Category Archives: Japan

Rudeness is as Rudeness Does

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It says a lot about Japan that the most uncivil things I saw today were actually quite minor. One shocked She Who Must Be Obeyed, and the other involved coffee.

Oddly, although I was also involved, I was not the biggest problem.

As is our tradition for each New Year’s holiday, we had a huge dinner with the entire clan of immediate in-laws and then, after the oldest brother ran away as fast as he could, the rest of us went shopping.

This involves droves of people and traffic, but luckily we’ve missed most of the fukubukuro fighting so we were safe.

At lunch though, we chose the busiest restaurant, and as I was bringing my double espresso back from the drink bar, a woman decided to spread her wings and spun into my cup. This I could have forgiven but her attitude was less than apologetic, which is unusual for Japan, so I got grumpy for minute. Oddly, though, I was able to move on fairly quickly, which is unusual for me.

Then, after we all separated—our girls having been dumped off on the youngest in-law and her husband—She Who Must Be Obeyed and I did some shopping. As we were heading back to the car to head home, we witnessed one of the rudest things we’ve seen in Japan (at least that didn’t involve riding on the train).

An elevator full of parents and kids in carts began to empty while a young couple with a stroller and an older couple with a couple small bags waited. It took the parents and kids in carts a long time to exit, prompting the older man to push his way on the elevator. Then, when the last cart was gone, the old man closed the door in front of the young couple with the stroller. The young man tried to push the button, but it was too late. He and his wife both looked surprised, as they had, technically, been at the front of the line.

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I both muttered something along the lines of “What an asshole” and it was our topic of conversation all the way back to the car. In the asshole’s defense, the young father should have pushed the button as soon as people started getting off the elevator. Also, as rude things go, it wasn’t that bad, but by Japan’s standards, it was rude.

The most shocking thing was that I didn’t do anything that could be considered rude. I even apologized for being bumped. And I didn’t swear. Much. At least not loudly.

New Year’s Planner Planning

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Although it may seem crazy to so-called normal people, pen/stationery addicts understand the necessity of deciding your new year’s carry before New Year’s Day. They also understand the idea of “your carry”.

So-called normal people use a smart phone app or a portable calendar or, in a really risky stretch, they write in the squares on calendars that hang on the wall. They also have the crazy notion that “you should just use the system you used last year.”

Pen/stationery addicts, on the other hand, find this crazy. They have a lot of stuff they need to use, even as they acquire new stuff, and this inspires them to try different things each year. Variety. Spice of life. Etcetera.

In my case, I’ve decided to abandon the daily log that resides on my desk (more on that in a future post) for something more portable. I’ve also decided to abandon a scratch planner that I carry both as a justification for owning my Old Church Works Quad Cover and as a way to use up notebooks.

Instead I’ve acquired a smaller Hobonichi Techo that will serve as my planner and log and I am trying to figure out way to use the pages I didn’t use in its larger cousin (aptly named Cousin).

I’ve also decided to switch my daily 10 Ideas to a random Field Notes notebook or a similar sized notebook from a different maker. That will go in my OCW cover along with my food log, my random notes notebook, and the “book bible” for my latest project. This might give me four notebooks in the cover, which will make it fairly thick, but will give me something to write about in the future.

My other goal is to limit my goals in the new year. I have a couple projects to finish before I worry about other projects. Any attempts at multitasking have, of late, led to paralysis and that will change.”

Along the way I’m looking or ways to use up notebooks. I’ve already passed a few on to the girls whilst trying to encourage them to find ways to use them.

I’ll give specific details on all this in the future. Until then, there are notebooks to assemble.

There’s also a business to formalize or simplify. I’ll need a notebook to help me think about
that, though. I’ll have to decide if I’ll use one I have on hand or if I’ll have to buy a new one.

That makes sense to pen/stationery addicts but so-called normal people may find it crazy.

Travel on Trains With Men in White

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All things considered, I was surprisingly calm, even as I was kicking foreign tourists out of our seats.

Along the way I ate hot dogs (carbs) and saw a character who has to appear in a novel some day.

Today our oldest and I traveled to my in-laws. The prep for that involved denial, folding, washing, waiting, and several “where are you?” texts.

Our oldest had a “school related event” that didn’t involve her school uniform and She Who Must Be Obeyed didn’t know about it so that leaves me going “Hmmmm”. However, she did make it back in time for her to pack and for us to catch our train. (We even took a selfie, of sorts, modified with Prisma.)

S and I on the bullet train to Itoigawa. #fakeart #playswithcamera

A photo posted by DL (@d.e.lively) on

She Who Must Be Obeyed, for her part, made several calls confirming that we were packed and ready to travel and aware that today was the day we were supposed to travel. I, being in an oddly relaxed mood (more on that in a future post) resisted torturing her by saying things such as “I thought we were traveling tomorrow” and “what daughter?” and by not pretending I’m worried that I didn’t turn off the kerosene stove. Oh, and I paid that homeless guy and his friends a bunch of cheap booze to house sit.

Our trip was on the new Hokuriku Shinkansen which runs from Tokyo to Kanazawa with a stop at Itoigawa, which is now the township where I used to live (a long story involving government and mergers).

Because it was late in the New Year’s season, we ended up with an oddly complicated trip. Our train stopped at Nagano, but not at Itoigawa. This meant we had to change trains, which, luckily, merely meant a walk across the platform.

However, when we boarded our first bullet train, there were people in our seats. I politely pointed this out, and the people, who were Asian but spoke neither Japanese nor English gave us the seats, but seamed annoyed. (Note: the train was a very rare reserved seats only train.)

(Note the Second: By colossal coincidence, SWMBO and our youngest had people in their seats when they traveled, too.)

Luckily, one us remained awake so that we could change trains at Nagano. Then, at the end of our ticket, there was a mad rush through the suddenly large and confusing Itoigawa Station, but we managed to get tickets for the local train to Nou Machi (which, oddly, we had already passed in the bullet train) but we got tickets and got on the train.

On the train, a single car with only a driver, was man with gold hair. He was wearing a white suit, a white mask and blue Oakley sunglasses. If he’s mafia or a host, he’s very low class because he’s forced to take the train. Either way, he occupied four seats and seemed to be struggling to stay awake.

Now I’m at the in-laws sipping Japanese whisky and wondering how I remained calm through all this. I’m also wondering how to work the man in white into a story.

Last Day Before The Train

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Spent today doing nothing. Well, I did a few things, but not much else.

Our oldest was off at a concert and I was left behind to do laundry and finish season two of The Man in the High Castle, which is an impressive adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novel of the same name, but lacks his sense of “No really, what the hell is real. No really.” It is well acted, but season 2 drags as they only had 15 episodes of material but decided to make 20.

I did manage to break down some boxes and slightly organize some things, but mostly I was relaxing before tomorrow’s trek to the in-laws.

I should probably try to do a little work before then, but I probably won’t. I should also pack.

Cooking With What Little is at Hand

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Two forces collide when She Who Must Be Obeyed isn’t around: the lack of food available for cooking, and my strange ability to combine random ingredients to make a meal.

The former force is a result of SWMBO’s lack of confidence that 1) I can cook and 2) will cook. (There are complicated reasons partly involving me always being wrong that explain why I rarely cook when she’s home.) As a result, SWMBO uses up almost everything available in the refrigerator in order to guarantee nothing will be left behind to spoil. She then wonders why I favor store-bought meals when she’s not around.

The second is a result of my having been a bachelor for way too long combined with an interest in cooking combined with bad money spending habits. (Books before food.)

(Note: I realize there are a few book maniacs who don’t understand why this is a bad spending habit.)

As a result, I’ve always had a knack for assembling random ingredients into a meal. I’ve always maintained that if you gave me a Snickers bar, three pieces of dried toast and a can of Cream of  Mushroom soup I could make a an actual meal out of it. (Toast the bread and cut it up as croutons that you sprinkle on the mushroom soup. Eat the Snickers bar as dessert.)

The alternate plan, if you have a little cash, is ignore the dry bread and mushroom soup and eat the Snickers bar on your way to McDonald’s.

Tonight I had two more giant chicken breasts that had met their “abandon hope all ye who consume this” date two days ago. I responded with a can of crushed tomatoes and two leeks. It all turned out pretty good, but it needed something.

I’ll probably get in trouble for using the tomatoes but that’s a small price to pay.

 

 

Last Minute Rushing in the Rain

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I didn’t go out yesterday, which meant that it was raining today.

Luckily, around lunchtime the rain stopped and my youngest and I were able to escape.

My first mission involved 1) go to atm and get money; 2) cross street to different atm and deposit money: 3) find a place to eat lunch.

Step one went badly as the atm I was using wouldn’t let me withdraw money. Instead I had to get back in line and get a different atm. Once the money was secured, I headed over to a different bank and deposited the money. Once the money was deposited our youngest and I went to a fast food place for lunch.

After that my job was to stay out of the way of last minute packing. I also had to refrain from comments and suggestions.

Eventually, She Who Must Be Obeyed and our youngest made their way to the other side of the island. Now it’s my job to think about packing. Eventually.

Planning Without Plans

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As She Who Must Be Obeyed and our youngest prepare for a trip to my in-laws’s house, I find myself trying to make plans as our oldest has plans and that will keep us from traveling at the same time as the others.

She Who Must Be Obeyed, with a certain sense of snarky triumph, declared that I’d be responsible for laundry. I didn’t have the heart to point out that 1) laundry’s not that hard and that I mostly don’t do it because I’m not considered competent (i.e. I don’t do it the way SWMBO thinks it should be done and that means she prefers to do it herself) and 2) even if I don’t do laundry, the clothes will still be here when we get back.

Mostly, I need to know when those of us left behind have to travel and which days I’m responsible for making sure meals get made.

I also have to decide how many chores out oldest will have time to do.

The Traditional Annual Foods

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Our Christmas dinner morphs a bit from year to year, but this year established the basics: Chicken, potato salad, bread, cheese, wine.

Because turkey is both difficult (and expensive) to acquire and nearly impossible to cook (unless the bird is the size of a pigeon) we end up with whole chicken leg (defined as “roast” chicken, but it usually ends up as teriyaki chicken.) This is easier to cook but lacks what I consider a vital element: the ability to use leftovers for sandwiches. There’s also no stuffing and very little pie.

Because everyone was busy, more or less, an odd side effect was that the sweets remain unfinished. This means dessert will be tomorrow.

Knowing the way we do things, that might end up being supper.

 

 

Schedules and Other Distractions

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Over the years I’ve come to accept that Christmas is just another random festival here in Japan. As such, especially as the girls have gotten older, our actual Christmas is fairly modest.

This year our oldest has plans that will keep her busy most of the day and our youngest has plans that involves cupcakes and will keep her away part of the afternoon. I have work to do but I’ll be able to do it at home and She Who Must Be Obeyed and I might sneak out for cheap sushi.

The advantage of Christmas being just another random festival is that restaurants don’t fill up. It’s just an ordinary day.

We usually make the New Year’s holiday our big celebration. This year even that will be slightly complicated, but more on that in a future post.

Until then, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to everyone!

The Inevitable Ending of the Good Thing

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Today was the recital for our oldest’s orchestra club. Unfortunately, it ended the way I’d hoped it had begun.

The recital involved 19 different combinations of club members playing different songs with different instruments. Our oldest performed as part of a flute quartet and, judging by the crowd reaction, they rocked.

Unfortunately, because our oldest is a first year, she only got to perform once.

Somehow I managed to stay awake and reasonably attentive throughout the remaining eleven performances.

At the end, all of the older girls came to the front and performed a medley of Christmas tunes. They did a good job and the crowd gave them appropriate praise. However, when it was all finished, the speech phase started. There’s always a speech phase.

What annoyed me about this one was it came at the end of the performance rather than at the start. We were late arriving which, in my mind, meant we’d missed the speeches. Instead that speech was five minutes long, as was the second speech (by a different person).

Then, just to troll me, they called up a third guy to give a speech. Luckily, as I was contemplating setting fire to something, the third speaker was unprepared and gave a very short “keep up the good work” speech that was more of a series of comments and lasted less than a minute, including the time it took him to walk tot he front.

After that, I finally got to escape. .