Hiragana Check!

One of the goals of my Japanese tutoring sessions was to learn the hiragana alphabet.  I've been working through the characters by reading through Remembering the Kana (by James W. Heisig of the more famous Remembering the Kanji) and then reinforcing with repetition:

It started getting fun when I could piece words together.  In the morning, when I'm on the train I look for hiragana characters among the kanji on signs and advertisements.  During the workday, when I see a romaji word (there are lots of these in the emails I receive and even the documents I'm working on), I practice spelling it out in hiragana.

Now that I know the hiragana, it's gotten easier for me to learn new vocabulary because I better understand how words should be pronounced.  You guys, I had forgotten what a joy it is to study a subject that allows for quick progress, immediate application and many small victories.  What a joy!

While I'll need to keep practicing the hiragana to pick up speed, my tutor has said it's time to move forward to the next alphabet: katakana.  Only 46 kana (make that 38 kana after tonight's study session) stand between me and the kanji....

Golden Week

At the beginning of May, Japan celebrates Golden Week, a string of public holidays: Showa Day, Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day and Children's Day. Similar to New Year's, these holidays were taken seriously by our Japanese clients. This meant there was a big push to get work out before the holidays started (I worked on one of the holidays as a result) and a particularly brutal stretch returning to work after the holidays.

I was elated to have some time off. Most weekends I catch up on sleep and chores, but given the extra holidays I had time to do some exploring. First, I went to the Meiji Shrine. This is torii gate on the path leading to the shrine:

These are barrels of sake that have been donated to the shrine:

Then, I went to nearby Yoyogi koen. This is one of the largest parks in Tokyo. It's located right next to Meiji Shrine and is accessible by Harajuku station. It was really nice to be in a huge, green space with so many mature trees. I stood for a long time just listening to the sound of the wind in the leaves. The people watching was pretty epic--I saw a man walking a cat on a leash!

The next day I decided to check out Tokyo Disneyland on a whim. Since I grew up near California's Disneyland, all things Disney tend to remind me of home. I've been to Disneyland in California, Florida, Hong Kong and now Tokyo. I love comparing how the parks are run, the crowds they attract and the way food and merchandising is localized.  See, for example, the corn potage, soy sauce and curry popcorn options:

The popcorn carts sell ~18USD plastic buckets with cross body straps that you can wear as you walk around the park and refill as needed. This means there is a lot of snacking as people walk around the park and wait in line. (That doesn't sound strange from an American point of view, but in Tokyo it is considered rude to eat or drink on the go.)

Check out these light saber chopsticks:

In general, the merchandising is character focused. Some park visitors come dressed as characters and many couples were wearing matching character gear. (There were also lots of little girls in princess gear that had gotten dolled up at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.)  Looking at the merchandising, you might not even know you were in Tokyo--I was hoping to find Minnie Mouse in a kimono, but no such luck.  This snack pouch is the closest thing I found:

Thinking about the demographics of the park visitors, this makes sense. (The only other white women I saw in the park were Snow White and Princess Aurora.) While an outsider would be interested in something silly like Minnie Mouse in a kimono, the Japanese audience wants to feel like they are having an authentic Disney experience.

And they are getting an authentic experience. The park is very similar to Anaheim Disneyland. Sure, Tokyo doesn't have the Matterhorn of Main Street. Instead, they have Pooh's Honey Hunt and the World Bazaar.  But on the whole it's a much closer match to the US parks than Hong Kong Disney.

I didn't visit Disney Sea, which I understand to be Tokyo's answer to California Adventure, but I hope to check it out before the end of my assignment.  (While my day at Disneyland is fun, I wouldn't consider it a must-do when planning a short trip to Japan.)

Half Way

Well folks, I've reached the midpoint of my Tokyo assignment.  There have been highs and lows, but I've stuck with it.

Things I love about Tokyo:

• Feeling safe.  When I was living in DTLA, I never walked around in my neighborhood after dark on my own, which meant I almost never left my apartment after dark except to drive to dance classes.  Not a fun way to live.  In Tokyo, I feel much safer and it has made a noticeable difference in my quality of life.

• Work friends.  I love having a peer group in my practice group here and I have met some particularly awesome people--I would bring them back to the home office with me in an instant if I could.  It hugely enhances my day-to-day experience in and outside of the office.  I'm so grateful to the associates that have reached out to me and invited me to dinner or drinks.

• The subway.  Public transportation in Tokyo is timely, quiet and tidy.  Sure, it gets crowded during rush hour, but I love the convenience and freedom that the subway system has given me.  I have not missed my car for a moment.  This is helped by Tokyo's subway etiquette rules: no cell phone calls, no eating on the train, no loud music and, generally, no inconveniencing others (seriously, I read that last one off of a sign posted in a subway station).

• The work ethic.  Doing your job to the best of your abilities is important here and, better yet, it feels like people, no matter how high or low their station, are respected for and take pride in hard work.  I suspect, culturally, there is more to this (e.g., I sometimes wonder about the sincerity of it all), but I really love the basic premise that even people in the most simple jobs should be entitled to feel pride in their work.  In the U.S., it seems we often take this sense of accomplishment away from people by looking down on certain types of employment.

• The restaurants.  Lots of great places to eat and amazing service.  The density of awesome restaurant choices is a city-living benefit, but the amazing service is a part of Japanese hospitality (which puts American hospitality to shame, I'm afraid).

• Good order.  People follow the rules here (to a fault, as improvisation is not a Japanese strength in my humble opinion).  The orderly nature contributes to my day-to-day sense of security and will always be something I strongly associate with Japanese culture--I was incredibly impressed by and will never forget how people behaved in the immediate aftermath of the March 11th earthquake.

• My Japanese tutor.  My chief regret is not starting lessons with her sooner.  She brightens my day and I understand the world I'm living in better with each word that I add to my vocabulary.  (Having said that, experiencing the limitations of illiteracy during the early months of my stay made an impression.  I want to volunteer with adult literacy programs when I return home.)

Weekend trips I've taken:

• Kyoto.  We made the trip during peak foliage season.  It would have been nice to go back during the cherry blossom season.

• Seoul, Korea.  I had fun, but didn't feel like we saw a whole lot here.

• Borneo, Malaysia.  Rock climbing, zip lining and passing by the water buffalo while river rafting were the highlights.  Also stayed at a beautiful hotel (check out the photos on the website!).

Things I miss about home:

• My family, friends and pups.

• Reasonably priced produce.  Paying $4 for one apple is not something I'll miss.  Having said that, the produce on offer is in immaculate condition.

• Ability to communicate.

• Dancing.  I've reached out to teachers here, but between the language limitations and the very late hours at the office it has become clear dancing will not be a part of my life while I'm here.

• Roots.  On a materialistic level, I miss my stuff.  I moved here for a year with two suitcases (one large, one carry on) and a couple small boxes.  But while I miss all the stuff that is waiting for me in a storage unit back home, I've realized that life is simpler without all that.  Speaking of the storage unit, I miss having a home base.  Where is home?  Is it my stark corporate apartment in Tokyo?  The city where my storage unit is located?  The cities I've studied in?  The city I grew up in?  Right now, I don't have a home base and that is simultaneously scary and freeing.

Things I worry about:

• My personal life.  I have gone from worrying about how to make things work to giving up hope.  Recently, I've been trying to prepare myself for the possibility of a future in which I neither marry nor have kids.  I know lots of people love that lifestyle and I know that if I had been married or had kids earlier in life I likely would not have experienced working in Asia.  But I find it depressing to think of never having a family of my own, which means that I still want those things.  I crave the companionship and sense of connectedness.  I feel like a tremendous failure in this area and I feel like my window of opportunity is quickly closing.  When I have a quiet night at home, this is where my thoughts turn.  How far will I go to "fix" this?  Can this be fixed?  What needs to be done?

• The transition home.  How will the logistics work?  Where will I live?  Where will I want to work?  Is there any reason to believe the work arrangements in my home office will improve?  After years of moving from place to place, I'd like to settle down, which means that my next move will have to be a thoughtful one.

• Staying connected to friends and family at home.

This has been one of the most exciting and challenging six-month periods of my life.  All in all, I feel incredibly fortunate to have had this experience.  Setting aside what it's done for my work, it has helped me grow on a simple, human level.  There are new layers of empathy.  A new appreciation of people or things I had taken for granted.  New ideas about how to approach life.  New ideas about the type of person I want to be.