that "lost in translation" feeling never leaves

my friend mindy has explained this whole japanese new years thing to me, and i'm glad because it all seemed so secretly frantic, everyone doing their own thing with great intent, me completely puzzled by this entire cleaning business.
"OSHOGATSU is really a big deal to most Japanese. Did anyone tell you the reason we cleaned up everywhere at the end of the year? In Shintoism, a new year is a kind of spirit (god) and we must welcome it. It'll give us a chance to renew stuff and energy. We decorate gates and entrances with KADOMATSU and SHIMEKAZARI so that the spirit can come visit us, and we offer KAGAMI MOCHI inside the house to New Year. However, New Year can visit only the places where people cleaned."
i'm glad i know this now, and am certainly hoping i have not ruined any chances of the "spirit" entering my host house. i'm not sure if my room was clean enough. i really wish this was explained to me. i would hate to be blamed for any ill luck in 2007.

my friend katsu gave me the blog to one of the american teacher's who came to tokyo to teach earlier last year and it's probably the best and funniest blogs i have ever read. leaping lanka . it's particularly amusing to me because he also spent 3 months in tokyo and many of his experiences were similar to mine. one is the total amazement at the machinery, including the washer/dryer combo. i have been confused since i arrived about japanese appliances. the first host i had had a washer that washed and also dryed the clothes in the same machine, with the press of one button! wow! ( of course i managed to screw that up) and a table top dishwasher-mini washer, as well as a combo microwave/toaster oven, the "bells and whistles" toilet-which was my very first japanese experience-one with several buttons, all in kanji. one for warming seat, one for raising/lowering seat, one to clean back side, one for cleaning front, but what i was mostly interested in was the flush one. i had to call in my host to show me how. turns out it's a handle on the side just like anything else. this was the first time i had that "lost in translation" feeling. don't even know how to use the toilet, can't read the buttons, i'm in big trouble. and, of course, all the little buttons for the bath tub. one for temperature, one to turn it on and fill, one to indicate how high you want the water. the host i'm staying with right now has a tub alarm that tells you when it's time to enter, so you can go about your business until the bath is ready for you. screwed that up, too, leaving on heater without water. oops. and pasting instructions next to tub so as not to make mistake again. which i have already, but everyone's too nice to tell me. japanese homes do not have heaters like we do in the US. we have forced air or radiators. they have "air conditioners" which are small boxes located near the ceiling only in the bedrooms. there's a remote, in kanji, for temperature control. i was so intimidated by this in my first host house that i just slept without heat, in a hat and down comforter, fully dressed. even the water handles are backwards. you have to lift up to turn it off.

another observation we had in common was the tokyo power nappers everywhere. so many people sleeping, with full snore, mostly on the train, but also in cafes and restaurants. just "out" every single age group, all walks of life. i also have noticed every day people running. all kinds of people running, old ladies, kids, businesmen, students, everyone. running. and i always wonder, "where are they running to? and why?" of course no one walks up the escalators. they ride them. now wouldn't they save some time if they also ran up those as well? curious.

the cell phone phenomenon is quite prevalent here, too. you are not allowed to talk on them on the subways, but people constantly text message or check emails on them. i've heard you can also pay for things with your phone, like it's a credit card.

we also both noticed the hordes of people still partying outside of the yoga studio when we are going in to practice at 5am. lots of noise, which usually stops around 7am. and always lots of sirens going off. when the fire trucks and police cars come through, its kind of a soft siren with a person yelling something through a speaker. i wonder what they are saying. "get the f..out of the way!"

back to work today, i really hate to call it "work" cause that's such a negative word. it felt good to be back. i love doing what i do. but practice was so sad. i'm SO glad that i have learned to let go of that, because i could ramble on and on about it and really, it's never very interesting to talk about it. i'm tight and sore from walking around tokyo for hours and hours for 3 days in a row. my hip hurts more than ever. i'm starting to be concerned. 30 trips to the chiropractor did nothing. do i need drugs or cortizone? i'm starting to wonder.

and back to my favorite food paradise, the shibuya food show. it's so exciting there. but since i'm bored and fascinated with all that is rice, i WAY over ate. and i hear mom preparing a meal right now, with my stomach crying "why you do this to me?"
i confess. i ate a dozen shu mai. and a rice bun. and 2 salads with shrimp (god they were good) and 2 cheese mauris. these are my new friends. little round moist cake-like sweets stuffed with cream cheese, the kind they use in cheesecake. seriously addictive.

i think i am trying to gain weight. but why? maybe so i have something to blog about? yeah, that's it.