back with the small people

by small i do not refer to anything except the size of all things japanese and it is not necessarily a bad thing i have discovered.  in fact, i have come to love the smaller size of things here and actually looked forward towards the end of my american journey to coming home to things that made sense porportionaly and not having to leave most of whatever i was served on my plate or feeling like everything was too large and too loud.  home is nice, i am so glad to be back on my little island in the sun now.

i returned on a saturday morning after leaving the states on thursday afternoon to find my new scooter (thanks kelly!) waiting for me at the port.  after some coaxing i got her started and was on a short ride back to my apartment.  what a feeling!  you will be getting updates on how our relationship is evolving just as soon as all of the paperwork is squared away with her.

my bags came in the afternoon (again, i sent them via baggage service.  about 20 bucks for them to ship them from the fukuoka airport to my doorstep instead of me lugging two HUGE (american huge) suitcases across town in fukuoka and then into and on the ferry with me and then home once i reached the island.  i love baggage service!)  and i hurriedly unpacked them and got clothes and gifts organized when my friend yoshi called me and told me that there was to be a matsuri (summer festival) that evening and that i should meet him at 5 o'clock.  OK!  i was anxious to get back into the swing of things so off i went and helped a bit with set up but mostly just enjoyed all that these festivals have to offer.  loads of my students were on hand selling the food/drinks and offering their help to all of the young and old in attendence.  it was a special festival that was set up for the old folks on the island at one of the retirement homes.  they were all tickled pink to have so many of us there and being able to celebrate the summer season with family and friends.  my taiko team performed (sans me, which i was soo happy about after missing a month of practices!) along with some other singing and dancing from all ages there.  it was generally a great time and everyone really seemed to be letting their hair down, as much as they do. ;)

this man was good enough to bring his tako-yaki van to the festival.  he served them up hot and delicious right from the back of the thing.  tako-yaki is a great street sort of food here and is like little balls of pancake batter with bits of octopus inside.  yum!

traditional dancing to a very old matsuri tune

it never fails, there is always a place at every event, no matter how small, for the "important" people to sit.  these are the guys and i have no idea how they are so important, but they are.  the good part is, they all semm to like me, or at least the novelty of me being around. 

more dancing and general enjoying!

i really enjoyed this little festival and felt like it was the perfect homecoming.  getting to see some of the folks there that i had missed and just being back into the thick of things.  it really reminded me how far i have come in a year and how much there still is to learn about these people, this place and its rich, wonderful history and culture.  i am so glad to be back here and to be starting another year in japan.  here is to one more and to having a clue!  yeehaw!

reaquainted with summer

i'm going to say this before i post this so those who need to know, know.  if you are either one of my sisters and you are reading this, it is in your best interest to just skip this post.  you won't be missing out on anything i promise and you'll sleep better tonight anyhow.  okay, and now that i have said that, i will go ahead and add that if you don't like spiders, no really really really don't like spiders you too can go ahead and quit reading now and i promise that it won't hurt my feelings.

so today is spider day here it seems, or at least my getting reacquainted with them day.  you'd have to be an idiot to think that you can live in a place like this with this much lushness and greenery all around you and not be prone to having a run in or ten with "wild life" everyday.  it just happens and i happen to love it, though i know there are people on the island that aren't that thrilled with it.  one of the most predominant species of "wild life" in naru is the spider.  my old friend and i happen to be very facinated with them and how many shapes, sizes and colors they come in and how cool their webs are ect.  so i welcome their presence, but today i was reminded that they are back in a few interesting ways.

first encounter:  i was almost through my bento today.  the regular saba bento that i usually have and i went to take a chopstick full of rice and realized there was something moving in the tray.  well, it was a spider of course.  not a big spider, but one of the jumping ones that we have here.  they run across my desk from time to time so it wasn't a huge surprise, but in my lunchbox!  this was a new one.  i carefully picked up my tray and walked it outside and deposited said spider back into it's home.  i was now finished with lunch it seemed.

second encounter:  simple and honest.  spider web removal from both the basket of my bike and the laundry lines on my porch.  no big deals here.  doing my best to keep spiders safe while i did it and make sure that they get somewhere without me trampling on them.  easy.

third encounter:  folding laundry on the couch and see something moving.  a spider about the size of a tennis ball (pretty average size for this species here) moves from beneath my underwear.  we can't have that now can we!  so i fetch a soup bowl from the kitchen and make haste to get it back to its home.  mission accomplished with some coaxing and directional talk after he dropped out of the bowl on our way to the door.

this spider stuff is taking some time today.  i think i am meant to be paying attention to what is surrounding me and being more careful about what i am doing and observing things a bit closer perhaps.  either way, spiders are here to stay and so am i...for awhile longer at least.  i'm glad that we get along so well.  thanks for having me on your island spiders, trees, hawks, crows and everything else that makes up this beautiful place.  well done.

doctor woes

so, though i have tried as earnestly as i can to avoid seeing any and all doctors while i am here in japan, (much like i do back in the states.  sorry i know you hate to hear that mom.)  i have ended up seeing quite a few in the last few months.  i have shared my great success in seeing two eye doctors and as thrilling as that was, i knew that my luck would run out at some point, and last week it did indeed.

after my longest day of teaching two weeks ago (13 hours and seven classes) i came home as usual and just wanted to sit down and have a relaxing moment with a nice biru.  i cracked open the can and took a hefty slurp and OOOOOWWWWWWWWWWCHHHH! that not good wonderful feeling of a raw nerve being dipped into beer-y coldness happened.  many expletives went through my mind at that point, as i have had a root canal before and remember that this was the feeling of where that fun time originated.  i thought maybe it was a fluke feeling though and stupidly tried for another drink, smaller this time, but alas, the same pain.  so i one-side chewed my way through some room temperature noodles and vegetables, left the beer on the table and tried to sleep.

the next day i knew that i had to do something about all of this and so i got the ball rolling by asking my jr high JTE (japanese teacher of english) if she knew if naru even had a dentist.  she said that in fact we did (HUGE surprise to me, HUGE!) but that i should ask nohara sensei (a goto island native and has been in naru for a few years now) more about it.  so i went to ask her and she said that yes we did have a dentist here, but she said it in the unique japanese way that means yes but no.  i pried a bit more as politely as i could and tried to tell her about the pain i was in and that eating and drinking anything at this point was kind of hard and so the quicker the better on the fix sort of deal, but she then dared to tell me NOT to see the dentist here.  in case you are not aware, any japanese person telling you anything definitely is kind of a big deal.  they will usually politely dance around a no as long as they can and then just leave you with a smile about whatever you were asking their opinion of.  she gave me her no but then, in perfect japanese fashion, passed the buck onto an authority, the school nurse.  she said that before i decide that i should go talk to yoshihara sensei about it and get her opinion on the dentist here.  i didnt have time to see her just then and had to run back to the high school so i told her i would return and we could get her opinion together.  no problem she assured me.

so back to the high school teaching with a different teacher who is married to a naru native and had been here awhile.  nakagawa sensei (i believe that you got a blurry shot of him sleeping in the karaoke bar awhile back here?!...) said that he has seen the dentist here and that he had done a nice job with his teeth and was no worse for the wear after seeing him.  his smile is good and his teeth are not bad looking, so now i have his opinion to take into consideration also.  okay okay...

back to the jr high for another class and a talk with the nurse.  nohara sensei accompanies me and as soon as she asks the nurse, yoshihara sensei, about the dentist i know the answer.  she advises me that i should just work on getting an appointment with a dentist on fukue and that it would be a much better idea to avoid seeing the dentist here.  technically she says that the dentists in fukue are very good and that the dentist here is okay.  i get the message and i start to get a little nervous.  i need the dentist NOW and an appointment in fukue will take at least three or four days to arrange, maybe longer.  i ask nohara sensei to see if she can set up the appointment with the very good doctor for me on the following tuesday, four days from then.

back to the high school and word has gotten around that i need a dentist.  my all too eager friend and tea lady is on the case and tells me that she has already gotten me an appointment with the dentist here and that i can go with one of the office guys who is going anyway this afternoon.  now i am nervous, but willing to go as she tells me that the woman who was here last year doing my job went and all was well.  okay, that is two people that say he is okay and who i trust and two people who say he's "okay".  im in pain, i am going to take a chance.

so that afternoon i walk down the street to the dentists office.  i have passed this building hundreds of times by now but have never known what it was exactly.  just a tiny little place that felt a lot like a trailer, but no wheels.  breathe beth, breathe.  the woman behind the counter was friendly enough and the waiting room chairs were comfortable enough to doze a little in as i waited.  okay, maybe this will be alright i thought.  finally after all of the other folks had gone i was called back to wait in a dentist chair for the doctor.  i was feeling really nervous now at seeing the "doctors rooms" and realizing they were pretty dusty and old.  there were two chairs in the room separated only by a partition so i could hear everything that was going on with the office guy's visit, though i did my best to ignore the drilling i was hearing with some nice reading material i found on a chair beside me.  it was a nice little magazine with a picture of a japanese golfer on the cover.  a sports magazine i thought, this will be fine.  well the first half of the magazine had a bunch of various articles in it; cooking and home wares, beauty and sports, and even a few short comic stories.  as i turned casually to the back of the magazine though something happened in it, all of  a sudden there were naked japanese women on the pages.  not just a little naked, fully naked women in the strangest naked-woman poses i have ever witnessed.  i laughed out loud, maybe due to surprise and put it down and took up another issue to see if it was a fluke.  strolling through a new issue i found that the first half was again very family, casual home maker oriented and then it happened again...but this time it was a comic strip of a woman demonstrating how to um, how do i say this nicely, servicing a man.  yes a comic strip.  and of course then after the comic strip there were more awkward naked lady photos.  i was laughing out of amusement now and put it back on the chair for fear that the doctor would walk in a see me checking out nihonjin boobies.  oh japan, you are always full of surprises.

so now i was in a little bit of a lighter mood and feeling better despite becoming more and more aware of how old all of the equipment and tools were that surrounded me, including the ones which he would be putting in my mouth.  so for a few more slightly tense moments i sat and waited and then heard the dentist approach.  i did my best to tell him in japanese what was going on with my tooth and he did his best in english to try and help.  he poked around in my mouth and then told me that my problem was not with my teeth at all.  i politely explained that there was a sharp pain in my tooth and that there must be something wrong with it.  he then instructed his nurse to give me an x-ray while he sat in his office and smoked and found that my tooth was in fine shape and told me again that my problem was not with my teeth at all but rather with my bite.  with choppy english, crazy japanese and some help from some dentist props he told me that i was a grinder and that was my issue.  nothing with my teeth, i was grinding my teeth and that was why ONE of my teeth hurt so acutely.  he sent me home with some ibuprofen and told me to come back next week.  needless to say i walked out of there feeling very frustrated and freaked out. 

luckily i had already started plan B into action and nohara sensei had set up an appointment for me on the following tuesday.  she said i needed to take someone with me to help translate and my supervisor at the high school agreed with strange enthusiasm.  so the wait began for the good dentist...

tuesday finally came and we left early to get there in plenty of time to sit outside the office for an hour before it opened.  upon walking through the doors i already felt better about this dentist as nurses flew around the office in clean uniforms and were doing a meticulous job of cleaning the entire office.  there was hope...

i got back to the chair and must say that i was surprised at how wonderful the whole experience was.  my nurse was kind and gentle and tried very hard to speak english with me that she knew even though she knew i had an interpreter.  while she was in my mouth though it was really nice to have someone speak for me when she was asking a question, as i had given my supervisor the full run down of what was wrong with my teeth and any other health information that i thought would be helpful.  the just exchanged the information that was needed and he let me know what was going on.  none of that awkward trying to talk while there are dental tools in your mouth.  i now feel strongly that everyone should take someone with them to the dentist, as it is a much nicer process all together.

the dentist finally came in and did a great job of speaking his little english with me as well.  he was a kind and gentle man also and after only a few moments of poking around in my mouth he came out with the news that i had not one, not two but THREE cavities and not to worry that he could fill them painlessly.  relief.  i finally knew that i was not crazy for feeling this tiny, sharp pain and that i could rest assured that i really was not a grinder as the other doctor had said.  (WHATTT!!!!????  i have never ground my teeth.)  he fixed me right up with some Novocaine and had me out of there in under an hour.  it was not without its laughs though as i think that the whole office at some point stopped by to take a look at my teeth (kirei! honto! aaaaaa!) and at one point my supervisor, the dentist and two nurses hovered over my face with their eyes in my mouth.  my supervisor even hit his head on the dentists light as he tried to move back, that is how close they all were!  it was interesting to hear the dentist talk about how different my teeth were from the japanese teeth he is used to treating and that it must have to do with the anthropological differences in our origins.  he was interested in asking about the permanent wires in my mouth that my orthodontist put there years ago after my braces were removed.  he thinks highly of my american teeth doctors i can tell you that much.

and so in the end i am pain free and have been reassured that my teeth will be fine.  oh and i have insurance to cover it all and so getting 3 cavities filled, having a full on inspection and cleaning cost me about 30$ US.  hell of a deal.

bring on the may flowers and their magical powers

there has been so much to do lately, that i feel like i have almost come full circle in the "having nothing to do vs. everything to do" chain of events.  when i arrived ten months ago i could barely ask where the bathroom was and had days and days of sitting in a staffroom full of idle time and strange, silent coworkers.  it is my pleasure to report that the tides are rolling in and have changed significantly here in naru.

i had the day off of work last monday due to working on sunday for a PTA meeting.  their PTA meetings here are not the coffee and danish sort of casual gathering that i picture them being back home (i have never actually been to one in the states, so i cant say with any authority).  of course i showed up in the wrong clothes again and of course i was the last to know that i would be introducing myself in front of everyone, in japanese of course, but besides that, it was a suit style occasion and there was a long itinerary involved.  loads of bowing and clapping and standing up and sitting back down and on and on.  i have no idea what was accomplished because i really didnt make that much of an effort to pay attention, but it didnt seem like that big of a deal to my coworkers around me who were sleeping either, so, eh.

okay, sorry i got off track, so monday last week, off of work, yes.  i had an eye infection last week and had successfully seen the eye doctor that comes in once a week to naru from nagasaki, so i was feeling confident about taking the next step in health care and going to a private practice and getting a full eye exam.  i had to of course go to my neighboring island to do this as we dont have any health services (for those of us who arent 80+ years old) outside of the biyoin (hospital).  so i took the ferry over and my trusty, rusty bike and sought out the eye clinic.  i knew where it was (sort of) because a japanese friend had pointed it out when i was on the island weeks ago.  after parking my bike i went in and gave my insurance card to one of the three receptionists behind the front desk and she said something to me that i thought was "sit down and it will be about an hour" but much to my surprise, even though the lobby was FULL of old people waiting to see the doctor my name was called after waiting about five minutes.  i was very lucky and everyone who helped me from the guy who did my eye tests to the doctor who had the final say spoke some english and were really helpful.  at one point when i was almost done a woman showed up next to me with purse in hand and asked me in english if she could help me.  i just kind of sat there not knowing what was going on and then she told me that she was the doctors wife and that she had come to help translate for the nurses.  seriously, she came from where ever she was and quit what ever she was doing just to help me for ten minutes!?  i am and continue to be amazed at the lengths strangers go to to help a gaijin girl out here.  bless their hearts.

after the doctor was finished and i had new contacts in hand and a new perscription for glasses i was feeling really brave and decided to go try for a new pair of glasses too.  they had given me a map of the glasses shop that they are partnered with (later to find out that the doctor and owner of the glasses shop are friends, of course) and without really trying to find it, i did.  i went in and the whole thing took less than 15 minutes.  i told them what i needed and picked out the pair that i wanted and they told me that it would be about two or three weeks and that they would just send them over to me when they were done, COD of course.  (have i mentioned how much i love COD, cause i do and it is soooo convienent.  you can pay COD for everything here from new computers to books.)  so that was that i off i went running a few other errands before catching the ferry back home.  a successful day for sure.

sooo, yesterday was a kind of rainy but warm day and i had nothing to do in the afternoon so i decided that i would hop the ferry and just go wander around fukue (neighboring island) for awhile.  as i was walking down the main arcade (that is what they call the big shopping streets in japan; arcades) without really thinking about it i passed by the glasses shop, only to look up at the same moment that the owner was peering out to see if i was who i was (i was walking on the other side of the street from the store front) and then he threw up his biggest japanese YES (think big O over your head, YMCA style letters) and waved.  i thought what the hell and so i ran across the street to see what the big O was all about.  i came in and he was excitedly telling me that my lenses had just arrived and that he could put the glasses together for me right now no problem (this is only 6 days later mind you, not even a week).  Great!  his wife insisted that i sit down and wait and she tried out her best english with me and we had some casual laughs, and before long the glasses were on my face and i was out the door.  really, seriously, the efficiency here is just overwhelming.  i cant say enough good things about how organized and well run everything is.  my 2-3 week glasses were done in less than a week.  yeeeeees.

so it was a good day of unexpected surprises.  i stopped at the grocery by the port on my way out and as i was baggin up my groceries i moved my basket so a woman could get in next to me and she said in perfect, plain english, "oh, thank you so much.  excuse me."  it always trips me out so much when people speak to me in english out of the blue.  i never expect it, but if they know english and are the least bit confident about it, they will find whatever reason they can to speak to you.  she was really nice and asked what country i was from and told me that she plays the saxophone and wants to come to america to visit new orleans, but was still concerned about the effects of katrina.  i told her all was clear to go there and that she should, it would blow your mind i said.  we said goodbye and see you later like we were friends who met often and that was that.  days here are always full of the unexpected. 

so when was the last time you were at the grocery and surprised to hear someone speak your native language?  when was the last time you felt like you had conquored a small part of life by simple making a successful visit to the doctor?  when was the last time that life surprised you with small bits of goodness?  i'd like to bet that the latter was not so long ago even if the former was...

be well where ever you are calling home my friends,
namaste

ps-leaving you with a few shots of spring flowers on the island.  there are sooo many flowers here, more than i have ever seen anywhere and as i said to some fellow teachers who came to visit this weekend, "these are the flowers you're picking up at the new seasons market for $10.99 a half dozen.  here they are, just growing in the ditch."  love it.

let's biking goto!

these beautiful ladies accompanied me to kamigoto for the weekend along with about 30 other English teachers from our prefecture (state in japanese terms) last weekend.  we biked the island and had a super party afterwords.  what a wonderful way to spend a weekend; island hopping on a bike!

this is kamigoto and some smaller islands surrounding it.  kamigoto is about an hour ferry ride from naru.  as the crow flys though, it really cant be more than half a mile away.  the ferry just has to cruise through a lot of other islands to get there and that takes time i guess.  a beautiful boat ride anyhow.

more kamigoto

kamigoto flowers (we have the same ones in naru of course)

i slept on the beach after the party.  it was glorious to wake up to the sound of the sea and the bright sunshine.  oh and there was that fisherman that was pretty much standing over me when i woke up and proceeded to talk to me for about ten minutes right after i woke up.  nothing like practicing your japanese first thing in the morning!

hope life is warm and sunny where you all are living.  inside and out i am feeling love and warmth here in japan.  golden week coming soon and i can't wait!!!! 

a few more differences

it is still happening and i think that it will continue to happen for as long as i am here.  the small differences in the ways that we go about life from the states to here is just startling.  observing these seemingly small things that are kind of huge for an american in the flow of the 'wa' here is just something that leaves me scratching my head and wondering how and why we do things the way we do them back home and how they can do them differently here without a big fuss.

take for instance the regualrity of students and teachers alike carrying exact-o knifes.  you know those razor sharp little knives that we use for crafts and such back home, yes those knifes, well they all have them here.  i may be making it sound like they are all arming themselves, and really they are, but for entirely different reason; for EXACT cutting needs.  when they do any art project here, big or small, if one person's eyes will see it or one hundred, they make it as precisely and nicely as possible.  so naturally they need an exact-o knife so that they can get the job done and not have to make a big deal about 90 degree angles being off and whatnot.  it makes sense now that i see it in action everyday.  what really struck me about it though was entertaining the thought of any 6th grade student back home with the same tool in their pencil case.  well, honestly for the most part that is just scary.  i WOULD NOT want to be the teacher in charge with everyone packin razor sharps in their desks.  i just wouldnt.  what about you?  its a small difference here, but really its a big one, it kind of translates over to the disapline the kids have and the expectations that adults have of them.

this is seen again in the simple fact that when it is time for after lunch recess there is NO playground supervision.  yes that is right.  so your teacher wants to take a smoke break instead of watch you play soccer, what's the big deal?  there is no big deal.  the kids play and get along and there just isnt another option.  kids here know that the wrath of the sum of adult figures in their lives would come down on them if they got into the kind of trouble that american kids seem to find at recess.  they dont want that and life is easier when they all just get along, so they do.  they make it look so easy.  when i watch them play out my window it sometimes just blows my mind to think of all of the times that i had to interject an adult face/voice/words when watching my school kids in america play so they didnt beat the crap out of eachother or leave eachother out of play or a million other troublesome things that they seem to get into.  that just does not happen here.  wow. 

the small can become the big in a lot of ways and though i get used to seeing it i dont know if i will ever be able to fully wrap my mind around how it works.  i like it though.  its good to be in japan.

today was a special day though, i did join my fifth and sixth grade students after lunch for a friendly little game of soccer in the warm sun.  their homeroom teachers played as well and we used not one game ball but two.  good times i say.  as for all of the other kids running about outside, what were they up to you say?...who cares!


sendin love and sunshine from my island to yours

beth