Mother nature seems to be having hot flashes. Last night it rained and afterwards it was so pleasant and warm outside. This morning, I was told it was -5 degrees celsius(whatever _that_ means!), and tonight it's freeeezing! I came home just now from Aikido, and I didn't want to get out of my car where the heater was nice and warm, so I drove around for 15 minutes after arriving home. Finally, I decided to brave the 15 minutes of cold it takes for my heater to warm my bedroom. Even after it's warm in here though, cold air leaks in through the windows and the floor.
Though I'm complaining, truthfully, it's nice to feel like it's winter again. On the walk to work, the daffodils are blooming in a nearby yard. Yesterday, the art teacher pointed out to me that the plum tree has a few flowers in bloom already, a month ahead of schedule. I'm willing to bet that an early spring will mean a hot, hot summer, and that might be harder than a cold winter. The reason I say that is because things(clothes, food, Aikido dogis) grow mold so fast when it's hot, and the bugs come out. At least in the cold things are clean and I can leave the compost in the sink for more than 5 minutes without three different kinds of ants finding it.
Okay, no more complaining. Da, da da daaa: I joined a gym again, at last. Membership starts tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to going as I prepare to take my 2nd degree black belt test in early April. (As an added perk, my membership gets me 200yen off at the bathhouse near my house. It's not a fancy bathhouse as far as they go, but they have a nice little outdoor bath, and a sauna. These are communal baths, you know. Like we all soak naked together(women and men are separate), just like Romans did, I guess. At first, I was a little shy doing it, but now I enjoy taking communal baths very much. Doing something routine with other people around makes me take that much more care to see that I've really done a good job washing before I get in the baths. Anyway, I'm going to start off easy, and work it up from there.
I can finally say that I'm enjoying teaching quite a lot these days. It became much different after the department started using the new textbook, and now they're letting me use two other textbooks I picked out for the other classes. Maybe they'd just been waiting for someone like me to show up and get the ball rolling on the textbook thing--I dunno! Besides that, some of the students and I have grow closer, and they brighten my world every day. That being said, I've accomplished a mission; I set out here to Japan to see if I wanted to become a teacher, and now I think I would like to become a teacher. Not necessarily an English teacher on Kyushu Island though... let's wait and see what the future could possibly have in store...!
I hope I've distracted you thoroughly for a few minutes. And now that you've been distracted, you have all the energy you need to go back to your work becoming like your favorite teacher.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Week in Review
Glad to see you!
Who, me? Yes, I am still alive and breathing.
Here's what I've been doing recently:
-Last Sunday went to an Aikido seminar with Suganuma Sensei in Fukuoka City. Had zenzai(sweet red beans and sticky rice balls) with the Aikido gang to break in the start of a new year practicing. Drank too much sake. Had too much fun...
-Monday treated myself to dinner at Momo's. Korean chijimi pancakes and "ethnic-style" tofu salad. Studied kanji. Bathed at the public bathhouse.
-Tuesday teaching my private students at night. After, grocery shopping at "Marumiya" market.
-Wednesday made nabe(lots of boiled Japanese vegetables and fish other things in a pot) for lunch and dinner. Extra hour after Aikido class practicing with Awesome Guy. He's starting to acquire a small following!
-Thursday did some violining after long hiatus. At night sushi and sashimi out with the other foreign teachers in the area. I had flounder and horse mackerel and something called konoshira. It was fantastaliscious. After, laundry.
-Tonight Erica made dinner at her house and we watched Broken Flowers with Bill Murray, who joined us for pasta at the last minute.
-Work tomorrow in Kumamoto. Going to watch students I coached compete in a recitation contest. Back to Tamana to listen to the music students from the school give recitals.
-Work Sunday as a test monitor for the school. Sunday night teaching private lessons.
I hope you did some great things this week. Good night! I want to write some more soon!!
Who, me? Yes, I am still alive and breathing.
Here's what I've been doing recently:
-Last Sunday went to an Aikido seminar with Suganuma Sensei in Fukuoka City. Had zenzai(sweet red beans and sticky rice balls) with the Aikido gang to break in the start of a new year practicing. Drank too much sake. Had too much fun...
-Monday treated myself to dinner at Momo's. Korean chijimi pancakes and "ethnic-style" tofu salad. Studied kanji. Bathed at the public bathhouse.
-Tuesday teaching my private students at night. After, grocery shopping at "Marumiya" market.
-Wednesday made nabe(lots of boiled Japanese vegetables and fish other things in a pot) for lunch and dinner. Extra hour after Aikido class practicing with Awesome Guy. He's starting to acquire a small following!
-Thursday did some violining after long hiatus. At night sushi and sashimi out with the other foreign teachers in the area. I had flounder and horse mackerel and something called konoshira. It was fantastaliscious. After, laundry.
-Tonight Erica made dinner at her house and we watched Broken Flowers with Bill Murray, who joined us for pasta at the last minute.
-Work tomorrow in Kumamoto. Going to watch students I coached compete in a recitation contest. Back to Tamana to listen to the music students from the school give recitals.
-Work Sunday as a test monitor for the school. Sunday night teaching private lessons.
I hope you did some great things this week. Good night! I want to write some more soon!!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Sharing Dreams
It occurred to me that when Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous speech, that his driving motivation, his consuming obsession, and his absolute faith, came from something as simple as having a dream.
If I could be moderately as enthusiastic in creating, designing, and pursuing my dreams, no matter how big or small, if I'd succeed or fail, I'm sure I could achieve miracles. Dr. King's courage to stand in the face of ferocious fears and wicked horrors, and speak his from his soul, giving hundreds of thousands of people strength and hope, is the kind of miracle I'm talking about. He moved the nation with only his voice.
With that in mind, I'll continue working more and more towards carrying what large and small struggles I can "on the high plane of dignity and discipline." I am one of many who could find such inspiration from his example.
Dr. King's dream shows the power of vision. If only we could all dream as fully. I'm doing my best. I'm working now to remember, discover, and create my own dreams. They are not glorious, righteous, or visionary as his dreams were, but I can hope that they will one day be as pressing and pertinent to me and my little part of the world as his were to his country and his people.
To be able to be inspired by such a wonderful and brave soul is certainly anybody's honor. And that we have such a soul etched in the books as part of America's history makes me feel proud of my heritage as an American. I want to try to find my dreams and make them become realized, just as he did, and is still doing through his work's reverberations.
Finally, I want to thank the friend who sent me the speech today, because although, as he pointed out, it was given before we were even born, it's as moving and important now as it ever was, don't you think?
If I could be moderately as enthusiastic in creating, designing, and pursuing my dreams, no matter how big or small, if I'd succeed or fail, I'm sure I could achieve miracles. Dr. King's courage to stand in the face of ferocious fears and wicked horrors, and speak his from his soul, giving hundreds of thousands of people strength and hope, is the kind of miracle I'm talking about. He moved the nation with only his voice.
With that in mind, I'll continue working more and more towards carrying what large and small struggles I can "on the high plane of dignity and discipline." I am one of many who could find such inspiration from his example.
Dr. King's dream shows the power of vision. If only we could all dream as fully. I'm doing my best. I'm working now to remember, discover, and create my own dreams. They are not glorious, righteous, or visionary as his dreams were, but I can hope that they will one day be as pressing and pertinent to me and my little part of the world as his were to his country and his people.
To be able to be inspired by such a wonderful and brave soul is certainly anybody's honor. And that we have such a soul etched in the books as part of America's history makes me feel proud of my heritage as an American. I want to try to find my dreams and make them become realized, just as he did, and is still doing through his work's reverberations.
Finally, I want to thank the friend who sent me the speech today, because although, as he pointed out, it was given before we were even born, it's as moving and important now as it ever was, don't you think?
Sunday, January 14, 2007
A trip down aisle 1
Ah, the Japanese grocery store. Here, we can see Japanese mushrooms(enoki, eringi, bunashimeji) and okra, tofu, and different kinds of soy sauce. How many kinds of soy sauce can you see? How many kinds does your market carry? Did you notice the prices: the mushrooms and okra are 100yen(just under $1), the tofu is 38yen(about 35cents), and the soy sauce varies from about 198yen-1550yen(about $2-$15)!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Planting Resolutions
So it takes me a few days to get back into the swing of things after a long trip. I don't apologize for not writing while I was on vacation, but I do apologize for having written sooner in the six days since I've been back here. I'm sor-ry.
The trip itself was wonderful. I achieved my goals of getting some quality time with most of the family and closest friend in PA, and also some r&r. In CO, I was able to go to the Aikido seminar put on in Boulder, and do some training on top of that, all of which were excellent experiences for me. I got to have that shiny-happy feeling a lot this time around, due to being able to catch up with many of the people I'd been missing since the summer. I also got two solid days to reflect on my future goals, something which I'd been really looking forward to.
What's come of that is, I've made some resolutions for the year. First resolution: to learn 500 kanji this year. Second: I resolve to decide if I'll stay in Japan longer _before_ my contract is up in late March. Third: I resolve to create a goal about my current relationship. I think it's along the lines of--for as long as I choose to be in relationship with my boyfriend, I will be the best girlfriend I can possibly imagine to be. That resolution needs more clarification, though.
The battery's about to run out on my computer, as I'm sitting in my bed where the heater can keep me warm, so I'd better go ahead and publish.
Let me say just one more thing. It was an extreme joy to spend time with my brother in CO. Every day my love for him grows. Is it possible for love to grow?
The trip itself was wonderful. I achieved my goals of getting some quality time with most of the family and closest friend in PA, and also some r&r. In CO, I was able to go to the Aikido seminar put on in Boulder, and do some training on top of that, all of which were excellent experiences for me. I got to have that shiny-happy feeling a lot this time around, due to being able to catch up with many of the people I'd been missing since the summer. I also got two solid days to reflect on my future goals, something which I'd been really looking forward to.
What's come of that is, I've made some resolutions for the year. First resolution: to learn 500 kanji this year. Second: I resolve to decide if I'll stay in Japan longer _before_ my contract is up in late March. Third: I resolve to create a goal about my current relationship. I think it's along the lines of--for as long as I choose to be in relationship with my boyfriend, I will be the best girlfriend I can possibly imagine to be. That resolution needs more clarification, though.
The battery's about to run out on my computer, as I'm sitting in my bed where the heater can keep me warm, so I'd better go ahead and publish.
Let me say just one more thing. It was an extreme joy to spend time with my brother in CO. Every day my love for him grows. Is it possible for love to grow?
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