On Isolation, or as I call it: "Bittersweet Solitude"

So, as the title of this blog suggests, isolation plays a huge part in my life in Japan. This is a situation I have mixed feelings about. I hope to somehow tap into and extrapolate these feelings in this blog entry.


I suppose first I should give a little more background as to my situation, or why I consider myself "isolated" First of all, I should say that the biggest factor is the bus system here in Japan. My town is not connected to the famed and fabled train system in Japan, and as such, the only way to access my little piece of Tengoku is to take the bus. There are several downsides to this. First of all, the price is nearly double what it would cost to go an equivalent distance by train. I can go from Otaru to Sapporo by train for 600 yen (About 6 dollars), yet it costs me 980 yen to get from Otaru to Furubira by bus (Whaaaat?). Secondly, the bus ends deathly early. Whereas in more populated areas the train might run as late as 11 o clock, the bus stops making runs at 8:15 or so. What does this mean to me, the consumer? Well, say for example I was to leave work and head to the closest town (Yoichi) on the bus. The bus would pick me up at 5:15 and I would be in Yoichi at 5:45 or so. Now, the last bus leaves at 8, and it takes about 15 minutes walk to or from my friend Mikaly's apartment, so that leaves me a window of about an hour and 30 minutes to hang about and do whatever. That isn't really even enough time to go to a restaurant. So it's somewhat futile to try to go anywhere on the bus from Sunday to Thursday. Therefore, I'm pretty much stuck in my town anytime I have to go to school the next day.

The next factor is the people of Furubira. Now don't get me wrong, they are absolutely wonderful people, generous and kind. However there are several factors that keep me from getting to "best buds" status with any of them. The biggest and most obvious factor is of course, the language barrier. Even with the residents of the town who are incredibly proficient at the language, there can still be difficulties in the subtleties of speech. This could come about as a result of my dialect (Maritimes), or as a result of my constant use of puns and sarcasm. See, as anyone who has known me for a while will know, I absolutely LOVE puns. I probably spit one or two out in almost every conversation I have. Even when I worked as a cashier in retail, I would use them with my customers (often to their dismay). They're part of who I am. So I guess if you don't understand my puns, you don't really understand me.

Another factor is that I can't really "hang out" with anyone in my town. My ideal of the perfect friendship is what I had with my roommate in my second year of University.  We could be in the same room, doing different things, but still be having conversations and generally having a good time. We had (and have) our inside jokes, our interests were similar, but we did our own thing. We didn't have to feign interest in things we weren't interested in in order to have a good relationship. Very little effort was required to remain best friends. Now don't get me wrong, I have my friends here in town, there are some truly awesome people here, but I can't see them coming over any time soon for a night of junk food and video games. I enjoy my time with them, but maybe friendship in Japan is a different concept.

I guess the last factor is one that I've built up myself. See, in Canada, if I didn't create a little space for myself I would never get alone time, and as an only-child, that's something I really value. It's only when you spend time alone that you can remember who you really are. When one is alone one can  re-center on their ideals, their morals, and their life philosophy without fear of influence from outside sources. It's really quite nice. My mistake was keeping this paradigm of thought when I moved to Japan. See, in Japan, I don't really need to make this space as it is readily available through the week. So the first month or so I did my own thing, while at the same time the ALTs around me were building strong relationships. By the time I realized this, I was already an outsider. Maybe this can be remedied but for now I'm just "that guy who lives in a small town" I'm kind of the odd man out in my area. The Kutchan/Niseko crowd has a group, and the Shiribeshi region (Which I am part of) has their own group as well (Which I am not part of).

How I perceive the groups in my region.

It really is my fault though. I prioritized travel (Which I could have done later) over building new and lasting relationships. I have a lot of really good acquaintances, but very nobody I would consider my "best friend"

To be fair, looking back, I wouldn't have been friends with myself if I had met me the first couple months anyway. The change in locales changed my attitude for the worse. Where before I considered myself a pretty funny guy who tried to put others first, after moving to Japan I became a clingy kind of person who often bragged about how nice my house was. I became kind of a tool during the first couple welcome parties as well. I've been working on this steadily and I think every day I become a little more true to who I was in Canada. Honestly, if you are an aspiring JET and you're reading this blog, listen to what they say in orientation. Culture shock can change the very fabric of your personality if you let it.

So, it's because of these things that I have built up my own little world. There are times when I really enjoy my solitude, and there are times when I feel "forever alone"(don't worry, that's partially a joke).

Haha

I am partially prepared for this; however; as I did grow up in a rural area which had only 3 or four people my age. Plus the Internet has helped with this problem a lot. I talk with people from Canada almost every other day on facebook, and I keep up with what people have been doing around me. It really makes me wonder what the first ALTs in Furubira did to help with their loneliness.

Anyways, as the title suggests, my isolation has indeed been bittersweet, so I guess I'll use the next couple paragraphs to summarize the pros and cons of living in a small town.

Pros: -There is a lot of time to do what you want to do, whether that is a creative project, keeping up with the news, forming an illegal beetle fighting ring, reading, or playing video games, you have the time to do it.
-It's also very easy to keep my house very organized and clean. This is where I have a lot of respect for Anna, who lives in Sapporo. She runs her apartment like a free hotel, taking in others as they request (which is likely every weekend) and yet she keeps her place spotless. My place is nice too but that's easy as I'm the only person who would mess it up.
-I also get the true Japanese experience. Whereas in cities the ALTs spend a lot of time with each other, speaking English and what not, I spend a lot of time with native Japanese speakers. This allows me to better my Japanese while at the same time learning about Japanese society.

Cons: -I tend to go a little crazy sometimes (I talk to myself ALOT, to the point where I will have full dialogues). This happened in Canada too though, so I'm not worried.
-Culture shock feels multiplied as I have nobody to share my worries with.
-I have nobody to just hang out with and play video games/ eat junk food.

So that`s my situation in a nutshell. If you're one of the ALTs who lives near me, please understand I meant no offence by any of the things I said in this post, I just needed to express how I feel.

In any case, keep it real!

TL;DR: I really want a tomato and mayonnaise sandwich (Throw some pepper in there too and we would really be talking!).



My NaNiWriMo footwork.

So I started on some of the details for my novel. I want to build a really believeable realm full of interesting characters (Who doesn`t?). I`m pretty sure this is ok with the NaNiWriMo rules as long as you don`t actually start writing the novel (If it`s not please tell me).  I`m putting a lot of work into making the city feel believable (besides the talking Bears and Ocelots of course). I`ve thrown in some racial (Specieal?) tension and a couple real life crime gangs. If you plan on reading my novel as I write it I don`t reccommend that you read this post. It`s going to be pretty much 100% spoilers.

Keep in mind as well that this is just an inital run at my universe. Things are certainly going to change and become more detailed in the next thirteen days.

If you have any suggestions or criticisms on ANYTHING in this post PLEASE post it in the comments. I want to make this the best novel I possibly can. In any case, enjoy.


-SPOILERS-


Grizzly P.I (working title).

Potential Titles
The Bear Facts
Chronicles of New Nodaga: Hard times in Little Natura

Universe notes
-Humans and sentient animals (humanimals) exist together.
-Regular animals still exist.
-Some tension remains between humans and sentient animals. (Similar feeling to minorities and caucasians in the 40's)

Tone
-Dark Humor
-Noir

Plots
1. Murder.
2. Mass of Stolen goods.
3. Mafia (Maw, Italian Mafia, Triads). Impending war? 
4. Break in at a museum. (Cat Thief?)
5. Crooked Cop. (Leo)
6. Cat nip trade.
7. Fight at the Old Lodge.
8. Protagonist goes on a date.
9. Octopus Cult.
10. Zombie infestation. (What if)

CITY
 City name :  New Nodaga

                       
 City History
 Settled in a time when Humans and Humanimals were at war,  New Nodaga has inherant racial tension. Animals and  Humanimals are seperated into different parts of the town,  Humanimals being situated in a ghetto named New Natura.  This city gets a great amount of it's commerce from it's  large harbour.

City Features

  -City Hall
  -Police Department (Little Natura has it's own     department)
  -Fire Department
  -Jazz bars (One prominant one)Potential Names: The    Harpies Claw
  -Museum
  -Bars devoted to different species of animals. For    example there is a bear bar in Little Natura called    "The Old Lodge" and a Jaguar bar called "Deep Brush"
   and a bar where the prey animals go named "The    Battered Lynx"
  -Different sections
   -Harbour
   -Humanimal ghetto (Little Natura) Similar to     little Italy.
   -Little Italy
   -Chinatown
   -Financial District
   -Downtown
   -Suburbs
   -Red light district


Characters

Protagonist.
Species: Bear. Potential Names: "Old" Jimmy Bristlebear
Hard boiled
Aged
Proficient at hand-to-hand combat (to the point where he prefers it over gunplay)

Weaknesses: Bear spray.

Sidekick.
Species Otter. Potential Names: Carl "The Slick" King
Street smart
Enjoys a good time
Agile
Weaknesses: Physical weakness, Attraction to booze
Police Chief. Species Walrus. Potential names: Pendleton Chandler
-Veteran crime fighter
-Been around the block
-Recognizes the protagonist as an excellent case bear

Maw boss.
Species Jaguar. Potential Names: ?
-Greedy, takes money away from those who need it.
-Intensely proficient at fighting and gunplay.
-Before he was mob boss, he was a a club owner in Little Natura
Weaknesses: Often goes into a rage if one makes light of him.

Rival Detective (White Knight).
Species: Wolf. Potential names: Lobo Wilson, "Silver" Stanley Adams
-Up and coming young Detective
-Sometimes Overzealous, but means well
-Very strict about law, no illegal task is "for the greater good"
-Respects the protagonist, but dosen't approve of his allowing criminals off the hook in morally gray situations.
-Intensely competitive, wants to show others that one can solve a case without getting their hands dirty.
Weaknesses: Honorable, Never breaks the law to break a case. Never fights dirty.
Crooked Detective. Species: Lion. Potential Names: Leonard "Leo" Timmonds
-Protagonist's old partner, also aged.
-Once a good cop, perceived the ineffectivenss of the force and decided it was pointless to try to stem the tide of criminal
-Now abuses his power to make money off of criminals, having them "Cut him in".
Weaknesses: Bad hand to hand fighter, prefers long ranged combat. Easily paid off.

Old friend.
Species Human. Potential Names: Francis Combes
-Protagonist's old friend
-Beat cop
-Often gives sagely advice
-Regular meeting place is a bar downtown.

Snitch.
Species Orange Tamarin. Potential names: Terry Evans
-Pickpocket
-Hangs out at "The Battered Lynx"
-charismatic, quick talker.

Owner of the "Old Lodge".
Species: Grizzly. Potential Names: James "Friendly" Harrington
-Physically Intimidating
-Scar on Right eye (Wears Eye Patch)
-World war 1 vet.
-Called friendly because it's considered a favor that he dosent go around beating the shit out of people (Very strong).

Humanimal member of triads.
Species: Panda. Name: Zhao "Claw" Wong
-One of very few animals in the Triad.
-Originally from China
-Works as a go-between for the triads and The Maw.

Assassin for The Maw.
Species: Ocelot. Name: Unknown
-Originally an orphan brought in by The Maw when it was still a good orginization.
-Only once has he ever failed a mark.
-Lethal with a Kukri

Animal Mafia Details

Named "The Maw"
-Has been in operation for about fifty years.
-Started as a sort of union that was to work towards equality for animals, but limited results eventually meant that it started into crime.
-At one time most of the criminal proceeds went toward helping out disenfranchised humanimals but with the recent change in bosses the proceeds have been slowly funneled away from those in need.
-Previous boss was a Gorilla. Cared about the Community.
-At odds with the Triads and the Italian Mafia.

-END SPOILERS-

So that`s what I have so far. I think it`s going to be a lot of fun to write about this city and It`s inhabitants and I really look forward to it.

Again, if you have any suggestions, don,t keep them to yourself! Let me know!

NaNoWriMo

So I'll be attempting to write a novel in this year's NaNoWriMo! It's going to be about a Detective who just happens to be a bear. Stay Tuned!

 

On Cities.

I'll be candid in saying that I have a certain affection for cities. You can probably chalk that up to the fact that I'm from a rural area and as they say “The grass is always greener on the other side”. That being said, I've always thought that cities have both a practical and an ethereal charm.

There's no feeling like walking between skyscrapers, or going down an alley littered with shops and restaurants, each with their own story. A city is a living place. Streets are it's veins and people it's blood cells. Cities have hearts and lungs, brains muscles and stomachs. From city hall to the lowliest food stand, every building has purpose and motivation.

It is in my experience that cities also tend to have their individual personalities. You can feel it in the architecture, people, and businesses. Halifax feels in places like a kind old sailor, Montreal like a cultured person of the world, and Toronto like a businessman or banker that likes to cut loose from time to time (although I haven't spent much time in Toronto so this may not be the case).

The purpose of this particular entry is to share my feelings on Japanese cities. I've already been to Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka and Kyoto and have had enough time in each city to feel the spirit of each.

I'll start with the city I've had the most experience with, Tokyo. Tokyo is not typical in that rather than being one metropolis which has expanded outward, it is in reality a collection of cities that have met while expanding. It is because of this that Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world (if not the largest). One would have to spend days in order to walk from one end of Tokyo to the other. Within this mass of concrete and lights, however, Tokyo has a place for everyone. Each prefecture has it's own particular purpose as well as demographic.

Akihabara is the land of Otaku. It is cluttered with manga shops, game centres, and maid cafes. A walk through this ward can be quite polarizing. Some people really get into the electric vibe in Akihabara, they like the fun and bright facades of the stores, the lights, and the costumes. Others find this place utterly detestable. I fall somewhere in the middle. For people coming from other countries, seeing a maid on the street can be quite a surprising experience. Many would claim that this sort of subservient behaviour is deprecating to women. I would be inclined to agree, but the intended clientele for these kind of stores are typically introverted, socially awkward, and shy Otaku. If anything, the maids are taking advantage of the Otaku, as they typically don't have the courage to talk to ladies outside of these shops.

Call me vain, but Shibuya has to be my favourite ward in Japan. Shibuya is Tokyo's Times Square. It's lights create the type of cityscape that people imagine when thinking of Tokyo. Shibuya is more than just lights though. It is a battleground, a citadel. It is the eye of the storm for fashion in Tokyo, if not Japan. One doesn’t venture out into Shibuya before carefully considering their attire. This is a place where every nuance of one's outfit makes a difference. As such, Shibuya is typically filled with vain and shallow people. Despite this, I love the place. 

Shinjuku is a sea of people on the go. If someone is standing still, they're doing it wrong. Between the businesses, the nightlife, and Shinjuku station, Shinjuku is a symbol for the ever hurrying spirit of Tokyo.

I havent been to Ginza, but I'm told it's where the bourgeois of Tokyo hang out. I imagine it has a lot of Jewelry stores and high scale bars. I don’t know.

Kabukicho is the red light district of Tokyo. It's filled with Yakuza, hostess bars, and (I imagine) cigarette smoke. Again, I haven't been inside, but I don't really want to either.

Tokyo is an interesting and segmented place. If it was a person, it would probably have schizophrenia, and it would always be hurrying around, busy with some ephemeral task.

Sapporo is a great city. At first, I didn't like it (partially because it wasn't Tokyo). I have recently begun to really respect this city, however. Sapporo is really vibrant. It is filled to the brim with glittering and hidden gems.

On my first trip to Sapporo, I collected two of these gems thanks to the help of my awesome and informative predecessor. One was named Emmy's kitchen. This was an 8(?) seat Mexican food restaurant in Kita 24 with some of the best fajitas I've ever eaten. It was one of those places that really had a spirit to it. I got the feeling that the owner wasn't running this place for the money, she just really enjoyed cooking good food. Not unlike one of my personal heroes, Kenny Shopsin. It was amazing enough to find a place that cooked Mexican food in Japan, the fact that it was good sent it over the moon.

The other Gem was a bar which claims to stock over 250 different beer. Quite a feat in Japan. Add onto this the fact that it has an awesome vintage atmosphere and an option for nomihodai, and this makes it one of my favourite bars in Japan. This place was also pretty amazing in that among it's stock it carried most of my favourite beers. They had Rogue, Unibroue, and Dogfish, among others. I may just have to talk the guy into importing some Picaroons. I'm sure he would be into it. 

Since then I've found some really cool spots on my own and with some friends. Sapporo is filled with spirited businesses, to the point where one can walk into a random restaurant and have a good chance of it being a phenomenal experience.

As far as Kansai, the cities have an entirely different feel. Kyoto and Osaka are cities with immense and interesting histories. As such, one can feel as if they are walking with the ghosts of ancient samurai, geisha, and (In Kyoto at least) emperors. At the same time, however, it can be quite strange to see modern skyscrapers sidling ancient castles, canals, and temples. This is the nature of these cities. Tokyo would probably feel the same way, except that it has expanded so much in recent centuries, that it is for the most part entirely new.

As far as Osaka and Kyoto go individually, each city has it's own speciality. It is said that in Osaka one can eat till they drop, and in Kyoto one can wear kimonos till they drop.

Osaka is filled with an amazing array of restaurants. Particularly in Dotonbori, the place that is considered the “downtown” of Osaka. Great cooks come from all over Japan to set up shop in Dotonbori. In fact, there is one restaurant in there that is the four greatest Ramen shops from all over Japan combined into one. It is also home to tons of candy and Omiyage shops. An army marches on it's stomach, and so does Osaka. 

I didn't have much time in Kyoto, but the time I did have was pretty interesting. There is an aura of calmness in Kyoto. Something very atypical in any city. Kyoto is known for temples and as such I guess you could consider it the city of religion or philosophy. That's the feeling I got, anyway. 

TL; DR: If you take the time, you'll see that any given city has a personality.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I implore you to “Keep it Real”

Of momentum and meloncholy.

So, it seems that the HAJET mid-year conference has come and gone, informative and entertaining as it was.

It was nice to touch base with other ALTs and feel out how things have been going for people in Hokkaido. When one is the only person doing their particular job in their town, it can be quite easy for doubts to creep up as to the quality and purpose of their work. But it seems that such uncertainty is almost universal across the region. It was nice to talk to people feeling the same feelings as I.

With the meeting inevitably came shifts in my thinking, an occurrence that has become entirely routine as I attempt to perform my job to the best of my ability. I've been fine-tuning my methods as well as aspects of my personality continually since my arrival in Furubira. One day I might be really genki, the next a little more austere. I'm trying to find that sweet spot that allows for well balanced education and social interaction with my students. I want to be their friend but it doesnt help their language skills if I just joke around with them all class.

As with any HAJET outing, drunken escapades followed the main event. The author will be the first to admit, that he went a bit far in this particular arena, particularly during the main enkai on Sunday night. Things were said that I utterly regret in retrospect. It is because of this that I will be experimenting with staying sober at the next HAJET enkai. After all, Japan really is fun enough without the booze. That's the theory anyway. We will just have to see how it goes.

Otaru itself was idyllic as usual, in exception to the weather on Monday. I've become quite fond of the architecture there of late. If you focus on it, you can feel almost as if you've been transported into a Ghibli film. There's the streetcar shaped buses, the old, European style warehouses, and of course the famous canal. The esthetic really is unique to anywhere I've been in the world.

I picked up a new television on Monday. As with Canada, I've been gaming quite a bit in my free time. I'm sure the reader can imagine my distraught as I discovered when moving to Furubira that my prized console, my PS3, would not function for whatever reason on my original T.V. It's because of this that procuring a new television was high on my list of priorities. It seems I lucked out when I went to buy my television as well because Don Quixote in Otaru was having a sale. My television, a 32 inch Sharp, which normally costs 50000 yen, was marked down to 35000, and 30000 if you had a Don Quixote members card. I swiftly signed up for membership to this strange, strange store (It only cost 3000 yen, for a net profit of 2000). I left the store with a smile on my face and a huge box in my hands. Then I remembered I needed to take the bus home.
WINTER IS COMING. This is a mixed bag for me. It becomes a little colder every day but it also means that the chance to sample Hokkaido's fine ski hills grows nigh. On the former, I'll admit I'm a little worried. During the meeting about Hokkaido's winter during the Mid-Year conference, our social rep, Andy Suvoltos gave a description of winter as would be told by Lovecraft, Blackwood, or Poe. What he described was a land where life was  lived always shrouded in blankets and clothes. Where one's apartment was completely dark due to the methods used to insulate windows. A land where leaving one's home was not unlike an Arctic expedition. But he's from Australia, Canadians might be ok, who knows. I'm still super excited about skiing. My plan is to hit up Niseko as soon as possible, with Alpha Tomamu being second. Skiing is a real privilege for me because in Nova Scotia, the only decent ski hill was nigh inaccessible. Never the less, I've always loved to Ski. For the amount of times I've gone I consider myself to be fairly proficient at it as well, but my skills have probably faded in the past couple years.

In any case, I wish you all the best.

A late start.

Well, I begin this blog at the beginning of the third month of a wild adventure. I am currently a JET, living in the "blink and you'll miss it" town of Furubira, in southwestern Hokkaido.

I've already lived volumes in the two months before I decided to begin this blog.  I've had adventures both solumn and outrageous, met people the likes of which I have never before, and stared down one or two personal philosophical conundrums along the way. Perhaps I'll be able to extrapolate on these things in later posts, but for now I would like to focus on the present.

This blog will, for the most part, be about my experiences teaching, living, and travelling in Japan. There is much to say on this subject, and I want to say it. I'm quite bad at keeping up with this sort of thing, but I figure I'll give it a try.

Everyday is a sort of adventure when one lives in a foreign country. Places feel grander and more meaningful. People's backstories seem more interesting, from the grandest official to the most meagre of laborers.

There is also a dark side to these feelings. There are times when isolation becomes haunting, cities labarinthine and towns puzzling. It can be difficult to communicate with others, to the point where both parties can abandon the conversation entirely. People's motivations and feelings can seem entirely esoteric, like echoes lost in a hall of mirrors. These feelings; however;  are eclipsed by their positive counterparts more often than not.

I hope you'll follow along with me as I let loose the hounds of my mind upon this blog.

Sincerely,
        Richard Harris