What’s a Turkey?

Eeeeh?  Nani Sore? (Whaaa?  What’s that?)

This was the common sentence to come out of my students mouths each time I showed them a picture of a turkey.  This I had not expected this reaction at all.  In fact, I had hoped that the students might even know what I turkey was (This was very foolish since you have a better chance of finding an ice cube in hell than finding one slice of turkey meat in all of Japan).  The students actually thought it looked disgusting!  Now admittedly, a turkey does not look that good when it is a live and gobbling, but still, these are Japanese children who eat a whole shrimp (legs, eyes, eggs, and all) while swallowing raw eel or octopus.

But you ask, “Andrew, why are you showing them turkeys?”

Well my five readers (that’s right, I know who you are ) This is Thanksgiving week and I thought it would be fun to introduce this very important holiday to my students.  So after having them making a turkey out of construction paper using the outline of their hand as the body I proceeded to tell all my students about Thanksgiving.  Of course, since they are only children I chose to stay on the topic of eating way too much and then sleeping all day.  For the older students I actually told them about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I even had some pictures of all the giant blimps and bands.

To sum things up.  The kids were slightly interested but still had trouble understanding the idea.  The best part was that even after I showed the students what a turkey looks like cooked, the held strong to their original feelings and argued that it looked good but was still disgusting.

 

BUT! Enough about the lil’ ones.

Let’s talk about my Thanksgiving Day, or the lack there of.

I awoke – For that seems like the most straight forward way to beginning a story that spans and entire day – to find myself inside a hotel room.  Due to poor timing, I was at my hotel school, and therefore away from my own home in Akita.  Beginning the day like any other during this week, I crawled out of bed and squatted in front of my computer to check on the new TV shows and anime to watch – For there is nothing else to do in this small town besides reside upon one’s ass and watch TV/Movies.

Realizing the time was quickly approach 2pm I went out to get the closest thing possible to a Thanksgiving Day meal.  Mutton Curry, Nan, Salad, and Indo tea.

Upon finishing my feast I made my way to the bank.  Seeing as how Japan has no idea what a turkey is, let alone Thanksgiving, I leisurely strolled up to the ATM and paid a few bills along with withdrawing some money.  Turning around, I made my way back to the hotel where I would wait for the time to leave once again and head too work in the evening.

Walking into the classroom I was greeted by the PS (Performance Supervisor) from Aomori who was there to monitor a “challenging” class.  Hoping to find myself in front of a fellow American, his accent quickly gave him away as a Canadian.  Classes began and finished and I once again found myself alone, and walking back to my hotel to feast on a chicken bento and meat bun.

Thinking it best to call home on such an occasion I picked up my phone and put in the corresponding 500 digit number required for any such international call.  Quickly telling my parents to hop on to Skype so we could talk, I found myself dealing with a horrible connection that resulted any multiple glitches, hisses, squeals, and crashes (all from my family’s end since they have a computer that is now 6 years old and way past it’s prime).  The conversation continued for three hours, mostly revolving around my father and me debating who would be a good super hero to have in the next movie and my grandmothers 90th birthday.

Finishing my conversation at 4am, I quickly went to sleep realizing that I had failed to say “Happy Thanksgiving” even once whole the day.

All Wet...

I'm all wet -- And it's not just because of the three weeks of never-ending spitting/drizzles/showers/storms.

I'm all wet because I'm starting to feel the negative effects of living in a rural area like Akita. Loneliness. In all honesty, I think we can agree that I am different. In some cases this might even be a admirable attribute. Unfortunately, this is not one of those cases. I keep awakening to this rather depressing realization that people such as me need to be in big cities where the likelihood of encountering similar individuals is much higher. Akita is no such place. In fact, this city gives "carbon copy" a whole new meaning. There is little diversity within this city, even by Japanese standards. You are either a farmer, small time merchant, one of many high school drop outs, a drunk, or pregnant. This is not an intellectual center to say the least. In other words, I cannot find anyone I can really relate to. So far, all most people do is leave me mildly perturbed.

With all this in mind, I find myself becoming more and more lonely. With little means of entertainment outside of bars, pubs, lounges, izakayas, and clubs, I am at a loss for meeting new and interesting people who are capable of having a conversation without falling over or slurring their words.

I wish I was back in Sendai or Tokyo. Country-life just isn't for me.

In other news....Still disliking my job. It's not the kids that are the problem. Most of them are great and I love them. It's the company and a certain other teacher who makes me want jump off a bridge every time she speaks. I'd push her off, but I don't want to end up in a Japanese prison.

There are two bright sides to this small little rant, the colors of fall:

PRETTY TREES!

NEW SUIT!