On life, earthquakes, and Japanese hair dye...

On life...

There are days in the life of every gaijin (foreigner living in Japan) that stand out as being more special than the rest. For some, these days include the first time you are able to successfully order food at a restaurant, the first and last time you try natto (fermented soy beans), and the first time you get really lost on your bicycle and end up 2.5 hours from where you live and were trying to go. For me, today was that day!

Being my day off, and somewhat poor until pay day later this week, I decided to spend the day doing free things around my "city." So, armed with my city map that I picked up at the train station, I hopped on my little blue bicycle (which I have named Baby Blue.. very manly, I know), bought a bento for lunch, and headed toward what appears on the map to be a big temple/park to eat and study Japanese. What a nice and relaxing day in the countryside.

Not so! In Japan, there are generally no road names, and thus, no street signs. While some highways have numbers, signs indicating which number highway you are on are few and far between. So, despite my best efforts, I got lost. Really really lost. I stopped and tried to ask 5 different people for directions, but they were all terrified to talk to a foreigner and were little help. One elderly woman even ran away when I tried to ask her. It was kind of funny for me.

Anyway, after 2.5 hours of cycling through the mountains and rice fields of the Japanese countryside and thinking I was on the right track, I realized I was in an entirely different gcityh not even in the same direction as the park/temple I was trying to get to. I was so determined.. Iwas a man on a mission, but at this point, I gave up. I found a bench to eat my lunch, and then cycled the 2.5 hour route back home. What a wasted day.

My legs are so tired and sore now.

So my question is why! Why have an entire country without street signs? Maybe it is one of those cultural differences that I just donft understand, but seriously! Wouldn't it be so much easier for EVERYONE to get around if there were at least a few signs to guide you??

Other than my accidental adventure today, this week has been pretty chill. I had a picnic with all of my codomo (child) students and their parents yesterday in the park near my apartment. It was really fun and I even cooked and made 21 bento boxes for their lunch.

I also made some really good decisions about what I will do the rest of this year regarding my job/living situation, and about what my next move will be after this year. All in all, it was a good week.

On earthquakes...

On Friday night, I experienced my first earthquake in Japan. It happened around 9:40 at night as I was waiting at the train station for my train to come to go home from work. It was just a baby earthquake, but it was really exciting for me.

Thatfs all.

On Japanese hair dye...

It's blatantly obvious to anyone on the street that I am not Japanese. Everything about me from my hair, to my clothing, to my skin color screams outsider. This leaves me with two options: 1) do my best to study culture and styles here and try unsuccessfully to fit in, or 2) to have fun with it.

I have chosen option 2. Since there is absolutely no chance that I will ever blend in here, I might as well have fun and experiment with different clothing styles and looks. So, that is exactly what I have been doing. I even tried dying my hair. Last week, I tried "crimson brown" and as of today, my hair is "cool ash." It's kind of fun. (in case you were wondering, cool ash is my favorite so far)

On to the whole point of this seemingly random blog...

While my daily adventures, earthquake experience, and recent style/hair color experimentation may seem completely unrelated, I have blogged about them all together for a reason: to show what a different person I have become here.

Those of you that know me know that I am anything but a nature person. I am a hyper-organized urban t-shirt and jeans kind of guy with a low threshold for change. But not here; not now.

My living situation here has forced me to change nearly everything about how I live. Who'd have thought 4 months ago, before I left, that I'd become the type of person that goes to the river (and in the river) nearly every day; someone who owns and uses a bicycle daily; someone who doesnft freak out or panic despite being truly lost in the middle of another country or while experiencing an earthquake; someone who now says things such as "the river is looking low today," and "it looks like the rice is about ready to harvest;" someone who is no longer scared of bugs; and someone who is totally happy living a traditional Japanese life style???? Not it!

But it's true. With the exception of two things, I am as happy as can be here. J

(The two things are the insane obstacles to even trying to find a boyfriend in rural Japan, and my employment situation. Hopefully both will be resolved soon.)