What have we learnt from 2006?
This year has been a very eye opening experience, and although I've made a lot of stupid comments, I can't pretend I haven't grown as a person. Coming here on a whim (and a plane), to a small town in a part of Japan no-one has heard of, to live on my own and try to teach English to about 600 kids has been a great experience, and I would like to share some of what I have learned.
Things are often not as they seem, especially in Japan. This is not a new lesson, but maybe it is one you need to experience for yourself. A while back, I bought myself a lamp. I really enjoyed having this lamp. Halogen lights start to drive me crazy after a while, so I was annoyed when the bulb blew. This started off a series of excursions to find a replacement light bulb. Not sure exactly which one I needed, but while keeping my manly integrity of not asking for help, I bought 2 replacements. I got home and tried them out. Neither worked. They were frosted bulbs, so I lightly tapped them and heard the rattle of a broken light. It was annoying, but probably my own fault. In retrospect, I wasn't very careful with them on the way home.
A few days later, I went to another store and this time, asked for help. The guy was helpful, and sold me a 2 pack. This time, I was sure I got the right bulbs. I got home, and neither worked, and had that now-familiar broken-bulb rattle. I was annoyed. Not only did my lamp not work, I now had 5 broken light bulbs lying around (Now is not the time to discuss the rubbish/recycling system in Japan). A few days later, sick of not having a proper lamp, I went and bought a new desk lamp, with bulb included. Unbelievable. It didn't work either. By now it was getting ridiculous, and I was no longer amused. The next day I went to the supermarket and chose a new bulb, this time with no frosting. It was definitely intact. I walked back to the checkout, carrying the bulb as if it were a terrorist bomb. I was terrified it would break at any moment. I cringed when the checkout girl manhandled it and put it into the shopping bag. I paid, and immediately checked it. 'My baby is fine', I thought.
I was so scared by this point, I even drove home carefully. Understand this, I drove extra carefully because I didn't want to break a light bulb. I got home, sneaked inside, inserted the bulb, plugged the lamp in, flicked the switch… nothing. The light bulb was visibly still intact. The same what I thought was a broken-bulb rattle confirmed that I now had in my possession, 6 perfectly fine light bulbs. 'The lamp must be broken', I surmised, as I resolved to leave it until next year.
(Before reading on, try and guess what the problem actually was…apart from me)
Last night during my big end-of-year apartment cleanup, I happened to stumble across the answer. Japanese apartments have complicated fuse boxes, which, in my apartment, isn't covered (hey! it's not a box at all!). It turns out the fuse for the particular power socket for my lamp was switched off. I vaguely remember hitting the fuse box with my guitar in a mad morning rush to get to school on time. (I didn't).
Looking back, wandering around the shops with a perfectly fine light bulb, trying to find a replacement… Buying a new lamp…The overall ridiculous and unnecessary lengths I went to amaze even myself… I think there was supposed to be a point to this fascinatingly mundane story, apart from highlighting my daftness, and my complete lack of masculine electric device competence…
At least now we have an answer to "how many Ruben's does it take to change a light bulb?".
Answer: Only one Ruben, but it requires 6 bulbs and 2 weeks.
Happy New Year everyone!
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