Monday, January 18, 2010

Part 2-Plane to Sapporo

After waiting in the airport long enough to be good and jet lagged, I boarded my next flight to Sapporo and sat next to a korean man, who looked about 19-20, but who I later discovered was in fact 30. He was very nice and could speak english quite well, and was studying Japanese at the University of Sapporo with his girlfriend. He later invited me to his apartment in Sapporo for the snow and ice festival at the beginning of February. Apparently he has many international friends that speak english and 'very much like karaoke.' We continued chatting and he revealed that he has a strong interest in Canada because his favorite movie, The Notebook, stars Canadian actors. He explained how even after the 10th time watching it, it still made him cry. He would also frequently pray that the plane wouldn't crash. 

I arrived in Japan and my new friend helped me find the right train to get on and I was off on my way to Obihiro, where I would be picked up and taken to Otofuke, where the firm and my house is. There were no seats left on the train and hardly any place to put baggage, all the cars are really miniature, so I ended up standing at the entrance of the car for two hours. There was still a window though, and I was able to get a taste of the very mountainous and snowy landscape. At last I arrived in snowy obihiro, but as I was leaving the train station I was stopped by a train man at a wicket who though I was trying to get onto another train. He of course didn't speak a word of english, so it made it very difficult to explain to him that all I wanted to do was leave. It was not long before the smiling but very confused man summoned a big possy of teen-aged girls to help him understand. But even with 5 girls, nobody seemed to understand the word out or exit, and those were two words I failed to memorize before I left. After about 15 minutes, I remembered I had a dictionary in my bag and finally found the word exit! 

The next challenge was calling the firm to pick me up. Luckily I did know the word for phone and by looking confused and repeating "denwa" a few times I got the attention of the group of girls who showed me how to use it. The other intern, Katherine, who can speak english, and one of the staff, Naka-san, a 24 year old woman who can speak a bit of english, came to pick me up. After picking up some groceries and getting stared at quite a bit at the 'supa' (supermarket), we headed to the house where I will be staying for the next 3 months. It's pretty basic, but comes complete with tatami floors, lots of slippers by the door, and sliding panel walls. 

At this point I figured we were just staying put, but before I knew it we were rushing off to a traditional japanese barbecue restaurant, after picking up another employee. This was a traditional restaurant, so we all kneeled around our table that had a grill in the middle. The server started bringing out plates and plates of diverse raw meat for grilling. Not wanting to make a bad impression, I ate everything that they suggested, including lamb stomach, cow liver and raw pork. I guess I'm giving up vegetarianism for now.  

After we finished, about 10pm, they informed me that we were off to the onsen, Japanese hot springs, that can be outdoor or indoor. we entered the female wing of the building and went into the change room. I took my coat off and put it on a chair and as I turned around to talk to my co-workers when it struck me that they were all casually completely naked. Realizing the task at hand I rushed to strip down too, and entered into a room full of naked women from age about 18 to 75, bathing in the various pools. we finally got home, and I set out my futon matress and went to bed almost immediately. 

3 comments:

  1. Dan!!
    This is all so hilarious and exciting!
    i especially love that the korean man was interested in Canada because of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. what great ambassadors!

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  2. p.s. everyone here is a carnivore too.
    they don't even have sweet potatoes or cauliflower or zucchini at the grocery store!!!!!!

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  3. way to ruin the notebook for me, danielle! haha

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