News from Tokyo

Well, aside from posting pics on Facebook and replying to all the great comments I've received (thanks everyone!) I haven' t updated recently so I wanted to just do a general news update from the world of Inokashira/Mitaka/Kichijoji/Tokyo/Japan/Whereever it is I am ^_^

My city name is Mitaka.
My address is 3-15-23 Inokashira.
My place is called Oak House Kichijoji.
My prefecture name is Tokyo (Tokyo is not actually a city even though most refer to it as such it's a prefecture, like a province or state, made up of many wards and cities).
See where it gets confusing? ^_^

So anyway, here is all the news that's fit to print:

Cell Phone: Got one! Finally! It's a Sharp AQUOS W61SH from au/KDDI. Pretty spiffy!!



Job Hunt: I had an interview with a recruiter last week, and tomorrow I have an interview with two more. I'm confident a job will turn up soon!


Social Life: I continue to make new friends and visit existing ones. Last Saturday I had a big hanami party with several friends. That's where you sit and eat/drink under the cherry trees and see the beautiful cherry blossoms.


What I've been up to lately: My friend and ex-coworker Chi is in Tokyo for a few days so I've been playing tourist/tour guide. Pretty fun, I've discovered some great new restaurants in Shibuya and Kichijoji that are SO delicious and SO cheap... my taste buds have never had it so good.

Chi leaves tomorrow so after I go back to 'normal' everyday life, hopefully I can tell more stories here. In the meantime, I'll continue chasing my dream.

The Elusive Japanese Cellphone

If there's one thing most westerners know about Japan, it's that their cellphones are light-years ahead of ours.

Here are some interesting things I've learned about Japanese cell phones.

The screens are big. Most phones are 'clamshell style' (what I affectionately refer to as 'pakka pakka style'). The bottom half is the keypad, and the top half is a screen about the same size as a deck of cards.

The screens are high resolution. These phones are not for the far-sighted! I'm not sure exactly how many pixels you can fit on them, but the text and graphics are tiny and they manage to jam a ridiculous amount of information on there.

The network is fast. '3G' phones are nothing special here, they are just normal. And newer networks such as FOMA have advertised speeds of 7.2Mbps! To give you an idea, a Rogers 'extreme' broadband connection in Canada is 6Mbps. That's right, these guys can get faster-than-Canada's-fastest-broadband speeds ON THEIR CELLPHONE. It's beyond impressive, it's ridiculous.

So it goes without saying that I've been a bit anxious to get my hands on one of these cellphones. Not only is there the immediate "gee whiz" technology factor, but there are practical reasons too. One is that since moving here, I've been anxious to try and cobble together a social network of friends similar to what I had in Toronto. Without a cellphone this is proving to be excessively difficult. Also, I don't wanna send resumes out to recruiters until I have a phone number to put on my resume. So there is a bit of a sense of urgency to getting this phone.

But that's OK! Given that I'm now living in Japan, it should be easy to get a cellphone right? Wrong!

And so goes the story of my elusive cellphone.

February 2008: It started back in Toronto. My research of Japan showed me that as a foreigner with only a tourist visa, legally I'm not allowed to buy a cellphone. So the only way for me to get one is to have a friend buy it for me. OK, well that sucks (I like to be independent) but oh well. So my plan was to have Aki buy the cellphone on my behalf. But even this has been a bit of a challenge. It's not that Aki can't do it. The problem is that she's just been too busy. She works two jobs and they're both kind of far from where she lives. So it's hard to see her often. Also it's hard for her to find time to shop.

Wednesday March 19: We met last Wednesday in Shibuya, in the evening. I thought at this time that we were going to buy the cellphone. But Aki didn't understand my sense of urgency, she thought we were just going to look at models and try to decide. I told her I don't really care, as long as it's cheap and has the features that I need, it's OK. She seemed surprised by this. She said "but what about your personal style?" I said just make it simple and black and I'll be fine.

So, we didn't get a phone that night but we decided on the model.

Thursday March 20: So Aki tried to buy the phone on Thursday but she was told it would take time to set up the account, etc.

Friday March 21: Aki got the cellphone! So we agreed that on Saturday we would meet and hang out, and she was gonna give me my cellphone. I was pretty excited about it.

Saturday March 22: I called Aki Saturday but she said she was having stomach pains and couldn't go out that day. She said she'd try to meet me on Monday.

Sunday March 23: Sunday I went out with Yumichan (I'll save that story for another post) and I called Aki at night to confirm our meeting on Monday. She said that after work Monday she was gonna go to the clinic (I assume about the stomach problems but I didn't ask, it's not my business). My heart sank as I thought she couldn't meet me. She said that no, she could still meet me, but it would be late like 8 or 9pm. I said that was fine. I just wanna get my cellphone!

Monday March 24: So yesterday (Monday) was finally gonna be the day. I called Aki during the day and she said that I should call her around 8pm to arrange the time to meet. I said that was fine.

8:15pm: I actually didn't call her until 8:15pm because I got distracted; I was chatting it up with Unchan, an adorably cute Korean girl that lives upstairs from me. So anyway when I called Akichan, she said she would e-mail me when she leaves work, and then we can meet at Asagaya station and she can give me the cellphone. And so I waited. And waited.

9:30pm: My remnants of jet lag were kicking in and I was having trouble staying awake. I sat on my bed and tried to keep my increasingly heavy eyelids open. And I kept waiting.

10:55pm: I drifted off for a few minutes, and woke up about 10:55pm. There was an e-mail from Aki's cellphone timestamped 10:42pm. "Can we meet at Asagaya station at 11:15pm?" Oh, crap.

I replied right away "I'm leaving right now!" and then scrambled to get my jeans and jacket on. Where is my wallet? Where? Where? Oh there it is (when I'm in a hurry I often can't find things that are sitting right in front of me). I ran to the front door, kicked off my slippers, threw on my shoes and ran out the door. I finally got to the train platform and waited for the train to arrive. "Hurry up! Hurry up!" I was thinking.

11:25pm: Finally the train arrived and I got to Asagaya station. 10 minutes late, but finally I got here! But where is Akichan?

I searched all over the platform, and then all over the station. Where is Akichan? Crap, I better find a payphone and call her.

OH CRAP.

I realized that in the haste to leave my place, I neglected to bring my iPod. So I don't have Aki's phone number. Ahhhhh....

11:35pm: I exited the station and ran around the station area. I thought there must be a manga-kissa (internet cafe) around here somewhere. I'll look up her number in my e-mail, then call her, then get my cellphone.

But I couldn't find the internet cafe. Even more aggrivating was that I saw a sign advertising an internet cafe, saying that it was nearby, across the road from Mojo Ramen. I thought, I guess that must really mean something to someone who knows where Mojo Ramen is.

12:00am: As the clock struck midnight, I realized I was in danger of missing the last train. So finally I boarded the train back to Kichijoji, with a broken heart and a broken spirit.

12:30am: After I got home I noticed that I had a returned e-mail. The e-mail I sent Aki never reached her, it came back to my with a "Syntax Error". She thought I didn't get her e-mail so she didn't wait for me at the station :(

12:45am: So I talked to her on MSN Messenger, and she's gonna try to meet me at Kichijoji station on her way from her first job to her second job. Of course I'm gonna go, but at the same time I'm not gonna get my hopes up too much. There's no guarantee that somehow our paths will misalign once again.

For now, the Japanese cellphone - which is still my key to finding a job, rebuilding my social life, and ultimately finding true peace and happiness - remains but an elusive dream.

井の頭と吉祥寺 Kichijoji and Inokashira.

Some of my friends in Canada have wondered about my Japanese language level, and exactly where it is. This is a difficult question for me to answer. The truth is, I know a lot of Japanese. But the other truth is, there is a lot I _don't_ know. My listening skills, while much better than they were even a year ago, are still weak.. to the point that even ordering in a restaurant can be difficult. And even though I can say a lot, I often stumble over my words and and/or give the wrong tense, wrong politeness level or I saw a word that means something close to what I'm trying to say, but it's still the wrong word. In the case of the tense/politeness level, it's not that I don't know how to say it properly, it's just that my brain can't work fast enough to conjugate properly, in a timely fashion. In a conversation, you have to reply right away, you don't have time to think about what the right tense or form should be.

But nevertheless, I thought it would be interesting to post a blog I wrote in Japanese and then translate it to English as accurately and as literally as possible. Therefore you can read it and judge for yourself where my Japanese level is at. The only thing I used a dictionary for is to verify some of the Chinese characters and some of the katakana spellings. The words themselves are completely my own.

-----

今朝に悲したった．
アキちゃんは元気じゃないから会えない。
Appleちゃんは京都にいるから会えない。
ゆみりいちゃんは忙しいから会えない。
どうしょう？

This morning I felt sad.
Akichan is not feeling well so I can't meet her.
Aichan is in Kyoto so I can' t meet her.
Yumi is busy so I can't meet her.
What should I do?


トロントに毎日友達と会えるでもそれはトロントだね。東京ライフは全然違うを思う。
どうしょう？

In Toronto I could see my friends every day, but that's Toronto. I think Tokyo life is completely different. What should I do?

「間違った？」と思った。「トロントに帰りましょう？」
違う。
仕事が見つけたら、１年ぐらいここに住む。本当に。
でもどうしょう？

I thought Did I make a mistake? Should I go back to Toronto?
No.
If I can find a job, I will stay here 1 year. For real.
But what should I do?


最近寂しくなった。オークハウスで日本人を見たら、「一生に遊びたい」と思ってる。「友達と紹介しておねがい」と思ってる。
でもこれを話せない。
「こんばんわ」だけが話せる。多分僕を見たら、親切な人が見えない。トトロが見えない。面白い人が見えない。
デブな白人だけが見えると思う。しょうがないね。
でもどうしょう？

These days I became lonely. When I see the Japanese people at Oakhouse, I am thinking, I want us to hang out together. Please introduce me to your friends.
But I can't say this.
All I can say is "Good evening". Maybe when they see me, the can't see a generous person. They can't see Totoro. They can't see an interesting or funny person.
I think all they see is a fat white guy. But it can't be helped.
But what should I do?

じゃ、「さんぽしましょう！」と思った。一人で井の頭と吉祥寺で散歩した。その時に、めっちゃ嬉しくなった。

Well, Let's go for a walk! I thought. By myself, I walked in Inokashira Park and Kichijoji. At that time, I became much happier.

１７Cの天気から外に行ったら、気持ちがよかった。井の頭公園に沢山の人は遊んでいた。にぎやかから嬉しかった。ボートは楽しそう。ピクニックも楽しそう。ギターを弾くも楽しそう。

It was 17C when I went outside, so I had a good feeling. There were many people hanging out in Inokashira Park. I was happy because it was so lively. The boats look so fun. The picnic looks so fun. Playing guitar looks so fun.

「じゃぁ、吉祥寺に行こお」と思った。「ショッピング・アケードを見たい」

OK, let's go to Kichijoji I thought. I wanna see the shopping arcades.

トロントのルームメートは吉祥寺がミニ渋谷だと話した。多分渋谷のほうが大きいでも吉祥寺はミニじゃないと思う！面白い店は一杯あるよ！スッゲ〜〜！

My roommate in Toronto told me that Kichijoji is a mini Shibuya. Maybe Shibuya is bigger but I don't think Kichijoji is mini! The place is full of interesting shops! So cool!

アーケードで散歩したら、右に大きい店が見えた。へ〜〜ヨドバシカメラ？！ワオワオワオ！全部ヨドバシカメラで歩いた。幸せ！

When I was walking in the shopping arcade, I saw a big store on my right. Huh? Yodobashi Camera?! Wowowow! I walked all over Yodobashi Camera. So great!

吉祥寺で散歩したら、いつも「家から歩いて来た！家から歩いて来た！」と思っていた。チョ〜すごいよ！

When I was walking around Kichijoji, I was always thinking I walked here from my place! It's so amazing!

一杯人。一杯店。一杯レストラン。一杯居酒屋。一杯楽しんでる人。一杯Life！！トロントにこれがない。

Full of people. Full of shops. Full of restaurants. Full of bars. Full of people having fun. Full of life!! In Toronto this doesn't exist.

家に帰ったら、本当に決めた。

When I came back to my place, I really decided.

トロントに帰れない。
東京に愛してるから。

I can't go back to Toronto.
Because I love Tokyo.

---

If I had more language skill, I would have added the fact that I used to think that living at Christie was a really handy spot to live, but Kichijoji completely blows Christie out of the water. I would have also described in depth the feeling I had walking around Kichijoji. To a kid who comes from a 'dead' town, where news of a single new restaurant or new company is enough to send shock waves of excitement through the whole town, Kichijoji is a mind-blowing experience. Remember I'm not just visiting Kichijoji, I live here. It's a completely different feeling.

But anyway, those language skills will come with time and practice. Rome wasn't built in a day. If I work hard, I can establish myself here. Lots of other people have done it, and they're no more special or capable then I am.

Getting To Know The Neighborhood

It was so cool to go back to Shibuya. It's my favorite place in the whole world and now its only a twenty minute train ride from where I live. I went to my favorite spot in Starbucks overlooking hachiko square. Such a great feeling.

Aki and I decided which model of phone would be best for me. I said I wanted one that had a decent camera, web browsing, a 1-seg tv tuner, MP3 player, and a microSD card slot (for saving MP3s and pics). I was told that this describes almost every phone that they currently have on the market. So I just picked one that was cheap and looked fashionable.


Aki and I later went to a famiresu (family restaurant) and I had some pasta for dinner. Its gonna take me a while to readjust to the smaller portion sizes in Japan. ^_^


Thursday I was determined to find my way to walk to Kichijoji instead of taking the train there. I knew it was close to me but I just didn't know the way. Armed with the map I bought on that unfortunate night that I couldn't find my place, I found the route to Kichijoji is actually very short and easy. Just walk left of Inokashirakoen station, go over the bridge in Inokashira park, walk north to your first major street and turn left. Boom! You're in Kichijoji. The total walk from my place is about 15 minutes. And it's a pleasant walk, mostly the park and quiet residential areas.

In Kichijoji I met a new friend Mariko. She's going to Guam this weekend and since she is going to take the airport limousine bus from Kichijoji, she suggested we meet there before she leaves. So we went to a pasta restaurant and then later she took me around the neighborhood.

Kichijoji seems like part Shibuya, part Kensington Market. They have Maru and RonRon and HMV and lots of big-name stores, but also lots of side streets chock full of inpendent retailers and rare items. It's also just as lively and the stores are almost as crowded as Shibuya. When I make my way through the skinny lanes in the store, it reminds me just how big I really am. Maybe after living here for a while I'll become smaller (eating less food and moving around more can have that effect on people) :p


Mariko seemed a bit nervous when we first met, lots of nervous laughter. But she can speak English fairly well and my goofiness seemed to put her at ease. She said Kichijoji is her favorite drinking spot so she wants to take me drinking there sometime after she gets back.

Later I wandered around my immediate neighborhood, and I found the supermarket! If I don't start cooking my own meals I'm gonna go broke very fast, and the 7-eleven just doesn't have enough for me (can't live on tuna mayo buns forever). It's actually VERY close to my place, even closer than the 7-eleven. It's a small supermarket but I can get what I need there.

My first 24 hours in Tokyo

I arrived about 4pm. I was a bit nervous about going through customs because I didn't wanna tell them I was gonna look for a job in case it complicated matters. But customs was painless so that's good.

Immediately after I got out of the arrival gate I saw the booth for the airport limousine bus. So I got a ticket and was told that the bus would be arriving in four minutes. When the bus arrived I let the ojisan take my bags and then took my seat on the bus.

I asked the girl beside me what time we would arrive in Kichijoji. This started a conversation that lasted the whole two hour bus ride there. Her name is Aiko and she lives in Kichijoji and she's very cute! She gave me her email address and said sometime we should hang out. So even though I had just arrived in Tokyo, I made a new friend. I was also happy that my Japanese was holding up and I could converse with her.

Aiko was so helpful when I arrived in Kichijoji. She let me use her cellphone to call Yuji from Oakhouse and then helped me find him.

Yuji took me to Oakhouse and even though he can speak English, he spoke to me in Japanese the whole time. The room is bigger than I imagined it, and the closet is really big. But there are only three power outlets in the the room and they're all in the same spot, so I'll have to seriously invest in some power bars and extension cords to charge up all my gadgets. Yuji told me how to get to Inokashirakoen station (the closest station to my house) and then he left.

Feeling a need to connect to the outside world, I hooked up my computer to the internet. I was all set to blog/e-mail/whatever when I saw Akichan was on MSN Messenger. So we talked and decided to meet in Asagaya for a late dinner. I found the train station as per Yuji's instructions and went to Asagaya.




I haven't seen Aki in almost a year, but when we met it seemed just like yesterday. We picked up right where we left off and just talked about my plans for Tokyo. We went to an izakaya for dinner. Ohhh man, how I've missed really good Japanese food!!





When I got back to Inokashira station I suddenly realized I had a very big problem. I didn't know my way back to Oakhouse from the station. I didn't think it would be hard to find but I walked around for over two hours and couldn't see it anywhere. I went to the 7-11 and bought a map (because they had e-mailed me the address prior to arriving in Japan) but according to the address they gave me, the map said my place was east of the station when I knew it was really south. So then I called a taxi and the taxi driver couldn't find it either (he went to the same place that they said on the map). So I gave up because by this time it was 2:30am and I was really tired. So I had the taxi driver take me to a mangakissa (like a 24 hour internet cafe) in Kichijoji.

I stayed and slept at the mangakissa until about 7:00am and then I went back to Inokashirakoen station. In the daylight I was able to find the place; I was so happy! I
slept in my room until about 1:30pm and then I woke up and called Aki's cellphone via Skype on my computer. She said she thinks I can get a bank account and cellphone in my own name if I register with the city. She said her dad can help me. She said I should meet her dad at Asagaya station at 3:30 pm.

And that's exactly what I did. I went to the 7-11 and wolfed down a couple of corn mayo buns for brunch and then boarded the train for Asagaya.

Aki's father is so kind to help me like this. I can see how busy he is and yet he takes the time to help me out. He took me to the city government building and had me registered there. I'm not exactly sure but I think that by putting his name on the form, he's taking personal responsibilty for me. So they gave me a certificate and said that if I come back after April 7, I can get a proper alien registration card.

So that's my first 24 hours. All I can say is that it feels great to be back in Tokyo!

Free

Today I become 34 years old.

Today I start my first new day since I quit my job.


Today I will go to the spa.

Today I will have a huge karaoke party with my friends.


And today I will look forward to my new life in Tokyo, which starts Tuesday.

Today I am doing exactly what I want to do.

And for that reason, today I feel free.

Goodbye Adrienne :'(

On Saturday I said goodbye to my cat, Adrienne.

Adrienne has been a loyal and true friend for over eleven years.

When I sit on the couch, she is there, to sit on my lap.
When I take a bath, she is there, waiting by the tub for me to get out.
When I am late for bed, she is there, waiting at the bedroom door.
When I go to sleep, she is there, sharing my pillow.

When I gave her away to her new owner, I felt like I was reaching in and tearing out a piece of myself.

I feel bad for Adrienne. This is a huge trauma for her, and she did nothing to deserve such a thing. I just feel happy that I found a good home for her.

Goodbye Adrienne, I already miss you very much. I hope we both can be happy in our new lives.

お花見パーティー

３月２９日にお花見パーティをしましょう！
２時に井の頭公園駅に会いましょう。
その時に僕の台湾人友達は東京で旅行していますから、彼女もパティーに来ます。
僕はパティが初めてですからすごい楽しみにしてます。♪★

代々木公園と井の頭公園、どちがいい？

４月５日に花見パーティをしたい！東京の近くにいたら、来ませんか？

でも所について、決めない。Appleさんは代々木公園を教えたでも僕は井の頭公園の近くに住む。

君はどちがいいと思う？

Family

So, last weekend I went back to my hometown, and said goodbye to my family. Perhaps I won't see them for a very long time.

For my parents, it didn't seem like such a big deal. Because with today's technology I know I'll keep in touch with them now and then.

For my sister, and her husband, I wanted to say something big and important, when I said goodbye. But I couldn't think of anything to say.

For my sister's kids, they each gave me a big hug. I don't know if they understand how long I'll be gone for, but I know I will miss them very much. I hope sometime they can visit me in Tokyo.

For my grandmother, I didn't see her but I gave her a call. I think she realizes now that I'm actually moving to Tokyo, and that she likely won't be around long enough to see me come back. It made me feel sad, to say goodbye to her.

So, next one to say goodbye to is my cat, Adrienne. I'm not looking forward to it >.<