Photo movie of hike to Mt. Kuratake

We went for a day hike on the west side of Tokyo a couple of weekends ago.  Joan, Russell, Josie, and I had a wonderful time just hiking all day - nothing too special.

However, Josie, one of my fellow teachers, has been feeling creative as of lately and has been making these 'movies' of the photos she took and then creating some art to go with them.

Enjoy!

Golden Week Trip - Day One

Well, today was our first day back from our big trip. Golden Week is a long holiday made up of a variety of single-day national holidays: emperor's birthday, boy's day, citizen day, etc...

Day One (full photos for this story are available at this link!)

We had been invited to go to the other side of the island to the Nagano prefecture (state) to participate in a volunteer project and stay with a couple who were involved with the event. Kevin (American) and Tomoe (Japanese) live up in the mountains and run a small eco/cultural tourism business called Onelife (www.onelife.org). They host people and take them on hikes and bicycle rides around the area. They also offer the opportunity to meet local people and see how they live and what they do. It is a pretty cool idea and pretty successful, too, Kevin says. They also do most of their own farming, especially rice.

Joan had connected with them via email back when she was researching gardening and vegetables in Tokyo. They started reading Joan's blog (www.popcornhomestead.blogspot.com) and liked what they saw, so they invited us out to help with re-thatching a traditional Japanese house in a nearby village and to help them on their farm. It seemed like a great chance to get out into another part of Japan and see something different and learn about Japanese culture.

So, we reserved tickets on the shinkansen (bullet train) and packed our bags. Half an hour on the Chuo line train got us to Tokyo station where we transferred to the aerodynamic shinkansen.

 One a half hours of really fast traveling got us through the mountains by tunnel and into the west side of the main island to the town of Eichigo Yuzawa. Another hour on a local bus up into the mountains got us to Kevin's village where Kevin met us and drove us further into the mountains in his little four-wheel drive van. We arrived just in time for lunch and a half day of work.

The village was in charge of the re-thatching project and was bringing in volunteers to help with the work and to promote tourism and interest in their community. They had brought in some professional thatchers to do the actual thatching, while the volunteers helped prepare the materials, bring it to the pros, and help with other manual labor. Some of the volunteers came from other projects and events that Onelife had organized before, and some where just random volunteers who had found out about the project. We were the only foreigners that we saw. The area in general had many out of town visitors as Golden Week is the big holiday when everyone goes home to visit family.

Onelife had organized a volunteer project the year before to harvest the 'kaya' or long grass that was being used as thatch. It had been drying inside the old house for quiet some time. Overall, it will take at least a year to rethatch the whole house.

The pros had already built a scaffold out of logs and ropes and had removed the old thatch where necessary. The bundles of thatch were laid vertically on the slope and tied to thin bamboo poles laid horizontally across the roof. Then, with a thatch master pushing a large metal needle with a hooked tip and some one on the inside, wire was woven through the thatch and bamboo, pulling it all together. At one point, they had five or six of us all pulling in unison on rope handles attached to wires to tighten up the thatch. Another thatch master took a large wooden hammer and tapped the ends of all the thatch grass to create the correct pitch for water runoff.

It was a pretty interesting project, and we were able to practice our limited Japanese, although mostly in the context of thatching. We hope to return another time to help.

Near 6 pm, we and three other 'volunteer' guests wrapped up for the day and headed up the hill to the 'ryokan' (Japanese style inn) where we were staying. 

We quickly dropped our bags in our tatami rooms, grabbed our bathing supplies, and walked a bit further up the hill to the 'onsen' (natural hot springs bath). We scrubbed up and soaked in the hot, cloudy brown water. The water felt a little silky from all the minerals and eased any muscle pains.

Then it was dinner time. Dinner. It almost defies description. The hostess of the inn is a superb cook who specializes in cooking extremely healthy, vegetable focused food that is produced almost exclusively from local products and farms. It featured many dishes made from the edible wild plants of the mountains. The dishes just kept coming and coming. I think we counted at least 17

 different items. Joan tried to take photos of everything and frantically wrote down notes and descriptions of the names, ingredients, and flavors. I'll let you read her description of the meal on her blog.

We also had some cold beer and then opened a huge bottle of sake that the group had been given local government official. It had a subtle plum flavor and was much better than the usual cheap sake we have sampled so far. It went down very smoothly and warmed

 us up. It also greatly improved our ability to communicate in Japanese!

Eventually very full and more than slightly tipsy, we tottered off to our tatami room and spread the futons out on the floor. Not surprisingly, we slept very soundly...

Badminton club

I found out that there was a badminton club on campus and inquired about playing with them.  I think they were a bit hesitant at first, but since I have been coming to the practices when I can and doing all the training (running, sprints, footwork drills, etc.), I think they can see that I am taking this as seriously as I can.  However, I could barely walk after the first practice.  I forgot what lunges can do to the glutes if you haven't done them in awhile...

I played badminton as a kid in England and then took a number of classes in college (one of the deans was a former Olympian), so I know my way around a birdie and racquet.  Also, when Joan was in grad school, I played with a large group of international folks on Friday nights and Sunday mornings.  I wasn't the worst player of the 30 or so people, but I was the only American.

Yet it has been seven years since I played serious, and wow, am I rusty!  It is really frustrating, but I think it will start to come back. I also realized that the strings on my racquet are also seven years old and have lost some of their 'snap.'  I took it to "Racquet Shop Fuji" over in Kichijoji on Friday and paid 2,200 yen (approx. $20) to have it restrung.  I am hoping that the new strings will compensate for everything else.

To help me remeber their names, I took photos of some of the guys with their names.  I am having the hardest time remember Japanese names, especially the men!  I put them in this entry just for the heck of it.  Aren't they a handsome lot?

Engrish rulz!

Here is a classic from a festival we went to today...

Second Week of School

Things are starting to settle down with my schedule - finally!

I have met with both my Econ and International Relations (IR) freshman for eight classes, and I am starting to build a relationship with them.  The IR class continues to be "genki" (full of energy) and will do what I tell them with enthusiasm.  All I have to do is remind them that they are going to America in a short time or start speaking with them at a normal American speed, and they are filled with motivation.  The Econ class is still a little tough.  However, I am learning how to motivate them and best work with them.

The Sohphmore English class is good.  I barely remembered them because I only met them once on Tuesday and had seen a boatload of other students since then.  This class's high level will make it easy and fun to teach.

The Freshman English Repeater class...  Well, I can appreciate the idea, but as an affective way to teach English...

My Comm L class of extremely high level students has been interesting.  The lower level students who showed up on the sign up day did not return, which made it much easier.  On the second meeting, we talked about their English needs and desires and hit upon the idea of each student creating their own blog as the vehicle for their writing, as well as teaching them a potentially useful skill.  They, and I, are pretty excited about the project.  If the students are willing, I will post their blog links on this blog, and perhaps you can read them and make comments about their writing (postive and constructive, please!).  I think they would appreciate the international feedback.

For my Comm A class, on the first I had over 70 students sign up!  So, as per my plan, I only chose Freshman IR students going to America, starting at the bottom level and going up till I had enough students.  From level 11 (16 being the lowest), I made it to level 6 by the time I chose 27 students.  The second meeting went well, with more genki students and lots of English.

Overall, I have a good schedule.  I only have two early morning classes, and the rest of the days have nice blocks of time free between classes to get organized, run to the gym, or go shopping.  On Friday, I only have one class at midday, so that opens up some good opportunities for early starts on weekend trips.

I'll try to keep you updated on teaching stuff, but it is very quickly becoming mundane.  I will try to keep the fresh stuff coming!

A Hot Time in the Sento!

Friday night was the official welcome party for new teachers at CELE (Center for English Language Education).  It was mostly current and new Visiting Faculty Members (VFMs) and some Japanese teachers and staff who work with us or know some of the Americans.  Some of us ate too much, drank too much, and stayed up too late.

So combined with the fact that Saturday was cold, rainy, and miserable, few people left their apartments.  I managed to drag myself to the AU gym for a pretty decent work out, and Joan went for a run in the fairly heavy, chilly rain - brave girl!

That evening, nobody was in the mood to do anything, but I had been agitating for awhile for an excursion to the local sento.

A sento is a traditional public bath in Japan. Before most houses and apartments had indoor plumbing and bathing facilities, the public bath was the place to get clean and warm and practice “skinship” – which I think is actually how they pronounce the word. I don’t know how they spell it… Skinship is the set of social skills and the ability to feel comfortable around other people, especially naked people. I read somewhere that the older generation in Japan is concerned that the younger generation has lost that skinship and now feel uncomfortable around strangers and even more alienated from society.

In an earlier post, I wrote about the experience in the “onsen” while on the Freshman retreat, a resort/spa-like natural hot springs experience. The sento is similar but very practical and utilitarian. Those of you who have experienced public “banyas” in Kazakhstan or Russia or perhaps some other type of public bath would recognize it immediately. Some things are the same all over the world.

So, back to Saturday night. Joan, Josie, and I bundled up and trudged the three and half blocks through the rain toward the train station. The doorway was half covered by a hanging curtain, and just inside was an area with small lockers for footwear and umbrellas; ladies to the left; gentlemen to the right. Through the sliding door was a changing room split in half by a wooden wall that did not reach the ceiling. Sitting in a raised booth just inside the door with a commanding view of both genders’ room was an old lady, who very kindly took our 450 yen apiece and graciously (we assume) told us to enjoy our bath.

There was nothing else but to strip down under her watchful gaze, store clothing in the larger lockers, and walk with pride through the steamed up glass doors to the bath! And so I did…

Inside was a large, hot, steamy, tiled room. The first two thirds was divided up by waist-high walls with shower heads and spigots. I grabbed one each from the pile of stacked plastic stools and wash basins and chose a spot. Before entering the communal pool, one must be scrubbed clean, if not raw. After a cold and chilly day, the endless hot water and soap felt good. There was one other patron in one of the pools, but for all apparent purposes, it was a solo adventure. Over the not to the ceiling wall, I could hear Joan and Josie giggling and talking to other bathers.

Once clean, I walked up to the pools, the smaller one brown from mineral water and the others green from underwater lights. I stuck a foot in both and quickly decided the green pool was way too hot for my pre-chilled state, so I slipped into the brown pool with a sigh. After a few minutes of soaking, I was ready to move up the temperature scale, so I changed pools and gingerly lowered myself into the green water. Wow! It was hot…

After I don’t know how many pool switches and cooling showers, I finally wrapped it up and took my lobster red body out to the changing room. A small bottle of generic 7 Up from the little glass fronted fridge was deliciously refreshing. I heard Joan and Josie changing on the other side, so I sent a text to let them know I was also ready to go.

We met out side, all of us glowing and extremely clean. The cold air and rain on the wind now felt much better. We floated home and slept extremely soundly. I think that especially in the winter time, the sento is going to be a regular event.

We are officially aliens!

Hurrah!  We finally have our alien registration cards!  Every time we say that phrase, Joan makes an alien beeping sound.  This  will let us do things like use the community sports center, register for a cell phone account, and other stuff.  I really like the way my head looks asymmetrically bald...

Also, I have included an image of my AU ID card that I have swipe in the card reader in our building every work day.