Continue reading »]]> Test the rest

It’s finally about time to say something about my new job. As I already mentioned it is a project based job, and slow but steady we are about to reach the end of our project.

The company in which I am working does so-called linguistic video game testing as briefly mentioned in week eight. Times in which we get video games only in its origin language are fortunately over since the nineties. Games are being translated and adapted to their respective markets. This process is called localisation.

Just translating every manual and game texts won’t suffice here. Every culture comes up with small but mighty distinctions which can lead to big misunderstandings or even provocations if adapted inadequately.

Some examples:

Cultural or history-bound distinctions

A move in a snowboarding game is called Super 9/11. Needless to say that the name will be changed for the U. S. market.

Measures

Whereas in Germany, Austria or Switzerland the metric system prevails in the U.S.A. or U.K. gallons, degrees Fahrenheit, feet and miles are used. The adaptation does not mean a problem when translating it in texts. But for speedometer and thermometer – scales which need to be calculated in real time – complete new algorithms have to be programmed.

Poems and puns …

… are certainly one of the biggest challenges of a localisation translator. On one hand one would like to preserve the rhyme or the wit but on the other hand, logic should not fall by the wayside. A problem which is also linked to the film industry. Here an example from the film ‘the downfall‘:

Drunk German soldiers in bombed down Berlin:

Hey Berlin ist die Stadt der Warenhäuser. Hier war ‘n haus und da war ‘n Haus.

Hey Berlin is the City of ware houses. Here were houses and there were houses.

Poems or lyrics from Disney films are often mentioned as paragons for localisation work.

The localisation happens almost simultaneously with the creation of the base frame of a game. So relatively early in the development phase. After all the script has already been written so that the localisation agencies can begin with the translation work. And this is how the programmers don’t just work with a single version of the game from the very beginning but in all versions in which the game will be released.

This is where the localisation testers come into the play. Our task is to check every dialogue, every menu, the whole content which was translated and adapted on semantic, grammar, formatting, terminology mistakes, misspellings, or culturally conditioned mistakes.

Theoretically now every game tester would have to complete the game including all menus and sub menus. So that the publisher does not have to pay too many hourly rates to us testers we are being given cheats by the developer with which we can win or – should the test require it – lose at the touch of a button. Also we receive cheats with which we can select all the levels directly.

By and by it should be getting more clear how linguistic game testing works. But how does it look in detail?

Games are being tested on so called debug consoles which are only available for the studios and can only be purchased by the manufacturer directly. With this systems it is possible to run games which are still in their development stages. The single version of a game in development is called a build. As soon as the first build is on the table the team arranges who is going to test which game mode respectively and which menu including sub menus. This way every language forms a team which single members sit in front of on their respective platforms (PC, console, handheld). Because no full priced game is being developed for a single system any more these days except for exclusive titles.

What kind of bugs are there? To answer the question briefly: many! Too many to be mentioned altogether in this text. But the most essential shall be mentioned: crashes, freezer and blocker.

Crash

As the name indicates the system simply crashes at a certain point of the game.

Freezer

The same here with the name. The system simply freezes at a certain point of the game.

Blocker

One is caught in a certain situation or menu in the game, might be able to go some steps forward or back, but can’t escape the situation as something was simply not considered during the programming. The program runs consistently stable but the player is given no other choice but to turn off the system.

All bugs of this category have a high priority and must be fixed before the release. Even if those bugs don’t have a lot to do with language they will also be reported by linguistic testers as they hinder the tester to proceed with the testing. However the linguistic testers priority is to check all the game texts.

The following bugs are the most important ones:

Incorrect string,

translation or

incorrect formatting.

Are the translations placed correctly in the game? Are there any misspelt words? Were some texts forgotten or are there some place holders or even the texts in original language at some spots?

Formatting mistakes are being given a lower priority. An example would be that a text is being displayed correctly in a text box however shown squeezed as it is simply too long.

Also it has to be checked if at certain spots the right symbol or letter graphics are being showed. Testers ‘biggest pleasure’ regarding this is the Nintendo Wii at the moment. Because all menus have to be checked three times. Why? The Wii has three different joy-pad interfaces. The old Gamecube joypads, the Wii-mote together with the Nunchuck or the classic controller. So every menu has to be checked that the associated button graphics are being displayed correctly depending on which input device is being used. And of course graphics do also have to be checked regarding their system affiliation. Nintendo wouldn’t be flattered at all if the menu in one Wii game were to say: ‘Press the X-button to proceed or the O-button to cancel’. Also a certain text might be very readable on a high resolution Play Station 3 or Xbox 360 version. The PAL or NTSC resolution of the Wii might only show a blurry line. This is where the so called cross-check goes into play. After extensive testing the bugs are checked at the end of the day if they can be transferred to other plattforms or language versions. Most of the time blockers can be reported for all versions as it is inevitably a mistake which happened when programming a situation, which is to say that it will be the same in all versions. It becomes more complex with freezers or crashes. Does the system freeze because the code is insufficiently adapted to its system or because of the fact that a mistake was made when programming the base frame? Was a line only translated incorrectly in the German version or did someone make a mistake when compiling the script and all versions show the wrong string at a certain spot?

Why does one test a language’s menus during the development stage at all? Wouldn’t it be more simple to finalise the game first and to check everything at the end? One might think so, however, there are situations which can be explained in one language with only one word but might devour three lines in another. It won’t happen that a wider text box is programmed for only one language version. Either the text box will be enlarged for all language versions or one will try to shorten the text in that version in which the text is too long. So errors do occur which require code changes. Hardly possible with a finished game. Also it happens that some menus change after the localisation or menus or areas are added subsequently. Most of the times these translations are done by the linguistic testers and not by the localisation agencies any more.

How does it go on with the reported bugs now? Most developers use an encrypted online database to monitor the development progress of their products. Its advantage is that the progress can be checked from anywhere in the world. This is how the developers may sit in Canada for instance whereas the testing studio might be located in Japan. The development team now has the bug report and starts with the corrections. As soon as the bug is being wiped or the programmers think they have cured the error the ball is being passed back to the testing team. Because even if the bug is described in detail it is not always plain to see if a bug was really fixed. So when the testers then received the list of the fixed bugs they are checked if they are completely eliminated. If there isn’t any recognised change or the tester declares the alteration is insufficient the bug remains in the database or is enhanced with a more detailed description. This procedure is continued until the last bug is being fixed.

What atmosphere prevails in such a company? At first glance, somewhat deterrent might be the fact that you don’t have access to any area without an RFID chip key card. Also every tester has her or his own locker as any kind of data carrier has to stay outside the office. That is valid for mobile phones as well as for mp3-players. Cameras are an absolute no go. And communication with the outside world? The office place of the video game tester is one of the rare ones which copes without a phone. Emails can only be sent by the administrator authorised mail addresses. And who was hoping to gain further recreation during breaks by checking out XXX-web pages will be grievously disappointed. Even here only admin authorised pages can be viewed. Damn it! … In other words it is quite difficult to smuggle the testing game onto the internet or outside the office.

And what kind of working atmosphere prevails? Tester are young folks, rarely over 30. Who would like to keep up her or his second language(s) an passant rejoices to receive a free conversation course with this job. The Italian girls are wondering in their language about Berlusconi’s latest achievements, the guy behind me almost walked Spanish on me, and to my left someone is cursing in French. In other words we are weird folks. But we like it to be weird.

What qualifications does one need for such a job? Of course good native language skills. Because you will have to pass a ten page (!) long test at the job interview at the least. All bugs are being reported in English. Thus you should have good English skills as well. The job interview will be in English. As in every office job, good office software skills are required. And last but not least you should know how to hold a joy-pad correctly of course. The introduction to the database is quickly learned. Graphic or video editing programme knowledge is a plus but can also be conveyed within the first working week.

What salary/wage can one expect for such a job in Japan? It can vary depending on the region of course. It shouldn’t be below 1.300 yen per hour. In general wages fall around 1.500 yen per hour. Testing happens full time in a 40 hour working week, with a high volume of work even on Saturdays and Sundays!

Who now feels like getting such a job and would like to link it with a work and travel/working holiday stay in Japan should check out following links:

http://www.uniconpro.co.jp/de/recruit.html

http://www.enzyme.org/index.php?id=75&L=1

Special thanks to: Hubertus Neidhart from Webspace Provider Network for excellent web page hosting services; Lilith Pendzich, Germany; Brandon Lamb, U.S.A.;

Continue reading »]]> Sometimes it is astonishing how things change when setting forth on a journey in a far away country. So I’ve been here for two months now and already withstood the biggest culture shocks. So slowly the daily routine begins for me. My ass!

As I only have a part time job in a daycare I’m applying for further jobs. The most interesting job of all Brandon found for me. He is hosting me for the second time already but he seems to be pretty relaxed about it even though we are only sharing a 16 m² room. There are localising agencies that do bug and and linguistic testing for video games in their development state. Since I look back on several years experience in the video game industry I’m applying at two companies specialized in that field seeking German native speakers. In contrast to the teaching job I can understand that only native speakers can be considered in this case of course. In fact both agencies got back to me, sending me a German test which I have to complete within a weekend respectively two weeks and send it back.

Shortly after sending the completed test back on Monday morning I’m promptly being invited to a job interview the next day. I’m studying their web page and learning that their HQ is located in Canada and they also have a subsidiary in Madrid and of course one here close to Kawasaki.

In a short mail I am confirming the appointment and am asking for understanding to appear in more casual attire since my suit will still be on the way to Japan :) The answer is coming promptly and legitimises me to come to the job interview in a casual dress code.

It is hot and bright this Tuesday and I’m on my way from Kawagoe in Saitama prefecture to Kanagawa prefecture and on to Saginuma. For that I actually have to cross the whole of Tokyo (metropole and prefecture). Actually I am reaching the final destination on time but on my walk to the job interview I’m getting lost once again of course. Obviously I must be about ten minutes away from the office but according to the office’s directions it should only be two minutes. Well, actually I like hot weather but today it’s anything else than helpful. Wandering around in this heat gets me rather sweaty. I’m looking for a taxi as time is running out. Of course you’ll never see one when you need one. I’m supposed to be at the interview at 3 o’ clock/3 p.m. and it is five to 3. Wow, it seems that even here in Japan I live up to my standard: 10 Minutes after time is Simon’s prime. No … unfortunately I don’t comply with that this time. What is even cooler is the fact that I don’t have any cash with me and the taxi, which I just hailed, doesn’t accept credit cards. To inform them about my tardiness I’m calling the agency. In the meantime I’m thinking: In fact it would be best if a Japanese man could explain the directions to the taxi driver. So I am availing myself of this situation and asking the company manager if I may pass on my cell phone to the taxi driver so that he could explain the way to him. I’m passing on the cell phone, the taxi driver receives exact directions and passes the phone back to me. “Oh well, there would be one more thing,”, I’m telling the company manager, “could you please help me out with another problem? I don’t have any cash with me. Could you pay the taxi fare for me and I will pay it back later?” …

With a delay of 20 minutes I’m arriving for the job interview. Seemingly more amused than snubbed are the boss and his personal anager about the way of my advent. However, they are also a little shocked by my appearance. I’m completely soaked with sweat. My shirt is a complete wash rag! And I mean a not wringed out one! Not any dry spot can be spotted on my shirt. It is so wet that it sticks to my skin everywhere. Hm… I think drenched as I am I should keep the comment – “I thought I applied for a wet shirt contest.”, for myself. Also to answer the question if everything was all right in the Bruce Willis style: “Hm…? Ah well yeah today is laundry day!” too does not seem appropriate.

I am certainly aware this isn’t a story book beginning for a new job and after I’ve been informed about what my tasks would be it seems I have to explain another scurrility and seem to completely confuse the manager now: “Just a moment, you are in Japan for almost two months now, are registered to an address where you only live occasionally?”

“Er, yes or thereabouts.”, I’m answering.

“Well, then… As long as you don’t appear to work as late as you were today our company has no problems with that. But how do we calculate your commuting costs then which we would be willing to pay? And to what address are we supposed to send mail? And could you start immediately? You know it’s a full time position.”

“Just a moment. I thought it was a project based job which indicated to me flexible working hours like the language schools here are offering it.” I’m asking.

“No, we would hire you full time! There’s no way around it!” his answer comes pretty straight.

“Well, but I already signed a part time contract as an English teacher. And it’s valid until March next year… Okay. Let’s say I was willing to give up the job as an English teacher provided the daycare would accept the contract annulment. Could we find a solution this way?”, I’m asking.

“Well, as we are urgently looking for someone to fill this position we decide tonight and will let you know about our decision. Should we come down for you we would of course give you one to two days time to solve the problem regarding your part time job. For now we would put the other applicants on hold. Today is Tuesday could you start next Monday?”, he would like to know.

“Well as mentioned before I have to settle this with the daycare. But I’m sure I can give you an answer by tomorrow.”, I’m saying.

“Good, as we are urgently looking for somebody to fill this position as soon as possible we will decide tonight so that you can start to arrange things, should we decide on you. So then all the best!” he’s accompanying me to the door.

“They won’t take me anyway as clumsy, delayed and all sweaty I showed up there and under which criteria it would come to an engagement at all!”, I’m thinking to myself strolling through Shibuya’s metro station when my cell phone is ringing: “Hallo Pendzich San this is the Enzyme office. We would like to hire you…

Wow, pretty cool! What a cool job! But on the other hand… What about the kids at the daycare? They are really dear to my heart already also I don’t want to leave the forthcoming boss in a lurch. But actually lurching is something most Japanese people do every day after work anyway. So maybe they can adapt to this quite easily.

I don’t work at the daycare on Wednesdays but one should not ask the boss via phone, mail or text message to cancel a contract without the one month cancellation period after all. So I’m sallying to the daycare.

Arriving there I’m asking the boss for a confidential conversation. I’m explaining him my situation, that it wasn’t an easy decision for me but I’m asking him to annul the working contract without the cancellation period. As an additional bribery and apology I’m handing him a bottle of wine. So much for leaving him in the lurch. Well, I think this will make the lurching even stronger but what am I to do?

It’s plain to see that my boss Kuba San is not really thrilled that he now, after just one month, has to look for another teacher once again. With Japanese politeness Kuba San accepts my decision. I’m telling him that the linguistic testing agency offered me to avail myself of an interim period of two weeks. Kuba San asks me to work for these two weeks for him. “With pleasure!”, I’m agreeing, “and once again sorry.”

It seems I have to adopt to a new daily routine. I’m excited about what awaits me next week.

You traitor. You promised us to stay until March!

Good bye!

Special thanks to: Hubertus Neidhart from Webspace Provider Network for excellent web page hosting services; my boss Kuba San, Brandon Lamb, U.S.A.;

Continue reading »]]> That’s like taking candy from a baby

For everybody who does not know it: I’m a sugar addict. I need my sugar no matter if in liquid form like soft drinks or in solid form. Mostly those products then originate from companies like Haribo, Trolli, Milka, Ritter Sport or Ferrero.

As much as I have become fond of the food here, Japanese sweets/candies are horrible! I was brought up to eat the food you bought or ordered. A principle I am basically still following today. But what if that what you bought is simply unenjoyable? :-S It’s extremely rare that I throw away food. Rather I try to find somebody to whom I can give it as a present. However here in Japan my hosts can’t be taken into consideration for this as even they don’t like the taste of it.

tiny tots

I don't need to do exercises. I have children for that!

Okay, it is already my third week as an English teacher at the day care and I don’t want to keep you in suspense any longer about my job. The childrens’ ages range from five to eight years. I’ve already taught adult and adolescents but never young children and always wondered how that would be. Also I never taught in groups but mainly one on one private lessons. It is wonderful, a lot of fun and finally, finally I have found a job with people on the same intellectual level as myself. I’m just asking myself why I never chose such a job way earlier. Well, in Germany it’s actually more difficult to get such a job. To work at a Kindergarten you have to have received at least a three year training as childcare assistant or – to teach English and get paid by a state owned facility – you have to be an educated teacher which means you must have graduated from university. This would take too much of effort for me. So I’m enjoying the job here even more.

Sweets for the Sweeties

Oh, I remember something. I still have those terrible sweets/candies. Hm… I think poorly of following education method: but should I not succeed in sedating some children I would at least have something to punish them with.

these are the Kirari Kids

Oh man, this is going to be tough!

[Show as slideshow]

Special thanks to: Hubertus Neidhart from Webspace Provider Network for excellent web page hosting services; my boss Kuba San, Brandon Lamb, U.S.A.;

Continue reading »]]> Here comes the mouse!

Die Maus

Friday. My host Celine has no internet access at home which is why she is taking me to her university, Dokkyo university. There she hands me her wireless password and heads off for her lectures. It’s simply great. This is how I even get to know Japanese student live. Even though I can’t make out any major differences to western universities. As you’d expect from a university there are many lecturing halls, a huge library and of course the canteen. The food there is good. What puts me in a good mood is that the Dokkyo university uses “Die Maus” from the German children’s edutainment TV show “Sendung mit der Maus” as its mascot.

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley. Well, but I don't want to prevent him from his plan to study.

.

Schoolgirls visiting

Presented in Surround

I’m moving once again. This time to Bryan, an American host who had lived in Germany for some years and is – how else could it be – an English teacher. Since it is weekend once again it is my good fortune to get treated once again to a weekend trip to the mountains.

Mountains close to Tokyo

Together with Bryan’s friends I’m treated not only to delicious Japanese food once again, but also the best Japanese alcohol later that evening at a married couple with whom Brian is friends. But they are also equipped with a good range of western style alcoholics and I mix them some drinks. Well, I once worked at a disco…

Cozy Cocktails

Suddenly some kind of mobile phone sound breaks the chilled atmosphere. I’m asking myself if I’m this drunk already or if this is a damn good surround sound cell phone. I could swear I’m hearing the sound from at least three spots in the room. “Oh man, does it have to interrupt our nice conversation!?” two of Brandon’s friends are complaining and get their cell phones out of their pockets.
“What is it?” I’m asking.
“That’s the earthquake warning system”
“Everybody is quiet for ten seconds.
“Here it comes!” says Denise.
“And the room starts to tremble for about five seconds.

Never isolated!

It’s Monday evening I’m waiting at Kitaurawa to be picked up by my new host Andy. The Advent of couchsurfing to the Japanese population seems seems still to be in progress since I am mainly hosted by foreigners. And so this time. Andy gives me a warm welcome in a beautiful British accent. We are on our move to his house as we talk about hospitality and and how he ended up in Japan. Andy 45, a journalist specialising in the Japanese metal industry, comes from Portugal but grew up bilingual. He writes for a British magazine he tells me.

Poster wall of Andy's 16 year old daughter.

It is a nice 3 stories house. Minimum twice as big as the one I’ve stayed in at my host in Shibuya. Andy is married and has a 16 year old daughter. Even though the week has just started and there are no holidays, wife and daughter are not around: “My wife lives at the other side of Tokyo together with our daughter. She attends a kind of elite high school there. It would simply be too long of a commute every day, so my wife and me decided to rent a flat for both there. It is not common to live on your own in Japan when you are 16. It’s actually normal to live with your parents when you study at university. Sounds weird hm? No rioting.”

“Rioting?” I’m asking.

“Well, I mean a lot of things are so preordained. Few chances do develop your own life. I think this is what Japan misses a bit. A lot of things are overly organised. Which, in my opinion, leads to the fact that only a few people – too few -, form their own opinions or are really individual. Or let’s put it this way. Of course they have their own opinions, but they rarely express them and do even less to change certain grievances”

“Hm, this might be a reason why there are almost never demonstrations going on on the street. And if they happen at all they are not really big.” I’m thinking.

Andy is cooking a Moroccan dish for our dinner: “I came to Japan years ago where I found and married my wife. She is a trained biologist and held a well paid position at a company researching cancer back then. After a few years, we had decided to move to Portugal where I had a job which meant she had to give up her job here in Japan. Even if it was difficult for her in Portugal, she did actually very well in finding a job there. But after some years we realized we both didn’t belong there and decided to go back to Japan again.”

“May I ask about your wife’s job?”

“Sure, she’s a housewife. When we came back from Portugal she applied once again for research jobs but could not get any work. Only minor positions like an assistant job or being a secretary.”

“Was the branch in which she researched no longer lucrative, or what was the reason for it?”

His respond comes quickly almost with a little anger: ”No! Her ‘mistake’ was that she gave up her job to leave Japan! The Japanese people consider this to be not reliable. So when she came back nobody wanted to hire her based on this ‘argument’ that she could not longer be considered reliable. It does obviously not count how talented you are! This country has such a pool of wasted talent. You know, this is actually one of the few things that makes me furious about Japan! And after some years she simply couldn’t stand those kinds of jobs any more and this is how she ended up being a housewife.”

I’m bewildered.

Despite the fact that Andy is the only bread earner in the family, he still takes his time to host and cook for me and even for showing me around the next day.

As much as I like his house there is something about it – about Japanese houses in general – that drive me mad/crazy. The missing insulation. No matter how many windows, window shutters, curtains and doors you close you hear the street noise constantly. Of course it leads to the result that a huge amount of energy is being wasted. The walls have a width of maximum ten to 15 cm (6 inch). There’s no glass wool or polystyrene insulation in between preventing the hot air from the outside to funnel into the air-conditioned rooms. And it’s of course right the other way around in the winter time. They rather waste three or four times more energy than they need just because it’s not common at all to insulate houses here. Also the windows aren’t double-glazed. Neither the ones in the air-conditioned trains nor those in houses. My last host Ryan told me he heats his flat with a movable kerosene heater. All this in one of the richest countries of the world? How does this fit together?

To save energy the government recently tried once again to introduce the “Super cool business” including a casual dress code that aims to save energy by not having to use the air-condition to cool all the guys in their stuffy suits. Not only since 3/11 – but especially since then – Japan’s economy suffers. Like in most economic crises of the modern times, people don’t spend more money than necessary which leads into an economic vicious circle. To combat this Japan’s government introduced subsidies for household devices. Andy’s family made use of it. However, the fridge came from a Japanese company but was produced in China. So it did not really help the domestic economy. Instead of such measures, Japan would be well advised to facilitate the local construction industry – a branch which does not really export and is thus totally reliant on domestic demand. With this Japan could kill two birds with one stone. They could save a decuman amount of energy so that they wouldn’t need as many nuclear power plants as they have today. And it would be a blast for those sector of Japan’s economy that cannot rely on exporting their way out of trouble.

tombstone

The next day Andy shows me around in Omiya. Since he has a well equipped family household he provides me with a bicycle and we both cycle to Omiya’s main temple. We are on our way to it as Andy stops to show me a Buddhist churchyard. Beautiful, so far I haven’t had the chance to enter one and see the graves close up.

At the cemetery

Once again on our way to the temple. Only a few minutes later he is interrupting our trip once again to show me the newly built Saitama Shintoshin station and its city centre with it’s new built stadium. Yoko Ono’s John Lenon museum used to be in there as well. Well, this is Japan’s attempt of beautiful modern architecture. All those buildings are pretty new.

Omiya Metro station

Omiya's stadium

As Japan suffered a plethora of bomb attacks during the second world war this temple is unfortunately not as old as I was hoping for. But it’s nice anyway. In addition to that, I haven’t been to a place in my life where I’ve seen so many turtles at once in one pond!

Omiya's Tempel

turning turtles

Omiya's temple

Even on our way back we can’t make it in one go and have to stop off to do our dinner shopping. But I’m grateful for it because Andy is the first host who shows me that there are actually greengrocers that have bargain prices.

At some time in the morning the bell is ringing. A man in a blue overall wearing a building-site helmet is passing Andy a little, plastic packed towel as a present to apologize in advance for eventually occurring inconveniences which might happen within the next days as they are just about to begin to paint the neighbours’ house.

Hm, maybe I should try something like this when I’m back in Germany before having a party which might get a little louder and could also lead to disturbing the neighbours. Should some drunk people roar too loud, the neighbours would even have something to plug into their ears as tiny as this towel is. Hm… but on the other hand such a small towel fits quite well into the mouth of a roaring drunk. Hm… one shouldn’t give up on every new idea too quickly but on this idea, it’s maybe better to throw in the towel!

On Wednesday evening I’m moving once again. On my way to my next hosts I’m facing a new problem. All I can say about it is: “Don’t use Tokyo’s metro during the rush hour with two backpacks!”

Once again an American-Japanese couple. Dylan, 30 recently married his wife, 29. They both are preparing for leaving Japan and want to gain foothold in the U.S.A.

Oh, well …

Oh, did I forget to tell? This Thursday is my first working day at the day care. Yes, I took the job! But it does not mean that the job search is over yet, as this job is unfortunately not a full time position and I need to find at least two further jobs in order to finance my living here. Well, since one should not really measure its value based on just one day, I’ll wait a little until I think a little deeper about it. So I’m asking for some patience please….

Special thanks to: Hubertus Neidhart from Webspace Provider Network for excellent web page hosting services, my hosts and especially Andy for the text revision.

]]> http://www.cyclonara.eu/third-week/feed/ 0 http://www.cyclonara.eu/second-week/ http://www.cyclonara.eu/second-week/#comments Wed, 29 Jun 2011 06:19:24 +0000 admin http://pendzichpictures.eu/?p=88

Continue reading »]]> Woho, I’m an alien. I’m a legal alien I’m a German man in Japan…

To be honest I didn’t find a way to get my foreigner’s registration card without having a permanent address here in Japan. However Jim and Heath were nice enough to use their address to get myself registered. It is once again one of these situations in which I am asking myself how I am supposed to give all this back to the couchsurfing community? Because Jim and Heath asked me if I’d like to do it this way. I did not even ask for it.

It’s Friday, Friday, fun, fun, party, party…

I once again face the challenge of finding my new host’s station. After straying around again my desperate look must have caught the attention of a slightly drunk owner of a recycling company. He is just on his way back home from his work party and once again someone is not only explaining the way to me, but is also guiding me to the right station. However we end up at two wrong stations along the way. Well, this is not his fault. It’s the alcohol’s fault.

I need a Hiro!!!

Hiro is my new host. He works at Japan’s telephone network. I asked him to stay for two nights in his flat. But it will only be one. Why? Originally he wanted to go to an Onsen (hot springs) hotel together with a friend of his and stay there for a night. But since his friend had to call it off a new “victim” had to be found. And this “victim” is me. “It is okay, Simon, you are invited. Of course you don’t have to pay for the hotel!” Slowly Japan is becoming creepy to me. If it goes on this way I will be promoted to a Yakuza boss (Japanese Mafia) after all.

Actually I’m welcomed by Hiro like a Yakuza boss. In his Lexus limousine with integrated TV-Set he’s taking me to a restaurant and of course there’s no chance to pay for the bill by myself! I like the restaurant’s concept. Every table is equipped with a grill in its middle. And the buffet is loaded with bite-sized cuts of meat for everyone to take.

But all this is of course not enough for the Yakuza boss so I’m getting invited to the public bath. This is deeply rooted into Japanese culture. I think it can be compared to the Roman bath culture. The Japanese people enjoy their baths naked and separated by gender. Often it’s mothers with their daughters and fathers with their sons. But even if I didn’t bring my family with me I’m still being granted access :)

Hey, what is the girl doing here in our department? And she’s dressed that’s not fair! She works here. Wait a minute. That gives me an idea. Perhaps the baths here are also offering  jobs for males in the girls section. Hmm…

No matter where you look at you’ll see the man’s best unit everywhere. Many of us might have stumbled over the penis map that recently has been rife on the internet. I wonder how those who have compiled this map took their measurements. Did they really measure the size on about 1.000 People of all their countries each to get a representative result? How did Japan do once again?

Oh… I see. Hm, well yes… Well I didn’t take any measurements personally and really don’t have any interest in doing so here, but well according to sense of proportion I can at least confirm the result for this bath here. Well, … *giggle* I don’t really want to brag but … he he… Okay. I’m going to stop it right here. Because of all of those wonderful things that happened to me here so far I really haven’t earned the right to poke fun. As the saying goes: It’s not about size it’s about the technique. And here the Japanese people are far more advanced than we are. How if not because of this would Japan have made it to one of the largest industrial countries of the world? There! And even in the public baths Japanese people can’t wave the high tech. As there is one bath in which you sit down between two electric diodes. I wonder if this is supposed to be relaxing or something for masochists…

Sometimes it does not even have to be complex technique. It all starts over with such small things like lining up in a queue/line.

queueing with IQ / A line for the Metro line

It works at every platform, every escalator everywhere! Juvenile scrambling as we know it from our western countries is to be sought in vain here. And even in the metro Japanese people don’t have to prove constantly that they can shout the loudest in their cell phones – as many stupid/silly Germans do all the time. Making a phone call in the Metro is prohibited. Epic!

Saturday.

On our way to Kinugawa

Hiro and me packed the car. We’re heading off for Kinugawa to the Onsen hotel. It’s about 100 km (62 miles) north of Tokyo. Fukushima is only 165 km (102 miles) away from there.

During a short break Hiro shows me a 100 Yen shop which are very popular in Japan.

100 Yen Shop

Eyecandy

Our hotel rooms smell like hay. “That’s the Tatami mats on the floor”, Hiro explains to me. When entering the room I’m thinking to myself: “Well done but the guys forgot to put beds into the room.” After a little while Hiro tells me that the beds are being made while you are eating in the restaurant.

Hayhotel

Hotel with history

View from our room

mad mattresses

Fact! When coming back from the Restaurant, two mattresses like entities are lying on the Tatami floor. And this is how I’m spending the first night of my life in Japan in a hotel without a bed. A sacred duty of every hotel room: to have a water heater and of course different sorts of tea. Hiro is pouring me a cup. Hm… I don’t know how they did it but the tea tastes exactly like the floor smells like. Like hay :)

Cool Kimonos

Please don’t get me wrong here. I’m not complaining and don’t want to sound arrogant. I had the best weekend so far in Japan thanks to Hiro! It was simply awesome! Thank you Hiro! For everything!

Also very interesting are the signs on the way back. The in Japan omnipresent raccoon dog tanuki. Ohh how cuuute!

Tanuki

Umbrella savety requirement

And even the fact that umbrellas are required on the highway/motorway seems a bit strange to me.

How may I imagine that? Maybe like on the photo?

Pan Tau in Japan. Photo by Hiroyuki Ochiai

So that I can’t get lost in Tokoy’s metro system once again Hiro is taking me to my next host by car on Sunday straight to one of Saitama‘s outskirts, Kawagoe. Brandon, a 23 year old American who has already lived in Japan for two years and will return in November. He’s showing me very interesting videos he made about Japan. After a late meeting we have an impromptu dinner and it turns out that Hiro is not only a very kind person but also an adept cook.

Brandon also works as an English teacher. But he has no problems leaving his flat to me while he’s heading out for work on Monday. However I’m also heading off for the city soon as I have to register for my work and travel stay at Shibuya city hall to get my