Konnichiwa! Ogenkidesuka? (How are you?) Genki Desu!! I'm fine too. Thank you for asking.
I've had an interesting mix of work, fun, and, er...well, quite moving experiences.
I'll start with the basics - I've had a blast - been diggin in to the culture - been to many homes for dinner the last month and a half - some crazy dishes like eating a very "omorshoroi" (interesting) salad which turned out to be all seafood..made friends with a few locals my age and they've adopted me on daytrips and such, so my social calender went from crickets to city lights!
So far I've gotten myself into three bands, two japanese rock bands and one ALT (that's my job title) band of Gaijins (foreigners)...and will be playing in Tokushima City next month. I'm still working on getting into the Big Band Jazz scene which may happen soon. My apartment has guitars, keyboard, trumpet, tin whistle, all of which the kids have enjoyed in my "tour" of elementary schools...life is pretty good! The pic of me waving the flag is at one of my Chugakko (Junior High) sports festival....I was on a team called the BLUE FIGHTERS - the other teams were named Yellow Smiley and Pink Devil. In English! Not translated! SO HILARIOUS! Imagine you're in a wheelbarrow race against the dreaded YELLOW SMILEYS! I was quakin, lemme tell ya. But it was pretty cool.
So what's it like? Well, let me paint a picture - I got to work a little early today as my scheduled time and my teaching time are way too close to actually pull any decent lesson off...so I have been designing teaching videos on my computer for basic ESL kinds of things, and the kids seem to like them...been doing some rap-type of chanting certain sentences and the Ichi-nensei's (first year chugakko or 7th grade) were up and clapping and dancing - all smiles and good stuff. (My greatest challenge at the moment is the concept of the Right to Education and how that is translated here in Japan. A ninth grader has a right to be in the classroom, no matter how much of a butthead he/she is...so I have sleeping kids, mouthy kids who really need meds or something ELSE, but there we are, one big happy dysfunctional family stuck together and the Irish guy at the front of the room talking to himself about how "The boy eats a sandwich" - so my team-teacher is a sweetie and really a pro, but the system is occasionally frustrating....no discipline...odd!)
ANYWAY, other than that little bit, which is luckily only an occasional class scenario, life is pretty smooth. I have an ultimate frisbee tournament in the town where my friend Takeshi lives this Sunday, which is gonna be FUN!
So the other pics: One is of the statues at the Hiroshima Peace Park - quite a beautiful and stirring testimony to the strength and resilience of the Japanese people, and a strong reminder that we should NEVER engage in atomic warfare. If you see this place, if you hear a local survivor's stories as he takes to the mass grave site, of if you feel the tombstones which are smooth in shadowed blast areas and gouged and rough in exposed areas and imagine eyeballs popping out of eyeballs (sorry) from the air pressure changes, you get a little closer to the true sadness war brings. 140,000 is a lot of deaths. I know this is a little downer, but perhaps we need to wake up occasionally, and it certainly did that for me!
In necessary contrast, I've also been to a Sake Festival which felt like a regional competition for the best ricewine - personally I don't like it! But I tried hard to!
The Onsen is a traditional Japanese bath house which has freakin' HOT water and some colder pools and maybe a sauna - it's really a relaxing place which is pretty important here as many Japanese work very long hours as a matter of course. They have a patient will about work that is impressive. The Onsens are cheap and really beautiful. They are divided by sex and usually people go naked. Think of the locker room but without the soundtrack.
I have also joined my 7th graders as they did calligraphy, or Shodo - this was pretty fun, and very difficult. I struggled like a banshee with that brush - you'd think 10 years with a baton would yield some sort of control, but mine was supposed to say the Kanji for Great Peace and I think it turned out like the Great Pizza. But they posted the darn thing in the hallway anyway and the kids wrote cute things on it like "A Masterpiece" and "You did it!" - cuties.
Crime is very low here, which why the beer in the vending machine by the side of the road is a common sight in Japan (see pic). IT'S WEIRD. But it comes in handy in a pinch. However, if you drink anything and drive you can lose your job. I like this tough rule. I think it keeps people safer. I like driving knowing I'm the only one whose been drinking. JUST KIDDING!!!
I NEVER drink and drive. There's too much at stake.
The pic of the sign - can you read it? Me neither. 'cept one word: Good. Which made me laugh. Sort of like, "In the midst of the confusion, it's all GOOD!"
Japan is amazing in the fall - it feels like San Diego - 70 and sweet with a wee chill in the evening. I've had a blast here thus
far and I feel like autumn is forgiving me for dealing with HELLaciously hot weather in August. Man...The shrine entrance "goalpoast" design (above red pic at Miyajima) harkens back, as my symbols here, to nature. This shape is supposed to resemble a bird perch, somehow denoting rest and also conjuring a portal to the spiritual side.
It's all good!
Love to you all,
Shawn
