あけましておめでとうございます！

happy new year!

okay. . . i have a lot to say so no intro babbling today. . .

thursday, december 29th i went to usj (universal studios japan) in osaka with some of my community class students. . . they wanted to show me other parts of japan, so we went to america (usj = america in japan). . . when you walk in, it smells like america (well, caramel popcorn maybe. . . but still different from japan). . . the streets are wide. . . the music is in english. . . and very loud. . . i really wanted pepperoni pizza for dinner, but the shop closed before we got there. . . all the other foods (chocolate malt, popcorn, etc.) tasted american. . . and not the japanese version of american. . . i thought it was funny that they even had an american style japanese restaurant. . . seriously. . . it said so in the pamphlet. . ."located in the new york art district. enjoy a variety of traditional and new japanese cuisine in this western style japanese restaurant." . . (oh, before all that, we also went to china town in kobe. . . it's funny how different chinese food is here from american chinese food. . . wonder what chinese food is in china??) . . . anyway, i would normally be very opposed to the whole touristy american attraction in japan, but it was kind of a welcome change for a day. . . it really is amazing how well they do. . . it can't be easy to recreate all the senses of a foreign country. . .e.t. was my favorite by far. . . and it was probably the simplest of the rides. . . you hold bicycle handles as you fly over the lights of a 'city' and past the moon. . . then into et's homeland with all these baby extraterrestrials and et humming the theme song. . . かわいいね。 i was a pretty good day to go too. . . there were lines, but the waits could have been much, much worse. . .

along the lines of traffic, i should mention the following. . .everyone does kind of this mass exodus from the cities for the new year holiday. . . they all go back home (where their parents are). . . which means that all the people that have moved from the rural areas to the big cities (tokyo, osaka, etc.) travel home (which was nice for us driving to osaka since everyone was going the opposite way). . . of course this all reversed at the end of the holidays. . . they even broadcast the flights on tv showing which ones were full and which ones still had space. . . every flight into tokyo was booked all day monday (january 2nd) and tuesday (january 3rd). . .

in preparation for the holidays, the entire country does this massive cleaning (like spring cleaning in america maybe). . . my kids at the nursery schools were scrubbing the floors and windows when i arrived to teach on the 28th. . . some people were outside spraying down city hall most of the day. . . i already mentioned my mochi making experience at work before the holidays. . . people do the same at home. . . only i think they have more modern ways of making mochi . . . anyway. . .

i went home with my friend for new years to experience things in the traditional japanese way. . . it most definitely made up for the duller than america christmas festivities. . .

to begin with, i have to tell you about this house. . . it was amazing! . . .in so many ways, it was your average middle class american house. . . like the family room . . .only the table was near the floor, meaning you do not sit in chairs when you eat. . . and instead of having central heating, the floor was heated. . . oh, the japanese have this cool thing called kotatsu (i think that's right) where tables act as little heaters. . . the table is covered by a kind of comforter, which traps the hot air underneath. . . since you spend most of your time sitting on the floor in japan anyway, it's quite relaxing to stick your feet under the table and finally find some heat. . .

anyway, i was telling you how amazing this house was. . . at the moment, you have no idea why. . . as for other cool little quirks. . . they (thankfully) had western style toilets. . . far more advanced than the one in my house. . . the seat is heated (my friend's dad shuddered at the thought of a cold american-style toilet seat in the winter). . . this next part is my favorite. . . next to the downstairs toilet, they had a second room. . . with a urinal. . . do people typically have urinals in their house??? i thought it was rather funny. . .

okay, those are still just little things . . . finally to the amazing part. . . which really requires pictures. . . but i forgot to run around snapping pictures before i left. . . sorry. . . they had these two rooms off to the side of the family room that had tatami floors (which evidently almost every house in japan has). . . separating the two rooms were paper like sliding doors (i'm sure there is a more technical japanese name for these) with beautiful cherry blossom images. . . above the doors was a strip of wood intricately carved with a typical japanese scenery (japanese shrine and cherry blossoms). . . i really should have taken that art history class at olaf. . . i never do these things justice. . . i was amazed that anyone would have something like this in their house!

the best part came on january 1st (i'm jumping ahead a bit. . . i'll return to new year's eve in a second). . . after breakfast, the family gathered in the second tatami room in front of a little buddhist altar(?) . . . i don't know the proper terminology for this stuff. . . but i was shocked to see something so ornate in a normal house. . . it was a good four feet tall and maybe two and a half feet wide with all kinds of gold inside. . . and a little gold buddha in the center. . . pictures of the family's relatives (aunts, uncles, grandparents) who had passed away were hanging on the wall next to the altar. . . anyway, at this little service, they placed fruit and mochi on the altar, lit incense, and began a series of chants led by the father. . . i just kind of stared in disbelief from the couch. . . it was like a full service at home. . . ending with a hymn the kids chose (ha, the 'kids' are 31 and 34 years old). . .

okay, rewinding a bit. . . saturday (december 31st), we visited the graves of the family's relatives. . they placed some rice on each stone and said a little prayer? wish? i don't know. . . that night, we went to a shrine in kagawa-ken. . .

we had to climb 1,000 steps (no elevators) to get to the shrine (so i was told. . . i think it was maybe 500 up and 500 down because i counted for a bit and ten steps is a pretty long way in itself). . . i loved watching all the people. . . there were literally people of all ages (maybe age 2 or 3 to ninety some) . . . it was pretty cute to see the little kids struggling up the steps at 11pm with legs that were barely as high as the steps themselves. . . we went a little early to miss the really insane crowds and reached the top of the mountain (not really top, but close enough) around 10:30pm . . . along the way we passed at least a hundred vendors selling snacks (coca cola didn't miss out on this opportunity) and souvenirs . . . people offering to read your palm and sell you walking sticks. . . guards for crowd control and one with a megaphone warning that there were no more toilets after his level on the trek to the top. . . definitely a memorable experience. . . anyway, at the top, we through some money into the shrine and clapped our hands twice and made a wish. . . technically, i think it was supposed to be a prayer and not a wish, but i really wasn't sure who i was supposed to be praying to, so i made it a wish. . . on our way down around 11:30, things were really getting crazy. . . i've never seen such a random mix of people from punks with chains and crazy hair to 'average' families in jeans to girls (and sometimes boys) in traditional dress (i could have worn a kimono but thought it might get a bit chilly) to dogs wearing little sweaters (many people brought their dogs, as next year is the year of the dog). . .since we were driving home at 12:00, we listened to the countdown on the radio. . . guess they don't usually countdown, so that was just for me. . . and saw some fireworks at a ski resort near the top of the mountain. . .

whoa. . . that was a lot. . . just a few more days to go. . . i'll make it quick. . .

january 1st we did the little buddhist ceremony and a lot of eating. . . as january 1st evidently sets your schedule for the entire year, we did a lot of sitting and eating and watching strange television shows and movies. . . we were supposed to do calligraphy, but put it off until the 2nd . . . i was impressed with the patience my friend had in teaching me calligraphy. . . i was even more impressed with the fact that pretty much everyone in japan has the ability to do this art (or so it seems). . . the way the strokes are made are quite specific. . . where to stop and where to continue and how to apply the proper amount of pressure. . . i really enjoyed it. . .

january 3rd, we flew a kite (a 23 yr old, a 31 yr old, and a family with three little boys ages 1 1/2 to 9 were the only people at the park). . . seeing as how i had never really flown a kite. .. i sunk it in the man made pond and got it caught in a tree. . . after about an hour and a half or so, it broke. . . i think from me crashing it into the ground one too many times. . . still, i had fun. . .

so, that was my new year holiday week. . . if i ever see another piece of mochi, i will die. . . no offense to those who made it. . . i just don't understand why people feel the need to stock up on seasonal foods. . .

anyway, that brings me to today. . . my first day back at work. . .we had an opening ceremony for all the city workers (city hall, board of education, etc), including a speech by the mayor, a toast with apple juice or tea, and a memorial photograph. . . so many traditions!! classes start again next tuesday. . . along with dance. . . three weeks off is a long time. . . oops. . .

one last thing before i end this blog. . . i’m finally looking into grad schools. . . any suggestions as to what i should do with my life??? i like teaching (especially teaching esl), but i think even traveling the world teaching esl may possibly get a bit monotonous after awhile. . . ha, how ridiculous does that sound? i’m just not a fan of having the same job for eternity. . . anyway, i am open to any and all suggestions (the more ridiculous, the better!). . . also suggestions for specific grad schools (i’m currently looking at teaching esl or something related to linguistics. . . probably language acquisition). . .seriously. . . give me some creative ideas here. . . ありがとうございます！