Fearless in Nagano

In honor of the 2006 Winter Olympics going on in Torino, we traveled to Nagano - home of the 1998 Winter Olympics.

It's embarrassing to admit that the first time I went skiing I had to be rescued off a mountain by the ski patrol! It's a long story and yes that really did happen. :-o Nevertheless, after much consideration, I decided that I needed to give it another go and face my fears. To prepare for this great feat, I got a little liquored up on the Shinkansen ride (the bullet train).

I felt fine until I actually got there; and then my nerves started to kick in. Still, what really sent me over the top was when I realized that our ski instructor couldn't speak English! Ahhh, ok then let's begin.

Needless to say, we had a bit of communication difficulty throughout the entire lesson. On the bunny slope we couldn't figure out whether he was saying start or stop. To us it sounded like "starp." You can imagine what sort of mess it caused. We were crashing into him and crashing into each other and crashing into nothing too.

With that, we were ready for the next level. Like a pro, I'm tripping over my skis and falling on my butt all the way to the bottom. At times I felt tortured.

I'd scream "Arrgghh" and the instructor would say "arrgghh."
I'd say "Ouch" and he'd repeat "Ouch."
I said "Mister, do you understand that I'm in pain?" And he just smiled and left me there. :-s
I'm happy to report that I'm still alive.

At the end of my second day on the snow, I was practicing on my own and taking the lifts on my own. And, although I have lots more to learn, I felt like a champ in my own right for conquering my fears. =)

Men First?

Ok, this entry is an odd one. There is going to be some loving and some hating all at the same time.

The Japanese have had many great ideas, but this isn't one of them. They've gone and made Valentine's day a men's only event. I wonder who came up with that bright idea. I feel cheated - cheated out of good chocolates and gifts.

Instead, I'm supposed to give gifts and chocolates to guys. I'm supposed to give giri choco (obligatory chocolate) to all my male superiors at work. And of course honmei choco (love chocolate) to the guy I'm serious about. You would be happy to know that I did my duty and gave all the guys at work a kit-kat.

What do women get? On Feb 14th, not a darn thing. But on Mar 14th, we get everything. They call it White day when the men reciprocate with even more expensive chocolates and gifts. I quite like that idea but why can't we get both days? Why do we have to share? And why do the men get to go first?

To something totally unrelated to V'day, I was confused when I heard a Japanese lady say "you know as they say men first..." No lady! No no no, they say women first not men. Get your brain right. But that mentality is manifested in daily life here.

When I'm walking to the train, men take up all the space on the sidewalk. And when there is only enough walking room for one, they never offer it to me. There I am thinking "Hey, don't you see a lady walking, step aside!" At the same time they are thinking "Hey, don't you see a man walking, step aside!"

Now I'm convinced that there is talk about the black girl in Tsukiji because when they don't give me enough room to walk I just push them down. And, when only one person can fit, I stare them down until they move.

You see, my mama never taught me to let men go first.
Well... My mama never taught me to push them down either. That part just comes naturally.

Your Shoes Please

My entry today is a little lesson on proper etiquette- shoes etiquette. Don't worry, I'll tell you all that you need to know. First, you MUST remove your shoes when entering a Japanese home. Second... ummm, Ok that's all there is but it's important.

There isn't a special way to do it, just take 'em off. When you first step in the door, there is a designated shoe removal area. You leave your shoes there and, more often than not, will be provided with house slippers. But if your intention is to p*ss people off, then go right ahead and tread all over the good floors with your filth. :-)

Sometimes it's a bother to do this whole shoe ritual but I absolutely love the shoe closets here. They go from floor to ceiling, are nice and wide and conveniently located next to the designated shoe removal area.

I was surprised to find that many other places also require that I display the holes in my socks. In the doctor's office, in some restaurants, and even before you go into a dressing room to try on that cute top, your shoes must come off.

During my apartment search, I had to take my shoes off before going in to see each and every apartment. And, can you believe that even when I signed my lease the apartment manager made me take off my shoes? :-O "It's MY place!" I wanted to say " MINE! MOI!" So, anyway, I don't wear my shoes in the house anymore :-( ...

Finally, I'll share with you a story I was told about a village that was being assaulted by one burglary after another. Everyone was outraged - outraged that these thieves were not taking their shoes off before coming into the house. Forget the TV and money that they stole, how dare these people bring dirt into the house?! The community rallied against these rude bandits... I can't remember if they were caught, but that's not the point of the story.

As I was saying before, the community rallied and took swift action to make sure this never happens again by launching a cartoon series depicting thieves taking their shoes off before robbing a house.

The goal - to teach criminals of the future some good old wholesome values. :-s

Chinatown

HAPPY NEW YEAR... Again? Yup, Ain't that grand. I get to do it twice this year - a second chance to get my resolutions started right.

Unfortunately, the Chinese New Year isn't observed here. And, I think we are the only Asian country that are made to work all this week. =( Still, my friend and I didn't let that bother us and headed down to Chinatown to see the parade.

To westerners it seems strange to have a Chinatown in Japan. However, while they are some similarities, the Chinese and Japanese cultures are very different from each other. This Chinatown is said to be the world's biggest. And even though I can't exactly vouch for the whole world, it's the biggest I've ever seen and the closest replica of the real thing.

Once the parade got started, a metal box of exploding fireworks was pulled down the street. The fireworks are used to wake up the dragon who will fly across the sky to bring the spring rain for the crops and also to scare away all evil spirits and misfortunes from coming into the new year.

After the fireworks came marching several couples in Chinese style costumes followed by musicians. Then came a variety of Chinese dragons. Ah yes the dragons: short and long, big and small in a multitude of colors. The long dragons were being carried by 7 or more guys and the performance was extremely well synchronize. It was like the world Olympics of dragon twirling. They were swooping, swirling, shimmying, and shaking. It was great.

To cap it all off, we got caught in a shoving match between all the people trying to leave the parade and those trying to get into the parade. The narrow streets just weren't big enough for both of them. In the end, the people trying to leave the parade won and just a few feet away was a man keen on practicing his English shouting "Mother F'ers!"