My Canada Day 2008

I've realized how proud I am to be Canadian; to be from this country that I have never appreciated like I should. This Canada Day, I was fortunate to be able to celebrate with many people who appreciate Canada, and some of the people that make our country so awesome.

I was invited to a Canada Day dinner, put on by the Kansai Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Takemori-San and I were invited as guests of Peter MacArthur, Senior Trade Commissioner to Japan. I assumed that the invitation was a standard, "So-and-so invites you to such-and-such...", so I was a bit surprised (but delighted) when Mr. MacArthur not only met us at the door, but spent the majority of his evening engaging us in conversation, inviting us to enjoy the delicious meal, and introducting us to various people.

The dinner itself (and dessert, for that matter!) was delicious. Amazing food, both in taste and presentation. There was a wide variety of salads - pasta salads, lettuce salads, fruit salads, seafood salads. Infinite meat and seafood dishes - prawns, roast beef, chicken. Potatoes, roasted vegetables, buns, bread. Dessert was pies and cheesecake and fruit salad and miniature fruity brownies. There was red wine, white wine, and the most delicious Ice Wine. I'm not sure I've had Ice Wine before - or if I have, it wasn't that great because I don't remember! But this Ice Wine was wonderful.

The evening began with introductory comments by the MC's; Carlos Ramirez (Kansai Governor Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan) and Yumiko Nagoshi (Assistant Manager, International Division, Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry). Remarks followed by Mr. Joseph Caron (Canadian Ambassador to Japan), Mr. Ryuichiro Yamazaki (Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Osaka Office), and Mr. Iwao Takai (President, The Canada Japan Society of the Kansai) - followed by a toast by Ms. Patricia Bader-Johnston (President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan). The majority of the speeches were made in both Japanese and English (with the speakers translating themselves), but Mr. Takai began his speech with Canada Day congratulations in French! His few words in French elicted smiles and laughs from everyone, and I was impressed both by his small bit of French, and my ability to understand it! (I studied French for 6 years, but haven't used it for 3!)


Myself, Mr. MacArthur, & Takemori-San

I hadn't realized that Canadians were so active in Japan or specifically in the Kansai region! I learned that there are just over 2000 Canadians living in the Kansai region - I never would have guessed that there were so many. There is much business and interaction between the Kansai region and Canada, and there are great relationship and plans in place to build on it. (I also learned that unfortunately, due to fuel costs, Air Canada will be cancelling it's Vancouver-Osaka route.)

Near the end of the evening, there were several draw prizes up to be won. To my surprise, as I was being introduced to Ambassador Caron, my name was called! I won some 100% Organic Maple Syrup. Let me tell you - I will never buy any other form of syrup again. I was planning on giving it to Takemori-San, as he had mentioned earlier how happy his wife would be if he won some - but he won some as well! After the majority of the prizes, there was one left - a BBQ set; complete with a BBQ, gas, lawn chairs, torches, cup coolers, a big blue and white cooler, and some other things. I said to Takemori-San, "Wouldn't it be cool if you won it?" And he just laughed. Guess what. Yep, he won it. The look on his face was priceless.

I was fortunate enough to meet many important and influential people that evening - all of whom were very kind, friendly, and interesting! Aside from Mr. MacArthur, to whom I was privileged to spend a large part of the evening talking to, I also met (among others): Ambassador Caron, Ms. Bader-Johnston, and Mr. Allan Edwards (Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner). Mr. Edwards was a delight to talk to - he was very animated and excited; extremely charismatic! He was from Cranbrook (I worked near Cranbrook last year) and has visited Kelowna; so we found a few points in common. I found myself wishing I had gotten more time to speak with him - I'm sure he has many interesting stories and would be an infinite source of knowledge of many things. He did poke fun at the Kelowna Rockets, but as I left, he called it a tie between the Kooteney Ice and the Rockets. Ambassador Caron was friendly as well, and interested in the coop program and strengthening ties between Canada and Kansai businesses, such as Osaka Gas. He was a pleasure to talk to, although I missed a bit of the conversation in picking up my Maple Syrup prize!


Myself, Takemori-San, and Ambassador Caron

Ms. Bader-Johnston was also wonderful to talk to - we discussed school, Engineering, and the coop program. Her niece is in Chemical Engineering and just started working; between these topics and Japan, we had a lovely conversation. She was quick to tell me that if I ever needed a place to stay in Tokyo, I should let her know! I would have loved to have a chance to speak with her more, as well, and I hope to meet her again one day! Amidst playing host, Mr. MacArthur was also very interesting to talk to, and a big supporter of the coop program. It was neat to hear his perspective and to find him so supportive of the program; I also learned that they are very interested in expanding and increasing the program and it's scope - which I think is great! He also won a prize - the grand price: an iPod Touch! However, he was deep in conversation when they called his name, and it took a few moments of several people yelling his name across the room to get him to claim his prize. He told me afterwards that he thought he had won some CDs, before realizing what it was! He was a wonderful host, and I was glad to meet him, as well as appreciative of the introductions and conversation.


Myself, Mr. Edwards, & Takemori-San

The night was a lot of fun, and it was encouraging to see the connections between Kansai and Japan, and become more aware of how important they are to each other, and how many people are supporting and building on that! It was a pleasure to meet so many people; both Canadians and Japanese. It also encouraged me to find out more about Canada and the role we play in world economics, and the role other countries play in our economy! They say that the more you learn, the less you know - - I can't agree more!

Canada Day 2008 was a success - and a great memory. :)

I Am Canadian!

Happy Canada Day! I've always appreciated Canada Day for the holiday and the chance to hang out with friends, watch some fireworks, and have some fun! This year, I really appreciate Canada Day as a celebration of Canada - because, let's be honest...I miss it! Being in Japan, I've come to appreciate Canada and Canadian ways and things a lot more. I'll never view Canada Day the same way - I wish I was back home to celebrate, but instead I'll celebrate here (I've been invited to a Canada Day Dinner put on by the Kansai Chamber of Commerce). Here's just a few things I miss!

25 Things I Miss About Canada:

1. Family & Friends
2. Whole wheat flour
3. Shoes that fit
4. Being able to read packages in the grocery store
5. Seeing Canadian flags
6. Tubs of ice cream
7. Chewy / Gummy candies
8. Cars driving on the right side of the road
9. My bike (dorm bikes...not so cool)
10. Living in a house
11. My big Disneyland mug
12. Oatmeal packages larger than a postit note (okay slight exaggeration - but only slight)
13. Flying across the water on our boat
14. Wakeboarding
15. Freshwater lakes
16. Low humidity
17. Access to (an English) library
18. Magazine subscription capabilities
19. Windows XP in English
20. Coffee shops with wireless internet and comfy chairs
21. My kitchen tools/utensils/pots/pans/etc
22. The ability to get home at any time of night via bus (in Vancouver, at least)
23. My car & driving.
24. Green space in the city.
25. A normal oven.

I'm sure I could come up with many more things...but I'd like to hear some of your favorite things about Canada! Especially if you've travelled to another country...when you returned to Canada, what did you appreciate more than ever!?

PS - This is for my American readers, too! Is there anything you appreciate about Canada?

February 3rd

Today was a bit of a personal rollercoaster – I’m not sure why today was different, as opposed to any other day. I got up early (for a Sunday!) and went to Osaka International Church (OIC). I went to a Bible Study and then the Church service. The Bible Study was lead by a lady named Georgia and there were five other women. Georgia and her friend Beth (50’s ish) have been teaching at girl’s school’s in Japan for over 30 years! They were both American. There was another lady named Rosemary who was also American, and two Japanese women. There was also a girl named Shauna who I think was a bit younger than me. She’s Japanese American. The study was in English, but I think they all knew fluent Japanese except me. The church service was in English with Japanese translation available on a headset. Everyone was very friendly and I sat with Shauna – she introduced me to several people. A guy named Billy introduced himself to me – he was very funny and very chatty! He reminded me of the lady on The Incredibles – the one who makes the costumes for the Incredible Family. As a matter of fact, he was almost exactly like her – I think it’s possible that her character was modeled from him. He was a little short, had glasses just like her, and sounded exactly like her! He talked a lot and fast, and was a little bit difficult to understand, but mostly I was able to catch what he was saying. When I say he sounded exactly like her, though, I’m not exaggerating at all. Watch the movie. I also met a couple guys who have been in Japan for several years but are Filipino. Them, me, and Billy had a long and varied conversation about engineering and related things. People typically ask ‘What are you doing in Japan – teaching?’ because most North Americans come over and teach English. When I tell them that I am an intern, they seem surprised and impressed. When they ask if it’s in teaching or nursing or something, and I tell them I’m a Mechanical Engineering student, they almost always widen their eyes and take a little jump or step back, and make some comment about how I must be a smart woman. Then they proceed to ask about the lack of women in Engineering. It’s kind of funny – I know I’m in a respected field and am a minority in the field at that, but I always have to laugh at people’s reactions. Being in Church, hearing familiar songs, and feeling the warmth and camaraderie around me made me really homesick, though. To be honest, I’m not really a ‘cry-y’ person. I don’t really cry much. But since I’ve got to Japan, there’s definitely been more of that. I was close to tears several times today and was feeling extra homesick and lonely. After Church I hung around for some snacks and conversation, then took off to run some errands. I got to call home again, which was nice, then I went to get a gym pass at Cospa. That, it turns out, was quite the ordeal! Fortunately for me, most Japanese phones have Japanese-English dictionaries in them. The poor guy at Cospa (who was very patient, friendly, and helpful) spent two hours going through the application, rules, etc with me. He used his phone a lot, and pictures helped a lot. He didn’t seem particularly tortured by the task of helping me – we both laughed a lot throughout it – but I still felt sorry for him. Turns out that because I work for Osaka Gas (major company in Japan and the Osaka area), I actually get a better membership for cheaper! I was planning on getting a Monday-Friday evenings membership for 7350 Yen/month, but I actually get an any-day-any-time-any-class membership worth 9450 for 6300! I was pretty happy with that. I can’t wait to start getting regular exercise again. If I can figure out how to translate the class schedule, I may join some kind of class, too, it looks like they have quite the variety. After subjecting that poor guy to two hours of trying to speak English, I went to get some dinner. All in all, my day was successful – I went to Church, met some new people, and got a gym pass. I’m feeling a bit better as I write this, but am still quite homesick and kind of lonely. Lonely is a new thing for me – I am usually quite busy and generally in the company of at least one person, if not with a group of friends. I get internet on Friday and can’t wait! It will be great to be able to connect with everyone at home easier. I know this is a long post, but just quickly! I’d like to thank everyone again for reading my blog and sending the emails and notes of encouragement that you do. I rely on it a lot, and thoroughly enjoy and appreciate each one!

January 24th

I saw another white person today. 3, actually! That makes 5, so far. I saw the first white person earlier this week. It shocked me, then I thought…”No…I must have seen a white person since I got here.” But I realized I hadn’t. Mid-week I saw one more, and today I saw three. I think it was because I was in Kyoto, though, which is more tourist-y. 5 white people in two weeks. Now you understand why I feel out of place. Actually, the only people who stare at me are occasional small children. I’m not actually that different looking, other than not being Asian. I went to Kyoto today with Takemori-San to see the chemical heat pump that is one of my projects, sort of – I’m ‘providing assistance’ to other members of the team. We took a train, and it was a 30 minute trip for 540 Yen – about $5. I had to pay. I think that if I’m going somewhere for work, with work, they should pay! But I’m in Japan, and I don’t know how these things work, so I figure that if they were going to pay, he would have paid! We went to Kyoto University, which was neat. It’s not so different than UBC…it has old and sketchy engineering buildings, a clock tower, and a big fancy entrance to the library. We got there at around 2:30 and stayed until 6:00. They were chattering in Japanese the whole time, and I was staring at the system trying to figure out how it works. Thermodynamics is not exactly my strongest subject. It was in a graduate lab which wasn’t heated, and the door was wide open. On the bright side, I did get to watch the large snowflakes fall for part of the time, and it made me miss snow. Tomorrow is my presentation, and I should be practicing right now, but I’m practiced out.
I had an up and down day today…partially excited that I’m in Japan, and partially super homesick again. The homesickness is always there, but some days it’s harder to deal with. Fortunately – this weekend I may get some friends! I’m meeting up with JP (another coop student in Osaka) on Saturday morning. It sounds like the group of Co-ops in the area aren’t exactly the ambitious and planning type. I’m going to meet JP at the train station near his apartment and hang out there and use the internet for a while. I’m excited!!! I’ll get to post all these blogs, email people back, and check my Facebook. I can check email at work, but use it minimally – I think I have 30 or so Facebook emails to deal with. Yay – somebodies love me! :)
I found out today that miso soup and rice are part of every meal in Japan. Yes, every meal. I make my own breakfasts, so today I asked what a ‘Japanese breakfast’ would be. Guess what. Yep – it includes rice and miso soup. Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper all include a bowl of rice and a bowl of miso soup. Interesting…I told my friends at work that to eat the same thing, every day, three times a day – in Canada, this would be very strange. I also had a heckuva time trying to explain oatmeal to them. The closest things we came up with were cornflakes and flour. I printed a picture later to show them tomorrow. It’s weird to think someone doesn’t know what oatmeal is.
Osaka is a large city, and I’m not sure what the rest of Japan is like, but don’t think I could live here long term. It’s not the big-city-ness, I love Vancouver. I realized today, watching fields fly by between Osaka and Kyoto, that within Osaka, itself, green space is rare. Vancouver has lots of parks and trees and green areas. Osaka doesn’t, at least not that I’ve seen. It does, however, along with the Pachinko & Slot and vending machines, have hair salons around every corner. Everywhere. The Japanese must love their hair!
I’m going to bed early – I got caught up studying last night and went to bed late…I hate being tired in the mornings. Goodnight – I miss Kelowna and Vancouver and Sparwood and Canada and my stuff and my bed and my friends and my other friends and my family and English signs and English food and cheese and Swedish Berries and Smarties and hugs. Especially hugs. Especially hugs.

January 15th

I have discovered that it is entirely possible to think and feel two completely different things in the same moment.
1) “What have I got myself into!?” accompanied by the desire to either curl up in a dark corner and cry, or jump on the nearest and soonest plane to something – anything – familiar.
2) The notion of how much I have accomplished so far and a fierce sense of determination to not only survive the next 7 months, but impress the socks off my boss and learn enough Japanese to conduct myself in a normal conversation.
My day today was filled with the sensation of containing both these mindsets in my head.
…
The most frustrating thing I’ve found so far is the inability to communicate. I like to talk. I like to be a part of the action that’s taking place around me. However - it has also hit me how important being able to communicate with words, or very few words, is. I am slowly (half-life of chromium slowly) learning Japanese, but I do my best to use the few words that I have. Hand motions and pictures are also infinitely useful. I think that the ability to communicate so easily is something we often take for granted – I know I do, at least. I never realized how essential and desirable it is.
…
I successfully used the train by myself to meet my boss at Yao station, this morning. We travelled from there to register me as an alien (yes, I am green and I will definitely suck your brains out and cattle prod you), and open a bank account (yay!). I get a pretty green ATM card that I can use at any ATM in the country, for free (take note, Canada - free). Next we travelled to Sumitomo Precision Products. Fortunately, I had worn business-wear because it was my first day at work, but nobody told me that I would be in a lunch business meeting and meet some important people! I met the Manager and General Manager of Sumitomo, two students working with them, and the President of Functional Fluids (FF). We had lunch (my first official Japanese lunch), for which I took all the clues on how to eat politely I could get from everyone else. Surprisingly, there were only one or two things that I didn’t quite like, but nothing that made me want to gag. There was a leg of something with many suction cups on it (all about a half to one centimeter in diameter), which took an interesting trip around my mouth. All in all, everything was ‘oishii’ (delicious). Then we proceeded to a small project room and I got to help build the graphite trays for a heat exchanger. I ended up cutting wire lengths for the two students and trying to use my minimal Japanese to communicate. The President of FF spoke some English and she was very nice to me. Then we got a tour of the plant and factory at Sumitomo. I was beyond impressed! Sumitomo makes a variety of products from landing gear for airplanes (F-2 support fighter, T-4 trainer, etc), propellers (eg. P-3C anti-submarine patrol plane, etc), a variety of other heat-related systems for aircrafts; heat exchangers used around the world (eg. Shinkansen (bullet trains) cooling systems); ozone generators; semiconductors; motion sensors – this includes 3-axis accelerometers and vibrating structure gyroscopes, used in projects such as anti-lock braking systems, mobile dish antennas, bipedal robots, radio-controlled helicopters, and those little electronic puppies that you can buy for your children. It was quite amazing to see some of the parts being put together and how they progressed throughout the factory. I believe I managed to make it through the afternoon without being rude or making a fool of myself. Then we went to Osaka Gas – where I will be working. I was introduced to many people and was able to use my carefully practiced Japanese introduction. I also noticed something very neat and kind of amusing about the Japanese people. You bow a lot – when you say hello, goodbye, sorry, thank you, etc. If I bow, they bowed. And if I bowed again (trying to be super polite), they bowed again. I caught myself wondering how many times they would bow if I kept bowing. Bad Stephanie. They were all very nice and friendly, though. I got my work uniform which consists of pants and a jacket, and some nice new safety shoes. I get a desk and a computer and for the last hour or so used it to start learning about heat pumps, heat exchangers, and write down the Laws of Thermodynamics (heaven forbid, I have forgotten. But I will be needing them, so I thought it best to brush up on them). I stayed a little late because Takemori-san was still working and I had no idea how to get home from where we were. At 6:30 we left and took a shuttle to the train station. Takemori-san rode 2 trains with me then gave me instructions on how to get home. I left praying I wouldn’t get lost, because that would be a terrible mess. I did make it home safely, however, and ventured into the cafeteria where the cafeteria lady showed me how to get my supper (you would think that would be easy, but it’s not). And here I am! I should probably go to the supamaketo (supermarket) and buy some tabemono (food) for asa gohan (breakfast), but it’s dark and samui (cold) and I don’t feel like it, so I’m having noodles in a cup for asa gohan! :) And that’s a wrap on Day 2 of a so-far-successful Japanese adventure.