Happy New Year!

I'm a half-week from going back to work, and I don't much like the thought of that, but since when do most of us get to choose? Well, as I think I've mentioned before, it'll only be about three weeks of work and then on to the "spring break," which runs from the end of the month (my last day is the 29th), through early April. I'll still have the kids' class then, but one day a week...I'll be ok.

But I guess I should back up. The All Star Kids program had its bonnenkai at the Ritz Carlton. Yeah, the Ritz. Seven of us went for a very nice Japanese dinner; one of the staff assistants was at a friend's wedding and couldn't come with us. So the picture is short one staff...and all the student assistants (who work hard on a volunteer-basis but don't get invited...I think it sort of violates some kind social code). Anyway, the seven of us had a nice time. Afterwards, I went with the three staff assistants to get some coffee and chat. I'm very lucky to work with such good people with whom I get along so well.

Noriko, Hiromi, Yuka, Jean, Anne, Kathy, me

At this time, I was feeling a bit under the weather, and with my winter break looming, I wanted to make sure I didn't get sick, so I was resting up quite a bit, and by the time I left for Okayama, I thought I had it licked. Christmas day I woke up at the leisurely hour of 11, as I couldn't check into the villa until 4, and got the train to Osaka, then caught the Shinkansen (bullet train) from there to Okayama city. The shinkansen took 40 minutes. By the fastest non-Shinkansen trains it would have taken me over 2 hours...so I shelled out the money (about $50). I arrived in Takebe, the small town north of Okayama city, just before 4 and checked in. I went to the onsen (hot spring) right away, soaked in the rotemburo (outdoor tub) for a while, looking at the scenery appropriately described as not "exactly pastoral." I ate a simple dinner and settled down to watch the first part of Lord of the Rings. I got to sleep around midnight. But come the next morning, I'm sick. WHAT? I felt perfectly fine the night before, nothing at all lingering from the cold I thought I'd beaten off. I even brought my running clothes with me, planning to get in some nice country roads. So that socked me in the gut and I spent the day in my room, napping, watching movies and reading. Two couples with a kid and two infants showed up later that second day, but I was so sick and sleepy I didn't see much of them and didn't notice the noise from the seven year old. I took some generic NyQuil that night for the first time... and I'm now a believer. I woke up that night to go to toilet, and heck, I could barely walk straight... man, that stuff will put you on your ass. Heed the "Do not operate heavy machinery" warning. I felt pretty good the next day, but still I just hung out at the villa and took it easy, determined to recover before going to Sayo to see Kurara and family. All told, my onsen retreat was spent nursing my cold.

I arrived in Sayo on the 28th, the day before the pounding of mochi. Unfortunately, Kurara's father had caught a pretty bad cold, and so he wasn't able to enjoy everything so much. Just to give people who aren't familar a little background: in Japanese tradition (not so commonly done in these days of urban living), people pound mochi rice--a special type of glutinous rice--into a big blob. Pieces about the size of a golf ball are then pinched off and shaped into small, dome-like patties, which are set in boxes to dry. These are eaten on New Year's Day when Japanese tradition prohibits the use of knives. (I'm not sure how these two are connected, but that's how it was once explained to me, so I merely repeat it here.) In any case, on the 29th, a total of 11 people showed up (for some length of time during the day) to help pound 30 pounds of rice into a delicious blob of mochi. I'll describe the process in the next paragraph, if you're interested...if not, skip that paragraph for the next, where I relate my oh-so-exciting New Year's Eve!

The mochi rice is steamed, not boiled as regular rice is cooked, until it reaches an appropriate level of softness. (I don't know what this is, but I could hear the people tending the rice discussing how hard the rice was until suddenly it was ready.) From there it is dropped as a sticky clump into a large wooden bowl carved into a stump of heavy hardwood. Immediately someone begins mashing it with a large wooden mallet, beginning to break down the individual grains. Then someone, in this case Kurara's mom, begins to dip her hands into some warm water and wet the surface of the blob as another person (we took turns) whack the blob with the mallet. Kurara's mom had the difficult job of reaching into wet the blob and also to adjust it and fold it so that it all got beaten. When she deems the blob ready, it's placed on a large tray or pan, coated with corn starch, and then the aforementioned pinching and shaping begins. I think we did about ten cycles of this, which took from about 11 until almost 4. Luckily for all of us, it was a perfectly unseasonably warm day, and I sat outside for most of it with nothing more on than jeans, an undershirt, and t-shirt. We also got to eat the mochi, fresh from pounding, still hot, dipped in a spicy kind of "sauce" made from daikon (Japanese radish) as well as a mix of kinako (soybean powder) and sugar. Delicious, and worth all the effort.

I left the following day, the 30th, to get some rest at home before New Year's Eve. On the 31st, I caught some Z's in the afternoon in preparation for the late night. Again, some background: a traditional Japanese New Year's Eve takes one to a Shinto shrine (not Buddhist temple, I think) to literally ring in the New Year with a large bell. I'm not sure what more specific things one should do, but I decided that as I will probably be in Hawaii for subsequent New Years, I would see what the buzz was like in Kyoto. So at around 10:30 I caught the train to Kyoto, got off at Kawaramachi, near the Higashiyama area, which is chock full of temples and shrines, including two of the most famous shrines: Yasaka and Heian. I got out of the train station, followed the crowd east toward Yasaka shrine, and then could barely believe how many people were there. It was shocking to see so many people in one place, waiting to get into the shrine. Certainly not patient enough for that, I walked around and up toward a much smaller shrine, Jishu, located just in front of the extremely famous Kiyomizu-dera. I took in the New Year there, freezing on what I'm sure was the coldest night I had in Japan in 2007. I took a few pictures, then headed home. In the craziness of everything going on, I still managed to bump into a few people from work who I'd originally planned to go with, but changed my mind as I thought they might be out too late...and sure enough, they were showing up just as I was leaving around 1 AM. As it was, I didn't get into bed until after 2:30.

Today I went to Fukui, a prefecture on the northern coast of Japan. It was interesting to see the snow begin to accumulate on the landscape as I headed into snow country. A colleague from work had offered to show me around, and she did a splendid job of it. First we had lunch, eating oroshi soba, a cold noodle dish famous in Fukui. Next she took me to a beautiful, cold, and somewhat business-like temple in the mountains, then along the coast for some sightseeing. The ocean was a welcome sight, something that always feels a bit like home, even if it's not the warm Pacific waters of Hawaii, and this was a very different looking ocean than I am used to: it was dark with low clouds hanging over it, wispy and almost ghost-like.

And no, I haven't forgotten, but I thought I would save this for last, as telling you about Fukui after would have been...inappropriate. New Year's Day. I woke around 10:30, started immediately steaming some mochi rice to try to make a dish called okowa, which I love but had never made before. I cooked up about 3 cups worth, and I think it turned out alright...but I'm not all that picky. But I took what I had made, divided it into two plastic containers I'd bought for this, added a piece of freshly broiled salmon, wrapped each container in a little cheap 100 yen blanket, put each of those in little 100 yen bag, and then I delivered them to two homeless men living in tents by the river. To be honest, I felt more than a bit self-concious, but I hope the gesture was appreciated. My only failure was to remember to take the blankets I'd bought for them as well...so I'll have to deliver those tomorrow. In any case, I did it. And I feel better for having done so. Small a gesture as it is, I do believe it's something, and I believe these are the kinds of things that can make a difference, if enough people join in. The Dalai Lama said something to the effect that we each need to develop our sense of compassion for others. When I think about this, I think that if we did so, if we really developed compassion for our fellow humans, there would be far less tragedy in the world.

Aloha, chip

The season for giving...?

Well, we're only a few days away from what used to seem like the biggest day of the year for me. Thinking back to that time in my life, I'm almost in awe of the excitement I used to feel at the approach of the morning when I could get up and open all those presents. Man, I really used to love that day. Now, I can't seem to generate much enthusiasm for it, and it's not just because I'm here in Japan where it's not a big deal. I guess it has to do with the way I'm increasingly bothered by the disparity of the haves and the have-nots. I go jogging along a river near my house--I guess it's a river; it's in a man-made canal--and there are homeless people living under the overpasses, in small blue tarp shelters, and I think how cold they must be. Why am I living in a nice apartment while there these people not three hundred yards away living like that? Gets me down... So I'm going to try to do something for them. I'm not sure what yet, but something. Maybe I'll buy a few blankets and drop them off...or make some warm food...I don't know, something.

I heard about this bank in the US that gave all its employees a holiday bonus with the catch that they have to "pay it forward," or, in other words, use it for a charitable cause. That is a nice idea.

Anyway, I don't want to be a downer, I guess I'm just getting to my point in a kind of depressing way, but here it is: Let's give to those who need it. Small amounts, whatever, but something. Even if we only help a few for just a day...it's something, it contributes to the overall goodness in the world, I think, and isn't that a good thing?

The other day I was running along the aforementioned river, and when I'd finished, I saw some little kids climbing up the cement slope out of the canal. The two bigger kids got to the top, but then the little one, just a toddler really, got scared halfway up and started crying. As I walked back toward them, I watched the two others come back down to him and try to encourage him to climb down; they weren't big enough to really help. I kept feeling like the kid might fall, but then, even if he did, all he'd probably do is roll down the slope a bit, get a little scraped up. But I thought I should offer to help, small a gesture as it is. So I asked (in my terrible Japanese) if I could help. The little one (don't know if he understood me or not) turned and looked, red eyes and wet face, and then, as I reached toward him, held his arms out. I lifted him and gently set him down, trying to tell him he'd be okay (again in Japanese). The oldest kid, a boy, told me "Because he's only two," as if that should explain it all, and I guess maybe it did.

Well, this will certainly be my oddest entry to date...I'm not even sure it will all make sense, and I hope I don't get you down...I just want to share my thoughts on this holiday.

For this holiday, however, I will be heading off for a little seclusion. In a nearby prefecture, Okayama, there are a couple of "International Villas" in small and usually out-of-the-way towns, which they have set up to promote tourism and give tourists a chance to see part of the country not usually visited. And they're cheap (about $30/night). I recommend them if you ever come. I'll be going to one in Takebe, which I chose as it's the only one with an onsen (hot spring) in the town. I'll spend a quiet three days there, then go to my friend Kurara's house again, to pound mochi for the new year. I'll return to Ibaraki on New Year's Eve and take in the New Year in the traditional Japanese way: Join the hordes of people making their way to a temple or shrine at midnight. I figure I should see it once, as I think this may be my only New Year in Japan. After that, I'll have another week or so off, and I think I'll mostly just be taking it easy.

Strange as this post was, I hope you enjoyed it. And I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season! Take care and be safe on New Year's Eve! Aloha!

Time flies...

Don't know where the time goes. I was shocked to log in and see that my last post was a month ago. I guess I've just been getting into such a routine that I don't notice anymore when one week turns into the next. Maybe that's the negative side to having my days off spread out: I no longer have a regular weekend to divide things up, so that it all sort of smudges together into one long work week with a lot of days off tossed in.

However, in the last month, I've done a few cool things. A few weeks back, I got to go up to Kurama, an area north of Kyoto, to go on a little hike with some of my colleagues. It was a nice hike, though the day was a bit cloudy and chilly. We got to see some pretty foliage as well (the main purpose of the hike, although a lot of it had already turned brown. Seems like the leaves didn't hit that amazing red color I remember from my previous autumns in Japan...and it's not just that I remember the leaves being amazingly colored; I have photographs to prove it.

The weekend before last, I went to Himeji, which is the largest city near my old town, Aioi. I went there to meet up with some of my former students from Aioi Senior High School. I've mentioned Kaori and Kurara (and Kurara's fiance, Daniel) before, but this time we were joined by Tomomi and Rui; I think a few more were supposed to come but canceled at the last minute. It was shocking to see Tomomi and Rui, though, as I'd not seen them at all since they graduated, six and a half years ago, and they both look so mature now, of course, and I realized that they are now the age I was when I taught them.

I think it's funny, how the cycle of age comes around, and when I look back on these times in my life, it is almost like looking into a mirror that faces another mirror: as if I see myself doubly reflected: who I was at 24 when I taught them, and who I was when I was seventeen, the age they were as my students. And looking at this strange complex of reflections, I know that time is not linear, for there are parts of me that have traveled so far, that I cannot reach that old part of myself, and yet there are parts still so near.

Two more weeks until the winter break starts, and I'm ready for it. Man, am I ready. I know I've only been working for two and a half months, but four months off will kill your endurance. Anyway, two weeks more, then two weeks off, then three weeks back working, then I'll be off for about two months...working Saturdays, of course, with the kiddies, but one day a week...no problem.

And in a shameless bit of niece-promotion, here are a few of my favorites among the most recent crop of pictures I received. I'll be posting some of these to my flickr page soon, so you can see more there if you need a good Ava fix, as I often do. Look at the expression of utter self-sufficiency in the right photo: "I can do rake this sand all by myself, Dad."

Settling in, getting used to it again

I’ve just completed my sixth week teaching at OGU and I think I’m finally, actually settling in. I thought I had already, but no. And I’m not finished either, but I’m getting there. The thing is that in Japan, they do things the Japanese way. I know that sounds obvious, but I don’t think most people know that the means, what it really entails. So I’ll try to explain.

To my understanding (which is certainly incomplete and may be quite flawed), Japan is a country whose identity is at war with itself. I’d guess that post-WWII occupation is where this took a turn for the worse, the problem probably having started years before when that American Commodore Matthew Perry decided the west was through knocking on Japan’s door and sent warships to bust the door down. (Well, maybe he didn’t decide it on his own, but he executed the door busting.) Anyway, the present dilemma is that Japan is a country that loves tradition but also wants (needs?) modernization.

Here’s a prime example: To get a purchase okayed through the school takes a few weeks. Not because it’s that difficult, but because the paper I fill out has to be signed by who knows how many people, climbing the inboxes of different department heads until finally it reaches whomever and it given the go ahead. Then I get reimbursed. Not such a big deal to me, but look at the inefficiency. There are already guidelines in place, so if the guy down low just knows those guidelines, and I know them and purchase within them, that’s as far as it should have to go. But that’s not the Japanese way. The Japanese way is good for assuring quality, terrible at efficiency. And the simple reason for this continuing is that “This is how it’s always been done.”

So anyway, it’s taken me a while to get used to it again…and I still get frustrated.

Classes have become more routine, which makes it easier for me to do, as I know the students and what to expect. The only problem I face now is that my students don’t really care all that much about school. If I were in the US, most of these students would be failing already. But here I have to give them some leeway; we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, so I try to make allowances that these students are not the best and need a little more encouragement. We’ll see how it goes.

Last weekend was great. I went out to Hyogo-ken, where I used to live, to visit two of my former students. First I met Kaori on Friday afternoon, hung out with her around Himeji, which seems much smaller than it used to because I now live in the urban sprawl between Osaka and Kyoto. I got to see where she now works as a kind of manager in a market.

That evening I met Mr. Shimizu, the father of my other former student, Kurara, and went with him back to their house in the countryside. In Japanese, they say “inaka,” and this place is very inaka. I’d been there five years ago, shortly before I left Japan, and had enjoyed meeting her family and seeing a truly small town in rural Japan. Going back was a pleasant shock to my senses. After getting off the one-car train, the noise of its loud diesel engine fading quickly into the cold night air, I was stunned by the stillness, the silence. In the two months since I came back to Japan, living where I do, I’d never heard it silent, truly silent, even once. Standing that evening outside the station, there was no sound at all, unless I moved, or a car drove by.

At Kurara’s house that weekend: Kurara, of course; her fiance, Daniel, a very nice Canadian guy; Kurara’s parents; Anna, Kurara’s youngest sister, her husband Yuki, and their kids Mirie and Shisuka. Missing were Kurara’s other sister Agune and the baby of the family, her brother, Yoshia. It was a full house, but pleasantly so.

Saturday around lunch time, Kurara, Daniel, Yuki, Mirie, Mr. Shimizu, and I went for a hike up a local mountain called Rikan-san. There was once a castle on top, though now only the foundations remain. The view from the top is, however, stunning. Absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect for such an outing, sunny and cool enough that although I worked up a good sweat climbing the mountain, I cooled off quickly once at the top. That evening we all went to an onsen (hot spring). After having hiked up the mountain, the hot water relaxed all the muscles, let the stress out. It felt GOOD. Made me want to go more often. (Ibaraki doesn’t have any onsen, though, but it does have sento, which are public bathhouses that are similar but the waters are heated and usually they aren’t as nice.)

That night we hung around the house, a few of us playing with a Nintendo Wii, bowling. Kurara, Daniel, and I stayed up late talking about education, religion, and relationships.

It’s always a pleasant surprise to catch up with Kaori and Kurara. They’re the only students I met when they were young and whom I’ve been able (to some extent) to see grow up. They’re now both as old as I was when I met them, and I think they are as surprised as I am to discover that, and to see how we’re really still the same people.

Sunday I went to Kyoto to see Ryota, Sunao, and Himari-chan again. They organized a barbeque at a river near their apartment, so I also got to see Mamiko again, and I was able to meet her husband as well as some other friends of Ryota and Sunao. It’s always refreshing to see them; they are counterparts to my friends in Colorado, Aaron and Lisa: for whatever the reason, I feel energized by them, and I don’t think I’m the only person to feel that way. I think that’s why they have so many friends.

At this little barbeque, Ryota’s young cousins showed up, 8 year old twin boys, along with some of their friends. They recruited us to play some soccer with them in this little concrete sitting area. After a game or two, another bunch of boys, friends of the ones we were already playing with, showed up and wanted to play. So then there were about ten little boys and four of us older guys in our thirties. The kids were cute, and one of them was darn good, too.

The highlight of all this, though, and what is now one of my favorite moments, was when of the little boys from the second bunch started asking me questions in Japanese. I couldn’t quite catch what he was asking, though if that was because of my poor Japanese or his using the regional dialect, I’m not sure which. But when I told him in Japanese that I couldn’t speak Japanese well, he looked at me closely, cocked his head to one side, and asked: “Gaijin desu ka?” (Are you a foreigner?) I answered, “Hai, sou desu.” (Yes, that’s right.) But I was shocked, still shocked: He had assumed that I was Japanese. He had not seen any difference worth noting. How amazing it is that children see the truth of things so easily, so clearly, and it is only by growing up that things become so confused and convoluted with labels and divisions. It’s why the Taoists aim to return to a childlike state: the world is not confusing to children, they simply accept things as they come.

Maybe if I can regain some of that childlike state, maybe then I’ll be able to deal with Japanese bureaucracy with more composure. Maybe.

I still feel the calm of last weekend. I hope it stays with me for a while more.

Tomorrow I have my second class with the little kids. It's more work than my other classes, and I'm not alone in that either; the two women I work with also spend more time prepping for our Saturday classes than for any other class.

Last week Saturday, my first day with the kids, was one of the most stressful starts to a day I've had in a long while. It wasn't that I had no experience working with kiddies--I taught a class of them for a year the last time I was in Japan--the problem was that it'd been five years since that experience, and I was feeling way out of my element. Teaching adults, or people approximating adults, that's my thing. I can reason with them. I can often have real conversations, with depth and meaning. I can tell them to get out of my class if they irritate me too much, and I won't have to speak to their parents. But kids...well, I can't yell, and the parents are just outside the door (sometimes literally), and they're paying good money, so...

In the whole program we have only about 16 or 17 kids, three teachers, one staff assistant, and six student assistants, with all assistants being Japanese. That's a great ratio of adults to kids, and a not-too-bad ratio of native speakers to kids. The day starts at 10 and finishes at 2, with a one hour lunch/recess. We have two periods before lunch that are language oriented, and then in the period after lunch, we join all the classes together for some activity. Last week we played a Japanese game called kendama (a ball attached by string to a handle with different cups to catch the ball), and tomorrow we are going to learn a Japanese dance.

For the most part, I have good kids. I only have five, so that's a good thing. Two boys, three girls. The boys are troublesome. Penance, I suppose. One of them wouldn't draw a picture to save his life...not that he can't, but he won't. Simply refused. And the other boy wouldn't answer questions in English, just kept saying (in Japanese) "I won't say." The closest I came to raising my voice. I finally got him by just asking again and again...but I hate contests of will like that.

My favorite student (we teachers all have them) is a girl named Sakura. She's so cute...quiet but she'll answer questions. She's very gentle and pleasant. In another class is a little boy named Shun, who attends an international school, so his English is fluent. He's so small but so cute...or maybe cute because he's so small.

I teach the lowest level kids, the ones just starting out. Which is all the more difficult for someone used to adults who speak English passably to begin with. So, I'm trying out some techniques I read about when I did my MA, and going over basics like colors, shapes, body parts, etc.

Alright, enough about the kids.

Though there isn't much else. The weather's cooled off quite a bit here. Tomorrow is supposed to have a high of just 60, though the highs are usually around 68 to 70. I like it, at least when the sun is out. I can go for a leisurely bike ride and barely break a sweat. The foliage is just starting to turn, and that's exciting. I live so close to Kyoto that it will be so easy to get there to see some of my favorite places in the full blaze of autumn.

I miss my niece a lot. Here's my new favorite picture...it's not that recent, but every time I see it, I laugh, she's so CUTE.

School has begun

In the last two weeks, it feels like I've done more than I've had time to do. I honestly can't even remember it all. And that's a good thing for this blog, as it would take too much effort to read all that.

Some of the highlights, though, if you will.

- My Uncle Travis came to town, and we hung out around Umeda (the area around the main train stations in Osaka) and then went to the Osaka Aquarium, which is awesome. The centerpiece of this aquarium is a HUGE tank around which you slowly walk down from the top. The star of the tank is a whale shark...I think there used to be two, but one died since I'd been there last. The place is still great, though, well worth the admission price, and the best part of it all is right at the end, an amazing display of jellyfish.

- I met up with my old friends Ryota and Sunao from Kyoto. I first met them seven years ago, shortly after I arrived in Japan, a chance meeting through a friend of a friend, but I soon got to be quite close to them, visiting them often. However, once I left Japan, I hadn't heard from them much, so this past spring I was happily surprised to find out that they have a daughter, Himari, whom I got to meet. I went over to hang out and have lunch with them, and later in the afternoon three more friends came over (two of whom I already knew), and we ate dinner. I love going back to places, seeing old friends, and finding that the years between have not diminished the relationship.

- One of my former students from my last stay in Japan, Kurara, has been living in Canada for the last five years, most of it in Ottawa where she went to school and later worked. This past March, she returned to Japan with her fiance to live and work for a while. I got to meet up with her last week, the first time I've seen in three and a half years, since I went up to Ottawa. Also with her was her fiance, Daniel, a pleasant, talkative guy the exact same age as Kurara, and her younger sister Agune, whom I'd met five years ago, though we'd not talked at all then. The four of us hung out for a bit in Umeda, then went to visit Kurara's other sister, Anna, who is married and just had her second daughter. Anna's husband, Yuuki, is a really funny guy.
Kurara, Agune, Anna, Mirie, Yuuki, Daniel






- Dani. That's not a person. No, that's the Japanese name for a tiny bug, maybe a mite, that is believed to be the culprit in attacking my right arm with so many bites that at first I thought it was a rash. My arm got so itchy the night of the bites, I woke up, but (surprisingly) had the presence of mind to think to put ice on it before I scratched through my skin. I wish I'd taken a picture of my arm...it was terrible. Anyway, my friend helped me do one of those DIY insect bombs in the apartment, and then the pros came here this week, so for three nights I had to stay with my colleague...quite a pain, considering I'd just cleaned everything. Anyway, that's done, and I'm back in my place, but I've thrown out all the old bedding, all the old pillows, as they might not have been saved from the professional treatment, and I don't want to risk getting infested again. What this means for me right now is that I've gotten rid of the bed, since I didn't want to buy a new mattress and I like sleeping on futon. The school is taking care of me, though, and is getting me some nice futon soon...direct from the President's wife (a woman from Hawaii).

School. Finally, I had to return to work. I think that was the longest break from work I've had since I started working after college. Maybe not. Well, at least since I was in Japan in 2000. I stopped working at the ELI in Virginia at the end of June, so three months with no work. It was nice. But I started again on Monday, and it was a rough start, but not too bad as returning to work goes.

My schedule is light, for which I'm very, very grateful, as it gives me lots of time to goof off and do other stuff, though I'm still settling in and getting things in order (like the dani). The trouble on Monday was mainly that I'm a T.A. for two classes, which I thought would be nice and easy, but has ended up feeling demeaning instead, soley because of the personality of the woman who runs the class...remotely, via the internet, and who has NO IDEA how to teach ESL students. It's painful to watch the students struggle and not understand what she's saying. So, that set the mood for the day to "Unpleasant," but by that evening I'd vented enough and gotten back my perspective, so on Tuesday I was able to enjoy myself, especially after teaching my own class that afternoon...felt sort of revalidated.

Today I have a meeting for the kids program, which kicks off next Saturday. I'll have to let you know how that goes later, but I think it'll be fun and I think it'll provide a nice counterpoint to teaching the university students.

That's it for now...Aloha.

From Hawaii to Japan

I'm in Japan now, have been for a full week, but I should begin with my niece's first birthday party.

Wow...that was a big party. At least by my standards. There were about 200 people, including little kids and infants, and I knew many of them as old family friends or old friends of my brother, Chad. As my cousin Su said, it was awfully nice of Chad to throw me a going away party. Actually, although the lady of honor was late (she overslept), she completely adorable in a little mu`umu`u made from the same patterned material as Chad and his wife Chris were wearing. My Aunty Donna and Uncle Carl had also flown down from Reno, Nevada, to visit and help out and share in the festivities, and it was great to see them. The party was Saturday, September 8th, just two days before I left, though really more like one, since I was leaving early on Monday morning.

Sunday was spent in packing, hanging out with family, and seeing a late night showing of 3:10 to Yuma, the second film version of the Elmore Leonard novel of the same title.

On Monday morning, I was early, around 5:30, I think, to pack up those last few things, eat a leisurely breakfast, and get driven to the airport by my dad. I was about two hours early for my flight, but I prefer that to any kind of last minute rush, and beside, with Honolulu traffic, one can never really be sure how long it will take to get somewhere. As I was taking a United flight, Lori, my step-mother, emailed some friends working the trip and so I was able to get a little personal service, which was really nice. All in all, a pleasant flight (especially as the seat next to me remained empty, making it easy for me to get up any time I wanted).

And though I left on Monday morning, I arrived Tuesday afternoon...a miracle of time travel! Or the ever confusing International Dateline. I was picked up at the airport by Rika, a woman who works at Osaka Gakuin University and was given the arduous task of helping me get settled. We took a luxurious ride in a taxi (cost: roughly $250!) Over the next few days, I spent a lot of time cleaning and setting up utilities (gas, cell phone, internet connection, bank account, and alien registration). Actually, Rika set it all up, even filling out the forms for me (it would have taken me years to write out the kanji as many times as she had to)...I just sort of sat there with her. Anyway, most of that was done, and the cleaning, by Saturday evening. So over the last few days, I've been meeting with friends, mostly old but some new, and organizing my things (which was not included in my "cleaning" time.)

Last Friday, though, in the midst of the cleaning frenzy, I took most of the day off to go back to my old town, Aioi, to meet Kaori, a former student and friend, and to go up to my old school, too. While trains almost always run on time here in Japan, or they used to anyway, Friday morning JR (the biggest company) was running late...so I was late meeting Kaori by 30 minutes. When I saw her, for the first time in years, I really felt like I'd come home. A second home, to be sure, but a home. There in my old town, with my old friend. It was nice. As she'd had some time since I was late, she'd gone up to the school and discovered that that day there was a cultural festival at the school (which I'd helped students work on when I was there). However, the gym was under renovation, so everyone, students and teachers, were in the next town over at a concert hall. Kaori and I went up to the school and chatted for a few minutes with some of the old office staff, then drove over to Ako where the festival had moved to. I got to see some old teachers, but not as many as I would have liked, many of them having moved on; in Japan, teachers usually only stay at a school for up to seven years, thereafter being transferred to another school within a certain geographic area. Anyway, that was a lot of fun, and I'm planning to make another trip back in the fall.

On Sunday, I got to meet up with Tomoko, a Japanese girl I'd met in Virginia when she worked at the office of my old job at George Mason University. We spent a fun day hanging around Umeda (the main train station area of Osaka) with a high school friend of hers.

That brings us up to today. I went to Kyoto to meet a friend for dinner, but unfortunately she had to leave immediately as her mother was ill. Tomorrow my uncle Trav is in town; he's a flight attendant with United Airlines and is on a layover. On Friday I'm getting together with some of my new colleagues (most of whom I've not yet met), and Sunday holds a get together with some of my best Japanese friends, Ryota and Sunao and their daughter Himari, who, I think, is two...and apparently speaks some English!

School starts October 1st, and I'm going to start having meetings as of next week, so this is my last hurrah...I've been off for the last three and a half months, and while I'm not dreading returning to work, I'm not overly eager for it either. Oh well, it is what is. I think I'll enjoy the work, and I'm already enjoying the environment.

Take a look at my flickr webpage for more pictures of my apartment, and hopefully pictures of other stuff soon.

August is gone, and I've got only five days left.

Hard for me to believe, but August flew by in a blur, and here I am with only a few days left. Luckily, I did most of what I wanted to, and anything I didn't get to, I can do next time.

August...I read a few books, saw a few movies, hung out a lot with friends and family, went to the beach a few times, went hiking a few times...and that's it. Pretty nice, ah? You know, I really got into running as a kind of mediation, a good, healthy way to relieve stress and get some balance, but since I've been here, I've not had much need to do it for that reason...and I bet you can see why.

Still, there were some highlights. First, there was all the shave ice I was eating. (For those of you who may not know, "shave ice" = "snow cone.") Now, of course the most famous place to go in Hawaii is Matsumoto's in Hale`iwa on the North Shore of Oahu, but my personal favorite is a place called Baldwin's in a rundown old shopping plaza in Aiea. Instead of a cone, they give you a cup, so you don't have melted ice and syrup running down your hand, and I just like their consistency the best. A lot of friends like Waiola, in Kapahulu or Mo`ili`ili, but for me, the ice is too slushy. (I know, some of you must be laughing as I'm getting so picky about this, but you'd say the same kinds of things if you were here eating it like I have been.)

Second, and I must say, far better than the shave ice (which didn't help me lose any weight), was the day I saw dolphins at Waimea Bay. I've grown up in Hawaii, and I've been to Waimea a lot, but never have I once seen dolphins anywhere. But two weeks ago, I was at Waimea, sitting on the beach, reading a book, when I heard a girl sitting a few feet away say something like "I wish I could be out there." So I looked up to see why she would say that, and about 80 yards out I saw about five fins crest, breaking the surface in smooth short arcs, the dolphins coming up for air. A few seconds later, a few more fins. There were a few people out in the water, kind of near, so I dropped my book, pulled on my goggles (which I'd luckily brought with me), and ran down to the water. I swam straight out for a minute then stopped to see where they were; when I first saw them, they were heading from right to left across the bay, but now they'd turned back. But to make it that much cooler, right then, at that moment when I'd stopped to see where they were, a dolphin comes flying out of the water, spiraling like a drill. Then another, in the same spiraling flight. Utterly beautiful. I watched for a moment longer, but no more breached the surface, so I started swimming again, catching up to the herd in another minute. The water was pretty clear, but I still had to get about 20 yards away to see them. There were probably about 20, some still young, just lazily swimming across the bottom of the bay, maybe 20 or 30 feet down. Unfortunately, after only a minute or so of this the lifeguards got on the loudspeaker and asked all of us in the water to stay 50 yards from the dolphins, and as that would afford me no view, I swam in. Still, I have had few such moments of amazement as that. Definitely one of the favorite moments of my life.

Finally, there was Kauai. I went there to help my brother and his friends reroof the rental property that my dad and his wife own. Kauai is beautiful. Quiet. Peaceful. Country. Just the kind of place I'd love to live now, but with the expense of property and the poor job market, I couldn't afford it. I mean, the locals say the beaches are "crowded" when there are 20 to 30 people; for me, that's still empty. Everything there just moves at a slower pace, a pace that seems more reasonable for actual living. And we got to do just that. We hung out on Thursday and Friday, just sitting around eating delicious food my dad's wife Lori cooked up, talking story (a.k.a. "chatting" for those of you not familiar with that local term), and laughing. On Saturday we had to work hard. No, work HARD. We started at 7:30, took an hour for lunch at 11:30, then finished up around 4:30. I didn't want to move for the rest of the day, but we did get the whole thing done in a day, which meant Sunday was a day for rest. We hit the beach again, hung out, ate more. On Monday, my flight left at 8:30 PM, while everyone else left at 2, so I decided to use the morning to go kayaking up the Wailua river, at the end of which you get to hike into a valley (with very little elevation gain) to a small water fall and swimming hole. It's a very mellow river (Class 1 for those of you who know what that means), so I didn't have any trouble paddling the "sit-on-top" ocean kayak I had. After that, I decided that if I live in Hawaii later, I'm going to have a kayak.

My niece's big first birthday party is coming up on Saturday, and I even have my aunt and uncle flying down from Reno for it. My brother tells me something like 200 people. It should be a lot of fun.

The only other news I have is about my job. I got to meet some of the people who I'll be working with in Japan, as they are all from Hawaii, as well as the woman whose job (and apartment) I'm taking over. They are all really nice, friendly, down to earth people, and I'm excited about working with them. I think it'll be a lot of fun. I also got my work schedule: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Yup, three days off, though no two days in a row. I've been told that once a month, though, we'll get a Saturday off, which means that I'll get a three-day weekend...that sounds cool. But hopefully after this term, I'll get two days off in a row...and still have three days off every week (I HOPE!).

That's it for now, I think. I hope you are all in good health. Take care. Aloha.

Back in Hawaii

So I'm back in Hawaii again. I know, I don't sound so enthusiastic, and so many of you are probably jealous. It's never really been within my ability to adequately explain to most people that Hawaii, while beautiful and warm and always home to me, is just not exotic. It's always relaxing, it's always comforting on some level, and it is special...but it's where I grew up, where I spent my teenage years and into my early twenties. I did all my exploring. I love it here, but as I'm just hanging out, and as of my friends are now busy with jobs, wives, and sometimes kids, there's just only so much hanging around I want to do. See, even now it all just sounds like a complaint, which is really isn't. I guess I'm just eager to get started on the next phase of my life: Japan.

But anyway, that's for later. I'll be here in Hawaii until September 10th, arriving in Japan on September 11th, because they're 19 hours ahead of Hawaii. If you're somewhere in the continental US, you'll have to figure it out on your own.

Before I got back here, though, I did get up to Sacramento yet again (most time I've ever spent there) to visit a high school classmate, Chris, and his family. He's got a little boy, Jeffy, who's two. We went swimming in the North Fork of the American River just east of Auburn. You have to take these little, narrow dirt roads for a mile or two or three to get down there, but it's well worth it. The valleys are pretty, and the rivers are beautiful, just the right temperature to cool you off in the summer heat. I got to see Chris's parents and siblings, too, whom I knew as well. I spent the night there, seeing I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, which was funny and not bad, so long as you don't go looking for what's obviously not going to be there: real substance.

The next day, Sunday, July 22, I drove around the south end of Lake Tahoe and over into Nevada to visit my uncle. It'd been a while since I'd seen him or my aunt, so that was really nice. I got to hang out with him for the afternoon, and a few of his many cats came over to say hello to me, though I (unfortunately) can't get to friendly with them as I've got an allergy.

Two days later, on July 24th, I arrived back in Hawaii. I had a somewhat hectic last morning in Reno, Nevada, as I woke up later than I should have (but not later than I'd planned) and realized I needed to pack a few things differently. Then I drove my car to the airport where I was going to leave it in long term parking for a friend of mine, Aaron, to pick up--he was going to fly into Reno two days later and drive the car back out to Colorado or Indiana. So I'm driving to the airport when I realize that while I've budgeted myself enough time to check in and get through security if I were getting dropped off, I'm going to be rushing because I needed to park the car, get a luggage cart to carry my bags, check in, and still make it through security...if there was a line at security, I was screwed. I park my car, get out and start running--literally--to get a luggage cart, when I see an older couple with one...maybe there's a dispenser in the parking lot, I think...no, they said they just found it, but they're generous and they have small bags, so they give it to me...I rush back to my car, get my stuff, and jog it all to the terminal. And, shocker, there's no line at all. Nor was there one at security. I could've walked calmly and still made it with enough time...oh well, for the first time in a while, when it comes to airports, I didn't plan ahead well.

As expected, after spending most of the preceding three weeks in Denver or farther west, I had gotten used to the drier climate, so stepping off the plane in Hawaii was shocking, the humidity hitting me, quickly making me feel like a human sticker.

I got to see my niece right away. This picture is a few months old, but it's one of my favorites. I'm not a big fan of kids, many of you know, but I do adore this little girl. She's a bundle of fun, even when she starts crying...okay, maybe not then so much, but she is great.

Since I've been back, just a week now, I've had the chance to see all of my family here at a little party at my cousin's house, and I've seen quite a few friends, too. I bumped into an old friend from a writing group, Lisa, whom I hadn't seen in years, though that's my only random meeting so far...but there'll be more, as there always are when I'm back home.

No, I haven't been to the beach yet, and no, I haven't started studying Japanese yet. My excuse for the former is that I'm lazy, while my excuse for the latter is that I'm lazy...and the computer program I've ordered (Rosetta Stone) hasn't arrived yet. I'm going to start to practice my kanji, though, tomorrow, and whenever the program arrives, I'll start studying in earnest. I'm also going to resume my study of aikido tomorrow evening, if the dojo in Pearl City suits me...though I'll only be there for a month, so I'll probably go either way.

My blogs for the next month are likely to be more of the same, more of the same...I'll try to post pictures of Hawaii when I get a chance.

July 13 to July 17

So that's two posts today, though the last was written on the 12th and covered us up to there. I wrote to some friends earlier today explaining that I wouldn't be doing the day to day coverage after I leave the US, but really, I think I'm done with that after this post. I've been traveling a lot, so it felt like there was a lot to say...or at least a little to say about a lot of things. Now, however, I'm at the end of the time where different things are going to happen. I'm in Reno now, and although I'll be going to Sacramento again this weekend to visit Chris, a high school friend, I'll be doing the same kind of thing most of these days...I think.

Anyway, last Thursday, I had dinner with family, chatted, and went to bed relatively early. On Friday, I drove out to visit Paula in Redwood Valley, north of Ukiah, a quaint hippiesque town. She's living and working on a ranch where they raise chickens (for meat and eggs), goats, and sheep (recently sheared). The ranch is a kind of commune, with around five homes that I recall, different families living on the same grounds. The primary home had recently been burnt down, a sad loss probably due to some old wiring (the house was from around 1910). I got the tour of the grounds, which seemed haphazardly arranged, as though things had been added as they were needed in the areas that seemed most convenient. The ranch structures, mostly clumped together, were pervaded by the earthy but not completely unpleasant smell of animals and manure. Old farm equipment, some dilapidated beyond use, lay randomly about, as if left wherever they had stopped functioning. One of my favorite things was the garden, where evening primroses (I think they were called) bloomed in, of course, the evening...it was a rare treat to stand and watch them open. Paula and I had dinner in Ukiah, which has a cute downtown area, and where some (overly) optimistic hippie-types were protesting Bush (big surprise) and calling for his impeachment. I wish.

Though I had planned to stay with Paula through the weekend, she unfortunately had to leave on Saturday morning to be with her family after a death in the family. I left early and went to a campground nearby, Clearlake, but they were full, not unexpected since it was the weekend, so I moved on to Colusa where there was a state park. I camped there for the night, walked into town to see the new Harry Potter film, and read. All in all, a relaxing day.

Sunday I hit Sacramento, visiting Marin again. We went into Old Sacramento this time, where some old building have been preserved and turned (appropriately) into tourist traps. It was fun to see the old buildings, though, and Marin told me that the originial first floors had been below what appeared to be street level now: the settelers built on a flood plain, so the originial first floors had been filled in.

I came back to Reno after that, and have been hanging out since. Reno is not exciting, but it's relaxing and I've found a coffee shop that has decent coffee and free wi-fi.

I probably won't post again until after I get back to Hawaii on July 24th. Until then...Aloha.