Life Abroad: Weekly Update
Hey guys! Boy, has it been a busy week... This first weekend of June was my school’s annual cultural festival (文化祭 or “bunkasai”). For those who aren’t in the know about Japanese high schools (because why would you be?) It’s customary at high schools to set aside a weekend for the students to transform their classrooms into various attractions, like haunted houses or themed cafes, and invite parents and friends to come visit the school. Of course, in the U.S., the very idea of allowing so many people into a school with so many students would just scream “bomb threat!” But, luckily Japan is a country with strict gun control laws, so the only precaution needed was funneling arriving guests to the front of the school to register before entering. It’s so sad I live in a world where these thoughts occur to me...
For the third year students, haunted houses are the most popular theme, so much so in fact that all nine classes do some variation of a haunted house. My favorite, of course, was “Hotel Trump,” in which Trump has gone missing and you must go searching for him in the ruins of one of his failed hotels.
Actually, the story that went into the haunted house was a little lost on me, and I was disappointed to find that there was no Trump mask-wearing student lurking inside to chase around hapless guests. The very idea of this haunted house confused me so much when I first saw it. On the one hand, I’m happy to see Japanese students mocking such an absurd world leader, but on the other hand, I don’t feel like Trump is a joke anymore. He legitimately infuriates, but also scares me, and I don’t want to think about him any more than I need to.
I also tried my hand at Japanese flower arrangement, (華道 or “kadou”), which is also referred to as ikebana, or “living flowers.” Unlike western bouquets, Japanese flower arrange focuses on the balance and interesting aspect of the space between the flowers. As such, not all flowers should be the same length, and the actually length of each flower is based around three levels within the arrangement, representing heaven, earth, and hell. It’s very spiritual and relaxing, but I also enjoyed joking around with the two women who taught the class and doing my best to make my flowers look as unshitty as possible.
I got to work with the bird of paradise flower, and it was such a challenge! Several teachers basically told me what to do from start to finish, so I owe them a lot of credit. In fact, I felt guilty even posing in this photo.
And this is the finished product! It was put on display for the culture festival, along with the other works. I got lots of compliments from other teachers afterwards, so I felt a little less invisible! Yay! Now at least every knows me as that white guy who does ikebana!
In case some of you haven’t noticed, living in a foreign country hasn’t been the easiest thing for me to do in my life. Sure it’s fun and this is an experience so many people never get to do in their lives, and I’m enjoying it to the fullest! But, sometimes I just need to stay sane, so I want to take note of some of the stuff that made me feel better this week.
The nice thing about living in a rural area is the miles and miles of rice fields, some of which even have convenient bike paths alongside them that I can run on! Since autumn of 2015, running in Japan has been my favorite form of exercise when I feel too lazy or bummed out to do anything else with my day. I’ve never really found a gym that I really like in my town, so it’s the cheapest way for me to stay in shape. And who can beat the view? I can’t count the number of chic cafes and stores I’ve discovered in my area thanks to running, so I can’t recommend it enough. Plus, it’s the cheapest form of exercise their is! Just get a decent pair of shoes and hit the road!
It’s simple, and dumb, but ratatouille also boosted my mood this week. It’s familiar and western, and also shockingly easy to make. You just throw eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes into a pot, along with anything else you like, and cook it for as long as you feel like! If you add chicken, the acid in the tomatoes will tenderize the meat the longer you cook it, so that’s a bonus! Japan suffers from a lack of diverse, cheap produce, so flexible dishes like ratatouille are life savers if you’re tired of just eating onions and spinach over and over again. Plus, zucchini and eggplant are easy to find around this time of year, even in Japan! One day I’ll master Japanese cuisine, but until then, I’ll just sit pretty with my knock-off western dishes.
Hope any of you reading are enjoying the beginning of summer! Keep overcoming challenges!
