The new beta blogger

I decided I'm not going to use tags on my posts because, really, I'm not drawing in the readers by the thousands (except over the very long term). Nothing earth shattering today; did the normal weekend chores that house ownership calls upon. I did the dishes listening at 10 AM to the World at Six on CBC to try to get more information on that crazy case of radiation poisoning in London of a Russian. I decided not to go for a run and cancelled badminton on the account of my ankle. It feels much better but stills feel tender, especially when I bend it at odd, unnatural angles. I guess I should stop. Got some writing done this afternoon in the low autumn sun on my couch. Very nice. And I just finished watching sumo, which had a more predicable ending than even a Desperate Housewives episode (Zing!). The current yokozuna is just too strong. He's a real force of nature. Now I'm am just heading out the door to met a friend. I am glad this isn't Tokyo and there is nowhere to squander all my money on Saturday nights.

Upgraded Blog

Blogspot.com really wanted me to update my blog so I finally took the plunge. This post is a bit thin because of it. The system still seems a bit buggy; such as no spellcheck at the moment, and man, I'm the type of person that needs spellcheck. The wind yesterday was hellacious. I have never seen wind that was able to bend a metal rod. Normally wind moves in gusts, but at some point, when the gusts are so long, it becomes more like a windtunnel. Really biblical stuff. Sprained my ankle yesterday (running backwards) which means no badminton for me tomorrow. :( I need some chicken soup!

A little busy

I had a special open class on top of my normal classes today, add on top of that a meeting afterward and my day is packed. Luckily, of all things, tomorrow is a holiday. Just stuck in the middle of the week; we get Thursday off. This calls for a special dinner. Also, going our to Urimaku for the special class today, I swear on a stretch of road no longer than 300 meters I saw sunshine, rain, sleet, snow, and wind. It looks very stormy out, except when it's sunny. I am less homesick because this weather reminds me strongly of Alberta and the spastic weather changes.

How to start a Monday

On Monday, my regular routine began again because up until this week various things kept the schedule in flux. I was feeling a bit rusty, and there is always the worry the kids have forgotten all English. The first class was a perfect way to ease back into school though "ease" may not be the optimal word. I met first period with the always energetic second graders and things progressed from there. Next the grade three's, also happy to see me. Then both first grade classes all before lunch. I am very glad I decided to go to bed very early on Sunday. It made my first day back in a while very pleasant.

The ladder pictures

One part of the four year olds' presentation yesterday included a traditional ladder demonstration. This type of activity dates back over four hundred years to the fire departments of the Edo period. This period is, of course, well known for the fact that about every house was made of wood and fire was always a deadly threat. There is quite a lot of history one can uncover on this topic. Firemen were the local communities' heroes and considered very brave. One of the things fire departments did to entertain their towns was do feats of strength atop ladders. This continues to this day with most fire departments having a group dedicated to keeping this tradition alive (I saw on TV). I know several of Shikaoi's firefighters and they are a great group of guys. Also, I thought I would add a short description of my entrance yesterday into Chomin hall. Mornings are tight and I was aiming to get into my seat just as the program started. One enters the hall right at the front infront of everyone. As I looked for my seat in the front row, I heard my name being announced over the PA as the English teacher and felt everyone's eyes lock on me. It was perfect timing, it looked like I had planned the whole thing! I turned and gave a big wave to the audience whom responded with welcoming laughter.

Could be Funny?

Please don't interpret a lack of posts to mean that I am not busy. After a quiet couple of days comes a flood of content. Saturday was Kamihoronai elementary school's concert and today I attended Shikaoi Kindergarten's. (The translation of the event from Japanese is "School presentation.") All the pictures included in this post are from yesterday. There are only 14 students at Kamihoronai Sho and so to put together a full day program takes a lot of effort. Kamihoronai's presentation also included the nearby kindergarten, so all my students were present. Big changes are occurring in rural Japan as the farmer-parents looked on as their kids struggled to introduce me in English. Uniquely, in Kamihoronai every child learns to ride a unicycle (and also, for the record, Tsumei-sho). Like fish in water, the students become mind-boggling good by grade six and they have some exceptionally gifted riders at both schools (Backwards riding? That's not natural!). I've been talked into trying them before by my students and I am convinced the things are death traps. Props must go to whoever thought of the idea to showcase the student's skills as part of the program. Also, as part of the parent-teacher association's presentation, I got my first glimpse of Christmas which, until that point, had completely skipped my mind (expand the picture below). It was shocking the way a group of Japanese parents can take the scared 2000 year old symbol of Western civilization and effortlessly turn it into a culturally enlightening experience. To describe was happened next; Jesus got down from the ladder, and - I kid you not - in a (to me) politically charged directorial decision - beat a crossdresser with his cross in front of the stage. I love living here and not knowing what I will experience by the end of the day. I knew immediately it was pure blogging gold.



Today's program at the kindergarten was no less spirited. Dear Lord the kids are cute, especially when you put them in either animal costumes or full traditional Japanese dress. I'm sure this can only come back to haunt us as they become adults as evidenced by the number of video cameras there. I was amazed at the memorizational skills on display by three year olds. It made me doubt my own mettle to toughen it out through the Japanese educational system. My favorite moments last year were the mistakes. In the ninth piece, a four year old student was rebuffed after trying to kindly return a dropped prop, causing, with both standing next to each other, an escalation of hostilities. What was obvious to anyone in the audience was that they were trying to be subtle about it (they knew it was wrong). There was also one instance of an escaped student in the 13th piece with a mischievous pirate suddenly appearing among a group of surprised singing snowflakes which was soon followed by a none-to-impressed teacher. With pieces entitled (translated from Japanese) "Tambourine Fantasia" and "Burmen: The German City" I couldn't help but lose myself in the program. One in particular caught my attention, "Going to Rat Race City." Again illustrating the Japanese genius for balance, the play, labeled in the program as an "operetta", was part cautionary existential tale about post-modern urban alienation, part chic nod to pop culture and an opportunity to put kids in the cutest mouse costumes imaginable. I will put up some additional photos from today tomorrow when I get the chance.

Hokkaido Tsunami

I have been a bit under the weather again. I had a fever that had me tossing and turning all night. The fever broke sometime early this morning and now I am fully on the road to recovery but still feeling a little bit stiff. While all this was going on - may you heard - just before 9 PM, a 7.1[revised] magnitude earthquake hit far north of Hokkaido. It was a big quake but we didn't feel anything here. The real panic across the eastern coast of Japan was the threat of tsunami's which dominated the TV for an hour of interrupted coverage until the danger had passed. I didn't pay much attention on the account of being sick but all the channels were showing live clips of this one quiet, peaceful dock on the north side of Hokkaido where the tsunami was expected to hit first. They're focus centered on one poor government worker whose job is was whose job it was to stand out on the dock in a white raincoat and life jacket and closely watch the ocean level. The rushing destruction of the oncoming tsunami coupled with frantic news coverage made for an odd contrast to the lone loyal worker on the idyllic moonlit dock. As of this morning everyone is high and dry and the drama of most of the nation sitting around their TVs last night was slightly unwarranted.

I think what led to my most recent bout with the cold was cooking with some grade 1,2, and 3 students on Monday. What did me in was accepting food from their grubby hands to eat. I think I am set for the winter now though. Honestly, I wash up to my elbows several times a day. It can't be helped. Ah the joys of working with kids.

To Pose a Question

To give a reprieve from yesterday's somber topic I offer something sunny today. I have been sitting on this picture for a while. Along with the picture is a question for the readers: Do you think his look is good for me? That sort of pouty, cute, but slightly confused look. For the record, he always has that confused look when I go to the kindergarten, it's rarely broken unless he is trying to say the English alphabet. He loves his alphabet. Would it work for me? Could I pull it off? This young man always dances to his own tune; for instance, like trying to keep seated in my lap while I teach.

A New Topic

I wanted to address a delicate but timely topic today. In recent weeks there has been a spike in suicides reported in the media. What stands out in my mind is in their tragic nature because many are students. It leads me to wonder if this is a snowballing effect. In this post I will not detail the causes because so long as we are human such actions will always be mysterious. However, it becomes hard to ignore after a point and there are certain elements that can apply only to Japan that make it of interest.

One important fact to keep in mind is that despite its image Japan doesn't have the highest suicide rate in the world. This is a surprisingly wide misconception on the news forums I frequent. It's actually tenth. The countries ahead of Japan on the list are all dark former eastern block countries. None of them have the extensive wealth and high quality of life Japan has. What seems to mark the deaths in Japan is that all victims had their life opening before them. This is in contrast to those higher on the list than Japan whose victims, have, in many cases, hit absolute rock bottom because of alcoholism or some other such socio-economic effect.

While in modern Japan there is total condemnation of suicide, and decades of building institutions to prevent it, this has not always been the case. As recently as WWII suicide was seen as an courageous path. It would not be proper to ignore the power of looking back through one's own history and reading about the so-called honourable actions of others and people's praise of it. (It takes a long time for a complete re-interpretation of Japanese history to take place.)

The most disturbing modern trend is that of group suicides, something not unheard of in other parts of the world but more prevalent here in recent memory than is reasonable. It seems far too often the news reports another car found in the mountains with three or four young people inside with a burning charcoal stove. This trend is explicitly tied to the rise on the internet where people meet to plan to commit suicide together. This type of news gives me pause and moves me to try to understand this crazy world.