Happy Birthday Alison!

Alison,

Omedetou Gozaimasu! I hope that you are having a great "tanjobi" (birthday). I miss you very much. I would have called you but Cristina has temporarily lost the service that allows us to make calls to the U.S. How is the end of 8th grade going? I can't believe that you are already graduating! Congratualtions once more about LaSalle. I love you alotta.

Love, Your big brother (aka Mom's Favorite)

Bottomless 4 oz. Glasses of Beer

Wednesday was when the personnel changes were announced. An official looking person came with the envelope from Kagoshima City to announce who would be promoted or relocated. I am not quite sure why the Japanese do this, but it seems that those who work for the Board of Education only have temporary contracts. So, usually after 3 years, they are transferred somewhere else with their children and spouse. It’s the same case for teachers. Because of the municipal merger between my town and Kaz’s, we lost our superintendent of schools. He will now be a school headmaster in Kagoshima City (not so bad if you ask me). However, he is a bit frightened about the idea of not being able to smoke. Although I don’t see why the headmasters are not allowed to smoke yet the teachers who interact with the students on a much closer level are allowed to do so with them. In any case, he is quite the character and I cannot see him in that role. Perhaps, it’s because all the principals I know are constantly gardening, visiting the children during lunch or hosting tea parties for visiting guests and unwanted salesmen.

During lunch at the Katos, Yu-chan received a phone call from an organic farmer that I had met during the Korean dancers’ homestay party. Yoshi-san is now hosting an American ALT from one of the prefectures near Tokyo. She is doing this as part of a non-profit organization type-thing where she works on his farm in exchange for a hospitable weekend in a different place. I met her yesterday during lunch. She seemed nice.

Wednesday afternoon, Cristina and I went to the Kanoya gym for our introduction to weight training safety. It went well except I still got the intimidating feeling every time I used a machine that faced the free weights. There are actually some Japanese people that are really muscular. Many of you wouldn’t believe it, but it’s true. However, I did not let it get the best of me. After Cristina and I took showers (separately), we had 100-yen sushi on the way home.

Thursday I had to go to Uchinoura Elementary School for their graduation. I really wanted to go to Kishira, but they made me go here because no other ALT has done so. (Do you see pushover written on my forehead too?) I had only met the 6th graders that were graduating once. Also, it was not as sad as the junior high ones because everyone will be moving together next year to junior high. My favorite part of the ceremony was when the graduates said their last words to the school. They shouted a long message bit by bit in small groups of 3 or 4. Then in the really heartfelt parts (i.e. sayonara = goodbye, sensei arigato gozaimashita = thank you teachers, tanoshikatta = I enjoyed my time here), they all repeated it together in unison. That really did almost make me break, but I held it together. The really cool part about this one, was that I sat at the very front of a very official looking table with a some labels and everything. I have never felt so important (that’s a lie, but you get the idea).

After the graduation, I had to change and run to Uchinoura Junior High for Shiraishi-sensei’s last class ever. She is retiring and moving up to Kumamoto to spend time with her new husband. Since it was her last class and it was with the first graders, we played basketball, volleyball and dodgeball in the school gym. Unfortunately, I didn’t score any points. After basketball, I was told that there would be a drinking party at 6PM for the superintendent’s farewell.

The enkai (drinking party) was interesting. Like most of these, everyone sat along long tables and drank out of small 4 oz. glasses and spoke Japanese. I was not very social this evening, so I just kept on sipping on my 4 oz. glass. In true Japanese fashion, it was refilled nearly after each sip by a willing neighbor at my table. I think without these 4 oz. glasses people may freak out that there will be nothing to do at the party and they may be forced to relax. Because I was a bit out of it, I was not as attentive as I should have been about refilling my neighbor's glasses. And may God help you if you try to refill your own. I livened up a bit after the party moved to the superintendent’s house. It ended at about 10:45. I managed to escape this one without being asked any rude questions. However, people did comment on my short sleeves on such a windy day. I explained that I was cold outside, but since we were inside during the party, I was not cold. So, I took off my jacket. They didn't seem to understand because they just kept on asking if I was cold. Who knows? Perhaps that was there way of telling me my nipples were showing, but I doubt it.

Today is the last day of school. However, I am not scheduled to teach so I am only sitting in my office typing away and surfing the net. Tonight I am driving to Kishira for their farewell enkai starting at 6 PM and then driving to Kanoya for Uchinoura Junior High’s farewell after-party (karaoke) at 9 PM. Cristina’s school’s farewell party will be in Kanoya tonight as well, so perhaps we will be able to meet up and take a daiko (taxi driver that takes you back in YOUR car for very little money) back to her house.

Saturday, we are heading to Osa’s house in Miyazaki for a secret mission (and so that Cristina can see a dentist). Easter Sunday we are going to have dinner at the Katos.

Happy Birthday Jackie!

Tia Jackie,

You are my favorite aunt by far. I am sorry that I am not able to call you on your birthday. I hope you are having a great time. How old are you turning again? Maybe it's a good thing I no longer remember.

Cristina was talking about renting wet bikes for Golden Week vacation and I am still traumatized by the only time I rode one with you in Sanibel. Do you remember? If not, I'm sure you'll jog your memory with the video. I miss you.

Best wishes. Omedeto Gozaimasu!

Love, Jesse

Fight-o!

I admit I have not written for a long time, and for that I apologize (but only if it actually offends you, which it probably doesn’t). I have been busy since I wrote last, it has simply not been a case of the lazies.

After writing in the blog last Monday, March 14th, I made reservations. This may not seem like a feat by any means; however, I ask you this: How many of you non-Japanese speakers have tried to make a reservation with a non-English speaker? I felt very accomplished and am scratching it off my list of things to do while in Japan. The reservation is for a ferry down to a small island 20 hours south of us by ferry (4 hours north of Okinawa). Cristina and I just wanted to relax this Golden Week and have chosen to go to this island famous for its resorts and crystal clear waters. Every year Yoron Island has a marathon. Since the island is so small, you have to run around it twice. Rather than spending the money on an expensive resort, we are staying with the local ALT, David, who has offered us some tatami space. I am extremely excited. We may also make it down to Okinawa for a couple of days since it is only a 4 hour ferry ride. As for the reservations, they were a bit confusing to make, so I think I may have a Japanese person double check that we have indeed reserved our spaces. (Would that still count?)

Tuesday, I went to Kishira Junior High for their graduation. The six 3rd graders were graduating and moving on their respective ways to high schools in different cities or becoming a fisherman. I dressed up in a suit this day and really got everyone’s attention. Everyone couldn’t believe it. They were scared I was going to show up in my usual pair of jeans, so they had made sure to tell me the day before to wear a tie (at least). I exceeded expectations to say the least. It was really sad seeing them leave. I had to walk in the procession with the Board of Education, but then returned to the gym 10 minutes later to take pictures with everyone. One boy was particularly happy to see me because his father refused to take any pictures with him because his mother (they’re divorced) had come to see her son graduate. I didn’t find this out till later that week.

Wednesday, I went to Uchinoura Elementary School. I also went jogging on the Kushira Marathon course that we will run in less than two weeks.

Thursday, St. Patrick’s Day, I went to the Uchinoura Ginga Arena Training Room (literally in the room above the one I work in). It was really cool because the trainer was there from Kagoshima City and helped me out since no one was there to give a test too. He has become somewhat of a friend and has promised to help me out when he comes on Thursdays. I was also invited by the kid about my age that works at the training room to visit his father’s shop for some sashimi. He randomly comes to wherever I am and usually tells me ‘Gambare, Fight-o’ and then does something like increasing the elevation of the treadmill. It’s great. Since the beginning of this week, I have been keeping an activity log to help me stay on track with exercising and training for all these races. It has really been helping me and motivating me to ‘fight-o’.

Friday, I went to Kishira Junior High. It was the same as always except the 3rd graders were no longer there and it was the last English class of the term. For a bit of fun, I played ping pong for one of the classes. It was great and I happened to surprise everyone (including myself). After getting home, I ran almost 11k in about 63 minutes. Woo hoo!

Saturday, we had to go to Kanoya for the gym test at the Wellness Plaza. It was completely ridiculous. I felt like if I was on an episode of Double Dare. They had everything from a reaction test with red lights flashing in your face to a shuttle run to the tune of do re mi fa so la ti do. The people were very nice and patient with us and did not treat us differently because we’re foreigners. As for our score on the test, both Cristina and I failed in comparison to people ages 20-64. I failed in comparison to people my own age. Cristina scored a D in comparison to people her own age (only because she scored so well on the flexibility test). After the gym, we went for a hearty lunch at the KFC not too far from the gym. Chicken in a flour tortilla…. Mmm… mmm… good.

Sunday we went to Kagoshima City. The following Monday was a holiday so we could stay over at Alex’s after the big St. Patrick’s Day party. It was great. We saw lots of people we had not seen for a while and met lots of new people. We also drank some Guiness (from a can, not the same). As you could imagine, we wore green and danced an Irish jig. We ended the night with a trip to MOS Burger (the Japanese McDonalds). Between you and me, it wasn’t my first trip to MOS Burger that night.

Monday it was Vernal Equinox. So, we enjoyed the day by going to the new Tex-Mex restaurant, Green Bay, opened by an American in Kagoshima City. It was good. I had the Mexican Plate that had an incredible chicken enchilada. After that, we tried some Baskin Robbins. A scoop of Jamocha Amond Fudge and Strawberry Cheesecake later, we went on the big Ferris Wheel atop of Amu Plaza. It was a beautiful day to ride it. You could see all the way to Kirishima and Sakurajima. We actually ended up riding on one of the two completely clear cars. It takes 15 minutes to get all the way around. After that, we went to the movie theater for the first time to see Bridget Jones 2. The theater was nice but there was no air circulating which made it the right temperature for winter, but extremely stuffy. They are assigned stadium seats like in Europe. Afterward, we stopped to get some international foods at the grocery store in the basement before heading home.

Tuesday, yesterday, I went to Uchinoura Junior High. The highlight of my day was playing basketball with the 2nd graders during recess. I have done this for 2 weeks now. I have been much happier now that I have bought my indoor sneakers. I think some of the kids are a bit afraid of me however, since I have tripped quite a few of them and hit them in the nose or some other embarrassing part (not private!). After school, we went with Kaz to the Kushira course to run the full 10K. We ended up taking a few detours, but still figuring out the course. Kaz and I ran over 10K in about 63 minutes and Cristina came in 10 minutes after us. Cristina was extremely excited since it was the first time that she ran the entire 10K without stopping.

That brings me to today. I am stressing about filing taxes. I also have to go to the post office to deposit the $2,500 that has been in my backpack for the past 5 days (something you would never do in the States). I also have to send out a few post cards and pay a few bills, all of which is done at the post office. Later today, we are going to the Kanoya Wellness Plaza for our first introduction to the weight machines and safety and all that stuff.

By the way, as of Monday Cristina no longer has Yahoo BB. Therefore, please do not expect a phone call or pictures from us for some time (until she gets it back). This also means that we only have internet access at work.

Kirishima Pictures

Here are the pictures from this past weekend in Kirishima National Park hiking up Nakano-dake. We also went to Kirishima Shrine and some waterfalls on the Miyazaki-Kagoshima border.

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In front of the falls on the Miyazaki-Kagoshima border.

Here we are in front of the Kirishima Shrine with the "characters" from the ceremony.

Cristina in front of a volcanic crater that smelled of sulfur.

This is me once we got to the rough part. Don't worry, it was only like this for a while.

Some of us in front of Takachiho, the mountain where the gods descended onto Japan.

Kirishima Hiking

In the days following the Sakurajima Marathon, my nasal cavity lived up to its legendary fame. IT truly is endless. In the past week, I cannot recall an hour when I wasn’t blowing my nose. Furthermore, since it is somewhat taboo to do in public, I found myself hiding from my office in order to do it. At times, I even had to evade the occasional spy sent to check up on my doings in the restroom (or anywhere out of the office). Between you and me, I think they are on to me. I tried to hide the fact that I am an individual living with a common cold (or INFLUENZA in Japanese), but I will not hide any longer. This week has been particularly slow because I have been in the office three out of the five days. You would think that at least one of my schools would want to use me. No, that is not that case.

On Thursday, I decided to take the gym test here in Ginga Arena. I have not been able to take the test because of my adult conversation classes on the same evening. However, since they have been canceled for the past 2 weeks, I was able to do so. As it turns out, I am considered obese (still). You would think that after losing 100 pounds in high school I would put a dent on the obesity thing. Oh well, I have written out a workout plan, let’s see how it goes. Hopefully I lose 7 percent of my body fat to be considered healthily overweight. I was actually surprised by some of the equipment they have up there (right above my office). It is about $2 every time you use it, but you can get a year membership for $120. So, I was considering that until they told me that I may be commuting to Koyama starting in July to clock in, get my company car and then come back to Uchinoura to teach. Then, I would go back to Koyama to clock out, drop off the company car, pick up my car and go home. Koyama is the town where Kaz lives now that is in between my town and Cristina’s town. They will merge starting July 1st.

Friday was Heather’s birthday. Heather is a Kanoya ALT from Canada. We decided to go to this “American” restaurant in Kanoya. To find the restaurant, you follow a set of American flag billboards that lead you to a scary secluded mountain road. Five minutes later and a couple hundred feet higher, you see a small cabin – the restaurant. It was decorated with Native American paraphernalia and a map of the United States. They had many dishes that were (something)-doria. Do you know what doria is, because I don’t. In any case, I ordered the hamburger. However, I forgot that when you order a hamburger here you only get the patty (no bun) served on a plate served with a green garnish just like a steak in America. In addition to the patty, you get some fries, green beans, miso soup, rice and I forget what else. Needless to say, it was certainly interesting and far from American. At least we all had fun and so did Heather. Oh, I also found out from some Japanese men from Tarumizu that the waterfalls I almost died in have an average of 3 deaths a year. They said I was very lucky. (Things that make you go hmmm...)

Saturday we woke up ridiculously early – 6:30 AM. Jill, Cristina and I met up at Laura’s house. From there, we all boarded Jill’s car to head to Kirishima National Park (on the Kagoshima-Miyazaki border) where the gods are said to have descended to Japan. Before getting there, we met up with Osa and Florian in Miyakonojo. (Florian is a German student that did a homestay in Osa’s house while they were in high school.) Meeting up with them was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. We decided on an intersection to meet at, but Osa and Florian could not find it. They were at the intersection of the 7-11. (If you don’t know what intersection that is, don’t worry, neither did we nor they.) After 30 minutes of waiting, we met up and were on our way.

The Kirishima CIR (coordinator of international relations) had coordinated some sort of event where we would be led by high school students up a 1421 meter mountain. The day was beautiful, unlike the days prior that had been gray and rainy. The only negative was that it was extremely cold and windy, but that just made it all the more adventurous. We hiked to the top of Nakano-dake where we had lunch and a great view of Takachiho (the mountain where the gods descended and where we are going in May with Elena, Cristina’s sister). After lunch, we decided to go a little bit further and hike to a volcanic crater that had a sulfur lake at the bottom. It was extremely impressive and I would have stayed longer to admire it if it weren’t for the extreme winds. On our hike back to the bottom, Osa’s knee was in extreme pain, so we walked at a slower pace as she used my shoulders for support. I was such the hero. You should have seen me mom!

Upon arriving back at the campsite where our cabins were, we were fed an obscene amount of yaki niku (grilled/barbecued beef). We also had a surprise S’mores dessert that was a result of the collaboration of our group bringing “ship” biscuits (chocolate-covered graham crackers with a ship on it) and a random pack of marshmallows in another person’s car. After dinner, we went to onsen to warm up. Then, a quick run to a combini to grab some more drinks and snacks.

After onsen, I did not feel well. Perhaps, it was something I ate or going to onsen after I ate. After arriving back to the cabins, I had to lie down. Five minutes later, I felt extremely ill and I had to get up for some fresh air or to throw up. I made it three steps outside of the cabin before throwing up. Let me tell you, that it was a lot. And, I felt great afterward.

Sunday morning came and we were awoken by the sound of kids training nearby. They were chanting something that made them sound like a little Samurais in training and made the brass band practice outside of Cristina’s house at 8 AM sound pleasant. We went to the Kirishima shrine where we arrived at the last 2 minutes of some sort of harvest ceremony. Priests were throwing branches and seeds to the ground as Japanese people dived for as many as they could get.

Upon our return home we stopped at some waterfalls. They were really nice and had a trail to walk by the river and up around the waterfall. There was also a cool suspension bridge from which you could see the waterfall.

Cristina and I returned home and took a brief nap before meeting back at Laura’s for dinner. Dinner was at 6 PM and Cristina and I woke up at 5:50 PM. Cristina and I were in charge of bringing the main dish. We scurried out of the house and rushed to the supermarket to pick up stuff to make sushi. We got to Laura’s house with everything and set up everything within 30 minutes. We and the others were pleasantly surprised by the outcome of our hurriedness. The platters looked amazing. Cristina even made eggplant.

Today, March 14, is White Day in Japan. This is when the men give the women chocolates and gifts. Typically, it is when the man chooses a woman from all of the women that gave him chocolates on Valentine’s Day by giving only her chocolates and a gift. However, I gave both of the women in the office chocolates.

This week is graduation at the Junior High Schools. I say goodbye to the 3rd graders as they go on to high school or their chosen career. It should be sad. However, I am excited to dress up in a suit and shave. I think I will shock my office.

Enjoy the pictures of Sakurajima Marathon. I wish I also had pictures of the onsen, but I will get those next time we go.

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Running toward the ever present snow-covered volcano. Note: This picture cost me the victory, so you better appreciate it.

Cristina and Osa at the start line of the 5K race.

Osa and her giant piece of foam board to prove that she got the 6 day trip to Hawaii. It was cute at first, but then we had to fit it in a ful 4-person vehicle with 5 people. Way to go Osa.

A hurried picture of Osa on the Megatron... "What is going on?" I wondered as I dashed back to the stage.

Gambarimashita! Sakurajima Marathon

Our week has not been full, but definitely eventful (if that makes any sense). On Tuesday, Cristina and I went with Kaz to the Kanoya Wellness Plaza. It is like Ginga Arena (where I work) but on a much larger scale. In order to use the training rooms and equipment, you need to take some sort of exam so that they can gage your abilities and your proper weights. Then, every time you come in they give you a clipboard with your sheet on it and what you need to do to work on your “problem areas”. That way they can keep track of your progress and help you with your fitness needs. So, we are taking the exam on March 19th. Both Cristina and I are really excited about it. You don’t have to pay a membership, you only pay per visit. Since we cannot use the training rooms until after the 19th, we just used the pool facilities. Basically, it has several pools, much like an onsen, but on a larger scale. Since it’s a gym and both women and men use it, you can (have to) keep your bathing suit on. This is neat because then Cristina and I can go to pseudo-onsen together. Then, in the locker rooms they have a proper bathing area with a proper onsen, but I have yet to check that out. However, doesn’t it sound like a nice way to spend the evening? I was telling Cristina that it sounds really pleasant to be able to go workout and then go to the pool or onsen. It beats just staying home and watching TV or just simply going to a restaurant and eating.

On Wednesday, we took some more pictures with Flat Stanley before sending him back to Cristina’s cousin. We made a picture book on www.shutterfly.com that the teacher can show the class. Then, we are sending him back with lots of Japanese goodies. It was a lot of fun working on the project and I think that I will do a similar one to this with my students at the beginning of the school year in April.

On Thursday, March 3rd, it was Hina Matsuri or Doll’s Festival or Girl’s Day. We were invited to Cristina’s neighbor’s house to celebrate. Cristina’s neighbor is her vice principal. He has a lovely wife and a daughter that will be 2-years-old in July. Basically, families with daughters usually celebrate Hina Matsuri by inviting friends and family over for a nice dinner. It is like wishing together for their daughter to marry in the future. In the host’s house, there is usually a very elaborate display set up with 10 porcelain dolls. They are seated at three different levels. At the highest level, there is the king and queen dressed in their elaborate kimonos. Then, there are the three ladies in waiting in elaborate kimonos as well (but not as many layers as the queen). Then, there are five entertainers in kimonos as well holding instruments and sporting funny expressions. The highlight of the evening was when we were teaching Rena, the little girl, ‘Head, shoulders, knees and toes.’ One time Cristina was sitting on her knees when she was teaching her which meant she had to point behind her when she pointed to he toes. Since then, Rena pointed to her butt every time she was supposed to point to her toes.

To say that we have had a full weekend would be an understatement. In all actuality, we have did not do much on the weekend, but Sunday was definitely a full day. Friday night Cristina signed up for the Kushira 10K race with Kaz. Since was to have her 5K run on Sunday, she really wanted to try to do the 10K. While Cristina was signing up for the race, I went on a 7K run. After that, the night was relatively quiet. If I remember correctly, we stayed in and watched the movie I am Sam.

Saturday, I had a list of errands I wanted to do. I was determined to buy indoor sneakers after getting really bad blisters from playing basketball in my socks during recess on Tuesday. It was a little more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I finally found a pair of black and orange New Balance shoes that I would be able to use as my indoor sneakers. It pained me to spend about $90 on them, but I figured I could use them when I play in the gym at schools and when I go to the Arena in Kanoya or Uchinoura. Later that night, we went to Laura’s house for a pre-race pasta party. We ate tons. At least, I ate tons. I would go as far as to say that I ate too much, but when don’t I say that. In any case, while the girls watched the movie Shall We Dance?, I went to the Osaki onsen to relax and warm my muscles the night before the race. It was nice except for I shaved with a disposable razor that left me bleeding and looking really weird after the race on Sunday. That night we slept at Laura’s. We were in bed by 11:00.

The alarm went off at 6:15. It was already Sunday morning and we needed to head off to the Sakurajima ferry port – the start/finish line of the race. We all ate our oatmeal and then packed into my new car. I drove as all the girls French-braided their hair. We arrived at the snow-covered volcano, Sakurajima, at about 8:15 AM and registered. We said hello to those we knew that were there also running the race. Then, we began to stretch with everyone and listen to the opening ceremonies. During the ceremonies, Jill and Laura were going to stretch (for real, not the Japanese version) at the back of the grounds. I decided to go with them in case I get lost and don’t know where to find the 10K start line. So, as we are done stretching, we see Osa (the Nichinan ALT who had cut my hair and come with us to the race) on the jumbo screen TV. I quickly shouted to the others and began to shoot photos of the jumbo screen. I saw that they were handing her something that looked like a giant check. I ran over there to take pictures of her. It turned out that she won an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii for 6 days in December to run a marathon there. It was so exciting. Her picture even came out in today’s newspaper. Apparently, they called out her number from a raffle but she did not know it was her. Suddenly, everybody began to stare at her and a man pulled her toward the front stage. She is extremely lucky. Congrats Osa! After the excitement of that, Cristina and Osa had to head off to the start line because the 5K was about to begin. Before I knew it, they were off. Then, it was our turn to begin. We went n the opposite direction. We don’t know the times yet, but they will be mailed to us soon. What killed me was going to fast in the beginning and then trying to tackle those uphill roads.

After the race, we went to the famous Furusato Onsen. It is a co-ed, outdoor onsen on Sakurajima. It’s famous because it has a small shrine at the spring pool built into the intricate root structure of a tree that looks to be a few hundred years old. The outdoor springs are right on the water, so you get an amazing view of Kinko Bay and Satsuma peninsula while you soak. It was the perfect thing right after the strenuous race.

After the onsen, we went back to the ferry port to spend the day in Kagoshima City. Specifically, we spent the rest of the day in Amu Plaza. We enjoyed some Starbucks upon arrival and some KFC upon departure. The hours in between we spent people watching and window shopping. Some of us did buy a few trinkets here and there. I bought a pack of peanut butter M&Ms. The day ended with a long journey home.

Cristina and I are getting really into this race thing. Already we are going to do races the first 2 weekends of April – one in Kushira (10K) and one on the other peninsula in Fukiage (7K, shorter but part of it is on the beach).