Friday, March 11, 2005
All Americans wear sexy underwear to bed, even in the winter
The wind is howling outside. My sliding glass doors are shaking and rattling and I can see the trees on the hillside outside my apartment are being whipped around. Why is the weather so warm and nice during the week, but turn nasty on the weekends? Just yesterday I wrote a short story about the arrival of spring, but the forecast for this weekend? Snow!
This morning I woke up with a mild sore throat. It’s no surprise really—everyone is sick right now. I just don’t want influenza (or “inhuruensa” as it’s pronounced here). This sore throat is very mild compared to most people. It doesn’t even hurt actually, it’s just red and inflamed. When I get “sick” it’s usually so mild that I only barely know that I got exposed to something and then it’s over. I bet this will not even last the weekend. A strong immune system is God’s greatest gift.
Last night I went up to the pool before going to karate. Both Thursday and Friday I was in the pool by 5 o’clock—at the same time as the small children’s lesson. Ages 6-8 or so. There’s only one free lane open at that time, but I’m usually the only person there so it’s not a problem. Ryohei (an employee who usually works as a trainer in the gym) and Tanabe both teach this group of kids and so we all sat around in the onsen (jacuzzi) chatting before it started. Ryohei’s English is really good. It sounds like he has lived in an English-speaking country for some time, but actually, I don't think he’s even visited one. I always ask him how he got to be so good, but he just says by talking to people. He doesn’t study, he says. Maybe he just has a knack for languages.
Ryohei asked about Kerry and her mom before telling me that his mother too has cancer. However, she is terminally ill with brain cancer. As he was telling me this he looked so sad that the American in me wanted to give him a big hug, or at least pat him on the shoulder to comfort him. But the Japanese inside me wouldn’t let me touch him. I had to force myself not to reach out because I know physical contact would have made him more uncomfortable than would have been comforting.
I met Ryohei back in August in the gym. He was working out when I arrived to lift weights and he came right up to me and started talking in English. For a minute I felt like I wasn’t in Japan. Actually I felt like I was back in Mexico. I don’t know why I felt like I was in Mexico. It may have been being in the gym (because I used the gym religiously in Mexico), combined with the fact that Ryohei’s English was so understandable, or because he is so un-Japanese in both personality and looks. Ryohei is not only really tall, but he is huge. He lifts a lot of weights and is… huge. Not fat—more like The Incredible Hulk. It may be his body type, but he looks Mexican to me. And he is relaxed around foreigners—willing to walk right up and start talking. I liked that.
Ryohei’s wife had just given birth to their first son when we first met. The baby was about a week old and I’ll never remember the first thing he told me about him. “It is always crying.” It. Not he. It. He sounded less overjoyed and more annoyed that this crying-machine had entered his life. Things are different now. He speaks lovingly of “it.” Maybe parenting comes a little slower to some of us, but I think he’ll be a great father.
Tanabe and I talked about baseball. Boring! I hate baseball, but I dated a enough baseball players in high school that I can tolerate it. Daniel and I went to a baseball game in Portland that I quite enjoyed. You just have to learn how to follow the game and keep yourself entertained between plays. The games are slow, but their pants are tight. It’s a trade-off. Tanabe has a game this Sunday that he invited me to, but it will probably be canceled with the snow. Next weekend, maybe. If watching baseball is what it takes to get friends my own age here, then I guess I’ll make that sacrifice.
Karate was great last night, too. Because everyone is sick the class is really small. Even Matsuzono-sensei was sick, and we went home after our opening greetings. Koichiro and I are practicing for our next test which is on Friday, March 25th. We’ll both take the 4-kyu test for a purple belt. Suyama-sensei (another Nakako teacher) will be taking 2-kyu for his brown belt. They asked me again if I’ll participate in the World-Wide Renshinkan Competition in Kumamoto-ken in November. They can only have two people from our school go and I feel bad that I’ll be taking one of those spots. I’m sure there are students that deserve to go before me. But they say I could do well and I should go for the experience if nothing else. I have to learn many kata before November though.
Koichiro and I practiced the two new things that will be on our next test. This winter I’ve attended class much more often them him so I had to catch him up on a lot. The entire class it was just the two of us punching each other and defending ourselves. Just the way I like it. He’s so cute and so much fun—we can’t stop smiling when we’re together. Last Tuesday at practice when Matsuzono-sensei was teaching Koichirio and I something and we couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. I was gently reprimanded for not taking it seriously. But Koichiro was smiling just as much as I was and the more we tried to be serious, the harder it was not to laugh. You know how it goes.
Also last night, as we were just hanging around, I absentmindedly did a yoga pose—standing bow-pulling pose—and everyone gaped at my flexibility. I'm quite used to people being impressed with how flexible my legs are, but Koichiro was really impressed. In class everyday part of the warm up is doing the splits and Koichiro and I are the only ones who come even close to being able to do them (besides the kids under 6 years). Koichiro wanted to try bow-pulling pose, and we spent about 20 minutes working on that posture together—me demonstrating and correcting his positioning. He’s not very good at it yet, but he has the potential. I told him to practice in the sauna at the pool when his muscles are relaxed and warm. Or I said he could come down to my apartment and do yoga with me every morning at 6 a.m. He just laughed.
I’m having some doubts about my blog. I’m doing a lot of thinking about why I post “the diary of my life” on the internet. Who reads it anyway? Why does (if anyone) read the pages and pages of things I write on here? I wonder if I’m being too personal or descriptive about my job or the people around me. It’s one thing to write about myself, but I write about everyone. I’ll take this weekend to think about it, but reading Dooce’s website and some of my friends who have recently started their own blogs, has made me reconsider what I’m doing here.
Lost in thought,
Sierra
This morning I woke up with a mild sore throat. It’s no surprise really—everyone is sick right now. I just don’t want influenza (or “inhuruensa” as it’s pronounced here). This sore throat is very mild compared to most people. It doesn’t even hurt actually, it’s just red and inflamed. When I get “sick” it’s usually so mild that I only barely know that I got exposed to something and then it’s over. I bet this will not even last the weekend. A strong immune system is God’s greatest gift.
Last night I went up to the pool before going to karate. Both Thursday and Friday I was in the pool by 5 o’clock—at the same time as the small children’s lesson. Ages 6-8 or so. There’s only one free lane open at that time, but I’m usually the only person there so it’s not a problem. Ryohei (an employee who usually works as a trainer in the gym) and Tanabe both teach this group of kids and so we all sat around in the onsen (jacuzzi) chatting before it started. Ryohei’s English is really good. It sounds like he has lived in an English-speaking country for some time, but actually, I don't think he’s even visited one. I always ask him how he got to be so good, but he just says by talking to people. He doesn’t study, he says. Maybe he just has a knack for languages.
Ryohei asked about Kerry and her mom before telling me that his mother too has cancer. However, she is terminally ill with brain cancer. As he was telling me this he looked so sad that the American in me wanted to give him a big hug, or at least pat him on the shoulder to comfort him. But the Japanese inside me wouldn’t let me touch him. I had to force myself not to reach out because I know physical contact would have made him more uncomfortable than would have been comforting.
I met Ryohei back in August in the gym. He was working out when I arrived to lift weights and he came right up to me and started talking in English. For a minute I felt like I wasn’t in Japan. Actually I felt like I was back in Mexico. I don’t know why I felt like I was in Mexico. It may have been being in the gym (because I used the gym religiously in Mexico), combined with the fact that Ryohei’s English was so understandable, or because he is so un-Japanese in both personality and looks. Ryohei is not only really tall, but he is huge. He lifts a lot of weights and is… huge. Not fat—more like The Incredible Hulk. It may be his body type, but he looks Mexican to me. And he is relaxed around foreigners—willing to walk right up and start talking. I liked that.
Ryohei’s wife had just given birth to their first son when we first met. The baby was about a week old and I’ll never remember the first thing he told me about him. “It is always crying.” It. Not he. It. He sounded less overjoyed and more annoyed that this crying-machine had entered his life. Things are different now. He speaks lovingly of “it.” Maybe parenting comes a little slower to some of us, but I think he’ll be a great father.
Tanabe and I talked about baseball. Boring! I hate baseball, but I dated a enough baseball players in high school that I can tolerate it. Daniel and I went to a baseball game in Portland that I quite enjoyed. You just have to learn how to follow the game and keep yourself entertained between plays. The games are slow, but their pants are tight. It’s a trade-off. Tanabe has a game this Sunday that he invited me to, but it will probably be canceled with the snow. Next weekend, maybe. If watching baseball is what it takes to get friends my own age here, then I guess I’ll make that sacrifice.
Karate was great last night, too. Because everyone is sick the class is really small. Even Matsuzono-sensei was sick, and we went home after our opening greetings. Koichiro and I are practicing for our next test which is on Friday, March 25th. We’ll both take the 4-kyu test for a purple belt. Suyama-sensei (another Nakako teacher) will be taking 2-kyu for his brown belt. They asked me again if I’ll participate in the World-Wide Renshinkan Competition in Kumamoto-ken in November. They can only have two people from our school go and I feel bad that I’ll be taking one of those spots. I’m sure there are students that deserve to go before me. But they say I could do well and I should go for the experience if nothing else. I have to learn many kata before November though.
Koichiro and I practiced the two new things that will be on our next test. This winter I’ve attended class much more often them him so I had to catch him up on a lot. The entire class it was just the two of us punching each other and defending ourselves. Just the way I like it. He’s so cute and so much fun—we can’t stop smiling when we’re together. Last Tuesday at practice when Matsuzono-sensei was teaching Koichirio and I something and we couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. I was gently reprimanded for not taking it seriously. But Koichiro was smiling just as much as I was and the more we tried to be serious, the harder it was not to laugh. You know how it goes.
Also last night, as we were just hanging around, I absentmindedly did a yoga pose—standing bow-pulling pose—and everyone gaped at my flexibility. I'm quite used to people being impressed with how flexible my legs are, but Koichiro was really impressed. In class everyday part of the warm up is doing the splits and Koichiro and I are the only ones who come even close to being able to do them (besides the kids under 6 years). Koichiro wanted to try bow-pulling pose, and we spent about 20 minutes working on that posture together—me demonstrating and correcting his positioning. He’s not very good at it yet, but he has the potential. I told him to practice in the sauna at the pool when his muscles are relaxed and warm. Or I said he could come down to my apartment and do yoga with me every morning at 6 a.m. He just laughed.
I’m having some doubts about my blog. I’m doing a lot of thinking about why I post “the diary of my life” on the internet. Who reads it anyway? Why does (if anyone) read the pages and pages of things I write on here? I wonder if I’m being too personal or descriptive about my job or the people around me. It’s one thing to write about myself, but I write about everyone. I’ll take this weekend to think about it, but reading Dooce’s website and some of my friends who have recently started their own blogs, has made me reconsider what I’m doing here.
Lost in thought,
Sierra
Thursday, March 10, 2005
"Please join our race!"
Let me really quickly finish my weekend with Peter stories and then we can move on. Saturday evening after our beautiful drive on the old highway, we came back down to Narao and had yakiniku at Mizuno. I’ve raved about this restaurant before, but let me do it again! They have the best egg flower soup I’ve ever eaten, their use of sesame seeds is absolute genius and somehow the rice here is just 10 times better than rice anywhere—except my kocho-sensei’s house. His wife made some damn good rice too.
We came home and watched Pretty Woman and I tried really hard not to say all the lines along with the movie, but I think Peter would say I didn’t go a very good job of it. Sorry, I know everyone thinks that annoying, but I don’t think it’s annoying when other people do it. When you’re with me, please sing out the lines! I don't mind! It’s like singing to the radio in the car… so much fun you shouldn’t deny anyone the right!
Ice cream break. Chocolate-chip ice cream on a stick.
We tried to stay up to watch Akira Kuwosawa’s Dreams. I watched about 2 dreams before I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and fell asleep on the couch next to Peter. I don’t think he was too far behind me either. What I did see of this movie was really good, however, so I’m really sorry that I lost the DVD somewhere in the parking lot. …Just kidding, Yuka. I didn’t lose it! But you would have killed me, huh?
Sunday morning I made a Mexican-themed breakfast. Omelette in a tortilla, refried beans with cheddar cheese and sour cream. It doesn't sound very breakfasty, but it was noon by the time I got up. Luckily I had all those ingredients thanks to a recent Foreign Buyer’s Club-internet purchase. I got extra points in the "Presentation" and "Hard-to-Find Foods" categories. It was really good, if I may toot my own horn for a minute.
I had to take Peter to the port kind of early on Sunday because it’s a long trip back to Takashima and the last ferry back to his island leaves around 6 a.m. He left me with DVDs to watch and a Favorite Music CD. The CD is really good. I’ve been jamming with it anytime I go anywhere ever since he left. Today, I even took it out of my car CD player and brought it inside the school with me. It just sat on my desk all day, staring up at me. I never listened to it, of course, I just wanted it to be close-by in case I needed to sneak away with my computer and play a song or two. At the end of the day I packed it up and took it back out to the car with me to listen to on the way to the gym. Peter has really good taste in music. Or at least he happened to choose songs that I love.
Wednesday through Friday of this week there are no classes because the junior high schoolers are taking the high school entrance exams. I would take this opportunity to explain why there are high school entrance exams in Japan and do a little background info, but I just wrote my mom this nice letter explaining it all and I wouldn’t want her to read this first and be disappointed when she gets the letter. You can email my mom if you want the details. But, all you need to know for my next story is that I’ve had massive amounts of free time on my hands (approximately from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. without interruptions everyday) and I’ve been studying kanji and calligraphy for all of it. Except for short periods where I read the novel that Peter just finished. It’s really good. I’m not just saying that. I’d have finished it by now, but it’s on the computer and it's slow going.
Yesterday, our P.E. teacher, Tsuchiyama-sensei, who I absolutely adore, was the only one in the staff room for a bit so I was showing him my calligraphy from the junior high class. He took out this awesome brush pen and showed me some easier strokes than those in “love,” the kanji I practiced earlier. It was so much fun. He admitted to not being very good at calligraphy for a Japanese, but he still knows a lot more than I. I feel like I'm constantly learning and I love that feeling. It’s like being back in college…
A conversation I had with Peter (this is the Peter on this island now) last week gave me the courage to start asking if I could answer the staffroom phones. He mentioned how when the phone rings in the staffroom everyone races to answer it. No one person is responsible for the phones—it’s just a shared responsibility, but to be polite everyone tries to get there first. And it’s not just standing up to see that someone else is reaching for the phone. Three people will all race to the phone and don't stop until one of them has the phone in his or her hands. It’s absolutely unnecessary, but a part of the game. So today I’m in the staff room with Tsuchiyama-sensei and the phone rings. I ask if I could answer it and he says, “Yes, of course. Please join our race!”
I’m really looking forward to this new activity. All the calls are all transferred from the office downstairs anyway so it’s just a matter of saying Hello (or rather “Moshi, moshi”) and finding who the caller is looking for. I really want to yell out “Suyama-sensei, O-denwa desu!” in the high-pitched Japanese voice that everyone else uses. Most notably the voice of Norimura-sensei. I really enjoy imitating the voices of my co-workers. I have really good ones for Hatakeyama-sensei, kocho-sensei, Iwahashi-sensei, Mori-sensei, Takeda-sensei and Tomonoga-sensei. (Actually, I just gave a performance tonight at dinner with Shingo and some friends.) Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to this opportunity!
It's bedtime.
Racing with love,
Sierra
We came home and watched Pretty Woman and I tried really hard not to say all the lines along with the movie, but I think Peter would say I didn’t go a very good job of it. Sorry, I know everyone thinks that annoying, but I don’t think it’s annoying when other people do it. When you’re with me, please sing out the lines! I don't mind! It’s like singing to the radio in the car… so much fun you shouldn’t deny anyone the right!
Ice cream break. Chocolate-chip ice cream on a stick.
We tried to stay up to watch Akira Kuwosawa’s Dreams. I watched about 2 dreams before I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and fell asleep on the couch next to Peter. I don’t think he was too far behind me either. What I did see of this movie was really good, however, so I’m really sorry that I lost the DVD somewhere in the parking lot. …Just kidding, Yuka. I didn’t lose it! But you would have killed me, huh?
Sunday morning I made a Mexican-themed breakfast. Omelette in a tortilla, refried beans with cheddar cheese and sour cream. It doesn't sound very breakfasty, but it was noon by the time I got up. Luckily I had all those ingredients thanks to a recent Foreign Buyer’s Club-internet purchase. I got extra points in the "Presentation" and "Hard-to-Find Foods" categories. It was really good, if I may toot my own horn for a minute.
I had to take Peter to the port kind of early on Sunday because it’s a long trip back to Takashima and the last ferry back to his island leaves around 6 a.m. He left me with DVDs to watch and a Favorite Music CD. The CD is really good. I’ve been jamming with it anytime I go anywhere ever since he left. Today, I even took it out of my car CD player and brought it inside the school with me. It just sat on my desk all day, staring up at me. I never listened to it, of course, I just wanted it to be close-by in case I needed to sneak away with my computer and play a song or two. At the end of the day I packed it up and took it back out to the car with me to listen to on the way to the gym. Peter has really good taste in music. Or at least he happened to choose songs that I love.
Wednesday through Friday of this week there are no classes because the junior high schoolers are taking the high school entrance exams. I would take this opportunity to explain why there are high school entrance exams in Japan and do a little background info, but I just wrote my mom this nice letter explaining it all and I wouldn’t want her to read this first and be disappointed when she gets the letter. You can email my mom if you want the details. But, all you need to know for my next story is that I’ve had massive amounts of free time on my hands (approximately from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. without interruptions everyday) and I’ve been studying kanji and calligraphy for all of it. Except for short periods where I read the novel that Peter just finished. It’s really good. I’m not just saying that. I’d have finished it by now, but it’s on the computer and it's slow going.
Yesterday, our P.E. teacher, Tsuchiyama-sensei, who I absolutely adore, was the only one in the staff room for a bit so I was showing him my calligraphy from the junior high class. He took out this awesome brush pen and showed me some easier strokes than those in “love,” the kanji I practiced earlier. It was so much fun. He admitted to not being very good at calligraphy for a Japanese, but he still knows a lot more than I. I feel like I'm constantly learning and I love that feeling. It’s like being back in college…
A conversation I had with Peter (this is the Peter on this island now) last week gave me the courage to start asking if I could answer the staffroom phones. He mentioned how when the phone rings in the staffroom everyone races to answer it. No one person is responsible for the phones—it’s just a shared responsibility, but to be polite everyone tries to get there first. And it’s not just standing up to see that someone else is reaching for the phone. Three people will all race to the phone and don't stop until one of them has the phone in his or her hands. It’s absolutely unnecessary, but a part of the game. So today I’m in the staff room with Tsuchiyama-sensei and the phone rings. I ask if I could answer it and he says, “Yes, of course. Please join our race!”
I’m really looking forward to this new activity. All the calls are all transferred from the office downstairs anyway so it’s just a matter of saying Hello (or rather “Moshi, moshi”) and finding who the caller is looking for. I really want to yell out “Suyama-sensei, O-denwa desu!” in the high-pitched Japanese voice that everyone else uses. Most notably the voice of Norimura-sensei. I really enjoy imitating the voices of my co-workers. I have really good ones for Hatakeyama-sensei, kocho-sensei, Iwahashi-sensei, Mori-sensei, Takeda-sensei and Tomonoga-sensei. (Actually, I just gave a performance tonight at dinner with Shingo and some friends.) Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to this opportunity!
It's bedtime.
Racing with love,
Sierra
The World Stops
My kanji and kana book arrived in the mail… how many days ago? I don’t even know, but since then EVERYTHING else has been on hold while I pour through the book, looking up new kanji, counting the stroke order, writing new ones over and over again. I practice them until I’m completely satisfied with the look of each one. Last night I stayed up until 12:30 a.m. going through my textbook and re-writing sentence after sentence in as much kanji as I can. I’m obsessed with learning the correct stoke order and making every kanji I write beautiful. Rote memorization of the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings of each one is not as important to me, but be able to put them together and read and write nouns is my goal.
This sudden infatuation is not only a result of my new book (which lists all officially recognized 1,945 Joyo kanji and 284 jinmei-yo kanji), but also because I recently attended a shuji (calligraphy) class with my first year junior high school students. It was amazing. I loved that class and am determined to find a teacher or class somewhere. I believe my pool friend Shigehisa goes to a shuji class on Thursday nights and I might ask if I can join him. On Tuesday I chose just one kanji on the page in the textbook the students were working on. It happened to be “ai” which means love. It looks like this 愛. It is much too difficult for a beginner, but it was what all the students were working on so I did too.
It’s fascinating. It just looks like a bunch of lines at first, then you try to draw it and the teacher comes over and points out that this middle section is too small. “Look closely at the textbook example,” she says. Of course, yeah. I try again. This time I get in line like the other students to get it critiqued. My turn comes up. I’m pretty satisfied with this second attempt. The teacher sweeps over the top of my page with her orange correction paint, “Look carefully. This line shouldn’t be straight. You must bend it slightly here and press hard to make it thick at the end.” A detail I completely overlooked that is now so blaringly obvious. Seven more attempts and lots of orange paint and each stroke only seems harder. Hold your brush vertical to the paper. Push here and here. Release slowly and twist your brush upwards.
It reminds me of yoga class. It was so easy the first time. I could do every pose and never got very tired. Second class was harder, but I blamed it on the heat. Eventually, with each class, as the teacher came over to correct my positioning—rotate my hips, flatten my back, relax my shoulder blades and still stretch up through my arms—I realize why it was easy before. Ignorance was bliss.
Okay, I’m out the door to have dinner with Shingo and Catherine tonight. I probably won’t post again until tomorrow because when I get home I’ll want to practice kanji until all hours of the night. But I do have things to share later! Like I’m taking the test for karate purple belt in two weeks! And I’m not dating Peter! (I’ve had some people ask and I guess it wasn’t really clear in the last posting. We’re not dating.)
Love, Sierra
This sudden infatuation is not only a result of my new book (which lists all officially recognized 1,945 Joyo kanji and 284 jinmei-yo kanji), but also because I recently attended a shuji (calligraphy) class with my first year junior high school students. It was amazing. I loved that class and am determined to find a teacher or class somewhere. I believe my pool friend Shigehisa goes to a shuji class on Thursday nights and I might ask if I can join him. On Tuesday I chose just one kanji on the page in the textbook the students were working on. It happened to be “ai” which means love. It looks like this 愛. It is much too difficult for a beginner, but it was what all the students were working on so I did too.
It’s fascinating. It just looks like a bunch of lines at first, then you try to draw it and the teacher comes over and points out that this middle section is too small. “Look closely at the textbook example,” she says. Of course, yeah. I try again. This time I get in line like the other students to get it critiqued. My turn comes up. I’m pretty satisfied with this second attempt. The teacher sweeps over the top of my page with her orange correction paint, “Look carefully. This line shouldn’t be straight. You must bend it slightly here and press hard to make it thick at the end.” A detail I completely overlooked that is now so blaringly obvious. Seven more attempts and lots of orange paint and each stroke only seems harder. Hold your brush vertical to the paper. Push here and here. Release slowly and twist your brush upwards.
It reminds me of yoga class. It was so easy the first time. I could do every pose and never got very tired. Second class was harder, but I blamed it on the heat. Eventually, with each class, as the teacher came over to correct my positioning—rotate my hips, flatten my back, relax my shoulder blades and still stretch up through my arms—I realize why it was easy before. Ignorance was bliss.
Okay, I’m out the door to have dinner with Shingo and Catherine tonight. I probably won’t post again until tomorrow because when I get home I’ll want to practice kanji until all hours of the night. But I do have things to share later! Like I’m taking the test for karate purple belt in two weeks! And I’m not dating Peter! (I’ve had some people ask and I guess it wasn’t really clear in the last posting. We’re not dating.)
Love, Sierra
Monday, March 07, 2005
Hostess With The Mostest!
My second official visitor arrives! Peter made it to Kamigoto Island this weekend! Friday night I took him out to dinner at Kawayasu Ramen (where else?) before heading to karate where he met my wonderful teacher, Matsuzono-sensei and co-worker, Koichiro. That was interesting… I was so (unnecessarily) nervous about him meeting them. I practiced my kata for a while and then joined Koichiro on the punching bags. I was really embarrassed to introduce Peter and Koichiro (again, unnecessarily), but at some point I went out to Koichiro’s car to get some water and when I came back Koichiro and Peter were playing together nicely. I don’t know how that introduction went, but I’m glad I wasn’t there for it. No one asked if Peter was my boyfriend, though I was prepared with my answer, “Chigau yo!” (Thanks, Peter! =)
It was nice to have Peter there because he could finally translate a few things for me! They usually just talk on and on to me without much regard to whether or not I’m understanding. I assume a lot (for example, I assume that Matsuzono-sensei ADORES me!) but this weekend I was able to confirm it! Also, my name was printed in the karate school newspaper. Well, my katakana name (シエラケニー) was printed for passing the last test, go-kyu.
After class, when all the good stuff happens, I got to “fight” with Matsuzono-sensei. Sometimes he gets playful enough that he just attacks me. Usually it’s not until I provoke him enough, and so I guess I managed again. Tonight’s theme was “How high can she kick?” and so I had to do lots of kicking above my head before they would let me play around again. Bother.
True Story:
When it was time to go and I was redressing, I put on my baseball hat and said, “I want to be a boy.” To which Koichiro replied, “You already are,” (Said in Japanese, of course, but I ASSUMED that’s what he said and Peter only confirmed I was correct. I’m getting too good at this assumption thing…) When I gave Koichiro the appropriate scowl he said to me, “No, You are a pretty girl. Very, very, very, very pretty girl,” I may be wrong on the number of times he said “very” but it seemed like a lot at the time. I ignored his comment on the outside, but inside I was absolutely shocked. I thought he was already being pretty flirtatious with me considering Peter was there and then this hard-core comment! Sometimes Koichiro can be so subtle, and then other times...well, now I have a witness to prove it. This is not all in my head. Peter explained that sometimes, even Japanese men, are flirtatious and that may just be what I’m up against. It’s the best explanation for this wicked behavior.
Excited to play hostess for the weekend, Saturday morning I woke up before Peter and made him Sierra’s favorite meal of the day: Breakfast! We had pancakes, eggs, sausages, fruit and yogurt! I forgot to take a picture, but here is Peter sitting under my kotatsu after the meal.
It was nice to have Peter there because he could finally translate a few things for me! They usually just talk on and on to me without much regard to whether or not I’m understanding. I assume a lot (for example, I assume that Matsuzono-sensei ADORES me!) but this weekend I was able to confirm it! Also, my name was printed in the karate school newspaper. Well, my katakana name (シエラケニー) was printed for passing the last test, go-kyu.
After class, when all the good stuff happens, I got to “fight” with Matsuzono-sensei. Sometimes he gets playful enough that he just attacks me. Usually it’s not until I provoke him enough, and so I guess I managed again. Tonight’s theme was “How high can she kick?” and so I had to do lots of kicking above my head before they would let me play around again. Bother.
True Story:
When it was time to go and I was redressing, I put on my baseball hat and said, “I want to be a boy.” To which Koichiro replied, “You already are,” (Said in Japanese, of course, but I ASSUMED that’s what he said and Peter only confirmed I was correct. I’m getting too good at this assumption thing…) When I gave Koichiro the appropriate scowl he said to me, “No, You are a pretty girl. Very, very, very, very pretty girl,” I may be wrong on the number of times he said “very” but it seemed like a lot at the time. I ignored his comment on the outside, but inside I was absolutely shocked. I thought he was already being pretty flirtatious with me considering Peter was there and then this hard-core comment! Sometimes Koichiro can be so subtle, and then other times...well, now I have a witness to prove it. This is not all in my head. Peter explained that sometimes, even Japanese men, are flirtatious and that may just be what I’m up against. It’s the best explanation for this wicked behavior.
Excited to play hostess for the weekend, Saturday morning I woke up before Peter and made him Sierra’s favorite meal of the day: Breakfast! We had pancakes, eggs, sausages, fruit and yogurt! I forgot to take a picture, but here is Peter sitting under my kotatsu after the meal.
It started snowing pretty hard Saturday morning, but we decided to brave the elements to take a walking tour of Narao. At some moments it was snowing pretty hard, but somehow didn’t feel too cold for the majority of the walk. The sun even broke out a couple of times and we thought it might even clear up. It didn't, but we were okay with the snow.
The snow from my apartment balcony.
Me at the graveyard near my apartment.
Nagasaki’s oldest banyan tree (“akou” in Japanese) lives in Narao. 655 years old! There will be some more pictures from this in the coming weeks…
The bell at Narao’s shine.
Me and Peter in the reflection of a mirror. See, it was sort of sunny!
After showing him the highlights: Narao’s post office! Yeah! Narao’s town office! Super! And our onsen, rock garden, bridge, grocery store, tunnel, concrete factory, and the new sidewalk, we went back to my apartment for some lunch. Before it got too cloudy and dark we decided to drive the old highway north towards Arikawa. I was trying to get to the top of Sannouzan Mountain (山王山) near Nakanoura Bay, which I think is the tallest mountain on the island at 449 meters. The road which appeared to lead the way was closed for construction, but I’ll have to go back again in the spring. I’m determined to find my way to the top of that mountain! Because we were higher in elevation the snow was sticking and the views were absolutely magnificent. I couldn’t help but rub it in. My island is better than your island. Everyone’s island. Even if you don’t live on an island, mine is better than yours.
We took all the side roads we could find and eventually wound up at the end of this road with a few houses and an ocean stadium. It was like a huge concrete stadium and the ocean was the stage. No doubt the site of at least one small festival each year—I’d love to know when it is. We started to explore the shore and went as far around as we could, jumping slippery rocks and teetering over the ocean. Here’s the view from the furthest out we could get.
Peter on the shore.
Continuing on the old road to Arikawa we found some of the most beautiful views on the east side of the island. I can’t believe I hadn’t been on this drive yet! Several times, we just had to stop the car, walk to the edge of the road and pour over the views of the ocean, valleys, and mountains. These following pictures don’t nearly do it justice. Peter took some more pictures with his film camera and as soon as he gets them developed I’m sure he’ll pass them on to me. (Please, Peter!)
A blue-green bay buried deep inside the valley.
The Great Road of Kamigoto.
Ominous clouds.
Me, ruining the beautiful view.
And Kuro kuma-kun looked so cute there I had to take his picture.
I'm no tomboy!!
Peter and me.
The road eventually led us back to Arikawa, and we were very near the lookout point that Yuka and I hiked last weekend, so we decided to check it out. This mountain is called Yuguredake and I believe it’s the tallest in Arikawa. On the drive up Peter spotted a wild boar scurry into the woods. I’m so glad because a trip to Goto isn’t complete until you’ve seen a wild boar. The snow had really settled here on this peak and it was so gorgeous. I told a couple co-workers this weekend that I hate snow and I hoped it didn't snow this weekend, but I take it all back! Really, I just don’t like driving in it! This light dusting was no problem for Kuro kuma-kun, however.
Here are the views from Yuguredake. They are approximately north-east and east.
The round thing at the top of this picture is the little observation deck.
Which do you like better? This one…
…or this one? (Vote for me!)
Snowy steps.
Peter on the snowy steps.
Tsubaki leaves.
This is a tsubaki (camellia). I’ve mentioned it a few times before. The official flower of Goto Islands because they are so plentiful here. And beautiful when covered in snow.
Tsubaki without snow.
And if you aren’t jealous yet. We’ve got oranges growing on wild trees all over the place! Here’s one along side the road.
I’m going to post the stories from the second half of Peter’s trip tomorrow because I’m exhausted! Here are all the pictures anyway!
Love to you all,
Sierra
