Money

The reason I chose to stay in Okinawa one more year is because of its low cost of living. I wanted to take a final year to settle my student loans, build up some savings, and open up an IRA.

A fellow JET who lives nearby use to work for the Federal Reserve. We had a conversation last year about investing that rather eerily foreshadowed the current Wall Street crisis. I can't quote, but he said something along the lines of, "I worked at the Fed long enough to learn that the system is flawed and people are pushing around imaginary money."

Now I am in a position to start investing and, if internet news is anything to go by, it seems the Apocalypse has come to Wall Street and opening up an IRA would be the last thing I would want to do. If I was actually in America, I'm sure I would have a better perspective of what's actually going on. I guess one way to look at it is it's the best time to invest because everything is low. But news sites keep referring to the possible bailout as the biggest since the Great Depression. If I remember my history, many banks closed because they tried to reclaim their loans, and I don't want to see that happen with me.

A bailout to me seems to be only postponing an inevitable (the idea of bailing out debt with debt doesn't make sense to me) fallout, so as someone who knows practically nothing on economics and banks, my question is: is it still safe to invest in an IRA? or are we headed towards anarchy where money is worthless and I'm better off investing in Okinawan goats to use as bartering in the future?

Book Drive

Today, a man and some military wives showed up at one of the elementary schools to donate books to the school library. They had filled a station wagon with boxes that came to over 200 children's books. I helped carry the boxes into an empty room where we spread everything out on several tables.

I think this would be a nice thing to do...in America. The problem with all these books is that they are in English and the only person who can read them is me. It would be like a group of Japanese people showing up at a school in America to donate over 200 books in Japanese. Also, some of the pop-up books were ripped, some of the sound-making books were broken, and some books had crayon colored in them. I was told the man running this book drive is very passionate about what he is doing, but I couldn't help feeling the school was just used as a dumping ground for military family's unwanted stuff.

I feel bad for the librarian who has to go through them all.

Funny Japanese Words

I had lunch with my 6th graders today, and one of the boys turned to me and says, "Kinky!", and then waited for my reaction. You see, Kinki is a southern-central region of Japan. It is the home of Kinki University and the hometown of the pop band Kinki Kids. (I'm not making this up.) This 6th grader had apparently heard on TV that foreigners find the word funny and he wanted to know what it meant. So I got to explain to everyone what I think of when someone says 'Kinki Kids'.

This was a big hit and it lead them to asking me for more Japanese words that sound funny in English. The only other one I could think of is the drink Calpis. This is a bottled drink with a taste I can't describe. Kinda like a milky-lemonade. Of course when you say it, it sounds like 'cow piss'. This also tickled their 6th-grader-funny-bone.

These two alone entertained them the entire lunch period, but can anyone think of any others?

The Middle Finger, and other Western Imports

I've been having a problem with some of my students flicking me off.

For example, one of the guys I play basketball with has two daughters, a 1st grader and a 3rd grader. The 1st grader ran up to me last night speaking fake English (think 'blah blah blah') and sticking up her ring finger. The 3rd grader, goes, "No no no, like this!", and shoots up her middle finger. The 1st grader then copied her.

I also get it at some of my schools. I'll be sitting at my desk and some kids will walk by, see me through the windows and shout out "Hey Cliff-sensei!" while flicking me off.

I think they understand the meaning of it in a basic sense and they do it to be funny cause they see it on TV. But what they don't understand is the unsaid words that go with the gesture.

***

Western symbols have also been imported void of any meaning. The ones I see the most are the cross, the marijuana leaf, and the Playboy bunny. Lots of girls wear cross necklaces because it's cute. Christians make up about 2.3% of the population in Japan, so I think it's safe to say they aren't wearing it to get closer to Jesus. This is also the country where people are married by unordained priests. People getting married just want a foreigner to stand at the alter with them to complete the 'image'. Apparently the 'priests' here get paid well, so I've considered doing it myself...  

The marijuana leaf symbol is everywhere: from flags, car air-fresheners, pencil cases, and clothes. One of my students has one such pencil case and it's not uncommon to see my students to wear marijuana t-shirts. This all came from Jamaican imports, of course. Again, I would say the majority of people have no idea what they are actually wearing.

And finally, the Playboy bunny, usually accompanied with the word PLAYBOY. No one knows what this is either. When I saw a 6th grader wearing a shirt, I told a teacher that if a student showed up with a shirt like that in America, she would be forced to change. He asked why and I told him what Playboy was. Not a clue... Also, junior high and high school girls have school uniforms with tall socks. They get to pick their own socks, and I would say half of them is the Playboy bunny.

But to be fair, we have zero knowledge of Asian cultures and tend to group everything as 'Chinese'. For example, my mom has a Japanese robe she's worn for over 20 years that she got from my grandpa when he visited. We found out from Yuka that the design was Shogi chess pieces.

***

This was printed on a kid's t-shirt (worn by my autistic kid, no less) that had a rub-ix cube on it and said:

"Is this object the human challenge to a brain?
What do six colors arranged for such aspect of a cube mean?
And what do we witness when these six colors gathered?
It will be assumed that I challenge this hexahedron with great wisdom."

English t-shirts are in style and no one cares what they mean. They provide entertainment to me when I read them, and they provide entertainment to the kids when they have me read them out loud. Speaking of which, nothing makes you feel more uncomfortable than a 5th grade girl asking you to read their shirt that says, "Juicy Girls". It's the name of the brand.

The City

Last Sunday, I returned home to Okinawa. I spent the past 3 weeks of my summer vacation in Fukuoka. During this time, I have done nothing interesting. I spent the majority of my days at a local cafe while Yuka was at work. But I guess being on vacation doesn't always have to be interesting as long as one is relaxing.

I saw The Dark Knight, Ponyo on the Cliff (the new Miyazaki movie), and Hana Yori Dango. The latter, let's just say, I had to go to...

I pulled an Olympian-feat in movie downloads. Yuka has fiber optic internet, and I downloaded a little over 100 movies. Since I have cancelled my internet in Okinawa, this should keep me entertained for awhile.

School starts on Monday, officially beginning my second year as a JET. Right now, I am still taking Japanese and Chinese lessons and I am still doing karate. I've started playing basketball with a group of people in Nago. I've dropped calligraphy because the teacher and students stopped showing up. Either class was cancelled and they didn't tell me, or they changed locations and didn't tell me.  Also, I'm also in charge of running the book club for the Okinawan JETs this year. 

I intend for this to be my last year in Okianwa. I think I'm doing enough now that will see this year go by as fast as my first year did.

The Conbini Factor

I believe it was in The Millionaire Next Door that the author discussed the Latte Factor. If one were to go to Starbucks every morning before work and spend $5, that comes out to $25 a week, $100 a month, and $1200 a year. The author urges the reader to discover their own 'Latte Factor' and drop it.

I've recently discovered mine, the Japanese convenience store, also known as a conbini. They exist practically on every corner, and since it is so hot, I find myself running into them often to buy some water. Taking out my trash last week, I discovered I had about 20-30 bottles that I had collected over the past week and a half. Time to stop.

--

I'm now spending 3 weeks of my summer break in Fukuoka. I'm looking forward to next week, because I'm going to go see The Dark Knight! It will be released in Japan on Saturday, and it will be the first time I have been to a movie theater in a year. Not that Japan doesn't have movie theaters, it's just that northern Okinawa doesn't. If you had told me 2 years ago there would be a time in my life where I would not go to the theaters for a year, I would not have believed you.

Also, today marks my one-year anniversary since arriving in Okinawa. Fastest year of my life. I attribute that to not being school. Time flies when you're having fun, and school sucks. Well, being a student, anyway.

Night Walking

"Cliff, let's go night walking."

So says the father of one of my 5th and 7th graders. It's Saturday night, around 7:00, and I'm at a party at a local community center on the beach attending a party for the local kids and parents. He's fanning the flames around a pit that's whole roasting a chicken and cracks open his first beer. 

"Now?" I ask.

"No, no. Later."

Japanese has random English phrases that pop up in conversation, such as, "See you!" and "Don't mind!". But I have to say, "night walking" is an awesome one.

The party was a big barbecue, with lots of chicken, beef, yakisoba, and beer. I spent most of the evening trying to make myself useful, but every time I asked if I could do something, I got turned down with the reply, "No, no, go play with the kids." I didn't want to play with the kids, but I think the real translation was "go speak English." So I spent most of my time skipping stones and eating. I wasn't drinking since I had to drive home, but the 'night-walking' dad kept urging me for at least an hour, saying they would find me a place to sleep. I gave in. 

Around 11, most of the kids were gone. I was sitting with the parents when one of the mom's started admonishing me. I didn't realize it at first, because she began by complaining about junior high English teachers, and how all they teach is writing and grammar, but not conversation. I boastfully reply that I don't even teach the alphabet in my classroom, but only work on conversation. "Then what were you doing speaking Japanese earlier?", she replies. And she begins listing various topics of conversation I had with the kids that evening. She was kind of right, because some of the things I could have said in English. But what she doesn't realize is most of the kids don't even like saying 'Hello' to me outside of class, and I think forcing it becomes an annoyance on the person. *speaking from experience*

I got up and wandered around some more. When I returned, there was only the 'night-walking' dad and I realized it was about midnight. I had completely forgotten about our night walk and I wanted to go to bed. But then he handed me a flash light, a cooler box, and a spear. He was carrying his own light, spear, and net. He looked at me and said, "Is 2 hours okay?". I had no idea what we were doing and two hours was not okay, but I said yes anyway. 

We were hunting octopus. 

Or that was the plan. We set out on the beach, using our flashlights to scan the shallow water for any dark shapes. The low tide revealed lots of rocks that I climbed over in order to check the cracks. This guy had drank way too much and was wading knee-deep in the water, falling over every 10 minutes. There was one point when we had reached the end of dry sand and he rounded a curve in the water on his own. I was just wearing socks and tennis shoes and refused to go in. Next thing I know, he's out of sight and I can't see his flash light. Thankfully he came back a few minutes later. We walked most of the perimeter of what is called Miyagi Island. It's not very big, but with all the rocks and the slow searching, I would say it did take about 2 hours.

And no octopus.

He was really disappointed. Apparently this was his first time going out and finding nothing, but it was a lot of fun. When we got back, he said I could stay at his place. Most northern Okinawans are poor and live in a 3-room apartment. It's the same size I have and is a perfect fit for me, but I can't imagine it working with a wife and 2 kids. In one of the rooms, there were two couches and a couple of futons on the floor. It was about 2 in the morning. His 7th grader was sleeping on one couch and he took the other. I crashed next to the 5th grader. 

The beauty of the futon is that a house does not require a bedroom. You can just lay it down on any floor in the house, and it's an instant bed. What I kept thinking about was how these kids don't have their own bedroom. They only sleep in the 'living room' at night. But there is a positive side. When I was a kid, I remember it taking me quite awhile to get up in the morning. Not in this house. At 7:30, less than 6 hours since our night walking, this guy is up and about. He gives one, "Wake up!", walks next to the 5th grader, grabs the futon, and sweeps it out from under him. No more bed.