Misadventures in Translation

This past Friday (1/12), I went out to celebrate the New Year with my Japanese friends Sakamoto, Kei, and Kouichi. We had an excellent time. Even though two guys had to get up at six for work, we were out until three in the morning. Work hard, party hard.

Me, Naomi, Maiko, Takashi, Sakamoto, ?, Kei, and Kouichi.

Kei and Sakamoto.

Naomi, Kei, Me, and Maiko. Naomi was a nice girl, but she was definitely not the sharpest crayon in the box. How can you think Brazil is near the United States?

Sakamoto can still be a sexy man even when making ridiculous faces.

This was the location of the “second party” that we were at until three in the morning. We went through a maze of back-roads to get here. If I were to try to drive there on my own, I do not believe I could find it. Besides the food, the best thing about this place was the excellent Grover book in the back.

Sunday, I went snowboarding for the thousandth time. John (another ALT in the area) and I went to a nice intermediate ski resort. It’s a area for practicing. Occasionally, we would hold some conversation with other people on the ski lifts. We had some intellectual banter such as how delicious strawberry milk is. This ski resort is only 40 minutes away, but we found out some people came all the way from Tokyo. It’s a nice place, but I wouldn’t come all the way from Tokyo to go skiing there.

Me and John at Chateraise Ski Resort.

A nice view of the Yatusgatake mountain range.

Teaching at the elementary school is awesome. The kids are super energetic. Plus, I get to hear crazy things. Kids coming up to me and saying, “Come on, baby,” “Erotic,” and “OH, BABY,” makes my day a brighter day. With the youngest students, I just play simple games such as the Hokey Pokey…

Karate or Hokey Pokey Big Fever? The Big Fever was an addition by one of the teachers. I like Hokey Pokey Big Fever better than the plain old Hokey Pokey.

Does it matter if they do what I say? Nah. As long as they have fun.

I think that somewhere in my contract it says that I must occasionally be a substitute jungle gym. I feel like Ah-nuld in Kindergarten Cop.

This is by far my favorite picture from Japan. It’s how I feel some days.

Lately, I’ve been watching a lot more television. The other day, there was a program talking about the incidences of cancer in Japan. It talked about how America has had two consecutive years of lower cancer rates. The big reasons were increased screening and early detection. But the program went on to attribute some of the decline to Americans consuming more vegetables. This surprised me since the American waistline is definitely not indicative of a diet high in vegetables. Then, there was another surprise. Japanese consumption of vegetables has been in major decline. Since vegetables have many antioxidants that are helpful in preventing cancer, the show went on to describe the cancer fighting abilities of vegetables with some cute animations. Japan doesn’t have to worry, though. I think all the green tea makes up for it.

While I’m talking about medicine, according to this article, http://www.cogme.gov/report16.htm#sumrec, it looks like I’m going to be pretty busy when I graduate medical school. By 2020, the supply of doctors will be outstripped by demand. There are already a shortage of doctors in many areas. America’s increasing population and the time it takes to train a physician will make things very difficult. The shortage of doctors will probably push the cost of medical care even higher. Things could be a little rough for a while in the future.

I believe I’m addicted to snowboarding. I went snowboarding yesterday, I’m going again tomorrow, I’m night snowboarding again next week, and I’m spending 2 days up at Hakuba, Nagano snowboarding. I’ve got to get in top form for the Winter Olympics

Next month, I’ll be heading the Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido. I’ll fly up to Sapporo from Tokyo and spend four days up there. I’ll get to see some awesome snow sculptures, try some awesome food, and see some awesome sites. Oh yeah. I’ll go snowboarding too.

Now, for your Japanese moment of zen:

A few people stumble upon my site after searching for various topics about Japan. There is a common theme, though.

• getting a japanese girlfriend
• japanese girls
• japanese girlfriend
• japanese girlfriend fantasy
• nude sexy girls
• i want a 13 year-old japanese girlfriend

That last one has been entered more than once. This goes out to the weirdo who stumbled upon my site by searching for “how to get a 13 year-old Japanese girlfriend.”

It’s Izumi Asuka! It’s Japan”s number one under 15 thong model! You want more you sick freaks? http://www.izumiasuka.com/ Too bad she’s not even that cute. Before you start flipping out, these girls are not nude in the magazines. Of course dirty old men purchase these magazines, but it does not mean Japan is full of pedophilic perverts as some people like to imagine. This is just a major difference between Japan and the West. I saw this girl and her mom sitting on some serious round table discussion the other day. I never saw anyone berate them. However, I hope that you don’t feel Japan has a massive Lolita complex. Maybe it’s too late to prevent that.

Wait. You’re still not satisfied? Here’s a video. Unless your workplace allows you to look at a 14 year-old Japanese girl wearing a thong bikini, then I wouldn’t suggest watching it. I think the soundtrack to the video is awesome, though.

If you can’t see the video, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEQYfEukb1k

I think I need to take a long shower.

Oshogatsuomedetougozaimasu. Happy New Year! Over the past week, I stayed with my host family down in Gamagori, Aichi. I arrived there on the 30th and celebrated New Years with my family. Also during my stay, I did some sightseeing in Nagoya and in Kyoto.

Since I was staying for a week, I needed to get my host family some gifts in return for feeding me and giving me a place to stay. I brought the some of the famous snacks from Yamanashi (Shinjin Mochi) and got the kids some Christmas gifts. I bought the Japanese version of Monopoly and I kind of regret it. I had to play it a bajillion times.

New Years in Japan is is a lot like Christmas. Families travel across the county to see each other, gifts are given (typically money in a sealed envelope or food), and a lot of food. Since I was staying, I got to go to New Year dinners on both sides of the family. I kinda felt like I was intruding, but everyone was welcoming.

Why do people want me to write things? Don’t they know I’m going to be a doctor? Doctors over here can’t write worth crap either. This was part of a family shodou contest that I didn’t know about. If I had known, I wouldn’t have accepted such crappy work.

Some of the family from my host father’s side. I hung out at his brother’s house (the older man squatting in the photo) for a while. He was a little tipsy when I got there. I got a lot of, “Handsome boy,” compliments from him… The funniest thing was when I was taking a photo with his wife and she grabbed my butt. Twice.

Everyone makes me look bad.

The ryokan (Japanese hotel) that my host mother’s parents own. I’ve had many excellent dinners here.

From left-to-right: Some cousin, Ryo, Tsubasa, some cousin.

A typical Japanese New Years decoration

For more pictures from my stay with my host family, click here.

On the 3rd, I headed over to Nagoya for some light sightseeing. Nagoya is a nice, well-planned city. Whoever was in charge of development post-WWII did a great job. The city is well layed out. However, there isn’t that much in Nagoya in terms of great sightseeing places. What Nagoya does have, is still nice though. The major attractions are Nagoya Castle, Osukannon, the Robot Museum, Toyota Museum, and several small temples.

Something about Japan forces me to do the stupid peace sign and look like a tool.

If Atsuta Jinja didn’t cost 1000 yen to go inside, I could have had more pictures. These are all the people pissed off about the outrageous entrance fee.

Buy 1, get 7 free. I love the faux fur and kimono style in winter.

A picture from Toganji Temple in Nagoya.

The entrance to Koshoji Temple in Nagoya

If you you seen one five-storied pagoda, you’ve seen them all.

A picture of the Higashiyama Skytower behind the the Nagoya Zoo.

Nagoya at night. Japan’s fourth largest city.

A nice sculpture just outside Nagoya Station.

The twin towers of the Nagoya train station.

On the 5th, I took a bus over to Kyoto for some historic sightseeing. Kyoto is the old capital of Japan and is rich in history (and tourists). It’s easy and cheap to get around Kyoto. However, there is just too much to be experienced in one day. I will have to make another trip to Kyoto in the future. The big places that I went in Kyoto were the famous Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) and Kiyomizutera.

Kyoto Station has a nice open air design. Too bad its freezing cold in the winter.

A picture from Ryozen Kannon in Kyoto. This is a site for the unknown soldiers who died in WWII.

These are omikuji (fortunes). People get their fortunes and then tie them to trees in the hope that it will come true.

In front of the entrance to Kiyomizutera.

Kiyomizutera is under consideration for becoming one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. http://www.new7wonders.com It’s a great place, but I don’t believe it will make the new list.

The water is supposed to bring you good health/luck. Only if the person drinking before you doesn’t have bird flu.

A crappy photo of the entire Kiyomizutera area.

For other photos from Kiyomizutera, click here.

The Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji) in Kyoto. Of the places I went, this was my favorite.

For other Golden Pavilion pictures, click here.

I love Japan. Since about a month after arriving, I’d actually strongly considered re-contracting and applying to medical school again later. I probably should have waited to apply to medical school till after this program. However, I researched options that will allow to pursue both medicine and my interests in Japan. Fortunately I was able to find out about the Japanese Family Health Program at the University of Michigan (http://www.med.umich.edu/jfhp/index.html) . The program at Michigan is dedicated to serving the large Japanese community living in Michigan. Japanese companies send their executives to America for long stints of service and their family comes along. When medical issues arise, it can be difficult to get effective treatment due to communication and cultural differences. The head of the program, Dr. Fetters, is fluent in Japanese due to studying in Japan for 3 years. I’ve been communicating with him and have found research options that would allow me to pursue medicine and continue my Japanese studies. The Japanese Family Health Program at Michigan is interesting since the concept of family medicine is actually a relatively new and developing concept in the Japanese medical system. The plan would be to come back to Japan for research during the summer vacation after first year, possibly take a year off between 3rd and 4th years for a year of research, and some more work in Japan during my residency period. I have an interesting and difficult road ahead of me.

Today, I turned in my form stating that I would not be re-contracting. It was kinda sad since I’ve become good friends with my supervisor. But he understands what my career path requires. At least we have 7 more months to hang out. Hopefully, we’ll have chances to meet again after I return to America. With my busy medical school schedule it’ll be difficult to stay in touch, but I will make the effort.

And in other news, the inventor of instant ramen, Momofuku Ando, died January 5th at the age of 96.

This weekend, I’m going snowboarding again with some friends at Hakuba in the Nagano Prefecture. Nagano has some great slopes. The Winter Olympics were once held in Nagano.

And in other news, the inventor of instant ramen, Momofuku Ando, died January 5th at the age of 96.

Now for you moment of Japanese Zen:

Move over Christina and Britney. Koda Kumi rules. Koda is a huge pop star in Japan. Geeky Americans will know her from her song in the game, Final Fantasy X-2. Actually, geeky Americans obsessed with Japan would know her. The following music videos are singles from her latest CD, Black Cherry. The first video is Cherry Girl and the second one is for Juicy. Both feature effective uses for liquor bottles. If you can’t stand suggestive pelvic thrusts and dry humping, don’t watch.

If you can’t see the video, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Equiso95Vfg

If you can’t see the video, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOGB2C84w8I

P.S.