Japanese Mauls
...written on 2000-12-02, @ 23:27:02
Tales of Kim's Life in Japan
Sat December 2, 2000
Japanese Mauls
Today I had training at Hombu with Chad, Ivan and John. We played the game "Scruples" between us and three Japanese teachers. It was very interesting to see the cultural differences in the answers to the questions. For those who don't know, "Scruples" is a game where you pick 5 cards that have different moral dilemmas on them. You then pick one answer card which could say "Yes", "No" or "Depends". You then choose one of your dilemma cards and then pick a person who you think will give the same answer on your answer card (yes, no or depends). If that person answers correctly (as you hoped), you lose one card. If they don't answer correctly, you turn in the old question card and pick a new one. The first person to lose all their cards is the winner. Which was me, by the way. After the game, we had a discussion about culture shock.
After that, the boys went out with Shacho for lunch, but I had other plans with the Iwamotos. We were going shopping!
We went to the new mall that just opened up 2 weeks ago. It was called "Colorful Town". It was rather large as Japanese edifices go, but not as large as an American mall, but it was stuffed with many interesting shops. I was on the lookout for particular things, but I felt inhibited. The Iwamotos brought their 2 year old son, Takama and I didn't feel comfortable taking up a lot of their time trudging around on my behalf, so I made few purchases .
Less than an hour into our field trip, Mr. Iwamoto suggested we take a break and have lunch. This sounded great to me. As we walked to a restaurant in the mall, from quite a distance, I saw a young man (in his 20's) grab this young woman by the hair and slam her to the floor where she lay sobbing. Two women passerbys knelt down beside her to ask if she was ok, but then they left her. Everyone else around just stopped and stared as the young man squatted down and poked her. The Iwamotos kept walking and we ducked into the restaurant for lunch. I asked them why no one stepped in to help the young woman. Mr. Iwamoto said that he had the duty to protect his own family, but that it was up to someone else to protect that girl. Apparently a lot of people thought so as well. Mrs. Iwamoto said that the man looked "dangerous" so Japanese people would not intrude.
John had told us earlier in training today that under no circumstances were we to lose our temper and demonstrate our anger. He told us a story about a friend of his who was involved in a traffic accident with his car and a motorcyclist who didn't have a license, didn't have any registration, ran a red light, was going down the wrong side of the street, etc., but when John's friend exerted himself and his anger, the police charged HIM and made his life miserable.
Chad said he was told not to wave at little children because that made him stand out. I was told not to tell the clerk at MacDonald's to make my hamburger without pickles, that I should let them make them as they do and take the pickles off myself, again for the sake of not standing out. This grates on everyone of our little American nerves, but hey, we are in Japan after all, right? I think each of us will make our own decisions every day about how much of our "American-ness" we hang on to. I think it is important to share how we think and feel with the Japanese and not lose ourselves totally in the acculturation process.
After lunch and a few more purchases, we went to my apartment to get my caraway seeds for the chicken that they asked me to cook for them for dinner. Kaori was going to make the rest of the dinner, or so I thought, but the next thing I knew, I was making "American style" hamburgers. "American style" hamburgers are basically ground beef shaped into a thick round patty and topped with salt and pepper. That's the way I made them at least. Kaori was going to put onion and milk and bread crumbs in them (kind of like mini-meatloaves, I guess). They said they were happy to try this new taste and deemed it very easy to make and "oishii" (delicious). I also cooked the chicken strips, seasoned them with salt, pepper and the caraway seeds and they ate those up too. Kaori cut a ton of raw veggies and put them in a bowl of ice water, made corn potage soup, rice, and a couple of dressings (one out of fish eggs-too salty for me).
After dinner they invited me to sit down under the kotatsu. This is the toasty treat I was talking about a few entries ago. It is a table with a removeable top with a heating element on the underside. You turn on the heater, put the big blanket over the table bottom, then you put the table top over the big blanket. If you're smart, you also put a cover over the big blanket to avoid soiling it. There I was, with my feet under the kotatsu blanket, sipping yummy coffee, partaking of the cookie treats I had given the Iwamotos for their kindness in inviting me out shopping and to their home, and having a delightful conversation in Japanese or English, whichever one of us knew the most about the subject at the time. It was delightful. Before I left they gave me an electric heater that they don't use. They saw me looking for one at the mall and decided to give me theirs. How sweet!
Mr. Iwamoto brought me home at 10pm. It is now 12 am and I am sitting in my kitchen typing with the heater on down by my ankles. I am quite comfy except for the sleep weighing down on my eyelids. I must start my get-ready-for-the-futon ritual. I have an early and long day tomorrow. I am going to Kyoto, a city famous for its fall colors.
Ja mata ne,
Kimu