Half-yearly report

Can you believe it? We’ve been here a whole six months already.
I’m sure you’re all itching to know: how has Japan shaped up? Has it met our expectations? Are we having fun yet? So I hereby present the half-yearly report, conveniently divided into individual members of the Sushi on a Stick household.

Felix

Felix has settled into school life without problem. He has picked up the language well, even slipping into the local dialect, and is not having any trouble keeping up with the work. Indeed, he loves studying kanji characters. A couple of months ago he brought home a new kanji dictionary and he still reads through it to discover new and interesting characters and then point out their distinguishing features. A true language nerd in the making. Meanwhile he’s made quite a few friends and often goes around to play at their homes after school. On Wednesdays after school he heads off to the local temple with a few friends to study Japanese history and culture with a couple of volunteer fathers. I can’t imagine why he chose to do this, although the free Coke and sweets may have something to do with it; also the fact that he scores a lift home afterward. He likes playing at the local soccer club and has made a few friends there too. As of last week Felix has also joined the junior swing orchestra and become more inspired to practice his trumpet. All in all, I think he’s quite happy being here in Japan.

Ruby

At this stage of proceedings, it seems that Ruby has drawn the short straw on this whole Japan thing, thanks to her draconian school. I’ve already ranted about at great length about the school (such as here, here and here) so I won’t go on about it any further, other than to say that junior high has proven a major culture shock. On the study side, however, Ruby has applied herself admirably to the intensive homework regime and managed to get some impressive scores on her mid-term and end-of-term exams. Outside of school, she’s kept busy with her two soccer clubs and the junior swing orchestra, not to mention the occasional shopping trip for yet another pair of shoes.

Me

Well I love it here and feel quite at home. For a start, things are so cheap. Prices are the same now as when we were here in the early 90s thanks to a couple of decades of depression/recession, so food is cheap, clothes are cheap (and good quality too), electrical goods are cheap, eating out is cheap. Here we can eat out once or twice a week (usually we go for the cheap-and-cheerful okonomiyaki). Also Japan has great cakes and sweets, which make up for the lousy coffee.

I’ve had plenty of work to keep me busy. One regret is that I haven’t had any interpreting jobs (meaning business meetings and factory inspections as opposed to translation at the computer). I like the idea of getting out of the house every now and then. Of course, the reason I haven’t had any interpreting jobs is because I’ve been too lazy to go out and look for them. I did have some new business cards printed and I bought a new suit back in March, but that’s as far as I got. I think I lack inspiration, I’m getting too old for this. Back in the Tokyo days I was keen as mustard and studied like crazy, but these days I’m content to sit back and let the kids do it for me. I can’t even write kanji characters properly any more. The kids laugh at me, but then, that’s their job I guess.

Eleni

Eleni possibly has the most varied and interesting experience of all of us. On Mondays she takes an English class for a group of Mature Ladies. On Tuesday she takes an English class for a couple of very immature ladies (kindergarten girls). On Wednesdays she has Japanese drumming classes (see video of her latest performance here). Every second Thursday she does flower arranging, and every second Saturday she takes more English classes for kids down at the local community center. In between all of this she does a bit of proof-reading work (set up by me through one of my Tokyo companies; a true husband-and-wife team effort) and catches up with all the friends she’s made through her various classes and group activities, from whom she gets lots of handy recipe and gardening tips. (Which reminds me; I must post a photo of her fabulous veggie garden.)

Family

I think we feel part of the place now. We’re familiar enough with the town of Mihara to know where to get the things we need, but still unfamiliar enough that there is plenty to discover. Sometimes we hear second-hand about “those foreigners down at Sunami” so word has obviously gotten around. And we’ve managed to ingratiate ourselves with a few locals to the point where we’ve already had a few gifts of bags of fresh vegetables from people who either have a tiny plot somewhere or know someone who has a farm nearby. At the moment we’re inundated with potatoes for some reason.
We’re still managing to spend time together as a family, the demands of junior high notwithstanding. These days, card games in the evening have been replaced with watching the latest Glee episodes downloaded from iTunes — tragic I know, but at least we’re all in the same place at the same time with a happy teenager. In terms of outings, Ruby’s soccer matches in the countryside always provide a good excuse for a Family Day Trip, and now there is the beach just down the road.

During the summer holidays we plan to spend a week visiting friends up in Nagoya and also do a few overnight trips around the islands. At Christmas time we’ll head up north to Akita to visit our longstanding friend Eku and indulge in a bit of cheap Japanese skiing. And we might just sneak a few days off school in October or November when the weather cools down a bit and whip the kids off somewhere. So although both kids are certainly finding school more of a challenge than what they were used to in Australia, we’re trying to pack in lots of other stuff to maintain a bit of balance.

Overall mark: B+
Comment: Excellent work Japan, but your education system lets you down.