Omiyage Season

Well its here. Omiyage season. It's everywhere. The little sweets and cakes form piles around my desk. old people, new people, everybody must give the obligatory yoroshiku onegaishimasu in cake form. I don't mind it, its pretty sweet to have snacks around at all times. I just think about how annoying it is when I have to buy it and more so how wasteful it is for the environment. But if it means smooth relations at work, it must be done. The desks have been moved and I now sit next to the teacher who chatters to himself. Additionally, he has a very definite and loud keyboard pecking pattern, vocalizing his writing as he types. Sometimes he will look over at my desk and mutter "oh oh, Japanese _________" and then I will respond and we will both just laugh. It's nice, but the teachers had a glimmer of mischievousness in their eyes when they asked me if it was ok to sit next to him. (Not actually asking me if it was ok, as the decision had already been made, but essentially asking me what I thought of it). Anyways, students are back and its funny to see how the 1st year students have matured. It's interesting to see them step through the stages of Japanese society to eventually become the teacher who talks to himself and who is chattering away next to me as I type.
The cultural differences in the Japanese workplace are vast. Conformity. Conformity. Conformity. Stratification. Stratification. Stratification. Conformity. Forced mobility. No mobility. Succumb to the higher authority. No questions. No questions. No questions. Robots. Ambiguity of response-conformity.
The Japanese language is actually built on the concept of ambiguity so you can easily avoid offending others by inadvertantly disagreeing. This ambiguity has saved my ass a number of times, but has also led to a few problems and many lingering questions!! Spring is here and my time is slipping through my fingers like cherry blossoms slip off the tree. The forthcoming presence of the blossoms in a few weeks makes this time last year seem like yesterday and I waver....has it really been a full year?! green is slowly overcoming the white and brown in the mountains of yesterday. Snowboard and skiing days are becoming fewer and far between. The warming weather plays tricks on my confused mind. Is it time for somewhere new or should I stay for next ski season? I was just getting started on the board I think to myself. Am I ready for the heat of summer? The deadlines of decisions. The finality of the job. The end of the paycheck. The possibilities of life.