"Hey, You Wanna Hear the Most Annoying Sound in the World?"

Jim Carrey makes a pretty good case for that in Dumb and Dumber, but lately my vote goes to these little buggers, the cicada. They are fairly common in temperate or tropical places all over the world, so being from the north back in the States, Japan is my first experience with them.

For most of their lives, 13 to 17 years in all, cicadas live under ground. That is until they embark on their final journey to mate when the summer gets to be its hottest. Once above ground, they don't last very long, but they certainly like to be heard. When these little guys get going it can really mess with your head if you allow yourself to focus on it. They typically reach 120 dB at close range, and combined they make for a constant buzz everywhere you go, but then as if it were planned the buzz stops and there's nothing. It can really drive you crazy. They can even be heard within the confines of home, which makes sleeping a bit more difficult.

Here's an example of one I recorded recently:



And in case you wanted to compare, check out the clip from Dumb and Dumber.

Eating Habits

I often wonder what eating habits I'll take back with me when it's time to leave Japan. Everything from etiquette to serving size to the utensils is fairly different, and took some getting used to. Now, however, I find myself eating a lot of the Western style food we eat at home as if I were out at a restaurant or in the work cafeteria.

Noodles are by far the best. I suppose my wife would hope this habit doesn't stay with me, but anytime I'm told that slurping is polite, well, I think it's only natural to oblige. All through childhood we were told not to slurp, but here in Japan it's considered a sign of how tasty your noodles are the louder you slurp. Noodles are not easy to eat with chopsticks, so using your mouth as a vacuum, so-to-speak, really expedites the process and allows for any faults I may have with my chopstick technique to go unnoticed.

Picking up your bowl to bring it close to you is very convenient. A lot of Japanese dishes are served in small bowls - rice is an obvious, albeit boring, example. Needless to say, it's quite advantageous, especially if you have a long track record of stained shirts! I think part of it stems in the way you sit at the table. Men typically sit cross-legged on the floor so it helps to grab your food and bring it to you rather than straining out of that awful position. This is one habit that I've increasingly noticed myself doing while eating at home. Hey, it's just really easy to bring that plate of salad to your face and shovel it in...really I do have decent table manners...

Finally, not touching your food. The best example I can give of this is eating out at Mos Burger. Look at the wrappers the burgers are served in - and this is how they're served basically everywhere. They are really conducive for eating out of the wrapper and not touching your burger. The only downside is that you end up with your face planted in the wrapper.

Sun Muchin

We were able to taste a little bit of the sun this morning here in the land of the rising sun - a solar eclipse with 80% coverage. And boy was it delicious!

The Japanese word for solar eclipse is 日食 (NiShoku), literally means sun eating. Pretty fun when you think about it.

I've never experienced a solar eclipse, at least not one that I stood outside and watched. I know this wasn't as rare as a total solar eclipse. Nonetheless, it was a pretty special moment to catch a glimpse of the moon eating the sun from the other side of the world.

Thanks for the photo Herban Girl!

Blog Endorsement from an Unlikely Source

Last weekend, we were privileged to attend the first day of the 15-day Nagoya Sumo Tournament. Herban Girl details the sumo and tournament background here.

I wanted to share this particular clip from the event. Sumo is an amazing mix of culture and tradition. It seems some of the ceremonies and gestures were just as important as the actual fight. The ceremony shown in the clip occurred just prior to the top grouping's fights, the Yokozuna group.

This ceremony is performed by one of the fighters in the Yokozuna group along with his two attendants from a lower rank and a senior gyoji (referee). You'll see the Yokozuna clap his hands, extend and show his hands, and then stomp on the ground. The hands are clapped to call attention to the gods, the hands are then extended and both sides are shown to reveal that no weapons are concealed, and the stomp is intended to drive evil from the dohyo (ring).

By far the best part of this is the stomp when the crowd simultaneously yells what else, "YOISHO!"

Atsui Desu Ne!!!

Nagoya summer. I know I shouldn't complain because there are much worse places - Death Valley comes to mind - but it is freakin' hot and humid here. I grew in Michigan and my blood is a healthy mix of northern Europe, so clearly I wasn't built for this heat - as evidenced by the sweet heat rash I'm currently dealing with. Between the office being kept at the ripe temperature of 28C (82.4F), trying to protect our budget from the exorbitant energy bills by maintaining a cool 25C (77F) at home, and dealing with the 30-40C (86-104F) Nagoya summer temps outside, I think complaining is justified somewhat. Tack on the humidity, and I've almost been given a mandate (not quite a Bush 51% of the vote mandate, but same ballpark).

And it's not just me. I can safely say that this is uncomfortable weather for the native Japanese judging by their constant, almost obsessive use of the phrase "Atsui", meaning 'hot'. It can be heard everywhere, by anyone doing just about any activity requiring the least bit of energy. I think, though, that the use of this word exemplifies the nuances of the Japanese language. It's just one word, but by stressing various syllables, or cutting out syllables, the degree to which the person wants to express how hot it is can be manipulated. For example,

It's hot. = Atsui Desu.
Kinda hot today, huh? = Atsui ne.
Man this sucks! It's freakin hot! = Atsui neeeee.
Alright. This blows. I am very hot and very uncomfortable!!! = AAaatsuu.
O jeez...(sigh)...it's so hot...I can barely move = aatsss

Now think about it. Imagine if we went around manipulating the word, 'hot', all day. Confirming and reconfirming to each other or randomly to anyone in the vicinity just how hot or annoyed you feel.
"Hot."
"Hhhhhot."
"Hottttttt."
See, pretty weird, huh? The English finds fun adjectives, swear words, or clauses to make a point. Japanese, on the other hand, uses few words to make a statement.

By the way, in the winter, you can substitute "Atsui" with "Samui" (Japanese word for cold), and you get the same effect. Same inflections and manipulations apply. And yes, the same frequency abounds.

Pocket Change

The Japanese currency system is wreaking havoc on my budget. My wife and I usually give ourselves each a little petty money every week for miscellaneous things or emergencies. Back in the States, I rarely spent it as I always hated the thought of breaking bills. Hoping instead to stash it away for a bigger item after the savings accrued. In the rare case I did, for example, buy a soda out of the vending machine, I would still be left with some dollar bills making it hard to go back for more.

In Japan it's been a different story. All of my discipline is out the window thanks to these:


The Japanese Yen to Dollar conversion is generally 100 to 1. So, you can think of the big, gold 500 JPY coin and the little, silver 100 JPY coin shown in the picture above as $5 and &1 respectfully. Unfortunately, I can't get over the idea that whatever's in my pocket as I near a vending machine (which there are a plenty) or a convenience store (which there are a plenty) is simply pocket change taking up unnecessary space.

Uggghhh....I'll never be able to save up for that Boss Coffee bomber jacket I want ever so badly!!!

Soccer Shoes

Soccer shoes have changed quite a bit since I last had to buy them back in high school. Shin pads have morphed quite a bit as well. Fortunately, playing the game I grew up with for so many years managed to linger long enough in my feet that I wasn't too rusty when I decided to strap the boots back on here in Nagoya.

Back in March, my wife had found an ad in the ex-pat newsletter for the Shonai FC soccer team. Nothing official, just a group of fellow ex-pats from all over the world who love the game of soccer and get together and play every Sunday at The Shonai-Ryokuchi Park in northern Nagoya.

Thanks to some encouragement from my wife - and some new shoes she bought me for my birthday - I've been playing ever since and really look forward to it every week. Ages range from 23 to 45, and backgrounds are from England, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Romania, France, and yes, Japan.

Besides meeting fellow ex-pats, it has also offered a chance to see different parts of Japan. Tournaments are held a few times throughout the year for ex-pat teams from all over the country. Back in May we went south to the Awaji-island tournament (near Osaka), and there's a Nagano tournament in the fall. The competition is fun and in some weird way it's like fulfilling a boyhood dream of playing internationally!

Just Another Day at the Beach

When it gets hot, wasting the day away at the beach is hard to top. With that in mind, we decided to head southeast to the Pacific Ocean and the Tahara City beaches last weekend. It was about a two hour drive, which was a little frustrating due to traffic jams, but the view and relaxation once we arrived was worth it.

Well, minus the string banana hammock this guy was sporting.



My wife said it best, "It's like a train wreck. You really don't want to look, but...what is he thinking?" The funny thing is, he has two of these puppies, and thought it best to sport them on the same day. Prior to the white one, he had a florescent orange hammock on. Perhaps, he thought he needed to tone it down a notch, so he switched to the white mid-afternoon. Yeah, that'll draw less attention!

Well, despite the banana hammock setting up shop to our right, we enjoyed the warm Pacific water, a nice lunch, the beautiful view to our right, and the mountains behind us. We lucked out on timing as well because this isn't the beach season yet. Apparently, it starts with the beginning of summer next month. We did, however, see the crews setting up the stands and painting the docks for the crowds that are sure to flock to the beach when summer 'officially' starts.