もらった

Received, that's what the title means. Today was great. This week has been great, but today was surprising.

My only class today was elementary 1年生 ichinensei first grade. It was a short class because of the PTA meetings that took place later this afternoon, so out of the activity and teaching segment I had planned, only the activity got going. But it was awesome!

We made paper snowflakes and I described them as American Xmas origami. The kids liked it, especially when they opened their creation from 1/12 to full size - even I'm still amazed at what can happen with a few cuts of paper when expanded. But the activity kept evolving. After the snowflakes were cut, Yuko先生 had the great idea of pasting them to colored paper and then decorating around the edges. We even had the kids practice 'Merry Christmas', and their messy letters and mixed colors were the best thing I'd seen all day. With the mess made and the kids proud of their work, we went from fourth period into lunch and it was good.

But later this afternoon, our playtime date arranged earlier, there was one girl who was carrying a folded and colored piece of paper with her. It took her a while to approach me with it and when I opened it up, it was a christmas card with expanding Rudolph and Santa and colorful drawings of all sorts. I was shocked! I didn't expect it at all. Shortly after, some of the other students led me up to their classroom to deliver the cards that they had also made. It was heartwarming to say the least. I felt so happy to be in the moment, to realize that even a bad day for me is most likely a fun and play-filled day for the kids. I don't think I needed a check on why I'm here, but it was a welcome reminder that teaching English need not be the only thing I do here.

Once all the kids had been picked up or walked home, I hit the office to gather my things before heading home. Some teachers were still around and they were distributing the last of the produce that was brought by one of the 8th grader's grandfather; he's a local farmer. I picked up four different kinds of vegetable: one for salad, one for soup, and two for stir-frying. I ate the salad and one of the stir-fry varieties tonight and I'm saving the others for this weekend.

I'm content right now, really happy overall. I've been catching myself about thinking too far ahead like I'm prone to do, but I can't help but think that three years is going to pass far too quickly. I just keep reminding myself of some advice a former ALT gave in Chicago the day before we left for Japan: every day in Japan is one less day in Japan - don't waste it. Waisu desu.

PS - I'm heading to Tokyo and other various cities next week. I'll be sure to fill you in when I get back, even post a lot of photos if I can figure out a good place to put them. Enjoy your winter break and holidays and eat as much of that good food as you want. Trust me, nobody's as critical as one's self.

What took me so long?

This is not, as one might assume, a title for the length of time between postings. It is in reference to what I finally did tonight: take a bath.

Giggles aside, I have been maintaining a regular habit of daily hygiene in the form of showers. But I had never taken the time to fill up the tub with nice hot water (45°C, 113°F) and soak. I did, and it was amazing.

I filled the tub to about one-third and then took a shower. That's right, you take a shower before the bath to keep the bath water clean (families share the same bath, so prior cleanliness is necessary). I'm not sure how much it matters that I clean up beforehand since I'm living by myself, but the feeling of a clean soak is unparalleled.

The showerheads are attached to hoses, allowing for discreet placement of the water flow, allowing one to keep it out of the tub basin. So one showers and then hops into the tub. And what a great way to wrap up an evening! I spent 15 minutes simply relaxing and wondering why I had never done anything like this in my Chicago apartment (we had 2! tubs). Some may be thinking of ways to enhance the bathing experience with foams and other things that react with water, but I say pure hot water is all one needs. Waisu desu.

PS - In a few weeks I'll be heading to mainland Japan. I'm stopping in Beppu, Oita for one, maybe two nights. They are well known for their onsen, or baths sourced by hot springs. I can't wait...

Fishtails

No, I don't mean food. I mean the kind where a car's tires are no longer in static friction with the road's surface. This is what I experienced this morning on my way to school.

I was heading to Takae in a little bit of a hurry. I'd slept a bit late, waking at 7:12, and was making my way north around the usual speeds, 60kph or so. It looked like it had rained last night, so the roads were wet, but it was nothing I hadn't seen before. So I drove like normal, quite a bit faster than the speed limit, slowing at the points I knew might be a little rough in conditions like this.

Seems I didn't judge one turn right. I was following a right turn bend in the road when the wheels lost their grip. The car started fishtailing left, with the front of the car drifting into the right lane. There were no other cars around. My biggest fear was ending up in the typhoon gutters on the side of the road, protruding into lanes of traffic at a bend.

As the car slipped left, I threw the wheel in that direction, apparently without applying the brake. The momentum of the front wheels, I'm guessing, helped to bring the car into a more reasonable velocity, though there was a slight rebound to the right, which required a quick correction of the wheel. Once my speed had fallen low enough, the tires gripped the road again and I was able to straighten out in my lane. Heart pounding appropriately, I finished the short drive that remained to my school.

I got out of the car shaking from the shock of what *might* have just happened. I also remembered my predecessor, Ben, telling me of his spin out on the same route to the same school during a late morning dash to get there. His incident resulted in a flat tire, though I assume the feeling was quite the same. Losing control at any point of the day is not fun; when it's behind the wheel of a fast-moving and heavy automobile, it's even less so.

The drive back home was a bit more tame, with careful attention paid to each of the bends in the road. One of the thoughts I kept having had to do with the relative lack of population in Higashi. I try not to think about what would have happened if a car was coming the other way at the same speed. It would have turned out to be a very very bad day. Waisu desu.

Mid-Year and Tokashiki

The Annual Okinawa Mid-Year Conference was held this past Thursday and Friday in Okinawa City. It was a collection of seminars, from JETs and Japanese Teachers' of English (JTEs), which covered topics from ideas for elementary school games and lessons to the theory of learning a second language. I was mostly pleased with the presentations. I, for some reason though, maintained a slight state of anxiety throughout those two days. Probable reasons include being used to my small-village life in Okinawa and feeling somewhat off about being so physically close, yet emotionally restricted, to certain things.

Seeing JETs I don't see frequently was also nice. Whether over lunch, during a break, or at the bar/evening event, I was able to catch up with those living in vastly different parts of Okinawa, from the outer islands to the urban life in the few cities that do exist here.

The highlight of the weekend came in the trip to Tokashiki Island. James, a JET from New Zealand, lives on the island. And the Tokashiki trip happens every year, sometimes during warmer weather. But it was still awesome.

We caught an early liner on Saturday and set up camp upon arrival. Morning activities included having a couple of drafts at a nearby eatery, fighting away the amazingly bold and aggressive crows, snorkeling, eating, napping, and going for an awesome glass-bottom boat ride. As evening rolled around, the drinking started again, dinner was taken at a local eatery - the name for which I cannot recall for the life of me. After that, it was time to hit the beach.

Having gathered wood before dark, our supply was ready to go. But I have this issue with fires, especially if they are crap. I arrived to a mild bonfire, one clearly in need of improvement. So I did my best with the limited amount of thick wood that we had, helped impressively by John McFarlane, who appeared with a nice bag of charcoal. Amidst building the fire, most likely due to a fair bit of drinking and relative darkness, I grabbed a piece of wood that was actually an ember. I immediately went for the cooler, plunging my hand into the cool, but not cold, water. My second step was to open another beer and hold it with my right hand, soothing the pain in a dual-layered process. I now have a scar on my right palm, though it's small and nothing worse came of it.

The rest of the evening, while generally remembered, is jumbled. I recall singing, drinking, tending the fire, talking about my issues with figuring out I.B. sensei, speaking Japanese, and coming to realize that the beach was cold, it was late, and I needed to go to sleep (this may have occurred after I woke up from a nap I took on the beach - reportedly, since I can't remember).

Bad news is that this morning was extremely crap with headache, ill stomach, lack of food, and feeling quite ill after the liner ride back to Naha. Good news is that we all kind of felt like trash, so it was funny to joke about our condition, though not too loudly.

I have no pictures, deciding to leave my camera in the car (this was an excellent idea as I have found sand in my phone). I don't want to think what would have happened if I brought it. I'll do my best to elicit photographs from friends that took them and post them when I can.

This week is short due to the Japanese Labour Thanksgiving Holiday. It is also quite free seeing as I'll be performing an "observation class" on Wednesday with Natsu-sensei. Thursday brings the arrival of Aaron and Kelly from Hong Kong and a good long weekend of touring and sights. I'll fill you in after, of course, and wish you a good week from here. Waisu desu.

They shit too much

These were the words uttered by one of my Japanese Teacher's of English this week as we were doing greetings at the start of class. She was referring to geckos and dislike of them.

To my well-trained English ear, "shit" rang out loudly and I caught myself before reacting too distinctly. A moment later, I realized that nobody in the room - except the laughing JTE - knew what the word meant. All was clear.

Until she started to explain what "shit" means. The students were giving her blank looks, I might have been giving her a look with a crooked eyebrow, so she explained how it's similar to the Japanese くそ kuso. I then did my best to explain that it's really only good to use it in private situations, like if one were to stub one's toe or spill some paint or something like that. "Don't say it in front of other people."

But I know it's futile. And it was funny after all! If I knew how to cuss in Japanese, my fellow JETs would never hear the end of it. And I'd be practicing all the time in my car, driving behind any one of the numerous locals who drive at 30 kph (I know for a fact many of the turns can be taken at 70 in dry weather). Waisu desu.

What's the deal

I'm thinking about changing my schedule of posts to something more regular, perhaps once a week, around the same time, which would save everyone the trouble of randomly checking my blog (though if you have an RSS reader, you have no worries). There are two problems with this: I can't be trusted to write on a regular basis; and that would be boring.

I've never been very good with routine. Well, I've never been very good with routine if the thing I'm trying to standardize isn't that big of a deal to me. I'm very good at going to work (though I hardly consider the work itself routine), studying my Japanese, practicing my guitar...

Speaking of which, I bought a new classical guitar. The luthier is Japanese and this guitar is one of the best sounding and technically well-produced guitars I have ever played. I'll spare you the physics lesson, but let me just say that the tonal reproduction at the higher frets is on pitch, not sharp like most other guitars I have played. I left my first classical guitar in the care of my former roommate, Joe, in Chicago when I moved - it would have cost more than the guitar itself to ship. So I was very happy to find this one at a cost of 39,800円 and at a recycle center no less. For those interested, it's called なんでも屋 and is located in Nago near the 84 and 71.

The best thing about finding this guitar, other than a sense of scoring a great deal, is that it will allow me to get back into some more serious practicing. I spent 2-3 years learning guitar in college, acquired a minor in Music, and have never done anything other than dabble in my own abilities. Perhaps if I dedicated myself, I could at least produce something nice for the people that want to listen. And if I've learned one thing about music, it's that everyone enjoys it, especially if it's live and interesting.

It's also another little aspect of my life that I can share with the people of Higashi and others. That's not to say they won't be sharing anything with me. I've finally found a sanshin teacher and will be starting that soon. After that, I may try to master the ukulele. My collection of portable instruments is slowly increasing. Waisu desu.

In other news, we are learning our second kata in 空手, my toenail is really gross and I'm getting some new medicine on Friday, the car needs service, and "unnamed" has reciprocated with a request for dinner this weekend (I hate calling her "unnamed", so let's go with I.B., utilizing a naming method used by an author I enjoyed in college)...and a bug just flew into my ear, so I vacuumed him up.

180,000 Plus

I have been getting to sleep later than usual this week and I fully attribute it to Halloween. Though that's not a perfectly fair accusation. Halloween is just a day that kids celebrate and on which the schools hold some activities. But the choice to work my ass of for these things is what's really keeping me from turning in before midnight this week. This is not a griping post, however. I'm having a blast!

Though we did some things at Higashi School, and had games and activities in each class, Arume decided to hold two separate events on Wednesday, one for junior high school and one for elementary. Having picked up my schedule for the week on Friday, I saw that my involvement was going to be pretty high. Junko先生 also asked me to take part by wearing my costume.

*cough* Uh, what? Costume? Oh...

And so I got to work. By thinking. What the hell could I come up with in a few days that would be original, funny, interesting, or scary, and not look like crap. You may not be aware, but I have a keen eye for quality, in my work or others', so a halfass costume was not a possibility. I continued to think by mentally cataloging all the clothing I had brought with me, all the little things lying around the house that could be manipulated, reshaped, or simply hung to my body, all the things I could buy at the 100 yen store. Somewhere in this process, while eating a bowl of cereal, it came to me.

A milk carton. But not just *any* milk carton - the one I see everyday at school lunch, the gakkou kyuushoku gyuunyuu carton, with its pretty little barn and silo, blue and white patterns, and helpful information about contents and methods of opening.

As we all know, cartons are made of paper, boxes they are really. It turns out that large orders of copy toner come in well-sized for wearing boxes - just a little wider than the torso and a little deeper, too. Working at schools, I'm surrounded by craft materials and larger than necessary pieces of paper. So I coated the box in white, printed Japanese in almost perfect replication, spent way too much time getting the barn design to scale, and devised a system to keep the box dangling at an appropriate height and to keep it from collapsing upon itself. After adding white socks, pants, shirt, and bandana, and don't forget the actual school milk, I was golden. Er, white actually.

It was a hit. I became Mr. Milk for a day, and my little carton (Milkie) was a source of puppetry and delight to the younger kids. Unfortunately, my method of dispensing milk chocolate treats to the kids didn't go as well as planned (imagine a box of milk "dispensing" chocolate treats...), but even if they didn't eat them, at least they got a kick out of the acting.

Waisu desu.

In other news, my car hit 180,000 km the other day, I've been in Japan for three months and it seems like three weeks, "unnamed" is going to "call me about dinner this weekend" (bleh...) and I still don't know where I'm going for the winter break. Odds indicate a trip to the Antipodean and then a few days on a tiny tiny island east of Okinawa to visit a friend.

Bear

I've been busy this week running around trying to get all the supplies I needed for a weeks worth of Halloween themed classes. This was the most hectic week as it's my largest school. Next week will cool off and the week at Takae will be an easy, yet enjoyable, relief.

First priority was candy. I took care of that on Sunday, spending less than I thought I would. Second priority was pumpkins. I scrambled for this Monday night as the pumpkin season in Okinawa isn't now and the pumpkins they do have are much smaller compared to the ones I'm used to carving from home. Third priority was things to do in class. This has handled itself pretty well, time being spent mostly with crafts, games, games, and candy.

Amidst this busyness that I'm in, I found time Monday night to get persuaded to join some staff from the Board of Education at the Higashi Village museum. So I followed Kacho-san and Tsubasa-san on the short drive from my apartment to find a small barbecue underway. The meat? Bear. Or kuma. Another first for me and it was really good! I'm sure bear meat has a different flavor than traditional meats, but this was great. It was also explained to me that the right side of the bear is considered better tasting because, and this is pure science I assure you, most bears use their right paws to eat hachimitsu, or honey. Since the honey then runs down the right paw of the bear, the meat is sweeter.

I only planned to stay for an hour, because I had to drive to Nago to pick up some black and orange construction paper for the younger classes' pumpkin crafts. Chinen-sensei did me the favor of making some calls and arranged for a teacher at Higashi to pick the paper up in the morning and have it on my desk first thing. Now that's service! Apparently the store had closed for the night so my drive would have been futile. Instead, I relaxed into the evening, my task taken care of by someone else. Then began the "nomunication."

Nomu is the Japanese verb for "to drink." Tsurumi-san, whether previously or in a most serendipitous realization, mentioned that seeing as my duties for the night were no longer necessary, I could have a drink and begin the "nomunicating" with the rest of the company.

This was hilarious! Everyone started cracking up at mere mention and many small toasts were had to the idea. We settled on a motto for the event, something like: Nomunication is important for your life. Chinen-sensei said I should make this my announcement at each school's weekly Monday meeting - just don't do it in class! I lol'd.

Of course, drinking wouldn't suffice. Tsubasa-san's brother soon arrived bearing a guitar and I was asked to play. Beatles were the main request, and when Chinen-sensei wanted something from Chicago, all I could come up with was Hotel California. Yeah, I'm not a blues musician, never will be. It did the trick, though, and I was soon able to the put the quite mistreated instrument down for an Orion instead.

Revelry complete, and bugs biting at will, we called it a night and crashed in the washitsu at the museum. By poor chance, I fell asleep with my head facing west, a big no-no Chinen-sensei warned me when he woke me up to correct my mistake. So I turned around, settled in my new position, and failed to fall asleep. Chinen-sensei turns into a lumberjack at night and I was unable to win the battle of sleep versus sound. I finally called it at 3:00 am and drove back home to crash for three hours before starting my day.

Extracurricular

It was a good week this week. I was at Takae, the small school and had some very good lessons. The elementary lesson was probably the best. We practiced "What is this?" and had an interactive mystery box. Takako先生 and I would put something in the box, blindfold the kids, and ask them "What is this?" before allowing them to plunge their hands into uncertainty. Of all the items used, they only failed to identify two of them: a strangely shaped seashell and a blob of jelly. And now that I think of it, the 8th grade class was cool. I had the kids do a game involving changing sentence structure from "like to ~" to "like ~ing", putting emphasis on words that change like make, take, swim, etc. But the best part was the anime-style character pieces I did for each of them (there are only two in the grade). They got a kick out of the artwork, crap though it was.

I also got a little more involved in the non-class aspect of things. Tuesday I joined the P.E. class for volleyball practice and learned how to serve like a pro from Hiroko先生. Wednesday night I was invited to the weekly badminton event. I'll be going again this week and I'm really looking forward to it - because of the small size of the school, I know everyone there a lot more so than at the other schools. Its a little bit of playing favorites, but it hasn't affected the other schools, so there's no harm that I see.

Friday night was the Takae kangetsukai, a party in celebration of the hard work that has been going on for the past few weeks. I think this is what it was for, though I really have no clear idea. Anyway, it was good. The temperature in Okinawa is dropping a bit, so I was glad to have worn jeans and a blazer (I failed to do this Saturday night and was quite chilly for several hours). The yakisoba, a concoction of meat, noodles, and vegetables, filled our stomachs as the beer, awamori, HI-C, and oolong tea flowed freely. Karaoke followed and that too was a blast. I did my first successful song in Japanese - solo - and many toasts were had at everyone's musical prowess. It was 涙そうそう nada so so by Begin, a very popular Okinawan band, if you must know.

Saturday was a little more interesting, though, as I stepped up my level of interest in one of the local ladies. There was a youth festival in Ogimi, and Elina and Cliff were both going to be there, so I decided to join. Before that, however, I phoned and invited "unnamed" to the festival and was pleasantly surprised by her acceptance! Mind you, the drive for her was a little bit of a trek considering it was round trip, so I took her willingness to drive to Yanbaru with a smile. We caught some of the evening acts, headed out for Chinese, then came back in time to catch some really amazing eisa (an style of Okinawan dance, see left) performances.

Going back to "unnamed," she and I have agreed to practice each other's respective second language in an effort to improve. So while she speaks English, I speak Japanese. Her English is a lot better than my Japanese, but we do our best and it works pretty well. *Here, I plug the Nintendo DS Lite and it's Japanese dictionary cart.* It can be very frustrating, however, to have a clear idea of what I want to say only to kind of get the meaning across. I'm daily surprised, though, how an idea can get across despite language barriers; it's a promising experience.

The day spent and the temperature chilly for the first time, we parted for the night. I crashed upon reaching home, tired from...well, I'm not exactly sure - probably all the recovering I need to do from the past few weeks. I'm healthy again, though! Only now the baseball game took a toll on me and a few of the other kids: baseballs to shins, baseballs to necks, and shoulders to heads (my head in fact). But to hang out with the kids outside of class on a Saturday was a perfect way to spend it. I may not be the best English teacher to come to Higashi, but I like to think I could be one of the most interesting. Waisu desu.

Earthquake

I just experienced my first earthquake, 地震　じしん jishin. As I was sitting here viewing pictures of a friend's trip to Tokyo, I think I heard it before I felt it. Something started to rumble. Everything started to rumble. It wasn't bad, nothing moved, fell, cracked, smashed, etc. But it was definitely the earth moving underneath me. What an amazing check on insignificance.

I'll do my research and figure out what the scale was (assuming that Okinawa or nearby was the epicenter...perhaps it was a peripheral shock?). I have no idea, but I'm going to guess and say at least 3.0 to be felt. What I do know is that the Richter Scale is logarithmic, meaning a 4.0 is 10 times as powerful as a 3.0. Therefore, I can only begin to imagine what a 7.0 must be like. Waisu desu.

EDIT: Yep! Here's the info: http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/

Region Name: Near Okinawa Honto (main island). Under Okinawa, in the magnitude 2 category (this is the JMA Seismic Activity scale - not Richter), you'll see HIGASHISONTAIRA. For a visual reference, the X is the epicenter. I'm the closest blue dot, on the eastern edge of Okinawa. Wow...

Validated

I did some downloading today. There's a quarterly newsletter put out by some of the ALTs here in Okinawa. It's called the YAK and it covers all kinds of things, from restaurant reviews, to poetry and other various articles, doing its best to portray the practical and creative tendencies of the participants of the JET Programme. One of the features of this quarter's issues was health.

In the article, our P.A. explained a bit about some of the things that Okinawa can do to you regarding getting sick. She even mentioned that the first-years are more susceptible to falling ill due to the large number and substantial nature of the changes in lifestyle. This then explains a whole hell of a lot for the past two weeks I've spent with varying degrees of discomfort, from debilitating stomach pain to a persistent and annoying cough down to the minor eye infection (which I got from just being stupid by wearing an old pair of contacts for too long).

But I'm on the right track now! The stomach pain passed that day, my foot is healing from the slippery fall I took a few weeks ago, my cold is wrapping itself up in the form of expectorated (didn't even have to look that one up) goodness, the over-the-counter eyedrops (Japan has everything!) are taking care of that issue, and I just took my first pill for the toenail growth that I decided to stop ignoring. In a weeks time, I should be as good as if I never had any of this wrong with me in the first place.

The lesson, the realization of the reason for the sickness - not that I have to justify it, rather it's just fact - is that I've just been going too hard for the past couple of weeks. Elina had told me many weeks ago not to get too busy or too involved right away, because the body's doing a lot more work that it was doing before, even if unnoticed. It's true - attempting to understand Japanese language, kanji, and customs in a day can be quite draining; spending days around children as they develop their immune systems will also knock you out. It's all a lot more draining that one would think (I still love it!!). So this week is 体調 たいちょう taichou (bodily condition) week, one spent to relaxing, recovering, and of course, badminton and drinking...but not until the latter half.

I'll start by finishing my green tea. Waisu desu.

PS - The diving trip to the Keramas was awesome. Three great dives, great weather, numerous sea turtles, and a good group of people.

Rhythm

I had a series of thoughts about what I wanted to write today. They all have successfully left my head and left me with nothing to say. This is my fourth or fifth attempt at the start of an entry, and I've still got nothing.

Hmm, what to mention. Perhaps that I'm going to embark on a cultural exchange next week? That's the plan anyway. There are many reasons why I think this will be a good idea, all of which I won't tell you until after the fact. I'm being reserved - having worked myself up already, I don't need to start getting other people excited. Besides, I hate getting in touch with people when things are about one to two months out of date. I guess all the pent up questions are good for starting conversation, but sometimes it's better to just to keep it steady and not get too far ahead of myself.

I'm going diving this weekend. A small group is heading out to the Kerama Islands - some for snorkeling, some for diving. I'm going to try and get three in on Saturday, putting a few more hours in the log book. I hear it's beautiful, and since there appears to be clear weather coming for the next few days, I'm excited!

It would be too easy, however, if all I had to do was go diving. No. The night before, this Friday, is the night that two of my schools chose to hold their 観月会　かんげつかい moon-related party (exact definition escapes me at the moment). I'm at a loss, however, to describe how bowling and drinking and eating have anything to do with the moon, other than the fact that the moon will exist during all of these moments. Regardless, my goal is not to get drunk - in fact, not to drink at all since I've got to get home to sleep - and be rested enough for a long day on the boat.

So maybe this week of feeling like crap and hacking a lung into hand towels will give way to something a little more pleasant - some time to kick back with the teachers, a beautiful day spent above and below water, and a nice Sunday of nothing to relax, nurse the sunburn, and watch a few DVDs.

All this followed by a full five days at my first school. Don't tell anyone, but I think it may be my favorite. Waisu desu.

Slammed

I think I'm going to be okay.

This week was by far the most stressful on my body and mind. Starting with the indescribable stomach pains I had on Tuesday (a day off nonetheless!), I forgot to mention - did I? I can't remember that now - that I had injured my foot last week at a secluded swimming spot in southeastern Kunigami. I also had a migraine on Thursday and caught a cold on Friday. None of this, however, prevented me from taking full advantage of all that was going on, including attending a sports day last weekend, heading to Nago on Wednesday to practice with Higashi Junior High for their rikujo, or track & field event (which occurred yesterday), doing karate on Friday, actually heading to the track & field event on Saturday, and then of course following it up with a night of drinking with some teachers from Takae.

I slept in today, Sunday, and am blessed with the Japanese decision to make tomorrow a holiday for the purposes of Health and Sports Day. Ironic that on a day celebrating the fitness of the human body, I'm wallowing in its weaknesses. Though the nature through which the body heals and maintains itself is simply amazing, so I take the day off knowing that by resting, I'll eventually get back into a shape that will allow me to be healthy everyday. Yay, optimism!

To kick start that healthy trend, I did manage to go shopping today and loaded up on fruits and vegetables. Fruit is expensive here. Vegetables seem to be priced appropriately - at least they didn't make me stumble, like when I saw a watermelon for 1280円, or a little more than $10. By American standards, it would have seemed quite small. Regardless, I went for the cheaper stuff and browsed for the 20% items, fruit quite fit to eat but blemished in such a way as to make it undesirable. Items that "expire" within a day are also marked down quite a bit, allowing for major savings if one is willing to purchase and cook or eat items the same day. Why not?

Despite the illness, the news in Higashi-son is good. I've got plenty of food and tea for a relaxing evening, my first Japanese movie rental (review to come), and a book or two to finish out the night. Nah, scratch that. I'll be studying after the movie. I only have to learn about 14,030 more words to have a vocabulary considered on par with fluency. Grammar and sentence creation are a whole separate issue. And then there's the kanji 漢字 (for your reference). Waisu desu.

Doubled Over

I woke this morning to intense, sharp abdominal pain. I wondered if it might be hunger, so I ate a bit of food, though the pain didn't recede. I settled back onto my futon, attempting to make the time pass by studying some Japanese, but every time I moved, the pain shot through the left side of my abdomen, preventing me from moving quickly, for some moments at all. After a few hours and a failure of self-resolution, I called Chinen先生.

We started with the Higashi clinic. After some basic tests, the doctor decided to send me down to Nago City Hospital for more - blood-drawing, urinalysis, CT scan. I was put through it, still hurting, though hoping for something. Well, the tests passed, I think they dripped me a medicine, and then the pain went away. After a fulls days agony, it just stopped. Was it the medicine? I don't know. Will it come back tomorrow? I don't know.

They didn't find anything, so there's nothing to report. It just sucked to spend a day, and 20,000円, for something that doesn't even seem to have existed. But at least it's over. I hope it stays that way. I would like to teach tomorrow. Waisu desu.

Empty Handed

Another first, this time a day. October. My third month in Japan, though just the start. I cannot believe that two months have passed, a full sixth of a year! I imagine the people who've come on the JET Programme to spend only a year as Assistant Language Teachers, looking at their calendars, wondering where the time went, why it passed so quickly. "On to the next adventure," they may say, yet why be in such a hurry? There's plenty to learn right here.

Such as 空手　からて　karate. I started about two weeks ago, ending my first class in a sweaty mess. The combination of physical exertion and humidity caused my pores to open up in ways I have rarely before experienced. While at first I found my foot pivots somewhat difficult to achieve due to the friction on the gymnasium floor, I then cursed my inability so stand on a turn because of the thin layer of sweat emerging from my feet. I enjoy it, though, the feeling of strain and quickness, the successful completion of my first kata, the time spent with fellow ALTs.

Time spent, back to the beginning I suppose. I've noticed this phenomenon before, the increasingly fast passage of time. I attributed it to the fact that every new day is less a part of my life than the previous, so relatively, my days are "less" than the others, hence the "where does the time go?" feeling. I'm sure someone put this much more eloquently before. Regardless, I am determined to conquer this feeling of helplessly speedy days, though I'm not quite sure how. Unless you're moving at ridiculously high speeds, time isn't going to change for you or anyone else. So is it a state of mind? How does that work, the perception of time versus the passage of it? Isn't time imaginary anyway? So what's there to worry about?

I have no idea. And at this point, I'm lost in a disinteresting ramble, but it still ties into my amazement at having been here for a good amount of time already. I've spent time abroad before, three months of traveling last fall, but I knew when it was ending, when I would be back to work, that I couldn't make any solid international commitments. I had a very clear idea of my post-travel life. Now, I could be here for two, three, maybe even five years if I really impress someone (longer if I REALLY impress someone, like a female). Of course, the makes me think about what next. What next...

I don't know. I don't really care at this point. I've only been here two months and I can't say where I'll be in 20. The only thing I can do is live well; I could also write a better post next time. Waisu desu.

Won't you try? Just a little?

Well, the time for introductions has long passed and I feel this space would be better used by an update of my first few months of, what I hope is, many to come.

Living in Higashi, I teach at three schools, combined Elementary-Junior High schools. They range in size from 13 students to 13 students per class, though all my students and teachers don't even reach 200. I've done the introduction at each school, so now it's time to get into real lessons, teaching them things they never knew existed, like the desire to speak English, in addition to a foreigner that can learn their language and get along like anyone else.

Higashi village life is quite different from the city life I spent in Chicago. Clearly, language and transportation are among the major differences, but I'm not complaining. In fact, I love the rural life of Higashi and find myself tense and apprehensive in the "cities" of Okinawa. Though some may see this place as a reprieve from the busy life, a "getting back to the basics," I see it as the life that will be mine for years to come, fully complete and lacking nothing.

I like a lot of things, including almost all types of food. I'll try anything once and decide if I'll keep trying if after that. This includes more than just food. I'm amiable and hardly confrontational, but I know what to stand for. I often go all out for the things I want, sometimes to a fault or a point of embarrassment, but I figure there's no better time to try than that time during which I am living. Because once it's over, it's done. I never want to live with any regret, any sense of "but I could have done so much more." Instead, I'd rather be lying on a slab, smiling into eternity, knowing that nothing and nobody ever stopped me from getting on with what I wanted.

Unfortunately, things don't always go my way. For instance, I had this great idea and vision of a long term project, something along the lines of a lifestyle study for some of the locals here. Starting simply, we'd move into the basics of understanding each other through basic language or whatever means of communication were available. We'd progress as seemed fit, learning more about the other's lives, eventually reaching a point of mutual understanding (I hesitate to say complete, as I've never reached that point myself). All seemed to be going well, that is until I was given the "ixnay" due to time constraints and a general disbelief that it would even be possible. Unable to express myself or my disappointment as well as I would have liked, I submitted, hoping that a change in circumstances would one day allow me to complete the project that I held dearly.

But here it is, 22:22 on a Monday night with a Tuesday holiday (compensation for a long weekend worth of work). Cliff, Elina, and I just watched a good movie with some great lines, had some beers, and easily scarfed the bento. It's good to know that even in the most remote regions of the most remote prefecture of Japan, there's some good company on the other side of a narrow portion of the island.

Sleep calls, and I'll admit, she's very seductive and doesn't always listen to reason. It seems that nobody ever has it all in the perfect order, something is always lacking, even - ha, especially! - with yours truly. 菩武です。

Ichirinsha

That's Japanese for 'unicycle'. I tried my best this evening after school, school three by the way, Arume 有銘, and found that my balance is off. I quit my session early, not because of my discouraging progress, but from the highly encouraged bloodsucking mosquitoes that seem to linger outside waiting to pierce my tasty flesh. Another day, perhaps earlier, before the pests are ready to feast.

In quite a different manner than my very slow progression at learning the unicycle, this past week has simply blown by me, as witnessed by the failure to post any sort of update or story. So let me drag you back a few days and I'll tell you what you, because of me, missed.

The week at Higashi was decent, not excellent; larger classes in all grades made planning activities a little bit easier. I didn't have to worry about everything being done too quickly. In fact, I found myself running out of time. And if that's a recurring problem, I'll be happy to trim material - it's coming up with stuff to do that's the harder of the two issues to resolve. It wasn't a perfect week, though. A certain grade is full of very shy students who are hard to motivate into speaking and one teacher feels the need to translate everything I say - this having led to the instinctive reaction of head-turning toward 先生 when asked simple questions like, "What is your name?" Next visit I'll do my best to get involved in the basketball club or maybe try my hand at a game of after lunch classroom Paper Baseball. I hear ambulance sirens already.

Happily, the week at Higashi was followed by a four day weekend, initially ruined by 台風 (taifuu) 11, which passed right over Okinawa. All accounts stated that it was pretty weak and I'll admit that's true. After a short typhoon party at Cliff's, I drove home later that night, slightly disappointed that my car did not for one moment get lifted up on two wheels by strong winds. The next several days were free, however, so spirits barely dampened, I spent a bunch of time with Elina from Ogimi, which is always a pleasure. Boardgames, movies, food, and beer - no worries there.

"Now, Vaughn," you're probably wondering, "this is pretty interesting stuff you're peddling us. Please tell us about this week; how's it going so far? Any plans for the weekend? Are you homesick yet? Don't delay!"

Well, o.k., just chill for a second.

Day 1, school 3, was great. Only thing I'll work on the next few days is eating with the students. It's just so much fun! Saturday is the Nago City speech contest for the yanbaru region of Okinawa, the north. Junior high school students that do well here will progress to the Okinawa contest, then to Kyushu, on to Japan's, then to fame and fortune, all because of the tireless hours one ALT spent explaining and demonstrating the sounds "th", "aw", "l...", and "r". I must say, Yuki has done a hell of a job memorizing her speech and putting up with my making strange noises in the library after school. At least by not being ashamed myself, I've gotten her to not worry about it either. And it's that ability to try and make it past mistakes and laugh about it that helps us move along, especially when trying to jabber at someone in a foreign language.

Sunday brings Arume School's 運動会 undoukai, or Field Day, which will be my first. I am excited to live vicariously through the physical feats of my students, who haven't yet decided that a well-watched diet of foods and a couple hours with the new Harry Potter might just be a little more rewarding at the moment than sweating my ass off into a sandy Okinawan playing field. But it'll be awesome and it'll be fun to support the kids in their presentation of sports, dance, and other various activities. Until then, I'll continue to fall off my unicycle, get dragged from my apartment to participate in late night tugs-of-war, and occasionally settle for the free coke and chips as a well-balanced dinner. I can't complain, I'm loving it too much. Waisu desu.

PS - Tochimitsu先生 provided me with a kanji version of my name today, bon waisu. All I can currently recall is my first name, 菩武, but it feels good to know it's there.

Surprises

Day 1, Week 2, School: Higashi. And so begins the next step of my continuing responsibilities as English ALT. Today might have been the busiest day I've had in regards to teaching so far. It went really well, too! Here's the deal.

Higashi Elementary and Junior High is the largest of my three schools with 122 students. It is visible from my back door. So I walked to work this morning, taking a grand total of 1 minute, 32 seconds to reach the entrance to the staff section of the school. It was just in time, as Kyoto先生 (vice principal) walked in right behind me. He's also my neighbor, so I can only imagine where he was beforehand or how closely he had been walking behind me without my noticing.

In a much different atmosphere than Takae, things started right away. First period was my introduction to the 7th graders and I'd say it was one of my smoothest. The larger class size of 13 students (there is only one 7th grade student at Takae) allowed me to make use of a great worksheet, recommended by one of the third-year ALTs here in Okinawa. More students also means each individual step takes a little more time, which means I don't need to have five activities ready to go in case time runs quickly. In all, I think the students were really receptive.

Second period free, I prepared for my first elementary lesson at Higashi. Fourth grade was the target, and I went it for high levels of movement and creativity, keeping the actual English discussion pretty tight. My relatively quick intro was followed by a "get to know the students" activity, as they named and drew their names, hobbies, favorite foods, etc. Janken followed immediately...and what a great game! The kids know this game better than anything I've ever seen (lunch tray clean up duties between ten people can be settled in three rounds of Janken and I have no idea how it works). So I divvied out some random animal cards I had and stated that the top three cardholders would have a chance to face me as Janken Master; I even got Shizuka先生 in on the deal (she's the homeroom teacher). The only downside I didn't see was for the kids who lost three games in a row and were out of cards - I'll need to figure out how to make that less of a put off.

Fourth period was the 9th graders class and it went about as smoothly as the 7th grade class did. I changed it up a bit by having a Q&A session, but I found getting the students to vocalize somewhat difficult. I'm definitely working on activities that will promote speech, focusing on getting the idea across first, then moving toward proper syntax. If they can't even feel comfortable speaking and making mistakes in the first place, then there really isn't going to be any noticeable speech development taking place.

Tomorrow brings a slightly slower day, with ... wait, no it doesn't. I've got 2nd grade elementary, 7th grade introduction, and I think I'm back in the classroom for the 9th graders. I'm not sure if it's because of the field day practices we have this week, but it seems I'm only hitting the junior high classes twice a week. I'll have to ask Takako先生 about that.

Oh, by the way, a good number of the kids I'm teaching live in my housing development, the danchi (団地). I think and hope that a few weeks of good classes will make them less shy. While I don't plan on offering weekend pizza parties or movie nights, a few hours of random childish fun sounds like a great idea. What I really need to do is get my ass on that unicycle Ben left me.

In other quick news, I thwarted a huge infestation of something by noticing a larval nest in my trashcan. Two hours later, the bins are clean, the organisms are outside of my house, and I can sleep soundly knowing that a horrible disgusting colony of insects (think Temple of Doom, when Short Round makes the adept statement, "Indy, sounds like fortune cookie!") will never live to see the light of my apartment.

Keeping Track

Here it is: the end of week one. I really really enjoyed it! For just a second, let's think about this JET Programme idea. What other highly respected and competitive program accepts a person in a teaching role based on a couple of questions, an essay about their desire to come to Japan, and a 30-minute interview with some random people who will never have another thing to do with said applicant? After that, what kind of program takes these people, puts them in almost random assignments, giving both applicant and employer a crap shoot of a chance that all may go to hell in a number of weeks or months? So far, I'd have to say a pretty good one.

But these are just my views based on five weeks or so of excellent experiences in the lush beauty of Higashi Village, northern Okinawa. While I'm no soothsayer and I can hardly tell the future, I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm getting myself into and what kind of person I am. These intuitions, while far from perfect, have given me the sense that this year is going to be a good one. In an email to a friend earlier today, I told her "I think I may have finally found something fun, challenging, and meaningful." In all the things people look for in a career, what more could one ask for, what better combination than these?

This statement is perhaps one of the most true I've uttered in a while. Why else would I find myself spending 11 willing hours a day at my first school, when work clearly ends at 5:00? For sure, lunch is superb and there's a new guy in class, but after school is when the kids really go for making the connection. Amidst track practice, shot-put, long jump, plyometrics, and a little bit of baseball, there's something there that just doesn't happen within the 50 minutes of teaching, as fun as it may be.

So as we stood in a circle after stretching, most everyone made some sort of comment on the day regarding the work put in or the specific efforts made by students and teachers alike. Today, Kai (one of the eldest junior high school students) asked me to say something, and it went kind of like this: "Thank you for an amazing first week. I'm already sad to think about being gone for two weeks, but I know that when I get back the welcome will be amazing. Thank you and keep working hard."

Before leaving, I got invited to go swimming in the Arakawa River next weekend. I'm meeting up with a few of the teachers and we're heading off for an afternoon of who knows what. Kind of like signing up and accepting a position on the JET Programme with no real idea about what's going to happen, I'm really excited! Waisu desu.

Baltimore is the new Voldemort

Today was Day 1 of teaching in Japan, Day 1 of teaching at Takae (高江) school. Takae is located northeast of my apartment, reached in 15 minutes by driving along the coastal highway, Route 71. It's a beautiful drive overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the many beaches that spot the islands coast. So there I drove, starting, for real this time, my new job as English teacher and international culturizer.

Though no English classes were held, we had a nice ceremony in the gymnasium of the school. We have 14 students, assuming everyone was in attendance today. They're spread over several grade levels of elementary and junior high school, so the largest class is three students, with many grade levels containing only one student. I've imagined this to be both a challenge and a great opportunity to do some amazing one-on-one teaching; I'm sure it will be both.

I sat in on this morning's junior high music class, where the six students were practicing their sanshin, which I assume carried over from the first trimester. I joined them in their practice, and as for the first tune, I picked up the introduction pretty quickly. Takako先生 even let me take one home to practice! though I hope I can turn this into a regular thing and save the money otherwise spent on my own instrument. One of my goals is to learn to play the sanshin well and to play it often. This would expand my ability at instruments to three, two if you don't count the kazoo.

After lunch, I officially met the only first grader, Mizuki. She's cute and adorable and never wants to let go of my hand. If I do let go of her hand, it's only because I've tossed her up into the air and she is in a state of motionlessness for a brief second. She's a tiring one, but I think the energy she has will be great for doing the many games we have planned for the lower grade English classes. I'm quite surprised at how much the young ones can understand, and how much they use it! I suppose the presence of a tall, English-speaking noob makes it easier to use, and really, that's all the encouragement I need.

I had a blast today! I'm even more excited - and gladly less nervous - about teaching these kids and working with my co-teachers in all aspects of school life. Sometimes, the things that have fallen into my life have been so good as to almost seem unreal. I'm not that infatuated with Higashi that it feels dreamlike, but I do feel good, real good, a good that is real is what I mean, and I think that's the best kind of good to have. Here's to living it right and teaching the kids something special, even if it has nothing to eventually do with English. Waisu desu.

Earth

I smelt of earth earlier today. It was time to cut the grass, and not simply by pushing a large mechanical object over the lawn. Rather, this cutting was intimate, a true "kasu o kiru," utilizing handheld clippers and a sweaty determination.

I started with the front corner of the lawn, cutting grass as needed, pulling roots as desired. Gladly, the mozzies joined in on the activity, catching me at awkward moments, though their demise was typically iminent; foolish that they fail to realize each day grants me more immunity to their venom. And I labored on, clearing a good half of the lawn, the yard, the patch of earth that is my own, rented for the time being.

So it was that I smelled of earth and sweat and my own blood, swiftly extracted from the flying leeches that failed to move out of my swat. I smelt of earth.

After filling one bag full of clipped grass and weeds, I realized I was out of the convenient containers, so I sauntered off to the local store to purchase some more of the village-approved bags for burnable rubbish. On the way home, I noticed the clouds had taken a slight golden tinge, so I went in for my camera, the white balance set to auto this time, no longer snapping away at flourescence unexisting. I took some mediocre shots. Happily, a neighbor and future student of mine came by, and intrigued, took up the camera and started shooting wildly. Is it vain to say I was glad he turned the camera on me for a bit? I've been needing some good candid photos; I feel like he did a good job, especially with the flash and mild catch-light from the setting sun.

Anyway, during this process of pose and shoot, a kindly old man, Nakamura-san, called me over to share some of his time. He led me to his nephew's home, the previously known Mibo-san, where ikukan and tako were laid before me, with awamori and biiru. Luckily, I knew enough to jaunt the 10 metres home and pick up my Chicago White Sox peanut omiyage, scoring points with Mibo-san, the baseball fan of the century. (did you know the Boston Red Sox are much like the Sanshin Tigers, while the despised Yankees much like the despised Giants?) Amidst the early flowings of alcohol, we conversed and learned a little more about each other. Each word perceived by me was like a small badge of progress, insignificant in and of itself, though layered with the others, a formidable mark of fluency yet to be obtained.

Nakamura-san took his leave slightly early - such is the life of one 80 years old and still genki! Mibo-san and I continued to drink, to eat, to learn. Of notice to me was the strength of the liquor provided: 12 oz. of beer, 16 oz. of beer, finally 8 oz. of awamori...clearly, I was climbing the ladder. Having received the OK from my supervisor for a hima na hi this Friday, I indulged and enjoyed my time with Mibo-san and family. Kaori-san, Mibo-san's wife, invited me to lunch tomorrow amidst the departing phrases. I look forward to meeting some of the teachers at Arume school, my middle-sized combined elementary/junior high school.

Just when I thought all the other ALTs had standing invitations to neighbors houses, I find that standing around with a camera in hand - much like a lost tourist - evokes quite friendly reactions. And if Mibo-san is correct, in two years time, I'll be nihongo pera pera, and if three years is in the cards, hougen pera pera. I can't wait! Waisu desu.

PS - errors in attempts at Japanese are probably existent; suck it up.

Obon

Tonight marks the end of Obon, the Japanese Buddhist day spent honoring ancestors. While my description and understanding of Obon are lacking, my appreciation for the activities and celebrations are not.

I spent the evening with the my supervisor and the family of kocho-sensei, the principal of Higashi School. She had extended the offer to me several weeks ago, prior to Ben's departure even (Ben, being my predecessor on the JET Programme). So the weeks passed and Obon arrived. I didn't know what to expect: cleaning the graves of ancestors in their honor, ceremoniously bidding the visiting spirits farewell, large amounts of good food?

It turns out that our visit was a shorter one, stopping for a few hours to eat, meet, chat, and then depart. Kocho-sensei lives with her husband in Ogimi-son, a village bordering Higashi-son up here in the north of Okinawa. It's my understanding (this is what I rely on these days, as true understanding is hard to come by when language is a barrier) that her oldest son and daughter live in Okinawa, with her youngest daughter residing in Tokyo. They were all very kind and seemed pleased to have me as their guest. The daughters came to the rescue for some key translations, though I did rely mostly on my basic (yet expanding!) Japanese ability.

After the fine meal, Chinen-sensei drove me home. On the way, he told me of tonight's eisa, the evening-long dance that would be performed by Higashi-son's seinenkai, the youth group of which each village most likely has. Just moments ago they passed the danchi (my neighborhood) with drums in sync, lyrics drifting from the nearby kominkan, or community center. I don't know if I can say how these short moments make me feel so amazed! Perhaps it's the realization that I'm not on a tourist trip or a short stay with a friend - I'm here, living in the country in which I have so badly wanted to live for a number of years. And with school starting in a week, I think the feeling of being a part of it all will really get me. *cheer* I'm so excited!

So today ends a good weekend. Several ALTs from the south of Okinawa spent the weekend up here away from the crowds of the city. And we did some amazing stuff! Saturday we started with a visit to a local beach, the one minutes from my front door. Sunday we joined several other ALTs and Chikara-san, a local cool-guy who really is just living a carefree style, on a visit to the northern tip of Okinawa. Chikara-san showed us a secret overlook he says he takes very few people to; clearly this was an honor. Snorkeling followed shortly at a nice secluded beach. And today we hiked up to Hiji Otaki, the waterfall in northern Ogimi-son. The exercise was needed and the cold fresh water was highly invigorating. If only every week started like this. Waisu desu.

kanuu

It's easy for me to tell you that I'm living in Okinawa. It's going to be harder for me to tell you what a day is like, for many reasons. Ask yourself, when was the last time you had identical days? You see the problem; it's impossible. So I'm going to tell you about one day, this day, today, okay?

Well, let's start with last night. I was sitting in the Board of Education's (BoE) office when I realized, around 5:00, that the weather was beautiful. I sent a note to Cliff (fellow ALT) asking what his plans were for dinner, if he'd be interested in something. He was, so I traveled to Ogimi bearing gifts of gyoza, broccoli, and Orion (Okinawa's beer). Cliff did a stellar job preparing everything, including the vegetable-heavy miso shiru; unfortunately, he burned his inner-index finger and palm on the poorly designed saucepan. I wrapped up the serving work, which was not hard, and we had a great meal.

Dinner taken care of, we watched a very random show highlighting the past decade of musical hits and Olympic/World Championship track and field accomplishments. The show perplexed us, though we found the Japanese subtitles useful in expanding our vocabulary slightly. And speaking of words, there are a few of us signing up to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test this December 2. It should be another great reason to get together with some cool people. I'm confident in my ability to pass 4-kyu (the easiest level), but 3-kyu may be a better challenge and a chance to accelerate my learning. Still have a few days to decide.

To close the night, Elina (also an Ogimi ALT) came over and we played Trivial Pursuit Millennium Edition. That was a blast, as most things are with those two. Hmm, perfect segue into today.

I went in early, though really normal time, at 8:30. Began the never-ending study and wondered how I was going to ask Chinen-sensei (my supervisor) about my desire to attend the kayaking event that Cliff and Elina had mentioned the night before. As I'm sitting there looking up a few key words (kayak, want to go, nothing to do but study), he comes up to me and says we're going kayaking after lunch. Woot! It must have been my mental signals at work. How they transmitted in Japanese I'll never know.

Noon rolled around, I dashed home and had a quick lunch, pulled on the board shorts and smeared on the sunscreen. Though we didn't start kayaking right away (we toured the Higashi Village 博物館 (hakubutsukan, museum), when we did arrive we paired up, listened to a few key instructions, and then embarked on our leisurely journey through the mangrove of Gesashi, a southern portion of Higashi V. My partner was Tomomi-san, a kind lady with a decent grasp of key English words for which I didn't know the Japanese. We spoke mostly Japanese, and it felt good! "I can communicate," I exclaimed in my own mind...I have no idea what communicate is in Japanese.

A good day indeed, followed up by zenzai - an Okinawan treat of shaved ice, syrup, beans, and mochi - perfect for a hot day and a tired mood. I hitched a ride back with Tsurumi-san in the back of one of the museum trucks and enjoyed the warm enveloping air as we passed the ocean on our way back into Kawata, my portion of Higashi V. Tonight will probably be an early night - I'm kind of dirty, pretty tired, and ready for a good weekend with visits from peeps from Naha. Waisu desu.

Higashi-son, a village

Japan. Okinawa-ken. Higashi-son. I made it. I MADE IT!

I'm so excited to be here it's hard to even say how much so. You'd have to come visit and just see it all, experience the rural island life, the smothering humidity and spattering rain, the delicious food, the great scenery, the gorgeous drives, the neighbors and the coworkers and the ALTs, the colorful festivals, the traditional dance, even the well-arranged fireworks. I'll stop the gushing for a moment.

Could I have asked for a better placement? No! I knew the JET Programme would take care of the details and I'm quite glad how they did. Requesting nothing but a rural locale, I have been put in what I hear is the best destination in all of Japan. Reasons include the relaxed Okinawan lifestyle, the linen shirts that substitute as jacket and tie for formal events, and sub-tropical weather.

As the first two weeks passed quickly and were haywire, memory marred by erratic sleep and prescribed drinking, I may try to play catch up at a later point. As for now, relax in knowing that I am very happy, very comfortable, and very well tanned on the forearms and lower legs. My place feels more like home every day and I get paid tomorrow, meaning the couch I've been eying is finally mine. Also going to stock up on sweet, sweet cereal and milk; my cultural portrayal might as well start with food. Waisu desu.