Too Much to do, So Little Time to Write
Mood:  happy
Wednesday 11-26-03
I volunteered at the Nishinomiya School for the Disabled (Nishinomiya Yogo Gakko) today. What an incredible experience. These kids range in age from probably 6 years old to 18 years old, I'm guessing. They are severely disabled and bussed in from all over the city. Some are very mobile and understand language and can communicate a bit but are severely mentally retarded. Some autistic, I think, along with many severe phsical deformities. (These are the high end kids.) I'm not sure because communication is limited English with the wonderful teachers here. Spina bifida, CP, cystic fibrosis and other severe disabilities are seen here. Kids in wheelchairs, some who are literally carried from room to room. Goals for one student, for example, are to just learn how to roll over on the floor. One student is just learning how to push a buzzer for help. A few students are learning how to communicate with a computer keyboard. Some are bed ridden and almost comatose. ALL KIDS are treated "as if" they are aware and able to participate, even the comatose ones. They are all talked to individually and ALL have INDIVIDUAL CARING, GENTLE, HAPPY, POSITIVE ADULTS with them ALL SCHOOL DAY! There are definitely more teachers and aides than students. These adults are so good with the kids that at first I thought that a few of these people were mothers and fathers of the kids. Nope, they all are just dedicated teachers and aids. I got to participate in classes with them where they were getting physical therapy and stimulation through touch, music and just verbal interaction. A very hopeless situation for some kids was turned into such a happy, positive daily routine. I am truly inspired by their dedication.
I have seen these kids participate with their respective classes from their "home high schools" on different occasions, for example on Sports Day which was an all-Nishinomiya celebration of all the Jr. Highs in the city at the local sports stadium. These disabled kids were wheeled in to the arena and were with their individual jr. hi. classmates. What an incredible effort to have these kids feel a part of their group even if for a little while.


Monday 11-24-03
Another Japanese Holiday and another trip to Kyoto with my friend Miwa and her two friends. Miwa is an angel at Hamakoushien Chugako (junior high school). She has been so helpful at school and knows a lot of English so she is an extra "translator" when the English teachers are too busy to help me here. Her two friends are around the same age, 10 years younger than me, (we are all single women, wow). We visited Nijo Castle and a wonderful shopping district. One of my favorite photos for this day is a photo of a small box of mushrooms called "mattake" with a price tag of 25,000 yen. That's about $250, yikes! Mushroom photo and more

The autumn leaves were glorious. We had a late lunch at a very incredible, very different Tsukemono restaurant. The closest I can get to describing tsukemono is pickled things but this isn`t quite accurate. The flavors are much milder than pickles but everything is processed in some kind of vinegar, I think. The restaurant was traditional with tatami mats on the floor. You sit with your legs under you until your legs fall asleep and then you do the best you can. There is a window next to our table looking out on to an enclosed Japanese garden with a koi pond, mini waterfall and stone lantern and of course a gorgeous camellia bush in bloom and a Japanese maple with brilliantly red leaves. As we began our lunch it started to rain and the pink petals of the camellia came drifting down mixed with the red maple leaves, wow, it was like a painting developing before our eyes. We are served one course at a time and everything is a masterpiece. Cut and arranged like a piece of artwork. There is everything from daikon, a Japanese white radish to miniature watermelon,cabbage to some dark green leaf similar to kale. There is miso soup served for one course and then lots of gohan (rice) with - wouldn't you know it - those little fishies with the eyes staring out at you. A new thing to me is being served a second bowl of rice that we poured green tea over and then added some little pieces of tsukemono and then ate/drank it. That was very unusual to me. All and all another great day with some new Japanese friends. Life certainly is good.

Little fishies! oh, my
Mood:  incredulous
Wed. Nov. 19th
Please don't order takikomi gohan unless you like little fishes staring out at you while you munch them down. We had it for lunch today. The little fishes are called "shirasu boshi" (that means little fish in Japanese) - oh I see! Well, they are staring at me while I'm eating them! Achhh.. The bowl of rice looks like it's teaming with what I would call "dried fry" which are little guys who have just hatched a few days ago. The good news is they are pretty bland and not real fishy tasting. They are quite chewy because they have been dried. They just look so real swimming around in my rice. I am surprised that this is the first time since coming to Japan that it was a bit hard to eat my food!

Am I in Heaven?
Mood:  happy
Melonpan. I've been hearing about this delicious sweet bread from the kids. It doesn't have melon in it, it's just shaped like a melon! A teacher told me that you couldn't get it around here that it only was sold on the streets in Tokyo and maybe Kyoto. Well, I'm riding my bicycle out of Hamako in the rain this afternoon. It's fairly dark at 5pm but I see on the street corner a gathering of people in front of a van. As I pull up, I discover that two guys are grilling this wonderful looking bread ("pan" in Japanese). It is yeast sweet bread, coated in sugar. They guarantee me for 120 yen that it is oiishi (delicious). Well, they are correct! It's selling like hotcakes. It was a bit of heaven standing in a cool rain under my umbrella mounted to my bicycle handlebars eating this hot-off-the-grill sweet. Life is good.

Where's Spot?
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Aren't those kids cute?
Shogako san-nenseis - that means elementary school third graders, cute as can be. Their teacher was in an August workshop that I taught with some other ALT's. She seemed to take a liking to me and asked me to do an audio-tape of the little story book "Where's Spot?" We presented this little story in the summer workshop. It turns out that one of her students had this story book written in Japanese and had literally worn it out. These kids apparently listened to me reading this story on tape everyday for awhile (not knowing much English but able to follow the pictures) and decided to make their own storybooks. They really wanted to meet me so their teahcer invited me to class. What I didn't know was that this had turned into a demonstration lesson. When I got there, there was a college professor and at least 10 college students observing with video cameras. Good grief, glad I didn't know ahead of time. No time to get nervous. Anyway, I read the story to the kids and they loved it. They showed us their story books that they had made and colored. One group even did a sort of puppet play on the theme.

It was a very rewarding experience and it was a wonderful chance to see a really great elementary school teacher in action. It was a relief to get back to the more familiar junior high kids though. This is where my heart is!

It's hard to believe that these little kids have to learn katakana (44+ symbols and sounds), hiragana (another 40+ symbols and the same sounds) these two systems are similar but some symbols look very different so the same sound like short "a" can have two entirely different symbols. These two syllabaries are only for foreign words and prepostitions and articles. Nouns and ideas are written in Kanji (an ancient Chinese syllabary). The kids learn a part of the over 40,000 symbols in this syllabary. So no wonder that they don't get around to learning Romanji which is our alphabet until later in elementary school. I am constantly amazed that a lot of the kids do know our alphabet at an early age.
If you'd like to see a photo of this cute class click here:Where's Spot

My 5th 49th.
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: They Say It's Your Birthday.
Thursday, Nov. 13th was another Nihongo evening language lesson. Quing-san (from China) and I both share the same birthdate (Nov. 14th) so I brought homemade brownies to class. We each got a candle on a brownie to blow out. So started the birthday celebrations.

Friday, Nov. 14th was a regular school day, but I started it out by getting up early and baking a loaf of homemade pumpkin bread to bring to work. I figure that you gotta celebrate yourself, eh? Also got a call from my folks which was a nice surprise. The pumpkin bread wouldn't have happened without the effort of Connie and David downstairs. I don't know where they found the canned pumpkin but I am so glad. We will have a pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving weekend too because of their shopping prowess! So - anyway - back to the celebrations. After school, it is a 1/2 hour bicycle ride back to the apartment to change and freshen up, then back to the train station to Sanomiya. I met my new found friend, Didik (Japanese language class) and his girlfriend and his new found friend and Japanese tutor, Troy. We all headed out on train and subway to find a little restaurant that I wanted to try. I have been to two festivals where these India folks had a booth serving their restaurant specialties. I fell in love with their Tandoori chicken and samosas. Of course, I got lost at the train station for a 1/2 hour before I found the others and almost gave up and went back home.

Lucky that I didn't. Tabla was decorated with a Happy Birthday banner and Prem-san had made us a special dinner. For 2,000 yen each (which is very cheap) we feasted on spiced cashews, tandoori chicken, curried mushrooms and a red curry chicken dish, nan, as well as wine and a great India beer. We finished up with an iced mango cream, very delicious (oiishi). I got presents even and Didik brought two delicious cakes that we were too full to eat so we split the cakes in four pieces and took it home to savor the next day.

What a funny sight we must have been. A drunk on the train just stared and stared at us until we started talking to him. There we sat. Didik, 27, is from Bali and definitely looks NOT Japanese. He is speaking Thai to his girlfriend, 32, who is definitely Japanese but they communicate in Thai because Didik doesn't know much Japanese. Then Troy, 19, is over 6 feet tall and definitely from Australia but he is speaking Japanese. Then there's me, I have no idea about the Thai but am trying my best to try some broken Nihongo. The drunk thought I was someone's mother but couldn't figure out who! Hah, now that makes me feel old but then I could actually be their mother! Oh, dear. Anyway, we had a great time. They graciously didn't try to take me to a singles bar (that would have been too depressing for this old girl). We walked through crowded streets, visited a Shinto shrine and got our fortunes and tied them to a tree for good luck, had coffee and got home about midnight. This will be a birthday to remember.

Saturday, Nov. 15th I slept in. Well, I am learning to pace myself finally. Made myself pancakes, this is my favorite "relax" breakfast for a weekend morning. Then I'm back on the train to the outskirts of Kyoto to meet my Japanese friends and meditation buddies. We meet once a month to study Sri Easwaran's words of wisdom and to meditate together. This has been a real blessing to have a satsang group here in Japan to continue my meditation practices with fellow aspirants. David and Connie had leant me a cell phone because they were going to be in Kyoto on a tour while I was meditating. We connected at a train station in Kyoto around 5pm (thanks to cell phones - I guess they aren't all bad) and the next birthday celebration began.

We did some shopping at Kurawamachi mall. This is about 3 streets wide and goes on for blocks. This is like an outdoor market but the stalls are actually open store fronts and the streets are covered by a giant skylight above. Very convenient when it's raining. David enjoyed some Kirin beer in a pub while Connie and I did "last minute" Xmas shopping. Connie is leaving for CA next week and, boy, are we going to miss her. Then we were off to find a restaurant. We found a really nice one on the fourth floor of the Hankyu Dept. store (restaurants are usually found on the 4th floor in department stores). Grocery stores are always in the basement. Jewelry and clothing on the 1st and 2nd floors and so on. This restaurant served a "Viking" dinner which is basically a smorgasboard. We discovered that all-you-can-eat-places are very popular and that Japanese people can really pack away the food. As soon as a platter was brought out it was moments before the delicacies were gone. We got very good at beating the mob to get some really yummy treats.

Then we took the subway to JR Station to view the Xmas tree, huge, and listen to Xmas music - in English, of course. Just like home. We got there too late and the bakeries were closed so Connie and I missed out on our dessert but we were pretty full anyway. It takes about an hour to get back to Nishinomiya. It's funny but when I head back "home" sometimes I slip and say Spokane. Weird.

Eco Education
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: Mother Earth Loves You!
Yesterday was another new experience. I was able to observe a lesson given to the ichi-nensei's (first graders)- that's first year junior high here. It was called Eco studies. These two hours were presented to the students by industry people (agriculture to recycling to compost folks). The presenters took turns presenting their individual parts. There were between 15-20 adult presenters. A lot of the lesson was filmed by two local tv crews with portable lights and cameras. This consisted of about 6 crew members. Then there was a group of adults from India observing. They are in Japan for some kind of Environmental agenda and wanted to observe what Nishinomiya is doing in the schools. Nishinomiya has a real dynamic commitment to deal with ecological issues. It was very apparent how strong this committment is. Not only did they have incredible "manpower" behind this project, they also had very effective teaching and presentation methods. This made for an exciting, stimulating (if rather crowded) atmosphere. The kids didn't seem to mind all the adults and attention in the room. They were absorbed in the materials and ideas that were being presented. The kids were sitting at tables of about 8 kids each. There were lots of things for them to touch, feel, smell and explore. For instance, there were bundles of rice with the roots still in tact. Bags of rice kernels - hulled and unhulled. A baggie of the powdered rice hulls that are used for some kind of use that I didn't catch. Then they were asked to guess how many rice kernels are in a bowl of rice. (3,000 kernels!) wow. Then we figured out how many stalks of rice that would take to fill a bowl. They also had the kids explore a shopping bag of different types of food and brainstorm where they came from before they got to the store and what happened to the wrapping and left overs after the food was eaten.

It was amazing to watch the way the whole idea of ecology was presented to these students. I am so impressed with the effort to develop these students into good citizens and stewards of the earth.

Time on my Hands
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: I'm singing in the rain.
I have time on my hands because my morning classes were cancelled so I'm at work playing on the computer for a few hours.

Well, they say it isn't the rainy season, but it's been raining cats and dogs for an entire day and a half. Thank goodness for goretex! I must bring gloves from now on. Riding home in the rain last night was rather chilly. My apartment looks like a laundry with wet clothes hanging everywhere. It is going to be a real challenge to keep things dry in such humid weather. In the summer at least it was warm and things dried out pretty quick but now it's cold. I haven't figured out how to turn on the heater/air conditioner unit to get warm air. Must figure that out real soon. I'm fortunate to be on the 3rd floor. In the summer it was hot but now I call it "warm." Lucky for me heat rises from the apartments below and I probably won't need to use the heater too much, I hope.

So here's another dumb thing that I did here. I knew that there was a rice cooker in the aparment so I pulled this white electrical appliance out of the cupboard, dusted it off and filled it with water and rice, plugged it in and pushed buttons until something started happening. A 1/2 hour later I had rice. Little did I know that I had just cooked my rice in the electricall appliance that heats water for tea. Oops, sumimasen. I'm still pulling rice kernels out of my tea water. ha ha ha.

So, if you'd like to view some photos of my running route through my neighborhood please click here
Running Route

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Mary Catches a Cold
Mood:  down
Now Playing: Pooped and blue
Well, the go, go, go just got up and went. I'm pooped and the old bod just doesn't want to go anymore. I went to Kyoto on Saturday afternoon for the 2nd in a series of lectures on Buddhism. Got to Kyoto early and figured out how to go from the train station to the subway to JR station without going outdoors. Ta, da. This is very important to know in rainy weather. It's a short walk to the Shin Buddhist International Center (where I'm staying) from JR station. I have been getting off at another train station and always seem to head in the wrong direction. Blocks later, I discover my error and turn around. This involves a lot of extra hiking time and effort. In the rain it can be pretty exasperating and exhausting. So now, I've finally figured out how to do this easily and with a minimum of hassle and effort. yipppeee. It feels so good when you finally figure something out here. Anyway. I wasn't feeling good to begin with but I faded fast after the lecture. I decided to skip dinner with the ministers and go straight back and go to bed. By the time I walked to the International Center I discovered that I was pretty hungry so I ambled down to the local Chinese noodle shop and had the most healthy restaurant meal I've had in awhile. It was some kind of Chinese noodles with lots of cabbage, onions and other vegies, two large prawns and a green salad. I felt much better after that. They even gave me a free dessert (green tea ice cream).

So the lecture was the 2nd in a series entitled "The Essentials of Pure Land Buddhism Based on the Tannisho." The lecturer was Professor Toshikazu Arai of Soai University. He is also a Shin Buddhist minister. A follower of Shinran Shonin wrote the Tannisho. He wanted to get Shinran's words down as well as he could remember them before he died. This is a short book but full of wisdom and Buddhist philosophy. I know some of this in my head but it's hard to understand so I keep listening and reading and trying to incorporate the teachings into my life.

I had plans to rent a bicycle on Sunday morning but was feeling a bit feverish and my throat was getting sore and besides IT WAS POURING RAIN! Well, that was the last straw. I headed for home (avoiding the rain by going underground). haha. Got back and stayed home the entire day. Well, except for having to bring the video back that I rented on the way home from the train station. I always ask if the video is in English and they always say "yes" but sometimes it isn't. This one was in French with Japanese subtitles. Now, that won't work! I rented AI (Artificial Intelligence). Long movie but ok. I really liked "Bend it Like Beckham." I watched that last time.

It feels good to just stay in pajamas and read and lay around and drink tea for a change. I get close to exhaustion every once in awhile and have been lucky so far that after a day's rest, I bounce back. No major illness yet.

Even did a bit of sewing repair on my bicycle bag. I've torn it a bit from dings, bangs and an occasional all out bicycle crash. I did such a good job with a scrap of beautiful Japanese print material that I got in a fabric shop that I had to go down to David and Connie's to show it off. At the end of a relaxing day it was great to just sit around and relate funny stories about the stupid things we've done while here. Also relating some funny things we've seen.

Take for instance, going to our first tea ceremony on Saturday. We were in the lobby of the local Community Center and watching little old ladies coming in, some dressed in kimono, most pretty old. One little old lady hobbled up to the automatic glass doors that open as you approach. The doors opened, and she saw here friends, and instantly went into a low bow. Unfortunately, she hadn't stepped over the threshold and so her head was the only part of her body to make it past the doors as they slammed shut. There she was with her body outside and her head inside trapped between the doors. Everyone quickly jumped to her aid and as soon as someone cut the beam of the sensor light the doors reopened but for an instance it sure looked like a "Candid Camera" moment. Not so funny at the time for her but it still brings a chuckle when I think about seeing her head just stuck there for a moment.


So, you want to see some photos of Hamakoushien Junior High students on Sports day, please click here
Sports Day

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Kyoto BCA tour
Now Playing: Tired but Happy
Wednesday, 05 November 2003



Well, yesterday was the 4th day of a 4 day weekend for me. I was very lucky to be able to join a tour of Kyoto with my friend, Leslie, from Spokane on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2003. She arrived in Japan on Monday and didn't get into her hotel till after 10pm last evening. What stamina, the group was up and at temple for services the next morning. (I slept in, oh wise one!) I met Leslie and the group of about 40 people from all over the U.S. for a tour of Kyoto.

First we headed to Sanjusangendo. This is a famous temple of "33 spaces." San means 3. Ju means ten. Sanjusan means 33, duh! There are 32 pillars and 33 spaces between them. This is a significant number but I don't recall the meaning. Within these spaces are 1,000 statues of a Buddhist God, Kannon. All the statues are carved of cedar and are coated in gold and made in the 12th and 13th centuries. They are lined up shoulder to shoulder, almost life size. Each one a little different but mostly the same design. There are risers and there's about 7 rows stretching the length of the hall. "Guardian" gods stand guard between each pillar. Some of these gods look Chinese in design but most are Hindu gods.

Next we were back on the bus for a spectacular drive out of the city and up Mt. Hiei (Mother Mountain of Japanese Buddhism). The elevation, I think is only about 2,000+ ft above sea level but it is a steep climb in a big bus. The fall colors were just spectacular. Views of Lake Biwa and Kyoto are impressive and we stopped a few times on the way up for some "Kodak moments." It is hard to believe that in ancient times monks would hike their way up these tortuous winding paths to study Buddhism at the Enryaku-ji temple.

Saicho Daishi was born in 767, entered temple at age 12, and was ordained a priest in 785. Witnessing the corruption of traditional Buddhism in Nara, he withdrew onto Mt. Hiei and "entered religious austerities" in order to see authenitic Buddhism. He built the first temple on Mount Hiei in 788. In 804 he visited China and studied not only Tendai Buddhism but also Vajrayana and Zen Buddhism. I was particularly impressed with Ninai-do (Benkei's Shoulders Hall). It is made up of two identical Buddhist practice halls, the Lotus and Constant Practice Halls, connected by a covered passageway. It symbolizes a basic teaching of Mt. Hiei that the essences of Lotus Sutra and Pure Land teachings are united. Meditation and reciting the Lotus Sutra in one hall and reciting the Amida Sutra in the other. In the 14th century this temple turned out some incredible people who would go on to establish a number of sects which still exist and are going strong today, including Jodo Shinshu. People like Shinran, Honen, Dogen, and Nichiren all studied here around the 1300's.

We knelt in awe at the view of the eternal flame that hasn't been extinguished in 1,200 years. Unbelievable. We had a very traditional vegetarian lunch at the temple dining hall that was not only delicious but beautiful with an orange edible flower and fuzzy green herb leaf (spicy and edible).

After lunch we roamed the grounds briefly trying to take as many picutres as possible. Then we were off down the mountain and back into Kyoto where we were dropped off for just an hour of shopping time in an outdoor but covered market. Everything from fans to ceramics and silk and washi(handmade paper). I have been to this market numerous times but Leslie was overwhelmed with all the variety of souvenirs and things to buy. I was so sorry that she didn't have more time to browse.

After a quick buying spree we were back on the bus and off to Kiyomizu Temple (mizu means water in Nihongo). We reached this site at around 4pm. We had a short walk through an incredible outdoor market with lots of local pottery, fans and more. We had to keep hurrying to get to the temple before it closed. Legend says that there are 3 springs here and one spring grants beauty to anyone who drinks, one grants wealth and the other health; so, of course, we all had to drink at every Shinto water fountain that we came to, just in case! The sun was setting as we approached the gateway to the temple. The gateway was brilliant red and orange in normal light, but with the sunset it was like being on fire with color. We couldn't get enough pictures. On top of the sunset, a crescent moon was off to the right of the arch. How spectacular! I just hope that my digital camera was able to capture it all. Leslie's battery was going dead and I was having a real challenge getting the lighting right but we gave it a valiant try.

Tired but happy, we landed back at the hotel at 6pm. A very long day indeeed. We had a short walk to the International Center so that I could check out of my room - rather late. Then we had a nice American style dinner and then Leslie was off to her hotel for a much deserved early to bed night. And I was off to catch the train for an hour's trip back to Nishinomiya (it sure feels like home).
Wonderful day.

Welcome
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Here we go again!
24 October 2003 12:58 PM KDT
Welcome

Well, this is going to be another adventure in learning. I hope that you will enjoy this blog as much as I enjoy building it.

Fall is gorgeous. There's a chill in the air and I had best bring a jacket to work because riding my bicycle back to my apartment in the evening is a tad bit brisk.

If you'd like to see some fall pictures, they will be posted soon, I hope. I'm on my way to Kyoto this weekend and this is the perfect time of the year to take some garden photos.

If you'd like to view some photos of my first month in Japan, please click here
August in Japan

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