Hot pants

Much to the amusement of my students, I nearly set myself on fire in the classroom this morning. Standing to close to the heater (brand name "Sun Pot") while reviewing the new vocabulary words, I didn't realize that my trousers were beginning to smoke until my co-teacher caught my attention: "Michael! You pants smoking! " So the kids laughed for a couple minutes, but I escaped unscathed, and the pants, being of a charcoal color, did too.

Balloons at dawn

Friday, I stayed over at my friend Mike and his girlfriend Ikuko's apartment in Iwadeyama, about 25 minutes from Naruko. Had a tasty dinner of oden, and drank a few beers while trading stories and staying warm underneath the kotatsu (a low to the ground table with a built-in heater underneath, and covered by a blanket(s), a genius invention). On Saturday, we were up at first light and made our way over the site of the hot-air balloon festival, a flat stretch of land next to the river. We (the three of us plus Christine, another JET) quickly got in line for tickets for free rides, as their were only 200 spots. Just barely in time, we ended up with tickets, #195-198 (we would've had the last four, but we had hurried past a mother and child as we entered the line).



The lead balloon began filling up at about 6:45 and took off just after 7:00 into a pale blue sky, with the orange sun still low over the horizon in the distance. Upon lift off, the other 25 balloons or so began inflating with great commotion. Equally as impressive as the bright colors and sheer size of the balloons, was the noise of the bursts of flame shooting up into each one. One by one, they lifted off, some some quickly, some slowly. I joked to Mike that the scene looked like our New Horizons ichi-nensei (7th grade) textbook cover, graced by a picture of a half-dozen balloons hanging over the countryside.



A really stunning sight, and not nearly captured by the photos you see here, but you get the idea. We watched until they floated over the ridge in the near distance and then when for breakfast. Returned about 9:00 for our much anticipated balloon ride. Though seemingly calm, we were informed that the weather was too windy, and for liability reasons, they couldn't take any passengers. We were a little bummed, but it turned out the balloon would have been tethered to the ground and we could've only gone up about 10 meters anyway. A glorious morning nonetheless...






For lunch we ate at a rather famous ramen shop, Iroha Shokudo. So well known in fact, we were in the queue outside for over 30 minutes. A interesting old Japanese style building, it is seemingly run by one woman (think the Soup Nazi from the Seinfeld episode), though she must've had kitchen help. The restaurant seats about 40, and when spots free up she comes outside and barks commands to those in line, telling who and how many can come inside. Once through the door though, she turns much nicer and does everything from taking orders to serving the food to collecting the money. The menu is pretty simple, they have three items: ramen, ramen with a pork bear claw on top, and katsudon (of which there are only 5 each day, I didnt try it so I cant explain what is is). Anyway, hands down the best ramen I've had in Japan--delicious and well worth the wait.

November 22

I've been giving interview tests at my schools the past two weeks. One on one, I ask each student five questions from a list of twenty, which they received about a week before the test. Has been a great opportunity for me to understand each student's level, as it is often hard to gauge in class. Some students have quite a high level, but are too shy to speak or actively participate in class. On the other hand, there are really poor students who can coast in class by repeating their classmates or getting help from their friends. Most students however, are middle of the road. Overall, their comprehension level was higher than I originally thought, but lack of confidence in their speaking ability holds them back.

One student, who had already tested (quite poorly), came again, asking for "revenge". He actually did worse this time, not answering any of the questions and speaking a total of about 6 words in English (including the "Good Morning" and "Revenge" when he came in.

I guess my point is that working with students who try and put forth effort is quite easy and especially rewarding, while working with the apathetic ones is frustrating and makes me apathetic about teaching. Luckily, I have more of the former than the latter...

This week I may have turned a corner at my "bad" school (Kawa-chu / River Middle), at least with some of the teachers. For some reason, the atmosphere was much lighter, markedly so in the teacher room (the principal even let me go home early yesterday). Not sure if it was me or them, but in the past two days I have conversed more with my fellow teachers than in the first months combined. Almost all the teachers were talking about my runner-up finish at the golf tournament last Saturday (all jealous of the rice I won) and everyone was praising my efforts for keeping a Japanese diary (they actually were praising my ability, but I think just to make me feel good?). The librarian was quite chatty yesterday, and the social studies teacher, who speaks some English was especially candid today. We talked about travel, women, sex, drugs, homosexuality, money, traffic laws, horse racing, culture (not necessarily in that order) all before lunchtime. Even the oft sour-faced and melancholy co-English teacher has been smiley and talkative.

Kawa-chu strangely oft schedules me only one or two classes per day (sometimes none), and because my co-teacher doesnt like to do lesson planning, I am essentially paid to sit at my desk and "look busy" (at roughly $100 a day, I aint complainin'). Yet six straight hours of Japanese study is monotonous to say the least, and nearly impossible, so the recent conversation has been most welcome.

November 21

It is wicked cold at my schools. Even in the teacher rooms and the classrooms, where they use kerosene heaters, I often cant get warm, though wearing long underwear, two pairs of socks, and a wool sweater. This morning we had an assembly in the gymnasium, and the air temp was the same as outside, a little below freezing. I stood with my hands in my pockets, shivering, not listening to whatever they were going on about, and cursing.

Later in the day I discovered the library, up on the second floor with its own heater and bathed in sunlight. There I stayed for the afternoon hours (happily sweating beneath my layers), studying, giving interview tests to students, and chatting with the librarian.

After school, I finally found the famed site of Shitomae (the kanji for this place means literally " In front of urine"??!!). The Master haiku poet Matsuo Basho once passed through on his journey to northern Japan and spent the night, carving the following poem on a rock, which still exists at the site (The translation is not mine, and doesnt follow haiku form, but I think is fairly literal):

Bitten by fleas and lice,
I slept in a bed
A horse urinating all the time
Close to my pillow

I walked in the woods, took a few photos of Basho's statue, and composed the following while staring at the rock:

Amongst the cedars
Over Basho's words I pass
Grinning ignorance.

A few pix

On a recent hike


Mt. Kamuro from Hole #7 at Onikoube CC


International Zip Line races by the lake with my Irish friend Mark and Japanese friend Nori

Saturday November 19

Today, as a reward for my 2nd place finish in a golf tournament, I received a) 20lbs of rice b) mushrooms) c) salad dressing) and d) 7 bottles of vegetable oil. The oil and dressing were part of a "gift set", nicely boxed and wrapped like a present. What a country.

Had my first ever eagle today, on a short par 4. The hole has a big left dogleg, but you can cut the corner if you can get over the trees in front of the green. I said to my playing partner on the tee "1 on, 1 putt", though not really believing I could do it. I hit a perfect high 7-iron, which dropped about 12 ft short of the cup and then calmly sank the putt. Tiger Woods fist pump. Like, 5 of them.

Japan seems rather obsessed with putting rather flowery English (sometimes grammatically correct but often not) on random things, especially food labels. Heres one from a cookie wrapper yesterday that caught my attention. "I am everyone's popular person. The child and all adults love me. It eats me of a sweet cookie." Check out www.engrish.com for hundreds of these.

Haiku

In a foreign tongue
The master’s work I peruse
Is it quite the same?

Privacy towel
Used carefully at onsen
I still feel naked.

Ever observing
Sits an old man with one eye
Just two inches tall

Flesh water and wood
Voices aloft in the steam
At Takinoyu.

Sometimes a statue
Serves no other purpose than
A meeting place.

Far from leaves of home
Crisp air still tastes like cider
And smoke still rises.

Glare on the water
And sunlight on autumn leafs
Prevent fish spotting.

Crowds along river
Disrupt my viewing pleasure
Just as I do theirs.

Below the footbridge
Water and rocks do silence
All the steps above.

Kamuro stands tall
Dusted white above gold hills
Five long months ahead / Bidding Fall farewell

Sudden as a leaf
Dropping to its death below
Fall yields to winter.

Along the rigdeline
Steam slips from the fissure to
Join an autumn cloud.