Return

I am back in the states.

"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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mmm! Shrimp!

Grave

Eisa Drumming

危ない！(Danger!)

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.