Experience Japan! ちょク–ルだね。

Everybody knows the story of a blond girl making a safari in Africa in the middle of nowhere and when native people see her they want to touch her hair, etc... right?
Well I can understand that this happens in some faraway country where they don't know about TV and internet.
But can you believe that this kind of situation happens to me so often in second biggest city of a economical leading country like Japan. Ok, Toyonaka is in the outskirt of Osaka but still has 400'000 habitants.
I just gonna tel you the best story that happened this week.
I went to the park with my coworker for lunch as we do almost every day.
But this time there is some kind of elementary school excursion and there are about hundred kinds, all wearing the same red hat, crawling around further away from us. Suddenly three or four of them are running around us and at the very moment the girls see me they slow down, their facial expression radically changes. The one girl completely froze and is staring at me. She really can't get her eyes away, her mouth open. I could just read in their eyes what was going on in her intrigued head:
"Ooh, that's on of those "foreigners".... I've seen a couple of the on TV but I didn't know they really do exist...!"
As she could breath again she said, as she learned during English classes: -"HELLO... "
-"konnichiwa..." did I reply in Japanese.
-"Bla bla bla..." ( I didn't understand that one...sorry)
-"O namae wa nan desu ka?" I asked for her name.
-She answers hiding her name tag on her T-shirt: "I don't talk to strangers!!" and ran away as fast as her feet could carry her.
- Well, honey it seems to me that you started the conversation, didn't you...?

As we were still laughing and trying to understand this funny situation, she comes back towing her teacher by the hand. She's pointing at me and says to her teacher something like: "see, I told you there was one..."

Can you believe that?
I think it is really difficult to interpret those kind of situations. Ok, Japan is an island but still...

Was not that girl but I thought you might like a picture...

It is quite amazing how highly adaptable the human body is. He always finds an alternative when there is a lack of something. For example a blind person will have the four other senses very developed, especially the hearing.
Being illiterate is actually the same and quite easy. I heard of this French guy who lives in Japan since over six years and doesn't speak Japanese.
The eyes are very foxy and lazy at the same time. If there is something written in Japanese and in English it is a hard work obliging the eye to read the more difficult signs. They can find so many information that you would not see or in "normal" circumstances. They can make relations between colors, shapes and former experiences. Scanning pictures and labels on products and food. It becomes so proficient that I catch myself not reading things that I actually could.
It somehow reminds me of being an kid and just watching the images and never reading the texts in comics. hee hee...
Even though this whole story is not lethal I just feel like missing/losing an incredible amount of knowledge that is close and very far at the same time.
I don't need to show you a picture to let you imagine how delightful (design-wise and taste-wise) a Japanese cookbook can be.
Of course I bought one. But I cannot read it...
Just think of me, the cookbook in one hand and the basket in the other ambulating through the food store compeering what's on the image and what' on the shelves.
"...could that be that sauce... no tha'one looks a little darker... Oh, and this looks like ground meat... yeah, must be it: the kanjis look the same..."
There are a bunch of situations in which if feel quite dumb.

Well I guess this sounds not that exiting for you but, but maybe someday you'll experience it... or maybe just try tomorrow not to read when you got to the ATM or grocery shopping

During about 2-3 weeks there is the very famous cherry blossom in Japan. A blooming wave starting in the south and slowly heading north.

Flowers, flowers, flowers - Nara

Parks, alleyways river shores just about where ever you look the landscape is painted of pastel rose. I the morning I can see the people of all ages admiring the blossom. Families and Business people are having picnics under the "sakura" or "Japanese cherry tree" on blue plastic sheets during these days. I was told that the start of a calender year is on January first but in Japanese minds and hearts the start of a new year is in the spring. During the spring kids start school and nature is sprouting.

Bird on blooming plumb tree

Of course we had to see this famous blossom in some special place like Kyoto and Nara. I went to those places with my French and a Korean friends. Unfortunately the sky was not that blue. But I guess you might still get a good impression looking the pictures.

There are a couple more pictures if yo check my photographies...

I guess you all heard about name card exchanging in Japan being something very important. It is in fact something quite tricky and challenging, I can tell!

Ok, here's the situation: I had to go to this meeting in Tokyo with the president of the company and another coworker. (Don't ask me why I had to go with them since I would understand about 3.74% of the topic...) However the shinkansen was paid thus it was fun.
Nobody told me but as I enter the conference room there are as many as 13 high ranking guys attending the meeting. Then we start exchanging the name cards. 13 times introducing myself, bowing high and low like a cattail in the wind... I hardly understand their names, don't have a clue what their positions are and obviously for a non Asian guy like me they all look the same. When the name-card-harvesting is finished it is common to lay then out in front of you. Make sure to remember the order for the hierarchy.

Then you think "yepp" made it... but "nope":
One week later as I enter the office half awake in the morning about 8 guys from that company are starting a further meeting. Now here's the challenge: who did I already meet and who not yet...

Well, I guess that by reading my through my blog so far you were thinking "... this Oliver has an easy life, just hanging around in Kyoto and eat sushi.." All wrong!

I had to wait a little to describe the standard daily pace.
Usually try to be up at 8am then study for an hour Japanese before I eat a "heavy duty" breakfast.
So work starts at 10am (and now you think again that's an easy one...)
fortunately I don't have to commute, it's just 5min away by foot.
The official lunch break is from 12.30 to 13.30 during which I usually have lunch at Makoto's place or go for one of "o'bento" "take away menu" place. It is possible to get really good food for a couple of Yens.
Then back to work for the hardest part: official leaving hour is 7pm... but it usually get at least 8... 9... or 12pm. I guess that you already knew about Japanese working hours. After dinner at home I try to spend some time learning vocabulary. I other words it can get a little late. You might now understand why you don't get so many email and I'm not adding so often new entries in my blog.
I really wonder why office hours are so shifted??

The office in which I work is fairly small, about 10 people working. All employee are really nice and helpful. No one except Makoto so to say, can speak English.
That is good for my Japanese but can get tricky when I should understand quickly something... luckily we're designer and can draw
Ok, ok, I have to admit too that it's quite challenging to work on Japanese computer programs... so I mainly use my own laptop.
They're very encouraging me when I try to speak in Japanese. I get the usual "Gambatte, gambatte" "Give your best/try again".
One emplyee still made a comment that that it might be better for me to take Japanese classes instead of karate classes... grrrrr
Among employees the hierarchy is fairly flat. The BIG step is towards the president of the company and his wife who is working there too.
I really have to change my behavior and use a different vocabulary when I have a discussion with him/them.
One example that shows (at least for me) that they treat me "equally" is that I can join meeting with clients even if I don't get much of the discussion.
I think the most difficult part of the work is to judge how much personal initiative is expected from the single employee. Quite challenging for me since I like to take decisions and initiatives... Sometimes I really have to contain myself. But all this is part of the deal, and I knew that before I came.

Each week every employee gets a new weekly task: I started with emptiyng trash bins, then vacuuming. There one weekly duty is to bring tea during meeting with clients. It might sound laim and easy to you, but one of the employee explained me what the proper/ traditional look like.
First you have to check out the table where people are seated.
The clients are seating on one side the host on the other. The lowest in rank will be seated the closest to the entrance, the highest the furthest away from the door. For the hosts the layout is mirrored, obviously.
Once you retained how many of them were there, you'll prepare the green tea in the kitchen. First you preheat the bowls and get the water at 90 degrees. And now it gets interesting: you'll pour the tea starting with the one for the person lowest in rank of the hosts. Then continue clockwise and finish with the very first bowl. Like this, the person with the lowest rank will get the "top and bottom" from the tea. The "top" is not yet very tasty, the "bottom" might gotten a little bitter and colder... You see everything has a reason.
If you're lucky you might remember which bowl was for who and if you're really smart you serve them in the correct order, starting from the highest in rank from the clients. Pfff, more than just tea as you can see...
(corrections are welcome)

Of course there are many other things to write about but a public blog might not be the appropriate place to talk about this things. Not that there is much negative to talk about but it might just be too private for me or for the company.

Okay, that about it for today, I should go back to my vocabulary. There is lots left to be learned.