Do You Support a Team or a Player?

My favorite Sharks hockey player Devin Setoguchi was traded to the Minnesota Wild. I didn’t imagine that he would be traded because he was awesome, especially during the 2010-2011 playoff games. This happened one day after the Sharks announced a three-year contract extension for Setoguchi!  I can’t understand what the contract meant.

Facts are facts. I’m still a fan of the Sharks, so I’m wondering what I should wear when I go to the Sharks games next season because I own a Setoguchi Sharks jersey. Should I buy a new one or wear the Setoguchi Jersey?

Question 1: What is my favorite team?

Of course, the San Jose Sharks.

Question 2: Who is my favorite player?

Of course, Devin Setoguchi.

Question 3: Do I like the Minnesota Wild?

Not so much, but I don’t hate them.

If the answer to the above question #3 were yes, it would be pretty easy to answer. I would become a fan of the Minnesota Wild. If I had another favorite Sharks player, the answer would be easy. I would buy a new Sharks jersey that had name and number on it.

Setoguchi is a special hockey player to me. He is Canadian Japanese. I cheer for him because we have a common heritage. For now, there are no Sharks players who are Japanese or part Japanese. From the perspective of my identity as a Japanese person, Setoguchi is the only player who I really want to support.

My wife said she would buy a Minnesota Wild Setoguchi jersey and go to Sharks home games wearing it. She is more likely to support a player than a team.

In one colleague’s case, his favorite player was traded from the Sharks several years ago. He wears the Sharks jersey with the ex-Sharks player’s name when he goes to the games. He said that he liked both the Sharks and the player and would not buy a new the Sharks jersey.

I don’t have my answer yet. Honestly, compared to last season, I have lost my enthusiasm for the Sharks. I have mixed feelings about the Sharks. Of course I love the city of San Jose, but I’m not a real San Jose local. I guess my desire to cheer for a player who is connected to Japan is stronger than my love for the San Jose Sharks. I think I will be able to figure out my answer while I’m watching the Sharks play the Wild next season.

By the way, products with Setoguchi’s name were being sold at half-price at the Sharks store. My wife and I bought more than 20 T-shirts. My new year’s resolution was to avoid buying things on impulse…

Car Wash

My wife’s relatives recently stayed our home for a week. They came here for vacation. We took them to Yosemite, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and a few other places. They enjoyed their visit in California. One day, my wife took them to the car wash. This is what impressed them the most during the trip.
They were amazed by the car wash shop system. The car wash process was efficiently divided into several stages. Different staff were assigned to each stage:

- Take the order
- Clean up the interior
- Collect payment

- Wax the car

- Wipe the car

They said that they would like to get this service in Japan, but I don’t think this business will work in Japan. There are 2 reasons.

The first reason is quality of car wash. In this car wash system, many people are involved in the car wash process. This system helps work simplify the work and increase simplicity, but I don’t think that this system keeps high quality finish. In addition, automatic car-wash machines are used in the car wash process. These are likely to make scratches on the car. To many Japanese, a car is a kind of luxury, so they are likely to be nervous about scratches on their cars. Some people are extremely obsessive about hand car washes. Quality is the first priority for Japanese car lovers.

Washing a car by hand is definitely hard work, so a new automatic car wash machine has been popular in Japan recently. It’s called a brushless car wash. It uses extremely high pressure water, strong blowers and forming cleanser. During the car wash, no one touches the car including the machine. After the automatic brushless car wash has finished, owners wipe and polish their car as they like.

The second reason is weather. During the dry season, we don’t have rain in California. Once we wash our car, we can keep our car clean at least 2 weeks, so we don’t need to wash our car very often. I don’t feel that it’s expensive to pay about $20 for a car wash every 2 weeks.

In Japan, they have rain frequently throughout the entire year. It’s hard to keep cars clean for a long time. I guess many people can’t afford to have their car washed regularly. In order to keep their car clean for a reasonable cost, they have to wash out the car by themselves or use a self-service automatic car wash.

I think the car-care business is closely related to climate and culture. I haven’t seen the same kind of store in Hawaii. It’s one of the interesting business models in California.

By the way, I’m very curious what kind of work the car wash staff doing during the rainy season in California.

Room for …..

When I go to a coffee shop, I often order a café latte. The other day, I ordered regular coffee. It had been awhile since I had last ordered regular coffee. The staff asked me whether I would need some room for cream. I said that I didn't need it. He poured coffee up to the brim of the cup and handed it to me carefully. It’s common to see really full cups of coffee at coffee shops in the U.S., but I have never seen a cup which is filled to the brim at a coffee shop in Japan.

Every time I see a coffee cup filled to the brim, I recall the first time I was asked if I needed cream at a coffee shop.

The staff asked me, “Do you need room for OOOOO?” I was not able to catch the word OOOOO. Since the coffee shop was packed and most of the seats were taken, I thought that he had suggested there were no tables. I answered him, “No problem. I’ll take it to go.” Of course, I didn’t know the expression, “Do you need room for OOOOO?” The staff paused for a second with a surprised expression and asked me again “Do you need room for cream?”

I understood what he needed to know! I answered, “No thanks”, blushing in shame. He handed me a coffee cup, which was filled to the brim. Needless to say, I took it to go.

It’ not common to fill beverages to the brim in Japan, but there is one exception. At a Japanese-style pub, sake is served in a glass with a small saucer. The staff fills and spills the sake on purpose.

Here is how to drink it.

1. Watch while the waiter/waitress pours sake into the glass.

2. Make sure if the waiter/waitress spills some sake. If he/she doesn’t, you should request some more.

3. Drink sake from the glass first.


4. When there is enough room in the glass, pour the sake which was spilled on the small saucer in to the glass.

5. Enjoy the remaining sake.

Making good use of sake is the basic idea of this custom. It’s not only a gift for the customer from the pub but also lets the customers express appreciation to the brewers and the farmers. Many Japanese people enjoy this custom at the end of a day.

Unfortunately, this Japanese custom doesn’t work for me. Since I’m not big drinker, I can’t handle a glass of sake. Instead, I’m a coffee lover. Every morning, a full cup of regular coffee makes me happy.

Farmers' Market

There are many farmers' markets in the San Francisco Bay Area. The term “farmers' market” is suggestive of fresh food and reasonable prices.

Before I came to the U.S, I read about the San Francisco Bay Area in some travel magazines. There were articles about farmers' markets in all of the magazines. The pictures were great and the articles strongly recommended going there.

When I went to the farmers' market for the first time, I was really excited. There were many vendors which were selling vegetables, fruit, seasonal foods and beverages. Because of the full-of-life atmosphere, I bought a lot that time. After I came back home, I checked how much I paid. It was almost double compared to the prices at the supermarket. It was even more expensive than the average prices at an organic grocery. How was the taste? The taste was good but was nothing special.

What was shocking was that I found the exact same products, for example breads, honey, pasta, and olive oil at the organic grocery. What’s more, the price at the organic market was low!

I like the atmosphere of the farmers' markets, but I’m more likely to be cautious after that experience. I think many people have had the same experience. I recently read an article about a farmers' market in a Japanese community magazine. They said that farmers' markets do not always sell good quality and reasonably-priced products. In terms of content, it was a totally different article from the travel magazines which I read in Japan. It was written from the viewpoint of consumers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I quote the definition of farmers' market from Wikipedia. “Farmers/producers sell directly to consumers, minimizing profit loss by circumventing the middleman”.

According to this definition, it seems that one of benefits of the farmers' market is high profit for farmers. Are the farmers’ markets farmer-friendly or consumer-friendly?

Unlucky Number

Every culture has unlucky numbers. For instance, the number 13 is regarded as an unlucky number in many Western countries. Many people avoid using unlucky numbers in their life. It’s not unusual to avoid room number 13 at a hotel.

I have one episode in which I saw a big cultural deference between Japan and the U.S. and California in particular.

After I purchased my car, I needed to apply for a new license plate by myself because the salesperson at my car dealership was too lazy. When I purchased my car, the front license plate wasn’t attached. Normally, a dealer is supposed to apply for the missing license plate to the DMV, but he totally forgot about it. I think I could post an entire blog post regarding this episode, but I’ll stop this time….

I went to the DMV, and I filled out a lost form for the license plate. The DMV officer was very kind and friendly. She said that she would choose a lucky number for me. She looked into her inventory for a minute and handed me the new license plate, saying, “Here is a perfect number for you!” I was surprised when I saw the number because last two digits of the license plate were 49.

In Japanese, “4” and “death” are pronounced with the same sound, and “9” and “suffering” are pronounced with the same sound. Because of the pronunciation, it is said that the combination of the number 4 and the number 9 is the worst unlucky number in Japanese. In addition, it is said in Buddhism that 49 days after death, the soul of a dead person will head to the afterworld. It’s common to organize another funeral ceremony 49 days after death. That’s why the number 49 is reminiscent of death for many Japanese.

I asked the officer why the number 49 was a lucky number. She explained that the gold rush in California started in 1849, and many people believed the number 49 was a lucky number. She explained that there were a lot of things which were named using the number 49, such as State Route 49 and the San Francisco 49ers.

I didn’t refuse her proposal for the license plate. Since I live in the U.S, I thought that I should believe that the number 49 is the luckiest number in California. Different people have different customs.

Are you finicky about lucky and unlucky numbers?

I don’t care anymore.

Negotiation at the Airport

As of the end of April 2011, I have been in California for a year. At this time last year, I had a lot of things to do.

-       Apply for a Social Security number

-       Open a bank account

-       Find a house for rent

-       Purchase cars for my wife and myself

-       Buy car insurance, health insurance and home insurance

-       Get my driver’s license

-       Set up gas, electricity, water, home phone, cell phone and Internet service

-       Sign up cable TV

-       Buy furniture

To me, even going to a gas station was an adventure at that time. I was exhausted from setting my life.

Nowadays, I am settled. I’m enjoying living in the U.S. However, I still feel uncomfortable about air travel. I don’t like connecting flights because they are often delayed. When a flight is delayed or cancelled, it’s still hard for me to negotiate for an alternative flight or a hotel for an overnight stay. Even though the delay is not my fault, I need to explain the situation to the airline over and over again. I hate that.

Recently, I realized that my way of negotiating was wrong. In the past, when I requested flight change or hotel compensation, I used to explain my situation first and then asked for compensation. I think it was the wrong way of negotiating. Furthermore, I’m not a native English speaker. The airline staff needs to know first what I want. I should request first what I need and then explain my situation.

When a fight is cancelled or delayed in Japan, if I just show my flight number to the staff person at the boarding gate, he/she knows the flight status and offers an alternative proposal without negotiation. The airline culture and the number of available flights are totally different in Japan.

Now, when I need to negotiate something at the airport in the U.S, I give my request first. Since I changed my way of negotiating, the outcome has gotten a huge time-saving.

To me, an air travel is still high adventure. I hope that no schedule changes will happen to my flight. 

Misunderstanding Makes Me a Sharks Fan

As of today, I have been in California for one year! I’m enjoying the life in California. I’ve gone to San Jose Sharks hockey games 5 times this regular season. I’m a big fan of the Sharks. Here is the story of how I became a Sharks fan.

One winter afternoon, one of my colleagues whispered to me, “I have hockey game tickets for tonight. Call your wife and see whether you can go. Okay? ”

I called my wife and told her, “One of my colleagues invited us to the Sharks hockey game tonight. We should go.” She totally agreed, and I told him that my wife was really excited because it would be our first time to go to a hockey game.

Then, he said, “Oh My God! That’s your misunderstanding. I would go with you. I have only 2 tickets for the game tonight.”

Everybody except me knew that he was a big fan of the Sharks. He has season tickets for 2 seats. Everybody longs to get the extra one ticket from him. Since I didn’t know that, I thought that he had 4 tickets, and we would go to the game with his wife. When I discovered my mistake, I declined his invitation, but he gave us both tickets! This is how I became a Sharks fan.

I have another story about a misunderstanding which is related to hockey. My favorite Sharks player is Devin Setoguchi because he is fourth-generation Japanese Canadian. When his name is announced on the ice rink, many people say “Boo.” When I first heard this, I felt bad and couldn’t understand the booing from the spectators. I asked one fan why people booed him. He said, “No, No, No. Everybody is saying Gooch. It’s his nickname.” To me, it sounds like “boo.” Now I know his nickname, and I wear a jersey with his name on it when I go to the game, but I cheer him using his full first name “Setoguchi (瀬戸口in Japanese character).”

Hockey games are awesome. One reason that I became a fan is the music during the game. I love music. In hockey games, music is used to warm up the spectators. I especially like the opening of the game. Once the Jaws theme has played, the players are displayed on a big monitor and they come toward the ice rink. The tension of spectators runs high at this time. Then Metallica's “Seek and Destroy” is played, and the players skate out a statue of a shark’s mouth. The Sharks fans’ cheering reaches a peak!

I bought many sharks clothes, such as jerseys, T-shirts and hoodies for my wife and myself. I also made a deposit on playoffs game tickets and next season’s tickets. Thanks to my colleague’s kindness and my poor English skills, I have spent a lot of money on the San Jose Sharks. I guess I might spend more next season.

Tomorrow, I’ll go the playoff quarter final 5th game!