tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44424511214920089492012-01-11T20:20:37.907-08:00Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.comBlogger721100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-82450292007396694502011-08-19T20:50:00.001-07:002011-08-19T21:04:23.157-07:00

7-13-11 Dear Tsushima, Thank you for helping to restore my faith in friendship and love. I've opened myself up to loving my students here and have been filled to overflowing with love in response. Thank you also for helping me to be more adaptable and self-reliant. You've had me face many challenges in the past 3 years, including making friends with myself to survive the loneliness of living

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-50802039942351504712011-07-12T04:36:00.001-07:002011-07-14T05:50:17.444-07:00

...and I'm so not ready.If only the apocolypse people had been right and the world ended with the Mayan calendar (although, really, who can blame a society for not projecting a calendar with prophesized epochs past the next few thousand years? ...even soothsayers must go on vacation sometime. I would've after the first 1,000 years of predictions).But no, I wasn't saved from moving internationally

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-50694134058400137272011-05-31T04:18:00.000-07:002011-05-31T05:04:10.590-07:00

Many moons ago, former roomie and good friend Kate and I made a pact: we would get "fit" (by our own definitions) by the time we turned 25. Since her birthday is in January, I said our joint deadline could be my later July birthday. Which, by the way, is now less than 2 months away.I made a whole scheme of how I was going to get fit, planning on active things I would be able to do in Tsushima,

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-42412166226722829322011-05-05T19:11:00.000-07:002011-05-10T22:26:36.888-07:00

Last week was "Golden Week," during which there are a bunch of national holidays. Typically I`d take days off from work to get the full week off and travel to different countries during this time-- India last year, a trip home the year before-- but this year, I wanted to stay in Tsushima. The weather usually gets gorgeous in early May, and I also wanted to attend the Hitotsubatago Festival, named

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-42080922324175783532011-04-25T18:57:00.000-07:002011-04-25T22:51:50.474-07:00

Aside from trekking up and down Mt. Fuji, the most memorable part of the Epic Japan July 2010 trip was probably the dinner with maikos. (Very, very sadly, due to timing U.B. was unable to come... I went a little wild with picture-taking, however, so hopefully this will show what it was like).I know not all my family members know about maikos/geishas, so in brief: it`s not your "Memoirs of a

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-55238887652074877702011-04-18T22:50:00.001-07:002011-04-20T22:50:17.547-07:00

The day after our epic trip up Mt. Fuji, my sore and aching group made our way to Kyoto. We went by shinkansen-- my first time taking that stretch of track-- and picked up fancy bento lunches at the train station. Delicious!Going back to Kyoto was a little surreal. I`d studied abroad there for 9 months and gone back a year and a half prior while traveling with a friend over winter break. This

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-48413400648901548952011-04-13T22:52:00.000-07:002011-04-13T23:47:33.586-07:00

Rewind to last July: I skipped out on the Kokkyo Marathon in Kamitsushima (probably the biggest event in my small town all year) to go to Tokyo, climb Mt. Fuji, and show off Kyoto to U.B. and company. This blog will focus on my time in and around Tokyo. I went to Tokyo a couple of days earlier than U.B. and friends, mostly because it was the weekend and there were some touristy things that I

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-17681596797657674962011-04-06T23:39:00.001-07:002011-04-11T17:42:55.250-07:00

While I spent most of my time in Ishigaki underwater (or preparing to go underwater or recovering from the energy that scuba diving seems to zap from you), I spent one day on land. There are many ferries from Ishigaki that go out to nearby smaller islands, and I took one to Taketomi Island. There isn`t much to Taketomi Island, which is prehaps for the best because I still managed to get lost a

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-82516564156771610922011-04-06T23:02:00.000-07:002011-04-06T23:33:37.496-07:00

In the previous scuba post, I left out one of the best things from the dive: hunting for nudibranches. I thought they deserved their own post. So here is my Nudibranch Exhibition Gallery (again, all pictures were taken by the lovely underwater-artistic divemasters/buddies from Umicoza, during my dives with them). For non-divers, a the layman`s term for nudibranch is "sea slug." (In Japanese, it`s

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-69216671208902242902011-04-06T21:06:00.000-07:002011-04-06T23:37:21.573-07:00

My main purpose for going to Ishigaki was scuba-diving. I`d read that they had manta rays in addition to the usual sea creatures and coral, and I thought it would be cool to see some mantas. I dove for 4 days with Umicoza Diving School, two recreational boat dives each day, and spent about 5 1/2 hours underwater. It was a pretty awesome 5 1/2 hours, and I saw a lot of cool stuff. No mantas,

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-33731284663726448142011-04-06T19:41:00.000-07:002011-04-06T20:28:59.191-07:00

Last week during "Spring Break," I went to Ishigaki island in southern Okinawa for 4 amazing days of scuba diving. The weather was nice most days, much warmer than Tsushima has been, and flowers were blooming everywhere. My scuba diving vacations (so far 2 trips to Key Largo, FL; one trip to Jeju island in Korea; one trip to mainland Okinawa and Yongaguni island; and the most recent trip to

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-25032354503320423792011-03-28T22:49:00.001-07:002011-03-28T23:07:01.517-07:00

I've been driving a car on a rural Japanese island for almost 3 years. Going to the gas station and filling up 3/4ths of the tank is about 4000 yen. When I stop to think about it, that's something like $45. I drive a small "Kei car," however, which can get me 2 hours south to the airport and back on 1/3rd of a tank of gas, so I don't think about it that much. (I honestly think Kei cars are close

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-25616782471076075072011-03-18T03:50:00.000-07:002011-03-18T05:41:47.762-07:00

While I was planning on posting about climbing Mt. Fuji this week (in part to reward U.B. for his undying patience since last July), several events have completely thrown me off my blog-posting-plan.First, the thing that everyone would have to have slept through the past week to have not heard about: the unreal 8.9 earthquake and devastating tsunami that hit the Tohoku (northeast) region of

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-87846692563766953172011-03-15T22:28:00.000-07:002011-03-28T19:41:31.125-07:00

So here's what U.B. has been not-so-patient about for months: the long-delayed blogs about our trip to Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, and Kyoto!Since I've made U.B. wait so long, I'll start with Mt. Fuji.I can't remember when exactly I first thought about climbing Mt. Fuji. It was definetely some time in middle school, back when I first got interested in Japan. I thought that if I ever went to Japan, Mt. Fuji

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-45217684809215205652011-03-08T20:05:00.000-08:002011-03-08T21:12:49.829-08:00

I've had a couple of awesome birthdays in Japan; this blog post will focus on the Ninja Birthday Weekend of 2010. Yeah. There are ninjas a-coming.Just like in America, my birthday falls during "summer vacation," but at least last year it was over a weekend so going off-island was easy. I made arrangements with Jess, one of my off-island friends, to get together.On my way south to Tsushima's

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-18260808022715924262011-03-08T15:29:00.001-08:002011-03-08T18:28:17.613-08:00

While it isn't my personal favorite, Tsushima's biggest and most famous festival is probably the Arirang Festival in Izuhara. It's always on the first Sunday in August and celebrates friendly relations between Tsushima and Korea. Thousands of people come to it, including many Korean tourists (and many Korean performers, too). I was finally able to go to the whole festival last August.The day

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-1862808315413431922011-03-01T15:15:00.000-08:002011-03-01T19:40:45.982-08:00

Late last August, I went to a Vipassana meditation retreat for 10 days (for info on Vipassana meditation, see www.dhamma.org). During nine of those days, no talking/communicating was allowed (this included everything from sign language to eye contact), and I tried to meditate for 10 hours and 45 minutes/day. You might think just sitting for that long, even with a meditational focus, would get

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-67066552786365464312011-02-21T22:49:00.001-08:002011-03-02T00:07:04.931-08:00

This blog post is going way back. Way, way back to August 2009. Oh, and then jumping forward to August 2010. Yes, my blog time-travels. What of it.I like August in Tsushima not only for the awesome swimming (well, until the jellies come) but also for an unofficially official 3-day holiday (it's not on the calendar as a national holiday but pretty much everyone gets days off): Obon. I suppose I

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-60231737496942800112011-02-21T15:43:00.000-08:002011-02-21T19:40:49.564-08:00

Last weekend I went to an onsen resort-town, Yufuin, with my Japanese friend Tomoka. Because she has to work normal Japanese working hours (which means late, 6 or 7 PM every night), we got up wicked early on Saturday and took the first flight to the mainland.The view was pretty nice-- I can never get enough of misty mountains!And then after getting to the mainland, it was a 2-hour train ride

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-70190763036775980962011-02-15T22:20:00.000-08:002011-02-15T22:48:41.021-08:00

I got a request for videos of the Fukuoka baseball game from last September, so here are a few tries at putting up videos!Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Cheers (3 separate cheers) Sapporo Ham cheer (one cheer that turned into an ovation when a batter got a hit):

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-66589454335265336332011-02-15T16:15:00.000-08:002011-02-15T18:27:15.767-08:00

It's only half-way through February, but it's been a busy two weeks; if I don't post now it may never happen ^^ So here's the past 2 weeks in review.I noticed a bunch of new posters at one of my middle schools early this month; there were cultural and calculation-based posters, making me think that some of them were math-related and others general studies-related. My middle-schoolers don't make

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-8583020147550267032011-02-09T15:49:00.000-08:002011-02-09T22:43:18.902-08:00

I am so giving up on any hope of continuity in this blog. I was looking back through 2009-2010 posts to see what else I've forgotten, and I can't believe I didn't write about my November 2009 trip with Laura (Smith College Chapin house 'little sib'). It was fabulous, so that's what I'm back-blogging about next: our extended-weekend trip to the Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium, Mt. Aso, Kurokawa onsen,

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-71297638859452244732011-02-01T17:41:00.000-08:002011-02-01T21:12:27.275-08:00

In mid-September 2010 I took a weekend trip to Fukuoka with Jesse; this back-blog will focus on that trip.I'd never seen a pro baseball game live before and had heard that Japanese pro baseball was a cultural experience not to be missed, so going to a game was the primary goal of the weekend. While I'm not particularly interested in the game itself, Japanese fans are absolutely insane about their

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-63653920956991522282011-02-01T15:09:00.000-08:002011-02-01T17:38:55.215-08:00

This blog will focus on September (pics from 2010), back-to-school time!If I had to choose one Japanese word to describe the back-to-school September activities at my schools, it would be "undokai," or "Sports Day." Sometimes during August I'd feel bad that my middle school students weren't really getting a summer break-- they're required to go to school for club activities, like tennis or

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-53039065476756988372011-01-28T00:49:00.000-08:002011-01-28T01:38:16.169-08:00

In my long years as an elementary and middle school student eating American school lunch, there were many days when my classmates and I would poke the brownish and somewhat tasteless blobs on our plastic trays with a fork, speculating on their origins. I think an official monthly school lunch menu went home to our parents, stuffed in backpacks between the corrected math worksheets and penmanship

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-85167856881034900512011-01-24T18:20:00.000-08:002011-01-24T21:45:02.172-08:00

I posted that one of my New Year's Resolutions was FLYing. What is FLYing?? It's a new project that I started in November. Anyone who's ever been in my room in Monmouth (or Smith dorm room) knows that I have a major problem with clutter. Really major! FLYing is a way to set routines and de-clutter your life and home.My mother sent me the link to FLYing (www.flylady.net) last November, and as

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-68769270907258773672011-01-24T17:19:00.000-08:002011-01-24T18:20:09.914-08:00

Going back through my pictures, I've come to think that this back-blogging process may be more difficult than I thought. I already covered my fall trips (October-November) and the leaves changing in Tsushima (November), but I missed on-island events in October. So this blog will try to fill that gap ^^All told, October is usually my most busy month. The past two years I've tried especially

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-36433824595061140882011-01-12T17:31:00.000-08:002011-01-18T19:30:33.671-08:00

This back-blog will focus on my last Tsushima autumn (October-November 2011).As the date of submitting my recontracting form approaches, with its boxes of "Yup, sign me up for another year!" and "Nope, I'm soooooooo done!" I'm starting to think of the end as coming soon, even though there's technically 6 months left before I have to leave. It doesn't help that my two favorite schools, Nanyo JHS

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-29681389184681229892011-01-11T01:36:00.001-08:002011-01-12T01:30:03.135-08:00

It has been quite some time since I've blogged regularly, but I'm going to try to make this a more regular thing. (This should be helped by the fact that while at home over the holidays, I figured my new computer out a bit more and can now connect to the internet at two of my middle schools :)I'll start with the present and blog backwards-- back-blog?-- to at least last April; it's about time I

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-15931425106373361862010-03-08T21:33:00.000-08:002010-03-08T21:48:01.019-08:00

Well, it's that time of year again. I'm getting ready for my heart to break into a million pieces (well, about 65 this year) as my 3-nenseis graduate from middle school and move beyond my teaching territory.Perhaps that is a bit of an overstatement. I'm not particularly close to any one class of 3-nenseis this year (heck, I'm just starting to remember a few of their names consistently, given

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-89852373229942166762010-02-14T03:35:00.000-08:002010-02-14T04:25:51.557-08:00

I've had too many adventures lately to record them all (and still have time to get out and do all of my upcoming planned adventures), but I'd like to share a few of the more interesting ones, give ya'll a brief update on the newest critter inhabiting my ceiling, and extrapolate on some of the small but intriguing parts of teaching in a Japanese school.First, my newest apartment guest!...It took

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-21541789300912472292010-02-12T15:08:00.000-08:002010-02-14T04:32:11.747-08:00

The depths of my dives in Okinawa were all around 20-30 meters or 60-90 feet, about the same as Jeju but much deeper than Key Largo. I was surprised at how the depth can creep up on you; the water was remarkably clear with visibility of up to 30 meters in some locations, so it ususally didn't seem to get darker or murkier the deeper you went. I had a brief conversation with Azu, one of the guides

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-62394786568948297492010-01-17T03:34:00.000-08:002010-01-17T04:57:58.420-08:00

Gaijin-shock aside, after getting settled at my hostel in Chatan I went exploring and ended up on a beach in time for a beautiful sunset. There were a couple of boys kicking around a soccer ball in the sand and, just across from the boardwalk, a group of what must have been American military folk playing pick-up basketball. It was a little surreal.Kudos to catering to the American troops, though

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-9007209962762856112010-01-03T17:20:00.000-08:002010-01-03T22:26:03.307-08:00

Last year marked my second Christmas in Japan in a row, and instead of hunting for snow and Santas-on-a-boat in Tokushima, this time around I went south. Far south. To Okinawa.The idea was to have my first warm Christmas ever and spend as much time scuba diving as possible. I booked my trip with Reef Encounters, an English-speaking dive company located in Chatan, about 45 minutes north of the

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-56788232293789069172009-10-24T07:07:00.000-07:002009-10-24T07:55:39.496-07:00

I don't know if anyone still actually reads this thing-- even Uncle B's patience might have worn thin after all these months-- but here's to taking another stab at being a regular blogger.Things that have happened since last May (in no particular order):--Halloween has come again, and instead of terrifying the kids (a la last year and the pirate costume), I'm opting for laughter. I've never seen

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-46425145291181585602009-05-18T04:03:00.000-07:002009-05-18T04:41:25.290-07:00

I returned to Tsushima last week from a much-needed nearly 3-week holiday extravaganza. My optimism has returned, a welcome guest after the extremely dark months of February-April... during which I gradually devolved into a depressed stupor sustained only by cookie dough (and the occasional carrot... which, really, could only slightly off-set the insanely healthy if enormous lunch I got every

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-12049810519766639742009-03-30T05:51:00.001-07:002009-03-30T07:36:08.589-07:00

*To be updated as necessary.IntroductionMy experiences in Japan have already been colored by many memorable obaachan encounters. There are, of course, as many types and individual eccentricities of Japanese obaachan (literally "grandmother," more loosely "old woman") as there are types of any sort of person. It seems, however, that much of my contact with obaachans can fall into a group of

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-28758445251353158012009-03-20T04:30:00.000-07:002009-03-20T05:31:47.636-07:00

I have been fortunate enough in the past 22 1/2 years to not have lost anyone close to me-- family, friends-- due to untimely death or other unforseen circumstances. In addition, most of the times I've been physically distant for long periods of time away from the people I deeply care about have been of my own choosing.So these past few weeks have been wrecking havoc on my soul. Since I last

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-22337021753946322182009-03-16T04:57:00.000-07:002009-03-16T05:12:34.147-07:00

...just wanted to share a funny little story from today.Easter's coming, and armed with a few egg-dying kits and some crayons, I'm preparing to introduce the art of turning boiled eggs different colors to some of my elementary kids (assuming I can get some of my teachers on board with the idea). I was thinking of sending a little memo home with each kid the day before, asking their parents to

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-60876194680626929052009-03-07T23:11:00.000-08:002009-03-07T23:57:45.975-08:00

Here are a few backlogged pictures to go along with previous entries. First, a picture of my beloved Tobu middle school third-graders. Ahhh, I can almost hear them planning their next prank.I promised some pictures of plum blossoms earlier. Here are a few shots of the ones outside of my Board of Education--...and more from my neighborhood. There are some perks to being set back in the middle of

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-57688359398994844412009-03-07T04:13:00.001-08:002009-03-07T05:36:07.599-08:00

It's nearly the end of the Japanese third semester, which means graduation. It's so much different experiencing the graduation process as a teacher rather than as a student... I was always sad, especially in college, when a particularly good course ended. The unique discussions and collective consciousness of that particular group of people would continue as memory in its respective individuals,

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-49410105576520301222009-02-21T21:00:00.000-08:002009-02-23T04:35:49.831-08:00

It's been awhile since I last posted and, seriously, I have no idea where this month went. It fleeeeeeeeeeew like Michizane's plum tree to Kyushu. Which, by the way, should be in bloom now. Yes, it's plum blossom season, and I'll slap some pictures of local plum tree blossoms up as soon as it stops this awful drizzling rain. Some of the plum trees in my neighborhood's private gardens (viewable

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-44323329519716477962009-01-31T17:03:00.000-08:002009-02-01T04:31:14.718-08:00

I thought I'd already posted a picture of Miss Caterpillar but was mistaken. So for posterity and those who cannot easily imagine a 6-7 foot long colorful alphabet-branden insect, here is a picture:...isn't she adorable?...I also did take a few pictures of the Tendai Buddhist Setsubun ritual at Toyo's temple last weekend. I'm always a little hesitant to take pictures of deeply spiritual things

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-58004743360495386842009-01-23T01:27:00.000-08:002009-01-23T05:27:40.658-08:00

Continuation of the epic winter break trip to resume sometime in the near future with the conclusion recounting more than a week of sightseeing in Kyoto.In the meaning, we return to our regularly-scheduled real-time blog.Last weekend I had the rare opportunity to participate in a small-town festival. About 3 kilometers away from Hitakatsu, the metropolis of northern Tsushima (sort of the Maine

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-34768351440532463072009-01-05T17:54:00.000-08:002009-01-12T02:20:08.520-08:00

Christmas, Rose and I decided, should be kept busy. We didn`t want lots of down-time during which to think about how we could be at home with our families, surrounded by delicious food and loads of presents.I did start off the morning with a quick call home; everyone was in the midst of Aunt Beth`s Christmas Eve bash, which sounded much more lively than in recent years past. The phone got passed

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-45607133786687653062009-01-05T17:39:00.000-08:002009-01-06T21:17:46.056-08:00

It`s been awhile since I wrote, partly due to an exciting 2-week winter holiday escape-from-the-island travel extravaganza ^^The intinerary broke down something like this:December 20-- wake up early, pick up Rose in the south, make our escape via airplane to Osaka.December 21-23 OsakaDecember 23-26 Tokushima (Shikoku)December 26-January 3 Kyoto...travels started off well and I arrived in Osaka

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-64968809739572784502008-12-15T03:55:00.000-08:002008-12-15T05:05:44.565-08:00

Ooooooooo-kay. First, I dedicate this blog entry to Uncle Ben (who, I'm sure, was just waiting for me to post something completely and unabashedly ~all~ about food. Go ahead. Comment away) and Abby (who gave me that little bit of dangerous assurance that someone's out there reading the blog and interested in recipies).Before cooking commences, here's the back-story. I had kind of a shitty evening

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-36256857196587296642008-12-13T20:47:00.000-08:002008-12-13T20:55:54.571-08:00

I was digging through old computer files today and ran across an unpublished partial blog entry from August 9th, about 4 days after I arrived in Tsushima. It probably never got posted because it took awhile for the internet to get set up in my apartment. Most of the points made were discussed in later blog entries, but for posterity's sake, here it is, a retrospective look at my newly-newbie

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-54082110180952725082008-12-06T19:33:00.000-08:002008-12-08T05:24:30.530-08:00

The holiday season is upon America, and the season for explaining holidays is upon me. Really, when you think about it, Christmas is kind of complex-- there's Santa, who really has no relation to the birth of Jesus Christ (a hold-over from Paganism, perhaps? .. but I don't remember any fat men in red suits from my Greek myths. He certainly doesn't show up nativity scenes.. maybe his book from

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-86444213545521484682008-11-30T02:24:00.000-08:002009-01-06T21:43:19.138-08:00

I have fully committed to the art of kendo. With the onslaught of cold weather-- which I am told will get worse-- the kendo practice space, usually a school gym, is freezing. Proper kendo garb requires bare feet and a cotton robe and split skirt; while I hide polypropaline long underwear under the skirt, there is no saving my feet. One must love this practice to do it all-season (I've also heard

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-38665294279510531672008-11-16T04:33:00.001-08:002008-11-16T05:24:59.953-08:00

Whoa.. when did it get to be November? ..and not just November, but MID-November?!Hmm.. so there's been plenty of news lately, most of it not postable (non-postable items include things I believe would be offensive to someone and things I don't want the entire world to know). If you want clarification, e-mail me.In postable news... I'm still working at making Japanese friends, which is going

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-57012807711298946882008-10-30T04:12:00.000-07:002008-10-30T04:52:46.736-07:00

The days have seemed a little darker lately both literally and figuratively. This morning I woke before the sun even started to lighten the sky, and the sun's been sinking behind the mountains earlier at night.For all those dark moments-- like an awful first class with the teacher who assured me there was a lesson plan after my self-intro and then made me wither in front of the class alone until

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-23601377207285926452008-10-21T05:54:00.001-07:002008-11-16T04:15:36.139-08:00

... so it's been awhile since the cliffhanger of me cutting rice and eating a delicious lunch with obaachans reminiscent of the witches from Macbeth.. but the rest of that weekend in Fukuoka should be recounted too. (Especially since I'll be back in Fukuoka next weekend :) After my morning deja-vu-Farmer-Kim excursion to the rice paddies, I decided to take advantage of the city's offerings. Sated

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-89278963559092117112008-10-21T05:52:00.001-07:002008-10-21T05:53:03.123-07:00

I went to Fukuoka the weekend before last after a rough few weeks (assorted reasons) and return to Tsushima a changed woman. I've officially switched loyalties from Lawson's to Family Mart (both brand-name konbinis, or convenience stores, for those not in the know), as Family Mart offers better odds of getting my hands on tuna mayonnaise onigiri ~and~ has individually-wrapped umeboshi. Take that,

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-48918992028845353392008-10-21T02:51:00.001-07:002008-10-21T05:57:14.484-07:00

Today was a Toyo middle school day, but instead of normal classes, the students were out hard at work job-shadowing in various professions... which allowed me to go on a wild ride with some of the middle school teachers to "check up on" the students. Yeah, right. This is Japan. We didn't go to check up on them; we went to take embarrassing pictures that can later be used against them in the

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-10456070658109972892008-10-18T23:36:00.001-07:002008-10-19T01:38:05.531-07:00

I don't know how many pieces of literature or literary criticism I had to read about the Japanese respect and reverence of nature. The connection between man and nature is certainly highlighted in Shinto, but in most portrayals of Japan the significance of nature goes further. It's part of every-day life; it's ingrained in every haiku. And the turning of the seasons, in particular, is deeply

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-88860756111614304172008-10-07T03:26:00.000-07:002008-10-07T04:11:15.079-07:00

This morning in my taxi ride to Nanyo middle school, I was struck with a sudden burst of overdone ephemeralist prose and jotted this in a notebook:"10-7-08 ~7:10 AM Somewhere between Hitakatsu and Nanyo, Route 39.I wanted to weep today at the mist dancing over the still water in a bay, hovering like a phantom with no reflection.The sun shines through the mountains' mist like a hazy memory made

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-81417928949017168472008-09-28T03:55:00.000-07:002008-09-29T00:37:06.899-07:00

(pssst. for those who haven't been following from the beginning of this crazy adventure or just plum forgot-- bonus points for whomever can explain that fruity expression, by the way, and extra bonus points for U.B. if he can do it without the OED-- 'yamori' roughly translates as 'gecko' ... but the ones I'm talking about are usually brown, unlike the famous green Geiko gecko, and in these parts

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-52342542509572642942008-09-26T01:20:00.000-07:002008-09-26T01:57:37.058-07:00

Last night at kendo practice, I was finally allowed to do more than shuffle my feet around (in proper kendo style, of course, which is harder than it looks and has left me with more than one blister; with your right foot forward and left foot back, to the left slightly, and heel raised, the right foot slides forward -- while maintaining contact with the ground-- and left foot follows after. Only

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-48829532824640074352008-09-23T06:13:00.001-07:002008-09-23T07:06:30.289-07:00

After a grueling 8 whole hours of work on Monday, projecting my voice repeatedly to get the 1-2nd graders attention and begging for some response from the horomone-fueled shy 5-6th graders, I got a well-deserved 24 hours off today for the sake of the autumnal equinox.Thank the deities that Japan honors the seasons, especially if it gives me time off. Upon asking a neighbor, I learned that the day

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-86347818083384272632008-09-18T05:07:00.000-07:002008-09-18T05:25:12.738-07:00

Dear Typhoon #13,First of all, I am very disappointed that you missed Tsushima, ~completely~, after news reports suggested that you might come this way earlier in the week and give me my first day off from school due to typhoon. I've never been in a typhoon before and was kind of excited for the new experience. Also, missing school due to typhoon is so much cooler than due to the immense

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-87466114983446977142008-09-13T04:44:00.000-07:002008-09-13T06:09:53.373-07:00

This evening held the first really depressing moment I've had in Japan. I think the ecstacy that is the first stage of culture shock is starting to wear off. I had plans to go to a little get-together, but it was cancelled, and for the second time in a week I found myself facing another evening alone with minimal notice and a tub full of potato salad made for the occasion. [Now it sounds kind

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-37176034883617250512008-09-12T03:52:00.000-07:002008-09-12T05:12:58.666-07:00

The Japan saga continues as our young heroine finally decided she had enough courage to brave a kendo practice-- and, more difficultly, waded through a bunch of Japanese ambiguity and evasiveness to find out when and where practices are held.Kendo, for those of you not in the know, is the traditional Japanese martial art of swordsmanship. Think samurai. Think lots and lots of samurai... kids.

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-87988834401199211362008-09-08T05:19:00.000-07:002008-09-08T06:33:23.058-07:00

I officially started school one week ago today, and it' s been a ride. I've been to 4 schools already, and each has been quite different. Going into details would be too lengthy to ever actually get posted and might be boring too, so here are just the highlights, in no particular order:--This morning. Riding in the back of the taxi going down my road, chillin' in the back, the wind blowing my

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-37548281932187007202008-09-03T02:59:00.000-07:002008-09-03T06:25:28.016-07:00

When last our great adventurer was heard from, she was dragging her weary feet away from one of the most depressing experiences in the world, head swirling with images of destroyed buildings and mutilated bodies and an oppressing weight of perhaps mislaid responsibility bearing down. What on earth could possibly revive her spirits?The Body Shop, of course.... I don't mean to lessen the experience

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-70328007210918729112008-09-02T06:13:00.001-07:002008-09-03T05:29:05.969-07:00

Last weekend was the Nagasaki Prefectural Orientation and my first trip off the island since arrival. It was a wonderful 3 days of city life and daily consumption of sumptuous Baskin-Robbins ice cream.My plane left from Izuhara around noon, so I left the apartment around 9 to arrive with time to spare. It still took me around 2 hours to drive from Hitakatsu to Izuhara, but it felt like I was

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-59283142748733116722008-09-02T03:54:00.000-07:002008-09-02T04:47:24.203-07:00

When originally thinking about applying for JET early on in my senior year, I thought a bit about what it would like to live alone. Out of all possible considerations, this was by far the scariest and the least avoidable-- even if I didn't do JET and stayed in the states, chances were I'd be by myself, alone, in an apartment somewhere. I thought it might be lonely sometimes, but I'd get a cat and

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-8914099968302828602008-08-25T00:59:00.000-07:002008-08-25T01:18:57.046-07:00

To all the mini-lizards/yamori/gecko-like creeping things and, in particular, the adult I escorted out of my spare room a few minutes ago:I do apologize. You are by far more clever, faster, sleek, and able to crawl through tiny spaces than I previously gave you credit for. Why, if you could crawl under my closet door when I was chasing you around, your younger and smaller relative would surely

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-23944922240286261982008-08-22T16:39:00.000-07:002008-08-22T18:46:34.750-07:00

Lights will remain dim and sounds muted in my apartment this morning in honor of the passing of my first enkai and in the hope that I will survive the ensuing hangover (another first).It just figures that it would happen when I'm alone and in a foreign country. I woke up this morning with vertigo-- well, it was kinda fun to watch the walls spin for awhile-- and wondering how I'd gotten a cold and

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-16607891839227518182008-08-19T16:13:00.000-07:002008-08-19T17:44:27.022-07:00

I would like to considerately request that all weird-looking bugs vacate my bedroom ASAP. I really don't know how you're getting in, but if you get any scarier-looking, the Killer Bug Spray is going to make an appearance. I just want to know one thing: why, WHY, are you attracted to my pajamas?! Don't you know how disturbing it is to stagger into one's bedroom after a long day and find a

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-85484250152485181902008-08-12T05:07:00.000-07:002008-08-25T03:21:55.062-07:00

Tsushima drivers beware: I got my rental car yesterday (see picture!) and shall be wreaking havoc on your streets, driving among you, until such time as this driving-on-the-left with the steering-wheel-on-the-right thing becomes more natural. As it is, driving here feels like a video game, and as such, rear-ending old grannies is 10 points, right?... actually, driving is going fairly well, all

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442451121492008949.post-84090792672354500342008-07-29T12:04:00.000-07:002008-08-11T05:18:10.599-07:00

Hello, all, and welcome to my blog.I meant to post before beginning my journey to Japan, but I got caught up in packing, etc., so the following original post, detailing what I knew of Tsushima pre-departure, never got beyond draft phase. Because I never like to waste writing, though, here it is, along with an update.Pre-Departure thoughts:In four days, I will be switching planes somewhere in the

Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13344628755694641964noreply@blogger.com5