Kaji!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Justyna and I both live in the same apartment building and--being new teachers--we decided to throw a housewarming party and invite a lot of our teachers and administrators. I was very excited at the opportunity to cook and decided I would make various kinds of yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) on my balcony. I couldn't find a proper BBQ so I bought a grill (just the top part) and lit some coals on fire in a wok. The idea was to put the grill over the wok and use it like a little hibachi (I had seen some Japanese guy do a similar thing on Iron Chef). I went out to my balcony, lit the coals (self-igniting), and let the initial fire burn down as I busied myself inside putting the chicken on the skewers. Ten minutes later, Justyna came up to my place (4th floor) from her's (2nd floor) and said that something was going on outside. I went out to the balcony and was stunned to see a horrified crowd of at least 30 people who had assembled outside my apartment building. The frantic way they were pointing at the sky and shouting hysterically conjured up images of the frenzied crowd in "Godzilla," horrified in the streets of Tokyo, pointing and yelling "GOJIRAAA!!!!" The only difference was that these people were yelling "Kaji!!!!!"


Kaji means many things in Japanese, but the most obvious one is "fire." I looked up at the top of my building and then over at the surrounding apartments and I didn't see any fire. Then I realized that they must be talking about my little wok and the decent amount of smoke the coals were creating. I quickly held up the wok and told the crowd not to worry. "No fire here," I said in Japanese. "Just burnt a hamburger..." I had to lie, as barbecuing is frowned upon in Japan because the smoke can bother people in the apartments above you. I live on the top floor, so I never thought this would be an issue. Nonetheless, I thought I should project the image of a helpless victim of cooking circumstance rather than that of a blatant illegal-griller.


The crowd continued to grow and, despite my physically showing them the extent of their "fire" by hold my wok aloft for them to see from four floors up, they continued to shout "Kaji!!!!!!" in almost a mindless chant. Seeing that this situation (people yelling "fire!" in a crowded metropolis) was a bad one, I doused the wok with a cup of water and ran downstairs to have a face-to-face with the frenzied fire-fearers. That proved to be equally pointless. By the time I got down to the main floor, the water I had poured on the flames had created a bellow of steam which, from far a way (and if you happened to be a frenzied old lady in my neighborhood) looked like even more smoke. So as I am trying to make eye contact with these neighbors, they are looking above me and continuing their cries: "KAJIIIIIII!" Straight out of "Godzilla." At that point I started to see the futility in using reason with these folks so I said good night and went up to my apartment to put the rest of the coals out.


About ten minutes after I extinguished all the coals is when I started to hear the sirens. I thought it must have something to do with the flooding that has been going on in our area (lots of rain lately). The sirens got louder and louder and seemed to be coming from every direction. It didn't occur to me that they might all be coming to my house until a neighbor came over and told me that, because she didn't know me and had not been formally introduced, she decided to call three different local fire stations and two police departments when she heard there was a fire on my balcony. I told her that next time she should just ring my doorbell and I was glad she could now call them back and tell them it was a false-alarm. Unfortunately, she informed me, in Japan once an emergency number is called, an "all clear" is not possible until the situation is "totally analyzed."


The first fire department arrived in full gear, masks, wielding axes, at exactly the same time as the head of the social-studies department (my boss), her husband, and the middle school principle and his wife. They were pushed aside by the second wave of firemen as I tried to explain what was happening. Sometime between the second and third waves of firemen, the police showed up. I am not sure how I was keen enough to think it through, but by that point I had gotten rid of all the evidence of a BBQ, including the coals and lighter fluid. In Japan, if the false-alarm is deemed your fault, you often have to pay for the gas money and other "I'm Sorry" money so I wanted to be sure and avoid that. I stashed the wet coals in my suitcase under my pinstriped suit. I was sticking with my hamburger story. After an hour of interrogation about the hamburger (size, type of meat, sauce...honestly they asked me) the firemen and the cops finally left.....only to be replaced by a troop of detectives. These guys had a huge spotlight, a video camera and a bag for what I assumed was evidence. Oh and the owner of my building and the realtor who rented my apartment to me showed up at this point as well.


Meanwhile, two floors down, my colleagues and friends were having a hell of a laugh at my expense I'm sure. After a fire-safety lesson from the fire chief of my neighborhood (he came last of all and checked my nose hairs to see if I had suffered from smoke-inhalation.....don't ask), a formal apology from me to my landlord, and a rearrangement of my kitchen to make it "less flammable," (1.5 hours total) I was able to join the party downstairs and have some fun. I am still waiting for my principal to call me up and ask me about the whole fiasco, as the detectives and the fire units demanded my employer's number so that they could verify my information. Needless to say I won't be barbecuing again in this country any time soon. That is... not unless I want to hear the shrill cries of the obasans (old ladies) screaming "KAJIIIIII!" again!
The first arrival...

First wave of firemen

Secret cameras are hard to operate....

The "Inspectors..."

Two floors down...

My Classes

My classes have been wonderful so far. We are learning about the Renaissance this week. I have already been surprised by both the diversity of the students (30 countries or so represented) and their extreme enthusiasm. I mean, just look at how excited they get during my simple renaissance lesson!

I am used to teaching jaded 12th-graders so it is a breath of fresh air to have 9th-grade students who are excited about life. It is also cool to have students who are as unashamed of being a dork as I am! I tell them stories about playing my nerdy roll-playing games when I was a student at St. Mary's and they love it. I love my job!

Azabu Juban Matsuri

Had a great time at the Azabu Juban Summer Festival (Matsuri). There were so many delicious things to eat that you can only find at festivals, so I went a bit overboard. There were also many activities as well. It is like Japan's version of the state fair, where elephant ears and ring toss only come once a year....except the food is better and the games aren't rigged. Aparently, the theme this year was oni (Japanese devil). This year it was raining, but that didn't stop the vendors or the revellers....
You may want to cover your keyboard with saliva-proof plastic before viewing these octopus ball morsels:
Salty Little Devils!

Best part of a festival is always the drumming

For the trip home, I took the route that my bros. and I used to take to school.
You no longer need to use paper tickets (although they are available). There is a new pass that you refill with money. You can buy drinks with it too!

Hen na Gomi: Episode #3

I have moved in to my new apartment and it is a nice little spot. It is only a ten minute walk from school. Yesterday I left my building to go hang out with friends and right there, standing in front of me in front of my building, was some of the best gomi I have seen in a while. A relatively new love seat! I quickly took the garbage stickers off it and tucked it in to my new house. I played guitar on it all morning. Pretty comfy! School has started too. I have four classes of about twenty 9th grade boys every day and one class of 22 journalism students of all ages every other day. My students are great and we have already had some fun times. I am being as stern as possible for this first week or so. Here is a tour of my house:

Tonight I am meeting some of my fellow students from the St. Mary's class of '98. We are going to the Azabu Juban summer matsuri (festival). It is in my old neighborhood and the summer festival-- with all its smokey stalls, manic parading, and partying Japanese locals-- is my first memory of Japan from when we first came here back in 1992, so this will be a special night.

Other Gaijin Impressions

Don't take my word for it, there are other gaijin bloggers and artists whose impressions of japan are equally interesting.

Here is the blog of Brad and Rachel White: thewhitesintokyo.blogspot.com He is a new teacher at St. Mary's and she will be subbing and hopefully getting a fulltime position soon.

My friend Regis (who is coming to Japan by the way in september) is a film maker and compiled his last experience (when we lived together in 2005 in TOkyo) into this amazing video. I make a few cameo appearances.....

Futako Fireworks Festival

Had a great time at the fireworks summer festival! I took everyone to get some Japanese summer kimono, as it is customary to wear them during the summer festival. We all had a blast and then went to eat Yakitori (chicken on skewers).

The owner of the Yakitori place liked us so much that he and two other customers joined us to sing karaoke. Only in Japan!

Hen na Gomi: Episode #2

So I took my new teacher friends over to my old neighborhood of Hiro-o. I led them down an alley that always had the best gomi (garbage) because its residents are so darn rich! Every gomi (garbage) day, my family would cruise the street and look for gomi. Sometimes dad would bring us in the van. Yeah, I know, pretty red-necky of us, but who could resist the gomi? My late Aunt Jean even joined in with Grandma when they visited. One time she was reaching out to grab a tanatalizing piece of gomi and the resident of the house popped their head out. She was so startled that she jumped in to our van without ducking her head and got a nasty bump!

Anyways, I took my new friends up the hill to my old house (which is gone by the way, but more on that later) and over to the gomi alley. Sure enough, within five minutes, we had some A-class gomi, this time in the form of Kabuki (Japanese comic opera) promotional ornaments! We caused quite a fuss as we walked around the Juban (the neighborhood down the hill from there). No one could believe we got such wonderful--and expensive--items in the trash! The shop ladies and the oriental bazaar couldn't believe it either and they kept prodding and studying the gomi to make sure it was the real thing.

They estimated that each ornament would bring in more than 1000 dollars at a flea market. Too bad. These gaijins are not selling. Justyna (my neighbor) and Brad and Rachel (married) are happy with their gomi-house-warming gifts!

On a sad note, our old apartment "Homat Rex" has been torn down and replaced with a stunning new white building. I preferred good old Homat Rex. I have played many road hockey games in this alley with my brothers and I remember building a snow fort here with dad one winter when it snowed a lot. We will miss you Homat Rex!

Bye for now. Double chin=must start jogging again and stop eating so much delicious food....

Hen na Gomi: Episode #1

Because of Japan's lack of space and the Japanese obsession with all things new, when garbage day comes around you can always find some interesting objects just laying there for the taking. Yesterday was the first in what will no doubt be a long line of hen na (strange) gomi (garbage) episodes.

I was walking out of the internet cafe when I saw what looked like some very high-quality ramen bowls. There were about eight so I thought, 'hey, this is perfect for my new house!!' I made sure no one was looking, scrambled over to the gomi pile and tore open the side of the bag. I was shocked to find that each ramen bowl was full.....


.....of fake ramen!!!! Yes, as with most restaurants in Japan, the one that produced this gomi was upgrading its food displays and was purging the old models. Japanese restaurants pride themselves on how fresh and life-like they can make the food models in front of their shops. This one truly goes down in the annals of surprise gomi experiences. Stay tuned for many more "Hen na Gomi" Episodes.

Last night I bought a male yukata (Japanese summer kimono) at a shop my mom used to go to called the oriental bazaar. Only 60 bucks for the thing. I plan on wearing it to the summer festival in my new neighborhood tonight. I will take lots of pictures.

Too Many Restaurants

Justyna (my colleague in the history department and fellow new teacher) and I went on a hike around our new neighborhood. We both found apartments in the same building a few blocks from Futako. One thing that we noticed as we walked around was that there were a ridiculous amount of restaurants in the area. I would estimate it at between 50 and 100 or so. All of them specialize in special things: ramen noodles, tapas-like small entrees to be eaten while you drink alcohol, sushi, pork cutlet, etc. I am still planning on dieting this year, but it is going to be much harder. There is also this nice green walking path that goes between the station and my house, so that should be a relaxing walk every day. The school is about 20 minutes by foot and 10 by bike from the apartment. Yesterday I also got a nice futon so I will have something to sleep on until my mattress arrives. 100 dollars for the futon, covers, two pillows, and sheets. Today at school we have a lesson on Japanese etiquette and discuss our insurance plans. Can't wait for the Obon (summer) festival in my new neighborhood on Saturday. I will be sure to take lots of picture.

The restaurant we went to last night specialized in various types of roasted fish. (below is one of the restaurant's specialties: tiny fish fried into a "tatami" mat and served with Japanese mayonnaise) The coolest part of the restaurant was its "Fresh Beer Machine" which tilts the beer glass as it pours to insure a "perfect head."

Hallelujah

Hallelujah is such a great song and there are so many versions. I realized the other day that I actually never have heard the origianl. This is weird because Leonard Cohen is my favorite! I looked it up, and I was surprised by what I found!



Aparently they like this song in Scandanavia. Here is one version on Swedish Idol:


In Klans in Klins, in Meina Bliks!!!!!
Dont Kvit Yoor Dee Jawb Jan!


Ok, now I know why the Fins, Swedes, and Norweigans like Hallelujah so much. Scandanavian children are forced to play this song before they are old enough to do nordic skiing.


This former member of the Velvet Underground likes it:


Bon Jovuliah!

Tokyo Dreams

What a surreal feeling it is, walking down the corridors of my old high school, seeing all my old teachers and administators. This is going to be a good year, and my　cohort of new teachers is going to make it even better. There are five or six new teachers coming in and we are all around the same age. We have been tramping around together, getting to know our new environment, searching for apartments, and celebrating. I am exhausted from translating everything for everyone (apartment details, menus, ingredients for the vegetarians, etc.) but I love translating so there are no complaints here.



My new apartment has been decided upon. It was a toss-up between a two-story thing that was a 15-minute bike-ride from both school and the nearest train station and a relatively spacious one-story right beside Futako station and a 10-minute bike-ride from the school. I chose the latter, and I move in to it on Monday. It is one the fourth floor and has a central kitchen, two bedrooms, and two small balconies. There is a supermarket across the street and a nice gym within five blocks.

Today is the start of Obon, the Japanese summer festival, so I am glad I got my apartment hooked up before the five-day vacation started. Our plans in the next few days are to go to some local festivals and maybe take a day trip to Mount Fuji.

I am missing everyone back home and I can`t wait to have you all as guests over here!