Illness

As isn't terribly surprising this time of year, we've been passing a pretty robust cold around the IES students at Meikai. My roommate Hannah has been stricken pretty hard and I'm afraid that I'm starting to come down with it myself. That said, there are actually quite a few differences between American and Japanese demeanor towards sickness.

When I watched the news in the States, I always thought that China was the only country obsessed with wearing masks- but Japan as well finds it almost a act of extreme rudeness for one not to wear a mask when they are sick. The masks are sold everywhere- in all different shapes, colors, and designs, although the traditional plain, white masks are the most popular. One popular line of masks runs ads on the train, which have always rather put me off. "Japan's family mask," they say and I just stare at them every time in amazement- the family all sort of looks like ninjas. Or, perhaps, scream "Watch out for the Zombie Infestation."

That said, the culture is starting to soak into me. I heard a man behind me cough on the train today and was appalled when I turned around and saw he didn't have a mask. Before my mind could even stop myself, I thought "He doesn't know because he is a foreigner." Oh dear; hahaha.

Needless to say, the thought of wearing a mask (and as my friend Nancy brought up, potentially sneezing in one) makes me even more proactive in fighting this cold.

Endo-Ryo and Foreigners

Without a doubt, one of the largest differences between this trip to Japan and my last one is my living arrangements. The way one behaves with a host family and in an apartment is entirely different. On top of this, Endo-Ryo is a special living situation- a 3 bedroom, full bath, kitchen, living room, and dining room in a "mansion," as opposed to others who either have homestay or live in dorms-- where they are fed (unless it's the women's dorm), have a dorm manager, have curfews... But, I suppose, what makes Endo-Ryo the most unique is undoubtedly our landlady, Endo-san.

Endo-san is the antithesis of what you would expect in an old Japanese woman. Quiet? Oh no, think again. Meek? Anything but. Kind? Uhm... well... I'm pretty sure I could tall stories about Endo-san all day and I would not exhaust myself. She mocks us, tries to con us out of money, treats us like children, pries into our business, comes in unannounced, and is simply not the happiest woman to be around. Endo-san has the authority to come visit all the time because she is supposed to clean our common areas-- not to say she has done anything but take out the trash. On top of this, she has an annoying amount of storage left in the house- closets, bookcases, shelves full of her things. Still, it would appear that past residents have had far more problems with her than we have. Overall, we are pretty cleanly, heading warnings from previous residents.

Still, the mansion is great- from the balcony, we can see the ferris wheel at Odaiba, the fireworks at Disneyland, a river, wide fields... Not to mention, it is in a convenient location. On top of this, I love my roommates, SeungYe and Hannah. While all of us are, in our own ways, antisocial at home, it is working out splendidly. It is also amazing how many foreigners are in the area as well- Hannah and I have seen to creating our extensive (politically incorrect) catalog:

African Steve- Tall, lanky guy that hit on me a few weeks ago and started the naming of foreigners.

Blonde Sally- A woman we saw waiting to cross the road on a bike

Arabian Al- A nice looking Middle Eastern Guy that often is at the station at the same time as us

Nigerian Pete- Possibly the same person as African Steve; eyed Hannah up.

Lanky David- A tall guy that we saw at the station in Gyotoku

Model Craig- One of those guys you expect to see in an Abercrombie ad

Bernie Mac- He looks like Bernie Mac.

American Mary/Sue- Hannah and I

Strong-looking Anthony- A guy with poofy blonde hair on the train that was beefy

Yep- True Story. As fun as it is to name all the foreigners, I think it truly speaks volumes that we CAN name the foreigners-- people that would simply blend in to any crowd in America become something novel, something mezurashii (Yep, 'novel' in Japanese). This has no exception when it comes to either Hannah or I either- whether it's simple, interested stares on the trains, heckling by other English speakers on the street, or people going out of our way to avoid us, there is never any lack for feeling different. No amount of hair dye, brown contacts, style change, and tanning will help it either- from our noses to our face shapes, we are incapable of blending in. One of my most interesting collisions with being foreign happened the other day, on my way home from working with my host mother at her bread shop. A seemingly normal man in his 50's passed us on the street, and, as is customary when you meet people's eyes, he greeted us. However, apparently one greeting did not suffice- suddenly this man was in my face, standing inches from me, fear gluing me in place. "Hello! Good morning! America! Hello!" Over and over again, the chain of broken English greetings inched him closer and closer to me, to the point where he was almost touching me- my host mother pulled me away and we walked home, but the experience shook me. "It's because you're a foreigner- you're cute and you're a novelty." My host mother told me, "That brings out strange men like him." Normally, I don't mind sticking out of the crowd, but here, some days I feel like I would do anything to blend in.

Most likely, from here on out, blog posts will be themed instead of day by day descriptions. I get too far behind. @.@