Boys Night Out

Last night my project team here in Japan treated me on a dinner, well not the typical Pinoy dinner we are used to. Beer are served first before anything else. They ordered a lot - sashimi, maki, yakisoba, and many other traditional Japanese dish. It was a feast I may say.

It is so fascinating how Japanese  serve their dishes - detailed and so much extravagant. In a way that night serve a cultural immersion for me. Japanese people are servants rather than being served. It would be their pleasure to hand you over the food and put beer on your mug.

I enjoyed that night. But somehow I was out of place. They are all speaking Japanese and of course I can't understand. But I know they are talking about us. I heard the word Firipin and our names in between japanese words. They were laughing so that means only two things - they are happy about us or they are laughing at us.

I will not be going into details but I'll admit, they asked me about some of my officemates. Hopefully they understood my comments and that I haven't got them into the bad side.

Then I realize, it may be cultural difference. And my mission is to decipher the code, to break this barrier, and then we will understand.

Weekend

Today's my first weekend here at Yokohama. Time for the usual weekend rituals for many foreign workers here, hear mass, laundry, household chores. And this will be the new challenge for me.

Going to sunday mass is not new to me, but the going to mass in a pagan land is a new thing. Luckily I got a bunch of friends who came with me a while ago. We hear the mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral, the seat of the Diocese of Yokohama. It is unusual to see a small church, considering this is the cathedral, as my new parish for a long year. But hey, the church is nice, and to think that it is small, the mass is more solemn and the community is more closely tied. Hearing the mass here was a nice experience for me. Of course, I expected that there will be a number of Filipinos hearing mass there, and yes, a large number of the community are Filipinos, in fact, even the celebrant priest is one (I think so). But there are also a number of other foreigners - both white and black Americans, Europeans, and yes even local Japanese.

Laundry is one thing new to me. Back in the Philippines, I do not do laundry. haha. But luckily, washing machine here is automatic, throw the clothes in to the machine, put some detergent and press buttons. But still, I know I will be adjusting to this one. I am doing my laundry right this very moment I'm writing this one. One challenge for me then is to where will I hang my clothes - outside, at the veranda. And o should I say it's freezing cold outside? Japanese say this is not yet cold, but for someone who's been in the tropics for 25 years, this is really super cold. I heard a beep from the washing machine, I go get my laundry first.

At last, I finished my laundry. Next agenda, ironing clothes. I didn't iron clothes the same way I didn't do laundry when I am back home, but now I have to. So need more explanation? Just wish me luck, hehehe.

I still don't need to buy food in the market, I still have supply on my ref - foods from the Philippines I brought last monday. But I already visited the market a while ago. And it seems that it's not that as hard as doing the laundry less the language barrier issue.

Household chores, I think I will do it some other day.

I have to end this one right now. I will be cooking for my dinner tonight and for my breakfast and lunch tomorrow. Cooking for me, at this very moment means frying, hahaha, that's the only thing I know yet.

Firsts

Last Monday was my first time to leave the Philippines, to be exact, to leave mainland Luzon. I am now here at Yokohama, Japan for a year or so of project assignment at our company`s head office.

But that is not the only first time I had this week. Let me share it to you.

This is my first time to travel alone in a very strange land. This is also my first time to ride an airplane. Obviously, this is my first overseas adventure.

Last monday was my first time to eat authentic ramen. And in 5 days time, I already had eaten to 5 different Japanese restaurant here in Yokohama - three of which are the famous ramen houses: Jiro, Ichiran and Yokohama Ramen.

This is also my first time to experience autumn. And for sure, this will be my first time to see all 4 seasons.

This is also my very first time to buy a laptop for myself, and this post is the very first using it.

I am looking forward to experiencing many other firsts in my stay here at Yokohama. And I would want to put these things, and more of my Japan experience, into chronicles. And I@ll be doing these on this blog.

O and should I say, this is the very first time that I will be posting a blog at wee hours, when everyone seems to be sleeping already.