So as some of you know, I work in an office out here in Yokohama. It’s wonderful. The company I work for is great, the people I work with are excellent, my manager is one of the coolest New Zealander’s I’ve met. Needless to say, I’m quite happy here.

Now, I have recently been promoted to do first meetings. Basically, I give potential clients a demo of our companies services and what we have to offer, it may only be a little step-up from generic ‘worker-bee’ but I consider it quite a bit jump, heck, I’m not bringing in sales for a company!

I have now finished my training. It required a lot of reading, lots of reviewing and some hands-on experience which I had, and this evening I was supposed to have my first client-meeting. But y’know what? It was mis-booked. Now I’m sitting here in my corner-office (God, I love this office) writing this entry instead of potentially selling thousands upon thousands of dollars worthh of products.

Damn.

Remember when banks offered ATM machines instead of a regular teller? That was great, wasn’t it? It saved you time from waiting in lines where women chatted for hours on end to the tellers.

Now, remember when they made the ATM machines 24 hour? Yea, that was about a month after the ATM machine was released. Those were grand days… now you could access your money at any time of the day.

So my question is this…. why the hell don’t the Japanese banks follow suit? I can get my money out of my account during the DAYTIME WHEN THE BANK IS OPEN …. but not after 9pm. Even in convinient stores where ATM’s are placed… nothing after 9pm. WTF?

…

Oh, and for the record, Haagen-Dazs ‘Chai’ ice-cream tastes like old soap.

I used to have no respect for the train system in Tokyo. Yyes, it’s extensive and reaches all parts of the great metropolis; yes, it’s almost always punctual and reliable; yes, it’s as important as the roads and swewers and is as much part of the cityscape as the never-ending buildings. BUT it never earned my respect.

I hated the fact that the service closes down too early (12am) and that fares can get quite expensive (between $4 per 5 minute trip up to $9 per trip). And the fact that people constantly fall asleep on my shoulder, with their mouths wide open… their bodies swaying with the train rhythmically…

I also had no respect for train etiquette. I learned that, first of all, it’s a real taboo to bust through the gates and not pay. It is also a taboo to talk on your keitei (Cell-Phone) and to make a scene by talking too loud and animated. Also, eating a meal while you ride the trains is a real no-no too!

HOWEVER, some foreigners, like some of thhe people in my circle off work-friends, including myself do not ALWAYS follow these rules. I have tried hard, but on occasion, you recieve an important phone call while on the train. You can either just brush it off or answer it, and once you do that, you perpetuate the “Filthy Gaijin” stereotype. I have learned that you can bust through the games and no-onne, I mean NO-ONE will say anything. I have seen this point proven when someone I knew jumped through the games, and went back to ask for directions to the same train attendant who saw him do it.

It was totally disrespectful of the norms of Jjapanese society, but what can you do? It was so easy and convenient. Sure, I would get pangs of guilt when I first did it upon arriving in Japan, but that lasts about as long as the walk from the platform to my seat. In less than a minute, my thoughts had shifted to that foxy little school-girl who’s rubbing her naked.. supple.. lovely smooth tanned thighs agaist my leg. Ahh, the upsides of being a young white man in Japan.

I have also felt guilty when some drunken gaijin acts like a food on the last trinas, pissed drunk. I have seen the patience of some commuters tested to the limits when some drunken dude being so annoying that I’m sure he would have been beaten to a pulp anywhere else in the world.

I have eaten entire McDonalds meals on the train, late for work and needing to fill my stomach before meeting a potential client. I have also talked on my cel phone, taking and making calls that could have easily been postponed until my desitantion.

I used the trains everyday, I depend on them everyday; they are a cornerstone of routine and conenience, but I still did not respect them. I took them for granted…. Ignonring etiquette was commonplace.

then one day, everything changed whhen I dropped my Suica card at Shibuya station (this card is basically an easy free pass, similar to a credit card… just slide it along the receiver and the doors open and shops give you your merchandise… think magnetic card thingy). I had just put 6000 yen ($70) on it… CRAP! My opinion of the Tokyo trains was about to be reversed.

I was devastated by the loss. I had no money to buy another card. The next day I went back to the station where I dropped and lost my pass. I tried to explain my situation to the attendant, but the language barrier was stillmuch too thick for me to climb. It was a futile effort… BUT an older lady behind me in line… in the sweetest english you could ever hope to hear, asked if she could help translate. An angel, wrapped in the skin of an old feeble Japanese woman was now my aide. Of course, I eventually made my way to the lost and found, and lo & behold…. THERE WAS MY TRAIN PASS! Still inside the little card holder of my wallet… someone had turned it in!

But … no… there was no way that money was still left on it. That could never happen….. nah, that would be askinng too much. I had given up hope and this was a last-ditch effort of mine to try and find it again. The suiuca card could have easily been found and used by whoever found it. It could have been a free train pass for the entire month… I would have used someone els’s train pass if I found it on the ground.. hell, I know most of the folks who read this would do the same, no matter what they may PUBLICALLY say.

I lost it at night, so the person who found it was eitherA in a hurry to get home, drunk… or B an early riser, and hard w orker on their way to some indifferent job. Either way, this person took the time and weent out of their way to return it.

Perhaps this is the reason why the train system is so extensive in Tokyo. Pperhaps this person is the reason why trains are so punctual. Perhaps this is the reason why so many people depend on them, this is the reason why they exist in such practical glory, available to every salaryman, punk, houseife, giggly teenager who enjoys flashing the gaijin on the train (fuck I love this country), and sometimes, disrespectful gaijin. This is why the whole thing works; a person sees an unused train pass and returns it to the lost annd found.

The honesty in this country astounds me. The trains and people who use them validate this belief. Perhaps next time I will follow Tokyo trrain etiquette: I will not bust through the gates, I will NOT eat McDonalds, I will not make a scene and I will NOT talk on my mobile phone. I think I found my respect for the trains of Tokyo, probably at about the same time that my mystery person found my unused Suica card and decided to turn it in.

Thanks again to the FG’s at F*ckedGaijin.

Hi everybody!

Work has been going quite well. I have started taking off Friday and Saturdays, just to spend time with friends and becuase I’m getting a little sick of getting up at 7:30am on Saturday & Sundays (although I still get up at that time to work on Sundays). Basically I’m just taking a small bit of time to myself since I really haven’t done that very much since I started working.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m still alive and have been inspired by Paulie’s posting on his site (www.fatpaulie.com) to inform everyone that I haven’t died nor fallen off the face of the earth, I just haven’t updated the site in a few days.

It’s quite late here, nearly 1:30am I figure and I’m heading off tomorrow to Okinawa. It should be a nice trip full of site-seeing, whale-watching (serious!!!) and potentially even scuba diving! I am really looking forward to it! SUGOI! (neat!)

Enough of that, it’s time for bed. Goodnight everyone & I hope you’re all doing well! Feel free to email me if you get the chance as I love getting mail from people! pozland@gmail.com

-Chris

Days off

Today is one of my days off. I generally don’t take very many just because I want to make money, and without money in this country, things can get quite difficult (and borring to boot!). Let’s take going clubbing; that is a prime example. Imagine you want to go out to a dance club and have a few drinks. Well, in Canada or the United States, that is quite a simple thing to do. Out here in Tokyo/Yokohama, it’s slightly more difficult.

For starters, first you need to figure out your mode of transportation. Taxi? Subway? Train? Your own car? Most likely if you are a foreigner living here, you don’t have a car so you’ll need take one of the first three. The taxi is always a good and direct route however the costs can get quite high (remember, from one side of Tokyo to the other can cost upwards of $250 if you want to do it by taxi). Trains & subways are a cheap and reliable way to get around, however they stop running at midnight so you’ll either need to prolong your partying and force yourself to keep going all night OR you’ll need to dash out the doors of the club if you want to catch your last train home (or even earlier if you need to make a connection somewhere along the train line).

Price is another issue. In my home town of Saskatoon (pronounced Sas – Ka – Toon) in the province of Saskatchewan (pronounced Sas – Catch – Yew – On) going to the club is quite a cheap outing. Let’s see… gasoline (with your own car) will be about $3, the entrance fee to the club is about $5 (and even then, people will complain about the high cost!) and drinks are between $4 and $5. In Tokyo, we’ll need to pay at least $16 for entrance. Price out here differ from club to club and vary depending on the quality of the club, music and clientelle. You can pay anywhere from 1400 yen ($16 Canadian) up to 20,000 yen ($250) just to get into the club. Now, that’s not guaranteeing you a good time, that’s JUST getting you through the front doors. Onto drinks… at many clubs, the cover fee will inclue one ‘regular’ drink (imagine a shooter of your favorite cocktail… but of the actual cocktail itself, no hard concentrated liquor). Every drink after that is usually another $8 and at many clubs, they don’t even sell water for less than $10.

But I digress. Money is one of the most needed ‘items’ on a travelers list of “THINGS TO BRING WHEN TRAVELING” especially in Japan. Coffee is $6 a cup (for a small), meals are generally $15 and up, and even canned soft-drinks from vending machines are $3. Japan is NOT cheap…. or is it?

Many times on American & Canadian television, you can see all about how Japan has been ranked as the most expensive country in the entire world to live in for the umpteenth year running! But although it seems that way from the first part of my update, it’s just not ENTIRELY true. If going out for an average $40 meal seems to expensive for you, then you can always try one of the street-side vendors offering Tako-Yaki (chunks of octopus in the center of a grill-fried ball of dough), sweet-potatos, mochi (pounded rice), sweet mochi (… sweet pounded rice – I was hoping this one was obvious), or any number of other meats, vegetables and fruits that these god-sends offer. In fact, the prices of of these vendors are so low that larger restaraunt and convinient store companies (in Japan) are lobying against these people since noon-time business-men & business-women choose the street-vendor over the local McDonalds or Family Mart.

Now after I do a quick proof-read of this, I realize just how badly I’ve changed topics. Let’s get back to my days off, OK?

Today, as I mentioned, is my day off. Just what do I do during my days off? I tend to wander around, or, now that I have the internet, sit at home and talk with some friends online. Sitting at home doing nothing is considered lazy in the Americas, but in Japan, it’s the house-hold norm. I’ve often asked ‘why’, and always receive the same responce… ‘why not? It’s cheaper than going out’ and in many cases, I must agree! However, on this one fine day (it’s +11 celcius!) I have decided to take another trip out to Sakuragicho and do a little bit of ‘shopping’ for the folks back on Airsoft Canada. Today I’m looking for a barrage of different airsoft parts, launchers, rifles and the like. Hell, I just realize that this is my stop so I’ll update you guys another time! Wish me luck on the hunt for hard-to-find parts!
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OK, Ive written this and am back hopme now. I don’t know if you guys have the “McGrand” from McDonalds but if you do, don’t eat it. It sucks.