alternative thanksgiving celebrations

Being abroad during holidays can feel a bit weird and isolating at times but not when you have another reason to celebrate. Caitlin's 25th birthday was a good excuse to remember that although my friends and family are missed I have reasons to be thankful here as well...

biking, teaching, and studying as the cold sets in...

Today at school I was invited to Ihara sensei's cooking class where the students were assigned to make a particular food so that I could taste it and give them feedback on what they made. I ended up having two bowls of udon, sweet potato gratin, a fried egg and rice dish with shrimp, boiled octopus, and ramen. I know, the demands of this job can be a bit overwhelming sometimes.




The cold weather is now back in Shikoku and day by day small changes in routines are made with the burgeoning season. It's strange, I feel very different now than I did last year at this time but I'm able to recall echoes of where my mind was back then. This was a hard month...the newness of Japan had worn off and I had to get used to living a very different life. I had some stereotypical culture shock responses to the adjustment during this period- prolonged anxiety, rejecting Japanese food, going to bed early (8:30 or 9:00pm), paranoia that people were talking about me in Japanese, etc. Thinking back on it, it was a really hard time to be here. I almost couldn't imagine life ever feeling 'normal' in this situation but little by little it happened and I can look back and say that this comfort level was earned through experience. I can't say that everything that I see in Naruto makes complete sense (sometimes it's very far from this case...) but I'm conditioned to it and that makes all the difference.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying spending nights in my apartment making sushi and studying kanji for the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) in two weeks. I've been pretty content doing that or just drinking tea while listening to music as I'm bundled up on my small floor couch. If you didn't know/remember, there's almost always no central heating in Japanese homes so finding ways to warm up by alternative methods can prove to more effective than simply hibernating under a pile of covers. Taking a warm bath will keep you feeling good for a long time after it's over and washing dishes with hot water can provide a nice break from the cold as well. At the moment, though, it's really not too cold yet because I still can't see my breath in my apartment yet and my olive oil hasn't started to freeze.

Today is the start of a three day weekend and my only plans are to hang around Naruto and get some studying done. I'm really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow but I'm hoping to work on plans for my trip to Borneo that's coming up less than a month...

naruto kogyo koko culture festival

Yesterday was Naruto Technical High School's annual culture festival- an event otherwise known as an excuse for my students to dress up like women or cartoon characters. I played drums with a band again and it was of the highlights of the day from what I was told. My camera ran out of batteries half way through the day or else there'd be more pictures of the male teachers jumping at the opportunity to wear eyeliner and lip gloss. This makes sense to me only because I've spent so much time at this school but I guess at first observation habits like these can be pretty hard to explain. Nevertheless, it was the best (and, sadly, probably the last) culture festival that I've ever been to and I was happy to hear so many people describe my drumming as 'crazy'.






I was also fortunate enough to see an awesome show in Osaka a little over a week ago. The band Torche from Florida played the second date of their tour of Japan at a small place in Osaka where we (me, Caitlin, Dianne) were charged 5,000 yen (about $50) to see the show. Three years ago, I payed $5 (possibly $4) to see them in Pittsburgh. This price increase is not directly related to a higher demand to see the band, but is an example of just how things go in this country sometimes. But, without a doubt, I would gladly pay the same price in the future to see a show this good.

a strange new feeling called 'pride'

Last week I was alone in the staff room when I saw that Barack Obama was to become the 44th President of the United States. I was not alone here in experiencing the overwhelming emotions that came along with seeing a multiracial president (with the middle name Hussein!) personify the opportunities of such a unique country and it was a bit difficult not to be back home to see it firsthand. With people's ideas about the possibilities for the future (both in the U.S. and abroad) seemingly pivoting within a few hours on election day, I'd like to believe that America can become more like the concept of a country that truly recognizes the multiculturalism that it contains. This is the 'America' that I grew to know through six years of living, studying, and working in Pittsburgh with people of very different pasts, some of whom have directly influenced me to be doing what I am today. I could say a LOT about the other side of the American coin that's in the process of flipping after eight years of personally feeling so absolutely disengaged with those who had significant control of my country's perception. Having 'grown up' within these years, I feel that as Bush's seclusion and ignorance to the sensitivity of other ways of thinking, while filtering down to some parts of America that I am familiar with, had strengthened my reactionary feelings against what seemed to be a culture of illegitimate consumption and extreme replication of corporate goods. But, that's not America. That's part of it, but you simply cannot pigeon-hole such a diverse country. I only realized this after moving here and, for me, my current living experience also sheds light on the mobility of the American (such as myself) who has the potential to experience such vast diversity in his or her own country as well as abroad. I'm hopeful that Obama can serve as a beacon for the acceptance of cultural diversity that Americans, whether some know it or not, host within the Land of the Free.

I think that this email from an older Japanese friend sums up this revived hope of the American image quite well:

Theo and Brad,
Congratulation!!
Finally your dreams and dreams of many people of the world come true. The stance of Obama, New president of US appealed and attracted many people of the world. I understand that his stance grown by his international experiences, is to accept the diversity of races, cultures, religions and so on. Up until that moment of election, White, Christian and republican ideology of small government except big military dominated the world. Different category from them was considered to be wrong or inferior to them. That is why they confront harshly withe others rather than going together, accept others, and compromise.

From now as he said in his speech, it is time for him to work hard with a lot of cooperation to fill the gaps which have separated American people and the world. Military itself can not solve the problems. It rather brings hatred. People of Iraq and Afghanistan need help to build hospitals, schools, irrigation for farming.and so on. Sometimes new president needs to compromise to bring peace to there with so called enemies. There are no body who is totally evil. They have hatred against those who oppress and segregate and exploit to make money. As Obama is smart and has wisdom, he including many people can change enemy's to friends. There are places for Japan to cooperate with that area.

I should say God bless you, United people of wisdom.
Let's meet again sometime at Cosmos forum or lunch.

Toshi Okamoto

iya valley highlights

Here's some pictures from a camping trip to Iya on the first day of November. Iya Valley and Kazurabashi (vine bridge) are some of my favorite places in Japan...