“Asian”

 Hello friends. Enjoying your summer? Not so much, here on the other side of the Pacific. I feel like I’m melting… a little more every day. I’ve never been a huge fan of saunas… and Japan is one. giant. sauna. Furreal? TURN OFF THE HEAT JAPAN. Luckily we finally got our air conditioning units, which are scheduled to be installed sometime next month.

We’ve officially been here for 3.5 months (woah, minute to enjoy THAT moment), and I can without a doubt profess that I love Japan. The people are amazing, the food is way too delicious for my own good, and the transportation system is awesome. While I miss driving my car, I love the fact that we can hop on a train (or a couple) and be in Tokyo in an hour. And we don’t have to worry about a designated driver for the next year… another plus! However… there are a couple things that I still do not really understand…

• It’s getting up to the 90’s here. Throw in some humidity and it feels like 2370 degrees Fahrenheit. And yet, every day, someone offers me hot tea. AND PEOPLE ARE DRINKING IT. What the what?!? How? Why? I sputter trying to understand how hot tea makes this hellish temperature any better 
•   One of the teachers I work with at the Junior High sings her lessons. Uhhh yeah. That’s right. She SINGS her lessons. Like, from the hour chime, something in her head tells her “Ok, this is your musical hour. Everything that leaves your mouth must be said in some sort of musical tune”. I have plenty of friends who wish their life was a musical. Well, I am not one of those people. And I can assure you it is not as awesome as you imagine it to be. In fact, it’s a little annoying.  “OooOohHHhhh kAayyyy everyoneEEee!! TakeEEee outtt yourrr textyyyy boookkkssss ooOhhHHh”. I’m not even kidding. On top of that, she calls me by the wrong name every single class.
• Another thing, most of my teachers feel the need to add vowels to the end of all English words. It perplexes me a bit. Most commonly with the words “take” (take-ey), “textbook” (texty-booku), “page” (pagie), the list could go on. A bit strange, no?
• A different teacher has stopped referring to me by name. Instead, he just calls me “Asian”. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this… because while I am Asian, so is he. So is the entire class. I’m attributing it to his terrible English. Class goes something like this:

•  “Everyone, listen to Asian”
• “Umm, please say this in Asian” (Yeah, apparently the word has multiple meanings
• “How do you say in Asian?”
• “Asian will read now”
• The first time he said it, I looked around. Mainly because I couldn’t believe it, but also because I am one of 37 Asians around. How was I supposed to know that I was the one “Asian” he was referring to.

• The elementary school kids use the words “Oh my God” and “Shut up” on a daily basis. They say it for no reason; shout it randomly in class, whenever the fancy strikes them really. I can inevitably infer that these are the words they hear and remember from movies, tv shows, etc. It’s a bit annoying to hear “OhmiGAWD” 40+ times a day, but the worst is when a teacher uses it. The same teacher mentioned above (who calls me “Asian”) said it 7 times within the first minute of class. I know because I counted. Really sensei? Why ya gotta be like that?

Alright, I’ve ranted long enough. Here are some pictures!!

One of my teachers brought me omiyage from Disneyland Tokyo! So cute!

How we make it through the week: Costco Pizzas!!

Don't mind the panda bear pillow pet in the background

To accompany our "Funny Dog" bedsheets: Shopping Bear bedspread!

Even the beer is cute here. Mini-me can!

And also, MEGA-CAN!!

Robert trying to be taller

Apparently, a "what not to do at the train station" poster

 We all nominated ourselves as people in the poster. Robert is the one being ridiculous in the top left corner, I'm the one getting sappy over my text in the right corner, John is the one with his music too loud, and apparently Robert is also the one too into his game-boy. Robert also showed us first hand what not to do at the train station. The train rushed by and Robert said "Yeah, they freak out if you walk to close or make your hands go all crazy like THIS" (and then he proceeded to walk too close to the zooming train and make his hands go all crazy or whatever). And then I had a heart attack.