Awkward moments 気まずい瞬間

Awkward moments. We all had our share of them and they won't stop coming anytime soon.

When I was in Japan, a combination of cultural differences, Japanese language deficiency and my not-so-refined (read: vulgar) nature have caused me to endure some of the most awkward situations ever. Below are some of the situations which I masterfully put myself into. Read on!

The thing I enjoyed most in the first homestay day:

During the first day of homestay, after a fairly eventful day, we were having lunch at some restaurant in Osaka. Homestay big sis came to the restaurant and joined us and after we left the restaurant, while walking outside, since I had a long day and we barely met, she asked me the million dollar question:

"what was the thing you enjoyed most today?"

At first I hesitated. Y'know, I met homestay dad's rich friend, ate a fancy homemade lunch and went to a lot of places, So, I paused and - it pains me to say - thought about it. Then after consideration, I dropped the bomb:

"The electric toilet."

..... You know, if I had said it on impulse, it would have been not half as bad, but I paused and I thought. I went to Kishiwada castle, Danjiri hall, a Japanese game center, met and got acquinted with a guy who owns 20 malls, a personal jetplane and God knows what else, ate lots of new delicious homemade Japanese dishes, ALL for the first time, and what did I tell homestay big sis? The damn electric toilet!!

How awkward can things get!!.. I mean, what if her parents hear this? what would they think?

But in my defense: It was the first time ever to enter an electric toilet and the one I entered had 'extra options'. You see, I saw all these buttons and I started testing them, and while I was testing them, I was smiling all the time as I imagined 'how will I tell my friends in Amman about this', and I was really amused by the volume-like control of water strength, but what really cracked me up was that there was a 'move' button, after I tried it I started laughing! But I didn't stop there. I wanted to see the thing that sprayed the water and so, I pressed the button while looking at the urinal and nothing happened. Then I noticed a sensor, and put my hand over it and pressed again. A small flat stick electrically expanded exactly like the stairs come out of the landed spaceships we saw in cartoons and started spraying water on me.

This was a very culturally shocking and amusing experience for me. So, while my answer was stupid and vulgar, I can't help but think that there was some truth in it, in terms of impact.

Annnyways, the very next morning, during breakfast, I waited for a moment when only I and big sis were on the table and quickly rolled out my apology and expressed my shame, and how my answer was incorrect and it was because of the culture shock. All the while she was saying 'daijoubu' and 'wakaru' (it's okay, I understand).

Too bad I didn't take a picture of the electric toilet.

My homestay family's son's husband!

I have this kind of mental bias in my mind, which I think a lot people also have but to a much lesser degree, that makes me group every two similar words or words that have something in common and interchange them by mistake, even though I fully know their meanings and the difference between them. A famous example of this is when people mix between left and right. The problem with me, is that sometimes I don't feel that I switched the words. For example, I would say 'left' and think that I said 'right' in my mind.

In the homestay photo-fest post, I recounted how I met my homestay family's son-in-law by accident in Nanba, and how he guided us to Dotonbori, where we met Mie-san and her Japanese friend, also by accident (all pictured in the post below).

At first I introduced Tomoya-san to my Egyptian and Yemeni friends and said "My homestay family's daughter's husband" and again when I met Mie-san and her friend "My homestay family's daughter's husband". Everything was fine until I was alone again with my fellows. They said "Samer, what's the problem with you? you said 'homestay family's son's husband twice, when you introduced him to us and then to Mie-san". Of-course, my white face immediately became red with embaressment. And they continued "Everytime you said, son, he would correct you and say daughter. At first it was okay, because we were all guys, but then with Mie-san and her friend, he got red faced and corrected you again 'daughter'. I didn't hear him when he corrected me at all.

A little explanation: Son in Japanese is 'musuko' 息子 and daughter is 'musume' 娘, but because musuko ends with 'ko' which means 'child' and because the same 'ko' also comes at the end of many, many Japanese female names (like 'Youko','Masako' and 'Mitsuko') I keep confusing musuko and musume, but after this episode I don't think I will ever confuse them ever again ever...

While we were going back to the Center in Rinku town, my fellows kept mocking me about this and how its a very basic mistake and I, in turn, was boiling inside and outside, angry at how simple my mistake is even though i started learning Japanese 4 years ago, angry at how I might have looked stupid while repeatedly saying 'Son's husband, son's husband'. I think I really overreacted...

Kanji Master

Okay, this is a milder story than the ones above, but it is still awkward nonetheless.

I was in Kansai airport, in my last moments in Japan and I was buying last moment snacks and souviners in order to shut the mouths of a handful of my friends and colleagues. So, I was doing the routine check on one of the chips snacks in a shop, before buying it and I was rotating the cyclindrical container as I checked the ingredients for the "two no-noes". Two clerks were staring at me eyes wide open and then one of the let out "SUGOI, zenbu yomemasuka" (You can read everything? AWESOME!).

"Iya, Iya" I said while I automatically raised my hand and made a peace or victory sign (depending on where you live) with my fingers and assumed a humble look in my face "fututsu no kanji dake o sagashiteimasu, buta to sake ga dame desu kara" (No, no, I'm only searching for two characters, I can't eat pork or alcohol). "Aaa" they said in unison and one of them offered to help. I gave her two cans (different flavours) and she said one had pork and the other was okay. After I left the shop, I thought "I wish". I wish I could read them all; maybe in 5 years time..


That's all. Darn, I feel awkard after all these awkward stories. Please, try not to post awkward comments. I've had enough awkwarding!!

Oh oh!! I almost forgot!!...

Unintended impoliteness at the Aikidou lesson

As part of the program, we had cultural experience lessons and I chose Aikidou and Ikebana (flower arrangement) because I had a lot of Shodou (Calligraphy) lessons in Jordan and I don't like Tea ceremony (sorry K-s!).

During the Aikidou lesson, one of the exercises involved one of the Aikidou team members sitting low and waving a stick from left to right slightly above the group and we had to run through without getting hit by the stick and we should touch the man's shoulder. The member doing this was a fairly old ojiisan with a bald head and grey hair. I watched the line before me as a participant ran, leaped and tapped his shoulder, then the next participant ran, leaped and tapped his shoulder and so on, until my turn came:

I ran, I leaped and I tapped his... HEAD!!!!!

How embarressing! Everybody who watched laughed and another member of the Aikidou team, realizing that I'm one of those boorish foriegners, came to me and said (paraphrase) 'shitsurei deshita, ayamari shita hou ga ii desu yo' (you did something impolite, you should probobly apologize). And then I realized my folly and kept apologizing to him in 5 minute intervals until the lesson ended. Actually, I still think it's not enough; allow me to apologize one more time: "ごめんなさい!　許してくださいお願いします"

Mr. Jordan

One of the Vietnamese participantes (there were two) kept insistently calling me Joudan-san (Mr. Jordan). Joudan is 'Jordan' pronounced with Japanese syllables, but it actually does not mean Jordan; Jordan is 'yorudan' in Japanese. But she kept saying it, Joudan-san, Joudan-san. Anybody who's beyond toe-deep in Japanese knows why this is awkward for me. So, everytime she said Joudan-san, I tried to correct her 'Yorudan, Yorudan desu'. But she insisted 'Joudan no hou ga oboeyasui!' (It's easier to remember Joudan).

So, during the Ikebana lesson she came and sat beside me and said it again for what seemed like the 100th time, so I said:　「冗談じゃなくて、ヨルダンです!」 (it's not Joudan, it's Jordan) and everybody around us started laughing.

To clarify for those who don't get it, 'Joudan' in Japanese means Joke. So I was telling her something like "It's not a joke, it's Jordan" or "It's Jordan, no joking!"


Alright, that's about enough, I'll stop before I remember any more awkward stories..

The beautiful scenery of Japan - 美しき日本景色

Salam everybody,

Ramadan has departed, the Eid is over, the Ma'mul is all gone and it's been one month since I returned from Japan. In other words, everything is back to normal.

But not quite yet; I still feel that my mind is travelling in Japan. I'm still thinking over the things I saw and did, sometimes with a smile, sometimes with a frown. After a wholesome meal, your body takes time to digest the food, much longer than the time it took to eat the meal. Likewise, I'm still digesting my experiences in Japan, one month later.

Anyways, enough sentimental talk and on to the post. I have a lot of ideas for interesting posts and don't know where to start, should I post about the Hiroshima peace memorial park? One free day in Tokyo? Food? Friends? Being a Muslim in Japan? Lots of things to talk about! So in the end, I figured, let me start by what the people want to see: pictures and more pictures.

This time it will be about the beautiful scenery of Japan. Lots of beauty, lots of pictures...

Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion Temple), Kyoto

Yes, I was there. Yes, I took this picture.
Yes, you can use it as a wallpaper.


The golden pavillion temple..

Koi (Japanese Carp).

Koi are pretty popular in Japan. One reason is that they have nice colours and patterns on them (ahem, like the one in the picture above) and another reason is that Koi also means 'love'. There are also those long, snake-like fish in the lake surrounding Kinkakuji. They are of a dark colour, so I couldn't take a good picture of them. Maybe you can see them in this picture (I can't).

This is a stone lantern. You will find a lot of them in Japan as they're a basic ingredient of Japanese gardens.

you will also find a lot of them in this blog.

Kiyomizudera, Kyoto

This is the main gate to Kiyomizu-dera. It looks out of proportion with it's huge top, but this only adds to its majesty.

They speak the truth.
Kyoto must be busy with visitors now as it is the 'kouyou' (autumn leaves) season.

This is just under the roof of one of the buildings. Notice that there is nothing holding the wooden beams together; no nails or adhesives. This is traditional Japanese architecture; beams are held together by snapping or locking them together.

Look at the fixtures under the roof. Very strange, almost evil colours.

All this time, I thought dragons breathed fire...
This must be the coolest water fountain ever concieved.

hmmm, cave = curiousity.

This explains the 'mizu' part of the name..


Apparently this is one tree...

In temples and shrines, you will find a lot of standalone gates called Toriis. This is one small and slim torii. Don't worry, in a moment you'll see a huge one.

Miyajima

On the way to Miyajima..

Now that's one huge Torii

This is the laziest pose I have ever seen.
Someone should find work for those deers.

It's nice to have animals around you for a change. In Jordan, birds and cats always run away (or fly away) from you (unless you have food with you). The stone lantern included in this picture was unintentional, I swear.

Back in Osaka..

This is taken from Osaka castle.
Notice how the reflections on the building are continuous with the scenery behind it, making it appear transparent.

Soredewa, See you next post!

More posts after the break, just you wait! イードの後、続ける！

It was especially a PAIN when it interrupted a movie/song I was watching/listening to.

Salam friends,

Since I started blogging about my trip and until the last entry, I posted every few days. But since then things slowed down and I will also not be posting in the next two weeks. As you may know, we're in Ramadan. Now, we're also in the last ten days of Ramadan. So, between work and getting the most out of the beloved month before it ends, I can't find time to update with photos or stories.

Special treatment for a special month.

I still have lots of interesting photos and stories up my sleeve, so look forward to more posts after Eid Al-Fitr ends (after around two weeks).

dewa, mata ne!

Japanese children 日本のお子供さん

I love children and I get along with them very well. Everybody who knows me well knows this much. But Japanese children are different, because they are.. well, different!! So, while in Japan I took pictures of my little friends and with my little friends.

In the home stay post you already saw pictures of Mao-chan and Shoutarou-kun. Here's another picture of Mao holding the picture book I bought her and wishing for peace, like all Japanese people in almost every picture..

She's got style, doesn't she?

In the first real day of the program after orientation day we went to Nanba in Osaka and rode the train for the first time. While there a mother and her two kids enter the train and stand in front of me. The mom looked nice so I asked her for permission to take pictures of her children (In Japanese, I swear) ...

That little devil in the green shirt looks cool!

I try to take another shot and he glues himself to his mom, then pulled her hands and tried to hide behind them, but I caught the culprit at the right moment..

Kakkoi na~, omae!

In the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, I found a group of students in a school trip, so I took a picture of them and then they noticed me and started flocking towards me and posing and saying 'san kyuu, san kyuu, san kyuu' (Thank you). Great, I started a scene in the Peace memorial museum, a very grim place. Other program participants started taking pictures and the students -and their 'san kyuu's- kept increasing. I don't know how old they are, but obviously they have passed the 'cute' age and are well into the 'annoying' age. Someone has to teach them a thing or two about smiling though...

Cheezu! Peesu! SMILE!!

And now, the stars of the show! This was in the last day of the program, duing the farewell party. I tried to avoid the adults who were drinking (and drinking) and look who I found!

Sticking her tongue out in shyness. Gotta love the hairdo

There was another little girl beside our starlet but she was shy and didn't want to take a picture. So, to 'break the ice' I walked to her asked 'what's your name?' she said something incomprehensible. Again, 'what's your name?', incomprehensible. I give up. 'Let's take a picture' Nod! Easy!...

Lovely expressions..

Look at me; I keep smiling as I have no idea what's going on.

That's all I got, I didn't see much children and sometimes I didn't have the courage to ask their parents permission for a picture.

During home stay, home stay mom noticed that I got along with Mao and Shouta and she told dad 'there's a sense of attachement, because Samer speaks Japanese'. It was a new word for me in Japanese.. shinkinkan.. I tried to guess the kanjis to understand it.. 親切のしん、最近のきん、感... 親近感. 単語ゲット! ：D

See you next post.

日本で一番好きな場所 - My favourite place in Japan

駅を出た後、初めての写真

どこの印だろう？？

さて、

日本で一番好きな場所は...山と...

海の間の...

アンマンのように、坂道いっぱいの...

雰囲気の良い町です。

皆さん、もう分かりましたか。

まだ分からない人、問題がありますから。

「そやそやそや！神戸！神戸やで!」　

景色が美しいし、雰囲気がいいし、天気が快適だし、神戸は気に入りました。大阪に住んでいる、神戸大学で勉強している友達は神戸へ連れて行ってくれました。もとは、日本で最古のモスクへ行きたかったですが、その前、神戸モスクの近くのレストランで食べようと、おなかがすいたみんな、そう思いました。レストランの中で、楽しくて、時間のたつのも忘れてしまいました。時間に気付くと、早く最後の電車に乗るため、急ぎました。

日本に、二つの所があります。一つは私がどんなに写真が得意か表す所です。もう一つは、私がどんなに写真が苦手か表す所です。残念ですが、神戸は後者の一つでした。

それでは、今度の日本語のポストまでまたね！

＊これは初めての日本語のポストでしたから、間違いがあるはずです。気付いたら、間違いを指してください

Round 1: Home stay photo-fest

Greetings,

Here is the first wave of photographs, all taken during home stay or with the home stay family.

My home stay family lives in Kishiwada, Osaka. Dad is a business man, who works in trading textiles among other things (mainly ornaments) and mom is a hard working housewife. They have one son (Shosaku) and two daughters (Tomoko and Hiroko). They also have three grandchildren: Mao (7 years), Shoutarou (5 years, not quite sure) and Takuto (1 year), who just started walking recently.

When I first met them at the center, I was treated to the unexpected. This dark skinned guy with an earing on his left ear comes and embraces me! (My feeling at that moment can be summarized as follows: ほほっ!) Mom was also there and told me to call her just 'mama'. The family is much richer than your average Japanese family as they live in a 4 floors house (the last floor is equipped with a theater covering one of the walls).

Anyway, lets get to the photos!

First thing I was treated to was a fancy, fancy lunch. Tamagoyaki, sushi, yakisakana, nasubi no goma-ae and oden.

Let's pause a little bit here. This lunch was not just for yours truly, as dad's rich, rich German friend was in Osaka and he was invited too. He told me that his rich, rich friend had just recently bought a personal jet plane for 80,000,000,000 (8 hyaku oku) yen (don't bother counting the zeros). And when we picked him and his Japanese wife we kept talking and talking in English and he kept asking me questions about the Middle East and what's in my opinion the problem there and how to solve it and so on and so forth. I began to wonder when will I speak Japanese today.

So in the end, the guy liked me and asked for my contact information and although I bought 50 business cards with me to Japan, I had none on me (Duh!). He then gives me his business card which has the logo 'Turk Mall', I look at him and say 'Ah, a mall!'. He smiles and says '20 malls'.

Just great!

Next, the first excursion in Kishiwada

Following my family to Kishiwada castle. Fancy isn't it?

This is inside the kishiwada danjiri hall. Some intricate wood work used on the danjiri cart which is hollered around the city in the danjiri matsuri.

Let's pause again here. The Kishiwada danjiri matsuri is one of the most famous matsuris in Japan (Top 3 according to dad). It is well known because of the high speed and energy compared to other danjiri matsuris. I think, 200 guys pull or ride on the danjiri cart and pull it with big ropes around the city. It's a feat that requires a lot of strength, timing and coordination.

When the family knew that I'm into game design they took me to a game center and look what I found there...

People betting on a virtual horse race. I am still stupified by this..

More food. This time it's Ikayaki (squid) and the Japanese pizza thing which I forgot the name for.

Mom and Dad

Big sis (Tomoko) and niece (Mao)

In Dotonbori Osaka, a very famous and very crowded area.

Inside the Gokurakushoutengai.

My family was kind enough to take me to Gokurakushoutengai, which is a place that looks exactly like Osaka in the Showa period (1926 - 1989).

Notice that horizontal writing was - like Arabic - from right to left..

In Jordan, we got Coca Cola long after the Showa period was over.

Amusement the old fashioned way.

Next up is Houzenji, where you'll find a shinto shrine for cooking and a restaurant supplies/cookingware market.

Here, people come to pray to become better cooks, faster. The plant statue, flowers and water flow sounds give the place a serene feeling.

In Houzenji, we had lunch in an old restaurant..

Shouta getting ready for the..

ladies and gentlemen, omuraisu! (omelette rice)

In the market

Shouta and Mao with Takoyaki-chan. In Japan, there's a -chan version of everything.

Don't ask me. I just found this amusing!

Before returning home, we went to Tsutaya and suddenly while there, mama decides that she wants a Wii. They buy it with three games and extra controllers, unpack it at home and start playing. Simple! compared to me, who was following the Wii 2 years in the news before it was even released. It was my first time to touch and try playing Wii, by the way.

Mao-san and her mom playing Wii Tennis

Finally, what better way to end the day than with Kappazushi?

Something looks suspicious!...

Hamburger sushi! Beef instead of fish and Mayonnaise instead of Wasabi!

Leave it to the Japanese to commit such crimes in the name of innovation. If you've been following Tymoor-sensei's blog, you already know about the Tuna-mayo-nigiri and the Ice cucumber Pepsi..

The thing that drives me madder is that sometimes it actually works. I tried Tuna-mayo-nigiri and it was good. But still I have the 'chigau! CHIGAU!' ('That's not right!') feeling inside me whenever I see rice with mayonnaise.

Shouta-kun and Mao-chan with their mom, Tomona-san.

Kappazushi marks the end of homestay, but not quite yet..

One day, I was going to Namba with my Egyptian and Yemeni fellas and just when I slid the ticket in Namba station I accidentally met Tomoya, Hiroko's husband (Did you notice how many Tomo's there are in this family?). I had only met him and Hiroko for 10 minutes in the morning of the second home stay day. He was returning from work and was kind enough to take us to Dotonbori (where he has an accessories shop). There, accidentally also, we met with Mie-san, a program participant from Brazil (she is of Japanese origin, a nikeijin).

Two accidental encounters and a group photo.

When dad took me back to the Center after kappazushi, Mao-chan fell asleep in the car and I couldn't tell her a proper good bye. Tomoya-san told me that when she woke up, she cried. Aww! I was gonna meet the homestay family again in the last day, so I sent dad an e-mail telling him to bring along Mao-chan to give her a suitable farewell.

In the last day, dad and mom picked up Mao-chan from school before the school day was over and they took me to have lunch in Rinku-tower, the tallest building in Rinku-town (where the Japan Foundation Center is located) . Mao-chan gave me a letter and I gave her a picture book!

The view from Rinku tower, the tallest building around.

Osaka from above.

After an open buffet lunch where most of the food had pork or alcohol (i.e. i barely ate anything) and some nice conversations we returned to the center for the last time.

I think this answers the question: Who's your daddy?!

With mom and Mao (doing a cat pose).

That was the home stay related part. I feel regretful because I didn't take as much pictures as I wanted. If I had time I would have taken more pictures of the house and of Hiroko-san and her little Takuto, and of my room and the electric toilet.. Ah, zannen da na~!

But this is not the last time I will meet the home stay family, I believe. Dad comes to Greece and Turkey around 4 times a year and he and mom sounded serious when they told me that they will visit Jordan next time. They told me that every time I tried (and failed) to pay for the food and tickets. I actually brought with me a Japanese book about Jordan and they showed great interest in it.