Dearest readers, 

こんにちわ! Hello from Japan!

What an absolutely exhilarating and overwhelming week since arriving in Japan! After two full days in Tokyo, I am all settled into my new home and school, though the students are on break and I’ve only had one day of work so I don’t have much to say on that right now. 

There’s quite a bit to share, so I think it’s best to break it down into the realizations and confirmations I’ve had about life in Japan since coming here. 

• It’s exactly like the movies

I’m stealing this comment from someone else, but it’s true for the most part, at least in the sense of architecture. Tokyo was full of skyscrapers decorated with Japanese characters and here in Kanazawa, homes are built with the traditional Japanese rooftops. 

• It is HOT

In Japanese, the word for humid is 蒸し暑い (mushiatsui), meaning literally steamy hot, and boy does that not even begin to cover it. I have never sweat so much in my life. Now, the weather is objectively not that different from Charleston, but imagine that sort of weather, and you’re also walking everywhere, and you only have one AC unit in your apartment, and they don’t use AC in the school hallways. Brutal.

• I don’t know nearly as much Japanese as I thought I did

Speaking of brutal…my total lack of Japanese knowledge is hitting hard, but I’m slowly learning more and more each day. Of course, this does not only include conversation, but also the settings on all of my appliances. This means keeping my Google translate camera on at all times until I learn how to use everything. But I’m determined to learn and understand what’s going on around me, so I’m working hard!

• You can forget your bento, but not your umbrella

This phrase was told to me by my predecessor and I can’t tell you about life in Kanazawa without it. My first day here, it poured for 24 hours straight. I’m not kidding. I got an emergency alert for landslides at 5 am and another emergency alert for the rivers flooding while I was at school. Plus, the regular flood, heavy rainfall, and thunderstorm weather advisories. Unfortunately, my suitcase that I sent ahead also arrived to school that day, but a very kind Tada-sensei, another English teacher, offered to drive me home so I didn’t have to roll it home half a mile in the rain. Definitely a very wet welcome, but we’ve had nothing but sun since Thursday night.

• No one will speak in English to you

This somewhat goes along with my not knowing Japanese, but everyone I’ve met here is very hesitant to use English. Of course, I don’t expect them to, but it can still be overwhelming when you can’t understand rapid Japanese, and they respond by just continuing to use rapid Japanese until you figure it out.

• Everyone keeps their masks on at all times unless they’re eating, even outside

Masks were already heavily integrated into Japanese society before COVID, so now it’s become commonplace to always use a mask. This is why I’m wearing a mask in most pictures.

• Japanese children are adorable, well-behaved, and independent

This is definitely a testament to the Japanese culture of honor and respect and it’s been incredibly refreshing to be surrounded by students who are polite and respectful. All of the students I’ve met have been great so far, always greeting me and bowing in the hallways, and I had a fun impromptu tour from three boys in the English Speaking Society club that I help with. I also got to help the club edit their script for a play they’re putting on for the school festival later this month. It was a great way to meet some students and start out in the teacher role. I am Lauren-sensei now!

• One bow will not suffice

I’m sure you’ve heard of the bowing culture in Japan, but taking part in the whole dance has been very entertaining so far. Every first interaction goes a little something like this:

Them: It’s nice to meet you (bow)

Me: It’s nice to meet you (bow)

Them: You as well (bow)

Me: Here’s an お土産 (lit. Souvenir, common when moving somewhere new) (bow)

Them: Oh thank you (bow)

*Maybe some more conversation*

Them: Well it was nice to meet you (bow)

Me: You too (bow)

Them: (bow)

• The country is incredibly clean, but there are hardly any public trash cans

Another testament to Japanese culture: personal responsibility. It’s common to carry a small trash bag with you all day to slowly collect your trash and throw it away when you get home. Because of this, even in the most crowded areas of Tokyo, I never saw any litter, but never saw any trash cans either.

• Nature is held in extremely high regard

Nature is a huge part of the Japanese way of life. Many of the kanji characters used in daily life or for family names have to do with nature (for example, the kanji character for Wednesday is also the character for water). Kanazawa is home to the Kenrokuen gardens, one of the top three gardens in Japan, and I had the opportunity to explore some today. It was absolutely beautiful! Nature is also very heavily integrated into city centers, meaning lots of trees and shade in the concrete jungle.

Here are the rest of the pictures I couldn’t fit into the text 🙂

All for now! さよなら！