Angela the Cartoon Teacher

In December, I had the awesome opportunity to meet with an illustrator from AERA English magazine, to be turned into a cartoon (manga) strip.  One of the schools I teach with, Goover English School, set up the meeting, and invited me to participate in the interview.  I was a bit confused as to what was actually happening, and I didn’t know that I would be teaching a lesson, so I didn’t really have anything planned.  I thought it was going to be an interview, but that was not the case.  I have found that while there is often no communication breakdown in person with Japanese English speakers, over the phone, there is often a communication breakdown.  At least for me.  After picking up a representative from my school and two workers from AERA English magazine, I showed them around our house, served them drinks and food, invited everyone into the living room, and then sat down ready to be interviewed.  The room was silent.  I was waiting for them to begin, and nothing happened.  So I asked the representative what to do, and he told me to teach her.  Hmmm…. “Teach her (the illustrator)?  Teach her what?”  I should have expected the response. “Teach her English.”  Ah…..so I threw together a “lesson” that involved talking a lot about myself and asking her about traveling to America.  We then moved into football, and general guidelines for talking with a stranger.  It was a bit awkward, but I didn’t know what to do.   Despite not really knowing what to expect, and having to wing it, it was a really fun and interesting experience.  I laughed at how amazed they were by the gallon of milk and by our large stove.  I think they laughed at our paper lamps and obi decoration on the tv stand.  It was a great time.  Please enjoy the translation provided by a friend of a friend!

Simple changes in my life

After nine months of living in Japan, I am noticing some things I am doing differently now.  Please enjoy these slight, but significant changes in my life.

• I pick out shoes based on how easily they slide on and off.


• I bow (head nod) at other drivers when I am in the car.


• I wait for the walk sign to turn green even if there are no cars coming.


• I prefer chopsticks to a spoon.


• I always ask what train station something is near when getting directions.


• I judge distance based on time, and not actual distance.


• I think paying your bills at a gas station is completely normal.


• I get unnecessarily excited when I see Mt. Fuji.


• I take naps on the train.


• I line up behind people, just because they are standing there.


• I rely on road mirrors to make turns.


• I don’t walk and drink.


• I answer with “maybe” all the time.


• I am not surprised when there are cartoons on our electric bill.


• I count out exact change.


• I put two fingers up when I take a picture.


• I say “konpai” instead of cheers.


• I get excited about ferris wheels.


• I buy trinkets at shrines.


• I don’t get confused when a stranger gives me their kid to take a picture with.


• I will eat anything green tea flavored, including noodles.


• I don’t drive after a sip of communion wine.

I’m sure there are many more, but life in Japan seems very normal now, so they are difficult to think of.

Tokyo Lover's of Art

When we visited the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, this is what the line looked like.  (Yes, for a museum!)



This is how the guys felt about it.  We waited anyways.  It was an interesting experience to say the least.

Odawara Lantern Festival

Experiencing our first real winter in several years has us wishing for some warmer temperatures.  That is until I was looking at some of our pictures from this past summer.  One of our most unique experiences thus far in Japan came in the middle of the most humid, sticky, hot, miserable summer I can remember.  Angela had seen or heard of a festival in a nearby town involving Lanterns.  We had barely been in the country and decided to check it out.  We were still living on base and were dripping with sweat well before we had reached the train station and were wondering if the trip was worth it.  After a relatively scenic ride west, we arrived at the town of Odawara in the foothills near Hakone Mountain (a traditional resort mountain offering stunning views of Mt. Fuji).  We enjoyed being out in a more spaced out town and followed the crowds to the reconstructed castle.  Odawara Castle has a long and distinguished history, involving rival Shogun sieges and being noteworthy as among the very last targets bombed by the United States in World War Two.  The Castle had been rebuilt following the great 1923 Kanto Earthquake and now houses rebuilt outbuildings, gardens, and a moat.  The lantern festival was held in the castle garden.  We learned the lanterns were special for being developed in Odawara centuries ago and look like fold up paper.  The local elementary schools have come to decorate hundreds of lanterns which are lit up at night along the castle moat making for great photos.  The most common theme amongst the lanterns were Disney characters, particularly Stitch (side note: the Japanese are obsessed with Hawaii).  While it was still stifling hot we paid to take a tour of the castle as the festivities were to begin near sundown.  With our admission ticket we also got to walk through a museum about the castle, but it was lost on us as our ability to read Japanese is non-existent.  After a hot walk up through a wooden castle filled with Samurai outfits, we reached the Castle Keep offering a vista of Sagami Bay, though the bay breezes still did not cool us down.  We descended into the festival and were met with a truly cultural experience.  The food vendors offered “seasage” dogs (likely some sort of fish), kimchi (which we tried and didn’t care for) but most abundantly, food on sticks.  Angela braved a squid on a stick, and found the taste quite good but too chewy.  We were hot and looked for shaved ice, but saw beer, and ordered a Sapporo on draft, receiving of course whiskey with a shot of beer. Of Course… The Japanese come to party!  The actual festival recounted events we, as the only gaijin in attendance, had no clue, but we enjoyed dances and theater in kimonos as we tried to stay cool.  After dark, a long parade formed and marched to different dance songs out of the castle into the town, and we enjoyed a nice stroll along an ancient moat lit by lanterns decorated with Disney characters.  We arrived back at home exhausted, sweaty, and hot, but realized that we were going to get the most out of living in Japan!

Sad Panda

Everyone told us to leave our dog in America when we moved to Japan, but I have found that the Japanese people love dogs, especially little poodles.  In fact, there are doggie boutiques everywhere, filled with everything from frilly dresses to pearl necklaces for puppies.  We don’t generally dress AJ up, with the exception of Halloween and his winter jackets for cold, but when I saw this panda outfit, I had to buy it!  I found it at a doggie boutique in Harajuku and couldn’t pass it up.  (James was clearly not with me that day!) AJ was not impressed, and the panda looks like it’s eating him.  I was thrilled to get a few pictures of him as a little panda.  Perhaps we will see this outfit again next year at Halloween.

Popeyes (www.70beersontap.com)

Always on the search for unique places, we got a tip on an incredible bar in downtown Tokyo through our blog.  A random blog comment from the fine folks at Rogue Ales http://www.rogue.com/ in Oregon informed us about a bar with at least 40 beers on tap in the Ryogoku area of Tokyo.  We looked up the place and realized we were near it while visiting Akihabara on a rainy day with our visiting friend Jonathan (another beer enthusiast).  The cozy little bar was exactly what was needed on the wet day, and it was better than we could have imagined.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that they had expanded to 70 beers on tap, ranging from craft American and European brews to the best locals could offer.  Also, unlike the vast majority of bars in Japan, this one was light on the wallet.  Their happy hour specials included free appetizers with the purchase of a beer... we were sold!  It was fall when we visited and enjoyed some delicious Pumking Ale that was well kegged and had an awesome pumpkin aroma.  The rest of the beers were quality, but what impressed us the most were the friendly staff.  The bar, while larger by Japanese standards, was still rather crowded and 70 taps in the US would take at least a wall.  Here they were stacked behind a half bar, which the staff gladly jumped in several pictures with us.  By the time we left I had joined their gold club membership and had convinced a waiter to call and get us tickets to a sold out craft brew fest.  All in all a very pleasurable experience that the average traveler would never find while visiting Tokyo without some help!

Looking Down

If there is one thing I can confidently generalize about Japan, I would say it is an amazing attention to detail.  Everywhere I have visited, I am always stunned by a tiny detail that was done exceptionally well.  Something that would often be overlooked, but because of a keen eye and a sense of value in the tiny detail, it becomes art.  In Japan, it is often wise to not discount the ground you are walking on, because you could very easily overlook the beautiful manhole covers.  I have never noticed manhole covers before, but I am now a bit addicted to searching for new ones.  Most localities in Japan have their own, unique, manhole cover, which often tells a tiny story about the town.  The cover might display a scene from a famous local festival, or a fruit that is grown there, or a famous temple.  The possibilities are endless, and I am sure each town is proud of its design.  Here is a tiny sample of some of the man hole covers we have spotted.