2012 New Year's Resolutions

Not sure why this never made it up, but here were my 2012 New Year's Resolutions:


1) Study hard for and pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test level 2 in July of 2012
2) Find a job of my liking that will commence at the end of my 2011-2012 JET contract

To my happy surprise, I accomplished both of these goals! Technically I didn't have a job until 2013 after all of my travels were done, but I think that the seeds had been planted in 2012, so I'll count it. Next up, I'll post my 2013 goals and see where we stand as of the end of September...


-L

Cultural/Language Lesson (From myself to myself three years ago...)

Three summers ago I was borrowing books from the local library about Japan and Japanese culture. I had already studied a bit about Japanese customs before living there as a student, but I wanted to make sure that I knew as much as possible before working there on the JET Program. Even though I had lived there, being a student and being an employee are like entering two different worlds. I wanted to learn a little more about the business side of Japan, and borrowed the book Japanese Cultural Encounters by Hiroko Kataoka.

As I was going through old blog entries, I found the following information tucked away. I had drafted it, intending to post it - yet time moved along and there it stayed.

Although I'm no longer living in Japan, I still find a lot of the quotes below useful, and decided to post this (3 years late). For those of you on the JET Program now, I hope that you will be able to find these notes useful.


-"Many Japanese people do not consider such questions overly personal. They do not expect precise answers, either."

-"'Secretaries' in Japan are different from those in the United States. More like executive administrative assistants, they have fairly responsible and well-paying jobs in large companies. The term 'secretary' is a mistranslation."

-"Bob made an excuse and failed to apologize. Apologies are very important in Japan."

-"Jeff should not have written on the meishi or put them in his back pocket."

-"Because they were drinking alcoholic beverages, Leo should have held his glass when someone else poured for him, and he should have poured the other person's drink in return. Pouring your own drink is not appropriate in such social drinking sessions, either."

-"This is a way of being humble. The Japanese use the word tsumaranai to let the recipient know that the giver is not conceited about the gift; hitotsu does not indicate the number of items in the box but simply means "just a little bit."

-"In Japan, one is expected to apologize and visit the victim of an accident, even if one is not at fault, to show his or her sincerity. In fact, one is expected to apologize whenever the other party involved suffers in any way, materially or emotionally."

-"When Japanese people ask 'Dochira e?' they are not expecting to hear where you are going. They are simply acknowledging your presence, and sometimes they tell you that you look very nice (therefore, you must be going somewhere) by this greeting phrase. It is similar to "How are you?" in English in that it does not expect an explanation. The most appropriate reply to 'Dochira e?' is 'Chotto soko made' ('Just down the way.')"

-"It is Japanese custom to remove one's coat before entering someone else's home, even if just for a minute. Removing one's coat does not imply that the guest intends to stay."

-"Although company staff meetings in Japan can include lively discussion, group involvement in projects typically requires lots of consensus-building before formal decisions are made. One is expected to figure out that a "pointless question" or silence means reservations or disagreement. Sometimes a lone dissenter is ignored because he or she has not made the effort to get constructive criticism from workmates before formal statements are made; group approval is often secured by more informal maneuvering prior to the meeting. This process is called nemawashi, and important skill in Japanese society."

-"Traditional art lessons in Japan often take the form described here. The teacher shows an example, and the students follow the example. Students are to copy the teacher until they master fundamental forms and methods. Individuality and creativity are supposed to come only after one has mastered the basics."

-"In Japan, seeing people off is almost a ritual. You are expected to wait until the guests (or whomever you're seeing off) are out of sight; while you wait, you either wave good-bye or bow."

-"When someone you know has lost a close relative, you say the folowing set phrase in a low and unclear voice; 'Kono tabi wa doomo goshuushoo sama deshita' ('My condolences to you for your recent loss')."

-"_te kudasaimasen ka? _te itadakemasenka?"

-"...they do give gifts twice a year (once in August and once in December), called ochuugen and oseibo respectively, to those who have been helpful to them during the year such as teachers, superiors, and doctor. Gift items selected are often rather practical items, like food staples, seasoning, or soap. Those gifts are seldom opened in front of the giver, but are opened after they leave... personal gifts, such as Christmas gifts and birthday gifts, ...are opened immediately."

-"The sound of the kanji character for "death" has the same sound as the character for 'four.' The Japanese avoid giving four of anything."

-"shinnen omedetoo or akemashite omedetoo"

-"The expression... gokuroosama deshita, is usually used by a superior to an inferior when the former thanks the latter (normally when the inferior has done what was expected)."

-"You can tell such bouquets apart from others because they are made to be seen only from one angle (shaped flat) and they always have green, hard leaves in the back. If you see a lotus bud or pod, you can almost always be assured that the bouquet is for a Buddhist altar."

- Expect to pay cash as a wedding gift. Do not give 400 yen as a sum. Make it 300 or 500.

- L

Doctor's Visit

Yesterday was my first visit to the "hospital."  The Japanese all tend to say "hospital" when sometimes they just mean "clinic" or "doctor's office."

I took two hours off of work so that I could go to the doctor's office early.  They closed for a few hours in the afternoon but opened back up at 3 PM.  I tried to time it so that I would be there right away.  I followed a hand-drawn map to the location, and went into the building.  Good!  There were only two people in front of me!

I handed the nurse a piece of paper that one of the teachers had written for me.  I explained my situation to the teacher in English (since she's an English teacher) and she wrote it out for me in Japanese.  After a few minutes, and after I had filled out all of my information on the contact card, the nurse came out to explain to me that for my "ailment," I was in the wrong building.  She directed me to the next building over.

I took my health card and small sheet of paper to the building at the end of the block, and was sad to find that the waiting room was already packed.  The receptionists took my information (and explanation paper) and told me that it wouldn't be until 5:15 or so that I could get an appointment.  That was two hours away.  They told me that I could go and come back at 5 if I liked, so I decided to call my Japanese teacher and see if she was available to change the time for our lesson.  We had planned to make it later, but unfortunately I had to schedule the doctor's appointment and change everything around.

She said sure, so we had an hour lesson at a fast-food place near the doctor's office.

5:00 came, and I went back to the office to sit and wait with about 15 other people.

I was still waiting around 5:45, wondering if they had called my name and perhaps I didn't hear it. 
I felt stupid for going to the doctor in the first place and wondered if I really needed to be there.  I would probably see the doctor and be sent away.  The reason I went in the first place was because there was a small rash on my hand, itchy and spreading like poison ivy.  I asked a few teachers about the prevalence of poison ivy in Japan, and they didn't really know what I was talking about/said it was not common, especially around here.  That being said they told me that I needed to go to the doctor to have the small rash checked out.  It hadn't gone away after about 2 weeks so I followed their advice.

I was starting to feel neglected, forgotten, invisible, and afraid that I wouldn't have enough Japanese ability to explain the 'rash' situation.

Finally, I heard my name called from the back.  As I made my way to the door, I started to get a little overwhelmed and choked up.  The nurse asked if I could speak Japanese, and I told her I could speak a bit.  I could hear her relaying the information about me to someone in the other room.

Finally the doctor came in.  I was so nervous it would be an old man whose Japanese I wouldn't understand and who wouldn't understand me, but I was emotionally relieved to find a young female doctor enter the room.  Her Japanese was very easy to understand and she made me feel comfortable.

After three hours of waiting, I met with her for literally 5 minutes and was sent back out to reception.  She looked my rash over briefly, made sure I didn't have any allergies and wasn't taking any other medicine.  She told me that I should take medicine X and Y, and then come back in a week.  They made another appointment for me next Monday evening, and gave me a prescription.

I then had to pick up the medicine across the street from the other clinic (the wrong one).  It was my first time in a Japanese pharmacy.  It was small, not like the large ones where you can buy anything, or like any that I had seen in the states.  It was just one room, with a small back area for the medicine


I finally got the medicine, and was able to make it home by 7:30.  Only five hours after leaving work!

It was a very interesting, yet a strangely fulfilling experience.

The next time you do something that you consider part of your everyday life, just thank goodness you don't have to do it all in Japanese. :)

Good night!