Firstly, I don't think I would be a Kiwi without a nod to the toe-clenching World Cup final. Looks like Auckland is a pretty exciting place to be tonight!! Wish we could be there!
However, for those suprised that I watched a rugby game (two actually, because I watched the NZ vs Aus one last week), I have decided to try to stay off facebook for a couple of days so I don't feel too bombarded by rugbyness. It must be so crazy in NZ!
I thought of another couple of examples of Japanese randomness, or rather the randomness of living in Japan when you're not Japanese:
* There is a road I drive home via on Tuesdays. It's so narrow that for much of the way my tiny little Dihatsu Mira can't pass similarly sized cars and someone is required to back up a bit. It used to scare the shit out of me, but I've worked out that by driving really slowly, I can compensate for those drivers who come racing round the corner too fast to stop if I was close or moving at a similar speed. By driving like a nana, I have reduced my heart-palpitating moments to only around twice each time I do the road (for anyone who thinks this is clearly an indication that I am a nervous driver, unused to anything but main roads, you clearly haven't driven my parents driveway). However, I was blown away last time I drove it to find I was travelling behind a bus. Here I am, in my suitcase-sized car, squashing to the side every time another car comes and there is bus taking the same road! I was curious to watch how that was going to work, but the bus pulled into the first passing bay and waved me on by. I was disappointed to lose my bus-sized driving shield!
* I think I mentioned last entry how sick I get of being asked if I have kids and if not, when? This time students were so concerned I was misunderstanding the message that they put a basketball up their shirt so I could NOT miss that they were asking me about any impending pregnancies. At first I was alarmed, thinking they were suggesting I looked pregnant now (I get very, very self-concious round the stick insects that call themselves Japanese women!), but I'm fairly sure they just meant when would I have a baby. I told them I was too young for kids and maybe when I was older. As 16 yr olds, they were understandably confused by the ANCIENT teacher saying she was too young for kids, especially as I'm getting old for reproduction by Japanese standards, but they didn't have the English to push the issue any further!
Ah... good times living in a most foreign of foreign cultures. Speaking of which... on Tuesday we have English club again with the oldies who got me so rilled up about whaling last time we met. I'm a little nervous about it. I don't regret standing up for what I believe in, but I always feel a little foolish after getting so worked up about something.
In other news... at 3:30 today we got a surprise Skype from Harry. It was about 2:30am her time (eg. North Carolina time) and she had just got in from clubbing. She gave us the laptop tour of her bedroom (super nice furniture!), bathroom and adjoining lounge/kitchen area. It all looks great - she should have a really good year. We chatted for about an hour, talking about her new job compared to my au pairing experience (I'm trying to learnt about hers so I stop imagining her in my old job!), food strategies (attempts to NOT gain the traditional 10kg in America...) and her social life (she is lucky, as the old au pair is round for a few weeks to show her the ropes and introduce her to people). Although I've had one sad email from her, for the most part it seems like she will have an easy transition and I think she is coping with everything much better than I did. Or maybe it's just that looking back nine years later, it's the hard bits and sad times that I remember. Not that I didn't enjoy the job - I know I did - but I recollect crying LOTS that year. On the plane to America, my first phone call home, when I flew back from hanging out with Kate and Mum in Kentucky, when I saw a driver in CT who looked like Kate, every time Hallelujah played on the Shrek CD...
Of course, my recollection of my first summer in Japan involves a fair amount of tears, too. I probably wasn't as bad as I remember (I hope, Jeff...?? Tell me I wasn't TOO bad...??), but I had bad culture shock and really struggled to adjusting to having no control over my life. No language, no bank account, no job and no f*$king air conditioning! That was a really hard summer!
Now life is much, much easier. I've learnt that sign language is international, I have a bank account for 'Dorepa Shyaroto', I love my job and my town apartment has air con! That's not to say life doesn't hit you with a big slap of Difficult fairly regularly, but we are getting much better at going with the flow here. We now know there is no doctor-patient confidentiality code, so we should see medical professionals in other towns for anything embaressing, we have a special rubbish bag that we dump at the convenience store which has everything we can't work out which rubbish collection it belongs in and we have got into the habit of getting out cash on Fridays because the ATMs close for the weekend. We are getting good at this Japan thing!
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