A few odds and ends today. First of all a
Cell Phone Update

I wrote not that long ago about the Japanese and their cell phones. After reading about the health risks involved I've been trying to limit my usage, but have yet to give it up entirely. I went into the shop the other day to pay my bill, and the clerk told me because I had been using the same model for so long, she could upgrade me to a new cell phone for free. I thought, "Well, as long as I'm using a cell phone anyway, why not get a new model?"

Now again I've written before about how surprised I was 3 years ago when I first came to Japan, about all the amazing things their cell phones could do. Well technology marches on, and it is amazing what the new models can do. I must confess I'm a little out of it in terms of what is available back in the US, so maybe this won't impress anyone back home anymore but the new cell phone I have is amazing. In addition to being able to do all the usual stuff (access the internet, send and receive e-mails, take pictures, play video games, do calculations, keep my schedule, etc)...

this new model I can use to film short movies, and listen to the radio and watch TV. And aside from the obvious problem of a small screen, the TV function really works. The pictures comes in clear, the sound is very good, and watching TV is at no extra cost.

And again, let me emphasis this cell phone was the standard model I got with the free upgrade. There were plenty of more expensive cell phones with more bells and whistles.

But again, I've been gone so long I don't even know what's standard in the US now. Maybe no one is impressed anymore.

Quick Update on Japanese Classroom Debates

I had written a couple months back about having to sit through a class debate on whether electronic or hand written schedules were more convenient. I had then moaned about how boring Japanese debates are.

Recently I repeated this complaint to a Japanese friend, and she nodded sympathetically. "When I was in school," she said, "We had a class room debate on "Which is more delicious, Apples or Oranges?"

Now that almost strikes me as something so boring it would have been interesting. I would have liked to see that debate just to see how a topic like that could be turned into a debate project.

Funeral

This week the father of one of the other teachers at my school passed away. I had never met the father, and in fact this particular teacher was not someone I knew very well. So I was not planning on going to the funeral, but it turns out that it is Japanese tradition for the people from work to make an appearance to wish the family well.

It was the first funeral I've been to in Japan, and come to think of it, the first funeral I've been to period (although I suppose it's a bit morbid to keep track of it like that). Although making faux pas have become a way of life for me here in Japan, obviously something as somber as a funeral I'm a bit more nervous about messing up.

Although Japanese Christians are very rare, there is one other Christian teacher at my school, and she opted not to go to the funeral because it was a Buddhist Ceremony. I wasn't too concerned about it myself, and so went along with my co-workers because it was their custom, but I did feel that her absence put more of an emphasis on me as the "non-Buddhist" in the group. For instance at the end everyone filled passed the image of the deceased and did a short prayer. I was concerned that imitating the Buddhist prayer might be seen as insincere or a mockery of the process, so I opted to go for the sign of the cross. Which, since I'm not Catholic, I felt equally silly doing, but I thought since I wasn't Buddhist either one fake sign was as good as the other.

And finally from the irony department...

I came across this article while surfing the web on the old cell phone, and thought the irony was interesting. For years Japan has developed a reputation for importing sex workers from other countries, but it turns out Japanese women going abroad to work in the sex industry is a rising trend. Interesting reading if you've got a free minute.