Step on a Crack...

Here's a new phrase for you: たたみの縁を踏まない. (or tatami no heri wo huma nai, meaning "we don't step on the borders of the tatami.")

Let's start at the beginning with this one. If you're not sure what tatami is (Dad...), this is the word used for traditional Japanese floors that are made of bamboo grass mats. Every Japanese home (including mine), and most buildings in Japan, have tatami rooms. They are so common that we use tatami count to measure the size of a room. I have a 6 tatami mat, or standard, main room ;)

Now between each tatami mat is a cloth border. In Japanese, the border is called heri, and it's used to cover the edges of the mat so it doesn't get damaged. The color of the mats is fairly generic (wheat color), but there is some variation between the borders. Some can get pretty fancy, with silk, pretty colors and different oriental designs (although the ones in my house are just black material).

Anyways, the reason that I found this phrase (tatami no heri wo huma nai /we don't step on the borders of the tatami) so funny is that it is apparently very rude to step on the borders of a tatami mat. Ok, it makes sense that the border will be damaged if you step on it a lot, but I asked around and it seems most people actually do avoid stepping on the cracks when in a tatami room. TWO YEARS living here and I only just learned this now? I feel like someone just told me I was supposed to take off my shoes at the door ;-p

**************************************************************************

We talk about some pretty random things in my staff room, but this all came up as I was helping a coworker do research for a Tea Ceremony class we are doing today and we got onto the subject of borders and cracks for quite some time.

While I was surprised about the tatami border rule, my coworker had a similar reaction when I told her about the children's rhyme: "Step on a crack and break your mother's back, Step on a line and break your mother's spine". The teacher wanted to know where the saying came from, so I did a little research (ie - Googling & Snoping around) and I found some interesting background information about where this rhyme came from. It's a long way off-topic from tatami, but here's a random-fact-of-the-day about the old stepping on a crack superstition. I'll warn you that it's pretty ridiculous, racist, shocking and unheard of by today's standards... but it came from a reliable source, so I think this explanation might be true:

• The superstition goes back to the late 19th - early 20th Century and the racism that was prevalent in this period.The original rhyming verse is thought to be "Step on a crack and your mother will turn black." It was also common to think that walking on the lines in pavement would mean you would marry a (slave) and have a black baby. (Apparently this superstition only applied to Caucasians and because of the rampant prejudice against black people, was considered an activity to avoid.)
• Stepping on cracks also had significance for children. In the mid-20th Century it was popular to tell children that if they stepped on the cracks in the street, they would be eaten by the bears that congregate on street corners waiting for their lunch to walk by.
• Also, the number of lines a person would walk on corresponded with the number of china dishes that the person would break, later in the day.
• Only in the last few decades has the rhyming superstition resurfaced to be the recognized "step on a crack, break your mother's back" and in some areas, two superstitions above are melded together to include the number of lines one steps on will correspond with the number of your mother's bones that are broken.

SNL Palin Skits

I love Tina Fey. She's hilarous, balanced and I think she seems like she'd be pretty cool in real life. She was a great writer for SNL, I love Mean Girls (surprisingly witty and an excellent parody of American high school culture) and I haven't watched a lot of 30 Rock, but I've liked what I've seen.

The current Palin skits on Saturday Night Live, however, have to be some of the best work Fey has ever done.

I am sure most of you have already seen these skits, but I promised a coworker I would post the most recent one so she could see it. Here is a clip from the 6 minute sketch:



Now here is an excerpt from the actual interview that the Saturday Night Live skit was mocking:



And just for your benefit, here's a little transcript of that last response... in case you didn't catch it:

PALIN: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

Random fact, but I read somewhere that this was the first time in SNL's history that they have quoted (or used real dialogue) from an actual interview that they are mimicking. Hmm... art mocking life or life mocking art... but it's pretty entertaining.

A Good Time to be Paid in Yen?

Well, I just signed onto CNN.com and found myself confronted with a screaming headline "Bailout Rejected, Dow Has Record Plunge."

After reading for a bit longer, I checked the exchange rate for today and the dollar/yen ratio was at 103 meaning it dropped three yen in the last 24 hours. That's pretty extreme considering I expect it to drop further.

I get paid a fixed salary, but I am not going to be living in Japan forever and am literally making more or less money depending on what the rate is so it's definitely something to watch.

To give you an example of the difference it can make, I transfered some money home in January (trying to take advantage of the low rate), but was about 2 minutes late on the first day I went and the bank closed before I could exchange. Being late those two minutes and missing that initial exchange rate (which only went up about a yen or two the next day) cost me about $35 (ie I would have gotten $35 more had I exchanged with the better rate).
When you start to add up all those little differences and consider the opportunity cost of what you could do with the money you could be getting by taking advantage of the more favorable rates (or the money you could save)... it becomes a bigger deal.

When I arrived, the exchange was 120 yen to the US dollar. In January 2008, it dropped to the lowest it's been at since I've been here (at about 98 yen per US$), but in recent months, it has been back up and hovering around 104 or 106 yen. For my sake, it's a good thing if the dollar gets weaker (I suppose it's not the worst time to be paid in yen), but this financial news is obviously not good for my country.

Let' s just hope they come up with something better with the Bailout Plan B. And I am definitely looking forward to hearing the discussion about the current economic status at this week's Vice Presidential debate!

My Japanese doppelgänger?

The students at my new school keep telling me I look like an actress named Leah Dixon.  I had never heard of her, but I was curious so I finally Googled her.  Here is a pic:

There's not a ton of information on the web about this girl, but I was sort of surprised to see that she was Japanese.  Hmm... see the resemblance?

The Weekend Review - Hiking & Takasago Lantern Festival

I stayed closer to home most of the weekend, getting outside for a bit. I'm glad I did because the weather has definitely shifted dramatically enough that I am spending tonight pulling out my heaters and sweaters (crazy when I was still running the air conditioning last week).

On Friday, many schools and official offices were closed (kids sent home early) due to a typhoon and flood warning. I had an umbrella, but got drenched by the heavy rains on my 10 minute walk from the station to work (had to change, my pants were so soaked), but there was an announcement in our morning meetings that the day would proceed as normal. Well, about 2 hours after the other offices were sent home, the rains stopped and the sun came out, so I guess we made the right choice... but it's still good to know that government offices - especially schools - take typhoons seriously if there is a real threat. My workplace just got lucky with the call.

After work on Friday, I made dinner and a friend brought over some movies. I actually hosted three dinners last week, which is strange for me (my house is small, so I don't entertain a lot), but it was fun and I finally saw some flicks I have had on my to-do list for a while.

On Saturday morning, I was up early to get my bike fixed (finally back in business) and then met with the old ladies in Okubo. It was fun talking to them. Afterwards, I grabbed Subway sandwiches for a little picnic and met a friend for a hike on the mountains surrounding Kobe. The original plan was to go to my friend Sagar's house, bring over drinks and lunch, and just hang out while the movers came for all his stuff (he's moving home to America next week and is shipping most of his furniture), but Sagar realized he probably needed to help direct the movers and had some stuff to do, so the plans changed.

The hike turned out to be a good alternative, however, and the weather was beautiful. I've been on Mt. Rokko before, but only via the tram, and I was pretty surprised how close to central Kobe the mountain trails really were. We started from Sannomiya Station, walking up Flower Road to Shin-Kobe Station (where the Shinkansen stops). It was a little tricky figuring out how to get behind the station, to where the trails start, but once we found the path, it was a straight shot up. We walked for probably 45 minutes to a really pretty little waterfall called Nunobikidaki, stopping on the way to look at some smaller temples and enjoy the forest. A little further up the trail, we found a large dam that still provides Kobe with it's water, a lookout point with beautiful views of Kobe, Osaka Bay and Osaka City on the other side of the bay. At the top, where the cable car stops, we walked around the edges of the large Herb Gardens (I wouldn't mind stopping at the Lavender Gardens next time) and just hanging out on the benches and grassy fields, taking in the view for a while. Very relaxing. Very nice.

The whole walk didn't take more than 2 or 3 hours, but if you walk another hour or two, I'm pretty sure you will hit a large Ranch with farm animals and can hike further to Mt. Maya (maybe the same area?), which ends around Suma Beach. I had no idea how accessible the area really was without a car/bar/cable car/tram, but I will definitely be back in a month or so to soak up the fall colors (and maybe get a glimpse of one of the wild boar that are supposed to be "everywhere" in the hills).

On Saturday evening, we headed to Polo Dog, a popular expat pub in Sannomiya that our friend Richard was headlining at. This was Richie's first show and he has a beautiful voice, but it was a strangely quiet night early on, so Richie's set sort of felt more like a coffee shop (people not talking, but actually just sitting and listening to the music) versus a bar. After a while (or maybe a few more drinks for some people?) it got livelier, but overall, it was a really fun night. A huge group of people we know that live in Kobe had been doing a Scavenger hunt all evening and showed up later (in hilarious team-designated costumes), too.

On Sunday, I was going to get up and go for a run, but ended up staying in a little later, finalizing my tickets for the December trip to down-under. My tickets to/from Australia and New Zealand are already reserved now, but earlier in the week, I had booked my Sydney - NZ ticket on Orbitz, who took my credit card information and issued a confirmation of the reservation before sending me an email saying that the availability had changed and that I no longer had a ticket. I've never even heard of that happening, but the "rare situation" was definitely annoying and set me back a bit of money when I had to re-book (it's still three months out, but ticket prices have been going up everyday... it's insane).

Even though I didn't get the jogging in, I did go for a nice afternoon walk and explored a bit before hitting up the lantern festival in Takasago to see my students perform. I biked from my town to the city, and was enthralled to discover that Takasago was completely lined, side streets to the covered mall, with small lanterns. The scene was very reminiscent of Hanatoro, the lantern festival I saw in Kyoto last year, but the lanterns in this festival used actual candles instead of bulbs. The famous Takasago Shrine also had some interesting lantern art (there were 10,000 lanterns at the shrine alone, including large paper lanterns, small bamboo lanterns, lit-up bamboo structures that you could walk through like a maze, christmas lights going under the Japanese-garden bridges and bamboo staves with carvings in them). The atmosphere around town was absolutely magical.... I could hardly believe it's the same town I work in everyday.

The concert I had come to see was with two of my favorite third-year kids (one on the drums, the other on the bass) and one of my coworkers (who actually tried to make it big with his band before he became a teacher). They did a really good job, playing a few Queen and 70s hits, and it was also a pleasant surprise to discover that the school orchestra had a concert before and after the 3rd-year students played. The venue they were playing at, one of the large temples near the station, was also pretty amazing... I was surprised they were allowed to play on the steps of the temple. It felt a little bit like Yanni at the Taj Mahal.

Anyways, after exploring town a bit and listening to the music (with a bunch of my students' mothers, actually). I met my friend Ann, who lives in town, for a quick bite. Ann had just gotten back from rafting in Shikoku Island, so we basically just got grocery store food as we walked around town more, stopping some other places (like the oldest buildings in Takasago).

Today has been a typical day. It's still raining and another typhoon warning has been issues for Wednesday. I doubt school will be cancelled, but it does mean several days of rain. I came home late, after meeting with the English club, and just made dinner and vegged-out for a while, watching the Presidential debate and a few other recent candidate interviews. I was planning on running, but it started pouring just before I started, so I'm just watching movies and working on lessons now. My Japanese classes start again tomorrow and I have some other studying I want to get back into, so it should be a rather low-key week.

Autumnal Equinox

Yesterday was a national holiday for the Autumnal Equinox, or changing of the seasons (technically the day the sun is directly above the earth's equator). We don’t have daylight savings time in Japan, so the difference between the long summer days and log winter nights seems extreme to me at times and the days are getting shorter, but the hot weather is subsiding with the change and I'm quite enjoying the season.

Mari's Goodbye Party
I didn’t really go anywhere, persay, during the free day off, but we did take advantage of the time. My friend Mari is moving to Canada next week, so Monday night was a large going-away party for her, hosted at another friend’s apartment. It was a fun time, basically just eating, drinking and talking with friends, and we ended the night with fireworks by the pier.

SHOGUN
Tuesday morning started off slowly, but I was out of the house by 12. I spent the day in Amagasaki, doing a SHOGUN-movie- marathon (or at least attempting to) with some friends. The original plan was to get through all 10 installments of drama series (originally broadcast in the 1970s and over 10 hours in total), but we also decided to barbeque (with burgers and real Kraft cheddar cheese from Costco – yum!), so we only got through about half of it.

I have read other works by James Clavell, but have yet to start on the over 1,000-pages that make up the novel that the movie was based on (Shogun), which was coincidentally a going-away gift from my dad. I’ve had it in my desk at work for ages, meaning to take it on the train or read during lunch, but I just haven’t gotten to it. Now that I've seen part of the film, however, I'm sort of eager to get going on it.

Some of the most striking points of the film (so far) were seeing the landscapes and culture of “traditional Japan” (still intact in many ways) as well as listening to the Japanese portions of the script. The director actually decided not to use subtitles for the Japanese used in the film so that the audience would get a feel for what it must have been like for the characters to not understand. Many aspects of everyday life in Japan were also more familiar to me than you might expect them to be, a sign of the strong respect for and ties to tradition still present in modern-day society (the tatami rooms and food, for example). Even small things like taking a bath everyday and understanding the concept of mastering the art of “hiding within yourself” (since there is not much outward privacy) and using linguistic nuances to assist with this (chotto!) made a lot of sense.
I honestly could not understand that much of was said in Japanese, much of which was in formal language, but I did understand some of the language. I also knew some of the scenery (“Osaka Castle”, for example, is actually Himeji Castle – about 15 minutes from where I work) and could catch a few cultural mistakes the director made (who used disposible chopsicks in the 1600s?!).

Back to the Grind
Today is going well, but my schedule is busy and I’m pretty tired. I’ll be better after I run, but we’re doing another small dinner for Mari tonight (she leaves Friday) and I still need to figure out what kind of tapas I am going to bring (not bad for a potluck idea!). Definitely think I’m going to pass on the alcohol for a night, too. My body needs it.

Before I go, though, two other big things worth mentioning:

1. The first is that I bought tickets to Australia and New Zealand!! I’m going to spend a few days in Sydney, exploring and visiting friends, before heading to Christchurch (southern NZ) for a little while. The trip is still three months away, but I’m extremely excited about going, happy that I won’t be in Japan for the holidays (can be boring and lonely, even when you’re with people) and it’s SUMMER in AU/NZ during that time! YAY!!!

2. The second is that it looks like Japan is about to get yet another Prime Minister, the fourth since I moved here two years ago!
I haven’t been able to follow this (developing) story as much as I would prefer to in recent weeks, but I can tell you that Prime Minister Fukada has officially resigned, leaving the position open to his successor as leader of the ruling party. Unlike the election in America, not everyone votes for the Prime Minister. Rather, the leader of the majority party steps down so now we’ve just been waiting for confirmation of who that majority-party leader will be. A record five candidates ran for the spot this time around, including a woman.
Also, just to give you a little background, the “leading party” is the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP, or “Jiyu-Minshotu”), a conservative party that has ruled for the majority of the time since it’s founding in 1955. LDP currently holds the majority in the lower House of Representatives, but lost the majority in the Upper House in 2007 (signaling growing dissatisfaction with the party). In addition, the last two PMs didn’t even last a year and Aso (the new leader-elect) is seen as somewhat of a maverick, so the upcoming elections could show a turn in political power in Parliament, with LDP losing their control.
I still consider myself an outsider to this system and admit that it comes off as sort of aristocratic (with respect to the fact that the top positions seem to stay within certain family lines), but I do find it interesting and consider it important to stay somewhat abreast of what is going on in my host country.

Anyways, off to my all-staff meeting and then home. Have a great weekend and more later.

The Weekend Review – PONYO!

This was the weekend of out-of-town visitors (plethora of Minnesotans) and I finally got my first big-screen Ghible Studios movie experience with PONYO.

Friday
I was at Costco late last week, ravioli and feta in hand, when I got a call from my friend Chris, who was it the area and wanted to meet up. Chris and I met in Minneapolis shortly before coming to Japan and have both lived here about the same time. He’s a fun guy, has a similar travel fix and reminds me a lot of my friends from home, but we happen to live on opposite sides of the country (he’s on the northern tip of the main island, 8 hours away by bullet train), so we hang out maybe once a year. We set a plan to go to dinner at Sky Buffet, an all-you-can-eat restaurant with a killer view of the Harbor and Kobe skyscape on Friday.
Well, Friday evening came and Chris and his friends had to check into their hotel. By the time we were supposed to meet for dinner, however, they were still getting things set up, so my two girlfriends and I went ahead and we just decided to meet at Sky Buffet. When the boys called, we decided it really wasn't worth it for the guys to pay the buffet price... so we decided to meet afterwards for a drink and enjoyed dinner on our own.
It was fun to see Chris, and even though I don't see or talk to him often, there's something nice about talking to someone who comes from the exact same place you're from (Chris's mom was actually my high school nurse) and knows what Japan is like. His friends seemed fun, too. We only got to talk for a bit before I ran to last train, but I'll probably run into Chris somewhere, wouldn't surprise me if it's in some random country next time.

Saturday
On Saturday, I went for a long(ish) run in the afternoon and then went to dinner at an izakaya in Shukugawa (near Kobe) with some friends. Afterwards, I made my way to Kobe to meet up with some people from the national volunteer organization I work with. One girl was in town for a soccer tournament, another was up on a weekend boat trip to Kobe (with friends from Shikoku Island), another had come over from Wakayama Prefecture and another guy that lives in the area also came out to meet up with the crew. We didn't have much time, but it was fun! We sort of got in trouble for racing the large, stuff-animal-shaped large animals (that walk when you put money in them) outside the Kobe harbor arcade, but I took the group on a tour of the peir, Meriken Park (with earthquake damage) and we walked through town to one of the small, popular expat pubs. The place was hosting a DJ and was a little too packed for my tastes, so I hung out for a little while before last train. The craziest thing, however, was no the reunion but the fact that there were probably 5 other people from Minneapolis (some from my area) in our group.

Sunday
On Sunday, I was up sort of early to get to Osaka for a matinee showing of Ponyo, the new Ghible movie. I have only started watching Ghible (or Miyazaki) animated films since coming to Japan - although I had heard of them through the Oscars - but I have fallen absolutely in love with them since coming. They show a more romantic, nastalgic side of Japan and there are aspects of everyday life and nature in these movies that I can relate to my experiences here (and the stories are cute). So when I found out a new Ghible movie was coming out while I was here, I naturally wanted to see it on the big screen... but there was one problem... no English subtitles!
I was with a group of two other foreigners and two Japanese girls, so we decided to see the film anyways. There's not a lot of talking in it, and a lot of the langauge they use is geared towards families and children, but you know what... it went ok! This wasn't my first Japanese movie in the theatres, but it was the first time I have gone and understood most of it. I had to nudge the guy next to me and ask him vocabulary words a few times (and I'm sure I didn't catch everything), but I was pretty excited that it went better than expected. And I really enjoyed the movie, about a sea creature who becomes friends with a human and wants to live in the human world (sounds like Little Mermaid, I know, but the plot is still a lot different).
While in Umeda (for the flick), I also picked up a really cool new camera case for the Canon I got and we went to dinner at Kurazushi, a cheap - but good- conveyer belt sushi chain (that has somehow eluded me all this time!).

Movie Reviews: HSM II

One of my second-year classes just watched High School Musical II (after a lot of pleading) late last week. I had them write a short review as homework. I just got their assignments back, and thought they were pretty cute, so I wanted to share.

I haven't corrected anything and won't explain the context so it's a good example of both the level of my students and of some common thought-patterns you may be surprised to see. Hope you enjoy:

From Emily
I have never watched "High School Musical."
It was very exciting!
I thoguht that I will have watched it again.
There is a difference between Japan and USA.

It is expressive.
Japan is a little expressive.
USA is many expressive.
So I watched it very plain by USA.
I liked it very much.

From Anonymous
I thought that it was interesting to see this movie.
The content is slightly difficult.
But I thought that I was very interesting if I understood.
In addition, I want to see the movie if there is such an opportunity.

From Mami
I watched "high school music" before summer vacation. Then I was interested in it.
I wanted to watch the sequel DVD sine when we watched it.
Brenda hasa tender heart!!
So I could watch DVD!
I'm very happy!!
DVDs impression is fun.
I thought so American students were enjoyed school life every day.
So I will go to American university in the future.
And I thought different pointto Japan is summer vacatin.
We don't being a countdown.
Three two one キーンコーンカーンコーン　
Students said "Who!!!". Very different.
So Japanese students said "ha ー. I'm so tired."
Why American high school students are doing bite OK?

**notes:
1. キーンコーンカーンコーン　is an onomatopoeia, imitating the sound of a bell, like a school bell.
2. The word "bite" in the last line probably means アルバイト　(or "arubaito"), the Japanese word used for "part-time" job. Most loan words in Japanese come from English, so most people don't realize this is actually from German.

From Richard
American boys likes basketball and very famous in America.
American girls likes dance and very famous in America.
American people have blue eyes.
American boys very tall.
They are very cool. And they are very kind and shy.
America is very good country.

From Anonymous
I had felt happy and sad when I watched this movie.
Because I looks happy them dancing.
And I looks him threw up his high school classmates.
American high school uniform is freedom.
And their hair style too.
They looks fashionable.
And both boys and girls cool, cute and quite mature.

From Jane
I have never seen this movie.
This movie is very interesting.
I feel happy this movie see.
I like the best ライアン of all the dramatis personaw.
He is very cute and cool and amusing.
I am very pleased by him.
Also this movie is pelased.
I also really want to see the High School Musical 1.

Note:
1. ライアン is read "Ryan."

From Anonymous
I write that I thought to see this movie now.
I thought that a song of the actor was good.
I want to become such good, too.
It was disgusting that a blond girl aimed at the chief character.
I thought that the school tradition I tradition of the school was free, and there should have been such a school in Hyogo.

Note:
1. Hyogo, in the last line, refers to Hyogo-Prefecture. This is the area of Japan we live in.

Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri 2008

The Great Cart-Pulling Festival in Kishiwada
As I mentioned in my last post, after meeting Daisuke and Rumi for Sunday brunch in Osaka, I met Dave, Chris and Richie at the station and we headed to southern Osaka for the famous Kishiwada Danjiri Festival.

The Danjiri Matsuri is known as Japan's answer to the Running of the Bulls. As the most famous of Japan's cart-pulling festivals, at least one person dies each year as one of the giant danjiri (or carts) goes out of control, either throwing someone off the top of it or crushing someone who wasn't quite fast enough to move out of the way. At least you know the risk going into it and, after 305 years, you know people have to be coming back for a reason.

A little More About the Danjiri Matsuri

While it might seem like the festival is just an parade today, the festival was originally started to celebrate the harvest. This is a popular theme for this weekend, with Harvest Moon festivals in Himeji and Kyoto on the same day. The Danjiri Matsuri is also rather late for a festival, most of which take place in the summer, but it really does signal the changing of seasons (or the end of summer) in that respect.
Today, the crowds look different, but members of the Pulling team (組/ kumi) follow the same protocall that they would have 250 years ago, running as fast as they can down narrow and winding streets (which also haven't changed much, save for the many wires overhead) at full speed. There is usually a team of at least 30 people (from one town), pulling two thick ropes, running before the cart. The cart actually looks more of what I'd call a moving shrine and many of the people involved in pulling are children. The participants are mostly wearing their town's colors (or usually a traditional festival jacket, or happi), and the school girls pretty much all had their hair braided for the event.

My Japanese friend (who lives in the area) told me the beauty salons stay open late in the days leading up to the festival because so many girls want to get their hair braided. Some of them even incorporated shapes, designs and additional colors into the braids (check out the heart in the picture).

Danger, Danger

So what makes this festival have a reputation for being so "dangerous" (other than it's reputation for being in a yakuza-area), you ask? During the day, the carts can end up going pretty quickly and the old-fashioned wooden (wagon-type) wheels don't turn. When the carts need to turn a corner, then, the running team will actually pick the cart up (instead of putting wood planks down and turning it, like they do at Gion Matsuri). Each danjiri has two or three men standing and jumping around on top of the cart, waving fans, but the danjiri is going pretty, and sometimes the people on top of the carts can fall off. If they do, the results are not good. The carts can also get out of control and fall on people, but it especially happens when turning corners.
Fanfare and All the Rest
The festival lasts for two days, with a lantern parade on the evening of the last day. We decided to go on the last day, and I'm really glad we did!
We got to see the danjiri madness during the day (and check out the town & Kishiwada Castle), but the parade at night was probably one of the best I've been to so far. After dinner at a cute little izakaya (with a hobbit door - I am easily amused at times), we stood under the covered mall at the center of town (shogai, sort of like a mall arcade) as the danjiri walked past. The craziest part was that each town was also pushing around huge carts of cases of beer and chilled chu-hai (flavored cocktails in a can) to give away to the crowds, for free. I was also somehow able to talk my way into receiving four different official town fans (that the men on top of the danjiri wave around), a pretty special souvineer. The white one belonged to the head of this town's group, while the black one belonged to the mayor. I gave two away to friends in our group, but the other two (red ones) that I kept are definitely coming back to America with me in the "Japan treasures" chest.
Finally Fell Victim to the "Gaijin Trap"
After a few hours of watching the parade and talking to other people at the festival, we followed my friend to an izakaya owned by one of the local town leaders (also a good friend of the girl's dad). The cart team basically opened the bar to us (more free beer... maybe you can see where this story is headed...) and let us join in on their post-matsuri celebrations, arm-wrestling and all. I had a lot of fun, but probably overdid it and sort of had a little accident on the way home. In Japan, every street is lined with long, narrow (and often very deep!) sewers (or water drains), which the foreigners lovingly refer to as gaijin traps (foreigner traps). They aren't covered and are honestly easy to fall/walk/bike into if you arne't paying attention (while Japanese people are used to having them).
Anyways, I was into a conversation on the way back to my friend's apartment and, sure enough, stepped sideways into one of these holes and scraped my hand on the pavement when I went down. Thankfully, nothing bad happened (like when my friend scraped her leg on metal when she fell in one last year), but now I can check the gaijin trap off my Japan list (and make sure it never happens again!).

If you ever get the chance to experience the Kishiwada Matsuri, however, I truly recommend it. I've said the Tenjin Matsuri (in Osaka, July) was my favorite and have heard from many Awadori (in Shokuku, August) is good, but this festival might be able to knock the others out of the park as one of the most fun (and I swear it's not just all the free beer!).

The Weekend Review - Harinan Enkai, Kishiwada & Koyasan

Monday was Respect-for-the-Aged Day, a National holiday honoring the elderly, so we all had a day off of work/school. And what a long weekend it was...

Friday
Friday was a busy day at work, and I stayed late and recorded Megan's speech with her after school.

I was pretty tired by the time I left school, but instead of going home, I headed straight to the train station to meet a coworker for our enkai, or work party, for Harinan, my new school. The enkai was held at a traditional sushi restaurant in Higashi-Kakogawa, not far from where we live. About 20 staff members came and we had a private, tatami room to ourselves, where we sat on the floor.

There were about 5 courses at dinner:
1. the first was sashimi plates that were there when we arrived, including several crab legs and a smaller side dish with sea urchin and squid,
2. some kind of broiled fish (maybe Pacific saury?) that was filled with small, yellow eggs when you opened it,
3. another larger, white fish (maybe cod?), served cooked, but as a whole fish with the skin still on
4. nabe, or Japanese stew cooked at the table, with fish and vegetables,
5. and KIRIN beer. (I think I am forgetting a course and there is enough drinking at these events that I think beer should count)

These work parties are really all about getting to know your fellow staff members (see course #5 above - beer is the ultimate "social lubricant" in Japan), and even though I didn't attend the sports-festival that the party was celebrating, I was ultimately glad I attended the party. It was a little different from past work parties I've been to, however. For one thing, I used mostly Japanese all evening. I got to know a lot of new coworkers, though, while talking more with others I have already been forming relationships with. I don't expect to get to know people as well at my new school because it's one day a week (and only for this year), but I would say the party was a success in that I now feel much more like "part of this staff."
The highlight of the night had to have been when one of the top-level staff members stood up to give his speech (everyone had to give speeches - included my foreign coworker and myself), said about three words, and then decided he had to go to the bathroom and walked out, everyone just watching him to. We all just chuckled a bit, waited for him to come back, and then listened as he told this story about - get this - his hemorrhoids! His whole speech was about the problems he has gotten from from riding his bike (with hand-motions to help illustrate the hemorrhoids coming out) and then about how sitting "seiza" (traditional Japanese style, on your toes) at the party has made his hemorrhoids flair again. The guy seriously talked about this for over 10 minutes. At another point in the evening, a group of former students (who were apparently having dinner in another room) also crashed the party, freaking-out when they saw all the drunk teachers... but I never knew the kids so it didn't mean much to me.
The dinner lasted for about two-and-a-half hours. Afterwards, a large group had gotten together for a karaoke nijikai (second-round party), I had already made plans to meet up with other friends, so I thanked everyone and left.

I had taken the bus to the station (flat tire's still not fixed...) so my coworker - who left when I did - and I futarinori'd it (rode two on a bike) to Harima Town (about 10 minutes) and met some friends at the local pub. I definitely didn't need to drink anymore at this point (sushi, beer and lots of toasts don't make for the most sober of nights), but it was a good time and the walk home from the pub provided some much-needed air before bedtime.

Sat
I was up pretty early on Saturday morning. It was raining on-and-off-again outside so our monthly, 8am group-gardening session was cancelled. This was good news, but I was already up and was supposed to meet the old ladies at 10am (and planned to do the fashion museum after), so I used the extra time to go for a jogg. Glad I went. Running right after the light rain was a nice little break from the weather... it's getting cooler outside, but it has still been really humid.
I met the ladies at 10am, had a really good conversation about pretty much everything, but left feeling a little ill after not eating breakfast and staying an hour past the normal time, gorging on the most glorious homemade macaroons :p I got an email from my friend Ben saying he was going to be near the Fashion Museum, so I made lunch plans for Subway Sandwiches, hoping some real food would help.
Unfortunately, I hit train delays on both the Sanyo and JR lines, which meant lunch happened a lot later than I expected it to, but I finally made it in time for a toasted, turkey Subway sandwich (pretty much the only place I can get Turkey here!) and a quick trip through the fashion museum.

Visiting the Kobe Fashion Museum
The Kobe Fashion Museum's exterior may not be as shiny as the Guggenheim, but the building is almost as dramatic, giving you a preface that what you are about to discover inside is going to be worth the trip to this small, international island in the middle of Kobe. I have honestly been trying to get to this museum since I arrived in Japan, and even though it's not far from where I live, this was my first visit.

On the inside, the museum itself is small (the building houses several other galleries, a library and shops) and does not have much English (a problem with most museums and large exhibits in Japan), but I liked how spacious and open the place was. The fashion exhibits, specifically, include a permanent collection with an array of costumes and clothing from around the world. They do an alright job of covering various historical periods, even showcasing reproductions of Napoleon's correnation clothing and 18th century garb from America and Europe. I was a little disappointed because I expected there to be more actual historical pieces from famous individuals (based on the museum's advertisements of these collections) rather than reproductions, but it was still cool to see the size of the garbs (Napolean, for example) and I was pleasantly surprised by the more hands-on approach the museum took. There are pairs of white gloves next to many of the costumes, and they allow you to touch them in addition to observing them, also offering books of patterns showing how the costumes were made. For me, it added a layer of understanding to how each piece was made and made me focus more on the evolution of clothing design and style (by looking at what changed from one pattern, or material choice, to the next). I didn't spend as much time as I thought I would at the Fashion Museum's current special exhibition, focusing on Chinese dresses (I found most of the dresses rundundant and there was zero information in English).

One of my friends coincidentally went to the museum the day after me, and I apparently missed a photography exhibit on the 4th floor of the building, but my ticket also granted me access to a small gallery of paintings by local (Kobe) artists that I enjoyed.

So yeah, I would recommend going to the museum, but think it would be most worthwhile to go during an exhibit you really want to see (for me, it was the french prints) and I would plan in time to explore the island (which hosts the Canadian Academy and feels like a foreign country to some extent). They occassionally have weekend fleamarkets outside the museum, too.

End of the Night
After lunch, Ben hadn't wanted to come into the museum with me, but he waited for me when I finished and we went for a walk in a nearby park before catching a Rokko Liner (special train for Rokko Island) back to Kobe. We were heading seperate directions, but decided to stop in Uniqlo, the Japanese GAP, for a few minutes and ended up spending over an hour there. I got some killer deals, including a pair of my favorite (now discontinued) jeans on sale (FOR $10!!), but both of us realized we really needed to stop shopping and forced ourselves out of the store.

A konbini beer and a few hours of rugby later, the night ended after a great day. It was especially sweet when I learned that Goran fixed my harddrive!! The harddrive itself is supposedly in "itty-bitty-bits" but Goran has the data - including my pictures! - so I can finally let out a big sigh of relief.

Sun
I stayed in Amagasaki pretty late on Saturday, so I spent the night there and headed into Osaka to meet up with some Japanese friends on Sunday, the next morning. I was meeting up with Daisuke, Rumi and some other friends haven't seen in almost a year. I used to spend a lot of time with them when my friend Jane was living here, but I guess we have just grown apart and I finally realized it had been too long.
I met the group of about 15 people in a little cafe garden near Nishi-Umeda station. I had really come just to catch up with Dai-chan and my friend Rumiko, but the dynamic of that group has defiitely changed since I used to hang out with them. A few people now have kids (Rumiko had a baby about 3 months ago and my friend Yupi brought his 9 month old) and life situations have definitely changed, but it was really nice to catch up. I need to do it again :)

Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri
After lunch, I met Dave, Chris and Richie at Osaka Station and we headed to the famous Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri (Cart-pulling Festival) in south Osaka. This festival was by far one of the best I have been to so far, and ended on an interesting note when I fell in a "gaijin trap" (uncovered, roadside sewer), but I'll write about it in another post...

Monday
I stayed at a friend's in Kishiwada on Sunday night with a group of friends. On Monday, a few of us decided to take advantage of the free day and drove to Koyasan, the holy Buddhist mountain in Wakayama Prefecture that Claire and I did a temple stay at.

It seemed a little strange just driving up to the mountain, which took about an hour and a half to get to from where we were (versus taking train for hours and making a weekend of it), but the trip made for really beautiful sightseeing and a relaxing afternoon. Actually, it was sort of the epitome of a picturesque mountain drive, with windy-roads, stunning-green, deciduous landscapes along steep cliffs and pretty mountain views over fog-clouded treetops.

When we arrived at the top of Mt. Koya, we had ramen, the local specialty, for lunch (was far less salty than what I'm used to... really delicious) and went for a walk in the rain. The main temple actually provided umbrellas to borrow and the rain and fog gave the path a more romantic feeling, especially since the place was almost empty, so it was a great time.

On the way back to town, we stopped at a gas station to get some snacks and something to drink. One of the people I was with made a comment about how lucky we are (something along the lones of "what a life we lead"...) and I have to admit, he was right. We're pretty lucky.... great weekend.

Blackberrry. It's Like Buttah.

Oh. Now I'm feeling verklempt.

Take a moment to talk amongst yourselves.

I'll give you a topic: did John McCain help create Blackberry?

Personally, I think even Barbara would think the whole thing is meshugge.

Discuss.

Pre-Sports Day 2008

Today is my last pre-sports day. Don't worry, I'm not getting all nastalgic quite yet, but it is funny how much these annual events have changed since I got here. I missed my train this morning and got to work just in time to make it outside and see the kids lining up. I talked to one of the older kaiteika (Home Ec) teachers for a bit about how wearing black makes you look slimmer* and how she wants to lose weight (sadly, a popular topic for women everywhere) and listened to the announcements our "discipline chief" was making over the megaphone to the student body.

I picked up a few vocabulary words while listening (bushitsu is probably my fave), but - even though I can't speak - my listening skills have really gotten a lot better. I pretty much understood everything they were saying, and understood the comments my coworkers made as they were walking by. I think I get flustered and miss a lot when a conversation is going to quickly or someone is expecting a fast response in Japanese, but speeches and such (at least ones at school, where I know the everyday vocabulary associated with these sorts of events and class) are getting better.

It's also kind of funny just sitting outside and people-watching, to be honest. Most of the women are wearing bonnet-like hats, sunglasses, long-sleeve shirts and gloves. They just don't want the sun to touch any skin... even the younger ones, the ones around my age. It's the same everywhere. My neighbor, Miwa, showed me what she wore to her sports day this year and I can only describe this visor-helmet contraption that "everyone is wearing" as robo-cop meets darth-vador meets Mindy, from Mork & Mindy (I don't know why I chose Mindy... for some reason I can see her in a visor). We are allowed to wear sports-wear today, but one of my coworkers is even wearing a turtleneck. Pretty full on when it's over 70 degrees outside!

Alright, I have had three staff members pass by and ask why I am not outside. One thought I was hiding from the sun (see...), another was surprised to see me and wanted to know if everything was alright (I don't usually miss events or meetings, so maybe it's weird that I'm not there?) and I think the last just needed an excuse to talk... but I get the hint. We're actually only practicing for the big day on Friday today (the kids don't even really carry their class flags, for example... only the bou), so I am more conscerned with being present for the real-deal, but I guess I should go.

More in the next few days. I've been running again at night (getting in shape isn't fun but it's getting easier and I'm enjoying the "solitude") and have some more busy days coming up, but I'll try to blog soon. I'm also really pumped because I'll get to see two of my very favorite things in Japan tonight, both imported. One is the Bulgogi bake at Costco's AMAZING food court and the other is, well, from New Zealand. Adios!


*The comment about black making you look slimmer reminded me of something. Yesterday the teacher that called me "plump" (no grudges, no grudges at all) commented on how I have been wearing black a lot lately. I was wearing a black blouse, big black belt and black pants at the time, so I see why he would mention it, but I was essentially planning my comeback to his certain forthcoming comment about how black is a good color for me because it is thinning (ok, or preparing to bite my tongue), but the teacher actually gave me a compliment about how becoming I have been looking in such a classic color and was throwing out compliments left and right. Hmm, a little fishy, but I think the comments are basically the closest to an apology I'm going to get; but it's an apology I was surprised to hear and was kind of grateful for. The talk is honestly most likely all lip-service, but I consider that internationalization if this guy learns it's not ok to make comments like that to young women. Even if it's OK in Japan... it's not.

Lehman Brothers Clip - What's Going On In the Background?

I am guessing the guys in the background are trying to "make light" of the situation, as the reporter puts it?


Pretty funny video. And, wow, obviously time to transfer money home!

Literature Mapping

I just finished reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. This was a hilarious book. It reminded me a lot of Erland Loe, my favorite Norwegian author, but I think a lot of it has to do with the prose.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the book, but was sort of surprised to learn that it was #1 on the NYT bestsellers list and that it was nominated for a Pulitzer*. I found out about it from a friend who was reading it on a trip a few years ago, but Dave Eggers, the author, was also awarded a TED Award this year and has apparently done a lot of fiction work that I think might be worth checking out. I haven't been able to watch his speech on the TED.com website yet , but, wow. Not bad. I like this guy.


After I finished the novel, I was looking up more information on the author & other characters** and I found this awesome website I wanted to share called Literature-Map. It's basically just a list of book recommendations based on what other Dave Eggers (or X author's) fans enjoyed (basically what Amazon and any online bookstore gives you in about 2 seconds), but I like the constellation-appearance and the authors they referred me to were pretty on.

Check it out if you have time ;)

*Random Thought: I really need to get to bed, but before I head out...
So my friend Ben saw the Eggers book in my purse when we went to the museum on Saturday and made a comment about how great it was but that "nobody could write like him."

I have to say, if you carried a tape recorder around with you and recorded the details of your everyday life, I actually think I know quite a few people that would write comparatively amusing, entertaining and/or at least wacky memoirs. It takes some guts to put those intimate thoughts out there, yes, but apparently it can be worth it.

Shoot... maybe I should have thought of this two years ago when I was moving abroad? Life is certainly random enough here.

Also, a Pulitzer nod also ain't bad for someone who self-describes their introductary masterpiece as "memior-y" (p. xx), swears every other sentence, paints his "literary pallet" using imagery and vocab like "[being] all centipedey" (p. 375).

**I also have to mention, on the topic of looking up information on the family, that I was pretty crushed to learn that solid, responsible Beth committed suicide two years after the book was published. If you've read it, you know who I'm talking about. I know it's stupid to feel remorse for someone I don't know, and ironic to feel it for someone in a book that actually makes fun of people that react to the deaths and misfortunes of people they don't know, have never met and will never meet (just because they are famous). I know she was a real person, but it sort of seems sad in the same way it did with ficticious characters like Voldemort (when he died) or Mr. Darcy (when you think Elizabeth Bennet has missed her chance).

Found a New Camera!

Well, I think I finally found my camera! I was pretty tired after school, so I was just going to relax and read for a bit before jogging and running some errands. Well, the reading led to a nap (unexpectedly and in about 5 minutes of sitting down). This changed-up the order of my evening itinerary a bit, but I still made it to Midori Denki (a big electronic store chain) in time to look at the cameras. I was sort of plannng on just getting a new camera there, but the prices at Midori weren't as cheap as I expected and the selection was poorer than other places, so I didn't spend long and walked out empty-handed. To my surprise, however, dropping by the little camera shop in Ito Yokado, the center next to my house, on the way home was the most fruitful camera-shopping trip I have had yet... and I found my new camera there!


The guy that works at this little Itoyo shop is actually sort of a buddy now. I remember trying to communicate with him when I knew NO Japanese and needed to develop film (maybe two weeks after arriving) and he spent hours helping me try to recover the Thailand pictures I lost last year, telling me about how he lost all the pictures from his toddler's infancy when his computer crashed (and he just got divorced so his ex has most of the rest). I don't actually know him, but I'd say hi on the street and trust his opinion.
Anyways (digressing... again) this visit, pretty much everything was said in Japanese and the conversation about the different models went surprisingly well. I was able to ask about different functions (I'd sort of slyly try to get him to read a kanji s0 then I could use the word... like now I know "3x zoom" is san-bai), compare models and ask him more detailed questions about his recommendations.
The camera I've settled on (he's holding it so I can just check the web one more time) is a Canon and on sale, but not the latest model. It's the last generation of the top-of-the-line, however and has all the functions I really wanted and even some that have now been removed from the new cameras, including a wider screen, so I'm satisfied.


Whew. All I have to say is FINALLY... I definitely needed to get this camera SOON! I can't believe just spent the weekend at one of the coolest festivals I have ever been to and KOYASAN (in the fog) and didn't take a single shot. It has been killing me not being able to take pics.

I do not have the best track record with electronics.
*My Macbook turned out to be a lemon. Apple replaced it, but I have probably sent it in 5 times since I arrived in Japan.
*I am getting a new camera. Ok, so the battery slot on my last one wasn't very reliable after dropping it on a rock while hiking in Yakushima (and I did I really, really want one as a memory from Japan).
*And then there is my cell phone. The guy at the Softbank store was even amazed by the state of my Japanese cell phone when I got a new one this summer, telling me he was surprised it was still working.
*And last, but not least, there is my iPod (classic). I love, love, love my iPod and take it everywhere, but there is now a black line running down the middle of the LCD display. I originally thought it might have been from placing it near a magnet, but after reading a bit about similar problems on the net and the Apple site, I learned it's a common issue and most-likely from too much direct sunlight (guess listening to music at the beach this summer wasn't as all-around-perfect as I thought it was...my poor iPod was dying and I didn't even know it!).

*Nevertheless, I am determined to take care of this new camera. Even though all of the above 'incidents' have taken place in the last year or two. Fingers crossed.


More on Camera Options in Japan

Speaking of shopping for cameras, I've been doing a bit of it lately and it's been interesting to see what is available here (the electronics capital of the world, right?). Sometimes people ask about electronics when they ask about Japan, and since I generally have no clue, but can actually update you just this once, I thought I would share:

I was heading through Umeda (central Osaka) on my way home from the weekend last night, so I stopped in Yodabashi Camera to check out the selection. I have been doing a bit of research online, but was surprised to find that many of the Sony models I had recently seen (or my friends have) have now been completely removed from the shelves in Japan. They're still on the Best Buy and regular websites at home, however, so this has to be pretty recent. The upgraded 10.1 Megapixel models of only 2-3 months ago are also no longer the newest-of-the-new, with 12.1 Megapixels available on several models and even a 10 Optical Zoom (the function I am most looking for) available on your normal point-and-shoot digitals. Most cameras have an English function (although it's generally only bi-lingual), but it's good to check out electronics here because some don't. The prices on the newest models seem to be a little cheaper here than what is showing on the web for home, though, while the older models that I could compare (here to home with) actually seemed cheaper at home.
I am no expert (seriously - I could stand to be a little more otaku-poi when it comes to electronics), but some of the updates that have been made seem pretty impressive to me. Especially for how fast these changes are taking place.
The guy in Ito Yokado was telling me that most of the camera companies are coming out with new models this year, but I don't think I can wait until November or December to see what Canon announces it has up it's sleeve. Good to know if you're considering it, though!


Choosing your Names - Researching Cameras (OR: Yes, Even MORE on Cameras...)

Another FYI - the models are not all the same. I've had trouble finding info on some of the models I've liked, as the names seem to be different in Japan and the other Western countries where they are sold.
The model I found seems to be similar to what is available in the States, but I don't think it is the same thing. Friends of mine have gotten this model in Hong Kong and other Asian countries, however, so it might just be a market-to-market difference. I think this happens a lot with electronics - even cars- in Asia. I saw a Honda Accord this week with "Inspire" (not Accord) sprawled across the lower back side... sometimes you just use a different label for different countries.

Anyways...
This post is long, obscure and only partially potentially helpful... but I am just happy about my camera. Now maybe I can get back to putting those albums up on the blog, too :-p

Two Questions for the Day - Observations

Two questions:

1) For those of you in Japan, do you think it is appropriate to wear a jimbe to work? Even Koizumi would say nay to wearing one at the office, but one of my coworkers (who is not 75, for the record) just strolled down the staff room in one of these hot numbers. I know it might be Friday and all... but it's basically like wearing pajamas at work (ne?!).

2) Secondly, one of my coworkers has nicknamed a small group of girls in my second-year International Studies Course (the kids I spent the most time with) the "Blackies." Then they call one of the girls the "Blackest of the Blackies." (for example, "Hey Blackie... come here!")

I think the name has something to do with either the girls' tendancy to wear black outside of school or with their suntans from tennis practice during the summer... but is it just me, or is that completely un-PC?

I grew up in America and I have to admit that name made me squirm a bit when I heard it for the first time, so I am thinking I might explain how comments and names like that could come off to the teacher (so she knows, at least). It's one of the big, inside jokes in class right now, though, and the kids love the name. What are your thoughts?

(Tu? Clay? Can I get a "You can't say that!" in the house?)

A Look at Tests in Japan... and Ready for the Weekend

Wow, a lot going on at work right now.

Entrance Exams - A Little Background... and a Little Loophole?
You've probably heard about the entrance exams that most Japanese students need to take during thier last year of high school. There is an enormous amount of pressure placed upon them, as they are required to "retire" from club activities (the general term used for all sports, clubs and extra-curriculars) to study for months in advance and they either enroll in cram schools (paying large sums of money for extra tutoring and lessons) or spend a lot of their free time studying (well, ideally... although I am not sure how much it actually happens). This is a country where these tests matter, after all.

What you might not know, however, is that not everyone has to take these tests (or take a test to get into university).

At the beginning of each fall term (September), the third year teachers and upper-level staff members hold a big meeting and decide what students they will "recommend" to certain universities. The recommendation choices are based on ability and academic aptitude, as well on a student's interest in attending the schools that will accept or use the recommendation system. And if a student is recommended and they apply... no test. Everyone else needs to take one, but if you get a recommendation to where you want to go, you'll still have to do an interview (which, ok, is a test in many ways), but there is no written test.

I will say that because Japan is a test-based society (all of my students take mini-quizes every morning in homeroom, rotating subjects each day), if you are at the top of your class and your name's on the list of those worthy of being recommended, you're probably going to be alright at studying and at tests anyways. But talk about a relief if you don't have to take that really big, one, scary one that can literally determine the rest of your future (the school you go to and how you do matters more to the course of your life in Japan than it would in, say, America).]

So what does this have to do with your school, again?
The recommendations were announced a few weeks ago, and while some of my favorite students were chosen, many students were not. It's been a buzz in the staff room lately and there have been a lot of big meetings about how the progress of each student is going. I've seen this college application process twice now, but I guess I am noticing the change in focus/tone/atmosphere with some staff and teachers more this time because I now know the system a bit better, know these students better (and knew what they were like when they had less pressure being applied to them) and can understand a little more of the Japanese conversations about it (going on around me). While it's really different from the way we do things in my country (to some extent), I find this whole system fascinating and am proud of how hard the kids are working and applying themselves to this. Crazy to think they only have a few months left.

Weekend A Go... Go
I have a few classes today, need to do a few lesson plans and am determined to catch up on my blog (erm, sorry about the massive number of posts going up today... decided to finally publish a few!), but I am looking forward to my enkai (work party with the new school) tonight and the long weekend.

A few of my friends asked me to go to a cabin in Okayama with them, which I was really tempted to do, but I'm finally going to the fashion museum for a Chinese dress exhibit that looks interesting as well as the Danjiri Matsuri, basically Japan's answer to the Running of the Bulls (a festival in Osaka where teams carry around 82 large wooden carts... that sometimes run loose... and run over at least one person each year!). This weekend also brings a few Harvest Moon festivals that are supposed to be pretty good (one in Kyoto has dragon boats), but we'll see what happens.

Boots with the Fur...la la la la la

Talk about a trip through memory lane. I have been laughing hysterically pretty much all day today as a few old friends from camp have been posting and sending out links to dozens and dozens of pictures from over the years. I still keep in touch with quite a few people I know from my summer camp experiences (both from when I was a camper and from my years on staff as a counselor) but there are so many hilarious stories, experiences and memories that you sort of forget about... until the pictures come creeping back.

Granted, most of the shots I have seen of myself are from when I was 13 or 14 (wow, definately do not miss that beloved "akward stage") but I am still just laughing at all of amazing antics we have pulled over the years. I'll have to scan in some of albums next time I am home. I also have to admit that while it's probably not possible, I'm almost tempted to go back to camp for a bit next summer (it's a language immersion summer program that many people work at into their 30s or older, including our Dean who has been on staff for almost 30 years!).

If not that, the desire to visit friends in Scandinavia is creeping up again... want to look into how realistic making a trip in the next year would be. A girlfriend from college and I were planning on going to Africa together, but recently scrapped the plans, so there's some potential that I could make a quick check-in visit.

First Full Week of Classes is Almost Over - Term II '08

So the day has gone pretty well, but it's been a busy one. I am supposed to be practicing for a test I'm going to be taking, but I decided to leave the big study guide at work, let myself off the hook for a night, and catch up on the blog. I had a full day of classes (one was just a movie), but it was pretty yoghurt all the way through.

Today was also sort of a special day because several representatives from the Western Australian government and the University of Western Australia (UWA) stopped at my school, including the Director of the University. I was asked to escort and help host them, so I ended up spending about 45 minutes going through the whole introduction formalities schpiel (with some pictures and chatting) in the principals office, then we met with the students who went to Australia this summer, listened to a short koto (Japanese horizontal harp) concert and did a mini-tea ceremony.

We didn't get to the tea ceremony right away, so the girls from Tea Ceremony club almost refused to serve the tea to the guests, complaining that it was cold and would taste like crap (their words, only in Japanese), but I think it went pretty well. One strange thing, however, was that I was actually doing a lot of the translating and using a lot of Japanese around my kids (not normal for me).

After a mini-tour of the school, that included checking out the after-school activities, the guests finally left for dinner at a coworkers house (I was invited late so I couldn't go) and I headed home.

Dinner & Karaoke

I was pretty exhausted after the long day at work, but I met Miwa & Tu for ramen at Itoyo on my way home. It was fun catching up and getting some food gave me a bit of a jump-start, so I went for a short run on niijima (the man-made island near my house) and then caught up with Tu and Miwa again - and another friend who was sort of on a date (strangely enough) - for about 40 minutes of karaoke at a place near our houses. I only sang a few songs, and remain a pretty bad singer, but it was fun to let loose at the end of the evening.

Dear Departed Friends, Japan Misses You.

On the topic of fun and friends, I have also recently been getting a lot of updates from friends who have now left Japan and I have to admit it's starting to feel a little strange that they are gone. Even though I didn't see them all everyday, many of the people I would talk to on a regular basis are gone. They're still an email or call away and I thought it would be harder to transition (at the end of the summer) than it has been, to be totally honest, but I do miss them. It just sort of feels like they're on vacation and I am now realizing they're not coming back and that the dynamic is not going to change again. Life is short and this situation is transitory, so I can't say I didn't expect this, but I've definitely been lucky to have gotten to know some good friends here and I definitely miss them. C'leste Vie. But hope all of you are well if you read this (you know who you are).

Apple Bottom Jeans...

I've been watching a lot of political commentary lately, as you might know, but after watching McCain on the Ellen Degeneres show, I also can't get enough of Ellen. I thought I would just watch one clip before heading to bed... then I watched a few... and unfortunately I fell upon this.

It's late and I need to get to bed, but let's just say I've got a song stuck in my head and it's not "Rock-a-bye-Baby":

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=6MMbOCHIi10

Prepping for Another Speech Comp

I've mentioned it before, but I've been spending a few hours after school several days a week for the last week or two, working with a student who is preparing for an upcoming speech competition. It's a priority in my seikatsu (everyday) life at the moment, so I thought it was worth talking a little more about.

Last year, we decided to enter a regional speech contest (my school doesn't really do speech or debate contests), worked really hard, and won first place. It's really satisfying to see my students improve and do well, but I've also been pretty much spent by the time the day is over lately, not to mention that it kind of sucks to get home when it's dark outside (and then hardly want to run because I'm so tired). BUT in the long run... it's worth it. So why not do it again?

The girl I am working with (let's call her "Megan") is about 16 years old and has a really strong will to do well. I actually find it personally inspiring at times. She wrote a fantastic speech (especially for her level), and I can see/hear progress in her intonation and overall presentation since we started. At the same time, we've sort of hit a rut right now and I'm sort of struggling with helping Megan with her pronunciation.

I think phonetics is interesting and I like training people, but right now, Megan is sort of sounding like Barbara Wawa and I'm hitting a brick wall with helping her grasp the changes she needs to make in saying different words. My Japanese isn't great (so I know how hard it is to learn a language), but we're so close and I really just want to help this student not only nail the speech, but also improve her overall ability. We've been working on s, th, and l &r sounds for a while now (so hard!), in addition to breathing patterns (we breath out when speaking English, while most Japanese people breath to the side... try talking with a paper in front of your face and watch it move!) and she's getting better, but it feels like we're hitting a plateau.

I recorded myself reading her speech and I'm pretty sure she's been practicing at home, though, so just a bit more before we send in her audition (?) tape.

Anyways, I originally posted the speech here and published this blog, but I realized I should probably wait until after the competition to give it away. Keep your fingers crossed for Megan and wish us luck, though!

Wed Morning = better

Wow, I actually made it through a morning without any glitches.

My new schedule is busy, but it's so good to be back with the kids and sort of get into the swing of things again.

I definitely don't have much free time during the day anymore (including time for grading/planning/etc), which I am sure will take a toll at some point, but for now... green light means go. Sadly, I'm the type of person who works best when I have about 10,000 things going on so I'm probably just happy right now because I don't have time to slow down :-p

This morning I did two new lesson plans that went really well (trust me, that doesn't always happen so it's good when they do), and I got to spend one of my 3rd year classes with a small group of about 8 of my favorite students. We got some extra time to talk and I really enjoyed catching up with them. It's strange because there are only about 4 months left before they finish school and move onto different things (was proofing English for their goodbye message in the yearbook today - eek!), but I have known them basically since I came and it's been kind of cool watching them grow up. Wow, does that make me sound old, or what?

I'm heading to the gym with my new coworker tonight to learn how to lift weights. I really only run, which is a good workout, but I'm trying to commit to getting back into shape and really have no idea what I'm doing with the handweights sitting in my closet. It still sucks getting home after dark with speech training, but it'll be good to work out after a long day at work.

Oh, and btw... the Tigers won :)

Bad Luck!

Or, "Two Bike Wheels and a Harddrive" (sung to the tune of "Two Turntables and a Microphone").

Talk about an interesting start to the week....

My First Day at Harinan
Yesterday was my first full (real) day at the new school. As you know, I barely made it on time for the morning meeting last week when I didn't realize my bike was out-of-service (until I went downstairs to use it!) and had to run to school. It got there just in time to do my formal introduction (to the full staff, in Japanese, within minutes of walking in , sweat dripping down my face), BUT I got through it. And the day went fine. I just didn't want to repeat the same mistakes that happened that morning.

Given that situation, then, it was pretty ironic that almost the same exact thing happened the next week (flat tire on my other bike!), yesterday morning. Luckily, I had left a lot earlier this time, wanting to ensure there was no way I'd be late (and good thing I did).

I still haven't gotten my regular bike fixed (partially out of stubborness. I just replaced the back wheel and now that the front wheel is popped, I am having trouble finding the will to pay the equivelent of the price of a new bike to replace both wheels on a bike I paid a bit for less than two years ago), but I'll have to sit down and try to do it myself soon now that I have two broken bikes and a locked one with no key :-(

The Harddrive
I was still able to make it to school sort of early, so I figured I would just deal with the bike tire problem later and focus on the day first. I had four classes, essentially all in a row, but my first period was free for planning, so I decided to go over my Powerpoint again just to review and make sure I felt prepared.
So I go over to one of the empty computers, plug in my external harddrive... and nothing happens. I have never had issues with the harddrive before, it works on both Macs and PCs and even if I can't actually see the drive appear on the desktop, I know it's responding because the blue light comes on. But this time... nothing.
I check a few other computers and then pull some coworkers in who help me find another cord to connect it with, but the harddrive is not turning on.

At this point, I am aware that the harddrive is having a problem and am trying to ignore the fact that ALL of the information from my old computer, including all of my music (25G) and ALL OF MY PICTURES FROM THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS (only about, oh, 6,000 shots from Japan, travel, relationships with people I don't live by anymore, love & miss...) were on that drive, and focus on the fact that I now have nothing planned for a day full of classes with these new people.

I called up a teacher at my regular school who didn't have class, had her turn on & sign onto my personal laptop, created a Gmail account for her that we could both access and talked her through emailing the Powerpoint to me from the folder on my computer. For some reason (other than file size restrictions), however, the Ppt wouldn't send. We tried to use Gmail Documents instead (I uploaded an even larger Ppt file I had in my Hotmail inbox to another Gmail account to make sure it worked), but after 30 minutes, the teacher still couldn't get it to send. The email wasn't in the "sent" or "drafts" box when I had the teacher sign out of the new account and I tried to sign in, either. Thankfully, I was so focused on getting this thing to work and went into work-warrior mode insteading of panicking, using the drive to come up with something new do to with 200 kids (ok, over four classes) in the last 10 minutes before I had to leave the staffroom for class. There wasn't really anything the other foreigner could do to help me, either, but I was really grateful for his calm demeaner. I think I could have lost it (at least over the pictures) had it been different.

So, anyways, I spent the last 10 minutes going through my available resources. I found a small US map in one of the desks and decided to turn a warm-up worksheet I had brought with me into an hour-long game. I know my current students would have found this activity completely boring, but because I was new and my new students were still curious about me, I was able to effectively turn this hour into a narcisist's dream: talking about myself for 50 minutes (four times over).

The game (cleverly titled "Snowball Fight in September" by a friend who loaned me the idea) went like this. I had each kid write their name and two questions for me on this questionaire. Then we all crinkled the papers into little snowballs and threw them at each other for a few seconds. Then each kid would pick up a new peice of paper, introduce the person who's questions they were asking and have me answer their questions. The person who wrote that sheet would go next.

Wow. Anyways, it went well but I am glad it's over. I can handle powerpoints with pictures and talking about America, but I really hope nobody has to listen to me basically talk about myself for that long again. I definitely got the typical "do you have a boyfriend?", favorite food and age questions a few times over, but I also decided to take a different approach with these kids than I would with my normal school. A lot of it has to do with the fact that they have visual access to areas of my private life that my other kids don't because the school is so close to my house: they see my at the train station, even when I'm coming back from a night out, they'll see where I shop, when i shop, when I run & - maybe worst of all - whomever I shop/walk/hangout with. So avoiding the details would just be denial... but I still think there is a professional line there... so I left some of it a mystery ;)

The New School
After that day, it was nice to have a fun Engish Club meeting with shaved ice & music. I went running at night and felt better, too, and the good news is that my friend Goran, humble in his own right but truly a genius, can probably (dear God, hopefully) fix the harddrive.

There are some big differences between my new high school and the one I have been working at (and still do 4 days a week), mostly pertaining to more relaxed rules and the student culture, but I was suprised to discover that even some aspects of the staff culture, especially the morning meeting, were different.
First of all, everyone stands up when it's time to start the morning meeting. My desk is not in a specific "gakunen" (grade-specific area), so there is no follow-up, smaller meeting after the larger meeting. I also usually listen to both meetings and am sort of expected to at my other school (some of the announcements pertain to me... even if most don't... and it's good Japanese practice), but now I have a foreign coworker sitting next to me, so we can just do our own thing or pretty much talk once the standing up is over. The involvement is different.

As far as the student culture is concerned, I have heard multiple times (from several sources both at my school and elsewhere), that my regular high school has a reputation for being the "most strict in the prefecture" (even with other highly-regarded schools like Akashi Josai High School). Twenty years ago, our students all had the same haircut, so maybe I could see that being the case then, but I didn't necessarily believe that the same was true of our school environment and rules today. Then I went to Harima Minami for the first time last week.
The visit jolted my perception of schools and students in Japan. They're the same people, but the kids at Harima Minami seem much more free, almost like American students. They just seem so much less restricted to show their personality, even on such basic levels as getting to do almost anything they want with their hair (at Takasago Minami, girls have to make sure no hair is touching their back during assemblies -extra hairbands are on hand in case!) and being able to adjust their clothing a bit, like rolling up their skirts so they go above the knee. It's the sort of thing I get glimpses of when I hang out with students outside of class (in club, in the hall or when I run into them outside of school)... more personality. There are also a number of students in my classes that have lived abroad (in Engish-speaking countries!) for a year and even two years. I met a girl yesterday who lived in Wisconsin, for heaven's sake!
I don't know the new school well yet, but I like the students and am curious to learn more. If these are just surface observations, i can only imagine what is yet to come.

Tuesday AGAIN and the Tiger's Game
This post is long so I'll keep it short, but I don't know how much more of this bad luck I can take... or what I did to deserve it. I was 30 minutes late to my first class today when my train was over 40 minutes late (I got a note from the station, but I was hoping to be early).
Tonight is a Hanshin Tiger's baseball game at Koshien Stadium (vs. the Swallows) with a bunch of friends, though, and I am really looking forward to it. Our friend Sagar got a bunch of tickets and it's someone's birthday, so I am going to meet my friend Ann and head out straight from work. These games are really as much about hanging out with friends and being in the crowd as watching the game (have my Tiger-shaped hat and little, plastic bats ready!)... let's hope they can bring me some luck with the win :-p