Are you tired of the”Lost in Translation” issues yet?  I am… but here we go one more time! You would think that after a year of living here in Tokyo, we would have worked through all the possible issues we could have with getting our mail. But once again, I got that dreaded “Undeliverable Mail” notice in my mailbox. Right in the middle in bold print is a phone number to call, but we have already tried that route with limited success. It is difficult to find someone who speaks enough English to help us… and though we are definitely improving, our Japanese is still rudimentary at best.

As I looked at this notice, though, I also saw that there is an online option (Option 1. “PC” in the photograph), so I got on my computer to see if I could resolve it that way. As it turned out, when I put in the URL and got to the Japan Post website, there actually was an option for English! I clicked on the button, and (sugoi ne!) the homepage was translated for me. I even found the button for “Schedule Re-delivery” and thought I was home free!

But, alas, it was not so easy. All subsequent pages were in Japanese, with no option to switch to English. Well… why not?

Armed with Google Translate, I slogged my way through the form that had to be filled out in order to get my package. Apparently, the USPS Priority Mail envelope that our daughter sent to us requires a signature, and since I missed the original delivery day, it was necessary for me to go through this re-delivery process to get the package.

I finally did manage to translate most of the page… at least well enough, I guess, to put in all the correct responses to somehow manage to schedule delivery for today between noon and 2 PM. And… promptly at 1 PM, the JP man rang from downstairs with my package.

Success, yes… but still tempered with the same uncomfortable language difficulties. Baby steps. Yes, the Japanese is getting better, and we are feeling much more at ease with it. But we still only understand a fraction of the language they speak to us. I am starting to feel hope, though… maybe… that one day, I will no longer be… Lost in Translation.

Oh…  and just FYI, sending packages to and from Japan is really, really expensive. $$$$$ Best not to, if you can avoid it.

The Japanese have a great love and appreciation for beautiful things — be it art or nature — and they love making even ordinary things beautiful.  They also enjoy giving gifts. Putting these two things together, we have furoshiki.

Furoshiki is the art of wrapping something in a cloth. The furoshiki cloths sold in the stores for the purpose of wrapping can be large or small, silk or cotton or synthetic. They can be plain colored, or with elaborate designs. You can buy many shapes and sizes, but the most common are square cloths about 18 to 24 inches on a side.

I like this idea… a sort of reusable wrapping for gifts. In the US, a lot of people have switched to using pretty decorated paper bags for gift giving. At our home in the US, I have a stash of these gift bags — some that I have purchased, but many that I have reused from gifts I have received. It is the same idea here. When you give a gift, you choose a pretty cloth to tie it up in. The wrapping becomes part of the gift. When you receive a gift, you have as part of that gift this pretty wrapping cloth to keep, or to use for giving another gift.  I like that you get to collect these pretty things and then share them the next time you give a gift. I like that you get to choose the wrapper that seems most appropriate for the gift, and the person receiving the gift. Maybe that seems silly, but it is like putting a little bit of yourself into the gift.

Anyway, the practice of using wrapping cloths here in Japan dates back a long time. Originally they were used as a dressing mat and to bundle ones clothing together at the public baths — furo means bath. After that, peddlers and merchants used them for bundling their wares together, and people used them for carrying packages. You can read more about the origins here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furoshiki

The cloth in this picture was actually given to me as a gift. It is a pretty textured silk cloth, with a simple graphic design. I used this cloth to wrap a birthday gift for my husband. I added the ribbon — which came on another gift. Most furoshiki-wrapped gifts don’t have ribbons. the cloth as it is tied around the gift makes its own sort of “bow” on the gift.

You can buy books about creative ways to tie these furoshiki cloths around gifts of all shapes and sizes. There are ways to tie them around wine or sake bottles, and methods to wrap just about any odd-shaped object. You can also buy handles to tie the cloths to, to make it into a purse-like bag. Very creative!

I plan to buy many of these pretty cloths while I am here, and use them when I go back to the US.

In the US, our family uses Amazon Prime for online shopping and home delivery of all sorts of items, from books and music, to clothing, household items, and even cleaning and “stock up” items like paper towels, tissue, and pet food. It has been such an easy and convenient service, and has saved many a trip out to the store. I am not a happy shopper, and I detest going to the mall, so Amazon made Christmas shopping and birthday shopping… and any other necessary shopping… much more palatable for me.

And… in Japan, we have found that Amazon “delivers” excellent service here as well (pun intended.) We have had to purchase a separate Amazon.jp Prime membership — different from our US Amazon Prime membership — but we find it has been well worth the cost here — as it is in the US. Yes, yes, I am sorry… I am using the blog to promote a business, but it has been such a convenience for us, I feel that it is justified.

In the US, with Prime, we get our packages within two business days, and sometimes even on weekends. Here in Japan, however, we have found that the service is even faster (Japan is all about efficiency!) Guaranteed delivery within two days — here in Japan — usually means delivery within hours! This package in the photo was something that my husband ordered online about 10 pm last night… and it arrived about noon today!

This has been a real help to us for a lot of things… items that we don’t know where to find here in Tokyo… as well as items that may be large and bulky, or difficult to carry on the subway. Remember — we are all afoot here in Tokyo… I can’t just drive to a store and load up stuff. I have to be able to carry it back to my apartment. And even if I do take it on the subway, the closest station is still almost a kilometer away from our apartment.

I have spoken to other expats from our company, who live in London, and they have said the same things about Amazon.uk. It has been very helpful for all of us trying to set up and maintain households in foreign countries. All I can say is: Way to go, Amazon!

わたしわ きょうぬんいちがつにほんにきました。わたしわアメリカからきました。

My husband’s Japanese company here in Tokyo has loaned employees from many countries. Right now there are only two from the US… another to be arriving later this month. Most of the other loaned employees come from Korea, China, India, Pakistan, Russia… and couple of European countries.

Because there are so many foreign employees — many with spouses and families in tow — the company provides a twice-monthly language/culture class for the spouses. The official company language is English, and all employees have to be proficient at speaking and writing in English, but many of the spouses do not speak English, and most do not speak Japanese either.

These classes are fun, and it gives us a chance to get to know each other — a kind of cultural exchange.  We are divided into two levels: beginner and intermediate. We have an hour long lesson, then a box lunch (bento box), and while we are eating, the two teachers present a cultural topic — in Japanese. This past year, I have been in the beginner class, but today when I walked in, they told me I was being moved to the other class. NOT that my language skills are anywhere adequate, but I have learned a lot of vocabulary, and I think they now are wanting to force me to start SPEAKING the language more.

And today was my trial by fire…lol. I was kind of hoping that since it was my first day in that level, they would take it easy and just let me listen. I can usually get the gist of a simple conversation, and I was following along pretty well until the teacher turned to me and started asking me questions… in Japanese.Yikes! As soon as someone speaks to me, it is like all language skill flies out the window and I sit there blankly, trying desperately to put a few words together in some sort of coherent fashion.

Ueda-sensei (my teacher today) was very patient with me, and also wrote most of the dialog up on the whiteboard for me to follow.  She wrote it, however, in Hiragana, which I can read, but slowly. The four other students there today were all from Korea. They are all very nice, and friendly, with varying degrees of English proficiency… but their Japanese skills were far above mine!

As difficult and somewhat stressful as this was, I know this is just what I need! I can study my Japanese book all day long, but at some point I have to be able to actually talk to someone. I have to quit blanking out just because someone speaks to me. I know I have made a lot of progress in the past year, but there is still a long way to go. We are hoping to get started again soon with a new private instructor, who will focus more on the conversation. Hopefully that will help.

Those two simple sentences at the top?  Watashi wa kyounen Nihongo ni kimashita. (I came to Japan last year in January.) And… Watashi wa Amerika kara kimashita.  (I came from America.)

Arigato gozaimasu… sayonara.

A year ago today, we arrived in Japan. We were excited, anxious, nervous and just a little scared. Looking back, it has been one of the greatest experiences we’ve ever had.

As the “he” part of the blog team, I’ve had an amazing job experience this last year. Working in an international company has opened my eyes to the world. I’ve visited countries in the last year – Argentina, Korea, Russia, Hungary – that I never expected I would see. Working daily with people from a broad mix of cultures, languages and outlooks has been an interesting, challenging and wonderful experience. My only regret is that the year has gone by so fast. I know the next year will go even faster. I’m determined to get the most I possibly can from it.

One of the reasons we wanted to do this assignment was to have an opportunity to experience daily life in another culture. This has also been a great chance to do that. We live in an area where we can go days without seeing another Westerner. The language has, unfortunately, been more of a challenge than I expected. We are learning Japanese, but are far from being conversant. Still, the people here have been so patient and accepting. It has been remarkably easy for us to become comfortable and happy in our tiny little apartment. Yes, we miss our house, big yard, and lifestyle in the United States. But one day when we return, I know that we will miss our life here in Japan.

So, today we begin our second of two years in Japan. I can truly say I am excited and enthusiastic about what that year will bring.

It is hard to believe that our first year living in Tokyo is already over. At the beginning, not knowing what it would be like, and not knowing how we would like it, two years seemed like a long time. A long time to be away from our home, our family, and everything we are familiar with. But as we have settled into this new (but also, temporary) home in a foreign country, the time seems to have accelerated, and we actually find ourselves worrying that our time here will slip away before we are ready to go back to our more permanent home in the US.

Certainly… there are many things that we miss about our home in Georgia, and things that we look forward to getting back to at some point, but we have grown fond of this beautiful country of Japan… its culture and its wonderful people. There are so, so many things that we will be sad about leaving when the time comes to go “home.”

Going into this a year ago, we tried our best to anticipate our life here and all that we would need to bring with us and prepare for, but it is impossible to know what life will be like until you actually get here and live it. We find that we brought some things that we have never needed or used, and other things we have had to buy or bring back after a trip home. Life here is different. People everywhere are mostly the same… we all have the same basic needs and desires, but the ways we go about satisfying those needs are  different. We live life here on a much smaller scale, with less “stuff” and much less space…  And, we find that we like it that way. It may actually be something of an adjustment to go back to our US ways after our time here is done.

A year ago, we were looking at Japan through the eyes of tourists. We were anticipating all the things we would see and do… and, we have done and seen a lot in this past year. But it is different now. Things here look different when you are seeing them from the perspective of a resident. We still enjoy the “sight-seeing,” but there is also all that day-to-day living to deal with. We still try to see the “new-ness” of our surroundings, even though it isn’t so “new” anymore. Sure… we still play that tourist card now and then. I don’t mind stopping on the sidewalk to snap photos… everyone just thinks I’m a tourist anyway,  lol.

What is in store for the coming year? Well… still lots of travel. Not so much travel back to our home in Georgia — because we don’t have quite so many family events on the calendar this year (no weddings and graduations, etc.) — but so far we have trips scheduled to UAE, South Korea, and maybe France and India. Lol… an unexpected perk of this assignment is that we are both now up to platinum level on our Skymiles… And, we plan to enjoy that perk while we can because this time in our lives in going by far too quickly!

One thing we have learned is that the people of Japan love to celebrate life. Almost any time, and certainly on weekends, it’s easy to find a festival or celebration. Many are based on Japan’s long and rich history, others pay tribute to nature.

Often there are entertainers in traditional Japanese garb. Always, there are many, many people and they all seem to be enjoying the moment.

We were in Tokyo this year over the New Year’s weekend. The holiday is recognized from around 29 December through 3 January. Many stores are closed, although some of the department stores use the time for big sales. We enjoyed seeing fireworks at Odaiba Island, and an Edo Festival at Haneda Airport. Here are some photos from New Year’s in Tokyo.

The year 2016 is coming to an end, and it has been an eventful one for us. We are nearing the end of our first year in Japan. On New Year’s Eve last year, we were eagerly anticipating our move. Stress was high, and there were many uncertainties ahead. Now, looking back, it has been a tremendously satisfying experience.

As we expected, the transition to living in Japan hasn’t always been easy. There are some days when we just have to shake our heads and say, “why are we doing this?” Fortunately, those days are few and far between, and seem to be getting less frequent the longer we are here.

The language remains a frustration to me. My wife is picking it up more quickly, with more time to study. Our first round of language courses came to an end just before the holidays. Looking back, we have learned a lot. But the course had little emphasis on practicing dialogue, and I find myself still unable to carry on even a simple conversation in Japanese. I never expected to become fluent. I do want to be able to have a simple dialogue at the grocery store or a restaurant. That remains my goal as we begin a new year here.

Tonight, we will spend New Year’s Eve in Tokyo. Plans are to see some fire

New Year’s mochi commemorating the year of the chicken – 2017

works at Odaiba, then see what we can find to do. It is traditional to have soba noodles at midnight on New Year’s, from what we’re told. We’ll see what we can find.

As we approach the beginning of our second year in Japan, we do so with excitement and enthusiasm. 2016 was a good year for us. We look forward to what 2017 has to offer.

To quote a verse from the chorus of the traditional folk song Auld Lang Syne, “We two have paddled in the stream, from morning sun til dine; But seas between us broad have roared, since auld lang syne.”

Have a Happy New Year!

My husband and I both grew up in the US mid-west, which up until the past few years, rarely experienced any earthquake activity. Of course now, with all the “fracking” going on, Kansas and Oklahoma actually do have increasingly regular seismic occurrences.

Japan on the other hand, existing along the edge of the “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific Ocean, is well-acquainted with earthquake and volcanic activity. Most everyone is familiar with the Great Tohoku Earthquake that occurred in Japan on March 11, 2011. That 9.1 magnitude quake and tsunami resulted in over 15,000 deaths, and billions of dollars worth of damage. It was the strongest recorded earthquake to ever hit Japan. You can read more about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami

We knew, living here, it would be just a matter of time before we would experience an earthquake. At my husband’s office, everyone is issued an earthquake emergency kit — complete with hard hat and goggles, emergency food and water, flashlight and other emergency items. Most department stores, hardware stores, and home improvement stores have a section devoted to earthquake emergency supplies. We have also put together our own emergency backpacks to take with us in the event of an earthquake and evacuation. We even installed an earthquake warning app on each of our phones. The app sends out an audible warning whenever there is an earthquake in our immediate area. I currently have mine set to go off whenever there is a quake of local magnitude of two or above, but it also shows the information for all the quakes occurring in Japan.

We have had a few minor earthquakes in the 11 months that we have lived here.. sometimes I feel them and sometimes I don’t. If I am up walking around the apartment, or busy doing something, I often don’t notice these little magnitude 3 or 4 quakes.

The first “big” quake that we have had, occurred on November 22… just a couple of weeks ago. My husband has been traveling a lot the past few weeks, so he was in London, and I was here by myself when my earthquake app went off at 5:59 am (and his app went off in London…  lol). I woke up to see the curtains swaying back and forth, and hearing the doors in our apartment creaking as they swung back and forth. It was a very weird sensation — a kind of rolling and swaying — and made me think of the motion of a boat on the waves. This swaying went on for more than 10 minutes, and as I sat there in bed, I was not at all sure what I was supposed to do.

This first “real” earthquake wasn’t what I expected. I guess I was expecting rumbling and shaking with things falling and furniture moving, and this was just a silent swaying back and forth… up here on the 30th floor of our apartment high-rise. Granted… this quake was a 7.4 at the epicenter a couple hundred miles away, so it wasn’t all that strong here in Tokyo. But it was an unnerving feeling to watch everything swaying for such a long time. The curtains were swinging a good 10-12 inches back and forth, but it was such a gentle motion, that it didn’t even activate the earthquake latches on our kitchen cabinet doors! You have to credit Japanese earthquake-resistant construction methods!

Up north near the epicenter, this earthquake triggered a tsunami warning as well… and they had tsunami waves of 1 to 2 meters along the coast near Fukushima. Below is a photo of the tsunami wave moving up one of the rivers.

I spent the rest of the morning watching emergency news broadcasts of the tsunami. Numerous aftershocks of this earthquake have occurred, but only one or two have been strong enough to feel here in Tokyo. The Japan Meteorological Agency has actually classified this earthquake to still be an aftershock of the Great Tohoku quake that occurred five and a half years ago.

This first quake experience was scary and unnerving for me — even though it really wasn’t that strong an earthquake here. It was business as usual that day here in Tokyo… the trains were still running, cars were still driving, people were still walking to work and school. I am sure that this won’t be the only earthquake we will experience here, but hopefully it will be the strongest.

It is November in Tokyo. The sweltering hot summer is over, and we are into the pleasantly cool autumn. The leaves on the trees are turning to golds and oranges and flaming reds. In the US, next week will be Thanksgiving… on Thursday, the 24th. Here, the “Labour Thanksgiving Holiday” is on Wednesday the 23rd. Surprisingly (to me anyway) I found turkeys in the grocery store! Not that I could buy one to fix for Thanksgiving dinner, though. We don’t have an oven in our Japanese apartment. I think for this Thanksgiving dinner, we will be having much simpler fare.

Again… time has gotten away from me and I haven’t written a blog in a while. I was back in the US for a few weeks… our daughter got married, and then I spent an extra week or so visiting other family members. I have been back for a week now, but my husband now has a few weeks of business travel, and he left yesterday for the first one to London. So, I am alone here in Tokyo… I haven’t been alone here since that first month after we moved, and I am feeling a bit lonesome.

After 10 months here, we have settled in and really enjoy being here. But, that said, it still sometimes feels very isolating. Especially for me since I don’t have a job to go to, and I don’t have much of a network of friends yet. I do get together with the other expat spouses at my husband’s company, but we only meet twice a month, and I am the only American.  There is a bit of a language barrier. We all enjoy each other’s company even if we can’t speak very much to each other… Indian, Pakistani, Korean, Chinese, Russian… American… and we are all trying to learn Japanese. Lol…

I am not complaining. I still love it here, but it is part of the challenge of accepting this kind of assignment, and certainly something to be considered. I gave up my job to come here with my husband, and since I am on his visa, I am limited in the work opportunities I can have here. And of course… the language is also limiting. At the  company my husband works for here, the official language is English, but not many companies are that way.

Anyway… all this just got me thinking this morning when I went out for a run. On the way down, the elevator stopped and two little boys got on. They were taking the trash and recycling down to the basement (as was I.) The younger boy — about 5 I think — got on the elevator and greeted me with a loud “Konnichiwa!” His brother — probably about 8 — cuffed him on the head, I think to reprimand him for speaking to me. Ordinarily, people I meet on the street or in the elevator do not speak to me. Japanese people are very polite, and very private. They don’t speak to people they encounter because they don’t want to intrude on their privacy or bother them. It is the same way on the trains and subways. Everyone is very polite, but quiet. Hardly anyone talks at all. But — I was amused, and actually happy that the little boy spoke to me.

As I started my run, I saw one of my “friends” from the spouse’s class, a new friend from South Korea. She is so nice,and she smiled and waved and greeted me in her very limited English.  It is somewhat funny… and a little awkward… that this woman and I usually speak more to each other in Japanese than in our native languages. But despite the difficulties we have with communication, she has become a sweet friend.

Later, as I was running along the canal, I ran past a “non-Asian” person. We both looked at each other… unsure if we should or even could speak to each other (there are a lot of different nationalities here.) At home in the US, if I am walking or running in my neighborhood, I greet the people I meet. But here… again… it is not done, or even expected. So we just passed by, warily looking at each other. Strange.

When I got back to the apartment after my run, the elevator opened and another “non-Asian” person got out… someone I have never seen in the building before… and he looked surprised, and actually said good morning to me — in English! I was thrilled… and kind of taken aback at how much I craved being spoken to in a language I could understand!

All these varied encounters of communication… all in one morning. Lol… it made my day!