Gone Batty

Some weeks ago, when Sam visited Okinawa, and joined Kerri and I on a tour of the place, we went to Okinawa World. Part of the tour included a walk through a tropical garden of sorts. It was mainly a collection of fruit-bearing trees (there's got to be a term for this, right?) laid out for a nice walk after the underground cave exhibit. I took note of a few of the trees, mainly because of the distinct shape of the fruits.

A few days ago at school, someone brought a plate into the teachers' room and implored us all to have a bite of the fruit that it bore. I asked what it was. "gu-ah-ba," the person replied. Ah, so that's explains the bat living in my tree.

And so, I have discovered that I have a treasure in my back yard.

I got home today, and with the typhoon-influenced winds pushing hard through my village, a fruit from the tree right outside my door had fallen to the ground. I went to pick it up, took a look at it, gave it a whiff, and sure enough, it's "gu-ah-ba." Guava. I have a guava tree in my yard. I am super-excited!

Why? Well, not only is it a little awesomeness of the rural lifestyle that I've come to inhabit, but it's also a sign that good things can be grown in this yard of mine. I started a compost pile some months back, but the complete lack of rain has made things very hard and compact lately. And the tree I started to eliminate, in just a few weeks time, has made a startling comeback (though a friend recommended cutting it all down, drilling into the stump, and pouring gasoline into the hole; not sure if I want to try lighting it, too, for fun's sake). So I've got a lot of work ahead of me if I want to actually turn this yard into a decent place to grow things. Right now, the wild grass and weeds are owning it.

But think of the possibilities! I'm going to take a few of the less fortunate fruits, the ones rotting on the concrete nearby, for example, and try to plant them in a place where they'll prosper. So while I'll have to settle for one guava tree, who knows what my predecessors to be will have in store for them.

And just to reassure you, these guava taste really good.

Okinawan History

I have been bouncing around a few blogs lately regarding the upcoming US Presidential election. Ugh. Anyway, I stumbled upon a very interesting site related to the history of Okinawa before, during, and after World War II.

I found this tidbit in one of the first few links:

I have the honor to enclose copy of a self-explanatory memorandum for General MacArthur, September 20, 1947, containing the gist of a conversation with Mr. Hidenari Terasaki, an adviser to the Emperor, who called at this Office at his own request.

It will be noted that the Emperor of Japan hopes that the United States will continue the military occupation of Okinawa and other islands of the Ryukyus, a hope which undoubtedly is largely based upon self-interest. The Emperor also envisages a continuation of United States military occupation of these islands through the medium of a long-term lease. In his opinion, the Japanese people would thereby be convinced that the United States has no ulterior motives and would welcome United States occupation for military purposes.

My interest is so piqued by this short memo. I'm afraid I may be laying off the studying until I've read the entire site.

Check it out for yourself, too at Nirai Kanai.

Dey say dere's a tah-phoon a-coming...

If the reports of the approaching typhoon (and accompanying speculations of those reports) going around are to be trusted, then there is a chance the flight I booked for this weekend, to fly up and see Sam, may never take off.

I will be blunt in saying that if this happens, I will f'ing lose it. It would clearly be just another example of Nature's bias against, and inability to exact any sort of fair treatment toward, me.

The next chance I would have to get up to Mie-ken, let alone for a three-day weekend, would not be for at least the next three weeks. This is due solely to upcoming "sports days" at each of my schools. Though I won't do anything of any importance at these events, I go. It's ok. I get a free bento and I don't have to really do anything (and I get the comp days, too). But I'll be honest in saying that I'd be a much more willing participant/specatator/supporter/anything you want me to be, really, if I get on that plane Friday.

PS - keep track of my daily stress level by checking out the Japan Meteorological Agency's typhoon forecast.

Save a Tree, Save the World, Two Sticks at a Time

Inspired by Dave

Back on Track

Yeah, damn right! That's the hope anyway, to get back into a good rhythm. Summer break was immensely restful and very fun, and Brent's visit made it all the more the awesome experience (especially for him I'm sure). Five weeks flew by and some of what I have to show for it is a reduced bank account, sore body parts from my bike fall, and a pretty good tan.

And now it's time to get back to the life I chose to start almost two years ago.

I can believe it. I wanted to say I can't believe it - meaning how fast the time has gone - but then I realized that everyone says that. Why don't you believe it? Perhaps a better way of phrasing it would be, "I have been unaware of the large period of time that has passed, and am treating it as if it were a much smaller period of time, and upon reconciling the two, I realize that what I feel I experienced and what I actually experienced are two very different senses of passed time. I can't believe it."

Anyway, diatribe concluded, today is Tuesday, the second day of the second term of the Japanese school year, also the second day of school of my second year as ALT on the JET Programme.

It went really well! While the JHS kids are stuck in morning tests, the elementary kids are in full energy mode. I doubt they sat around all summer, but when I remember back to my life as a student, by the end of summer break, I was so ready to get back to school, to see my friends, to wrap paper grocery bags around my textbooks, to sit in the hallway and goof around, to just have something to DO!

And such a desire remains as an adult. I enjoyed my time off, the days spent lazing around the apartment, putting everything in order, reducing clutter, cleaning, catching up on my laundry, etc. If it weren't for my trip up to mainland to visit Sam and meet Kerri, and for the two weeks Brent spent here, I think I'd have gone out of my mind. Perhaps that's not exactly the case; I would have been studying Japanese, doing more exercise, and taking more photos. But you get the idea. Time off is great, as long as when it ends, and we have something to go back to doing.

This week, I'm back to doing. I picked up my Japanese studies again and am happy that I still remember what I spent the past six months learning. Exercise (running, leg training) is on hold as I wait for my left knee (or a ligament or tendon therein) to stop bothering me, though swimming has proved to be beneficial. Karate is also on hold. Bike lessons have pretty much been bumped to the weekends (7 lessons to go, the final being my practical test, which I'm going to ace!).

There is one more piece of awesome news. But I'm not going to type it here just yet. If you didn't hear it from me before you (eventually) read it here, my apologies. But I don't think you'll hold it against me.