Well....it's been a few days since I last blogged. I can't remember what all I've done. Last Friday night I met my friend, Mitsuru Yamada, for dinner. He is a caricature artist in Niigata, but lives in Toyosaka which is about 45minutes away by car. He also is on a live, weekly Saturday morning show. Since he his show is early in the morning, he spends the night in a local hotel so he doesn't have to get up super dooper early. As a result, he has become a regular at a restraunt near there. I'm not sure if he knew of it before, but when we went, he was greeted with, “We were waiting for you!” and “I wasn't sure if you were coming!” There I met the マスター(owner), Suzuki-san. 

(Suzuki-san has the gentleman to my right and Yamada-san is the person to my left. Everyone else are other customers)

 I brought up Mr. Yamada coming for a visit to meet all of my students (again) and then also put out the idea of Suzuki-san coming to visit the CACC culinary classes and teaching/introducing some Japanese dishes. Hopefully I'll be able to get them to come sometime in the next year. Probably in the spring. The only catch is the Saturday live broadcast broadcast....so it may have to be a short trip. Also, because his wife's sister passed away, it's best not to travel. Japan has a different view on death. The year after someone passes away travel is frowned upon as it is a period of mourning.

On a different note, a few American friends and I were talking about Japan and the things we liked. It occurred to me that one of the things I like about Japan is how Japan's culture is very similar to America's 1950s. Since I only have TV as a reference to the American 1950s, here's why I say that.

1. If you live in a house, you definitely know your neighbors.
2. There are a lot of sharing of things. If you go fishing and catch a bunch of fish, you share them with your neighbors. If a neighbor gets some apples, they may share them with you , etc.
3. There are a lot of small “mom & pop” stores and restaurants. More and more chain stores are moving in...but at this time there still are a lot of small shops, stores and businesses.
4. It's also pretty easy to become a “regular” at these smaller restaurants. I used to be a regular and my friend Yamada-san is currently a regular.
5. There is a real sense of community in the traditional areas of Japan.

All of that being said, it isn't the same living in an apartment or big city. Things are also changing with the times and make up of the population. My explanation may not be very good....but many aspects of Japan remind me of what I think the 1950s was like.

Now for a few other things that I find interesting. Those of you in my class may remember when I talked about going to a store when they first open and having the clerks bow and say, “いっらしゃいませ”. You also may remember how I said that traditionally the customer just walks by and doesn't really acknowledge this and how I can't do that. I was in a store the other evening and watched some people walking in. Even though the clerks aren't at the door bowing and greeting, they do shout out a greeting (“いっらしゃいませ”). I watched someone walk in and not even flinch when this was said to them yeserday. This is reminded me of how I cannot do this. I always need either respond verbally or do a little bow (おじぎ）.

Last, I would like to address the ENGRISH on the t-shirts. I was talking to my wife after showing her the picture of a shirt I took a picture of earlier in the day.  We were discussing how weird the shirt was which led to a discussion about reading t-shirts. Americans as a whole tend to read the t-shirts that others wear.

However, Japanese people don't really read the shirts they wear. They tend to choose their shirts by style, color and design. 

I decided to put the picture below after debating on it's appropriateness. It's not a shirt I'd ever wear or want my student to wear...but it is a good example of something you might see.   If you google for Japanese Engrish.... there are tons of sites that feature the various English mistakes. I've often wondered, with all of the native English speakers living here, why they don't have someone quickly check the English before making the shirt.

Even though I've have more than my fair share of laughs over some of the shirts and other English mistakes I've seen, I know the same thing happens in America. My wife (and I) have seen mistakes in Japanese on shirts here. Even worse, we've seen mistakes with people's tattoos. I guess my only thoughts are, if you're going to wear a shirt in a foreign language...make sure you know what it says.

*Just Added*  Here is a picture of 3 stores with interesting English names.  I don't really know what 2 of the 3 sell....

This is all for now......if you haven any questions or comments.... fire away.