Paranoid about train ticket stubs.

Whenever you take the trains or subways over here, the ticket machine spits out this little stub.

You have to stick these tickets into the magnetic ticket reader gates, and I used to always get a heart attack every time I had to go throug one.

Nowaways, I'm doing a tad bit better with the gates, but until a while ago, all the exits looked the same to me, so I would stick the ticket into the first ticket reader I saw...and BAM! the gates would shut on me!

I couldn't figure out WHAT I did wrong. My logic was that I had a ticket in my hand, I got off at the right station (whew!), I see an exit before me, so that must mean I need to stick my ticket in to get out. Over time, I've learned that not all the gates are "exits" but instead "transfer gates" to get onto different lines. Personally, I'm not very good at telling the difference between a real exit and a transfer exit. They both look the same to me. I guess I should look a little closer to what the signs say, but even when I look, I still don't seem to be able to tell what the difference is.

My heart still beats fast whenever I have to put my ticket through the ticket gates. I'm always nervous about the gates slamming shut on me. I feel a huge sense of relief when it doesn't shut on me and I get to walk right through =).

Another thing that I get paranoid about, is losing the ticket. I stick it in one pocket or another, and then panic when I get off, 'cause I can't find my ticket. Sometimes I really can't find the ticket 'cause I put it away somewhere "where I won't lose it".

These days, just so I don't give myself a heart attack, I just hold onto the ticket the whole ride, like I'm doing here in the picture. It's working, 'cause I don't panic anymore when I get off the train!

Yowsers!

Some of the things they sell in the grocery stores over here, I just don't understand WHO would possibly buy them.

For instance, this fruit basket....I think the price was somewhere around 2980 yen, which comes out to about $35. Each fruit is wrapped in foam and protected. They must be for gifts...but it's cheaper to buy a whole box of one kind of fruit, rather than these fruit baskets.

Another thing that completely blows my mind is the price of melons in Japan!!! See this melon with a pink ribbon and a cushioned box? Youwon't believe how EXPENSIVE it is. It's a whopping 4980 yen...i.e. $60!!!

How many do you think you can buy with that $60?! ONE...that's right, just ONE! Of course, I did sneak a shot of the nicely wrapped expensive fruits, but still....they wouldn't sell them like this if no one bought them, so that must mean SOMEONE buys them, right?

I think it's insane. One melon for $60 bucks?! Gosh, I think you can probably buy 50 for the same price in the States! Mind you, these expensive melons DO taste good. They're not crunchy like the melons in the States. Japanese melons MELT in your mouth basically. They're super sweet too. I should add that they do have cheaper melons too.

Like I said before, food is REALLY IMPORTANT here, so that must be why such expensive fruit exists. I'm not used to food being so expensive, so even when I see some that I want to eat, I look at the price and my craving for whatever I was reaching for subsides.

College graduations in Japan

I attended my "sister's" graduation today. It was the first time for me to attend a Japanese college graduation. My "sister" and I were laughing at how different graduations were from the States.

Here are some things I was surprised about the graduation:

1. Unlike in the States, college graduation wasn't a celebration for all the hard work and completion of a major milestone in life. It was more of just a formality! No cheering, no student names called out, no mood of "celebration" detected.

2. The professors, or "important people" were the focus, not the students. All the "important" people were up front on the stage and they had to make sure each person's status and position was repeatedly announced and stated. Maybe the "important people" ought to just hang a sign from their neck's stating "I'M IMPORTANT!!!" so that all that time into making such a big deal of the professors' status doesn't have to be spent.

3. It felt like the people up front on the stage felt superior to the audience. Can you believe they actually made announcements like "we would like this to be a meaning gathering, so please be quiet." It's like they think the graduates are little kids or something!

All in all, the graduation ceremony was quite different from the States. In the States, graduations are a MAJOR celebration and people are PROUD for what they've accomplished. Families, relatives, and friends all join in the celebration and we make a lot of noise. Not so in Japan I've found. It's kinda sad I think. Why isn't everyone happier and proud of what they accomplished?!

My "sister" commented that college in Japan was a joke. She told me it felt like she went back to high school and that she didn't gain much in 4 years. Maybe that's why there's not such a mood of major accomplishment and celebration. I often hear that in Japan, for the majority of students, it's for partying and not studying. That's too bad. Why invest 4 years of your life if you're not going to study your butt off? But then again, that's how the system is set up in Japan and employers want students with a degree, but don't want you to have your own ideas about things, so it works out good, huh?

I have a really intense distaste for education in Japan since I totally hated it when I was FORCED to go to school here for a while, hence my major pessimism when it comes to Japanese education systems.

Instant Noodles can be a science.

Instant Noodles. How hard can they possibly be to make, right?

Well, I made instant yakisoba noodles the other day. The directions made it sound like making instant noodles was a science and it made me laugh.

So here's what the directions said:
1. Open the lid from A to B and take out the three seasonings.

2. Empty the dry-freeze vegetables into the container.

3. Add hot water up to the line inside the container.

4. Close the lid.

5. 3 minutes later, pull the lid on the other side to line C. DO NOT pull it past the line.

6. Firmly hold down the lid where the stars are, then slowly drain the water from side C of the lid. Please don't burn yourself.

7. Open the lid all the way. Mix in the sauce and seasoning and eat.

Isn't it amazing??? I think it would be less complicated if I didn't look at the directions next time!

Dental Appointment

I went to the dentist today. My appointment was at 11:30. Guess what time I got called in?? 1:00! I know any doctor's office you go to, they make you wait no matter when your appointment time is, but waiting for an average of 2 hours past your appointment time feels waaay too long.

The dentist had 5 chairs going at once, so one moment he'd come by to check something, give orders to his assistants, then the next moment he'd be gone. And several minutes later, he'd come back again. Having to see 5 patients at once, he kept having to go back and forth...so it took a total of about an hour for my treatment to be over with. I don't think this is the case with all dentists over here, but the dentist I go to has a good reputation, so I have to live with the long wait.

If you go to a doctor's office, even if you have an appointment, you still wait for couple of hours...so better be prepared to use half the day if you're ever going to the doctor's office or dentist's office here!

Although, come to think of it, once when I went to a free clinic in the States, I had to wait like 4 hours until I was seen.

Ghosts of the past.

I did this for one of my art therapy classes during grad school. We had groups that met throughout the whole school year and our assignment was to spend something like at least 2 hours per week to work on our own art.

I really learned a whole lot about myself in this class. You could dive in as deep as you wanted or keep things on the surface. I wanted to take full advantage to dig deep, so I dove in whole-heartedly without any idea on what I'd find. It was a scary journey, but it was also amazing. If any of you out there are looking for ways to take a look at yourself and what's going on in your life....doing artwork for yourself is an excellent way to do some soul-searching.

It's not the end-product that matters...there's deeper meaning in the process. Sometimes you'll see things you like, sometimes you'll see things you don't want to see. If you're not ready to see whatever it is you're not ready for, you probably won't see it anyways....not until some time passes and you're ready to see things you didn't notice before.

As for what this piece means to me, I did it when we were on the topic of "the miracle question" for a different class. I was personally working through a lot of things during this time, so you can see a lot of it in the art. I think I was trying to deal with the ghosts of the past. It has a lot of meaning, but I won't go into that now. Maybe another time.