So tomorrow’s the day! I take a 7:51 bus to the station, get on a local train and ride it to Nagoya (only 40 mins slower than the shink). Then, I jump on the Nozomi. How space age is that thing?! Get off at Hakata/Fukuoka and begin a week of wandering proper again.
Contact will be sketch, but you could always send word to my cell/mobile/keitai:
m4c-n0r7h-1337(atto maaku)c(dotto)vodafone(dotto)ne(dotto)jp
This week was incredibly stressful during the day, but when it’s over, feel ok. Some classes are really difficult this year - pushing and pushing the students to do simple things.
A strange diversion from the information ladder this week. The set up: usually, I get information about upcoming events/meetings/seminars/camps from my supervisor. This was not the case on Tuesday, and it alarmed me a bit. I was talking with Yoshioka-sensei (math guy, kendo god, from Kyushu, playing tour planner) about my Golden Week trip, when the new vice principal interrupted us. He wanted me to go talk with the (new) principal about the new JET training orientation. Weird and unusual, not the normal protocol, a sign of big important things.
Went down to talk with the principal, and had a great time. I think he just wanted to meet me - we only talked about the orientation for 2 or 3 minutes, and he didn’t even have complete imformation! Instead, we talked about where I was from in America (a common theme this week - I should really learn the Japanese word for mesa instead of using a dictionary every time, but how common a word is that? in a place that looks like NZ?). We chatted for about 15 minutes! And by the end, we made a deal to have a party some time. I think he’ll be a great principal.
A very extreme weekend. Extremely nervous, extremely vulnerable, extremely helpless, extremely thankful, extremely relaxed, extremely encouraged…
This weekend was the official beginning of shooting for my doco! Saturday, I, with the undeniably neccessary help from Kikkawa sensei, interviewed two people, shot the entirety of the tea making process, and learned more about myself and Japan.
I prepared for the big day on Friday night by heading to my local sushi chef, alone. Face the speaking fear and just go. I knew the place because Takahashi sensei, of skiing/snowboarding lore took me there just before he left for a sea voyage. Brought the list of questions I’d ask to see if they made sense. It felt like I was trying to crack a code or something. I had the crack, but couldn’t understand the message: I had questions in Japanese, but didn’t fully understand them, nor did I know if they would make sense to my interviewee.
The chef was friendly enough, and I ordered the special of the day. We talked about Colorado, and beef, and sushi/Japanese foods in the US. I brought my small pocket dictionary to help. The other man at the counter jumped in as well. I tried my interview questions, and they seemed to work. Sigh of relief.
Soon, the conversation turned to my life in Japan. Where I lived, where I’ve travelled, friends, girlfriends, all of that. Well, it wasn’t soon after that his daughter made an appearance (I think from Mom’s goading). She brought an electronic dictionary and word trading continued. The chef retrived some maps I pointed out Denver, and where Boulder and Fort Collins would be. I drew a small picture map of Colorado on my note pad. Moutains, and plains, and mesas, and dunes.
By that time, about 2 hours had passed. And the other man at the bar had a friend come in, a salary man whose sister is married to an Aussie (and living in Australia). He was drunk already, and good fun to talk with. Another hour of eating, and I went home to sleep. Had a long day, the next day!
Go here to read about it.
Impressions… I tried to express my utter amazement at the events of the day to Kikkawa sensei, but faily miserably. I tried to say that when I first arrived in Japan that I never thought this would happen.
But, what I was thinking was more like: Do you what a world moment is in physics? It’s when two history lines intersect. If you think about an object in 4 dimensions (3 spacial and the 4th temporal), then an atom/object/thing makes a single line in the continuum of space. One way to describe a collision is using these lines. When two objects collide, their history lines try to occupy the same 4 coordinates, something that’s not possible. This kind of view led to the term ‘world moment.’
Well, I felt a few world moments in the ethereal domain yesterday. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever conceivably imagine that I’d be doing what I was doing yesterday. This humbling thot hit me a few times throughout the day. Driving to a remote, peaceful place, spending a day with farmers and factory workers, seeing a side of Japan that many ALTs never really see. The eagerness of everyone to help, the hospitality and willingness to overlook the language barriers, I can’t figure out what I want to say. I guess I actually saw Japan for one of the first times yesteray. Kikkawa sensei’s history line interacted with mine and I’ve been deeply impacted. And I feel terrible that he’ll never truly know how I feel. I was completely dependent on him and he was absolutely incredibly foreseeing and kind.
OK, back to the boring. After I returned and downloaded the footage, I headed off to Shizuoka to relax. Spring Brain Monkey had a it’s ‘Tickle’ event on, so I went. On the way, I bought some Celestial Seasonings tea and the ingredients for schmores at the international import store in Shizuoka (where, incidentally, I found my favorite Thai curry paste w00+!) as a meager thank-you for Kikkawa sensei. He’ll get a kick out of our bastardized teas (raspberry zinger - the atrocities!), and his kids will love schmores, no doubt about that.
Anyway, once at Spring Brain Monkey, I met up with Yossie (the DJ) and met his DJ friends (Tanjo and Tetsu). We talked music and Colorado for a long while. They introduced me to a nice Jswing group. Man, their music is so good - latin and funk and jazz and swing and downtempo. It’s all there. But, it was a good wind down for me. The three of them were very praising of my Japanese, something I’ve needed recently, as I’m heading into another swell of culture shock. An entire language is freaking huge to learn. I’m feeling overwhelmed. These small spots of encouragement really help me keep going.
The night went really well, and I saw some other teachers that I hadn’t seen since before winter break. General small talk.
Went home and SLEPT. A good sleep. Today was very relaxing. Shopping and mic-sponge making. I have a few things left to put together before heading off to Kyushu during Golden Week.
Oh, that’s right. On Friday, I’m leaving with Aroop, Nick, and Kaz to go to Kyushu for 8 days. We’re going to Hakata (Fukuoka), Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, and Kirishima. On our return, we’re stopping in Hiroshima. Nice and sobering. This trip is funded by my grant, so I’ll be interviewing (most likely in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, as their memorial parks are large and beautiful).
So lessee, what’s happened… Not a whole lot. Highlight of the weekend was meeting a local DJ. He plays fortnightly at Spring Brain Monkey, a small bar in Shizuoka whose owner is a national engaged to a guy on the JET Program. He’s (I’m talking about the DJ) engaging and has impeccable taste - likes the crossover jazz (he calls it new jazz).
Spent the majority of the weekend figuring out the xml description files for video discs. Compiled some more programs and transcoded quicktime4linux to mpeg2. Learning lots.
Classes are in full effect finally. I’m excited to start again with new students. I only have 280 this go ’round (down from 400), so I have a chance at learning their names in under a term. The introduction lessons are finished (so they’ve learned the Shim-Sham), but this year I also made a short video (thanks to cammy) and gave them the Lindy Hop. We’re going thru the rules at the moment, so things feel boring, but soon it’ll be back to the Joe show.
Got a chance to go to Tokyo this weekend - the sakura were in full bloom and the Tokyo Swing Dance Society had a small gathering! (yes, there are photos)
The meet-up was a hanami party. Hanami happens only once a year - when the sakura bloom (the word comes from hana, “flower”, and “mi”, to see.). Everyone gathers under and around the huge pink trees and relaxes all day. Sake (Nihon-shu) is a popular drink while people talk and eat.
I met many of the dancers that came to Fuji (and few more) at Kinuta Park in Tokyo. Good music, food, and drink - properly unwinding. A few small-talk conversations in Japanese (I’ve discovered that while my Japanese hasn’t been growing so fast, my confidence to try and not care about messing up has been picking up the slack).
The new classes aren’t so bad. Turns out for the first month the periods are only 40 minutes long, which actually makes things too brief. (A 45 minute class is perfect.) I’ve had three already, and I’m doing the shim-sham again because the new third years didn’t have any classes with me last year (when they were 2nd years).
This year, I am fully coordinating the 3rd year curriculum (grammar, quizzes, vocabulary, classwork) - sorta slid over to my corner by itself. I’m taking it a sign of trust or non-incompetance rather than their desire for less work. It’s prolly a mix, ね？
Despite the crowded, lonely start to the weekend, it was rather nice. I went snowboarding with my neighbor Takahashi-sensei, the navigator for Yaizu’s vessel.
We drove 3.5 hours to Shirakaba 2in1 resort in Nagano-ken. A mid-sized, fully accommodating mountian. We left early (5am) and hit the slopes before 10 (after renting equipment). Took me till lunch to remember now to bloody turn, but the last two hours of the afternoon were excellent - started to S-turn in the end. As always, there are photos.
Sunday was the 静岡まつり (Shizuoka matsuri). I met up with the swing dancer that came to Fuji and she showed me around. There was a nice parade - saw Japan’s male-gymnastics gold-medalist, a famous comedian, and many marching bands. Yukie took me to the temple as well, and they were having a ceremony.
This week hails the beginning of the new term. My first class in over a month is on Thursday. Nervous again for some reason, but prolly just because it’s been a long time.
Spring is here, and the days are getting longer and brighter and warmer. So is my mood. But I think I said that already.
