1600 Miles
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: ...and what do you get?
I can't believe that my little bike odometer turned over 1600 miles this week. I can't believe it actually still works due to all of the rain and moisture in the air.
I highly recommend a Cateye wireless computer. It's worked like a wonder so far.

New School - New Tune
Mood:  incredulous
I've been at Kobu Jr. Hi. (chugakko) for a month. I just can't believe that I haven't seen one boy punched violently in the stomach, not one kid swearing at a teacher. I haven't lost my voice yelling over the din in the classrooms. Kids stand at attention here, bow, sit down, and are silent mostly. THEY ALL SIT AND LISTEN AND ANSWER POLITELY. Maybe the last two schools were just a bad dream. I loved my first two schools but there was bullying and a roughness that is not at this school. This is more what I think the stereotypical Japanese school looks like. I am very relieved to know that it still exists. I am so sad that students at the other two schools have to live with bullies and constant disruptions in the classrooms. I am so very sad also for the hard working teachers who deserve to have a classroom environment that is respectful and positive. I am so glad that I get to experience the full spectrum here in Japan.

Kabutoyama
Mood:  caffeinated
I'm getting in high gear for training to climb Kilimanjaro. I climbed up Kabutoyama (behind our apartments), back down by a different trail, then back up again and, again, back down today. woo hoo.

Sick Person Story
There WAS a charming wooden merry-go-round in the park near my apartment. I had heard that it was shut down because of some kind of dangerous situation. I thought that someone had decided that it was just too unsafe to have kids sitting on a wooden wheel spinning around. I was very sad to find out the true story this week. It seems that some sick person rigged the merry-go-round not once - but 3 times - so that when a child sat on it the kid could put his/her finger in a hole and 3 kids on 3 different occasions had one of their fingers cut off while spinning around. Good grief. The U.S. really does not have a corner on the market for sickies.

Used Books
Wow, with my friend, Didik's, help we found a used bookstore WITH ENGLISH BOOKS today in Kobe. Books are 100-500 yen and such a variety. I seem to be devouring books so this is a real blessing. I can find new English books at the bigger bookstores, but the selections are limited and the cost is about 1,000-2,000 yen each.
What a great find!
I also have been exploring Japanese manga (comic books) thanks to a company in the states that translates the most popular. These can cost from $9-$15 each. It's fun to read what the kids are reading. A lot of action ninja-type themes. There's some great artists and the same kind of wham-bam-zoom comics that you see in the states. The other cool thing is that they follow the Japanese format of going from what we would call back to front and right to left so that takes a bit of getting used to. It feels like it's stretching my brain a bit. Who knows.

Another Hamako Baseball Game
This was my favorite teacher/baseball coach, Sasaki-sensei's "last dance" with the Hamako baseball team. He has been transferred to another school and has stayed on as their coach for this final regional competition. I rode my bicycle to the Osawa's to meet them at 7 am in the morning. We headed out in their van in terribly strong wind and rain wondering if the baseball game would be cancelled. These kids are tough. Unless there's a storm warning for a typhoon, they usually play their games. Awaji Island is about a 1+ hour's drive by car, but since it's Golden Week, we were expecting heavy traffic. I think, because of the rain and wind and being early in the morning, we had no problems. Taking a ferry to the island was a bit exciting. There were some nice waves out there on the ocean but the ferry was big and it was a comfy ride. It was way too windy to stay outside but the inside was warm and dry. The game was played on a fairly nice field but there were no bleachers so the hardy, enthusiastic parents and other supporters stood outside the fencing with our plastic cones that take the place of beating our hands raw clapping. The game was a close one, but i don't think the boys were as intense as i've seen them in the past. There have been a lot of problems off the field in the last few months and having their coach leave for another school probably didn't help either, oh, and the weather was a challenge too. Anyway. It was tied at the beginning of the 7th inning. The other team was up first and scored a run. At the bottom of the 7th we had to score a point or accept defeat. The kids tried hard, but they just didn't have what it took. They lost by one point. Actually, i think everyone was relieved. They had driven out on Monday and stayed all day long, won their games and battled heavy traffic to get back after 10pm at night. Then it was back up on Tuesday morning and if they had won this game on Tuesday morning they would have had to wait around and play another game that afternoon. If they won that game then they would have had to do the same thing all over again on Wednesday. What a holiday, eh? It poured rain right after the end of the game so we ate lunch in the car. There was heavy traffic going back home but at least we got back at a decent time of day.
It is such a pleasure to spend some time with this family. Even though the weather was a bit challenging, we enjoyed the day together. I wouldn't have missed Sasaki's last game for anything. I could sit and visit with the Osawa's all day. I love their kids and Tamie and Ro are such interesting, intelligent, good-natured people, my kind of folks!


Oh, my gosh. Osawa-san says that the Japanese eat quite a bit of horsemeat. It is usually prepared raw as sashimi. Well, i can handle that, but what really shocked me was WHERE they get their horsemeat. He says that most of the meat comes from America and Australia. Some horses that don't cut it on the racetracks in these two countries get slaughtered and shipped to Japan. Good grief, i thought that it was made into dog and cat food. I don't think that i'd like to eat meat that's been shot up with hormones; drugs and antibiotics that I suspect are used on racehorses. How odd.

Another interesting thing is that Ro supervises a handful of Doctoral students at the University of Kobe. One of the things they are researching is the "good" bacterium found in our stomachs and intestines. I am not going to even pretend to understand what their work is all about. In brief they are creating a kind of unique dry/frozen yogurt culture made from an individual's own bacteria to use for that patient if/when his/her bacterial culture is out of whack. For example when someone takes a lot of antibiotics and wipes out their good flora in their stomach. The specific culture unique to that individual will be manufactured from their own bacteria before they start taking the antibiotics. Fascinating.

Hiking @ Minoo no taki
Mood:  bright
I went hiking at Minoo to the waterfalls with another wonderful family: Yoshie, her daughter, Miki, and her husband, Takemura-san. The new Japanese maple leaves were glowing light green in the sun. It's a marvelous thing to see leaves that are just unfolding - so clean and fresh. The chlorophyll hasn't done its thing yet, and so the leaves are almost yellow turning into green. We had a yummy lunch prepared by Yoshie. Sitting on rocks next to the creek in the shade we enjoyed the view, which included the appearance of a harmless looking monkey who sat staring off into nowhere land for quite a while. I took a few camera shots of him while he posed aloof up on a road above us in the shade. Slowly, as we ate, he managed to move closer and closer. Before we knew it there silently appeared a second monkey. Then, before we knew it, they both were meandering towards us still rather "uninterested" it seemed to me, when all of a sudden Miki had a monkey hanging off her back! Dad kicked it off her while we all tried to stash our food as quickly as possible into our packs. While we were struggling with food scattered all over, i discovered that one of the monkeys was at my back and another in front of me. Thanks to Takemura-san who positioned himself back to back with me, we were able to gently kick (and maybe not so gently drop-kick) them away. This is an experience that i don't care to repeat.

Today's hike was an easy stroll with food stands and beer stops along the way. Kids were playing in the stream. It was a comfortable day. Not so hot and definitely not too cold. The waterfall was magnificent. An amazing new phenomenon for me is that I seem to attract "older" gentlemen lately. Maybe it's my gray hair, i don't know. A cheerful interesting "young man" of 83 caught up to our group and began talking to me in some pretty broken English. His enthusiasm was genuine and contagious. We ended up hiking back down with him to the train station with a stop for coffee along the way. He called himself an amateur photographer but when he opened his case and pulled out a German made Leika and a rather impressive assortment of lenses, he looked rather professional to me. He gave us all some tips in how to frame pictures and helped Miki, Yoshie, and i do some shots with our digital cameras. What an inspiration to be hiking these trails carrying a fairly heavy pack at 83. He says that staying challenged and always learning is his secret to long life and health. I believe him. What a blessing it is to discover such a gem on the trail! The Takemura's were so gracious to share a day of their Golden Week with me. What a pleasure and a gift.


Sunday, May 2nd
Bloomsday

Frankie and i just HAD to run Bloomsday this morning. We took off from our apartment and ran to the Shukugawa and down to the ocean and back again. We visualized every mile along the way as if we were actually in Spokane. Frankie's Mom followed us on a bike. Gorgeous, warm day. Typical Bloomsday weather. Came back and had hearty whole wheat pancakes with fresh pineapple, yogurt and maple syrup with Frankie and her Mom. Back at my apartment there was still something missing so i called my girlfriend, Margaret. Margaret and Terry have had a Bloomsday party after the race every year for the last few years and i was missing the after-race glow of visiting with friends all dressed in our new Bloomsday t-shirts. Surprise, surprise, Margaret was having a PRE-Bloomsday-carbo-loading party and so i got to visit with her and her husband, Terry, and my "Ex" who was the last to leave the party! What a surprise. Now the day's complete. Well, except that i didn't get a t-shirt this year, but I feel like I finally finished first this year (about 17 hours early!) Sylvia sent me a description of the t-shirt later - she says it's my virtual Bloomsday t-shirt.

False Alarm
Mood:  on fire
Floaters caused concern but i'm a-ok. I've been experiencing drifting shadows in my vision for a few days. They call them "floaters" in the states, but i like the Japanese term "flying flies" better. This has been very distracting. It's difficult to read when every time you blink there is a "fly floating" in front of the words. I catch myself ducking quite often because it feels like there really is a fly flying towards my eye. The eye doctor is a woman who speaks English well. She was very thorough, and i've been warned to watch out. These floaters can be a sign of a detached retina but everything is alright for the moment. Whew.
Eye exam cost 2,500 yen (about $25.) 　Not bad.

Groceries today included:
$1.00 for 6 cherry tomatoes.
$3.50 for a wonderful fresh pineapple
$4.50 for a small basket of strawberries (about 24 berries).

Hikingu
Thursday is a holiday.

Didik, Masao and i go hiking up Achiyayama. wow.
We met at the train station in Ashiya, Hankyu line, and walked a very short way up hill past gorgeous, expensive homes. I would love to see the view from some of those windows and also take a stroll in the lovely gardens. We noticed BMW's and other fancy cars driving by while we hiked. Ah, for only a moment to dream of being so rich! Onwards and upwards to a hiking trail that very soon turned into a scramble over rocks which kept getting bigger and bigger. Before I knew it we were facing an outcropping that, had it been just me, i would have turned around and said, "No way." Well, actually, in fact i think that's exactly what i said, but Masa and Didik were very reassuring. While they were talking me into this craziness two young women scrambled up those rocks without any hesitation. I couldn't back down after that. I did have a small panicked thought half the way up this first challenge that if i had to get back down this way i would surely fall to my death. Masa assured me that there was an easier way down. Good grief, then why are we climbing this way? There were quite a few moments of my stomach doing flip flops. Wondering how i would explain to my family and friends when i ended up with all the bones in my body broken after a fall off one of these rocks but the beat goes on. It got worse, and i found myself hanging onto a rope a few times to get up and down some very "hairy" parts of this hike. Lounging on a gigantic bolder at lunch was a thrill. A 360 degree view made it all worth while. The hike down was amazing. My feet gained more confidence. I still clung to the rocks but not quite so tense. This was easy for these two twenty-something guys, but for me it was the most difficult hike i've ever been on. It's a great feeling to push yourself a little beyond your comfort zone. I came back in one piece feeling a bit sore in legs and arms but a little bit stronger and more confident thanks to my two encouraging hiking buddies.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

Welcoming Party 2
Mood:  a-ok
Just got back from a 2nd "Welcoming Party" with the Kobu junior high English teachers.
We went to a really nice Japanese steak house tonight. It is much more than just steak. I had shredded jelly fish, raw beef, giant prawns, grilled tofu, shitake mushrooms, onions and giant garlic cloves, a broth with different types of mushrooms and small shrimp and fish steamed in it, fish cooked with an egg batter over it, and I won't even go into the stuff we ate AFTER the dinner while enjoying karaoke. Oh, and did I mention beer and wine? Oh, and I had a 1/2 hour bicycle ride to get back home.

Nighty, night.

Stormy weather
Mood:  not sure
The azaleas were gone in a flash.
The rhodies and dogwood blossoms and we are getting pummeled by torrential rains and pounding winds.
The first rosebuds of the season are tentatively peaking out through the rain drops.
We are getting a taste of the rainy season to come, and we look forward to it with trepidation.