LEGAL, WILLING & ABLE, BUT NOT LOOKIN' JUST YET!

Tuesday January 31, 2006
Kayobi ichigatsu ju-san ni-sen roku-nen


I’m back and this time I’ll try to be a little more succinct. Upon reflection I think that writing a day-by-day account, however concise I make it, may turn some of you off from reading it, which is counterproductive. So I’ll stick to the main events, and where warranted, I’ll delve deeper into detail. So buckle up, ‘cuz here we go…

Gyakuku is a yakiniku/Korean BBQ chain restaurant and it’s damn tasty. Similar to Shabu Shabu, with yakiniku you cook your own meal, except instead of dipping meats and vegetables into a cauldron of boiling water, you cook your food on a grill that is inlayed into the tabletop. Occasionally a waiter comes by to refresh the coals; otherwise you just sit, eat and drink the night away. Which is what Hannah and I did with our friends Lesley and Toru. It may seem that Hannah and I eat out quite a bit, ‘cuz we do. But that’s not to say that we don’t eat at home either, we’re just both very eager to accept dinner invitations ‘cuz it usually means that we’ll get to experience a new restaurant, of which there are just way too many.

Later that same week we went bowling in Nakano with some of Lesley’s friends and students. Technically it’s the same game as we play in North America, and probably the world over, but it’s just that here it takes on a comical theme. Bowling balls tend to be designed to look like, well, not bowling balls, and the shoes have lots of day-glow colors instead of the staid red, green and white you usually see. But that’s just the way it is here. I bowled 153 and 139 but can’t remember what my second game’s score was. Then we went to eat at an Izakaya, a Japanese style pub.

I ate Black Beauty! Seriously, we all tried horse meat. At first I was a little anxious, but since I’ve already eaten caribou, frog’s legs and chicken feet I thought why not horsemeat? And it was good, not tuff like I thought it would be (‘cuz of all the muscles horsies have). The proper way to eat it is, with your chop sticks, pick a small, thin slice, place some grated ginger, chopped shallots and pureed garlic on top, fold it and dip it in Soya sauce, eat and repeat. It was a bit chewy but not any more so than steak would be. Not bad at all. We also ordered Nabe, which is a large, metal steaming bowl of veggies, fish and seafood. Suffice it to say that we ate and drank heartily that weekend, they way your supposed too!

Now here is where important things start to happen for me. Where my status changes and I get more serious about living in Tokyo and Japan.

Before arriving I thought that I’d have to leave every 3 months or so to keep my status clean. I thought of visiting Ann in Korea, then possibly Val and her new family in Australia. But now, as of Monday January 16, 2007, I no longer have to worry about any of that. I can stay here until at least early next year because I have obtained, with Hannah’s help as well as that of the Government of Japan, my Dependant Visa. So to you both I say, Domo Arigatoo!

So now my life is much easier. And, in my infinite wisdom (which in reality does have its limits, but we’ll let that bit of creative writing pass, right?) I asked about the possibility of working during my stay. Well, guess what? I can now do that too. All I had to do was fill out another form and return a week later and they’d put another sticker in my passport that let’s me work a max of 28 hours/week. PLENTY. So I can now live and work here without any problems. AMAZING! All I now need to complete my trio of official documentation is my Gaijin Card. It’s officially referred to as an Alien Registration card, but only foreigners need it, so we called it the Gaijin Card. It almost sounds like a credit card for foreigners, y’know, “Get your Gaijin Card ‘cuz foreign membership has it’s privileges!” Not really, but it sounds good no? Anyways, it’s already in the works as we speak. By the middle of February I’ll be a rock solid Gaijin! Tres Kewl!

Now back to our regular programming…

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Ebisu is a nice place to visit for an afternoon of culture. According to my guidebook it’s Tokyo’s premiere photo exhibition gallery/space catering to a wide variety of national and international artists. During my visit I was able to peruse 3 different exhibitions. Two were of bodies of work from early 20th Century Japanese photographers, simple and quite nice. Most of their work was in Black and White, with some color shots later in their careers. But the exhibit that left the greatest impression on me was one showcasing work from the Viet Nam War.

Wars always produce extraordinary photo ops. There is always so much mayhem, interspersed with moments of serenity and yes, even tenderness. The people who risk their lives to document these events should be commended, if not for their bravery then for their foolhardiness. But the strength of this exhibition, ‘1954 – 1975 Viet Nam,’ lied in the fact that these were, until very recently, mostly unpublished works. They were taken by North Vietnamese photographers and were deemed too improper to use as sympathetic propaganda. It was quite a collection, and one that should probably make its way around the world. If not, I am certainly fortunate to have seen it.

Later in the week I met Hannah’s Japanese tutor, Yamamoto-san. Here people formally introduce themselves by their last names, so I would be Lebovits-san. Yamamoto-san is a small, balding man in his seventies who has been tutoring Japanese for the last 6 years. He knows a variety of languages and is presently studying both Korean and Spanish in order to better help his students learn Japanese. We chatted a bit before he got on this bike and pedaled away to his next lesson. In return, Hannah is tutoring English to his 19 year-old grand daughter. If I’m in my 70’s and still peddling a bike I have Yamamoto-san to thank for my inspiration.

We then headed for Koenji for a nice Thai dinner. I wanted to take Hannah out and thank her for helping me with my visa, as well as to have a bit of time for us.

Koenji is known for its lively music scene and many students, and it felt that way as we meandered around the its streets and walkways. Small used clothing stores, boutiques, Recycle shops as well as the usual fair of small food markets, franchise restos and electronics stores peppered the streets. We were actually searching for BAAN-SAAN, a Thai resto Hannah had been to once before, and one that is supposed to have a real Tuk-Tuk (a small Thai motor-taxi) out in front (or so we thought). It took a while, but we found it, but the Tuk-Tuk wasn’t outside, that would have been way too easy. Instead, it was right inside the front door, on display, but not at street level.

The resto was cozy. It had brushed aluminum or stainless steel folding tables and stools adorned with elephants, faux vines hanging from the ceiling along with traditional riverboats, and just above our table a large, dark wooden mandala. It was very warm and had a good vibe. We ordered a variety of plates from the tri-lingual/illustrated menu, including minched pork wrapped in lettuce leaves (that’s how is was spelled, minched), spicy soup, pad Thai, deep friend spring rolls, some stir-fried vegetables, a beer and some tapioca and coconut pudding for dessert. Most of the dishes were quite spicy, but with my beer in hand I endured.

In North America we usually eat in stages, a salad or soup, then an entree, main dish, desert and finally coffee or tea. Not at BAAN-SAAN, all of our food came at once and we were a bit overwhelmed. The small table was covered from corner to corner with plates, bowls, cups and glasses, so we just spent the next hour or so roaming from dish to dish. It WAS spicy but yummy too, however I did suffer a bit later on, if you get my drift.

Monday morning I finally started my Japanese lessons. No problem really, except getting there. Since the lessons start at 9 AM and the train & metro take about 40 minutes, I have to be up at about 7 AM, way before Hannah. It’s really not so bad, especially since the lessons are free, but the train ride definitely leaves a lot to be desired.

Living on the Chuo line is living on Tokyo’s second busiest train line, the busiest being the Yamanote line. And it’s all true. Everything you’ve read or seen about the trains being packed like sardine tins, or cattle transports, is true. There is even the platform dude wearing his little white gloves who helps push people into the over packed cars, except that there is no such thing as over packed. There is no actual capacity. If you can nudge your elbow in somewhere, then you can surely get the rest of your body in too. And if the doors don’t close the first time, the conductor will try again and again until they do. Close, Open, Close, Open, Close - like giant jaws chomping away until everyone gets digested, to be spewed out somewhere along the giant metal snake’s fixed route.

It’s simply a question of how badly or desperately you want/need to get onto the train, and most people seem to be quite desperate. People have to get to work on time, and the trains are notoriously punctual (unless there is ungodly snow, an accident or a jumper). So, if you skip one train to get on a less crowded one (of which there aren’t any) and your late, well, it’s you fault and you lose face with your employer and you have to make it up by staying late and doing overtime (which, come to think of it, isn’t such a bad way to avoid the rush back). Hmmm!

Snow. We just mentioned that didn’t we. Well let me tell you about snow. The day before I left Montreal it snowed 41 cm, a 70-year record. In Tokyo I thought that the chances for snow were pretty slim, it would be cool but no snow.

WRONG!

Tokyo did a great Montreal impression; it snowed and snowed and snowed. Wet snow, all night and all day. And I had no boots, so I wrapped my feet in plastic bags and walked around in my runners taking it all in. It was great snow, the kind that kids dream about – perfect for snowballs and making snowmen and snow forts, and that’s exactly what transpired. I made snowballs, ‘cuz I could, and threw them here there. But there were snowmen everywhere. On street corners, in front of stores, in the park, Starbucks even made small snowmen, put them their outside tables, all with coffee bean eyes. I guess that snow is so rare that people really get into the spirit of winter. Oh well. It wasn’t that bad, and I witnessed all these people driving around on their bikes all carrying umbrellas to fend off the snow. I just wore my parka like a good Canadian and waited for it all to melt. It’s gone now.

We’ll skip forward a couple of days and get to Friday just after my Japanese lesson, where I encountered some performance artists just in front of the Takadanobaba train station. From what I could see, two guys were working from a sketchbook. The artist was cutting up cardboard boxes, further cutting holes into individual pieces and then draping those pieces with a black material. He would then strategically place those pieces on a body part of his model, who was standing there barefoot in only his jockeys. It wasn’t too cold of a day but you could see the model’s nipples were as hard as pebbles. So here was the piece; a practically naked man with different sized sections alternately adorning his calf, thigh, forearm and shoulder, topped off with a black shroud over his head and face. Then, the artist led his model into the train station, where I followed, and we both started taking pictures. People just politely stared as they walked by. Then the guards came and they didn’t look amused at all. They just stood there with stern faces while the artist just smiled, eventually dressing his oeuvre and leaving. It was quite amusing to watch.

Same day, just a bit later I saw a guy in the Shinjuku station with his face pierced. I followed him to his platform all the while priming my camera and trying to remember how to ask to take a photo. I walked up to him and politely made my request and he agreed so I got off two shots, thanked him and walked way. Finally the same day, also in Shinjuku, I asked this guy dressed as what I perceived as clownish, if I could take his photo too. He was more than happy to oblige. I think his costume had some religious and traditional meaning, but it was entirely lost on me. So all in all I had 3 good photo ops while at the same time getting over my shyness of asking people if I could photograph them. That bodes well for the future of my work here.

And lastly, I finally have my own phone. This is a big thing because unlike in Montreal, it’s not easy to communicate with other unless you’re hooked up. Until now I had been using a loaner from Hannah’s neighbor, a pre-paid brand that I hadn’t yet topped up, so I could only receive call or messages and not make any. Now I can call or be called, or more likely, use text messaging - it’s just the cheaper alternative. So, no more communication worries either. I feel great.!

Now, Let’s recap… Hannah and I seem to eat out a lot, I’m got legal up the wazoo, I started Japanese language lessons, I’m takin’ photos, I got a phone and I’m generally having a good time here. Kewl!

Well I hope this has entertained you, or has at least given you a glimpse into what I’ve been doing. I hope everyone is well and that winter isn’t too hard. Please feel free to contact me or make any comments, I welcome all of your input. And please let me know how you are all doing too.

From time to time I will make photo-only updates as I have been shooting quite a bit and would like to share my visions with you (oooo sounds druggy!). It’ll also be a lot easier for all of us as well. So that’s all for now.

Mata-ne!