Zamami

My friend Dave lives on an island village off the west coast of southern Okinawa. It's called Zamami.

Over the past year and a half, I've made it to Zamami around half-a-dozen times, twice for whale watching, other visits just to see Dave and hang out on the island. This past weekend was the second whale watching visit and it was really fun. A number of ALTs from the southern part of Okinawa made the trip as did a few of their Japanese friends.

The great part about this weekend, besides the whale watching, was the festival that was held on Saturday. Starting at 5:30, there were all kinds of musical presentations ranging from taiko and eisa (traditional Okinawan dance) to a really cool trio of sanshin, piano and percussion. After the last performance, we headed back to the apartment and played a random assortment of card games and discussed as many dirty Japanese words as possible before going to sleep.

Sunday, it questionable weather, we all head out for the main event. And it turned out well. Though we didn't see as much activity as we did last February, for a few of the people on the trip who had never seen whales, it was still very cool. And so I recommend, that if you ever get the chance to take a whale watching trip, that you do. It's something you'll really enjoy (just be sure to take your sea legs with you).

Photo credit: David Clumpner

Fiestavus

The adventure isn't over. Check out the video and support some awesome dudes at Fiestavus.com.



And in case you really want to add your name in support, sign their petition.

Graduation

Today, the schools of Higashi celebrated graduation. The 3rd grade junior high students and the 6th grade elementary students received their certificates and are done with school.

The ceremony at Higashi was really nice (I only attended one ceremony today, rather than jumping around the village). The most touching portion of the event was the 送る言葉, or the "words of send off." The 6th grade class stood and faced the entire elementary school. Grades 1 through 5 then began to name each 6th grader and recount admirable traits or things they had done during the past year that the younger students wanted to thank them for. After that, the 6th graders then reciprocated their thanks. Each group also had a song prepared and sang them well.

The junior high portion of the 送る言葉 consisted of speeches from the 1st and 2nd grade representative and from one 3rd grade representative. Their speeches were much in the same vein as the elementary pronouncements, offering thanks for support and friendship, looking forward to whatever may come in high school and beyond.

The energy of the day was really great. Out of all the schools' graduation ceremonies I could have attended this year, I'm glad they sent me to Higashi's. When I first came in the summer of 2007, the recently graduated class was the hardest class for me to teach. They never responded to questions, they seemed really disinterested in participating, and I didn't know what to do to get them motivated. I found out, over the course of a year and a half, that time was what they needed. We became closer (though some of the boys were still reluctant to do much in class) and our time outside of class is where we bonded; I even found out how to make them laugh and smile and class, too. So as today ends, and though I will miss some of their faces come April, I know they're on their way to choosing a life of their own. And I wish them the best.

Adjustments

This is the last week of school for the 3rd grade junior high school (9th) and 6th grade elementary students. Friday is graduation, though school will continue for another week and a half for the other grades. I don't understand the logic of the extra 8 days of school, but that's okay. I've accepted that I don't need to understand everything, especially something that doesn't really impact my life one way or another.

With graduation approaching, I started looking through my selection of suits. I was extremely disappointed. It's not that the suits I brought with me are bad. Rather, they were cut for a different build of person, an American size. No, I haven't shrunk (at least not vertically), but I have gotten slimmer. I'm not really sure how to describe it, because I've hovered around 75kg (165 lbs) for years now. Anyway, after putting on my suit jacket only to feel like I was preparing for a cross-ocean venture, I decided it was time to buy a new suit. And I came home with two.

I went to the local "western suits" store in Nago and was helped by a salesman there named Nishi. He was happy to help me figure out exactly what kind of suit would fit on my current build and we started going through a series of designs. I had the great luck to want to purchase a new suit during a very good special they were running. With the purchase of one suit, the second (２着目) was only going to cost me 1,000 yen (or about $10). Nice. I got two suits, a new shirt, and a slim pink tie for just under 60,000 yen ($600). I'm picking them up Wednesday after the pants have been hemmed to my liking.

They're really slick. My favorite part about them is their slim cut. I'd always felt a little "lost" in suits that I had picked up in the states. Understandable, since my build back then didn't fit the average build of an American. These suits are cut for style, slim and athletic, and I'm really happy to have spent the money on them. Now that I've got them, I'm going to have to look for reasons to wear them.

So, anybody have any ideas?

A New Venture

Check it out...

Run of Higashi

29 out of 2009

Take this year, 2009. Remove the chafe. What are you left with?

29. My number for this year (and one I share with a close friend). That's all that mattered today.

Thanks everyone for your wishes and support!

See you next year.