Today was amazing. Truly. Though I only got five hours of sleep last night and had to wake up at 6:15 (Saturday...), I had the most relaxing day here yet. This morning Encho sensei (our boss) took us to Aizu, a nearby city, to go hiking and to experience an onsen (explanation later). The morning was beautiful, as you can see. My mother and I saw a quilt earlier this year at a show that looked like it resembled fire. After reading the notes from the quilter, however, we learned that it had been inspired by her experience of Autumn in Japan. Though our tour guide today said that the trees "aren't as beautiful this year as usual," I now understand the drive behind that quilter's needle. After hiking (by the way, Encho sensei is in his 70's, and this was quite a hike...), we stuffed our faces with every kind of Japanese food you can imagine (yes, there was squid), at a hotel buffet. Then after lunch we headed to the onsen. An onsen is something I have been intrigued by ever since reading Bruce Feiler's Learning to Bow in preparation for this trip. In his book, he describes it as a way to establish "relationships without clothes on." That's exactly what we did today. So....an onsen is a natural hotspring that can be enjoyed in a group setting, some are inside, others are outside, without the comfort of a bathing suit. Fortunately, this onsen was separated by gender, so we were good to go. The entrance is located, usually, inside a swanky hotel (though every onsen is unique). You walk through a locker-room-type thing, armed with only a towel the size of what you might dry dishes with. I think our entire experience this afternoon can be summed up in one comment, made by my friend Patty who is self-conscious about "sticking out" while shopping. She looked at her mini-size towel, rolled her eyes, and sighed, "Well, going to the grocery store shouldn't be a problem anymore." That was my day...a great day of culture and relaxation. Sorry I haven't figured all the technical stuff out with the pictures yet...little by little I will learn to use a computer. But, as my brother Chris would say, "Enjoy the visual stimulation."

Tammy sitting over a huge ravine...I know, we're just out of control!

A tunnel we hiked through on the trail.

A lot of stuff in Japan is "wrapped up and packaged in a neat little box." Hiking is not exempt. Our tour guides (never had a tour guide hiking before...), though kind and very gracious, seemed at times a bit like baby sitters to my American adventure-loving spirit.

Isn't this amazing? It was a beautiful morning.

This is the mountain we saw...one mountain, the top was blown off by a volcano in 1882 (hence the huge dip)

Quote of the month winner! This is on my pot lid!

So, the whole weekly thing isn't working out so well, but I'll keep doing my best. Beore I forget, The first of these pictures is from our "run along the tracks" (not ON the tracks) at sunset. Sorry the color's "wa choto" (a little bit...fill in the blank). The second is from October 16, when five of us ran a 3K in the Tamura-city race. It was a chilly, foggy morning, but the mountains were beautiful.

The reason, of course, that I haven't written so often is the crazy schedule I've been keeping. For example, let me sketch my day for you: I woke up at 5:30 to go running with Tammy (up to the track...picture 2), 4 miles later, I took a shower, had prayer time with the junior high teachers in my apartment, then headed off to Funehiki Jr. High School. I taught 5 classes with other teachers, had one period off, then came home to immediately begin boiling pumpkin for a cake I'm making for when we have two teachers over for dinner tomorrow night. While that was baking, 1 1/2 hours later, I allowed myself 10 minutes of rest, before I took it out, and headed out the door for a tutoring session at Wakakusa (the "after school" English cram school). After tutoring for an hour (at 7:00 PM), I came back to my apartment to ice the cake and do my dishes, just in time to head next door to Nate's vacant apartment for Bible study with the other teachers. I'm just now getting back (10 PM). First time I've sat down to rest besides those ten minutes. So, I'm whooped. The tutoring sessions will only be for three weeks...we'll see if I continue to get up at the crack of dawn...

But anyway...as is expected with the whole changing seasons thing, it's continuing to get colder in this part of the world. But other than the temperature (which is its own kind of struggle), some things here are getting a bit easier, some things a bit harder. I'm amazed at the range of emotions that I can experience in a 24-hour period. (food--good food--usually brings the highest high) It's like the emotions that I would normally experience as a result of an event or occurence are magnified times ten. Thus, I may have tears of joy and tears of utter frustration or "depression" in the same hour. One of my friends, who lives in Africa now, told me that he was learning that our happiness does not have to be determined by our location or circumstances. I am beginning to learn this, too. The Japanese culture does not allow for a lot of display of emotion, thus we are forced often to put on a smile and to "just stuff" other feelings. At first it feels really insincere, but as previous teachers put it, "you fake it till you make it." I haven't "made it" yet, but I'm on the road to getting there.

One example of this was this past Sunday at Segawa's school festival. It was, as I said, on a Sunday. So, the day started out with me getting up around 6:30...on a Sunday. However. I still didn't move fast enough and I was late getting out the door. Only two minutes, but it's amazing the tension that two minutes of lateness can cause. Then, I traveled to my school with the "Team Crush," so that added to my lack of punctuality equaled a rather uncomortable time (especially since he speaks very little English). On top of this, while in the car, I realized that I didn't think I turned off my (gas) stove. Worry seized me, and furvent prayer began. This thought stayed with me the entire length of the day...

So, I arrived at my school around 8:20 or so, only to be without anything to do amongst about 100 students, teachers, and parents running around like chickens with their heads cut of. I couldn't even escape to the bathroom because they were cleaning it AGAIN (they clean it every day), so I just wandered around trying my best (unsuccessfully) to look as inconspicuous as possible.

Then, we headed to the gym - the 45 degree F unheated gym - for the 6 1/2 hours of the kids performing plays (mostly), songs, speeches, and a couple game shows in Japanese. And, the only fluent English speaker present was the coordinator, so she wasn't around to translate at all The only break we had was lunch--for which I had accidentally ordered miso-flavored, hard, hot jelly on a stick. There was gagging, but I made it through with a smile.

After the presentation, I was dog-tired, and just wanted to go home, but I had been invited to a party afterwards (the only place where teachers feel free to let down the "professional face"), so I had to wait until 6 to go. Meanwhile, my driver, who had not been informed of my change of plans, showed up at 4:00, waited 1/2 outside for me, then finally came in to see where on earth I was. It wasn't really my fault, but I just wanted to die of embarassment. So, around 5:00, I just thought I was going to crack. I could feel tears welling up, and it was all I could do to hold them in, so I escaped to the bathroom (they weren't cleaning it this time), and sat on the (only Western-style) toilet with my head down, begging God to help me get through the next few hours without a breakdown.

By God's grace, I made it without breaking into tears. We went to a little diner nearby, and I managed to drink sake, and eat raw fish, octopus, and squid all with a smile on my face. Nevermind that I kneed one of the teachers in the bum as she was trying to kneel down and almost sent her flying across the table, never mind that I didn't know the 20 polite things to do at the table, nevermind that my legs cramped up every 15 minutes from kneeling in traditional Japanese style. God really, truly, honestly, helped me through. And I had fun. Probably mostly because I decided to. I would never choose to do most of those things on my own, but because I decided to enjoy them (and God changed my attitude...), I did. So much of our happiness is a choice. I never guessed such a cornerstone of our American heritage could be, at least in part, shall we say...a little off. What really is "the pursuit of happiness"? I think it can turn out to be, as so many college students discover while trying to choose their life path, a wild goose chase. The true pursuit is with and for God and within ourselves.

Well, those are all the profound thoughts I can muster for the evening. I'll leave you with a few more "special quotes"...of course, not as good as my pot lid, but...

"I will study mush this evening." One of my students, I think trying to express (on paper) that she would later devote herself to her mathematics homework.

"I outkicked a 12-year-old at the very end." Jeni, at the race, describing how it had gone the previous year.

As I sit and think about the week I've had, I'm reminded that during our extended orientation in Mansfield, all of the new teachers were gently but repeatedly warned that we were entering a time of possible suffering or "trial" in our lives. I'm starting to understand what that means. And, I'm learning that no matter how much information previous teachers give us, how many times they repeat themselves, nothing can actually lessen the intensity of the experience. The pain and struggle must be dealt with on our own. Thus begins yet another crucible period in my life. At least this time I knew it was coming. It's not that people here aren't kind. In fact, they bend over backwards to make us all feel welcome and comfortable. And, it's not the fact that the culture is particularly difficult to adapt to. It's the fact that new experiences and a new way of thinking bring me face to face with my greatest enemy: myself. Weakness in my character seems to rise to the surface more and more and rear its ugly head. For me, this often happens with communication issues. It's amazing how humbled (or humiliated) one becomes when trying to communicate in a different language. Not only are the words different, but the way of expressing them and the mindset behind it all often sharply contrast with the way I have learned to communicate in America (and therefore it is very easy to offend people). Often I am brought to the level of a child. This brings about all sorts of reactions in me--anger, self consciousness, criticism of other people and mindsets - all rooted in mankind's number one downfall: pride. The most poignant examples of these moments are probably with how other teachers perceive me at one of my junior high schools. I try so hard to not offend. To communicate well. To smile a lot. To be a good teacher. I want to be accepted, I want to be liked, and above all, I want to please people. And of course, these desires are also rooted in the same ugly sin of pride. Not that these desires are wrong in and of themselves, but too often I put them above the desire to please my creator, and so I worry and fret about how to make people around me happy. I have a lot to learn in this less-than-comfortable place. May I learn quickly and fully, because I'm keenly aware of how miserable I will be if I don't (aren't we usually miserable when we resist instruction?...) Well, what I've just described (sometimes, though not always) has been the undercurrent of my past week. The week in itself, however, went relatively well. Last weekend I was able to visit Koriyama (a nearby city of I think about 300,000) for the first time, and had the blessed joy of touching American-style pizza to my lips (nevermind that it was $75 for three pizzas...) Monday was a national holiday in memory/honor of the Olympics being held in Tokyo, so Tammy, Trish and I climbed Mt. Katasone--about 7 miles there, up, down, and back. It was beautiful, but kinda yucky and cloudy. The school week, as usual, flew by. I did have a couple memorable moments, though. One student managed to get a good chuckle out of me as we were learning the days of the week. He couldn't remember the word for Friday, so after much thought and deliberation, he bellowed out, "Happy Birthday!" Needless to say, all semblance of order was lost... Friday brought with it a different experience entirely, including several tears of frustration. One of my students that I've actually gotten some one-on-one time with had a rough day - and I was present to witness the "cracking point." First let me say that this girl is me when I was in high school. She's an overachiever. She's involved in everything. She has dozens of plates spinning in a highly technical display of multi-tasking virtuosity. But, at some point during her spinning act, some plates began to crash. And so did she. I don't know exactly what happened, but as I sat there and witnessed my fellow teacher try to calm her sobbing, I knew her heart. I wanted to comfort her, wanted to tell her that I understood. I wanted to tell her about God's peace - about letting go of the stress of performance and basking in the acceptance of His unconditional love. But I couldn't. I could only watch, and become frustrated to the point of tears. And so, now more than ever I am compelled to pray - that Sayaka and countless others may know the peace and lightened load that results from accepting Christ's unconditional love. In His time and in His way, may it be so.

Yoshimitsu and me 

So, today marks the third (or maybe the fourth? I've lost count) time I've slept through my alarm. I think my state of resting could be more accurately described as a coma rather than sleep. I feel like I've just been woken from the dead every morning, and have that "where am I" feeling several seconds after my eyes actually open. Fortunately for me, all the American junior high teachers have been getting together in my apartment to pray in the mornings, so if I'm not up by then, at least I don't miss school or something awful like that (meeting in my apartment was something I requested for this exact reason). On a completely different note, I'm realizing that I'm starting to love many things about the Japanese culture, but I must confess, there are a few things I have a hard time viewing as "just different" rather than "wrong" or "a little annoying" or even, yes "just plain illogical." Perhaps the best example of this has come to light as the weather has grown colder. Everyone comments about the weather--if it's sunny, cloudy, rainy, so recently there has been a lot of "Samui des, ne?" (It's COLD, isn't it?) I like observing my environment, noticing the changing seasons. The irritation comes, however, with what is done about the much chillier air--absolutely nothing. Everything remains the same. The kids still wear shorts for sports practice, and not only does the heat stay off, but the windows stay open. Yes, at Segawa, I sit in front of the window (freezing cold) in the teacher's lounge, and in the morning I watch everyone scurrying in while complaining about the cold--all while the frigid Autumn wind is fluttering through the papers on their desks--to me, completely illogical. Especially when so many students and teachers are getting sick. I guess it is popular to wear a surgical-type face mask when you're ill, and I can't tell you how many of those things I've seen in the last week. It's like the newest fashion fad. The second "rub" with my "won't-seem-to-die-American-mindset" is the practice of not blowing your nose in public. This I appreciated at first--it's never pleasant to hear mucus being ejected from the nasal passage to a piece of cloth in the ill person's hand. However, I have found it equally unpleasant to (repeatedly) experience the sound of mucus being violently sucked into the ill person's esophagus. In fact, it makes me want to gag. And my theory is--if we'd just shut the windows and turn on the heat, this wouldn't be such a problem! Also related to annoying noises is the process of drinking tea. I have been taught since I was a wee little one that slurping anything is terribly rude (whether or not I acted accordingly is another story, but the point is, it was drilled into my head that it is NOT polite). Well, I sit next to a teacher at Funehiki Jr. High with a much different opinion. Every morning he pours himself some (green) tea and proceeds to drink it in what I perceive as the "wake version of snoring." He lets out all his air, brings the cup to his lips, then begins--"sluuuuuuuuuurrrrrp, aaaah. Sluuuuuurrrrrrrrrrp, aaaaaah. Sllluuuuuuuuuuurp, aaaaaah." And on and on and on, until all I can think about is the joy it would bring me to snatch the cup out of his hands and pour the remaining tea on the floor. I haven't managed to work up enough nerve yet, but... So, those are my irritations with the culture up to this point. Otherwise, it's amazing. Everyone is so polite (even up to not laughing when Tammy - twice - tripped up the stairs), and so concerned with our comfortability here. I really can't complain - I'm just aware of the deep roots of American culture in me that refuse to die. And as I promised, the quote of the week: "He has the personality of like...a rock." ~American English Teacher (who wishes to remain anonymous) about another (again, anonymous) teacher~

I'm sitting in my apartment with a "from scratch" cup of hot cocoa (Swiss Miss is a bit hard to find here) trying desperately to warm up my little toesies. It is officially Fall, folks, and with it has come the "chill that penetrates the bones" (see earlier post) and the rain that penetrates the clothes. As you can tell, I'm not a huge fan of colder weather, especially when my sweaters have not arrived yet. Well, I think I'm going to try to post on this thing once a week, because any intentions more ambitious than that will never come to pass. The weeks are just too busy, and the reason I didn't post this weekend was because it, too, was too busy. Last week's classes went very well, and I'm starting to get the hang of things a bit. Tuesday and Wednesday were "Sports Day" for all of the junior highs in town, so I got to watch the kids do kendo (a Japanese traditional martial art), judo (ground fighting, again, a traditional martial art), table tennis (not a traditional martial art...) and soccer. It was a lot of fun, and I think because we went to see them, the kids are starting to warm up to us a bit more. (Not to mention, we're beginning to remember their names. Maybe that helps...) Last week was actually pretty uneventful unless I back up a bit to last weekend...September 24 I believe. Since we had the day off (Saturday), Lis, Tammy and I decided to go running. This has become a favorite passtime of Tammy's and mine because not only do we get the endorphins from the exercise, we also get to see the beautiful countryside of Japan. Well, we convinced Lis that she, too, could see this countryside if she ran with us, and I assured her that our "route along the tracks" would be pleasantly surprising. So, we were off. The run itself is about 3 1/2 miles long--1 3/4 there and 1 3/4 back, and it goes along a quaint country road next to the train tracks--absolutely breathtaking when you get out into the rice fields. However, this was the first time Lis has gone running in Japan, so she decided to turn back a bit earlier. We were huffing and puffing up a hill at the moment she made this decision, so we mumbled something about turning right and just running along the tracks the whole way back, and then continued on our way. Well, Tammy and I reached our end point and turned around, and began a pretty serious conversation about our beliefs when we saw Lis down by (when I say "by," I mean pretty close to "on") the tracks. At first this didn't phase either of us, because Lis is an explorer, and it is not out of her character to wander off to look at something curious. Reality began to set in, however, when she exclaimed, "There you are! I thought you'd be along the tracks." I still couldn't believe what I was beginning to think, though, so I just came out and asked her, "Were you actually running ON the tracks?!" Her reply was, "Well, you said run along the tracks...you said I'd be pleasantly surprised! I was kinda wondering about them, because I kept having to jump over rails....and then there was the tunnel, but I thought since you guys did it it would be ok..." We just stood there with our mouths drooping. Yes, she had done it. She had been running on the train tracks. This may not have been so bad if we were in the United States, where trains maybe come through once or twice a day. In Japan, however, the trains are probably the primary mode of transportation...hence they come about every half hour. Needless to say, running through the tunnel was probably not the best idea....we spent the rest of the day praising God she was alive...laughing while doing it, but still praising God she was alive. As I said, the rest of the week, thankfully, was pretty uneventful until Saturday. Saturday was the music concert for Funehiki Junior High School, and my second experience with culture shock (my first being at Mc Donald's). Everything was perfect. Perfect and completely serioius. Everything. This was no American junior high music concert, it was like a highly technical professional production. The icing on the cake, however, was the final number, when the band began playing The Village People's "YMCA" and dozens of Japanese junior high children hopped onto the stage in line, dancing a highly coreographed routine in perfect time. I sat there feeling like I was witnessing a crime against humanity. Never should that song be taken so seriously...one thing that doesn't really click here is the whole concept of satire.... And then there were kindergardeners. Hundreds of them. On Sunday we got to experience the adventure that is the Wakakusa Kindergarden Sports Day Production. It started at nine o'clock in the morning and went on until around four. Seven hours of visual candy. I have never seen so many cute kids perform so many difficult routines and stunts in my life. The five-year-olds made pyramids, a human domino chain that the teacher knocked down and they all fell on each other, and tumbled in ways that I could only dream of doing myself. The pictures up top are just some examples of these escapades (and the race for which we got "volunteered" to do). The highlight, for me, though, was toward the beginning, when all of us English teachers got up in front of the whole audience (maybe 1000 or so people, including the mayor), and danced with the kindergardeners....an animal dance....with motions for each animal, while we were facing the city officials and trying our best to a) remember the moves and b) not die laughing. I was successful at the first one, but not the second. I just kept thinking to myself "I never pictured myself in this position a year ago..." I truly cannot even be sarcastic enough to explain the humor of the situation, so I'll leave it to your imaginations... Well, that's all for now. I'll try to remember some good quotes for the ends of these things, because there have been some good ones. I apologize there's none for today. But, until later, enjoy whatever culture you're in!