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。