The Japanese are very indirect. This leads to all sorts of gaijin paranoia about passive aggressive behavior and what every little potential message might mean. I’ve heard that you can tell how much a Japanese person likes you by how they serve you tea. If it is strong and hot, they like you. If it is cold and weak, it’s their way of saying they don’t like you.

I usually come into work later than everyone else. My contract says work begins for me at 8:30 am. Classes start around 9am, I think. I am expected to be at work no later than 10min early and even this is pushing it by Japanese culture. Most of the students are here before I get to work. Until today, there has been a cup of tea of my desk. I definitely appreciate it. Japanese tea may be horrid but I get served so much of it that I’m developing a caffeine habit. I NEED my shitty ass tea in the morning. Until today, there has been a cup of tea on my desk, albeit cold because I come in later than everyone else when the tea is served. When I started at this school I was told to bring in my own mug, and I did, a white mug with a blue Lily of the Valley image. Until this morning my tea has been served in this mug.

Today I came to work closer to the 8am side than the 8:30 side. I didn’t do it to join the Japanese solidarity of coming to work way before when is necessary. I did it because if I wait too much longer at my apartment, traffic gets really painful. I’d rather spend the extra time fucking off at my desk than on the commute. When I got here today, there was no mug of tea on my desk. In fact, my mug was on someone else’s desk. What was wrong? Were they pissed off that I was always coming to work later than them? Was it my turn to serve tea and I didn’t do it? Do we even take turns serving tea? Who serves the tea? I only teach at this junior high school three days a week. I figured that during my time away someone had adopted it and forgotten to wash it and just left it on the desk. Fine. Way to be polite community oriented Japanese, borrowing my cup and forgetting about it! I decided I would get up and while everyone was watching, quietly reclaim my lost cup, wash it, and pour myself tea.

Before I could do it, everyone disappeared. I went over to the mug to investigate. It was full of tea. I didn’t want to mess with someone else’s tea. I went over to the tea station, took a mug that someone had barely washed out, and dejectedly poured myself some last dregs of awful tea. What does all this mean? Maybe this is just a misunderstanding?

Engrish of the day:
Theme “the way of speaking doing some shopping will be known.”

From an old lesson plan found at the bottom of a drawer at one of my elementary schools.