Setsubun? or a Birthday? both.

first I would like to wish my wonderful brothers, Hunter and Haynes, a happy happy birthday! I guess even if I were in America I wouldn't be celebrating with them, so just as if I were home...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR HUNTER AND HAYNES, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! for those of you who know how terrible my singing truly is, just think at how much I have improved through karaoke. scary, I know.

today in japan we are celebrating setsuban. while at shuji this afternoon I learned the story. there was a farmer who was praying for rain (praying- more like asking in japan). he promised to whomever made it rain that they could marry his beautiful daughter. this awful devil fulfilled his wishes for rain and the farmer stood by his word, giving his daughter away. the daughter despised the devil she was wed to (who wouldnt?) and was always on the look out for an opportunity to run. once she escaped, but the devil followed and captured her. After he returned her to "their" home, her mother came to the rescue, as any good mother would. she fought off the devil by throwing "flying beans" at him! this surprising worked...and still works today to ward off evil and bring luck upon a household. way to go super mom!

setsubun is celebrated yearly in coordination with hunter and haynes riley's birthday. february third marks the beginning of spring here, although I have heard weather wise this isn't true. sadly. it is meant to cleanse evil from the previous year and drive away evil for the coming year. the act of throwing beans (roasted soybeans), mamemaki, at a member of the household wearing a devil mask is how the ritual is performed. or in the matsubabies case, we set the mask on the table. you are meant to chant "oni wa soto! fuku wa uchi!" which says, "demons out! luck in!" simple enough. following this you are to eat the number of roasted soybeans for your number of years...and depending on who you talk to maybe an extra to bring luck for the coming year.

last friday, I went to a math demonstration class at school. while there I write...

the woman on my left motions me to sit. I choose a desk along the back, next to the open window--but close to the sun. throughout the hour I struggle to recognize a single word. the students, who I ate lunch with a mere twenty minutes before, have completely transformed. masked and silent they sit. this is the first demonstration class I have attended that I was not an active part of. from what I can gather, the teacher's lesson is on probability, but do realize that this is an educated guess deducted after an hour of a language I can not understand. from what I understand these demonstration are a large part of the japanese education system. I myself have already participated in ten, one of which was solely focused on me. nerve-racking, you would think. the entire staff crowds the room frantically evaluating both the teacher and students. our math class today began with a special announcement of our "sensei" becoming a father this very morning--I found this our from a fellow english teacher who was kind enough to translate. this whole afternoon displays perfectly one of the cultural aspects of japan that I just cannot wrap my mind around...this man's wife had their first son, 10 am this very morning and he is at work? and if I was brave enough to stay late at work I am almost positive he will still be here! I like to think of myself as a hard worker, but being here, in this country, pry the question so prevalent in society-- quality vs quantity. It seems the mindset here is dedication with no wavering. there is no worth in quantity...or at least in my work environment at the junior high. it is all about the face time...and lets face it I can't but in more than 9 hours a day...nor do I want to sit any longer mindless at my desk...maybe I will put the other hours in the day towards changing the world...not changing the way japanese view a work environment. that is grounded firm in hundreds and hundreds of years in the beautiful culture.

" Me, I've seen forty-five years, and I've only figured out one thing. That's this: if a person would just make the effort, there's something to be learned from everything. From even the most ordinary, commonplace things, there's always something you can learn." Haruki Murakami, Pinball, 1973

all my arkansas love...

matsubabies

check out our collaborative blog spot for all things japan...

http://matsubabies.blogspot.com/

first update, january 27 2010--today!

"The water tastes funny when you're far from your home, but it's only the thirsty that hunger to roam." - j. prine

the speckled people

"Maybe your country is only a place you make up in your own mind. Something you dream about and sing about. Maybe it's not a place on the map at all, but just a story full of people you meet and places you visit, full of books and films you've been to. I'm not afraid of being homesick and having no language to live in. I don't have to be like anyone else. I'm walking on the wall and nobody can stop me." -hugo hamilton- -the speckled people-

so much blogging. so little time...

trips in the works:

nagasaki in feb

korea? possibly in march

china in april/may

haynes and i had a wonderful time in cambodia and thailand over the holidays. we were able to see and do a lot. we started in siem riep where we visited angkor wat. this is a spot i highly recommend. it was incredible. we spent a day in a tuk-tuk seeing the many temples. it was a adventure filled day and included haynes extending his clinton global initiative world wide...he picked up trash along the main temple sights- I have photo documentation. we were able to watch the sunset in the distance while sitting among one of the ancient temples. haynes took some great photos--see his flickr. we then made our way to chiang mai. while in chiang mai we visited many temples and of coursed managed to accomplish many listed "weird" activities. these included a "monk chat" and a traditional thai massage at the women's correctional facility. we ate great--khoasoi was one of our favorites. I enjoyed the fresh fruit while haynes favored the smoothies and array of curry. on christmas eve we found ourselves on a "tour" which brought us to many of the hot spots. my favorite being the awful renditions of a local village? they have two or three huts set up where where travelers visit to see indigenous tribe life...hmmmm. tribe life not so much. but we did get to see an elephant show! they danced, they played soccer, and one even painted! we followed this with an elephant ride, an ox and carriage ride, and duh a bamboo -adventure- raft ride. it was a long day. we arrived back at the hostel in time for a gift exchange. caught a christmas service and hang out with a group from the hostel. christmas day was spent with travel from chiang mai to pai. pai might be my favorite spot in thailand. it is a popular spot for locals to vacation. it is small and quaint with a hippie vibe. we were able to relax at our beautiful accommodations, the darling view house. it had a great porch which overlooked the rivers, town and mountains in the distance. haynes and I made sure to catch the sunset each night we were there. we rented a scooter see the terrain around. this included waterfalls, rice fields, elephants, the great land crack, the canyon, hot springs, over looks, and the list goes on. after pai we trekked down to phuket. we met my friends from japan, shannon and matt. we spent one day beach hopping on scooters...and sadly almost ended the amazing day in a tourist trap--sketchy sketch bike rentals--there was a call made to the american embassy and the tourist police. we island hopped, snorkeled, tanned, ate, laughed, and laughed. new years eve was spent with new friends on patong beach where we let lanterns go and saw thousands over the water. our last stop was bangkok. we were lucky to have an incredible guide, aim. we explored more temples, markets, food, avatar 3d/imax, palaces, maybe a little bit of food poisoning, and met up with another of my friends, nicole.

all that just to give a little over view of an incredible three weeks. details details...they have always been hard to write. I apologize for the run down. bottom line- it was great seeing haynes. im thankful for the time I got to spend with him. family, it just doesnt get better.

this week was busy busy at school. today I updated the english board, taught four classes and caught up on paper work for the boe. tomorrow we are celebrating australia day (which is tuesday) with our local aussie, Jessica.

arkansas love yall!

everyone look at your calendar and meet me for an asian adventure!

comfort in shuji

sometimes life really just surprises you. people never cease to amaze and astonish. one of the best parts of this life is the revealing of something just as you need it. as you know each wednesday I am a very eager student of shuji (japanese calligraphy). coming to japan I had a list of things I wanted to pursue...after making a b in drawing while in college, naturally anything too artistic was not on the list (maybe, just maybe I am still a bit bitter about that b...i mean really can we grade on talent these days?-fair enough). but nevertheless I have grown to love this wednesday challenge. today, I did NOT want to go. I had a busy busy morning at school, had a quick skype with kelsey (HEY GIRL), then rushed to the BOE for a meeting about english camp this weekend- "Hello World." after this the last thing I wanted to do was sit seiza for two and a half hours trying to write kanji that means who knows what...okay to be fair shannon and jessica always translate! the reason shuji has won my heart is my teacher. she and I should have trouble communicating...I speak no japanese...well, she laughs at the japanese words I try to use...and she speaks no english...but is quickly learning. we were early today and it was a first. sensei was very excited to see us. she showed us to the room and along the way she has displayed pictures of us with she and her husband which she took on our second lesson and of course she had us sign the pictures. love it. well today, she just surpassed her own greatness. she calls herself our japanese mom, which is what I need. I often feel alone in a sense that I cant clearly explain. so I apologize, dont take it as sadness or isolation...but we all know the feeling that comes with being away from family and friends. it isnt negative, but just a part of my daily life in japan. we sit at our table, prepare our supplies, and bow which signals the beginning of a lesson. she is quite professional, she trained under the best shuji artist in japan and her skill level is incredible. but today our lesson was very different. after bowing, she pulls out a childrens book...my heart melted. she began to read, then quickly refers to a paper where she has tried to translate a few words in english for me. with a biggest smile she read on, page by page. the story was that of the animal years and how the order came to be. although I didnt understand one word I love love loved the story. she then had a calendar had the kanji and hiragana for each year. 2010 will be the year of the tiger...which for all you 86's out there is our year!! we went through a list she had which showed what year was what...mom, you were a monkey! so our lesson today was learning to write one of four, or all ,of the kanji's for tiger. there is a special ink used, shoo (sp?) which I called neon orange...jani (no). it is very radiant and specifically used for the new years greetings. next week we will hand make new years postcards for our vice principals. at the end of the lesson she made a special kanji for each of us in shoo. I was overwhelmed when she described that I have a very special smile and made my kanji smile. of course shannon had to translate that for me! on top of all this, her mother stopped by during our time there. she hand made us beautiful tigers which is now hanging on my wall. I was very touched by this beautiful afternoon and it made me feel right at home. every week she has snacks and tea prepared for us after lessons. it is a great opportunity for us to enjoy each others company while getting such a great opportunity to learn about the japanese culture from this incredible woman. on our way out today she gave us freshly picked lotus roots, which in this area is a very common/"famous" dish. I am excited to try to cook them. her husbands friend is a farmer and brought them for us. (ill try to post pictures of this day soon). while we are all busy writing and addressing our christmas cards the japanese are slaving over their new years cards. shannon, jessica and I are plotting to make group 'uki' cards to send to co-workers. hopefully we can make it happen.

i have a lot of work packed in this week and a half before thailand. but i am so excited to get to spend time with haynes during christmas. i couldnt ask for a better present!

future travel plans include the snow festival in hokkaido, china, okinawa, climbing mt fuji...

check out my newest web collaberation... http://matsubabies.blogspot.com/

happy holidays yall!

all my arkansas love

"so des ne"...this is one of the few japanese phrases I have mastered. I use it to pretend I understand the japanese world around me. I use it to confirm strange questions by students. I use it to "communicate" with my JTE's (Japanese Teacher of English). I use it quite often. but my favorite part of using it is the laughs I receive. what a transaction. I try hard, sometimes, to make people laugh. it has never been this easy. just throw a "ne" (neigh if you are me) and man, the crowd goes wild. beware: men, "ne" is very girly, so monitor your use. the sounds of confirmation the japanese use are hard to imitate. but today, while skyping with my mom out of nowhere she spit one out perfectly. who knew! if she can do it so well, genetically shouldnt I be fated the same? ha no. I cant "ahhh soo soo so". but maybe my mom watches anime...do you mom?

it is turning into a beautiful fall in rural japan. I am waiting patiently for the leaves to change. I have been taking long drives trying to take in all the incredible landscapes offered with a stunning sunset and toped off with a crisp fall scent. only sonic could make it perfect, but it is sure close! I have discovered I am much much closer to the sea than I first thought. I can make it to the water in about 5 minutes. it is so relaxing to sit and watch...but how un-japanese. I some stares while sitting out there. as if I am not strange enough as a gijin. I do carry an "alien card".

I am off for an afternoon bike ride for groceries. I love riding along this small path near my apartment. I have tried to capture the beauty with pictures, but it just doesnt do it justice. The cranes are so agile. each one carries itself with so much class. we can only hope to be viewed as they are. maybe today will be the day I will get a picture worthy of posting.

arkansas love.

Welcome Fall! you have been missed!

Many people wait all year for summer.

Although great things come with summer, I prefer fall and all it brings!

Just some of the things I LOVE about FALL: a good farmer's market, the crispness of the air, colored leaves, wearing layers, drinking tea, sunsets, fall colors, chilly mornings morphing into sun-filled afternoons, a good run, the lingering of Thanksgiving and hopes of Christmas joy.

This morning I arrived to Toyofuku Elementary School with a line of students waiting to "touch", better known as high-five. After having a terrible day yesterday this brought the biggest joys. It didn't stop there! All day the children were overly excited to see me. Here is one conversation that occurred:

student across the courtyard yells: " Hello! Miss Erin! Erin! Teacher! Hello Erin Sensei!"

me: "Good Morning! How are you?"

student: "What's your name?"

me: "Erin? (laughing and confused--he already said my name) What's your name?"

student: "My name is Rumi. Nice to meet you."

me: "Nice to meet you, too."

Rumi then ran to his friends to tell them everything! Five minutes later, every first year student in the school is yelling and waving at me through the window. I wish I could explain the smiles on their faces and in turn the smile on mine. We had a great time singing, dancing and, of course, learning English!

Yes, today was a desperately needed great day!

This weekend: PLAN THAILAND! beach please!

with all my arkansas love.