The End of an Era

Allison left Japan for the foreseeable future on July 28th, bringing the tremendous trio down to a dynamic duo. While Jamie and I may find new people to share our dessert and purikura passion, it will never be the same.

We needed to finish strong, so after the “Sayonara Party” for Allison and Johnathan, we went to Hagen-Daz for ice cream and ended the night with two sets of commemorative purikura. The mad skillz (multiple poses, sultry expressions, and fast draw decorating) acquired over the course of the year really help take these to a whole new level.

Baby Rice

As soggy and moldy June is, it is essential to the Japanese way of life because it is when the rice is planted. After biking past fallow fields since the harvest in late October, it was nice to see little green shoots sticking out of the ground again. But they did not stay little for long! I experienced a strange sense of pride at their growth; strange because I had absolutely nothing to do with the planting.

When the rice is young, you can see the muddy paddy and standing water between the plants. The fields become tiny eco-systems, full of snails and frogs, and of course the long-legged birds that like to feed on them. At night, the frogs are audible from my apartment.

When it is sunny, the water reflects the blue sky and clouds.

Sunsets are twice as nice, mirrored in the standing water.

[Note: Before heading home at the beginning of August, there was still some space between the plants. Upon returning however, the paddies closest to my apartment are solid green, and the rice is about 6 inches higher than I remember it being last year!]

Straight Hair

Hard to believe that two short weeks ago, for about 36 hours, my hair looked like this:

That's Yasu on the right, the man with the magic (a.k.a. a professional straight iron and about four times as much patience for straightening hair than I have.)

And now it's back to it's normal nest-y appearance. I think once the summer sweat fest is over, I am going back to chin length or so again. What's the point of long hair if I am never going to do anything to it except sleep on it wet and then put it up when I see the resulting mess the next morning?

News Flash!!

At 5 PM on July 7th, 2008 the current temperature in Kurume is 91 degrees Farenheight. With 63% humidity, Yahoo Weather says it feels like 104 degrees Farenheight!

No wonder Allison said she felt like she was in Mexico while we were biking home.

No wonder I was a sweaty mess after teaching four classes of "actions" (stand up, sit down, walk, run, stop etc) in un-airconditioned classrooms on the 3rd floor.

It's officially hot now, and don't want anyone trying to tell me otherwise.

おたんじょうび おめでとう アメリカ！！

Happy Birthday America!!! How 4 Americans, one New Zelander and one very out-numbered Japanese person celebrated the 4th of July.


It all started several months ago--I was over at Dave's apartment, and he was showing me the newly cleaned grill sitting un-used on his patio. We were both thinking the same thing, that it was about time for a barbecue! However, many weeks passed and it took the combined birthdays of my glorious motherland (July 4, 1776)



and the handsome Keizo (July 7, 1981) to actually make it happen.



Last Thursday I sent Dave a text message asking if had plans for the weekend, and if not, would he be interested in a 4th of July barbecue? I had also causually mentioned the barbecue to Allison and Jamie, so it's a good thing that Dave wasn't busy. We decided that after a tiring week at school, it would be better to have our little potluck on Saturday rather than Friday; and hey, with the 16 hour time difference, we would be partying right along with heartiest of the 4th of July revelers at home! I had already made tentative plans to celebrate Keizo's birthday with him on Saturday, but why not just combine the two?

Preparations got underway in my apartment Friday night, when I went out in search of ingredients for "Mocha Ooey Gooey Cake." I found most of them, although the box of chocolate cake mix was much smaller than the ones I know from home, and there was no instant chocolate pudding mix to be found. I substituted regular pudding mix and added some melted chocolate bar. These ingredients with some butter and eggs form the bottom layer of the cake. The top layer consists of cream cheese, more butter, more eggs, strong coffee and powdered sugar. These were all readily available at "Amusement Food Holes," one of the more upscale grocery stores on the main road near my apartment.

I started baking on Saturday morning after being rudely awoken at 7:45 AM by an army of landscapers. I am awake and practically out of the house by 7:45 AM on any other day of the week...WHY DID THEY COME ON A SATURDAY?? I was not a happy camper, but in retrospect it probably was for the best, as there is a lot to do to get ready for a party. I had the first layer of the cake in the pan and had blended the second layer into creamy goodness when I realized that the proportion of bottom to top was way off--nor would all of the top layer fit in my small pan without serious overflow. So I used about half of it, and the rest is sitting in my fridge, waiting for another half of a cake to cover. I haven't baked in ages, so I was a bit worried about the results, but how could so much sugar and fat taste bad? Plus, I made sure to serve it with ice cream, so that any unsavory parts could be covered up by more sugar and fat. No one complained.

Going into the oven. Unfortunately, I was too slow to capture the few moments the finished product was adorned with glowing candles.


After the cake, I started on the potato salad. Nothing too extraordinary there, just good, old American barbecue side dish. I am pretty excited to eat the leftovers this week. Then it was lunch, a trip to the 100 yen store for some decorations, and some vaccuuming. Keizo told me he was going to come over at 5; but he walked in the door at 4:30. As a result, I wasn't quite ready for him and he had to decorate for his own party. Kinda lame. But at least the party itself was a surprise!

Everyone was told to come over around 6 for delicious eating. Jamie was there, but Allison, Dave, and Dave's downstairs neighbor Murray, were all missing. Jamie left and came back, Allison returned from an afternoon of shodo, and around 7:30 Dave and Murray came over with the burgers and to rescue Keizo from the intimidating trifecta of hungry, noisy girls. Let's just say, the burgers were definitely worth the wait!

OMG! Delicious!!


After the burgers, cake and ice cream, it was time for the fireworks. When Dave went out to buy charcoal for his grill, I asked him to see if he could find some sparklers. He came back with what looked a bit like sparklers, but packed a whole lot more punch. The picture on the back of the bag showed them sticking out of an empty bottle, but we had not ventured outside prepared. Jamie stuck one in the ground and lit it. It shot up, over Keizo's car and straight towards the neighbor's window with a shower of sparks and incredibly lound BANG! at the end. We decided to move to an area with more room for the rest of the pack, which we split between the rice fields and a nearby park. As far as we know, fireworks are completely legal, hence the relative ease Dave found them, but I am still surprised no police were called to investigate.

The night ended with some hose spraying, and watching the New Zealand/South Africa rugby match in Murray's apartment. I asked Keizo what he thought of the party and my friends. His only comment was directed at Jamie and Allison, and it was "Are they always like that?"

Yes, yes they are. Happy Birthday!!

Rain, rain go away...

There’s hardly any point in reading the weather report for the whole month of June. It’s pretty much guaranteed that you will get rained on everyday. Welcome to tsuyu! Hope you have a kappa (condom-like, non-breathable, rubber suit to wear while biking, which may or may not keep you dry)

With rain coming down in sheets, severely limiting visibility and flooding the roads, it may seem like a less than opportune time to rent a car and test one’s ability to drive on the opposite side of the road. Blame our soggy brains, but the usual trio of intrepid explorers thought otherwise. True, I was very reluctant at first---but two wet weekends confined in my apartment made me change my mind. There’s only so much poorly whitewashed wall and tatami mat that can be appreciated before going insane. Let’s go!! Anywhere but here…

Starting out, looks like it's going to be a wet one to me!!
Luckily, Japan as a whole and Kyushu to an even greater extent, is pretty small. A few hours drive can take you to an entirely different prefecture and offer a glimpse of a completely different way of life.

Small car for a small country with small roads.
Different Area 1: Miyazaki-ken. In a nutshell--hilly, redicuously green, rivers at full capacity and swollen waterfalls, a random hostel and delicious cuisine.

Our main destination in northern Miyazaki-ken, Takachiho Gorge. What we might have seen in nicer weather...

...and the brown sludge we actually did see. The biggest disappointment? No boat rides. Next, we drove around to get a feel for the area. We stopped for a brief snack and consulted a poorly drawn tourist map to determine the next sights on the agenda. We picked a waterfall and senic overlook called something like "Sea of the Clouds." Since it was rainy, we thought it would be pretty impressive. The waterfall turned out to be way better.

The road to the watefall trail head was narrow and wind-y. I felt like I manuevered our little car over at least 2 huge mountains in the process. We chose Justin Timberlake for the soundtrack during this portion of the adventure, and thought we were probably the first people ever to listen to his music on this particular stretch of road. Taking "internationalization" to a whole new level.

We parked in a deserted parking area and took our umbrellas along for the very soggy hike to the waterfall. Water was running down the concrete stairs and it was rather slippery. Luckily no one slipped, and the somewhat precarious trip was definitely worth it. The waterfall, which looked pretty in the brochures was swollen from all of the rain and shooting out of its crevasse with a loud roar.

Not your typical hiking look.

This picture hardly does the watefall justice. Imagine an intense roaring sound and lots of spray.The "Sea of Clouds" lookout was the next stop. It was pretty, but nothing like the photos which showed thick blankets of clouds at sunset.

Yay for the self timer on Jamie's camera.Lots of driving, and a few u-turns later, we arrived at our odd little hostel at the edge of an odd little town that was already in the middle of nowhere. The building reminded me of my summer camp counselor days. The entrance opened up into a huge common room with a long table down the middle and a basketball hoop on the wall. There was an industrial kitchen behind the front desk and two hallways leading back to the rooms. The room looked like every other Japanese style hostel room I have ever stayed in, but the bathroom was an odd configuration and had the tiniest sink I have ever seen. The lovely proprietors, recommended a local izakaya for dinner and we set out to enjoy chicken namban, the local specialty of the region. A simple description is chicken tempura. I think the plate below cost 600 yen and tasted like twice that much.

After dinner we took in a odd play at the local shrine and headed back to the hostel for an early night. I think we were all showered and in bed before 10. There's really not that much to do in the inaka.

A final view of picturesque Miyazaki-ken before we head to Oita.

Totally different area 2: Beppu, Oita-ken--touristy with tacky themed steam vents.

Stop #1. Somewhat surreal monkey mountain. We hopped on a tram that took us up into the forest. We hadn't stopped yet when we saw the first "wild" monkeys. From what I understand, these monkeys are wild in the sense that they can walk away any time they want, but when you get fed three times a day by a man with a microphone, no one is going anywhere. The monkeys are very accostumed to humans, and you can get really close to them, as Jamie demonstrates below.

When it was feeding time, the monkeys came out of the forest in a disgusting rat-like surge, screaming and running all over one another and some small children that stood too close. It was a little disturbing in my opinion. The babies were incredibly cute though!!

Monkeys weren't the only animals we saw in Beppu. In the heart of the city are the famous "Hells" or natural steam vents that draw people from all over Japan to soak in their warm fabulousness. Since every steaming pond looks pretty much the same, enterprising people have added themes to a bunch of them, and for a special price, you can buy a booklet of tickets that admits you to each of them. We started out at the Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) which had a lovely turquoise color and a quaint basket for boiling eggs sticking in it. While some hot springs are acutally this color, Lonely Planet informs me that the Sea Hell is dyed.

There were some mud spurting hells...

...and the graphically named Chi-no-ike Jigoku (Blood Pool Hell).

Even more shameful than dyeing the water were the "hells" which claimed the steamy temperatures were ideal for breeding exotic animals. It was really unfortunate to see very large animals like a hippo and an elephant in impossibly small quarters, but at the same time, I don't know when I will get to feed them again. That was kind of fun and really disgusting at the same time.

Hungry, hungry, hippo for real.

At the completely rediculous Oni-yama Jigoku (Devil's Mountain Hell) only trained professionals (i.e. a local high schooler earning minimum wage) were allowed to feed the animals, which were a variety of sullen looking crocodiles, caiman and alligators. The kid who feed them clearly loved his job and putting on a show, dangling raw chicken over a pool full of about 30 huge animals, causing them to climb on top of one another and smash into the concrete walls to get at a piece of the action. I could hardly watch the whole thing, convinced that he was going to lose an arm in the process.
We also made a brief stop at the Sex Museum, which was...an experience. The whole building was lit in soft pink light, and various dioramas and the porn theater made for an interesting soundtrack. The first floor was dedicated to small ceramic figurines in various positions, a large collection of wooden dildoes, and a section with life size replicas of large mammal genitalia. Upstairs was a collection of erotic prints with all of the crotches blurred out. If you are in Beppu and want to experience something other than the onsens, stop by. Do not however, make a special trip.

Thus concluded our brief weekend adventure that took us to two completely different areas of Kyushu via a completely different mode of transportation than we are used to. While we were in possesion of our little car with its fancy navigation system, we felt so adult and free!! Bad weather? Dark out? No problem!! We can conquer it all. As soon as we returned it to the rental place (conveniently within walking distance of the jutaku) we were reduced back to our normal, less glamourous and at times severely limited, bicycle riding selves. Sigh.

What am I [still] doing here?

As I approach month 11 in this crazy place called Japan, I find myself wondering "what am I doing here?" quite often. Like today, when I was riding my bike home, and a little old lady opened her front door to toss out the mop water and hit the front of my bike square on. I only got a few splashes myself, and was really too shocked to be the least bit angry. It was like a scene from a period drama from a previous century. Really, how many of you can say that has happened to you?

Or yesterday, when I was talking to the lovely Araki Junior High office lady, and she asked me if the steering wheels in American cars were set up differently from Japanese cars. Which side was the blinker on? What about the wiper control? I couldn't for the life of me remember. Yeah...I've been here that long.

Even if these moments happen a bit more often now that they did a few months ago, they are as always, tempered by entertaining moments, many of them involving my students (which is the best answer I can come up with at the moment to the above quandry.)

A few weeks ago, I taught 6th grade at an elementary school. I had taught these students before as 5th graders, and I asked if they remembered my name. They knew I wasn't Allison, and someone threw out "Johnathan" too before I wrote a "W" on the board followed by four blanks to jog their memories. Someone eventually remembered, but not before one kid shouted out "Wario!!" Yes, I am Wario. My go-kart is parked out front, and I shaved off the mustache before class.

At the same school, in a different class, I was giving out stickers to the students who volunteered their answers to a worksheet we did about the weather. At the end of class, a very persistant boy came up to me asking for more stickers in Japanese. I told him if he could say it in English, I would give him one. He couldn't figure it out, but he did call me beautiful, showed me that his eyebrows had been shaved off (?) and after a hint from a friend, said that I was "charming." Even my junior high boys haven't used that word yet! Alas, by this time there was a large crowd and I didn't want to give just him a sticker because then everyone else would want one too. I'm mean, I know.

Last week, I was as Tachiarai Junior High School, and the 8th graders were practicing the phrase "There is/There are" and simple prepositions (near, by, on, under etc) Their activity was to draw their ideal bedroom. Then they each picked one thing from their room to tell me, and I drew it on the board. There were some amazing things in the rooms to be sure...but the most unusual were a soundproof chamber, a 7-11, and a baseball stadium. Last Friday, I was scheduled at elementary school, and the lesson plan fax just said "Where is _____?" so I thought I would try and repeat the activity. In hindsight, it was rather ambitious of me, considering the 8th graders weren't even comfortable making the sentences. So after the first class, I dropped the sentence aspect and taught some furniture vocabulary and just let the 5th graders go for it. I liked their rooms even better than the 8th graders'. On the worksheet, I had drawn a rectangular room with one door and three windows. Most students stayed within these boundaries, but at least one added stairs to an upper and lower level, and a few added more windows. I was really impressed with the number who made toilets and shower rooms! I had sort of intended for those to be down the hall, but kudos for the kids being prepared. In my example, I drew an indoor pool and an ice cream stand in my ideal room, so there were many others with those features. I wasn't prepared for the dozens of room sized aquariums though, and the boats needed to get to from the door to the bed. Several girls drew large closets, one girl had a tree which grew every kind of fruit you could want, there was one bowling alley and a boy added a Shinkansen track. So much fun!

This week at junior high, my students lack of English knowledge actually came in handy. In 8th grade we filled a few minutes at the end of class with some Hangman. I had just won a round with the word "cloudy," and wrote up the blanks for the next word. Many times, the first three letters guessed are "s" "e" and "x" and if I am not paying attention, I will inadvertantly write "sex" on the board much to the delight of the boys in the class. Thankfully, this appears to be the only raunchy word they know, or at least know how to spell. My second word was "passport," straight out of the textbook, and after the normal first three letters were guessed, the next one was "a." Only the teacher and I seemed to notice what was on the board. It did seem to take an eternity for them to guess the other letters correctly though.

Today, I got to teach "vegetables" to 2nd grade elementary students. This is only the 3rd time since the beginning of the new school year in April that I've taught a class under 5th grade. I've missed the little ones!! While the lesson was pretty standard--introducing vocabulary, making them repeat, repeat, repeat and then playing some games; lunch was more memorable. First, I'd barely peeled the the seal off of my milk bottle when this crazy boy ran up to show me his empty bowls, and then proceeded to demonstrate how he ate so fast. Gross. The teeny boy I was sitting next to is a little behind the rest of the class, but soooooo adorable. He continually wanted to line up our milk bottles to see who had drunk more, and towards the end, insisted that we link arms and finish our lunches this way. I am not sure he would have suggested it had he been the one sitting on the left. Conveniently, his right arm was free to weild his chopsticks, while mine was now pulled down by his shorter height and trapped next to his body by his left arm. Luckily, I only had my rice left, and managed alright. If I had needed to eat my miso soup though, it would have been a disaster.