These are a Few of My Favorite Things

Been kinda busy and hella fatigued this last week. Caught and got over my first cold in Japan and then also my first hangover in Japan. Fun times. Haven't done much when it comes to sight seeing but I did go to a coworkers birthday party which was a good time and the root of the aforementioned hangover.
So as for this post, I figured I would just give you all a general sense of the things I dig about Japan thus far with a comprehensive list titled:

The Things I Dig About Japan Thus Far:

Ballsy Ass Pigeons

This bird does not give one fuck.

There's a lot of wildlife here, and it seems more or less unperturbed by people doing whatever the hell it is people do.  I'll come up on a flock of pigeons just chilling in the middle of a path and they'll hardly spare me a glance or move out of the way. The only time I've seen them scatter is when little kids straight up run at them at full speed screaming like they're about to cross into Mordor. On top of that the ravens here are fucking huge. Its easy to see how Japan could come up with a game where birds might one be the dominate species, and also may be the size of people (that was always unclear to me.) 

I could also see why they might be interested in dating these hardcore motherfuckers. 

Rivers and the Things That Live in Them. 

There is a river or some body of water pretty much everywhere you look. And there's a shit ton of stuff in them. Oh, yeah, and like the water is clear enough that you can see those things. Having lived next to a park with its own fair share of lakes and rivers, its nice to have something like that around here to kinda make it feel homey. Although they're kind of a different breed. For Youngstown folk, I guess the easiest way to explain it would be the Lilly Pond x 10. I mean, you may spot like four or five turtles as the Lily Pond chilling on a rock or some shit, but check that out. That picture right there is like at least twenty turtles. That's at least five times as many turtles. That's what I call getting a bang for your buck. And people just fish like everywhere. I was riding near a pretty buisnessy section of town over a bridge and there was just this dude standing there fishing. Pole in the water, bucket of fishy ice at his feet. At night I'll see people along Old China River just throwing their poles in. Fishing, from what I can tell, is a major hobby here. And who can blame them? They're everywhere. 

(The whole fishing where you find water and catching something in Pokemon makes much more sense now. So does riding your bike from town to town. That is literally something you can do. Which brings me to my next thing.)

 Travel

Is so easy. Like, it just makes me kinda mad that America hasn't worked out a better transportation system. And also that there's no ferries cuz we don't need em, we don't got that much water--but still. I haven't taken a ferry yet, but the fact that I can is pretty radical. America, why don't you flood a little so I can come home and travel by ferry? I expect to find you Venice'd up upon my return. Get to work.  Plus there are the 

 Trains! (specifically.)

 I love taking the trains. Like dig it so much. So far I haven't had any grievous mishaps. They seem simple enough to work out. (I'll probably kick myself for saying that when I end up on the other side of the island.) A lot of them look crazy awesome too. 

Wut is this? A bunch of dinos, dolls, flowers and fish? Nah, its more than that. That's what we call art, son. 

Also it'll take my ass home. 

Let's see you do that, American art. 

That one right above is an Ampanman train. One of the first things I kinda learned about when I got here. Kids love him. He feeds people his head which is made out of bread, apparently. So an easy way to make students laugh is to pretend to eat them. (Or they could just find the idea of cannibalism delightful all on its own. Hard to say.) 

 

Anpanman pilot. 

The view from the train is usually pretty spectacular. There's one stretch in particular where its so close to the sea, it looks almost like you're coasting over water, and there's this small shrine out on an island with a bridge leading to it which is pretty much the most beautiful thing ever. 

No photo available so please accept this picture of me in a wolf hat which

is also pretty much the most beautiful thing ever. 

Trains also are like the perfect place to scribble a poem or two. Actually Japan in general gives me a shit ton of 

 Time to Write! (That's what we call a motherfucking SMOOTH TRANSITION!)

I've gotten like 20 poems done since getting here, two and 1/4 short stories, and put in some great organizational work and writing on the YA novel I'm trying to bust out. Plus I've got about 30 submissions (a lot of them simultaneous) sitting on the market as I type this. (It feels like it's taking forever to hear back cause of this, and everything that I am getting published is like so far in the future its making me impatient to the point of skin itchery.) I found time to write in America, yeah, and was cranking stuff out even when I was working as a telemarketer and my time was mostly ate up by the hours spent haranguing old folk for their money, but here I have time to write, work, study and also do other things. It's crazy what can be done when cold blooded capitalism doesn't stand in the way, and you don't have to work crazy hours to make a livable wage! To bad America can't be like that.

Right, Bernie? 

But nah, seriously. Getting some good scribbles and studying done. Now insert clever transition to:

Shrines

Which are everywhere. On my way to 7/11, there's a shrine. Going to work? Probs going to see a shrine. There's very little coding to where stuff is placed here, which means the historical and spiritual is bumping shoulders with the modern and commercial, and that makes for a really interesting blend of sights when your just walking around. 

I like to think those are pugs. I know I'm wrong but 

I don't wanna be right. 

Shikoku is actually a pretty rad place to be in if you wanna go temple hopping and such. It's home of the 88 Temple Pilgrimage associated with the Buddhist monk Kukai. A lot of people come here to complete (traditionally) the 750 mile walk along Shikoku to visit each Temple. (Now people also use bikes, trains, cabs, ect, cause we're lazy and they're there.) On top of that there's a good 200 temples on the island not related to the walk, and also a ton of smaller shrines. 

 I think I'm done transitioning now so lets just move onto 

THESE WEIRD LITTLE COCA COLA CARS!?

What is this? Look at it. It's so cute. It's like, not big enough to be a truck transporting good right? But here it is. Doing what? What is your purpose? Why are you here? I haven't seen any other brands driving cars like this around. Why do you make me so thirsty? You're an enigma. A beautiful corporate enigma. An that's pretty much all I have to say about that. 

And

last but not least

In fact, pretty much all of these have been at random, but

this next one is probably my favorite among favorites--

My local tobacco stand dude. Or more specifically him and his wife. 

They are just too cute. Like today he was watching TV and I was too shy to knock on the window. His wife was nearby drinking tea and noticed me and her reaction was adorable. She rushed over and tapped him on the shoulder and waved at me really hard. Then she picked out a lighter that she thrust into his palm to give me, as she always does when she is in the area of the window. She is like the sweetest lady ever. And they also feed my addiction so there's that. 

Watashi wa sensei desu

This week was my first full week teaching alone (mostly). I had one private session I had to observe, and then the rest was all me. So far, I think it's going well. I like teaching kids, it turns out. They're pretty funny and they warm up quickly. Discipline is something I may have to work on but so far there hasn't been a huge need for it. 

For the next week or so I mostly teach in Marugame, and once in Utazu, a neighboring city. It's not hard to walk or bike to either locations, but soon semester will change and I'll be getting a new schedule. Wednesday I taught at Utazu. Since it was raining I decided to walk. Getting there was easy until the end when my phone started to die and google maps went a little wonky. Luckily I had padded the time a bit and arrived way early. 

It's kind of funny teaching adult students here because they'll compliment you in a way that they don't tend to do in the States. A few times now I've had adult students tell me I'm "a cute girl" or heard them tell the office staff I'm sugoi (cool).  One lady at Utazu kept kind of chuckling whenever I got up to write on the white board and telling me I was cute. Japan may very well end up swelling my head. 

On the way home from Utazu I ran into some issues. With a dead phone I set off down the street, semi-confident that I knew the way. Not too long after that, I overshot the known way and ended up much further down than I intended to be. Luckily, I at least have the kanji down for my own city: 丸亀. (Or circle turtle, as it were.) 

After locating that on a street sign I kind of just followed them. I came out on the other side of the city, closer to Gold Tower in Utazu then Marugame station/castle where I live. Luckily I could spot Marugame Castle from the road and just changed course and headed that way. All ended well, and I got to spend a few extra minutes traversing Marugame back roads, singing showtunes to myself. We call that a kinda mostly win-win.

Gold Tower changes color depending on the weather. Green for a clear day.

Blue for rain. (Photo from hoosan.moo.jp)

Thursday I spent most of the day writing, and studying both Japanese, and for the GRE (I won't be taking the test for awhile, but I'm trying to make a habit out of it.) I found a good site for basic grammar online, and I'm pretty comfortable at this point with Hiragana. Going to be starting Katakana soon. So far, to my immense pride, I can say things such as: Are wa Amerika no kumaru desu. (That is an American Car!) And the oh so important: Kore wa hoteru janai desu (This is not a hotel) which I will be sure to tell everyone who enters my home every single time because I can say it. And of course: Watashi wa sensei desu.

And back to the subject of being a teacher--Thursday is also the day I had my first lesson with Masamichi, who is apparently the pot of gold at the end of the Gem School rainbow. Having him as a student is something to be envied from what I've come to understand. He is a retired office worker who speaks English very well, and his lessons are basically just for his enjoyment and not a necessity. He likes to teach his foreign teachers all about Japanese life and culture, and seems like one of the nicest, coolest guys you'll ever meet.  

Our first lesson he asked me how much Japanese I knew, and after I told him, we spent the time talking about the difference between hiragana, katakana and kanji. He showed me his name in roumaji and in hiragana and kanji, and told me all about its meaning. (Pine tree on the seashore is his family name and right way is his given name. Matsuura Masamichi. Or: 松 浦  正道.  He also told me that my name sounds like "ice" in Japanese since my name in when pronounced by a Japanese speaker sounds like Kouli--and ice is Kooli.) I most definitely learned more than him that session, but he seems to like teaching me about Japan, so as long as he's enjoying his time, no arguments here. The only thing I may have taught him is the word "pun" because he told me a joke.

What is a type of green vegetable that sings?

Elvis Parsley. 

He's a really funny guy. Told me he would be like my "Japanese father", and if you know me you know my favorite thing in the whole world is being mentored. So yes! Fantastic. 

As far as doing things goes, I mostly stayed home this week. I did check out Ritsurin Gardens with a native Japanese person, and that was pretty interesting. Sadly my phone was mostly dead at the time, so I didn't get any pictures. Please accept this photo of a Japanese 7/11 and me drinking a Japanese energy drink as a substitute. 

possibly just as majestic 

to work with kids you gotta be genki

I intend to visit the garden again soon. It was full of Japanese pine, and flowers big as my fist that hadn't bloomed yet. Really nice stuff. The local I was with told me a bit about everything, and then I got to tell him about tattoos. He noticed mine and asked me to show him, and he was kinda in the same awe I was in the garden, which was funny to me considering tattoos seem pretty commonplace to an American.

Sunday I went for sushi with my coworker at a local joint, and that was pretty radical. It was served on a conveyor belt, and you could grab whatever you wanted or order it special on a screen. When it comes close your screen will beep and show you a picture of your order. Its kinda adorable. 

they had some bomb cheesecake.

Then after work tonight I went out with my friend Kenji to a bar or two. We checked out a jazz bar and a sports/dance bar. They were both kind of dead because tomorrow night Marugame is having a festival. The sports/dance bar was styled in a way that almost nearly reminded me of bars in Youngstown. Ed Shreen was playing, while the three other people in the bar we trying to make a hip-hop remix of something, and tennis was muted on the television. In the end we took advantage of the Japanese liberty to drink on the streets and bought a good old fashioned bottle of Carlo Russio, and headed to Marugme Castle. It was pretty strange walking around a park near a historical monument with wine at night. Especially dirt cheap wine like C.R.  In America, that wouldn't really fly. But we sat outside and sipped wine, and even when the cops drove by there was no issue. Here, I guess, there's the assumption that you can trust people. 

As far as lit goes, I've been slowly crawling through the last of Sherman Alexie's  The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, cause its the second to last unread book I have with me. The last being a manuscript from Gitta Albares. After that it's all rereads. 

So far I have three publications coming up in various anthologies. Weird City will be publishing my modern urban retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," titled "Dancing Girls",  For Books' Sake will be putting out a fairy tale themed YA anthology with my retelling of "The Man with No Heart" re-titled "Animal Heart", and Zimbell Publishing House will be producing a horror anthology called Tales from the Grave, featuring "Dream Girls" inspired by a fairy tale based in Native American folklore where a man carves a doll in likeness of his wife after she passes. I left the specific collection it was in at home, and if you know anything about fairy tales you know that googling "Dead wife" along with "Fairy Tale" pulls up pretty much every single story in existence.  (I almost want to say it was actually called "The Dead Wife" or "The Doll Wife".)

On top of that I received word today that Dancing Girl Press will be releasing a chapbook of my poetry tilted Revisionist History in the early Spring. 

Overall, it's been a pretty good month both professionally and personally. Most def, top 10. Probs even 5. Maybe even 3. Okay, yeah, probably top 3. Can't think of many better. Kampai!

Let's Go To Japan!

So it's almost been a week now since I came to Japan.

I arrived on Saturday, late at night, and meant Leigh and Sam at the airport in Takamatsu. I'm located in Kagawa which is the smallest prefecture on the smallest of the main islands, Shikoku. Marugame is the city I am based out of, which I'm still in the process of learning about, so will most likely devote time talking about it later. To me it seems pretty big, but apparently it is similar to Youngstown in a lot of ways. It's not considered a city really, from my understanding, but rural, and many of the younger people are leaving for bigger cities. They drove me from Takamatsu to Marugame and showed me Don Quixote which is a chain store, kind of like a Wallmart meets a Dollar General with slot machines in the basement.

My apartment is called LeoPalace, and its just down the road, and near Marugame station. The place is on the small side, comparable to a studio back in America but set up to make it a little more manageable. Through the front door there's a small hall with the kitchen set to the left side. Mini-fridge, cupboard, and a hot plate and sink. Then past that sunk into a tiny off shoot there's a room with the shower and tub and another room with the toilet. The living room is beyond the hall, and up the wall there is a ladder that leads to a cubby area with my bed. If I sit up too quick my head hits the ceiling. I am learning to avoid that. (By the way, I just got done reading Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchmen, where Scout has the same issue with cars. It doesn't feel exactly on par with To Kill a Mockingbird. Like its more of a draft then a finished product? There are some places where the perspective seems to switch in a jarring way, and the pacing seems just a little off. Also I miss Boo Radley. Like there is not one mention of Boo. And I don't think it exactly answers the questions of race that it poses--it kinda starts centering more on Atticus and Scout's relationship, which is okay, but it seemed to end rather quick. I liked it alright, and I think there's a lot of interesting things going on in combination with Mockingbird. Apparently some shady stuff went on anyway with the publication, which could explain some of the issues with the novel. I won't go into it here, but Thug Notes goes over it pretty well here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWiBTrlVQH4)

The station is nearby, as well as Marugame Castle. Marugame Castle was fist in use in 1587, and was home to Ikoma Chikamasa, a dude I know nothing about currently, other than the fact that he eventually built another castle in Takamatsu and gave Marugame Castle to his son. In 1615, however,there was a decree that each providence could only have one castle, and so Marugame was dismantled. Eventually it was given as a gift to Yamazaki Ieharu for his mad bravery in the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-8, caused when taxes sky rocketed for the building of a new castle elsewhere, and Roman Catholic Christians were tired of being pushed around. Didn't work out so well for 'em though. The leader of the rebellious Christians was beheaded and a prohibition against the religion was strictly enforced until the 1850s. (Btws I'm stringing most of this together through wikipedia articles.) After he was given Marugame Castle along with some other land, he began to rebuild over the ruins. Eventually it was handed over to the Kyogoku clan, and they continued renovations. However, a lot of the castle was lost again when a fire broke out in 1869, and the Imperial Goverment took apart more in 1870 for reasons that are not mentioned on the wikipedia page. I may look in to that more later. 

Now its declared precious property and won't be messed with. Its one of the few castles left with the original wooden tenshu--or central tower/keep. That's where they keep the museum which I have yet to go in. 

Marugame Castle's Tenshu

The area the castle is located in is really beautiful. It has a moat surrounding it filled with koi, and some pretty hella big turtles. A few big white geese, and I think I saw a crane. Over a bridge there's a set of heavy wooden doors leading up to a path and another set of heavy wooden doors. Through the archway there’s a paved road that leads in two directions. One up the mountain towards the castle, the other to the right to what looks like a museum, and some forested walkways. There children were catching insects with little bug nets. There were a few levels of the mountain with observation decks. From up there I could see all of Marugame proper. There are several mountains in the area, and back towards where I came from just beyond my own neighborhood I could see the ocean start. Below to the right there was a baseball field where a few men were playing. To the left there was a park, complete with swingsets and walking paths.

I figure it's going to end up one of my favorite places to meander around. I'm playing with the notion of jogging there, but I think I may have to wait for the weather to get cooler. It's super humid here. Hot enough that people have to carry handkerchiefs to wipe the sweat off of their faces. Also I lack the appropriate clothes, and they may be hard for me to get my hands on, since tattoos are a big issue here in Japan, and showing them means you risk offending some people. 

So far I haven't had a lot of interactions with many people other than the woman who pulled the sticker off my butt for me in the shopping center, and the fella who approached me when he thought I was lost. A few people have tried to talk to me but all in Japanese. Its funny because when I tell them I don't understand they just keep going friendly as ever so I mostly smile and nod. I'm looking in to lessons soon. I hear there are free ones in Saikade on Sunday. 

I've started kind of teaching. Mostly its young kids, and its basically playing with them while using English. (You have to be really "genki" which is healthy/energetic.) Then there are a few older classes that I have meant. (A group of Japanese adult students called me "sugoi" and "kawaii" and one of them suggested I get a Japanese boyfriend. They were hilarious.) I teach at a couple locations but the trains are surprisingly easy to navigate, and its a nice way to see some really beautiful landscapes. 

Covered bridge outside of Takamatsu-chikko station.

It was while waiting for a train that I had my favorite interaction yet. A young girl approached me at the Kokobunji  station yesterday when I was on my way to Marugame, which surprised me because mostly locals just give me my space. She was wearing very Western clothes (most do but these were especially Western in style--purposely stressed and torn jeans, big light brown contacts, Taylor Swift style t-shirt/sweater). She had a pokemon fan and a mole on the bridge of her nose right between her eyes that was just darling. I looked up at her and she said "hello" very enthusiastically. We began to talk--her English was developed enough to have a very basic conversation and my Japanese, of course, is worthless. We exchanged ages--she was 17, a high school student, going to see a friend and obviously thrilled to be speaking in English to a foreigner, and I of course am 26, a teacher, and obviously thrilled to be speaking in English to someone who wants to speak to a foreigner. We both remarked on how hot it was and she taught me the Japanese word for breeze--Kaze--by rolling her finger in a loopty loop in front of her. We rode the train together and she pointed out the direction of her house, her grandmother's house, and a ramen shop. She told me all the station names as we passed as well. She also said she liked Arianna Grande and Taylor Swift when I asked what music she liked. (We  got some looks on the train, but I think maybe I was speaking too loud. Thats a thing here, and its a involuntary tick  I have when trying to be understood.)  Then she told me to switch trains at Saikaide station, where she was disembarking. There are a couple of types of trains going in the same direction, I'd been told before, and I was on a slower one. I decided to do as she said and she told me what time my train would come. When the time came a strange type of train I'd yet to see--single car and packed to the brim with a destination name I did not know--pulled up. For a moment I was worried I had been kinda tricked--I mean, heck, it'd be a pretty funny and easy prank to pull on a foreigner, but I asked the conductor and it was all good, evidently. 

 The train, though, was packed, and that's the first time I'd been on one like that. Lots of bumping shoulders, and I think in the end it just saved me maybe ten minutes.  Still, she was so excited to give directions I couldn't turn them down. 

 Other than that, I've gotten some good news on the publication front this week! I had a poem published in Gravel the day after I got here, and I've gotten word that my story "Animal Heart" will be in the upcoming anthology put out by For Books Sake, centered on Fairy Tales where young girls are being not such the damsel in distress, but the damsel empowered. (Huzzah.) On top of that things are moving forward with my upcoming publication in Weird City. So far, though, I haven't written much new while being here. Jotted down a quick not so great poem and started a bit of a short story but I'm not sure where its going. 

I'm going to try to come up with a schedule for updating the blog soon. Till then, over and out folks. I gotta go teach some kids (ALL ALONE! OH MY GOSH!)