memory lost, appearances changed, feelings

I had this photo that I had taken at the Chinese circus show in Ozu town. It was a crazy show and photography was forbidden for the duration of the show. I really wish I could show you some of the crazy stuff I saw. A woman standing on top of a man using only one foot to balance her weight on his head. Some other absolutely stunning balancing acts and some strange drama scenes... But this photo I speak of was taken before the act started and it was of two audience members, a mother and daughter, faces lined up with the mother slightly blurry in the backgroud. The mother being a kind of mimesis or echo of the daughter. I really wished that my SD memory card had not somehow erased it. It shows up now as a black image where the colors and light of the images used to be.

So I decided to change the appearance of this publication. Who knows, perhaps it will change what is written here. It is certainly greener, and green makes me feel good. It's almost like being outside amount the trees in spring being showered with sunlight through the canopy of trees above, isn't it? But mostly I feel like change is a healthy part of life and that's why it's important to be flexible like a cat.

I had another interesting trip into the city this weekend. Both Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday I ended up taking the train to Ozu and driving all the way home. It was nice to be relatively alone on the road. On Saturday I stayed at my friend Chris's. He is this crazy German-blooded Eureka, Californian. A good guy. He and his apartment mate (also a good friend--both of them are assistant language teachers like me), a South African by the name of Austin. We have great talks on the trains into the city while everyone else is silent or quietly chattering on their phones.

I did want to write about how women are the backbone of Japanese society. Perhaps this is true in every society but I think it is particularly true here. They really keep the country running even if most of the politicians you see on the tele are men. Just remember that behind every politician on the tele is a mother and/or a wife who cooked for him well past the age of 22 and without her he wouldn't be there. But that is also an understatement. You may have to trust me on this one until you get a chance to come and live here yourself. Perhaps it is a Kyushu thing, but I don't think so. And the reason why it is so emphasized to me is that I have noticed many times that women do not get equal treatment. The women in my office, for example, almost always are the ones who get up to serve guests coffee or tea. Even though they have the same workload they are expected to do more. I sense this norm is (slowly) changing though.