Shopping Japanese Style--and "Flashback Time!" (My Arrival Here)

So this morning after posting about my reflections, I headed to my first time at Japanese language class; before I came here, I was told that it was not necessary to learn Japanese to come to Japan, which is fundamentally a true statement.  However, if a person wants to communicate on any meaningful level with several of the instructors and others, a reasonable command of the Japanese language is necessary (or a skilled interpreter who is willing to interpret).  I have already been studying the language for about 5 months, and I can read and write in two of the character languages with some fluency and only read some of the third (hiragana 100%, katakana 90%, kanji 2%).  I also know around 300 or so words and have some VERY basic sentence/grammar knowledge.  Originally, I was somewhat dreading the language course as it was possible it would just cover basics I already knew (like hiragana) without getting into anything useful.  However, one of the uchideshi said that it had recently changed so that everyone got a private instructor--as such, I was tentatively optimistic about it.

The journey by train and foot was generally uneventful, and the classes are easy to find; our instructor (and all the others) are volunteers, and he was very nice.  He said it was his first time volunteering, but he had basic English skills and seemed friendly.  The beginning of the course was much what I feared--basic Japanese with no explanation of why to use what where (thankfully I already knew what we were covering, but if there continued to be no explanation then this course would be a thorough waste of time as I would only be memorizing set phrases and not understanding why to use what at what time).  They had Anya (the Russian uchideshi with very little Japanese and a little English) grouped with me, and whenever she asked questions it took her, me, and O-san (Wan, the Chinese uchideshi from earlier--he came with us for our first time) to interpret the question until the instructor understood, which was also not a super positive sign.  However, we did manage to get him to understand our questions with some effort, and he was very helpful at that point with some other grammar that was actually pretty useful.  All in all, it was an ok experience.

On our way back, O-san and I went to the supermarket within Tokorozawa's shopping district.

As you can see, it is a very colorful place.  Some food was quite affordable, while other food cost more than in the US.  I found the price comparisons interesting and confusing.  I also enjoyed that at this and every other store I've been to, customers take their purchases to a separate area behind the register to bag them there.  It does definitely speed checkout along better.

Anyway, we had a good time buying food (I bought some Asparagus to fry up--only 82 cents for a ream of three super-thick stalks!), and then we got back to the Dojo and cooked, cleaned, and ate.  Now, we will have to prepare for kids' class 45 minutes before (we always need to be fully suited up 30 minutes before class here, pre-cleaning chores done and supplies ready), but we do have about 30 minutes until that point, so I figured I'd update you all again!  Now it's time to do some of that filling in from earlier and give you a... "Flashback!"

"Flashback!"  Arrival in Tokyo

My flight to Tokyo was pretty reasonable.  It was funny that I was in the middle row in the middle (as the largest passenger in my grouping), but the small Japanese lady and elderly (also small) American guy on either side of me were friendly overall.  Singapore airlines was very nice--they continually stuffed us with quality complimentary food and snacks, and the amenities were quite comfortable.  They also supplied us with required entry forms into Japanese customs.  I ended up paying for the airplane's WiFi so that I could look up the address for the dojo I would be living at (I had access to that online but hadn't written it down anywhere physically, and it was required on the form).  I did note that it mentioned not bringing in meat products, which made me worry a bit as my gifts for the Sensei were all forms of beef jerky, which was definitely a meat product.  I hoped the fact that they were sealed would allow me to bring them in (especially since it was almost $50 of jerky).

When we landed, I quickly disembarked and followed all of the signs to get to where I needed to go.  A surprising amount of signs were not in English, which was contrary to what I'd been led to think.  Some of the people at control stations also spoke little to no English, which was surprising.  Thankfully I had enough basic Japanese to get by.  Then came the customs adventure--I found out from customs that I had to go to a different counter called 'quarantine' to find out if my food could make it in.  At quarantine a lovely little Japanese gal in a cute uniform greeted me and helped me figure out that my beef jerky contained beef.  I politely nodded that, yes, it did seem to contain beef--she nodded and informed me that they would have to take it and dispose of it due to some bacteria outbreak in USA beef.  I was a bit bummed, but I was also glad that was all that happened.  A small part of me wondered if I'd made the right decision declaring it and having them check it out--it seems likely I could have snuck it in by just not declaring it and feigning ignorance if they found it.  Still, my conscience knew it was better this way, and who knows what legal trouble it might have caused if I hadn't declared it and it was found.  

(Picture at the airport)

Once that was done I went back to my original customs officer, also a friendly gal in a cute Japanese uniform; she asked why I was in Japan and some of the other usual questions.  When she heard I was there for Aikido, she got excited and told me that she had practiced Aikido when she was little.  As she went through my bags we had a nice conversation in limited Japanese, and then I went on my way.

Once out of customs, I had to navigate to an ATM to get money and then somewhere that I could get a Pasmo card (a transit card usable on all subway and train lines--reloadable with cash at almost any transit station).  It was one thing to know this ahead of time, and it was another to get it done.  While I was near the entrance to the visitor's information area, a polite Japanese crew with a video camera came up and asked if they could interview me.  I said sure, and they asked me some questions about why I came to Japan and what I hoped to get out of my time here.  After a few minutes, they thanked me and walked on.  As they were leaving I asked them what the interview was for, and they said it was for a TV show entitled 'Why did you come to Japan?'  I said, oh, cool, and went on my way.  (Later on I mentioned this to Kevin, one of the uchideshi and he got super excited.  Apparently that's a big show over here.  Unfortunately they probably opted not to use the footage as they didn't follow up with me, and the show usually follows travelers on their journey).  

After the interview, I got directions to an ATM from a bank that the information kiosk had sent me to (apparently the ATMs are opposite the banks on the far side of the Visitor Information Area, right behind the Kiosk I'd started at).  Once I withdrew money, I followed the signs to the JR Railways booth, where they informed me I had to enter the station to get a Pasmo.  Down there a gal at information told me where to go to get it, and I followed the instructions and loaded it up.  Then I had to follow the signs that were all in Japanese to the right train.  That was very confusing--Google Maps contradicted the signs at the station, and I wasn't sure where to go.  It was also a bit of a labyrinth, so I ended up following the signs and hopping on a train, praying it was the right one.  It turns out it sort of was--it was the regular train going where I needed to go (2 hours) and not the new skyline rapid express (40 minutes).  Once I had figured out by watching myself move down the line on Google Maps satellite that I was at least going to end up in the right place, I relaxed and enjoyed the extra long view of the country-side.  More later--time to clean for kids' class now!