Saturday, June 07, 2003

*... on a windless day ...*
today i made myself a little japanese-y picnic (tuna onigiri (rice balls) yum!) and went to one of the coolest events i've seen in Japan, the Shirone o-dako matsuri (giant kite festival). Right now I really wish i had the ability to post pictures here, b/c really this was something you had to see to believe. 'Small' kites were about 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide, and the big kites were these HUGE squares of paper and bamboo and rope, decorated all sorts of ways. Teams stand on either side of the river hanging on to the rope (number of people depend on the size of the kite), then start running like maniacs down the sidewalk trying to launch their kites in the air. 4 or 5 small kites are launched at a time on either side, and usually they get all entangled and the kites end up crashing into the river or nearby structures or, as was the case a few times, into the crowds onto the riverbank. On my way to the river, i was walking behind one team and we started talking. They wanted me to pull with them, but I declined seeing as I was wearing flip-flops and no sports bra ; ) Next thing I know I'm decked pounding down the sidewalk, rope in hand. We didn't get very far, our kite landed on top of a house about 15 feet from start. I decided it would probably be safer for me to just be a spectator, but actually i was wrong about that. Once when I was trying to get myself untangled from a rope trying to decapitate me, a kite plummeted straight down and landed sharply, about 6 inches behind me. KOWAIIIIIII!! (scary!)

I took a ton of pics (unfortunately none of me "flying") and had a lot of fun despite the fact that Shirone is country country Niigata, out in the Echigo plains (rice fields for miles and miles around), and because of that I couldn't get away from the stares, whispers and even hand gestures. It's things like that that make me want to learn how to successively curse in Japanese and lock myself in my apartment. Despite making some fun friends and seeing some cool things over here, it's being made to feel like a real freak of nature that makes me want to go home!
5:10 PM

Friday, June 06, 2003

*... Vogue, eat your heart out ...*
i really think that today was National Really Hideous Fashion Day. I'm sorry, who am i to judge, right? But I think i have a minor case of whiplash with all the times I went "WHAT the HECK were you THINKING with THAT?!"

Can i just say that I haven't talked to a single other gaijin in a really really long time. Kelly's MIA (I think she snuck home for a quick vacay) and I run into Mumbling Joe occassionally, but that doesn't count because I can't understand most of what he says (he's British and random, which doesn't help being understood through the mumbling). And mostly I have taken initiative to pull the Japanese crew out of their world and into mine a little bit. I went to dinner and billiards on Wednesday night with Marika et al, and last night Setsuko and i tried to make some Okinawa plans (after we paid for our tickets) but mostly just ended up talking for a couple of hours over some fabulous honey bread.

On a happy note, it seems to have stopped thunderstorming for my trip down south next week. Of course, now the temperature is about 104, so either way it looks like it will be a, errr, moist trip.
5:02 PM

Wednesday, June 04, 2003

*... every morning i hit the ground yawning ...*
i'm not sure why i've been so tired, pooped out, listless lately, but i think it may have something to do with lack of stimulation. Seriously, I dread work, I go a bit more brain dead every day. But at least I have my trips to look forward to, despite the inclement weather, right? Actually, today one of the teachers was out sick, so i got to teach a couple of classes solo which is usually quite entertaining for all involved. The students dig it b/c they don't really see me as an staunch and stodgy authority figure regardless of my sensei title. And I dig it because a) i don't have to be a human tape recorder, and b) I get to do my own thing (hello, games!!) and revel in the student's creativity. Plus we just have fun. But tomorrow it's back to being the book reader.

And let me just add a small shoutout to a girl who just ran a marathon, a respectable but insane feat (I can't even run down the hall without feeling it in all my leg bones and joints for at least a week). She also likes to hang out with my brother which perhaps can be considered an equally respectable but insane position. And she likes melon soda, which is just plain insane and commands absolutely NO respect from me! Mazui!!

happy birthday, laura!

4:32 PM

Tuesday, June 03, 2003

*... in the stars ...*
it's that time of month again, time for Kaori-sensei to read me my horoscope. I like to have her read it mostly because her English is slightly lacking, so the phrases come out really really funny. But don't tell her that. For example, she said "you need to take a bath." as opposed to what I assume was supposed to be something along the lines of "you should take a bath to ease your hard working mind..." According to the fates, I am to be spending a lot of time thinking this month. Ain't that the truth. Current things on my mind: being homeless (it's official that I will be for at least 5 days while still in my contract), getting home (setting up airfare), the inevitable bad weather that will be facing me next week during my travels (it follows me wherever I go) and what to do about it, planning my Okinawa trip, Bangladesh (?!) trip, and around-Japan trips, and, of course, finances. No wonder I can't sleep (like JP said, "You think too much."). But, according to Kaori-sensei, there is relief in store: I will get lucky in an elevator.
4:47 PM

Monday, June 02, 2003

*... a cultural thing? ...*
Note: this is merely an observation and not necessarily an attack on race or genetics or culture. Well, maybe culture a little bit. So why is it that I am faced on a daily basis questioning the gender of people I see 'round these parts. I suppose I am just as bad as they are with the staring, just with different things going through our minds. They're thinking "ARA! GAIJIN!!" and I'm thinking "Boy? Girl? Boy...?" I'm not saying that everyone falls under this scrutiny; there are definitely the individuals that leave no doubt (like the girls with way too much makeup who pull out their notebook-sized mirrors to gaze at themselves 3 seconds after leaving their house. Not exagerrating here, either. Along those lines, i find that the girls who don't wear too much makeup spend WAY less time with the mirror gazing, and their mirrors are much smaller, too. Hmmm...), but there's this strange middle-gender made up of ambiguous, androgenous fashion trends where it is hard to tell if the person walking by is a guy or girl. The funny thing is when Dohr-sensei (my Japanese teacher back in SD) was teaching us the concept of "tabun" (maybe), she drew a picture on the board and asked us to determine if it was a boy or girl. She taught us not to avoid insult by adding "maybe..." to our statements (very Japanese). I thought it was hilarious at the time that she would sex-determination as an example, but dang, now I see her point.

On a completely unrelated but nonetheless cultural note, can i just say that I miss walking into a supermarket and having a selection of fresh fruit and veggies to choose from? I am really craving some fresh foods, but if I want to buy an orange, I have to buy a whole pack at practically $10 for like 4, and I don't even get to pick the 4. Usually you get one good one in the whole pack... Although I am quite admittedly a bit of a scrooge when it comes to spending money on food, there are a couple of things that there are no limits on: rocky road ice cream, cherry pie, and fresh fruit/veggies. But even I have a limit since they have my favoritist bing cherries over here.... I can get 7 cherries for the equivalent of 5 bucks. WHAT?!
6:01 PM