I am scared of going to Japan!?

I have lived here in the US more than 9 years. Since I came here, I have been to Japan only one time, 6 years ago. I actually don't miss Japan so much. I feel comfortable with living here, even though I still have a problem with my English. I have more friends and activities here. I can also get a lot of Japanese things and cook Japanese food here, if I want to.
But my parents in Japan miss me. They are getting old, and I think I should go visit them in Japan. I also want to bring my boyfriend with me. He is interested in Japan. So I'm planning to go to Japan this year, though I still haven't decided any details yet.
I'm excited but also a little nervous because Japan is like a foreign country' to me now. I'm completely used to American culture. I forgot many things in Japan and I don't know how it has changed. I will be embarrassed to do something wrong in Japan. I might not know how to take a train or how to buy stuff, like if you go to foreign country for the first time. I can speak Japanese fluently, but I am afraid that I might ask strange questions. I look Japanese, so they will just think I'm stupid.
Oh well... it's still exciting. I will find many interesting things in Japan.

Japan=Sushi?

Lately, I eat American sushi every Friday evening at a Japanese restaurant with my boyfriend. We call "Sushi Friday!" I didn't eat sushi that often in Japan, though many American people think we eat sushi mostly everyday, like we think American people eat hamburger every meal. But we usually eat sushi on special occasions such as celebrations and parties. One of the reasons is Sushi is expensive. Another reason is sushi is not home-cooked meal.
One of the frequent questions from American people is "Can you cook sushi?" Actually, only chefs can make sushi. It looks pretty easy to make it, but sushi chefs train making sushi for many years. A really good sushi costs a few thousand yen (more than $10), just only for one nigiri sushi! I have never eaten such a sushi though. We can get cheaper sushi from supermarkets and convenience stores in Japan. Also there are sushi-go-round restaurants where the plates with the sushi are placed on a rotating conveyor belt that winds through the restaurant, and they are reasonable.
However, there are a lot of other good dishes in Japan. You should try ones. I'm sure you love them!

"What are you waiting for?" ~ funny culture difference

This is a story when my Japanese friend came to the US for the first time.
My American friend and I took her shopping in his car, and then we dropped her at her apartment. After she got out of the car, she was standing by the car and watching us. My American friend said " what is she doing?" He was waiting for her to enter the apartment.

It was funny. I told them it's a culture difference. When American people dropped someone off, they wait in a car until that person enter a building. On the other hand, Japanese people do the opposite. A person who gets dropped off will wait and see off his/her friend until the car is gone, perhaps while bowing. This is the Japanese way of showing their gratitude toward a person who gave them a ride. However, the American way might be more reasonable because the person who gets out of a car might face a danger or lost/forgot their key for their building.

Anyway, if you don't know about this difference, funny things might happen. Both of them would have been watching each other and waiting forever...

Japanese people live in a "rabbit hutch"

Many young people may have dreams of acquiring a house in urban areas where opportunities and amenities are concentrated. However, realizing the dream is difficult in Japan because of a problem with space. To resolve this space problem, Japanese have changed their lifestyle and culture.
Japanese live in cramped conditions because of shortage of living space. Indeed, the country is small and three-quarters of its land area is mountainous. Another reason for cramping in Japan is the concentration of young people in urban areas. In fact, more than half the population lives in the south coast of Japan’s main island from Tokyo to Kobe. In this area, the central government, almost every large industrial institution, universities, major publishing and communications groups are located. This concentration of opportunities and amenities cause young people to live in urban areas, and huge numbers of Japanese have migrated from rural to urban areas. Although the government tries to devote a share of resources to creating jobs, academic facilities and entertainment in urban areas with provincial cities, most Japanese youngsters still continue to dream of living in cities.

Because of the shortage of the living space in urban areas, finding space is difficult and young Japanese typically have to live in a small house deserved to be called a “rabbit hutch”. Even if people live in such a “rabbit hutch”, the housing cost is expensive and tends to be lower the far away from a central area. Therefore, young Japanese have patience to live in small houses at a distance from a central area and have a strong incentive to undertake long commutes. The crowded trains and buses for interminable hours allow people to get an affordable small room in an unheated apartment building.
In the  “rabbit hutch”, they have a trouble with how to fit all household equipment into a small space. This cramping shifts the way Japanese decorate and equip their homes, the way they live and behave at home. Although they do not have enough space, people are avidity acquiring appliances, and the appliances they want have changed as technology has advanced. These appliances have changed their lifestyle to be more convenient and westernized than before, for example, most of Japanese sleep on a bed instead of the floor. Another major change is the composition of the Japanese diet because cooking equipment has also changed. The Japanese diet was traditionally better balanced, but along with eating habits toward western-style foods and greater variety, the number of children who are overweight have increased and they are inferior to prewar kids both in strength and in their ability to do physical exercises.  Furthermore, the changing equipment has also reduced the wife’s work at home and they devote to work outside, social and recreational activities.
A “rabbit hutch” has not only a problem with space but also has social effect and is causing family transition.  One of the social effects is that the number of elderly Japanese who live with their children is steadily dwindling. Even though elderly Japanese want to live with their children, many younger Japanese desire to live in a modern house in urban areas, and maintaining a home large enough to accommodate two generations is financially impossible. As a result, many elderly Japanese live in rural areas by themselves or settle in retirement communities. In addition to separation of elder people and young people, the members who live in the same house also tend to separate. Because privacy in such a “rabbit hutch” is impossible and many Japanese people do not have private rooms and gardens, children go to commercial playgrounds, outside facilities, libraries or tutoring schools. Recently, the reliance on outside facilities has increased, and housework has been reduced because of appliances and people tend to go outside; as a result, the members of family go their separate ways.  This fragmentation might be eroding the traditional group orientation of Japanese so that youngsters have individual choice and they are more interested in self-gratification as the goal of life than caring for other people.

Consequently, most Japanese want to live in urban areas even if this means living in a small house because urban areas have more opportunities and amenities than rural areas, and this desire induces change to their culture and affects traditional social interaction.

People can talk to strangers

Do you like to talk with strangers? I think that it depends on the person, but it's also related to their culture. I live in the US and American people whom I don't know often talk to me. I often see people talking with strangers in the same elevator, and I often see customers and cashiers making small talk at stores. They compliment style of strangers on the street. It looks like they could say whatever they want in any situations. They are just chatting rather than talking about very important things. They seem to enjoy it, or at the very least they don't care.
On the other hand, Japanese people don't talk to strangers unless it is necessary such as asking directions or other questions. They even think that talking to strangers is impolite sometimes. They think that it bothers other people. Perhaps they don't want to interact with other people? Or they are just nervous about it? I don't know, but if you started a conversation without a reason, it might be weird and make them uncomfortable.

What do you think? Which do you prefer? I like a culture which is allowed to talk with strangers freely, but... I'm actually nervous about it. It's conflicting! I am trying to talk to people. If I meet you by chance, can you talk with me??

What do you think about online dating? -different perspect between the US and Japan

Online dating is getting very common here in the US. Many of my friends are using or have used it. We often talk about online dating openly. If someone is looking for a partner, we recommend that they try online dating. Some people still say that it's not natural, but I think that it is one of the ways to meet people in current society.
On the other hand, it's not common in Japan. Many Japanese people think that online dating is bad. I think one of the reasons is there are a lot of bad news about online dating and people think it is dangerous. They are afraid that

I had been using online dating, and I found a nice partner through it and have been getting along with him for a year. There is the only problem when people ask the question how we met each other. I don't want to say the truth to Japanese people because I'm afraid they think I don't have a moral. However, my boyfriend is an American and does't know about my feelings at all and says the truth!

Oh well... No one cares how we met each other if we are doing well now, don't they?

Cherry blossoms and Japanese people

Here in Michigan it is still cold. We even had snow a few days ago. We have a long winter this year. I look forward to seeing many flowers blooming. Yesterday I took a walk in a park which has a big cherry tree, but I couldn't see any cherry blossoms yet.

Cherry blossoms are kind of important to Japanese people. There are many cherry trees here and there in Japan. Japanese people really like cherry blossoms. People think that when the flowers bloom, spring has come. we have parties under the cherry blossoms, which are called “Ohanami”.
Again, We have many cherry trees, but we have to compete to get good places. So we save our seats early in the morning and keep sit there until the parties start, usually at night. This role is done by the junior of positions in the company or the group…

We often eat traditional Japanese food, and drink sake and beer there. We also eat sweet Japanese dumplings called “dango”. Some people do karaoke or party stunts. Then we don’t see the cherry blossoms any more… We have a proverb “hana yori danngo” (dumplings rather than flowers) which means that dumplings (substance) is preferable to beautiful things like flowers (appearance)that we cannot eat.

I miss the crazy Japanese culture...

Happy Valentine's day! -Japan vs the US

Did you celebrate it? I made chocolate (see pictures) and give it to my boyfriend and a few of my friends, too. I got a cute stuffed squirrel holding a flower made of chocolate.

Japan also have a Valentine's day. But the way to celebrate the day is different between the US and Japan.

In Japan, only women give chocolates to men, but not the other way. They give expensive and thoughtful chocolate to their boyfriend/husband. Woman is traditionally not allowed to declare her love, but only the valentine's day is exception. They also give small chocolates to many men, like their male friends, colleagues and bosses.

Do you think men are lucky?
Actually, the answer is "NO".

There is a day called "white day" in Japan. It's on March 14th, one month after the Valentine's day. It's the time that men return presents to women. You are supposed to prepare a present three times as expensive as the chocolate you got!

How lucky women are! :)

What did you learn first when you started studying a foreign language?

I started learning English in a middle school.

What we learn first is " This is a pen" while we point out the pen. We also learn at the same time "This is not a pencil." Isn't it funny? We never use these sentences. You know if it's a pen or a pencil when you see it. Then we next learn "Is this a pen?" Are you making fun of me!?

Another thing we learn is this conversation.
" Hello, Taro. How are you?" "I'm fine, thank you. And you?"
Well, I don't think they are wrong. But because everyone learns just this pattern, if you ask Japanese "how are you?", everyone makes exactly the same answer. If you ask "How's it going?" or "How are you doing?", Japanese people would be confused. "I'm not going..." " I'm doing... I'm talking with you..."

I also learned " How do you do?" which I have never used or heard since I came to the US.

As time passes... learning English is getting more popular and important. Now children start learning English in elementary school. I think English education in Japan should be changed.

The education race

The Japanese educational system may be the most effective in the world, even though the government provides fewer funds for education than several other countries including the US. For example, Japanese factory workers are more educated than American workers and the illiteracy rate is very low in Japan. Furthermore, Japanese youngsters get higher test scores than children of other countries. These achievements are not because the government spends much money on education. In fact, only five percent of Japanese GNP is devoted to public education whereas six to eight percent are devoted in other countries. The Japanese educational achievement depends on their effective education system.     

One of the reasons why the Japanese educational system works well is that Japanese schools are more consistent than American schools in what they teach and how they teach. The Ministry of Education in Japan distributes a very detailed curriculum, and specifies exactly what subjects should be taught and what materials should be used. This uniformity in education is acceptable to Japanese based on their culturally ingrained reluctance to be different from others because of their very homogeneous country. Therefore, everyone from slow learners to good learners can get the same education in elementary and junior high school and all students desire to learn at least basic skills to keep up with others, although the children are afraid to lose their individuality in the consistent education system.

Another plausible reason for the high educational achievement in Japan might be that academic competition for getting admission to university is very severe. This competition begins in kindergarten to get into good primary schools. Admission to good primary schools generally provides success to good junior high schools and good high schools followed by good universities. To help children succeed on their competition, Japanese parents hustle them into supplementing regular schools called jukus, which are aimed at children who are already doing well. Jukus are necessary for the competition because only how the applicant does on the entrance exam matters but not other characteristics, such as wealth or personality for getting admission to a public university. Even though Japan has numerous numbers of universities including many more private universities, most major corporations, institutions and the government invite only graduates of selected universities. Indeed, the status that a Japanese youngster ultimately achieves in life is determined by what university he manages to get into.  However, even though Japanese youngsters desperately do everything, only two out of three applicants win university admission, and the remainders are relegated to obscurity. Therefore, many students endure great mental stress imposed by this educational competition, and some of them have nervous breakdown. Thus, the Japanese academic battle might be effective and very severe but it comes at a cost. 

However, despite the effectiveness in Japanese education, there is at least one point in which Japanese education is less efficient than American education. Most universities in Japan do not give opportunities for youngsters to pursue individual interests. Indeed, many youngsters are put into large classes whose studies are rigidly prescribed and Japanese professors are not dedicated for education. These environments make youngsters lose their motivation to study in university. Even more important, Japanese youngsters think that university is the only time that they are likely experience genuine personal freedom, while American youngsters find themselves working harder. Japanese professors also do not regard if students attend classes and study hard. Because Japanese industry does not require specialized skills of youngsters but they are measured by the university entrance exam, the admission to university is a kind of liberation in Japan. In addition, graduate schools in Japan are generally small and not good so that Japanese universities play a smaller role in the national research than American universities. As a result, Japanese who need graduate study are much more likely attempt to go abroad than Americans.   

The other problem of Japanese education is bad teaching of the English language. Even though Japanese students learn English from junior high school through high school, they learn the grammatical technicalities of English but not speaking skills. Therefore, most Japanese do not speak good English. However, the bad instruction in English has been changing and the number of the young Japanese people who can speak good English is increasing with the advance of globalization. 

Thus, the Japanese education system might be effective but it also has several problems, and this system is based on their cultural elements such as the desire to obtain a secure position in a company. 

I got a green card!

Finally my green card was approved. It was a long process. I'm so excited!

Harvest party - How do you celebrate fall?

I threw a party last weekend. I often have parties with seasonal themes. The theme of this party was "harvest." So I made decorations and dishes related to harvest or fall. I collected dried leaves, hay, wild flowers, acorns and pine cones at parks and bushes, and bought a pumpkin, squashes and corns. I decorated whole my apartment with them. I cooked Japanese dishes and seasonal dishes using squashes and sweet potatoes. We prepared hot spiced apple cider, too.

My American friend made Tsukimi dango. Do you familiar with Tsukimi? and dango? Tssukimi, literally moon-viewing, refers to Japanese festivals honoring the autumn moon. We display decorations made from grass called susuki and eat rice dumplings called Tsukimi dango in order to celebrate the beauty of the full-moon. He did not know about Tsukimi at all, but he looked into Japanese harvest party online and found out about it. He made Tsukimi dango. Even though he had never eaten dango before, it was just perfect; both how it looked and how it taste. I got susuki-like grasses from a bush, and served together.

It was like a party blended American celebration with Japanese traditional celebration for harvest. People enjoyed the decorations and dishes at the party.
How do you celebrate this season?

Birds are dumb?

Do you think birds are stupid? I do not think so. In fact, the smartest parrot in the world named Alex had the abilities of a five-year-old human. He knew 150 words, he could distinguish between many shapes and colors, and he could count numbers. It is obvious that parrots are good at speaking. But Alex was not just mimicking, he understood the concepts. He could communicate with humans. Unfortunately, he died about four years ago. His last words were " You be good. I love you" It made me cry, but the stories of Alex made me feel happy.

If you are interested in Alex, there are many  . Or you could read the book "Alex & Me" which was a bestseller in 2009. I read through the book and I was really impressed with Alex and the scientist.

I have a cockatiel as a pet. He is not as smart as Alex the parrot, but my bird is also called Alex. Actually, I named it after the smartest parrot. Alex is so cute and friendly to me. But he cannot speak any words and sing songs, even though I am teaching him as hard as I can. I thought he was stupid.

Someday, I found out that he loves peanuts. When I was eating them, he came to get one and eat it. Within a few days, he remembered the sound of the container of peanuts being opened. Whenever I open it, he comes to me immediately. I put a peanut on the red lid every time. He picks up it from the lid. He identifies the sound！

The other day, I bought peanuts in the same container except it has a green lid. He listened the sound of the container opening, and he came to me as usual. But I put a peanut on the green lid, he suddenly froze in his tracks. He looked at me and climbed on my shoulder. He seemed to tell me “ It’s a different color”. So I put the peanut on the red lid again, and then he got off my shoulder and ran directly to the peanut on the red lid. Great, Alex, you can identify colors!

I think that he has more potential that I still have not found yet. I want to find it. He might be smarter than I thought. Anyway, Alex is so cute. Here is a picture of him.

What if an American cooks Japanese dishes?

I don't like cooking very much and I usually don't cook. But lately, I have tried to make Japanese dishes with my boyfriend. I think he is good at cooking but he had never tried to cook Japanese food. So it's fun trying to make Japanese dishes together. We look up Japanese dishes we want to eat and find the recipes. We made Katsu-kare which is Japanese curry with breaded deep-fried pork,Gyoza which is Japanese dumpling, and Korokke which is breaded deep-fried mashed potato(?). We also made a variety of rice balls called Onigiri for our picnic. Please take a look at the pictures. They look delicious, don't they? He also liked those dishes. It's always a great success!...except our kitchen is messy after cooking.
I'm wondering what we should try next. What Japanese dishes do American people like? Also I have to consider if we can get all ingredients here easily. Please let me know your favorite Japanese dishes.:)

Katsu-kare

Gyoza

Onigiri

Give me a green card!

"Hey the US government,

I'm an important person for the US!"

About a year ago, I started preparing my green card application. I wrote my job description, collected many kinds of certifications and six recommendation letters from famous scientists to prove how I'm a great scientist who is required for the US. I filed about 1000 pages of documents for the application. It took six months to prepare the submission. I paid $5000 for my lawyer and about $2000 in government filing fees. You know, it's costly and tough work.

Yesterday, about six months after submission, my application was approved! Yay!
But, there is a problem... The number of green cards which can be issued in my category is limited, so I'm on the waiting list. No one cannot tell how long it'll take, but I might have to wait for a few years. Until a couple of month ago, cases in my category didn't have such a problem. I'm unlucky. Sigh...

Anyway, now I can stay and work here legally without a visa. I will just have to wait.

A woman's Place

Women are in a position of inferiority in Japan. The proper roles for a woman are liable to manage family and support men. Today, the movement to change this gender inequality has arisen and Japanese life-style has changed, more and more women come to have roles outside the house. However, Japanese women who pursue power, prestige or material success in their own right, still face a problem with their achievement.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, men and women were treated unequally, and women were in a marked inferiority position.  People believed that women had to do housework and take care of their children, while men work outside. The important role for women beside the house work was only respecting for men. These gender inequalities were common all over the world.

However, the equality between men and women has improved by the women's right movement lately, although the movement is not perfect in Japan. The first movement happened in the United States, so that the women's right has made rapid progress in the United States. This movement in the United States has also had impact in Japan. Because of the characteristic of the Japanese to accept foreign ideas and fashions, a Western-style women's movement arises in Japan. This movement is tiny, fragmented and slavishly imitative of the women's movement in the United State, although this women's movement surely will have more power in the future.

Another important reason for progress the gender equality in Japan is from their life-style changes. As advance of globalization, Japanese life-style has been Americanized.  For example, nuclear family patterns have spread widely and household appliances have proliferated, resulting in reducing the amount of the time that a Japanese woman must spend on housework. Therefore, Japanese women come to have both ability and freedom to do something besides managing their family. This life-style change has also caused the problem with shortage of money for their life. Indeed, only one wage earner to support their life has been difficult, because the standard of their desired life have been higher than before, and they need more money for achievement the life. Those sifts in Japanese life-style have given more desire for women to work outside.

Although the movement and shift have improved the gender equality, Japanese women still face a problem with their achievement outside the home. In fact, more and more Japanese women hold jobs every year.  However, unlike in the United States, women still play only the most peripheral part, so that the salary of the average woman is lower than the average man. Despite this inequality, career-minded women are increasing. Indeed, younger women who go to college or university are increasingly common, and they are better educated than their mothers. Those educated women want to achieve outside the house. Furthermore, most Japanese women believed that women who have the desire and ability should be allowed to enter the fields previously considered reserved for men. However, the Japanese industrial and financial institutions are still likely to refuse to hire women except for menial or clerical jobs.

As a resulting of the women's movement, the minds of young Japanese men have also changed and the number of men who help with the children and the housework are increasing. However, many Japanese men still oppose the idea of equality for women. Even if men agree with the idea of equality, most Japanese women still lead restricted lives, particularly during the years when they have small children because of the lack of child care systems in Japan.

Consequently, Japan still has a problem with inequality between men and women. The movement to demand women's rights and the change of their life-style have reduced inequality, but women still have difficulty achieving important roles outside their house. Due to these important changes, woman might gain a position more equally in the future.

My teacher is gone...

I had been tutored in English for more than three years. She was a good teacher. She was a little strict and got angrywith me when I did not study hard. So sometimes I felt it tough for me. But if I did not meet her, I would not be the way I am now. It does not only mean she helped me with English. She impacted on my life.

When I met her for the first time, I did not have friends in the US. I was afraid to talk to people because I was very bad at English. On top of that, I am originally shy. It was not much fun living here. I just worked, went back home late, sleptand went to work...

At first, my teacher told me to join English conversation circles which are groups with a native speaker andinternational students. So I did. But at the beginning, I could not speak at all at the meeting. I was so discouraged that I was crying on my way  back from the meeting. I told her I wanted to quit the conversation circle, but sheencouraged me to continue it. She said that I would enjoy it someday. I could not believe her words, but I have keptjoining conversation circles since then. Aside from the conversation circles, my teacher also suggested that joined moreclubs/activity groups and attend events so that I would have more opportunity to interact with people. So I join volunteer workand dance club. I have many friends from the circles and other activities. Sadly, many of them left here though.

Now, I enjoy those social activities. I enjoy my life here. Yes, her words were correct.

I still struggle with English but I feel more comfortable now. At the last meeting, my teacher said iIn such a way English is getting better now. She was happy.

...and said "keep working hard". :)

"spicy underwear"

Do you know the card game called "Apples to Apples"? I guess it is a famous game in the US. I played it in a conversation group with native speakers and international students. The rules are pretty simple. There are two types of cards, one has with an adjective and another has with a noun. Players chose a noun card from the seven cards in their hand which they think is the best match to the adjective on the card given for all players.

It looks very easy, but actually it was very difficult for me! I had no idea which noun was suitable match for the adjective. I think it is because I do not know the connotation of the words even if I know the rough meanings of them. So I mostly chose my cards randomly and it made everyone laugh (lol) Once I chose "underwear" from my cards for "spicy". Everyone laughed and remembered me as the person who made the word "spicy underwear". I am happy everyone remembers me...maybe?

Please tell me how to make a suitable match for this game??

Why don't Americans use the metric system?

I have been in the US for more than 7 years. I have gotten used to many things in the US, but one of the things I am still not used to is the measurement system here.

All of the countries except three countries in the world are using the metric system. The US is one of them. The US is the only industrialized country where the metric system is not the official system of units.
I still have no idea how big, how long, or how hot something is... :(

Recently, I was shocked to realize that the volume of 'one cup' is different between Japan and the US. One cup is 200 ml in Japan, but 240 ml (8oz) in the US. I have been cooking using an American measuring cup for Japanese recipes. Now I understand why my dishes failed...

Dentists in the US vs Japan

This is my experience of seeing a dentist in the US.
I have a lot of cavities. I have known about that for a long time but I had not been to see a dentist since I came to the US. It was not only because I do not like dentists, but also because I was not familiar with dentists in US so that scared me.

Last week I went to see a dentist for the first time in the US. I think the dentist was friendly, and I assume that American dentists are in general more friendly than Japanese ones.
As I anticipated, he found a lot of cavities and most of them were serious. He was surprised that I had not not felt any pain with them.

I was comfortable during the dental work. Actually it was more comfortable than at dentists in Japan. It was very expensive, much more expensive than dentists in Japan. I have a dental insurance which covers most of dental work, but I had so many serious cavities that the insurance could not cover them all. I should have seen a dentist before my teeth became this bad...
I have heard that American people go to see a dentist for check-ups or cleaning before they have problems with their teeth. On the other hand, Japanese people go to their dentist only after they have problems with their teeth.

By the way, my dentist is supper kind! Once I biked to see the dentist and it was rain when my appointment finished, so my dentist drove me and my bike home.

I like a dentist. But I still do not want to have bad teeth!