It's very nearly been 4 months now, and needless to say there have been ups and downs. It was drilled into us at orientation time and time again "You will experience culture shock!", "Many people arrive at their apartment and swiftly burst into tears at the thought of being along in a foreign country". Now I can definitely say that the second thing did not happen to me, and it's hard to pinpoint whether or not the first thing did happen to me. I never thought at any point "Oh, wow this is just so different I don't know how I'm going to cope!", but there have been many times when I have simply rolled my eyes and thought "Well this is extremely Japanese and kind of frustrating...".
We were told there is Stage 1 of culture shock which involves basically being a hyperactive child and being amazed at everything new around you. This is followed by the dreaded Stage 2, when you begin to criticise everything about the new culture and even resent a lot of things. If you manage to pull through Stage 2, then there is Stage 3 where you become adjusted and stop acting like a hormonal teenager. And if you're lucky there is Stage 4, when you become some zenlike God and balance the best aspects of both cultures.
Honestly, I can't say I went through a distinct Stage 1, which maybe is kind of depressing since surely everyone wants to live in a bubble of amazement for a little while. I definitely didn't dive straight into Stage 2 though, I just think I'm quite a realistic person and maybe I think too much. I think (the irony) this goes with the territory of being a Scot with a good dose of sarcasm.
However, I can pinpoint a time when I went through Stage 2. Perhaps it was around October when the season rapidly changed from sweltering heat to a normal temperature. But to me this sudden change made the normal temperature feel like the dead of winter, and I went through a bout of always having a cold, thus making me feel miserable and resent the Japanese to a certain extent when I wasn't able to understand why on earth they insist on doing certain things. I'm certain that this feeling will never go away entirely (why don't you shut the windows at school when it's freezing cold??), but at least it has and will continue to lessen over time.
For those of you who know me even a bit, I am sure you must be well aware of the fact that I did a year abroad in Italy from my constant "Well, this one time in Italy..." . The same thing happened in Italy! It got cold and I got depressed. I even got upset and ran back home on the spur of the moment one time, but this is definitely not an option now that I'm in Japan.
Now let's talk about how I probably have an alcohol problem :)
Anyway, let me tell you about my fun and alcohol-fuelled past weekends, the things that made me pull through all this so-called Stage 2 stuff. The weekend that really made me lighten up and go through a temporary delirium of "OMGJAPANISSOCOOLPIKACHUETC" was when I went mikan picking (the fruit that Ehime is famous for, basically a mandarin) and to put it delicately, got absolutely shitfaced (not from the mikans just to clear that up...).
How it all came about was rather strange, as it involved a chance encounter in the street, with a Japanese woman who now lives in America, but comes back every year to help out her family during mikan season. There was a big group of us gaijin in the street in Yawatahama after a meal, which is an EXTREMELY rare occurence here, so she was obviously curious and came up to speak to us since her English is really good. It turned out that her brother is a teacher at one of the primary schools I teach at once a month, and so the other Yawatahama ALTs and I were invited to pick mikans on their mikan farm.
Now, I was somewhat hungover and tired after a late night in Ozu with some ALTs the night before, but being taken up to their mikan farm was somehow life changing for me. We were riding in the open back of a truck, which is definitely a first for me since I'm a city girl. We were going up higher and higher into the mountains with this amazing view of the sea right behind us, and I think it just hit me how in love with Japan I am. I was literally bouncing around like I was 5 years old, but I had never felt happier.
After picking some mikans on their very high up mikan farm, we were taken to this gigantic dome thing on the top of the mountain. We had to climb up a very high ladder, a bit dubious considering the lack of ropes or anything to stop us falling, but once we were up there it was literally like being on top of the world. I don't think any picture will do it justice.
Then we dug up sweet potatoes and then went fishing. That is probably the most farm girl day of my life that I've ever had... And when we were fishing, as the sun was setting it turned into this huge bright red disk like the flag of Japan, the same way it did that time I did a roadtrip to the shimanami kaido bridges. Again, this photo is like some crappy shadow of the real thing. But that was it, I was hooked and I was in love with Japan.
After that we went back to the house of the family and had the most traditional Japanese meal I think I have ever seen on a fireplace that the family built themselves. You can see it here:
The next day, surprisingly hangover free, I went on a trip with another Japanese person who speaks a little bit of English. We managed to converse to some extent with my limited Japanese and her limited English. She took me up to the mountains to the most staggeringly beautiful place, where the leaves were turning bright red. Japan is very well known for its beautiful autumn colours and this place was no exception. There was this one bridge in particular crossing a river that had no proper rails, just a small bit of wire on one side that was slightly terrifying to cross, but had one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen.
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| The bridge, which is actually really scary when you're crossing it |
The weekend after that I went on a girl's trip to Beppu, famous for its many onsen (aka. where you get naked in a hot pool with strangers). We decided to go an onsen that had a mudbath. Onsen are divided by gender, and this was true for this onsen, but only to a certain extent! Even walking into the onsen, we were all very much aware of the fact that in the distance we could see naked Japanese men walking around, even if they were covering themselves with the tiny towel they give you at onsen.
It was bizarre... the girls mudbath was outside, but obviously the water was so murky from mud that you couldn't actually see anything when someone was submerged in the water. Meanwhile, the mens part of the onsen seemed to have a path that literally went right past the female mudbath. Some of them sheepishly ran past clutching their towel, while some of the more brave ones actually gave us a "Hello!". There was even a mixed part of the onsen which was advertised as having a waterfall, but in actual fact was essentially a leaky pipe. False advertising to lure in the foreign girls methinks..? I ventured into this part for maybe a minute or two, but with my towel round me. Lots of the other girls in my group were in this section, but the Japanese men seemed so split between curiosity and fear that the atmosphere was just uncomfortable and I left, even if I somehow managed to accidentally flash my ass to a couple of Japanese guys in the process. Oh well, I doubt I'll ever see them again.
That night we went to a Japanese Elvis night with a huge buffet and unlimited booze. The other girls said that the staff were rather racist towards us lovely gaijin, but if I'm honest, I was so drunk that I have no recollection of the night. I just remember throwing up in the sink of the hostel we were staying in, which is a pretty big deal for me since I broke my 5 year no throwing up streak! Ugh...
The next morning, in my severely dehydrated state, unable to even comprehend the notion of going to a hot onsen, we decided to hit the "hells" of Beppu: basically lots of different types of geysers. Some were pools of mud, some were beautiful blue pools able to boil eggs and some had crocodiles in them. Nothing really surprises me in Japan anymore.
So that's it, my last few weeks in Japan in a nutshell plus a bit of whining at the beginning :)
