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So, some random things.
The first is that I blew a fuse on Friday. I guess you can't use the microwave, toaster, and blow dryer at the same time. Fortunately I was on my way to school in ten minutes, so I fiddled with the switches to no avail and decided just to go and ask someone when I got to school. It's not like I'd yet done any grocery shopping 3 days into my return to Japan, so what did I have to worry about spoiling in the fridge? Anyway, not really having ever been responsible for fuses before, I knew there was switch-throwing involved but I guess I kind of forgot that blowing a fuse meant the power switched itself off and you have to switch it back on (not on and off again, as I did). It was fortunate, nonetheless, because when I brought it up the Vice Principal insisted another teacher take me home to fix it for me, which meant I got to go home an hour early.
Which gets me thinking that I'm glad I have the privilege of my womanhood in this situation. Everyone needs help in a foreign country, but I feel like the teachers wouldn't be as apt to help a man, especially since a lot of time there's some "friendly" masculine competition involved. A woman living alone in Japan is a fairly rare thing as well, since a lot of women live with their families until they get married. Well, I guess I'm just a damsel in distress (lol, I know, right?).
Moving on to other randomness, the second story is about bathroom sex (An exciting week, indeed!) I was at karaoke with my friends when I ducked out to use the bathroom. On my way in, a girl walked out, but that's usual. When I got into the bathroom, there was a boy coming out of a stall and washing his hands. "Okay...he must be drunk," but not being the squeamish type I just shrugged and forgot until, until I entered the stall and found a condom of the floor. So, of course, I recounted my story to the Americans in our party (I didn't bring it up to the Japanese people because I feared they already thought us tactless for something one of us had said earlier), and when Keito's boyfriend went to the bathroom later, he said he heard two girls and a guy giggling in the stall next to him. I don't know if this was one big "let's LOL the foreigners" gimmick, if this is common in Japan, or if there just happened to be a large group of crazy kids hangin' out at karaoke that night. I'll gather cultural context over the next few months and let you know...lol
The third is a random fun fact: Japanese snowmen are only two snowballs high, instead of three like ours. The Japanese people I've mentioned this to are very amused when I tell them it's because Americans are taller lol Furthermore, their igloo-like structure is a big pile of snow with a hole dug in it, which makes more sense than building walls, don't you think? Still, the snowmen and ice houses I've seen pale in comparison to what I saw one of my teachers and his son building the other day. I was running to the train station when I saw them doing it, but I didn't actually see what it was. When I got back I stopped to take a closer look and saw it was shaped like a seal on its back.
It was true-to-scale and very well made...right down to the 8-10 icicles impaling it through the chest, the gaping mouth, and the crazy look in its eyes.
The first is that I blew a fuse on Friday. I guess you can't use the microwave, toaster, and blow dryer at the same time. Fortunately I was on my way to school in ten minutes, so I fiddled with the switches to no avail and decided just to go and ask someone when I got to school. It's not like I'd yet done any grocery shopping 3 days into my return to Japan, so what did I have to worry about spoiling in the fridge? Anyway, not really having ever been responsible for fuses before, I knew there was switch-throwing involved but I guess I kind of forgot that blowing a fuse meant the power switched itself off and you have to switch it back on (not on and off again, as I did). It was fortunate, nonetheless, because when I brought it up the Vice Principal insisted another teacher take me home to fix it for me, which meant I got to go home an hour early.
Which gets me thinking that I'm glad I have the privilege of my womanhood in this situation. Everyone needs help in a foreign country, but I feel like the teachers wouldn't be as apt to help a man, especially since a lot of time there's some "friendly" masculine competition involved. A woman living alone in Japan is a fairly rare thing as well, since a lot of women live with their families until they get married. Well, I guess I'm just a damsel in distress (lol, I know, right?).
Moving on to other randomness, the second story is about bathroom sex (An exciting week, indeed!) I was at karaoke with my friends when I ducked out to use the bathroom. On my way in, a girl walked out, but that's usual. When I got into the bathroom, there was a boy coming out of a stall and washing his hands. "Okay...he must be drunk," but not being the squeamish type I just shrugged and forgot until, until I entered the stall and found a condom of the floor. So, of course, I recounted my story to the Americans in our party (I didn't bring it up to the Japanese people because I feared they already thought us tactless for something one of us had said earlier), and when Keito's boyfriend went to the bathroom later, he said he heard two girls and a guy giggling in the stall next to him. I don't know if this was one big "let's LOL the foreigners" gimmick, if this is common in Japan, or if there just happened to be a large group of crazy kids hangin' out at karaoke that night. I'll gather cultural context over the next few months and let you know...lol
The third is a random fun fact: Japanese snowmen are only two snowballs high, instead of three like ours. The Japanese people I've mentioned this to are very amused when I tell them it's because Americans are taller lol Furthermore, their igloo-like structure is a big pile of snow with a hole dug in it, which makes more sense than building walls, don't you think? Still, the snowmen and ice houses I've seen pale in comparison to what I saw one of my teachers and his son building the other day. I was running to the train station when I saw them doing it, but I didn't actually see what it was. When I got back I stopped to take a closer look and saw it was shaped like a seal on its back.
It was true-to-scale and very well made...right down to the 8-10 icicles impaling it through the chest, the gaping mouth, and the crazy look in its eyes.
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