On making deliveries and what I'm learning

Howl's Moving Castle is on TV. I love this movie.

Anyway, gosh, I am already halfway done with my time here and I haven't been updating this blog as often as I planned. But, I am done with my delivery job, and I'm moving host families tomorrow, so it's time for another update.

Even though delivering groceries in the summer heat doesn't exactly sound like a good time, I had a lot of fun, mostly because I was shadowing a super nice employee, and we had many a laugh. She is Shimizu-san, and here we are together:



I am really glad that I was placed in her care, as our personalities fit well together and she would sing little songs on the fly, one of my favorites being ちょっとコンビニ, ちょっとお菓子 chotto konbini, chotto okashi (a little convenience store, a little snack) when we stopped to get a snack. She told me she would write me letters, and I hope she does.

Everyone else at the center was also very nice, which I was immediately clued into on my first day when I walked up the stairs and saw this:



Welcome to Omiya Center!
Let's do our best together!

Too cute, right? Everyone keeps giving me things with the Saitama Co-op logo on them. People tend to treat me like a little kid, which I don't mind, because that means they explain things to me slowly and simply, I don't have much responsibility, and they give me candy.


I think these trucks are so cute. Also, pro tip: the "deli" does not stand for "delicatessen," but actually "delivery" and "delicious," which no English speaker would think of first.


Part of the neighborhood I made deliveries in, from the 6th floor of an apartment building. Train tracks!

I'm finding myself in a strange position, since part of the point of this internship is to compare Japanese and American business. However, I have very little work experience in America, and I already knew a lot about Japan, Japanese culture, and Japanese business before I came here, so it's tough to say what I'm really learning in that respect. BUT, what is more important to me (cultural similarities are what tie us together, amirite?) is meeting a lot of different people and being able to communicate with them, and also being able to adapt quickly to different jobs and be of some use to my co-workers. I'm probably not allowed to say that I'm not learning anything about the Japanese business world though, haha. Saitama Co-op is pretty exceptional in a lot of ways also, it's not exactly a "traditional" Japanese company, but that's probably part of the lesson, too. I will continue to collect my thoughts on it, since I have to write a report at the end anyway. English and Japanese. I will be posting them here, so look forward to it!

Me and the Bento Ladies

Last week, as part of my co-op duties at Saitama University, I sold bento (boxed lunches) outside with cute bento ladies. We would call out to students passing by and sell them things like Pork with Kimchi 豚キムチ (and rice, of course) or chicken, you know, stuff like that. On the first day, they asked me to draw something cute on the signboard, and I did the best I could:



Sekiguchi-san (on the right) said, "Oh, I look like that guy, who's that guy, the fat one with the red hat" and her partner goes, "Mario?" and she's like, "Yeah, that one!"



They were very nice, I had a good time. Except, there was no cash register obviously, so I had to calculate change in my head, which I am not very good at in English let alone Japanese. They helped me out though and I got the hang of it. It was nice to do the same thing every day of that week, as otherwise I have been doing different things every day. Whenever I tell anyone that I'm 22, they always say 若いな you're so young, so, that's cool. I do really feel like it's これからだ, like my life is just getting started.

Another trip to Japan, another アドベンチャースタート！ First day in Saitama

OKAY, SO. JAPAN. Take 4. That's right. This is my fourth time to Japan. ４回。 Ridiculous. I'm not sure whose fault this is, but I feel like Japanese is such a straightforward language compared to English. I feel this way when I try to explain English grammar to interested parties. There are so many irregularities, so many turns of phrase that you could never hope to pick up just by studying. Being a native speaker of English is really a blessing, in its own way. Sure we're given a tough time about it, but really... hey, global language ftw (I never say that, what is wrong with me).

Um, but, right, Japan so far. So far, and I mean the past 30 hours or so (omg それだけ？), it's been really great. My flight was pretty awful though, got delayed like 2.5 hours and my seat was really cramped (UNITED, you kind of suck), nowhere near as fun as my previous flight to Japan. I finally passed out during the last leg, thank god. Landed at Narita and didn't see Matt (fellow intern who also goes to Oberlin) or anyone with a sign with my name on it, so I wandered a little, exchanged my money, then asked the nice lady at the info desk if she could make an announcement over the PA for me, to brush off my polite Japanese. And find this guy. Which I did. Hiyama-san. A very nice man. I met with the 3rd intern, also named Matthew, and then we drove to Saitama.

The drive to Saitama was actually 意外と really sweet. We drove right by Tokyo Disneyland and Odaiba, over the Rainbow Bridge, saw Tokyo Tower, and then through the heart of downtown Tokyo (Ikebukuro), all aglow at night. I thought I would be way too tired to pay as much attention as I did to the scenery, but my excitement temporarily erased my fatigue and I was entranced. I chattered excitedly with the other Matthew about Japan and Japanese and the lovely things outside the windows. I'm hoping that I leave Japan before the honeymoon phase ends this time.

When we got to the (super fancy) hotel, us 3 interns and Hiyama-san ate some dinner (yakitori and a huge plate of sushi with wasabi that made my nose hurt like something awful--why does it do that? It's not like normal spicy food which sets your mouth on fire, it just attacks your sinuses. I don't ever eat wasabi so it was an experience) and drank some 梅酒 UMESHU (plum/ume wine) which is so goddamn good, I had forgotten. Then I went to sleep.

TODAY, got up, had delicious hotel buffet breakfast, then took a walk over to a Saitama government office and got myself oriented. Met real Japanese people in a real Japanese office, working at their little computers. Actually used keigo and felt like it was merited. Everyone was very cute and friendly. Then we went back to the hotel for another fancy meal, and we were joined by members from everyone's host families (we all have at least 2 host families, so I met both of my new host moms) and some people from everyone's company. Everyone was super nice to me and complimented me profusely on my Japanese, which never gets old. I had a great time.

After our leisurely lunch, I went with some of the people from Saitama Co-op and we discussed what I will be doing during this internship, and also pondered at length what size uniform to order. Everything is measured in centimeters, which of course, I, being a dumb American, have little experience with. Luckily, Nagashima-san had a measuring tape, so she sent the guy out of the room and measured me. It was hilarious watching the two of them pour over the size chart trying to figure out what to do with my American T&A. I ended up with the largest pant size, which is, get this, 7L, or, XXXXXXXL. Hilarious, right? Well, I got some junk in my trunk, okay? I felt sort of bad, but not really. I'm pretty average sized in America. Or so I like to think.

Then I took a long journey with Nagashima-san to my first host family's apartment. It was very hot. She was extremely nice though, and explained lots of things about my commute to me.

When we finally arrived, I was surprised to find that my host mom had changed out of the lovely kimono she had been wearing at lunch. She had traded it for a T-shirt, jeans, and a rainbow curly clown wig. Boy, did I peg her personality wrong! She is a riot. Some neighbors came over who wanted to practice their English but as this usually goes in Japan, that means speaking in Japanese and occasionally discussing an English phrase that may come up. Then my high school aged host sister came home, and we talked about many things, like the finer points of what is considered too sexy of a school uniform, and how to pronounce SEA URCHIN like a pro. PS, it tastes totally bizarre, I did not approve.

Only downside is that there is no wireless and no router, so I either have to use their computer or plug mine into the modem, both of which I did. Unplugging the Internet from their computer causes it to go all funny when I plug it back in, but I troubleshooted IN JAPANESE and fixed it. The fix was the same as always--unplug the modem, wait 10 seconds, plug it back in. See, we're all the same, all over the world.

Okay, so, until next time.

これから宜しくお願い致します。