Back to Elementary School

So I just finished my first week of work in Yokosuka. It's still feeling great to be here, but I've already seen some things that are going to get old. First I'll write about the rest of my weekend.
Saturday night Paul and I ventured back out to see our friends. When we got there, no one we knew was there except the proprietors. No problem. We ordered a bunch of otsumami (small food plates) and a couple Chuhi (choo-high, a drink made with shochu and fruit juice) and settled in. There was another group there, apparently celebrating a birthday.
Then, one by one, our friends started to arrive and the fun ramped up. After a week here, I've realized that knowing at least a little bit of Japanese really helps to get things going. I hope I learn enough before I leave.
The food we ordered was fantastic. Apparently it is not traditional Japanese food, but more of a fusion of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Thai. The chef uses his own recipes, so this is literally the only place in the world to get it. Now that it's been almost a week I can't remember everything we had, but each dish contained a meat (except the tofu kimchee!) in a sauce with some type of vegetable, which we ate with rice. I guess next time I'm going to have to take pictures so I can share some with you.

We were just about to ask where the fish was, when out came a fried whole fish! True to his word, our friend (I'll call him "Toshi." I'm terrible with remembering names and the Japanese names are even worse) brought fish for everyone to eat. Not just our group, but all three groups got one!

That's Toshi in the back making a fish face. His fishing buddy Hiro is doing the Japanese classic "peace" sign.




Here's the proud fisherman kissing his catch. He then proceeded to literally bite the head off. TOSHI, you crazy kid!











Next, all kinds of people started appearing out of nowhere behind us. After a while we started asking what was going on and it turns out the entire 2nd floor is tatami mats and tables for group parties. After everyone left we went up (took our shoes off) and checked it out. They have this neat setup for serving food where the hostess uses a step built into the wall and appears in a little doorway near the floor:
Anyway, I think it's safe to say that I'll be back to this place. Amazing food and super friendly people. I want to catch up with my Japanese a bit though. The lady behind the counter speaks some English as does the girl behind my head in the photo. She's visited Seattle and actually works on base at the Starbucks and at the hospital.
Before we left I was encouraged to try to say "happy birthday" (tanjobi omedeto) to the woman in the other party. After which she said "you study hard." Hmmm.... remarking or requesting? At any rate, when we left the entire place turned to say goodbye.

Sunday I got up early (for a weekend anyway) and went for a bike ride with two co-workers, Patrick and Dwayne. It was a gorgeous day and they took me down south on the peninsula and then in toward the mainland along the coast. The headwind was a little ridiculous and I haven't ridden a bike for distance since highschool! It all came back to me though ;)
We were running late to meet Dwayne's wife at soccer practice so we took what I later found out to be a famous "Dwayne shortcut." We went through a completely residential area with narrow streets and a very steep hill. At first I was thinking "this better be a good shortcut," but when we reached the top I was excited to see that the entire hilltop was covered with farmland and we could see Mt. Fuji in the distance. I wish I had pictures to show you, but I had left my camera at home, not wanting to lose it or have it weigh me down. I won't make that mistake again! Patrick had his camera, but I haven't gotten the pics from him yet. I'll edit this post when I do.
Bottom line: it was an amazing experience to ride through the fields on these narrow little roads, inspecting each of the crops. I will say that I have never seen a garden (much less a crop) this meticulously groomed. I couldn't spot a single weed, just dirt and whatever vegetable was being grown. Simply awe inspiring.
After we breezed down the hill, on the way to pick up Dwayne's wife, we stopped for water and a snack at a seaside store (like a 7-11). While taking our break we looked up and saw another hilltop with a giant Buddha statue and pagoda on the top. Little did I know that we would be climbing yet another, steeper hill to check this out.
After picking up Dwayne's wife we trucked all the way back to get on top of this even steeper hill. It was so steep we all had to walk our bikes up.
Again, the pictures will have to wait, but the view from up there was amazing. This was some sort of cemetary, complete with crematorium. Here's a picture from a different temple hilltop that is similar to what we saw.
I'm surprised at how well I did on this relatively long bike ride. The last hill home was pretty killer, but I wasn't even all that sore the next day. I think there will be more rides in the future.

So I mentioned earlier that there will be things that get old. One of these being "mystery dinner." It's sort of impossible to avoid. At some point you will walk into a place where there is absolutely no english to be found. There are a couple scenarios here and I'll tell you about my two experiences this past week.
Wednesday night I went out looking for a bowl of noodles in broth. I didn't care what else was in it, I just wanted something hot. So I walked into this random place and immediately realized it was going to be interesting. No English except my own. I knew that "soba" meant a type of noodle, so when looking at the menu with the waiter who was trying very hard to be helpful, I said "soba." He started saying all kinds of things to me in a questioning manner and all I could do was shrug. At some point I just said "hai!" Then, I used my phrasebook to say "omakase shimas" which means basically "please decide for me." He said one word I could understand, which was "fish" so I said "hai!" Oh well, at least the beer was cold, eh?
In a few minutes he brings out the first of my food, some excellent maguro, or tuna sashimi (raw fish). Not bad! Certainly no noodles in broth, but it was excellent like all the sashimi and sushi I've had so far. Then the next items come out. A bowl of steamed mussels and a plate of cold soba noodles with some fishy smelling broth to dip them in. eh, ma ma. or, it's ok, but not for me. My total came to $46...
The second experience that will inevitably happen to the English speaker in Japan is the 2-dinner affair. In other words, you have to watch out how many times you say "hai!" because every time you say yes, they will order what was just said. In my case, I got some excellent sashimi maguro (of course) and beautifully prepared salmon, grilled bone-in. Or whatever you call it.

I was out with a shipyard contractor I met at the hotel (which they call the "frat house Yokosuka") that night and on the way home we stopped at a little cafe that was advertising "japanese folk music." The first two bands we saw were playing covers of American music. One guy did Eric Clapton, the other some CCR and miscellaneous classic rock. Not quite the folk music I expected. however, eventually the "main act" came on and we heard some music that was finally sung in Japanese. I don't know what folk music means really, but I imagined it to be something other than guitar, piano, and a cuban box drum (cajon). It was fun to listen to and again, the people were very nice. I was encouraged to come back again when one of the audience members would be playing. He does bob dylan and the beatles. I also got an invite to check out the eric clapton guy's own club a little ways out of town. I'm not sure when I'll make it there, but it would be fun to go. They at least spoke enough English to converse.
At the end of the show the place turned into a free-for-all jam session. Dean (my contractor friend) wanted to play the cajon. Here are some pics of him gettin' down in Yo-town. I forget what song they were singing, but I think it was probably Dylan.















So the title of this post is "Back to Elementary School." I'm getting tired and have to get up at midnight to catch a bus to go heli-boarding, but I had intended to write about my experience beginning to learn the Japanese language. My book says there are over 4,500 Kanji characters that are considered essential for everyday use! I have no idea how anyone can master that, but I'm starting with the more phonetic systems of Hiragana and Katakana. I go to class twice a week and the sensei is the nicest lady I've ever met. Right along with the owner of my favorite restaurant :) The class is called Kumon. Many thanks to Ruben and Patrick for getting me into it my first week.
Kumon is a style of learning and many things are taught at Kumon, math and language being the primary subjects. It is basically learning through repetition. Here's a shot of my workbook.
If you thought my English handwriting was bad, you should check out my Hiragana skills. Yikes. Suffice it to say, Sensei compliments my pronunciation, not my handwriting.
The class is really great though, and I'm already recognizing characters when I'm out and about and beginning to sound out words.

I had two other learning experiences this week that perhaps I will write about later. They both happened Thursday, which is also Kumon class, and by the end of the day I was exhausted. Each experience could be a blog post in itself, but you're probably tired of reading this anyway. If you even made it this far.
First was my "negotiating" with the Project Engineer and another Engineer from the Japanese construction firm that built the building I'm managing. Imagine a negotiation where the other party can have a "closed-door" meeting right in front of you.


Second was a "Go" class I attended. Go is an ancient game that is also considered one of the world's most fascinating games. It's apparently huge in Japan. I will be attending again in two weeks and perhaps write more about it then.




To answer a question from last time:
There is plenty of pizza on the base (most of it not so good), but there is also an amazingly good NY style pizza place across the street from my hotel. The pizza is $5 a slice, or $46 for a pie. All the ingredients have to be imported! It's pretty darn good though.

Thanks for all the comments. I like to see that people are paying attention ;) How about some healthy discussion!?!


Random picture time!!!

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