April 18 - April 30

Good evening, good morning. 

Japan is the only non european country in the world that is experiencing negative growth. Whereas most countries have a pyramid shaped growth chart, Japan's is upside down. So basically if you closed your eyes and started running through a store, the first person you would most likely bump into would be an old person. The old people here have extraordinary strength to stay alive and fight another day which is truly respectable. We experience true signs of this negative growth in places such as the local supermarkets, the local shops, and the bus. The bus is more or less of a retirement home for the elderly. Once you step foot onto the bus to take your ticket, you instantly smell a slight musk of decaying skin and stale breath. It seems to be a plausible rest stop for those elderly folk on their daily journey to the 

market. Every stop takes about 5 minutes time for those to get on and off the bus, and there is always the occasional slip while boarding the bus. 

So Maro returned back to base after voyaging alone to Nagasaki for a couple days. The day he came back I had an open Sunday from 12-4 doing interviews with prospective students and teaching practice lessons to students. One thing working for a Japanese company is that they really work you for all you have. This month was two weeks of 6 of 7 days working, one day each week coming in three hours early for flier dating, and preparation for the Self Study Campaign we hold next month. But the good thing was that after work I got to play futsal at a really awesome professionally set up field with my friend and his teammates. Futsal is the same concept as regular soccer except with smaller nets, smaller field (5v5) and the ball is slightly heavier and doesn't bounce as much. It's more of a technical game that measures one's ability to dribble, complete short passes, and make very quick decisions. It's really fun. 

Monday morning while Maro was still recovering from his drunken escapade in Nagasaki, I went golfing with one of my students at Sasebo Country Club. The man who invited me is a movie theater owner, owner of 7 real estate buildings in Sasebo, works for the Lottery Club, and has two other unknown jobs. To say that I was golfing with him would be putting on us equal level; to put it frankly, this man allowed me to spend an afternoon in his presence. Golf in Japan is much more expensive than golf in the States. Normally you need to be a member of the club, and after becoming a member the course rate usually varies at 100$-200$ for 18 holes. The course we played happens to be one of the most well known courses in the area because of its scenic mountain view and difficulty. This course was so prestige, that the carts drove themselves. He provided me with clubs and a hat, because apparently golf is so gentlemanly that every member must wear a hat. 

Overall, despite my 7 month hiatus of golf, I showed some signs of life at times, and didn't embarrass myself enough to be uninvited back a second time. The guy was really generous and paid for the round (I noticed the receipt for two players came out to $260). He didn't think too much of it as he went to get his Mercedes from the parking lot and I patiently waited thinking how he just saved me about 2 weeks worth of groceries. 

The past two weeks in Nagasaki prefecture have been elections for local government positions such as mayor, member of the council, and a few other positions. Typically in America, our lobbying is done relatively passively through commercials, billboards, posters, and sometimes rallies. Japan likes to approach their elections a little differently. I awoke one morning at about 8:00AM from this really loud muffled voice outside my window. I assumed it was the bus driver announcing the next stop, or maybe an ambulance (when ambulances go through red lights they usually have this megaphone telling people to be careful). However, after about 10 minutes, the loud muffling sound returned, but this time it was a man's voice. I was a little confused, but not enough to get out of bed to check. Then it came again, and again. Just to make sure it wasn't a broadband announcement of a lava attack or earthquake, I looked out my window to see how the locals were reacting; they didn't seem fazed so I could assume it was not a catastrophic event occurring. Then I heard the approach of this screaming voice saying a lot of words I didn't understand but after each sentence would be "Good morning, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much!!!!!!!!!". I later came to understand that this is how the candidates advertise themselves. They drive around in a decked out painted 70s style van with about 6 megaphones on the roof. They drive around town with one person yelling the candidate's name and some other nonsense while the others hang out the windows like maniacs waving little flags. The town of Sasebo had to endure this madness from 8AM-8PM every day for two weeks until last Sunday's election. I put a sample video on Facebook of these lunatics. 

Someone left a bike on the sidewalk near my house for about five days. It was untouched for a few days, and eventually someone actually moved it onto the grass   kickstand and all because it was obstructing the sidewalk. Now if someone left a bike in my neighborhood (one that consists of mostly older folks and not dangerous) it would still disappear overnight. 

This week's battling has taken a new form. The name of this fighting style is "Douzo" style. Douzo means please, by all means, kindly. It's used when expressing gratitude and/or respect during greetings and salutations. It is also a way of saying "Please, go ahead" like in line in a store or taking the last piece of pie or something like that. Reflecting on Japanese people's hierarchal respect system, it's a good idea to offer a seat to an older person or someone of higher status. The setting for my battle was the retirement home (bus). I was just minding my own business like I normally do, grabbed my ticket and step onto the bus. I noticed a seat towards the back of the bus, so I started to approach it. Just as I was getting ready to sit down, an older man began to move towards the seat. Our eyes met and electricity instantly shot from my eyes to his. He was clearly an experienced Douzo warrior. His cold stare shook my soul, but not enough for me to release the first "Douzo". He shot sharply back with a Douzo of his own, but his tone was slightly commanding. We exchanged two more Douzo's and the battle started to get heated. I was running out of options because my Douzo was not working! There was nothing left to do but release the Douzo with an arm gesture. I knew it was very dangerous for a setting such as a moving bus, but I was facing a valid opponent here, I had to make him sit down. I gathered all my energy, said a double Douzo, gave him the open hand gesture suggesting this seat was his for the taking, and even released a slight smile with raised eyebrows. He bought it. He sat right down in his seat and I remained standing for my bus ride. 

I had my first doctor experience on Tuesday. I went to work not feeling too well. After two lessons, my head was spinning, I had turned completely pale, and I was ready to pass out. My manager cancelled my classes and sent me to the clinic. At the clinic I had to fill out the forms in Japanese and wait my turn in line. Medical care in Japan is actually quite good; it's one of the best systems in the world. Due to registration time, I had to wait a little longer than usual, but it only took about 15 minutes before I was called into the doctor's waiting room. They did a quick weight and height check then after 15 more minutes I was called into the room. Before being called in I could hear the nurse say to the doctor, " Fiore-sama. I think he's a foreigner. I wonder if he knows how to speak Japanese." It was kind of amusing and when she came out to call me she immediately asked me if I knew how to speak Japanese. I just responded please speak slowly, and I'll be ok. The doctor and nurse were really friendly and he asked my symptoms, felt my glands, checked my breathing, listened to my heartbeat, and the other usual stuff. He didn't have any finally answer, but I think I wasn't feeling well due to internal stress and lack of sleep. He recommended medicine and bid me farewell. 

Thursday morning was Maro's last day in Sasebo so we woke up at about 7AM and climbed a mountain. We got to the top at about 9AM, gazed at the landscape below and took a nap. After some time, we descended and stopped by a local hot spring. The main bath was on the roof of the building (5th Floor) and it had a great view of the town. I didn't appreciate Maro's lack of respect for my eyes when he decided to stand up and walk to the edge of the tub with his bare ass exposed, but besides that it was a good time. 

Today I played soccer all morning at the local park then went to a hip hop dance concert with my friend and his girlfriend. It was crazy to see this show because, all the dancers (varying from ages 4 to 40) were dressed in the most American outfits and dancing to American hip hop songs. To be honest, most of them look better in our clothes than we do! It felt pretty good because just goes to show that although they're not the parts of my culture that I am the most fond of, countries like Japan still find our culture cool and want to adopt it in a way they like. Living here really makes me love the place I come from more and more. Getting outside of New York for a while is nice to just kind of reflect on all the good attributes it has, not the stressful and negative things that are destined to come with a place you must work and survive in. I do look forward to returning and seeing it in a new light. 

This weekend is more vacation time. I'm going to Fukuoka in the morning, then I'll be back in Sasebo eventually. Thanks again for reading. I noticed the weather is finally getting nice back home. Almost beach time! I miss New York!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : (