Run and Write

17 miles and a paper left to start holiday...

50 mi more

LONG LONG LONG time no see and happy holidays! I'm OK and just hope you are, my fellow Americans. Last post was in June and today is the end of November, to my surprise. There are only three months and half to stay in the US and my home university has sent a bunch of emails about the lectures I'll teach in next academic year (In Japan, academic year starts in April, the season of cherry blossoms). Yeah, time flies, especially the time for sabbatical. The presidential campaign had started at that time when I arrived here in last August and lasted till this November. During this period, two Japanese prime ministers resigned, to my surprise again. I bet you don't know them. As I wrote last year, the first resignation wasn't reported by the US media because of Britney Spears' awesome/awful performance at the MTV Music Award, and the second one wasn't either due to the unexpected appearance of Sarah Palin (by the way, most talented person I found in this campaign is not Barack Obama, but Tina Fay). I just hope the incumbent guy, Taro "Rosen" Aso, will not resign until next March. Anyway, I should be more productive than I was.

Another concern is a weight control. The problem is American food. At first, I thought how big the portion of meal here and how salty they are, and how sweet sweets here are. But now, my taste became Americanized. My stomach accept any kind of food and I really like American sweets. So, it's quite natural that I gained my weight and couldn't wear clothes I brought from Japan. And the bad thing is my wife, now living in Berkeley, California, lost weight surprisingly because she uses a bicycle to go to and from her office. And the worst thing is she often boasts how much she lost like "I wanna have a new belt because it's too long." Hey, we didn't talk about your stupidly long belt at that time and it was totally out of the context. And to my surprise again and again, she said she started jogging. That lighted me fire. To beat the woman, who now pretends to be a health conscious Californian, I also started jogging from August with the aid of Nike+.

Here is the result. Year, I ran one hundred miles so far and lost ten pounds from August. Now I recover the weight I had when I entered this county. But, as people here did in Thanksgiving, I had too much meal, so I'm afraid that I gained weight again. So, I promise you to run fifty miles in December. It's a challenging goal, but by this declaration, I want to show my commitment.

However, I want to emphasize at the same time that I won't sacrifice the joy of eating for the sake of diet. The well known belief that American food are not delicious and bad for health aren't necessarily true. If you carefully choose what you intake, you can enjoy the diversity of wonderful foods here and will not gain weight. You cannot enjoy so many kinds of sandwiches in Japan. You cannot enjoy such interesting sauce like mango dressing for sea bass in Japan. You cannot enjoy authentic Hong Kong style dim sum, Mexican fresh salsa, cram chowder both in Boston and New York, crab cake in Baltimore, and Californian fusion cuisine, in Japan.

Anyway, give me your loud cheer to accomplish fifty miles run!

Every Barber Knows That

How to order a haircut? I believe it’s very important issue for people living in foreign countries. Since I came to the US, I've got haircuts for three times so far. The first two experiences in barbers were just disaster. Guess whom I found in the mirror in front of me just after the barber handed me my glasses at my first visit to a barber’s. Answer: Asian Mr. Spock with glasses. Certainly, some male here don’t have their sideburns, but it’s not common in Japan. My basic principle to live in the US is “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” but I just cannot accept this American way of sideburns. The problem is that I cannot see the process of haircut because I have to take off my glasses during the haircut. My friend, who listened to my compliment, told me that when I make an order, I should put both index fingers on my sideburns and clearly ask the barber to keep them.

So, at the next time, I visited a different barber’s on the same street and made an order as my friend instructed. I also asked the barber to show me hair sample photos and selected one of them to make sure my order. Guess whom I found in the mirror in front of me just after she handed me my glasses. Answer: Asian Mr. Spock with glasses and sideburns. I was so surprised to see slightly upgraded Mr. Spock again in a different barber's that I lost my words to claim her that mine was totally different from the sample. Instead, I was impressed by the fact that American barber industry shares such a standardized technique to cut front hair so shortly and neatly to make the bizarre horizontal border line between front hair and forehead.

Finally I got an important lesson: I should not use barbers because for them sideburns and long and unordered front hair are the deadly enemies to be eliminated from this earth. So at the third time, I visited a hair salon in a shopping mall. The price was higher, but I was satisfied with the result. Actually, more important is that I was prepared because I checked the vocabulary for haircut order through the Internet like this: “Today, I just want you to trim and thin out my hair because it’s too thick. Please cut my side and back hair a little bit, but don’t cut the front hair. Also, I don’t want to clean up my sideburns, OK?”

Today I’m going to cut my hair for the first time after two months. I’ll visit a hair salon again instead of a barber’s just because I’m not sure a barber will listen to my request. I just hope this time will be successful. If you know the better way to order, just tell me immediately.

Hooters Experience

To celebrate my friend’s return to Japan, we visited Hooters, the American restaurant chain, which is famous for sexy waitress. I have been interested in this restaurant, but I felt somewhat ashamed to visit alone, but I could find the good reason to do that finally.

Yes, the waitresses there, Hooters Girls, are very sexy. To me, it sheds light on some of the values shared in American society: especially what is sexy to people here. The waitresses wear their uniform of a white tank top with the Hooters owl logo and the location name (Princeton! Isn’t it funny?) on the front paired with the short orange runner's shorts. In Japan, there is no such a restaurant chain which sell not only foods but also sexiness, with one exception, Anna Miller's. This restaurant is also famous for the waitresses’ “sexy” costume. Wikipedia explains that these consist of a white blouse; an orange or pink miniskirt jumper-style dress, with the waistline cut underneath the breasts; a matching apron; and a heart-shaped name tag (I haven’t visited there actually). Anna Miller’s were originally from Hawaii, but the costume in Japanese Anna Miller’s is different from Hawaii’s one. What is interesting to me is that this costume and the girls in Hooters seem to represent American males’ taste on female sexiness, and those in Anna Miller’s do Japanese taste, and they show sharp contrast. Hooters’ outfit is more scanty, and Anna Miller’s one is more elegant maids-like (but still sexy, I guess), which resemble to the costumes used in anime-inspired Maid Cafes in Japan. What I want say is that what is sexy to American (males, and females too) is much more open and casual than Japanese one.

Hooters sell many kinds of merchandises too. White T-shirts with the Hooters owl logo and the location name (Princeton! Again, isn’t it funny?) on the front is 10.99 dollars. Good price. They also sell a white tank top with the Hooters owl logo and the location name (Princeton! Again, isn’t it funny?) on the front, which waitresses wear. How much do you think is it? IT IS THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS! They are really doing good business. Their pricing is wise because they know that the simple fact that the waitresses wear them adds special value on these tank tops (I strongly believe that the cost of the tank top is not so different from T-shirts one). This tank top is the symbol of the enjoyable experience in the restaurant, and also fun communication with waitress (For example, they generously accept costumers’ requests to take pictures). Also, it could be good small topic to talk with your friends if you bring it to party or something. Some of T-shirts are for youngsters. Boys’ T-shirts come with the logo of HOTTERS LADIES MAN, and girls’ one has FUTURE FOOTERS GIRL. I’m not sure that parents here allow their children to wear them and they could be appropriate gifts for your nephews and nieces, but I like this kind of sense of humor.

So, I bought one T-shirts for myself (My friend also bought two! Good souvenir.). However, I guess wearing it in Princeton is a bit dangerous. I also got one tank top for my wife because today is her birthday. She is not Hooters Girls type (the opposite, I should say). I just hope that she will understand my sense of humor.

Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. I saw many customers in the flower shop beside my office. According to Wikipedia, it is the traditional day in North America and Europe on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. My American friend told me that this reciprocal gift exchange is mainly done by young couples before marriage.

Japan also has this holiday, but there are two huge differences. One is that only women sent gifts to men, not vice versa. It’s not reciprocal but exclusively women’s day. However, men who have received Valentine’s Day gift are expected to return some gifts to women one month later, on March 14, which is called as “White Day.” Another difference is appropriate gift for Valentine’s Day. While other stuff such as necktie is also allowed, it should be basically chocolate. On the other hand, candy has been considered as White day gift.

So Japanese Valentine’s day is rather distinctive holiday form Western standpoint. Why such differences? While, generally speaking, the origin of customs shared in societies is very difficult to trace, the creator of Japanese Valentine’s day is well known: Kunio Hara, the CEO of Mary’s Chocolate Company. This confectionary company was founded by his father in 1952. Hara, who worked at his father’s company as a part time worker, received the mail from his senpai, an elder friend or mentor, who worked as an employee at the trading company in Paris. The senpai wrote him that French had a custom that lovers send flowers, cards, and chocolate each other on February 14. This letter made him to propose his father to utilize this European custom to sell their chocolate products and gained his father’s approval. His first attempt in 1953 was totally failed. At the shop in Isetan, the department store in Tokyo, he sold only three packages during three days of the sale because Japanese were unfamiliar with this custom.

However, his father gave Mr. Hara another chance to hold the sale in the next year. He created new products such as heart mark shaped chocolate and constellation mortified chocolate. He also devised the service to engrave the names of both the senders and receivers on the chocolates at the shops. Most important decision he made was about his campaign that targeted single women customers. He advertised that on Valentine’s Day women were allowed to confess their love to men. At that age, it was unthinkable for the majority, who believed women should obey men’s initiative in any aspects, that women confess love to men. One the other hand, it was also true that traditional norm that limited Japanese women’s liberty had been disappearing little by little after the WWII. Hara utilized the gradual improvement of women’s status.

His marketing effort made female consumers recognize this holiday gradually, but it became very popular after many magazines, wihch were created in 1950s and 1960s to target young female readership, reported Hara as the creator of Valentine’s Day. Now, sending chocolate on this day is still as important as the traditional seasonal gift-giving custom such as chugen and seibo.

Contrary to Valentine’s Day, the origin of White Day, the men to women day, is not clear. According to one theory, a marshmallow maker started marketing to men on the grounds that they should pay back women with marshmallows. After that confectionary companies joined this campaign, this return gift also become common. Now, the kind of appropriate gifts for White Day is more diverse than Valentine’s Day from white chocolate to candy to gem to lingerie.

I think both holidays diffused deeply in Japanese society because Valentine’s Day enhanced the raison d'etre of White Day and vice versa. In Japan, give-and-take principle is considered as important in gift-giving settings. If you receive something from others, it means you now have a sort of obligation to return something back in near future. The manner book published in Japan tell us (a) you shoud return something if you receive something, (b) the timing of returning gifts should be done around one month later, not so fast, no so late. Valentine’s Day and White Day fit this rule well. Women expect men will give them White Day gifts if women give men Valentine’s Day gifts. It’s a kind of investment. On the other hand, men are obliged to return gift if they receive Valentine’s Day gifts from women. It’s a vicious circle observed in love politics among youngsters in an affuent society.

Rabbit, Eel, and Damburger

One of the huge differences of English and Japanese pronunciation is the way to move mouth. When you speak English, you must move and position your lip and tongue quickly and clearly to make articulated pronunciation (So I guess lip speaking in English is easier than in Japanese). This is the difficulty for Japanese who seldom move their mouths when they speak their mother tongue.

A good tip for Japanese English speakers, which I found on the Internet, is to shout the Japanese word for "rabbit" before speaking English. The word usagi is one of rare Japanese words that force speakers to move their mouths clearly. As you can imagine, you must make your lip rounded and smallest to pronounce "u" (as in food and zoo), but, on the contrary, "sa" forces your mouth biggest (as in father), and then, "gi" makes yours flattest (as in eat). So, I shout "u! sa! gi!" several times every morning. While it sounds really stupid, it's very helpful.

Today I discovered another Japanese word that works in the same way, ell. In Japanese, eel is unagi. Grilled unagi is Japanese favorite. It's often eaten during hot summer because unagi is rich in protein, calcium, vitamin A and E, and it's said to give people stamina. I haven't have it so far in the US because frozen unagi sold in Asian supermarkets look not so fresh, and therefore, not to contain enough stamina. Anyway, I will say unagi tomorrow morning.

By the way, the French people, who eat usagi, also have the difficulity to pronounce correct American English as shown the video below. Check it! I would like to buy a damburger.

Productivity and Weight

Long time no see. I haven't posted the blog about two months just because I was a little bit busy. I did some field work at New York Anime Festival, wrote a paper and prepared a small presentation at the conference during the holiday, and enjoyed the holiday with my wife from Japan in NYC and Princeton. I managed to submit my paper and finish my presentation in Florida without problems (I guess).

However, I am gaining my weight little by little. While I don't weight myself on a scale, my pants are now too tight. I believe that I am careful of my diet, but I recently haven't visited the fitness gym. When I was in Tokyo, I used the commuter train, but here, I use a car to visit my office, so I seldom walk as I did. In addition, I keep sitting at the desk almost all day because I have no teaching obligation. I should find an opportunity to burn my fat, but it is troublesome to visit the gym in such an cold weather. It is basically around 30 degrees Fahrenheit (the freezing point of water is 32 degrees)!

Productivity of the research and my body weight apparently have a positive relationship. Making it negative is my aim in February, of course, without reducing the former.