Himeji & Osaka Jo
Tuesday, June 22nd

OK, so this is one of my major blunders. Last week I had researched some fun activities going on in our area while Bill and Nola were going to be here. There was a Yukata Matsuri Festival happening on this day and i circled it in my Kansai Time-Out English language magazine. The bold print at the top of the article said something about Osaka Jinga (shrine). The article described people parading up and down the boulevard close to Himeji Castle. They would be displaying their summer yukata (light kimono) and there would be 800 food and entertainment booths set up. That sounds like fun! Still thinking Osaka because that was in bold letters, i planned a morning trip to Himeji Castle and then over to Osaka to see Osaka Castle and then we could eat and enjoy the Festival that evening.

You'd think i would have gotten a clue when we arrived at Himeji and saw a ton of booths being set up along the street leading to the castle. Dave and Connie joined us for a very impressive tour of the inside of the castle. I would highly recommend this one. All the explanations were in English and were very informative. The view from the top of the castle is really impressive. It's hard to imagine how large an area this castle complex encompassed way back when. On our way back to the train station we had a great yakitori from one of the booths for our lunch break but most of the booths were still being constructed. Ah, well, we thought, we'll hit the REAL festival when we get to Osaka. WRONG. We didn't figure out till we got to Osaka that we had just left the festival in Himeji and that Osaka Jinga is in Himeji. Oops. Duh. Phooey.

We got to Osaka-jo too late to get inside but enjoyed the grounds and took some cool photos of the cat lady and ate a not so good okonomiyaki at a booth close to the castle mote. I could just kick myself. We would have enjoyed watching the "fashion show" and sampling food from all those booths and probably seen Himeji lit up at night but it was too late and too expensive to get back on the train and travel an hour back there to enjoy it. Luckily, everyone was happy with our day anyway and i think that i was the most disappointed. Resolved: I WILL read the directions better next time.

Nola and Bill and Kyoto and typhoon!
Mood:  caffeinated
Monday, June 21st

I had heard the typhoon was coming on Monday, and the forecasting around here is extremely accurate. Despite these warnings we headed for Kyoto anyway. When we reached the Kyoto JR station we headed up to the top to get a birds-eye view of the city. Our umbrellas were blown inside out and it was a bit unpleasant up there, but we still got a great peak at the city despite getting a little damp. Hopping a bus we quickly arrived at Sanjusangendo as the rain began to fall. The 33 spaces that house over a thousand gilded Buddha's are such a powerful sight. They are guarded by an assortment of male and female figures. It was wonderful to be able to take the time to read about each figure. Surprisingly most of them are based on Hindu entities. A feeling of unity and oneness came over me while i studied these statues with physical traits that range from India, China, Africa and all over Asia. Buddhism has incorporated the art and beliefs of many cultures. It is truly beautiful to see it all come together in this inspiring temple. It gives me hope that one day the world will come to see that we are all one.
Sorry, i get a bit emotional and philosophical after experiencing these ancient, holy places.

Also at Sanjusan Temple is information about another interesting practice - archery. An archer in 1686 shot arrows non-stop for 24 hours at this temple. He shot 13,053 arrows and hit the target 8,133 times. He was only 18 years old. The hallway was 120 meters (131 yards) long and he shot 544 arrows/hour. That's 9 arrows every minute! I can't help but think that this was a form of meditation. The concentration must have been intense.

When we finally made it out the other side of this wonderful temple it was pouring rain. Some kids were daring each other to run half way out into a courtyard and back again. In a matter of seconds they were drenched through and through. We dashed to a taxi and headed for the Kyoto Crafts Center. When you get handed a typhoon in Kyoto - go shopping! This place has 6 floors of crafts from all over Japan and pretty reasonably priced - from lacquerware to pottery, paintings, woodblock prints, kimono and more. It was easy to kill a few hours here. While browsing a few floors i kept noticing a certain group of people wearing name tags. I finally asked an especially happy looking man with a name tag on his chest that read Papau New Guinea what kind of group he was with. He joyfully answered that he was with a group of about 40 high school instructors from around the world. They were guests of the Japan Foundation and were studying peace and non-violence. This was the first of 3 groups that will be doing this tour which includes visits to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and many other places in Japan. I noticed other teachers from Bangladesh, India, Sudan, Canada, Britain, and Iran. Nola and I were reduced to tears as these teachers told us about how eager they were to get back to their classrooms and teach their students about peace. THERE ARE GOOD THINGS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD!

The Crafts Center receptionist generously offered to get us on a bus that delivers guests to their hotels. She found a hotel close to the shopping center that we wanted to visit next so we managed a free ride to the hotel and then walked a block to the next shopping experience. The rain was still falling but definitely slowing down. The clouds above us were racing by with very high winds. This typhoon is going to rush right by us while we shop! Yahoo. For a pretty challenging weather day we managed to see a lot and we managed to buy a fair share of souvenir gifts.

Tired and happy we caught the train back home - in bed before midnight to begin again tomorrow morning. Whee.

NARA
Mood:  chatty
Sunday, June 20th
Sunday is our first touristy day. I am so happy to be taking Bill and Nola to Nara. I've been waiting for a chance to explore this most beautiful and ancient site with some special friends. Even a more wonderful treat is that my friends Miki and Atsuo met us in Osaka. It's only about a 40-minute train ride from Osaka (it looks farther on the map!).

When we arrived in Nara we headed over to the tourist information booth to get some maps. While waiting in line i noticed a tall young man wearing a Mexico t-shirt making arrangements for an English language guide. They have English-speaking volunteers who are on call and come when needed. After a very short conversation we'd invited him to join us, and he managed to cancel his guide before she'd left her home.

We spent an enjoyable day visiting different temples and shrines and viewing the great Daibutsu and other artwork. I would have never chosen to go into the art museum, but i'm glad that we visited. We learned a lot about the culture and history by studying some of the displays. It was very hot, but it sure beats the rain. The typhoon will be heading our way shortly, so we feel like we are living on borrowed time. In fact by the end of the afternoon we did experience a few raindrops but they were rather welcome for their cooling effect.

The famous deer of Nara are just like begging puppies with antlers. We got our fair share of tourist photos of these gentle, beautiful creatures. Another famous site seen in Nara is the human pulled rickshaw. Boy, are these guys and girls in shape. They must have legs of steel. I just couldn't bring myself to have them pull my heavy body around although when they were jogging along with two people in the cart it seemed effortless.

Now a little bit about our new found friend. I love that we keep meeting such interesting people from around the world. Vladamiro is from Mexico City. He is a college student majoring in math and is the Champion Go player in his country. JAL airlines flew him here to compete in an international Go championship just outside of Tokyo. Wow, we are spending the day with a world famous Go player! Vladamiro was very humble telling us that there are only 50 Go players in Mexico, but still i think that he must be pretty good to earn this trip.

Go is a traditional Japanese game whose history stretches back about 3,000 years. It is a territorial game played with black and white stones. There are Go parlors all over Japan, and it seems especially popular with retired men. There is lots of strategy and it takes years to become even somewhat proficient at the game. If you want to know more about it check out this website.
GO Game

By the way, this morning we ran into a Frenchman on a fully loaded bicycle. He was on a trip around the world and had been traveling for over 5 years. Interesting character.

Most funny memory for today:
I bought some fish food to feed the Koi carp this afternoon. The food feels like Styrofoam and is in the shape of a small loaf of French bread. I passed it out to everyone and as we were strolling towards the pond Bill took a big bite out of his. The shocked looks had to be seen. I guess he missed the whole idea of feeding the fish or maybe he was just hungry!



Saturday, June 19th
It's nice to sleep in and get up when we feel like getting up. Nola decides to stay in the apartment and do some writing and journaling. Bill and i are off for a run along the Shyukugawa River. I take Bill all the way to the ocean and, without realizing it, we end up running about 7 miles! It's warm and humid and Bill is a bit amazed at how much water he's drinking. Spokane has been cold and this humid weather really makes you sweat. We take a cool-down walk through the Sports Complex by my apartment, and Bill gets to see an adult baseball team playing a practice game with a rubber ball. Weird. When we return, Nola is so relaxed and easy going so we sit and each have our own type of breakfast munchies. Then we are off on the bikes - Nola, on my 3-speed, Bill on Dave's 3-speed and i on my new Bike Friday. It's nice that Dave (an ALT downstairs) and i have both purchased fold-up bikes so there are extra bikes for guests. We basically circled the town. Nishinomiya is bordered by hills in the north, and my apartment is at the base of these. We rode to the Mukogawa River which is the eastern border and followed a bicycle trail to the ocean which is the southern border. We wove our way through back streets to Koshien Stadium because i wanted to show Bill the Hanshin Tigers baseball stadium (he's a baseball fan, of course). We managed to find a Hanshin shop open so that Bill could get a few baseball souvenirs. A trip to Daiei (similar to our Macy's or Nordstrom's) gave them a feel for the stores here. We were able to sample some Japanese treats to give us a bit of energy for the rest of the ride on home. We rode west till we hit the Shyukugawa again which is the western border of Nishinomiya and then up river and back to my apartment. Bill and Nola voted for another stop at the noodle shop. They are very easy to please.

Friday, June 18th
My friends, Nola and Bill, arrived from Spokane via Tokyo on the Shinkansen Friday afternoon. Nola called me at school on my cell phone, and i was able to leave early and jet down to the train station on my bike in a flash. They were lounging at the McDonald's looking as if we were still just meeting in Spokane except for the fact that they had a couple of suitcases! We walked to a waiting taxi and i gave the driver my address. I arrived at my apartment by bike just a few minutes behind them. We were all too tired to do much except walk a block to the noodle shop and enjoy catching up on about 10 months of gossip and stories. This is going to be a fun time for me, and i hope that they will enjoy seeing the sights with me. There's a rumor of a typhoon heading our way on Monday, but we are going to stick with my original plan to take it easy to give them a rest on Saturday and begin the real sightseeing on Sunday. It's risky, we could be deluged with rain for days if a serious typhoon hits.

I'll pass on this one
Mood:  don't ask
Suzume - sparrow.
Most commonly grilled as yakitori. The bird is gutted and eaten bones and all with the head, which is crunched whole. Sumimasen. I'll pass on this one.

Japanese Food trivia
Mood:  cheeky
Ok, so i'm not ready to write this.
patience is a virtue!

Teaching in Japan
Mood:  chatty
The more i teach in Japanese junior highs the more i feel like they are more an extended family rather than just a school. A few days ago i watched kids planting watermelon, sweet potato, tomato and cucumber plants with their teachers after school. There are little garden plots all over the outside of the building now. Over and over again i wonder if these teachers don't spend more time with these kids than the kid's own parents. I also wonder if these teachers don't spend more time with these kids than they spend with their own families. I see classes being structured around the "whole child" rather than an individual subject. As much as the tests are stressed for success, i see so much more energy and emphasis placed on sports, and overall experiences than i do the basics. I know that i can't see the whole picture because of my poor Japanese language skills. I have to observe the actions and behaviors of students and teachers and draw my rough conclusions. I try not to analyze too much, but it is amazing to me that a school trip or activity takes precedence over an English class over and over again. Each class has a tradition of going on a longer and longer trip as the kids get older. First graders only a day trip. Third graders take a 4-day 3-night trip with their teachers (no parents attend this excursion!) Teachers place kids on jobs for an entire week in their 2nd year at junior high. No wonder teachers are at school at 7:30 am and stay to 7pm most evenings. Too much for me but i see that this job is more than a job - it's their life!

Post Office Challenge
Mood:  mischievious
So i go to the post office to send a package for an anniversary gift. I decide that it would be nice to have the note that i wrote arrive at the same time; so i taped it to the package. The post office lady was totally befuddled. She called over a manager and they decided after much discussion that it would cost me almost $40 to send. I then asked how much the package would cost if the letter was not attached. Answer: "About $20." So i ripped off the envelope and readdressed the package. The package was $20 and the letter was $1. This is just a small hint of the tiny frustrations that can really build up here in Japan. I keep telling myself, "Think like a duck! Just let it keep rolling off you!" and, of course, just laugh!

Japanese Food trivia
Mood:  silly
I am reading a Dictionary of Japanese Foods in my spare time and will try to add a few tidbits - hah for your reading pleasure.
shamisengai
"Tongue clam, lamp shell Lingula jaspidea. This brachiopod, strictly speaking not a shell fish, belongs to the oldest living genus of animals, almost unchanged for 500,00 years. A greenish color, about 3 cm. long with a peduncle about 5 cm. long, it is harvested in quantity from the Ariake Sea in northwestern Kyushu. It tastes peculiar rather than delicious and some people come out in a rash when they eat it. Eleven species of Lingula, some quite large, live in Japanese waters, but after surviving since the Cambrian period, are now being wiped out by pollution." How sad.

Hikingu
Mood:  cool
Didik and Masa on another hiking adventure to Mayayama.
We begin at Ojikouen Hankyu eki and climb the mountain and back down to Shin Kobe. Wow. We hiked from 10:30am till about 4pm. Rain and mist most of the day. Hiking through clouds, thundering waterfalls. wow.
more later and photos!

Traditional Japanese dinner with the ninensei senseis from Kobu.
Riding my bike through the remnants of a typhoon that bypassed us. What a downpour!

Control, control, control
Mood:  irritated
I've just made it through the two toughest weeks of my stay in Japan so far. It didn't help that i had a terrible cold. Sinus, fever, cough, congested lungs and just run-down-drug-out tired.

Thanks to my wonderful ALT friends here and some wonderful email friends from back home, they pulled me through. I had a carnation on my door one evening, some very uplifting and encouraging emails, and David and Connie invited me for a relaxing bring-your-own-dinner-downstairs-and-have-a-few-beers attitude adjustment.

Here are a few of the "straws" that almost sent me over the edge....
Bike Friday
After spending over $2,000 and waiting anxiously for this custom made bike to arrive, it finally came. I was so excited but took my time watching the video and reading the written directions for unpacking it. After spending a slow, quiet evening putting it together, i discovered to my dismay that the $60 Terry saddle that i'd paid for wasn't in the package. Well, it's hard to ride a new bike without a saddle so my new baby sat in my tatami room for over a week until they sent me one. That cost me one long distance call. Also, i discover that somehow the chain must have gotten packed up against the frame and the links of the chain have dug into the new paint job right over the big Bike Friday label on the side of the frame. It's taken off the paint down to the metal. Good grief. Also the chain has gouged the brake cable so that the rubber coating is cut down to the metal. Then, after I finally put the saddle on the bike and waited for a day without rain, the final maiden voyage was imminent. I toted the oh-so-light bike downstairs and took off down the street. Trying the shifters i went first through the lower gears...a-ok, mid-range gears...a-ok, so here we go into high gear....screech-to-a-halt surprise, surprise. I get off the bike that has come to an abrupt stop and, much to my chagrin, discover that the front derailleur is positioned BETWEEN the two outer gears. THERE IS NO WAY THIS DERAILLEUR COULD HAVE EVER WORKED THIS WAY. Another long distance call to Bike Friday and all he can say is that he'll email me a website that will explain how to set up my derailleur. He apologizes about not answering any of my emails, they are swamped. I guess so if all the bikes are being sent out like mine.

Of course, if i was in the states and wasn't planning to bring this bike to Africa in a few short months, i'd pack the whole thing up and send it back. Frustration was at the max and so I decided to roll this thing down to my favorite Japanese bike shop. They know very little English but understood my frustration when i showed them the problems. In 20 minutes they adjusted the derailleurs till they worked perfectly, adjusted the brakes that were a bit sloppy and did a whole safety inspection. THEY REFUSED TO CHARGE ME ANYTHING. Can you believe that? Only in Japan! The bike is riding well now but then i received a bill in the mail from FedEx for $145. I wasn't expecting that because i'd already paid over $200 for the shipping. I found out later that this is import tax. Ah, well. I guess every government deserves a chunk of my money.

Frustration #2
Control
I seem to be having problems with management's level of control over our lives here in Japan. Maybe i'm just not flexible enough but i don't really think that's the problem. I think the problem is that the management is more into filling out boxes and dotting i's and crossing t's than being effective. We are required to teach everyday from 8:20-4:30pm no matter what. Even if there are NO classes all day long we are required to sit at our desks and vegitate. It is so very weird. Even if we come to school early and stay late and teach extra night classes for them, it makes no difference. If we want to take off an hour early to do some banking, it's forbidden. We all cheat because there is no way to get things done any other way. I hate cheating and lying but i don't know how else to get around it. For example, to purchase a money order to send to the states you have to go to the post office. They only do money orders from 8:30 am till 3pm Monday thru Friday. We all need to send money home once in awhile to pay our bills back home. There have been a few other minor issues of control...i don't want to get too whiny so i'll skip these here.

The next big issue of control surfaced a few weeks ago. Our agreement says that if we stay a second year that we will receive the price of a round trip ticket back home. I was really counting on this money (about $2,000) There's a catch - if you don't go home during the August break - you don't get the money. We have to apply for "Study Leave" time during August when there are no scheduled classes and we have nothing to do. Our study leave has to be "approved" based on our using it for educational purposes. We can't just go home to see our family. I am going to Africa and travelling by bike around the country, learning the language, studying the culture and attempting a climb of Kilimanjaro. But in order to take advantage of the trip home, I have to cut my Africa trip short and spend an inordinately large amount of money and time going to the states in August because they won't let me use that money to go home at Christmas when my family would really like to see me. WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE TO THEM WHEN I GO HOME? WHO KNOWS. I am so mad I could spit bullets.

Also, management told us two weeks ago that they trust us so much that they don't see any reason to give us a contract this coming year so we are working without a contract. That gives me such fuzzy feelings that they trust us that much!

So enough whining. I'm feeling much better physically. I've decided to just take my summer vacation and enjoy the adventure of it all and STAY POSITIVE!
thanks for listening to me whine. luckily i don't do it often :-)