Josh in Okinawa

Takarazuka Revue (宝塚歌劇団)

2008-08-29T14:57:00.001+09:00

I remember, vaguely, being told of the Takarazuka Revue in one of my university drama courses during the section on world theater. There wasn't much, a brief mention, along with Kabuki (歌舞伎) and Noh (能) and perhaps even Bunraku (文楽). They weren't gone into very much depth, but we were in a world of Shakespeare and Western theater tradition, so perhaps it was to be expected.

The blurb failed to mention how girly the Takarazuka Revue is.

Getting off the Osaka-Takarazuka train, I was immediately pointed toward the Grand Takakazuka Theater with posters of the latest production. I saw these on the train as well, and in all the shop windows along hana no michi ("the flower road") as I continued. And when I bought a ticket, amongst bubbly girls, middle-aged women and obas, with the only men around appearing to have been brought there by their wives and daughters, you can imagine I felt a little out of place. They had the look of men I'd seen only in sitcoms when their wives mentioned the topic of going to the opera for the night.

When I went to sit down, however, I sat next to a guy who must have been around twenty. It was not his first time to the Takarazuka Revue: he'd brought his own binoculars.

Takazakura otaku, apparently.

The play began, and I'll freely admit I had little-to-no idea what was going on. The first act consisted mainly of a 30-minute lavish dance and musical number that was light on plot and heavy on showcasing the talents of the women. The best choreography I'd probably ever seen, though admittedly I haven't seen a lot. Expressive and fluid, it really was a pleasure to watch.

And then it ended and there was a 30-minute intermission were everyone sat down and ate lunch in the theater. This is quite a common occurence at any Japanese event: everyone brings along a little bento box. I fell asleep during this portion.

It did start back up again, and we finally got into the plot (revolving around a Mexican revolution and a blossoming romance, from what I understood) and singing and dancing were toned down a bit. I spent a lot of time during this portion examining the costuming and how striking the women looked, even from the very back row of the theater.

This is were I want to get something clear about the girly part. I felt very out of place. It felt like I was intruding on a grandmother-mother-daughter activity. I saw no young men--save that otaku--anywhere. Where I had hoped to see some interesting sexual dynamics onstage, I got sense that this was a traditional, Japanese feminine passtime. It was rather the opposite of what I'd expected.

It was enjoyable, though. I saw a different side to this type of theater than I expected, and I got a certain sense of how its marketed. There are big names in the Takarazuka company, and those personalities are played up in the promotional materials and all the merchandise. It had a very broadway feel.

Further Clicks:
Wiki
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=lwq6ZfnyNv8
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=OIcWEWSp8mE

I'm Back, Folks

2008-08-29T14:20:00.003+09:00

I'm back in the states and headed out to the Ren Fest on Saturday. I'm not particularly keen on the Ren Fest. The last (and only) time I went was when I was 21, and I found it so-so. I was very wishy-washy about it. If I'd gone in junior high or high school, during the time I was really into fantasy, I might have really gotten into it.

I just got in on Monday after spending three weeks traveling around Japan. I'll start sharing those experiences soon. For now, I'm getting my life in order here in the states and beginning the search for an apartment, a job and doing some reconnecting.

Be seeing y'all around!

The First of the Last

2008-06-18T17:03:00.002+09:00

Yesterday was the first of my last classes. I had it with the sixth grade class, where we reviewed all the material of the past few months and generally enjoyed ourselves. And today, a month from now, my job will be officially over.

It has become, particularly during this week, to keep my brain logged into what I am doing. My final lessons were planned a month ago, so thankfully I don't have to worry about too much preparation on the teaching side. However, for one of the first times in my life, I'm beginning to feel there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Oddly, amongst all the cleaning, studying, teaching, trip planning, exercising and even more socializing, I've managed to set in motion the plans for an apartment, so hopefully that will come to fruition in the next few weeks.

There are little frustrations: a student of mine has caused problems, problems that cost me time and energy. Myself and the teachers I work with talked with this student today, and though she showed some improvement, I hope it carries through for the next few days. It has gotten to the point where I frankly don't want to deal with her any more, and its taking a fair amount of my willpower to be collected as possible and express disappointment but not anger.

But there are gems, of course. The weekend was good, and the coming one promises food, friends and karaoke. Always a winning combination. There's no better way of taking out those frustrations then through song.

A little of this, a little of that.

2008-05-28T07:26:00.003+09:00

Seems like every post I want to make I also want to preface with "So I've been busy." And I am: I'm busy like a person who's moving in two months, plans to bum around Japan for three or four weeks, feels the day is wasted if he hasn't exercised and is throwing all his effort into studying for a Japanese proficiency test in December.

I sat down and read The Yiddish Policemen's Union yesterday because it had to be done for book club this coming Friday, and though I enjoyed it, I felt as if I was wasting time better devoted to exercising and studying or making sure my proverbial ducks are in a row. It was also written in ENGLISH. But I'll forgive it that.

Part of the reason I'm feeling a bit behind is I spent the weekend on Izena island relaxing. Myself and about 12 others boated out there and spent the afternoon and evening swimming, scootering, cricket playing and BBQing. Cricket was most enjoyable: it was my first time playing, and I have to say it was a lot more enjoyable than games of baseball I've watched or played.* At some point a few of us also skipped into a snack bar next to the beach and sang a song or two.

In said snack bar, I was hit with a dazzling moment of inspiration after a rousing chorus of "Ghostbusters." I wrote it down and shuffled if off to do later, when I return to the states, along with a couple other more creative projects. Among those are interviewing family members and creating a podcast. To do these things, however, requires a much better (i.e. working) computer than I have now, and I've decided to wait until I get back to the states to buy one, seeing as macs in Japan are even more ridiculously overpriced.

Despite not posting much, I am getting out more and being more sociable. I had a problem, when I was bigger, about my own self-worth, and though being thinner and in shape by no means vanishes all problems instantly like some incredible panacea, I do feel more confident in my approach to people. The realization that my self-worth hinges upon my appearance causes a certain amount of discomfort.

Vanity. Oy.

Getting on a scale, looking in a mirror everday, revising exercise plans to accommadate for a weekend, a day of excess; it's a consuming process. That it should irk me that I have little to no access to weightlifting equipment I find a little frightening, as is the desire to do more than I'm already doing, which is running three times a week (two of those times over an hour) and swimming two-three times a week.

Need to teach now. Did I mention I'm finding the time to do that too?

*I'll just surrender my American citizenship now.

The Half

2008-05-01T13:07:00.005+09:00

I've put off writing about my half-marathon because I'd hoped that I would have some better pictures coming in, but they haven't surfaced, so you'll have to make due with what I have.

Luckily I wasn't alone: Everette came out and we ran together, along with Cliff, Jenny and Tai who where there for moral support/touring the island. Everette and I had an ongoing routine of worrying about the race than calming the other down. Her main worry was she had just got back from China and this was her first run in a month, while this was my first half-marathon ever and I was worrying about what to eat, how much to sleep and how I was going to entertain myself for however long it took.

My time? Two hours and seven minutes (really it was two hours and six; I dallied for about 30 seconds after crossing the finish line before I got my time officially scanned). I was incredibly pleased with this. I'd imagined it taking three hours or something, because my goal wasn't to make a great time, only to finish.

I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be. I thought my muscles or something else might strain, but they were surprisingly fine during and after the race. It makes me want to try an honest to goodness marathon length (42 kilometers/26 miles), though I don't know when I would be ready for that.

The half-marathon is a big annual event for my island, so we enjoyed dinner and drinking under the stars as the evening wore on. Everette and I were bushed though, so everyone headed back to my place, where we played video games until we all zonked out.

I recuperated for about a week after (meaning walking, no running). Now I've started Judo and hopefully can start some swimming in the next week in addition to the running. The more I exercise, the more I enjoy the effects it has.

Remembering

2008-04-23T15:38:00.003+09:00

To say my days and nights have been given over to self-improvement and less to entertainments would be an understatement. Though I'd like to watch or read a lot of things, largely it's thrown into a mental pile of something I may or may not touch. If I'm not exercising, I'm likely studying Japanese and attempting to learn around 2,000 characters.

I'm fairly obsessed and often wonder if the exercise and this sudden fascination with Japanese study is a redirection of my sexual energies. Let's face it people, that well's been dry for awhile. Ah, but fear not for me. There are hopeful signs. But that's a post of its own.

For the course of my two and a half years here, my acquisition of Japanese has been fairly piecemeal. At the moment I attribute this to trying to learn primarily through a textbook, which has had varying degrees of success. No, it sucked. Never liked it. Never took to it. After I arrived back in Japan in January, I gave it a final shot and studied from the textbook more heartily. I still found it lacking, so I decided to try something different, and I abandoned the textbooks with blah-blah grammar points. I switched instead to the Heisig method, with the eventual goal (soon to be upon me) of almost complete immersion. It takes a lot of time--imagine learning an alphabet of 2,000 as opposed to 26--and you only learn a core meaning of each character and how to write it. However, I wish I'd known about it when I first came to Japan. It's likely I'd be fluent by now. Losing the weight I have in the last year reveals a certain amount of how things can improve by just sitting down and doing what you need to do everyday. Looking back, I feel little worms of regret about the time I wasted.

The method requires you to make little stories for about 2,000 of the most commonly used characters. Heisig gets you started and then gradually has you constructing your own stories. This can become tiring after awhile, and there've been times I had to reconstruct stories simply because at the time I was feeling uncreative when a stubborn one presented itself. That said, it does have a certain effect on your imagination. It's been knocked up a notch, I'd wager. I often listen to Harry Potter or other audio books when I'm out exercising (I find a narrative more engrossing than music during a workout) and lately they've been more vivid.

The "end" of the character study is in sight, since I have about five hundred more to go, and hopefully I can finish in the next couple weeks. Once that is done with, I can move on to picking apart sentences and see if that aids me any better in learning as opposed to straight textbook learning. I have about three months to see where it gets me. Japan has become a great part of my life, and I want to carry it with me.

2008-04-20T21:42:00.003+09:00

Ernie Pyle died on my island, Ie-jima, on April 18th, 1945. This is but a small memorial for him, and there are surely others who can attest better than I his contributions.

But cheers to you, Ernie. You're remembered still.

Return of the Weight Update

2008-02-26T08:35:00.004+09:00

In about a month, I'll be posting some pictures of my weight loss gathered from the last year. As it currently stands, I'm floating around between 68-69 kilograms (150-152 pounds). This has pushed me into the normal area of the BMI, and though you can go on and on about the supposed accuracy of that system, it's been a mental finish line since I was about 100 kilograms.

Because of this mental finish line, I've decided to take a break this past week. By no means have I stopped exercising. After almost 11 months of constant exercise, resting for one day sits on my brain like a metal chip. It drives me bonkers. But my body needed a rest. I pushed it hard in the last month and dropped almost twenty pounds. (Bravo to my little brother, who accomplished a likewise feat and is now headed to the Minnesota state wrestling championship. Huzzah!)

I've been told I look good and I should maybe ease up as well. But the thing is, since I've lost almost 50ish kilograms over the course of a year, I'm interested in seeing how far I can push it, to see just how big a change can be wrought. I'm going to keep losing weight: tomorrow begins the marathon training and some excess flab I still have will be eaten up in the process. It'll be my first marathon, and because of that it's only a half-marathon, but I'm already excited and it'll be the culmination of a year of dieting and exercise.

Dad

2008-02-11T21:35:00.000+09:00

"The thing is, parents want their kids to go off," Spike said. "You shouldn't feel guilty. He was proud of you. All you boys. You were all different and unique and he was proud."

"I know." My eyes were fixed on Spike's hound dog face.

He nodded and his jowls jiggled. "You shouldn't feel guilty."

***

The pet shop was run by one woman. She was attractive and pleasant, somewhere between 25 and 30, but the dinginess of her store, smells of dead animals and shit, and any flirtatious comments I might have composed turned over in my mouth.

But Zach knew her, went up to her easily. "Can we see it today?"

She stood up without and went over to the rabbit cage. Her black lab panted along after her. "Sure. I haven't fed him yet. Your friends coming?"

"Naw, just us."

Without a glance, she reached in the rabbit cage and grabbed a juvenile rabbit. She closed the cage and went over to the seven-foot albino python, coiled in a display case.

We watched as she slid back the rear of the display and held the rabbit inside. The python darted forward and clamped it's lipless mouth around the rabbit's head. There was a small scream then silence as the python wrapped around and commenced its smothering ritual.

The rabbit made occasional twitches. Occasional squeaks. The python had struck it in the eye and it was bleeding.

It took ten minutes to die.

***

I hefted the books onto the counter.

The librarian looked pleased. "They're are certainly a lot of them."

"I have a couple more boxes in the car. Mostly they're paperbacks. A lot of science fiction and fantasy. We're cleaning out my dad's house." I paused for a beat. "He passed away recently."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you. It's okay." This was my normal response to that sentiment, though I didn't know what was "okay" about anything.

There was a pause. "These were your father's?"

"No, they were mine." I smiled. "He wasn't much of a reader. Just me. Let me get the other books." I turned and went back out to the truck.

***

"Hold on to something," Zach, from the passenger seat. My muscles went taut as the truck hydroplaned across the iced road.

The truck went round and we went into the ditch and rolled over onto the passenger side. Cigarette detritus fluttered through the air. The card my brother bought his girlfriend for Christmas disappeared and was forgotten. Later he would write a makeshift card on computer paper and scrawl, "I bought a card but I was in a car accident."

There was no more danger. "You okay?" one of us said and the other answered with "I'm fine." The driver's side door wouldn't open and I told Zach to go for the rear driver's side. He went back and I unbuckled, following after as he opened the door and crawled out.

As we waited for the tow truck to come, we watched a white truck pass by and hydroplane into the ditch.

***

My Son
*Mark Humphrey to me show details 4/5/07 <Reply

Hi Josh daddy here how are you doing.
Leave me an e-mail to tell how it is going.

Stay in distance touch!!!

FOR I LOST OUT ON SPENDING TIME WITH YOU
WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG

I LOVE YOU DAD

***

After a full minute embrace, she broke away and I watched her go.

"Why'd you hug her?" Miraiya asked, her voice quiet.

"Should I not have hugged her?" I looked at the woman's retreating back.

"That's Heather, Josh." A bare smile came onto her face. "You didn't know who she was?"

"No. I only met her once, couple years ago. I'd forgotten."

"That's funny." She hugged me and I hugged back.

***

Seth and Loni picked me up from the airport. I walked up to Loni and it was a few seconds before her eyes focused on me.

"Josh," she stood up and embraced me. "I didn't recognize you. Are you okay?"

"Oh. As well as can be expected, I guess. Not great." I turned to my taller, lanky cousin and we both hugged.

"Let's get out of here." I said.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not at the moment. Do you have a phone?"

"Yes." She handed me her cell.

I called up mom and told her I made it all right. We talked quietly about my brothers and the family.

"I have clothes for you to wear. I bought some." I nodded and I said I loved her and I'd call her back in a bit.

I handed Loni her phone. "Can we stop at a suit store? I want to buy a couple." I didn't add, "I want to do this right."

***

I cleaned. I studied Japanese. I wrote in my blog. I wrote thank you notes. I exercised. I burned CDs. I read a book. I watched a movie. I played word games on my DS. I went out with friends.

But when the time to sleep came, stillness came with it.

***

Ayamu>> Just so you know, wopa's been cleaning house and breaking pearls. So you should watch out.
Munin>> I'll remember that next time my father dies and I'm going through a depression.
Ayamu>> Oh. ; ; I'm sorry. I just don't want to see you kicked.

***

"Hey. That's my Grampa Mark's computer."

"Yeah." I said.

"Don't break it."

"'kay."

"Can we do Dora?"

"Come sit on my lap and we will. Where's Dora's webpage?"

"I dunno."

"Okay. We'll find it."

***

"Minako-sensei." I said.

She turned, a face of polite, tired interest. I had told her I was running home to check on a family emergency. "What has happened?"

"My father has died."

"What? How?"

How? Who's fault? His? Someone else?

"Car accident." I swayed. I'd read about knees buckling under strain or sudden, emotional weight. I didn't think it actually happened to flesh and blood people. I must have looked a little drunk. Punch-drunk? Is that what this feels like?

"Do you want to sit down?"

"Yes." I took a computer chair and stared at the floor. "I need to go back to America."

"There's a typhoon coming. You have to be out on the one o'clock ferry or you may be stuck here for the rest of the day."

"Okay." I said. "I need to call my travel agent." How happy he would be, upgrading my trip from an inexpensive Thailand venture to a last-minute American return.

"I will call the board of education and tell them what has happened."

"Thank you."

***

INT. PINE RIVER 1ST LUTHERN CHURCH -- MIDDAY

JOSHUA is at the podium of a church filled with mourners. The HUMPHREY FAMILY sits in the first rows, all together. His brothers, MATT and ZACH are there, crying with his MOTHER.

JOSHUA
I want to thank you, on the behalf of my
family, for your thoughts and prayers.

He pauses here. He had decided, after this thank you, to speak without rehearsal. He wanted it to come out raw. He wanted it to hurt.

JOSHUA (con't)
I want to say. I love you, dad. I love you
so much. I haven't been around for the
last couple years. We haven't seen each other
at all. I want you to know. I knew you were
proud of me. Of all of us. But I want you to know.
I was proud of you. I love you dad.

He's crying now, the second time he's allowed himself tears, like he's been saving them for just this moment.

But I wasn't around. So I need to know.
I want to ask anyone who knew Dad to
come up and please tell us about him.
Tell us something about him. Because
I need to know so badly.

He steps to the side, his chest heaving, and he waits.

***

10/24/2007

Okuma-sensei performed magic tricks tonight for the kindergarten class. He did this without effort, and all the kids loved him. His own son looked a little embarrassed. I wanted to to tell him: "Enjoy it, kid. Not all of us get awesome, caring, well-adjusted fathers."

I was jealous. I try to think of special times with Dad but I usually just draw a blank. Christmases, Easters, those I remember. But I remember precious few times where Dad and I were just doing something together. If I ever did anything with Dad, it was through work, always him trying to connect with me that way. It probably didn't help that I had no interests like his. I wonder if that ever frustrated him?

***

Matt was asleep on the couch as I put together crates of books and wrestling trophies. He'd gotten drunk the night before. His way to mourn, I supposed. Zach spent his time with his friends or down in his room.

I sorted books by stuff I wanted to keep and stuff I intended to donate to the Crosslake library. It was a new and privately-funded, hardly a blink on the literary map. But it was something to do with the endless amount of fantasy novels I'd never read again. I'd hand off those worlds to someone who would enjoy the trip.

The house was quiet and it made my stomach churn. We were going through all our stuff and his stuff and I didn't like it. Didn't like being there in that silent house, shifting through old records and books, opening safes and peering into small places where there was more likely to be heaps of mouse shit rather than anything that might be considered a stash.

He had liked to buy me books. He hadn't known what to buy, not unless I told him, but he had liked to. And I liked to read them. Mom had said he was happy when I asked for books, but sometimes I didn't ask, even when I wanted them. Sometimes I thought that he would say what a silly thing it would be to spend money on. But he never did. Then I was old enough to buy what I wanted and it never came up again.

Hardcovers. Paperbacks. Falling-apartbacks. I thought of the novel I wanted to write but probably never would, the novel that shifted and morphed with whatever book I was reading. Maybe it was time to start—to really start—and get it out of me. Get it off of my brain, where it lingered like a picked-at sore. But there was other writing to do first, wasn’t there?

***

“Have you written about it yet?” Reynolds sipped his coffee. I looked beyond him, out through the Klas Center front window and onto the Hamline main square. Last night I’d seen Turner, went over to his house and visited, which gave me more pleasure than I was willing to admit.

“Not yet,” I said. “I want to, but don’t know where to start.” I thought back to a post I blogged, with moments and beats and different styles.

“I want to write about how he died.”

***

"I'm going to call the cops." She wouldn't go away. Not ever.

"Oh yeah. You do that." He watched her turn and walk from the bar.

He stared at the counter then followed after her. He ignored her shouts and got into his truck and peeled out of the parking lot.

His eyes flicked up to his rear-view mirror and he saw her mimic his exodus and follow. He focused back on the road.

If she'd just stay away, maybe everything would be all right, but his phone was ringing now, and he knew just by a look into his mirror that she was calling. Trying to reach him. She could forget about that.

"Just stay away." He muttered.

He sped up but she kept pace. Eyes on his side mirror now, she was riding much too close to him.

The phone was still ringing and he grabbed for it and he was going to tell her to just get the hell away from him, it was over and he was done. His eyes were away from the road and then he was rolling and rolling and rolling—

6 Months Hence

2008-02-07T06:29:00.001+09:00

I turn in the paperwork today to end my tenure as an assistant language teacher. I'll be leaving Japan, and I will miss it, but the last month has really impressed upon me that, even though I enjoy teaching here, I'm also quite done with it and want to move on. This last month I gave myself the chance to consider renewing my contract, but ultimately couldn't do it.

Depending on any plans, I should be back in the states come August or September.

SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!

2008-02-05T07:47:00.000+09:00

I was looking forward to going to Elina's house for a sushi party on Saturday night, but because it turned out I had to work on Sunday, this plan was dashed. This was quite the blow for the party, since I planned to bring my Wii along and bust it out during the mid-party festivities. This is a special weekend for Wii players in Japan. While all the fanatics cry about it in American forums, the Japanese (and me, by default) are busy playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Since I had Friday afternoon off, I joyously went to the city (boat, bus and footwork) to pick myself a copy. I'm always afraid of spending money in these instances, since Japanese media outlets are a cornocopia for japanaphiles. The gaming store has CDs, manga, DVDs and games from the NES era to the present day. Really anything I could ever want or hope for. They have this classic gaming corner with all the RPGs I grew up with, but in Japanese. Chrono Trigger? In the original Japanese? I sigh a lot lately, but I sigh there out of pleasure.

But Smash. Nintendo has got to be on the greatest streak in the world. It's perfect. The story mode, once you get past the audacity of its fan fiction qualities (Link meets Yoshi in the woods, Fox has tea with Zelda and Peach, Link and Zelda team up with Ganondorf despite his obvious desire to do them bodily harm), serves as a Nintendo grand tour. I came to admire it after awhile. There is no dialogue or explanation as to why these characters are together, yet they're distilled to their essences and play out their destinies according to their own internal logics.

The story mode took about eight hours to complete, and there's still more to it that I haven't quite puzzled out. But between the event matches, the single and all-star modes that you need to push 35 characters through, the stage builder, the trophy and sticker collection and the blessed online brawling, there's simply a wealth of activities.

A note about online brawling: I've never felt more satisfaction at having my ass handed to me. Despite my love of video games, I'm not that great a player, and it's telling in the online arena. But since it's anonymous and there's no ranking that would place me as the #1,673,294 brawler, I've found it's the best way to improve your game. I've seen characters used in ways I hadn't anticipated (someone trounced me and another brawler with Zelda last night using mostly long ranged attacks and some amazing evasion skills), and altered my play style accordingly.

Fun times, and I'm playing it a month before it's released in America. And I can't help gloating a little. It's too much fun not to.

a bit

2008-01-28T08:20:00.000+09:00

Yamaguchi-sensei is absent this morning, so I find myself without any classes. I'm rather pleased with this, as it allows some time to prepare for others. I didn't work at all this weekend and instead spent it cleaning and organizing and trying to finish The God of Small Things. Enjoyable but colander-like, I can only read in bits and spurts before I move on to something else. I'd prefer to finish In Cold Blood, which I've been reading for over a month and a half, but keep setting aside for more pressing books.

More and more I've found that my priorities are shifting: Though by no means have I stopped procrastinating, the occurrences have lessened. I take a certain amount of pleasure from striking stuff off on a mental list: studying, reading, exercising and gaming. Even writing, which you'll see here in due course. I work on that a bit each day as well. But only a bit.

Vanishing

2008-01-14T07:42:00.000+09:00

I got off work at three, hopped a ferry to the mainland and then caught a bus down to central Nago. As I tend to carry more and more distractions with me (books, iPod, DS), traveling has become increasingly easy. I'm encased in my own little world of audiobooks, word games and fiction. The iPod in particular has paid for itself; you can go further and longer when you're not bored tearless.

Elina picked me up at the game store in Nago where I snatched up a copy of Mario Strikers to play in downtime I increasingly don't have. Between writing thank you notes to my Japanese friends, the pile of reading I brought back for myself, exercise and all the myriad details that scream their importance, there's been little time for gaming. But I'll gravitate back toward games when I get tired of reading. I can already feel the pull, but I'm enjoying my books too much.

But reading was why Elina picked me up Nago. This month's book was Starship Troopers and for a novel with no plot, I was completely engrossed. I'm not sure if that's an endorsement, since I could say the same thing about the last four books I've read and am reading: Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, A Disorder Peculiar to the Country, Starship Troopers and currently Salem's Lot. This either means I've picked good ones lately or I'm looking for some escapism. I think the latter, perhaps.

There was a problem, however, with this month's book club: our meeting place Celluloid Cafe had vanished from this earth in the span of a month. In honor of this cozy, seaside locale, I present the obligatory "wtf photo":

We reconvened at a burger joint down the street, where I enjoyed a tasty goya burger and a spirited discussion of Troopers. Fascism and Nazis were absent from discussion, but American--and a touch of British--military policies were at the forefront. Our discussion was concise. Either people liked it or hated it and they could tell you why and probably go off for five or ten minutes, lost in their own thoughts.

It was a short meeting though, since we then hightailed it to one of the three movie theaters in Okinawa for a showing of I am Legend, which had been discussed the previous month. I'd seen it before, but this time I had the pleasure of a frightful young lady clutching my arm.

I was rather pleased with this.

2008-01-11T08:26:00.000+09:00

Yesterday I made a speech in Japanese to the other teachers at the regular morning meeting. These meetings happen every Monday and Thursday and largely I just listen. I've had to speak around five or six times total, usually when some event is coming up and I need to tell the other teachers. The last time this happened was in October, when I was part of the International Beach Clean-up and was searching for some volunteers.

Speaking off-the-cuff in front of twenty teachers makes me nervous, even when I've prepared something before hand. However, sometimes there is no preparation time. By now, though, I typically know when I'll be expected to say something. I have some prepared phrases that I looked up especially for those circumstances. Not for this one, though.

Here is what I said:

今回は、急な出来事があってみなさんにご迷惑かけたにもかかわらず、あたたかいみなさんの急力があり、無事帰って来ることができました。本当にありがとうございました。

konkaiwa, kyuuna dekikoto ga atte minasan ni gomeiwaku kaketa nimo kakawarazu, atatakai minasan no kyuuryoku ga ari, buji kaette kuru koto ga dekimashita. hontou ni arigatou gozaimashita.*

"At this time, there was a sudden disaster and it caused trouble for everyone. Regardless, with the warm support of everyone, I was able to return safely. Thank you truly."

Chaiki-san, who works at the board of education, helped me prepare this statement. I wanted to get it right since everyone was so supportive when my father died.

*Since I did not use romanjii when I learned japanese, I'm not sure if this is the proper way to transcribe it.

Japanese Notes

2008-01-10T04:32:00.000+09:00

迷惑をかける
meiwaku o kakeru:

v. to trouble； bother or annoy

急な
kyuuna:

adj. sudden

出来事
dekigoto

n. occurrence

拘らず
kakawarazu

regardless of

協力
kyouryoku

n. cooperation; help

無事な
bujina

adj. safe

Headed Back

2008-01-06T15:47:00.001+09:00

Leaving in a few hours for Japan.

The site will be changing in the coming month. I think it may be time to do it properly. To do a lot properly.

Josh out.

Return

2007-11-29T19:36:00.000+09:00

I am back in the states.

2007-11-19T16:30:00.000+09:00

"Okinawa's war time wounds reopened"

My island itself was invaded by Americans; I've met people that experienced it. The wounds are still there, so to speak. And I've felt guilty, being an American in Japan. Guilty for the bomb when the 9th graders make their yearly trip to Hiroshima. Guilty when an American causes trouble for Okinawans.

I feel guilty for this too, because I'm feeling indignation over it and I know that America's deeds in Okinawa aren't without shame.

My Beach Project

2007-11-12T23:21:00.000+09:00

As part of the "My Beach Project", I served as "beach captain" for a stretch of beach on my home island of Ie.

We cleaned the beach and tallied the garbage we collected. Akiko-sensei and I ended up doing the majority of the work, seeing as the boys would pick up piece of trash then sit in the sand and stare out at the ocean.

Beggars can't be choosers, and I was pleased with any help I could get.

I'll spare you the environmental spiel; there was a lot of trash and it was shameful, shameful, that it accumulates as it does. Even in Okinawa, with their close connection to the ocean, trash is everywhere.

Token "Mission Accomplished" photo:

Welcome to the Galaxy

2007-11-07T15:13:00.000+09:00

I have quite a bit to post from October, but I've been busy playing Super Mario Galaxy in my free moments. I've wanted to gush about it to someone and Okuma suggested Takeuchi-sensei, but I think he just wanted to see the look on Takeuchi's mustachoid face when I brought it up. It's not the first time the teachers have ribbed him for looking like Mario.

My gaming habits have changed--particularly in terms of Mario games. Instead of helter-skelter running around, skipping to new worlds with the bare minimum of stars, I instead play each level (galaxy) through as many times as possible, stripmining it of goodies before moving on. This works most of the time: occasionally a comet blows by a galaxy and opens up a new star and I must return to a previous galaxy I thought I'd conquered.

I haven't played a game in a long time where I had almost complete, unending joy even when a level is being frustrating. I exclaim and curse and have laughed my ass off at various points. It's just a pleasure to play!

That's enough gushing for now.

In Which You Learn More About My Current Weight

2007-09-29T08:20:00.000+09:00

I am 84 kilograms now, which equals about 184-185 pounds.

I'm getting a little impatient. The rate is constant at about a kilogram (2.2 pounds) a month. This is both quick and slow. I wish it would go faster; it wears you down.

I exercised 24 of 30 days in September. The days I didn't go I can say I had a legitimate excuse: some event always interfered.

Bored enough? Time for karaoke pics and videos!

Take Two

2007-09-19T20:21:00.000+09:00

A large part of Okinawan culture is eisa dancing. There are multiple dances, but the junior high students concentrate on a specific set of movements involving taikos (drums). I learned this dance over the summer--all twenty minutes of it.

Throughout the dance, several of the students in costumes and heavy makeup move throughout the dancers.

The drumming can be heard all over the island and you can feel it shake the ground.

Undoukai Week - Take One

2007-09-17T22:15:00.000+09:00

All week I'll be showing pictures from the recent undoukai, or sports day. The students have been training for it and the upcoming October event where they take the day and spend it competing with other schools. Last year, Ie Junior High came in third, something we hope to repeat this year. Its a big event day where the entire island turns out to see just how hard the students and teachers have been working.

Sunday dawned clear and hot, but the weather proved to be a terror. A huge storm cloud rolled in from the north and drenched the field.

In America, it probably would have been an oh-shit-we're-screwed moment, and that thought did flash across my brain. But the raincloud departed after 20 minutes of constant downpour, everyone burst from their shelter and there appeared mounds of spongy material apparently used for such an occasion. I was a little amazed at everyone SPONGING UP THE WATER, but the entire island is built to drain away water quickly, so I shouldn't have been surprised.

After all that, we were off!

More Sports Day Prep

2007-09-06T00:04:00.000+09:00

I always think about The Simpsons episode where Bart composes a birthday diddy for Lisa when I hear the tune that's playing in the background here.

BBQ

2007-09-01T21:47:00.000+09:00

Mmm! Shrimp!

Grave

2007-08-28T00:01:00.000+09:00

Eisa Drumming

2007-08-26T21:46:00.000+09:00

危ない！(Danger!)

2007-08-25T17:35:00.001+09:00

I now present the most venomous fish in the world:

.

This was caught right near the shore where a bunch of elementary students, adults and myself were enjoying the beach.

Taiko Drumming

2007-08-23T20:29:00.000+09:00

The 5th and 6th grade elementary students have been busy preparing for the upcoming eisa (traditional okinawan drumming/dancing) festival this weekend.

Wait a sec...who's that in the back?

I've gone to every practice with them, and have to say I'm good, if not better, than a lot of them. Though I often miss some audio cues for when to move.

Touching the Sky at Five

2007-08-22T20:12:00.000+09:00

Hey Hey!

2007-08-21T18:42:00.000+09:00

Some junior high students prepping for their dance number during the upcoming sports day.

Beach Cleanup

2007-08-15T18:19:00.000+09:00

Last weekend, the girls volleyball team and my friend Edo cleaned up one of the beaches on the island. It was the first time I'd been to this particular beach. It was small and hidden, but really beautiful.

Getting Stronger~

2007-08-14T20:18:00.000+09:00

Now under 200 pounds. That's down a little over 30 pounds from the end of April.

About 22 pounds to go before I enter the "normal" weight range.

A Gentlemen's Duel

2007-08-13T20:40:00.000+09:00

Pretty good animated short.

Harry Potter

2007-07-30T23:08:00.000+09:00

Spoilers, of course, lurk below.

I've been reading Harry Potter since shortly before The Prisoner of Azkaban was released in America in September of 1999. I was 16 then, and just starting college. I took college courses and my last two years of high school concurrently. It was the first week of college, the first week of this new and challenging part of my life, but I had this book and I couldn't believe the excitement I felt. The need to continue the story dwarfed my interest in my mid-secondary education.

On the night of July 8th a scant year later, a thunderstorm rolled over Minnesota and the power, horribly, went out. It was by candlelight that I finished The Goblet of Fire and witnessed the return of Lord Voldemort. Harry was beaten and battered, his heart flayed. And I wept for him.

I was always the sentimental type.

It would be three more years before I returned to Hogwarts. The world had changed since The Goblet of Fire, perhaps for the worse. Hamline University was my home then and I was spending the summer studying horror film and fiction in preparation to write my own screenplay. That night, hours before release, I was studying the 1961 film The Innocents, based on James's novel The Turn of the Screw. My brother was staying with me that night, and after the film ended, we trekked over to the local Borders store and indulged in a little Harry Potter before party. I had dyed my hair blue and wore around a wizard's cap. My brother, perhaps not interested and maybe even a little embarrassed, took this all in good humor. He was always more clear-headed than I, and while I retired to return to Rowling's world, he retired to bed.

Turbulent. Violent. Dark. It was a changed world. When my mother appeared to collect my brother in the early hours of the morning, she met her contemplative eldest son, whispering and a little withdrawn. Did she know that again Rowling had brought me on the verge of tears by letting me peek behind the veil?

The Order of the Phoenix would have to tide me over for the next two years until The Half-Blood Prince. I was working at the Borders store from which I'd purchased The Order of the Phoenix, in that slump after college, wondering who I was and who I should be, and looking forward at the coming months with anxiety. I didn't bother to attend the release party, content enough to pick up my copy at six a.m. Though anyone in fandom can tell you the shared Harry Potter experience is special and engrossing, I viewed The Half-Blood Prince as my oasis in uncertainty. It was a private thing, and my excitement was tied to the desperation I was feeling in my everyday life. But what an oasis to rest at: war had come and no one was safe. Harry is finally left to stand on his own, almost-but-not-quite a man, all his defenders blown aside. There was hope, but it was almost insurmountable: how could Harry possibly fulfill the task, the quest, he'd been given?

That brings us to now. Two years later--almost impossibly--I'm teaching English in Japan. I live on a small island in Okinawa, impossibly divorced from all the Harry Potter hype, with only my own stupidity to make me hunger for Harry's final chapter. The book came Monday, a couple days after its release. Without a glance at the table of contents, I began the last journey into Rowling's world.

This is perhaps cliche of me, but the old adage from first Corinthians comes to mind: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Multitudes of critics, fans and reviewers espouse upon whether or not Rowling's series is childish fantasy or grown-up fiction. Its both, of course. The childish escapism pulls you in and grabs you in the first half of the series, but come The Goblet of Fire, the gloves come off and we're in the midst of a war where suspicion, paranoia and violence are ready to burst forth at any moment, throwing Harry and his friends into danger.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows breaks from the formula of the previous books. There is no return to Hogwarts. There are no classes, homework or detentions. From the outset, Harry is on the run, trying to balance protecting himself and his friends while attempting to finish the task Dumbledore left him. The pressure is on throughout the entire book, and its a testament to Rowling's skill--and the numerous hints of multiple deaths--that you feel as if every character is in danger. I was satisfied when I closed the book. I felt as if Harry is at peace, that he's gotten all that he ever wanted and dreamed of having. As a reader, you've known from his first glance into the Mirror of Erised just what Harry's always wanted, and I could write forever about what I liked and hated and loved, but knowing Harry is happy, I can move on.

Thank you, J.K. Rowling. I can only hope that, for you, lightning will strike the same place twice.

Saturday

2007-07-27T00:03:00.000+09:00

Last week was the end of term and along with it came the parties. I don't get off the island terribly often, so it was refreshing to head off for dinner on Thursday then again on Saturday for a BBQ.

Saturday was the best time I've had in awhile. It was a perfect Okinawan day--warm and clear--and we whiled away time before the BBQ playing Russian card games and swimming. We got the BBQ going, though Craig scorched off most of his arm hair in the process. I ended up BBQing a good portion of the time even though I frankly admitted I had no idea what I was about. But the food turned out splendid.

I spent a large amount of time talking with Craig's visiting friends from Scotland. I think it was because they were rather easy to talk with. I found myself drinking with them and some marines later that night. Nothing compares with sitting on a starry beach, listening to drums and watching native Okinawans juggle fire. Unfortunately, one of the Scotsman got a little too lost and I spent a good hour trying to keep him from running into the ocean and drowning himself. This was not something I particularly minded, seeing as I was a little gone myself, but I sobered up much faster than he did. I was quite amazed he could even stand, seeing as he'd been drinking beers all day before we sat down together with a bottle of tequila.

Another Moment

2007-07-10T19:36:00.001+09:00

Yamaguchi-sensei was driving the van and I was in the passenger seat. The Ie boys basketball team was in the back, talking to themselves.

"Joshua?" One of the students said suddenly.

"What?"

"I want you." He said.

"I need you." Another piped in.

"I love you." The third boy sang.

"That's the kind of talk that would get you beat up in the states," I laughed and resolved to get Elvis Presley off the noontime music rotation.

My Island from Above

2007-07-10T19:29:00.000+09:00

Expectant.

2007-07-09T10:41:00.000+09:00

Where my mood is concerned, I'm in an expectant one, looking always forward to the next day, week, month and year. Against the usual though, the next is coming faster and faster.

I'm currently 95 kilograms (209 pounds). Exercise this past week was particularly good--enjoyable too--and the goal for the 29th of July is around 92 kilograms (202 pounds). It's a maddening process, however, when I wake up everyday expectant, being mildly pleased or disappointed and then shaping my routine and diet throughout the day. I'm in a long term commitmant to reach 80 kilograms by the end of October, but I want to wake up and have it all gone, just gone. But I want it to be a permanent thing, so I force myself to take it slow, not starve myself, and exercise prudently.

Exercise yesterday was a treat. I went to the beach and helped out elementary students clean up trash. Afterwards we all went swimming and I spent about an hour and a half launching 3rd and 4th graders from my back and into the water. It's been years since I enjoyed swimming so much, almost like I was back playing in the lake with my brothers and cousins.

My walks are beginning to get into the hour and a half range themselves, and while this can be boring, the upcoming release of the next Potter book keeps me occupied. I've reread the third and fourth book and am currently on the fifth again (the fifth causes me to curse, mostly along the lines of "fucking bitch" every time Umbridge appears), so I have something to occupy my thoughts, whether it be rehashing plots in my head or putting together little moments I hadn't noticed previously. It will be good, if bitter-sweet, to finish the last book. J.K. Rowling, along with Robert Jordan, has tempered my desire never to start a long-ass series again unless it's finished already when I start. Rowling, however, comes off the better, since I don't precisely want Harry's saga to end, whereas I'd like Jordan to just finish already so I can move on with my life. Perhaps I shouldn't be so callous though, seeing as he's quite ill and there's a question if he'll even finish. The wheel weaves, I suppose.

But the ALT year, and my second year in Japan, is also at a close and I'll soon begin the last year countdown. Plans must be made. Living here for two years has made me miss theater terribly. I miss the drama and all that connotates: the practice, the performance, the squabbles, the egos. I want it back in my life. Terribly.

Before that happens, though...The exercise and weight loss is for a purpose, not just to look good naked. But you'll have to wait and see.

The Kunigami ALTs

2007-07-08T20:44:00.000+09:00

Just the pack of us, full after Indian food before we took off for karaoke.

Blurry David in the front doesn't seem to photograph well.

2007-06-23T20:24:00.001+09:00

Progress Report

2007-06-19T21:07:00.000+09:00

For the last ten weeks I've been on an exercise routine. I exercise everyday, no fooling. It's not just weekdays, or every other day, but everyday. In those ten weeks there have been two days where I've taken breaks. Every day I do something physical, sometimes only a 30-minute walk, other times an hour walk and 30 minutes of swimming.

About the third week into this exercise program I started keeping track of my weight. On April 26 I was 105.4 kilograms (231 lbs.), but as of today I am 98 kilograms (215 lbs.). For the end of this month I'm aiming for 96 kilograms (211 lbs.).

It's been difficult this week to exercise: it's the rainy season and it's raining every day. And not just sprinkles, full-blown downpours that last for hours. The streets flood, everything gets wet, so the last few days I've been doing shorter walks when the weather clears.

But today the clouds parted and I felt like I could make the trek to the activity center's pool. It takes a half hour by foot, and I was almost there today when I heard something behind me, a distant roar. I turn to look and for the first time in my life, I see a wall of rain coming toward me. So I run, run like hell, and reach the activity center just as everything is enveloped.

But here's hoping to meet this month's goal.

No Updates For You, No Internets For Me

2007-05-29T20:53:00.000+09:00

You've enjoyed a May full of updates! More than any month previous. But sadly, that frequency is at an end, at least for a couple weeks.

My laptops AC adapter blew out last night and despite my damnedest effort ("Oh my god I need to play video games now now now") to fix it, alas, to the AC adapter heaven she went.

It came at a pretty bad time. This past weekend, I played WoW with Nolan, Trevor, Jeremy and Nolan's wife Jill and had a great time doing it. We had scheduled another time for this coming weekend, but now that's not going to happen while I wait for the adapter to first go to Mom's and then be shipped to me, which will probably take 2-3 weeks.

Here's hoping it goes faster. I'll try to update when I can.

The Sixth Grade Problem

2007-05-25T10:16:00.000+09:00

From first to fourth grade elementary classes, I usually cannot get the kids to be less enthusiastic about English. I show up and they're hugging me, trying to talk to me and are ready for just about anything I throw at them. Likewise, seventh through ninth graders are typically compliant and willing to do activities with me. My classes are breaks for them. We study English, of course, but my classes usually have them doing something that gets them away from the studying grind and working on communication skills.

But there's a dead zone working with the fifth and sixth graders. Right now the fifth graders are really energetic and willing to work on anything, but as they approach the sixth grade year, their interest plummets. At Ie elementary, I have little to no problem with fifth and sixth graders, but at Nishi elementary, the sixth graders are incredibly ambivalent, at least when it comes to my classes.

They're a big class, almost 40 students, and ever since I started classes with them all the way back when they were fourth graders, they've been less-than-enthusiastic, to put it lightly. When they were fifth graders the problem continued, even though they had what I thought to be an excellent teacher, and one I liked working with. Shotoro-sensei left the island at the start of the new school year and they have an all new teacher, Hisato-sensei.

Our first class of this year was on Thursday, and true to their previous behavior, I came off as the most boring teacher in the universe in the space of a minute. Now true, I'm not the best or the brightest teacher, but I had prepared for this contingency.

We warmed-up and I asked some simple questions before leading into the grammar point for the day. Their waning interest waned more and I knew it was time. I told them we were going to play a game.

I told them we were going to play baseball.

This form of baseball is a vocabulary game. The class is divided into two teams and a member from each team stands at the front of the class, looking toward the back of the room where I am standing with a stack of vocab cards. One student is the batter, the other the pitcher. I hold up a vocab card with a word in Japanese and the batter and pitcher must say the word in English. Their entire team must then repeat the vocab. If the batter and their team is correct the fastest, the batter is allowed to take a base. If the pitcher and their team prevails, it counts as an out. When someone makes it home, that's one point.

They were slow at first, and quiet. The boys took to it faster than the girls and seemed to enjoy being in direct conflict with one another, but soon the girls were responding just as well. When teams tied over a piece of vocab, the students began to bicker over who had finished first, and there were audible groans when a teammate lost it for the team with bases loaded.

Oh ho. I had them now.

We ended the game a minute before the end of the period with a tie of 3-3. We went over the vocabulary one more time (with more enthusiasm then they displayed previously) and we finished up.

I won the first battle in a war of eleven classes. Ten more to go before they become seventh graders.

More Consuming

2007-05-23T21:52:00.001+09:00

The past couple weeks I've been watching Seinfeld episodes. Hard to imagine the show ended eight years ago and I didn't appreciate it. Watching the old episodes, I can't say that there have been many other enjoyable live-action comedies in the past few years that have Seinfeld's shelf-life. Spiritually, Arrested Development is the only comparable television comedy I know of, though I know comparatively little about what's on TV. I have limited means and limited time, which means I have to be choosey.

I'm looking forward to Heroes now. The season ended and I have twenty-some episodes to watch. Even though it's on every Tuesday here, I've avoided watching since I didn't realize they were airing until midway through the season. Coming in in the middle is never a good thing, after all.

Through a bit of fortune I managed to see Shrek the 3rd, which I heartily don't recommend. I'm under no illusions that the 2nd and 3rd films were designed essentially to make money, but at least the 2nd one was funny. There's now a bad movie trifecta in play: will Pirates 3 suck as well? The summer season, except for Ratatouille and Transformers (the new trailer looks astonishing), seems like its on a downward spiral.

But so it goes. On the reading front I'm busy with The Idiot. Slow going, purely because there's so much packed into a lot of space. Looking forward to more.

2007-05-23T21:48:00.000+09:00

I love the art of James Jean and have a soft spot for Fables covers.

Check out more of James Jean's work at www.processrecess.com.

2007-05-21T22:46:00.000+09:00

On Sunday, Paul, Amy and Juhi--ALTs from the mainland--were over here on Ie, so I joined them on a tour. We climbed Mt. Gusuku and hiked around the island to the lily field, where Paul and I right down to the bottom of the northern cliffs. The tide was just high enough where the water would crash into the cliffs and wash over our legs. It was a little foolish of us--one misstep could have meant severe lacerations, a broken leg or possibly even death if we happened to fall into the water. The waves on the northern side of the island are especially strong, and you wouldn't stand much of a chance against the sharp rocks. I nicked my hand just leaning against one.

We trekked up to higher ground after that and enjoyed some ice cream as we took in the view of the open ocean. Paul and I did some more hiking down to the shore--about a twenty minute walk--and took in the view from a lower vantage point.

All in all, a pretty decent Sunday.

A Detour

2007-05-18T18:59:00.000+09:00

I went out for a walk today, headed for the activity center on the other side of the island. About halfway there, I ran into an older man getting into his truck. He says hello and I, of course, reply. We strike up a conversation, since I'm want for English conversation anyway and he appears as if he wants to sharpen his speaking skills.

We talk about his grandkids and how long he's lived on the island. He was born around 1935 and was alive when the Americans invaded the island. He reaches into his pickup and pulls out a folder. He hands it to me and I tentatively look inside to find photos of the island from 1945. There are pictures of scared looking children, an American G.I. holding a canteen to a little girl's mouth as she drinks greedily and a photo of the junior high school, decimated from canon shells from minna-shima, the island a few kilometers away.

"Wow, these are amazing," I say. Suddenly I feel very small and guilty.

"Would you like to see some more?"

"Sure."

We jump in his truck and he takes me to his house. He leads me inside and begins pulling out photo albums and pointing to pictures. "Here's Ernie Pyle the day before he died." He pulls out a map and points to the southwest shore of the island. "Here's where the American ships came to shore," pointing at the map and again to another picture, this time of an entrenched shoreline. "And here," he said, pulling out another album and flipping to the middle, "Is a paper dropped a month before the Americans came."

The 60-some year-old paper, pressed between the album pages, had Japanese writing on one side and a drawing of the Pacific theater on the other. Moving toward Japan were simply drawn American ships and planes, filling up the entire Pacific ocean.

"The Americans dropped it?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes."

"Wow." I said this a lot. I can be quite the conversationalist.

"Come on, I'll show you something else."

We got up and jumped in his truck again. We didn't drive very far before he pulled into a yard. He pointed at a large gajumaru tree between two houses.

"Two Japanese soldiers lived in that tree when the Americans came. They hid during the day and looked for food at night. Americans never saw them."

I'd heard this story before; the elementary school students perform a play for the surviving Japanese soldier every year. I had been slightly incredulous, but seeing the tree, massive and overgrown, I could believe it.

"Was it the same size in the 1940s?"

"Yes. About the same."

We admired it for a moment before we jumped back into the truck. He took me past a cave, where 20,000 year-old fossils from an extinct deer had been found and where people hid during WWII. Then he took me past a large airstrip.

"The bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. It refueled here before heading back to the U.S." He said this nonchalantly, more interested in the history. A tingle zigged-zagged down my spine.

Satisfied he'd shown me enough, he took me to the activity center and we exchanged phone numbers.

"Next week, you can come to dinner. I'll give my grandson a note to give you at school."

"That sounds great," I said. We shook hands and he got in his truck and drove off.

I went inside for a swim.

Not-So Busy

2007-05-16T20:11:00.000+09:00

Students are busy preparing for midterms, which largely cuts me out of this week's schedule. My time has been mostly mine to fill. I fill the time with Japanese studying and focusing on working my speech students.

I usually meet them at the end of the day and I am currently drilling them, trying to make sure their speeches are memorized. This has been an arduous process; I can't imagine how difficult it is to memorize a speech in a foreign language, but my students have plowed right ahead, and though they're both still a little rocky, we've started to work on gestures and some actual acting.

Sometimes the process is frustrating. I want them to just "get it," but I can't expect them to. It's difficult for me to ask them to take it slowly because I want to get to the next part of the of the process and it's obvious they want as well. But taking it slowly is the way to go, and I admire their determination.

Lunch with the 9th Graders

2007-05-14T13:53:00.000+09:00

"You have tests next week? What tests?"

"English. Math. Social studies. Science. Japanese."

"I see. It sucks to be you."

"Yes."

"Do you understand what that means?"

"No."

"Well, 'it sucks' means it's bad. Kinda. 'It sucks. 'The movie sucks.' 'To be you' is like, anatani natteiru. Being you, it sucks. Understand?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well, sucks to be you."

"Yes."

ikitaina

2007-05-14T10:34:00.000+09:00

Let's Get Together!

2007-05-13T23:50:00.000+09:00

World of Warcraft has fallen to the wayside as I'm playing through Zelda and Paper Mario. WoW has a level cap of 70 and I am currently 48, but I'd like to attain that goal to experience some of what WoW endgame has to offer. I was clipping along at leveling at a decent pace, but between three games, I only have so much time, and since I plan to reactivate my FFXI account come June to experience some of the new content, I've stepped away from one time-consuming massive since I know I'll be busy with another in a few weeks.

But, wonder of wonders, I've been talking with Jeremy and Nolan back in the states and it's possible that we'll be playing WoW together on the weekends when I have some free time. I'm hoping to get a hold of Trevor to see if he would care to join us.

Red Night

2007-05-13T00:02:00.000+09:00

Book club was good. David picked me up and we had a decent discussion of Cities of the Red Night in the car--which was more interesting than the discussion at the book club. That turned into more of a social gathering after the book conversation deteriorated. The general consensus was that no one understood the point and the rampant homosexual sex was distracting. About 1/3 of our number didn't finish the book, citing the graphic sex as the major deterrent. Sex is everywhere, the logic revolves around it ("How do we solve this problem?" "Sodomy?" *insert sodomy act here* "Wow, I have a great idea that totally solves everything!") and except for one or two occasions, there's few instances of heterosexual sex. The novel is tied primarily to masculine experience, and I think it says a lot that the majority of the club's female readers didn't finish it.

I was pleased when I got to defend Equus when Jen expressed some outrage about Daniel Radcliffe's role as Alan Strang in the recent London production. I secretly coveted that role when I first read Equus. It's a perfect role for a young male actor. Equus also happens to be my favorite play, but despite that I've never seen a production. The London production also has Richard Giffiths in the Martin Dysart role. The Alan Strang role for the middle-aged man.

After book club it was back to David's apartment for some Seinfeld and to peruse his Flight graphic novels.

Also: an idea for after JET begins to percolate.

Not a bad night, all-in-all.

If I was into Splurging:

2007-05-13T00:00:00.000+09:00

This Month in Reading

2007-05-10T21:35:00.000+09:00

I'm looking forward to getting off-island tomorrow for the monthly book club meeting. This month's choice is Cities of the Red Night. I'm annoyed with the choice. As the first in a trilogy of books, I am now beginning to realize, with some 30 pages left, that there will be no conclusion and I will be inclined to read the sequels. A good book, as far as I can understand it. There's a lot of skipping back and forth through time and Burroughs doesn't bother to explain any of it. Instead you're just caught up in the flow of time travel, viral infections and sodomy. In any case, Burroughs can't be accused of talking down to his audience and he rather expects me to put it together myself.

I should also note that Cities has given me a few ideas for what I'm currently working on. The shifting narrative is something I'd like to better integrate, and Burroughs does it almost flawlessly. I think mostly because he does it with such confidence.

I forget what next month's book is, or if we'll meet again before the start of the new JET year (August). Either way, it's probably time to head back into the list of books I want to read and doing some light prep reading for July's little book event.

Funny Animals

2007-05-09T19:57:00.000+09:00

I love animation but am tired of "funny animal" movies and would like to see something that is a step up from Shrek and The Incredibles. I was disappointed when it seemed that Brad Bird was taking what I thought was a step back with Ratatouille.

Well, watch this.

Edit: Above link appears to be dead, so here's a page compilation of all Ratatouille trailers and previews.

2007-05-08T20:31:00.000+09:00

I bought a Wii this past weekend, and true to sites I've seen before, the safety manual is a little whacked.

But now, me and my Wii:

(Sorry, my digital camera broke recently and only have my phone's camera)

I'm working my way through Zelda and Super Paper Mario. Both of which I have little understanding of story-wise, though both seem to have a theme of demonic squares/pixels.

Spiderman 3

2007-05-07T21:13:00.000+09:00

I love the Spiderman movies. The first was good and the second near perfect, so much so that it's been a long wait for the third. When I saw the third, I was good. That's enough. I never need to see another Spiderman film again. Between the overstuffed plot and dialogue that only serves to set up the next scene, I'm probably good for the next decade.

It does have its moments. Topher Grace in particular is great as weasally Eddie Brock. I had the most fun when he was on-screen. But if this is any indication of what's to come with the rest of the summer movie season, prepare for some major disappointment.

Octopi

2007-05-01T21:45:00.001+09:00

Yujo handed me the small octopus. "Tako." He said.

"Octopus." I laughed as the invertebrate tried crawling up my arm. It held on and struggled against me, but I finally had it cradled in my palm. It calmed down sufficiently and I carried it along as we waded across the shallows, looking for more octopus.

I'm not sure how they did it, but Toshiki seemed the best hunter. He led the other boys--I followed behind with my octopus friend--and pointed into the clear water when he spotted something. He and Okuma-sensei warned us a few times of puffer-fish and another nasty lobster-looking creature with barbed stingers.

We collected six more octopi. Then we returned to school, Satsuko-san threw them on a skillet and we ate them.

Immersed

2007-04-28T13:12:00.000+09:00

I've given up Final Fantasy XI since it has a sado-masochistic reward system for the amount of required effort. Instead I've been playing World of Warcraft. In addition to actually rewarding a decent amount of effort, it's a lot more dynamic to play.

I become addicted easily to these games. They provide me precious English communication with souls that can actually effectively converse. I study Japanese, of course, but I crave English conversation that elementary students and low-level JHS students cannot provide. Some of the 9th graders can communicate pretty well, but not at with the necessary amount of engagement I crave.

So yes, back to WoW.

Two Years.

2007-04-24T20:35:00.000+09:00

Recent events at my school--which I won't discuss here, but I think you can infer from the following--have reminded me of Manney.

It's been two years now, and all I feel I can say is I wish I had known him better. I didn't know him well enough to know what he thought of me, but I always thought highly of him. I've always felt I was a little boring, but I could never apply that word to Manney.

Thinking of you, Manney. Peace.

Humphrey's Hell

2007-04-04T22:10:00.000+09:00

If Sartre's hell is other people, I would like to extend it: hell is other people you cannot understand discussing education and budgets you are forced to listen to for hours.

If I'm going to hell, it's going to be an eternity in a Japanese business meeting that I can almost, but not quite, understand.

Raining Flowers

2007-04-02T13:59:00.000+09:00

Recent e-mails from family and friends asked about my sudden silence. March has been a busy month. It's the end of the school year and everyone is busy with preparations and leavetakings. In honor of that, here's the 9th grade class:

Sick and Absent on Ie-jima

2007-03-02T09:02:00.000+09:00

Not me. At least, not at the moment.

I was out sick on Tuesday from a cold that crept up on me over the weekend. It was possibly the best sick day I've ever taken. My coworkers actually brought me breakfast and lunch straight to my door, and though I didn't eat it all, it was a thoughtful and effective way of checking in.

I had a surprise though when I went back to work on Wednesday: twenty 8th grade students were home sick with influenza and the principal had gone ahead and cancelled all their classes for the rest of the week, the Minnesotan equivalent to five consecutive snowdays.

Lucky little bastards. What American student wouldn't kill for that?

Seeing as the 8th graders are the majority of my schedule from week to week, I suddenly had a lot of free time, which I effectively devoted to origami flowers. Since the 8th grade is in charge of making decorations for the graduation ceremony next week, the responsibilities fell to the teachers. However, I'm still bored, and having studied Japanese, worked on my taxes and prepped for next weeks classes, I find myself updating my blog.

Reading~

2007-02-22T11:30:00.000+09:00

I took a trip to Okinawa City this past weekend to meet with the book club and discuss Saramago's Blindness. The drive to Okinawa city takes about an hour and a half, so there was also discussion in the car. I wish I'd taken notes as I was reading; the discussion was rigorous and I found it difficult to keep up with everyone--particularly David, who reminds me of Graham. Despite its languid pace, the book is a fast read. Saramago's sentences can last for a page, making stopping in the center of one a treacherous endeavor only for the bold. And I've always been a very passive book reader, absorbing and placing myself in the narrative more than stepping back and analyzing.

Reading: I put away about 1/3 of Catch-22 this week, especially on Tuesday night when I went ahead and reformatted my laptop. I've never had more interest in where the next chapter will lead. Once Catch-22 is finished, I'll be ordering new books. I'm thinking of a novel by John Swartzwelder, Saramago's Seeing and another I haven't decided upon.

In related book news, my monthly book club has chosen a book I suggested, House of Leaves. It's tome-like and I hope no one finds it too intimidating, but it is one of the most stylish horror novels I've ever read.

Playing: Final Fantasy V Advance, sent to me from Aaron, who owed me cash from the box of Japanese Naruto mangas I sent. I've never played FFV on an actual system, only through emulators, and it's gratifying to read an official translation instead of one made by fans.

My Place

2007-02-19T19:31:00.000+09:00

I've been cleaning a lot, so I thought I'd show a couple pics of my place while I have it reasonably clean.

I have two tatami and two hardwood floor rooms. So what you see is about half of my apartment.

Most of the rooms are clean except for the room which has my desk. That whole room is currently a mountain of papers.

I'd show pictures of my apartment building, but like most buildings in Okinawa, it's short, squat and vaguely fort like.

Platonic!

2007-02-19T09:14:00.000+09:00

I love how some weird posters use English.

Brings a smile to my face every time.

Does blogging about work count if most of your coworkers can't read English?

2007-02-15T21:22:00.000+09:00

I had fifth graders at Nishi elementary today. Teaching them was unexpected--I had prepared for sixth grade--and therefore had to wing it.

I do quite a bit of winging at elementary level. Every few weeks, I'll show up to class only to find the schedule has changed and no one thought it prudent enough to inform me until I show up 15 minutes before class. Usually I'm bumped in favor of cultural lessons in dancing. Sometimes I'll insist on joining the students, though primarily I'm assigned another class. This event happens enough that I tend to bring an extra lesson along that fits all levels.

But the Nishi fifth graders are a handful: 37 strong, they're the most intimidating class I've attempted to teach. To further complicate matters, they're the ones most often bumped from my schedule. As a result, they're English skills are lacking.

My lessons in elementary school have been on the upswing: I'm planning and teaching better and I'm trying to give students something more than rote memorization. More and more of my lessons consist of songs and games to keep them interested. However, after fourth grade, songs become something stupid and games can be more disruptive than education, particularly if you're dealing with 37 students and depending on their homeroom teacher for crowd control.

I like their homeroom teacher: Satoro-sensei is a good teacher and I have nothing but respect for the man who can handle 37 students. He had to discipline one loud student, but that student came back and we had a good lesson.

It went well. My last class with the fifth graders had been a disaster, trying to teach them an English phrase through a game and none of them would pay the least bit of attention to me. Today, however, I took them through countries and how to ask and respond to questions about where they are from. I had to use Japanese a few times to facilitate, since most of them are not used to English commands other grades have grasped through more exposure and classes, but most caught on quickly, and by the time the period ended they were busy asking each other what country they were from.

It is becoming increasingly easier to joke with students. One kid was insistent that he was from Jamaica, and we had some fun ribbing about his Caribbean desire. It appeared to set them at ease and make them pay attention a lot more than by simply ignoring the behavior. And it felt a hell of a lot better than trying to drill the information into their heads.

Reading: I started Catch-22 about a week ago and interrupted it with Jose Saramago's Blindness. Blindness was one of the most engrossing* books I've read in a good long time. It was impossible to put down, most probably because of the page long sentences. Its sequel is on my reading list.

Watching: Caught up on My Name is Earl episodes. Enjoyable, but now that I'm caught up, I might crack and start in on Heroes episodes.

Playing: I continue to push through Final Fantasy VI Advance in Japanese, which is a nifty learning tool when you've played the English version so many times and memorized the dialogue.

*Does anyone use "engrossing" for anything other than books?

The Week in Review

2007-02-01T22:02:00.000+09:00

It's official: another year on the horizon. I will finish here in July of 2008. I'm sure, at this juncture, that three years will be enough and it will be time to get back to American and Life As You Know It.

Life As I Know It continues more or less how I left it: curiously absorbing. I can't ascertain if its a quirk of island life or of living in another culture. I think some might find it suffocating, but part of me finds it comforting. I almost view it as an extended hermitage.

For certain, the other teachers don't look at it that way. Ryoko, the 9th grade English teacher, has inferred that living on ie-jima is restricting. Of all the teachers, she is perhaps the most cosmopolitan and most informed of what's OUT THERE. I can recall few teachers in my junior high or high school years that saw far beyond their immediate surroundings. I can understand why now, more than I care to admit.

In her defense, it is restricting. There's stuff to do, of course, but the variety is sparse. It isn't easy for a young teacher either. How the system works here in Okinawa is that, every few years, a teacher moves to a different school and starts again. On the Okinawan mainland, the tenure is five years, but since ie-jima is an island off the coast of a larger island, the length is three years, and on some of the farther islands, two. When your time is up, you're shifted somewhere else and someone new moves into your position. Nice job security, but going from a larger city to a small island that might have less than a thousand people, or even a few hundred, and you can begin to imagine how isolating it can be. I know at least three of the teachers have spouses that live off island they only see on weekends.

So you make your own entertainment. This week I've plowed through the first season of My Name is Earl and about half of the second while catching up with House. Thankfully my books arrived today: (Catch-22, 1984, The Thirteenth Tale. "Thankfully," since I'm going through The Lord of the Rings for the third or fourth time in the last year.

Those will keep me busy for a bit.

2007-01-27T16:52:00.000+09:00

I've been back in Okinawa for three weeks. I'm torn though; in the next few days I'll either turn in the paper work to stay another year or go home come July. I don't know which to chose.

I miss home, certainly. Without question, friends and family are at the top of that list. I neglected visiting some people while I was on vacation--for which I blame Enterprise and their car rental policies--and it pains me to think that I might not see them for a year or more. Yukito, when asking whether or not I was re-contracting, mentioned if I'd be interested in staying for up to 5 years.

This stunned me. My motivation for not re-contracting results from a feeling of inferiority: I'm not good enough and I'm not making much of a difference. That I might be good enough to stay for a fourth and fifth year. It overwhelms me a little.

I will probably be staying. I don't think I'm ready to give up this life yet. But now I see an end, and begin to think what's waiting for me.

A Kidney Stone for Every Year of Life

2007-01-18T22:02:00.000+09:00

Ryan and Audrey, after years of dating and a shorter engagement, were married.

They were my roomies and, needless-to-say, misadventures ensued. Ryan I remember best when I think about medical emergencies--I had taken him to the hospital more than once, and visited him once when he had a particularly bad stone to pass. His fortitude now astonishes me. His stone count is now up to 23. I hope that 24 didn't come on the honey moon.

Ryan and Audrey introduced me to bad movies and showed me the joy of MST3K, along with such jems as Frankenhooker (SUPERCRACK! "WANNA DATE?!"). I first heard the latter mentioned by Mike Reynolds, and when one of you brought it home, it turned out to be all he said it was--and more!

Thank you both, for the times together.

Wedding Tomfoolery

2007-01-17T13:02:00.000+09:00

I've only been to a handful of weddings, but Okinawan weddings always prove the stranger.

I'm back

2007-01-15T13:44:00.000+09:00

and for lack of a better term, I'm home.

I loved going back to the states. It was a nice hiatus to what I'm now thinking is the middle of my three-year stay in Japan. As of this point, I'll probably be staying for another year and six months, until July 2008.

Despite being back in the states, it wasn't really home. I stayed at my mother's, which was crowded and sometimes uncomfortable, with little to no privacy. I am used to my space and not having someone in every room of the house at every time of day.

Home--as defined by where my parents live--is gone. Home is where I am. And at the moment, that's Japan.

And it's good to be home.

Back North

2006-12-30T16:50:00.000+09:00

I'm in Duluth at the moment. It's 2 am and I've been playing my DS for the past couple hours, killing time before I pop some NyQuil which will hopefully knock me out for several hours before I get up and head to Ryan and Audrey's wedding.

Been home for a week now, since last Saturday. I stepped off the plane and went directly back to Breezy Point and spent time with my Dad's side of the family. I was dead throughout most of the evening. I couldn't sleep on the plane, and kept myself amused reading and playing my Japanese version of Final Fantasy VI. But it was my seatmate--a teacher heading home to Canada from China, an old crusty sort who carried on a conversation well enough with me, considering I don't carry on conversations as much as listen to them--kept me entertained for the majority of the flight, but that meant absolutely no sleep.

Ever since stepping off the plane there have been X-mas--pronounced with a hard X in the Futurama sense--parties and the onslaught of a cold, then a few days of vegging out with my brothers and niece, playing video games.

Now, of course, the visiting friends has started. And it's good. Really good. I'm headed down to the Cities for New Years, and I'm looking forward to seeing people for the first time in a long time.

A very long time.

Cleared

2006-12-04T09:12:00.000+09:00

On Friday I visited the doctor again. I have been given the a-okay and after another week of rest I can start some easy exercise. He suggested three times a week for 30 minutes--just walking--and also said sit-ups and push-ups were fine. I'll fit in some light weightlifting as well.

My First Herniation

2006-10-28T22:24:00.000+09:00

Over the past month, I've experienced an increasing numbness in my right foot. At first I thought it was a circulation problem. That thought then metamorphed into a support problem. I tried any number of things to relieve this problem: loosening shoes, buying new ones (which I needed anyway) and easing up a bit on exercise.

On Friday I consulted the local physician. I was apprehensive about this; no doubt my visit to the doctor would result in a lot of gesticulation. I wasn't sure if I could get the problem across to him properly, but thanks to some consultation, it went smoother than I anticipated.

I learned that it wasn't a foot problem, but a back problem.

Lumbar disc herniation.

Understand, I'm not in any pain. My particular type of herniation has resulted in foot numbness and a small amount of motor control loss. However, it does put me out of condition for a couple weeks, which puts a damper on the already limited exercise I was doing when the problem started to escalate.

The trip to the doctor wasn't without it's little needles: the doctor informed me I "need to lose weight and exercise", which is how the problem came about in the first place. When the problem first appeared, my workouts were approaching the two-hour mark.

I have a certain amount of bitterness concerning my weight which I didn't have before I came to Japan. Americans pretty much ignore what you weigh, prefering to talk about it behind your back and what-not or keep what they think to themselves. The Japanese, however, view weight as a conversation opener, as a chance to get to know someone. But I don't particularly want to talk to you after you've introduced yourself, poked my stomach and said "Looking a little fat, aren't you?"

That happens on a daily basis. Of course, the infuriation that comes is good for either spurring me on or pushing me into little bouts of depression. The upside to this predilection is that everyone knows when you have lost weight. This has been gratifying. Progress is being made.

But not for awhile. For the next two weeks at least, I'm exempt from any exercise.

I was overcome with a combination of anger and resignation as I left the doctor. I wonder if Ryan felt this way every time he visited the hospital. He seems a lot stronger now than I thought he was, and he was always a spunky one.

10 Things I Learned in September

2006-09-25T20:06:00.000+09:00

10. I should have bought a keitei earlier.

I waited one year before I ventured into a cell phone shop. The fellow took my info and proceeded to fill out my information for me. An hour later, I was in possession of my own dandy keitei. Behold, the phone I only need to charge once every few days. It takes pictures, serves as a dictionary, and plays the Final Fantasy IX theme "Melodies of Life." Yes, I have a video game ring tone.

9. There's an undoukai for everything.

September 9th: Junior high sports day.

September 23rd: Nishi elementary sports day.

September 24th: Ie elementary sports day.

October 1st: Ie island sports day.

October 6th: Kunigami sports day.

8. Japanese residency gets me no bonus points come Nov. 19.

Imagine my surprise to learn that North America gets the Wii before Japan. It debuts November 19th, while Japan receives it two weeks later on December 2nd.

First party games are region free, however. Delicious!

7. Heavy drinking does not a good eye make.

After the first night of school, there was a party to celebrate the start of the term. The teachers and I went down to Yoshinoya, one of my favorite resturaunts (I dig the curry), and we ate in one of the back party rooms. This was the night I got my keitei, so there was a glorious exchange of information. I was staying away from the liquor. That is, until they asked me to MC.

Shinya-sensei--the science teacher--helped me. "Helped" is a relative term: he tried to feed me bad Japanese. I did that on my own a couple times, leading to large laughs around the table. Drinking helped this process, and about half-way through I pretty much decided it was time to get tossed.

I believe I went home after I recited Casey at the Bat. A few days later, this was the result:

Yay for heavy drinking.

6. I can live without playing FFXI constantly.

I have a lot of free time, most of which has been taken up by exercising. My workouts are getting longer, to about the 1 1/2 hour + range, and that's a good chunk of time at night that leaves me pretty exhausted. I still have a lot of free time and I'm filling it with other things. I am obsessed, however, and it remains a great connection back to the states.

5. I should have read Catcher in the Rye six years ago.

So, brother mine looking for books, read this one before you are forced to read it for class and it takes all the pleasure away.

4. Surprise!

Do shit when you can, because you never know when one of the teachers will pop up with some event that no one bothered to tell you about and it's in 15 minutes.

3. A Nintendo DS is an invaluable tool.

2. Five years of indolence does not disappear overnight...

...but it is starting to go away. Since the last report on August 27th update, I've decreased a further 5 kilograms. I've gone from 117 > 108. That was my goal for the month. 9 kilograms lost since the last week of July. That's almost 20 pounds total to anyone using the Queen's system.

I'm running three times a week, and when something doesn't pop up, going to judo 2x a week. Last week there was no judo, so I did some light running on those days and went swimming.

1. The students like me.

The former ALT apparently yelled at the students and pushed them around. He got frustrated easily, and the students didn't like him for it. They didn't like English much as a result either, apparently.

I've been doing more with students lately: exercising with them, helping them clean up and eating with them. I have a natural tendency to stay away as well, since I don't want to be the stupid foreigner getting in the way. However, being the slightly confused foreigner trying to help is better than being the lazy-ass foreigner. I'm communicating with the teachers more as well, and my coworkers seem to get a kick out of the progress of my diet/exercise program.

I've been pleased with my 9th grade students: we're working on making English skits. I connect with them better when it comes to performing. More say good morning to me and are much more likely to stop and talk to me in the hall. Also, where the elementary students love to hang and climb all over me, some of the 7th-9th graders have gotten more buddy-buddy with me of late, which scared me the first time I had an 8th graders arms around my shoulders. Say what you will of strict Japanese teaching, the teachers and students are very close to one another here. The boys wrestle and hassle with the male teachers, the girls chat and are very open with their female teachers. Not something you'd ever see in America.

Eventful

2006-09-12T18:46:00.000+09:00

I'm usually always doing something now. Nights are getting busier, and weekends in September are crowded with sports events, speech contests and whatever else the other JETs can pull out of the event suggestion box.

This coming weekend looks to be either a time of sports and comraderie or a time to lockdown the house and wait for the storm to pass (click on the TC Warning link). A typhoon is coming, and it looks like it's on a direct course for Okinawa.

I ventured to the mainland this past weekend, which was something I hadn't done, I realized, in over a month. The last time was sometime in June, for an book club meeting in Chattan Town to discuss Vladimir Nabokov's novel Pale Fire. I alternately love and hate Nabokov's narrators; they are equally dense and well-formed as well as misleading and deceitful. It had been awhile, and I looked forward to meeting a lot of the new JETs that had arrived. I don't see them a lot; an island life can be restricting, but I often find reasons not to visit the mainland simply to save myself the trouble and money of not going.

Elina, the leader of our block of JETs, organized a weekend of events that I could not ignore. Saturday consisted of a BBQ at the beach with some swimming, a couple hours at the bowling alley, a midnight run through an Okinawan playground and a final cap to the evening with karaoke until three a.m.

It had been years since I'd been bowling--though I suspect that, if there was a bowling alley on my island, I would probably be there a lot--but after the first game I started to actually remember how to roll the ball down the alley. After the alley was the real fun though: Japanese playground equipment is crazy and sue-worthy, and it's a blast to play on. The best part was the loop constructed of rope that some of us (half-drunk or mostly-drunk) climbed through. Well, all of us climbed through.

The karaoke afterwards was typical karaoke: splendid and rousing. I will really miss it whenever I come back to the states. It's an experience that has little to no rival.

On Sunday we went sea kayaking. My first time. It was easier than I thought, but it wasn't as back-breaking as it could have been. After the kayaking was over, I trekked back to my island and pretty much zonked out for the rest of the day.

Elina has pictures of all the events posted here. Considerably more than I took, but I'll post some of mine later.

Karaoke Horrors

2006-09-10T22:28:00.000+09:00

I really like Paul. He's from Kentucky and one of the new ALTs. The girl dancing in front of him was also a new ALT, from Alaska. And what do ALTs, fresh to Japan, do? Karaoke, of course.

I'm no karaoke prince--though my "Time Warp" rendition was quite dramatic, I was told--but I got a kick out of Paul's singing here.

It was an eventful weekend. Full post forthcoming. Until then, enjoy.

Some Kind of Circle

2006-09-06T20:04:00.000+09:00

Dad, Matt and Zach were always into wrestling. I went to a practice once, wanting to watch and see just what my Dad and brothers liked about the sport. As I sat on a mat and watched, Dad came up to me and either said I participated or I didn't belong there.

I didn't go again.

Flash forward to now: I just came back from judo class. A quick browse through the wiki reveals it is one of the four forms of amateur competive wrestling, the others being Greco-Roman, Freestyle and Sambo.

It's a class for beginners: there is one other adult there besides the sensei, all the remaining students are 6th grade age and under.

I'm more dexterous then I have a right to be and less than I need to be. It was a good, full-body workout and I can't wait until Friday night's lesson.

Majionair

2006-08-31T23:16:00.000+09:00

While Japanese television is largely boring in terms of dramas and comedies, they do have their amusing game shows. This particular one is a parody of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," but it gets rather personal. The second contestant in parts three and four looks ready to chew up the scenery.

It's in six parts, here's the url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPqSyj7CH9I

The other parts are in the "Explore More Videos" section.

Incident

2006-08-31T10:16:00.000+09:00

(This is a post I wrote sometime ago. Enjoy or don't enjoy.)

I have Friday afternoons to myself. So far its either been a time to clean my place or catch a ferry to the mainland for drinking and hanging out. But this one Friday, the third after arrival, I went out walking.

I walked all over the island: the lily-field (sans lilies, so just "field") and the rocky cliffs there, the western beaches and tide pools, which I walked through against my better judgement; a false step meant complete lasceration of my feet and legs. At the southern beaches I swam in the ocean for the first time and enjoyed a grape slushee.

On my way home, I passed the home of a friend on the island, and she invited me in for a drink. I accepted, not wanting to insult or commit some little social atrocity. Her daughter was watching TV, and soon Aladdin was playing in the background.

Disney characters are everywhere; you'd think Disney himself had a hand in writing their constitution.

I asked for a water, but soon the water was gone and there was an Orion beer in front of me.

"Do you like to drink?" She said."Sure." I didn't tell her I don't drink a lot. That "don't want to insult" mentality again.

"Our impression of Americans. Drink all the time. All day."

"Well, some of them. But they're the minority. On the job," I crossed my arms, the "no" gesture.

I finished my beer and she was on her second when she brought out the wine. I drank slowly; I had no wish to be drunk in front of her or her daughter, who I have occasionally in class. We just chatted, she showed me the ashes of her husband's grandfathers who died in WWII and I tried my damnedest to be a good guest and ask questions.

Aladdin was putting the moves on Jasmine when her husband came in.We introduced ourselves and he sat down on the tatami with a beer.

(misete age yokagayaku sekai)

We were chatting amiably enough, enjoying ourselves. Sushi appeared, we ate. The day was cooling down, and cold drinks and the rotating fan helped. I had another glass of wine while the husband and wife downed another beer or two. Like those at my welcome party a week ago, these people liked to drink. And my glass was never empty.

"Dozo," any quick Japanese will say if they see your drink vanishing. And you'll do a little bow as your glass fills and say, of course, "Domo." That said, I'm careful now to drink as slow as I possibly can lest I drink too much.

I fear my loss of self-control.

(suteki naatarashii sekai)

We had cigarettes about the time a guest arrived and sat down, another friend of the wife, a young Japanese man only a year older than me with that particular Japanese cockiness that doesn't seem threatening, just outgoing, a sun-ray. He beamed.

I'm a social smoker, meaning if someone will offer, I'm there. Sometimes it will be months between cigarettes, sometimes a few weeks. In the last year, I marked time between one and another with a death.

The wife would translate for me, but often we would just be talking ourselves as the husband and the guest conversed. I began to feel awkward as I realized either the wife couldn't hold her drink or she didn't know what was appropriate to say in English conversation.

"I'm so bored here. I've lived on the island for 14 years. So boring."

"No, I would never divorce him. I love him, but if we did, I would take my daughter and go. She's mine."

"She's our only one. My husband, he has no seed for more."

I nodded. If I have one talent it's one that allows me to go with the flow with minimal interruption. I nod, smile, offer sympathies and empathize. Minnesota nice, you might say. And it served me well. At least until the shouting started.

The daughter had popped in Finding Nemo, and the husband started to argue with his wife about her constantly watching the film. Over and over again she would watch it, and it didn't seem to be a good thing to do when guests were present.

He may or may not have liked me casting glances at the television. I'm a sucker for Disney movies, especially Pixar, and I couldn't help but look.At first it was just that murmuring arguing. Not loud, but insistent, and the wife would often stop and translate. I would catch words, eddies in the waves, indistinct and confusing. The other guest took this in stride, so I tried to follow his example.

I snapped up a piece of sushi and drank a little wine, but it was fast losing any appeal. The guest and I exchanged a look as our hosts continued. The daughter's eyes were darting between the onscreen fish and her bickering parents.

Then they were louder, almost yelling. The daughter got up and sat next to her mother, clutching her arm. The husband remained cross-legged on the floor, wine glass in hand the pet parakeet on his shoulder, murmuring. It was the wife who was shouting.And then it faded, fast and unexpected. We sat picking at our food, sipping wine, and exchanging words. The daughter still clutched her mother's arm.

Another guest arrived and the arguing renewed. He paused in the doorway but came in after. He was smiling before he entered, but as he came around and sat on the sofa I saw it was gone.

Then the wife was on her feet, moving toward her floor-bound husband. She hit him, once, twice, three, maybe four times. The daughter was up, screaming "Okaasan! Okaasan!" The first guest moved; this had happened before and he went to intervene.

They separated. The husband was on his feet, the wife pacing around him. The daughter was near the television, her hands clutched under her chin. There was a flow of Japanese and they were grappling with eachother again ("OKAASAN!"). The guest moved, separated them.

The wife kept moving toward the cabinet where the urns of ashes were kept, and before any of us could move to stop her, there was ash in the air and broken urn on the tatami. The ash went soaring into the fan and shot through the air. There was a piece (bone, oh my god it's bone) in my eye.

Five minutes later, guest #2 and I were out the door, the husband and wife offering apologies and us accepting.The first guest stayed behind, picking up urn shards.

Downtime

2006-08-28T10:35:00.000+09:00

Late July and the August month constitutes as what one may call "downtime" for JETs. Old faces leave, new ones show up, the kids are on break and the JET (in my case, anyway) is largely left to their own devices. Many return home to visit family, other JETs take trips. My main outlet has been the computer, indulging in Monk episodes and rereading Sandman comics.

For students technically on break, my junior high kids are constantly at the junior high anyway, training for September sports festivals and events. Tennis, volleyball, basketball, baseball, track. They're doing it all. So I decided, instead of sitting at the office and playing on the computer, reading news and blogs of friends (albeit quietly, never commenting), that I would connect with the students more. This meant, of course, exercising with them.

I'm introverted and self-concious, so naturally it was difficult to begin. When I showed up for the first activity of the day in the last week of July, it was with the baseball team, and naturally they seemed a bit incredulous that I wanted to exercise with them. These kids are lean and wiry, and when the big gaijin shows up, wanting to run with them, disbelief isn't unwarranted.

There's a triptych of students that give me the most trouble, inside and outside of class: Toshiki, Kowa and Keisuke. They also happen to be on the baseball team and met my joining with a combination of amusement and sneers. Toshiki in particular had a stunned lip curl that gave the strong impression that he wished I wasn't there.

But I ran with them and miraculously kept up with them for the two laps they went around the school courtyard. I did sit-ups and push-ups and belly undulations--pushing with your stomach muscles against the ground--with them. Most of them looked on at me with smiles when I did this. Who can blame them? A fat man doing the exercises that rightfully belong to the thin and better coordinated is comedy gold anyway you slice it.

And then we did sprints.

"ジョシュアー先生　早いね。" (Joshua-sensei is quick, isn't he?) One said, as he watched me keep up with the team of four I was sprinting with. My heart was beating fast, as it would for weeks after in the Okinawan sun. My legs hurt and I was tired. But someone said I was quick, and I knew instantly I would be back the next day.

I showed up at practice 3-4 times a week, usually at 8 a.m. to run with the track team. We'd start with an opening run, then do other exercises, then sprints, and sometimes more running, training for the 100-meter dash or relay. I exhausted myself; my stamina was nothing great. Short bursts of energy followed by a long recovery and much water drinking.

I liken it to boot camp. When I ran cross-country in high school, our practices were never this intense. My students did everything together, the running, the sprinting, the exercises. They did it as a team, and there was a definite sense of comraderie. I imagine it would have exhausted students I knew back in high school. But maybe not. Maybe I wasn't as involved with it as I could have been, back then. I didn't want to learn how to train my body. This, in a sense, was what was happening at present: my students were being taught to train themselves.

The weeks went on and my body began to change. I could feel myself recovering faster after runs. My leg muscles were hardening. I was keeping up. And all around me, there often came shouts of "Joshua! Fighto!"

Morning track practice ended last week. They switched to a 5-6:30 p.m. time, which is difficult for me, since I need that time to run errands. So last week, I started my own exercise regime. 7:00-8:30 p.m. is the time I set aside. I went three times, and to my amazement, I actually knew how to work out and push my body.

Current progress then: 3 kilograms lost in one month (which I'm told is healthy), and a ton of muscle tone gained.

And I have the students of Ie-Jima to thank.

The 200th Episode

2006-08-22T15:22:00.000+09:00

I am not a Stargate: SG-1 fan and I never plan to be since it was favored over Farscape by the Sci-Fi channel. I love the latter, though at present I'm more savvy and recognize its flaws. I don't feel comfortable admitting them, however, so they'll remain buried in garden along with the neighbor kid's dead pet cicadas. It was original and enthralling, and I hope I see it that way again when I'm older and my eye is keener. I'm hoping, perhaps foolishly, that it ages well.

SG-1's 200th episode was akin to watching Farscape. Almost every episode of Farscape has a strand of absurdity that it willingly embraces. That strand was there. SG-1 poked fun at itself and all of sci-fi television. It was one of the best hours of programming I've watched since Farscape went off the air.

You might want to take that with the proverbial grain of salt, considering my slim choice of viewing material. It was still a damn fun hour of television.

Little Girl Dancing

2006-08-22T12:28:00.000+09:00

Up and Under Construction

2006-08-22T11:45:00.000+09:00

I'm creating this page for my family and friends, primarily to keep them better abreast of what's going on during my stay in Okinawa, Japan. I'm quite horrid with e-mail and thought this would be an all around easier way to keep everyone informed.

The site is currently "under construction." This means that I am fiddling and tinkering and not really doing any hardcore html construction. I am currently contemplating purchasing a domain name, crafting a more personal webspace, ect., but until I have the proper confidence, don't expect anything drastic.

I'm working on getting flickr set up and some other tidbits. Until then, enjoy a lot of nothing!