heh. So in a youthful decision of haste, I decided to run in the school’s annual marathon (マラソン大会). It’s not really a full marathon, nor a half marathon, but it’s long enuf to get the idea. The girls run 6km and the boys 10km. I ran 8km. I started with the first wave (the girls) and then when they turned around at kilometer 3, I kept going (like Forest, I suppose) for another kilometer (so not like Forest) to my post.

It was my job to cheer and support students as they ran by. And I was standing with one of the young math teachers. He was super curious about how math is taught in other countries, and he even taught me a thing or two. In India, multiplication tables are learned up to 29×29. Holy Schnikees! Japan does 9×9. Students came running eventually (only boys, and their heat started 10mins later), and I had fun telling jokes and trying to get them to smile.

When the last group of boys ran by, I joined them and ran the last 4km of their race with them. Waiting for me upon my return was a delicious pork stew made by a few parents. They used huge 50 gallon drums [clicky] to hold fires for the massive cooking pots, or cauldrons (it is about that time of year, and I still don’t have any plans - I doubt anything will materialize, tho I’d either go as Rupan or Napoleon Dynamite, friggin’ idiot, GOD!!). A good feed, and then back to school. No classes all day (we were running in great perfectly sunny weather - even got a small burn on my face!), so I promptly took a nap in the teacher’s lounge. That’s my thing now at school - whenever I don’t have anything to do, I sleep. Kinda nice, I like being a cat.

A few after thots (sorry)…

It’s not every president who gets to choose 2 supreme court judges _and_ the Federal Reserve chairman. I’m not connected enuf to know if they were good choices (I’ve read some disheartening things), but I’m aware enuf to be seriously concerned.

NPR is my new favorite radio station for [these] [three] [reasons].

Lunch with the students has become increasingly rewarding. Today, I ate with the food science course, and I learned a few key things about their homeroom teacher (one of my partner teachers). He was born in NYC and grew up in Osaka. Right now, he’s undecided about his future as an English teacher - his ikebana has become quite popular apparently, and folks are offering big money to move him back to Osaka. I’d take that in an instant.

I learned all this because I bought a turtle heater yesterday. Before I left school, I told some of my students that I had a turtle and that I was going to buy a small heater for it. They were very curious about the turtle, and felt comfortable talking after that small connection.

I keep spending weekends away! This time I went to Shimizu to watch an S-Pulse game. S-Pulse is a pro soccer team in Shizuoka (the other team is the Iwata Jubilo). Fortunately enough, it was that very league game - the Derby (much like CU vs CSU back in CO). Both groups of fans came out in strong numbers, but they behaved very politely. No riots or drunken brawls. Just compelely heart-fueled cheering.

Much like the Suisan vs Chuo baseball game, each team has its own respective cheers and fight songs. And every fan knows every one, and they all do it in eerie unison. Very strong and did I say powerful?

The game was a tie (1 - 1), and they didn’t do a shootout. Silly league games. [clicky]

Also spent a lot of time looking for new glasses. The contacts are running out, and considering my current specs are over 8 years old (and very geekily wired together), it makes sense to make a replacement. So, I’ve been doing a lot of walking and looking. Turns out my head is really narrow. All of the Japanese designers make wide glasses, and half of the European ones are similar. There’s some hope, tho, and plenty more stores to hit. Japan has as many glasses shops as convenience stores or onsen or izakayas. The service is top, too, so shopping isn’t so painful, tho I did jump back when a guy tried to hand me some Nike frames. It’s bad enuf CK and Gucci and Boss make frames, but Nike? Where are the lone designers?

I like how when you’re in your head too much that things get stretched too large. Problems are not nearly as big when you’ve get some proper perspective.

The gardening has continued. Bulbs are planted and a small stone path has been laid down. There’s even a rock garden part!

Today, the food preparation course made fish sausages. I was given three! How do you prepare fish sausages? Hrm, maybe with some red beans and rice.

This weekend made up for the somewhat disappointing Tokyo weekend. I got a great dance in! Lots of great broken-beat, funk, and latin. Even had a Flying Spaghetti Monster sighting (so, get on over to the photos to pay your respects).

And Brent came over for a night. We started a garden today! We bought bulbs and tilled the plot. Maybe next time we’ll plant! Also, watched The Corporation, which was nice. Japan has softened me somewhat on that front because I’ve not been exposed to it (have yet to find where they sell Adbusters - c’mon, the cover has price in yen!).

Finally, my local temple had a kid’s festival tonight. Each family made a lantern and set them up at the temple. It was beautiful. Photos for that, too.

Seiya was feeling much better today. We played a review game, and the whole class was there. Everyone got wrapped up in it, and they were yelling to answer questions. There was even pushing! Seiya got so excited he ran up to me, slipped and fell over. All is well.

Today at lunch, I ate with the most difficult homeroom - 3G. These kids are great, but couldn’t give a rat’s ass about English. It’s like expecting a farmer’s son in Iowa to learn Hindi - not really useful for either student’s life. But, they love my furikake (hey, wasabi is t3h best), and always ask to use some. Well, today about 5 students partook in the sprinklage and significantly depleted the supply. Mami, the ever-happy and sharp student, subtly rebuked them for taking without offering a trade. Soon, I had some other furikake, gum, and chocolate. I can’t fault them!

Midterms start tomorrow. I get a chance to plan the remainder of the term, and then start into the short third term. Should alleviate the workload during the winter holiday.

This unique collision of worlds made me happy!

This underlining of observations made me sad: perhaps children are less affected by their surrounding culture. At some point, Japanese (and American) people decide that emoting is a bad thing.

Today, Seiya was visibly upset. He didn’t want to do anything in class - even if it was learning the lyrics to one of Eminem’s songs (he loves hip-hop, writes big “I [heart] HIP HOP” graffiti all over his work, draws DJ turntables, too). He just sat, defeated at his desk for the entire 50 minutes. Everything was impossible according to him. Not till after the class did my partner teacher tell me that he failed his 2nd-tier shipman’s communication exam (a national exam, like a certifictation). He’s in the fishing course and pretty much needs this to get a job on a boat. Others in the class passed, and some even took the 1st-tier test.

Why is it the kids that communicate? What happens to us later on?

Sometimes, extremes leave you feeling off. Waving back and forth between one end of the spectrum and the other can really upset your instruments. The things that help you center don’t seem to work even.

In the space of one weekend, or even one day, I felt both the closest and furthest I’ve been to people since I’ve been here. There are some folks you really connect well with. Similar backgrounds, similar world views, similar openness; bonds can quickly and firmly form under such welcome conditions. Conversely, there are the folks who’ve been around a while and with whom bonds have been made, but somehow moved into outer orbit. Whether it be personal or exterior circumstances (more often than not are they mixed), the wedge continues to be inched inward, like the slow movement of plate tectonics.

Yet, all in all, the weekend was great! I learned how to knit (and purl, which expanded my homonyms for that word to 3), and made excellent food. Relaxed and watched a few DVDs. Also, went to Tokyo to watch Aroop’s debut at The Room, a small nu-jazz club (Kyoto Jazz Massive owns the place). He was mixed in with about 5 other DJs, and the place was packed. The DJed music wasn’t very enjoyable, tho - just because it’s new jazz doesn’t make it good. Just because you sample music that’s not sampled in other kinds of electronic music doesn’t make it original. In fact, I found the sets to be entirely repetitive and unengaging. With no inspiration to dance, and without a space to talk, the experience quickly faded into the gray of forgotten memory, steadily and unforgivingly trodded into the mud of the mind by the heavy, marching 4/4 drum track.

Photos! [clicky]

I’m feeling my mind prepare for post Japan. Suddenly, thots are drifting off to the more distant future. I’m having a hard time focusing on the now, or maybe it’s just work. Yes, I have a hard time focusing on work. Lesson planning is really nice and streamlined now, so I’ve got more time to mull and read. The internet is a big place. digg it?

Iai was nice today - the temperature was cool and I made some progress. I always like it when my sensei starts to nit-pick, cos that means the sculpture has been roughed out, and he has to just knock a few pieces off. Also, I received my certificate. I’m now an official ikkyu.

Out of all the people in Japan, I think the ones that put the most effort into a good friendship are the students. They always try to talk to me now, whether it be in English or Japanese. A student today wanted to talk about Irish punk and Neo-Rockabilly. How cool is that?