pictures

I recently got home after a trip down to the southern island of Shikoku for spring break. I went with Bryan and two friends and we biked and camped our way onto the island. It was beautiful. A few days into the trip my friend Ty met up with us and took Bryan and I to a few beaches and then back to his place. I've started a flickr account and posted some pictures of the trip along with various other photos from Japan. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelsbananatree/

Big city livin

That's right, it's a portable dog grooming van. Talk about progress! It's moments like these that we country bumpkins live for, it's why we visited Kyoto in the first place. Enlightenment is upon us.

Bryan

Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging

Here's my latest creation (well, I should say "our" since I do have help). Today we mixed it up a little and moved the part that you actually stick the stems into over to the far right side of the vase leaving space on the left for filling. The whole process is starting to feel more comfortable to me. I like that it has rules I can learn to follow, and yet still be creative in my placement of most everything. I'm really glad I'm learning something about a traditional Japanese art, it is one of the bright parts of my adventure here. Every time I look at a finished flower arrangement I can't really believe that I arranged it. (This one smells amazing too.) The cherry blossoms are starting to bloom on Asuwa mountain. Bryan brought a little bloom home from a walk yesterday and it smells like spring. The weather has been downright balmy for the last week or two compared to the freezing winter we had. We are soaking up the sun and warm breezes like little bears waking up from months of hibernation.

Happy Valentines Day

I had rather disheartening experience today.
There is a bulletin board in the hallway that I am allowed to decorate. I usually put up something about the holidays. I thought for Valentine's Day it would be nice to give the students (and teachers) some chocolates. So I went to the store and bought three bags of chocolates, and folded up an origami box to hold them, and decorated a sign saying "Happy Valentines Day!" with pink and red paper and stapled it all up in the hallway. Within minutes a teacher told me that students cannot eat candy at school and that I should talk to my supervisor about it. Then about two minutes later the same teacher informed me that he had spoken to the vice principal and that I had to take it down. Just like that. No acknowledgement of the trouble I had gone to. Just shut down.
I think rules have their place, and I am especially willing to follow them if I know what purpose they serve. But to me, if you can't be flexible, it shows not strict morals, but a need for power or control. I find this current running through the school system here, and it makes for students who rebel, or have their spirit broken, and sit vacant eyed an resentful in front of me. Sure there are plenty of students who follow the rules and have no problem sitting up straight in class and keeping their hair the right length. But even those students are having their creativity stifled instead of nourished, and as a result, are afraid to raise their hand in my classes for fear of making a mistake, or don't know how to give their own opinion because there is no right answer. It is a difficult environment to work in, especially for someone who cares deeply about children, and compounded by the fact that I have no authority to change it or even communicate with the students beyond their limited English ability and my non existent Japanese ability allows.
But despite my frustrations I know I am learning from the experience. Learning to let go and have patience. I hope that in Spain I work with teachers who inspire me and their students, so that I can learn what to do instead of what not to do.

some great perspective on creativity

If you've got about 20 minutes to spare, watch this great video about creativity and genius. It's a talk by the author of Eat Pray Love. And if you haven't checked out ted.com before, definitely look at some other videos too, there's something for everyone. enjoy!


http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/453

awww

I had to share this Valentine's Day card I got from a student. One English teacher at my junior high school has had students making Valentines cards, so I've gotten several, and they really do warm my heart. Even though some of them probably don't even know what they are writing!

soon the cherry blossoms outside will bloom

I'm still taking flower arranging classes from the secretary at the high school where I work once a week. She's been doing flower arranging for 25 years. She speaks English well, and i may have mentioned this, but I still can't believe it, she lives with her parents. This flower arrangement was the last of this style, the "straight" style, so I did it mostly by myself. Next time we'll start on a different style.











about a week later the cherry blossoms started to open.

Spring is officially here

Feb. 4th was the last day of winter according to the lunar calendar, and here in Japan, this calls for celebration. At work I was given this massive sushi roll, and only later learned the story. Each year an auspicious direction is chosen and you must face this direction as you eat your sushi in silence to welcome good luck. Also it is traditional to throw beans outside to cast away demons and welcome good spirits. Sometimes people even dress up as demons and people throw beans at them. It is also customary to eat one more bean than your age, I can't explain that one.
But I can feel the sunshine that has been warming my face since then, and can't help but think that they have properly welcomed spring.

A time of decisions

Hello all,
Spring is in the air here in Fukui, and with it are blowing the winds of change. Today is the official day of the decision to keep our jobs here for another year, or to move on. Bryan and I have been tossing around various ideas for the last few weeks, and ultimately have decided it's time to move on. Though the ratio of actual work to the amount of compensation we receive is incredible, many other factors our pulling us towards new horizons. (Or away from them, depending on how you look at it, as it's the name of the text book series we use.) For me a lack of job satisfaction is one of the main factors, along with almost no progression of my Japanese language skills, effectively making me a tourist/English speaking hermit in my everyday life.
Now we get to the exciting part, what's next? Bryan and I are applying to a program to teach English in Spain. We want to travel some more while we have the opportunity, and teaching English seems like a good vehicle for working abroad. We are willing to take a pay cut if it means a better teaching environment, and a language that is easy to learn (or that we already know), and lots of travel opportunities nearby. The program we want to do starts in October which means we'll be coming back to the states for a few months which we're also very excited about! We'll find out in April if we are accepted, and we leave Japan in July. After our stint in Spain we'll be coming back to the states for graduate school. I'm planning to get a masters in counseling psychology, which is a recent decision, and one that came to me in a flash and just seemed to fit. And Bryan is going to continue his dream career as a poet/college professor (to pay the bills). So that sums up our plans for the next five years or so. I hope I can see you all while I'm in the U.S., I'm sure we'll be traveling around a bit through Oregon, Washington and Idaho, so get in touch if you want to get together and we'll make it happen!
Love to you all, and happy spring!

These two could sleep all day.

This is Basho, the newest addition to Bryan's apartment. (besides myself. I decided to move in a couple weeks ago.) He's an old man of a cat. Named after a famous haiku poet who wandered the Japanese countryside in the 17th century. (Though most of the time we call him kitten or precious) He's extremely friendly and loves to snuggle. We got him at a shelter for free and learned that his old owner died. Our theory is that he was spoiled to eating fish and whatever other human food was on hand because he is a riot at dinnertime. He sits at Bryan's feet or trys to jump onto the table. After he's been denied he'll pace and meow and come back to sit and look up imploringly. The solution: rub fish oil from Bryan's fingers onto Basho, it keeps him busy licking all through dinner. Athough it should be noted that if he didn't have a kidney problem we'd probably spoil him too.
He seems used to living with us, and loves his new electric blanket. We are happy to have him!

Matsumoto Castle

We even went inside!

Caligraphy

this is Mrs. Yamada. She's the head of the English department.









































This kanji means "a new start". It was a bit difficult to write. At least for me!