In the corporate culture of Japan, there is a strong push to go out with one's co-workers. Generally speaking, I think this is also true in the US. However, it is not to quite the same extent at it is here. In some cases, salesmen go out drinking with their clients on a weekly basis. All this is to say, that when there is an office party, all are expected to attend or have a good excuse as to why they can't. So, I have been to 4 or 5 work organized, or work related events. And I think that's the low end. Anyway, this weekend was my office's x-mas party, and I have to admit that it was the best office party I've been to yet.



The party was at a bar called Tatula. It is also a bartenders' school, just fyi. The bar was rather small. It held four large tables of 6-8 people and about 12 people could sit at the bar itself. We met our co-workers down the street about 15 minutes before the party began. Of course, our boss gave a short speech at pre-determined moments throughout the night. So, after the first of these we all headed indoors to the bar. Inside we sat with our students and tried to intersperse ourselves the best we could. Our staff and students filled every seat in the place.

The food was also better than any other party food I'd had. It's true that at these parties, food is a bit stingy, but at least the quality was good. :) And drinks were free, so we were drinking plum wine. If you have never tried plum wine, I highly recommend it. It's rather sweet, almost like a dessert wine, but still tasty with appetizers.

We happened to sit with some students who I really like, so I was happy to talk to them about their holiday (New Year's) plans, what kind of coffee they prefer, where is the best place in Nagoya to eat shrimp, and various other topics. 2 hours flew by pretty fast. Then the bartenders put on a show. They threw around bottles and glasses to a crazy techno beat. Everyone was clapping and having a good time. One bartender even blew fire. He only did it once, but still. The atmosphere was great.

Then, after the party, everyone hung around outside chatting. You could tell that everyone was enjoying themselves. Some of our students are still in the beginning levels of English, but it certainly didn't stop them from enjoying the shindig. And we had a great time too. :)

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Nagoya is a big city with a lot to do. There are bars, clubs for men, clubs for women, sports organizations, karaoke, restaurants, billiards, movie theaters, and malls.
This picture (taken in Tokyo, but you get the idea) is of a building that I can only assume is dedicated to those who want to sing their hearts out to early-90s-Madonna, YMCA, or Bohemian Rhapsody. The giant word from top to bottom indicates that this place has the sole purpose of providing small rooms with large speakers in which to entertain your friends.



If you're not into imagining you're in a rock band, then there are other possible places to hang out. For example, before arriving at a local Yama-chan to have dinner with friends, Christopher and I happened past this plethora of questionable clubs.Personally, I like the name "Joyful Night Radish." Until this point, I would never have connected the words "joyful" and "radish." "Club Divorce" is also an interesting choice. I'm pretty sure it's not a support group.

I've already mentioned the food in Nagoya, I'm sure. Taste-testing around the city is probably my favorite go-out activity. I can't think of a time that I was really ever disappointed, and that's a good sign. The Japanese and international food restaurants are plentiful, convenient, and range from insanely cheap to mind-bogglingly expensive. (Do you like "mind-bogglingly"? I do.) So, as long as you take a look at the menu before going inside, you should be good. Just last week, we wandered into a popular Chinese restaurant that we hadn't tried yet. It was so delicious, I'm looking forward to going back.

And finally, there is always the nighttime stroll. The city is very safe compared to most cities its size, and I never worry about walking at night whether alone or with friends. And taxis are pretty abundant, so in the event you lose your way (maybe later I'll post about the lack of street signs), a cab can take you back home without much ado. And there you have it. So many choices, the night's never boring.

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A few weeks ago we noticed more people than usual gathering in Osu. After work, we took a walk to find out what was going on. As it turns out there was a cool parade and festivities to celebrate Japan during the Edo period.



Whenever there is a festival, it seems like hundreds of people turn out. This was no exception. It was neat to see the different period costumes, there were elites, servants, bodyguards, etc. Everyone was in character.
I can't imagine how uncomfortable this woman must have been. She walked in the smallest of steps, always looking forward. At certain points during their parade, the women would pause and do a small dance with their feet. You can't see it in the picture, but the women are so much taller than the men because they are wearing platform wooden sandals about 8 inches thick. The guy behind her with his elbow bent is carrying a huge red umbrella that hung over her.
In the courtyard of Osu Kannon temple later that night, there was a performance done in the old style of Japanese theater. It's so nice to have these little surprises in our weekend entertainment! :)

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Two weeks ago while walking around, we came upon a street that we'd never been to, even though it isn't that far from our apartment. We noticed a rather new, stone building. Walking up to the front, we saw that it was The Orchid Garden of Nagoya. So, we made a plan to go check it out. Last weekend, we headed out on a bright, sunny and relatively cool day to see what we could see.



The garden was split into four main areas, the first room was the smallest and contained only orchids. In my opinion, it was orchid art. Each bouquet had it's own little descriptive card. If I read Kanji, maybe I could have seen who had been the florist to make the creation. In short, they were beautiful. But, I have to say that I prefer more lush flowers. And I wasn't disappointed in the next room.

Moving from the first small room, you have to go through a set of doors into a much larger area (but still inside). In this section, many more flowers and plants are on display along with chairs here and there to relax in. This was probably my favorite part. Many of the flowers were so bright and perfect that they easily looked like they were made of plastic. There were also dozens of paper lamps everywhere to fill in the blanks.
After this room, the garden moves outside. In the third section of the garden, there is a small area with seasonal flowers. They also decorated this part. It had witches and gourds galore. And it sat next to the garden's café. We'd already eaten, or maybe we could have had lunch in the garden. The seasonal plants and flowers were so bright that when we looked at the pictures later, we would have thought they they'd been doctored if we didn't know better. In one area that I liked, they were growing peppers. We saw bell pepper plants, but when we looked at their display card, the name was UFO peppers. Perhaps they were peppers from outer space. :)

The final area was the largest and included a walking path. In fact, I was really surprised to see how big the whole garden was. From the outside, you really can't tell there there is so much going on on the other side of the wall. Anyway, in this part, there were many types of trees, including pine (to which I'm allergic, I had to hurry through). And there was a small pond. As well as a statue here and there. The only down side to this part of the garden were the mosquitoes. We couldn't stay out there for too long.
In this picture, we were able to capture both the garden (looking from the pond towards the café area) and the city buildings beyond. It was so peaceful and quiet that it was hard to imagine that it was smack in the middle of the city. An adult ticket costs 700 yen. I'd say it was totally worth it. :)

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I have had a couple of students erroneously tell me that Japanese people don't like sweets. I beg to differ. It's true that desserts at a restaurant aren't common, at least not when we go out with people. And, perhaps they don't have dessert after dinner on a daily basis. But, there are hundreds of dessert choices at the supermarket and convenience stores. And I always see people snacking on sweet things. Not to mention, there seems to be an affinity for pastries and candy. I've given exhibits below to demonstrate what I mean.





What you see above is proof that Japanese taste buds are attuned to sugar. I mean, 5 flavors of Kit Kat? And that's not even including the chocolate varieties. Hello, sweet tooth anyone? :) I don't mind, myself. I have these pictures because I've "sampled" all the above.... to help with ..er... my cultural studies! It's true! ;)

And then there are the traditional desserts made with Anco (red bean paste). It's a different kind of sweet entirely. But it's sweet nonetheless, and you can find it in many, many things. Too many to name. They also had shaved ice for sale on the streets during the summer. The common flavors appeared to be green tea and something red, probably strawberry.

So, with that, I rest my case. A sweet tooth can find haven in Japan. :)

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The area of Osu has a lot to offer. It's within walking distance of both Fushimi and Sakae (see previous blogs on those areas), has many smaller family-owned furniture stores with everything from modern sinks to traditional household shrines (not that I need a shrine in my house, but if I did, I could get one here), has good food - both Japanese and international, and is called "Little Akihabara" because of its electronics stores like Goodwill above.



The fact that it's within walking distance of many places makes it a perfect first and/or last stop on a Sunday afternoon stroll. Not to mention, if it's raining, you can still be outside while under cover at the Osu Arcade, a semi-outdoor mall. This mall doesn't have it all, I'm not gonna lie. But it does have at least 6 small shoe stores. So that's pretty much all I need anyway. :) And it has electronics shops and hobby shops for everything from video games to model airplanes. It also has my favorite (tiny!) grocery store that sells deliciously fresh tuna and salmon, as well as veggies, drinks and things, at low prices. And I'm not the only one who thinks it's great. My ex-neighbor (who is Japanese and moved to Australia with her husband) also knew of this place and was impressed that I'd found it and shopped there. It was a good moment for me. :)

This neighborhood is important historically, because it's home to Osu Kannon temple. This temple is visited regularly by tour buses as well as by the locals. I must admit, at this point the temple has lost some of its "newness" for me. I rarely marvel at it anymore. But, I remember seeing it for the first time. It's funny, you walk out of the subway, go straight 50 yards, pass the Circle K, then pass the 7-11, turn left, and you're in the courtyard of this huge temple. Two weeks ago, I was waiting next to the subway to meet Christopher, and a couple walked up to me. I guess they thought that I looked like I knew where I was, because they asked me how to get to the Osu Kannon walking trail. I said, "Do you see the 7-11? Go there and turn left." Another good moment for me. :)

Last but not least, "otaku" (akin to saying 'nerds') also love to call this area home away from home on the weekends. Many stores cater to fans of manga and anime as well as cosplay (see blog about the cosplay parade). And it's not unusual to see girls walk by in maids' outfits or Victorian garb. You just never know who will be dressed up.

At any rate, I love this area. My only complaint... very little stays open past 7pm on weekdays. I guess that the difference between big commercial areas and historic districts with mom and pop shops.

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I was discussing hospitals with a student the other day. She's a doctor, and she used to work in the ER for a bit. Now, I believe she has her office somewhere else; we didn't get that far. At any rate, she said, "There was a homeless person that the police brought in because he couldn't stand. But then he left." I asked why he didn't stay.



She answered that he didn't have enough money. Of course. I felt dumb, that's the same thing that happens in the US, after all. However, I've come to feel that health care in Japan is SO cheap that everyone, even if they don't have a lot of money, can afford it.

That's not entirely true, but let's take a look at why I think so. :) We've been to the hospital three times so far. Seeing the doctor at the hospital, by the way, is equivalent to any 'ol doctor's visit. If I have a cold that won't go away, I go to the hospital. If I twisted my ankle, I go to the hospital, etc. We tried calling the day before we went to get an appointment, but they said it was full and to just come in a wait. We'd likely be seen within three hours of our arrival. Uhm, sounds like a long wait, right? But, we went anyway.

We arrived at 8:40am. Proceeded to the reception desk and got processed. Then we waited at our particular door, this time it was A-6. (For an explanation about this, see Christopher's post entitled "Hospitals in the Land of the Rising Sun"). A little bit later, we saw the doctor. When Christopher and I left it was BEFORE 10am. That means we spent less than 1.5 hours to get there, get processed, see the doctor, and leave.

So, how much was this speedy visit to the hospital without an appointment? Less than 20 bucks. Need I say more?

So, how is it that costs are so low? I asked around. Turns out that the government (i.e. The Man) publishes an enormous book each year of prices for medical treatment. So, a laceration of 3 inches - 5 dollars; sprained joint - 10 dollars. I have no idea what the actual costs are, but you get the idea. Seems like the State could intervene a bit more back home, in comparison. I have heard that actual hospitalization here costs a pretty penny, but let's hope I don't have to find out! I'd like to continue believing that the Japanese gov't stepped in long ago and decided that outrageous medical costs aren't going to be a problem here.

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Lost? Just ask a stranger. Of course, it helps if you speak ten words or so of Japanese, but if you don't, you should try anyway! It's amazing just how far people will go out of their way to help you if you're lost. Even if you're touristy-looking. For example, while in Tokyo, we wanted to head out in Shinjuku.



Unfortunately, it was our first time there, and we had next to no clue how to arrive at our destination. As such, we stood on the side of the sidewalk, and started to guess how much the people walking by knew about the area. We decided to stop two girls, one of them was in a school uniform. We thought, if she's in a school uniform, she must go to school around there and know the area. However, we had guessed incorrectly. The girls told us politely that they had no idea where we should go. We stood there a bit longer, and stopped a young guy walking by. We told him what we were looking for and he started to point in a direction.

Rather than let that be that, he took us to the nearest city map (usually they are pretty easily found around subway and train stations). Then, he plotted our route for us. But his courtesy didn't stop there. He said he would walk us at least part way there, since it wasn't out of his direction. He was totally being just nice at that point, because it was in fact the opposite way he had been walking. After about 8 to 12 minutes of walking, we made it there. He didn't just walk us part of the way. He walked us ALL the way there. We thanked him over and over and invited him to come sit and have a drink with us (we were on vacation after all). But he declined and left. Wow, how helpful was he??? And, by the way, the man in the photo is the one who helped. I can imagine someone from home spending a long 5 minutes explaining how to get somewhere, but I can't imagine someone from home actually walking there. I was impressed.

There have been other instances of people helping both of us find what we needed. But this case definitely stands out the most. Subarashi!

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On Saturday, there was a Cosplay parade. What's Cosplay you ask? Costume + play. So, adults dress up as characters from anime, TV, and movies. Think, Halloween - only, it doesn't matter what time of year it is. :) Also, not everyone thinks this is a cool activity, but for those who do - the parade is a time to strut their stuff.



So, who did we find at the Cosplay Parade? We didn't dress up ourselves, but we took a prime spot on the parade route to catch a few pics and check out the costumes.
The guy on the right is Auron from Final Fantasy. I'm not sure who the girl on the left is. It was extremely humid, so I can't even image how gross they must have felt after the parade was over. I was in a cotton shirt, myself, and let's just say I was "glistening". Believe it or not, this was just the beginning of many festivities surrounding Cosplay over the weekend. That night, there were fireworks. Also, the next day (Sunday) there was another event in Oasis 21 (see Spotlight Sakae) where Cosplayers gave performances and competed for best costume. I think that the team from Brazil won best costume. We didn't attend the Oasis 21 event, but if you're interested, you can find video from it online at the Cosplay 2008 website. In the meantime, maybe you should get crackin' on what you'll wear for Halloween this year! ;)

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As some may already know, the two of us plus a visiting friend went to Tokyo about two weeks ago. The trip was amazing all around. One of the sights we took in was the Tsukiji Fish Market. This is a world famous market, fully functional, totally hazardous, and fast paced. In fact, this locale even made the list of the top 1000 places you must see before you die in a book that our friend had read.



This wasn't any walk in the park. You can't just saunter up at 10am, Starbucks in hand. Oh no. We woke up at 5:20am. That's AM if you weren't reading closely. ;) This is after we had spent the previous night out at dinner and karaoke with friends. I pretended that I was a morning person back when I played volleyball and we had 7am workouts. I pretended again when I worked for a coffee shop in college and woke up at 4:45am. However, I was purely pretending. 5:20am is not a happy time for me. Nevertheless, persuaded by our friend's fervor (she is a morning person), off we went. We took a taxi and got dropped off at the outside market that lines the bay (Not to be confused with the inside market. The inside one is the actual Tsukiji market). After pretty much discounting everything they had for sale, we headed in to the market. It was pandemonium if you ask me. I have absolutely no idea how people aren't seriously injured on a daily basis. Men were quite literally racing around on motorized buggies of sorts.

My description isn't doing it justice. I guess that's why it's on that list of places you should see for yourself. The market was enormous. There was an open area where the auction for that day's tuna took place (see the first photo), but beyond that there were rows and rows and long rows of booths for fish and seafood. Many merchants were in the process of killing their "wares." I'll spare you the photos, though. Many had tanks of live fish. And others sold other types of dried food and things I didn't recognize. It was a lot to take in. I think the most surprising this for me was the shear speed with which everything was taking place. More than once, I had to get myself out of the way of a man on buggy-thing, a man with a wheelbarrow, or a man with crates.

Once we had gotten enough to fill our sightseeing duties, we left and browsed the outdoor market once again. We headed back to the hotel and hung out until a couple hours later when we could once again pursue our tourist agenda. The next place we headed was Akihabara (or Akiba for y'all "in the know"). But that's another post. :)

Note: The second picture was taken by yours truly, but the first was taken by our friend. And used with permission as long as we give her credit. (Thanks, L.T.!)

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Unfortunately, the above picture was taken on a rather grey day. But otherwise, I thought this spot was very cool. I had never been to this particular river (yes, it runs through the city in which I live... but still, hadn't ever seen it).



This is Fushimi. It's an extrememly busy area, but from what I can gather, it's mostly busy because it's between Ekimae and Sakae (see Spotlight Sakae and Spotlight Ekimae). It's literally the subway stop between those two places on the central subway line. Yet, it has plenty to offer. For example, when Christopher and I arrived in Japan, our hotel was located in this area. And our first dinner out for "yaki tori" (see Meat on a Stick) was also in Fushimi. Not only that, but I come to this area (on the eastern side, away from the river which is on the western side) at least once a month to pay rent at our agent's office. OK, so that's not really a draw... ;) Also, if I were interested in joining a gym, all my co-workers say the sports center here is the way to go.

For entertainment, this place has the usual assortment of restaurants, bars, karaoke places, and shops. If you like Hard Rock Café, Nagoya's branch is here. All in all, I think this is a pretty accessible, fun place to look around.

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I've never considered myself to be a fashionista. In fact, I really like jeans and t-shirts or sweats. So, I've had to adjust to wearing corporate-appropriate clothes everyday to work and fun outfits out. In Japan, fashion is definitely an institution. People are far more casual in the US.



Moreover, Nagoya is known for its fashion. You may have heard of Harajuku in Tokyo. That's the stylish part of Tokyo where the young adults (and adults) dress up in Victorian style garb, or costumes, or any other range of things. Nagoya, on the other hand, is a little less costume-y (although you can still see that kind of thing around). Below is a picture that Leah took of two girls walking down the street in Nagoya. The way they dress is not the norm (you can see everyone else around them in jeans, shirts, etc); however, they are certainly not weird for dressing this way.
On the other hand, this style is contrasted by women who regularly wear kimonos. I'm not entirely sure why they wear kimonos regularly, but here are some of the reasons that I've been able to find out: for a formal event such as an anniversary party, for a wedding, for a religious event, for a performance, or as formal wear (or business wear in some cases). There are plenty of kimono shops around. Kimonos can run the range from reasonable to ridiculously expensive. Christopher or I could buy one for ourselves for about 150 to 200 dollars. But wealthy families could pay up to 5 to 10 thousand dollars for a new wedding kimono. Many times, the kimonos are handed down through the women in the family.

Overall, I would say that the Japanese business people are traditional and not really outstanding. I was at a meeting where all the men were wearing either black or blue suits and white or light-colored dress shirts. But, they still have more style than me. I'm working on it! :)

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It's the simple things in life that make it worth living right? Right. The following little treasures were amassed for your reading/viewing pleasure. Sometimes the English is funny, sometimes overly serious, sometimes incomprehensible. Enjoy. :)



I love kindly feeling.

Yummy... fresh brain...
Not sure what to think, but I do love dogs!

At the Karaoke bar:
Or else!

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We were out on a day trip to the mall with a friend when he asked, "So, you guys want to come to the Dragons game with some of us?" Uhm, yeah! So we threw in our money for two tickets with the gang and head out on a Sunday afternoon to see the Dragons at their home, the Nagoya Dome.



Before getting in, we stopped by the mall (literally next door) for a little pre-game lunch and beverages. I had ramen. I missed the hotdogs and peanuts a bit, but I suppose we can't have everything. Then we met up with everyone and walked the 50 yards from the mall to the entrance. We filed in as security checked in our bags and punched our tickets.

We walked up to the appropriate section. A ways up but between home and first, so not a bad view. After having one of the Japanese members of our group ask a nice couple if we couple swap seats with them so everyone could be together, we settled in for the game. Below is a look at the dome.I have to say, it was a pretty uneventful first half or so of the game. No one from our team was really scoring or even making bases. The crowd, though, kept up the energy with small plastic bats of sorts. They would use two of the bats together as noise makers and clap and chant in unison. There were the usual beer, coke, and food vendors there. But, if I remember correctly, they didn't holler as they walked up and down the aisles. Then, after the 7th inning break - which, by the way, wasn't the 7th inning stretch that I was hoping for - the game got much more exciting. It was like the team was just waiting until then to really play. As you can see, the Dragons hit 5 runs in during the 7th, and another run in the bottom of the 9th to finish the game. All in all, it was a lot of fun and the company was good, so I'd definitely go again. And, since it's in a dome, I don't risk the usual sunburn I get from going to the ballgame!

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Almost one month ago, we had a long weekend. It was Japanese Golden Week. This means that practically the whole nation has a four day weekend. Many spend it traveling around Japan or short trips elsewhere. We decided to hop over to Inuyama. Inuyama is home to the oldest original wooden castle still in existance in Japan.



It took us a relatively short ride (40 minutes) on a local train to get to this city. The weather was great, so we were certainly lucky there. We got off the train and asked a local (well, she looked like a local to us) to point us in the direction of the castle. It's fortunate we asked, because right out of the gate, I think we would have gone the wrong direction. But anyway, we walked the 12 minutes or so over to the location of the castle. 500 yen got us tickets to the castle, a small but nice museum, and another small but nice Kabuki theater museum across the street.

The castle itself sits at the top of a rather large hill, and the stone path / stairs leading up to it are less than smooth. Before you can go inside, you have to take off your shoes and carry them around with you in a plastic grocery sack. Sacks provided. I have a theory that the city workers ask tourists to do this for 2 reasons. 1 - It's important to show respect for the construction that still stands, and 2 - To bet on how many tourists will fall down the polished and extremely steep wooden staircase inside. It was more like climbing a ladder with two-way traffic. At the uppermost staircase, people could not even go up and down at the same time. This led to a traffic jam or two.

The view from the top of the castle was really great. The top floor had a viewing platform around the outside of the building. While this area didn't scream safety, we still felt comfortable. I can't say so for the couple who were in front of us though. They were scooting around the outside of the building, backs to the wall.

After checking out the view, we headed over to the two small museums. Spending 5 minutes in each was totally enough time to get the scoop. I mean, the museums were super small. Really really small. In one were cool parade floats that are all lit up, and of course, wooden as well. Once checking out these, we decided to head back home. We'll have to go back to Inuyama again sometime. I hear that there is a nice Monkey Park to see. I'm assuming there are a lot of monkeys, but I'll withhold judgment for now.

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I've come to appreciate many things about Japan. However, there are a few things that I don't like or don't understand. Here's a list of "thumbs up" things and "thumbs down" things. You can judge for yourself! :)

Thumbs Up
1. Hilarious variety shows on TV
2. Vending machines EVERYWHERE
3. The widest selection of cell phones and cell phone accessories I've ever seen
4. You can buy a Starbucks drink right outside the ballpark and be allowed to go in with it
5. Strangers are extremely helpful if you ask for directions. They may even walk you part of the way there.
6. Conservation of water and electricity is a pretty high priority for most
7. Japanese castles are very cool
8. No tipping at restaurants
9. Sick people wear masks so as not to infect the non-sick. I can appreciate that on a crowded subway train.
10. Take out sushi rocks

Thumbs Down
1. Cosmetics are twice the price as the US
2. No one opens the door for others
3. I can never find a trash can when I need one
4. Eastern style toilets make me feel like I'm participating in urban camping
5. Fish is often served with the head still on. Yuck.
6. Conservation of paper doesn't even come close to the aforementioned #6
7. Public bathrooms may or may not have paper towels or hand dryers, so a third of the time you come out with clean, but wet, hands
8. Shoe sizes come in S, M, L, and LL. Somehow that takes some magic out of shoe shopping.
9. Japan's smoking population is pretty large meaning smelly bars and restaurants
10. Mayonnaise comes on everything. You have to make sure to ask first to get your order without it, just in case.

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For those of you still keeping up with this blog of ours, you may have noticed a lack of posts lately.. Well, we lost our internet connection. It was our own fault, really. Never the less it was extremely irritating as well. My Japanese language skills are improving, but not enough to be able to understand a full phone call to our ISP, Biglobe. It seems we made a small mistake: We never paid for their service. Much like most Americans would, we waited for a bill for the first month, and since it never came, I think that we forgot about it.

Regardless, expect updates to come soon.

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Can you live in Japan on a budget? Lots of helpful advice givers told us that the answer was no. They said that living in Japan is super expensive and we better be prepared to pay lots for little. Fortunately, that's not true! yay! In fact, living in Japan is totally reasonable - price wise. You just have to know not to shop at expensive department stores every weekend, and not pay for parking in the city.

View Exhibit A:

Wow! This so-delicious-lunch that I bought myself at the take out sushi place down the street cost about 6 bucks. These are freshly made everyday and given a lovely spot on the counter next to the tuna and cucumber rolls. In the bottom right-hand corner, you can see some boiled veggies. In this case, carrots, mushroom, and Japanese radish (daikon). Of course, to the left of that is some rice with a small plum in the center. In the top left-hand corner is a small portion of pasta salad. And then in the main entrée section some cabbage, a slice of omlette-style egg, three pieces of fried chicken and a slice of yummy salmon steak. 6 dollars is a pretty average price for a take-out lunch like this one. However, if I had really felt like it, I could have walked just a little bit farther to the discount market for a half-price lunch like this one. Although, I think I went out around 2pm, and the half-price market sells out of lunches by 12:30 (unfortunately, it's not a well-kept secret).

Also, daily goods seem to be the same price as home or cheaper.
View Exhibit B:
I picked up some stuff at the Wal-greens-style store earlier today. You're looking at two refills of fabric softener, one 1kg box of laundry detergent, one package of toilet paper and one package of paper towels. (And behind them is my gray grocery bag that I picked up 5 months ago at the dollar store). This stuff cost 836 yen. About 9 dollars. I don't know what I was expecting, but I had to do a double-take at the register because I already had the equivalent of 20 dollars out ready to pay for my stuff.

So, can you spend a lot in Japan? Yes. For example, Gap jeans in the US cost 58 dollars. In Japan, they cost 98 dollars. There are Japanese-style barbeque places where you can easily spend 50 dollars a person. But, you don't have to. In my opinion, one can live relatively easily
on a budget. To be fair, living in New England was about the same, if not slightly more costly.

So, if you haven't decided where to take a vacation yet, maybe you should consider Japan! :)

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Ekimae (or Nagoya Station - or MaeEki) is an extremely crowded and busy part of town. This is the main hub for trains going in and out of the city. Also, if you come in from the airport, the train will drop you off here. What's cool about this part of town is that although it leans heavily towards the business side of things (lots of office space, tons of commuters), it also has some popular draws. One of the places we like to visit is the pair of skyscrapers called the Nagoya Towers. In one of them, there is a pretty fancy Marriott Hotel (never been there). In the other is a shopping complex. The main department store is call Takashimaya. It's an expensive department store, but you can find good deals there on some quality stuff. Also, the shops around it have a wide variety, so window shopping is fun too. On the 12th and 13th floors, there are restaurants. There is a really great lunch place on the 13th floor called Tokyo Stock that serves curry and soup (a pretty small menu - maybe 4 to 5 daily choices, but it's delicious!). And just across the escalator is a Starbucks. If you're out walking around in the middle of the day, or if you happen to work nearby, then this is an awesome place to have your lunch break. The pic at the top is a photo looking out of one of the windows on the 13th floor. You can see one of the main streets with the office buildings around as well as the monument (called the Nagoya Station monument -- creative, I know) outside. Overall, I think I really like this part of town. Especially if I'm not there during rush hour.

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For this post, I thought it might be fun to quote some cute/funny/awkard/rofl things that students say. Of course, our students are adults and are trying really hard to learn. But, if we can't laugh from time to time, then how can I even begin to feel good about my atrocious Japanese?

Me: "What are some kinds of music that you can think of."
Student: "Japanese pop, techno, rock, hip-hop"
Me: "Great. That's a good list. What about music where there are no singers and many instruments?"
Student: "Classical?"
Me: "Yes, good. And, can you think of one where there is a fat lady who sings very high notes?"
Student: "Gospel."
Me: "I was looking for Opera, but yes."


Me: "So, you like American dramas, do you?"
Student: "Yes. I like Supernatural."
Me: "Really? That one is too scary for me. Have you seen the Simpsons. I think it's popular in Japan, right?"
Student: "Yes, the fun one with yellow people."


Me: "Imagine that you and I are at a party. You are the host, and I am a guest. I would like you to ask me if I need anything using our target vocabulary, ok?"
Student: "Yes, ok."
"How are you?"
Me: "Fine thanks, what a great party!"
Student: "Would you care for ....ah...... would you like.... ah..... we're at a party?"

My apologies if it's not funny in text. But, trust me, in person it's priceless. I hope to have many more moments like these. In a post to come in the future, we'll probably go over crazy Japanese-English advertisements. They can be laugh out loud funny. :)

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Nagoya is divided into neighborhoods, or sections, that are separately named and are known for a variety of things.

Sakae is one of these neighborhoods. In Sakae, there is a lot of shopping - the expensive kind. You can find a Calvin Klein store, a Louis Vitton store, Mikimoto, Adidas, and others. We like to window shop around, but generally speaking I don't intend to pay 50000yen for a pair of Levi's Silver Tab jeans. Being that it's an expensive area, it's also very clean and a good place to walk around.

Other than that, Sakae also has cool buildings and structures, such as TV tower, Oasis 21 (a bus station that looks like it's from the future. The upper portion is called the Aqua Spaceship), and ferris wheels. Below you can see a view of part of Sakae from the top of the Aqua Spaceship.

Finally, Sakae also has it's share of performance and entertainment. There are commonly singers who show up outside one of the larger department stores. In the picture below, you can see a Christmas performance made by some men. I have know idea who they are supposed to be, but there were a lot of families there, so I can only assume they are characters from some kids show or movie. These brave men in pink sang and danced their way across a pirate ship-stage for a few hours one weekend.

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