T-Shirt Award of the Month (well, actually a few months ago)

I will leave this one for those more mathematically inclined:

It's a Family Affair

Yes, the Roberts/Momii/Palapaz clan came on the 14th and left yesterday (with more baggage than when they arrived), only to arrive back in the states on the same day...time travel. A bit sad to see them leave, the ten days was refreshing and I am looking forward to these last three months in Japan. The whirlwind tour of Japan consisted of trips to baseball games, ancestors' grave sites, hiroshima, kyoto, flea markets, osaka and plenty of good food and drink. Though they left the day before the big 25, it was plenty birthday celebration for me and went by in a flash. More specific tales of our adventures, including tips on how to fit seven grown adults in a four person vehicle coming soon.

It's all part of the job, or enkai: the Japanese office party

Last week marked the second time that I have attended an enkai, the first being in August soon after I got here, it thus being a welcome party for myself and a few others. That one ended in sake bombs, chugging contests and karaoke.

The enkai last Wednesday, was again to say goodbye to a few people in the office (every year the prefectural government shuffles around teachers, administrators and city officials, for reasons that I am not too clear of and that don't always make sense...apparently few people stay in one position for more than ten years max) and to welcome a few others. This transition called for, as all enkai's do, a gathering of city official for eating and mass consumption of alcohol. It is in this setting that roles become more relaxed (thought they usually return to their previous rigidness the next day, give or take a few) and as always everyone is fluent in the language of their choice. Obviously in this case, Japanese and English with a touch or pervert.

It is customary at an enkai to wander the room with a bottle of beer or sake and to fill one persons glass, who then reciprocates by filling yours. As in any party, with the increase in consumption, the volume level rises and inversely, inhibitions and ability to police your words, decreases. Such was the case with one particular enkai honoree.

There is a new Community Center head and he was quite sloshed by the time I met him. A close-talker would be an understatement and he had a hard time with my name. Instead he decided to use other English names he knew. First it was Katherine, which soon turned into Rice as referring to Condi, which then transformed in to omelet rice, a popular dish in Japan (and which most are surprised does not exist in the U.S.). This reference to omelet rice then led into a suggestion that I can utilize ketchup as make-up, which would be especially fitting as lipstick. All the while, this new community center head is edging closer to me with his imbalance, and eventually grabs areas better not mentioned. Shifting away on my part aleves the awkwardness and things are more light-hearted as he continues to refer to me as "rice" and takes profile pictures with his keitai. It only got better with a loud fart (accompanied by a leg life, cross-legged style). A nice punctuation to the meeting.

But on a lighter, nicer note, the buzz created a more comfortable setting to talk to other, less drunk co-workers, get to know them a bit better and get a better gage of what they actually think of me. I am not the failure of a teacher I have suspected at times and rather apparently there is some disappointment that I am not staying another year. Nice to know, despite it making me feel some guilt. And for some it seemed, beer provided the realization that making attempts to speak to me in Japanese would not be met with a confused stare. Slow and grammatically incorrect though it may be, I can hold a conversation.


(Mac, another ALT, and said new co-worker)

The Highs and Lows of Spring Break

While you over there, across the ocean, were experiencing the excitement of a rare appearance by the UCLA Bruins in the Championship Game, I sat at my desk, unable to get NCAAsports.com's March Madness On Demand to work (other than the featured Boss Button) so was forced to instead watch the delayed scoreboard on ESPN slowly tick away to report what I can only imagine to be an awful game. I suppose I should be glad my ancient computer was once again being stubborn with my demands. Another March has passed, another missed one for the dear baby bears, though the thought of celebrating their advancement to the final dance with a beer at Maloney's doesn't sound half-bad. Instead, it is Spring Break here and we, the ALT's, are required to sit bored at the Board of Education. My week thus far has consisted of frustrating arguments via email with WWOOF Japan over a miscommunication, writing up a travel itinerary for my Family's visit next week (so as to avoid travel rage), struggling, though successfully, to communicate via text messages with my Japanese family ( in order to arrange a huge family visit), and, well, following the Bruins. As bad a loss as it was though, I can happily report that I predicted the sixteen point spread, thus winning my pool, woohooo. Guess it's time to switch gears in to baseball.


Still, despite today's disappointment and the boredom that accompanies Spring Break, it has only lasted three days, since last week was spent (and without having to take vacation days) at a volunteer camp in Shingu, living communally with about twenty other folks in an old school house on a farm, in real inaka.
The camp was begun last year by an ALT with a couple who own the farm and aims to bring together Japanese and foreigners, young and old, to live and work together, learn from and teach one another all the while experiencing and learning about sustainable living. It was an awesome and relaxing weekend, with early morning walks into the mountains, occasionally coming across a hidden shrine or a deer running along the river. We baked our own bread and cooked our meals in teams, using (almost) only foods grown on the farm. Good eating it was indeed. Also, there was a lesson on meditation by Saigusa-san and plenty of time to read and draw and play with the little ones, some of whom came all the way from Tokyo. The playing consisted of many games of UNO and usually ended in wrestling. And ofcourse, I cannot forget the daily onsen trip. This is living.

Spring is here...

the flowers say so.