ramblings . . .

ugh. . . i am a morning person and a night person but not at all an afternoon person. . .especially after teaching and running around with elementary students all morning!!! ah well. . .

recent events. . .

last saturday, sayaka and i attended two dance concerts. . . the first was for the modern ballet studio that offered me free lessons. . . since i love kids, it was cute, but. . . ballet really is not my thing. i suppose i will try the lessons for a bit, but i am not extremely enthusiastic about it. . .

the second dance concert was amazing!!! it was an all female company based in tokyo. . . http://h-art-chaos.com/ . . . yes, there is an english option. . .hmmm. . .i was going to write more about this but wasn’t satisfied with my report. . . if you are really interested in the performance, check out the second half of this review on ‘the rite of spring’ http://inkpot.com/theatre/01reviews/01revgrizritespri.html . . . i miss modern dance so much!!!

moving on. . . sunday was another busy day, as i went whitewater rafting with nineteen other JETs. . . .we had a beautiful day and often ended up in the water . . . i even climbed and jumped off an eight meter rock (what a way to overcome a fear, huh?). . .while the pics on the happy raft website are not of our group, you can at least see where we were and generally what we went through. . . http://happyraft.com/en/ . . . after a full day of rafting, i had my first experience at an おんせん (japanese bathhouse). . . much needed . . . followed by camping. . . when i finally got home on monday, i took a nice long nap, which my body loved me for (don’t worry. . . i didn’t skip out on work. . . it was yet another national holiday. . . ‘health and sports day’). . . anyway, this was my first adventure with a large group of foreigners. . . definitely not the first of many. . . i really just do not enjoy hanging out with the other JETs. . . karaoke was fun because there were only four of us and we were in a little hick town café with a bunch of locals. . . large groups of foreigners are loud and obnoxious . . .

ugh, today is a crappy writing day. . . i tried to explain this as well but for whatever reason do not have the proper words. . . point is, while i learn a lot from my time with the other JETs, i prefer my japanese friends . . .

okay, i need to stop here. . . last week i promised to report on a few other subjects, but . . . i really need a more fluid writing day. . . sorry to disappoint . . .i really do want to tell you about more of my experiences before i forget. . . especially since so many things are starting to seem natural to me (i.e. slurping noodles, narrow roads, bugs, bows, sports festivals, picking grass by hand as opposed to using a lawn mower. . . the general lack of grass in japan pretty much rids the need for a lawn mower. . . oh, waxing the school floors by hand. . . again, why use a machine when you have students? logical enough, huh?) . . . okay, おわります．おつかれさまでした．

kahoku from the river. . .

tribute to paul chambers. . .

i just found out that paul chambers, the man i consider to be my first dance instructor and one of the most influential people on my life, passed away on september 29th. . . paul made me a dancer. . . while i had taken lessons at numerous studios as a child, i never developed a love for dance. . . in fact i quit for about five years. . . when i began dancing again in high school with paul, i discovered my passion for dance. . . paul would beat his drum and give us lectures on how lazy our generation had become . . .followed by stories of how hard he worked under the instruction of hanya holm . . the last time i saw paul he was still teaching . . . seventy-nine years old and still living for dance. . . i have known this day would come for quite some time, but i always thought i would have one last lesson with him . . .

ten pages on the past month of my life in japan. . .

ahhh. . . i have been dying to write an entry but have absolutely no time!!!!!!!! so. . . here it goes . . . one month of experiences. . . or what i can remember of them. . . or what i have the time and energy to write. . .

ooops. . . evidentally, i am an image of death, blood, and cruelty today. three or four people commented on my outfit (black skirt with a red tank top and light-weight black wrap) . . . "erinn-san, red and black. . . sugoi" . . . i finally asked ms. kawamura exactly why they thought it was so cool. . . black is the color of death, punishment, and cruelty; red is blood. . ..

anyway, things have been great here. i accidentally ended up with (semi-)private dance lessons with this lady in kochi. she asked me if i knew martha graham. . . of course! what modern dancer doesn't?!?! . . . and then said "martha graham. . . my teacher". . . i thought, okay, sure, you studied the graham technique at some point. . . no, martha graham was her teacher in nyc many, many years ago. it will be like taking lessons with paul again. :) the best part is that they are not even that expensive. . . or at least not any more so than group lessons at a school in the usa. she even rearranged her schedule for me on the spot. . .i had my first lesson last night. . .i don’t think she has had an opportunity to teach modern dance to a more advanced student for a long time. while i am still not clear on her background, i can tell you that she is amazing . . . there are pictures of her all over the studio from what appears to be performances in the usa years ago. . . anyway, the lessons consist of me and one girl, who is quite useful for translation/demonstration . . . she is only about fourteen years old (like my students). . . after lessons, we have soji (cleaning time). . . i honestly love soji. . . it’s nice way to do your part and not always count on others to clean up for you. . . plus it’s a good cool down after an hour and a half of dance. . .

anyway, i commented before on how kind the people are here. . . i basically just assumed it was like minnesota nice and that they do these things for everyone. . . and i think that they do, but . . .i think that i get extra-special treatment. . .

after i mentioned to one or two people that i really missed modern dance, i ended up with fifty offers. . . the private lessons being one. . . one of the teachers found a school for me which doesn’t technically teach modern but has a jazz class with a modern influence. . . the teacher studied in california . . . and therefore speaks quite a bit of english. . . he taught the entire class in english just for me!!! . . .

the same thing happened at ballroom dance in kahoku. . . while i expected some local farmers to teach the class, i found instructors who compete often . . . sometimes internationally. . . unfortunately most of the people who take the class are beginners. . .

another ballroom group (in tosayamada) has asked me to perform in their concert in november. . . why not? . . . this is the best part. . . one woman informed me that she would be making a pink dress for my performance!! haha. . . me, in pink??. . . she would be very disappointed if i told her that i am not a pink person. . .

still going on the niceness thing here. . .this saturday, sayaka and i are going to a professional modern dance concert at 8:00, but. . . i have been invited to attend a children’s modern ballet concert at 3:30 for free! not only is the studio giving me tickets to the concert, they also offered me free lessons . . . granted the lessons are with children. . .they really want me to come to encourage the students to learn english. . . or at least develop a positive attitude towards language learning. . . when have i been one to turn down free dance lessons??

that’s my busy dance life. . . i think i may end up dancing more here than i would be if i were working a random job in the usa!!

what else is going on??? too much. . . i attended another undokai on sunday for the elementary school (and have two to attend for the nursery schools this saturday). . . they requested that i dance with the fifth and sixth graders and that i be one of the obstacles in a relay. . . playing janken!!! (janken is the insanely popular japanese rock, paper, scissors). . . the kids were wonderful. . . as usual. . .

ohhh! saturday night was my first evening with other foreigners!! i finally met the alts from monobe, tosayamada, and nankoku (all small towns surrounding kahoku). . . we decided to go to the smallest of the four towns (monobe) to get dinner at a local café followed by my first karaoke experience with the locals!!! i really got into karaoke. . . the locals started requesting english songs for us to sing. . . including material girl by madonna. . . these people love all the old songs (abba, queen, the beatles). . .

ugh, i waited way too long to make another entry. . . did i tell you that i went to see one of the waterfalls?. . . this time with a friend, as i refuse to drive in the mountains. . .the one we went to is ranked among the top one hundred in japan (whatever that means). . . it was gorgeous. . . i have pictures to post. . . why are there only twenty-four hours in one day???

oh, my pet cockroach has been smashed. . . along with an enormous (4 inch) グジグジ, which translates as ‘house centipede’ or ‘bushy eyebrows’. . .the boys in the dorm thought it was cool. . .i thought it was a crummy wakeup call as i was taking my garbage out at 6:30a.m. . . i held an earthworm today, while playing with the first graders at the elementary school. . . the first time in about fifteen years . . . i forgot how entertaining children can find bugs. . .

cute. . . this guy, who speaks minimal english but always says a genki “hello! how are you?” just came through the office. . . i am still amazed at the enthusiasm these people have. . . always wanting to say hello and teach me about life. . .

ah! i got a perm on sunday! my first experience at a japanese salon. . . not only did i get a trim and a perm, i also got a head and shoulder massage and my hair washed with some kind of aromatherapy shampoo. . . that makes up for the extra expense. . . the people were once again adorable! since i cannot read japanese fashion magazines, one of the girls, who ended up being called ‘crazy girl’ through random naming of english adjectives, gave me picture books to look at!! one with ‘beautiful flowers’ and one of ‘brown’. . . a bear that goes on mini-adventures. . . crazy girl’s favorite book. . . by the end of the hour or so i was there, she managed to jabber away about her visit to australia fifteen years ago (how she ate ice cream everyday after dinner and therefore got chubby). . . she also managed to nickname every worker in the shop . . . all of which were working on me at one time. . . have i mentioned that i am basically a celebrity. . . everyone yells my name when i walk down the street, people like to touch my hair and my skin, they all want to talk to or at least flock around me and stare or listen. . . ‘shy boy’ (back at the salon now) wanted to talk to me but was afraid to use bad english and had ‘crazy girl’ ask me if i liked basketball and what teams i liked. . . i really need to follow sports. . .

and i really need to end this entry. . . ugh, ugh, ugh. . . so, so, so much more to say. . . i hardly even mentioned the students in this blog!!! sad!!!

(note to self: write about 1.ふとうこう. . . this relates to the japanese school system and something described to me as the ‘free pass’ system. . . something i do not agree with. . .2. my community classes. . .more of a pain than adhd elementary students. . . 3. reflection time. . . something scheduled into every school day. . . yet another activity i think we could all benefit from. . . like soji!)

okay, i am starving . . . ‘let’s finish!’

quick postscript. . . my apologies for the randomness of this entry. . . it doesn’t flow quite right. . . i think my engrish skills are going downhill. . . no, that is not a typo. :)

fun links. . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/business/4282936.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4295968.stm

also. . . i recently discovered that mr. george w. bush will be visiting japan around the time of my birthday. . . would it be to much to request a visit to kahoku? not that i am all that anxious to meet the guy. . . okay, really. . . おわりましょう！

undokai, dance, and my pet cockroach. . .

yesterday was undokai (the junior high school's sports festival), which was awesome! we have been practicing for this thing for two weeks straight (and even had a full dress rehearsal instead of classes on tuesday)! the students march and sing and go through all of these rituals, but for the most part, undokai is just a day of random events from running to obstacle courses, to climbing bamboo poles. i ran the 150m with the second year students, danced a folk dance with the first years, and was part of the teachers' spoon relay team (which was done with a tennis racket and two balls instead of a spoon and egg. . . but still called a spoon relay? hmmm. . .) oh, my favorite was running on the english club relay team. we had to run against the pta (a bunch of really fit guys in their forties). . . they were winning when i got the baton, so i did my best to catch up with the guy. . . somehow i managed to forget that i was only running about 75m and plowed over one of the students as i was handing off the baton. ooops. . . in the end, my team came in second. . .anyway. . . they have some of the most random events in this thing. one of my favorites involves half of a team holding up a bamboo stick while members of the opposing team sprint and launch themselves to the top half of the stick in order to pull it to the ground before the other team. (this would make more sense with pictures. i promise to get some up soon!) the main goal of undokai is to encourage team work, group unity, etc. they do an amazing job with this. . . it's funny how much improvement the students make over three years. . . for example, the centipede race, where teams of about ten students line up and tie their legs together and then have to run a lap. i love it when they mess up because of the lovely domino effect, resulting in a large pile of students still stuck together struggling to stand again. the third years always win, while the first years are still back at the starting line. ahhh. . . i have so much to say but really cannot explain it all in one entry. . . my main point is that undokai is tons of fun with a very strong moral. i often appreciate the sense of responsibility the people here feel towards each other . . . this can be seen everywhere (literally). it's not a chore to help their neighbors but just part of life. . . and so much more seems to be accomplished when everyone is doing their part! (for example, they have soji, cleaning time, everyday at school. during this ten minute period of time, the students scour the school. there are no janitors, only soji. it makes so much more sense!)

enough of that. . . what else have i been wanting to write about? oh, my amazing thursdays!!! in my two weeks of teaching, i have realized that the teachers make all the difference in the world! luckily, i work with some freaking amazing people! as i was giving my self-introduction to yet another class two thursdays ago, the teacher suddenly asked me to give a dance demonstration in the class! i thought she was joking until the tables were pushed out of the way to create a mini stage. (when i went back last thursday, i was asked to dance in two more classes!)

oh, that reminds me. . . i have really missed dance a great deal lately. (i always say that i don't get homesick, but i do get dancesick.) i tried hard to allow the town to let me use the budokan (martial arts building) for dance. . . but no luck. after hearing about my love of dance, one of the fathers at the undokai enkai. . . sports festival after party for teachers and members of the pta. . . suddenly got up and made a phone call. it turns out that he has connections with the best dance group in kochi, which supposedly has everything from modern to ballet to traditional dance. everyone wants me to dance with the group in the awa odori festival next august. . . kochi happens to be a very famous for this festival . . . i don't really know how good of a dancer i am. . . nor do i really know the type of dance they will be doing, as i am slightly afraid that my definition of modern dance is different from theirs. . . oh well, it is certainly worth a try!!! oh, i love the motto of the festival. . . "it's a fool who dances and a fool who watches, so if both are fools, you may as well dance!". . . sounds great to me.

okay, i'm going out to dinner tonight, so i should finish now. . . though i have so much more to say!!!! (oh, including that i have a cockroach somewhere in my house . . . ugh. . . and did i tell you about the spider with a three inch radius??? i am not exaggerating at all. i had no idea they came that large. my fear of spiders has tripled since i got here. ahhh. . .)

life in the inaka. . .

haha. . . these people are great. . . kaori, who just turned 41 yesterday, is doing the dance from her junior high sports festival. . . i have three sports festivals to go to in the next four weeks or so (one for the junior high school, one for the elementary school, and one for the nursery schools). . . don’t ask me what a sports festival is because i still really do not understand. . . all i know is that my junior high school students look like they belong in the military. (we practice for this thing a few hours everyday.) some girl blows a whistle and shouts a command, and all the students move in unison. . . i think i have to run in a relay and do something else. . . i’m on the red team if you care to know. . . (which reminds me, we have no school colors and no school mascot. . . no one in japan does!!!). . .

anyway. . . the typhoon has passed with no major damage (not in kahoku anyway. . . guess it was pretty tough in kyushuu). . . i did not have to walk home in the typhoon. . . instead, i had personal taxis everywhere i went. . . during the worst part of the storm, yamashita-san and i watched spiderman 2. . . today, everything is back to normal. . . sunny and really, insanely hot!!!

i had my first lessons at the nursery schools this morning. . . my favorite by far!!!! three classes (about twenty minutes each) at the birafu nursery (ages three, four, and five) followed by one mixed class at the futaba nursery (ages three through five). . . before my class at futaba, i got to play with the one and two year olds for a bit. . . in fact, they wondered into my lesson with the older kids later. . . so, so cute!!! i really need to learn japanese though. . . they have so much to say! . . . the little ones pulled out books for me to read (but they were all in japanese!!!). . . ahhh!! so. . . this afternoon, kaori has been teaching me tosaben, which is the local dialect of japanese . . . similar to hick-english i think. . .haha. . . as long as i stay in kochi-ken, i should be fine. . . hmmm. . .

essentially the same report as always. . . kind people, tons of fun. . . life is good. . . oh, i am going to “light exercise” (aerobics maybe?) tonight with all the middle-aged women in my office. . . ha, am i really at this stage of my life? i hope not, but it’s fun every now and then!

mata ne!

how's the weather?

i wrote this yesterday but decided to wait until today to post it. . . in other words, i survived my first typhoon :) . . .

school was cancelled today thanks to the typhoon. . . yet teachers were required to attend this morning and despite the fact that they were permitted to leave at lunch, i for some odd reason am required to be at the board of education. . . ugh, ugh, ugh. . . i received the following email from a fellow jet this morning. . .

“I am confused about working in Japan. I am here at work today at Ochi Jr. High School. School has been cancelled, yet I am sitting here, in the middle of a typhoon! Why am I here? I was told I had to be here! Is anyone else out there in this predicament? We are at work during a natural disaster, which was described by the news as a typhoon the size of Katrina.”

some things in japan just don’t make much sense. . . although i have to say this is probably the safest building in town, as it is this depressing, gray block with only a few windows on one side. . . still, how nice would it be to go home and not have to worry about walking home at the end of the day. . . stupid, stupid, stupid. . . hehe. . . i should probably wait to post this until after i have survived the natural disaster in order to avoid freaking my mother out. . .

sad. . . this poor bird trying to fly around outside the window is getting tossed in every direction. . . anyway, wish me luck with my first typhoon. . . larger than katrina but not as strong. . . so i’m told.

minnesota nice in japan. . .

the superintendent just offered to take me out to eat sometime at a restaurant of my choice (french, italian, usw) because he thinks i have lost weight since i got here. . . i am pretty sure i have gained weight because of all the carbs, but i'm not about to argue with a free meal! (if you are worried about me, i honestly have learned to cook! i discovered this grill like thing under my sink that makes really great meat. i also have lunch at school during the week now, and i usually make bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast. . . i honestly do not think i have lost weight!) tatekun was really surprised and said i was quite lucky! guess the super doesn't do this often! he has really been very kind to me. . . for those of you who do not know, he paid for my car instead of me taking out a loan (i.e. no interest!). . .

in other news. . . i had a "salt making experience" this weekend with some kids and their families. we went to the ocean (a three hour drive resulting in one child getting bus sick literally one minute before we arrived) to learn how they extract salt from the ocean water. . . i got some neat pics but still have not had a chance to post them. . . anyway, the kids were cute, and i now have some great salt for cooking. . .

on sunday, i went to the kochi junior high school volleyball tournament (like a state tournament) with kawamura-san. . . kahoku got second place!!! it feels funny to be part of the parent/teacher cheering section now, as opposed to the student pep club. i felt like i was back in highland, kansas (only the cheers were in japanese). . .

after the game, we went shopping at this amazing second hand store!!! i ended up with four or five new shirts and a new skirt for approx $35!!! i think kawamura-sensee will be a bad influence on me because we both really like to shop! this is the second time we have gone in the three weekends i have been here!!! oops. . .

oh, so the typhoon is on its way. . . for some reason, there is a man outside the board of education in a rain suit, cleaning the building with a high pressure sprayer??? why now? it's already raining . . . i really wouldn't care to be out in this wind. . .

the people here are so cute. . . last night, one of the junior high boys (oh, there are now students in the dorm from mon to fri) gave me pudding "a present for you". . . then yamashita-sensee (the teacher whose name i could not remember) brought a flashlight for me. . . later, i had a bit
of a headache and asked if he had tylenol. . . no, but of course he went out in the rain and got some for me, despite my insistence that i would be fine without it. . . everyone here is so helpful. . . maybe a bit like minnesota nice. :) they are always helping each other and really take good care of me. . .

okay, guess it is time to finish this blog. . . i should have another one up soon enough.