Mystery Udon Tour

Last weekend I went on my 4th Udon Tour with the teachers from my tech school. It was a great chance to catch up with them a bit now that I don't work there anymore. They haven't changed one bit!

What's an Udon Tour? you might be wondering. Well, udon is a most delicious flour noodle, thick and chewy in texture. It can be served in hot or cold broth with toppings like green onion, ginger, shaved radish, tempura, meat, and so on. As far as noodles go, nothing beats udon for me. That makes it extra nice that I live right next to a prefecture that is most famous for its excellent Sanuki Udon. On top of that, I have a friend who is from Kagawa (Sanuki) and just so happens to love introducing his home prefecture to people. What's more is that his friend has a big car and likes driving around the island. To top it all off, they like English and want to practice more. Perfect combination, right? And so started the Udon tour. We drive up to Kagawa, sample different restaurants (max so far has been 3 in an afternoon), and see other cool things in the area while getting hungry enough for the next restaurant. Obviously I'm not the only one who likes udon enough to come. One of the English teachers who works with them has come a few times. Zandra, who also works there, was one of the first people to go, along with a few other ALTs who've come. It's a lot of fun!

Now these are all mystery tours in that the only thing we know beforehand is that we'll eat udon and be surprised at what else we see on the way. But the reason this one gets the special title is because it had some mysterious sights along the way.

First was the cold spot on the side of Takahachi mountain. The weather that day was a balmy 97F. In the car we climbed up a little mountain, only 450m(?) or so high, and found these stone walls leading down to a sunken hole. Nothing too deep or abnormal looking, but inside the temp dropped down to 40 degrees F! The strange thing was that there was no explanation for why this place was so cold. Mr. M said that even when looking online he couldn't find an explanation for the phenomenon. As we were talking it over on the way down, the other Mr. M, our driver, pointed out the name of the little mountain road we were traveling on: Kubikiri Tougen, or Slit Throat Pass. Yikes!

The other strange thing was finding oyster fossils in a river surrounded by mountains. They were big smooth patches etched into the side of some giant boulders along the riverbed. I don't know much about oysters, but was told that they are a seawater creature. So what were they doing here in the middle of Shikoku? Earlier we'd seen a map of how Japan's topography had changed over the years. The place in which we were standing had once been entirely submerged in seawater. It was hard to picture that with all the lush trees, rice fields, and houses around anchoring us to the present.

You can see all the rest of the fun things we did in a video I made HERE.

It was yet another great weekend to slip into the portfolio of fun times this summer!

ALT in a Day's Work

It's summer again, which means no classes for me. Even though there aren't any obvious things I ought to be doing, somehow the days always get filled up! Let's take a look at one example of all the little things that make up a workday.

Much like our closing ceremony, but no chairs.

Spanish In the 15 minutes before the morning meeting today, I cracked open a Spanish study book to brush up on the 2nd language that shadowed my whole grade/high school life.

 Closing Ceremony Today's the last day of 1st semester, so of course we must have a 2 hour ceremony! They went through congratulating people name by name for sports and club accomplishments as a thousand students and teachers baked in the hot gym. One students passed out and had to be taken to the nurse's office. Instead of stopping the ceremony, they just talked a lot faster to end earlier.

Editing My supervisor is sending a letter to our Thai sister school. I used my special powers to correct spelling, grammar, and structure it to be more diplomatic.

Lunching I've only used half my "Social" budget for July so far, so I biked out to an Udon restaurant for lunch with Greg. Between bites of the chewy, cool, refreshing noodles, we talked over his summer trip to America... tomorrow!

Teaching The principal came by with some English questions. What's the difference between "How are you?" and "How are you doing?" (conclusion: not much!) and "You're welcome", "Not at all", and "No problem" (conclusion: formality of context, relations between speakers, and perceived inconvenience of the task).

Writing Writing this blog post, and catching up on entries in my daily diary. I'm so used to doing it now that it's not too hard to reconstruct a day based on To Do list scribbles.

Advising The photography teacher came by to ask for advice on an English subtitle for a basketball picture. We decided on "Planning the Victory".

Chatting Now that it's summer the other teachers are starting to relax again. Greg and I got to talk with one of our favorite English teachers about summer plans, Victoria's Secret, and the Japanese hatred of all things Chinese.

Recontracting I am officially recontracted until July 24th, 2014! I'm looking forward to another exciting year ahead. What surprises wait to be tread?*




*Sorry, this is a weird sentence. I just wanted it to rhyme.

Climbing Mt. Fuji

Last weekend I got to check a major thing off my Japan list - climbing Mt. Fuji!Everyone I talked to before going said it was not so interesting a mountain and definitely not worth a second trip, but I disagree. Since we didn't actually make it to the top, I may have to plan a revenge trip and conquer her once and for all.

Instead of recounting every detail, I'll give you some haikus.

Blue peak dipped in clouds

Tow'ring above the mountains

From a bus window

Wind screaming outside

Ten thousand feet in the air

Buried in blankets

Pebbles blowing wild

Lights bobbing in the darkness

A sky full of stars

Standing on a cloud

Friends cheering the morning on

Peekaboo sunrise

Battling car sickness

A connoiseur of rest stops

10 hours of transit

If you want more visuals, click this link to see my video!

Writing Obituaries

One of the fun parts of being an English teacher is making up tests and worksheets. At first it was stressful trying to figure out whether a question was good enough and how many points to ascribe to each, but now it's no probo, yo.

It's 1st term finals now, so I had to make an exam for my Active Communication class. In class we read random articles, answer questions for understanding, and discuss the ideas in them. One of the more recent ones was a series of obituaries and birth announcements. Students had to read them and guess what it was about. But what kind of test question can you make about obituaries? I wanted to get them to try writing one, but also didn't want to depress anyone by asking to write about the death of loved ones. So here's what I came up with:

"Kochi's [prefectural] character, Katsuo-ningen (fish human) is jealous of [Tokushima's prefectural character,] Sudachi-kun's (Mr. Small green lime fruit) popularity. Last weekend he kidnapped and drowned Sudachi-kun in the ocean. Write a short obiturary for Tokushima's favorite character, Sudachi-kun." (pictures included in question)

These are some of my favorite responses.

"We have a sad news. Our lovely character, Sudachi-kun, passed away. We'll have a funeral for him. Please come and share your sadness with us."

"Sudachi-kun is kindness itself, so he listened to Katsuo-ningen's complaints."

"Sudachi-kun had been worked in Tokushima for many years, but from today, he move to heaven. I wish he will be a good character in heaven."

"Sudachi-kun was flooded to Tokyo, and he happened to become popular around there. As a result he became much more popular than Katsuo-ningen because of his cutie looks."

Japanese Fruit

Did you know that there are different fruits for different regions of the world? If you'd asked me 10 years ago, I would have said no. I used to think there were just apples, oranges, bananas, berries, and melons. I think it was the starfruit or pomegranate that tipped me off to the diversity of the world's fruits.

Here are a few new ones I've discovered while living in Japan!

Sumomo

Miniature nectarines. Same great taste, slightly less mess.

Akebi

Not too sure... I've seen fallen ones on mountain paths, but never tried it.

Biwa

They taste a lot like pears, but with big seeds in the middle.

Persimmons

Like sweet, orange tomatoes. I've never bought one, but have eaten dozens and dozens of them from people's gardens. A good, mild fruit!

Alternatively, you can dry them for a sweet, candylike taste. This pic is a bit extreme, but you don't have to go far to see a house with cords of these hanging up outside in the fall.

Lichi

This is a popular flavor in Asia, but I'm not sure if people eat the fruit here.

This Salt and Lichi drink would have rocked my socks off if I'd been wearing any.

Yamaboushi

Mountain hats. They're a tart sort of berry with edible spikes.

Yamamomo

Mountain peaches. During a hike, some old ladies beckoned us over to try them on a wild tree. Good taste, but there was a big seed in the middle.

And of course, I can't live in Tokushima without proudly telling you of our famous fruit:

Sudachi

Small citrus fruit. You can squeeze it on anything - chicken, rice, ice cream, alcohol. 

Meet Sudachi-kun, our prefectural mascot!

There are tons of other citrus fruits, especially in Shikoku where I live. Yuzu, mikan, buntan, decopon, amanatsumikan, etc. And yet with all this abundance of citrus, we still import our oranges from the good ole USA. 

Hangin' by a Thread

 Just a picture post today. Let's enjoying!

Ad on a bus for my bank. Isn't our character cute?

Making PB&Js to share with a class of 1st graders.

This strap is nearing the end of its life. 

It's a happy day when the gas stations declare their love for me. 

Video Time!

Rainy season has begun.
Other than that, nothing new.
So let me share a couple videos with you!

Here's a music video from my trip to Hiroshima at the beginning of the month. I was nervous about it being my first trip around Japan alone, but it ended up being really fun. There was way too much to do to feel lonely, and I ended up meeting a lot more fellow travelers along the way.

Of the more routine variety, here's a tour of the teacher's room. Everyone was out at a meeting, so I decided to whip out the camera and show you around. Hope you enjoy the music, courtesy of Mr. Gez pie.

(can't embed, so click HERE)

Iwakuni Visit

Last weekend I got to visit Iwakuni for the first time. Before that it had lived in my imagination as the magical place where my lucky brother got to stay for 2 years in his time in the Marines. And while I won't say there was no magic charm to the place, I've now been able to transfer the thought of "Iwakuni" from the world of stories and imaginations to a real life connection. It really does exist!

Check out the videos and you'll see for yourself.

Part 1 - with views of the base

Part 2 - story of the trip with views of the town

Homebody heaven

What do the past 5 weekends have in common? They've been effusively packed with exciting, energetic, engrossing activities. From sumo in Osaka, a whirlwind tour of Kyushu, and a couple jaunts through the hills of Tokushima, I've been all over! So what was I about to do with a 3 day weekend that saw no big plans??? Let me tell you. 

Check out those bursts of color! 

Saturday morning I started off with a trip to my favorite recycle shop, Sun & Green. I came away with 9 work shirts/sweaters and a cute summer dress, all for just under ~$20. 

Adding these to my closet made me realize that the weather's changing a lot lately, and so should my closet! So I spent the afternoon shuffling, organizing, and folding my clothes. 

Where's my Goodwill color gradient cheatsheet when I need it?

This one doesn't look as sharp, but don't worry. There's a system!

The best part of sewing is matching patterns. :3

All that playing with fabric reminded me that I have another closet full of beautiful scrap cloth. So I went over and whipped up a few drawstring bags for some future occasion. Still thinking on the string part, but they'll come soon. 

Each morning I spent some time in my biblio (NOT teca!). I'm at the beginning of a study that takes you through major themes of the bible and asks thoughtful questions about each day's contents. 

I'm not a very clever student, but at least persistent. 

On Sunday I went to church for the first time in ages. It was so nice to sing those familiar opening/closing songs and see my pastor rest his hands on his tummy with a self satisfied smile when he made silly remarks. That night I went to the pastor's house for dinner and discussion about Zaccheus. It's a wonder they got away without hearing that awesome Zaccheus song from me. 

Makeshift bamboo supports.

During the downtimes I've been a reading machine. 

Finished up the Scorch Trials, 2nd book of the Maze

Runner Trilogy. I'm glad I don't live in a dystopian world.

Then started on a the Book Thief, a sweet story with a 

delightfully unexpected writing style. 

In audiobook world I finished Around the World

in 80 Days, began and finished Jewish Children

(inspiration for Fiddler on the Roof?), and started 

Persuasion, another Jane Austen goody. 

Monday's focus has been on gardening! Not that I have one, but I do have a patio. So I planted some tomatoes, cucumber, and a sprouting garlic. I also finally found a bin to start composting. My burnable garbage bag doesn't fill up nearly as fast as the food starts rotting, so I thought this might be a better alternative than wasting all those expensive trash bags. 

If this were more detailed you'd be able to see the fruit flies going crazy. Yuck!

Magic Mountain.. I may resume you someday.

And of course, on a free weekend with gorgeous weather, how could I pass up the chance to go for a walk or two?

Now, to conclude the night, I have some long overdue letters to write.

Shozanji Hike

Hey my fluffy jellybeans!
(I'm trying a new greeting style, whaddya think?)

For anyone who doesn't follow my Youtube channel, here's a link to my latest video.

Alternatively, if you prefer the prose & picture style, here's a link to my friend's blog, Genki Derek. He put everything so nicely that I don't think there's anything left to be said. Check it out!

Salutations of Spring

Hey my spring bud readers!

Spring is here, and it's a great season. Every week I notice new types of flowers blooming, from plum trees to cherry blossoms, violets, irises, and many more that I don't have a name for. Japanese people may not have a lot of space for gardening, but they sure make the most of what little they have. Why have boring normal trees when you could have blooming or fruit bearing ones? It's exciting to go on walks and see all these bright colors popping out.

Spring is also an important season outside of nature. April 1st is the beginning of the year for schools and companies, so there are a lot of ends and beginnings. The air at school is fresh with new classes, new faces, and a healthy bit of bustle. Thankfully we kept most of the English teachers, but I'll have to get used to the different classes with new people. In any case, I'm glad to have real work to do again!

Recently I've had travel on themind. First with a trip to Osaka to see sumo, then a week long tour of Japan's southern island, Kyushu. Overnight hiking trip into Kamiyama, Spirit Mountain, and another hiking trip coming up. Also, if I can manage to book a bus and hostel out to Hiroshima, I plan to attend the Friendship Day at Iwakuni military base over Golden Week. Steen is coming out to Japan in August to share my life for a bit, and we're planning a weeklong stay in Bali. This'll be my first time into the rest of Asia and I am psyched.

I was a homebody for most of my first year here, but after all these recent experiences have a lot more interest in getting out and seeing things. Is hit and run sightseeing really worth the cost and trouble? I still haven't been able to answer that question for myself, but I guess either way I'm 'traveling', whether by seeing the backcountry of Tokushima or hitting major tourist destinations in Kyoto. When I went to Beppu I met a French woman who told me her perspective on travel. "You don't have to see the world to discover who you are. The more you travel to other places, the more you realize all the fascinating things about your hometown/state/country that have always been there if you only bothered to look."

Well, that's all for now. It's cleaning time, and I've gotta catch all those wily dust bunnies under the teacher's desks. Bai-bai!

White Day

It's a dark, stormy night. I'm in my sewing room, sewing together a quilt backing, when my apartment rings with the sudden sound of the doorbell. Am I expecting anyone? Not at all. But I open the door anyway and get bombarded with a big blast of wind and stay raindrops. Outside stands a delivery man shielding a package from the weather. "Sign this!" he says, and I read that the package is from Amazon. I just got my pack of oatmeal from them the other day, so what could this be? Now I trade the receipt for the box and retreat back into my warm, dry front room to open it up.

The box is light for its size. I search the address for any evidence of a sender name, but all it shows is mine and my address. Snip, slice, teeeeeear, and it's open. Inside the mysterious package lies a box of my very favorite Lindor truffles.  Now I'm getting an idea about why this package came, but still not a clue of from whom.

The next day I come in to school as usual. The teacher's room is a buzz of activity as everyone is finding their seat before the morning meeting bell rings. I walk through my row with the usual ohayou gozaimasu to the normal teachers, and some bright good mornings to my nearby English teachers. Instead of the normal head incline and paper shuffle, I notice some of my neighbors watching me. A moment later, when I look at my desk, I see why. There's a pile of gift bags, both big and small, covering the surface. It's White Day!

I have to clear them off before the meeting starts, but later on I get some time to look through them. Cake, an assortment of fancy cookies, rice crispy balls, an adorable handkerchief, sakura tea, sand[wich] cookies, red bean filled marshmallows, and more. In the afternoon I get a call from my Japanese granny saying that she's in the parking lot at school ready to drop something off. She deposits a cute box of goodies and snoopy towel in my hands, pats my cheeks to say I've lost weight, and runs back to the car to drive away.  

So what is White Day? It's a part of Japan's Valentine's tradition. You see, in Japan the boys are a little shy. They leave it up to girls to give out chocolates and homemade sweets to their sweethearts. Boys wait in anticipation of receiving something that day, and their heart breaks a little if they've been completely passed over. There are a few types of chocolate to give. Tomo-choco, or Friend chocolate can be for any and everyone. Giri-choco, or Obligation chocolate, is what you give to superiors or people you're indebted to. And finally, Honmei-choco, or true love chocolate, is a special kind made with love for that special someone. 

You may think this seems unfair to girls. Why should they have to go through all this trouble and get nothing in return? Well in Japan, you can't receive a gift without considering something in return. So a month after Valentine's Day, on March 14th, guys return the favor by giving back to each girl who gave him something, usually way more elaborate or fancy than the original gift.

On Valentine's Day this year I cooked up a big batch of mini chocolate muffins, 60-70 in all, and gave them away to English teachers, students, my pastor, and J-granny.

Today I lived the Japanese proverb, "With shrimp you catch tai." In other words, "Give a little, get a lot."


PS- after further investigation, the truffles came from my pastor! I should have known since he kept reconfirming my address at church the week before.

Bellwork Blog

Hey there!

One of my goals this month is to branch out more into creative writing. I have endless practice in recounting days through letters and diaries, but want to push myself into new territory. The plan is to post 25 entries in March, so it should be updated pretty frequently. Care to follow along? Then hop on over to the link below.

http://backtobellwork.blogspot.jp/

Jipangu

Once a month I have a bible study and meal with the young folks at my Japanese church (age range: 21-45). Usually we meet at the pastor's house and his wife cooks dinner for us, but the other day we tried something new. All I knew about it beforehand was that it was in an obscure place that I'd never be able to find on my own, so one of the other members would pick me up.

When Sunday night came and the car pulled up, I was ushered into a typical white Japanese boxy car. Kuma, a denture-maker and lifetime attender of Bethel Christ, was to drive us. In the back seat sat miss Sega, a kindergarden teacher who matches every stereotype. Cute, young, and sweet. Then there was one more girl who I vaguely remembered seeing once before. I was relieved of the task of remembering her name by someone else's bringing it up in a passing comment. Ms. Koi, that was it!

On the way there I was too engrossed in making conversation to mark any definites about the route, but only have a vague sense of winding through little country roads, across streams, and into the darkening night.

"Here we are!" Mr. Kuma announced as we pulled up to the glowing windows of a building shrouded in trees. To get inside we had to walk along a raised wooden walkway. It was covered with an arched roof and lined with lanterns, illuminating the dark outlines of garden plants down below. It reminded me of many an evening watching people march a similar path on their way to Tribal Council.

We were inside and seated before I could get a good look at the whole place, but it seemed like a traditional Japanese house-turned restaurant. The whole wooded interior was flooded with a warm light, exotic nick-knacks, and almost empty. Our group got a whole room to ourselves, complete with a shoji lantern, plants, and blues music playing from a stereo in the corner. The atmosphere was mysterious and decadent, so much was my surprise to open the menu and find the prices to be reasonable, too.

After ordering, we all sat folding our napkins in origami patterns. There was a fortune teller, a crane, and a man made out of two napkins put together. Conversation was polite and faltering, as it always is between our collection of semi-strangers. Soon Mrs. Tana, the pastor's wife, came in and saved the day with her talk of her exam in Kyoto that day. She's getting a master's in education. It wasn't much longer before Mr. Azu, the last member of our group arrived. He's a tennis instructor and always comes a bit later after his lessons.

When the food came, all our choices displayed the variety of their offerings. I got bacon pizza, there was cheesy toast (I didn't measure, but the bread must have been at least 1.5 inches thick), mountain veggies over soba, a meat platter, chicken nuggets and fries, and omrice (an egg, rice and ketchup omlette), all with salad and tea on the side.

Everything I'd learned about Ms. Koi when we last met was forgotten, so I got to know her as for the first time. She's my age, lives with her mom in Tokushima city, and works as a mortuary assistant. Her manner is the most dreamy, thoughtful, and childlike I've ever seen; almost like a character from a Yoshimoto Banana book. She's the kind of girl that might walk barefoot outside under full moons, build miniature furniture, or talk to cats. (actually, her cat is gorgeous!)

Wow, this is getting long. Can you tell we have no classes today at school?

Anyway, after eating and talking we had our bible study/discussion group. We talked about everyone's emphasis on doing things to please God, when He still delights in our just being. We read the story of the prodigal son. It wasn't until after we began discussing that we realized the people who don't know the bible didn't understand. The father in the story represents God and His acceptance, of course. "Ohhh!!" came the cries of understanding.

All in all, it was a really nice evening. I'd love to introduce it to friends someday ... if I can ever find my way back there.

If you've read all the way to this point, then check out the link with pictures!
http://ameblo.jp/attenborogh/entry-10284532104.html

Good Food

I've been eating a lot better ever since I realized how much carbs and sugar affect my moods.

Here's an example of one of my recent trips to the grocery store.

Jicama, apple cider vinegar, spaghetti, avocados, carrots, mochi, mikan, apples, tofu, creamed corn, & yogurt. 

Carrots, leek, lotus root, burdock, jicama leaves, cabbage, and udon noodles. Can you find them all?

In order to easily consume all those veggies, I've been making lots of soupy things. It's convenient to eat, but I still have to figure out how to make decent broth...

Well, that's all, folks!