Spring Break Pictures!!!

Ok, so it has taken me really long to get these all posted, but better late than never, right?! I went through a lot of indecision when deciding where to go for Spring Break this year, looking through these pics I am really happy I ended up going the places I did. It was sort an unconventional trip, which is exactly why I enjoyed it so much.

First I hit up Shikoku, which is the smallest of the 4 main islands of Japan. It is also the least visited, and offered some amazing opportunities to see a totally different part of this country. Then I went to Hiroshima, which was number one on my list of places "not to miss" while living here. And finally I went to a small and sort of obscure island called Shodoshima, almost entirely for the possibilities of motorbike riding. It took about 9 days, and cost waaaay more than I care to say - traveling in J-Pan is too expensive :( It was worth it though.

Here is the link to the photos. It may ask you to sign in, just ignore that and click the part that says Continue to Photos.

Spring Break Photos!

Enjoy!

I'm Not Dead Yet!

Yesterday was our regional meeting for the local area JETs, where all of us from the surrounding cities get together and talk about this and that. At the end, there was an info session non-recontracting JETs - meaning, those of us that are leaving Japan in August. They talked about flights home, cleaning your apartment, getting a pension refund, that sort of stuff, and it was all very useful, but it has left me with this really, really annoying feeling.

I feel like that person in the plague scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who is being carted away to the cemetary, even though he is actually still alive. As they take him away, he lifts up his head and says, "But, I'm not dead yet!"

All this talk about leaving is really driving me bonkers! Literally, for the past month, we have been bombarded with emails and flyers in our mailboxes about "Preparing for the Return Home." But when it all started, we still had a good 3 months to go. I found myself thinking, "oh, maybe I should start cleaning out my apartment this weekend," and getting strategic on how much stuff I bought so I wouldn't have too much to bring home, and worrying about good-bye gifts and such. The JET program encourages us to start doing all this stuff 3 months before we are actually leaving. For someone like me that only stays a year, 3 months is one quarter of my entire time here. That is a good chuck of time! It should be the time when I am doing all I can to enjoy my remaining time in Japan, not obsessing over my impending departure.

I understand that they do it to help minmize our stress during our past few weeks here, and also because most participants are new to this whole living abroad thing, and really DO need to start preparing 3 months ahead of time. But I don't! I hate it - I feel like I have one foot in Japan and one foot in the US, and I'm not able to fully enjoy either.

I'm not leaving yet damnit!

By the way, it is looking like August 11 might be my return date!

Kite Festival

Here are some shots from the Hamamatsu Kite Festival a few weeks ago. I don't have much to tell about the festival or it's history. The name pretty much says it all :P What I do know is that there are something like 170 teams from all over the city, and each constructs a kite, which they spend all day trying to fly. I'm sure there is way more to it than that, because everything the Japanese do has some sort of historical or religious significance. Please use your imaginations!

We got there sort of late in the day, and most of the wind had died down, so the teams were all just struggling to keep their kites up in the air and not having much luck with it.

Skyfull o' Kites

One thing I love most about Japanese festivals is seeing everyone all dolled up. There is a special matsuri outfit that many people own, and the young women usually get their hair up in all these crazy 'dos. It's really fun to see!

Team Pinku!

Even the little kids have special matsuri outfits! Too cute!

Working really hard to get the kite up.

The team celebration at the end of the day.

Me and Naomi in front of a resting kite.

After a successful day of flying, the teams pack up the kite and then go get drunk. Drinking is an essential part of any matsuri!

The second after I shot this picture, her scowl turned to a huge smile as she called Irrashaimase! and invited me to play the game.

My favorite picture of the day.

They're still trying! One of the last teams to give up and call it a day.

I'm glad the pandas are safe.

I woke up this morning to an email from my dad, asking if I had heard about the news in China. I hadn't yet, but somehow I knew right away that there had been an earthquake. I don't know how I knew; it was just the first thing that came to mind. I quickly went to the BBC news website. A quick skim through the article told me all I needed to know - huge earthquake, at least 12,000 dead, massive rescue efforts currently underway. I cried this morning when I read that. It was a very quick cry, because I had to get ready for work. It didn't escape me though, that right now, I am one of the luckier ones in the world. But I guess news of tragedies like this are reminders that luck can change at any time.

A glance at the map - I had been to one of the affected cities during my trip last year. Chengdu, the capital of the province. I went there to see the pandas (which were adorable, I really am glad they're safe), and remember regretting that I couldn't stay longer, because Chengdu was actually a pretty neat city. It is odd to think of what's going on there right now. Chengdu wasn't hit as hard as some other cities though, with only 900 dead.

Only 900 dead?!?! I can't believe I actually thought that when I read the numbers this morning. 900 people is a lot! I can barely even wrap my brain around a number like 15,000 - the updated death toll, at least in terms of 15,000 lost lives. Every single one of those people who died leaves behind any number of loved ones, devastated. Not to mention the fact that many of those very same people have also lost houses as well. I can only begin to imagine what it is like to have to rebuild your life after a tragedy like that. The sheer number of people who will be doing exactly that simply overwhelms me emotionally.

Of course, I'm also thinking about what is happening in Burma. A large part of the reason I was so affected by the news of the earthquake in China was because I am still grappling with the scope of the tragedy in Burma.

34, 273. Wrap your mind around that number. That's the current death toll in Burma. 27, 838 people are still missing. And now for the big one - 1.5 million people who survived are still waiting to be helped while their government continues to play games with the international aid community. A million is a number so large I can hardly imagine it. To think of the more than 1.5 million people in Burma and China, right now, who survived only to face disease, starvation, being trapped under rubble, mourning the loss of a loved one, or seeing their entire village destroyed - are they really the lucky ones?

One of the things that hit me the hardest was a description of an elementary school in China, attended by about 900 students. The building had collapsed in the earthquake, with most of the children inside. While the parents either joined the rescue efforts, or waited anxiously for news of their own child, a "mourning tent" was set up for those who had already received the bad news. Bear in mind that with China's "one-child" policy, most of these families lost their only son or daughter. I suddenly had this flash in my mind, that I was a parent walking into the mourning tent, joining the others already enveloped in grief. Just for that split second, I was able to put myself in the shoes of one of those parents. It was a very powerful moment for me. I could barely imagine the suffering of only one person without losing it. Another reminder of how lucky I have been in my life so far.

Over 1.5 million people. And that is only in China and Burma. Never mind the rest of the world.

I have an idea - how about we invent a machine that turns human grief into energy? Talk about an endless source!

Another reason the news of these two tragedies has hit me so hard is because of my recent trip to Hiroshima. I've been reading eye-witness accounts from A-Bomb survivors (I know, uplifting!), detailed descriptions of what it is like to be around after a huge disaster. So it is all very real to me right now. Usually, when I read about tragedies in various places, I feel sympathy for the people affected, but it always seems so far removed to me. I feel a surface-level sadness. But right now I am feeling it at a much deeper level. I think my time in India, meeting people who survived the Tsunami face to face, also has made it very real for me.

I'm harboring a fantasy that instead of going back home after Japan, I will join the volunteer efforts in Burma. I don't know if my help would be accepted though, given that plenty of help is currently waiting on the borders. But there are other places. Sometimes I wish I had become a medic instead of a teacher, because when I read about disasters like these, I want to be a part of the relief efforts.

So I said I would share info regarding agencies to donate to. In the end, I came to the conclusion that the International Red Cross was the best bet, given that they are already on the ground in Burma. Their website is www.icrc.org. Please consider making a donation!

Forgive me for this heavy themed post. I had to get the thoughts out.

Sure Signs

Sure signs you have been in Asia for too long:

1) After the initial burst of anger that the baguette you bought to go with the "weekly splurge" blue cheese is smeared with sweet butter, you decide it actually tastes better that way.

2) You are finally able to distinguish at least 75% of your students by looks, yet every white person you meet looks shockingly like another white person you know.

Meanwhile, while I whine about trivial shit and make racist jokes, millions of people in Burma are suffering or dead. I am in a state of partial shock right now after reading all the accounts on BBC news. I don't really have the energy to write about it now, but please, anyone who isn't up on what is going on there, please do some reading! And consider making a donation to help the relief efforts. I will be doing some research to figure out the best organization to donate to (in light of the fact that many of them are not even allowed to enter the country), and I will post that info when I find it.

Mori-Machi

I have been taking photos like mad lately, because Spring in Shizuoka is incredibly beautiful, but I've been a little slow about processing and posting them. Here are a few from a recent hike in Mori-Machi, a small village in the hills a few hours from where I live. The area is all forested hills, broken up only by tea plantations.

Mori-Machi tea farm.

Shizuoka is the top tea producing area of Japan, and I can't even being to describe how much of it is grown around here. Tea bushes are everywhere, unbelievable quantities of them, all throughout the prefecture. There are huge tea plantations that take up entire hillsides, but also many more modestly sized, family owned tea fields, even rows of tea bushes nestled in between buildings along the highway. It is everywhere, really a sight to see. And in the spring, when the tea bushes put out their new emerald green leaves, the hillsides are even lovelier than usual.

Tea farmers.

Myself, Mike and Caroline with a group of drunken Japanese people we met at the shrine. I love Japanese people when they are drunk - all their reserve and shyness goes out the window, and they are so funny.

Picking tea by hand. Only the best quality tea gets picked this way, the rest is done by a machine.

Hanami

Quite possibly the most anticipated time of the year all throughout Japan is cherry blossom season. It was about three weeks ago, and now the light pink blossoms have fallen and we have moved on to tea picking season (which is equally stunning where I live). Everyone knows about the abundance of cherry blossoms in Japan, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that cherry blossoms are just the beginning. Starting around the end of March, all of Japan slowly bursts into color, with an endless variety of flowers everywhere you look. It all seems to serve as a prelude to the cherry blossoms, which really are spectacular. And, they are everywhere! Spring time is absolutely beautiful here.

The highlight of spring, and one of the favorite events of the year for most Japanese, is the hanami, or picnic under the cherry blossom trees. These photos are all from a hanami spent with my friends in Fujieda. The food was provided by some Japanese friends that own a pub - and they went all out - Japanese people don't mess around when it comes to food. The only bummer was that we got there late, and therefore did not actually get our own cherry tree to be under. But it was a lovely day still!

Anyway, enjoy the photos!

Just a fraction of the food they made.

More food.

Yosuke working on some sort of stubborn shellfish.

Three colors of spring.

And right through the middle of the beautiful valley, they are building a new highway.This guy was pretty much dancing the entire day.

Some cutie boys from the group next to us.

Jeff and Yoshiko teaching us to sing a new song they wrote.

This is the one Mom will have on the fridge when I come home :)