November 2005, Still Alive

Having made it this far I can say there is still a lot for me to see, learn, and do in this mysterious place. It has become certifiably cold. A few days ago I was informed that I live in the coldest area in my entire prefecture.

The bird flu has yet to kill me and maybe it has not even entered my body. The kids are learning English pretty quickly. The Beatles have been helping a lot by having made such useful songs for teaching English as "Let it Be," "Here Comes the Sun," and "With a Little Help From My Friends." Eventually I would like to teach them "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," one of my personal favorites, and maybe "Strawberry Fields Forever." Then maybe I could get some of George Harrison's solo stuff in there too.

In some ways it is as if I no longer exist during my time out here. Not that I do not make contact with the realities and friends of my past every now and then (in both mind and electronic communications), but that I have not been seen by so many people that I am so used to seeing. I am sure that many of my friends feel the same way. I am also in such an unlikely place.

Construction has started, across the street from my house (right next to the junior hish school) on a new elementary school that will combine and replace the two in this spacious town. The peace of my house will be sacrificed for most of daytime for the next many months. Fortunately the construction stops at nightfall. Maybe I will just have to move to Santorini.

Celebrating my potentially fatal stupidity

Yes,

Yesterday a hawk flew into a second story window and landed just a meter or two from where I was standing. Always having been in awe of those winged predators I decided I would make my first intimate friendship with a hawk (one who had just broken its neck). I guess it didn't matter to me that the hawk couldn't necessarily decide not to be my friend; I just figured at least it has a friend in some of its loneliest minutes. The truth probably was that I just made the stunned bird even more frightened in its first moments as a quadriplegic. Or maybe the shock took away the hawk's consciousness. Well, I was close to that hawk for some moments as it lay in my hand. I even decided to take the hawk in my car, in the passengers seat, which was probably its first time being driven around. I wanted to show my new friend to the guys and gals at work.

Later in the day my mom pointed out to me that maybe making my new friend in such a hands-on way was a bad idea; maybe the influenza that's going around in these parts had something to do with the bird's lethal mistake (flying into window). So I washed my hands and then the next day (today) we brought my day-old friend (who had subsequently been resting (dead) in the garden) to the town authorities so that it could be properly checked up by some doctors. Phew, I feel a little better now.

Well moving to Japan as a fresh 22 year old sure has been somewhat of a rude awakening. Let's face it, I had and still have a lot to learn and being in a foreign country where I can't really communicate with most people makes it all happen faster and harder. So I guess I am taking some solace in the celebration of my own folly. It's better to take some really stupid things you do/did and laugh about them than to wimper and drag your tail on the ground in misery and guilt. I shall perhaps learn from my mistakes either way.

So I'll let you know if there is an outbreak in this small town. Yesterday could have been the beginning of the end. I guess it'll find some way of working itself out.

And maybe I knew that it was stupid to hold the bird in my hands even when I first picked it up. But I guess that, like that little girl in Vietnam with her pet duck, I just wanted to make the avian-primate relationship count, especially in the hard times that the hawk was going through.

Trees... And Monkeys

Trees. The way they are planted in this highly mountainous region is in rows. Primarily cedars, the ones that are not like the others stand out even more. Oh yes, it's beautiful and bizarre, somewhat sterile in a weird way. The "wilderness" of Japan around me is very different than the wilderness I know back home.

Monkeys. The other day, last Saturday, after hiking with a local elementary school near the churning active volcano of Aso my mother and I were taken to a place where Japanese monkeys are kept in cages. Then there were two that they had trained to do tricks like walk on really tall stilts and do jumps and summersaults and... all the while they had these weird collars on them and the trainers would hold a string attached to them and pull them hard when the monkeys were misbehaving.

The whole thing reminded me of my thesis on Kafka and evolution that focused on one story Kafka wrote called "A Report to An Academy" in which a monkey tells his story of becoming civilized. During the monkey show I asked myself who is more intelligent, the monkey or the trainer? Perhaps they are equal, I thought, because they both do things primarily to stay alive or because of the various other pressures that surround them. It all depends on how you are measuring intelligence I guess. My mother and I, and some of the other viewers, were pretty uncomfortable during the show. It was hard to watch such intelligent creatures be pushed around like that and in such a slave-like way. It is more disturbing, I think, than slaughtering animals in a farm, I think, because it's main purpose is entertainment and not food (and these monkeys require that much more controlling because they are that much more capable of making their own decisions than, say, most other trained animals). So I guess that I disagree with the whole business.

Youth

I remember vividly the feelings of these days when my immediate surroundings were my life. I remember the toys, the friends, the naptimes. It was so fun being 3 and 4. And it was also a bit frustrating. It's hard not to be understood. It takes some getting used to. Hmm, what else? More soon.

Friendly Updates

Where have you gone dear friends?

Some are here, some are there, some are dancing in their underwear; but really, where have all my friends gone? Those silly bumpkins of love. Those silly seamstresses and tramps! Those silly, rambunctious goats.

Henry is somewhere.

Gabe is in Claremont starting a new business: Claremont Tutors. http://www.ClaremontTutors.com

Tye is starting his own business as well, Warren Construction Services.

Nick is on the Oregon coast studying marine biology and other biological organisms.

Micheal is somewhere in the US causing a stir as he always does, maybe in NYC with that crazy Van.

Morgan is living at his distant cousins’ house (cough) in beautiful South Carolina (on an island) before he takes DC by storm.

Pete and Sinead are currently in DC (as is Nora) and are preparing a move to Namibia to do WorldTeach there “to spend one year teaching English, science, mathematics, and HIV/AIDS prevention to primary and secondary school students.” They are currently doing some fundraising in order to be able to afford to go do this amazing thing. Get in touch with me (or with Sinead or Pete) for more info.

Dave and Mike are in LA county leading there org Idealistics. Check it out at http://idealistics.org/

Pamela is in Michigan.

Leon, still enjoying beautiful Portland?

Karebear is in Scotland.

My mom is here in Ubuyama and getting a celebrity’s treatment. I thought I was special in this town; well I guess I hadn’t seen my mom arrive here yet. She is currently starting some publicity for her program that will happen next summer. This is the website:

http://www.riovida.net//Travel/Tuscany2006/

Bro Nicholas and Bro Anthony are both working in sweatshops. Padre is their boss.

Thanks again, brothers, for not being too successful or prestigious.

Cara is in NYC acting, yes?

Nathan has pretty much disappeared off the face of the earth; last I heard he was in Portland, or NYC. If someone he knows reads this, please let him know I say hi. He’s a good guy. He’s got a good head on his shoulders even if it is whacked at times (always in good ways I might add). Maybe Alison, Anne, or Andrea has seen this rare species?

Britta and Lisa are both teaching in New York like true young leaders.

Heartie is in Costa Rica and it sounds amazing there, from what I hear.

How’s LA, Douglas?

Rob is traveling the world right now, check out his bloggie about his trips studying throat singing: http://throat-singing.blogspot.com/

Mags is in Boston doing research. So is Lalani Lisa, but in psychology, not chem/bio.

Aaron, my man, is in Vermont learning how to make a lot of cool things and smelling the fresh air.

Aki is in northern Japan having a lot of fun being her crazy, silly self.

Sam is also working in a sweatshop. Our mutual friend Justin is in England being the world’s biggest stud at Downing College (soon if not already).

Slaven is starting his a band in Seattle or Portland (if he dares) soon.

And where are my cousins? One is in India doing cool stuff. They are all over the place, aren’t they?

Montoya is moving back to the LA area for a job.

Teresa has her own crazy blog which is oh so professional. Teresacentric, quite humorously. http://teresacentric.typepad.com/

There are many others hiding here and there. And there are many that although I may know almost exactly where they physically are, I may have no idea where they really are. Like Nicole and Danner (actually I have no idea where you are, Danner). Henry from Puntey. There is a Japanese kid here who reminds me of him. Aras, Thishi, Eddie are all people who are somewhere out there being their great selves. And Adrian, of course. Henry from Eugene, is he still rapping? I hope so. Yoni is on his way, somewhere.

Sometimes it’s hard to live here where my house is less than 100 meters from where I work. Sometimes I have no privacy or way to escape other than to (literally) run away. But it’s always nice when I do get some time by myself to write something for this odd ‘blog’ or to talk with friends (if I am lucky to catch them on the phone) or to read a book.

It’s odd also to be in such a different situation here than most of my future life will probably be. One of my JET friends here also refers to the program as “one of the world’s biggest loopholes” as if there is really no reason in hell why all of us random, mostly white, foreigners should be parading around all parts of Japan in our cars and with our good salaries and job security. As if we actually do something! But we do; it’s just incredibly weird. Most of what I do is just being a member of the community. I wish I could more effectively teach English to the kids here but the program really isn’t set up for that nor would they be willing to change it all that much (at least in a short period of time). But luckily the students here have incredibly astute, hard-working teachers who make it so that they can learn a healthy amount of what they need to learn. Not to comment on “what they need to learn” for that would be a wholly different conversion—one that involved discussing culture and norms and the importance or detrimentalities thereof.

Just to simplify it: individuality is not stressed in schools here. In fact it is systematically repressed. It may be almost the opposite in many schools in America. Both systems/pedagogies have problems and benefits. It is amazing how different it is here. It reminds me of what a couple of my good friends told me about Cuba and what I often hear about China. I’ll try to elaborate in the months to come...

Hello October Sun and Clouds

Another week in this all-surrounding place with the sky above me to remind me of the continuity of its dome. But in the office I have the white squares of foam above me to remind me of America and beyond the tree covered hills of my village I have some peaks and valleys that could also remind me a bit of home (wherever that really is).

Two thoughts have been circulating my mind in regard to Japan. The first is about war, suffering, and the aftermath of war. I have been considering how Germany and Japan have become such economical giants after each country tried to take over the rest of the world and was crushed by the opposition. I guess they would have never been able to consider such grandiose plans if they hadn't been very capable in the first place. But it still strikes me how people can forget the suffering, the hatred, and bitter struggle after one or two generations. Now the Japanese and Germans seem to be pretty good friends with most of the countries, including America, that were their bitter enemies. I guess that's how much change that new governments can bring about. It makes one a little more optimistic about the things getting better someday with other governments.

The other thing on my mind was the idea that the [rural] kids of Japan get a much longer childhood than the kids in America. I thought that American kids already had an abnormally long childhood (especially with liberal arts colleges), but here it is perhaps the tradition of staying in the same house with family over many generations that allows people to have a very very slow, sometimes practically inexistent, transition into independent adulthood. Here I am as a 22 year old far from home and my own culture, let alone my family, and here many thirty year olds still live in with their parents. I asked one of my fifth grade classes yesterday if their grandparents were in Ubuyama and they all answered yes. And I bet they live with them. Why not? Which makes you want to ask: is the childhood in Japan too long? or: Is childhood elsewhere too short? I guess there are benefits to both ways.

Tonight my mom will arrive in Kumamoto airport (about an hour away from my house). I think she will enjoy all of the hospitality and friendliness she will surely find here. Pretty much everyone in the town who knows I exist knows that my mother, who was born in Japan, is coming and many of them know the exact time she is coming. I wouldn't be surprised if some stopped by the airport as I know my vice-principal is already (he is a great guy). She will join the Thai teacher and five Thai students that are currently doing an exchange here in this tiny village. What an odd coincidence in this little southern town.

October Reflections

I had another small bout of sickness and was given some time to stay home in order to recover. I have recovered now and still have a free day off in order that I will be most assuredly healthy for the overnight trip tomorrow to the tropical-like shores of Amakusa with the Thai exchange students (which is followed by my own long-weekend trip to the north of Japan). Very fortunately I do not have the appendicitis that my doctor and I were slightly worried could have been the case. My brothers will laugh at this because they know that I can be a bit of a hypochondriac. At least I am always wrong (and so are my doctors (who are almost all very competent people I might add)).

So I had time, just some, to think about things that are going on around me and in my life. A very good friend of mine from Hawaii recently complained about the fact that people in America don’t take enough time to slow down and enjoy life or at least that slowing down and just living life was not a high priority where the fast-paced, stressful life had seemingly long ago crept into the everyday. He noted that life here in Ubuyama, according to my entries, seemed to be more congenial towards taking things slow. I had to disagree there, although I could see why he thought that.

People here do take time to sip some shochu and Asahi with people from work but even this time seems to fit under the category of scheduled events. The alcohol may take away the feeling that the enkai (drinking party) is a scheduled event with bosses and co-workers, but it is still a part of the business of life. The teachers who work hard from 7am to 7 or 8pm everyday (sometimes more counting their time commuting) are busy all day organizing their students in order that they be disciplined and on task. I would have a hard time believing that schools in rural America are anything like this school. On the other hand there are many schools in Japan with apathetic students where things are nothing like they are here. I have been told numerous times that the students of Ubuyama are unique and I have even noticed that some students from a particularly small elementary school here are even more unique. This is all to say that life here is very busy. People are dedicated to their everyday work and even the parties fit into the patchwork of this work-centric lifestyle. But perhaps a major difference comes from how this work is done here. At least for the farmers here work can be seen as a kind of quiet meditation (with the addition that they must produce to sell). Life here is peaceful for many of the village people but it is also very busy for almost everyone that I see.

In my own life I have valued most highly the ability to hold onto my own time, however that might be. Or perhaps it is more straightforward to say that I have feared slipping into a life that was automatic, one in which I would lose the little control I like to think that I have. Or maybe even it is that I wish to hold on to the free time with which I can ponder things of my own interest. So naturally I am critical of the life in which stress pushes one through an overly busy life that is so structured that there is little time for creativity. Unfortunately the truth of this world seems to be that this is the case for the majority of people. If I were to avoid the all-too-busy life it would be because I am both privileged and fortunate. This is not to say that the busy life cannot also be extremely rewarding and healthy – for perhaps it is the most healthy life (i.e. “love and work”) – but this ideal is almost never achieved in the world today (or so it seems).

When I was a little boy I wanted to be a football player more than anything else. Then I dislocated my arm, got chubby, and decided that being a rock star was more my gig so I started with the guitar. Then as early as high school the moving life made it more difficult to lug the thing around and so I turned to photography and became fascinated with the gear like I had been fascinated by football cards in my earlier youth. Then even that became too much to carry (and too expensive until digital came along and erased the need to process the film). My whole life I have been shrugging off unneeded burdens and seeking a simplicity that allows for freedom. I guess my mom taught me that. Thanks mom. Which brings me to Japan, to my life after college graduation. Perhaps I have learned now that all you really need is a little food, some clothes, perhaps some kind of roof over your head depending on where you are, and a healthy body and mind. The biggest challenge for me now is to find a way to maintain all of those things without sacrificing too much of the specific kind of freedom that I seek.

Well now that I have stripped a bit and revealed myself in a comic strip sort of way I will have to soon leave for more trips. I hope you are all well.