My Newest Apartment

We'll start with the cricket.
He came out of nowhere one night, jumping in front of me, while I was watching a particularly creepy episode of Lost. Im pretty sure it was just as John didnt press the button or something. I screamed profanities and ran around in circles, then finally got myself together enough to trap him in a bowl. I left him there next to the television for over a week.
A few days ago while I was vacuuming I figured he was dead, so I lifted up the bowl. He wasnt.
Back to the bowl for you!
I contemplated just vacuuming him up, but then I realized that all my recent bad luck may be due to my imprisonment of the creepy little thing, so I let him go. How vegetarian of me.
Then, today as I was walking up the stairs I saw him sitting where I'd released him. He doesnt move. I think he's dead.
I'm screwed.

Here's my front door and washing machine. Doing chores is even more fun when you have to face the elements (and neighbors).
Walk in the front door, take off your shoes. Then notice the shower door as you enter. Hopefully I never have a house guest that I dont want to see me nude (and vice versa). The to the left is the toilet room. The glossy picture inbetween them is one of Fredrick's prints. And there's the edge of my fridge on the right (so you can orient yourself).
The box on the top right is where they control the hidden cameras.
Here's the window that overlooks my washing machine. I put the shelf and curtain up. It's nice to sit in the bath and here your neighbors coming and going. No peeking, dudes!
And the tub, the most important part of any home. Mine is square and metal. I sit indian-style in it and try not to lean my back on the cold steel before the whole tub fills.
And one of the most fun rooms in the house, the toilet room!
Mine has this nice paneling, so when I close the door and take a seat sometimes I imagine I am in a lemon-scented forest. Note the sink. That happens to be the only bathroom sink in the apartment.
Now hold on. Think about that.
I dont mind washing my hands there, but what about brushing my teeth? And everything else you should only do in your bathroom sink? I dont know. So Ive stopped doing it all.
Oh, and a mirror! Where do I give myself a look-over? You'll see.

My kitchen. All the cabinets are either too high or too low. Like me.
Dining area. Note the trash heap. I have to make a post explaining the crazy sorting system here. It may help me figure out when I should take the unburnables out.
If you look out my window you can see the school I'll be working at. Yup, right up on the fifth floor. They'll be getting a naked wave every morning (when I get out of the shower and walk through the kitchen to my bedroom).
Here's my living room, with a sliver of the dining room on the left. You can see my bookshelf, ramen flag, and all the pieces of my comic book.
My bookshelf, filled with books from all over. Again, thank you to everyone who sent me something! It's one of the best things that's happened to me since Ive been here.
My sittin' pillow on the rug I bought (on sale) at the Loft in Tokyo.
View of my living room with a peek into the bedroom on the right.
My desk. Where no magic happens. If On My Desk could see me now!
What you've all been waiting for... my bedroom. You can see where I dry my clothes when I dont want my neighbors and coworkers to see them. Actually, there's more sunlight there than off my balcony. And you can see my sad little futon and a sleeping Owl Skunk.
This is the only closet in the place. So it holds my clothes, cleaning products, art supplies, my suitcases, stuff I stole from the old apartment, etc.
You can see the futon you'll be sleeping on folded on the bottom left.
Finally, at the foot of my futon, the place where I put myself together. I got the mirror at the 100 Yen shop, but it was 1,260 yen. I cant get the price stickers off. That really bugs me. Actually, I only tried once.
The green bag is filled with pharmaceuticals.

So that's my new place. I'm living alone and I anxiously await your arrival. Make sure to bring a board game or something to do. The internet connection is a bit spotty. This post has taken over five hours (Im not kidding). But it's not like I had anything better to do today.

Did I mention the dead bat that was in here, too?

Facts of Life

Ok, I guess it's getting confusing to some readers (more like lurkers, stalkers and family members). Or maybe it's your first time here (you probably Googled Gaijin Showers and found my blog by mistake). Anyway, here's what's going on with me and the fiasco-that-is-Japan, presently:


I am sitting at a table I stole from my last apartment, writing this offline while waiting for the unsecured wireless internet signal to bless me with it's presence once more tonight. I cant stop thinking about the fact I only have 272 MB of free disc space left on my hard-drive. A balloon in the right hand corner keeps reminding me. This just leads to thoughts about buying an external hard-drive, which leads to thoughts about just buying a new laptop, which leads to thoughts about paying for internet service so I dont have to hold my laptop up with one hand at a 30 degree angle while facing northeast to get a connection. But then I remember my credit card bill. And how I havent worked in three months.

I came here in September, wide-eyed and ready to love Japan and all it's backwards kookiness. Some things helped me steer off that path; in mid-October company I worked for collapsed and filed for bankruptcy. Also, the food sucks.


It was all fun and games for a while (in between panic attacks and chocolate binges) and being unemployed and not paid for a month's work was OK because there was a big group of us going through it... having tea parties, OC marathons, and countless nomihodi. Of course, one-by-one parents stopped sending money and people started going home. Being the newest of the bunch I was determined to stick it out and have my year in Japan. I would not going back home to retail.

I went job hunting. My internet service at home was cut off, due to not paying the bill. So whenever I had ¥472 to burn I'd bike twenty minutes to the nearest internet cafe and send off my resume and headshot. The job market was flooded with thousands of gaijin newly looking for work. But by early November I'd received a few offers. One of them was at a school in Korea. I didnt want to uproot myself again so I chose an English school in Tokuyama. It's right next door to Kudamatsu and where I spent most of my time anyway.

There was one problem though, the position didnt begin until January 22. I had a brilliant plan of working at a Korean winter camp for the two months in between, but even after a phone interview I was unable to work it out.

So, to make a long story longer, I spent a few months squatting in my apartment (no one paid the rent, no one made me leave). The days went by slowly. I spent them reading books, taking baths, cooking, meeting people, drinking and trying to get private English lessons. Poverty and stress took the fun out of unemployment, but there were some adventures.


Jon came in early December and saved me from total despair (temporarily), he left for Australia, came back, and we met up in Tokyo. After a week I went back to Kudamatsu, packed up my stuff and moved into my new apartment in Tokuyama. I have two weeks before my new job begins. I have two months before I receive my first full paycheck. And I never got the money owed to me from the first school I worked for.


Right now I'm stuck in Japan, financially. I refuse to leave before paying off the debt accumulated by coming here.

I live in Japan out of spite.


(Christmas party photo)

New Years Videos

See photos on my Flickr and Facebook.

Kaiten-zushi in Giza

New Years

This unsecured wireless signal I have is kind of spotty. So this isn’t the post I wish it could be. I moved into a new apartment in Tokuyama a few days ago. So far everything here is pretty good. There was an earthquake this afternoon (I survived), there was a dead bat and a live scary cricket (now living or dead under a bowl in the living room), and there’s no bathroom sink (very inconvenient) but other than that it’s an excellent place.

Ueno Market

For New Years I headed to Tokyo for seven days, to meet up with Jon and Simone. We spent New Years night at Zojoji Temple next to Tokyo Tower. At midnight 3,000 released balloons with wishes tied to them. We didn’t have any balloons (the line was too long). It was packed there and fun nonetheless. I felt really lucky to be there, watching the monks do their bizarre ceremony, eating noodles and drinking beer, stuck in a sea of people.



After Tokyo I got back and spent the next day moving into my new place. And then the following day I went to Hiroshima to meet up with Jon again. He spent the in-between day in Fukuoka. You can never see the A-dome too many times… It was nice, though. That city is so close, I should really go more often (they have a Starbucks).

Blah

Ive been reading and sleeping and eating and drawing. I havent had an English conversation with someone since Monday. My futon has been moved into the living room, and my roommate moved out. I wrote some blog entries at home, but then I got sick of the idea of talking about myself, so I cant manage to bring them to the internet cafe. I get sad when I think about my dying sketchblog, but then Im happy because I know my comic book is taking shape. Very, very, slowly.

EDIT 2007.12.27
I added the posts I wrote at home.

Frozen Peas

I didn’t leave the house today. Actually, I just went to 7-11, but it’s after midnight. So, I didn’t leave the house yesterday. I put myself together enough (but somehow forgot to button my fly) to bike around the corner and go to the only place open 24 hours in this city. I need something to make this toothache go away. Im not sure what I thought Id find at a convenience store that never has anything I need ever, but if there were pliers for sale I would have spent my last few yen on them.

I didn’t get out of bed until four (except to pee a few times). I heard the doorbell at about 11am. I didn’t budge. Whoever it was, I am sure I didn’t want to see them. I was awake, in bed (or on futon), but there was nothing to get me to actually leave my room. No plans, friends, work, ideas. I read a little bit. I stared at Owl Skunk.

Finally, I was a little hungry and got up and poured myself some cereal. If it weren’t for food I would probably just float away. It gives me purpose. I need some everyday. After the cereal I took a bath. It ended abruptly, as usual, fearfully jumping out of the hot water, convinced I just heard one of the paper doors slide open. Ive never lived alone, turns out Im horribly paranoid.

I could have drawn today, but I didn’t want to. The phrase creative paralysis keeps creeping into my head. I think about what I could be potentially painting or drawing and Im immediately bored of myself. The other day I started work on a watercolour still life of all the fruit people have been giving me. That isn’t what I want to be drawing. I think of working on my comic book, which I have resolved will mostly be about me and my lack of knowledge about anything else, and I am repulsed by the idea of drawing my face or hands again. At least not today.

My comic has turned into a monster. I don’t just feel guilty when I don’t work on it, I feel like I am turning my back on the one interesting thing I can accomplish in my life. Without it Im lost. And sometimes Im terrified to touch it.

I also don’t have a desk. And the aesthetics of a workplace are important. Sitting in my dirty kitchen or on the itchy tatami, fluorescent bulbs humming over my head, isn’t exactly an environment conducive to art-making. Or am I making excuses? Maybe I don’t have what it takes at all-- even though I can think of many examples of how little it actually takes.

Anyway, creative paralysis.

So now Im writing this. Im at home, on my internet-free laptop. It’s kind of like what a castaway stranded on a deserted island would do. With no one to talk to, no one who speaks my language (and not just English), I keep my sanity by keeping a record. A list to prove I existed. I am alone, in Japan, and trying to make the pain of my toothache go away by sticking frozen peas between my cheek and gums. And also, I took something that Im sure will knock me out for a few days.

Until then.

More More More

Today Jon asked me why I don’t write blog posts at home and then bring them to the internet café on my little pink USB stick. It’s true, I do have a lot of downtime at home and I spend huge portions of it sleeping or in the bath. I could do something a little more productive, and update this blog thing.

But whenever I write here I feel like I’m complaining or just giving mundane details of my day-to-day life. Maybe that’s what blogs are. Hilarious situations happen here a lot, but when I sit in front of the computer screen I draw a blank. Sketchblogging is so much easier (if I could just get myself to do some of that!).

As I write this a little Japanese voice inside my computer is asking me “sō desu ka?” How appropriate. Within the last week Ive gone from banning the Japanese language in my home (at least when it’s gaijin saying things I don’t understand) to having a slight grasp on the language. When I first came to Japan I didn’t know a word. I couldn’t recognize anything said on TV or to me. At my first (and only) Japanese lesson a few weeks ago, the woman was asking me for my name and I gave her a blank stare that created a whole new remedial section in my beginner’s class.

Now Im starting to pick things up. It took a combination of hearing the same thing repeated over and over, learning about the grammatical structures, and seeing the words written in romanji in books. But, even when you read Japanese in the familiar script it is pronounced differently than in English. For example, “desu” is pronounced dess. The “u” is silent. And “hajimemashite” is an example of how tricky it is. It’s pronounced ha-jee-may-mosh-tay. I’d say I know about fifty words. I can make a few questions but cant really put sentences together beyond “My name is…” and “I like it.”

Tonight I had a Nabe party at my house. Jon was here and some former students from Nova, as well as a woman I give private English lessons to. She came to the grocery store with me and it was amazing! I could just pick up a product and she could tell me what it was and what was in it! That’s part of my reason for wanting to learn Japanese. Also, it gives me some brain food. But knowing that even if I study intensely for a few years I wont be completely fluent makes me feel defeated and unmotivated. Because I know I wont put that much effort into it. I think I have the attitude that if Im not going to be perfect at it (and will forget most of it when I move back home) it isn’t even worth spending time on. Of course, then I look around and realize where I am and pick back up my Kanji Starter book.

Like today, for example. I was in the shower and Jon was cooking pancakes (it was 4pm). All of a sudden the hot water turned off! Like, nothing was coming out of the showerhead. I got out of the bathroom and into my freezing apartment and asked Jon what happened. He had leaned on the hot water heater control. I stood there trying to fix it for twenty minutes, whining about my situation and screaming “I hate Japan!” I pushed the four buttons in every sequence conceivable and but nothing worked. The voice inside the box just kept saying, something-something-blah-blah-kudasai. I had to call Sister Fuji, luckily she came over and said the problem was that we hadn’t turned off the faucets. That’s what that voice was saying. Of course.

Funny thing happened yesterday. I was trying to find the kanji for “Kudamatsu” so I Googled “Japanese Kanji Kudamatsu.” Guess what the first result was… youre looking at it.

The Food

I hate the food here. Other than the ridiculously expensive strawberries, I find most things here unappealing. The bread I bought yesterday was gross. I threw up after eating at the Tex-Mex place in Iwakuni on Sunday. No matter what I buy I can taste Japan in it.

Jon coming here has validated my opinion of the food. Thus far, he’s not a fan. The soymilk is different, the coffee tastes watery, and tofu dishes lack any kind of spice or flavour. We’re not the only ones, though. Non-vegetarian gaijin hate the food, too. And it’s not even being afraid of something new or different, it’s just totally unappetizing. I watch cooking shows on TV and have never once started salivating from what Ive seen. And unless you’ve been here I don’t want your opinion of how I should feel about the food. Going to a Japanese themed restaurant or an American sushi place is not the same.

There is a place in Tokuyama I really like though, called Trés Café. The menu is completely Japanese (with no pictures) but Ive been there enough times with Ashley (who can read and speak the stuff) to know how to order the ¥800 set (it’s a great deal!). I know I impressed Jon yesterday when I ordered us both the sets (which includes a salad or sandwich, fruit, toast, jam, and soup) and answered what kind of soup (pumpkin), said we wanted salad and communicated which dressing. I forgot about the jam flavour question, though. So when the waiter managed to get “Strawberry, blueberry?” out in English I asked if he was asking about the coffee flavour. That got a laugh from the chef and other waiters later when I saw him retell his hilarious gaijin-tale. But Trés Café isn’t Japanese food, obviously. They don’t even have chopsticks there.

I do like noodles sometimes. I love the ramen at Antonio’s yatai. Last night some guy ordered me and Jon tofu Oden, understanding we were vegetarian. I ate a piece out of politeness (and complete drunkenness), but a piece of tofu floating around with fish, pork and eggs in a dirty pan with soy sauce isn’t exactly vegetarian. My spirit is slowly being broken.

I have tons of food in my house right now. Jon brought me a huge jar of peanut butter and bags of beans (among other things) from Canada. And there were massive leftovers from the Nabe (my fridge is stuffed with cabbage and vegetables I don’t know the names of). Sister Fuji keeps bringing me fruits and vegetables and my dining room table has a fruit bowl overflowing with grapefruits, kiwis, and mandarins. Yup, food.

God, I hate this blog.

Progress

Thanks so much for the books everyone!

I've started to learn some Japanese and read a bit of kanji. I'm no where near the 2,000 characters the Japanese government deems 'essential' but I have figured out I live in Yamaguchi, or 山口. 山 [yama] means 'mountain' and and '口' [guchi] can mean mouth or opening. I think it is pronounced kuchi when you're talking about a mouth.

So, Im like practically fluent, right?

Ive been doing that to keep busy. And picking up a few English lessons. Jon came to Kudamatsu Friday, so Ive been bringing him around, showing him the sights... the rice fields, internet cafe, The Mall. We went to Miyajima yesterday and had fun going in the mountains looking at deer and looking for monkeys. I even saw a raccoon-dog! Which is a recent life-long dream of mine.

Tuesday night Im having a nabe party at my house, with Jon and some of the Japanesies (nickname for the gaggle of Japanese women we hang out with). Tonight we're headed to the Indian restaurant and Antonio's yatai.

Ok, my time is up!