This is a pot of 'oden' sitting on a kerosene heater in the staff kitchen. A lot of the teachers ate this for lunch on Tuesday, including me.






Today's atypically wintery scene.

Very atypical of Kyushu weather, we had somewhat of a blizzard hit the area tonight. Snow's been just streaming down, and the wind is blowing furiously. Driving was awful; visibility was very low and the roads were icy. Tomorrow is the 'closing ceremony' of the second term, so I know school won't be cancelled, but I'll instead be looking forward to a chilly, wintery white walk down the windy lanes to the school grounds.

I've been driving a tiny little thing--the engine that could, if you will. Here's a photo:

I'd like to get a photo with something next to it, like a small child, so it can be witnessed that they are nearly the same size.
Or a walnut.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am quite fond of this car!

I thought of myself for the first time tonight as an actual alien, speaking a strange language, among many other strange and unfathomable beings and existences. It happened when I was watching a preview for a movie that was in Spanish, a language which I haven't heard for a long time. It's kind of silly, but that was my thought.

Life keeps getting stranger and stranger, and the stranger and more expansive my view of the world becomes, the more things make sense. It feels like knowing that instead of frantically flailing my arms and legs in the middle of a huge blue ocean, I could use my body to swim. My experience has now gone beyond my imagination. Does everyone hit this thought at some point past their childhood?

Well, looking forward to the sushi dinner at Hide's tomorrow night. He's got a real nice group of people joining him, all foreign English teachers, I think.

Then, on Friday, it's back home to Philadelphia, for a week. A whoosh back over to another world. Looking forward to it


Here's a look at Saturday's Aikido practice. It was a large class this time, because we celebrated the bonnenkai, year-end party, afterwards.

I've been taking ikebana classes once every two weeks at school. Here's my third attempt--well, my third attempt after the teacher came along, took half of the stuff out and put it back again in quite a more aesthetically pleasing manner!
The arrangement had a winter theme:



And this is a sign I saw yesterday in the mall:

Currently, in Japan, it is 8 degrees celsius in my bed room, which is 46 degrees fahrenheit, and I can't seem to get the ac/heater working. All right, got the spare kerosene heater going, so it's up to 9 degrees now. Soon, I'll be toasty.

Well, I mentioned some time ago that I'd felt some sort of edge with one of the teachers here, Si Sensei. We couldn't seem to communicate, and I couldn't follow the logic of his English class curiculum. Also, something I may not have mentioned was that we might spend an entire class making corrections to a worksheet he'd made, or have a class conducted entirely in Japanese because the students couldn't understand their assignment. I sometimes had the feeling that he might faint in the middle of class and that he seemed a little 'off'.
To follow up on that subject, my relationship with said teacher has improved in that I now understand his situation. He's wanted to retire for a few years but he is continually asked to stay and he does. He is in poor health, and, he visits the hospital for treatment once a week. Since it is actually more important to support him and his relationship to the students and school than worry about how much English his classes are speaking, our classes together have relaxed and become a strange kind of enjoyable, where not much is expected out of anyone, but it's okay for now.

Last time, Si Sensei had to be about 20 minutes late, so we all sang Silent Night in English(yeah, they sing it in Japanese here). When Sensei did finally make it, he surprised us all with his beautiful karaoke-esque rendition of the song. It was quite lovely, and the students cheered at the end.

In other news, bonnenkais are starting again. Those are year-end parties. There is a bonnenkai for every group a person belongs to. This year I've had one so far, with a possible four total by next week.
Last Saturday's bonnenkai 'quote-of-the-party', by a somewhat intoxicated Mr. Naka, 'Julie, you must play your violin for me before you go back to the U.F.O.', produced fits of laughter by all guests present.

Here's a photo of (part of) the Tamana Girl's High School Marching Band. They are the All-Japan Champions! Woo-hoo!!





This fruit is very common down here. We see them growing on trees all over Kumamoto. You can probably guess what it is?

At long last, internet at home. I can post photos! The blog commands are all in English! Rejoice!

Here, have some nabe:
















Help me identify this spider










Here's my garden, before...



and after :)



more photos to come!

response to Jay

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10312475/site/newsweek/page/1/

Thanks for the story Jay.
I think all my friends who are Japanese here have traveled to English-speaking foreign countries before. If people haven't traveled, they just seem to be kind of close-minded to foreigners. It would be like sending a Japanese person who doesn't speak much English to live in the rural American south or in the countryside in the midwest. I think they'd feel the same kind of isolation as foreigners here. I don't think it's all that different from how any race isolates any other race that is in the minority. But the isolation is really real. I experience it every single day at school, where many of the teachers ignore me because I think I make them uncomfortable. It's not my fault, it's a combination of my not speaking Japanese really well, and them not having the patience, self-confidence or the interest to connect with me. I can see how hate could arise from being isolated. That's when I remember that it's just this teacher's community that I am in, and this kind of isolation doesn't happen at Aikido or when I'm with Etsuko or Hiro. When I keep that kind of perspective, it's not so bad.

Aikido stuff

Aikido last night was good. Honda Sensei was in an energetic mood, and he led regular warm-ups. It was the first time I heard him talk about rowing exercise, tenkan undo, and ikkyo undo in detail. Recently, I've been working with a discrepancy between the way we regularly practice the rowing exercise and the way a senior student practices it. Rather than moving his arms and hips forward at the same time, and heaving back, he extends his arms and keeps his hips back, and brings them together for the heaving part. I decided to begin practicing in this way because watching him from the side he seemed to look as if he were actually in a boat, rowing naturally. But when Honda Sensei demonstrated it tonight, he was clearly doing it the first way I mentioned.

I've been focusing on partnered tenkan practice all year. The way we practice here, the grabbed wrist is palm-down, and it curves into uke's center and turns palm-up when uke turns. The angle in the back for the tenkan step emphasizes the angle at which nage can most easily be off-balanced. Ideally, and often occurring in this dojo, there is little stress felt by nage in the wrist in tenkan. The response of nage is based more on the angle of uke's tenkan and the connection maintained through sensitivity in the uke's wrist than by cranking the angle of nage's wrist or tricking or forcing nage to move. It seems like I forget and relearn this every time.

Mostly my concentration has been on increasing the amount of sensitivity I have to my partner's movements, and looking for the 'open spaces' where nage doesn't want to resist and I feel no temptation to force or trick.

We did an interesting variation on kotegaeshi last night that starts out like shihonage and changes to the kotegaeshi movement. The technique ends with nage's face down on the mat, uke's hand pinning the nage's elbow the floor, and uke's elbow pinning nage's neck. Nage's hand is pulled back like kotegaeshi pin to finish.

Maybe I can show some Aikidoka people next time I see you(at summer camp in August?). Of course, all this stuff is hard to describe in words, which is why I've mostly left it out of my blog. I'm thinking about Aikido a lot more than I write about it.

Last night on my way home from Aikido I encountered a road block with four police cars stopped, red lights flashing. I thought it was some kind of accident, but when my car was in line to pass by, four police officers simultaneously approached the windows of the four cars waiting. My car was last in the line, and I wondered what was going on. I rolled down my window and the cop rambled off an official sounding command, holding some sort of flashlight up for me to approve of. I thought he wanted to look in my car, and then I realized the flashlight was a microphone. Maybe he wanted me to speak... I replied to his order with 'Uhh,...' and after some seconds, he said to me, his face almost breaking into a smile, 'Drink alchohol?' His flashlight/microphone was a breathalyzer. Accidentally laughing, I said 'no' and he let me go on my way. I'd never experienced four-car four-cop simultaneous breathalyzer before.

This week is second-term testing week in school. The teachers have been very busy recently making all their last minute print-outs and the students aren't allowed to enter the teacher's room for the entire week.
I was also a little busy. I created the oral component of the exams for six classes. What that means is that I made up dialogues followed by questions. Rather than testing all the classes on the same material, I tried to focus the regular track classes on conversational English, and the nursing track classes on English they might encounter if they had an English-speaking patient in a medical situation. Finally, the seniors will give short speeches in place of their test tomorrow for a term grade.
This is the culmination of what the Japanese English teachers and I have done this term. I found I had to very quickly get with the program to keep my head above water in the past few months.

I noticed that the incredibly lonely feelings I experienced last year have occurred much less since I came back to Japan in August. I'm sure it's helped to keep up the habit of visiting Etsuko once a week or so. We also go out to various events together frequently. Hiro and I keep each other company regularly too, and I often find a lot of joy in our meals and conversation together.

Since I won't be playing in the Kumamoto volunteer orchestra's Beethoven's 9th('Daiku') Christmas concert, I've had my Tuesdays and Fridays free again. Wednesday and Saturday nights are still Aikido nights, and I'm highly looking forward to our year-end bash(that's 'party,' not 'bash each other') coming soon.

I'm sending out Christmas/holiday cards now, and realizing how much I enjoy doing it. Sending out jolly and warm messages to friends.

Yesterday was the school's 'cultural festival.' We held the show at the Performing Art's Center in Tamana. The students danced and sang, and from what I saw of it, it was quite nice.
I was asked to play violin for about 10 minutes, so I played three pieces with piano accompaniment. The first was the theme from the movie, 'Princess Mononoke.' We played the theme while three students sang as a sort of backup. It was a short piece, and I think the audience recognized the theme and enjoyed it. The second was 'Salut D'Amour' by Elgar, which also came off well, I think. Last was a piece that is very popular for violin currently in Japan. It's by Taro Hakase, and the title is something like 'Passionate Song for the Violin.' Taro Hakase composes music and plays it on the violin on a Japanese talk show. Etsuko suggested it might be good to play, and the pianist had the music. It's a kind of cabaret piece, originally played by violin, accordian, electric guitar, and percussion. So we recruited three teachers to play percussion: bongos, maracas, and tambourine. They came up with a name for the band, and the last piece was announced as Julie Sensei, Tanoue Sensei, and the Three Amigos. They didn't really have much experience with percussion, so that piece was more fun than musically precise. I didn't get to see too much of the students' dancing and singing, but I've been told they're producing a video of the entire day's performances, so it'll be a trip to watch it later.

warm thanks from cold hands

Cold cold cold cold. November's brought some below freezing weather already. The school has no heating. The windows are left open much of the time. Emphasis is placed on resiliance and endurance, and no one complains. It's motivating, but at the same time nuts. I'm cold all the time, except when I'm near a heater. Anyone have have any insights on that Tibetan meditative practice of developing inner heat? ;) (actually, I'm okay)

I've been using the school computers since August to post blogs. I'd love to snazz up this blog some and also post more pictures. It's just that all the blogger controls are in Japanese... it seems that the broadband providers I've been speaking with can't locate my phone line at home, they've called me a couple of times, but I always have to have someone who speaks better than I can to call them back. Maybe I'll be able to post pictures again by Christmastime. But thanks for staying tuned regularly or periodically as the case may be.

I called my family this morning at 7:30am to be with them in spirit for Thanksgiving dinner. Cultural things are starting to take on a strange new meaning to me. I can't explain now because I'm too cold, but suffice to say it's interesting to be in a place where Thanksgiving goes largely uncelebrated.

A different kind of thanks comes to mind this year. My goal in Japan has been to become more giving. I never imagined I could become more giving by receiving kindness from others. So I feel thankful for the kindness the Japanese people I've met have shown me this year, and how I've been pushed to become more resilient and persistent. Lastly, I'm thankful when my family and friends support me and when they also allow me to support them. Those are wonderful things.

Who's that girl in the suit?

Having not had much exposure to business attire in the past, it's taken some time to understand what is best to wear to school as a teacher. When I started this job last year, I wore a lot of bright-colored shirts and casual pants. As time has gone on, it's more often that I wear a dark suit jacket or skirt to school, with a pastel top. I understand now that if you're going to see the same people every day, wearing subdued colors calls less attention to you, and they can also see that you care about your job. While elementary school kids don't seem to care, high school kids, in their own uniforms, also seem to appreciate if I also dress professionally. Initially, I really resisted the idea of wearing business attire for my job, but over time I could see that what I wear at work affects other people besides just me.

I'm still filling in the gaps of my professional wardrobe. (Shoes are especially hard because I can rarely find them in size 9) It takes time, but it's become fun. I feel comfortable when I wear appropriate clothing to school and attractive if I can find beautiful but subdued combinations.

Two Stories

I went to a cultural performance on Culture Day last Thursday. I didn't realize it was going to be a sort of 'matured person's' event. I went with Etsuko, who is getting to be matured, I guess, and we were late because her group of friends was performing last. She's been introducing me as her 'daughter,' which is awfully confusing for some people, but quite entertaining for the two of us.
Anyway, I was surprised when we went in she went all the way to the front of the auditorium in the middle of some lady doing a fan dance and sat down. She beckoned me then to follow her. So I went down in the middle of this performance, and a few minutes later Etsuko told me she had to go, to give her group some last words of encouragement before the performance. As soon as she left the auditorium, these two extremely old ladies sitting at the end of the row stood up, shuffled over and sat down next to me. One turned to me(and now there are three shamisen(Japanese stringed-instrument) players playing) and in a very loud voice said, 'Are you a Tai Chi teacher?' I looked at her and said, 'Uh, no. Not at all.' She says, 'Your mother said you were a Tai Chi teacher.' Now, everyone in the audience including those without hearing aids could probably hear her over the performance on stage. No one seemed to mind. I said, 'Oh, that's interesting, but she's not really my mother.' The ladies both looked at me like I was crazy.

I was on the train last night, returning from an Aikido seminar in Kumamoto. An old man sat down next to and started talking to me. From my experience, I know that if an old Japanese man starts talking to me out of the blue, the chances are good that he is drunk or he wants to talk about The Second World War. In this case, it was both. He asked me where I was from, but after about one minute into the conversation, I was somehow from Florida. I told him I was from Colorado, but he thought it was nice that I was from Florida, and what nice weather they have there. Not like when the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor. Actually, I'll just stop there. Suffice to say, he was a nice man who was a little sad to talk to. I've had maybe three experiences like that now...

The Hash

Every year, foreign English teachers(usually JETs) come together to run a kind of marathon. They call the marathon a 'Hash.' Two weekends ago there was a Hash in my town, Tamana City.
Two teachers in charge, called the 'hares', create a course and lay out checkpoints around the town for the runners. The poor runners, though, have no idea where the checkpoints are. That's the idea of the 'Hash,' to take a place on a map and have people discover the unique and interesting parts of that particular place. Not that I knew any of this before we started. I just knew to bring some 'running shoes and an open mind.'
The hares painted dots on the city's streets to show possible routes the runners could follow. When we saw the dots, we knew we were on a certain route. Their were true routes and dead-end routes. And there was food placed in coolers hidden strategically along the way. Eventually, the larger group of about twenty split into several small groups of people running and walking, searching for the finish all over town. That's how I made a new friend, 'Hide'. We ended up running most of the marathon as partners. We ran through a school, over top of a museum, passed famous hot springs, through endless twists and turns, and finally up a mountain and down a hunormous slide where the hares were waiting to take our pictures. So it was great fun, the kind of fun I didn't know people were still having. And making friends with Hide and the other teachers made it that much more enjoyable.

Music: Oldies but Goodies

I went to a concert the other day in Arao--it was the 'Ensemble Crane,' a string group playing chamber works.
When I walked in, about 150 eyes were staring right at me! Turned out that Arao #3 Junior High School's eighth graders were taking a field trip to the hall for a classical music experience, and they all saw me at once. We exchanged silly Jap-english greetings and basked in our mutual memory of Ms. Fukunaga's Team-Teaching English classes.
Luckily, the students stopped focusing on me once the concert started though because it had lots of easily accessible pieces like Eine Kleine Nacht Musik, Vivaldi's Fall, and baroque and show pieces. Good deal--easy listening.

Next month I'll see the Czech Symphony Orchestra play the New World Symphony, Ma Vlast and other things. Should be excellent(cost an arm and a leg though!).

And the orchestra I joined rehearses again tonight. The group is Kumamoto's Volunteer Symphony Orchestra, called 'Kuma-Kyo' in Japanese, and is comprised of about 100 members. It rehearses twice a week, and performs about once every two months in the largest hall in Kumamoto City, called Kenritsu Gekijo. Upon attending my first rehearsal the other week, it surprised me to hear that the group was so easy to become a member of because they sounded professional.

The program for November 13th's concert is Brahm's Symphony No.1, and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.5. I get the feeling we will be playing mostly standard orchestral repetoire, which is okay with me. I think I missed a lot of standard repetoire growing up.

In my experience, however, good, steady habits are built up from practicing the standard repetoire. Playing non-standard repetoire consistently could lead to players without solid roots in basic technique or knowledge of music history or literature. So even though I'm almost grown, I want to go back and play those pieces that I didn't get a chance to in the first place. Turns out Brahm's No.1 somehow reminds me of Strauss' Metamorphosen. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

... and pleasant news

I joined a symphony, finally. More on that next time.

Pleasant news and...pleasant news

During cleaning time after sixth period, Da Sensei told me that there would be an assembly in the gym when we were finished.
So, after cleaning time, I headed through the courtyard into the gym where the students and teachers were beginning to settle down on the floor.
The meeting opened and we all sat in the formal seiza style (i.e., sitting on our heels) and bowed to the principal, who proceeded to make two announcements. The first announcement was that the softball team had successfully gained the title of All-Kyushu Champions this Sunday. The second was that the marching band became the All-Kyushu Champions last week. Therefore, they were both going on to the All-Japan Competitions later in the year.

As a side note, lately, I’ve been working again with my posture. When I am standing, I try to stand with my hips slightly more forward. It gives me a feeling of elongating my torso and quads, and that somehow seems to make my body feel lighter, especially when I’m doing Aikido.
I’ve also been working with ways to lessen the burden on my knees when I sit in seiza, formal sitting posture. From watching others, I’ve started to practice sitting a bit further back on my heels, which relaxes my legs, shortens my upper half just a little, and seems to release some of the pressure on my knees.

When I heard the announcements, I was somewhat subconsciously practicing this adjusted way of sitting. My thoughts, however, were preoccupied with the news that those students had put their best foot forward and come out ahead. I was taken by surprise, therefore, afterward, to receive compliments from two different teachers on my sitting posture.

Anyway, my silly sitting story aside, perhaps someday students at this school will be receiving the news that they have made it to the All-Japan English Recitation Competitions. Wouldn’t that be something?

The violin is back.

I started a practice regimen again finally. The school has 6 beautiful practice rooms, used by the members of the famous Tamana Girl's High School Brass Band. The band has traveled all over the world. They are awesome. And they have provided me with the space, the opportunity and the motivation to play again. I think things are going to take off from here.

By the way, among the ups and downs, life here is very good. My Japanese, somehow, seems to be coming along, and my job is making me use my head. Aikido training is good.

It's funny--many, many topics go through my mind when I think about writing, but when I actually sit down, only the bare bones of my thoughts actually come out.

Oh, well.

And you win... another bag of rice!

Spent most of the day with Hiro and his father in the rice fields yesterday. I was told that my clothes 'may become dirty,' so I wore an old shirt and some beat up jeans. When I arrived, I was changed into a really old shirt and some old plaid pants you might've been able to spot me in in my middle school days. And like Hiro and his father, I wore a button-down over top.


What's the deal? Why, it's rice-harvesting season! And an Indian summer, meaning it's hot, hot, hot outside.

The three of us spent the better part of the day cutting rice with a rice-cutting machine and a hand-held saw. We loaded filled sacks of rice onto a truck and took them to the dryer where we poured the cut, uncooked, unsheathed rice into a large holding machine to dry. After a few days, the rice will go into another machine to get the outer coverings taken off. We unloaded 45 sacks, weighing just a bit more than I could lift by myself.
Hard work, but satisfying.

After all was done, we went back to Hiro's house where I was granted the first to shower and bathe. I took my shower and then sat in the bath, which is traditional style bathing, and then sat down for dinner. It was a potage, eggplant and shrimp stirfry, some pickled items, a bitter veggie called goya and tofu.

Then, Hiro and I went to Sega Game World and played the new and improved Taiko game, with extra bonus songs and graphics.

I went home with another bag of Hiro's father's rice, which makes three. Big score!

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Seems some advertiser got ahold of my blog address. They keep posting ads as comments. The only way I know to stop this from happening is to resrict who can post comments. Any comments?(No ads please :) )

Tawara, Tamana, and several colors of loincloth

Last weekend, I went to the Tawara Matsuri, a festival held once a year in Tamana, my new city. Tamana has a population of 45,000, slightly smaller than Arao's, the city I lived in last year, and about 400 of them came out for this bizzarre festival held under the Takase Bridge.
Twenty-seven teams compete for approximately $5000 in cash and prizes(including a year's supply of freshly harvested rice) from morning til afternoon. What are they doing? They're bursting balloons using 800-kilo straw barrels.
The teams have to work together, pulling ropes that extend from the hay barrel, manuevering it through a parking lot and bulldozing balloons set in various places. There are prizes not only for the fastest teams, but also for the teams with the best outfits. Two of the men's teams caught my and my camera's eye. One had colorful robes, with painted samurai on the back, reminiscent of the ones I fell in love with at the Tamana Iris Festival last year and the one I brought back for Boulder Aikikai. The other were men dressed in loincloths of various colors.

The painted samurai costumes won first place.

I don't know about the loinclothed men. Ran a pretty good race though.

Getting used to being alone, or perhaps I'm just not as alone anymore. School is going very well; I can't stress how much of a relief that is to me. In fact, I feel very free.
The high school is preparing for their annual Sport's Day Festival, which means classes are practicing in the gym for much of the regular class time. They take Sport's Day so seriously here--but it's good because everyone is really focused around this time. The only way it affects me is that I have less classes this week, so I've been going down to the gym to watch.

Have also felt a opening into understanding the Japanese mindset(which I actually think is just a mindset, and not specifically Japanese). It's because of the books I found in the cubby(Thanks P). They are incredible and have been blowing my mind as to insights into the language and culture. I've been learning how important it is to say the appropriate 'set phrases' at the appropriate times. It's revealing a different way of operating to me.

Been taking a breather from blogging, but it hasn't quite been a voluntary breather.
To make a long story short, I had to reapply for broadband and send back my old modem so YahooBB can send me a new one. Until I get the modem, I won't have internet at home, which also means I don't have a long-distance plan set up for outgoing calls. I'll be able to write a little more and call a little more after that.
That being said, I've got a ninth-grade class in ten minutes, so I'll make this brief.

Aikido's started to take off. I went on a weekend trip with some members to Okayama, near Hiroshima, last weekend and we had training and went sight-seeing, had general fun, etc. Two days a week of consistent training has finally become the right amount for me. I'm beginning to see the level of skill in the dojo, and within the past month have felt another 'opening' to what I have to learn here. Felt like a release--being open to this different way of doing Aikido.

School is getting better. Day to day is a little difficult, because I've been thrust into curriculum development and grade assessment and all that. Like becoming a teacher without any training. Anyway, gambarimasu(doing my best).

Weather's finally started to cool off. It's been really pleasant the past few nights, and the days are breezy.

Went to Kagoshima yesterday(actually a town called Kuchikino, sounds like 'yesterday's mouth,' but I know my translation's wrong) to go to a temple, Jikokuji, and meet a monk who's originally from Belgium. Have to write about that later, I guess.

Miss talking to friends from home.

Time to go read 'Anne of Green Gables.' How lucky am I?

Intellectually, one step closer to the inside

I've been feeling a real edge with one of the English teachers here, Si Sensei. It seems we just can't communicate very effectively. For example, yesterday he asked if I would prepare something to discuss with the students for the first ten minutes of our class together today. I told him I could think up something or other.

So, I thought up an idea to talk about onomatopoeia and mimesis words, words that sound like the sound or action they are describing. I thought I could write several onomatopoeia on the board and we could try to guess the meanings in Japanese by the sounds of the words. We briefly confirmed my idea in the morning. When I got to class, the teacher started to pass out paper, saying, "Julie will now speak on a topic for about ten minutes. You must write down your understanding of her speech on this paper." I hadn't prepared a speech, and the students didn't know whether to participate or listen, so my activity flopped. I felt badly, but there was nothing I could do at the time.

After class I wrote a speech on my topic so I would be more prepared for the next time, if there is one.
I feel some kind of irritation whenever we have to talk, and it seems as if he feels burdened every time we talk too.

Now, actually, I like Si Sensei, and I know that we can teach together effectively. It was during this train of thought that I picked up a dingy book sitting in a cubby in my desk with all the other dingy books. It's simply called, "Speaking and Living in Japan." I thought it'd be similar to many other books I've read with a similar title, but it wasn't. It tells stories from the point of view of a man living in Japan, learning Japanese. He goes through his daily life, and his mood is affected by the various things he says and the responses he gets throughout his day. It describes why at times, foreigners might feel frustrated with Japanese natives and vice versa. One thing, for example, that it points out, is a frustration I've experienced several times. In Japanese culture, it is considered polite to interject frequently while a speaker is talking to confirm that they are listening. In the place where I come from, it's considered rude. It makes me want to stop talking because I think that the person is placating me and isn't really interested. It's just not that way here, in reality. It's almost unbelievable, how something that feels offensive to me is just my point of view. It's hard to not feel offended by something so ingrained in me!!

Anyway, I think these kinds of misunderstandings are causing my tension with Si Sensei. Unfortunately, neither of us fully understands what the other is considering offensive. It's bewildering. I hope as I read more of this book, I'll begin to understand more of what I can do to keep our misunderstandings and mutual offenses at bay.

Another thing I learned is why I get such a strangely quiet response from the staff when I greet them with "konnichiwa,"(good afternoon) but "ohiou gozaimasu"(good morning) seems to be fine. I learned that "konnichiwa" is usually only used for people outside of your "group," and that it sounds odd to be used when you are on a somewhat familiar basis with someone like a coworker. It's so subtle, but every bit helps me gain some understanding of how to become more accepted here.

Sorry, still no internet at home, thus the long hiatus. I would've liked to be in touch will more people back at home by now, but getting internet and long-distance hooked up has been taking me a while...

I started at Tamana Girl's School on September 1st. Today I'll give my last self-introduction class. There are 21 classes in total, and I team-teach about 13 of them. I see some twice or three times a week, therefore my total number of classes is 17. That's about four a day, which is reasonable.

Class is surprisingly similar to the middle school classes I team-taught before, down to the textbook itself. The three grades(1,2, and 3, equivalent to our 10th, 11th, and 12th grades) all use the same English textbook. I don't really understand why that is yet. The book's really only about 70 pages long.

I teach with four very different teachers. More on that to come.

So far, this job is much more reasonable and satifying than the one I had last year. I'm very happy to have arrived in such a place.

My house is turning out to be nice! It's pretty stinking hot and humid here, but I like to curl up on my couch and watch movies, or play violin with the cool air from my air conditioner blowing on my face. I've read a lot recently too. It's still incredibly lonely sometimes, you know, but that's part of the challenge of being here.

I stayed at my landlord's house for the day and night of the big typhoon that hit us last Tuesday. He's got these cool soundproof walls and windows that don't let in the wind or cold. His family, including his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids had a welcome party for me at their house last Friday night. Since I'm so hesitant with my Japanese, I became very shy when I was first around them. By the end of the evening, they were showing me the family scrolls, paper dolls made by the landlord's wife, and the new wooden nameplate the landlord had carved for me in characters. I left with a paper doll, two wrapping clothes, a new summer kimono, and the next morning, the landlord attached the nameplate to my door. So I guess I've made a few new friends. :)

can i get some more flowers down here?

I got twelve mosquito bites moving furniture from the old teacher`s apartment to my new apartment today. The story is that I visited the old place and it was really messy and dirty, pretty disgusting really(sorry P, but wasn`t it?). The old teacher(Paul ;) ) said it was drafty, had bugs, and that two surrounding houses got robbed recently. So, I asked the teachers at the new high school, who are in charge of my housing, if could switch to a different place. They showed me the place next door and said I could move there if I liked. That place has shiny new tatami mats and sparkles from floor to ceiling. I liked it much better right away; it`s clean and free from years of old sponges and jars of kimchee from English teachers past. As far as safety, well, it *seems* safe enough. I told them I`d take it.
It`s got three rooms, so I`m pleased to say once again, there`s plenty of room, please come visit!

Watching tea ceremony the other day was really nice. First, Etsuko taught the woman Sa Sensei and her husband To an English lesson. Then, we went into her tea room and sat seiza while she prepared tea for us. She offered us some tasty treats from Tokyo that she called 'Tokyo Eggs.' They looked like eggs but they were sugar-coated sesame paste cakes--tasty! We watched as she performed the ceremony. It was easy to watch. She lifted this, poured that, turned this, moved that--gracefully and in a relaxed manner. I was scarcely aware that she was doing something so precise and choreographed. She simply looked as if she was enjoying herself, and she explained what she was doing from time to time.
Then she served the tea. She showed me how to view the tea bowl, and how to drink the tea, turning the bowl clockwise twice gently in my hand and then sipping. The tea was soft, fluffy and only slightly bitter. It was grassy green, something like the color of wheatgrass juice. The bowl had little blue cherry blossoms on the front.
I had had the idea that tea ceremony was something a little boring and maybe even stuffy. Sa Sensei has been practicing tea ceremony for over 40 years, but it seemed a fresh and lively experience for her.
Beforehand, we meditated a bit on the month's theme, written on a scroll in the corner of the house reserved for such things. The story on the scroll read,
"A great old wizard decided to visit inside a flower vase. He sat in the vase for what he thought to be one week, but after emerging, he realized he'd been in the vase for a thousand years."
She explained the meaning. Even if something seems huge for us, it is only a tiny thing in the scheme of the universe. Don't worry about tiny things in daily life.

I don`t know if I want to study tea ceremony, but it was a very positive experience for me, and especially nice to be around such a jovial woman.

back

I`m back in Japan, baby!

Etsuko has invited me to stay in her guest room until I begin living in a new apartment. Today, she is taking me to her tea ceremony lesson. It will be my first time ever to see tea ceremony and its components. She tells me the instructor is 77 years old.

It`s good to be home(home #3, after Boulder and Philly--thanks to my wonderful hosts in homes #1 and #2!!)

More to come.

Testing... testing

help, my blog grew a big, empty space!!

The Japanese Story

This is a story about a Japanese man and an Australian woman who get stranded together in the middle of the dessert. She is outspoken and aggressive, and he is taciturn and unconcerned. They unexpectedly discover each other in the wilderness and across cultural barriers. Their story plays like an endless wind pulling slowly across a crystal chime--gently, like spring rain falling.
And in a flash, it's over.

Why was it a 'Japanese Story?' It could've been an 'Australian Story' or even a 'Love Story.'
What does this story have to do with me?
just some late night ponderings.

(P.S. it's not an errror; if you see the movie, you'll understand! ;) )

more at: http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/j/japanese_story.html

What's for dinner?

What food would you most want to eat upon returning to your country after eight months abroad?

Home

In Philadelphia, finally. My big, navy blue duffel bag got lost somewhere in transit, but I've been assured it will be delivered to my mother's doorstep before tomorrow afternoon.

In the baggage claim department line, there was a short man with a dark mustache and a bald head in front of me, and a tall man with crisp good looks behind me. The short man was flirting with the woman behind the counter. The tall man was fuming impatiently, spouting his disapproval in a thick German accent.
When he finally got to the desk, the woman ignored him and called the man standing in the next line over to her counter.

It was the worst customer service I've seen since the last time I was in the airport. Takes a little readjusting coming from the most service-oriented place I've ever known.

Anyway, it'd been eight months since I'd seen mom, dad, and brother Zach. We had a nice homecoming tonight. By the way, home is now my childhood bed with a fluffy white comforter on top. Everything seems a little different...

Summer Camp in the Rockies, July 24th - August 1st: Some Reflections

Reflections on Teachers and others

Doran Sensei has a gift for relating empty-hand techniques to weapon-wielding techniques of Aikido. He demonstrated many techniques firstly with a weapon, secondly empty-handed, and lastly empty-handed facing an oncoming attack. He easily demonstrates the origins of the familiar but often times baffling empty-handed techniques. Using his skill, he painted Aikido as a matured weapons-art. Using his words, it appeared a fully relevant spiritual art.

Several assistants followed him to camp from Redwood City, CA. I got to share room space with one of them, Karl, and as well as being a fantastic uke, he surprised me with his endless well of energy.

Ikeda Sensei seemed to be inspired in his own way this year, mostly due to, it would seem, Ushiro Sensei. Ikeda Sensei has an innate sense of human physiology and especially how timing and movement effect the body. Participating in some of Ushiro Sensei's classes and talking to him throughout the week, however, Ikeda Sensei admitted to experiencing a shift in his view on these things. It is wonderful and scary to witness one's own teacher grow. This past week, he came off as warm-hearted, humble, skilled, and still willing to open his heart and change for the benefit of the future of his art.

Ikeda Sensei used a wide variety of assistants to demonstrate in his classes. It gave many people the opportunity to directly experience his subtle touch and ability to off-balance his attacker.

Ushiro Sensei was this year's guest instructor, flown in from Osaka, Japan. His classes were composed of two main types of practices: basic forms and ki/kokyu. The forms were classical Okinawan Karate forms, as I understand it, the most basic of which was something called Sanjin. From Sanjin, he showed us various ways to test the ki(energy/breath/???) and kokyu(perhaps the movement of ki) which could be generated from each step. The ki/kokyu exercises were fascinating to some, confusing to others, and irrelevant to a few. I found myself confused and delighted most of the time.

There is another person who should be mentioned along with Ushiro Sensei--his translator Jun. Jun was able to relate Sensei's spoken words as well as a sense of his unspoken words. The interpretation was seemless enough that most people probably forgot there was a translator present. I found myself listening to Ushiro Sensei's Japanese, and upon hearing the words in English afterwards, gained an entirely different appreciation for the richness and subtlety of the Japanese language. Ushiro Sensei communicated freely and meaningfully all week long due to Jun's skill. I think he deserves praise for doing a wonderful job.

Saotome Sensei and Ushiro Sensei looked as if they were old friends how they chatted away excitedly during the week. I noticed Saotome Sensei showing Ushiro Sensei one of his books, and they seemed quite energized while discussing it.
Saotome Sensei often talked about peace in the classes I attended. I experienced his classes as something resembling theme and variations, the numerous variations being complex and original. I want to attend many more of his classes.

I'm interested to hear what your impressions were of Ushiro Sensei and the other teachers. What were your training partners like at camp?
I worked with many wonderful people: Jae-Sang(the other person I shared room space with--lucky me!--another great uke, generous and warm-hearted person, and completely passionate about Aikido), Neville, Don, Dan, Noa, Julian, Josh, (There were about 100 others, but I wanted to mention a few!!) and all those regulars from Boulder Aikikai. I learned so much from my partners--THANK YOU!!!

Please send corrections, additions and comments!

First Year, Part II: First Weeks

The first weeks were spent adjusting. I was confused, excited, tired, and nervous. Now I think that was all part of culture shock, and that my shock lasted quite a long time.
I was bewildered by my new job, which required me to sit at a desk for 7 hours daily with no particular job to do. I was told to 'make some lesson plans.' Having never taught before, possessing no curriculum, and being denied access to the teachers or classrooms, I did my best to arrange the teaching props and plans left by my predecessors into something I could make sense of. Otherwise, I read the stuff given to us JETs at orientation, studied Japanese, poked around on the internet when the community computer was free, and--took naps. I discovered my coworkers napping at their desks after lunch, I came to recognize it as a common, if not secretly accepted part of work. I can't imagine how else I spent the time--there was so much of it. I had a difficult time communicating and everyone always seemed busy, although there was one 'office lady' who worked in my branch who spoke decent English. She wanted to be friends very much. I was happy to know her.

My first year in Japan, Part I

My town was in Kumamoto Prefecture, which is in the center of Kyushu, the southwesternmost of the four main islands of Japan. My job was to teach as an assistant English teacher in the elementary and junior high schools of Arao City(pop. 58,000). There are five junior high schools and twelve elementary schools in Arao. Many teachers I worked with did not speak English. I did not speak Japanese.

When I arrived in Arao, I was taken to my new employer's office where I introduced myself. Then, I met the town mayor. I talked to my predecessors for about an hour. Then, I was dropped off at my homestay family's house. I stayed with them for one week.

After my homestay finished, my supervisor and I sorted through furniture from my two predecessors' apartments.
Arao City has been having major financial struggles over the past several years, and cutting the budget for education was a result. The drawback was that I took over two peoples' jobs and responsibilities. The benefit was that I got consolidate the nicest furniture from their two apartments into one, which made my apartment rather nice.

I found a small photocopy of a map of Arao in a folder(in Japanese with English scrawled all over it) left for me, and was told by my supervisor to come to the Board of Education in the morning at 8:20. I sat down on my new bed. I was, well, home.

Return from camp

Arrival back in Boulder today. Happily exhausted, like everyone, I think.
Ushiro Sensei's going to be around til about Wednesday, and I heard he's going to teach a class or two at the dojo here. That's great, because several people are looking forward to picking his brain, including me.
I'm falling asleep as I write, so forgive me for cutting short...zzz
There is much I'd like to say

We're taking all the mats down. The last training was today. I didn't have any time to write this week. It was a wonderful Aikido seminar. Maybe I can write about it soon.

Merging

At camp here, an Okinawan/Kyushu karate teacher is the special guest instructor. He was asked to come because his art uses similar principles to Aikido principles to make it effective.
Today I went to my third class with him. We've been doing what are sometimes called 'ki exercises.' These kinds of exercises are not a part of the regular training that I do. They are something of a practice to control your focus, attention, and own sense of quiet confidence. I can't define it exactly.

At one point, the teacher, Ushiro Sensei, mentioned that one of his students also plays the violin. He explained how the basis for a very fundamental technique is very similar to raising an imaginary violin to one's shoulder, while drawing the bow with the other hand. Of course, this was easy for me because I've played violin for a long time but actually doing the technique in this way looked exactly like something else that inspired me when I was a child.
Ha ha, it was only after I purchased my own copy of the Karate Kid that I realized how much the movie had influenced me when I was a child. I was six when it came out. It was possibly my first introduction to the martial arts, and probably when my curiousity started. I was captivated by the story and believed in the transformations of the characters. Today, the raising the violin and pulling the bow looked so much like 'wax-on wax-off' from that movie, but it was real and I understood it.

When I pulled the imaginary bow across the imaginary strings today, I felt the connection between my musical art and the martial arts. I've been looking for this for a long time.

By the way, I forgot to mention that my birthday was on Monday. It was good to be around friends, although I feel strange that I didn't get to talk to some of my family members, including my dad.

Looking forward to next week when I will stay with a wonderful friend.
Really liking where I am now too.

Camp will last until Sunday afternoon.

full speed ahead

Should be sleeping, probably will be soon, but first...

The past two and a half days have been a blur. On the first night, my friend picked me up from the bus station and took me directly to the Aikido dojo. The classes, totaling about 50 people, were just finishing as we arrived.
As we stepped inside and removed our shoes, I reflected on how oddly similar I'd felt at the start of an elementary school class in my old teaching days in Japan. Soon, we were all going to be shaking each other's hands and inquiring about the general state of each other's being. 'How are you's would be passed about and when we finished, we would all smile and feel just fine.
This, combined with hug after hug left me feeling joyously remembered and appreciated. I also remembered the feeling of belonging to a community. This was possibly something I'd missed above all else. I was immediately accepted, after a year of struggling to be accepted and finally giving up. It was something valuable to be experienced, then and now.

Tonight, while shopping out on the Pearl Street Mall, I kept thinking of lesson plan ideas to try when I got back to Japan. I'm happy to be here, and happy to think about being there.

My friends have been really loving hosts and I wanna say thanks to them here, although they seem like family anyway...

Oh, it's way passed bedtime now. Phooey. Tomorrow's a big day: the start of a weeklong Aikido camp in the Rockies. Read more at:
I gotta get to sleep! G'night!!

Colors

Puddles of clustered houses scattered among fields of glistening emerald

transformed to

patchwork quilt lands of battered tans and smoke-stained yellows.

in an instant, I'm home.

Currently in Japan...

...but not for long. A month in the good ol' US of A ought to do me good.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for supporting my me in my choices. We shall see where the future takes us.

See you on the other side.

Good news and good news

Got the news on Friday mid-morning. The girl's high school wanted to hire me. From within me, I said 'Yes.'

I'm going home for a month, then I'm staying another year. Go go gadget me.

We enjoyinged together

About a year ago, I stumbled upon a tiny okonomiyaki shop when I was wandering around the city before Aikido. I like to go to this place for a few reasons. First, they have tasty, economical okonomiyaki(egg, cabbage, etc. pancake) made while you wait. Second, the place doubles as an art studio. The wife runs the restaurant part and the husband sells his paintings. Lastly, the place always seems to be filled with good company when I stop in.
Last night was no exception. I pushed the door open and before me appeared a woman in her late 40s/early 50s, surrounded by six high school boys. They were playing hearts with giant-sized playing cards. One yelled out to me, "Speak Japanese??!"
Turned out the boys were 10th graders in a local boarding school, apparently run by the woman, who drew me a detailed map of how to find the place in case I decided to visit. Then she showed me several pictures of her cats, past and present.
The boys took a liking to me right away. One boy in particular, Kazu, was so happy to try his English, while the other boys showed me pictures of themselves and their friends. Ken, after informing me that his name was just like the English name Ken, expertly moon-walked for us all, while at the same time shyly covering his face. Another boy found an English phrase book(English as spoken by Doraemon, a cartoon robot-cat) in the restaurant's bookshelf and proceeded to ask me questions from it.
They were such a cheerful bunch; we talked for nearly an hour until I looked at my watch and realized I would be late for Aikido if I stayed any longer.
As I left, they bid me well in chorus, singing, "See you again!!"
Perhaps.

Yoossshhhh!

It finally happened. I finally threw one of the Judo kids in a practice match.
With what, a week left at school and almost two months of practice under my belt... I thought this day would never come.

I found out by accident that the junior high has a video camera. We were doing Unit 2 in the ninth grade classes, learning different usages of the verb 'have' plus the past particle, for example: "Have you had that sweater for a long time," "They have been here since early this morning," and "Have you ever been to Bangladesh," you know, stuff like that.
This particular chapter illustrates a news reporter interviewing shoppers at the new Recycling Market in 'Heiwa City.' So, the teacher decided to dust off the video camera and let the students have a go at interviewing each other while actually being filmed.

Afterwards, I rewatched the tapes and graded the students. Then, after that, I 'discovered' that there were boxes of blank video tapes in the teacher's supply lobby.

After asking nicely, the teachers gave me permission to make a video. So I'm making my very first video--complete with conveyor belt sushi, elementary school take-outs, monotonous narration by yours truly, and a variety of other fascinating renderings. Today I interviewed some of the Judo kids. (Golly gee, they crack me up.) I wanted to film practice too, but we ran out of tape just as I threw that kid. Ahh, c'est la vie.
Anyway, I'm having fun with it, and having spent almost three months now at the same junior high, I finally feel some of the satisfaction of that comes from bonding with students. It seems too early to say goodbye--things have just gotten started.

P.S. The job interview was delayed til this Wednesday. Still don't know.

On the phone, part II

Well, it looks like I didn't have to do anything after all. Hiro's mom called back this morning and confirmed dinner tonight at seven. The first thing I said after greeting her was, 'Please speak very slowly!!' : )

On the phone

Students have often asked me what the hardest part is about being a foreigner in Japan. I tend to give two answers. The first answer is being away from friends and family, and the second is talking on the phone in Japanese.

Hiro's mom just called me, exactly six minutes before my alarm went off this morning. Hiro's away this week on a so-called 'business trip' to Las Vegas, and he said that while he was gone, his family would welcome me to stop by anytime. So, I think that's what just happened.
It was all a blur. I tried to get her slow down, but she was using so many words I couldn't understand that it was hopeless. I *think* she invited me over for dinner tomorrow night?? There was one point in the conversation that I said 'uuuuhhh... I don't get what you're saying, Would you please speak a little more...' and she was off, quickly repeating her point using different words that I didn't understand. All in all, she seemed to prefer a smooth conversation to her actually being comprehended. And I suppose I was too embarrased to stop her after every single sentence and have her repeat it ad nauseum. I somehow gave the impression that I understood, while meanwhile thinking I was giving the impression that I didn't understand. Besides that, anyone who knows me knows that the first ten minutes of my waking up are not such good ones to be communicating information to me. But now that I'm up, I'll go fix myself a glass of aloe yogurt drink and contemplate the wonder of my silly new dilemma.

That being said, she thinks she communicated something, and I know she didn't. Hiro's not around to help me understand, so I guess I'll have to call her back, apologize profusely, and try to pinpoint what she actually asked me. Sigh...

"Knocked-out, unable to move arm, broken collar bone, but we're okay!"

On Saturday I went to a school Judo match--which reminds me of something I've wanted to write about for some time: the Japanese medical system.

Injuries and illnesses in Japan are viewed very differently from the way I grew up viewing them in the west. I believe that the Japanese medical system treats injuries and illnesses not soley as physical ailments to be medicated or 'fixed,' but also as personal challenges to be mentally overcome.

Here's what I mean:

A boy got knocked out during his match Saturday morning. He was carried off the mat, and he awoke with an ice pack on his head. This was the only medical treatment he got. Within a half an hour, he was back in the ring fighting another match.

A second boy, the solidly built captain of Arao #4's team, got painfully and forcefully pinned during his match. He yelped, and as he and his opponent untangled, one of his arms dangled awkwardly at his side. He slumped and fell back on the mat, in a daze. Lifted and set aside, he cradled the appendage softly as the nurse rushed off for ice. The other boys tried to create a makeshift sling from his belt; they wrapped it around and around his back and and arm in a mind-bogglingly yo-yo-like fashion, creating something, sadly, not resembling a sling.
About a half an hour later, one of the other boys, with the approval of the nurse, helped the boy put his dogi top back on, and lined him up for his next fight. The boy fought using one arm, and lost.

And finally, the long-foreheaded boy, Mi-kun, was wrestling with a bum knee to start with. He was still using a crutch that morning.
His accident was the most disturbing. While being pinned, his legs began to shake violently. He tapped the mat, exclaiming, "Excuse me!! Excuse me!! Please stop!!!" His opponent didn't hear, and a second later his legs shot up again like they'd been plugged into a socket. Seeing this, his opponent quickly released his hold, and Mi-kun lay flat. Carried from the mat, as he passed by me, I think he said, "I heard it break."
Did someone call an ambulance? Give the boy a pain-killer?
No. He got up, crying, and, aided by the nurse, walked(limping, without his crutch)to the lobby, where he waited for someone to give him a ride to the hospital.
I saw him today. Three months in a cast. Broken collar bone. Surgery. That being all it was, I'm surprised they didn't make him fight his final match.

The mental endurance I've witnessed here in the face of pain and fear has astonished me in so many ways. I heard(although I don't know if it's true) that the three monkeys representing 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' originated from this area. It certainly seems to be a way of life on this side of reality.


(By the way, I still go to Aikido twice a week, in case you thought my Judo craze-faze had somehow taken over.
And... still waiting to find out about the job. I'll have an interview this week and then they'll let me know.)

Post-practice uniforms

Post-practice uniforms
Originally uploaded by jetblossom.

Several women and one rock hard center

Thursday night, I joined several bubbly middle-aged woman and one quiet man for a drinking party in my honor. The party was being hosted by the Ariake International Society, the group that had supported my stay here by giving me free tickets to many cultural events, including Taiko, a philharmony concert, a Kabuki performance, and other events. The head of this group is, of course, my good friend, Etsuko.

The last time I'd visited this particular izakaya(small tavern, usually specializing in raw and cooked fish) was with the teachers from Arao #2 Junior High. If you remember, the teachers of #2 and I got along particularly well. I think this is due to the fact that the izakaya's beers were bigger than any I remember in Japan. Needless to say, the ladies and man of the International Society and I also got along splendidly.

The highlight of the evening was the arrival of a giant Tai fish cooked in soy, mirin, sugar, salt and sake. The head came to me, complete with eye. I knew that as the guest of honor, I was supposed to eat and enjoy that eyeball.

I waited until the rest of the fish had been picked away, my stomach and mind making inner preparations. The eyeball itself was glazed over, and the cushioning surrounding it had taken on a grapefruit Jello-esque appearance. Finally, Etsuko and I made a deal. If I ate the eyeball, she would eat the eyeball gook. She didn't seemed thrilled, but seemed to understand.

The conversation had turned to 'beach volleyball'. It seemed that beach volleyball in America was played on actual beaches, whereas in Japan the term 'beach' didn't really imply a beach. They all whole-heartedly agreed that a better term for 'beach volleyball' in Japan is 'beach ball volley,' to my utter delight.

The eyeball was very hard and crunchy. It had a chalky consistency, and overall, a mildy pleasant aroma and after taste. I tried to chew the core and finally gave up and spit it out. It was hard as a rock.

That night, under the influence of fish eyeballs and Japanese whiskey, I had a chance to reflect on Wednesday's visit and job application to the girl's high school. My reflections were overwhelmingly positive.
Today still, under the influence of heavy rain, my reflections remain the same. They will give their decision this coming week.

international society goodbye dinner

international society goodbye dinner
Originally uploaded by jetblossom.

note the tai's eyeball

Just got back from Judo. One of the boys found out a family member has a week to live. It was very sad to see him sobbing for a long time.

An Exciting Tidbit: reader's choice

I've been feeling like a lion lately. After school I come home and lay around, yawning big yawns and wondering what's for dinner.
Today for school lunch I had a shrimp burrito. I got the ingredients at a specialty food store about an hour and a half from here. The kids were really interested in the avocado I'd brought. Funny, because I bought that in Mammy's supermarket. None of them had ever tried avocado before, so I sliced it all up and gave them each a piece. Now there were six kids in my lunch group today, and when I went around handing out the slices of avocado, I could here kids from the surrounding lunch groups saying, 'Ee na!' in whiny tones. That means, 'You lucky bastard!' in Japanese, except without the 'bastard' part. Japanese is such a clean language overall. 'Shoot!' is about as bad as I've heard, and someone's really got to have goofed up to say that. Anyway, everyone liked avocado except one kid. He ate the slice and immediately gulped down his entire carton of milk. His face went all sour as he ate it, demonstrating fully his dislike. I feigned regret; avocado is quite sour, after all.

I also had a new taste experience today at lunch. After I ate my burrito(the kids hadn't seen black beans before either), I tried the raisin bread from the school's lunch. The funny thing about this raisin bread is that it didn't actually have raisins in it, it was just raisin 'flavored'(never could find italics on this darned blog) bread. No actual raisins, just a slightly bluish tinge to the bread, which made it all the more appetizing. It was pretty tasty in the end.

I almost went paragliding this weekend. It got rained out, so about six of us English teachers ended up at Joyfull Family Restaurant, trying to make up for the lack of thrill with seafood pizzas and tofu salads. I had the 'ebi-fry set-to', a set which comes with three fried jumbo shrimp, a salad, some pickled veggies, a bowl of miso soup and a bowl of rice. I always get the ebi-fry set-to. And I'm never disappointed--the salad always comes with two pieces of broccoli, one tomato slice, and one (out of place) lemon slice. The pickled veggies are always a bit strong for my taste, and the miso is always too hot to drink. The rice undoubtedly hits the spot. Joyfull is like the Denny's of Japan--open 24 hours too!

I know it's nuts, but Wednesday I go in to check out a job at a girl's high school in a neighboring town. If I like it and they like me, I'll stay for another year.
Reader's choice: If you were me, and you got the job, would you stay?

What a beautiful breezy night in the patch of rice fields interrupted by cold concrete buildings, also known as Arao.
As I frequently do, I frequented the grocery store 'Mammy's' tonight. That's pronouced 'Mommy's' in English, something that I've always gotten a kick out of. I like of telling my friends, "Hey, I'm going to Mommy's." It bring back memories of boogey-board 'slip-n-slide' in the mud at the Murphy's house next door back in Pennsylvania. As dinner time approached, weary from the fun of it all, someone would eventually mumble, "Hey, I'm tired. I'm going to Mommy's."

It took me and my brothers a long time to break the 'Mommy' habit. I think my brother wanted to switch to calling our mother 'Mom' before he turned 30, a noble aspiration indeed. Having made the switch has assuredly saved us years of counseling. And yet, these days, I still recall the comfort of the old days when after a long day at school I can say to my friends, "Hey, I'm tired. I'm going to Mammy's."

At Mammy's, I bought a chilled, sweetened late coffee drink, 'Snow Brand Coffee.' The slogan of this drink is, "Please enjoy a traditional taste." Instantly, I pictured armor-clad samurai in heated debate, discussing the fate of Japan, maps sprawled about on a table. As the intensity of the debates increased, one of the men would look about sheepishly and remove a carton of 'Snow Brand Coffee' from his knapsack. Slicing it open with his sword, the others would slowly become silent, watching him gulp down the contents. He would look at them, realizing the akwardness he had creating and would exclaim, "What are you looking at? My family's been drinking this Snow Brand Coffee' for years!"
Japan's so great, ain't it?

Mango Coco, Judo Babble (say 5x fast)

Pht0506201850
Originally uploaded by jetblossom.

Mango Coco

After Judo practice, I stopped at 7-11 for a cool, refreshing 'Mango Coco'.
Please take a moment to share in my excitement upon catching sight of this titilating title. Mango and cocoa? Could it be done? Could the two be fused into a thirst-quenching 'dessert drink?' Oh, the anticipation!

Sadly, yet probably fortunately, there was no cocoa to be found here for reasons unknown to me. Maybe I was slightly disappointed. Actually, it just seemed to be mango juice.
The container promised 'An invigorating drink for your refreshment and exhilaration.' I expected that from a mango/cocoa combo, but I found myself truly exhilarated after almost gaging on several cubes of mango cleverly planted inside the drink.
Note: container should, but does not read--DO NOT SERVE MANGO COCO TO CHILDREN UNDER THREE AND ILLEGIBLE FOREIGNERS--SEVERE CHOKING HAZARD.

Practice was invigorating as well. I had four teachers today: Kikukawa-kun, Murakami-kun(if you'll remember from one of my earlier blogs, he is the one whose hand always seems to return to his nether regions for a good scratch--blecch), Ryu-kun and Hinuzuka-kun.

They huddled to decide who should take the falls for me. Murakami was the reluctant pick, and the rest of the boys chatted idly while he stood in front of me grinning blankly. Finally, he asked me what I wanted to learn. I said, "I just started, you can teach me anything." So, after several minutes of Japanese 'umm's and 'hmm's, Murakami called the coach over. The coach was sitting on the mat, utterly involved in his own world. He was in a daze, rolling up and back and up and back. He could not be disturbed from his rolling.

Finally, and to the relief of Murakami, one of the other boys, Ryu-kun, took over.

Ryu-kun, a solid, calm, humble eighth-grader, is about the same height as me. He has a pleasantly average build. I noticed that he shaved his mustache fuzz today for the first time, which I presume to be something like the male equivalent to the women's onset of menstruation. It goes something like this: 'Ryu is thirteen years old; at home in his bathroom today, he became a man.' I silently congratulated him on his adulthood as he began bashing his chest into mine, going over the old drills.

I like Ryu-kun very much. His earnestness and at the same time, his humbleness on the mat, draws me in. His technique is accurate and relaxed, and despite his modest nature, he takes on the role of instructor easily. Ryu often looks me gently in the eyes, something the other boys don't do, and I don't wonder about it; I'm just thankful for it. After chest-bashing, we went over four other throws. After practice, I went to 7-11.

Hips Higher than Previously Thought

I recently had a realization that my hips are a lot higher up on my body than I thought. My Aunt Cheryl used to tell me that I should wear my pants so they come up to my hips, not saggy and baggy like recent fashions. I always thought she wore her pants very high up, but now I understand that's possibly why pants work, because they fit over the hips. So thanks for the tip, Aunt Cheryl, I finally understand.

I'd like to attribute this seemingly insignificant triumph to the students of the Arao #1 Middle School Judo team and their worn-out, but sensible coach.

Using this 'higher hip' knowledge, all my Judo throws will now be flawless.

Greeting practice

They went down the row: "OHIO GOZAIMASU!" "OHIO GOZAIMASU!" "OHIO GOZAIMASU!" "OHIO GOZAIMASU!" "OHIO GOZAIMASU!" (good morning)

I went to the window of the teacher's room and peered down. Seventeen students were lined up, backs straight as boards.

"You--Ms. Fugihara. Not loud enough. Sit down."
The shouting resumed: "KONNICHIWA!" "KONNICHIWA!" "KONNICHIWA!" (good afternoon)

The tall eighth grader, the one whose voice creaks like a squeaky door, cracked.
"Mr. Matsuda, from your chest next time. Sit down."

"HAI!" "HAI!" "HAI!" "HAI!" "HAI!" (yes)

"Okay, everyone up. Let's do it again."

"OHIO GOZAIMASU!" "OHIO GOZAIMASU!" "OHIO GOZAIMASU!"

Julie: "English Teacher Morimoto, what are those students doing??"

Ms. Morimoto: "They're doing 'greeting' practice."

Julie: "Greeting practice?"

Ms. Morimoto: "Mr. Kaneko thinks the badminton team needs to have a strong greeting, so he's training them."

Julie: "Oh yes, of course. Greeting practice. Thank you."

Yesterday's elementary school shirts boldly noted:

DETUOR-Speed limit 15

I will becom a smart man-BAD BOY-those glittering eyes

ACCORDANCE 65 COPACETIC

I'm sure happiness coming your way

Ball & Bill-Many Quarter(in the center, big skull and crossbones surrounded by lots of little hearts)

People who an active part for the world 1982


...and my personal favorite:

YOU AREN'T REJECTING INFORMATION
[let's get that straight, okay?]

Loquat that! Uhh, loquat what?

I discovered loquat Jello at 7-11 tonight. Inside, you could see three fleshy loquats suspended in a delightful, 'just too big' plastic cup. The loquat balls, resembling sponge clown noses, tasted funny. Ha ha, no they tasted like big apricots.
Of course, as the advertisers promised, I did experience absolute extravagance upon tasting.

More on loquats(come on! spruce up your staff room with random trivia!): (http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/loquat.html)


Also, check out (http://www.yongfook.com) under Food Reviews. You'll find a wacko, brilliant take on the stuff we see here (almost) every day. Yongfook (John) used to live a few hours from here in Aso.

Making foam with old folks

I seem to have gotten myself into some sort of Mary Kay exclusive beauty and health products club for rich old people. We sit and watch a women talk about skin cream, then put about seven kinds of cream all over other women's faces, and then we ooh and ahh about how creamy their skin looks. I enjoy the oohing and ahhing part very much.

I can't explain the foam making--there's this technique to rubbing skin cream in your hands so that it makes some foam you can store for later. But I can say that there were way, way too many fake flowers in the hostess' home. I mean there were fake flowers in vases, fake flowers covering entire walls, fake flowers sprouting from Scooby-Doo planters, and fake flowers emerging from the hands of a Buddha statue. Not that fake flowers don't have some sort of colorful appeal, and all, but they're FAKE, you know?! I don't understand fake flowers.

Sunday, I joined some of the Mary Kay-esque ladies for a Hawaiian dance luau charity fundraiser down in Amakusa, a chain of islands south of here. Yes, that's right, a Hawaiin dance fundraiser. I donned a Hawaiian dress and two leis. I collected money from the crowd. Many people commented that I looked like the most Hawaiian person there, which completely bewildered me because I possible looked like the least Hawaiian person there. I began to believe them after a while, just to humor myself. I thought, "I may just look like the most Hawaiian person here. Go me!!"

Afterwards, we attended the customary drinking party, where we relaxed and shared toasts(mine, literally: "It was super!"). For thirty minutes. After that, and I swear, the very moment the clock struck thirty minutes, dessert was served and a second wave of party goers arrived. Instantly, we were ushered out. I didn't even get to eat my cake, let alone drink any sake. I found out later that we weren't the main guests of the evening, the dancers were, so that's why our party was pooped.

Lastly, school. These days I'm really enjoying ninth grade classes. The kids are starting to look all grown up, but when they speak, they still say the same kinds of things little kids say.
Lunch time is so entertaining. The other day I brought my English-Japanese dictionary with me, and I let the students look through it. One student felt a dire need to tell me something, so I asked him to please use the dictionary and look up the words. He flipped frantically, and began to sound out 'sssrrimu, ssrimu, slim.'
Uhh-oh, I thought. What's he trying to say?
He pointed to his eye. 'Eye,' he said pointedly.
'My friend,' he continued.
'My friend eye slim.' he announced proudly, as he pointed to his friend's eyes. His friend turned to me, waving his hands in front of his face, and said 'No, no. Eye no slim'.
He pointed to himself. 'Very cute.' And he beamed.

Friends? I imagine he said that too!

I summoned up the courage to engage in conversation with one of the gas station attendants.

Julie: Oh, hi Uehata-san! Fill 'er up, please.

Gas Station Attendant Uehata Who Wears His Cap Sideways: Oh, hi Julie! Didn't I see you driving somewhere the other day? Going to the Iris Festival?

J: Oh, I was driving to Kumamoto for Aikido, but I went to the Iris Festival on the way back.

U: I see. I'll bet you're coming from Aikido now also? Say, ... ... ... ? Because ... ... ... . Shall I clean the windows now?

J: Uhh, yes, please. (three minutes and several clean windows later, after contemplating the potential of making a friend, and having nothing to lose) Uehata-san, do you like music?

U: Music? What kind of music do you mean?

J: Like Japanese band A or Japanese band B or Japanese band C?

U: Oh, you know, I haven't been getting any sleep at all lately. ... ... ... not listen to music.

J: Whaa?

U: Well, you see, ... ... ... music ... . And you know, also, ... music ... . Almost no sleep, you know.

J: Sounds hard.

U: Hmm..., hard, yeah maybe. I do play the guitar though, and occasionally my band has a show. (gesturing playing guitar)

J: Really?

U: Yeah, sometimes we have a show. ... ... ... guitar ... ... . It's really ... ... .

J: Really?

U: Yeah. (pause) Uhh, that'll be 1626 yen.

J: Here you go. (pause) So, you mentioned you're a black belt in Judo. You know, I just joined the Judo club at Arao #1 Middle School.

U: Is that so?

J: Yeah.

U: ... ... Judo ... ..., you know?

J: Mmm, mmm (i.e., keep talking, maybe I'll understand something)

U: ... ... ..., and that's how it is. Almost no sleep.

J: Mmm, I see. Almost no sleep. (pause) Uhh, here. Maybe you'll like this CD. It's called 'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots'. You can have it. I have another copy. (Very non-commital language, I know.)

U: Oh, are you sure? Thanks! (pause) So, which way are you turning, right or left?

J: Left.

U: Please, let me stop traffic so you can pull out(manditory service).

J: Thank you!

U: Thank you!

My interpretation of events: I think he said that his wife just had a baby and he can't sleep these days. But I know the word for baby, and he didn't say it. But he didn't say the words for 'all-night rock star' either. What do imagine he said?

This is why making friends isn't easy for me. I can't understand 94% of what anyone says. Maybe he'll enjoy the CD, that is, if he's not too busy attending to his wife and newborn infant.


NOTE: Reaching out to anyone is a challenge. I've got Hiro and Etsuko and her family, whom I've known since the beginning, but I want to try to make some more friends before I leave. It's not just that I can't speak Japanese so well, but most people don't seem interested in making friends.

Loneliest Night

Friday night I had planned to go dancing with some friends in Fukuoka City(a.k.a., the 'big city'). Unfortunately, my friends canceled at the last minute.
I was all dressed up with no place to go, so I called another friend. He was at a birthday party in Kumamoto City(the 'not-as-big city'), and he invited me to join it. I headed to the train station, and arrived as the last train pulled off. I arrived exactly one minute too late. 'I'm sorry!' I told my friend, and I set off to find some other entertainment for the evening.

I drove. I briefly considered going to karaoke by myself. I drove on.
I got gas(Hai, Hai, Hai, OKKKAAAAAYYY!!!!! Julie-sama! Oh, Exalted Julie! We are here to serve all your petroleum needs. Let us wipe your windows. Shall we empty your ash tray? Oh, you don't smoke? We don't care, we will ask you every time! Thank you for letting three strapping young men serve you today!!!).
I drove to an amusement center. I didn't go inside. Amusement centers are amusing if you are with people. Amusement centers are not amusing if you are watching people amuse themselves.

There's such a dichotomy--we live inside our body and our mind; we can't go outside those things. But somehow we think we are not alone if we are with others.

I drove for a long time, feeling the pangs of loneliness. I think I feel lonely when I think I should be with others. For example, if I have to go to the market or the laundromat, I don't feel lonely, but when I intend to spend time with others and I can't, I feel lonely. I guess I could stop intending to spend time with others. Pretty difficult.

I drove for about an hour and a half, aimlessly. I ended up doing nothing. Eventually, I went home and went to bed.

later dater

My Aikido dojo did a demo this weekend for another dojo's anniversary, and Suganuma Shihan was there again(9th dan, Fukuoka). We got to watch him demonstrate, which moved me to want to change some things in my Aikido practice.

Also this weekend I attended an 'iris-viewing festival' down by the ancient stone bridges and canals of Tamana, a neighboring city.

This month I team-teach all 9th grade classes in my current middle school, Arao #1.

It's now getting late, so this is just an update. it's not great, but enough to contemplate, hopefully not enough to complicate, and simply put, more to come at a later date

Here's to You, Ito-kun!

Ito-kun('Ee-to koon') is bright-faced and ready to go. There is nothing hiding behind those brown eyes and freckles. Ito-kun is wonderfully and absolutely nuts.

There are only a few special ed kids at #1 Middle School. There's the boy who barks like a dog and wears girl's school uniforms(perhap he was found to be a girl during the school physicals; I just don't know), there's the partially retarded girl whose smile shines like an kind old Japanese lady, and then there's Ito-kun.
Ito-kun's illness in difficult to describe. Maybe he's diagnosed: 'too independent.'

I've never actually seen a Japanese student fall asleep in class. Last time, Ito-kun fell asleep. When we woke him up, I could see some drawings in his notebook. There were some fish and a few triangles. I've never seen drawings in any of the students notebooks.
Ito-kun can't take tests. He can learn simple things, but he has no concentration.
He is frequently late for class. Generally, when he's late, he'll explode into the classroom, shouting out in English, 'I'm sorry Sensei, I'm sorry!'
Ito-kun is the only student who ever showed concern for me if I had to cough during class. "Are you all right?", he'd say in Japanese, and would continue asking again and again until I answered.

Sometimes, he'll come up to my desk in the staff room and say 'Julie Sensei, hello', and if I don't respond quickly enough, he'll say, 'Fine, thank you, and you?'

I don't think the teachers know what to do with Ito-kun. He's so friendly, harmless, yet he holds so much power over the teachers. He is free in his will, and the teachers can't help but love him and be ever so afraid of him.

My favorite time is when he comes up to me and speaks absolute nonsense. Then he turns and walks away, satisfied with the hearty exchange.
And there's nothing I can do but to appreciate the splendor of life's variety.

Quick, bash me into your chest!

One of several of the warm-up exercises in this Judo school is to bash your partner into your chest twenty times. This is achieved by heaving the person's body into yours. The impact is further strengthened by a lurch back, followed by a step forward and a mock leg-sweep, at the same time jutting your upper body outward as you pull in. In effect, it shifts the person's weight back and forth, so they never really stand balanced, and creates quite an impact.
Then you switch and they bash you for a while. I think I've got to build up more resistence in the, uhh, chest. They bash me twenty times before I can blink, and then it's my turn and I turn out about five half-bashes before it's time to switch again.
I'm loving this. Somehow, it appeals to my feminine nature.
Really, though, I think it is going to be a great way to create a good relationship with the kids, and it's good for me to feel useful, even if it's only as a sack of potatoes for now. Come to think of it, my job is an awful lot like being a sack of potatoes anyway. At least now, I'm a Useful Sack of Potatoes.

Judo all the way, baby

Check it out--Judo is fun!!
The old sensei is a kind man, who speaks some sort of 'Arao Old-Man' dialect. He's twice as incomprehensible as anyone else, but twice as fun to listen to. He talked directly to me the whole class, with the other students lazing around like some Roman emperors on vacation. Somehow though, it's easier to understand someone who doesn't care if you understand them. People like that seem to want to fill the space with words. It's not a defense, the words aren't important. It's more the feeling of having someone listen and pay attention, just a way to connect with others.
Anyway, it really wasn't important if I understood because he had the kids demonstrate everything for me.
One of the eighth-graders, Ryo Kikukawa, ('Kikukawa-kun', quite a mouthful--'kun' is attached to the last name of most of the boy students to convey a sense of endearment) was ordered to take me under his wing. Kikukawa-kun is the skinny kid with big brown eyes and big lips, the one who everyone likes to throw because he's light as a feather, but he has reasonable skill, and so he was chosen to assist me. I kid you not, he showed me like twenty throws. Then he was like, 'uhh, now you do it.' I repeated the twenty techniques in order, flawlessly.
I like Judo because it makes me look good. It's graceful, and easy. I like Judo because I can do it just as well as the smiling, pudgy seventh grader, who gets pounded every time. I like Judo because I have no fear of learning new things.
(That whole last part was just to encourage me.)
stay tuned...

Two things

Looked into the orchestras in Fukuoka and Kumamoto City again. Moving to Fukuoka would have a lot of advantages, the first one being I could probably play with an orchestra.
I thought that trying life here, not as a JET, might be an exciting possibility. It's some sort of crazy dream that will only make my mother worry but, as long as I'm already here, it's kind of fun to play with all those possibilities.
It all depends on two things...

The first is what I do, and the second is what happens after that, hee hee

most likely will come home in july

night night

diagnosis/cadet-in-training

I went to the doctor again last Tuesday. Mostly coughing, but pretty heavy, consisent coughing, with varying amounts and colors of phlegm(no blood). I decreased to two pack of Marlboros per day, but alas, the doctor's diagnosis: bronchitis.

He gave me four kinds of tablets to take along with some mysterious patches to be worn on the chest. I took the tablets, and although I felt like a dried out old sponge, I have to say that my health did seem to improve after finishing the three day dosage. So, bravely, I decided to try one of the patches, cautiously heeding the doctor's words to remove the patch if I felt my heart rate increase. I left the patch on for a half hour, not knowing what it was actually meant to do, hoping it was meant to suck up all the evil causing my ailment, being careful to note any irregular changes.

Having not sucked up the evil, I took it off and immediately afterward it basically increased my heart rate--like, phenominally. Including the fact that I got 2001 things done in a period of less than two hours, the whole experience would have been spectacular, except it also caused me to get asthma that is currently, in Japan, preventing me from sleeping--like, phenominally.


In other news:

I'm getting used to life at the new new old school, Arao #1 Middle School, which could be called Arao Public Military Academy. My job, while not sitting at my desk, is to assist English teachers by standing with my hands behind my back, posture perfectly aligned, ready to move in an instant should a student misspell a word or rest his or her head on his or her hand.
Secretly, I enjoy my new position as imaginary Assistant Company Leader Cadet-in-Training Julie Sensei.

Somehow, my life has been quite simplified this year, and it's taken many, many months for me to begin to enjoy the solitude. Reminds me of that classic YES hit we all know and love, 'Owner of A Lonely Heart.' It's even more moving while singing it karaoke. Trust me on this one.

http://yesworld.com/lyrics/90125.html#1

Dancing Mushrooms (without drugs)

I have really grown to love the catchy tune that plays in the produce section of Daiei supermarket. Gosh, it's something about lively mushrooms. There is also a TV monitor with a little video that accompanies the song, right over the mushroom section. The video shows a cartoon Japanese eringi mushroom dancing around. Sometimes there are other vegetables dancing too, but the mushroom really steals the show.
Why don't we have dancing mushrooms that sing in America? I've always wondered that.

a simple question

If you knew what you wanted, could you make it your life?
What if it was money? Would you give your life's time for that?
What if you could make money by forming relationships with people, and those people would then support you by buying your 'product'?

To decide what you want, what your 'job is in life', is so difficult that I think many people don't do it out of fear they'll pick the wrong thing. Unfortunately, indecision doesn't stop us from aging.

Devoting your life to one thing means giving up the other things, no longer caring about them. How do we do that?
Only by conscious choice. And unaltering concentration.

So what do you want?

Me: Specialist, Japanese Baby Crying Tendencies

I noticed that Japanese babies tend to be unusually quiet. So, I've been thinking about why they generally don't seem to cry as much all the babies I've ever known in my entire American life.
Here's what I came up with: babies cry when they need something, right? Well, Japanese babies seem to need a lot less of something, I wisely deduced.
So, I secretly watched, when I went to Joy-full Family Restaurant, to see what it was that Japanese babies don't need. I watched(possibly on two or even three exhausting excursions), how Japanese mothers handle their sweet joy bundles. Here's what my observations have uncovered: the moms and the families(around here they frequently live under one roof) seem to be doing something we in the west might call unthinkable: they don't pay gobs of attention to their infant. In fact, if the baby is crying the family doesn't necessarily notice for some time, mom included. Or, perhaps they do notice, but they don't react immediately or at all. Then, the baby may or may not stop crying, to the nonreaction of the family.
These observations have led me to believe that Japanese babies learn to not need as much attention as American babies, or American people, for that matter. Not that it's a bad thing, but doesn't it seem that attention is the fuel of many Americans? In America, being different often merits special treatment, positive or negative. But, who wants to stick out here? Perhaps one of the most well-known Japanese sayings is: "The nail that sticks out is hammered back in."
Babies here are taught not to stick out from the beginning. And that's why I think the babies don't cry as much, they are taught that yearning for attention through crying won't get them much more than a sore throat and a wet pillow.
I'm not saying I think these Japanese mothers are bad mothers, just that they are raising children with different expectations. And it works here!

Bunny bowl in Arita

Bunny bowl
Originally uploaded by jetblossom.

Boy, did I burn to buy bundles of bunny bowls beautifully brushed, backgrounded in blue.

Yet, my hopes of 'rabbit relics' were dashedly crushed upon catching sight of some bunny doo-doo.

Ho, whoah, what seemed to be dirt turned out was really a cottontailed price!
Believe you me now, I set it back down on the table, without thinking twice.

Then I thought twice and I raised it again,
and snapped this quick photo of bunny heaven.

A muscular high school boy is choking a smiling, pudgy 7th grader.

The kid is a big marshmallow, his face bright red, and the older boy is built like a brick tower. The 7th grader's cheeks are so rosy and shiny, his hands so round and plump, they're adorable, really. He knows how to use them too. He taps out innumerable times in three minutes.

After the buzzer they switch partners. Now the boy with the rosy cheeks is getting pounded on by a 9th grader who out-ranks him and could possibly outweigh him too, although it isn't clear.
This 9th grader could be teaching the fatter boy anger. He beats him to the point where the boy cries, then the 9th grader laughs at him. He lets go of the boy's twisted uniform and the boy stops crying. They both stand up and do the same thing again: three times. At last, the boys wails are embarrassingly high-pitched. The buzzer goes off and they move on, the boy, having not learned anger, smiles unaffectedly and looks at his next opponent with hope.

There's another boy on the other side of the mat over here--he's been flat on the mat by himself for about 10 minutes now, just holding his head with his hand. He may have gotten a concussion or something but I don't wanna go over to check it out. With his free hand he keeps reaching into his pants and scratching himself.

The judo coach, whose aura approaches faded gray, probably doesn't notice these boyish games to much. He's having himself a nice long look out the window right now. Doesn't say much to the kids.
This team of would-be mammoths has taken his silent advice to heart: at their last match, five of the seven who attended lost in the first round. The two who won went on to lose in the second round.

This guy here, close to me, wrestling with the tall, dark-skinned, long-foreheaded kid is the team captain. His name's Yamaguchi or something close. He's got some natural wrestling ability and he quite enjoys being loud and merciless. He's the one who made the kid wail earlier.

Oh, the kid with the concussion just sat up. Yamaguchi is going to him. He asks him 'Doshita?(What's the matter?)'. The kid gestures to his neck. Yamaguchi gives him a confident nod and his hands softly seize the kid's head. He bends the kid forward, stretching his neck, encompassing it into a headlock, his body sending pressure into the kid's bend. He releases and the kid sighs with relief. Instantly, his hand is on the kid's chin and he quickly pushes it back the other way, so the kid's looking over and past the ceiling. Then he forcefully rolls the kid's head around, but the kid doesn't seem to be crying or convulsing or anything, so Yamaguchi is now a genius to me. The kid smiles and the buzzer rings. Yamaguchi grabs him by the arm and violently sweeps his leg from under him. 'Yosssh!!!,' he yells. They happily tumble until the kid with the concussion has been pinned several more times.

The match is over. They're taking a little break, and suddenly Yamaguchi jumps on a quiet, docile kid(--a decent kid, told me that he secretly prefers science to English--)'s back and makes the kid run two circles around the ring. The rest of the kids follow stride and jump up on a friend's back for a piggyback romp 'round the ring.

They're going to close class as usual. They do finger-flicking, arm bending and trunk-twisting warmdowns to the unenthusiatic count of 1 to 10, as the teenage boys handoff the count to each other. 'Ichi' to 'ju', I should say.

At the very end, we all line up to end class. I sit in front facing the students, along with the highest ranks, just because I am a teacher in the school. We bow out and I go to gather my things as the whithered coach sneaks into the well-lighted corner to change his clothes. Not that I meant to notice, but he wears tidy whiteys.