Things I miss about Jacksonville...

I'm in Florida right now, Jacksonville actually, on vacation. Someone asked me yesterday what I noticed about the US when I came back, what struck me the most. And I have to say that it was the awful smell of the fast food court at the Atlanta airport. Ugh. And people eat that stuff. Another thing I've noticed is the huge portions at restaurants. I used to think that Sliders' servings were a touch on the small side. Now, I think they're huge! I ordered crab cakes for dinner, and couldn't finished my plate.

I've been working on relaxing, trying to remember how to do that, how not to work, how not to check email all the time. So I've been hanging out at Jacksonville Beach, enjoying a walk down to the pier and back each morning. Enjoying the sunshine (with lots of sunscreen!) and the warm weather. I've noticed a few differences since I was last here -- there are fewer for sale signs, less traffic on A1A/3rd St., parking still available on a Friday evening in Atlantic Beach.

But I also realized that there are things I miss about Jacksonville...
1) Sliders restaurant in Atlantic Beach
2) Walks on the beach
3) My friends and family
4) The weather!!!
5) 5 Guys burgers
6) The greenery and trees
7) Watching the clouds gather every afternoon
8) The humidity (yes, the humidity)

Photos will be posted in a couple of weeks when I return.

What's this?

Another book on Japan

I just finished read Cartels of the Mind: Japan's Intellectual Closed Shop by Ivan P. Hall. What struck me the most was the consistent finding of quotes that described exactly how I felt sometimes when I was there in Japan -- the feeling that no matter what I did, or how long I was there, or how good I was with using chopsticks, or whether I was able to speak the language, I would always be a second class citizen. And that even though I was in a relatively international city because of the large number of foreigners there either as researchers or language teachers, I wasn't free to live where I wanted to. There were certainly ghettos, where us foreigners were supposed to live. If you ventured beyond that, it was definitely difficult, and there seemed to be no restrictions on landlords - they could refuse to rent to you.

This book covers the legal, news, academic and research communities, detailing how Japan, through its bureaucracy and traditions, has made it very difficult if not downright impossible for any foreigner to gain access to Japan. Whether it's the restrictions on hiring lawyers, or the clubs prohibiting foreign members, or the universities that fire all foreign lecturers or professors, these are all detailed.

Despite all that, I did enjoy my six month sojourn in Japan. But I think I definitely made the right decision to not pursue teaching and/or research possibilities in Japan. I think an annual contract with the potential for non-renewal would not have been a realistic situation for me.

Dogs and Demons: Japanese Bureaucracy Reviewed

While I was in Japan in 2005 for my post-doc fellowship, I came across a list of books about Japan for gaijin wanting to understand Japan better. Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Japan by Alex Kerr was on that list. I wasn't able to find most of these books when I was in Japan, and what with moving and new jobs, I'm just now getting around to reading these books, as well as many others that I've put on lists of books to read over the past several years.

It took me several days to get through Dogs and Demons. It wasn't a quick read. And it was rather thought provoking, particularly since it made me see some of my experiences in Japan from a different perspective.

Japan, for the most part, is thought of as a highly advanced country. And in some respects, such as highly efficient mass transit with trains that arrive on time, it is. But in others, it's stuck in the 60s. When I went to get shinkansen tickets from Tokyo to Kyoto when my brother came to visit, I didn't just go online and put in when I wanted to go and get back a list of options to choose from like I would here in the US. Instead, I went to the JR office, and sat down with the ticket agent and explained that I wanted to go from Tokyo to Kyoto on a specific day, returning 2 days later. The ticket agent then looked up in a giant yellow pages type book the schedule of trains for those days. Then he filled in a paper form, then he entered some information into the computer. The original dates and times I wanted weren't available, so he had to repeat the experience with the yellow pages and the form. Finally, I ended up with two round trip tickets from Tokyo to Kyoto.

One of the key points of Dogs and Demons is the extreme amount of bureaucracy that exists in Japan -- the forms, the rules, the unwritten rules. And how unlikely change is to occur because of the bureaucracy that exists and that the people making up the bureaucracy have been brought up in an educational system that doesn't foster challenging the status quo, and while at one point in time, that bureaucracy was efficient, it hasn't kept up with the times. But unfortunately, the rest of the world has passed Japan in terms of efficiency in some ways. Now, if I want to take the train from Jacksonville to Washington, DC, all I have to do is go to Google, and find the right website, and purchase my tickets. But not in Japan.

One of the things I noticed while I was there was the inefficiency within offices -- tasks that have been automated here, such as direct deposit of paychecks, are still done by clerks that walk around and have people sign the register and receive their envelopes of cash. To create sets of copies, instead of having a fancy copy machine that collates and staples for you, each page is copied and then a team of people collate the sets.

Another point of this book was the fact that while Japan is seen as a nation that reveres its nature, its mountains and rivers, it is actually in the process of damming all the rivers, flattening all the mountains, and filling in all the bays -- leaving nothing natural. This reminded me of the view from the train window going from Tokyo to Kyoto - mile after mile of telephone wires, concrete structures, and odd shaped towering buildings. There's nothing attractive about a scene showing a jumble of buildings draped in wires.

For anyone who has spent any time in Japan, this is an eye opening book. While one review on amazon.com described the book as a spurned lover writing a tell-all, I felt that it was actually written by someone that loves Japan, but is simply disappointed in how things have been managed. The author also covers issues related to the environmental ministry and the fact that it doesn't regulate anything related to the environment; education and rote memorization and how people aren't able to question authority/bureaucracy; the failure of higher education to be a player on the international scene and provide scientific breakthroughs; and the continued fear of foreigners and how the Japanese continue to keep them at arm's length. This book was written around 2000/2001, just about the time the government was reorganizing the various ministries and their responsibilities. I would be curious to see an update to this book at some time in the future from the author.

While I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Japan, this book managed to put in words some of the feelings I had when deciding not to stay and apply for a position at a Japanese university.

Sugar Plum Fairy Tutu

I have to brag a bit here... My Mom made the tutu. The full article is available at the Riverside Press-Enterprise site (membership may be required).

Miami Carnival Weekend

We went to Miami the first weekend in October for Miami Carnival. These are photos of the view from the hotel room. (I really should start keeping track of which hotel these views from a hotel room are taken from.)

The entire reason for going was to attend all the Miami Carnival functions. We arrived Thursday night. There was some show going on in some arena, but due to the fact that I'm getting older and can't handle going out late at night after working all day, then driving for 5 hours, I opted out of that event. The next night was the White Party, which has been previously been held at the Deauville on Miami Beach. This year it was at a hall out by some medical center that the cab driver had never heard of and couldn't find despite an address and a map. Then, the performers didn't start performing until about 3:30 a.m. We arrived around midnight expecting that the show would start about 1 or 2, based on previous experience. But no, nothing until 3:30 in the morning. And the first performer left a lot to be desired. We finally gave up about 4 in the morning and headed back to the hotel.

Saturday night was another set of performances with food and drink booths. This is usually held at the FIU Campus (the one with the hospitality school). But, no, not this year. This year they moved it to a race course. And as one of my brothers-in-law pointed out, I shouldn't even have expected decent food since the venue was a race course. But despite the fact that the food was merely ok when it was even available, the music was good. And it was a first for me, I've never been to an outdoor concert in the rain.

The final Carnival activity was to be a parade on Sunday. But we decided against going. First of all, there were two parades -- one in Broward County, one in Miami-Dade County. At the same time on the same day. And the fliers for both events listed the same performers. We figured that even though time works differently in Miami than in other parts of the world, the performers we wanted to see would be at the other parade (one of the laws of my world). And it turns out that there was a shooting at one of the events. So we were very pleased that we'd decided that instead of going to the parade, that we'd take a nice long walk along the boardwalk and have dinner in Miami Beach.

A Gaucho in a sea of Gators

I meant to post this one a while ago, when it was more relevant. But with football season winding down, the Gator mania has lessened.

I now live in north Florida. The University of Florida is in Gainesville, is just down the road. Many, many people from north Florida that go to college go to UF. The UF mascot is the Gator. (It's also the home of Gatorade, by the way.) UF is also known as Florida.

Florida won the football championship last year (2006). They also won several basketball championships recently, as well. (And I'm setting myself up for a lecture on the history of Florida sports by not providing specifics, here.)

Anyway, the majority of my coworkers, with a few exceptions (a couple of FSU (Florida State University Seminoles), an Ohio, a University of Colorado, a Temple University, and a few other universities thrown in for good measure) ,are Gators. They wear Gator colors on Fridays (blue and orange if you were curious). They have Gator signs on their desks. One even has blue and orange Christmas-style lights around their cubicle.

Now, not only are these people Gators. But football is serious business out here. The grocery stores have huge tailgating sales before big games. People with RVs line up to get in the prime tailgating locations before big games for days. Yes, days.

So here I am, from a college that disbanded its football team way back in the late 80s. Surrounded by people that take their football team's wins and losses very, very seriously. It's been a culture shock.

But I have been thinking about printing out a UCSB Gaucho logo and putting it on my cubicle, much like these folks have their Gators.