どうしょうかな？

my board of education gave me my recontracting papers last september. . . knowing that the deadline was not until february, i immediately shoved them in my desk. . .now i have just under two weeks to make my decision. . .

since i originally planned on doing two years, i have been trying to kick myself in the butt to stick with that and say 'no, i will not recontract'. . . however, i have no idea what i want to do next. . . and i have a great life here. . .

anyway, i asked my dance teacher what it was like for him coming back to japan after living and dancing in canada and the u.s. for a couple years. . . here is his response. . .

Oh?! You can extend to stay in Kochi?
That's wonderful!!!
There was nothing difficult things after I came back to Japan except facing a real life you know?
My life was so hard in Canada. Because of no money! But it was limited time. I thought so, I could bearable it. I was happy being in different world . Staying in Japan, everything is real for me !
But, your situation is different from me . You have regular job, boyfriend, car, many friends, understand Japanese(!).......
You are really surviving in Kochi as us!
Stay! Stay! Stay!

the last part is what is making my decision so difficult. . . so many foreigners in japan talk about how they feel like they never fully fit in or are accepted in japan despite the fact that they have lived here for five or more years. . . but like taka just said 'you are really surviving in kochi as us'. . . all of my friends and especially all of the people i dance with have accepted me completely. . . they joke that some of my behaviors are more japanese than a few of the other actually japanese members of our group. . .

i never thought this decision was going to be this difficult. . . february 2nd is the deadline. . . wish me luck. . .

hmmm. . . dance. . . what else?

i think i posted this link once before, but 小倉先生 (ogura-sensei, a.k.a. taka, a.k.a. my dance teacher) has updated the website quite a bit. . . new pictures and even some videos. . . first go to. . . http://www.geocities.jp/dancecream2/index2.htm

since it is all in japanese, look for the link on the side bar that says 'movie&photo' in english . . .click on it (obviously? do i need to go into all these details?). . . anyway, once you are on that page, look for my name (again essentially the only english). . . it should be in the box on the bottom left side. . . click the play button (it says 'go' in english underneath). . . hopefully it will play for you. . . i can't watch it from the computer i am on now for some reason. . . maybe they block video programs from office computers? . . . seeing as how i cannot watch it first, i suppose it is dangerous to tell everyone i know how to view it. . . (update: i just watched this video. . . he really edited it down - as in an hour and a half of dance was squashed into about a four minute clip. . . and you'll want to know the background because it makes no sense without it. . . we were dancing in an art exhibit at the paper museum in ino. . . my dance teacher, his wife, and me. . . okay, so that still may not explain much. . . just watch it and think what you will of it)

after that, you can check out the rest of the site by just clicking on random buttons i suppose. . . i'm in a few pictures, but they are pretty small. . . maybe he'll post videos of yosakoi later??? maybe not. . . anyway, just thought i'd let you know it's there. . .

oh, one las thing while i'm on the topic of dance cream (my studio). . . these are some of the quotes i've collected over the past year. . .

"you are too beautiful for me" ~ taka (ogura-sensei) singing to me when i was obviously not doing the movement properly

"it's like you're walking down the street and see a baby falling from a building, so you're like WAH! . . . aww" ~ taka describing a movement to the class

after my haircut:
miyuki (female) "i wish i had her hair"
taka (male) "i wish i had her legs"

"アメリカ人ちゃんどこですか。"　"where is america-jin-chan?" ~ na-chan (sakura's six year old sister) at soji early this year (obviously before she knew my name)

"erinn is the blue-eyed samurai" ~ sakura's dad (our announcer) after yosakoi

oh, look. . . i just found this video of one of our dances. . . only it's at a previous yosakoi, so i'm not in it. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTWavZ4Wa6w

okay, that's all for now. . . じゃね。

英語クラブ

this is old news now, but. . .

my 一年生 (first year girls) got first place in the ken (prefecture) speech contest. . . that's the contest that was the same weekend as yosakoi in osaka. . . i felt so bad that i could be there. . . but they did a great job! (and if you can't tell by the picture, these two could have cared less if they got first or last place. . . they're hilarious!)

also, one of my 三年生 (third year) girls got fourth place in a different speech contest held the week before. . . she should have placed higher, but her speech was on the serious side while the judges seemed to prefer comedy. . . here is her speech. . . and unlike many of the other students who wrote their speeches in japanese and had their teachers translate them into english. . . yes, i'm bitter about that. . . kanako wrote her entire speech in english. . .i only edited it. . . (did i also mention that kanako passed level 2 1/2 of the eiken - english proficiency test? not very many junior high school students make it to that level. . . i don't think i'm allowed to have favorites as a teacher, but i will really miss this girl when she graduates in march). . . anyway, here is her speech. . .

Having a Broad View of the World

I’m interested in English and learning about foreign countries. I want to learn about other countries and be able to communicate more, so I study English hard. If we can speak English, we will be able to talk to more people and learn more about the world because English is used by many people in many countries. Then we can cooperate with people in the world for peace.

In my life, I have many chances to communicate with people from other countries. I’ll tell you about the two biggest chances.

First, three students from Mongolia studied at my school first term. They studied all subjects in Japanese. Sometimes, they couldn't understand Japanese, so we taught them in English. Then, I thought, English is useful when we communicate with people from other countries.

Second, I lived in Indonesia for a year when I was little. While I can’t remember everything, I can remember the beautiful nature and friendly people. I like Indonesia very much. My mother also likes Indonesia.

There were some big earthquakes on Java Island in May. I was very surprised and sad to hear this news. The earthquakes did great damage to the center of Java Island. About six thousand people were killed. Nine hundred schools and two hundred thirty thousand houses were destroyed. So, the people there haven’t been able to live normal lives.

Many volunteers have been working hard and doing their best for Indonesia. My mother started doing volunteer work too. She sold bags and hats made in Indonesia at Sunday Market. Many people in Kochi joined the volunteer work. My mother looked very busy, but she said, “This work is not a hardship. I don’t feel tired from it.”

I also joined the fund raising campaign at Hirome Market. I wanted to help, so I worked hard. I called, “Please help the people of Indonesia.” Then, many people came and donated money. Sometimes a little child came. I was very happy, and I said, “Thank you.” The child was smiling. I learned many things and found something warm in my heart.

I believe only learning to understand other countries is not good enough. Our actions are also important. When we are able to communicate and interact with people from different countries, little by little the world becomes more peaceful. This is why I want to have a broad view of the world.

よさこい と 誕生日２４

the following is a report of my weekend trip to osaka for よさこい (a.k.a. YOSAKOI! or 4351) . . . yosakoi is a japanese dance festival that began in kochi-ken (where i live) and has now spread across japan with the largest festival held each year in hokkaido. . . dance cream (my studio/ team) was the guest team. . . it was an amazing weekend with an amazing group of people (if not for their dancing skills, most definitely for their personalities). . .

friday night, we left dance cream at midnight. i was quite surprised to get on the bus and find that at least five people had bought beer for the ride. . . considering we were leaving on a five hour trip at midnight of essentially the same day we had to dance, i don’t know how their bodies had the energy to consume alcohol. . . i was one of the first people to fall asleep (although 小倉先生had put on the video of our dance performance at the ino paper art museum for me to watch). . . supposedly most others were out by about 3a.m. . . we arrived at the hotel in osaka around 4:15a.m. where gien, one of the team members, was delighted to discover a vending machine with haagen-dazs ice cream and could not be stopped in his purchase despite the time of day/night . . .we were soon led to our room (yes, the entire team slept in one room). . . the first night we had no futons, no pillows, no covers. . . just the tatami floor to sleep on and our bags and coats as pillows and blankets. . . i can’t say that i wasn’t annoyed. . . if someone expects me to perform (especially to perform almost non-stop for a twelve hour period of time), they better let me sleep properly the night before. . . but seeing as how we all have jobs (and could, therefore, not leave earlier) and how the studio has little money (and we, the dancers, didn’t have to pay for anything the entire trip), the first night was spent on a bus and tatami floor. . . thankfully, no one in the group snores. . . anyway. . .

our excellent night of rest finished around 6a.m. when people started getting into costume number one and doing their makeup and scarfing down a bit of breakfast. . . around 8a.m. we went began rehearsal on the indoor stage, by 9:30a.m. we were rehearsing on our outdoor stages, and a little after 10:00 the opening ceremonies began. . . the whole day was really quite a blur to me. . . not long after the opening ceremonies, we had our first performance . . . this was followed by a second and third performance with rehearsals and costume changes in between. . . by 1:40, i was famished and grouchy (from lack of sleep and food and breaks. . . seriously not even time for a bathroom run between 8:00 and 1:40). . . we all gobbled up as much of our おベンと (lunch boxes) as we could before our performance at 2p.m. . . . our last outdoor performance was, thankfully, around 3:30, as it was beginning to drizzle (the day had already been cold and dreary enough since we were running around in costumes designed for dance during the hottest part of summer in kochi). . . all the performances, sprints from stage to stage, and overly speedy costume changes ended around 4:20p.m. . . at this time, we were able to return to the indoor stage for one last cram rehearsal before the dinner show (at which we were the main event, being the guest team and all). . . the final rehearsal ended at 5:00, giving us a one hour break (the first of the day). . . unfortunately, half way through our haagen-dazs ice cream bars, we discovered that the one hour break had turned into a thirty minute break because we needed to be at the opening ceremonies of the dinner show. . . sorry this is getting lengthy. . .

once at the dinner show, we sat through a full hour of torture, watching everyone chow down on the banquet food and gulp down their beers. . . our team sat taking minute sips of water in order to avoid any last minute toilet runs while in costume. . .and then we were somehow getting our last minute pep talks backstage. . . and then there was dancing. . . and suddenly it was all over. . . and all that was left of the banquet was a meatball dish and a few pieces of rolled sushi. . . not the most rejuvenating meal after the day we had, but we were really just too exhausted to care. . .

anyway, regressing a bit. . . the dances themselves were quite an experience. . . i’m not used to dancing outside (especially in the rain. . . it reminded me somewhat of my high school cross county meets . . . i swear it always rained for regionals or state). . . anyway. . . i am also not used to being a very outward performer (modern dance tends to have a more internal focus). . .yosakoi is all about the crowd. . . our team had four dances. . . i was the only person who had to learn all four of them from scratch. . . did i mention that i was the only foreigner on my team? i tend to forget that because they treat me the same as everyone else, but everyone that talked to me in osaka seemed to point that out. . . the girl that dances next to me got upset because some guy in the audience apparently had his eye on me during one dance. . . after the show, she said all she had been thinking was ‘look at me! i’m dancing too!’. . . it was pretty funny. . . anyway. . . i was terrified for the first performance or two despite the fact that we had been rehearsing like crazy since june. . .by the final outdoor performance, i had relaxed a bit and was having a lot of fun. . . of course that all changed for our evening performance. . . the two dances that my teacher put me in the front row for were the two that i had the least amount of confidence in. . . for whatever reason (nerves, lack of sleep, lack of food, etc.), i was on auto-pilot for every single dance on Saturday. . . i.e. if i didn’t know the dance well enough before saturday, i was screwed on stage. . . the first dance went well enough, i suppose. . . since i was on auto-pilot, i can’t even remember what mistakes i might have made. . . the middle two dances (my front row dances) felt wretched (more than felt. . . i completely blanked out halfway through one dance). . . but the last dance. . .

the last dance was the most amazing dance i have ever performed. . . granted i have absolutely no idea how it looked. . . it was simply FUN. . . as much as i love dance (and obviously cannot survive without it), i rarely have loads of fun on stage. . . but this dance was amazing. . . i was center stage in the second row behind my teacher, who always makes mistakes (a fact that makes me feel quite a bit better b/c i’m always so hard on myself when i mess up). . . anyway, every bit of his energy was in that performance. . . the crowd was cheering like crazy. . . it was impossible to be outside of the moment. . . there was never a point at which i was thinking at all or even wondering what was happening around me. . . i never knew you could get so completely lost in a dance like that. . . at the end, 小倉先生 and i cross paths. . . the energy in his face was great (i think he looks like a madman when he dances all out). . . it was AMAZING. . .

and on that note, my first yosakoi was over. . . five and a half months of rehearsals for one twelve hour day. . . the most stress i have probably ever had to put on my body (thus far that is, as i hope to do it again in the near future). . . the most amazing day. . .

after dinner, we all had our baths (japanese style, of course. . . shower first, followed by a dip in the public bath/hot tub. . .along with a sauna. . . not to mention the tokyo team members that gave massages later in the evening. . . can’t think of a better way to relax on a cold, rainy day). . .

the team even remembered that sunday was my birthday and surprised me (really surprised me b/c i didn’t know that i had told anyone about my birthday) with a delicious strawberry cake. . . and a really cute card that almost everyone tried to write in english. . . lots of phrases like “may all your dreams come true,” “i love you,” “i wish you many happiness”. . . and then one from a japanese tv commercial “”my house is a daiwa house! oh!” . . . they are all so amazing! i could not think of a better way to celebrate my birthday (well, the day before my birthday). . .

sunday was a bit sad because we had to leave the tokyo members behind and start heading home to kochi. . . however, we decided to hang out in kobe for most of the day. . . starting with a trip to an aquarium (including a dolphin show, sea otters, penguins, and nemo). . . everyone let me choose the restaurant for lunch, so we went to an indian restaurant called ‘gay lords’ (sometimes japanese people seem a bit behind the times. . . i felt like i was with a group of elementary kids as they all giggled at the name. . . but the food was good). . . finally, we went shopping at an outlet mall. . . if there is one thing i have learned over the past year, it is that one cannot take a trip with japanese people without taking time to shop (i cannot tell you how much time we spent shopping during our free time in korea). . . anyway. . .

sunday was probably the first time i have been with everyone outside of dance class, workshops, concerts, studio parties and performances. . . everyone’s personality really came out. . . ban-chan headed to all the frilly, girly shops, miki to the sports shops, gien to the kobe pudding specialty shop, etc, etc. . . good bonding experience. . .

on the way home, we started discussing our next show(s). . . i think a small studio performance in march . . . and then the kochi-wide dance collaboration in may(?). . . lots to look forward to. . . but still sad to have yosakoi behind us. . .

whew. . . sorry that got a bit lengthy. . . just wanted to report while the experience was fresh in my mind (for once. . . how many other events do i still need to go back and report on?). . . if you don’t already know, i will be returning to the states from december 22nd to january 7th . . .let me know what you are all up to (especially if you plan to be in the chicago area at that time). . . じゃ、またね！

竹馬. . .bamboo horse

this summer at dance cream (my main dance studio) i tried to learn how to use 竹馬 (kind of japanese stilts made of bamboo – hence 竹~bamboo and 馬~horse). . . anyway. . . i failed to succeed. . . both of the little kids (sakura’s sister who is a first grader in elementary school and another dancer’s daughter who is a third grader) can hobble around the studio on them. . . many of the adults can even do low arabesques and work their way up to a slow jog. . . i eventually managed to stand for two seconds and a few times succeeded in taking one and a half steps before falling off. . .i just can’t seem to make the same arm work with the same leg. . .

earlier this month, i attended the nursery school 運動会 (sports festival) to discover that my problem may not be due purely to lack of coordination. . . maybe more a lack of training from the time i was in diapers. . . see for yourself. . . my kids are the coolest. . .

this is what i call the pre-takeuma stage. . . the three year olds start on these little can like things, as you can see. . .

these are the five year olds. . . they can go a full 50 meters or so on those things. . . and, as you can see, some of them are set at a level as high as the kids themselves. . . すごいですよ！

just for fun. . .

around may or june the old gymnasium was torn down in order to build a new, earthquake safe elementary school . . . which naturally makes me feel safe to be teaching in the old one ;)

anyway, the construction guys have pretty much taken over the parking area in front of my place . . .the dormitory i live in is literally right next to the elementary school. . . as in i have to make all my curtains are closed when i’m getting ready in the mornings. . .

today was one of the rare days that i was able to go home to eat lunch and relax a few minutes away from students (and away from soji). . . as i left to return to work, this is what i found. . .

i found it amusing to see all the construction workers sprawled out on the parking lot and in their trucks. . . there were at least six or seven more of them, but this was the only picture i could risk without fear of being caught. おもしろいね.

quirks

japan is an odd place sometimes. . . they believe strongly in this appearance over reality concept. . . this leads to me sitting at work for hours or days at a time having to appear busy even though i really have nothing to do . . .

although i personally am not having problems with the appearance vs. reality thing at the moment (teaching at seven schools and dancing every night keep me busy enough), but i just left the junior high school where a staff meeting was in progress (i am so grateful that i am one of the alts that gets out of those things). . . most of the teachers are sleeping, making midterm tests, or grading papers. . . no one actually listens to a word being said. . . why bother talking if no one is going to listen? the training starts early on (as i mentioned in the blog about my over-worked students). . .

more quirks in the system. . .i recently had the choice of staying at work for an extra hour and a half to eat school lunch. . . or returning to my office early and grabbing my own lunch along the way. . . apparently my decision to cancel one day of school lunch caused my supervisor an extra hour of work. . . he had to call to cancel the lunch, make a second call to cancel the charges to my account, and was apparently rather distressed with the fact that my one little bottle of milk could not be cancelled. . . i.e. i will be charged possibly thirty cents for a bottle that someone else will probably drink anyway. . .

that’s all i have time for at the moment. . . still so much more to say. . .and so many pictures i need to post! for now, here is one of a fisherman at the beach last saturday (no, i don't actually know who he is). . .