as usual, i will begin with dance. . . i had a workshop with the japanese NOISM dance company from february 22nd to the 25th. . . two girls from the company came to teach the class and then teach us part of a dance that the company performed the week before. . . it was so nice to do modern dance again! i didn’t realize how long it had been since i was able to roll around freely and just have fun with dance (i never get as much of that in ballet and jazz. . . even though my jazz here is quite modern). . . only ten or twelve people took the workshop, which was held in this huge theatre. . . so nice to have personal attention and a large space to move in. . . the girls were only two or three years older than me. . . i.e. the first time i have ever been taught by my peers. . . it’s very different to take a class from someone your age who is a professional dance. . . 
different in a good way. . . i think it was easier to communicate with them somehow. . . (oh, they both spoke perfect english. i imagine they had to use it with their companies in Europe). . . but i don’t just mean it was easy because they spoke english. . . we just had a lot of fun dancing together. . . as opposed to the teacher student dynamic that i am used to. . . only they were professionals. . . and had been since the age of sixteen. . .but i never felt like they were above me (obviously their technique was impeccable. . . and therefore they were above me. . . but the way they worked with us just felt normal). . .kind of on the same note. . . i think that dance teachers in japan are different in general. . . especially in the way they give corrections. . . when christopher came (the ailey soloist), he yelled at us when we got things wrong and sometimes gave lectures. . . most of my teachers in america had their emotional moments. . . but japanese teachers (or the four or five i have had thus far) always stay calm. . . i’ve never seen them get angry. . . i screw up a lot of patterns. . . and my martha graham teacher gets frustrated (i can tell), but she still explains them calm as can be week after week. . . in fact, i don’t think i have ever seen an angry japanese person. . . oh, not true. . . school teachers can be pretty harsh. . .that’s another story. . .
anyway, my next exciting dance news is that there is an international dance conference in kyoto over golden week. . . it’s a bit expensive but looks worth it! . . .one of the instructors that i want to take class from used to dance with zennon dance company in minneapolis and now dances with the trisha brown company. . . a bit ironic that i will be taking his classes in japan when he was forty-five minutes away in america. . . the teachers at the conference come from all over the world. . . i really cannot believe that i have been able to dance this much in japan when i was certain that i would have to give up dancing in order to travel. . . i would most certainly have gone crazy living in a foreign country (as well as america) without dance. . . anyway, i am insanely greatful that i am able to work with so many amazing people here!!
one more blurb on the topic of dance. . .i am now one of three choreographers for genki senenkai. . . a group of foreigners (mostly other ALTs) who write and perform a musical in tosaben (the local dialect). . . this year’s production is cleverly called “yamauchi antony and chiyopatra” (combining the story of anthony and cleopatra with that of kochi’s historical figures ‘yamauchi’ and ‘chiho’). . . anyway, i am helping with the choreography on weekends and will be performing in april . . . the group does this every year to raise money to help send students abroad. . . we are evidently the only prefecture that has something like this and therefore recently won a large sum of money from the government. . . oh, i get to wear a cheerleading costume for one song. . . (this may be the worst costume i have ever had to wear. . . next to that pink gown back in november for the ballroom dance competition). . . while it’s not my kind of dance, it’s a fun change from everything else. . .
i often write blogs in my mind on my way to and from school or in my frantic rush to get out the door in the mornings. . . but that doesn’t help much when my computer is at work. . . now i can’t remember what i wanted to talk about. . .
there were the olympics. . . which consisted primarily of 11pm curling and 5am figure skating on my end. . . italy is eight hours behind japan and therefore presents a bit of a problem for the NHK (japan’s broadcasting station) which evidently doesn’t believe in airing programs unless they are live. . . japan got one gold medal (technically only one medal of any color) this winter. . . the surprise win of shizuka arakawa. . . anyway, it was quite a different olympic experience than what i was used to. . . much more emphasis on japan (obviously . . . but even more so than u.s. stations put on american athletes. . . and japan only got one medal!). . . and much less emphasis on the events as a whole. . . and i still can’t understand why they were all so excited about curling. . . to me, it’s just chasing a stone down the ice with little scrubbers. . .moving on. . . i recently taught english to a class of two year olds. . . nothing special happened. . . but it’s great because they really don’t even speak japanese yet. . . i only had them for about ten minutes. . . but no one told me i was going to be teaching two year olds. . . i was waiting for my five year olds when a long line of toddlers entered the classroom. . . we managed to do ‘good morning,’ introductions, HSKT (head, shoulders, knees, and toes), and ‘bye,bye’. . . before you get all impressed by the introductions, they were basically done in japanese and went like this. . . ‘my name is erinn. what’s your name?’ ‘ゆかです’ . . . yup, quite amusing. . . but i have found that is sometimes more important that they are able to look at me (the stranger with blue eyes and brown hair) and say something (either language is okay). . . they get really shy. . . the alt that was here before me was from canada, but was asian (i.e. black hair, brown eyes). . . some students cry when they have to talk to people like me. . . i have been pretty lucky in this area. . . i think only two students have cried . . . and they were in elementary school. . . hmmm. . . anyway. . . the two year olds were really cute! one of the city workers has a boy in that class who came home and shouted ‘good morning!’. . . she was in shock. . .
ugh, this is what i get for not updating my blog more frequently. . .
the only thing i have left to report is that my adorable little anpanman town has merged with tosayamada and monobe (the town on either side) to form kami-city . . . i now work for the entire district, which means my job may be changing slightly (i.e. teaching in tosaymada as well as kahoku). . . junior high school graduation is this wednesday. . . this school year ends in about two weeks. . . then spring break . . . then off to who knows where in april. . . all i know is that i will be terribly upset if anyone takes away my nursery school classes. . . and my community class will have a fit if they take me away from them (i have really come to enjoy that class). . . for now i just have to wait because ‘they haven’t figure out all of the details yet’. . . grrrr. . .
to end on a good note. . . fuzz and pippi (friends from concordia language villages) are coming to visit the weekend after next. . . my first visitors! . . .also, spring is here (earliest spring i have had in four years!). . . the cherry blossoms should be out soon. . my kids are currently running all over the place on these cans . . . it’s nice to get some fresh air again. . . i saw an
ant today. . . and a spider yesterday. . . spring is the only time of year when i can be excited about those things. . .okay, i’m off to dinner. . . i may make a trip back to the states before fall. . . nothing certain yet. . . i’ll try to keep you posted. . .よし、おわります。
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