Congratulations Dr. Kats!!!

i went home for five days. a short but wonderful trip. i went to see my sister graduate from Marquette's School of Dentistry. Got back last night, drove home and called in sick today for work because was a bit dizzy and out of it this morning. Still am a bit. so here are some pics to make the posting easier for me, but more interesting for you. :)


Anna and Sofya at Anna's studio apartment with one of her newest pieces.
Have you ever heard of hurling? Well, if you haven't, then you'd be like me. A good friend joined the league in Milwaukee which is apparently the largest league outside of Ireland where the game is from. I went to see his practice to see what it looked like. It looks difficult, streneous, but fun.
Molly at the dog park. It was truly warm and sunny one day in Milwaukee while i was there. Molly and I enjoyed a stroll in the park.
Sofya at the brand new (to me) Bayshore mall. The newly redone mall was opened in the winter time. It's done like a mini-city with stores lining streets, each building architecturally different. but the large building behind Sofya is mostly condos and offices.
Prior to the hooding ceremony on Saturay night, Sofya and grandmas.
Walking into the church for the hooding ceremony. The ceremony was held at a cathedral on 12th street in Milwaukee across from Marquette university. Marquette is a Jesuit university.
Sofya is honored for her top grades with several other classmates.
2007 Marquette School of Dentistry graduates. Congratulations!
with the happy family after the hooding ceremony which official inducted Sofya into the dentistry profession.
On Sunday morning at the graduation luncheon, Katie and Sofya show off their hoods. The lilac color is for the profession of dentistry. Blue and gold are Marquette's colors.
Sofya poses with one of the cards my students made for her.
Early monday morning we had breakfast with grandmas before my sisters drove me to the Chicago airport.
One of the reasons i love being home is the comfort of being with my family. This photo reminds me of that. Grandma Nina fortune tells on the coffee grounds every time we have turkish coffee. She's lovely when she does and i look forward to it every time.

i wanted to do a photo blog, so forgive me for not doing what i wanted to do even though you had no idea i wanted to do it.

i thought it'd be the easiest way to share with you about what's been happening lately. mostly about the Golden week weekends, so perhaps i'll add them in a few days.

the first weekend i was meant to participate in an adventure to an uninhabited island off Izena island with several wacky and determined friends. i backed out and spent the weekend in the north. it was a good decision, although i do regret not exploring the village that has been abandoned on that island for 50 years or so. heard it was creepy but very interesting as most of the buildings were quite old.

saturday it rained all day and i wasn't quite up for anything more than going for a walk in the neighborhood. The lovely turk stayed with me friday night and it was wonderful to catch up with her and hear all about her trip home during spring break. She brought me a great gift--an actual turkish "chevz", a russian name for a turkish coffee cooker. Sunday the weather was lovely, sunny and bright, and i went to the Shioya village to watch the trim runs. My students were helping out and all the village officials were there and i walked around Shioya after and took some pics from spots i haven't been to before. On saturday, boys and girls basketball teams played in a tournament between northern junior high schools. The girls, unfortunately, didn't get through the firs two rounds, but the boys team did. Sunday afternoon, i drove to a junior high school in Nago and watched the Ogimi boys' team play for the 1st place. They were fantastic and won easily. That was very exciting. The teachers who left Ogimi in March were there to cheer them on, which was great to see. And the cheering squads of both schools were unstoppable. The entire baseball team of the opposing school was up in the rafters doing cheers along side their girls' basketball team. So even though our team beat theirs, i think their cheering squad easily overtook ours.

Later that day Kelly came up with her visiting friend. First we went to see a movie at Schwab, called Number 23 with Jim Carrey. Kelly once again went to a movie with me without knowing much about it and i couldn't remember anything about this one to tell her, except that i wanted to see it based on the previews and it seemed intense. It was that and also slightly convoluted and a bit predictable, but film noirish (is that a word?) in parts and creepy. I enjoyed it. Kelly didn't. She will never go to movies with me again, i fear. After the movie we hung out at mine, drinking wine and playing games and mentioning the Number 23 every once in a while to bring back fond memories of the film.
On Monday I spent time with Gabrielle and later on David and Andy came up after their "lost" adventure and we walked around my village and they told me all the stories from their trip. quite hilarious. During our walk, we stumbled upon a tiny place that at first looked like a shop, but turned out to be a small museum with a collection of items and photos from Kijoka's history and culture. The owner collects items that have to do with the local folklore, specifically the tree sprite creature, bunagaya. This red headed tiny being is more commonly known as kijimuna on Okinawa and can be sited in their home, the gajumaru tree.
Here's a link to a more detailed explanation of kijimuna Kijimuna inkblot art

The next weekend David, Ben, Juhi and i ventured to Kume island. This island has been on Juhi's "most wanted" list for a long time, nearly as long as she's been on Okinawa. The 4 hour ferry ride brought us to the beautiful and quite big Kume jima. We rented a car and camped near the beach. It was a wonderful weekend and i have photos up on Fotki and facebook.

There's a spot on Kume island that is known as the ghost road. Juhi had some "google translated pages" about certain places on Kume and they were mostly gibberish that made for funny reading. The ghost road was essentially described as a place where the ghost spirits can create optical illusions to confuse people. On this road, in a certain spot, if one were to put the car in neutral the car would move forward even though it appeared to be climbing up. It took us a while to find the road in the first place because of the rain and the dusk and the fact that Kume government has seemingly decided to let their tourists strain their eyesight at tiny, nearly rubbed off signs posted right at the corner of the turn off for an attraction. Having found the road, i put the car in neutral in several spots without any success of involving the ghosts in our faiths. We gave up but when the road took a dip, i decided to put it in neutral and let it roll down the hill. I took my foot off the pedals and the car rolled downhill and then, as it came to a slight incline, it kept rolling. I excitedly pointed out the fact that the car was still in neutral and my foot was still nowhere near the pedals. We decided, that because i first went down a hill and then up, i might have had enough momentum to continue upwards. So i reversed the car to a spot about halfway on the decline, stopped, put the car in neutral and took off my foot. The car slowly rolled down and then up the incline. For a moment, we thought it wouldn't roll much further but it kept going reaching the top. Spooky! But mostly an optical illusion. Ben claims that he figured it out. Ask him about it. :)

So am back in school and it's nearly lunch time. Wanted to quickly rant about the lack of a coffee shop concept in Japan. or maybe it's just Okinawa, though i doubt it. A giant, three story building was being renovated for the last two months in the middle of Nago. The signage proclaimed the coming of an internet cafe, billiards, and darts. I was excitedly anticipating its opening because from the road it looked like that along the side of the regular cubical reading spots, there would be comfy couches and chairs set up by the large windows. Finally! i thought, A place where i can sit and read with a cup of tea or coffee in Nago. I have been very much missing a coffee shop atmosphere that i've grown fond of in Milwaukee. The place opened on the 27th and i went on the 28th. As i parked, i saw through the windows a couple of people reading on the cream colored, comfy looking couches. I grabbed my book and headed in. A guy approached me with a shiny, explanation pamphlet. I said i wanted to read, he asked if i wanted a cubicle or to sit by the window. I motioned to the windows. He took me to the counter and i asked about getting a coffee. He pointed to a menu list, except it didn't list the types of coffees the place had, instead it listed durations of time, locations and the price. So to sit on the couches for half an hour costs 200Yen (roughly 1.5$) and a drink from a coffeematic machine is free. I think my look of disbelief must have confused the guy further and he kept pointing at the price list, which by this point, i had perfectly understood--NO COFFEE SHOP FOR ELINA!

bleh.

today is Goya day. Because it's the 5th month, May, which is called Gogatsu in Japanese. and the 8th day of that month, which can be read as "ya" sometimes. So 5/8 is "goya" day. Clever. We're having goya tempura for lunch along with fishy smelling spaghetti and baked potatoes topped with bacon and a small side of a an egg salad with some green looking things. nope. not the healthiest of lunches. and no dessert! :(

Yesterday i was at the local shop in Kijoka and over heard a couple of old ladies chatting inside. By overheard, i don't mean, i understood them because there was no way i could. They were speaking the Okinawan language, Uchinaguchi. I've heard people refer to it as a dialect of Japanese but have also read somewhere that people outside of Japan and Okinawa consider it a distinctly separate language. Since i haven't done much research into the area, i can't confirm either way. But i can tell you that the language the ladies were speaking was NOT japanese. It didn't even really sound like it. It actually resembled Chinese to me. Uchinaguchi or the Ryukyu language is also referred to as hogen and i have learned a few words, but not very many. Some of my friends who interact more with the locals know quite a few words and older Okinawans appreciate people learning their language. Sadly, though, the language may die out in a couple of generations as young people don't speak it and their parents don't speak it well or frequently. Hogen varies from village to village as we discovered while trying to compare our knowledge of it. Andy knew words that David didn't but they also knew differently sounding words for the same things. Ben told me that even villages located relatively close to each other, like the 3 villages of Higashi-son, will have hogen words unique to them. Interesting. Maybe one of these days i'll look a bit more into it.

and in other news.
am going home next week for my sister's graduation from the Marquette School of Dentistry. It is definitely an unexpected visit and will be a short one, but i felt that it had to happen and so am going. The next few days will be slightly more strained for me because i'm just really wanting to see my family already!

love
-e

meant to write about this a while ago. but what with the old laptop/new laptop transition and believe it or not, being very busy at school, only just sat down to write it.
what i wanted to mention was a curious thing that happened a few times while my mom was here and that was confirmed somewhat during the first monday morning teacher meeting a couple of weeks ago.
having mom here made me look at my life through an outsider's perspective. but not just where i live and the customs and culture i'm surrounded by, but my own actions and perceptions and how they've been modified by living here. mom thought it was odd that i would cover my mouth sometimes when chewing and attempting to talk, but even though i'm conscious of when it happens i can't always help bringing my hand to my mouth to cover it after putting something bigger than a niblet in my mouth. the women do it a lot and i guess i've picked it up. mom also noted that whenever i can, i hand things over to people with both hands.
she didn't mention it but i noticed how odd it was to have my mom extend her hand everytime she was introduced instead of bowing. something about her forwardness was uncomfortable for me, and it could only be because i've already been accultured to certain ways of interaction here that anything out of the ordinary really sticks out to me, even though it's a part of my primary culture.
Craig mentioned in a comment that i must be becoming Japanese if i'm starting to talk about appreciating simple and natural things. that's very possible. i guess after the period of culture shock comes the period of acculturation.
and here's a perfect example. during the spring break, the teachers' desks got shifted around, as they usually do during this time of transition from one staff to another, from old school year to new. so my desk got moved closer to the computer, but it's now also closer to the head teacher's desk and vice principal desk and farther from the office lady's desk where it was the last two arrangements.
at the monday morning meetings teachers sit in the spots that somewhat directly coordinate to their desk location. so i used to sit at the very end next to the office lady and the accountant. and it seemed like a reasonable position. i sit in that spot for lunch as well. my position in the school is very clearly defined. i think i've mentioned the hierarchy system that exists within the school and not just mine. so. at the very first meeting of the new school year i go to my usual spot and the office lady motions for me to go sit next to the head teacher, at the head of the table. it would certainly make sense according to the system of how everyone else is seated but i felt extremely out of place there. i was all of a sudden sitting across from one of the senior teachers, diagonally from the principal, next to the head teacher and the vice principal.
and i honestly thought that it had to be wrong, and i shouldn't be there. a part of me knows that thinking that way is a bit screwed up, but a part of me still believes i should be at the other end of the table. and there ya have it. i'm turning Japanese.

and it has been extremely busy at school for me. but a lot of fun as well. several changes to how we teach have been implemented since the start of the year and they're working out smoothly so far and i'm happy, but also busy. and the story contest practice started and the two students are putting in serious effort in already, which makes the job so much easier.

but Golden Week is coming up and we'll all be taking a bit of a break thanx to the great Japanese system of forced vacation through public holidays. this weekend will be a camping trip, and then work tuesday and wednesday, and then nothing planned for the other 4 day weekend.
looking forward to it.

oh. and the macbook rocks!
and i've just uploaded the photos to the April Fotki folder. they're from a trip to Iheya from a week and a half ago.

love

yeah! i've finally figured out a way to let the silly computer at school let me into blogger again. the whole logging in automatically with my google ID is making this comp too edgy and tired.

but i won't post much right now, as i have a couple of things to take care of at school before i hop off to pay bills (it's pay day, yipee) and then play with my new Mac notebook at home. that's right! i ordered a mac laptop upon several recommendations and my own research and have just received it yesterday, two days after making a call to a nice young man in Tokyo who spoke nearly flawless english and seemed to have developed a crush on me, 'cause he asked me to call him "anytime" and then called me himself a couple of times to double check some things. very cute.
the fun part will be setting up the internet connection on it as it's been more than a year since i did it on my previous laptop and even then i had the help of the vice principal. will attempt on my own and then will call in the cavalry when i fail.

so if all goes well, i'll post a fresh blog this weekend on my verynew, white, and slick notebook from my apartment.

fingers crossed.

while you're here, though, click on the link for Doc's blog. He's got a curious map posted from Google and also a couple of worthwhile articles to read.

laters
-e

there are so many things to discuss.
the new 1st graders that rushed into the school on monday, scared and eager and bewildered. the new teachers that came in two weeks ago but whom i haven't had a chance to really meet because i've been busy with mom's visit. they seem like wonderful people: serious, diligent, ready to take charge of this mass of bumbling youth that is Ogimi JHS. there's the total shut down of my laptop that could be mentioned: it was its time to be sure, but it's sad nonetheless that i didn't properly get to say goodbye and take away all that i really wanted from it. nearly 7 years is a long time for a laptop. it did its job.
there's also the fact that i will get to teach my own english elective class this year, once a week for two periods on thursdays. 12 students signed up, 6 boys and 6 girls, and the first class is next week and i'm already quite nervous about it because now that it's a regular class (though it was advertised as a replacement of the after school english club i had last school year) i now feel i need to map out a strategy, a curriculum to improve these kids' knowledge of English. but first, i suppose i should meet them and see what they want to do. A couple of the students who signed up were a surprise; they are lower lever and i only expected students with English skills to join, but i guess they were enticed by the mention of movie watching and manga reading and perhaps their friends suckered them into it. fools! ha ha. they'll be learning and they don't even know it!

all the above things are good to talk about. and i've had lots of thoughts about all of them the last week when i was attempting to sit down at the comp at school and start a blog. i kept being rejected--the blogger page wouldn't load at school and then my comp. crashed and so i had to wait until today to sit down and write. took a day off today and am now on Schwab (that's a base) at the library. i didn't actually took a day off to write a blog. that would be rather excessive. nope. took a day off to lick my wound about not seeing my favorite band play tonight and monday on mainland Japan. after two months of internal dancing to the future possibility of Gogol Bordello live on stage in front of me, i was neatly brought down by a short e-mail from the band announcing their canceled dates for Australia and Japan. the crash inside me might be likened to a vacuum. oh no, i am so lacking for words now that i can't even describe a complete lack of space and depth as a feeling. regardless. i had to return my air tickets but decided to keep one of the three days of vacation i was going to take for the trip. so today i woke up around 11am thinking that in another reality i'd be in my car right now, on the way to a friend's place to park it, going to the airport and tonight i'd be in a blissful state of dance to the best live band ever. i hope me, in the other reality, appreciates it.

speaking of appreciation. that's what i actually really want to talk about. appreciation of insignificant things. of things that are primarily on the periphery of our daily vision as we move through busy lives filled with concerns over medical insurance, job pay, vacation days, new wardrobes.. always moving, always rushing, always on the lookout for the better, the bigger, the more stable, the more complete, the more acceptable.
i haven't been doing that for a little over a year now and i would highly recommend it. and i don't want to speak of it as if i'm better and i've decided on something profound while the masses out there are in an unenlightened world that needs to be shattered for them in order for them to see the truth that i have found. far from it. i know nothing of truth. i just now what touches me, and i have known for a while, but it's harder to focus in america. it's harder to slow down and pay attention to yourself there. i guess i had to come here.
this is all very personal and so i'm putting up a disclaimer....this is not about you. this about me.

Igor just posted an article that i took to heart. it's an article about a musician who is considered to be the best in the world, who plays one of the finest if not the finest violin in the world and who have some dubbed genius though he would quickly defend himself from that title. it's an article about Joshua Bell playing at one of the busiest metro station in Washington DC, performing some of the most brilliant and divinely inspired pieces of music and out of over a thousand people only a handful taking note.
it made me think of my friends and my sisters who are attempting to create things in this life that are to them beautiful, that might be considered inspirational and unique and people in their lives nagging at them for not following the "right path" in life. what is that path that they or i must chose? what is the path that is acceptable, that is productive, that is promising of fulfillment? why must it be determined by the external forces and not the internal needs? why do we have to conform and resign ourselves? because the money isn't right? is that it?

i'm a bit angry and sad and i hope it comes through, because i never am on this podium i've chosen to be mine. i have never considered this blog space to be an opening into me, only into my life. but that's me, isn't it? my life that i live here. the fact that the clouds in this place make me inexplicably happy. the fact that the positioning of shisas on the rooftops is a good thing to chat about on a sunny day. the fact that i can expect every weekend to be thought provoking and new even if i spend it alone.

it's going to be hard to leave this place. this place where i'm finding peace. there are things i struggle with daily: my laziness about Japanese, my weight, my occasional insistence on seclusion..but those are the things that are helping me grow here as well. i have less than a year and a half. i'm in the 2nd half of this Okinawa experience. i'll try to be more appreciative of the life people lead here, of their culture, of their stories, and of mine as well.

also, and this should have been first and foremost, i just learned about the death of Kurt Vonnegut...it's been an emotional afternoon.

here are the links to the article from Washington Post about Joshua Bell and Kurt Vonnegut's obituary.
Pearls Before Breakfast
Kurt Vonnegut Jr., 84; Keen Observer of Humankind

hope you take the time.

love
-e

am tired. mom's in town and we have been busy ever since she landed wednesday night.
she has been to my school and visited a class during which the kids managed to ask her a few questions and involved her in a game they played. she ate school lunch which also happened to be her first japanese food. she has been officially welcomed by my BOE with a party at a local restaurant. My supervisor presented her with a present and flowers and speeches were made. On saturday she was a great help to me during the Okinawa JET Gumball Rally, which turned out to be a great success. 6 teams participated and gathered lots of hilarious photos and surprising objects as well as the ones required by the list. I hope the photos turn up somewhere in the future and i can copy them and post them. During the race mom and i went to the Urasoe Art Museum and saw an exhibition of Asian fiber art recommended by Brett. The exhibition was small but wonderful. I have never seen fiber art so formally presented and it was quite intriguing. The museum itself, however, is not so impressive with a small permanent collection of Okinawan lacquer ware. After the gumball rally finished a few of us went out to dinner at an izakaya and then it was karaoke time. Mom was a brave soul and stayed up 'til 3am with us and sang a few songs, including the only russian selection available, TATU's "Ya soshla s uma."
This morning was cloudy and rainy and my plans to take mom to her first Okinawan castle were ruined. But we had a great day, nonetheless. First lunch with the wonderful and stylish, Ms. Wiebe at DFS and then a stop at Cape Manzamo in Onna village on the way back home.
Back in Ogimi we stopped at home to pick up some russian sweets mom brought and went to the Sunday night adult class i teach. The members of the class decided to welcome my mom with a potluck dinner, so we gathered at Kei-san's house and mom was treated to beautiful food and wonderful company. I think she enjoyed herself. i know i did.

so that's the start. mom will be here for another 12 days and we hope to make the most of it without tiring ourselves out too much. no more staying up 'til 3:30am unless we can sleep in after.

i'll try to update but most likely won't have much time to....so check back in a couple of weeks.

love
-e

apparently this thing called Facebook is a bit addictive. Fun, too. I like the layout way better than Myspace, and I only got on to Myspace at first so that i could read Ms. Kitty's enlightening blogs. But now i'm settled there but don't quite feel at home. Facebook is another story. Most of my friends on Okinawa are on it and a few people from back home as well. It's a fun way to connect during the day. Just another format for communication. E-mails no longer do it for us. They imply time consuming lengthy responses. But Facebook or other formats like it, provide a space for quick messaging, short replies, witty comments, and pokes. It's easier to let someone know that you're paying attention to them without having to go into details about your life as well. Someone should write a thesis about the ever changing communication patterns of the 21st century and how tons of kids out there can't even imagine a world without the 2 second responses.
So here for your enjoyment is my Facebook badge. Don't know if i'll keep it here for long.

A week before my mother visits the island and it's very exciting to be waiting for her to come here. A couple of welcome parties have already been planned for her and i have a little surprise in the works as well. Should be a good time; hope i don't get sick before she gets here though.
Three teachers and at least 10 students are absent today due to influenza. 'tis the season for it, but some suspect that the students brought it from mainland when a couple of them went there on an exchange trip along with several elementary kids. Influenza ain't pretty here; i remember being sick last year and losing my voice; so crossing my fingers and trying to peel oranges to keep away from the illness.

The days are quiet now at school. The 3rd graders graduated on Saturday and are now free to roam the village streets until the start of their 1st high school year. The ceremony was wonderful: lots of emotions, some singing, presenting of awards and lots of speeches. One student received an award for not being late or absent for all 9 years of school (elementary and Jr. H.S.) and a couple of students haven't been absent or late during the 3 year Jr. H.S. carrier and 9 or so have not been absent or late during their entire 3rd year. I thought those were interesting awards to give out. I'd personally think the girl who hadn't been absent for 9 years is a bit of a loser, but i'm a teacher now and am not allowed to think those thoughts.

I took some pics around the school the day before graduation and on Saturday as well. During the ceremony, however, a 1st grader asked to use my camera and i thought i'd get interesting pics that way, but unfortunately all i got was extremely zoomed-in and blurry photos of crying 3rd graders. Lesson learned--take my own pics from now on.
During this graduation, i felt a bit more emotionally attached to the kids than last year. I felt that i knew most of them very well--some have been in my English club, with four of them i practiced for speech and story contests, a few boys would always attempt to converse with me between classes....so i actually came close to tears when one of the twins, the class leader this year, was giving a thank you speech and broke down half way. I didn't understand all of it, but it was easy to understand the emotion. So now they're gone, but not really. Most of them were in school yesterday because the H.S. test results came out and they were here congratulating each other on having gotten in. A few students didn't get in. I was only surprised that it happened to one of them, a girl who attempted to get into Nago H.S. So her homeroom teacher and principal were on the phone for a part of the day, her mother was here chatting with teachers about what's to be done, and i think she's going to attempt again for Nago H.S. and if not, will go to the high school in Ogimi, Hentona.

With 3rd graders gone, i have a bit more time on my hands and have been studying Japanese and planning for mom's trip and also thinking of ways to improve our classroom techniques for next year. Have a couple of ideas that hopefully will get implemented and the students should benefit from it. We're also starting the process of choosing next school year's participants for story and speech contests. I hope a few kids try out next week so that we can pick the best ones. I have a feeling, though, that if 4 try out, we'll be lucky. So now i have to start thinking of stories for them to do next year. The story contest is in June, so we'll only have 2 months once the kids and stories are picked and i'm done traveling by mid-April.

In other news, on Tuesday Ben, Rodger, David and i as well as 3 other adult students had a karate test for the next belt. It was a bit nerve wracking. We had to do 5 skills and then three katas: two mandatory and one of our choosing. But the test went fine; the Sensei seemed pleased with us and even commented on the individual things he thought were good about our performances. We should know next week if we passed and are ready for orange belts.

I've been a bit sluggish with running, but ran twice this week and hoping for a 3rd time on Friday. I seem to think that if i make my attempt at running the Shioya run public then there will be more people i'll be lying to if i don't actually do it because i'm an extremely lazy person when allowed to be. So there you are. The run is on the 29th. It's 9.5km and i'm hoping to do it with Kelly and Yasemine. So here's to doing something i've been swearing up and down i would never do....
things change, eh?

cheers

Поздравляю всех женьшин, девушек, мам, бабушек, внучек и особенно сестер С Международным Женским Днём!!!

The above is to wish all women a Happy International Women's Day!

and now, because every women is a piece of art--depends on the day of course, if it's the serene Mona Lisa or eccentric Frida Kalo but a piece of art nonetheless--here's a test to find your own, daily piece of art. and today....

I am Best Described By...

San Giorgio Maggiore, TwilightBy Claude Monet

Famous Work of Art Are You?

and also, because i found it hillarious, here's a test to see if you're a dumb american--or are not American and to shame them all know more about US history.

though, not more than me it turns out, because...

I am a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed.Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

a good monday

my mp3 player is on full shuffle. something i don't think i've attempted before. i've shuffled folders before but recently been on a kick of listening to albums or folders straight through. so two days ago i put it on random play and it's been great. it just went from Reservoir Dogs soundtrack to a song by Vissotsky i haven't heard in ages to Radiohead's Lucky. random is right and i'm liking it.
but that's not why today is good. it helps having the music though as i write about the reasons.

i don't share details often; i give out snippets and stories and sometimes observations, but to have a full day deserve a blog is a rarity mostly because i'm too lazy to write everything down.
so today started out with me snoozing for nearly an hour. i meant to get up at 6am--am starting to do this whole "running in Okinawa" thing that has suckered in a bunch of JETs i know. of course, i don't foresee myself running marathons, but it would be nice to run the 10km in my village. but at 6am it was too cold and too dark and i was not convinced that it was a good time for me to get up. so i postponed the waking 'til 7:15 and told myself i'd run after school.
on the way to school was thinking of how lame a couple of my classes might be a) because one of them will be a repeat of a hair pulling experience from Friday, albeit this class is way genkier and so the repeat at least promised to be livelier and b) because you all know my feelings about my co-worker and some days i'm more pessimistic about the prospects of working with him than others.
but the clouds were gorgeous, the sun was climbing and making the blue of the sea sparkle and so i was disinclined to be truly down as i pulled into the school's parking lot.

i walk into the teacher's office, smile and "ohayo gozaimasu" whoever happens to be in my line of sight and go to my desk on which a faxed note from my JTE greets me and my day is immediately not what i expected.
the note says to expect a two hour delay and to teach at least one, mayhap all three classes on my own because he might be late for 2nd and 4th period and during 5th period he'd like to finish up the "checking of files" and so he'll be present but i'll do "activities" and entertain 1st graders.

am a bit upset at first because it's not what i expected my day to be, and then i give myself a good mental thrashing because my day just went from me being potentially frustrated in the classroom to me being able to lead the classroom and thus control my level of frustration. and so i get into the planning; i refuse with 3 weeks of school left and us being behind in the textbook in 1st and 2nd grade (3rd graders are already finished but in the most hurried fashion towards the end) to play games during classes. So i plan out how to move the classes forward and yet not having to "teach grammar." For 2nd graders it involves some silly acting out on my part and some writing of dialogues on theirs and for 1st graders it involves an introduction to "can you" grammar through a bingo game i found months earlier on a KitaKyushu JETs' website.

my coworker comes back before my 2nd class of the day and wants to join me just to hang out and make sure there's no behavior problems. i somehow manage to convince him that he need not bother because i feel that the lesson i have planned for this class relies greatly on the fact that i'm on my own with no Japanese backing and them having to do a lot of guessing. During the 1st graders' lesson he does join in to hand back some papers and files and then i'm on my own with him at the back of the room. The kids are unclear about the bingo instructions and instead of prolonging their torture of having to figure out what the highly animated Elina is trying to say, i turn to him and he prodes the kids with hints in Japanese to figuring out the game, and i appreciated that instead of a full out translation. progress!

so three classes with prep between them and i'm done around 2:35 and i haven't had time to study japanese yet, but had three good classes and hang around a bit after the 1st graders' class and chatted about Donald and Daisy Duck.
and with this "i can do things" mood i get into writing down new kanji to study for the week and it's a bit after 4pm when i go home ... and oh my! go for a run. well. it's a half walk/half run deal but i'm happy about it.
after the run, a salad with tofu for dinner, then some reading time and up the stairs to Gabrielle's at 6:30 for our Monday night yoga session. Tonight i had a really good session--broke a sweat and everything and with Gabrielle's assistance attempted a headstand, though am nowhere close to doing it on my own.

at 9pm back to my apartment and reading for about an hour before i decided to write it all down because i'm feeling good about today and about where i'm at right now and that's not always the case but i don't ever feel like describing the days when i'm down and it's gray and all my plans have been rained out by weather or mood. but i think it's good to remember the good days in detail, 'cause they're possible and possible to replicate. so here's hoping i have another good one tomorrow and wish one for you as well.

PS. am reading a great book right now thanx to Shelley. It's called "Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist" by William R. Maples, Ph.D. and Michael Browning. It's been a while since i've read anything related to my original field and even though it's a bit gory at times, it's nice recognizing some of the terminology and feeling a connection when a Marshalltown trowel is mentioned. And according to this book the belief that human hair and nails keep growing a while after death is a myth. Good to know.

Grooving to James Brown's "Get Up Offa That Thing" as i'm finalizing this post. How appropriate.

listening to the soundtrack from the film, Marie Antoinette that i picked up in Taipei. I saw the movie before the trip and enjoyed it. It was certainly ambitious and didn't always deliver but it was great visual fun and i thought Kirsten Dunst's performance was wonderful. I also enjoyed the music, so when i saw the soundtrack at a music store , i bought it budget be damned. Also picked up Pink Martini's Hang on Little Tomato album which is a french import and seems to be disliked by the windows player on my computer. Only plays it for a short time. figures.

so yeah. went to Taiwan for 6 days and had a wonderful time. Went by myself and don't really regret that decision. It would have been a different kind of fun with a friend or two--Taipei is a great town with lots of options for entertainment, but i had a good time on my own, more subdued but relaxing and reflective.
I put up all the pics on the fotki site with short explanations for most of them, so check that out if you want a visual story of the trip. Of course not everything i saw and did is on the photos. I had a great time meeting people at the hostel and during my trip to Taroko National Park, and those things can't be transcribed through photos. Not my photos anyways. :)

I spent the first 3 days in Taipei, and then very early Sunday morning took a train to Hualien, a city on the east coast of Taiwan, south of Taipei. My goal was to go to the Taroko National Park from there, which was another hour by bus. I didn't have a clear plan for my trip to Taroko, but it all worked out splendidly. I took a bus about half way into Taroko NP and stayed over night in Tiansiang, a small village in the forested hills of the gorge. I walked south from Tiansiang on both days to explore the sights. On the first day it was cloudy and a bit chilly towards the evening and i didn't make it as far as i wanted to, but i did meet a fellow walker and we made it back to Tiansiang and had dinner together and enjoyed a great show of native taiwanese dancing.
The next day brought sunshine and with the pack on my back i walked south following the same road as the day before hoping to catch a bus when i got too tired and after i had walked the trail called The Tunnel of Nine turns. After the trail and about 11km later, i missed the bus and was seriously considering hitching when a car pulled over and the driver motioned for me to get in if i was going their way. I stuffed myself and bag into the back seat with two grown children of a husband and wife in front and their two cute dogs (pic on Fotki). The university age kids spoke broken but decent English and the father chimed in a bit as well. We had a great ride all the way back to the Hualian train station, which was my destination and since they were staying the night in Hualian they offered to drop me there. But not only that, the kids walked with me to a local specialty shop and helped me pick out sweets to bring back as omiyage(gifts) to my school, BOE, English class, etc. It was one of the kindest gestures i've experienced in a long time.
So that's just one little story from a great trip, which also included lots of stinky tofu, night markets, late night hostel chats, wrong metro stops, and more stinky tofu. So perhaps if you're curious, you can ask me about it in person sometime, but now i'd like to tell you a bit about my job since i don't seem to have done that in a while.

I came back late night on the 13th and i had promised my English club students a Valentine's Day fondue during our club meeting the next day, so on the way home had to stop by a store and pick up all the delicious ingredients. First, we made Valentine's cards and the girls went all out with decorations. Then i melted 4 chocolate bars and we dug in with strawberries, marshmallows, bananas, apples, dried pineapples and apricots, cookies and sprinkles to top it all off. Delectable! I've never had a chocolate fondue, or any fondue for that matter, and it was quite fun.

Classes are their usual mixed bag of fun. But since the 3rd graders have their high school tests coming up in a month, we have to finish up the textbook in a hurry and so we're skipping over a few things, but there's no new grammar, so apparently it's all right. We are doing something we haven't done before--we're attempting to have students write down their opinions based on a debate lesson in their textbooks. The debate is "school lunch" vs "boxed lunch". So we had both classes vote and in one class only one student and myself voted for "school lunches" and in the other class about 2/3 of the students voted for it. So i had students divide into groups and write down three reasons for their opinion and hopefully during the next lesson we can have them take up positions on opposite sides of the room and read out their reasons. But I do have to share two that made me chuckle. One was, "Boxed lunches are better because they are made with mother's love." and i didn't edit it. there's one very high level student in that group. and the second one was, "Boxed lunches are better because school lunch is cooker DEATH." i think they meant to be negative towards the lunch ladies. ha ha. thought it was funny.

in other news, the boys basketball team won first place in a tournament between northern schools at the end of January and the PTA threw a party tonight for the teachers, team members, and themselves. It was nice and made me want to check out more sports events, it's just unfortunate that they usually start early in the morning on Saturdays.

Tomorrow I'm meeting my English club students for an afternoon of karaoke fun as a going away party for them. They'll leave the school in mid March and i'm going to miss them a great deal. I made real connections with these girls and other students in the 3rd grade classes. Sometimes i don't feel like going to school because i know what the teaching experience is like, but when i'm in the classroom with them or greet them in the hallways, or have random conversations about "corn candy" and "landmines," i feel that i'm a part of their lives and a part of the school and they care that i'm there, and that feels great and i have a better day.

and on that sentimental note, i bid you adieu.

cheers

PS here's an excerpt from my journaling in Taiwan:
Oh yeah. Before i forget. had a revelation of sorts about being in an Asian country. It's like constantly being yanked from a state of comprehension to a [state of] complete lack of bearing in a present situation. There are so mnay signs in English, western companies, recognizable brands. The eye moves along the varied surface of the new surroundings and is instantly attracted to anything that holds familiartiy, from a sign for a dentist office to McD's to an upscale store front and then once those have given the brain a moment of clarity next come all those things that make the connection between seeing and understanding arduous to establish in best circumstances. Usually the connection is established via numerous clouded links and assumption or not at all, as is the case with most signs in the [chinese and japanese] hieroglyphs. I constantly go from understanding a feeling of loss. It's tiring. Funny though, that anything Japanese related [and sounding] brings me comfort here in Taiwan. Perhaps because i've already settled with those misunderstandings.

Ein's my favorite, but i suppose i'm more like Jet-san

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on wednesday i went to play volleyaball with the young women of Ogimi. i invited myself through a friend because i've been wanting to get more involved with the locals but haven't been getting around to it. the women's club plays on wednesdays from 8 to 10pm at the Ogimi elementary school's gym. Some members are high school students and others are 20something women that live and work in Ogimi village. This week they were practicing with the men's team because at the end of February they have a tournament and so apparently are getting more serious with their practices. I haven't played volleyball in a very very long time, but apparently still remembered how to hit the ball and was able to serve over the net every time. Two high school girls and me were put on the men's side, and at first i was fairly nervous, but as we started playing i realized that no one was extraordinarily good and everyone made mistakes. We played 8 on 8 and there was lots of confusion sometimes, but it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. Everyone was in good spirits and joking with each other and the game wasn't taken that seriously and we all had a good time. So even though my forearms now are bruised and hurting, i'll be joining in on the volleyball practice again in the future.

Just found out that the 3rd grade student who won 2nd place at the all Okinawa Story contest last year will be presenting his story on Sunday at Shioya elementary. No one told me and he hasn't approached me for practice. Hmmm. I guess i'll have to get a hold of him today and practice. We have school on Sunday and then in the afternoon we'll be going to observe classes at Shioya elementary. Gabrielle will be teaching a 5th grade class so i plan on observing that.

This week and last have been rather odd for me. My co-worker has been brought down with a serious flu. He has taken two sick days and a couple of afternoons last week and hasn't been to school at all this week and actually might not come back until thursday of next week. I have been teaching on my own and that has been lots of fun, but when it was found out that he'll be gone all this week and through next, it was decided that from today (friday) through next week other teachers will take over the scheduled English classes. Teaching on my own has been going really well with almost all classes, especially the 3rd graders. But i have hit a wall in a way. I can't move in the textbook because i can't explain grammar properly and playing games every day for two weeks is tiring and stops benefiting the students after a while. So I taught through thursday this week and had to resign to the fact that other teachers will have to take over. But now feel rather guilty as they have more classes to teach and i have nothing to do. It's odd. But now have time to sit down and write up a lengthy blog, and that's a positive, right?

So, we have classes from sunday through thursday this week, and friday is a day off as a substitute for working on sunday. Sunday classes will be short because of the afternoon visit to the elementary school and Monday classes will be short because the lunch ladies are taking a day off since all 4 of the elementary schools will have a day off, which means no lunch for junior high school students and so they can't be kept at school past 1pm. Anytime i think i've gotten used to the flexibility of scheduling and the bendy logic behind it, something like this will come up just to reassure me that the japanese education system has lots of tricks up its sleeve and they'll do most anything to avoid actual serious academic pursuit. ok. that was slightly exaggerating but not by much. This week thursday i will be missing out on one of the funnest concerts that take place during a JHS school year, in my opinion--the 3rd graders goodbye concert. It was supposed to be on wednesday and so when i planned by trip to Taiwan i knew i couldn't miss out on it and didn't take the wed. off, instead took the thursday and the following tuesday (february 12th, monday is a national holiday)...but at some point during the crazy school year, the event scheduled was rearranged and the concert moved to thursday and i will be missing it! am not happy a bit about it.

and so it is that time of the year. the hectic time for 3rd grade homeroom teachers when they have to make sure that all their charges' paperwork and high school applications are in order and ready to be sent off to high schools of choice. JHS students who want to go to high school have to take an entrance test in math, science, japanese, social studies, and english. the tests are tough and those who want to make it into their high schools of choice have been studying since before winter vacation. some students can bypass the testing process by attempting the early addmissions option. Some high schools that are generally tougher to get into, allow a few students to be recommended for attendance. So homeroom teachers and administration send glowing records of recommendation and student's records. The high schools look them over and decide whether to grant the student an interview. All the students from Ogimi who applied for the early admissions got to the interview stage. I coached two of them for the English portion of Koyo HS's interview. I am happy to say that they both got in. Actually out of 7 students who went throught the interview process only one was denied automatic admission. She now has to take a test like the rest of her regular admission classmates. When it was announced that 6 other students made it, the yelling and cheering was near ear splitting. It was quite exciting for all. And i felt that i had a part in it. These students i have known for a year and a half. Some of them i have worked with more than other, like Yuu who was in the story contest and is now slated to attend Koyo high school in hopes of becoming a journalist some day. It's exciting being a part of shaping a young life.

oh yeah. the weather. almost forgot to mention how cold it's been.
the temperature may only be at 10C but the wind and lack of central heating are doubling the effect of the cold. Yesterday i was unprepared for the cold and shivered all day. Today i have three layers on, including a thermal undershirt, and so am doing better. Two pairs of socks are also helping. The sun is shining but it's deceptive. Nothing warm about it today. I wish i brought a pair of fingerless gloves for easy typing. I tried typing with gloves on yesterday but it's a slow and mistakes riddled process. I hope you appreciate that this blog has been typed up with nearly frozen fingers.
ha ha

and so i come to the end of the blog, and i still haven't shared with you the saddest news from the last two weeks.
Some of my dearest friends on the island are not recontracting for another year. For a few it was unexpected and others have known for a long time that it would be the case. But we have nearly half a year left on the island together and we shall make the best of it yet! Plus, i don't believe that when they leave it'll be the last time i see them. Knowing people all over the world is only a plus, right? :)

love
-e

how appropriate. :)

You Are Not a Cook

You know cooking isn't for you, and you wouldn't even consider trying to make a homecooked meal.And this is a very good thing. You've saved all your friends and family from unintentional food poisoning!

Are You A Good Cook?

And Now For Something Completely Different...

i promised a "reasons for staying" blog and perhaps it's coming, but right now, i wanted to share with you an article i wrote for the Okinawa YAK. I hope it makes the next issue, but our editor is rather strict and my culinary exploits might not be considered YAK material. :)

meh. am sure he'll print it.

but first, in other food related news! On January 4th, a trusted health TV program in Japan (AruAru Daijiten) that has been on the air for 10 years broadcast a story proclaiming that the health benifits of natto (fermented soy beans) have been linked to weight loss. They introduced two people who have lost weight after eating natto every day for two weeks. The Japanese trust their TV, and this program is very popular and they showed data to prove their statements, so this caused a natto buying frenzy all over Japan! Stores ran out of stock. Manufacturers ran out of stock and had to issue public apologies in newspapers! And of course prices of natto went up. Whereas before a small pack of natto was 100 yen, in less than two weeks it went up to 140 and then 170yen. Pretty spectacular, eh? But not anything surprising. But wait! Here's the kicker! It was just found out (the story hit the newspapers today) that the TV show fabricated their data about the benefits of natto they proclaimed! They LIED and everyone literaly bought it!

i did a quick search and this is all i can find right now in English to summarize the story. Also, click on the "100 natto-related searches" link to get more scoop on both natto and the story.

and now, here's my article for the YAK.

Cooking for Clueless

To be in Japan is to enjoy its food. I have been gladly doing that for the last year and a half. Yet, one of my goals while living here has been to improve my abilities in the kitchen. So slowly, I have been pushing myself and trying to overcome my unexplainable anxieties when it comes to cooking. I am constantly afraid of screwing it up and so I don’t attempt it to begin with. But that’s no way to be, and so I bought a couple of books, and a few essential Japanese ingredients, and have been mixing it up in my most unfriendly to cooking kitchen. I don’t understand why Japanese kitchens lack counter space, but adapting is what we’re here to do, so I do and so far no major disasters.

I’ll share a couple of recipes with you and also some definitions of commonly used Japanese ingredients. Most of these things are coming from two great books I picked up from amazon.co.jp:

Bento Boxes: Japanese meals on the go by Maomi Kijima. I like this one because it’s written using simple instructions perfect for me, has lots of step by step photos, and uses actual Japanese ingredients that I can buy at a local veggie stand or grocery store. Am so going to miss that when I move back home and the book becomes obsolete there.

A dictionary of Japanese Food by Richard Hosking. This one is great if you constantly ask what it’s in your kyuushoku (school food) and then can’t find a translation in your trusty Japanese-English dictionary for it. It’s not a recipe book. It gives definitions for lots of ingredients found in Japanese cooking and gives the names in romaji, hiragana and kanji for easy look up at a grocery store. But of course, if you don’t want to buy one, just give me a shout, and I’ll look it up.

I would recommend buying several ingredients that appear in most of the recipes I have found. They are mirin(みりん）, cooking sake, and of course, soy sauce. Mirin is sweet cooking rice wine. It gives a sweet flavor to food and is great for glazes. You can substitute with 1tbsp sake and a teaspoon of sugar. Sake tones down raw tastes and strong smells and improves flavor.

So without further ado, here’s a couple of things I have been testing out in my kitchen.

Sanma teriyaki. This recipe in my book is for mackerel but I thought I’d try it on the slightly cheaper sanma. Sanma is pacific saury, a fish I have never heard of before coming here. It has made several appearances in my school’s kyuうshoku, so I thought I’d try it at home. FYI, both sanma and mackerel are fatty fish.

For this recipe you’ll need flour, soy sauce, mirin, sake, oil, salt and pepper.

I used two sanma fish and cut each one up at an angle into 4 pieces.

Then I combined 4 Tbsp of soy, 4 tsp of sake and 4 tsp of mirin in a bowl.

After sprinkling salt and pepper on each piece, I dredged them in flour. Heated oil in a frying pan and then briefly cooked each piece of fish. By the time I set down the last piece, the first piece was ready to be flipped. They cook super quick, so don’t walk away. After turning the fish on all sides, add the mixture of sauces to the pan and cook over medium to high heat. The mixture will turn quickly into a glaze, so let each piece soak up the glaze for a bit on all sides. And that’s it!

Boro Boro Jushi This is a simple Okinawa dish that I learned from the home economics teacher at my school. For this you’ll need rice and whatever veggies you want to use. Jushi is mixed rice that I’m sure you’ve had for kyuushoku or as onigiri. It usually has thinly sliced carrots, mushrooms, seaweed, sesame seeds and is brown in color. This boro boro variation I am told is Chinese in origin and looks more like risotto because a lot of water is used to make it.

So for one cup of rice, you’ll use three cups of water. This is not cooked in a rice cooker but in a regular pan. Cut up really small whatever veggies you like and are taking up space in your fridge. I am told that this dish is usually made when there are a few leftover veggies that might spoil if not used, and so they’re all chopped up and thrown in. Carrots, shitake mushrooms, konbu (a type of seaweed), and anything else you like should be chopped up and combined with rice. Tiny shrimp would probably work well, but I haven’t tried that. Then add the water and either soy sauce or miso paste and salt and pepper and any other spices you like. Don’t use both soy and miso, however. After the water boils, let simmer for about 30 minutes. Done!

And as a final addition to this YAK, I thought I’d type up an explanation of how to make curry using the solid curry bricks sold in all the grocery stores. I bought a box of “Golden curry” because that’s the mix the chefs at a restaurant I worked at used as a base, but couldn’t bring myself to try and cook with it because I couldn’t read the instructions and I’m not big on experimenting with food when my dinner depends on it.

So I finally asked for an explanation and here it is.

On the back of the box I bought it suggested 200 grams of meat, one carrot, one large potato, an onion, and something called “sarada.” I used chicken, three small potatoes, and also added frozen broccoli and frozen sliced peppers. Cauliflower would be great as well.

So chop up all the veggies. You can fry up the onions before using them, as most Japanese do if you, like them, don’t care for a strong onion flavor in your curry. I don’t mind, so I used them raw. First bring water to a boil. The box suggested 700ml, I used a bit more because of all the veggies I added. When the water is boiling add the meat. Once the meat is cooked, add all the veggies. Reduce the flame to medium. Once the potatoes and carrots are soft, add curry brick. Might help to cut it up into bits before throwing it in. Mix it in as much as you can and then just let it simmer for another 5 or 7 minutes. Mix again and you’ve got curry!

When I made it, I added a bit too much water so watch out for that unless you like the curry more soupy.

Enjoy!

In the next article, I’ll hope to share a recipe for a soup and maybe something with udon.

Those are the goals for my own experiments in the kitchen, so if they work out they’ll make an appearance. Wish me luck!

I felt a bit lonesome going into the New Year. It wasn't overbearing. It didn't bog me down and leave me laying on a futon in a dark room listening to Pulp. It was more like a fleck in my peripheral vision--something that only became visible to me when i'd stop and take a look around. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
It's reasonable to say that New Years holiday carries as much weight for my family as Christmas does for yours. It was a big holiday in Soviet Union and is still huge in the former Soviet Republics. Most everyone i know who came from Soviet Union starts preparing for how they'll spend New Years at least a month in advance. Reservations are made at russian restaurants, trips are booked, outfits are carefully decided, and of course, presents are bought. On 31st, most people will take a nap during the day, so that they can party through the whole night; it's reasonable to expect to stay out 'til 6am. New Years' eve is spent with family when one's younger and with friends, when one's older. On New Years day, families get together and presents are exchanged and left over food is eaten. We usually put up a tree after Christmas in my house. We started doing that because years ago my father found out that live trees are given away for free on the 25th. These days, my mom puts up a large, fake tree and all the presents get piled under it. So you see, spending New Years alone was not something I'd have wished on myself, but this year i wanted to spend it Japanese/Okinawan style, and so i had to deal with the fact that midnight was not going to be a big deal and i would have to be alone.
So here's a picture shorthand of how i spent my New Years with Okinawans.

The New Years is a major holiday in Japan. It's a time for families to gather and relax together. For this purpose, the special New Years food, osechiryouri, is prepared in advance so that the females of the family can also relax and join everyone in celebrating the holiday. On the 31st families relax together by going on outings, playing games at the house, watching TV, visiting relatives' homes, etc. New Years is not a holiday that celebrates the one moment when the old year becomes new; the holiday is celebrated over a period of several days during which New Years food is eaten, people don't work, and children are given envelopes of money as presents.
Follow the wiki links for more info on Japanese New Years' Eve, New Years and osechi-ryouri.


On the 31st, the Taira family picked me up and we went to play park golf in Kunigami. This is Mr. Taira who is the Ogimi BOE's superintendant, his wife, their youngest daughter and their grandson. Park golf is not quite mini-golf, because there are no funny obstacles, but it's played with giant balls on a mini version of a regular coarse. It was my first time and so naturally, i came in last. There were quite a few families on the coarse; it was a clear day and really lovely.
After park golf, we went to the Taira house and had a simple lunch of miso soup and rolled mochi. The mochi was sent to Mrs. Taira from a friend in the Sendai prefecture in the north of Japan. On New Years, friends, and collegues send each other presents that are usually drink or food. It is customary to send a present like that to your elder, senpai, or a higherup at work. So mrs. Taira received quite a few presents, so did grandmother Taira, but Mr. Taira didn't get as many because he works in the public sector and so it could be construed as bribary and is not done.



This is Kai, the son of the eldest Taira daughter. See if you can spot a giant caterpillar near him.



After lunch, Nao, Mr. Taira, Kai and i drove to the aquarium in Motobu. Even though i've been there 3 times already, it's still a nice place to walk through, and i noticed that they change up some of the smaller tanks. The aquarium was packed with mainland tourists, foreigners (by that i mean US military), and Okinawans. It was a bit cloudy and gray, and Kai fell asleep on the ride there and back. It was the first time that we were given a break from his rendition of Mr. Ozma's "Bounce with me" song. Unfortunately Kai could only remember a small and very repetitive bit from the song, but he cracked everyone up every time he'd do it, especially if he had space and freedom to combine the song with dance.



This is the Taira family gathered around a dinner spread on the 31st. We made our own sushi hand rolls, which so incredible delicious, i can't even begin to describe my happiness with it. One of these days i'll have to throw a sushi temaki party at my house. It'll be great.

After dinner we sat around and chatted and played games and watched NHK's "Red vs white concert" which is a staple of any Japanese household on New Year's Eve. Famous Japanese bands and singers perform popular songs and it's a competition between men and women. At the end of the evening, the audience gets to vote on who's won. I didn't actually get to see won that evening, but more about that in just a moment.

This is Saori, the eldest Taira daugher. I taught her how to play backgammon online that night. We were playing a children's board game called sugoroku which in the electronic dictionary translated to "Japanese backgammon". It looked nothing like backgammon to me, just your simple boardgame with obstacles. So i showed Saori the backgammon i'm familiar with and it got her hooked.

At 11pm. Mrs. Taira prepared a New Year's soba dish. Eating of the long soba noodles symbolically says goodbye to the old year while welcoming the new. It's a tradition from mainland, as most that are observed in Okinawa on New Year's are, but in Okinawa the buckweat mainland soba is substituted for the Okinawa kind. Yum. After eating the soba, we watched the concert for a few more minutes and around 11:45pm Mr. Taira politely indicated that it was time for me to return home. Actually i wasn't their only guest that evening; the man in the above picture oposite me is a good friend of Mr. Taira's who came over around 9pm and brought sake with him. I was home with 10 minutes 'til midnight, so i opened a bottle wine, poured myself a glass and decided to take a picture of myself at midnight. By the time that all got set up, it was midnight already and fireworks coming from Okuma resort started off outside. I ran out and to the road and watched them with a glass of wine in hand. Fireworks, wine, a great feeling of serenity from having spent a day with lovely and goodhearted people put me in a wonderful New Year's mood. Nothing to dread afterall.
On the 1st, at 11am i was back at the Taira house for osechi-ryouri. If you followed the wiki link above, you already know that the food is served in large stackable boxes and is not just an everyday Japanese fare. Each dish in the osechi box has a deeper meaning that has to do with the New Year. Red and white are majestic colors that can be found in major Japanese celebrations, and of course in their flag, so certain foods are arranged to show off those colors. Other foods carry messages of fertility, prosperity, abundant harvest, and health. I think that's one of the amazing factors about being in Japan is the constant reminder of how traditional and deeply cultural the people's lives are. It's a modern society with all the comforts that that can afford, but it's still very firmly rooted in very concrete and all enveloping cultural ideals and principles.
I haven't told you about Kai's greatgrandmother yet. Grandmother Taira is an extraordinary woman. She has been named Japan's National Treasure and for good reason. This woman singlehandedly brought back the nearly lost art of Okinawa bashofu weaving. In the 60's and 70's, she organized the women of Kijoka into a bashofu workshop and it is now the only place in the world where bashofu cloth is woven. At nearly 90 she is still an integral part of the tradition. She goes to the workshop every day and has a room for weaving set up in the house where she sometimes works with Mrs. Taira and Saori. She participates in and supervises every arduous step of bashofu weaving, and her indigo stained hands show it. A wonderful story from a little village where i live. After eating, i went back to my apartment to call up my family and friends on their New Years eve. Later in the afternoon, Mr. Taira and the usual crew picked me up for a leisurely drive through Kunigami. A nice and relaxing conclusion to my New Years with the Tairas.


This is my supervisor's wife and their dog, Candy at a shrine in Naha on the 2nd. We went to a shrine called Naminoue. It is one of the biggest on Okinawa and a popular spot for those wishing to make their first visit to a shrine in the New Year. At the shrine we threw in a coin and clapped our hands to wake up the gods so that they could hear our prayers. After that we walked past several stalls that sold amulets for the new year in form of prayers sown into decorative pouches, beautiful arrows to display in the house, representations of various gods, etc. It is traditional to receive New Years fortune at a shrine as well, so we each paid 100yen and picked one out of a box. They have some with english translations as well. I read my fortune and tied it to a rope as did every one else. My fortune for the year is "very good," so let's hope that's right. There are several degrees of fortune ranging from "excellent" to "poor".
After walking to a Buddhist temple next to the shrine we bought some yakisoba at the food stalls and ate. This is a photo in the park next to the shrine; a family enjoying a lunch after their shrine visit. I just thought it was a perfect way to show you what Okinawa is like during New Years. Gorgeous, peaceful, and all about the family.
Here's a giant stalagtite that hangs in a cave in Tomagusuku. After the shrine visits, my supervisor drove us to a Ryuku culture park that was initially built to show off a nearly kilometer long cave. It took nearly a half hour to walk through the cave, which in parts was decorated with christmas lights in a no longer surprising to me Japanese fashion. There was even a giant, lit up Shisa near a beautiful display of stalactites to provide a fun point for a picture. On top of the cave, the park is an exhibition of traditional Okinawan arts, crafts, dance, and food. There is also a small museum about snakes, specifically the poisonous habu that live on Okinawa. We even watched a show with live snakes. A ferret was also involved. No worries, no animals were harmed during the show.

So here i am near a giant Chinese shisa in the cave park. Happy New Year!! Sorry this post took so long in the making and turned out to be exceptionally long but hopefully not too boring.

In the next post, i might get up the bravety to try and explain why i've just signed my recontracting papers for a 3rd year on JET. Although, after seeing the pics and reading the stories, some of the reasons are quite evident, no?

С Новым Годом!!!
Happy New Year!!!
Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu!!!

a new post with a new Blogger. fancy.
this is an e-mail i just wrote to a friend and thought it summarized well my current mood and state of affairs. hope he doesn't mind that i copy it here. i promise to write in more detail about my New Year's experiences.


sitting here in my apartment with the AC blowing hot air, it feels nice and cozy, but also a bit lonely. it's the night of the 30th, New Years right around the corner and i'm on vacation, but am restless. for what, i know not.
had dinner by myself and maybe that's what got the lonely mood started. i actually don't mind eating alone. had a good book with me and it was fine, but towards the end of the meal, looking around at all the families and couples, it kind of nagged at me that i was alone.

tomorrow one of my bosses and his family will pick me up and take me for a drive, and lunch, and maybe bowling. should be nice and fun, but am dreading the night because i have a feeling that they'll just drop me off in the early evening and there i'll be, by myself on the night of New Year's Eve, all alone at midnight. that'll be a first. maybe it'll be a good experience..something to write home about. it's just like any other night, after all...sun goes down, clock strikes twelve...happens all the time. but it's not. it's new year's. a holiday that i always spend surrounded by those i love. last year i was in India and it was with mostly strangers, but a few close friends, and that was good, not the best, but good.
alone? i really dread it. got myself a bottle of wine, but can't get too drunk, because the fun starts the next morning. for the Japanese the morning of the 1st is when the New Year celebrations really start. I'm being picked up again and taken to my boss' house for a breakfast that will turn into lunch and then perhaps dinner. should be really good, actually. am looking forward to it. i haven't been to many Okinawans' homes, especially on an important holiday like that. on the 2nd, my supervisor will pick me and we'll drive down to the southern part of Okinawa with his wife and dog to visit an important shrine where Okinawans go during New Year's holiday to pray for the coming year. am really happy that the bosses i have are as nice and thoughtful as they are. they knew i'd be staying over the break and planned all these outings for me. they want to share their culture and show me their lives. am really grateful to them.
and i'll still have through the 8th to enjoy the vacation. nice.

so... the point is.. :)
Happy New Year!!!

miss you..

love you
-e

snippets...

it's officially the "samui" season in Okinawa. さむい　means "cold" and as some of my adult students have told me recently, there are only two seasons in Okinawa, winter and summer. I've translated that into, "samui" and "atsui" seasons. So now it is officially ok to walk around and say "samui, desu, ne" to everyone in the school.

yesterday i was so frustrated and angry with a certain co-worker that i thought my fists were going to involuntarily punch something while in class. i even seriously considered switching to elementary school position next year (if i stay that is), and if you don't know, that means serious business...i'm not a fan of little kids in large numbers. well, that's not true. but it's quite a change and to consider it means that i was pushed to a very dark place. what did my wonderful co-worker do, you ask?
well. just be his usual self, really, just 10x worse for some reason on that particular day in that particular class. anyways. i spoke up. said my piece about what i found frustrating, yet again, but as politely as possible. we'll see how long that sticks.

had a Block Gift Exchange party on Wednesday at a pasta place in Nago. Most of the block were able to attend and it was great. We played "white elephant" for gift exchange, and funnily enough i ended up with my own present because Ben M. decided to steal a wonderful stirfrying pan from me and grabbed a gift from pile in exchange. was mine. no worries, though. i wanted the cute pig looking chip clip i bought, and i shared the gummy bears at the table.

1st graders are singing a song with me in class. My first attempt at singing with students. Going well so far. We started with a song in their textbook, Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye". It's easy enough and uses words they know, so they're getting into it. Hopefully most of them will sing in two or three more lessons. We're only doing it during the beginning of class. Good times. Ms. Kitty told me that she does it at her school months ago and i've wanted to try it since then. I suggested and he actually agreed to try. So am gonna try and push for it to be a regular thing. 1st graders are genki enough to get into it if we do it every lesson.


English Club girls showed off their pics from 3rd grade school trip to Kyushu. They went to 3 cities in 4 days, including an amusement park, a national museum, and a trip to the Aso volcano. Japanese style bus touring. Fantastic.
We also wrote Christmas Cards to their new penpals in Wisconsin. There was one card that i had to veto, however, because on front, in classic Engrish style it said, "Hey Ho!! Merry Christmas. Wishing you good time with family, lover, and friends."
Didn't think it would convey the correct spirit to the 8th grade catholic school students. ha ha

Speaking of Christmas. It's all over Okinawa. There are decorated trees everywhere. Houses are lighted up, stores are filled with new, Christmassy merchandise, and ALTs are having Christmas parties and holiday lessons.
I'm not, but no one's asked, and also, there doesn't seem to be a good time for it in any of my classes. Might do a new bulletin about it and New Year's for next week.

Thanx to Shelley, am wearing Hanukkah socks today, on the 1st day of the holiday. She sent them to me last year for New Year's present. They're great; blue with golden stars of David, minoras and dreidels. Used them today to explain to Akino what Hanukkah was during lunch. So, Happy Hanukkah!
and if you never knew but always wondered what this holiday is, here's a a wiki link
Also, it is quite a testament to how overbearing the Christmas/Hanukkah season is when a non-practicing Jew is wishing you a Happy Hanukkah.


Here's a question for ALTs that might be reading this. Do you brush your teeth at school when all the teachers do? My teachers brush their teeth in the office, next to their desks, by the kitchen sink, while walking around teacher's office, while talking to each other, while reading a newspaper. I haven't brushed my teeth at school yet and don't see myself doing it. I do, sometimes, feel a bit of pressure to conform and bring a school toothbrush and paste and join the "clean teeth army". When that feeling comes over me, i pour myself a cup of coffee and grab a cookie or candy from the kitchen. But seriously. Do you brush?
I just sort of feel odd seeing people brush their teeth in front of me. It's been a year and a half and i still feel odd about it. but maybe that's just me.

in the news:
we have a new UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon from South Korea. Goodluck to him, but here's another question. How much power does UN have when it deals with issues unfavorable to the White House? right.

A 2-day Holocaust conference just finished in Iran. The conference was called by the Iranian president to shed light on the historical facts of Holocaust. Experts from different countries flew in to discuss the thick web of lies Jews have been spinning for 60 years about the extermination of 6 million of their people. I wonder if they discussed whether gassing of Catholics, Gypsies, homosexuals, mentally and physically disabled, and political prisoners also took place. Or are Jews also responsible falsifying those deaths?

and to link the two stories, here's a link from Haaretz.com

shalom
-e