Tokyo and beyond

Tokyo: busy, crowded, loud, lively, exciting, expansive, at turns pretty and grungy.

It's an amazing city, with so much going on and with distinct subsections: Roppongi is different from Shinjuku is different from Shibuya is different from Ueno...you get the idea. For the younger crowds, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, and Roppongi are probably going to be the most fun. But it all depends on what you're looking for. This time around, I was mostly there to SEE the city, to walk around and photograph it, but restraining myself to only a portion. (Let me say here for those of you who've not gone: it's a BIG city, busier and more crowded than New York, and much, much bigger. The greater metro area has a population of 33 million.) So, for this trip, I only visited the following areas: Ikebukuro (where I stayed but did not sightsee), Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Roppongi, Ebisu, and Tsukiji (where the fish market is).

I guess I'll now go back to the beginning...

I caught the night bus from Osaka to Tokyo, which left around 11 PM, heading first to Kyoto. Construction on the freeway caused a delay, so the 45 minute drive to Kyoto took 90. That would have been not-so-bad, but the heat was turned way up as, for reasons I've not yet uncovered, the Japanese have low cold tolerance, high heat tolerance, and don't sweat. Or at least they don't sweat until it's 102 with 95% humidity. Drives me nuts. Anyway, the bus was HOT, and though I'd paid more (about $60) to ride the good bus, a Benz (yes, as in Mercedes, and no, I'm not joking), it was just not that comfortable. The bus finally cooled off and I got to sleep a bit about 1 AM. Now Tokyo is only about a 6 hour drive with no traffic, and yet we made, count them, 2 stops. TWO. Why, I don't know, as there was a toilet on the bus and most of us were sleeping. I could have dealt with one stop ok, but two...killing me.

We arrived outside of Shinjuku station around 7 in the morning, and like most big city areas that are more business than residential, there wasn't much open yet. I couldn't check into my ryokan (Japanese inn) until 3 PM. I found a Starbucks (the refuge of nonsmokers...but I will say that Tokyo is miles ahead of Osaka in terms of nonsmoking places) and had some coffee, waiting a bit for things to open, then I stuck my bag in a locker and headed out with just my camera. I walked all around Shinjuku taking pictures of buildings, which is probably the best area for looking at the architecture of skyscrapers in Tokyo. By around 11, I figured the photography museum in Ebisu was open, so I hopped a train there. The museum had only one exhibition open (two more were slated to open on Saturday...), and it was a collection of award winning advertising photos. Some of them were quite cool, others quite pedestrian, but I didn't quite feel I got my money or effort's worth. Back in Shinjuku, I found Shinjuku Gyoen, a large park ($2 to enter), and the weather was so fabulously nice I walked around it for a bit, took some pictures, then plopped down with my book for a while. I missed the peak of the ume (plum) blossom season, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't miss the peak of the sakura (cherry) blossoms while I'm in Korea. Nevertheless, I think I got some nice shots of the ume flowers.

I then went to check in at the ryokan. I recommend this place to people staying in Tokyo: Kimi Ryokan. It's in Ikebukuro, which is not a hip locale, but it's cheap (Y4500/night/single; Y6000/night/double), very clean, and gives you a view into a Japanese inn. The only downside I can see is if you like to stay out late; this place has a 1 AM curfew. But, on the plus side, they have a Japanese furo (bath tub), which is heavenly after a day of walking around. I soaked for a while after getting checked in, took a much needed nap, then headed back out to Shinjuku for dinner and some views of the lights.

The next day, Wednesday, I woke up surprisingly early, around 7, considering the day I'd had before, all the walking I'd done, and the fact that I went to bed after midnight. I started my morning with an hour in a manga cafe. I'm going to guess most of you don't know what that is since I only heard about it since I've come back to Japan. Manga (or Japanese comics) cafes are 24-hour joints where you can rent, for varying lengths of time, what is essentially a tiny cubicle with a comfortable chair and a computer. And of course a selection of manga you can take back to your cubicle. For the bargain price of Y300 (about $3), I got one hour. If you happen to miss the last train home (usually around 12:30 or 1:00 AM), you can get some kind of night rate, like 6 hours for Y1100 or something like that. Quite interesting, though I've not yet had to take advantage of the night rate. Anyway, the place I was in offered free drinks from the vending machine (the ones in paper cups, not cans), so I took advantage of that while I checked my email and waited for things to open.

Around 9, I headed into Harajuku, from where I would walk through Aoyama to see some interesting architecture, and then on to Roppongi to see a gallery and get a view of the city. Harajuku was about as dead as you could expect to find it, with no shops even open yet, so the walk was less interesting than it would have otherwise been.
In Aoyama, however, I did find some cool buildings to photograph, my favorite pictured here. (The lines, the mix of concrete and glass, are supposed to mimic the "winter-bared branches of the Zelkova trees" which line the road the building is on.)

Roppongi is the old expat/gaijin hangout, where the old US barracks used to be, and was until a few years ago the seedy part of the city (housing the main red-light district). But, a few years back, some redevelopment came through, Roppongi Hills came out, and now there's actually stuff to do there before the sun goes down. I hit Mori Tower, which has a fantastic view of the city as well as the World's highest art space (so my Lonely Planet guidebooks claims, though on the 53rd floor, I'm inclined to believe it). I would have liked to see the view at night, but I got there around lunch time, so I checked out the view, sipped a grossly over-priced smoothie, and then went to look at the art space. The exhibition was called "Art is for the Spirit: Works from the UBS Collection." (Interestingly, I have investments with UBS but didn't know they collected artwork.) It was a terrific exhibition, though, showing many different kinds of works on several themes. Some of my favorites were (sorry no photos) a series of "portraits" done by arranging sugar cubes dipped in coffee to attain varied levels of darkness, from white to dark brown; the series, entitled "Pixels," looked like low-quality digital images of faces. Another favorite was a series of videos running concurrently which showed patches of cement as someone painted portraits on them using water which dried as he was painting and which would completely disappear after he'd finished; there were five to seven of these playing and they looped, so that he was always painting at least one face while the others dried up and disappeared. The last one was another video project called "Whose Utopia?" in which the artist beautifully shot a lightbulb factory and a clothing factory, showing the machinery and the people working there, doing the incredibly repetitive and mundane tasks that must be done so that we in the developed countries can enjoy the products. Very powerful stuff.

From there, I went back to the ryokan, showered, then headed out to Shibuya to capture in photographs the movement of people at that famous intersection. (If you're a film buff, it was pictured briefly in Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, though she neglected to show the most interesting part of that space.) Unfortunately, I don't know how to pose what I've done to this blog yet, so when (if) I figure it out, I will add the photos, but for now let me describe it. Two large streets intersect just outside of Shibuya station, which as to be one of the busiest in Tokyo. At the four corners, crowds build like water behind a dam, slowly gathering mass, until the lights change and all four corners are free to cross at once. One moment the streets are empty, then a few people start out before the lights have actually changed, and then there is just the mass of moving bodies, sea-like, people moving and churning, until, quite suddenly and seemingly without signal, the flow stops, the streets clear, and the cars again traverse the intersection. It's mesmerizing. I seriously could watch it for hours. I had to meet my friend (a former student from Mason) for dinner, however, so I settled on a seat on the second floor of a Starbucks which overlooks the place, set up my camera on a tripod and, using a timer feature that allows me to take a photo every few seconds, recorded the cycle several times. I'll try to figure out how to make a video and post it here...

Dinner that night with my friend Maya in an izakaya (a Japanese bar & grill). Good food, nice atmosphere, and a pleasant couple of hours catching up.

The next morning I met another friend and former student of mine, Evelyn, and her husband, Man, and her friend Yvette. Evelyn and Yvette are Taiwanese (nicknames), while Man is American. Yvette is studying Japanese in Tokyo and Evelyn and Man were stopping in Tokyo while on their return trip from Taiwan where they had just had a wedding reception (their wedding reception in Virginia had taken place more than a year before, while I was still there).

Together we went to Tsukiji Fish Market, world renowned for selling crazy amounts of seafood. If you want to see the action, you have to go around 5 or 6, but we got there around 11. Most of the stalls were cleaning up, but I still got some nice shots of the weirdness of the place, some gigantic fish, and some blood and gore. I recommend it.
Unfortunately Man wasn't feeling well, so we skipped sushi and headed into Akihabara, the electronics hub of the city, if not the country. We had lunch there, walked around for a bit, then hopped another train to see the Tokyo-Edo Museum, which is fascinated for showing great displays of old Edo (Tokyo before it was called Tokyo) and Tokyo as it began to be Westernized after the US forced Japan's doors open through military might. (Yes, I'm a bit sympathetic here...the US pulled the same kind of imperialistic crap with Hawaii.) One of the best parts of the museum were the scale models built to show what sections of the city might have looked like way back.

I left my friends there, promising to meet the next morning before I left Tokyo, and headed back to the ryokan again to shower and get ready to meet Maki, a woman who worked in the office at Aioi High School, the place I worked when I first lived in Japan. She has been living in Tokyo for a year but will be moving back to Kobe this coming weekend. We met in Ikebukuro (where I was staying) and walked to a restaurant to eat. We chatted and caught up. In spite of the intervening years when, I presume, she didn't have much opportunity to practice her English, she still speaks it remarkably well.

My last morning, I got up and met Evelyn, Man, and Yvette at their hotel so that I could see the pictures from their wedding reception. We hung out a bit, but the glorious weather that had graced Tokyo for the last three days had given up to rain, and so, not feeling like walking much in the wet, I parted company with them and caught the Shinkansen (bullet train) back to Kyoto, taking a local train home from there.

All in all, a good trip...busy, tiring, but good. I'm glad I did this trip before my Seoul trip, though, as it's showed me that while I can still go out and walk all day, I probably don't want to do that too many days in a row. I'll be in Seoul for just over a week, so I'll have to pace myself. I'll write more when that adventure is over...but for now I need to get to sleep (it's 2 AM), as I've got to attend graduation tomorrow.

Be well.

Still on vacation...

I know, it's so cool. I've been on vacation for about five weeks, and I've got about four, maybe five more to go. Does it get better than this? Of course it does! I could win the lottery (if I played it), or marry a really rich girl. But this job is great.

In the last few weeks, since my friend's wedding, I've not done a lot. Seriously. I've read a few books, the best of which was Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Very, very good. I bought a Nintendo DS, which is the new version of the Game Boy: a pocket-sized electronic device initially made for playing games. This new version has two screens, the lower of which is touch-senstive and allows you to write on it.
Now, while I may eventually get games to play on this, I have purchased it and only one program for the purpose of learning kanji (the Chinese characters used in Japanese). I've tried other methods, but so far the other methods are really boring, while this provides a variety of different exercises to do, including writing the kanji. It was recommended to me by a few people as the best way to learn kanji, and though I've only had it for a week, I'd have to agree.

This past Monday, I did take a short trip with my colleague Kathy to Shirahama, a small beach town in Wakayama, maybe a two and a half hour train ride away. Our other colleague Jean was supposed to come, but she got sick the day before and wasn't up to it. Shirahama is famous for a picturesque white sand beach (the name means "white beach"; but as a funny side note, after years of erosion, sand had to be imported from Australia) and for onsen. We stayed at this cute if a little old minshuku, something like a guest house or B&B. At 4000 yen a night (about $40) with no meals, it was a great deal, and very conveniently located. The weather was great while we were there, though windy on the first day. I was warming enough on the second day while walking around to take off my jacket and walk in just my t-shirt. On that day, the owner of the minshuku, a very friendly older man who speaks passable English, drove us about ten minutes outside of town to one of the scenic places, Sandanbeki (pictured), and dropped us off to walk back (only about 30 minutes of actual walking). He later drove us to the station...services they don't officially offer, but in the slow season, I guess he gives extra services.

That's about all that I've done. Most of my days now consist of things like reading, watching DVDs or TV shows I found on the internet (like Psych, which is a really funny show), studying Japanese, exercising, practicing aikido, hanging out with friends. It's not boring at all, I don't mean to make it sound like that...I have more than enough interests to keep me busy, but most just aren't noteworthy, I guess. That said, things are about to change, so you can expect to read more, and more interesting stuff, soon.

Next week I go to Tokyo for four days. I'm taking the night bus up, which will be an experience in itself. The week after I'll be preparing for my classes starting in April, and there's the graduation, my first as faculty at this university. The following week, on the 24th, I go to Seoul for a week, returning on the 31st. On both of my trips, I'll get to see former students from the ELI (where I was teaching in Virginia). Then, a few days after I return from Seoul, my dad will be coming for a visit, my first guest this time around! So, while I've not had much to report recently, I will soon, so be on the look out...I'll try to post more often in the month ahead to avoid letting it build up...

Ah, vacation...sweet vacation

Yeah, I love being on vacation. Life would be best if it were all, or mostly, vacation. Makes me wonder if I ever will leave the teaching profession, unless, of course, it's to retire.

I worked with the kids again yesterday after a week off (which translated into two weeks of no work at all). The kiddies aren't too bad now, and even sometimes enjoyable. Sometimes. I'm probably going to get a new, larger crop in April...not sure if I'll still have any of the students I have now, but probably. The rumor on kids' program front is that elementary schools will bring back Saturday classes (which they've not had for the last five years or so)...which means that after next March, I probably won't have to teach the kids anymore! So sweet. That might mean an extra university class, but I'd rather do that...I've got my fingers crossed.

Continuing with work-related news: I have my schedule for the next academic year. Aside from the given Saturday kids classes, I'm teaching Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays off. Gives me a mid-week two-day break, a nice time for short trips when destinations will be less crowded.

Last weekend I went to visit my friend Kurara to take the pre-wedding photos I mentioned in my last post. I got there Friday evening, hung out on Saturday and did a bit of scouting (I got to see where the reception will be, but not the ceremony as there was too much snow that day to get there), and on Sunday we took the pictures. On the day of the wedding, Kurara and Daniel will only wear the wedding clothes they had made special for the day (Indian style clothing), so on this day they got dressed in traditional Japanese kimono.

A note on this: Japanese women can only wear the formal, long-sleeve kimono (furisode) when unmarried, and typically only the a holiday called the Coming of Age Day and weddings. So, wearing it is an important event.

Putting on a kimono, for those who don't know, is a very difficult task. There's a lot that goes into it. A LOT. Kurara's aunt helped her put it on, and the whole thing took about an hour and a half. I don't think you could tie one of those fancy bows with the obi (belt) by yourself... After Kurara was dressed, her aunt helped Daniel put on his kimono and hakama (kind of skirt). At this point, I'd taken about 200 photos.

From there, we went to a friend's house--a mansion by Japanese standards--to take some "traditional" wedding photographs in front of a gold folding screen and posed with two dolls of old people (symbolizing the hope that the newlyweds will reach such an age together). It was a bit of a trick getting the lighting to look ok. Playing with the overhead lights and the shoji doors (made of translucent paper), I finally got some nice light. I took a bunch more photos, including some in front of an ornate doll display set up for hinamatsuri (Girl's Day).

Our next destination was the local Shinto shrine, where we took some candid shots of them walking in, going to the shrine, and walking through a set of torii (red gate-like things). The sadly funny thing about the torii is that as they were donated by a local business, the company's name is plainly written on each post...I didn't notice because I couldn't read it (could've had a prayer on it for all I knew), but Japanese people will read something like "Ueno Construction Company."

The last place we went to was Kurara's church. Her family is Catholic, but as that's not a large faith in Japan, the church is in a small building/house. There is a nice piece of stained glass on the wall above the lectern, however, and that made for a nice background. I took pictures of the couple and the family, then, per her mother's request, they changed into the clothes they'll wear on their wedding day and took some more pictures...these because the ceremony wouldn't be held at the church, as her mother had hoped.

All in all, it was a long day, but fun and I enjoyed it and learned a lot. By the time we all left the church to go home, I'd taken over 500 photos. Kurara and Daniel edited that down to about half, which is still a daunting amount considering the ceremony and reception are still to come.

Spring Vacation has begun!

Where DOES the time go? I had gotten all resolved to write more often, to post even little things, and yet here I am, a month later...

School started back up, and it felt like something of a false start because we had only three weeks of class (and only ONE full week at that) and then we hit vacation as of last week Tuesday, though I was still doing grades and various paperwork last week. This week I'm still going to school for my Japanese lessons and aikido, and to take care of some small things like cleaning and rearranging my office.

The end of the semseter was, after that vacation, expectedly anti-climatic. Things just sort of wrapped up in a sleepy kind of daze. I didn't give any final exams (which is why I'm done already and not still having to administer such an exam). Grades were computed, but I've honestly never been so...intuitive when grading. I usually go right down the line, but academics don't work quite the same way here, so I had to adjust a little to make up for my not having taking a firmer line from the beginning. I've learned my lesson and will crack the whip, hard and loudly, from the first day of the next term.

So what else have I been up to? Not much, but I have an entertaining story or two.

I try to work out at the school gym a few times a week. When I'm done working out, so as to not have to take my workout clothes home after each session, I usually rinse out my clothes in the shower. The most expedient way to do this is to just wear everything into the shower and take it off as I wash each piece. Well, about three weeks ago, on a Saturday after my kids class, as usual, I walked in fully dressed, but only after about 30 seconds when I went to take my shirt off did I notice that I could still hear music: I'd forgotten to take off my iPod Shuffle! DAMMIT! I pulled it out of my pocket, turned it off, towel dried it, and put it away. Afterwards, I set it in my office over the air vent to dry for a few days. When I came back on Monday, I tried it out: It WORKED! Amazing! BUT last week I went to charge it and...no good. It works, but it won't charge. So, I've killed my iPod Shuffle. Can't believe it. Thus, I'm now musicless when working out, which stinks for the running part...I've ordered a new iPod, but I have to wait a bit...so dumb, so dumb...

I know, most of you are thinking: He wears his clothes into the shower? But hey, if you're going to rinse them off, why take them off and carry them there? I just makes it all easier. Unless you forget to take off non-water-resistant electronic items you're wearing.

The only other thing of note happening is that my friend Kurara and her fiance Daniel have asked me to photograph their wedding. I'll be going out to see them this weekend for a few days to take some engagement/pre-wedding photos and to talk more about what they want from their photos. In honor of this special occasion (or as an excuse at least), I've purchased a new camera, one I've been eagerly awaiting for some time and have been eying since it was released last fall. The new Canon 40D. Very nice. I haven't had must opportunity to use it yet, but I will certainly be making use of it this coming weekend!

And that's that. Not much, I know, which I will also use as my excuse for why I don't write more often: Mostly I'm just at home or at work...not all that exciting. This month doesn't promise to be much better. However, next month you can expect a little more, as I'll be going to Tokyo and Seoul, South Korea, and possibly on another, shorter trip locally. Who knows, I may cave in and take a short trip this month, too... :)

Take care! Aloha.

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.