot to do here if you're not a fan of skiing and snowboarding. So, as a result, I have to get creative, and that may or may not be the reason why I had to leave my last apartment.

I suppose, if nothing else, this provides me with a lot more time for blogging. I was recently reminded of several stories I have about my co-workers, students, guys I've dated, and other general stuff that have left me slightly less surprised by Japan's "weirdness".

Hopefully I'll be able to post those soon. In the mean time, this is what I have to look forward to in the coming weeks:

Oh, who am I kidding? I love you, Hokkaido. <3 <3 <3

Thanks for the giving

2011-11-27T04:57:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been a bit of a blur, as I found myself very busy between work, enkais as well as planning and (successfully?) pulling off a Thanksgiving dinner party. I think out of a total of 16 guests, only three of us were actually American. The rest was made up of Chinese, South African, New Zealand, Canadian and, of course, Japanese. It made me realize that, after living in Japan for over three years, I take hanging out with such a diverse group of people for granted. Living abroad has exposed me to so much in terms of different culture, and I am lucky for this opportunity. I've made friends here that I'm pretty sure I'm going to be friends with forever.

So, at risk of sounding corny, Thanks, guys. I appreciate you being my bros.

This is a blog about Japan.

2011-11-15T05:13:00.000-08:00

Hi there and welcome to my blog. My name is Allie and I like to draw cartoons. Originally I wanted to do a comic about my life, and then I wanted to try doing a blog. And then I decided to just screw it and combine the two. So let's give this a go.

If you don't know already, I currently live the in Land of the Rising Sun, also known as Japan.

Yeah, it's pretty much like this. I've been living here for about three years, and sometimes I question my sanity.

I live in Hokkaido, which is the northern-most island of Japan. Hokkaido is known for its fresh food, farmland, beer, and snow. Lots and lots of snow. It can get pretty cold and lonely up here during the winter-time.

I work as an ALT, trying to teach English to Japanese kids. "Trying" being the keyword here. It can range anywhere from incredibly fun to times when I just want to curl up in a ball and die, but, hey, it pays the bills.

Still, living in a foreign country for three years is kind of crazy. The language and cultural barriers combined with Hokkaido's long winters, life can be kind of difficult and lonely. But I find ways to cope.

So, welcome to my blog. I will try to update regularly with stories and pictures for you. Because winter is just around the corner and I need a project, damnit.