What Is It?

In Japan, you have to get over the idea that you should know what something is before you put it in your mouth. This morning at Denny's, I had a breakfast soup with various items in it. I didn't know what most of the things were, but the whole soup was yummy. A little reasearch tells me one of the items was lotus root, like in the picture. It had a lovely crispness, a bit like a water chestnut.

I Think They Have Those

Here's how Dante decided it's OK to go live in Japan for a while:

"So, Dante, what do you think about going to live in Japan for a while?"
"I don't want to go."
"Why not?"
"Because they don't have computers there."
"Oh, I think they do have computers. And we'll take ours with us."
Looking thoughtful. "Do they have TV?"
"Yes, they have TV, too. And, you know what? At school in Japan, they speak English."
"Really?" His eyes widened.

So, Japan is better than Spain, because he doesn't have a computer in Spain, and Japan is better than Minnesota, because at school in Minnesota, they speak French.

Education Center, No Less

While apartment hunting in Fujisawa, I noticed this sign announcing the Lego Education Center on the third floor of this building. You can see the giant lego stickers in the windows from the street. I didn't go up, but we'll definitely take Dante.
I wonder if Legos are marketed in Japan as being educational?

Apartment Hunting

Thursday, I visited 5 possible apartments. I picked my favorite and told my helper, Takamura-san, to take it. He called our agent, who called the landlord's agent, who called the landlord. Sadly, the landlord didn't want to rent to a short-term gaijin, so it's back to square one. Monday, Takamura-san will have a try at my second choice.

The apartment listings are all on the agent's computer, but he always prints them out to show them to us. This is frustrating, since the writing is mostly incomprehensible to me, and I can't use online translation to help out.

Here's the location of the one I hope to get Monday. It's the one that says グリーンハイツ　(guriin haitsu) or Green Heights.

http://tinyurl.com/grnhts

STRAGE Against The Machine!

There's a closet door at work boldly labeled STRAGE. I like to shake my fist and holler STRAGE! as I walk past it.

At first I thought it a strange error, but now it makes sense to me. The author must have been aware of the bizarre practice in English of leaving out the vowels that always appear between consonants in Japanese. He just got a bit carried away with his application of this English practice. He may even have been aware that STR is a common consonant combo.

Koban

I had an interview (if you can call it that) with a Japanese policeman yesterday evening. I was alone at Khing's apartment when the doorbell rang, twice. I opened the door for a policeman. He asked if I spoke Japanese (in very clear English). Happily, Masako, who lives across the parking lot, had seen the policeman there and walked over. She explained that I didn't speak Japanese and did all the talking.

Turns out, he was investigating an ongoing feud on the second floor. He and his partner were interviewing neighbors about noise or other disturbances. Masako explained that I had only been there about a day, and that they wanted to talk to Khing. So, she called Khing on her cell phone and asked him what he had seen and heard, then relayed his answers to the policeman.

Two things impressed me about this incident. First, the policeman was the calmest, quietest, person I've ever met. His voice was so smooth and pleasant and his manner so polite that it was impossible not to like him. Second, I thought the contrast with police in the US was interesting. There, police who received a complaint about noise would come around, tell the two families to shut up, then come back after somebody got shot. Less facetiously, they'd see if a crime had occurred and arrest the perpetrators. Here in Japan, they saw their job as restoring harmony in the neighborhood. Masako, when she volunteered to call Khing and interview him herself, seemed to see that as her job, too.

This made me wonder if Japan has more police, so that they have time for this sort of thing. Actually, they have fewer than we do. Japan has about 1.8 cops per 1000 residents, while the US has about 2.18 cops per 1000. I guess there is just less crime to keep the police busy.

Ready to Fly

The suitcases are sitting by the front door - got to get up early for the airport.

The whole endeavor seems a bit crazy. I don't doubt that things can and will go wrong, but I don't really care. I guess we've got the big stuff covered.

I'm excited, but when someone asked what I was looking forward to in Japan, I wasn't sure. I guess it's just making a life with my family in a new place.