My new apartment in the mountains
Mood:  celebratory
Howdy and yipppeeee

I have the keys in my pocket to my new, tiny apartment in the mountains.
It's only $300/month plus utilities. My bus and train transportation is about $300/month. This should be reimbursed to me every month so the cost to me should be minimal. yahoo.
It's only a 10 minute walk to school.
It's in a really quiet, beautiful neighborhood.
I am so very happy and relieved.

Now begins the task of fixing up another nest. There is absolutely nothing in it but an airconditioner/heater on the wall, a one burner stove, and a bathroom.
No bed, no chair, no table, pots, pans, cups, dishes .....but i can improvise and use a lot of extra stuff from my apartment down here.
Luckily, my favorite English teacher has volunteered to drive up any bulky items. The rest I'll drag up a piece at a time in my backpack.

You can't believe how elated i am.

Feels like i will be returning to the land of the living.

Hope all is well in your world.

peace and love and vote in November.
mary

Ken Shoku
Mood:  surprised
I have noticed that in all the schools that i've taught in that Kyoto sensei (our vice principal) usually always eats lunch before we do. I always figured that it was so he could do hall duty while the kids ate, but, this week, i learned about ken shoku.

During the period of the shoguns, the servants used to taste meals before the shogun ate. That practice is called "Odokumi" checking against poisoning.

My girlfriend thinks that maybe it's not to check to see if we are going to be poisoned, but rather it follows another custom where fathers and upperclass people used to eat first and then wives and children did.

So maybe it's patriarchy and maybe it is still a noble attempt to protect our kids. You decide!

Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)
Mood:  sad
Cherry blossoms in October? David thinks we had a dose of acid rain. The teachers i've asked and my friends say that one of the last "dry" typhoons whipped up salt from the ocean and then blew hot, dry air on the leaves of the trees and burned them. Whatever the reason the leaves were burnt to a crisp right after the typhoon and all fell off. Then a warm spell crept in and the trees think it's spring. This is so sad because i'm betting that they won't bloom again next spring.

New School
Mood:  a-ok
My new school is Yamaguchi. I walk to the bus stop from my apartment and take a 10 min. ride to the train station. Then a 10 minute ride on the Hankyu train and then walk to the JR train station close by and take a JR train for about 10 minutes. Then i get off that train and wait to catch a bus that i ride for 25 minutes to get to the bus stop and then walk 10 minutes to get to school. I leave the house at 6:25am and get back at 6 to 6:30 pm. It is just killing me. There is absolutely no time to do my running or anything else. Tomorrow I'm bringing my running gear to school and will run during school hours with the track team.

I have the bright idea of just renting a place on my own and stay up there during the week. I was very disappointed today because we found an apartment for about $400/month close by my new school. We were going to check it out until we found out that not only would i have to pay the whole 6 month's rent ahead of time but there was an exhorbitant fee, non-refundable to secure the damn place. I have offered a reward of a very big bottle of sake to any one of the staff who can find me an apartment. They are all looking, so i am hoping for the best.
The bright side is that it's the best school that i've been at. The kids are enthusiastic and precocious. My favorite English teacher is there and is a dream to work for. The other teachers are all wonderful and the principal is an ex-English teacher. I am being treated like a queen and i love every minute.

Chorus Contest
Mood:  lyrical
Now Playing: Singin in the halls
How can i describe my feelings of watching a whole school of junior high students all singing their hearts out in the hallways of our school 6th period? In a conversation with one of the Japanese English teachers she confided that teaching an academic subject is such a small part of what these teachers do. I watched a 75 year-old "retired" teacher (he's returned to teach MATH 3 days/week) joyously conducting a group of 14 year-old boys. Another teacher was so proud and happy with his group of first graders. They were all sitting cross legged on the sidewalk literally singing at the top of their lungs. Accompaniment music was streaming from boom boxes all over the school. This is the time of year for the Chorus Contest. Each homeroom competes against the other at each grade level. This is an amazing thing. Every student in the school has sheet music and is part of a group depending on voice range. The 3rd grade boys were incredible singing with their bass voices echoing in a stairwell. Teachers flitted here and there to encourage the kids but each group had a leader and co-leader who directed with virtually no help from the teachers.

I think the most amazing part of the whole experience was watching the joy and happiness in the teachers and the kids. It's hard to not make comparisons with the states. This just wouldn't happen where i come from. Not only the students but some of the teacher would think it was stupid and just not get involved. Someone would drag their feet and ridicule the others and before you know it the spirit would be dampened. Not here. Everyone loves the music. No one is embarrassed to sing at the top of their lungs - even if they are a bit off key. Sometimes the innocence and enthusiasm overwhelm me and i wish i could stay here forever.

Africa Photos
Mood:  energetic
It's raining and i'm so happy just sitting here playing on my computer and watching Ichiro hit his record breaking ball and finally beginning the job of posting some of my Africa photos on the web.
So - it's a work in progress but check out the beginnings of my Tanzania Page

Cookies N Tea N Travel log
Mood:  bright
Homemade Chocolate chip cookies, ice coffee, and many other delicious treats.
Osawa-san showed a Power Point of an interesting research trip he made to Australia and some incredible pictures of London and Abby Road just like the Beatles Album cover. wow.
Miwa-san shared her pictures of London and Yale where she studied English for two weeks this summer.
Miki shared an album of pictures of her trip to Portugal.
Hase took us on a photo trip to scenic Switzerland.
Siddique-san shared some shots of Saipan and Bangladesh.
Shinobu amazed us with stories and gorgeous shots of Cambodia.
Oh, and i showed some photos of Tanzania.
We all took a vicarious trip around the world with some great friends.
What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
we are truly blessed.

Saturday, Sept. 25th
Koto Concert with Shakuhachi and Shamisen accompaniment

One of my supervisors at the main office plays the KOTO. Her daughter also plays and had a recital in downtown Nishinomiya today. We were invited and enjoyed a free concert that was incredibly relaxing and inspiring. Koto music ranges from very traditional but to more modern pieces that almost sound like jazz. Shakuhachi is a traditional Japanese flute - oh so soothing - and the sounds reminded me of Native American and South American flute melodies at times. The shamisen is a three stringed instrument that looks a bit like a banjo. It is strummed with something that looks like an ice scraper for our car windshields. I'm told this instrument, bachi, is a lot more expensive than my ice scrapter!

Friday, Sept. 24th
Kyoto with Jan and Joanne and Yoshie and her daughter Miki and my other wonderful friend, Miki
Heian Shrine and gardens
Kyoto Craft Center
Nishijin Textile Center, kimono material weaving, silk painting, and Kimono Fashion Show
Kawaramachi Shopping and a stroll through Gion with Geisha and Maiko.
what a day.

Joanne and Jan
Mood:  energetic
My gosh, how time flies!
Jan and Joanne (friends from Spokane) arrived last Saturday, Sept. 18th, and we have been having so much fun that i haven't even thought about updating my BLOG. We've taken the shinkansen to Hiroshima and spent hours in the museum there. Wandered through the gardens around Himeji Castle and oooo'd and ah'dd to our heart's content.
We've taken the time to explore the amazing grocery stores here and the bicycle parking lots and we even got to experience an emergency trip to the hospital to help Connie out when she fell and split open her knee. This was especially exciting since Joanne is a nurse and was able to follow Connie through the whole process of x-ray, clean up, and stapling the knee shut. This took about an hour and cost a whole $45. It's a marvel what tax dollars can do when they aren't wasted on war games!

Taikutaikai
Today Jan and Joanne rode bikes with me to "Taikutaikai" - Sports Day - at my junior high, Kobu. This is an all day event that happens at all the junior highs in Nishinomiya sometime during this week. My friends were so impressed with the quality of the kid's performances and the difficulty of some of the events. Our brass band played and marched as well as any high school band that i've seen in the states. The kids competed with all their might in sprints, laps, and relays. Some were serious races and some were definitely NOT so serious. We had three-legged races, and centipede races where the kids were lined up with their right ankles tied to one long rope and their left ankles tied to another long rope. It was truly amazing to see 30 students synchronize and be able to race up and around some poles and back to the finish line. It was also funny to watch some of the centipedes collapse when one person got out of step! The clubs all paraded in full uniform, very impressive. The girls performed some really fine dance routines for us. This was not just the elite kids of our school. Everyone, i mean, everyone participated - even the special ed kids. These guys took a lot of practice to get them to work in a group but they were definitely enjoying it every bit as much as the others.

The whole school practiced their events every day for the last two weeks. The teachers put all their hearts and souls getting their students ready for this day and it paid off. Parents, grandparents, siblings and friends came out in droves to cheer these kids on. Lessons learned included: team building, sportsmanship, practice makes perfect, determination sometimes beats sheer talent, patience, respect, acceptance of all levels of fitness and skill/talent and much, much more.

I couldn't help but make comparisons to our sports in the states. THERE IS NO COMPARISON. I hope that you will be able to view some of my photos shortly. They are truly impressive.

Our school system sure could learn a thing or two about kids from this event.

Personally, I think that we don't push our kids hard enough and expect more of them. I don't see how any of our students here could have walked away from this event without feeling super good about themselves. It is a privilege to have been a part of this day with such dedicated teachers and such enthusiastic, healthy, and athletic kids.

Thunder N Lightening
Mood:  energetic
Tuesday, Sept. 15th

It started out a normal warm, muggy day when i cycled to school this morning. Half way through the morning i noticed some clouds developing but this isn't unusual. By 12:50 it was getting darker and darker and within minutes thunder began rumbling it's way towards us. Wow, it was suddenly raining sideways and the lightening was almost on top of us. We had a rather nerve-racking lunch watching the lightening bolts streak down towards the trees outside our window. The lights flickered and the loudspeaker popped. The result is that two days later we still don't have our bell system working. It seems the lightening fried some circuits.
Amazingly, the storm zoomed on past us and within two hours the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day again. Oh, except that the humidity must be up to 80% - gasp.

Kansai Rambler's Hike
Mood:  smelly
Sunday brought another great day of hiking to Koyasan.
I met my friends, Yoshie and her daughter, Miki, and Shinobu at the train station at 8 am yesterday. We travelled by train and subway to get to a small train stop in Wakayama prefecture to begin our hike. We picked up more and more Ramblers on the way. Our group was over 50 as usual. We have people from Japan, Australia, US, UK and more. We are hiking in the mountains to about 1,000 meters (a piece of cake after Kili) but, oh, the humidity. Thank goodness for towels and sweat rags to mop off the dripping brow.
Koyasan is the spiritual center of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, which was established by a priest named Kukai aboutr 1200 years ago. On the summit there are many temples, towers and a huge graveyard thatt leads to Kukai's mausoleam..This is a very touristy area. Incredibly pictureesque. Too bad that we have to keep moving. I really would like to come back here and spend some time leisurely strolling through the grounds. There are monasteries where people can stay and meditate and do other religious practices and enjoy "Shojin-ryori" which is a Buddhist vegetarian cuisine.

More later