Happy Halloween!

I ordered some pumpkins for my students & the neighborhood kids this year and they had a great time carving them. Everyone was so surprised that these pumpkins are hollow! So cute! I think they first thought something was wrong with them!



Here are the little ones tasked with the job of finding & cleaning all the seeds, while big brother and sisters were designing their jack-o-lantern faces. If they're lucky, they might even get some of those seeds back roasted...but they're reeeeally tasty, so I don't know! ;-0

Kominkan Matsuri

Yea! I'm an exhibiting artist for a few minutes! My painting teacher hung the painting I did of the higanbana flowers in the little matsuri show in the neighborhood where she lives. It's amazing how much better my work looks mounted and framed :)



Here's the room with the art, calligraphy, and flower arrangment displays. It was actually surprising to me how many students take extra curricular calligraphy classes. It's nice to see the young ones taking an active interest in such a traditional art.


It was fun learning how to sign my name in a "scripty" kind of hiragana (bottom right). I spent most of the last class practicing, because I only had one chance to sign my work. I also reworked my inkan a little bit, so you can see that printed in red underneath my name. And I think that the signature is supposed to go on the left side, but I thought it was more balanced on the right. It's good to be the gaijin :)

Man, I have a goofy smile in that photo. My teacher was taking it with my cell phone camera, and the kids behind her were teasing her & making funny faces because my teacher was squinting so much to take the photo. These kids were later climbing all over me (I made the mistake of letting one climb up on my back so she could see the performance on stage) and playing with my hair, and asking me a million questions. Hilarious. Elementary school kids are the same everywhere I guess.
Sorry the photos are so small...I'll be stuck with my cell phone camera until my other one gets fixed...IF it can be fixed... :-(

Okunchi

One recent Saturday I had to work, so I had the previous Thursday off. My painting teacher had sent me to Nagasaki to buy a stone and carving tool so I can make another inkan (seal to sign my paintings), but it was an exercise in futility. However, the trip wasn't a complete bust, as I was able to attend part of a festival called "Okunchi" in/around/for (?) Suwa Shrine in Nagasaki. It's held every year October 7-9, and since they don't change it to make sure it falls on a weekend, many people have to work and therefore miss out. Here are the torii (archway/gate/s) leading up to Suwa Shrine, where this dance took place. I think there were 2 other locations around the city where representatives from a select 7 machi (towns or sections inside the city).




Groups from the machi do a dance or perform with a large boat-like thing...
Here they are pushing it up the stairs to the very small! stage area in front of the temple.

















Here is a look at the crowd in the stands watching the performance. If you look closely, you can see many people have a cloth over their head to keep the sun off of them...it's still pretty hot in Nagasaki!








Here is a look at the performance - and behind that, a glimpse of downtown Nagasaki. At this part in the performance, the men work together to spin the boat - it really gets the crowd going wild (I think I must be missing something, but it DOES look pretty hard). There are also some guys holding poles with globes on top - I think a combination of percussive music and these pole guys help to direct the guys pushing/pulling the boat. I think this whole thing is a really interesting way to build community spirit :)

Feel free to comment if you've got any experience with the Okunchi festival!

Well...I'm definitely not bored lately!
I've been helping my students practice their speeches (never ending task) and now I'll be heading to my Japanese ink painting class. Here is my teacher's mom (the one who always makes and gives me tasty food) showing one of her calligraphy scrolls to some ladies from the neighborhood.

Hope you are all well and enjoying Fall's cooler temps and harvest!

Having a ball at the Navy Ball

Just thought I'd put up a quick pic since you all have probably forgotten what I look like.
Work is reeeeally getting in the way of my life here! ;)
My friends at the base were kind enough to include me in the Navy's Birthday Ball, and so I got to get dressed up AND I had some place to go :)
Thanks, Skii for the dress! I felt like a million bucks!
(ok - now back to my regularly scheduled craziness...which at the moment, includes teaching the Monster Mash to some elementary school kids...)

Today, on the second anniversary of Mom's passing,
I will be saying a few prayers at noon and midnight my time
(which is 13 hours ahead of Florida - you can do the math ;) )
You are welcome to do so, too...

Prayer for the Deceased

Remember, Lord, those who have died
and have gone before us marked with the sign of faith,
especially for Noreen.
May she, and all who sleep in Christ,
find in Your presence
light, happiness, and peace.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace:
where there is hatred let me sow love,
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is doubt, faith,
where there is despair, hope,
where there is darkness, light,
where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be comforted as to comfort,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.

Because it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.


Thank you all for your continued prayers...
I can definitely feel them here on the other side of the world :)

And thank you, B, for the flowers - they're really lovely!

inkan

Here's my first "art" inkan (personal seal ~ my 'signature'). I have another one (that's registered in Japan) that has my full last name on it in katakana, and I have to use it when I "sign" for important things. This inkan, however, only includes part of my first name, "rei" (which is really To-RAY-shi in Japanese). This kanji for rei has to do with beauty. So, since I think beauty is such an important ideal, I thought this would be fitting.
It's carved out of stone, and reeeeeally difficult because of the tiny surface and shape of the stone. I honestly think this is a little kawaisou (pitiful), considering my previous block printing experience, but this uses completely different materials than anything I've tried before. I'm itching to go back in and carve a little bit more to make some of the lines a little stronger/thicker, but my teacher won't let me because it's so much more precious to be "imperfect"...

Funny how when the sun comes out everything can magically feel a little better.
(of course, I never underestimate the power of prayers and nice emails, either...thanks :) )
***
This week in my painting class I actually painted from a live subject. I usually paint from a book (twisting every step of the way...but I'm not the teacher...), however, this week my teacher let me paint some higanbana, a flower that's blooming now (& the one in the previous post). I'm going to need more practice with this subject, but I thought you might like to see my first attempt. The red thing is my inkan (name seal). I'll photograph that and explain it a little better in another post.

Here's a photo I took of my workspace at my teacher's house. It's a really interesting place. From what I understand, my teacher lives with his parents in one (Japanese style) house, the grandparents are in a separate one on the same property, and then they have this painting building. It looks like they might have a garden on the property, too.
In my workspace you can see my practice paper on a piece of grey felt, my ink well, water (brush rinse), the porcelain container that holds water to add to the ink to get various shades of grey-black, fude (brush - it almost sounds like "who-day"), blotting towel, my subject, higanbana, and, of course, some delicious tea and treats (this week it was homemade veggie tempura) from my teacher's mom.

Hello - I've been out most of this week doing various things for work, but on one of my rides here and there, I stopped to take a photo of this flower that's blooming now, higanbana. It's really lovely, and it seems to just sprout up everywhere in white, cream, and red. I believe the name has something to do with sparklers/fireworks.

And I'm doing my level best to be as genki as I can, but as the second memorial day for Mom approaches, I'm just feeling like I've lost a lot more than just my mom, and it's really wearing me down. Sorry in advance if I'm a little quiet for a while.

Art...the universal language... (?)

One night in Sapporo I took a little field trip to a park designed by sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Very interesting stuff, but by the time my several forms of transportation delivered me to the site, it was dark :( . I do have a few shots I'll share later, but what do you think of this sign? I would really like to know what the 3rd one down means...

Monkey magic...

Well, though Sam's still hungry (when is he NOT?), he did make two new friends. My student remembered to bring her Show and Tell monkey doll today, so Rirrakuma was saved from being Sam's dinner and got to go home with his rightful owner tonight.

Music survey

***
On a sad note, I just found out my supervisor
(26 year old Japanese Teacher of English who sits next to me)
lost his father last night. Prayers, onegai shimasu.
***
When I was in Sapporo studying Japanese, one of the things I did for homework was a music survey of the locals. Whereas my classmates primarily hit the beer gardens for their research, I tried to find other colorful subjects as well. Here are some of the ones who weren't too shy to have their photo taken.

These students were just hanging out after class one night, so we had a nice little chat about music and their graphic arts studies.










These cats cracked me up. It seemed like these two men had been friends forever with the rapport they had with each other. The one gesturing really likes Elvis.






This was a really cool little store run by a lady who'd been to Egypt. I was lured here by the sale on skirts...I bought that maroon one I'm wearing in the photo of me with the girls in yukata.










Meet Faye-Faye. S/he performs almost every night in a little restaurant/bar in the arcade. His/her favorite music is old Chinese and, of course, his/her own. :)








Here are the 'yukata girls' I met in the park at the beer garden. They were having a party for all of their nursing colleagues.






I walked up to these guys and told them they were the coolest looking guys I'd seen that night, so I figured they'd be interesting blokes. They were just some students out enjoying themselves. Too bad you can't read the shirt on the guy in the middle. Claaaasic English, but not quite appropriate for my (mostly) "G" rated site here :)

Don't forget...

I don't know if it was a Boy Scout thing, or if it was just a genius idea that my dad (a Scoutmaster) had, but whenever a scout forgot something somewhere, he'd have to sing to get it back. I did this kind of thing in my art classroom, because students invariably left negatives in the enlarger. Today one of my students left her Show and Tell object (apparently a monkey doll) home, making it difficult for her to SHOW it. So, I took her Rirrakuma omamori charm* hostage until I get to see the monkey doll tomorrow. We'll see how long it takes for her to remember :)
Rirrakumachan hopes it's soon - Sam seems a little hungry...

*the kids all have these kinds of handmade charms hanging on their bags. They can be characters, symbols of the sport (ie: volleyball), etc. Usually someone involved with their club makes them for each of the members to commemorate an event or to get them psyched up for an upcoming competition.
Rirrakuma - I think that roughly translates to "Relax Bear"

In the US, the "big" high school events seem to be things like Homecoming and Prom, and they are somewhat exclusive (usually the upperclassmen participate more). In Japan, it's been my experience that the "big" school events are the "Bunkasai" (Culture Festival) and "Taikusai" (Sports Festival). These events involve the entire student body in various ways, culminating on the festival days, which happen to be last weekend and this weekend for my school this year.

In this little slide show, you see the drawings the students did of their homeroom teachers. The numbers you see in the pictures are the year & grade of the students - ie: 3-1 = third year, class number 1. Which translates to class 1 (out of 8) of the senior class. I wish you knew the teachers in the pictures - it would make them even funnier. My favorite is the one of the two teachers sitting at a table in a "snack bar" (not like those in the US - Japanese snack bars are basically places where men pay for female employees' (hostesses) drinks so that they'll keep them company).
Note - the teachers in that picture are both male...

You can click on the slide show to see the pictures & comments in my Picassa web album.

Sam here making a few friends with the locals in Hokkaido...

The Wall

Did I mention this before?
I've taken up climbing. Well, I've only been able to 'take it up' about half way on this wall, but I'm giving it a go. It's much more difficult than I expected. I kind of feel like there's no way to practice or train, I just have to DO IT. I'd really like a vertical wall for warm up, but, I guess I just have to grit my teeth and just push myself on this one. The guy at the bottom there on belay keeps egging me on - telling me that it's so easy to make excuses to not come and climb, but he's doing a good job of ticking me off enough to make sure I keep coming back and challenging the wall :)

One of the great things about being here in Japan is that I never quite know what to expect. That can certainly work for or against me. But this time I lucked out. I ended up finding this wall when I was at our sports festival at the gym here in Nagasaki city. I was curious, so I wandered over to see what this was all about. I think I still prefer rapelling, but this will do for now.

Just a couple of reference shots for my sketchbook...



Here's a museum at the botanical garden I visited on a school field trip in Sapporo. It was nice to see something different than the traditional Japanese for a change.















These maple leaves will be turning scarlet soon to herald the arrival of fall...I'd like to see this pattern in fabric.




















Here's a little nod to Weston -
(since I didn't have any peppers :) )
Actually, I'm thinking this could be inspiration for a new kind of potato chip...

YMC Yea!

Hmmm...can't seem to upload photos at the moment. But I hope you enjoy this very short clip from one of the most amusing performances at our culture festival! This teacher must be the KING at karaoke!

Yea! It works again...Here's a shot of the teacher, now donning a red bow, joined by a few energetic cheerleaders.

It's funny how we can "see" things, and then through the help of the camera, we can "see" things differently. That's probably why I like photography so much. That and because it's kind of a legacy of sorts from my dad, I guess. Speaking of Dad, I paid special attention to this glass ball sculpture because Dad used to have several of these green glass balls around the house. He made really cool macrame hangers for them and hung them about. I think he got the glass balls from his USCG stint in the Pacific. Well, here I am on the other side of that ocean and obviously some other artist thought that they were an interesting medium, too. I'm not crazy about my compositions here, but I was fascinated in the material (the green glass) and it's reflective, refractive, and transparent qualities. It was also kind of a natsukashii (nostalgic) moment for me because they remind me of "home" (a little ironically, since I think they actually originate in Japan!).


Here's what the sculpture looked like in the hotel entrance way.

You know it's a
good party
when you can barely set foot in the genkan...

(for those of you unfamiliar with a "genkan" - it's the entry way in a Japanese house or building where you leave your shoes.)
Thanks for the pic, B!

Hello, sushi lovers!

Here's a helpful sign I found in Sapporo -

Which is your favorite?

(don't forget to click on the picture to make it big enough to actually read)

omochi yori/kaeri pa-ty!

So it looks like the winner is...Bernie! Yeah - out of all you who SAID you were going to come visit me here in Japan, this guy is the only one of you lot to actually follow through, yo. ;o I had a really good time showing off my little corner of the world to my American friend here. The night he came down to my place I hosted an "omochi yori" (pot luck) party so B could taste all sorts of Japanese food (and so I wouldn't have to cook ;) ).
OHMIGOODNESS did we ever have lots of food!

And people! I think there were 28 people in the apartment at one point!
I didn't know that I knew that many people!
And, 15 minutes before the end of the party, those amazing creatures - otherwise known as Japanese ladies - were a whirlwind in my kitchen and suddenly everyone had a take home plate, all the rooms were clean, and my kitchen was spotless. They're just brilliant those J-ladies!

Sam is a good gator

Today was one of those days when I totally underestimated the power of mental and emotional exhaustion.
Yes...a little more 'tatami time' than I'd like to admit, but sometimes, it just can't be helped. Of course living alone in a quiet place can be grand, and I know many people with busy lives and crowded houses can be envious of my plentiful solitude, but sometimes it's just hard being the only one here, feeling so far away from everyone else.
BUT - at least I have Sam. He's been a good gator, and I know he's been staring at me all day, willing me to get my butt up and post some of the fabulous photos of him from the past month. So, voila! The one above is of me and some of the teachers at the Sapporo Nihongo Gakko, where I studied Japanese for two weeks earlier this month.


Here's Sam at the main train station in Sapporo. He thought the stars on the big clock there were pretty neat. Speaking of stars, I thought it was interesting that the people up in Sapporo (and maybe all of Hokkaido?) celebrate "Tanabata" (the star festival) on Aug. 7, not July 7, like the rest of Japan.


And here it is, folks - the only photo known to exist of me in a bikini. (unless Dad has one tucked away somewhere from when I was 3!) The school took us on a field trip to the beach so we could enjoy (looking at) the waves, and eating "Jingus Khan" - Japanese BBQ. I was determined to wear a bathing suit - since I don't even remember the last time I had the opportunity to wear one - but could only stand it for a little while, since I was cold! It was really spectacular at that beach, with all the mountains so close by, and dark sand which made not only the beach, but the water look completely different that what I'm used to.

kidnapped

Sorry, all - kidnapped by the Kappa...they are treating me well, and promise to return me to civilization soon...

benkyou shite imasu...

Hey! Im in Sapporo now taking an intensive Japanese course. On borrowed pc with ridiculous keyboard...cant　find certain keys and keep inadvertently changing to kana...will be back next weekend...hope youre all well...especially the new mamas - Cara and Lynore! Congrats!

would you believe...

...these girls are actually competing against each

other to win an unagi dinner.
What?
The contestants are paired up, and at the signal,
they both try to catch one of the unagi (eels) swimming
around in the little pool here. The first one to catch and throw
one out of the pool (yes, onto the ground for it to start
wriggling in the direction of onlookers!) wins the unagi dinner.
I'm sure that the nearby unagi restaurant sponsored
this event, which was one of the many activities that
was going on during the Kawamatsuri (River Festival).

Can you believe that my town is famous for these things? I mean - as in when you come to Isahaya, you need to eat their trademark dish, unagi. It is usually grilled with a sweet(ish) sauce and served over hot, white rice. It's also popular served as sushi (still grilled).

Banana Split Party

Last week I had some kids over to make ice cream and banana splits.
It was definitely their first time making & probably even
seeing a real banana split,
and I think it was also the first time most of them made ice cream, too.
We had lots of fun reading the English ice cream instructions,
and, I daresay, everyone had a good time!

The little ones were having difficulty with the whipped cream (incidentally, this was the first time I've found/used whipped cream and chocolate sauce in Japan!)








While the ice cream was churning, T-kun went a little 'nuts' :)











Since these guys were novices, we had a short lesson beforehand to go over the important steps in making a delicious banana split.











While waiting for the ice cream, the kids also decorated my windows, and so I had a nice surprise waiting for me when the sun came up!