Hey I thought you all might be interested in hearing my experience living as a veggie in Japan. I originally wrote this for a forum that helps other English teachers as they come to Japan. It has been a challange but not one that i would say i havent enjoyed as just part of the journey...
For the most part its not difficult to be a vegetarian in Chiiba. There are plenty of daily foods eaten locally and access to foreign food that can supply the sustainence for any diet. Though there are always difficulties. The main inhibitors to this lifestyle are accessibility and information. Two things which I hope to inform you about with this post. There is also the problem of just plain communication. The most important part of living as a vegetarian in Japan is communicating that you are a vegetarian and being understood by everyone you interact with on a daily basis. I have had the most trouble with this aspect. Many times even people I have told many times will still offer me meat. This is also an issue if you get invited to any Japanese persons house. So be sure you tell everyone as soon as possible that you do not eat meat and explain exactly what you don’t eat. Once this comes across the Japanese are almost always understanding and supportive. The next difficulties you will face are going out to restaurants and eating school lunch. These challenges as well as communicating your diet can be the plague of your existence or the most enriching aspect of your life here in Japan. So the choice is yours to decide. How you will deal with this problem?
First I will run over the accessibility aspect of vegetarian life here. I recommend spending a little more time than most people and shopping around. The more ‘supas’ you go to, the more likely you are to find a variety of vegetarian foods. Every store is different here. If you don’t take the time to search around you will most likely be going to the Kobinis’ too often or relying on restaurants which can be expensive. I also recommend you find the local vegetable/fruit stands. If you live in a small town like me the chances are there are many(usually on the high trafficked roads) you just have to find them. Lastly, go to the big cities for international groceries and stock up on all the lentils, beans, spices that your heart desires.
Next is information which goes hand and hand with accessibility. To inform yourself, go through all the information you get at orientation and do a quick search online, chances are there are some vegetarian grocery stores you can order from and shipping is usually very economical. There is always a way to find the foods that aren’t usually found in ‘supas’. I even heard that amazon.co.jp has a English version where you can basically order anything. If you’re like me and don’t order stuff online, try to keep your ears open and ask around for the cheapest/most popular supa. These places always have more selection, even organic foods, more international foods, an abundance of produce.
So then comes the difficult part, how do I tell people I am a vegetarian? Well you will be told that just saying, ‘watashi wa bejitarian’ will be enough. I find that is not the case at all. First probably the most helpful saying is, ‘niku tabenai’ which means I don’t eat meat. It depends how strict you are of course and how much you want to limit your choices at a restaurant, saying ‘sakuna tabenai’ or I don’t eat fish might leave you with just a bowl of miso and some rice. Everyone should know their own limits and strictness of diet, so make that clear to yourself when you come here.
You will all have your own difficulties though when you are invited to someones house or given a steaming plate of meat and you don’t want to look disrespectful by not trying it. The only thing I can say that will help with this is tell as many people as you can about your diet. The more people you tell the easier it will be for you to explain your self in sticky situations.
The other challenges you will face are school lunches and Nomikais’. Being a teacher in a school means you take part in everything other teachers do. This does not mean that you have to force down a school lunch everyday, especially if you’re like me and your school is especially cheap with their lunches. I take my own lunch to school. I would recommend this because I tried to eat school lunches for a few months and picking out the meat in everything is extremely laborsome. Also the lunch I bring is healthier then the school lunches, not that they are exceptionally bad. Also Nomikais can be a problem because most of the time teachers order for you and if you don’t tell all of the them you are a vegetarian you will most likely end up with a plate of meat infront of you.
So with all this information might seem like a lot of work but it is your life so it is important to live the way you want to. I found telling people you’re a vegetarian adds to your appeal here and its always a conversation starter. In the end be prepared for some difficulties but if you remember to communicate effectively and inform yourself you will have a much easier and more enriching time here.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Spring is here and with it gloomy days..
Hey everyone,
Its been a month so its time for an update. I assume there are still people reading this so I'll try my best to fill you in on last months escapades. I was thinking about it and my time here is really almost up. There is not a lot to do but try and take advantage of every opportunity available and see, taste, experience everything out there. I will of course have to come back down to reality at some point and deal with finding a place to live, a job and paying off all the debt I have accrued over the years. This still hasnt sunk in yet so I wont give it any more thought here.
So I have some bad news and some good news to tell from the whirlwind of last month. I will start with the bad news since most, given the choice, want to hear that first.
The culminating point of last month was during my spring break here. It is actually the end of the school year here. You would think that means there is a big vacation for schools. Of course being Japan that is hardly the case. I barely had 10 days off of work! I decided to take advantage of it though and went to Hiroshima! I have some friends there I met in Nicaragua and we had been planning on and off, for what seems like forever to meet up and have a little reunion. This does not sound like bad news at all I know. The bad news came on my third day while visiting them.
I met Dorinne online at Nick and Kims house as usual and we skyped. After only 20 minutes we had broken up. We were together over a year and half but this just happened to be the moment when it was all over. If you think that is bad timing. The next day I got a message from my mom that my grandma died. Even though she was really sick I was hoping to see her this summer. Needless to say it was a big shock hearing this string of bad news. I was very grateful to be with friends at the time and it made it a lot easier having a new city to explore and fun things to do. I actually stayed for 3 more days and really enjoyed myself. It wasnt until the long train ride back that things started to sink in.
Well on to the good news. First I will go over my Hiroshima trip.
I started off being reluctant to spend any money on my short break since I was planing on visiting Dorinne a couple weeks later. This trip is of course canceled now. But at the time I decided to take the local trains all the way to Hiroshima. To anyone living in Japan for more than a year this sounds completely crazy. The only reason I did it of course was because the only discount offered(only in holiday season) is a thing called the juuhachi kippu, which means 18 year old ticket. This ticket offers 5 days of unlimited train travel for only the equivalent of $25 a day. I know this sounds like a great deal but there are all sorts of restrictions basically limiting travel to only local trains(yeah, the ones that stop in every shithole little town). So needless to say it took me 21 hours and 15 trains to get to Hiroshima. It wasnt non-stop though. On the way down I stopped in Kyoto for the day. It was terrible weather, kind of patchy clouds, misting and cold but I managed to traverse much of the city. I got in in the afternoon and decided to try and see some of the famous temples that I missed last time i was there. I threw my bag in a storage locker and was off. My plan being that I would find a nice onsen as soon as I felt tired. The problem ended up being that I couldnt really find my way around the city. It seemed so much smaller last time when I rented bikes and had a hotel. I did make it to Kinkakuji, the famous gold temple and it was well worth the steap entry. I then walked down the road(what looked on my map like a short distance) to Ryoanji, the beautiful Zen buddhist rock garden. This was much more impressive then the pictures I had seen. The immaculate sand following in perfect lines led the eye to inexpressible solitude. The small garden can only be described as a vast ocean in the middle nowhere that removed the viewer from the packed tourist platform to a peaceful state. I could have stayed there for hours but I was cold, hungry and wet. So as I made my way back I was a little annoyed that i couldn't navigate the city and find an onsen. Then out of nowhere i saw a Sento(a japanese public bath) down a little street and decided to take it as a sign. The sento in japan is basically a small onsen in the city. Most times it doesnt have the mineral water or different heated pools but it gets the job done. This one in particular was really small so the old curmudgen patron lady was right there in the mens changing room! I know this is pretty common in Japan but i still found it very odd that it old lady watches naked men all day as a job. The local sumo compitition was on the tv and the onsen and bath were much needed after so many hours on trains.
I made it to Hiroshima the next evening. I thought I was going to arrive earlier in the afternoon but I made a quick pit stop in Himeji to see the most famous castle in Japan. In only an hour i actually made it all the way inside the castle and back to the train station. It was just one of those crazy days but that is another story.
On my last train into Hiroshima I started a conversation with another foriegner(which almost never happens in Japan) and ended up talking to him for the next two hours. If this wasnt strange enough we bonded over discussing such topics as bad roommates, government corruption and the strange side of japanese culture. If anything I thought this was a great sign that the rest of my trip would be amazing. I ended up meeting Nick and Kim only a couple hours later then expected and they immediatly took me to their favorite Indian restaurant. We were definitly thinking on the same page. It was really nice to see some familar faces since Dorinne has been my only visitor, up until then I hadn't seen any friends in 7 months.
The rest of my time in Hiroshima was relaxing. It wasnt so much of a vacation to a new exotic place as just visiting some friends and crashing on their couch for a few nights. I had met Nick and Kim while volunteering in Nicaragua only a year and a half earlier, they are English teachers too but work for a private company called David English house. We spent our days making huge meals, including a Nica-style gallo pinto and Cuban crab omelet, I played endless games on Nic's new PS3, and went to the bars at night. I had a great time hanging out in Hiroshima especially because there was such a foriegn presence I think. I feel kind of bad saying this but I am sick of being the token white person everywhere I go. Sometimes I crave feeling outside of japan even when in it.
So I am doing alright now. The gloomy days part of this post is mostly because winter is still dragging his heals and won't leave us alone here. Everything isn't all bad as they say. I will make it through this time, hopefully. If there is anything that can come of this time(and I kindof mean my whole time in japan) it is that sometimes we need to go through hard difficult periods in life. For if we didnt pass these bumps in the road how would we ever grow...
Its been a month so its time for an update. I assume there are still people reading this so I'll try my best to fill you in on last months escapades. I was thinking about it and my time here is really almost up. There is not a lot to do but try and take advantage of every opportunity available and see, taste, experience everything out there. I will of course have to come back down to reality at some point and deal with finding a place to live, a job and paying off all the debt I have accrued over the years. This still hasnt sunk in yet so I wont give it any more thought here.
So I have some bad news and some good news to tell from the whirlwind of last month. I will start with the bad news since most, given the choice, want to hear that first.
The culminating point of last month was during my spring break here. It is actually the end of the school year here. You would think that means there is a big vacation for schools. Of course being Japan that is hardly the case. I barely had 10 days off of work! I decided to take advantage of it though and went to Hiroshima! I have some friends there I met in Nicaragua and we had been planning on and off, for what seems like forever to meet up and have a little reunion. This does not sound like bad news at all I know. The bad news came on my third day while visiting them.
I met Dorinne online at Nick and Kims house as usual and we skyped. After only 20 minutes we had broken up. We were together over a year and half but this just happened to be the moment when it was all over. If you think that is bad timing. The next day I got a message from my mom that my grandma died. Even though she was really sick I was hoping to see her this summer. Needless to say it was a big shock hearing this string of bad news. I was very grateful to be with friends at the time and it made it a lot easier having a new city to explore and fun things to do. I actually stayed for 3 more days and really enjoyed myself. It wasnt until the long train ride back that things started to sink in.
Well on to the good news. First I will go over my Hiroshima trip.
I started off being reluctant to spend any money on my short break since I was planing on visiting Dorinne a couple weeks later. This trip is of course canceled now. But at the time I decided to take the local trains all the way to Hiroshima. To anyone living in Japan for more than a year this sounds completely crazy. The only reason I did it of course was because the only discount offered(only in holiday season) is a thing called the juuhachi kippu, which means 18 year old ticket. This ticket offers 5 days of unlimited train travel for only the equivalent of $25 a day. I know this sounds like a great deal but there are all sorts of restrictions basically limiting travel to only local trains(yeah, the ones that stop in every shithole little town). So needless to say it took me 21 hours and 15 trains to get to Hiroshima. It wasnt non-stop though. On the way down I stopped in Kyoto for the day. It was terrible weather, kind of patchy clouds, misting and cold but I managed to traverse much of the city. I got in in the afternoon and decided to try and see some of the famous temples that I missed last time i was there. I threw my bag in a storage locker and was off. My plan being that I would find a nice onsen as soon as I felt tired. The problem ended up being that I couldnt really find my way around the city. It seemed so much smaller last time when I rented bikes and had a hotel. I did make it to Kinkakuji, the famous gold temple and it was well worth the steap entry. I then walked down the road(what looked on my map like a short distance) to Ryoanji, the beautiful Zen buddhist rock garden. This was much more impressive then the pictures I had seen. The immaculate sand following in perfect lines led the eye to inexpressible solitude. The small garden can only be described as a vast ocean in the middle nowhere that removed the viewer from the packed tourist platform to a peaceful state. I could have stayed there for hours but I was cold, hungry and wet. So as I made my way back I was a little annoyed that i couldn't navigate the city and find an onsen. Then out of nowhere i saw a Sento(a japanese public bath) down a little street and decided to take it as a sign. The sento in japan is basically a small onsen in the city. Most times it doesnt have the mineral water or different heated pools but it gets the job done. This one in particular was really small so the old curmudgen patron lady was right there in the mens changing room! I know this is pretty common in Japan but i still found it very odd that it old lady watches naked men all day as a job. The local sumo compitition was on the tv and the onsen and bath were much needed after so many hours on trains.
I made it to Hiroshima the next evening. I thought I was going to arrive earlier in the afternoon but I made a quick pit stop in Himeji to see the most famous castle in Japan. In only an hour i actually made it all the way inside the castle and back to the train station. It was just one of those crazy days but that is another story.
On my last train into Hiroshima I started a conversation with another foriegner(which almost never happens in Japan) and ended up talking to him for the next two hours. If this wasnt strange enough we bonded over discussing such topics as bad roommates, government corruption and the strange side of japanese culture. If anything I thought this was a great sign that the rest of my trip would be amazing. I ended up meeting Nick and Kim only a couple hours later then expected and they immediatly took me to their favorite Indian restaurant. We were definitly thinking on the same page. It was really nice to see some familar faces since Dorinne has been my only visitor, up until then I hadn't seen any friends in 7 months.
The rest of my time in Hiroshima was relaxing. It wasnt so much of a vacation to a new exotic place as just visiting some friends and crashing on their couch for a few nights. I had met Nick and Kim while volunteering in Nicaragua only a year and a half earlier, they are English teachers too but work for a private company called David English house. We spent our days making huge meals, including a Nica-style gallo pinto and Cuban crab omelet, I played endless games on Nic's new PS3, and went to the bars at night. I had a great time hanging out in Hiroshima especially because there was such a foriegn presence I think. I feel kind of bad saying this but I am sick of being the token white person everywhere I go. Sometimes I crave feeling outside of japan even when in it.
So I am doing alright now. The gloomy days part of this post is mostly because winter is still dragging his heals and won't leave us alone here. Everything isn't all bad as they say. I will make it through this time, hopefully. If there is anything that can come of this time(and I kindof mean my whole time in japan) it is that sometimes we need to go through hard difficult periods in life. For if we didnt pass these bumps in the road how would we ever grow...
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