Fiery Night

My second experience of what is a usual occurrence at the beach of Nago Guest House - Fire Dancing - on the occasion of our good friend Eri's Farewell Party - African drums and a bonfire - hot women who dance to the throbbing frantic tempo of the drums - and fire swirling around - Paul juggling fire for the first time - and me clicking away mesmerized:

Sweet Repose

Sobetsukai

At this time of the year the professional world of education in Japan goes topsy-turvy. Teachers and Staff get transferred, and like a pack of cards people get shuffled within each prefecture. Every Office/School organises farewells for those leaving. I haven't been to any of my school's sobetsukai's (farewell parties), not having been invited to any. David says that I will have to ask them about it, but I guess I just prefer not to. I don't really care for the all schools that much... I must be a bad JET ALT, refusing to socialize. But then the schools must be bad too not even mentioning it to me. I don't want to go somewhere I'm not invited, who would? David says its because they think we might be busy as we have so many schools. How can they presume that without asking us? I donno! I don't care anymore! It was the same story as the bonnenkais (New Year's Party). I just go to my office parties, and that is all I really care for!

And no-one but I is bothered about what follows... dear reader, you need not bother reading it, if you don't wanna know a small part of my existence. This is warning to save precious 15 minutes of your life.

Today was our office's sobetsukai. I just came back from it. I had not known who or how many were leaving. I only knew that Saori-san was going as she is going to have a baby. Over there I was given the worst news ever... Kazuko sensei was leaving as well. I was devastated.

Kazuko sensei is my pseudo-supervisor. She is more my supervisor than my actual supervisor is. Kazuko sensei took care of me and she has been almost like a mom. From the moment I met the Motobu gang at the airport to receive me when I first came here, she made me completely at ease with her loud ways, approachable and expansive nature. She was the most un-Japanese Japanese person I had met till then - that was before I discovered that Okinawa wasn't REALLY Japan... but even then she is a different Okinawan too.

She lent me her sanshin to learn from, she made free passes to the Aquarium for my friends who came for lunch at place before going to the famous Churaumi. She gave me plants to make my house home. She drove all the way from Nago to my house and back to get some papers I had forgotten at my apartment in order to give my scooter test once - even when she had an important meeting soon after, but she still did that so that I didn't miss out a test that was held twice a month. (Who does that??) She went and got my license from Nago for me when I finally did clear the test. And she held a small party for me to present me with it at the office (details are in my Scooter Saga blog, for those interested in a funny bittersweet story). She called ten dozen people when I burst in tears one day in front of her to ask in english what was wrong! she didn't know how to ask me, or thought that she wouldn't be able to understand what I said.

When she gives a gift, she doesn't present it with both hand bowing ten times, she will take it out of the cover, ripping it if it takes too long, and then shows what it is. And I love her for her informality. Who needs the needless distancing formalities, when one can be made to feel comfortable and at ease? She lights up whatever room she is in. And who knows how many problems she faces? She is unmarried and supports her old parents and sisters who have many kids...

Kazuko sensei is my hero. She is a great person, and I will miss her a lot. Working in the office wont be the same again.

This was the speech I might have given today...

Gumball Rally

Saturday, March 24th, 2007.
2:00pm to 5:30pm.
Chatan to Naha.
Collect crazy objects, pictures and people:

Some pictures included:

• Serving a customer at a restaurant.
• Sitting in a love-hotel Jacuzzi
• Kissing another group member
• All group members in the Ocean
• A name on the Sunabe sea-wall graffiti
• Petting a strangers pet
• Janken with three or more Japanese people (Janken is rock-paper-scissors)
• On a Boat at Kadena Marina
• Eating a bagel
• Kissing a Goya (bitter melon or in Hindi - Karela)
• Eating jello at a Supermarket
• Using something not meant to be a hat as one
• In a snack-bar
• Getting a kiss from a stranger
• Shaving your head
• Tattoo
• Piercing
• Sitting in a police car
• Streaking in a public place
  

(Click on the picture for a better glimpse!)

Blindness

Early in the morning today, an earthquake struck the Ishikawa prefecture on mainland Japan. One person died and many were injured, while I was sleeping off my hangover here in okinawa, completely oblivious of the rest of the world.

And I would have remained ignorant had I not by chance cmailed my friend, whom I had not spoken to in a long time. He lives in the same prefecture where it occured. He told me about the earthquake and how it affected the shinkansen and bus service, and he could not get to Osaka - his destination, a funeral. More than a strange coincidence, it was a rude shock to me living life complacently on this sunny island, partying with friends and drinking. Not only did I not know what was going on in Japan, I was so cutoff that I did not know any major news of India, and I had no idea what was happening in the rest of the world, apart from the U.S. and whatever news concerned U.S. foreign policy (Thanks to AFN - American Forces Network)

I switched from "Everyone Loves Raymond" on the AFN channel to see what NHK was reporting, and to my pleasant surprize, the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka was being wrapped up. Sumo is one of my favourite sports to watch, and todays matches beat whatever I'd seen before. The yokozuna Asahoryu lost to a fellow Mongolian ozeki Hakuho in a swift and sudden victory with the crowds going wild tossing their cushion in uproar.

This has been an eyeopener indeed. I have been living a blinkered life, forgeting "if you can see, look; if you can look, observe."

Nana Ramen!!

A wrong turn on the road lead to decisions

that took me to a Ramen Shop in Nago

yesterday, where a special vegetables only

Ramen is served. One can't imagine my

excitement when Liz told me of this. I am

thrilled! It is named after a movie or

characters in a movie, whose heroine/s

(Nana) is/are vegan or vegetarian.

(Sorry for all the 'ors' and being so vague,

I am not quite certain of the background

of this phenomena). What I am most

certain about is that shows

that vegetarianism is starting as a

trendy, fashionable thing in Japan.

And even though it will not catch on and

surge like a tsunami wave across the

country, (Japanese food will cease to exist

if that happens!!), yet it is certainly

promising to think that people here

will not be ignorant of and horrified

by the concept of vegetarianism. :)

Biggest Disappointment EVER!!!

Now really, what is it that 3 lil grown-babies want in life? Just a little fun that's all. Is it THAT difficult for "Whoever It Is Writing The Novel Of Life Up There" (!?!) to allow us to do what we have always wanted to do, and finally got a chance but missed... and why, just coz some stupid ostrich's legs were hurting?!? well couldn't they give it an ibuprofen or an injection or something! and aren't they supposed to be really powerful n all anyway? All we wanted was to get up and ride on the back of this two-toed, long necked bird called Ostrich whose egg is larger than its head!!!! jeeze, the balls, denying us this small pleasure today! At least we got to feed these silly creatures:


And David got to wrestle with one! Watch:

Glass-blowing

Some of my friends have shown an interest to what is now becoming a very expensive hobby of mine, Glass Blowing. I will try to describe process of making a glass for your reading and fact-collecting pleasure.

1) Raw Materials-

• Silica
• Soda-Lime
• Lime-Rock
• For Colour - cobalt monoxide (for blue) , manganese dioxide (for light purple), copper II oxide (for light blue), sodium dichromate (for Green), sulfur (for brown), cadmium sulfide (for red)

2) Equipment-

• crucible
• kiln
• gory hole
• annealing oven
• tools like - jacks, shears, iron rods, molds, pipes, paddles, marver, calipers etc.

3) Procedure -

• the first three raw materials are compounded in a V-shaped mixing machine.
• these raw materials are melted in a crucible within a kiln at 1400 degrees C.
• the molten glass is picked up at the end of a blowing rod to the desired quantity.
• the blowpipe is kept spinning and some air is blown into it. It is gathered in a steel marver (or round bowl), so that the molten is equal and rounded into a sphere.
• air is blown into it while keeping it uniform on all sides by twirling the rod, or air is blown keeping the molten in the mold.
• the bottom of the glass is shaped. If it is a mold-blown glass, then the bottom is flattened.
• then, another pole (called ponte pole) is brought with a very small amount of molten glass, and this molten is attached to the flattened bottom, and the glass is detached from the first blowpipe.
• the detached lip/rim part is then stuck into the "gory hole" and softened by reheating as the glass is malleable only at 1000-1200 degrees C.
• this detached part is what will be the rim of the glass. it is widened by using a pair of tongs. all the while twirling the ponte pole in order to keep the glass rim round.
• the glass is then detached from the ponte pole and using a blow torch, the bottom is smoothened.
• the glass is then placed in an annealing oven set at 600 degress to cool overnight. (if cooled in the open air, the glass will cool faster and cause warping)

4) Techniques -

• bubbles are intentionally formed by adding sodium bicarbonate and rice bran(the foaming raw material) to the molten glass in the crucible.
• cracks are intentionally produced by dipping the blown glass while still molten in water momentarily, then reheated and shaped accordingly.
• coloured bits (like there are in the glasses I made) are made by slightly twirlling the blowing rod with molten glass in bits of coloured crushed glass. The molten glass is heated again in order to melt the bits of glass.

omoshiroi ne?

Its the year of the wild boar!!!!

Happy New Year!

I finally found the picture i wanted to take for the longest time ... Sorry for the belated wishes, guys!! still there are more than 9 months left of the the year of the wild boar! :)

My New Glass!

Drumroll... ... ... ... ... tada!! Behold:

drifting

tsutsuji fest @ higashi-son

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, perfect for outdoor activity and the Tsutsuji (Azalea) festival at Higashi-son (Ben's village) could not have been held on a better day. We cruised to Higashi accompanied by Dave's interesting collection of music and the view of the pretty pretty blue sea.

We stopped at a Family Mart to get some food; I was starving, and this gave Dave the ideal opportunity to buy balloons and fill one with water to throw at me in celebration of Holi after I took this pic on the right:

(Holi is an Indian festival celebrated at the beginning of spring by putting color on each other, splashing water on people and kids usually pelt water balloons at unsuspecting people.)





















Here, above, is the suspension bridge connecting the mountains that comprise the park. The azaleas are not in full bloom yet. Ben tells us that last year the whole place was just colored patches, and that the hills didn't have any green on them. Even thought the entrance cost some money, I am definitely going back again when they are in full bloom.

Here are some lovely specimen of azaleas to be found at the park : A large part of the park was cordoned off, some parts because they were dangerous and some because they were constructing pathways of some sorts. But we still managed to break the law and take a hike down to a stream, evading the plethora of cobwebs in our path. Ah! the beautiful undisturbed nature that got disturbed by us.

And of course Ben bumped into some of his cute elementary students and we had a fun time frolicking around with them at the playground until sunset.

Ryukyu Glass

A childhood fascination with glass and glass-blowing came to fruition in Okinawa where I got to blow and make my first glass:

Above: Rounding the rim of the glass.

Right: The end product! My first glass!!

Named after the dynasty that ruled Okinawa, Ryukyu Glass is a special type of glass made here. Pre-Meiji era, glassware was imported into Okinawa from the mainland, but due to large losses to the turbulent waters, craftsmen were hired from Nagasaki and Osaka to produce glass in Okinawa for the first time. Transparent glass items were manufactured from the discarded glass until the factory got destroyed during WWII. The present style has an influence and history closely connected to the 2nd world war. Beer and Soda bottles thrown out from the U.S. military bases were recycled to become the raw material for these glasses, which tended to be mostly colored. Cola bottles gave the azure color, beer bottles - brown, whiskey - black, soft drink - green, etc. After the Reversion (of Okinawa to Japan) raw materials for making the glass became easily available, and use of discarded bottles became less and less. Tourists to Okinawa from the mainland increased the demand for original arts, and ever since the popularity of Ryukyu Glass has not looked back.

The glass at first glance looks deformed or second grade as it has cracks, or bubbles or strange pieces of glass or bumps disrupting what should be the smooth clear surface of the glass. Some glasses have small patches of colors that swirl around. The glasses are of all sorts of shapes and sizes, and of course, colors. This is the distinct style of the Ryukyu glass.

This style must have originated in the rough and rustic processes used to make the glass initially at a grass-root level. The Japanese seem to have a fetish for things that look/are unfinished. With the progress of time, this rusticity has converted to a modern aesthetic. The very defects are a thing of beauty in the glass. I am constantly reminded of the resemblance of this concept of "imperfect beauty" to the concept of the unfinished nature of man we find in Renaissance philosophy. The fragile, indetermined nature of man could be compared to the fragile unpolished nature of this imperfect glass. (The Ryukyu glass cannot be used for very hot liquids, it can easily crack, nor should it be placed in a microwave oven.)

My fascination to the whole process of glass-blowing only grows. I shall make another glass sometime soon. This time I shall get the prototype Okinawan glass - the light blue one with colored swirls that imitate the colorful schools of fish swimming in the turquoise blue sea!