Looking Ahead

With just under nine months left on my contract with the Higashi Village Board of Education, I have started putting a lot of thought into what I am going to do next year come August. I have two lists, one full of things I want to do and one full of things I will probably be able to do. I want to use these next nine months to move items from the "want" list to the "be able to" list.

To give you an idea of what I've been thinking, here's a short list:

• spend some months cycling across Japan, north to south, performing something of a farewell before figuring out what comes next;
• get back into music, specifically voice;
• learn to program, because I like computers and want to be able to utilize them more so than I am now;
  
• perhaps obtain an English teaching certification in a country where I could also spend time learning that country's language; and
• most importantly, make sure that whatever I decide to do I enjoy it and look forward to it everyday.

Nine months is such a short amount of time, but it's a great time. Looking ahead to what comes next is exciting, though I do sometimes feel a little trepidation about my uncertain future. A good state of mind helps, though, realizing that no matter what I choose, as long as I work hard at doing what I love, I will enjoy it.

Four Years Ago

It's been four years since I've been back to the US since coming to Okinawa.

I'm heading back for a combination of reasons. The impetus for the trip came from my friend Dougal who is getting married on June 19th. Before and after the wedding, I will be meeting up with family in a couple of different locations. It's going to be fun!

I leave for the airport in a couple of hours and I can't help but think about how different my hometown will be or what it's going to feel like to be surrounded by English for a full two weeks.

While I'm back, I will be taking lots of photos and video to document the trip. I plan on showing my students a little bit of what it's like in the US through this amateur documentary. Of course, as I get the time, I'll upload some of what I capture for your enjoyment as well.

Alright, off to Naha!

Akashobin

Today, there was quite a ruckus after fourth period class right before lunch. It turns out a bird (known here as akashobin, or ruddy kingfisher) had flown into the school, smacked against a window, and found itself not so much capable of immediately flying back out. Students and teachers gathered around, nobody willing to take the first step in getting the bird to safety.

I offered to pick the bird up and carry it outside (I have done this before at the same school with a different bird), but the bird kept nipping at my fingers and flying around a bit. He ended up in the entrance to the men's bathroom. I eventually borrowed a student's towel, lightly grasped the bird, and carried him outside to a large platform surrounded by potted plants. I'm not sure if he made it away, but I hope so. It was quite a beautiful bird to see up close (can you see the purple on it's back?)

Here's a shot I took before picking the bird up and getting him out of the men's bathroom.

Monday, May 23, 2011 @ 8:29 in the evening

The problem with having no idea about what to write is that writing comes difficultly (and reads like shit). I stare at the screen and I see a huge white swath of nothing and it intimidates me. Am I to fill that entire space with coherent prose and something worth reading? Is it enough just to type until the white is lessened and the black is increased? How presumptuous of me to assume that the text would be entered in black and not, say, a much more vibrant color such as green or purple. Though I suspect green would be harder to read. I’m not sure if there would be much of a difference between black and purple.

Would there be anything really different about words typed in purple as opposed to words typed in black? What if I were to type the words in black and then change the color of the text in its entirety to purple with a few clicks of a button? Who could tell, other than a key logger, that I had not entered all the text in purple? An easy deception it would be, one that could only be discovered if I were to grant access to the truth of my method.

I can’t remember the last time I wrote anything of significant length. Perhaps the last document of such volume was my statement of purpose that I submitted as part of my application to the JET Programme back in 2006. That was so long ago. Almost five years since I took my trip around the world. Almost five years since I got back to Chicago and realized that a future in banking regulation was not the path that I wanted to follow. Almost five years ago when I submitted the successful application that eventually found its way to a board of education willing to hire me with little more than a hunch about what kind of person I was. I wonder if they realize how much I polished and perfected that essay. I wonder if any of the contracting organizations understand what they are getting themselves into when they extend that offer of faith to an unknown future employee.

How well it did work out in my case. When I came to Japan as a participant of the JET Programme, I promised myself that I would stay at least two years. One year seemed too short of a time frame to get to know the place. Two years would be better, I thought. Oh, the unexpected occurrences and the uncertainties about what I was spending my time here doing! Who knew that my decision to stay a third year would be decided on a whim, simply because my boss had caught me off-guard with the question of whether I wanted to stay or not? Who knew that my situation – rather, my state of mind – would improve to the point where even though I was working 15-20 classes week, I enjoyed them more and found a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment? Who knew that I would stay the maximum length of time allowed by my contract, only to enter into the final year with uncertainties as to what comes afterward? I certainly didn’t.

I can’t tell if I’m in one of my annual lulls right now, bringing me down a bit. Not to mention the poorly timed development of a new interest that might just conflict with other interests. One would think that with all the free time afforded me by my relatively lax schedule, that I would be taking advantage of all sorts of growth opportunities. For example, studying Japanese seems like a worthwhile goal, doesn’t it? I’m in the perfect place for learning it. Not a day goes by where I don’t use Japanese. How many people would enjoy the privilege of being in my position? I get paid well, my work is not stressful, my expenses are low, and I live on a subtropical island whose natural beauty is readily accessible, whose culture relishes an easy pace of life, and whose traditional martial art of karate has inspired me to do more than just show up to practice a few times a week.

So what’s my problem? What is it about this recent emotional funk that is so hard for me to get out of? Is it the fact that I live so far away from large populations of people? I don’t think so. Living in a city would not automatically solve the problem that is my current discontent. Is it a recent loss, and the frustrating situations that follow? Is the lack of a distinct purpose overshadowing me and making it seem like the future has nothing in store for me? What am I going to be doing a little more than a year from now? What if I choose something that seems interesting now, but in a year turns into drudgery? I know I’m not the first person in the world to face these problems, this lack of self-confidence. But it’s the first time for me.

For Northern Japan?

Tonight (Tuesday) I went to the store after karate, as always. I slowly made my way through the aisles, picking out some fruit, tofu, and a few other things. I made my way over to the dairy section and saw this card covering up the prices for certain items that were no longer stocked on the shelf.
At first glance, I thought perhaps it was an announcement about how the store had pledged some of their supplies to the communities up north in their time of need. What a noble cause that would be, to sacrifice profits for the good of those in a situation many of us would hope to never find ourselves.

Here's what it actually says:
"To our dear customers...

Regarding Grocery Supplies effected by the North-Eastern Japan Pacific Earthquake.

We thank you shopping with us today. We'd like to inform you that as a result of the recent earthquake, some of our groceries will not be re-stocked on time. We kindly ask for your understanding and cooperation and we will pass along the information regarding their arrival as soon as possible."

So it seems my hope in humanity wasn't completely fulfilled. It's just a simple announcement that some of their goods weren't going to be arriving for a while. It did make me stop and think about what I really needed, about the daily "needs" I have and how important I think they are.

Over one hundred thousand people are homeless and in temporary living arrangements in one of the coldest regions of Japan. I don't think anybody would argue that when compared to a situation like that, a few dozen people in Okinawa can go without their yogurt for a few weeks.

Friday, March 11th Northern Japan Earthquake

Edit: live streams of Japanese news channels, for those interested.
Ustream
News

As you know by now, a high-magnitude earthquake occurred in Japan on Friday afternoon. At 2:46 p.m., about 130km (~80 miles) off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture (宮城県), and located 10km beneath the earth's crust, the quake registered a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale (edit: the quake is now reported as an 8.8, the largest quake in Japan's recorded history). Japan uses another scale to indicate the severity (damage potential) of quakes, ranging from 1 to 7, in ascending order of severity. This was a 7.

[Don't worry about not understanding the Japanese - the illustrations are accurate]

Immediately after the earthquake struck, tsunami warnings were issued and soon all television channels were broadcasting warnings of an imminent tsunami that would affect most of the east coast of Japan. Locations nearest the epicenter were warned to expect waves up to 6 meters, and in at least one location, 10 meters. In addition, aftershocks of fairly high intensity continued throughout the rest of the day and into Saturday morning, making it hard for anyone experiencing the quake to find any sense of real comfort.

[The quake map, showing just how widespread the shocks of the quake were]

[At the time of this post, the latest tsunami warning had been issued at 3:20 a.m.]
(× = epicenter, red = 3 meters+, orange = 2-3m, yellow = 0.5m)

Japan has learned well from experience. Living on the edge of so many tectonic plates means that Japan is one of the most seismically active locations in the world. Aside from the physical protections offered by tide walls and automatic gating systems that can be closed to further protect vulnerable locations, they really excel at getting people to safety.

As we have fire drills in the U.S., Japan runs earthquake and tsunami drills. Each village, town, and city has designated evacuation routes and gathering spots. The municipal announcement systems (large-scale PA systems) are also extremely useful in disseminating crucial information to residents quickly. These systems surely save lives. Unfortunately, there is no foolproof way to predict the nature of a tsunami, especially one caused by one of the largest quakes in Japan's recent history.

Today the news is covering the destruction caused by the tsunami. Prefectures located on the eastern seaboard of northern Japan (Iwate, Miyagi, and Ibaraki) are reporting increasing numbers of dead, injured, and missing persons. The latest reports predict over 1400 casualties and/or missing persons. Many thousands of people are in evacuation shelters, households are without power (and will be for many days), and transportation in some areas has been brought to a halt.

[Iwate prefecture reports 215 dead, 214 missing]

A nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture has reported a radiation leak and has been shut down. Though the shutdown leaves many without power in one of the countries colder regions, it is a necessary step to prevent the spread of radiation.

The effects of this earthquake and tsunami are going to be felt by many for a long time. Power must be restored, damage must be repaired, and cleanups must be performed. The burden this is going to place on the affected towns and cities is heavy. But the financial and the monetary loss cannot compare to the loss of life and the suffering that many will be experiencing due to the deaths and injuries caused by this disaster.

31

I am a little disappointed in myself that my last post was over a month and a half ago. January 14th. Really?

There are no excuses.

Today, I turned 31. Well, at least according to the timezone that I'm currently living in. If you were to find yourself in the timezone in which I was born (EST), I would still not be born (but my mother would be going through some early labor pains, I'm sure).

Busy is a word that I would use to describe my day. An almost full day of classes, though three of them were less like class and more like a celebration - a number of last classes for several of the kids I teach. There was a scrabble game / wasabi treat game (everyone picks a cream puff, some of which are loaded with wasabi - deadly!) / brownie-eating class (one of the boys in that class shares my birthday). There was the special student class, where he prepared meals by himself for himself, his teacher, the Japanese teacher of English, and me - a final celebratory meal if you will. And there was the elementary class that didn't go as planned, but turned out to be more fun than what the plan called for.

This evening, I met up with a great group of guys at the Nago A&W, chilled for a few hours, ate two scoops of Baskin Robbins 31 flavors ice cream (this year's goal - eat all 31 flavors for all 31 years of life!), and had a good number of laughs, many of which were definitely not safe for use in public, but such is the benefit of speaking English in a country where English is not well known.

And now, just before bed, I am looking forward to the remaining 18 months or so on the JET Program here in Higashi. If things go well, I will leave Higashi satisfied with my time spent here, an advanced level of ability in the Japanese language, a solid grasp of the fundamentals of karate (and the black belt as indication), and a heartfelt appreciation for the five years spent here and the countless little paths and influences that came into my life before now to make this experience possible.

So with 31 years accrued in this body, I can look back at what I remember and be happy and content. And with, what I hope are, many more to come, I can look forward and imagine all the joy waiting to be had.

PS - Happy Birthday to Shan, my 3/3 birthday friend. I hope you had as great a day as I did here.

About Higashi

I've been in Japan for almost three and a half years. And I realized I have never really given a good overview of some of the more basic aspects of my daily life. For example, what each of my three schools are like, how they differ. Or a mention of what kinds of activities I get involved in during my free time.

So for the start of this year, I've come up with a list of topics I'll be touching on over the next several posts. Here's a list, in no particular order at the moment:

• Higashi: what kind of place is it?
• My Schools: Higashi, Arume, and Takae
• My Perspective of Life as an Assistant Language Teacher
  
• Living in the Inaka (or rural area)
• Okinawan Karate: Shuri Sho-Rin Ryu (首里少林流）
• Studying Japanese (And How to Keep if Fun)
• Okinawa vs. Mainland Japan: how are they different?

It's my hope that through posts like this, you'll get an idea of - very brief as it may be - of how things are going in Higashi.

Aside from that, Happy New Year!