Tsukuba Monogatari: Twentieth post Just as I was starting to think evil thoughts about Japanese people, my spirits were lifted from the valley of the shadow of cultural adjustment by two Eastern Region sales guys who recognized a soul sorely in need of fun and invited us (“us” means Jennifer and me) to the Eastern […]
Stages of adjustment
Tsukuba Monogatari: Nineteenth post Key: A: Arrive in Tsukuba; welcomed by ex-trainees; get car, company badge, e-mail account; take lots of pictures B-C: The novelty wears off; you start getting tired of gyoza and yakisoba; you get tired of wearing your one week’s worth of clothes over and over; you work, you sleep, you’re married […]
Recommendation to the current administra...
Tsukuba Monogatari: Eighteenth post If the U.S. government wants to inhibit consumer spending and encourage Americans to increase their personal savings, I recommend that it pressure banks to institute Japanese cash corner hours at their ATMs. I think I now understand why the savings rate is so high in Japan. Japanese people can’t get to […]
Narita Airport Go-Annai (Guide)
Tsukuba Monogatari: Seventeenth post Jennifer told me it took about an hour to drive to Narita, so I allowed two hours, figuring I’d probably get lost a few times, get stuck behind a slow truck, or both. I also allowed a half hour to get from the parking lot to the terminal, 1.5 hours to […]
Hear one, imagine ten
Tsukuba Monogatari: Sixteenth post The Japanese have a saying, “Hear one, understand ten,” which I got to see embodied when I asked Koizumi-san about the route to Narita by car. He replied, “I could take you on Friday, but I don’t know about Sunday (when I return).” “For goodness sake, Koizumi-san,” I said, “I’m not […]
Another myth down the tubes
Tsukuba Monogatari: Fifteenth post I have always sworn religiously by Japan’s public transportation system. You can set your watch by it; you can ride it safely at any time of the day or night; but most importantly, you can get wherever you want to go by using it. This past week, however, the myth was […]
Night life in Tsukuba
Tsukuba Monogatari: Fourteenth post I know you’re all dying to know about the night life in Tsukuba. So am I. If anyone hears of any, let me know. Seriously, nights, I hang out at John & Carole’s. It’s the neighborhood coin laundry, open 24 hours. I like to do my laundry at night; it’s not […]
Culinary wonders, part 2
Tsukuba Monogatari: Thirteenth post For many years natto (gooey fermented soybeans) has reigned supreme as the Japanese food item most likely to arise in a conversation which begins with the question, “Can you eat Japanese food?” or “What is the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?” However, I believe natto has finally relinquished its throne to […]
The honeymoon is over
Tsukuba Monogatari: Twelfth post Now that I’ve settled into my apartment, seen all my ex-trainees, gotten my Company badge, cash card and e-mail account; now that I’ve gotten used to driving on the left side of the road and learned how to park and unpark in Japanese parking lots without the aid of a shoehorn […]
Culinary wonders
Tsukuba Monogatari: Eleventh post I dashed into a Hot Spar (Tsukuba’s answer to 7-11) the other day to grab something for lunch on my way back from the bank. I grabbed what appeared to be a tonkatsu (breaded, fried pork cutlet) sandwich, feeling the need to sink my teeth into some meat. When I got […]