Do I Dare Share?

A friend in my MA course suggested I take the Enneagram Personality Test. Try it out!

Main Type	Overall Self

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Enneagram Test Results Type 1 Perfectionism 82% Type 2 Helpfulness 66% Type 3 Image Focus 58% Type 4 Hypersensitivity 18% Type 5 Detachment 26% Type 6 Anxiety 74% Type 7 Adventurousness 58% Type 8 Aggressiveness 62% Type 9 Calmness 50% Your main type is 1 Your variant is social

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Well, I am a bit of a perfectionist, it's true! But I'd like to be more of an adventurous person! And less anxious (thanks a lot mom). And more calm and less aggressive. I think I need past life regression therapy to sort out why I'm the way I am. Oh...for a little past life regression! I'd give anything!

And that's all I have for now. I'm busy trying to perfect some school stuff...don't have time for blogging!

The Last Rice Report of 2006

Monday, August 8th

Wednesday, September 6th

(after a heavy rain)

Friday, September 15th

Monday September 18th

And the rice is gone. The fields are bare and brown now. There will be some regrowth in the coming weeks, just enough green to tease. And then it will get cold, turn brown again and be covered in snow. And then I can go snowboarding again!

Self-portrait with Rice!

I love "my" rice paddies!

September Grand Sumo Tournament

Tomorrow is the last day of the September Grand Sumo Tournament. For those of you who can't watch it on TV, here is a link with live streaming video of the Big Boys

Or just visit the website to read up on Sumo!

And in case you're wondering, here are my favorite three:

from Mongolia

from Bulgaria

Asashoryu is the current Yokozuna, the highest ranking sumo wrestler. He is from Mongolia and he's my absolute favorite!

These are a few of the international boys. The Japanese ones just don't do it for me. Maybe I'm just inclined to like the boys that add a bit of diversity to the sport. But when I tell my Japanese friends that I like the Mongolians and the Bulgarian, they get a look of disgust on their face. They don't seem to like having "outsiders" participating in a pure Japanese sport, especially since the highest ranking is a foreigner.

With any luck I'll be able to see these boys in Uozu next month. I hope there are still tickets!

白山 Mt. Hakusan 2702m (8,864ft)

Two teams of four from Toyama-ken climbed Mt. Hakusan, one of the three holiest mountains in Japan. We planned for a two-night, two-day expedition on the mountain. But trail closures, a quickly approaching typhoon, and a mountain rescue helicopter encouraged us to shorten our multi-day trek to a one-day trek. And even though we carried 4 tents up and down the mountain, we never needed them. Here’s the journey:


Toyama to Ichi-no-se
Saturday night we left Toyama at about 6pm and headed for Kanazawa via the expressway; it was raining. And we had been warned that a typhoon was headed our way. We stopped in Kanazawa for a sukiya dinner, a local fast food chain, before driving the dark wet mountain road to Ichi-no-se, our pre-hike camping destination. Unfortuneatley, the rain had gotten heavier by the time we arrived in Ichi-no-se and it was late. We found the camp ground, but it was flooded and dark. We had three options: 1) set up camp and get soaked 2) sleep in the car or 3) stay at the 1 and only ryokan, Japanese inn. We sent in a representative to inquire on the price. Our first quote was 6000Y ($51US) per person. That was too high. We sent in a second Japanese representative to bargain. We got in for 2000Y ($16US) per person if we brought our own bedding! Fabulous!! And there was a 24-hour natural onsen, hot spring, even better!

We un-packed, slept, ate, re-packed and got on the bus for Bettodeai, the trail head.

Bettodeai 1200m (3,937ft.) to the Emergency Hut
The other team got a head start and left on the 7:30am bus. Our team made it on the 8am bus and started on the trail by 8:30am. The Shabo-Shindo trail was closed because of a soil avalanche, so we had to take the less popular Kanko-Shindo. It is a steep trail of stairs, boulders and ridge walking. After last night’s rain, we expected a wet day, but the clouds cleared and the sun came out! It was a beautiful and warm morning. Maybe our snowboarding parkas and gloves wouldn’t be necessary after all. We passed a lot of other hikers going down the mountain. One man asked us if we were planning on camping at the top and then told us it was impossible because of the typhoon. He said that the lodge was sending part-time staff off the mountain and closing down part of the lodge. And the trail to the campsite we had planned on staying at was closed. Our plans were quickly changing. After about 3 hours we made it to the Emergency Hut where the other group was resting. Luckily we had cell service and I called a friend who checked the latest typhoon update. He confirmed that it had picked up speed and would be in the area within about 9 hours. We figured we had enough time to reach the summit and get back down to the bus stop before things got crazy on the mountain. So we decided to leave our big packs in the shelter and just take the essentials: food, water, a warm hat and a camera!


Emergency Hut to Murodo 2450m (8,038ft.)
Hiking without our packs was great! And the trail got a lot easier. We had another 2km to Murodo, the mountain lodge. Half of that was a steady climb up, but half of it was on a nice boardwalk through a valley. A well needed rest on the legs! The view was amazing! All the hard work and sweat was paying off. But seeing the big red-roofed lodge sitting on top of the mountain was a big relief. We had been hiking for about 5 hours and we were in desperate need of a water refill. We filled up liters and liters of fresh cold mountain water and ate our tasty burrito lunch.

Murodo to Gozen-ho (the summit) 2702m (8,864ft.)
Everyone was exhausted and feeling the pain, 2 people decided to start making their way back down to the Emergency Hut and then to the bus stop to set up camp before the typhoon hit. The other 6 of us pushed on to the summit, only another 40minutes. It was cloudy and windy, but the sun still shone through in bursts. We got to the top, prayed at the little temple and took pictures with the summit markers. There wasn’t a view beyond the clouds, but it was a high just to have finally made it. But we felt the warm wind, a sign the typhoon is getting closer. The clock was ticking; we had to get down!

Gozen-ho 2702m to Bettodeai 1200m
From the summit to Murodo we were cruising, it only took us 20minutes. It was our first downhill in over 5 hours and it felt great. We refilled water, checked blisters and used the bathroom before starting the next section through the valley and back down to the emergency hut. After leaving the boardwalk on the valley the wind really started to pick up and the clouds were moving quickly, but it was warm. The other team was resting in the hut and eating their gourmet falafel sandwhiches. The wind was rattling the hut and if it had been several hours later, we may have had to stay there for the night. Luckily we still have about 3 hours of daylight and we knew the boys were already making their way down and would have camp ready and waiting for us.

So the 3 of us in our team took off with our big packs back on and walked the ridge in the wind. Only about 30 minutes after leaving the hut we heard a helicopter. And soon we saw it, a red and white rescue helicopter. At first I thought it was going to the top, perhaps there had been an accident. But they stopped when they saw us and just hovered and circled as best they could in the strong winds. Two rescuers were leaning out of the helicopter and someone was trying to make an announcement. Even if it had been in English I’m not sure I would have understood it over the sound of he helicopter and the wind. But it was in Japanese and all we could hear was “………kudasai” or please. We translated that to “get the *!%# off the mountain!” They watched us for about 5 minutes, probably to make sure we had the right idea. We continued heading down the mountain while snapping some photos of the chopper being thrown about in the wind.

The last 3km were brutal. Our legs were shot, the wind was unsettling and the trail was steep and wet. It was slow slow slow going. There were lots of sections were I had to sit down and then slide because my legs couldn’t jump down anymore. But we finally made it to the bus stop about 6pm. The rain started as soon as we made it to the shelter. Lucky for us, the bus stop attendant gave the boys permission to sleep in the waiting room. So we had benches for cooking and eating. And a dry wind free room for sleeping.

Our team chef prepared a gourmet meal that had been carried most of the way up the mountain and back down. We drank red wine with tom yum soup and thai green curry with coconut rice. And for dessert we ate dark chocolate while drinking hot chocolate and bailey’s. It was the perfect meal to end the day. And after the wine and bailey’s we all thought we’d sleep like babies in that shelter. But that wasn’t too be.

After turning off the lights, I started telling my famous Spanish ghost story with just the eerie glow of my headlamp to fill the room. Actually, it was just to make sure people were still listening. Anyway, as I was scanning the room, I saw a massive insect crawling toward a team member sleeping on the floor. I grabbed his shoe and quickly smashed the bug and flicked it under a bench. By the end of the story another bug had appeared….from inside the first dead insect. A writhing knotted parasite had emerged from the dead bug. It turned us all into squealing girls. It was vile! Luckily, one was brave enough to fling it out into the howling winds of the typhoon. In the morning we checked it. It was dead, but over a foot long.

The ghost story didn’t keep people awake, but the winds did. For about 8 hours it sounded like big foot and his brothers were standing outside the doors trying to bang them down. Sign posts, metal gates and table tops were turned over in the middle of the night. And the bench I was sleeping on was too short for me. I was tempted to squeeze in on the floor...but after the parasite incident, there was no way in hell I was getting off my bench.

We had another gourmet meal planned for breakfast, but it wasn’t too be. The bus driver showed up and knocked on the door at about 6:30. He brought the bus a little after 7am.
And we waved good-bye to our shelter and to Mt. Hakusan.

It didn’t go as planned, but the best things never do.

Thanks Team!


See more pics on Linea's blog

Hakusan Awaits

In a few hours, about 8 of us will make our way to the 1 of the 3 holiest mountains in Japan, Hakusan! It awaits. But there is a typhoon coming. It's a race. Can we beat the typhoon or will it beat us?

Stay Tuned!

Typhoon Weather Update

Live Video from Hakusan

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Only a few more days of voting. Please keep voting.

One vote a day from a computer. Thanks!!

(my parents, henry and his parents)

I can cry if I want to

I'm a sensitive soul. I cry pretty easily and I'm okay with that. I cry in movies, while watching TV, even while watching commercials sometimes. I cry when I leave somewhere or say good-bye to someone I'll really miss. I've been known to cry after a bad day at work. And I've cried at my first day of work. I've shed a tear at the site of my favorite Indian food in the US. And I can't help but well up when I hear about a tragedy or natural disaster in India. I cry when I find out a family member is in the hospital. And I cried when I saw pictures of my best friends wedding and her first baby. Sounds like I cry a lot, huh? Gosh, I hope not. I can't cry on command, I cry as a reaction or as a way to express myself. But there are two thoughts that bring tears to my eyes without being provoked.

This year is the 5th year anniversary for both events. And they both still bring tears to my eyes.

1) My grandfather I really miss our conversations. He had great insight and lots of advice and perspective about the world. He believed in me wholeheartedly and supported all my dreams and desires; from wanting the latest Cyndi Lauper tape to taking flying lessons to traveling. He never laughed, and never said it was unattainable. Instead he did everything in his power to help me. He had a way with people. He could bring a smile to the crankiest person at his retirement center. And make people laugh and feel at home wherever he went. He touched so many people. And I feel so lucky to have been able to have him as my grandfather, to share those intimate moments of going to the pond to feed the ducks, looking at the fish in the pet store, buying groceries for grandma, and listening to his stories. He taught me that life is an adventure, you can’t be scared of the next bump in the road, just meet it head on and everything will work itself out.

2) September 11th I was in NYC at the UN on September 11th. Many of you who know me well know the story and have heard me talk about it. I actually try not to think about it much anymore. But the anniversary always brings back stories on the radio or TV, it’s impossible to avoid. And without even thinking about it, I’m crying again. I didn’t live in NY, I was just attending a conference. So my ties to the event are somewhat distant, but the intensity of the event was real for me. Luckily, my uncle who works in the WTC was fine. And I'm fine, but others weren’t as lucky. For people who weren't there to witness it; to taste the fumes in your mouth, feel the burn in your lungs, see the people barefoot and covered in ash, hear the sirens for days, or feel the rumble of the tanks drive by....it’s a story that is beyond description. Similar, I imagine, to trying to describe being in a war zone, in the middle of a natural disaster, or other catastrophe. It brings people together in a way that is so unique to that time and place. I’ll never forget the sense of community and the American pride I felt as I waved a flag and clapped for the emergency rescue workers as they left Ground Zero just a day after the buildings collapsed. For the rest of my life, for one day every year, I will be a New Yorker.

This has been exhausting. I can barely see the screen through my tear-filled eyes. My glasses have long been removed to avoid that annoying tear splashing. Now my nose is running and I have a headache. But it feels good to acknowledge these events and remember….it was just 5 years ago.

Catching Up

Well, I've gotten behind in my posts. So I'm just gonna post a few pictures of things I've been doing recently. And then I need to hit the books!! I've been neglecting the studying lately (as you can tell from the pics below)!


Windsurfing at Ishida Beach! Okay, obviously that isn't me. But I spent about an hour trying to get the sail up and managed to run the board right into the beach once!! This guy has been windsurfing for 20 years and does it year around in Toyama. They wear dry suits in the winter. He says the water is about 10degrees and there is snow on the ground, so it's like an onsen (hot spring) in the water! Crazy! I want to go again, but I'm not ready for winter windsurfing yet.

JHS Sports Day--Yesterday I attended my junior high schools sports day. This is my 3rd sports day. And I have to say, the first year was exciting. The second year was fun cause I knew what was happening. The third year...it was a bit boring. Basically, the students prepare for months and put on a show for the community. Yesterday it was 35C. Kids were sitting in the sun all day and running races!!! And the adults sit under tents and get served tea by the students. And then all teachers and I went out last night and drank more than I've ever seen them drink before. When I describe my job like that, it doesn't sound so bad.

Toyama's 3rd Big Pumpkin Festival--This is one event that the city requests us to go to. We even get a comp day for carving pumpkins! It started our first year and it was just JP and I. Last year we invited more ALTs to join in the pumpkin festivities and this year they requested we invite them again. So there were about 9 foreigners there. As if we didn't already stand out from the farmers and their wives. We got to wear bright orange T-shirts and farmer hats. We also got to eat pumpkin food items and got to help little kiddies carve their first ever halloween pumpkin (2 months early). Lots of fun!

And last but not least, while Amy was in town a few of us 3rd+ year ALTs and two of our closest Japanese friends had a little surprise bday party for our favorite BEE rider. We made up a massive vegetarian mexican feast. And as you may have seen on Linea's blog, we had two very special cakes. One was made with natto and the other with ice cream. The ice cream cake was much more delicious! But the natto cake won for creativity points!

BEE Japan

BEE Japan is biking through Japan supporting environmental awareness. The team stopped in Toyama on their way down to Okinawa last night for a fundraiser dinner at a local vegetarian restaurant. The food was fabulous, of course. And we got to hear lots of stories about their adventures from Wakkanai, Hokkaido to Toyama (so far). You can read about their adventures on their website: Diary And you can look at pictures too: Photo Gallery

The team isn't stopping at convience stores or major chains. They are trying to buy local fruits and vegetables from farmers. They don't use disposable chopsticks and are encouraging others to stop as well. They don't use disposable plates either. They are trying to encourage the motto: reduce, reuse, recycle!! They are stopping at schools to do presentations, doing beach clean-ups and giving presentations at eikaiwas and local community centers.

I don't have any team pics, only some pics of Toyama's own, Amy! They're on the road again, headed to Kanazawa and then Kyoto where they will meet up with the other half of their group that split and went to Tokyo! Their final destination: Naha, Okinawa!

Gambatte!!!

To learn more, please visit: www.beejapan.org

Henry Goes to College

Do you remember that adorable picture of my best friend and her new baby Henry with all the "oh Henry" bars? He's grown and is cuter than ever!!!

Message from his mom:

Henry is in a baby contest that will earn him a $10, 000 scholarship if he wins! The winner is chosen by on-line votes only. Who ever gets the most votes wins!! You can vote once a day for 2 weeks - PLEASE Pretty PLEASE vote everyday!!! I really want him to go to private school with that scholarship!"

I tried so hard to wake him up for the photo, but he wouldn't budge from his sleep! He's the only kid out of 209 that is asleep in his picture! Silly boy! The contest took place at Washington Square Mall last weekend - it was SO crowded!! Lots of adorable babies! Please forward this to any of your friends/family that could help us out with their vote - the most votes wins. Thanks a lot!! Love, Sara & Henry

Vote for Henry

It's so easy. Just visit my blog everyday & vote for Henry!! You probably don't know any other baby in the contest anyway! Like Sara said....Pretty pretty please!!

The Last Day of Summer & The First Day of My Last Year

Yesterday was the last day of summer freedom. School has been out since mid-July. I have taken several trips around Japan (Disney Sea, Sumo in Nagoya, Hokkaido, Hiroshima, Mt. Fuji), but I haven’t left the archipelago since May. When I wasn’t traveling, I was dutifully coming to work every morning. However, after a few hours, I was also sneakily leaving work everyday. But I never left without the permission of one of my teachers or my Vice Principle. Except yesterday! All the teachers were back in the staff room preparing for the opening ceremony and start of classes. But I still had NOTHING to do. So I decided to leave at lunch but didn’t bother asking permission from the head honcho. Was it a mistake? It was the last time I’d be allowed the privilege of skipping out on work-so I did! So for my last day of summer, I biked to the beach to swim, gossip and soak up the sunny rays on the sand. The day was made perfect because…SOS was back together again. After the beach, we frequented our favorite mochi-cheese izikaya and continued the gossip and girly bitchiness at Ducks Farm while eating chocolate.

And now, today, I’m wearing a skirt and blouse and locked in the confines of my staff room…all alone! But this morning when I walked into the staff room, all the teachers were sitting at their desks, waiting for the morning meeting to start. I usually make it to my desk in time for the meeting, but I’ve been known to walk in late. Mind you, that doesn’t mean I’m late for school. The meeting starts 15 minutes before my contract says I have to be at school. So in reality I’m early everyday. But I’m sure no one else knows that except for me. So they all think I’m late! Anyway, back to the point. Immediately my VP looks at me and asks if I got the fax and phone call from another one of my schools yesterday afternoon. He knew full well I hadn’t. And I knew full well he was exposing my little lie to everyone. But a few hours later he was joking with me again. And he got me a day of daikyu for sports day. And I promised to go to the enkai after sports day. And life seems to be back to normal. But I still haven’t seen the fax from the other school concerning Monday’s schedule. And I’m still sitting alone in the staff room. Dressed up with nowhere to go, no classes to teach and nothing to do. But I’m not complaining. I’m just aware that these moments won’t be here forever.

And today is the first day of my last year in Nyuzen!

Mt. Fuji 3776m (12,388 ft.)

We started at the Kawaguchi-ko 5th station at 2305m (7562 ft.) at 7pm as the sun was setting. We finished at 3776m (12,388 ft.) at 4:30am as the sun was rising. That means we climbed 1471m (4826 ft.) in 9.5 hrs.

There were about 25 of us from Toyama that climbed Mt. Fuji this weekend. But we divided up into small groups. I climbed with Team Niikawa, 4 of us in total (3 of us above).

The sun is rising and we are at the top of Mt. Fuji (finally). For awhile as we were climbing, I thought the sun would never rise again. I thought we had entered some kind of hell....a never ending climb up a mountain in the cold rain with thousands of people fighting each other to get to a top that didn't exist. We're smiling, but it was a bit forced. We've been up all night and we're freezing.

This is one small corner of the summit. It was packed with people trying to get the best picture of the sun coming up. It was like trying to navigate the corridors of a college football stadium...lines for food, lines for the bathroom, people puking, people passed out, people EVERYWHERE! It wasn't being at the top was so bad though, it was getting up there with all these people! The trail was packed MOST of the time. The last 3-4 hours we would take a baby step every 10-30sec. It was slow moving! They need to start a permit system or something. There were TOO MANY people climbing!

I was relieved when the sun finally did come up. It meant the world wasn't over and we had escaped hell. And it meant we could take off some layers of clothing and finally warm up. It also meant, we were that much closer to being done. Only 4-5 hours more to get down.


Yep, that's me at the top. I made it up and back down. In total, we were on the mountain for 15 hours, in the bus for 16 hours, and I didn't sleep for 40 hours. I got home last night, dropped my bags in the door, showered and was in bed by 7:30pm. I slept 13 hours...woke up a little stiff.

I'm glad I did it. I'm glad Team Niikawa made it to the top and back down. But I'll never do it again.

Click here for Brett's account of Team Niikawa on Mt. Fuji and more pics!

Polysemy in Context

Last week I spent a lot of time looking at text, idioms, metaphors, prototypes, lexical structures, meaning and core meanings of words and dissecting grammar. I’m still processing the academic information and lectures. Overall, it was a rich academic experience. But the academic focus was overpowered by human relationships. Even though we all spoke the same language, English, some of us interpreted the signals differently. It led to confused communication and dissapointment.

As humans, social beings, we spend a lot of time wanting and needing things. We especially want and need other people to like us, to love us, to be in love with us, to notice us, to never forget us, and to remember us always. But that comes with conditions and we have to qualify our desires. We don’t want to be liked by that person, we want to be liked by this person. We don’t want to be noticed by just someone, we want to be noticed by the perfect someone. We don’t want just anyone to love us, we want the right one to love us.

When that one, someone, or anyone pays us even a little attention, instead of heart palpitations it brings heart-burn. Instead of sending tingles down your back, it sends a shiver up your spine. Instead of falling head over heels, you feel like you’ve fallen flat on your face. Last week, I had the worst heart-burn of my life, literally.

Because it’s not about anyone, it’s about the right someone. If it’s the wrong someone, you wish it had been no one at all. Because sometimes no one is better than just anyone. At least for me.

Communication and relationships are defined by status and structure. Those involved, what they do and how they do it all plays a part. It’s a very fine balance of presentation, intonation, and style. Last week a relationship pre-defined by structures of power, distance and authority was instantly shattered when the wrong type of attention was paid to a certain someone. Even though relationships are fluid, open to interpretation and individual expression, there are rules. There is a form and a structure that must be followed. When there are deviations from the form, there is a communication breakdown. And when communication breaks down, there is miscommunication. This can result in conflict and conflict results in broken trust. Because once trust is broken, it rarely can be reconstructed.

And it’s always disappointing to feel you can’t trust someone anymore.

Family Ties

Did you ever watch that TV show? It used to be a favorite in our house on Thursday night between The Cosby Show and Cheers. It was a family bonding night in front of the TV. Now our family time usually involves skype and sitting in front of a computer because we live in 3 countries and that's just my immediate family. So family bonding time is limited, but we still stay in touch and send pictures of all our activities. My sister recently visited Jeju, an island off the coast of South Korea. And my parents recently did a bike pedal across the Portland bridges! Go family!

Aren't they cute!!!

She said it was HORRIBLY hot there! But it looks beautiful!

And I'm in Hiroshima...studying!

Seminar Bound

I'm off to Hiroshima for a week long seminar as part of my graduate studies. Since I'm doing a distance course especially for teachers working in countries like Japan, the professors come to Japan once a year for real classroom learning! I'm kinda looking forward to the break from life in Nyuzen. And I'll get to meet a lot of people also doing the course. But I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to the seminar itself. The topics include: structure and meaning, words and meaning, methodology and grammar, a corpus based syllabus, text and context, prototype theory and the grammar syllabus, metaphors at work, and typological universals. I haven't a clue what any of it means now...hopefully I'll be a bit smarter this time next week!

Tai Chi: Ni Hao!

Tai Chi teacher bonding! This morning my school district subsidized and organized an extra-curricular activity for all of the teachers (and I was invited too!). I was strongly encouraged to take Tai Chi by my Vice Principal...he was organizing it. We have a strange love/hate/ambiguous relationship. He's the guy I have to get permission from for just about everything. He likes to keep close tabs on me--where I eat lunch, how much I spend on my vacation, what I'm reading, and he requests specific beer as omiyage. But he also has been letting me leave at lunch this week. So I know he doesn't hate me!

So, this morning about 30 teachers congregated at the local community hall in their sports gear: sweat pants, basketball shorts, t-shirts, towels tucked into the t-shirts, running shoes and there were lots of sports drinks and tea close at hand. We did a lot of stretching and the teachers lectured a bit while I zoned out and thought about a variety of other things going on in my life right now. Finally, we got to practice and they taught us a short little routine. We all sucked! But it was interesting, even if it was a bit slow. I know, I know, slow is the point! But, I kind of like speedier activities (like river rafting)! Ha ha ha, that probably just means I need to be doing more yoga and tai chi. Maybe, when I get old!

We won't remember the routine. But we will remember one thing: the greeting, the yoroshiku onegaishimasu, the kiritsu, kiotsuke, rae. See the picture below.


Later in the staff room my Vice Principal (above) kept walking up to me and putting his fist in my face and saying "Ni Hao." I have a sinking feeling I'm gonna have to deal with this for the next year. But because I'm not shy or worried (too much) about what people think of me anymore (wore my nose ring all day to school today), I'm gonna do it right back at him!! It's not really in the spirit of Tai Chi, but I think it's our own secret intimate way of saying "hey, you're strange and different, but I guess I'll put up with you for another year (and as long as you bring me beer as omiyge, you can leave early)."

Good Enough for the Emperor

In July, a 4th grade student of mine eagerly invited me to visit school on a particular day in August to eat Nyuzen's famous jumbo watermelon (an expensive commodity). He was very persistent! And how can you resist this face? So, I hesitantly showed up at school yesterday, hoping I'd understood his Japanese correctly! Hurray for me...I got it right!

What I didn't get from his invitation was the reason we were going to be eating watermelon. It turns out this little guy's family is The Family that sends jumbo watermelon to The Emperor of Japan. Wow! And his family donated two watermelons to his class.

Before we could eat the watermelon, the students had to prepare and cook Curry Rice. They each brought their share of vegetables (probably from their own gardens) and their portion of rice. The washing, cutting, chopping and cooking began...with very little supervision! I joined the group to the left. The girls took charge and gave the boys orders. The boys stood at the sink and filled the veggie bags with water and poked holes in them and watched the water squirt out. The girls got mad at them for playing and not working. The boys ignored the girls. These are 4th graders!

Unfortunately, my group was a bit over eager about making curry and missed a few steps. So we ended up with curry soup instead--too much water. Oh well. We still stuffed our faces. And there was a lot left over!

Next we ate two jumbo watermelons. They were so sweet and delicious!! I can see why the Emporer wants to eat these. I could have eaten an entire one myself if I hadn't just stuffed myself with curry rice.

Overall, it was a great morning! I'm glad I showed up for it! The only bummer about the day--my school emptied the pool. Boo hoo! So I had to go to the beach instead--summer sucks!

Blogger is being annoying and not letting me upload any more pictures...so I'll try to post a few watermelon pics below in another post.

Watermelon Pictures

Try Again! Blogger currently sucks!

Tatemon Festival

Last night 1000's of people gathered in front of a temple in a fishing village in Uozu for the last day of the Tatemon Festival. The typical festival fare: food, fireworks and yukatas. But this festival also has floats. These floats, made to look like fishing boats, represent different fishing neighborhoods. Each float weighs several tons. The trick is, it has to be brought to the temple by pulling and pushing. That sounds easy if it had wheels, but it doesn't. It's like a sled, but on asphalt and concrete, not snow! It's a challenge. Especially given the heat and humidity! We started pulling/pushing at about 9pm. We finally finished at about 12midnight. There were probably a hundred or so people assigned to move each float. And there were kids and muscians sitting on the float--lucky! Anyway, my arms are stiff and typing is a challenge! So here are some pictures!

What you can't see in the pictures: the heat & the humidity--it was intense!!!
What you can't taste: the sake being poured down our throats and the cold tea breaks!
What you can't smell: the sweat, the festival food, and the fishy smell of a port!
What you can't hear: the flutes, the taiko drums, and the heave-ho's!
What you can't feel: the burn of pulling for several hours!

Summer Fun

Yukata Rules
Summer in Japan means festivals and yukata (summer kimono). Several weeks ago there was a big good-bye party for leaving JETs. The theme: toga! But the Nyuzen(kurobe) crew has a style of our own. So we decided to go in yukata. We got lots of compliments! If you really want to know how to wear a yukata, just click on the link above. That's how we tried to put ours on at first, but later our Japanese friend retied it for us! Thank goodness!

Glass blowing
My friend, Takae, and I decided to sweat it out in a glass blowing studio in the summer heat. Not the brightest decision for a hot afternoon...but a few more degrees didn't really matter. We had both done it once before but by no means knew what we are doing. Luckily we had two teachers to guide us through the entire process. We get to pick up our unique creations this week. Who will be the lucky recipient of my artwork?


Tanabata Festival
This festival is held in July/August throughout Japan. The decorations for Tanabata are incredible. People spend months, or all year making decorations to hang from large bamboo trees they set up on the main streets of town. Other bamboo just has colored pieces of paper thin plastic that people have written wishes on. These wishes hang in the breeze and many people stop to read them while they are walking around town. My town is currently celebrating Tanabata. It involves the typical festival food stands: takoyaki, castella, okonomiyaki, yakitori, kakigori, etc. But this festival also had amazing taiko drumming, dancing and my students were wearing yukata!! My friend, Chica, and I strolled around town looking at the flea markets, commenting on all the yukatas and constantly tempting ourselves to buy festival food--but we knew better!!