お久しぶりなブログ・The Long-Time-No-See Blog

Ogata Machi, Bungo-ono City, I work here.

Okay, ya'll. I'm gonna try real hard to continue this blog from now on. You know how it is, once you stop writing, time passes, MANY things happen, and then you find yourself in the center of a billion stories to write about. And well, I know you don't necessarily wanna read a billion stories, so I'm gonna do some recapping here. Recapping with pictures. And then hopefully from now on, I can do a monthly re-cap.

Well, I really want to start in March 2011. March was a month of many activities. As you know, the Earthquake followed by Tsunami happened on 3/11/2011. This really make Japan stand still for about a day, and then they busily got to work in an organized an cooperative manner, searching, feeding, supporting, helping, and rebuilding. Of course there were the nuclear reactor plant shake-ups which are still being monitored today. Throughout all of this, my area, Kyushu, has remained relatively safe and untouched. Although, during that time, a volcano in the south was having some ash-issues, making our air slightly unhealthy looking for a few days.

Before the earthquake happened, one of my closest friends here, Mayumi, and I entered to run in a half marathon. I didn't think I would ever run one again (cuz they're damn painful on the legs and feet), but the can-do spirit of the Japanese is very difficult to not absorb while living in these mountains, and so she and I together formed a team bent on 'just finishing the race' in March. The weather was drizzly (like Oregon) but relatively good for running. The course was nothing but up and down hills. And to my surprise, I realized this was the way to run a distance run if you're gonna run one. I've done 2 halves and this was the easiest!! My time was 2:01, vs. Eugene marathon (flat, 1:99) vs. Las Vegas Marathon (flat, 2:35). I mean it may be because all there are here are hills and mountains, but for the first time, i didn't experience any knee or feet pain afterward. And my shoes were OLD!!! So anyway, that was a wonderful experience. Mayumi and I worked together at my small Junior high school called Kiyokawa (in the boonies). She was the school nurse. One more thing, I JUST got a text from Mayumi saying she bought a road bike.... FUN!!!! =D

Me and Mayumi

Mayumi and Me... our night of dancing till 5 AM

But in March this totally horrific thing happens. It is the end of the school year, the 9th graders graduate and move onto high school, and then the teachers change school locations!!! :( This is a very depressing time if you are not used to the switching of colleagues and friends. Almost ALL of my favorite teachers left and had to move on to different schools. A teacher will stay at any given school for 1~7 years. It depends on their subject area, they experience, and whether or not they are pregnant. So being from the USA, this is a shocker. For the kids, too, although this is how it is for them. I mean, I like the idea of it more than being at one school for your entire career. It keeps the teachers fresh. But I think switching after 7-10 is a little more ideal, and it should be within the neighboring cities. In Japan, you can be moved to any school within the 'state' (prefecture). This means that one might either have to commute or relocate. I think it sucks. Mainly, cuz, as I said, most of my friends left, including Mayumi. But she and I still talk and hang out. And we are making training plans to run a full marathon... this I really can't imagine.

The good thing about receiving new teachers was that for a short time I kinda felt like the big-fish on campus... although I still don't ever really get what is going on... and they soon caught up to the school routines, and now I find myself going to them with questions like "Um... where is everyone right now?"  "Oh, they're all in the Theater listening to a presentation on the Battle of Okinawa..."   Oh.

Also in March, I went on a 3-day charity bike ride with a bunch of other English teachers in the mountains. It was a 2-night stay ride, where we rode 80km per day. 80 km is like 50 miles. It was really fun, even though the last day it rained heavily and we were all cold by the end of it. I am looking forward to doing it next March. This year's proceeds went to the Japanese Red Cross for the Tsunami victims. We raised $14,000. Usually the money goes to charity called *Room to Read*, but being that the Earthquake happened, that seemed like a more appropriate cause.

A stop at a temple to see some sights and think good thoughts for Japan.

And a little play time on the pirate's ship

  
April came along, and then came the Cherry Blossoms. It was a cold winter so they blossoms were a few weeks late! Yes, LATE! People who had planned cherry blossom-viewing parties (o-hanami) had to reschedule... but in all honesty, many people canceled their parties because no one wanted to celebrate the new season when so many lives were lost after the tsunami. There was nationwide grieving for the tsunami victims and their families. I don't know whether to say I am ashamed or not of having had a ohanami party, but I did participate in one. My favorite bar, Blue Santa's owner, Shunji hosted it and a good amount of people collected and got together. It was a BBQ underneath the falling sakura (cherry blossoms).

After that day, I spent the rest of April preparing for my trip to the USA. More like my USA Tour, I spent time in Arizona, Oregon, Cali, Boston, and Connecticut. The reason to make the flight originally was to be present at Jay and Ania's wedding in Connecticut. But it happened to fall closely to a vacation week, and so I extended it overall to 20 days. Let me just say, it was the best vacation I've ever had! I got to see almost everyone I love, and despite all of the many flights I took, it was actually the most relaxing trip I've ever had. I think one reason was that I didn't really drive much. Everyone kinda took me around with them, which I am very grateful for. They also let me borrow their cell phones for my many calls (thank you and again, sorry, Ffej Elcnu, at the airport). Jay and Ania's wedding overall was ridiculously wonderful, a reunion in so many ways, with day after day of celebration.

 

Yay Friends!!!

Nate and Eric

Matt and Laney

Lovely Amanda and Dynamic Dynamo

Ania and Jay 

Joan and John, Momo's caretakers down in Tejas (couldn't ask for anyone better!!!)

The return to Japan was a little more stressful, however. I had 2 suitcases full of souvenirs for my friends. One of them was entirely beer ;D  The beer made it safely. But my jar of pickles did NOT. So I had to ride in a train with a pickle-smelling suitcase, not to mention in clothes I'd been wearing for 2 days because my other clothes smelled like pickles. There's always a flipside to the coin... it could have been my jar of pickled BEETs that broke in my suitcase, and it wasn't... or it could've been the large bottle of whiskey I was importing for Shunji... so I still do thank my lucky stars. Katchan met me at the bus stop in my prefecture, and then, it was like I hadn't left Japan...

And that was the strange thing. When I had been in the States during my trip, it was like I had been on vacation in Japan, for like, two weeks. That's it. A short little blip in my life in a land far, far away. I got to see most of the people I would always see anyway, and so it was like nothing had changed. But then, when I stepped back into Japan, back into my tiny little town, that, too, felt like I was returning back to my normal life. This is a duality. My interchangeable life. And so coming back to Japan after that trip, I realized that I really did miss my life back in the States, and that I better enjoy my last year in Japan, cuz it is my last year in Japan....

Now it is coming upon Summer Vacation. Well, that is what it's called. The students still come to school everyday to play sports for 3-4 hours, and then they either stay or go home to do their daily summer homework. I have realized however that the summer is way less intense than the school. It's all about review and personal goals rather than forced curriculum. Students don't HAVE to do homework, ever. They can just cram at the last minute before a test, not care about the test, not need to study, or do the homework they see fit. Homework is never a part of the grade. Only the tests. But most kids do have an obligatory feeling that homework is an essential part of fitting into school life.

So what am I gonna do??? Well, I'm gonna keep up on this blog, for starters... and as for my summer, I have a bunch of things going on. For one, 2 ALTs (like me) are finishing their contracts, so they are getting replaced by new people. So that means 1 new lady and 1 new guy, both from the US. This also means sad times, because I really like the 2 guys they're replacing. Owen and Ryan have totally helped to make my life here easy. So then end of July is all about going-away parties, parties, and more parties. I'll also be attending a charity cruise with Shunji, Ryan, and Cheryl at the end of this month. Shunji is the main bar tender, so 'we're going to support him'... and we get to dress up!!!!

Another thing I thought about for summer was that for years, my grandmother has said that I would like golf.
So I met a lady that works at a golf course in my town, and there's a great opportunity for women to learn how to golf for free. In Japan, women have yet to really enter the market when it comes to participating in golf. For one, it is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. One game at an average course costs more that $100.00. That does include lunch and a bath, but really?! So this women's club allows us to practice for free, and play a game for $50.00. However, after 3 times of practicing at the driving range, I gave up. It's not for me. Free or not. I would dread the days when I had scheduled myself to go, and then I ended up canceling on the other ladies I was supposed to meet. Maybe it's Japan. Maybe it's the clothing requirement.... granted I never made it to the actual course, but isn't that what put-put is all about ??? he he he... maybe one day....

I've also got some plans to make manju with Katchan. You can look manju up on wiki, probably, but here are some pics. This batch didn't turn out so good cuz it was my first time making it.

Getting the water ready to boil so we can steam some manju

Yup, 91 manju!

Katchan, removing manju from the steamer (called a Kamado)

       

Manju is a dough made from flour, salt and rice sake, risen and then stuffed with sweet red bean paste.

 

I'll be working on serious lesson planning while I have nothing else to do during Summer Vacation... yes, I still have to go to work everyday, 8 hours. Not voluntary. And I do have some chances to escape from my schools to teach on 3-day long English camp, as well as a few Elementary school morning English classes. After that it will be cycling and swimming. Um, speaking of swimming. Check out my swimming hole. Try not to go all hater on me out of jealously, but yes.... I believe I've said it many times: I live in a beautiful place. (Hint: come and visit while you still can!) For those of you that know Mt. Pisgah to Eugene, it's the same distance from my house (or EV Cain to the American River).

My paradise!!! (This comes with the warning from all of my old friends: be aware of strange Japanese men!!!) I'm starting to worry more about them then the snakes.

          



Lastly, before I go, I am announcing that I have purchased my ticket for my long-awaited travel to Okinawa. I'll be heading off to reunite with the lovely ladies that were so kind to me when I lived there 10 years ago. It's not really a sightseeing time. I'll be working at the preschool that I taught at before everyday. But it will be nice to catch up with them and use their language. More about that in the next post.

Thanks for reading until the very end! I hope to see some of your faces (or all) in my Japanese town this year, and if not, I can't wait to see you Stateside!!! SF, here I come!!!!

I miss my girls!!!!!!!!!