Okinawa Times

back home

2007-08-25T04:15:00.001+09:00

Am back in Delhi. It isn't too great. I had hoped more things would have changed in that one year I was away, but alas.. not much has changed in Delhi. I can only hope I don't have too serious a reverse culture shock. The only saving grace is the plethora of mangoes that mom bought and kept the fridge :)

I miss Okinawa, but there is nothing to be done, except remember my times there and everything I saw, experienced and learnt. All the friends I made, and all the good times I had. Thank you for being a part of it! I am truly very grateful...

I now declare the end of my Okinawa Times...

Fuji San, Golden Kanazawa, and my last day..

2007-08-22T13:53:00.001+09:00

These three probably deserve a separate post each. Alas! I don't have time on my hands... I know they shall be saved as drafts and posted much much later than today! But they shall be here for your reading pleasure none the less!

Sunrise from Mt. Fuji:

15th August 2007 (India's 60th Independence Day)

May the pics say it all (for text, please refer to Mr. David Crennen's An Attempt at Mt. Fuji):

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Golden Kanazawa

On the night of the 16th, I took a night bus from Shinjuku to Kanazawa. It took the whole night to get there, and i reached the capital of Ishikawa prefecture at 6ish in the morning the next day. My friend came and picked me up, and we headed to his house to have some breakfast and freshen up. After an amazing cup of coffee, we headed out to komatsu city, to the Natadera temple. It was there that my already half-broken camera gave up on me and I was to later discover that none of the pictures I took came. Which is such a shame, since it was a beautiful place, and I can't share it with you, or keep it in my records for posterity! The temple would be awesome in autumn and winter. I could only imagine for now what it would be like, but even that mental picture seemed to take my breath away.

Anyhow, after coming back from Natadera, we headed over to the Geisha District. Since the sun was setting, and they were putting out paper lamps on the cobbled roads, it was a gorgeous site. women in kimonos graced the place and even though there were many hushed tourists crowding the streets, it was an extremely memorable evening!

The next day (17th August), we went to a shrine called Oyama Shrine. It had a stained glass window at its gate, and the beautiful little pond next to the shrine had a white stork/crane (I don't know which it was exactly) and a small semicircular bridge. I picked a fortune there, which turned out to be 大吉 or daikichi which is the best good luck. Of course if it was bad luck, then I'd have to tie it and leave it there. But since it was good, I got to keep it. Nikhil read what it said and told me; it was overall good (naturally!) but the last line said "But don't be proud"!! I had picked a luck at Asakusa before starting with my M.A. degree and this time it was for the rest of my M. Phil. I hope its true! I really need all the luck I can get.

I digress too much! すみません !

After Oyama Shrine, we went to the Kanazawa Castle. and saw the famed Ishikawa-mon. Nikhil is the CIR from India in Kanazawa, and he was therefore an excellent guide for me. There we saw many of the famous red dragonflies. After the castle, we walked over to the famed Kenroku-en. It was lovely, despite the throngs of tourists. (Damn you, camera!!) I got reminded of Kyoto, and felt that however much beautiful Okinawa was, yet we were missing this side of Japan there. When we stepped into a traditional tea house, into the cool clean tatami room -it was a very hot day - I became melancholic. and this melancholy stayed with me for a long time. I felt sad that I was leaving. I felt that I may never again see this. I may never again experience this. I felt my loss deeply at that moment. This trip to Kanazawa was the last trip I made in Japan until who knows when the next time would be when I come back here.

I tried melon カキゴリ to sooth melancholy - didn't help. Even souvenir shopping didn't help. Nor did a Starbucks frappuchino. Nor did word games. Nothing. I was tired and hot and nostalgic for the present! We walked at the samurai district where boundaries of the houses had mud walls! After that, we went home and I fell asleep. Woke up afresh, went more souvenir shopping (bought gold facewash for my sister!), had dinner, then left by night bus again. All in all, Kanazawa was beautiful. and I highly recomend a trip to Ishikawa-ken!

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My Last Day in Japan:

On my last day in Tokyo (22nd of August), I ate lunch with cute cute Asako, who asked me to come to her place. She borrowed a book of vegetarian recipes from the library and cooked me a delicious tofu cutlet-type dish! And her mom went and got us a sweet dish called yokan, which is made from azuki beans and kanten.

I went to the au shop in Kichijoiji to disconnect my keitai after returning from Asako's. I was worried that I wont have enough cash on hand to pay it off, so I asked first how much it would cost total, and the people wanted me to fill forms first. and, of course, I didn't have enough money to cover my bills. So, I had to go home, get my dads card, go back to Sun Road, get money and then disconnect the phone. Accompanied with ten thousand useless formalities, and the guy making me fill out a brand new form because of some mistake he made, the whole procedure took about 2 hours! It was still better than when I was getting my phone. That time, they had made me decide a plan first, when i finally did so, the made me select a handset. But the ones I liked weren't available, so they got out these other ones. (Mind you, they first showed me the sample ones for those that they didn't have!!!) When I selected a phone, they said the plan we chose wont apply on this handset, so I had to look at other plans all over again!! I think we spent an entire afternoon there at the time!

Anyhow, after that was done, I headed off to Nishi-kasai, where I had diner with family friends and I stayed the night there itself with all my luggage, packed and ready to go from there itself. It was easier to go from there than Kichijoji since the family friend could drop me till the bus stop, so I decided that this was the best option. I had a good nights rest and in the morning I was off.

That was my stay in Tokyo! and the last of my JET career. (i.e., unless I become an alumni!!)

Things I will miss:

2007-08-11T03:08:00.000+09:00

the sea
ｶﾗｵｹ KARAOKE
Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
my scooter
collecting shells
night skies full of stars
my apartment and freedom it entailed
watching sunsets from the sea-steps
pizza in the sky at 花人ほ　 (shoots! I don't know the last kanji!)
Minna Jima ferry rides
winter lunches at the sea wall
zenzai
shiisas in every nook and cranny
swimming at my private beach
ume onegiri
vanilla skies
bowling
tofu champaruu (without meat or dashi)
purikura
badminton Wednesdays
AFN and its silly ads
watching The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 1:30am
Cafe Celluloid and interesting discussions
kappa maki
CAT
pulling Dave's leg
"Movie Club" gatherings
roaming around on Yaedake
my 'tonari' student
answering ridiculous questions on India
planing trips to outer islands
company of friends made over the year
encountering Engrish signs
frantic Dinner preparations
frantic lesson planning
"Curry" Cooking Classes
looking at Ie Jima for hours
chai and snacks with Ayumi
all cute kids of Motobu
dressing up in a sari for everyone's amazement
making crafts at the BoE
being called "Juhi Sensei"

Farewell

2007-08-10T00:02:00.001+09:00

Today the BoE gave Dave and I a farewell. They also combined it with a welcome for Emily and Everette - the 2 new ALTs in Motobu. Since Dave's cousin - John was also invited, there was a shocking number of gaijin present in party! It was at the same place as my welcome and Lorena's farewell party last year. Dave wore his Jimbei, and I wore a different sari.

There were many speeches and gifts and I was at my worst. I didn't know how I ought to behave, I wanted to run away, I was peevishly irritated, I was smiling on the outside, but inside of me was screaming. I did cry. When I read the beautiful message Saori san wrote with the gift she sent. And when Kazuko sensei spoke to me and gave her blessing. When I sang 'nada sou sou' with Ayumi at karaoke. When Ayumi dropped me and Everette home and I stayed to see her off in the rain.

But there were happy times too. Singing 'Like a Prayer' with Emily and Everette. And personalizing Polaroid photos using permanent markers with Ayumi from her superduper high-tech camera. And hogging on my last zenzai, and Kajun's homemade Cheese Cake.

I forgot my camera at home. and haven't yet gotten pictures the others took. I only have one picture, that Ayumi personalized for me and I can only post a picture of that picture.
..will post in the future when I get them! Till then I shall keep the mental images in my head!

Can't believe this one year is over!

my bike is gone

2007-08-07T21:58:00.000+09:00

I sold my bike. I wasnt expecting to part with it today itself... I was under the impression that I could use it until Friday. But no... it is gone... I didnt do my scooter diaries... didnt take a picture of it... and I didnt even say goodbye... my heart is weeping... I shall miss it so much...

Ridiculous Notions

2007-08-06T22:50:00.001+09:00

I had to write these out. This are some questions and notions - ridiculous or no - people asked me /had about India. Being the only Indian in a small part of Okinawa, and being the only Indian some people/students of my town have or ever will see, is a big responsibility! (and task too!)

What are the multiplication tables students have to learn?
Indian are very intelligent.
Do you eat curry-rice everyday?
All Indians have elephants as pets, right?
There are more people in America than in India.
Do you have radio in India?
Indians are overtaking in IT.
Do Indians use cell phones?
Why do you speak English?
Do you have trains in India?
Head bobbing sideways with hands joined over the head.
Indian food is very hot and spicy.
What is the red dot on the forehead for?
Indians eat naan everyday.
India is blistering hot.
There is snow in India???
You have beaches in India?
Where in Indonesia are you from?

yaeyama

2007-08-01T10:37:00.000+09:00

Day One:
(Tuesday, 24th July 2007)

Should have been when Dave and I were on-board the A-line ferry heading towards Ishigaki! But a series of unfortunate circumstances prevented us from catching the ferry on time, and it left the dock without us, while we stood there watching it leave!

Therefore,

Day One:

(Wednesday, 25th July 2007)

We catch a plane with Liz, and reach there; eat an early dinner; head to MaxValu to get fruits for the Kohama's (with whom we stayed in Ishigaki). Then we took a taxi to them and they welcome us with arms wide open, give us a set of keys to the house, make plans to take us out to the sea the next day, and give us a comfortable space to rest for the night! They were awesome hosts!

Day Two:

(Thursday, 26th July 2007)

We head out (via a HotSpar, to buy liquids) to the wharf where Mr. Kohama proceeds to take out to the sea on his own private boat. He realises that it needs gas, so we loiter around while the boat gets it fill. Finally, we are on our way, destination - off the coast of Kuroshima, a Reef where we shall see the pretty fish in the crystal clear sea! and we receive a brilliant tan for our efforts! The wind, the sea, the sky! Ah it was a perfect day!

After snorkeling and riding around in Nemo - Mr. Kohama's boat - we four went over to a place where they had really authentic smelling tandoori chicken. Of course I ate a salad or something... But Mr. Kohama was so jolly, he kept changing his order as whatever Liz or Dave ordered. We decided to play a nice little snide game and pay beforehand to as to treat Mr. Kohama for taking us out that day. He was pleasantly surprised.
He is the first Japanese/Okinawan who actually understood and sympathized with my ethical reasons for being vegetariawn. And while in the boat, he pointed out the island called Kohama and joked that it was his! And he even let me steer the boat for a while! It was so cool!! I really liked him! He is great!

Then, we went up north to cover some sightseeing and Mr. Kohama went home to rest and nap. We headed up to Tamatori-zaki viewpoint:

Then we drove up over to the northern-most tip of the island (Hirakubo-zaki):

and drove over to Mt Nosoko:
We climbed up to the very peak of this mountain (282m) to watch the sunset. (see the moon over the summit?) The 360 deg. view from up here was breathtaking (just like the climb up! it was quite hard! We even encountered signs that said in katakana "fight-o! fight-o!" on the way up!) The legend of this mountain says that there used to be a woman, who would climb up this hill and search for her lover on Kuroshima who hadn't returned for a long time. the reason he hadnt returned was because he succumbed to the malaria epidemic there. This mountain is also called Mappe after the girl, who became a stone after her tears had dried out.

The sunset: and some offering to the soul of mappe:

Day Three:

(Friday, 27th July 2007)

Woke up and got ready to go to Taketomi. It was a HOT day!

Here above is the typical Ryukyu house... and see the white roads, they are purely coral. Taketomi was just too hot to be enjoyed! I rented a bike and I thought I will try and cover the little neat spots but I just rushed through clicking very bad snaps of the places... Plus cycling was so damn hard! the brakes made me slip in the coral sand more times than was safe and taking turns on that thing was an act of suicide! Let it be said that in my opinion, Taketomi is too touristie and over-rated! We came back and were just too exhausted to do anything else! We took a nap and in the evening, cooked dinner - spagetti and garlic bread etc. for the Kohama's.

Day Four:

(Saturday, 28th July 2007)

Mrs. Kohama, a very energetic lady, took liz and I out sightseeing while Dave did some of his first and last diving in Okinawa. The weather became dull and it rained sporadically. We went to the Banna Park and its gigantic lotuses:

This below is the Ugan-zaki cape:

Kabira Bay 川平湾 (one of the two places in Japan or the world (?) where black pearls are cultured) and one of the 100 most scenic spots of Japan:

Black Pearl Cultivation:

On the way, we stopped to take pictures of these creative shiisas. Some of them were huge, all of them very colourful! Liz lost her cool ALASKA cap here!

This is the Tojinbaka:

Tojibaka is a grave for the 300-odd Chinese labourers killed while escaping Slave ships to America to work in the mines there, in the mid-1800s. It is a milestone in Sino-Japanese relations. I personally, found the shiisas protecting the shiisa, highly self-reflexive!

We also stopped over at the Kannon-do Temple in Ishigaki, Sukuji beach, and the Yonehara Pine grove. Not very exciting places...

Oh! I almost forgot! I had a fruits-curry at this greenhouse place... the curry looked awesome, but after a while it made me sick! too sweet for my taste buds...

In the evening after a much needed nap, we set out to see the Matsuri. We were late, but still managed to see many dances and programmes. And we bumped into other JETs as well. But Liz and I were very tired, so didn't really become very enthusiastic, very much unlike Dave, who even wore his "always matsuri" t-shirt from Kumejima!

Day Five:
(Sunday, 28th July 2007)

We leave for Iriomote after buying lots of food supplies at MaxValu. Before leaving, Liz buys a conical bamboo hat (having lost her cool Alaska cap) and I buy these Hollywood-style sunglasses, that instantly start falling apart. We took the ferry to Uehara and stayed at a cheap dorm, where we had to collect 100yen coins for the aircon to work thru the night! In the day though, we caught a bus to the place near Pinaisara Falls (the tallest waterfall in Okinawa) and there was a huge swamp that had to be crossed in order to get near the river! We decided that was unmanageable on our own without a tour guide as we didn't know when the tide might rise and trap us in! So we stood trying to get a lift as another bus would be in after a long time. We were picked up by these two Austrian men, who had an awesome accent! They were lots of fun! One of them is a Luftansa airhost, and so he gets cheap tickets and travels all over the world. We had an interesting conversation about their travels in India. They were heading to the Onsen and missed their turn and we ended up riding with them to the place with the Sakishima trees:

And then when coming back up, we all stopped to see the water buffalo crossing the sea to Yubu jima. I didn't really want to ride these carts (having done so unwillingly at Bise the second day I arrived in Okinawa!) And Dave had ridden it at Taketomi, so we were more than happy to stop only for pictures!

We didn't really see any of the famed yamanekos, or the Iriomote Wildcat, but we saw many signs for it ;)!

Day Six
(Monday, 29th July 2007)

next morning, after a detour to the end of the road - that is, till Shirahama - we went to Urauchi gawa, which is the longest river in Okinawa. We took a water cruise till the point where rocks began.

Then, we hiked up to the Mariyuda Waterfalls - only one in Okinawa of all Waterfalls to be selected for the 100 best waterfalls of Japan:

The name Mariyuda means 'circle stagnation', and refers to the circular pond like pool where the waterfall leads to. The legends say that there used to be an aligator here who would eat anyone who dirtied this place. (And therefore, this place was cordoned off when we went! No, Dave went there and it turned out to be covered up with fallen trees)

Next waterfall we encountered was the Kanpire:

Kanpire signifies "where the Gods sit". Again, there is a legend about this. The Okinawan gods invited the Japanese Gods to have a sit down here. It was indeed amazing to see how the forces of the water has left its marks upon the rocks here. And I got to see so many features I had studied in geography as a kid - like the natural potholes made by rocks tumbling about, for example; you can see a huge one in photo below!

After Urauchi gawa, we stopped over at the nearby Iriomote Cafe. Attracted by the jazzy new age music, and relaxing beach chairs, we spent some time between buses drinking smoothies and playing a mutli-dimensional plot 4 game.

Then we split up. Liz went over to Ohara, while Dave stayed for some more time at the cafe, reading. and I went over to the southernmost Onsen in Japan, and the only real Onsen in Okinawa. I spent about an hour relaxing in those healing waters. unfortunately, no photos of the place! :)

We all met up at our (unnecessarily expensive) hotel (booked courtsey Dave's hasty helpfulness!) We called it an early night, but not before Liz and I walked over to the bridge nearby to see this beautiful full moon.

Day Seven:
(Tuesday, 30th July 2007)

We woke at 3 am and got ready to search mangroves of Maira Kawa for the Sagaribana flower that blooms only in the night. At 4 o'clock sharp, our guide came to pick us up, and we left our hotel extremely excited. In the moonlight, the quiet river seemed to sing a soothing lullaby. I sucked at kayaking, and after a sound scolding from Liz finally got it correct! We bumped into mangroves in the middle of the water many times! Our guide told us that they were remenants of the devastating typhoon of last year! We reached the end of the swampy waters and then after some tea (that contained milk dilluted with river water as the pan had fallen down!) we trekked up to a small waterfall amidst Liz shreeking in fear of spiders. Dave dove in a couple of times, but Liz and I abstained, not wanting to get wet at that time in the morning. Kayaking back was a little tough as the sun was directly ahead of us. I picked up many sagaribana flowers floating away in the water.

We took pictures after we came. None of us carried our cameras since they weren't waterproof. Even though there wasn't much danger, still we couldn't take the chance! Here's Liz and I, and the guide, I wish I remembered his name! He was really funny!

After getting back to our minshuku, we had just enough time to eat our breakfast and bathe before checking out. We wanted to go to the Haemida beach, but after our bus driver scared us of how far it was, and the heat, and lack of time, we decided to head to the port and catch the ferry back to Ishigaki, in time to catch our flight. We went to the gelato place in Ishigaki and the not-so-famous, famous banyan tree and did an hour of karaoke to while away time. It was a fun trip over all and I shall never forget it! Snorkeling in the middle of the Sea, Climbing Mappe, Sagariban Search, And I shalln't forget especially, the slap fight between Liz and Dave which still makes me chortle!! :) Thanks for the good times, guys!

MotoChu Sobetsukai

2007-07-23T10:18:00.000+09:00

A farewell party I shall never forget...

It was held in Nakijin at a country club sort of place where some of the teachers came earlier to play tennis and then we had an otsukaresama bbq. It was combined with a farewell for Dave and I. I dont know how to describe it... maybe thats why I have been procrastinating, apart from the legitamate reason that I have had no moments rest to sit down n write about it.

I hadn't known that it was a casual chilled-out affair, and I came slightly over dressed for the occassion. Well, that wasn't a big deal anyway (Thank god I didnt wear a sari). I wondered whether it would turn out the same way as regular parties: i.e. boring speaches as people were getting drunk and I not getting anything to eat (not that I am complaining..) I was wrong in wondering that because I had a great time. I got many things to eat, and great conversations with teachers. Plus I spoke to Sawako san on the phone and finally fixed a day to meet. She turned out to be a big help for Ishigaki.. more of that on the blog post on Ishigaki....

Anyhow.

There were many endless otsukare speaches that finally came to a halt. Then it was david and my turn to give speaches. Dave made me go first translating for me. He was drunk by tht time so I mistrusted his translation, but akemi sensei said that he was doing well.

I hadnt prepared any speach, but spoke from my heart. I talked about how it had been difficult for me at MotoChu, and how things had drastically improved this year. That I finally felt comfortable n helpful and was enjoying being part of the school, helping with the story contest and all. I felt I finally had a purpose. (Its so strange that the situation at KamiChu and MotoChu got interchanged this new session.) I talked about how the staff at MC was most kind and eating kyuushoku with them was always enjoyable. I always felt warmly welcomed by the staff (not that at othr schools I felt like trash!! But it was always easy and stress free with them At here the teachers made up for the kids behaviour last year). I told them how I wish I wasn't leaving now when it became so much better. and I ended by saying thanks for the great times...

Dave's turn came and he did a weird speech in which his passion and crescendo increased with each person he thanked. I was embarrassed at his drunken offensiveness!! For example, to the science teacher, one of the senior teachers, he says "I have no idea what you are here for but thank you!!" But Megumi sensei (a darling person) started crying and looking at her, I too had to... how would I not? once the dam was broken... it came pouring down.

Then they brought out a gift for Dave. It was a Jimbei with slippers, fan and headband saying Nihon in kanji. They made him put it on over his clothes. It was funny seeing drunk Takemi sensei helping a drunk Dave put a jimbei on over his clothers...

Then came my turn. I totally felt like a didnt deserve anything, but that their love was enough. They got me a yukatta with geta, fan and obi. Its so beautiful and I totally felt overwhelmed that they would something so extravagant and yet so... touching. They made me put it over my clothes and we posed for pictures

The most touching part was Takemi sensei's speech. Whatever he said calmed my worries and doubts and hurt Moika had caused. he said that he known I was having a rough time in the beginning and that the kids don't know how lucky they are and that is was a rare opportunity for them to meet someone from India... they will remember me when they will have grown up. he said he felt sorry that he didnt recruit me beforehand for helping with the story contest., His words were really encouraging. He was quite intoxicated by that time and had some difficulty focusing on constructing whole sentences in english! But those words came from the heart. I became so emotional! Gosh! its cruel... leaving...

But on a brighter note.. Here's the team Eigo - Natsuko sensei, me, Akemi sensei, David and Takemi sensei !!

elephant

2007-07-22T00:17:00.001+09:00

Ie, here I come again...

2007-07-21T20:48:00.000+09:00

I went to Iejima one last time, and this time I went with my scooter. I took the last ferry from Motobu, at the last minute, dodging important discussions with Sup. No, not really... Dave had it under control. I reached Josh's apartment and his teachers/neighbours instantly assumed I was his girlfriend. Anyhow, I headed off to Mt. gusuku to see the sun go down and after I came down, I got stopped by a bunch of old islanders who were curious to know about a foreign non-white girl riding around on a baiku by herself. They made me sit down with them and shot questions at me which I was glad to understand and answer to. But I was getting nervous as it was getting late and I had to join Josh at a teachers BBQ, for which I was already late anyway. I finally reached the beach having gotten lost in the dark country roads a couple of times.. I didn't even know if I landed up at the right BBQ until Yamaguchi sensei wildly flayed his arms and yelled over to me! I met him and his wife Ayumi, and all the teachers of Ie Junior high school. Yamaguchi sensei's wife is very pregnant. Her due date in 13 Aug, a day after I leave. So she was making a joke to give birth quickly. And, of course, I guessed correctly that its a girl!!

(I look pregnant in this picture too!! funny!)

The next morning, she got Josh and I breakfast :> yum...grilled cheese sandwich!! Then I headed out to explore Ie on my scooty. I wanted to cover as much ground as possible and therefore justify my bringing my scooter in the heat!

I headed over first thing to the famous Pawn Shop Ruins.

then I went to the Ernie Pyle Monument

After some confusion, and lovely views,

I reached the Niya Thiya cave where if one can lift a particular coral rock easily, then one is about to have a girl. But if one is unable to do so at ease, one is to have a boy-child. I am not pregnant, but I tried to lift it, and it seemed quite a task.... will I have a boy? Gosh, I want a girl!! (I can't)

Then I rode around trying to find a temple! Gave up and ended up on the deserted airstrip. (Only picture I have of my bike!!! so cherished...)

In a sudden thought I realised while trying to find the daffodil park, that the ferry times had changed for the summer. and that if there was any chance I would go to the Farewell BBQ, I'd have to leave on a sooner ferry. So i head back to the port area, but not before taking a detour to some holy spot (the name of which I don't remember...) It was near the turtle tower though!

Don't know if ever I will come back here, I hope I do! Its such a neat little island! love you, Ie, standing there in ocean spread out!

hurt

2007-07-20T00:09:00.000+09:00

sometimes people do things that hurt another person. sometimes its not intentional, but other times it is.

I am not sure about this particular instance, which hurt me grievously... It was one of the students... She hates me... and this isnt the first time she affected me this way. Once before in class, she shouted at me as to why I was there, that I wasnt American, why was I then teaching English... At another instance she had peevishly asked when Amy was going to come. Why did I come to that school so much. I wondered what I was doing wrong that Amy and David were doing right. I thought maybe its because I am not American {as in caucasian}. I tried my best to be good to her. I never did anything bad anyway, as far as I know. I forgot what had happened and thought everything was ok, but today she clapped when I said it was my last class and said yay when I said I am going back to India in August. I couldnt understand her irrational hate. But I couldnt feel any other emotion but hurt. I dont hate her back, nor do I dislike her. I cant like her just yet and it will take a little time to follow gabrielle and love her back.

For my last lesson I gave students things from India as prizes for asking questions about India, or anwsering those that I asked. The third years were completely unenthusiastic apart from one or two students. Their ungenkiness made me feel worse... I honestly tried my best... The second years were my saving grace.

I feel I failed as a teacher. Even one student having such strong feelings against me as a judement of my teaching. Inspite of the fact that at that school, hiromi sensei does the teaching and ALTs follow her lead... In my future, I want to teach. I want it to be my livelihood. Its silly in a way that I let her affect me that much... One student cannot be a reflection of my teaching. Especially one who is obviously troubled... It still doesnt stop the hurt. It seems like my year here been useless. I have not achieved anything. The kids are glad I am leaving and that there will be American ALTs again.

This got me thinking, how subtle cultural differences exist, and these difference, can grow into mountain between people. Isnt this the beginning of racism? When we refuse to allow people their differences?

Many people misunderstood me. They never realised that maybe its a cultural difference that I did/said/felt the way I did... I am Indian, and its easy to forget that as I dont behave like the stereotypical image of an Indian person. I now know why Tokashiki happened, I was trying too hard to fit in and didnt realise that I was undergoing culture shock. I never experienced culture shock from the Japanese, I was too much like them myself. It was all the western ALTs that made me feel different and uncool. I wanted to be like they were, and felt I couldnt live upto their standards. I was so naive, n still am... I was friendly with everyone, n still want to be so... I dont hate anyone, even though I know many people dont like me ... I have drifted apart. I am sad... but maybe this might make returning easy. but I do not want to end it this way. I am conflicted. May Ishigaki be my saviour...

bye bye Minna Island

2007-07-18T22:39:00.000+09:00

Today was my last day at Minna Jima Shogakko. I went to the island yesterday and stayed over with one of the teachers, Koze sensei. I had this day planned out for a long time, and everyone was very supportive of my plan. I believe I gave them some novelty from their everyday routine life.

I never took the ferry at that time of day. It was nice and cool, with very few tourists on board (an unlikely thing to occur for the summer season). I met a Minna jima family on the ferry, which turned out to be relatives of Akanes. As soon as I arrived, I made a pudding at the school quickly, and then headed over to beach to see the sunset.

On the way, they got me shaved ice, passion fruit flavor. It was some of the best stuff I ever tasted.

After seeing the sun go down, we proceded to walk home while lightening fell near Ie-jima. The teachers then took me to Yuki and Riki's house for dinner. I felt guilty putting Yuki and Riki's mom on the spot trying to concoct something for me to eat. But its ok... they knew I was vegetarian. We played trump after dinner till the boys got tired. After tucking the boys in bed, we women chatted. An interpretor was called, a friend of the mom and lifeguard at the beach. He spoke very good english having picked up the language living and teaching snowboarding in Utah in the winters. He gave me valuable advice for climbing Fuji-san, and we had an interesting coversation of English teaching in Japan.

The next day, it was thunderstorming outside. Koze sensei had gone to school early, but I kept sleeping and wasn't required to be at school until my class. I wore my sari and reached school before ten. Prepared my lesson, did the class at eleven thirty,

ate kyushoku, etc and then the school had a small ceremony for me. It was bittersweet. When boarding the ferry, Koze and Nao senseis gave me the cutest gift. Slippers of Minna-jima made by Akanes mom, and sea shells from the island. I bid goodbye with awkward hugs, and flying kisses to Riki, who came to the port. I cried a little on the ferry. If I get the oportunity, I will go back once more, but who knows if there will be time on my hands..

So, til then, goodbye Minna jima...

sayonara

2007-07-17T16:40:00.000+09:00

Motobu Shogakko gave Dave and I our farewell or Thank you paachi today. I handed over my camera to a teacher who took these pictures for me. This is us sitting at the place of honour:

This is one of the teacher taking the juhi quiz:

This is us getting swamped by the students shaking hands, high-fiving and waving bye bye:

one final goodbye picture:

The kids are so sweet. Its a shame I never got to meet them properly. I always got scheduled with the same two or three classes. Ah well..

Friday the thirteenth

2007-07-13T15:53:00.000+09:00

Man-yi is raging. This was the condition outside my house some time ago:

Apart from the rainwater that entered my apartment, nothing major broke or went wrong. Only my bike was thrown off balance by the wind. The seat had flown open, my helmet that I kept inside it had rolled off some distance away getting soaked completely. I also kept the bikes manual in there; they were soaked too. I just got the bike serviced, I hope it will be alright... poor thing...

台風　Typhoons a comin

2007-07-12T13:59:00.000+09:00

my first real typhoon warning in Okinawa... had to go to sesoko elementary school today... all my material kept flying off because of the wind... sesoko hashi [bridge] will be closed soon... so classes were wrapped up early... was my last day at that school... bittersweet... i will miss them... anyhow, students helped kocho sensei to put all the plants and things kept outside, in the building... wind blew dust into my eyes as soon as i approached sesoko hashi... had to exert extreme caution riding my scooter on the bridge and going uphill... saw an accident happen in front of my eyes today, no-one got hurt thankfully... went shopping for supplies - have canned food, snacks, batteries, candles, toilet paper, ume onegiri ... filled every container with water... charging my ipod now... if only the electricity and phone lines dont get cut... as long as i have the internet to keep me company safe in my house... Typhoon 4 or {man-yi} looks bad...its East/West Red TC - 1... maybe it will last in the night... approaching okinawa soon... my sliding doors are rattling... sumo is on, so i am entertained... what is it about watching fat men jump at false starts and then fight for a few seconds... its just pure fun, without any blood or violence... anyhow...

Peaceful Love

2007-07-08T23:42:00.001+09:00

It was the 25th anniversary of the Peaceful Love Rock Festival in Okinawa City, Okinawa. It is the biggest modern music event in Okinawa, with over twenty most famous bands of Okinawa. It is a two day event, and the first day recent noveau bands perform, while the second day is reserved for the older bands. We only went for the first day, as most ALTs decided to go to another event on the second day, and I depend on others for a ride, and have no will of my own with such a dependence :> I would have liked to go on the second day too, afro mania, murasaki and begin were performing that day.

anyhow, my favourite band for the day was a girl band called Bleach. they were hard core heavy metal. The lead singers eyes popped out of their sockets as she belted out the song. she kicked the mic stand in the passion of the song, but kept singing on while playing her guitar, stooping to the ground, while a stagehand had to hold the mic for her; and in the end, anticlimactically, she thanked the crowd with the sweetest of arigato gozaimas. I loved her. This is right before she knocked the microphone over:

There was a ridiculous band before Bleach, which had me in splits. They wore the most silly costumes and came upon the stage oiled up singing the Peaceful Love Rock Exercise. I dont recall their bands name...

Rachel, her friend Izumi and I happened to have the same model and colour keitai. We were sitting next to each other and suddenly realized it.

Taking pictures werent allowed, and there were many muscular marines hired to snatch the devices from unrelenting folkes. I just managed to sneak the pics through :>

American Independence Day Celebrations

2007-07-05T11:04:00.000+09:00

My first 4th of July celebrations. The consulate invited all American JETs to the consulates event,and one guest was permitted to everyone, so Dave asked me if I would be interested in going too. I thought it would be interesting, so I went along with him and liz, who carpooled with us. There were anthems, speeches, military stuff, hulas, food, cookies, great friends...

I told my partners in crime to look American when I clicked this pic... {Dave is tryin to look stern and Liz is doing a dumb look... brilliant expression guys!!! }

The flag-bearers:

The Silent Drill Platoon:

Toothfairy, please come..

2007-07-03T21:31:00.000+09:00

isn't it gross? The dentist gave such a cute container to keep it though....

Wisdom uprooted

2007-07-02T13:46:00.001+09:00

It isn't really wisdom here, but nonetheless it is some kind of intelligent sense that is about to be uprooted at the dentists office today! I mean, who in their right minds would go there and have someone tug and yank the living bejesus of a tooth out your mouth? But I am foolish, for I am about to sacrifice myself at the Altar of Dentistry. Some may say I am in fact wrong to say so, and wise to be going after much dilly-dallying delay... but I still have mortal fear and dread for the thing that is to happen. What if I go into coma and die like Pravin's friend? Or what if I just bleed to death? Can someone please tell me why I was so 'genki' about getting an appointment this morning? And why I am doing this again?

But, no... I think I really learnt my lesson on Friday! I couldn't sleep as my wisdom tooth decided to bug me again. sometime very late in the night, I woke up in pain and took a brufen. i fell asleep for what seemed like hours, when it may have just been a momentary flash of a sleep... I don't really know! so when I woke up thinking the tablet has worn off too quickly, I took another. In the vagueness of the night, I hadn't realised that maybe the first tablet hadn't had the time to kick in! So I ended up taking two strong doses. In the morning I woke up to what I thought was my alarm, and spent 15 mins on the John thinking its 6 o'clock. I came back to hit the snooze again only to realise that it is actually my Board of Education calling!! and that it was much, much closer to 10am!! You see, I had put my ringtone as my alarm so that my sleepy mind would think its someone calling! my ingenious plan back-fired when I thought it was my alarm was ringing and it was actually my supervisor calling me! I had overdosed myself conveniently sleeping through all my 6 alarms! I ran helter-skelter and reached school terribly late, having missed 2 classes. It was elementary school and everyone knows how dearly I hold on to those visits; to have missed a class there was the worst thing to happen. Especially as at MotoSho, there are many kids who I have never had a class with! It is ironic, as just the day before this happened to me, David was late for Sakimotobu Elementary School because he overslept and I had been so judgemental! I felt terrible the whole time for missing a class (they re-scheduled one class but couldn't do so for both the periods I had missed) And at lunch time, the Kyoto sensei, who talks about this everytime he sees me, repeated once again to my extreme mortification, about how in India people schedule a meeting but are late for one hour, two hours, three hours, until the person waiting leaves, but that person bears no ill-will towards the person who stood him up as the hearts are kind and no-one minds!! I just hid my face in my hands and begged forgiveness, one teacher who can speak english a little explained my hurting wisdom... (tooth, that is ...)

Anyhow, if in some odd chance I dont come out of this alive, then please know that I love you and will miss you! thank you for being part of my life! also, please let barima and babaji know I remembered them! and release my body into the ocean, don't cremate or bury me! And donate my eyes, heart and kidneys! And give my stamp collection to Paroma! And my literature notes and books to Isa and Aditi! My ryukyu glasses to Varsha! and the knick-knacks I made over the years to Gayu! and inform Cherie, I dont know if she reads my blog! And, there is still so much that I need to do and say, but I need to signout and go to the dentist now! Once again, thank you for being a part of my life and forgive me my stupidities! love u! hontoni!

カメさま

2007-07-02T00:15:00.000+09:00

my busy week

2007-07-01T18:09:00.000+09:00

the last week has been one of the busiest week of this year I spent in Okinawa.... see how...

After the event for the kids from hokkaido, i came back home and busied myself in preparing lessons for elementary schools this whole week. I donno when I went to sleep. Next day, I show up at work to discover the schedule has been changed. Instead of the classes, I will just be cooking with the kids.. I had thought we will cook after lunch... Anyhow, it turned out all good. even though i had to call my mom frantically in the morning to ask how to make puri....

So that was Tuesday. Cooking with Sesoko Shogakko go and roku-nen-seis {5th and 6th grades}

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Wednesday, I had a Minna jima visit. {Its the school with four students, on another island} I love going to this school... who wouldnt... we get to take a ferry, which leaves at ten o clock so we get to sleep in later and there is one english class with the sweetest of kids... I had to play kick baseball with the kids and teachers in my skirt... it was exhausting - and in the heat even more so - and I came back home and fell asleep on my couch. and didnt bother to wake up for badminton. This the edge of the island from the ferry, and you can see the rest of Okinawa honto {mainland} in the background:

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Thursday, I had Kamimotobu Shogakko. another round of tiring classes, and since Saturday was fast approaching, Dave and I made two visits at MotoChugakko once after lunch, and then after school. It was a beautiful sunset that day....

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Then Friday, Book Club. Discussed The Idiot by Dosteovsky... loved the book... would give more insightful comments some other time... this was the unique sunset off the coast of Chatan, from te balcony of our book club cafe Celluloide...

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Saturday, the story contest. On the right is Mari, whose story was Yertle the Turtle, and on the left is Yumi, who narrated a horror story called The Viper. These kids were fantastic. For practice, they came on time and never complained, worked hard at their tasks. But the competition was stiff and they didnt place... As all things Japanese, there seems no pattern... But diajobu... ce la vie...

Thats Takemi sensei in the middle. his English is great, and his deep resonant voice keeps the rowdy kids in check with one shout. Anyhow, higashi bens kid got first place, Rogers horror story got second and third place went to a girl whose story wasnt very interesting, but her pronounciation was very good.

After the story contest, the hardworking ALTs came to my house to bitch about each others kids ;p

So, I wore my sari and looked pretty for hokkaido kids, I taught kids how to cook indo-curry and nan {it was actually potato sabji and puri}, I learned how to play kick baseball, I had a highly interesting discussion on a literary masterpiece, I helped my largest school with a prominent competition, I had the pleasure of great company at my house, and I still had time to appreciate the wonders of nature.

Blunders and hokkaido kids

2007-06-26T15:46:00.000+09:00

Some of the elementary kids from Minami Furano - Motobu s sister city - in Hokkaido came for a summer exchange programme. The Board of Education has been preparing for months for this, planning the home stays, welcome ceremony/party, making gifts and many more which I will never know, and all they needed was for their ALTs to mess it up.

The ceremony began when the MC announced to the audience, please clap your hands and welcome the children, and in walked the silly ALTs! Gushiken sensei was standing outside talking to dave and I at the door and he herded us in at that critical time and it was so embarrasing! I felt mortified the whole evening. Our faces are in the videos and all our principals and vice-principals were there... urgh..

Anyhow. the evening progress smooth enough after that. There were Ryukyu dances:

Dave did karate, and amused everyone... somehow he manages to make his seriousness comic...

Little boy on the sanshin singing, I wonder if he is one of my student... :

Little ballerinas, they were sooooo kawai:

These are the kids from hokkaido, doing their dance...

Me with the pretty pretty students of mine, two of the ballerinas:

Kin Kannon-do temple

2007-06-24T15:54:00.000+09:00

On the outside, this temple seems mundane, but enter the steep entrance of the cave on the right and leave the heat and mosqitoes on top for the cool comfort of the Kin Shonyudo limestone cave and discover a history so typically Okinawan. { Japan-China, typhoons, habu, awamori... }

The Kin Kannon-do temple has been on my infamous list of Okinawan sites to see before I leave. It is one of eight famous temples in Okinawa and is operated by the Buddhist Shingon sect. It is a Karst cave near Camp Hansen.

In 1552, the Buddhist priest Nisshu, a native of Wakayama Prefecture, was washed ashore when a typhoon hit his ship near Kin Bay on his way to Japan from China after practicing Buddhism in China. He was rescued by Kin villagers. During his stay in Kin Village, he heard the story of large snakes, habu, that lived in a stalactite cave and often ate domestic animals. He thanked the villagers for saving him and prayed to god to kill the snakes for the villagers, which eventually happened. He also made three statues of Buddha, Yakushi (The God of Medicine), and Kannon (The God of Mercy). and set them in front of the cave.

Later, the Shingon sect built a temple near this cave. The temple is made of wood and has an attractive design. The temple contributes to the spiritual livelihood of the northern communities as a place to hold marriage ceremonies and funeral services.

The cave is 300 meters in length and is well known as a storage room for local Awamori (an Okinawan liquor). Awamori distilling in Kin was first launched in 1949. This Kin Tatsu (dragon) brand liquor is stored for five or twelve years inside Kin Shonyudo, a natural limestone cave on the premises of Kin Kannon Temple. Bottles filled with 1.8 liters 43% proof liquor is stored for 5 and 12 years and aged at the ideal temperature of 17 to 19°C. With an average temperature of 17-19 degrees, this is the perfect environment to store and age the liquor.

Butterflies in the staffroom**

2007-06-22T09:49:00.000+09:00

OK, any second now a teacher will come running up to me and tell me it is time for class, and I will be absolutely unprepared. I came in early this morning to avoid this very catastrophe, as Motobu Shogakko was not in my original schedule for the term, and i did not know what classes I will teach. Since Hiromi sensei of Kamimotobu JHS, left for Canada yesterday for a 6 month course, my schedule got turned topsy-turvy. I was originally scheduled for KamiChu this week, but when Hiromi sen. realised that, she spoke with my supervisor and for the past two weeks my schedule was redone.

Now, schedules are changed all the time. I go to some schools armed with 5 different lesson plans and suddenly I have no class because swimming pool classes have been scheduled there. Or its a sunny day, so they do an outdoor class day, and all the kids are at the beach. Or a test is scheduled on the only day in the month that I am visiting that school. So one would think that with all this switching around, it would be no problem to fit me in somewhere... Ah, you are gravely mistaken my dear friend. In Japan, expect the unexpected. It has been over an hour since I have been here and there has been no talk of which classes I will go to. Which of course, leaves me completely unprepared...

At the elementary schools, the mental standard of each grade is different, and therefore, I need a different lesson plan for each class. I don't mind improvising on the spot at most occasions, in fact I am all for spontaneity; but seriously, when i have one 45-minute class in a year, I want it to be successful, and not have the kids sit there bored, with me killing all their enthusiasm to learn English!

So, till then, I'll just sit here, terrified, waiting in dread of the impending doom, coming at me with the sweetest of voices tinkling these four little words: "Juhi sensei, retts gou!"

** the heavens seem to be mocking me, for seriously, there are at least two real butterflies flitting around happily in the staffroom and, dear Reader, you thought it was refering to butterflies in my stomach, didn't you!! well, God surely has a sense of irony!

not so mundane but still very much so...

2007-06-20T16:13:00.000+09:00

This term I get to go to Motobu Junior High School the most. I had thought that it was my punishment for leaving my Board of Education after only one year! But of course, as my previous post says, things are looking up and I am quite enjoying coming here :) And there are ample ironies to assault my tickle bone...

Yesterday, the 2nd years had one of the most ridiculous workshop ever! This workshop happened after cleaning and since David was here for the story contest practice, we went to see what was up! Apparently, a famous hairdresser in Okinawa, called Aya, came to give a demonstration along with her assistants and makeup artist. The ultra-fashionable clothes, make-up and hairdos, suggested that they were tourists from mainland as Okinawans usually clad simple, comfortable and yet elegant clothing. For this demonstration, two girls -2nd year students - were brought wearing highly fashionable clothing unsuitable for 14-year olds. And then the troop went to war armed with scissors and brushes against all common sense and decency; snipping away at the students hair and plastering them with make-up, in a gust of oohs and aahs of kawaaiiiis from the other mesmerized girls. The boys of course wondered what they were doing there. Their purpose was made clear, I guess, when they had to whistle and hoot once the war was over.

I am left to contemplate what was learnt during this workshop? Is this a dress rehearsal for high school when all the girls will shorten their skirts, flaunt their legs and under-things, put make-up, flash keitais and smoke their time away? Maybe I'm just too scandalized and therefore so critical!! I know I can't see this in a flippant light, maybe Philboyd Snrub can see some humour on this subject...
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Anyhow, on a brighter note, I had my own two classes today. Dear Akemi sensei's daughter fell sick and she had to take her to the hospital, so i was left to my own devices! I was nervous handling a Junior High class by myself... even though at the elementary schools I have to plan my own lessons and conduct them all by myself, I have the homeroom teacher to help out when, and if, I need it and to control the class if it gets out of hand. This time I was the only teacher present in the classroom, and it went smoothly. The ichi-nen-seis (1st years) are a thoroughly decent bunch (so drastically different from last year's bunch!) and they did not start taking liberties once they knew I was on my own. I have been busy as a bee, but I am loving every moment as the reward is SWEET!!!!

dumtee-dumdee-dum-humzzz!!! :)

あじさい　Ajisai

2007-06-14T23:31:00.000+09:00

Ajisai, or Hydrangea, is a rainy season flower in Japan. It changes colour according to the ph levels; when the soil is acidic, it turns blue, and when it is alkaline, it becomes pink. This changeability made the flower unpopular with the samurai. It was revived in Japan after the Western world seemed to take interest in it. This ajisai farm/garden was on a hill in Izumi. It was gorgeous even though it was rainy and overcast that day..

sunset and sunrise

2007-06-10T19:01:00.000+09:00

The Sunset on Saturday, 9th of June 2007 from Emerald Beach, Motobu.

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On 22nd October last year, Liz, Paul and I had gone to the Tanaga-gumui Falls up north. While coming back down south, we stopped on the side of a bridge in Higashi and climbed up a cliff, which seemed to face east and on a clear day would be an excellent sunrise spot. Ever since that time, I had been thinking of going there to see the sunrise, especially for New Years, as in Japan its a tradition to see the first sunrise of the year. Of course, lack of a car and severe flu during the winter break prevented that, but today I finally went there with Ben and Paul. It was breathtaking. We could not really see the sunrise from the foliage-free part of the cliff :

So, we entered the dense thicket and tried to find an edge from where the sun could be visible. Paul even climbed up a tree. We somehow got a glimpse through the bushes:

Then we went over to another place, north of the bridge, to see the rest of the rise. It was beautiful and so much worth losing sleep over:

... don't you agree?

伊江島　Ie-jima

2007-06-09T00:25:00.000+09:00

Sorry for being so tardy... I went to Ie-jima on 19th of May, but I didnt publish my entry on it and I decided that if I were to post now, it would be so far down, you wouldnt even notice it... so here it is, a fresh start....

Ie-jima is the closest island to Motobu that is not part of Motobu-cho. It makes for a great view and perhaps every little cafe in Motobu as an awesome view of Ie. Its uncanny how Ie-jima is somehow an integral part of Motobu without being an actual part...

The ferry leaves from Motobu Port and there are 4 ferries per day. The 30mins ferry ride costs a lil more than 1000 yen for a return trip.

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The prominent geographical feature of the island is the Mount gusuku. On a clear day, the view from up here is spectacular. By far the best view you can get. On the path, I came across this tree/s (above), which seemed to be growing from a huge boulder. It was ... incredible. The pics below are from the mountain.

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Now, the deal was that I had been waiting for the famous lily festival of Ie to go there. Below is te lily field. and the sea coast near it was very interesting. Its probably a dive spot, but it seemed very kowaii (or scary)

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Now, this below is the Awajee Observatory, or maybe we shouldnt use the Japanese term for viewpoint. It was pretty impressive, nonetheless, and one could see Iheya and Izena from here in the distance.

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These were the only three places we saw. We walked around to all the places and the unexpected sunshine and heat slowed us down. Didnt see the Ernie Pyle monument or the caves etc. around the island. I am praying for a clear day to go again, and this time I would take my scooter along : > !!!

I had been planning to take a day trip there, and Paul changed his plans to go to Yoron Island to come with me, and Amy decided to come with us too. It was her birthday, so we got a cake for her and made her cut it at the campsite. We camped at the Youth Travellers Village, walking towards which, we had bumped into Josh, the resident JET on Ie, who was a charming guide : > !! Also, dear Yamaguchi sensei, who moved from Izumi to Ie Chugakko this year, was on Okinawa honto for that weekend. But we bumped into him at the port when we returned. It was all good as I could say hello to his wife too. They are having a baby!!

And those were the highlights of our trip. It was a fun weekend trip, worth repeating again :)

Serenity

2007-06-07T21:34:00.000+09:00

taken at the Yamazato Karst in Motobu

Thursday, 31st May 2007

Things are looking up at MotoChu!

2007-06-06T13:35:00.000+09:00

I don't know how it is that things have started to change (for the better) at Motobu Chugakko. Today during cleaning time some girls asked me if I saw the latest pirates movie and that they went to see it last week and it was "very very enjoy" all this in broken English.

Also, I have not been sitting idle in the staff room making odd arts and crafts, reading, making flashcards or sleeping instead of going to the class with JTEs. I actually had 5 (repeat five!!) classes in the past two days I've been here. And not only that, but when I went to these classes, I wasn't just a looming shadow lurking in the corners as before, but the new JTEs actually involve me in the team-teaching. Not only that, but the students have been very nice to me recently, high-fiving and stopping in corridors to exclaim "O! Juuhie!!" and making attempts at small talk in English. Is it possible? Is it really possible?

Last year during the Christmas week, I had made extensive material to explain about that festival (and mind you I don't even celebrate it!) and the students were almost about to rip them all apart, while the previous JTE stood there doing nothing to control the class. The only one time I actually shouted at the students was at MotoChu last year! All my activities failed at MotoChu last year. All my efforts seemed to me a waste. My face would crinkle in an ugly frown just thinking I had to go there and suffer again. Visiting that school seemed a punishment!

But it isn't that bad anymore. I am enjoying it here. I am helping with the speech contest along with Dave. I also had a breakthrough with one the most difficult child of the school. His name is constantly brought up in the staff room "Kouta did this today", "Kouta did that today", "Kouta has done this again..." and so forth. Last year, when he was in First year, he was made to stand in the teachers room for a few hours. and believe you me, that is an extremely severe punishment one could get out here! Well, I had to interview each student individually on some questions they were taught, and Kouta came and actually tried to answer! I gave him a 6 out of 10 for his efforts and I felt maybe i should have given more just to encourage him, but the JTE was so surprised at even this score. She said he would never even attempt prior to that day. She couldn't believe it and immediately after the class went to the homeroom teacher to tell about this strange occurrence.

was it really last Thursday when I had woken up, gotten ready to go to school and didn't, 'cause I couldn't bare the thought of sitting at my desk uselessly or going to class to students who couldn't care a F*%# about me being there? I had refused to go there! Is this that same school? I do not really know how this reversal happened... but I can't be gladder for it! MotoChu isn't so hated anymore! :)

Lotus

2007-06-05T18:22:00.000+09:00

taken at Izumi Elementary and Junior High School

India-Japan Friendship Year 2007

2007-06-03T11:07:00.000+09:00

Last Friday we went to see a performance of Manipuri Dance at the Nakijin Community Center. This performance was held under the India-Japan Friendship Year 2007 celebrations. Performers from different parts of India have been touring different parts of Japan and I hope vice versa! :) Thanks to such performances and cultural exchange between India and Japan, perhaps there can be a greater awareness of India in Japan. Also, it is under these strong bilateral relations that so many Indians got selected for JET!

To be really honest, I was sceptical about going to see the performance. I decided at the last hour that I must go. I do not really know the reason for my hesitancy. Maybe I have been exiling myself to much ... Nonetheless, I am very glad to have gone! I am the representative of my country and it was nice to realise that I wasn't completely lost and was actually able to recall and explain to my friends what the performance was about!

Yes, my eyes watered to think how rich my culture is!! I felt proud at that moment to be from India. To hell with those who made me feel small for not being from a developed nation. If only people could see this and know that India is not just an over-populated proverty-ridden nation without anything civilized! If only my country had better direction and governing...

Anyhow, these are the performers being introduced:

They warmed the audience with sword fighing and druming, stuff the Japanese would enjoy, before getting to the main dance :

In this rendition, the gopis {cow shepherdesses}and Radha celebrate holi with Lord Krishna, who torments Radha with his excessive flirting. After realising his mistake, Krishna apologizes, Radha forgives him and their pure platonic love is deified by the gopis.

Small Achievement # 2

2007-06-01T12:16:00.000+09:00

It isn't something to be excessively proud about.... its just another one of my small achievements living in a country where one doesn't speak the language! Uninterested ones can skip this entry.....

Here goes: the takyubin - a courier service - brought a special package for me on Wednesday. Unfortunately they came to my house at 2 o'clock, when i was obviously at work, and not finding me at my aparto they left a note. The next day when I discovered the note in the dark recesses of my mailbox, I called them up by myself - i.e., without the assistance of a native speaker of Japanese! I was able to communicate that i was a gaijin (foreigner) who knew very little Japanese, and that they came to my house yesterday when i was not there, that i needed them to come that night at 8pm and then i gave them the number of my parcel. All in broken but understandable Japanese! Ending the conversation, the male Japanese voice at the other side responded with a very firm "wakarimashta*" and i could very distinctly hear the smile in it! :)

* wakarimashta : understood!

Diapers in da House...

2007-05-28T11:05:00.001+09:00

Lately Ive been excessively inattentive towards incomplete entries saved in drafts and have not done justice to them soon enough. Sorry for that folks! Last Thursday, dear Saori san and her crafts-bazar artist friends came to my house to learn how to cook some indian dishes. I taught them one of my fav. Rajma- or kidney beans, Raita - or yougurt salad, and of course, Chapati [I figured no need to teach how to make rice... ] It was great fun and best of all, there was baby love!!! there were three little ones in diapers in my house - Koharu, haruka and Mana! and Saori sans daughter - Koharu, the one who has put my magnets into the tissue box -was totally enthralled by my snoopy act! {the one where I speak from behind my Snoopy making him bow or wave! :> mmm oishi kodomo !!! }

Kawaii so???

2007-05-18T19:12:00.000+09:00

On Wednesday, after a few good rounds of badminton with some of the Town Office and Board of Education staff, Dave and I went at this new place near my aparto for dinner. I remembered having seen the owner busy working on the decore of the place on one of my walks to the Churaumi Aquarium sometime before. And I remember having thought, "Oh! I wish I could go and ask if he needs free help!" ( You know my hands itch for arts and crafts!) Anyhow, this place has one the best decore, it is simple and everything reminds one of the ocean. There is a boat on the ceiling and various shells adorn the place. Also, the walls are essentially bare concrete and have the occasional etching as sole decorations. One of the etching is the Motobu Peninsular and surrounding islands. Unfortunately I left my camera at home....

So we go to this place, even though we had been there once before and the lady had flatly refused that there was nothing vegetarian nor could she alter something or make something different. But Dave had been there afterwards by himself, and he said they completely revamped the menu (False!) He had met this other older lady working there who was very friendly and so we decided to take a chance since everywhere it would be the same situation for me.

This kind old lady was overly friendly, bursting into peals of laughter, slapping Dave on the back when he couldn't pronounce some Japanese word. And she was quite loud and jovial in the manner of Kazuko sensei. Anyhow, after understanding fully (doubtful!!) that I didn't eat any meat or fish, she squealed "kawaii so!!!" (Meaning 'how sad' in a pitiful tone.) Now, I really don't think there is anything kawai so-ish in being vegetarian! But I just laughed it off.

Also, today I met some students for the first time at Motobu Junior High School. They are 1st years, and of course after a quick introduction, the inevitable question came up in the Q&A session: "Do you have a boyfriend?" to which I replied, "No." as if it any of their business! and guess what? the boy says back to me "kawaii so!" The gall! :) So I asked him, "Do you have a girlfriend?" to which he shook his head, "No." and I retorted back "kawaii so!" The class laughed, and the poor boy blushed deep red! Now that was the most kawaii so part!

Miyako jima

2007-05-14T09:05:00.000+09:00

This weekend a bunch of us went to Miyako jima, one of the bigger islands of Okinawa. There were lots of little places to see, but we didn't see any of those. After arriving on the island in the evening of Friday, we ate a hearty meal and then did what the locals do: drink and go to bed late at night. On Saturday, we had a long lunch at a Greek restaurant on Ikema Island in the north, which said restaurant had a "fantastic" view. Afterwards, we took pictures of the long bridge that connects the two islands from a place which had one of the best beni-imo mochi ever. we drove from extreme north to extreme south to the Maehama-yonaha beach (but, not before we got lost and had a cockroach attack in the car) and we lazed on the longest white sand beach in Japan. Came back to the hotel before sundown to shower and then headed off to Pizza Doraku for dinner. Wrapped up the evening early, some drank in our hotel room, talking et al. Et al included Paul capturing the big ass cockroach which had snuck into the room, attempts at waking a sleeping Amy by putting her hand into a bin of water, and my trying to read "The Idiot" amid general delight and joy. The next day found us heading to the Cape Higashi-henna Misaki, on the way to which we found the Sunflower Festival being held in Miyako. The sky gradually turned overcast and on the return from the cape, it started pouring down. We headed off to the German culture village, where a replica of the some of the buildings of Miyako's sister city in Germany had been constructed. After Nazi salutes and random roving, we drove back up to Hirara in search of the elusive Bagel shop. We circled the block until we asked a lady on the road where it was. She pointed to a building with closed shutters exactly across the road, the irony...! We instead turned to All American Food then. We had ample time to waste in Hirara. We found a cafe restaurant and played Asshole. Then went into an arcade where Amy slammed poor unsuspecting crocodiles, Paul and Christina shot zombies and I did one of my worst purikura (print club) until it was time to go to the airport, easy and relaxed - the extreme opposite of our ride to the airport in Naha. Amy had a class and could not leave earlier than 4-30, and our flight was at 6-35. we had about one and a half hour to reach the airport, park the car and check-in. It was very tight and we thought we could make, if it wasn't for the jam on the expressway because of a military truck that had tipped over. We honestly thought that we wouldn't make it to the flight in all that traffic!! Paul stressed and cussed and broke all courtesy rules of the road; and I sitting in the passenger seat wanted to have my own gas peddle to somehow make things start moving again. If we couldn't even catch our flight, what was the point of reserving hotels and rentals cars and planning a trip; all energy gone to waste! Rachel and Brigit were at the airport and we had given them instructions to fake an illness and somehow hold the plane up! The stress wasn't worth it. But we made it by a few minutes and ironically, the plane was delayed 10 minutes. It is sort of funny to talk about it now! That was our trip to Miyako, a relaxed island mini-holiday over what might have been a boring weekend otherwise.

Kumejima

2007-05-06T21:25:00.000+09:00

During the later part of Golden Week, I had the opportunity to fulfil another big resolution - to visit Kumejima. Lords knows why I was so fixated about going there! After many failed plans, I finally got my chance thanks to Ben and Dave who wanted to go as well. Everything was planned at the last minute and we were set to go! Even though I knew I wouldn't be able to meet Jess (one of the resident JET @ Kume), I couldn't miss out on the trip having found company as charming as Ben, Elina and Dave... Here on this blog I shall also provide some info for those googling kumejima, and reaching my blog! I highly recommend a trip there, and I am all for going back there! We couldn't see some places as one day was spoiled by bad weather! for example Haate Beach - which was right in the middle of the sea 7km away from the coast - sort of like Nylon Pool off the coast of Tobago!

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The ferry to Kume costs 5,700 yen (return trip), makes 2 trips a day (except on Mondays) and takes 3:15 to 4 hours (depending on whether it stops at Tonaki or not). If you're planning to go during a peak season, better buy the ticket in advance from Tomari Port or any tourist office like OTS (they give you a voucher which has to be exchanged for the tickets at the port). It starts at 8-30am and 2-00pm from Tomari Port in Naha and Maeshiro Port at Kume. They run from both ports simultaneously so that they meet somewhere in the middle near the Karema Islands.

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This is the Uesu House constructed in 1754. It is said that the Uezu family descended from the lords of the old Gushikawa Castle.The family were Pechin, a rank equivalent to Samurai. It is an old family. Generations were Magiri (an old administrative district) heads. The House is a collection of flat wooden houses surrounded by a stone wall and Fukugi trees, that passed over from one generation to another as the residence of the area head. It houses unique bonzai trees, a courtyard well (down which Dave is peering in the picture on the right) and the interior is kept preserved as it used to be in the old times. Based on the wind-water idea of the Ryukyu kingdom, it is National Heritage site. It cost 300yen and it was a price worth paying to preserve a house as old as this one for posterity.

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tatamiishi - or Tatami mat stones, so named because they spread out like a mat on the sea shore. This is a unique formation of lava cooling into a hexagonal or poly-angular shape, somewhat reminiscent of the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. These were the main reason why I wanted to see Kume! One Day I shall visit the Giant's Causeway, but till then I shall be satisfied with something no less interesting!
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The mihugi rock , also know as the vagina rock. Women who are unable to bear children come to pray at this spot. Water drips from top of the center of the crevasse, perhaps lending some more signification as a vagina symbol and the fertility rites connected to it. Walking to the crevasse was very dangerous, with rugged, uneven lava rocks and pools of standing water, and my flimsy flip flops, the strap of which broke ( I should have listened to my bad Google translated info: "because there is also a place where foothold is bad, footwear such as sneaker is suitable")!!!! Funny thing is, a group of 5 Japanese girls folded their hands and posed for pictures under the crevasse and David copied them when our turn came. So, I'd figure, Dave should have no problem in childbearing!
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On the same shore, but on the east of mihuga, is the tachijiyami rock. And corresponding to the vaginal symbol, this is a phallic symbol. I wonder if impotent men come here to pray for fertility! It is approx. 40m high, 70m wide and 5m thick. Well, the angle at which this was shot taken and bad lighting doesn't make it seem impressive, but it definitely was! There were endless steps down to it (yes, bad puns ensued on how we had to go down on it..) and once we reached the end of the steps, a drizzle made us rush back up to the car, good that we did as soon enough thunder rumbled in the distance and a typhoon-ish-storm came down on us. Had it been a clear day, we would have wondered about in the hidden paths there for sure.

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These above are the Aka Waterfalls - small cascades that fall from the cliff after a nice rainfall. The view from up there was excellent! Also a strange phenomena occurs up here some times. Due to strong winds from the sea, the water apparently "retrogresses". We probably should have gone there after the storm, there would have been more water falling...

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At Bade Haus, they have pools of pumped deep oceanic water and use German warm bath therapy to relax onself. Deep seawater is full of minerals and is purer than surface water. It is pumped from a depth of 612m (2,007 ft.) at this facility. There are specialized underwater programs according to your health condition. It's a must do at Kume and one can spend a whole day there. The cafe had very oiishi cakes! yummy!! :) But word of caution, if you have a tattoo, remember to cover it up as they wouldn't let you in the pool otherwise. It costs 2000 yen for the common spa, but 2500yen if you buy the whole package including the private spa (were men and women have separate areas and no swiming suits are allowed). There are various massages available as well, and I have no detail on that!
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The Gushikawa Castle Ruins Site. Built in the 15th century, on a limestone hill at the edge of the sea, its east gate is at a height of 30m. The style of stacking the stones is unique and Chinese coins and crockery has been found here. It was unimpressive to me, as I could not visualize what it might have been like in a earlier era when these empty grounds contained more than just shrubbery and thickets, but the others really liked it. And it did have a magnificent view!
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Wild lilies grew everywhere!
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I am a big fan of capes; at capes you reach the end of a landmass and can look directly into infinity of a boundless ocean in front. This cape was extremely pretty. From the point where we parked the car, it was easy to misjudge the last point of the cape. It was in fact a collection of capes, one of which was the tori no guchi - meaning bird's mouth. the path to these peaks were strewn with wild lilies and it reminded me of Switzerland for some vague reason of my unconscious mind. Anyhow, if one were to go there during the humpback whale season (i.e. around the month of March), and if luck abounds, these beautiful mammals can be seen flitting around in joy from the cape. In all the place I believe, is called the Toukujimu Natural Park.

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These are the Uezu Castle Ruins. At 309 m it is the highest point on Kume. On a clear day the Okinawa Honto (main island) is visible, but the panoramic 360 degree view on any day is anyway too great to bother about seeing Okinawa Honto! Chinese porcelain was found during the excavation which only supplements the historiacal fact of Ryukyu kingdom's strong trade with China. There are warnings not climb the masonry, but you couldn't give me money not to!! Of course I climbed them and took the pictures below. I also found a Habu snake skin on the ramparts! Kowaii!!

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Goeda no Matsu: Pine of the Five Branches, only 6m tall, but its radius from the central trunk is 4.3m covering around 250 sq.meters. It is often described as a gaint bonsai, due to it crawling branches. It is believed to have been planted earlier but the last recorded date says 1839. Its beauty and praise is sung in Ryukyuan songs, having been planted to worship the harvest gods. It is one of the famous pine trees in Japan.

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Apart from the loads of sightseeing, there were so many things that I didn't capture in photographs: playing a Russian card game Elina taught us and pulling Dave's leg about losing so many times; camping and waking up to find my bum wet as it had rained in the night; waking up early in morning and finding cowrie shells on the windy beach near the campsite; getting lost and then finally finding the ghost road and debating why the car was moving for no reason and what was happening to us; meeting new friends, making human pyramids and playing Kabbaddi at the camp with them; eating some of the best food in Okinawa; and challenging our minds to word association chain games! All in all, it was one of my best trip ever! Thank you Ben, Elina and Dave!

to write or not to write?

2007-04-27T22:23:00.000+09:00

apparently some JET got into trouble for posting stuff about his/her school and mentioning real names of people. well, i have mixed feelings. I mean, so many JET blogs exist! I am sure some way or the other info about the schools we work at and the people we work with will get published. will there be censorship? will CLAIR scan all the JET Blogs? and if so, does anything about our work have to be completely silenced, or can the good things be said, and bad left out? but, should there be even be censorship? aren't we allowed to vent our feelings on this page we call our own? or write about the place/s which we spend countless hours wasting away with nothing to fill our free time? but on the other hand, the real people may not like it if we were to write about them... it is in many ways violation of their privacy, which the Japanese protect more than anything else...(maybe that's not a correct statement, they probably protect their honour more than anything, why else would they something like hara-kiri exist....)

well, this certainly proves my doubts about posting the descriptions of all my schools I have saved as drafts here! I sat typing those in the few bored hours at the board during spring break when by fluke my paso-com (computer@work) was working, and also when by fluke I was at work working!!! Which is to say I was AWOL so many times (hehehe! :) oops!)

anyhooos, who cares anyway... I shall make a code for each school and teacher and post it nevertheless. someday. when i bother enough about it. till then enjoy the pics of Tokyo.

Teardrop

2007-04-26T22:22:00.000+09:00

tokyo

2007-04-24T17:58:00.000+09:00

Enter the torii:

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None of the reconstructed business here, this is a modern-day shrine:

Guardian at the entrance of the shrine above:

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Last of the cherry blossoms in Ueno:

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The Tokyo Metropolitan Building in Shinjuku:

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I think this is the Hall near the NHK building... not sure:

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Night-life of Shibuya crossing:

Sunday-life at Shibuya crossing:

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Irritating and noisy publicity truck - a common occurrence:

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Pachinko parlour....??

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Crazy toilet seat cover:

u might ask who is crazier: the one who designed this seat, or I who took a picture of this!!! But the funny thing is that this loo was in a very VERY trendy restaurant called Christian something designed in a Gothic, churchy style with back lit stained-glass windows, gargoyles and red-leather booths straight out of the matrix building where Neo took the red pill (or was it the blue one?) I thought the toilets would have the same theme, and I go find this!! how disappointing! or maybe not... :)

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This should be in Amy's blog! A sanitary napkin vending machine at Haneda:

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And I saved the best for last! Oishiiiiiii.... :

CAT came back!!!!

2007-04-11T23:37:00.000+09:00

CAT had disappeared after that one night. And today, I heard a meowing outside my door above the din of three people talking and Dream Theater blaring; voila CAT enters, purring and growling and declaring itself King of the Juhi's-aparto-Jungle ! This time it was benevolently offered a piece of chocolate cake. It sniffed and sniffed, "Harrumph! Nowhere close to waffles, but o alright, what the heck! I will have it..." And then it went on to gulp down a bowl full of milk and well, who would have thought it, CAT somehow liked my burned roti!! (How shameless am I giving dear, dear CAT burned food! Maybe I ought to have fed it some of my savoury paneer sabji and pulao. Ah! next time... :) I am sure it will find its way here again) ah! My kitty CAT!!!! :)

Shiisa

2007-04-08T17:40:00.000+09:00

One day, sometime in the beginning of January this year, Ben and I had wandered into a building in Nago having been attracted by the blare of Okinawan music. Inside we met Tenko chan, a friend who had been introduced to us by Eri. We had not known that Tenko chan worked there. It turned out to be a souvenir shop/ceramics workshop/clay studio where one could make ones own pot or clay shiisas. This random visit left a lasting impression and ever since that time, I wanted to possess a shiisa made by myself, and 3000 yen was a price I was willing to pay for that experience. :)

Shiisa, a ubiquitous symbol in Okinawa, is a guardian lion usually placed on the middle of the sloping tiled roofs to ward off evil spirits from sneaking into the house. They were introduced to Okinawa in the 14th century from China. During that time, they were placed at the gates of temples and shrines and in tombs and coffins of aristocratic families. Now that most buildings are flat roofed, shiisas are placed at both sides of the entrance to the house. One shiisa usually has an open mouth and the other a closed one. Different myths exist about this, some say that the open-mouthed shiisa is male as it is roaring, while the female has less power and therefore, keeps her mouth shut. On the other hand, another myth states that the closed-mouth is male as it is guarding the families fortune in its mouth. (well, at least this is what wikipedia says...)

Nonetheless, Shiisas can be found in any obscure nook and cranny of Okinawa. They are a popular souvenir as well. From T-shirts to pendants, you can get them on anything and in many varied forms. But the coolest still is to make a clay one of your own! Here is what I made:

These are the end products of a fun-filled Saturday afternoon.... Ben's Mer-shiisa, Dave's shiisa and then mine:

Above: Tenko-chan instructing us.

Right Above: Me and my endless detailing

Right: the three pupils with their teacher

Mind vs Heart

2007-04-04T21:55:00.000+09:00

Today I had a house visit from a strange but friendly cat.

Kawaii so!!!!

It was meowing outside my aparto and when I opened the door to see what cat had ventured so far, it entered my house curious, wondering why an Indian lived in Motobu. Curious CAT - only this time, curiousity didn't kill the cat! Well, it refused to go out after finding my house a non-hostile territory. I put it out only for it to jump back in taking advantage of the time it took my door to close. It then proceeded to take a tour of every inch of my house, and in no time jumped over any and every thing. It even found my dinner and sniffed it, apparently it was his favorite - waffles! And it couldn't keep its paws off them!

I started calling people about my cat situation, when it still refused to go out. I threw it out a number of times, I even took it downstairs. But it knew the way to my house and reached the door before I could blink! It was the first cat to come to me and allow me to pet it! Anyone who knows me well enough knows my professed hate for cats - but I only hated cats because they were unfriendly. Where was that hate now? CAT is so cute and fluffy and fat. And it has the sweetest of eyes! What cat has eyes that conveys innocence in place of shrewd cruelty?

My sensitive soul has been put in this dilemma:

Mind says, "It might be a stray cat, therefore carrying diseases. Put it out!!"
Heart says, "But it must be a lost housecat, why else is it so friendly? Stray cats aren't friendly!"
Mind says, "You aren't allowed to keep pets in your apartment. Put it out!!"
Heart says, "But it might die outside if it IS a housecat!"
Mind says, "Its hair will get into everything, and no dog will ever sniff you again. Put it out!!"
Heart says, "But its so cute n adorable n fluffy n fat n cute!!"
Mind says, "It will scratch up your clothes, tatami and wooden floor. Put it out"
Heart says, "But its so cute n adorable n fluffy n fat n cute!!"
Mind says, "Are you out of your frickin' mind? Are you frickin' kidding me? You wanna keep a cat?? Will you spend all the money getting a litter box and Vet visits and all the cat crap? What if your landlord finds out?? What will you do when it contaminates your kitchen with itself?? You call yourself clean-freak and allow a strange cat in your house? And what will you do when you leave Okinawa?? Put it out!!"

I don't have a heart to put CAT out. The heart I do have doesn't want to do so. But my mind conquers. There are times when one must take drastic measures, make the heart into steel and let logic take the lead. CAT is cute, but CAT must go. Even then it doesn't mean that my heart doesn't melt when I open the window to check up on it n it comes under it n stares at me meowing pitifully, with what seem to be wet eyes beseeching me to take it back in.

CAT is currently sitting outside in a carton I laid out for it, eating half of my dinner.

Postscript:

1. In keeping with Mind's viewpoint, and to avoid sentimentality, I named the cat CAT, named it nevertheless, (take that Mind!).

2. If u noticed, house appears in blue, that is in keeping with the book I am currently reading, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.

Fiery Night

2007-03-31T23:28:00.000+09:00

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

2007-03-29T20:58:00.000+09:00

Sobetsukai

2007-03-28T23:42:00.000+09:00

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

2007-03-25T21:20:00.001+09:00

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

2007-03-25T18:04:00.000+09:00

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!!

2007-03-22T00:24:00.000+09:00

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!!!

2007-03-21T21:06:00.000+09:00

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

2007-03-19T13:03:00.000+09:00

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!!!!

2007-03-19T09:21:00.000+09:00

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!

2007-03-15T18:47:00.000+09:00

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

drifting

2007-03-13T17:00:00.000+09:00

tsutsuji fest @ higashi-son

2007-03-05T18:23:00.000+09:00

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

2007-03-03T19:47:00.000+09:00

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!

a Royal haunted Hotel

2007-02-28T23:34:00.000+09:00

Two ghosts were spotted haunting the deserted remains of the Royal Hotel, near Nakagusuku-jo site late in the afternoon on Sunday. These two apparitions were described by witnesses as strangely alien and definitely non-Okinawan in appearance. The female wearing a flowing skirt kept eluding the camera, but the male who seemed to be wearing a brown corduroy jacket, was caught in a few pictures.

Witness Nancy O. Drew, was in shock and unable to narrate the events of the afternoon, but another witness, Jamie W. Oliver bravely ventured into the haunted hotel and later on even concocted a spell using her keitai to wrench the spirits out of the haunted domain.

The Royal Hotel is said to have been deserted mid-construction around 30 years ago due to the eerie deaths of constructions workers and other unnameable unearthly events. The wealthy builder of this hotel is said to have invested a large amount of money, yet with little consideration of the people who constantly warned him of building on consecrated ground and in such close proximity to tombs of the dead.

This obstinate refusal led to grave consequence, the death of his son, bankruptcy and insanity that ended with his death.

The unplanned sprawling construction appears more like a collection of buildings haphazardly connected to each other. Devil stars on the roof and graffiti on the walls accompanied by disturbing human artifacts: tatami mats, beds, mattress, charred wood and even the rusted frame of a car, can be found within.

The heavy contrast between the ruins of a castle built 700 hundred years ago and the ruins of this modern building side by side makes the place even more haunting. While one is being restructured to its former glory, the other has been left abandoned to the ravages of time, nature and man.

Above: Part of the Haunted Hotel.

Left:Nakagusuku Castle and numbered stones.

Vegetarian Japanese Spaghetti...

2007-02-28T00:21:00.000+09:00

At Maru Cafe - a great place, where lunch was a treat! Being vegetarian in Japan is tough, but there are pleasant surprises like the Herb Vegetarian Restaurants in Nakijin, run by seventh day Adventists; and this dish at Maru....

It was mushroom spaghetti, but with a Japanese touch. Don't ask me what that green stuff is on the toast, and don't ask me what nori (seaweed) is doing on top of the spaghetti :)

Reminiscing

2007-02-20T17:01:00.000+09:00

A previously unposted, unknown picture I got sometime ago from Liz; of that exhausting day at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo where we (Group B JETs) heading to Okinawa were stuck for nearly 10 hrs due to a typhoon striking Okinawa. Even when we had taken off from Haneda, the captain kept announcing in Japanese that we will return to Tokyo if the plane is unable to land in Naha. When the plane finally did land, everyone clapped as the uncertainty dissolved in a happy conclusion.

Here we are whiling away time, playing cards - which I had handy, at the corner where we all piled our luggage and made shifts to keep guard. Its these hours spent together that forged a strange companionship amongst us, playing the name game to learn everyones name and discovering that apart from a few nearly all of us had names beginning with "J" me, Joyce, Jon W., Jon D., Jenny, Jenna, Joe, Jose, Jeff, Julie, Jason... and so forth. Best was playing Mafia and being made a mafia at my first game ever! And watching "50 First dates" on various Laptops, switching the DVD from one comp to the other as the batteries died... Ah! that was a day etched in my mind never will it be erased...

shyokawa

2007-02-18T14:33:00.000+09:00

Resolution # 12:

to taste and judge the saltiness of Shyo-kawa

~~~~ ACCOMPLISHED!~~~~~

on:

Saturday, February 17, 2007, 1:49 pm.

location:

Shyo-kawa, Motobu, Okinawa, Japan.

witnesses:

David Crennen (who had experiemented the same prior to me) and Paul Collins.

observation:

River (more or less a stream), sprouting from under rocks, further source unfound. salty water but did not seem to be due to backwaters even though presence of said river was in close proximity to the East China Sea, 16 meters (approx.)

conclusion:

Interesting place to waste 15-30 minutes of life.

V-Day

2007-02-14T13:25:00.000+09:00

posting this post, post Valentine Blues....

don't get me wrong, the blues weren't due to my single status, only that my dreaded enemy poured down from the heavens; yes, rain. It was a bleak rainy cold day in the middle of nice "koharu" sunny days... and I won't even bother to say anything more. The only *valentine-y* thing that occured that day was this heart-shaped sweet potato cutlet we had for school lunch.

and just for time-pass I did this test from Rachel's blog. It's slightly uncanny, but this is quite me:

Your Candy Heart Says "First Kiss"

You're a true romantic who brings an innocent hope to each new relationship.
You see the good in every person you date, and you relish each step of falling in love.

Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a romantic dinner your sweetie cooks for you

Your flirting style: friendly and sweet

What turns you off: cynics who don't believe in romance

Why you're hot: you always keep the romance alive

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

small achievement

2007-02-13T17:13:00.000+09:00

Today I went to the bank. So? you ask, what's so great in that? well, give me a chance here, what I wanted to say, was that I went to the bank by myself! I usually dragged dear, dear Ayumi. You would imagine that after having been here for more than six months I'd have learned banking by now. But you cannot imagine what terror would strike me numb and make me start babbling like a baboon when that dreaded bill would arrive in the post. (Question - do baboons really babble?) Anyway, petrified of wiring all my moolah to a Mr Yamamoto san somewhere in the dark recesses of the Tokyo Concrete jungle, I decided that being thought a moronic dumbass fool was a far better option.

So, scared of pulling a disappearing act on my money, I never braved attempting the banking daredevilry. Until today! : ) I sucessfully took out money from the ATM, paid my telephone bill, wired rent money to my landlord and updated my passbook! And I am very proud of my small achievement!

The rest of this blog I shall dedicate toward describing some aspects of the banking system here for friends back home...

Usually, when you enter through the door there is a chorus of "irrashai" -or something of the sort- one after the other the bank tellers greet customers without looking up from their work. Of course when leaving, there would be a corresponding string of sing-song arigato gozaimases. Or in Tokyo greeting customers would be the job of the security guard. One can't but feel sympathy for the guards, this is the job they have to do, stand and shout a greeting to each and every customer entering the facility who in turn obviously ignored the greeting. And with the almost non-existent crime scene one can imagine what the guards have to suffer.

Such is civilization. And the level of courtesy is unbelievable. Back home its nearly an attempt at suicide if you spent a little more time at the ATM than the next person's patience demands. But here people give in the papers/money/whatever to the teller in little orange trays, sit down at the waiting sofas and then wait til the teller would call the name ever so politely; poof! in 2 mins your work is done and you are out of the bank with arigato gozaimases trialling behind you. Efficiency. That's the name of the game that lacking in India.

I shall now return to my perpetual day dream...

Orchid Show

2007-02-12T22:17:00.000+09:00

Sudden inspiration struck me last lazy sunday morning, making me get up, get ready and head off to see the great Okinawa Orchid show at the Tropical Dream Center. My house being 5 mins away from the famed Ocean Expo Park afforded me no excuse to miss out on this event.

Even with such proximity, I had never been to the Tropical Dream Center. Its conical tower is one of the most strikingly visible landmark of Motobu. (If you go to my earlier post of the photos of my town you will surely find it. )

Orchids Galore:

More Sakura!

2007-02-07T00:06:00.000+09:00

Sorry! am obsessed with cherry blossoms! here are more pictures:

Another Fun Evening

2007-02-05T18:30:00.000+09:00

Ah! Another fun filled Friday...

there was FOOD.........Dinner: @ Sharaku, in Motobu

And Interesting Talk

Singing (Obviously! It was a plan to Karaoke from its inception)

and Dancing

And We took we PICTURES

But first we Posed

and then sang a song:

and Sang again:

Basically, there was a lot of singing and having fun!

And then.........

But still, there were many happy memories...

Resolutions

2007-02-01T22:53:00.000+09:00

It seems that Time is running out on me... hardly have much time left in Okinawa. Have made some resolutions. Must do these before leaving.....

Make clay shiisas.
Visit the Churaumi at least every week.
Drink one cup green tea (at least) every day while at school
Take a trip to Ie, Ishigaki, Miyako and Kume-jima.
Go to as many capes in Okinawa
Do a scooter diaries all across Okinawa with digicam.
Camp outdoors for (at least) one night.
Make an Okinawan glass.
Be my original weight when I go back to India.
Skinny dip in the ocean.
See the sun rising from the Higashi coast near the dam.
Taste and judge the saltiness of the Shyokawa　or salt river in Motobu - a national heritage site that is famed to be one of the two such rivers in the world (citation required) .

Attention! Dog in Classroom!!

2007-01-29T21:54:00.000+09:00

At Kamimotobu J. H. School today, as I walked across the parking lot to the staff room building, behold! what a sight - a stray puppy following one of the teachers. The teacher had no clue as to from where the puppy had suddenly presented itself. No-one knows who belongs to it, but I have a feeling it is going to adopt the school. The students definitely love it, bursting with "kawai" on their lips all girls would rush to pet it at any given moment. And the boys gladly fed it their vegetables from the school lunch, keeping the meat to themselves ( but naturally...).

The interesting part of all this was that when Hiromi sensei and I stepped in the class, the dog was inside prepared to study English. It patiently sat through most of the class, yet at times it couldn't resist the temptation to be petted by the students. The class had been divided into the boys team and the girls team for the lesson on debate. The chief guest and moderator sat in the middle.

Sometime during the class, one of the girls discovered it shivering on the floor . And she benevolently donated her blanket to it. She put it over the animal, to its extreme discomfort. and it circled the class room attempting to shake it off, but unsuccessfully. At the end I felt I must intervene. so I spread the sheet on the ground, and after sniffing it and patting it into shape, the animal sat upon it in peace, grateful for the attention and love it received.

After lunch when I went to speak to the students, I discovered that it was named Gonzales at first, but then it was discovered that its a she, so it was renamed Kaserin. And I knighted her Lady Catherine, Her Majesty Queen of Kamimotobu JHS, served upon by her faithful subjects, the students of Kami Chu. \(^0^)/

On a more nostalgic note:
For those who remember Golden, if you were to see this dog, you will be taken aback at how uncanny the resemblance is... same golden fur, same white diamond on the forehead, same gentle soft eyes, same quiet docile nature. I know it may sound crazy, but I wonder if she has reincarnated... I wish I could adopt Lady C, but there is no way I could separate myself from her when the time comes to leave.

I hope the school takes good care of her.

Girlfriends

2007-01-28T22:45:00.000+09:00

Some of the girls I miss the most

(sorted Alphabetically descending order):

_____________________________

VARSHA:

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

PAROMA:

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

ISA:

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

GAYATRI (with Isa and Poro):

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

ADITI and AYUSHMA (from right to left):

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

And the other girls whose picture I dont have will have to send me a pic so I can post it along with these....

Sakura Matsuri

2007-01-21T21:13:00.000+09:00

The Cherry Blossom season is here!

To celebrate the arrival of the first Sakura in all Japan, my town hosted a small festival on 20th and 21st of January, 2007 on the famous Mt. Yaedake.

Okinawan cherry blossoms boast of being a brighter pink than the faded, subdued one of the mainland. These blossoms first start blooming on Yaedake and then travel south (within Okinawa) and then travel up north on the mainland. NHK cover this movement on national TV and cherry blossom tracking is an extensive affair in Japan.

I, personally, have been waiting since I was first told that Motobu gets the first sakura; keeping my eyes and ears wide open for any hint or talk of sakura. So, when the time finally came, there was no way I would miss out on the festivities. Brave Rachel was kind enough to come to Motobu for this short-lived event, and join the festivities with us, the Motobu ALTs (Paul, David and I).

The weather gave us a respite. it had been rainy the day before and everyone had doomed the event. But my prayers were answered, we had no rain that day, and in fact the sun even showed up for a brief moment to bless the occasion. We were able to enjoy walking around the matsuri grounds and eat sakura ice-cream and sakura mochi! and all of us bagged some goodies at the games.

Here's David and me trying to proudly present our town:

Famous Okinawan band "Afromania" orginally from Motobu, performed. They were quite good. And having not heard a live band in quite some time, I just felt transported to another realm.

Of course I bumped into many of my students. The brass band of Motobu Junior High School opened the festival, and a bunch of badly-behaving boys of the same school displayed some attitude and amateur break dancing. These girls played the sanshin:

As Rachel writes in her blog, there was a sense of lets-do-it-all and enjoy the most as our time here is measured, like the ephemeral sakura...

My Town

2007-01-14T15:31:00.000+09:00

Finally PICTURES of my cute lil town. Well, actually its not really so little, but its definitely a very important town. Just imagine, Google Earth has a crystal clear zoom into Motobu and not Nago (the city up north). This is what wikipedia has to say:

Motobu, Okinawa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

The location of Motobu in Okinawa.
Motobu (Kunigami: muᵗuːbu; Japanese: 本部町 -chou) is a town located in Kunigami district, Okinawa, Japan.
As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 14,481 and a density of 266.69 persons per km². The total area is 54.30 km².
Motobu is located between the towns of Nakajin and Nago and can be reached by either route 449 or 82.
Several islands can be accessed from Motobu, namely the small islands of Sesoko (by bridge) and Minna-jima (by ferry). Both islands are incorporated as part of the Motobu township. Ferry service also runs from Motobu Port to Ie-jima.
Despite its modest population, Motobu boasts three large supermarkets and eight individual schools from the elementary to high school levels.
Like many towns in Okinawa, Motobu is composed of what were formerly several smaller and independent villages. In addition to Motobu proper other included districts are Sesoko, Kamimotobu, Sakimotobu and Izumi.
The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is located in the northern portion this town.
In addition to the aquarium other notable sites include numerous out-of-the-way cafes along the 82 from Nago and a popular pizza restaurant known as Cafe Kajinho on a hill overlooking the town.

_________________________

Well, they missed out from mentioning that Motobu is the first town to have sakura - cherry blossoms- in Japan. Sometimes Nago overtakes Motobu, and there is stiff competition between the two. The sakura has started to bloom. I saw some on the way to Nago yesterday. And Liz has already posted a picture of it. Next weekend we will have the sakura matsuri in Motobu. I am looking forward to it and am so excited! My first Cherry Blossom!

Here's a satelite picture of Motobu:

And, here is the Bridge to Sesoko:

This is toguchi port area:

A view of Ie-jima:

And u can see Ie-jima in the background, my house (hidden in the photo) is left of the biggest white building, but see how gorgeous the water is:

That is my favorite spot, by the way. These are the steps where i have seen many knee-weakening sunsets. These are the steps where i enjoy ice-creams from my favorite oba-chan. (sigh!)

Ok. The next pic is the toguchi bay, with the blue bridge as background, and a closer pic of the blue bridge follows next:

Glass Craft

2007-01-13T23:52:00.001+09:00

Today I went over to the Nago Glass Factory to do some glass craft. this what i made:

musings...

2007-01-12T15:40:00.000+09:00

And then the music stopped. One knew it would. everything must to come to an end sometime. In the silence of the vaccum, one felt the emptiness of a lingering emotion, stil there, but not quite.

Like a longing...

My First Trip to a Japanese Hospital

2007-01-10T21:01:00.000+09:00

After not having been able to recover from a cold for over 2 weeks, i finally decided to take the plunge, and submit self to the mercy of Japanese doctors - about whom i had heard horror stories to chill the bones. I anyway dislike doctors - no let me not say that, i should rather say - i dislike visiting them.

so what is it like in a Japanese hospital? well, its pretty much similar... except for the language... you have to register at the main desk; wait for your call; then a nurse takes all the info: whats wrong with u, your temperature, pulse, BP etc. then you wait some more till the doc calls you, you repeat everything again, and in the process some poor old man faints/has a heart attack and there is pandemonium in the ER, you are shooed away to a corner to observe CPR.

Well, i am sure it doesn't always happen like this but this is what happened today. after things calmed down, i was taken to another doc who had Santa-red-jolly-cheeks and spoke some English. i have absolutely no idea what interaction took place between him and my sensei, but i was told to drink lots of water, cough out whenever i felt like-as in not to hold it in, and to rest. i got a powdery medicine from a pharmacy and went to buy my groceries.

the things of interest were the various anti-bacterial liquids keep at the entrance, which had to be used on the following circumstances: dizziness, vomiting, loosies, and cough. my sensei couldn't explain the exact reason for these oddities while we both just de-bacterial-ized our hands. I was left on my own to ponder: was one to spray the fluid on one's arse if they had loosies? or ones head if they felt dizzy? mouth for the other two symptoms? i am sorry but i don't understand why these four conditions were posted. i can understand that when entering a hospital one has to sanitize potential germ-carriers, so why the even mention these four in particular....? Why not just tell people to spray the alcohol as they were entering a sanitized atmosphere? I guess its coz this is Japan... land of the inexplicable situations!!

my new earring

2007-01-07T22:37:00.000+09:00

my new earring style had my students in splits of hysteria. i put an earring through both my piercings. it is quite cool and i like it very much! i am rather proud of my inventiveness. it shows how much 'vella' time I have :)

vella: a hindi word signifying the happy state of inactivity and uselessness.

bonnenkai

2006-12-29T11:47:00.000+09:00

On Wednesday, my BOE (Board of Education) had their bonnenkai (end of year party). It was lots of fun, like most of these wild parties are. you would think that in an office party there would be a sense of decorum, and it would be a dignified affair. WRONG! it is nothing of this sort, nor will it ever be. In this part of the world, parties are what parties are supposed to be: wild, drunken, bacchanalic uninhibited fun and frolic with singing, dancing and great food.
And this time i didn't have to wear a sari!

the evening kicked off with a bento box of food, which of course I couldn't eat. none of the items were safe, for all their beauty they evoked no emotion in me. they were like pretty women. After all the fluttering and clucking by the Mother Hens, meatless, dashi-less oily ramen was brought to me. This ramen lasted me the whole evening.

Once bellies were full, tables cleared of empty bento-boxes, bingo cards were distributed. The 24 numbers were individually circumferenced by slits by which one could push the no. out and fold it. (umm, for those who r wondering why i am describing bingo cards; in India, we all scramble for pens when housie {our bingo} cards are circulated, esp. at kitty parties. and therefore i found the cards quite interesting.)

The bingo game was launched amid much excitement and one by one the winners (the one to get one whole line struck off as the numbers were called) got up to grab a gift from the pool, tearing them open to display what they had chosen. Some gifts were very interesting and I sighed for i couldn't get them. one was a beautiful cubic Okinawan glass that i coveted! but I ended up getting two curry rice bowls which sent the whole BoE in ruptures "Indo curry rice!!!!" it was the most apt gift for me in their eyes. Only when ayumi got exactly the same dishes, did we discover that it was actually a return gift from a wedding that had been recycled. nonetheless, I like it very much. especially the wooden spoons. :)

After the gifts were grabbed, opened, displayed and stashed away, the rest of the fun and games were served.

The hostess performed okinawan dances for our pleasure. she was quite good. altho she did use some artifical flowers as props, the use of which is still not clear in my head. except for jutting out unceremoniously from her obi, they didnt really serve any purpose. even aesthetically, i found it quite an oddity.

First game to be played was the wasabi bombs! four strong muscular(?!?) males were dared to participate. They were each given an onegiri, one of which was packed with wasabi. Only the hostess of the bar knew who got the 'bomb'. They had to eat it at the same time and the rest of the crowd had to discover who got the 'bomb'. One person (the funniest dear old man at the BoE) did his best to jump up and down roll on the floor unable to swallow the onegiri even with the help of 20 glasses of water. None but one person guessed it right. the person who got wasabi one had done a great job hiding it but afterwards his face was pink and eyes red.

Once the wasabi-induced passions were quelled, we moved on to the pass-the-rubber-band. 8 unlucky contestants were chosen, I among them. I was later informed that it was according to the two divisions of the BoE - education and social. I am still unsure where I belong. Anyway, it was 2 teams of 4 pl - 2 men and 2 women each. And we had to pass a rubber band using a toothpick in our mouths. If the band was dropped we had to start from the beginning. It was embarrassing and we were laughing like mad men at the end of it all. Again the funny dear old man (from now referred to as FDOM) put the toothpick as far in in his mouth as he could, leaving only a tiny tip out, to much of Ayumi's distress! well inspite of that her team won, while my team dropped the band twice! dropping our chance of winning.

Then, i also lost a 100yen in the reverse hyakku-en janken. (janken is rock-paper-scissors.) The game was played thus: pairs were made and asked to janken. The loser received the 100yen from the winner. therefore it was reversed. the loser-winners thus jankened until 2 people remained. the last winner won approximately 1500yen! I lost in the first round against FDOM. hmm! the one time i win a janken, i lose! :)

Then there was the toilet paper unwrapping contest. I was made to participate in that. The four contestants competed to be the first one to unwound a whole toilet paper role and wrap it on their hand. My pseudo-supervisor came in first, while i came in second! but it was I who walked away with all the loo-paper!! it is currently safely hidden under my desk at the boe, and will be essential in the construction of an artifact beyond any one's imagination but mine. (who-ho-ha-ha-ha! ) (shhhh- no-one but I knows the secret location of the treasure!)

Well, after the games, we started the karaoke. The karaoke screens cleared up; they had semi-nude women with skimpy clothes earlier.... this had made me wonder whether it was a hostess bar, that had been hired by the BoE. Anyway. to not sing at karaoke at a party is to perform sacrilege towards a holy ritual. therefore, I brought in help in the form of Ayumi, and we chose a song that she could sing - 'eternal flame' by the bangles. it probably turned out solemn. but it was a solemn hymn to the karaoke gods. we were heckled, tho. and therefore we decided a 'peppier' song for the next time - 'top of the world' and we had everyone clapping this time.

David was dearly missed during the party, and especially so during karaoke, as he usually took control over the "lets-get-wild-and crazy" madness :) !! But he was in Denver, enjoying a white christmas at home.

Well that was it for the evening. it was nearly 12. the party had been fun, but it was time to go home now. i hadn't been feeling well for sometime and i just needed to sleep. (future wud show how sick i became afterwards.) so, angel Saori drove me and Ayumi to Motobu, and sleep sweet sleep...

Shoko

2006-12-27T14:05:00.000+09:00

I dedicate a full blog to my new friend Shoko. She works at Kajinho - the infamous pizza place in Motobu, where u can get "Pizza in the Sky". The place has one of best restaurant service and ambiance, and also one of the most beautiful views in Motobu - mind u, my town is beautiful and it affords many an amazing view.

I had heard of the place before i even came to Okinawa, because a fellow vegetarian JET told me how the place makes veg pizza! And when I finally arrived here, and had my first pizza there, i was mildly disappointed. I missed mum's homemade pizza with pineapples and lots of veggies. the pizza at kajinho, was oishii, but it had too much cheese and very little vegetables. for the first time in my life, i worried about my weight and i felt guilty about eating so much cheese!

well, all that changed. I have come to love that pizza, and not worry about my weight. its the only place in town where i can go to and not worry about daashi (fish-broth) or katsuo-bushi (fish-flakes) smuggled into my food. i am safe from these surreptitious dealings at Kajinho.
so, Shoko who works there has become a fast friend from the many visits to this place. she has invited us to parties in Motobu, introduced us to her guy friends, shared many a good times and for me she has been a life-saver.

it was one Thursday, exactly a week after my scooter accident, that it rained hard and heavy in my part of the universe. i still uneasy with riding in the rain, walked to work. i slipped while walking and hurt my sprained leg worse. i couldn't walk, the rain beat me, the wind chilled me, i was late to work, wet and depressed. one dark thought led to another and i found myself in a whirlwind of depression and uncontrollable fits of crying. i reached school, unable to be at peace. locked myself in the loo and retched. it was one of the worst days of my life. i hated how my life was being governed by factors i had no control over: my placing in Motobu by the JET Prog., my predecessors indifference to my situation, my Board's unwise decisions taken on my behalf without my consultation, the rain etc etc. so many things could have been done differently whereby i would not have had these troubles, and all these had been out of my bounds.

i guess i had hit rock bottom of the culture shock wave as well. i missed my friends. i missed the relative security i had back home. i missed being in control.

i was sent home that day. there weren't any classes that demanded my presence, and even if they did, i was in no condition to attend to them. i was as unstable as a blob of uranium. i could spontaneously burst into a rain of tears at any given moment. God knows how many tissues I cried that day.

I cancelled the dinner I was going to make for Shoko that night. I couldn't make food for myself, let alone a meal for another. and i had run out of all groceries and couldn't go get more becoz of the rain. i sat wrapped up, alone, sad, cold and hungry in my apartment, trying my best to curl up and diminish away. until I got a call from Shoko.

she brought me good cheer and she brought me pizza that night :) i truly believe that some greater force had a hand in sending her. it is always a miracle to get food (and what delicious one at that!) when one is starving. And more than that, Shoko brought friendship. she gave me encouragement. and even though i didn't tell her at all of the things that worried me, she was perceptive to my situation. she herself stated the problems i was undergoing by having an apartment so far from the town center. she offered help in case i wanted to shift apartments. she was kind and understanding.

when i was finally able to cook an Indian meal for her, it was another wet Thursday. and she said how whenever it rained she remembers me and worries how i will get to work. that is all i need to hear to keep me going on. i don't want "Juhi, you must try to be strong!" because no-one knows how hard i try. i don't even want "well, you can fix it if you want!" because rain is not a tap i turn off. I get encouragement from knowing that I am remembered and cared about.
Shoko has helped me in more ways than one. her pizza and she gives me the strength to go on. ....and this is my testimonial for Shoko.

"Engrish"

2006-12-18T09:54:00.000+09:00

Rising from the ashes of Phonix:
In a class today, while studying phonix (?!?!), i was made to say the pronunciation of the consonants of the English alphabet, and it was like a light bulb... yeahyeah, u know the cliche.

i realised that not only was i put in a questionable state by being asked to say 'Q', i had to put the question to myself - "what in the world was i doing?" because clearly something was huge amiss. one aspect of it was the Q-question - does the letter Q have its own valid sound? of course it does, but is it the sound in 'queue' or as it is in 'queen'. i had to remember my linguistics course and the fun phonetics classes to regain my balance, after being rudely shoved into a state of insecurity- did i really belong here? teaching English pronunciation when i didn't know it myself? who was i kidding?

i took comfort in realising that it was the very nature of the English language that allowed such questions to be asked. the vast, open-endedness, in the mesh of signifiers, language must not be bound up and tied down to one thing only.

the question raised by Q also took me into the deep depths of my thought where i was having one of those conversations with my self. (notice, my self not myself). i was telling self that the whole 'internationalisation' that i was here for really only meant Americanization, coz seriously will i be allowed to teach my kids an Indian accent? as everyone required the students to learn the American accent. but by nature i don't have an American accent. i would like to think that i don't have any particular accent but my own. it may have very many tinges of Indian in it, but I'd rather that it not.

anyway, that i try to negate a huge part of my identity is beyond the topic at hand. what the real point i was trying to make was that -

the Japanese speak the 'katakana-engrish', just like Indians have an Indian accent, Americans, an American one and so on...
therefore, is 'katakana-engrish' really so bad?

well, yes, sometimes. when words r metamorphosed into another until one doesn't have a clue as to what is being said. But isn't it this process that gives Indian-English writing the unique quality we admire? that made H. Hatterr one of the most stylistically brilliant texts ever written/read? and English especially has been subject to assimilations in I believe, every corner of the world. there are a numbers of Englishes in the world today, so why can't Japanese-English also be one of them? Why lay so much stress on an American accent? why not work first at getting the students to build a working vocabulary and a comprehensive grammar before working on their accents?

till that day arrives, we shall continue the debate alongside continuing to take pleasure in the numerous interesting instances where engrish provides us with a good laugh....

My Scooter Saga

2006-12-08T14:55:00.000+09:00

one of the biggest events of my existence must have a space on my blog, and therefore, today i reminisce about my escapades concerning the former love of my life.

my love, my dearest, my dream-come-true, my all, my scooter..... "scooter?" u ask .... well, yes. i was in love with a machine. and who would have thought it!

it all began when i was placed in a small town called Motobu in okinawa after being selected for the JET programme. apparently, it was impossible to get around town and to work if i didn't have a car. after much confusion and conflicting advice, i decided to learn how to drive and overcome my fear of the road. and so i learned and braved the rough roads of delhi, and actually enjoyed being behind wheels, and dreamt of owning a car in Japan. unfortunately i couldnt get my national license before leaving, becoz it took a minimum 40-day period for such a luxury, even in corrupt india there was no-one i could bribe! i thought oh well, will try for one in Okinawa. turned out i cant get a driving license here coz it takes 2 months and super-duper Japanese language skills to get. plus, i lived so far away from Naha, where they have the tests in English, that it was not even next to impossible, it just was impossible. so i was given the option of either - brutally murdering my wallet with taxi rides, maiming my legs with 2~ hour walks, taking a bus that would make me late for work becoz of lack of buses and get home at hours beyond my work time got over; OR getting a scooter, a 'gentsuki' as they call it here.

* (DEFINITION: gentsuki - a one seater automatic scooter; a cute lil mode of transportation that carries my weight to school everyday on time. )

to get this highly dreamy object, i was required to obtain a special gentsuki license, and for this even more exquisite piece of cardboard, i had to pass a written test. thankfully the test was held in Nago- the closest city to Motobu- and it was also possible to have an English question paper!!!! hallelujahh!! could i seriously believe my luck? Armed with the forces of sheer lunacy I thought I will pass this silly test in an instant as the rules of the road were most definitely common sense... ha, the result of the test wrecked that damning self-confidence I was possessed by; the 64 out of 100 I got suggested that common sense was perhaps a tad bit too less to pass.

well, those were the still the days of genki-optimism. the same day i took the test and failed, i applied for the second one. the only upsetting thing was that it was held only twice a month, which meant that there was a long wait. in the meantime i would had to suffer the same dreadful uncertainty.

for my second try at the test, i got the exact same question paper! mind you, it was not that it had the same questions, it was the same sheet! one particular question had a double negative and someone before me had circled the "not" in the question. i thought well, i do know some questions that i did wrongly last time, and i honestly thought I'd do better. ha! so much for genki-ness. i failed again, with the exact same score! what were the odds?

the test has 48 question, 46 are for 2 marks each, and the last two are situational questions of 4 marks each, but the have 3 parts and you have to get all 3 parts right for the question to be right. and strangely, these on my paper were driving a car questions not scooter. so if u get any one part of these questions wrong then u can get only one more 2-mark question wrong to pass the test coz the pass percentage is 90! and just to give you an idea of what kind of strange questions in the test, try and answer this:

true or false - you are going downhill and your brakes fail, do you drop your bike on the mountainous side of the road, scrape against the guard rails to slow down or drop your bike on the dirt embankment on the side of the road

all these options sound equally ridiculous and i would mark it false, right? but who knows? and how do i find the answer, whoever i ask cannot find a logical answer....

facing the double negatives, the twisted "engrish", and strange illogical questions, i attempted the paper again, this time i went to Nago with paul who had school there day, with no-one to accompany me and translate the instructions for me. i failed yet again. this time i got the same question paper yet again, but at least i got 2 marks more this time! i was so frustrated. i didnt kno what i was doing wrong! i was sick of trying to find ways to get to Nago, and back, not just to give the test but to apply for it as well; sick of getting the same illogical questions; sick of waiting for the test day to arrive, sick of wasting a whole day waiting for the result only to be told i failled again... and many other issues that i dont even want to mention. no-one can kno what immense difficulties i had to face. (and here i'm not being ironic or funny.)

i had to give the test 4 times before i passed. what was i doing wrong u might ask me. well, i was trying too hard to pass. see what i have learned is that in the japanese system they dont really test ur capabilities but rather your patience. if u stay at it long enough they will proudly hand u ur goal when u give up trying to actually pass the stupid test. the last time, i willingly failed myself marking all the answers true. each time I went they handed me the same question paper and the answers were nowhere to be found! i even bought the textbook but it too didnt have the answers! imagine, all i had to do was fail!!! all the time before i was so frustrated and fed up with the whole bloody thing getting worked up and crying my wits out coz it seemed so hopeless! everyday was a challenge to get to school and i wud bike, take a bus, taxi, ferry everything except fly to work and back! well, all that is over and i got the license.

my board of education (the office where i work at) had a small party for me. they got a cake and the superintendent made some funny mock speech and presented me the license. and i got more plants for my foliage-friendly house! they r so sweet. they r more happy for my obtaining a license than i am! in a note Saori-san wrote :

"Dear juhi, congratulations!!

your happiness is happy of us! this license card is your

sweat and a crystal of tears. the safe driving is always borne in mind.

really congratulations!!!

from: your companions.

PS:it is taken care not to lose this card."

i had to type out the whole msg coz it means so much that some1 would go thru the effort to write a msg of love in a language they are not fluent in. my board of education really takes care of me, they made me feel at home easily and i feel comfortable working with them. i couldnt ask for a more loving and caring staff.

so after 2 months, i finally have a license to ride a scooter, and i bought my scooter and helmet and have been riding around town. it was the best thing to happen until my accident last thursday. now i am back to being road-phobic. i visualize my next fall every time i ride it. what happened u ask? maybe it was my fault for riding in the rain. but i had no option but to be stuck in school forever. guess it was bound to happen, what are the odds that a new rider will never have an accident?

so, my scooter slipped on the road, thankfully there weren't any vehicles around and that i just fell on the road without being slammed into by another car or something! my bike sustained scratches, but it was ok. i couldnt stand for a few minutes, and thought finally i have broken a bone. but no, it was just sprained. i stopped the ppl who came to help from calling an ambulance! i have since resisted all forces to send me to the hospital. it was the next day when all my sore muscles reacted. i hurt everywhere, and ironically it was one of the busiest days for me. i had 4 continuous classes, at junior and elementary school, and since it was friday, i had to go to the board of education, and book club in the evening! where did i get the strength? i impress myself.

heres one of the bruises i sustained:

i have survived it, even tho my muscles still hurt, i hope i get the courage to overcome my fear of the road. wish me luck! i must make this relationship work, my scooter must become my love once again, i cannot hate it, i am too dependent upon it!

so, that was my scooter saga.

applause!

Ah-ha!

2006-11-29T11:11:00.000+09:00

well well well! i have two comments! thank you dear friends! the support you give breaths a new life into me. amy, i think it was a different obachan, but i may be wrong. i dont remember. i think most likely not, it must have been a different one... but then again i may be wrong.

ah, this isnt taking us anywhere now, is it? like every thing we humans indulge in, there is a sense of cyclical repetitiveness in the manner of the song that never ends.

which reminds me of the wonderful time we had walking down the streets of chatan each of us singing a different song at the same time. the cacophony was music to my ears! song that never ends was rowing a boat gently down the stream while drinking 100 bottles of beer on the wall! isnt that awesome!

anyways, dont really have much to say, just going on uselessly, wasting time or rather.....enjoying it while i can, hogging the common computer and reveling in the selfishness of such a deed! hahahahah! oh my goodness, mephistopheles thinks i am over-reaching! ah, faustus thy end is near.... then thou must be damned perpetually..........

Fishes!

2006-11-22T09:26:00.000+09:00

6Yesterday, after i left school, i decided that i must enjoy the sun while it lasted. the day had been murky with rain and chilly winds seemed to suck the happiness out of me Dementor-like. so i stopped by my favourite sea wall on the way home. i bought an ice cream from a shop nearby where the obachan who has started to recognize me after various ice cream stops, commented on my helmet, "bi-ku?" Yes, MY BIKE, MY GENTSUKI, the current love of my life! :)

Ah, the joy of being able to get to where you need to get to at the time when u need to be there and the freedom of being able to wander at your own free will is exhilarating! no wonder why there is an oil crisis!

Anyway! As I sat on the concrete steps, gaze directed nowhere in particular, stabbing away at my delicious choco chip ice cream, i noticed a strange movement in the calm waters of the ocean. must be a figment of my imagination. ah! am so glad i didn't get the cone, must be stale as only i buy anything from dear old obachan. i can count and tell you exactly how many flavours are left in her shop. Wait a minute, there it was again, in the water. a-ha! its a fish! must be a flying fish, why else would it jump out in that weird fashion? but no, it is not a flying fish. this fish has none of the qualities that define a flying fish - streamlined smooth and wing-like fins were nowhere to be found on this fat ugly and bulge-eyed fish. this is funny. the fish keeps jumping out of the water, attempting to what can only be called an ambitious Icarus-like futile leap, throwing itself against fate, destiny and all that crap - throes of insecurity in the safety of it home the sea.

the fish or fishes - i can never really know if there were more than one - have gone crazy. it is another glimpse of the devastation that time is wrecking upon the world as we know it. it is also an insight into the future. evolutionary processes are at work, and fishes no longer want to be in the sea. soon there shall be a union of protesting fishes, who want a better life out of the murky waters, who are the avant garde, who will march against the dry bourgeois world, who will change the rule of existance and bring to conclusion the ideal Republic philosophers have sought.

and now i shall shut this boblydumtywogbosh.

Monday, 20th November, 2006

2006-11-20T13:01:00.000+09:00

Take note of this date, people. It is an important date for the unthinkable has occured! I, Juhi Rituparna, have created my very own blog! i have finally opened the gates of my private life to the prying eyes of the world....

Okinawa Times

back home

Fuji San, Golden Kanazawa, and my last day..

Things I will miss:

Farewell

my bike is gone

Ridiculous Notions

yaeyama

MotoChu Sobetsukai

elephant

Ie, here I come again...

hurt

bye bye Minna Island

sayonara

Friday the thirteenth

台風 Typhoons a comin

Peaceful Love

American Independence Day Celebrations

Toothfairy, please come..

Wisdom uprooted

カメ さま

my busy week

Blunders and hokkaido kids

Kin Kannon-do temple

Butterflies in the staffroom**

not so mundane but still very much so...

あじさい Ajisai

sunset and sunrise

伊江島 Ie-jima

Serenity

Things are looking up at MotoChu!

Lotus

India-Japan Friendship Year 2007

Small Achievement # 2

Diapers in da House...

Kawaii so???

Miyako jima

Kumejima

to write or not to write?

Teardrop

tokyo

CAT came back!!!!

Shiisa

Mind vs Heart

Fiery Night

Sweet Repose

Sobetsukai

Gumball Rally

Blindness

Nana Ramen!!

Biggest Disappointment EVER!!!

Glass-blowing

Its the year of the wild boar!!!!

My New Glass!

drifting

tsutsuji fest @ higashi-son

Ryukyu Glass

a Royal haunted Hotel

Vegetarian Japanese Spaghetti...

Reminiscing

shyokawa

V-Day

small achievement

Orchid Show

More Sakura!

Another Fun Evening

Resolutions

Attention! Dog in Classroom!!

Girlfriends

Sakura Matsuri

My Town

Glass Craft

musings...

My First Trip to a Japanese Hospital

my new earring

bonnenkai

Shoko

"Engrish"

My Scooter Saga

Ah-ha!

台風　Typhoons a comin

カメさま

あじさい　Ajisai

伊江島　Ie-jima