I worked over Christmas as they don't really celebrate it in Japan but I am off for a week during New Years. This is Yuuri's busy season so she's not off until the 5th January when I go back to work.
Yuuri got me some cuff-links for my shirt and a Japanese story book for children to help me practice my Japanese and I got her some dresses.
Yuuri's family have been really nice to me and have helped me with food and clothing. They often cook and buy me food and try to keep me healthy. I think my life has become the same as it was in England except everyone's Japanese!!
Naturally we can't have Christmas without cake and I was asked to cut the cake, although under Yuuri's watchful supervision.
Yuuri's father wanted to test me on my Japanese so we played a game where he would say the character and I had to find the correct card. e.g. Ka = か
Aomori has become really snowy now as I hear England is too. I've changed my heater from electric to paraffin. I use about 5litres of paraffin a in just under a week and I can buy 18L for about £5 or Y1,200 so it works out cheaper. The room heats quicker than electric and I can heat more area too. It does vent some bad gas though.
That's it so far now. In January I have to be evaluated by head office to get promoted for my highest position as a foreign teacher. If I don't get it I will finish in July, if I do then I get a pay increase.
If you haven't heard, Yuuri and I are married now!
We went to the city hall on the 6th December 2009 but they didn't really understand the procedure for a foreign marriage. When we did get it sorted they got Yuuri's name wrong, despite having her ID card details. They also had difficulty understanding where I was from UK/Great Britain or England. Finally though we got it sorted and here is my Japanese marriage certificate.
I need to submit that to the British embassy now to register my marriage in England.
Yuuri has changed her name to Mitchell now too.
Although Mitchell is pronounced Me-che-ru in Japan which I hate but I guess it's better than nothing. Now we just wait for the ceremony in May.
Alright I don't know if I can marry yet I get my results tomorrow, but I went to a wedding yesterday.
Actually this wedding is at the same place as I will marry Yuuri so in essence this was a kind of reconnaissance wedding.
Check out the authenticity, alright so it's a bit 'Disney Land' but it's all about the show. I don't really care if the church was built in the 1600s by the pope or erected in the 1980s by Imagine(c). And I'll tell you what, the heating system works well in this modern building and you wont find that in your damp Gothic churches.
This is the old 'chucking the petals' routine, I like that picture cause the petals are caught mid-flight and check out the guy with the pink phone, no it's not his girlfriends its his and that's Japan.
A nice shot of the couple though, Kenji and Megumi Kato.
They met at my welcome party when I came to Aeon, I remember sitting next to them and talking with Kenji. He was to become one of my students and Megumi is the Kids head teacher. They are two very lovely people and two of my favourite people at Aeon.
After some photos we all bustle up to the party room where we enjoy lots of food and booze. This is where we also pay the lean 17,000Y/ $191 / £115 but this is the way of all weddings in Japan, indeed I hear in Tokyo the prices are much much higher.
Here is a nice group of the current Aeon workforce with the lady on the left in the white jacket working at the Morioka branch and the rest of us stuck in the Arctic tundra Aomori.
Japanese weddings always seem to include at least one costume change which gives the whole thing a little personality. I like it and I really like this outfit!
Ah and who could forget, the flaming sword, a key part to any wedding where ever you are in the world. On this day of love Kenji unites the Japanese old love of samurai warriors with the modern Japanese love of smoking in public. Very beautifully done though.
No pictures of Yuuri I hear you cry? Well no she was working but she came to the second party in her brand new dress I bought for her. I chose a very western style which I think she needed time to get used to but here she is in her fluffy bear slippers...
Last weekend (2nd November 09) I went to Tokyo with Yuuri to visit Disney Sea. Disney in Japan is a lot like Disney in America. A lot of hype and a lot of waiting around.
I'm a bit cynical when it comes to Disney. I hate how all the advertisements show Disney as this magical place and usually depict a young family freely enjoying the park, and it looks like a dream. However they don't show the hoards of people clambering to get a look at plastic mountain or the never ending wait for a 2 minute ride.
Having said that Yuuri really enjoys Disney and it is a good day out. The rides are pretty good and I really liked the Tower of Terror. Yuuri always gets very scared when she goes on rides, her palms become sweaty and she becomes noticeably more nervous. She loves it though!
We were in the park for about 10hrs and we were so tired afterwards. Our hotel was nice but our key didn't work so our room got upgraded.
The main reason we came to Tokyo was to visit the British embassy to get our marriage ready for approval. When Americans do this I heard they must take blood tests but at the British embassy I only had to fill in a form and pay some money, Yuuri didn't have to be there. The form cost £63/Y9,700 and I have to wait until the 24th November 09 for approval.
My information goes on a public notice board for anyone to object against. We had a look at some of the current ones and we were among the youngest but there were some couples younger than us. Most seemed to be British men to Japanese women though.
A lot of people tell me western men often prefer Japanese women and that Japanese women like western men. I'm not so sure that's completely true as a man and knowing other men I'd say men like Italian women, French women, South American women, Asian women in fact I'd say men just like women and if something sounds unattainable and exotic then all the more appeal.
As for Japanese women preferring western men well I think that's just from exposure. If your only exposure to westerners is Hugh Grant, George Clooney, Brad Pitt etc then you're going to find them more appealing. I don't know any Japanese girls who fancy Gordon Brown.
Halong is about 3hrs drive from Hanoi but when we got there we were greeted with lovely looking vessel. We had a couple of New Zealanders on board and the rest were Europeans. I haven't spoken to many Europeans in a long time so that was refreshing in itself. There were only 5 of us too so it was peaceful.
We got our food served, which consisted on mainly seafood but I was used to this. We had plenty to eat and it was all very nicely presented. The boat had lots of areas to take pictures and sit and relax as well as stay out the sun which was very hot out there.
Here we could climb the cliff and go inside the cave.
After we got back to the boat we set sail through the bay once again.
It was so quiet and peaceful you could just relax and enjoy it. We arrived at a floating village and got into some Kayaks and headed to a beach where we could swim and enjoy the warm water. I got talking to some Koreans and played games in the water with them.
We set sail in the kayaks and rowed into the middle of one of the mountains. The water was still and the mountains were huge and quiet. You could hear the water lapping and a few birds chattering.
We got back to the boat just as the sun was setting for some food and drinks.
The next day we sailed back to the port for our three hour drive back to Hanoi.
I landed in Haneda from Aomori, from Haneda I got the bus to Narita airport, from there I flew to Seoul in Korea and finally got to my destination Hanoi in Vietnam.
It wasn't over though.
I was warned about the taxi drivers in Vietnam so I was being careful. I found a taxi and all was going well until his engine broke on the motorway and we had to get out and wait for another taxi. After about 10mins a second driver came and I continued my journey.
In Vietnam they use the dong currency but it is only available inside Vietnam, otherwise they accept American dollars as a universal currency. I only had dollars since I had just got off the plane but this didn't make the taxi driver happy and he insisted I go to his friends place to convert my money. I placed down a ten dollar note and said that's all I'll pay but he wanted more. I was tired and getting agitated so I walked out and sat back in the car an waited for the driver.
After a few minutes he came back and eventually was persuaded to take my ten dollars. We had driven a long way by now and he was still going on about wanting more money so I just got out and walked furiously to the hotel.
The hotel was very nice for just $10 a night. It was hoovered, it had an air-conditioner and hot water. It was a little bit noisy due to the excessive traffic in hanoi but I usually sleep like a log anyway so it was no bother to me.
On my first day it rained in torrents but it was surprisingly warm outside so I decided to venture out and see the lake. Soon as I stepped out I was in a world of non stop traffic, smog and people pestering me to buy various t-shirts and fruits.
Crossing the road in Hanoi is a skill in its own. The roads are a sea of scooters and motorbikes which look more my schools of fish, parting when you step into the middle. Hanoi has no road rules and the best way to cross is to just keep an eye on the traffic and walk straight to your destination.
I found a video on You Tube that demonstrates this.
I was in the Old Quarter and it's a warren of shops and cafes, some very nice western style ones and some very basic ones where you would sit on a Fisher Price plastic chair. Naturally the prices would go up and a beer could cost anywhere from 50p to £2.
Many places had wifi so I could keep in touch with my friends and family back in England and Japan. My iphone was very handy in Hanoi I used it for currency conversion, compass and maps. Without it I couldn't have navigated myself through the streets of Hanoi.
The people in Vietnam weren't as polite and humble as the Japanese. They seemed very aggressive and direct in their speech. Often they would shout single words at you and repeat it over and over like "pay pay" or "motorcycle" to offer you a lift. Their face seemed stony and unemotional, on the plane they seemed to show a disregard to other passengers and any rules on the flight.
I do feel they are very kind people and the hotel staff helped me a lot and even people in the street helped me. They are very poor, the poorest people I have seen and maybe its hard to see rules when life is so hard.
The next day I went to Halong bay but I'll go onto that in my next post. When I returned from Halong I went for some drinks in Hanoi.
Due to the communist ideology in Vietnam there is a drinking curfew and at 12am either you stay in the bar or you go home cause everywhere closes. I left at midnight and caught a taxi to get home. During my taxi ride he tells me he can get me 'girls', which is very common for taxi drivers to say, I told him I wasn't interested and I thought that was the end of it.
As we approached my street he stopped and I paid him 500,000 dong expecting 400,000 dong change. He doesn't see it this way and decides to take me to see these 'girls' after I persuade him I'm not interested again he pops open the glove compartment and shows me his marijuana and opium asking me to buy them.
We keep driving round arguing, he moves onto selling me opium when all I want is my 400,000dong which is only about £15 $20 Y2000 but it was mine. We stopped at some traffic lights on the main road and saw my chance and held the handbrake and pulled the keys from the ignition.
It took another 15mins before he would swap his keys for the cash but he did. I got out and threw his keys through the window. I was glad to get back to my hotel even though I had a long walk.
In the morning I walked round the parks and the museums rather than the city. You could see memorabilia from the war. They also have lots of political monuments including Lenin's statue and the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh.
22nd March 2009 was Mothers day in England so Yuuri and I had decided to take my parents out. We sent them a brochure of Aomori previously and my parents were interested in visiting the southern city of Aomori prefecture called Hachinohe.
(Japan is split into "prefectures" which are similar to American states in the sense they are huge areas of Japan that were once parts of different kingdoms. I live in Aomori prefecture and the capital city is Aomori city which is in in the northern bay)
We took the express train down to Hachinohe city and went around the fish market.
And my mum bought some fresh fish which we intended to cook and eat in the fish market but it was too crowded. So we decided to try one of the restaraunts where dad and I had ramen.
By now it was time to head back so we got the train and headed to Misawa, a town between Aomori and Hachinohe. I wanted to take my parents to the hotspring (onsen) there and Yuuri had arranged for us to see a show based on the Nebuta/Neputa festivals.
Hotsprings in Japan are usually natural and many people go to relax. I went in with my dad and Yuuri took my mum in. It's always intimidating because you have to get naked and take only a towel in. Once in the hotspring room you can take a shower and clean yourself before getting into the bath. We tried the cooler bath which was about 39C and then went in the sauna.
This hotspring also had an outdoor section which was really nice in contrast to the cold weather. It even started to rain a little bit and although you were hot all over you could feel little bits of cold droplets hitting you. It was nice and relaxing.
We went on to have a meal and watch a show about the festivals in Aomori including Nebuta and Neputa. The served Japanese steamed food.
That was before he pulled a tendon in his knee from jumping. For the remainder of the day he could hardly walk. We still watched the rest of the show and mum, Yuuri and I took part. This was mine and Yuuri's present to my parents for mothers day.
After that we caught a shamisen show downstairs. The shaimsen is a three stringed guitar that Japanese people play.
One thing everyone always says when you go to Japan is try Karaoke. So they were really keen to see it but not so forthcoming to try it. So one night I asked them to come drinking with me and I took them to a nice bar.
The original plan was to go out with the Aeon staff but they had to cancel. Yoko had a cold, Megumi had hay fever and Mifuyu was still ill from being pregnant. So we went out with Yuuri and had a really nice time drinking. After I recommended karaoke and we got a taxi to place that had private karaoke booths (which are very comon in Japan).
You get a private room, some mics, a TV and a phone. You sing songs and you can order drinks over the phone. Usually you pay for the room for an hour or however long you want and drinks and food are included.
We settled down in a booth, dimmed the lights and got some drinks. I quickly set up a song and soon enough we were away. This has to be a rare sight for me so I made sure I got it on camera albeit I wish I hadn't got so much audio footage!!!
On April 4th 2009 it had been a year since I first landed on Japanese soil. A few weeks earlier my parents came to visit me in Aomori and I got to take them out for Mothers day and celebrate my 23rd birthday.
Due to my working schedule I could only get 3 days off, the rest of the time I spent with them was late at night. My fiancée Yuuri was able to take some time off to spend with them and was first to meet them at the train station and make sure they got to the hotel. I was able to take a break soon after their arrival and we all went to Coco Ichiban for some curry. It was good to see them, they both looked very well and pleased to be in Japan. This was their first meeting of Yuuri too and I was glad to see them getting on so well.
I was worried what they may have thought of Yuuri. I know she is a wonderful person but my parents might judge her worthiness to be with their son (as all parents natrually do). I also thought Yuuri might judge my parents attitude and make comparisons with mine. They are from very different backgrounds with very little experience of each others cultures. Even now, for me, it's very hard to deal with some Japanese customs and understand why they exist.
I knew my dad would try and be very charismatic and crack a few jokes and my mum would be very friendly and open but both wouldn't know how far they could go or how it would be perseved. Luckily Yuuri is a very friendly person who loves people and has an ability to warm the mood.
After meeting my parents I showed them round my apartment and we had a few drinks together. I took them to Aspam and we could see from the top all over Aomori. They liked the town, it was much busier than they expected with a sea of cafes and restaurants as well as multiple department stores.
Later that night came the big even of my family meeting Yuuri's family. Yuuri's family don't speak much English and they are typical Japanese. I say typical Japanese because I think Japanese people who study English have an interest in western life style and have an idea of what to expect but most other Japanese people have no need to do this.
We sat at a long table, I was centre and to my left was my dad and to my right was my mum. Opposite me was Yuuri in her kimono, opposite my dad was Yuuri's dad and opposite my mum was Yuuri's mum, at the end sat Yuuri's younger sister. We ate Japanese food in a very traditonal Japanese restaurant in a private room. My dad was very nervous, carefully watching other people before he attempted to try something. My mum was a bit worried about the food, especially regarding the raw fish. Both of them talked through me when they wanted to ask something to Yuuri's family but they didnt know how to ask.
(This is what I call translating English to English which I seem to do a lot in Japan but more on that another time)
We talked a little, showed some photos and had a fun and enjoyable evening. We were all very grateful to Yuuri's parents for meeting with us and we exchanged some gifts. Then we took the photos.
This is my favourite because you can see Yuuri's father put his arm round me which is not usual in a culture that don't touch. Yuuri's father is said to be very strict but to me he has been very welcoming and cooperative, for what must be very difficult for him.
We all have that special someone who we one day meet. Sometimes it’s your best friend, other times it’s the person you least expect and usually we can’t predict these things, as much as we’d like to.
I have never considered going out with an Asian girl, mainly because I didn’t know many Asian people in England. Even after deciding to come to Japan I didn’t really consider dating an option. It seems difficult to date abroad, people don’t understand you and you never know how long you will really be there.
When I met Yuuri I instantly thought she was a lovely person, she seemed to go out of her way to help me best she could as a tourist information person. We had a huge festival here in Aomori called Nebuta and so I wanted Yuuri to join me in celebrating it Nebuta website
After that I found her interesting, kind and lots of fun so I began to take her out more often. We went to restaurants and bars and I asked her out.
Next month I got very sick with chicken pox and had to stay in hospital. We hadn’t been going out for very long and even after I came out of hospital I didn’t look great. My chicken pox was very bad and I couldn’t shave or get a hair cut or even have a wash. I looked like Cast Away’s younger uglier brother. Despite this she stuck by me and took good care of me. It’s tough being ill in a foreign country, not just because your ill but because of the depression. It’s hard having no one there for you and not really knowing what’s going on.
Well I’ve almost made a full recovery now and Yuuri is still by me and we are still having lots of fun together. I’ve met her parents and they seem like wonderful people and she will meet my parents on the 19th march 09. So yesterday on White day (14th March 09) I decided to propose to her. I bought my ring from England so I knew what I was getting and booked a table at a restaurant.
We had a lovely French meal with Champagne and at the end I got up and opened the case containing the ring but the ring jumped out and landed on the floor by Yuuri’s chair. I quickly bent down on one knee to pick up the ring and asked her to marry me.
Ok so when you get to Japan you probably want to keep watching those DVD’s you’ve collected in your home country. If you’re British like me you’re in for some luck, Britain is on the same region as Japan, region 2. America unfortunately is on region 1.
But the bad news for the British is Japan use NTSC not PAL so it doesn’t matter if your DVD is region 2 or not unless you have the right connections etc.
Luckily I have a simple solution for everybody.
First I recommend you buy a region free DVD player in Japan (or you can bring your own from home). The easiest way to do this for me was to try Amazon jp. You will have to use it in Japanese, I managed to figure it out with the use of google translate and common sense and within three days I had the DVD player for 5,000Y
I also recommend a DVD player with Divx. If you go to amazon jp and search the word 'Divx’ you will be able to see DVD players with this feature (Divx is a brand name so no translation is needed)
Now you will able to play all your DVD’s from home and ones from your native country too.
If the player has Divx you can also download films from the internet and play them on your DVD player. Usually this is done by putting the Divx file (usually an .avi) onto a USB stick or a SD card (as used by many cameras). I suggest you pick up the biggest SD card you can afford in your home country but they are wide spread here in Japan and you wont have any trouble getting one.
Now you have your region free Divx player and an SD card now just connect the SD card to your computer (card readers are also widespread if you need one) and copy your film to it. Plug your SD card into your DVD player and watch.
Divx is a very popular file format for films that gives very good quality for a very small file. Films could be over 1GB so make sure you get a big card but most are about 700mb. I don’t know where you should get these films from, people tell me pirate bay has a full range of latest films, TV shows and other media but I’m not sure about how legal it is, so that one is up to you.
I hope this helps anyone planning to come over to Japan in the future. If anyone has any other questions please comment and I’ll answer as fully as I can.
Also if anyone wants to know about setting anything else up in Japan please let me know.
Now I have been working for Aeon for about 9 months I feel I have got to know my colleagues, not just professionally but also socially. I’d like to share with you the people who have helped me getting set up in Japan.
Mifuyu – Head Teacher
When I was ill, this is the person who helped me in the hospital by sorting everything out. She has helped me so much and supported me, I almost think of her as my Japanese mother! I don’t just go to her for support at work but she also helps me with personal problems. I have gone to her for advice about Yuuri and even how to look stylish.At work she has also helped me and supported me. She has helped me where I have struggled with lessons and coached me through foreign procedures.
Mifuyu invited me to her wedding not long after I started AEON which you can see on my other blog or by clicking here
Megumi (pictured here with Kenji) – Kids head teacher
Megumi has the best English out of all the Japanese staff at Aeon. This makes her a joy to work with! With Megumi you know exactly what is happening. She has helped me a lot where I need some complex translations and recently made the reservation for me for my Christmas meal.
I can always rely on Megumi to give me advice about my kids lessons. She’s very helpful to me and also an easy person to talk to about personal issues.
Yoko is a wonderfully kind person. Her English is not as good as Mifuyu’s but we have worked together on projects for Aeon and had no problems. If I ever need information or advice she is always quick to respond. Although I haven’t seen her as much as the others outside of work, she is always very friendly.
I used to spend a lot of time with Alexis but since I went into hospital we kind of drifted apart. I had to stop going out drinking and she liked to go drinking (i liked to go drinking too but Dr’s orders told me not to). Either way she is still a great colleague at work. I feel we are connected by being in the same situation and I’m always willing to help her along if she needs it as she has done for me many times.
Seiko is only round the office for a little bit but she is a great person to know. She has helped me travel around and has taken me to the museum before. She loves speaking English and she is never in a bad mood.
I love talking with Seiko, it’s always interesting and usually very funny too!
I have to say there isn’t a bad member of Aeon here at all. Maybe because our branch is small, things are a little more personal. I think in bigger cities I might be seen as an expendable foreigner but I don’t know, all I know is this is a great branch of Aeon and I hope to continue working here.
Ok we all have to do it one day. When we find that girl we really like and we’re young and in love we have to face the meeting with the parents. Nowadays this is usually not a huge deal, parents are mostly welcoming and laid back in England unless you’re some kind of drug trafficker or convicted killer. Maybe they will shake your hand and you will have to watch Tv for an hour with them. But in Japan its a little more formal.
Well, time had come for me to meet Yuuri’s father so I wanted to make a good impression. I dressed smart casual and got my haircut that same day. I had already got him a present (a bottle of single malt whiskey) so I brought that with me and Yuuri and I got a taxi. We drove along the main road for about 20mins before heading into the snowbound side streets for another 10mins we curved around strange little cubed houses.
The shoe thing has always got me and I messed up again this time. There is a tiled surface that shoes stay on and a wooden floor which is for slippers. I took my shoes off on the tiled surface but to take off my other shoe I put my sock onto the tiles giving me a wet sock. Everyone laughed but it wasn’t a good start for me.
Now I’m not the most graceful of people but usually I can handle myself without being too clumsy but the next thing I did was nearly knock over a mirror. This gives you an idea how tense I was. Quickly I told the family about how breaking mirrors in England gives seven years bad luck. I saved the situation and we began our meal. I was offered beer and gave her father the whiskey.
I made small talk about the whiskey and we talked together about it. He told me he liked motor bikes and cars, which I too am fairly fond of so we talked a little about this. Finally at the end of the meal he gave me some whiskey and by coincidence he had bought the same whiskey as I had for him. He put them side by side and sure enough they were identical. So I drank whiskey with him.
None of Yuuri’s family speak English and I speak very little Japanese but I wanted to speak to her father. He excused his family and I spoke to him with Yuuri’s help. I told him ‘Yuuri san to kekkon o zenteini tsukaiatteimasu’ which translates roughly as ‘I want to date Yuuri with the intention of marrying’. He paused for a long time. Sipped his whiskey and held his glass looking at the floor. I watched him and waited eagerly. He turned and asked about my future. I told him Yuuri wanted to be a flight attendant and I would support her in that and would move with her to Tokyo so she could work for one of the big companies. He asked about my education and what I would do in the future. I assured him I would stay committed as an English teacher. Again he sipped his whiskey, I did also.
A few minutes later he called his family back and stated that he wanted Yuuri to stay in Japan but he would support our marriage. He welcomed me into his family and we all drank together.
I am happy to stay in Japan, I would like to move out of Aomori someday. It’s a nice place to visit, the people are wonderful here and life is easy going but it’s cold and not much happens here. The pace is a bit slow especially in winter. I am very comfortable here in Japan though, I have no worries really. I have music to listen to, films to watch a guitar to play. I’ve got friends, people to support and someone to love. My family are only a phone call away.
Sine it’s Christmas here are some pictures of our Christmas party at Aeon and I took Yuuri to a French restaurant for Christmas so enjoy some pictures from then. (at the top)
I am a British guy but I moved to Aomori in 2008 to work with Aeon.
I finished Aeon in 2010 and moved to Taiwan.
From 2011 I am working James English School in Tendo, Yamagata
