Japanglish

The second day of training is over, and overall I'm enjoying the experience. The trainers are all former teachers and they are very upbeat. The other trainees here are becoming good friends, and I'm sad that after this training period, I'll most likely see them only at one weekend training session a few months from now. One of the other trainees had her 25th birthday today, so we had a little party in the dorm lounge with a cake and reggae music (don't ask).

Last night, we went out for okonomiyaki, a sort of pancake with vegetables and other stuff (?) mixed inside. The chef takes the pancake and puts it on a hotplate right in front of you on the table. My parents may believe that I'm a picky eater, and they're mostly right, but I'm (usually) willing to try new foods. Provided, y'know, that they look edible. Fortunately, almost all restaurants in Japan feature very lifelike displays of fake food near the restaurant entrance, so clueless gaijin such as myself can pick out what to eat with minimal difficulty.

Below are a couple of "Japanglish" pictures that I took around Okayama. With training all day, I won't have much more time to explore the city.

Above: Contrary to what you might think, the Big American Shop is not actually big. My theory is that the founder correctly believed that Americans are...well, BIG.

ABOVE: I assume they manufacture keys here. I assume...

ABOVE: An example of public art that you'll never see in the U.S., for obvious reasons. This is actually a sculpture of the Peach Boy, who is a mythical character from Okayama legend. You can read the whole story here.

ABOVE: A shinto shrine located in the Okayama castle gardens. I assume the sign in the middle reads something like, "Please remove shoes before entering."

~By the way, for you non-computer-savvy people (I'm looking at you, Mom!), you can click on any of the above images to expand the picture. Also note that I've added a link for the WILD MONKEY PARK to the right!