Stop SOPA
Hey everyone- this blog is moving to a host that doesn’t support SOPA. If you are using Go Daddy, STOP NOW and transfer to another host.
You may experience some downtime as this blog is transferred.
SOPA is basically an attempt by corporations to censor the internet. It is parading around as a support of copyright laws. This is false.
I support copyright law. I do not support corporate censorship.
If you haven’t read about SOPA (because most major news networks don’t cover it; their corporate interests support SOPA), you can find more information here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
[EDIT: Go Daddy has since turned around their support of policy. They claim to no longer support SOPA. Too late, in my opinion. The blog has moved to Name Cheap.]
Christmas
Christmas in Japan is strange. As foreigners living in Japan, we often comment or make jokes about the misinterpretation of holidays.
But, unfortunately, there is nothing funny about this. Christmas in America is becoming what Christmas in Japan already is- a hollow, commercial holiday. Christmas has been interpreted as a day of giving gifts and getting lucky.
No family.
No Jesus.
I’m not sure if many Japanese people are even aware that Christmas is (used to be?) a religious day. Even with the continued secularization of Christmas in the US, the day still holds a sense of sacredness. There are traditions, stories, and values on Christmas, even for the secular. Family time. Not working. Giving to the poor.
I hope that this lack of depth in Japanese Christmas reflects the novelty of the holiday- and not shallowness. Much like Halloween, I get the feeling that Christmas is an infant holiday, growing at a rapid rate. I want to see the identity of this day grow.
On another note, I was Santa Clause the other day for Elementary School. I was partially sickened, partially angered.
“Do you want me to speak Japanese to the children?”
“No! Santa Clause speaks English!”
I am afraid that Japanese children are learning that Christmas is an American (not Christian) holiday when a fat, white, monolingual man brings people presents. I told a friend that they should make Santa a Japanese man in Japan, and he should speak Japanese.
“But can you really picture Father Christmas as a Japanese man?” he asked.
“They have black Jesuses in Africa,” I replied. “Why not?”
Even the Japanese saying of “Merry Christmas” upsets me. Japan needs to have it own (Japanese) phrase for Christmas.
Futon
I’ve commented on futons before, but I’ve gotten some questions about them so I’ve decided to write a post about them.
Japanese futons are not like American futons. Japanese futons are awesome. This is how it works. You have a foam pad, and then you put the futon on top of that. The futon is best described as “a very thick comforter stuffed with cotton.” It’s like a cotton matt or pad. I think you can buy them stuffed with other things too, but I’m not sure.
This is what you sleep on. And then you cover yourself with another comforter. No sheets, no blankets. I mean, sure, you can use them if you want- but usually just the comforter is enough. The comforter that you put on top, and the matt that you sleep on both have covers. It’s basically like a giant pillow cover. So when you need to wash your futon it’s no big deal- you just take the covers off and wash them.
When the weather is warm and sunny, I take the matt and the comforter outside and hang them over my balcony. I have special “clips” that hold them in place and prevent them from falling off the balcony.
One thing that you have to be careful about with the futon is moisture. Especially during the summer, sweat and humidity can get trapped in the futon, or between the futon and your floor, and cause mold to grow. For this reason, it’s important to fold up and store your futon every day. I put mine in my closet. And during the summer, I air out my futon more often than in winter.
Sleeping on a futon is very comfortable. I like firm mattresses, so the switch to a futon was not difficult. It’s also very easy to move and would make moving apartments a breeze. Additionally, when you fold it up and store it during the day, it gives you more room to do other things.
I bought a new pad and matt when I came to Japan. They cost about $90 total. If you care for your futon, it can last the rest of your life. Sounds better than a bed to me. They’re also much more convenient for guests. When I have company spending the night, I just pull out some additional futons and spread them on the floor, and we’re good to go. Because a lot of us already use futons, sleeping at a friend’s house is just as comfortable as sleeping in your own bed.
And that’s about it for futons.
Culture Shock
I thought I would tell you a little bit about culture shock. Culture shock is most often depicted as the following: you go to a new culture and you fall in love with everything. Everything is new and exciting, and incredibly interesting. Then you see something completely crazy, and you’re suddenly horrified by the culture you’re in. You spend your time alone in your apartment, dreading going outside and being in your new culture. Then you slowly acclimatize, and come to like your new culture again.
This depiction is partially accurate.
Culture Shock is more of a process than an isolated event. It’s not like you get “culture shocked” and then it’s over. It’s a cycle. And it’s not usually triggered by a “catastrophic” event. For example, I’m prone to get culture shock in the grocery store. This is because I don’t know what a lot of the things are, and I can’t read (some of) the labels. I become very angry or frustrated- most likely because going to the grocery store at home was very easy. Here, it’s not as easy.
I can feel culture shock coming on when I get angry very quickly. Or something frustrates me more than it should. At this point, I realize it’s the collective stress of living in a different culture. Maybe it’s better to call Culture Shock “Culture Stress.”
Dealing with culture shock is relatively easy. I go home, eat some peanut butter and watch some American TV. If I can, I will hang out with my English-speaking friends, or stream some American radio from home. After I destress a bit, I’l study Japanese. The effects of culture shock weaken with every new word I learn.
Healthcare
Yesterday I went to the doctor. I had a very nasty cold last week, which has since become an annoying cough. But heeding the advice of a Japanese friend of mine, who said that some illnesses going around start as a cough, I decided to see a doctor. Just to be safe.
I happened to have a meeting with my supervisor yesterday, so I asked her if I could go to the doctor. I expected to go sometime next week. “We will go tonight,” she said.
Wow. Okay. It usually takes me awhile to see my doctor at home.
She picked me up that evening and we went to a walk-in clinic. I am not sure if it was like the “emergency” clinics the US has, or if it is normal for all Japanese people to go to the clinic every time they have a minor ailment. Usually, we must make an appointment with a doctor ahead of time, so I was surprised by just walking into a clinic.
My supervisor helped me fill out some basic paperwork. One receptionist handed me a thermometer, and when I motioned to put it in my mouth, my supervisor shook her head and pointed to her armpit.
I thought that was odd. I haven’t taken my temperature in my armpit since I was a child. But I did. They also took a urine sample. From there, it was a short wait until a nurse called us back and took the basics- blood pressure, weight, height. Nothing was really out of the ordinary except sitting in a slightly crowded hallway. The clinic was very small. One room had several beds, but no one occupied them. After a few minutes, the doctor called from behind the curtain to his room, ”リバシ ジュニア マイケル。” Hearing my name, my supervisor and I went in.
After some short words in Japanese, I was surprised when the doctor began speaking very good English. He asked me some questions about my cough- if I had a fever, when it started, etc. Then he listened to my breathing with a stethoscope. He said everything sounded normal, but he wanted to take a blood test to be sure.
Up until then, everything was pretty much the same as a doctor’s office. I expected to have to go to some lab, get my blood taken, and wait for the doctor to call my supervisor a few days later to see if anything was wrong. But I was surprised when a nurse led me to another room and took a blood sample, then put the sample in an analyzing machine, waited for the machine to print out a report, then took the paper to the doctor.
A few moments later, the doctor called me in and reported that everything was normal with the report. In the US, that probably would’ve taken more time. He said he would give me some medicine to take.
My supervisor and I went back to the lobby and a few minutes later the nurse called us to the desk. She gave me the medicine and my supervisor explained when to take it. The bill for the visit and the medicine came to 3370 yen, or about $35. Overall, not a bad deal.
Aside from doing the bloodwork on sight, getting my prescription on sight, and paying so little, everything was pretty much the same as the US. But it was nice having such good healthcare even though I’m an alien, not a citizen.
