the LONG overdue post

tsuyoshi and i went back to america for the holidays. . . yes, i’m talking about christmas and new years. . . i said long overdue. . . anyway, everyone seems to want to know how it went and what i thought and how the reverse culture shock was and yada yada yada. . .

basically, i didn’t really feel much reverse culture shock. . . just like culture shock didn’t really hit me when i came to japan. . . yeah, there were things that i forgot about (like how large meals are at restaurants). . . but for the most part it just felt like my other home that i hadn’t seen for a while. . .

i think having tsuyoshi around may have actually made the return easier at times because, as someone said along the way, i “brought a piece of japan home with me”. . . with all the time i spent trying to teach him about the way things worked in america and all the japanese i had to use in the process, i didn’t really have a chance to miss japan. . . and i enjoyed being able to teach someone about my country as we experienced things as opposed to my million visual aides and oversimplified english descriptions in the classrooms of japan. . .

so. . . christmas. . .

in japan, christmas (and most holidays as far as i can tell) are not a very big deal. . . apparently children receive one present (while they are still young. . .which i am not). . . otherwise, christmas in japan seems similar to valentine’s day in america. . . i.e. for “lovers” (that’s the most popular engrish term for the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing). . . for tsuyoshi, christmas in america was huge. . . i think he got at least six or seven presents. . . and a stocking. . . that’s pretty much unheard of for someone his age in japan. . .

hmmm. . . instead of narrating the entire trip home, i’ll just post a few pictures . . .

we attempted to bring some japanese culture back with us. . . but seemed to fail slightly with the origami. . .
calligraphy was a bit better. . . i love calligraphy, but it’s so difficult when you are a perfectionist. . . kids in japan start learning this stuff when they are in elementary school. . .

as for american culture. . . there is ben. . . my kids are stunned by the fact that i have a friend who is two meters tall. . . who i saw on new year's eve (hence the second pic). . .

and there were snow angels. . . actually the snow in general was a pretty big jump from our 60degree winter weather in kochi. . .

tsuyoshi was obsessed with squirrels. . . if we were talking and he spotted one, the conversation went on hold for a full two minutes. . . they are pretty cute. . . and we really don’t have them in kochi. . . we do, however, have poisonous centipedes and spiders as large as my head (or at least as large as my hand. . . but much juicier). . .

which brings me back to cross-cultural communication. . . once we returned to japan, i listened to tsuyoshi’s retelling of our time in america many times. . .

i used to get rather annoyed when people constantly told me how large everything american is. . . when i returned for the holidays, i realized that they do have a point. . . we spent hours and hours driving only to cover a small stretch of the midwest. . . we spent ten dollars on a meal in a restaurant and ended up with leftovers for the next two days. . . we sat for fifteen minutes in front of the orange juice display at the supermarket trying to decide whether we wanted a gallon or half gallon, pulp or no pulp, straight orange juice or cranberry orange juice, tropicana or the cheap store brand. . . these are things that are really just not so much of an issue in japan. . . if you drive for twenty hours in japan, you can probably cover most of the country. . . if you go to the restaurant, there are no leftovers or doggy-bags. . . if you want orange juice, you choice from medium or small. . . so, yes, people in japan do have a point. . .

BUT. . .it is a bit of a pain in the rear to sit and listen to people over-exaggerate things again and again and again. . . every time tsuyoshi told his story, his gestures of a large pizza doubled in size. . . as did the size of the cars. . . the warmth of the houses. . . the size of the people. . . yeah. . .

anyway, here are a few final random pictures from our trip to the states. . .

before i end this blog entry, i suppose there is one more thing you all want to know. . . what i decided about next year. . .

to stay or not to stay?

apparently the answer is. . .

to stay. . .

that means one more year with. . .

the adorable kids i played dodge ball with today. . .

the ocean! it’s still so new and beautiful every time i go. . .

my insane (yet amazing) dance instructor. . . have i mentioned all my upcoming performances? the next few months will be quite busy. . .

spring, which seems to be coming soon this year. . . while i will be sad to see my 3年生students graduate, it will be nice to relax under the cherry blossoms (which are absolutely beautiful) . . .

so, yeah. . . come visit! (no excuses now that i'm giving you all an extra year). . .

lots to look forward to. . .