Buggy

Ok.  Unlike the other secrets of Nankan, that I, you know, enjoyed discovering, this one could have just stayed hidden.  I am referring to my (very) recent encounter with an unwelcome house guest - a spider.  Walk into the toilet room and there it is on the wall near the window, hanging out.  Bigger than the size of a half dollar if you include the legs (which I do for any spiders other than danny long-legs).  

I surprised myself, I didn't scream.  I think I said Oh My God and started breathing like I just ran for 20 minutes.  

Since I don't mind spiders if they're outside and keep their distance (I mean, they do eat other bugs you know?) I decided to try and 'save' it.  I opened the window and tried to 'help' it outside. But it didn't like that idea and it started coming towards me with alarming speed (in a room about 4 feet squared) and I swatted it.  I swatted it good.  It curled up in a little ball and didn't try to move again as I picked it up on the swatter and threw it out the window.  But you know, spiders are really good at playing dead, so it might be alright.  I didn't see it's brains or anything and all the limbs were attached.

I'll tell you one thing: I don't know if I'll ever have to pee again.

Damn Kids!

Tonight I want to share with you some of the answers one of my first year students gave on one of his worksheets last year.  

1. Where did you go?

I went to Pluto.

2. When did you go there?

I went there yesterday.

3. Who did you go there with?

I went there with Doraemon. [If you are unfamiliar with Doraemon, wikipedia]

4. What did you do there?

We played thumb wrestling.

5. What else did you do there?

We ate Pluto.

Apparently that explains why it isn't a planet anymore.

1. Where did you go?

I went to the past and the future.

2. When did you go there?

I went there this morning.

3. Who did you go there with?

I went there with my clothes.

4. What did you do there?

We met many people. 

5. What else did you do there?

We ate various kinds of food.

The second set of answers was just because he finished so early.  Keep in mind that a student like this is pretty rare around here.  Not only for his enthusiasm and ability, but also his imagination.  Ah nostalgic.  It reminds the answers I used to give my Japanese teacher at Kansai Gaidai.  In fact, did I give these answers to my teacher at Kansai Gaidai?  

US hardwire

Hello all!  I've been silent on here for long enough.  Is it possible to have 'overload' from life?  I think that sums up how I've been the last few months.  I'm sure you all have this great image of how my life must be so fun and exciting.  And it is.  But it's also tiring.  Some of it is my fault and some of it is just because my brain is hardwired for life in the US and it spends a lot of time freaking out.  At least the part that's my fault is fun: for instance, yesterday I watched the Lord of the Rings movie in entirety.  It finished at about 1 am.  

Recently I've been watching a lot of US movies and TV.  I haven't wanted to go out as much, and I've taken on a lot of projects around my apartment.  These aren't things that necessarily cost a lot of money, but may take a lot of time.  It seems like whenever I go out I get bored and exhausted.  Not always.  It mostly depends on if I'm hanging out with acquaintances or they're friends.  Friends in smaller groups, not too bad.  But larger groups just make me long for home.  

I like the projects I do around the house because they are straightforward, take a lot of work and have a great sense of accomplishment at the end.  For about five minutes.  Then I want the next project.  When I'm just sitting around I feel badly because I could be doing something.

The emergence of these projects may have arisen from the fact that Civilization won't play on my computer.  I've downloaded the patch, I've read all the online instructions, and it still can't.  Usually when I'm in this kind of a mood I play Civilization pretty much non-stop.  I love my mac, but why can't they make the game work for it?  I think it's cuz they wanted to game to be prettier so they changed the mac version or something to depend more on the graphics card, and mine is obviously not up to par.

So I've resorted to doing things that I myself wonder, 'Why am I doing this?  Why do I worry about it? I'm only here for three years?'  But I just have this need to keep doing them.  Great.  I'm sure some people would say it's culture shock, or homesickness.  But I used to go through these periods before in the US.  Hmmm.

Well, without further ado, here are some pictures from Okinawa.  I went there over spring break.  If you're wondering why they're are only five, I was passing my camera to someone to take a picture for me and we dropped it.  Still haven't gotten it fixed.

The first beach we found.  We got lost.

Okinawa's Aquarium: Ocean Expo Park

Ferry to a nearby island.  A big wave just soaked me.

The island we went to.  The beachy part is to the left.  There's coral right there and we went snorkeling.  

The four of us at Pineapple Park.  Eugene (behind), Diana (left), Me (middle), and Patty (right).  

I was the only one of the group who looked like the stereotypical American so we got a lot of weird looks.  By coincidence Diana and I wound up riding the same bus to the airport.  So we were walking around (that girl has an obsession with food samples) and we bought something at the convenience store.  The lady asked her if she wanted a bag.  She looked at me to see what she said, and I told her.  The clerk looked like she was having a brain aneurysm.  She probably thought she was in a Outerlimits episode or something.  Diana's family are Japanese Americans, but they moved to the US five or so generations ago.  She can't speak Japanese really well. 

Well, lots of fun.  Hope you all had a good Golden Week.  Mine was pretty good.  I went to an all you can eat buffet, watched movies, hung out at home, cleaned the screen frames, replaced the screens, washed the windows and the surrounding tracks for 9 windows and 2 doors, started hemming the curtains in the tatami room, put together a new bookshelf, moved other bookshelf into my office and re-organized my office.  I did a couple other things too.  

Please Remember to Try

I just had the most amazing conversation with my principle. I wrote about my experience over the last four years for the teacher messages to the graduating students. Ms. Kawakami then translated it into Japanese for me.

My principle leaned over to me today and told me his favorite part:

Then I realized, by never trying I could never fail. But I could never succeed either. If I tried, at least I had the chance of succeeding. And sometimes the experience of trying is more valuable than success.

He really liked what I wrote. But more than that - he got it. I was moved when I saw in his eyes that I had inspired him. He asked me to share this with the first and second year students. I'm so glad that I took the chance and shared myself.

When I was trying to write a message to students I felt like I barely knew, I couldn't think of anything. I read what James had wrote to the students last year; he talked about how they had known each other for four years and wasn't it amazing? But I couldn't say anything like that.

I couldn't think of anything profound, or something that 'sounded right'. So I shared myself, and it turns out that sharing yourself is profound, even if you can't find the perfect words. And it sounds right even if the voice in your head says it's wrong.

And with that, I want to share with you what I wrote for the thrid year students of Nankan Junior High.



Please Remember to Try by Katharine Kreuser

Please remember, that your life is anything and evertyhing you choose to make it. It's no one's responsibility but yours. No one has the power but you.

And although you may feel alone, that is just a feeling.
And although you may think it's hopeless, that is just a thought.
And if you tell yourself you can't do something, you will never try.
And trying is the most important thing. The worst that can happen is you fail.
And if you fail, you will be in the same position you are in if you don't try at all.

For four years after college I told myself I would never live in Japan again. So I didn't try. I told myself that if I applied, there would be someone better at speaking Japanese, or teaching who would get the job. And I thought if I tried and failed, that would be worse than not trying at all.

Then I realized, by never trying, I could never fail. But I could never succeed either. If I tried, at least I had the chance of succeeding. And sometimes the experience of trying is more valuable than success.

Now when I say, `I can't do that`, I think for a moment. Am I saying this out of fear? And if I am, do I want to try anyway and see what happens? Just for fun? You never know what kind of adventure lies just around the road you pass by.

`It's a dangerous business, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.`
- Bilbo Baggins Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Hello All

Tonight I want to share something a little sad with you.  Tonight I was driving home and saw a dead cat lying in the street that had been hit by a car.  And it made me think of Auron.

So I'd like to share a poem I wrote to him last year right around this time.

I don’t care why
you have to be gone

I remember you everywhere
the places you sat
the games we played

I shut out the world

I thought there were reasons
but they’re all forgotten

your beautiful light
made them disappear
forever gone

I talk to the night sky
promise to find me
any way you can

any way you can

I love you so much
now there’s just space
where sorrow and pain
have taken their place

I only know
what I’ve done before
I live how I can

I shut out the world

where have you gone
I reach out to find

you can never be there
I turn and cry

I look at the night sky
so magical and sad

I don’t want to look anymore
without you
here by my side

If you have a kitty at home, give him/her a hug for me.

Kate

My Magnificent Mile

How many days in life do we keep with us?  When the world slows and every thing is natural and yet has the excitement of discovery?  

I don't know.  But I do know that I have had one of these days.  And it was magnificent.  I took a picture and video diary of my experience.  All of these pictures were taken in Nankan.  

Other people may pass Nankan by.  Or, more likely, never even know they have passed Nankan by.  But the discoveries I made are all the more special because I know few have ever made them.  

Out front of Nankan High School.  Call the fire department!

A small temple.

Chestnuts are in season in the fall.  The outside is furry looking and the 'nut' is soft.

Inside Nankan, the signs only tell you how to get to surrounding cities.  They don't tell you how to find anything in Nankan.  Take the next right for 'downtown' Nankan.

Orange moss!  I knew I belonged here!

Nankan High School

The small Buddhist temple.

An empty chestnut shell.

In December, I asked a teacher what she did over the weekend.  She said she spent all day Sunday in her garden planting.  I laughed.  "What could you plant in winter?"  "Winter flowers." was her answer.  I laughed again, "Plants die in winter!"

I love this picture.  I was quite scared to cross this path.  But I couldn't walk away from it.  So I took the risk of losing my balance and getting all wet and walked across.  Funny that a little thing like that would make such a difference.  But once I'd done it I felt fantastic.

This is an old tree in on the grounds of Nankan 第小学校 (first elementary school).  There are many poles supporting it because it's so old.

A larger Buddhist temple.  

A map of Nankan and places of interest.  When I saw this, I first thought, 'Wow there's only eight.'  Then I thought 'Wow!  There're eight!  Wait, where is that one, I haven't seen that yet.'

And back home.  I think this is the best picture of my home to date.  If only because the sun is shinning and the sky is a beautiful blue.