Saturday, April 29, 2006

Productivity

When I'm not sitting at my desk pretending to study Japanese or trying to think of an interesting game to teach some useless grammar point, I CAB BE really productive!

I'm home today! I have no plans except to study, clean, cook, study, eat, study, and clean!

It's noon. Here's what I've accomplished:

  • I wrote a letter to my grandparents (4pages)
  • I've burned all my car CD's on my computer (over 500 songs)
  • I've cleaned my bathroom
  • I've done 4 loads of laundry
  • I've retired my gomi snowboard and turned it into a plant box of sorts
  • I've pruned
  • I've dusted all surfaces in 3 rooms

I still have at least 12 hours of the day! What else can I accomplish....update to come.

  • I baked--vegan muffins and date bread
  • I went household item shopping--laundry soap, vaccum bags, etc.
  • I refilled bottles of cleaning products
  • I fixed the window covering in my bedroom
  • I sewed a button on a shirt
  • I cleaned my bathroom
  • I washed my front door
  • I filled up my washing fluid in my car
  • I scrubbed my sink to get the gold color off
  • washed under my washing machine (as much as I could)
  • I made dinner
  • I finished a Unit and read a chapter
  • I watched 1/2 of the latest Harry Potter

And now it's Sunday! And I have another full day ahead of me!!! Time to get some more reading/studying in. Hopefully a trip to the pool. And with any luck a lot more cleaning as well!

WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?

Am I going crazy about cleaning?

The parents arrive Thursday!

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

日本 マスタース" 泳ぎ大会 

富山市 4月16日2006


Toyama city hosted an all Japan Masters Swim Meet this weekend. There were over 1000 swimmers aged 18-100, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. There were college kids and grandparents like you've never seen before. I saw one lady with a walker walking around in her speedo and swim cap. I'm not sure what she swam, but that's one tough lady! There were a total of 3 foreigners-Linea, me and a guy living in Toyama-city. Apparently, our team, the Kurobe Masters Team, got a lot of comments from officials and other teams about how "international" they are. I think they were very proud of that status!

It was a long day. We met the team in Kurobe at 6:45 to carpool to Toyama. Someone on the team was really genki and got to the pool as soon as it opened. He claimed three tarps right on the pool deck! It was a perfect location to watch all the races. Other teams were allocated to the balcony upstairs or even in the entry lobby. There were so many people there! We had a prime location.

Warming-up at a meet is always a challenge. 10-20 swimmers in a lane at varying levels, swimming all the strokes. It's amazing there aren't more injuries or fights that break out. The water temp was REALLY cold though, so it kept people moving or out of the water. There was no gossiping and chatting at the end of the lanes. It was too fricking cold!

Organizing 1000 swimmers into age heats and their events must be an absolute nightmare. And it was a nightmare to read the line-up as well. It would be one thing if I knew Japanese, but adding kanji, hiragana and katakana makes it that much more challenging. But our team mates helped us out, although it even took them awhile to read the line-up! There were some nervous moments of "oh, no you're up next," "oh, wait, one more hour," "no, you go now," "pool A," "wait, pool B," etc. But in the end, Linea and I got to all our races and even finished all our races!

I swam my college event, the 100 breast. The first 50 felt great, but the last 50 felt tight! But I haven't exactly been practicing sprints! Something to work towards for the October meet. And I also tried the 100IM, an event we didn't have in college. But it was fun and I hope I can swim it again! I'm learning to really like fly and back! Lastly, I got to swim a 25 free in the 100 medley relay! That was fun and short!

I haven't a clue how our team did overall. They don't really publish team results that I know of. But our team broke several meet records. Including a relay team Linea was on! You go girl! And we took home 2 boxes full of medals! But, really, the medals don't mean all that much. I got a gold in my 100 brst because I was the first to finish in my age group. The catch is, I was the ONLY one in my age group to swim in the event. BUT, I was second overall!

It's kinda fun getting medals, even if they are worthless. But it got me thinking about how wasteful it is. I kinda wish we could just donate the money they spent on medals to a volunteer group. Or spend it on sponsering a special olympics athlete. Or something more useful!

The day ended with a big enkai! The other swimmers got loaded! Linea and I drank ginger ale, stuffed our bellies and then headed home, both with a splitting headache and totally exhausted!

It was so fun though! I'm already looking forward to October!

Monday, April 17, 2006

The New 3rd Graders!

The new 3rd grade students in the advanced English class have started blogging again. They would love your comments to their posts. If you comment, please tell them your name and what school you teach at or how you know me! If you are a blogger, you don't have to use your blogger ID to post. You can post anonymously or with a different name. They love comments!!!

Thanks!

Nyuzen Nishi 3B English Class

Thursday, April 13, 2006

I'm a graduate student


Well, it's finally official. I've been accepted, I've registered, I've paid for my first semester and my books will arrive next week (all $400 worth). I've started graduate school. I'll be working toward an MA in TEFL through the University of Birmingham in the UK. It's a distance course, so I need to perfect my time management and study skills. Which means I'll have less time for everything else, including blogging. So keep checking my blog, I'm not giving it up yet. But I probably won't be posting as often as I have been. Thanks for your support. And if you see me out and about, ask me why I'm not home studying!

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

To Hazel


Thank you for bringing happiness to my grandfather's life and for easily becoming a new member of our family! Thank you for taking a risk 7 years ago when you moved across the country, left your friends and family behind and married my grandfather. Because of your energy, strength and love my grandfather's last years were lived to the fullest. Our entire family was blessed by your marriage.

If there is a heaven, an afterlife, a place where departed souls meet: if you see my grandfather, please tell him I haven't forgotten the days of going to the duck pond. And I've even found a duck pond in Japan that I like to visit. But I'm chuckling at the thought of how my grandmother will react to meeting you. Best of luck! I think you'll get along just fine! And you can tell her about all the things the family has been up to. I know she will have lots of questions for you.

I'm so happy I knew you!

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Spring Cleaning

My mom wrote me an email this week and told me she was in the midst of "spring cleaning." It reminded me of a story one of my eikaiwa students told me last week. Her family decided to build a new grave site for their family remains. In Japan, the whole family, generation after generation are put in one "house". Her current stone structure didn't have a floor to it and it was flooded. So the company called one day and said it was demolishing it and she had to come and collect her "family." Her mother, sister and her went and started removing all the "pots" with all the ashes and bones. But some had broken and some members had been put in there without pots. In Japan, they cremate bodies, but not fully. They want some pieces of bone left. So she said she was removing bones and pieces of skull from the grave site. They washed them and laid them all out to dry. They also decided to break open all the pots and bury all the other ashes and bones instead of keeping them. She said it was kinda dirty work, digging in the mud for bones and then washing them all. Luckily it was a bright and sunny day and the bones dried quickly. They were able to finish their "spring cleaning" of the family masouleum in one day. But that is one "spring cleaning" job I hope to NEVER have! But not only do the they have new gravestone being built, it will be free of all the family pots from the last 30+ years. I guess there were a lot in just 30 years! It was time to simplify!!

During this story, it was also brought to my attention that in Japan, families go to the cremation building and watch the body go in and come out. Then the family must collect the remaining ash and bones and put them in a pot. Nobody does it for them. They said it takes about an hour for the body at a high temperature to burn almost entirely, but not completely.

In Nyuzen, this building is located right next to the building where all the garbage is burned. The building that burns garbage also heats the water for a pool and public bath next door. But the woman who told me the story about her family grave said she used to be confused. She used to think that the cremation oven heated the community pool and it weirded her out. Now she laughs at that thought, but I bet a lot of my elementary school kids think the same think!!

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Scenes from Gyeonju


Tumulus Park contains 20 mound tombs containing ancient kingdom royalty and their families. The entire city is dotted with these tombs. At the park you can go inside one that has been excavated and see the jewels and other items that were buried with the king.



Gyeonju is the Kyoto of Korea. The city has retained the old architecture. Temples, palaces, ancient ruins and Buddhist relics are everywhere.




Anapji Pond and garden was used by kings during the Silla era to entertain visiting royalty.




The temple at Bulgak-san is one of the biggest and most visited in Korea. Each door was decorated with these lions.




Bulguk-sa Temple was first built about 1,450 year ago. But do to many wars and conflict the temple has been rebuilt several times.




Namsan Mountain overlooks Gyeonju town. As you hike up the trail, there are many Buddhist relics on the trail. This 7 meter high Buddha is carved into the side of the rock.




Sa Rang Chae is a wonderful guesthouse. I really recommend staying here if you visit Gyeonju. It is a traditional style Korean house. I had a simple room with a futon and a bathroom. Breakfast is included. You can cook your own meals, watch movies and use the internet in the common room. The owners are really friendly and helpful! I stayed an extra night because it was so wonderful! Book early, this place is popular.

Scenes from Sokcho

Looking out over the East Sea towards Japan at sunset.


Hanging squid out to dry on the street. Interesting to look at, but it doesn't look appetizing at all!


The fish markets are known for the freshest sashimi! You pick out the fish yourself, they cut it up for you and you can eat it right there on the docks.


Only an hour or two from the North Korean border, Sokcho has a lot of military and even barbed wire on the beach!


Japanese tourists flock to these interest points where Korean Dramas like "Winter Sonata" or "The Fairytale of Autumn" were filmed.


Seorak-san wildlife, up close and personal!


Seorak-san National Park has lots of beautiful temples and lots of trails to keep hikers really busy!


These students are young, but their English is great! They made pictures about Korean culture for me to bring back!


The local market in Sokcho has lots of local homegrown and homemade products including a variety of kimchi.

Scenes from Seoul

Gyeongbok-Gung Palace: Da Sistas do Seoul!


Namdae-mun Gate: It's Seoul's largest gate in the midst of a big market, traffic and skyscrapers.


Namdaemun Market: A Starbucks delivery disaster! You can find EVERYTHING in this market: foreign items, camping/backpacking gear, ginseng, handicrafts, food, etc.




Gyeongbok-gung: A palace guard stands on display, complete with a fake beard for tourist photos.


Itaewon: The foreign district. On the day of the Japan vs. Korea Baseball game, people crowded around TVs on the street to watch the game as they shopped.



Dongdaeman Market: Blocks and blocks of shopping! Everything you want, sometimes you can bargain, sometimes you can't! It's part of the game.