health check day

i got a notice from the sensei who sits next to me at my desk in the high school (he is an english teacher) that we would be having a urine test today with many more health checks in the weeks to follow.  great i said, can you tell me what to expect?  well, he is a man, but a progressive man so he decided to throw caution into the wind and went ahead and tried to explain to me what i needed to know.  pee in the cup and pour it into the little tube, easy right?!  well i knew that there was to be more to it than that, so i went ahead and took the notice that was handed out with directions all in kanji (the pictures were not very good either) and asked some of the lady senseis at the elementary and jr high school if they could tell me anything that i didnt know already.  i am glad i asked.  we got the "packet" a day early which i didnt think much of considering the organization that happens around this place most days, so i could show the others what was inside and what i might be having to do with it.  well i kept asking questions and kept asking to make sure that i would be saving myself any embarassment and the last question i asked was "so when i am done peeing in the cup, should i put it in a bag or something to carry it from the bathroom to the nurses office to drop it off?".  inui sensei (woman, english teacher at the jr high) just started smiling and told me that it wouldnt be a problem at all and that i should definitaly put it in a bag, especially since i would be peeing in a cup AT HOME.  it was like homework to take the little cup home and to make sure that you could collect the first pee of the morning.  ohhhhhhh, now that makes sense to me!  i get it!  that is why we got the cups early and why all of the other questions i asked seemed strange to her and the other teachers that i was asking.  so in the end i actually got this one right, or at least i think i got it right.  no one has told me that i have diabetes yet or that the pee was not labeled or collected right.  it is the small victories that really make me smile here. 

so the whole reason behind doing all of this is a good one that i learned more about as i was asking questions yesterday.  basically every one in japan has to take a pee test and a lung exam once a year as a sort of precautionary measure to keep the population healthy.  if there is a problem like diabetes forming or some sort of lung problem, they are thinking that they can catch it before it gets too bad, AND expensive to treat.  why would they care you ask?  well, they have socialized health care here and every one gets it, it is inexpensive and it is usually pretty good care.  so if the govt can save some money by giving these tests every year they are going to do it.  wow, now that makes sense and i feel like there are a few places in the world that could learn a thing or two from the way that they do things here.  next week is the lung test and further down the line this year we get blood drawn.  the students undergo many other health screenings but i think that they are for more reasons than just purely for health. 

just another interesting thing about life here...

happy friday everyone

Naru Apato-Mogie!

As I recently have promised my dear aunt Mogie that I would upload some pictures of my humble abode in Japan I felt it necessary to follow through...and so here is the grand tour for all of you who are curious as to what my apato in Japan looks like!  And yes, it is much bigger than I thought that it would be, but it is not BIG by any means.

This is what I would see if you were knocking on my front door before I opened it to (maybe???) let you in.  The entryway I guess some folks would call it.  I call it the place where I leave my shoes, coats and umbrellas.

And this is what you would see when (if???) I let you in.  The toilet room is the door on the left there and the bath/washing machine room is just off to the right there.  Straight ahead is the kitchen/eating space and then the room with the yoga mat on the floor and the couch is my bedroom/yoga space/movie viewing room.  The nasty reflection back there is coming off of my back door which opens to the art studio.  Oh, I will mention here that the floors in the entryway/kitchen are wood and the floors in the bed/yoga space are tatami (woven bamboo) mats.  You NEVER wear shoes on tatami, believe me, Japanese people will really freak out.  Really.

Okay, I know I said I wouldn't talk about potties anymore, but just one more time cause this is cool.  This is the toilet room off to the left in the last photo and my, well (western, obviously) toilet!  It is the only thing in the room and as you will notice there is a faucet and a basin on top of the commode in lieu of having a whole separate sink in the room.  Saves time and water like this: When you flush the toilet the faucet on top starts running and you can wash your hands with that water and as you wash your hands that water then runs into the bowl of the toilet filling it for next time you need to use the toilet with your soapy water.  Genius I tell you.  Why don't we do this in America?  This is a standard toilet in most homes and restaurants and the like.  Seriously genius.  Don't even get me started on the TP roll dispenser.  It is amazing too.

And if you peered into the room across from the toilet room you would find this; my washing/bathroom.  There is a standard sink in here with a mirror and the washing machine you see here and a door that opens into the shower/bathroom.  The shower room is quite large and you can sit or stand or whatever in there really as the shower head is adjustable/movable and the tub is quite a bit deeper than the standard American tub.  When I sit in it it covers my shoulders.  Those flat plastic things you see there in between the tub and the washer are to cover the tub so you can reuse the water.  Japanese people don't get into the tub when they are dirty, they use it after they have bathed in the shower and just use it to soak, so when they are done they can cover the water and use it again the next day or hours later or whatever.  Another good idea, but I never do it and use the tub as I was trained to do back home; to take a bath in.  For shame!

Here is a better shot of the tub.  See, it's deeper!  Deeper is better I can assure you...

Okay, so we have arrived in the kitchen!  This is the cooking/washing area, the same side of the apato as the wash/bath room for reference.  Featured here is from right to left; my refrigerator/freezer (Japanese size!) with my microwave/oven on top of it and my toaster oven on top of that, my sink, dish drying/dinner preparing area, my stove top i.e. glorified camping stove.  Behind the sink is where I keep many dry foods and dishes (European style which is a little weird considering where I am, but whatever) and in the foreground there is my moving island which stores food and serves as a floating eating/preparation space.

This is the opposite side of the kitchen.  The table with my exercise ball which I often just use as a chair, bamboo shelving above it and the bookcase in the corner.  Loads of art on the wall there and heaps of stuff in the corner on the wall are my home phone, (yes I have one!  How about that!?) the island intercom system (announces important things to all of us at its discretion like when the dentist is coming over and if a ferry is canceled or delayed.  So helpful when I can understand it I'm sure.) and a phone that allows me to talk to whomever may be at my door when they ring.  The doors separating the rooms are sliding of course and can be opened wide or totally closed leaving the spaces separate.  I love the sliding doors in my house and there is also one that separates the kitchen and the entry way.  Really does wonders for heating/cooling quickly.

Now into the bed/yoga/whatever room.  My bed is there folded up on the right side.  I left it out so you could see it, but it can be put away in a jiff and the room becomes a bit more spacious.  There is a table over in the corner which serves as a night stand/dinner table/computer workspace and myriad other purposes.  Nothing too exciting here.

And here it all is from the back door.  Oh and yes, all of the lighting is FLORESCENT! and I LOVE it!  (sarcasm does not usually work via written communication, sorry.)

Here is the room from the kitchen.  You can see the AC/heater on the wall above the couch and no, I never sit on the couch.  It folds out into a futon (American idea of futon) style sleeper, but it is not that comfortable.  The floor is better in my opinion. 

Okay and finally the art studio.  A wonderful space to get lost in on any night that allows me a little time to escape.  Directly above this space are the lines that I hang my laundry on to dry and opposite this side of the porch is where I store my recycling ect.  Not a ton of space but I'm makin' it work.

That's it for me.  Off to the studio for awhile before I have to climb back onto the floor for bed and work again tomorrow.  Life is flowing full throttle here in Naru!

Be well tomodachis!

the old and new

there was a small interaction that i had today with one of my students that pretty much sums up the whole of japanese life and the way things are for me here. 

i was on my way out of the jr/elementary school and heading back to the high school to eat lunch and finish my afternoon there.  as i came down the last flight of stairs i noticed that quite a few of my 10th grade students were coming down the stairs with me (they have music class at the jr high)  and one of them stopped and gave a hankerchief to one of my 9th graders.  i stopped him for a quick second and asked 'what were you doing back there?' he answered that she had 'forgotten' her hankerchief and he was just returning it.  with a big dose of sarcasim i said 'you mean you were giving your girlfriend your hankerchief' and he just smiled back at me and pressed his index finger to his lips, 'shhhh'.  I was stunned.  this is the first time that any of my students have admitted to having feelings about one another (I know there have to be loads of secret girlfriend/boyfriends in my classes).  i smiled back at him and we walked out the door.  next he asked me a question, 'do you know 'linkin park'?  i told him i did, though i dont really know their music i know that they are a popular american rock band.  he told me that it was his favorite and that he really loved them.  woah.  he had my head reeling.  he had in under one minute of interaction combined the tradition of old with the excitement of new. 

what high school boys do you see innocently handing hankies to their girlfriends in america?  the answer is none.  they dont do that, but they did in 1950 perhaps.  and how many high school kids are crazy about rock music, eyes blazing with excitement when you mention their favorite band's name?  all of them.  that is what a typical american high school kid does.  how odd to witness that mix of new and old in that student, but how cool it was too. 

this is a prime example of life here though.  they are mixing the new, hip stuff of the western world in with their lives that are steeped in culture and rituals.  it is fun to pull it all apart and to see how it fits together again and to learn about all of the old and new through observation, language, ceremony and the occasional lesson from one of my english speaking japanese friends. 

what a joy and a privilege it is to be here.  i did a quick count in my head the other day as to how many days i have left here and it is about 500 now.  i cant wait to see what happens in those days and how far from what i am now that i will be when they are through.

ends and beginnings

along with every other thing that they do differently here the japanese have graduation for students at all levels in the spring.  my high school kids graduated two weeks ago and today my jr high and 6th grade students graduated as well.  it is a VERY different ceremony than what i am used to experiencing in the states and totally formal and pretty rigid if you ask me.  loads of standing up and bowing and sitting down and standing up and on and on.  loads of speeches from people who the students may or may not recognize and a few somber little songs thrown in for fun.  all of the students are required to participate as graduation falls on a school day.  the most touching part of the ceremony was when a few representatives of each graduating class gave short inspriational messages to the other classes.  in return a few representatives from those classes stood and gave glad parting and congratulatory words to them.  most teachers were crying but i have to be honest, i didnt really try that hard to understand what they were saying like i did during the high school ceremony (tear jerker!) because i was facing a huge window that had the most wonderful view of outside and i was totally daydreaming about laying on the beach here really soon.  hey, you would probably have been drawn to do the same thing if you were in my place.  we were able to clap at the end as the students who were graduating were leaving, that was my favorite part because i could move again without being the fidgety gaijin.  and so the school year wraps up here in naru and it feels, well, really weird.  it could have to do with the fact that i walked past of few of my graduating students on the way to school this morning as they were packing their bags and noticed that they were including a straightening iron in their things; it was two of my 9th grade boys.   oh japan you just always throw a curve ball dont you?

happy spring to all of you and happy birthday to my beautiful momma.  her birthday is tomorrow and it is an epic one.  im so glad that i got to see her last week along with all of the rest of my family and hold them each for a moment and catch up on life.  though we gathered under very sad circumstances we all managed to speak of and share in the joy that our beloved KC had shared with each of us in her life.  what a wonderful thing to have such beautiful people inside and out in my life. 

im blessed beyond belief

whats up with the bento?

i have had so many people ask me about what i am eating here and somehow i keep forgetting to share.  as i was diving into my lunch today i thought about this and actually paused to take a quick picture of my lunch.  this is what i eat for lunch usually five days a week.  though i have tried other things this is just the easiest and there is a bit of variety in it each day, though the rice and fish remain the same.  i will try to tell you a bit about my lunch (hiru gohan, which translates to mid day rice) now.

this is called a go-hyaku en saba bento or ５００￥鯖弁と。　(i can actually read that too if you can believe it.  the first four characters are kanjis; yen, fish, blue, ben and the last symbol is hiragana for 'to'.  yes, it is that hard to read and yes it is one of a very few things that i can read.  it has to do with food, major motivation for me to learn!)  so what this breaks down into meaning is that the meal costs 500 yen (around five dollars) and has saba fish as its main staple.  what this is is, starting with the rice and working clockwise;

*white rice, run of the mill stuff.  nothing special or fancy.  it comes from a rice cooker because EVERYBODY here cooks their rice in one except me.  mine broke and i just dont see the need.  it has an umeboshi on top of it which is the red ball you see there.  it is a very sour plum and is traditionally eaten after the meal.  i think it tastes like crap and ruins the lovely taste of lunch if you eat it at all.  under the ume boshi are black sesame seeds on the rice and in the bottom left corner of the rice are some yellow pickles on a little plastic sheet of grass.  these daikon radish pickles and are not too tasty either and i always leave them to the side.  they again are sour but the japanese really believe in eating some pickles and umeboshi after a meal as they feel it aids digestion.

*there are four different items in the square above the rice on the left side.  two of them are types of komaboko, which is japanese style fish patties.  these are delicious and i have yet to find a type of komaboko that i dont like.  sometimes there are shredded veggies in them too and they come in all shapes and sizes.  seen here is a pink/white half-moon shaped one and a brown triangular one.  in this square there are also some vegetables (potato and carrot) which have been boiled in sweet dashi (fish stock).  they are quite delicious also.

   

*next is the main event, the saba fish.  it shares its square with two other items from let to right which are, tamagoyaki (japanese style omlette.  yum!) and a few pea pods served tempura style (battered lightly and fried quickly.  very yum.)  the saba (pacific mackerel) is served next to this.  i always get two small bits of fish that are prepared pan fried with soy.  it is quite good and has few bones to sort through.  i have managed to get to know this fish quite well and can not only tell exactally where the bones will be but can also remove sans fingers using only my chopsticks.  yup, im just that good.

*under the saba is a quarter of a mikan.  these are wintertime japanese fruits that taste a bit like an cross between an orange and a mandarin fruit back home.  they are really easy to peel, come into season about december and are pretty cheap eats.  you can still buy a bag of about six or seven of them here on the island for less than an american dollar.  they grow everywhere so most eaten in naru are local.  sigh.  good to know that.  unfortunately though their season is almost done as i can tell by the slight decline in their taste in the last few weeks.  i look forward to mikan season again next year...

*and lastly there is a little heap of boiled greens, served cold with mayonaise and sesame dressing (ohitashi).  the greens are usually spinach but sometimes are traditional japanese greens.  sorry i dont know the names of them yet. 

*wash this all down with a nice cup of genmaicha tea (green tea mixed with toasted rice) and you have hiru gohan at its finest. 

i will admit today that i ordered the 500 en bento for the first time in quite awhile.  i usually get the 600 en bento which as you might guess is a bit bigger (more rice and more sides).  i dont know what it was that made me go with only the 500 today, but i was still quite satisfied.  maybe part of me does know that summer is around the corner...

so i hope this sheds a little light on what im eating here for those of you who are wondering.  i will try to snap some more lunches in the coming days and give you the lowdown.  i may even try to add a few of the japanese dishes that i have been cooking up in my own kitchen.  they are coming along i am happy to say though it has not been easy.  that is a whole 'nother post though.

OH and by the way for anyone that does wonder what else i am up to or culture stuff here.  feel free to leave a question with me about what it is you are wondering about and i will do my best to report back on it.  ask anything, god knows everyone here does!

itadakimas!

*

a complaint from the gaijin

i have made (almost now) through three days of work this week, all of which have been dreadful and long. 

monday was the worst as i woke up after having a toss-turn-repeat night of sleep and then looked in the mirror before leaving (this is a small miracle in itself that i actually LOOKED in the mirror) and saw that i had rubbed my left eye into a messy patch of redness that looked somewhat reminicent of a smashed strawberry in my eye.  great.  i had a headache and couldnt hear out of my right left ear either because i had messed with it too much earlier in a q-tip vs. the itch in my ear war.  clearly the q-tip won, but not in a good way.  so this was the start to my day and i had an open class to look forward to in about an hour.  (an open class is where every teacher and administrator in both schools on the island are invited to come and view your class and observe your teaching and then later ask you about it and give you feedback in a meeting.  the meeting i found out about later, two minutes after it started.  awesome.)  so i put on my best japanese face and went with it thinking to myself while eyes were on my first graders and me "genki, genki, genki".  luckily it was first grade and the energy of those kids is infectious, apparently even when you feel like H E double hockey sticks.  all went fine and i managed to stay upright through the entire forty-five minutes only pausing a few times at desks to regain my balance and remember what word i needed to say so they could repeat it.  needless to say i went right home after work and went to bed praying that everything would clear itself up and i would be better in the morning. 

tuesday came with great sunshine and hope.  i woke up feeling better, at least for the first fifteen minutes i was awake and then the headache and sneezing commenced.  now there are symptoms of allergies and and then there are just fits of sneezing and being plugged up that one cannot even fathom could really occur.  i managed to suffer the later for most of tuesday and boy was it a great day!  oh, and my eye was still lookin pretty fruity and gnarly and getting gasps and awes from the teachers around me. 

and now wednesday is almost through and i feel like i will be able to walk home without exhausting the rest of physical strength left in me for the first time this week.  with my only aliments to report today being sneezing and needing to blow my nose every ten minutes at least and my ear  that is throbbing with ache reminding me that i am foolish for attempting to scratch an itch in such a place, it has been a pretty good day.  im certain that the ear will be fine in due time but i wont soon forget about the pesky itch that brought this on and i had to reload on kleenex at my desk this morning, again.

its times like these that a girl wishes she was not so far from home or comfort.  im not really even sick, just a bit miserable with strange little ailments and it is making life seem much more japanese for the time being, i.e. "suck it up and get on with it.  dont EVER complain".  so dear, lovely readers i am doing the opposite, but out of sight from them and to you all who are more than familiar with hearing complaints from people daily.  thanks for listening.  im going to get back to sucking it up.  dijabu desu.  (im alright).


ps just so you know, if you ever visit, blowing your nose around anyone else is NOT okay.  they dont do that here.  imagine how popular i am in my staffrooms now! 

love and hugs
beth

 

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