Recent obsessions
I haven't written for a while and there's been a lot of news, so here goes.
Anna and I will be heading back to the states at the tail end of July (between the 29th and the 31st). We'll stay in Elgin with her family and then head back to Pittsburgh, where we'll be for at least six months or so while I finish my last semester at the University of Pittsburgh. Shortly before classes begin, we are looking forward to seeing John Mayer play at the Post-Gazette Pavilion on August 24th. We're both huge John Mayer fans and are really excited that Pittsburgh will be the first stop in his summer tour.
The next bit isn't so much news, but rather an admission of an obsession. I have spent an unhealthy amount of time recently trying to find the latest information about the Nintendo Wii, the game console which will go on sale sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. The reason I'm so excited is because of the revolutionary controller, which many websites have taken to calling the "Wiimote," which can detect motion in three dimensions as well as acceleration. This feature will make it possible to play a tennis game by swinging the controller instead of merely pushing a button, as has been the case for almost every game console ever made.
My excitement has been further fueled by the fact that I have an idea for a game which I believe could become a reality if I can assemble the right people to help me. I can't share details about it on this blog because I don't want the idea to get ripped off, but I've told my family about the idea and they seem encouraging.
However, I am going to force myself to stop seeking out more information on this system, as it's wasting way too much of my time. I really ought to just wait until the official details are released, and then just take it from there. To that end, I hereby vow not to visit any gaming-related website for two months, no matter what. That means that the magic date is August 23rd, the day before the John Mayer concert, so it should be easy for me to remember. Mark my words -- no visits to wiicentre.com, kotaku.com, gamespot.com, or any other such visits until then. Perhaps by making this credo public I will feel some accountability for following through.
Okay, phew! Now that that's off my chest, I'll move onto what's new with us. Our time in Japan is quickly running out: 5 more weeks and we'll be on the plane. We have no idea when we might return. There are a lot of things that we're definitely going to miss: we have come to know some truly wonderful people in these two years and it will be hard not getting to see them for a long time. Japanese food is another biggie...and having the opportunity to speak Japanese on a daily basis with native speakers could possibily be the hardest part to deal with on a daily basis. Anna and I are both really worried about forgetting what we've learned, so we'll have to re-join the JSS (Japanese Speaking Society) at the University of Pittsburgh, and keep our eyes out for other ways to maintain our current level (I would say improve, but I think that's an impossibility while living outside of Japan unless our jobs involved interpreting, translation, etc.)
With only five weeks left, there are a lot of things we have to take care of in terms of selling all our appliances, giving away miscellaneous knick-knacks, shipping the majority of our wardrobes, books, and computer equipment home, etc. It took about24 man-hours just to clean, sort, and organize the office in our rented home, and there's a lot more still to go, but the worst of it is behind us. We are hoping to visit Okinawa during our last week, and maybe we can catch up with our friends Nancy and Hitomi while we're there.
I remember feeling some reverse culture shock after my previous trip to Japan, and that was only after 9 months. This time it will have been just shy of two years, and I imagine that there are a lot of subtle things about America that have changed. We've more or less kept track of the big changes by reading online news, but I think readjusting to the American mindset after having gotten used to doing things the Japanese way will be pretty difficult. I certainly won't mind the relatively cheaper prices for just about everything except for health insurance, which is proving to be a big snafu. I was under my parents' insurance before I came to Japan because I was still a university student, but that is no longer the case so we'll have to be clever in order to stay protected without going broke. I was amazed to hear that health insurance very well could cost us more than our apartment will! Admittedly I know next to nothing about why the system is the way it is, so I'll try to withhold criticism given my ignorance, but my fingers are crossed that we can both find employment that has a decent healthcare plan. Apparently Starbucks gives health insurance to even their part-time employees, so we'll keep that in mind...
There have been many challenges that Anna and I have both faced during the last two years. Living abroad is sort of a rollercoaster...there are these breakthrough moments when one comes to understand a mystery of the culture or the language that feel wonderful, and sometimes there are horrible moments of loneliness and isolation. Yet in spite of the difficulties we have managed to have an interesting and productive experience that we will never forget, regardless of whether or not we ever return to Japan for an extended period of time.
As a foreigner here, you have to work harder than you would in your home country to hammer out a living. This is especially true if you don't only want to teach your native language to Japanese students. I enjoy teaching very much but didn't want to take a full-time position teaching because I thought it would hinder my Japanese ability. It took several months of searching and interviewing around for various positions before I finally found a job at an international patent office about six months ago. It has been a great learning experience in many ways. My employer is having trouble finding a replacement for me, which gives me a feeling of accomplishment, but then I started thinking about another aspect. Maybe I'm not such a hard worker in America, but I work particularly hard in Japan because I have to overcome so many difficulties here. Just as Americans have stereotypes about Japanese, Japanese have stereotypes about Americans, and I think that a big factor behind what drives me to work so hard here is that I want to prove people wrong -- I want to show that I can work just as hard as a Japanese, if not harder, that I'm not lazy and careless about others' feelings and have a strong work ethic, etc. That pressure, largely self-induced in my case but certainly also influenced in large parts by the Japanese culture, has been a really good motivator. In Japan, you know where the bar lies for your work very clearly. I confess to being worried about finding motivation in the US, where I have a long history of procrastination and a tendency toward mediocrity in large groups (e.g. university) and excellence in small groups (e.g. middle school, high school, etc.). Will my past catch up with me once I get used to the American way once again, or will my time in Japan prove to be a truly life-changing experience strong enough to allow me to overcome my time-proven character flaws and deficiencies? Time will tell I guess...but I'll do whatever I can to make sure the latter is the case.
On the other hand, there is also a change in me that I hope to get rid of ASAP which I attribute to Japan (or, to be more accurate, to the somewhat hazardous combination of a serious person plunged into an even more serious culture). I find that these days, I almost never smile at work, while on the train, or almost anywhere in public. I have always been a serious guy, since I was a small child in any case. However, after having spent a combined 17 months or so in Japanese companies, I find that I am much more reserved about showing emotion than I used to be. I am sometimes shocked to see my reflection in the window during my commutes to work. Whereas my internal image of myself has a subtle smile and a generally congenial countenance, my real face looks hard, impatient, and mean. My mom used to tell me that I frowned too much and that I would get wrinkles, and looking at myself in the mirror, I see that she was exactly right -- my forehead is covered with wrinkles at the ripe old age of 24. I can still laugh with the best of them with Anna, or sometimes with my students, but most of the time I look (and feel) deadly serious. Certainly I am responsible for working toward reversing this frightening trend, but I am hopeful that the more laid-back mainstream culture of America will help me on this journey.
I guess I ended up getting pretty personal in today's post...hope I didn't turn any of you off. If anybody is reading this who doesn't know me personally -- if you have experienced anything similar, please feel free to leave a comment.
I'm going to wash the dishes and go to the gym now. Signing out,
-J
Anna and I will be heading back to the states at the tail end of July (between the 29th and the 31st). We'll stay in Elgin with her family and then head back to Pittsburgh, where we'll be for at least six months or so while I finish my last semester at the University of Pittsburgh. Shortly before classes begin, we are looking forward to seeing John Mayer play at the Post-Gazette Pavilion on August 24th. We're both huge John Mayer fans and are really excited that Pittsburgh will be the first stop in his summer tour.
The next bit isn't so much news, but rather an admission of an obsession. I have spent an unhealthy amount of time recently trying to find the latest information about the Nintendo Wii, the game console which will go on sale sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. The reason I'm so excited is because of the revolutionary controller, which many websites have taken to calling the "Wiimote," which can detect motion in three dimensions as well as acceleration. This feature will make it possible to play a tennis game by swinging the controller instead of merely pushing a button, as has been the case for almost every game console ever made.
My excitement has been further fueled by the fact that I have an idea for a game which I believe could become a reality if I can assemble the right people to help me. I can't share details about it on this blog because I don't want the idea to get ripped off, but I've told my family about the idea and they seem encouraging.
However, I am going to force myself to stop seeking out more information on this system, as it's wasting way too much of my time. I really ought to just wait until the official details are released, and then just take it from there. To that end, I hereby vow not to visit any gaming-related website for two months, no matter what. That means that the magic date is August 23rd, the day before the John Mayer concert, so it should be easy for me to remember. Mark my words -- no visits to wiicentre.com, kotaku.com, gamespot.com, or any other such visits until then. Perhaps by making this credo public I will feel some accountability for following through.
Okay, phew! Now that that's off my chest, I'll move onto what's new with us. Our time in Japan is quickly running out: 5 more weeks and we'll be on the plane. We have no idea when we might return. There are a lot of things that we're definitely going to miss: we have come to know some truly wonderful people in these two years and it will be hard not getting to see them for a long time. Japanese food is another biggie...and having the opportunity to speak Japanese on a daily basis with native speakers could possibily be the hardest part to deal with on a daily basis. Anna and I are both really worried about forgetting what we've learned, so we'll have to re-join the JSS (Japanese Speaking Society) at the University of Pittsburgh, and keep our eyes out for other ways to maintain our current level (I would say improve, but I think that's an impossibility while living outside of Japan unless our jobs involved interpreting, translation, etc.)
With only five weeks left, there are a lot of things we have to take care of in terms of selling all our appliances, giving away miscellaneous knick-knacks, shipping the majority of our wardrobes, books, and computer equipment home, etc. It took about24 man-hours just to clean, sort, and organize the office in our rented home, and there's a lot more still to go, but the worst of it is behind us. We are hoping to visit Okinawa during our last week, and maybe we can catch up with our friends Nancy and Hitomi while we're there.
I remember feeling some reverse culture shock after my previous trip to Japan, and that was only after 9 months. This time it will have been just shy of two years, and I imagine that there are a lot of subtle things about America that have changed. We've more or less kept track of the big changes by reading online news, but I think readjusting to the American mindset after having gotten used to doing things the Japanese way will be pretty difficult. I certainly won't mind the relatively cheaper prices for just about everything except for health insurance, which is proving to be a big snafu. I was under my parents' insurance before I came to Japan because I was still a university student, but that is no longer the case so we'll have to be clever in order to stay protected without going broke. I was amazed to hear that health insurance very well could cost us more than our apartment will! Admittedly I know next to nothing about why the system is the way it is, so I'll try to withhold criticism given my ignorance, but my fingers are crossed that we can both find employment that has a decent healthcare plan. Apparently Starbucks gives health insurance to even their part-time employees, so we'll keep that in mind...
There have been many challenges that Anna and I have both faced during the last two years. Living abroad is sort of a rollercoaster...there are these breakthrough moments when one comes to understand a mystery of the culture or the language that feel wonderful, and sometimes there are horrible moments of loneliness and isolation. Yet in spite of the difficulties we have managed to have an interesting and productive experience that we will never forget, regardless of whether or not we ever return to Japan for an extended period of time.
As a foreigner here, you have to work harder than you would in your home country to hammer out a living. This is especially true if you don't only want to teach your native language to Japanese students. I enjoy teaching very much but didn't want to take a full-time position teaching because I thought it would hinder my Japanese ability. It took several months of searching and interviewing around for various positions before I finally found a job at an international patent office about six months ago. It has been a great learning experience in many ways. My employer is having trouble finding a replacement for me, which gives me a feeling of accomplishment, but then I started thinking about another aspect. Maybe I'm not such a hard worker in America, but I work particularly hard in Japan because I have to overcome so many difficulties here. Just as Americans have stereotypes about Japanese, Japanese have stereotypes about Americans, and I think that a big factor behind what drives me to work so hard here is that I want to prove people wrong -- I want to show that I can work just as hard as a Japanese, if not harder, that I'm not lazy and careless about others' feelings and have a strong work ethic, etc. That pressure, largely self-induced in my case but certainly also influenced in large parts by the Japanese culture, has been a really good motivator. In Japan, you know where the bar lies for your work very clearly. I confess to being worried about finding motivation in the US, where I have a long history of procrastination and a tendency toward mediocrity in large groups (e.g. university) and excellence in small groups (e.g. middle school, high school, etc.). Will my past catch up with me once I get used to the American way once again, or will my time in Japan prove to be a truly life-changing experience strong enough to allow me to overcome my time-proven character flaws and deficiencies? Time will tell I guess...but I'll do whatever I can to make sure the latter is the case.
On the other hand, there is also a change in me that I hope to get rid of ASAP which I attribute to Japan (or, to be more accurate, to the somewhat hazardous combination of a serious person plunged into an even more serious culture). I find that these days, I almost never smile at work, while on the train, or almost anywhere in public. I have always been a serious guy, since I was a small child in any case. However, after having spent a combined 17 months or so in Japanese companies, I find that I am much more reserved about showing emotion than I used to be. I am sometimes shocked to see my reflection in the window during my commutes to work. Whereas my internal image of myself has a subtle smile and a generally congenial countenance, my real face looks hard, impatient, and mean. My mom used to tell me that I frowned too much and that I would get wrinkles, and looking at myself in the mirror, I see that she was exactly right -- my forehead is covered with wrinkles at the ripe old age of 24. I can still laugh with the best of them with Anna, or sometimes with my students, but most of the time I look (and feel) deadly serious. Certainly I am responsible for working toward reversing this frightening trend, but I am hopeful that the more laid-back mainstream culture of America will help me on this journey.
I guess I ended up getting pretty personal in today's post...hope I didn't turn any of you off. If anybody is reading this who doesn't know me personally -- if you have experienced anything similar, please feel free to leave a comment.
I'm going to wash the dishes and go to the gym now. Signing out,
-J
posted by jeremy at 3:16 PM
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