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.