japan pics 2

stolen intrax moments

photos from japan 1

Tokyo - last days

Making the kids do japanese double-dutch. japanese double-dutch?

Photo updates - Meiji Shrine - Tokyo last days

Just a photo i snagged from one of my student's facebook. FB's great for snooping. Plus, since i stopped taking photos, pointing at ancient temples, and doing all sorts of other touristy stuff i can mooch a shot here and there. This is Meiji Shrine, a massive shrine in the middle of Tokyo's urban sprawl. It was dedicated to the Emperor of the Meiji period who pushed forward all of the efforts to modernize Japan, eliminate all of the samurai and shogun, and spawn horrible movies like 'The Last Samurai'. The kids are writing their wishes on wooden blocks to be burned during New Years.

the half way mark AND literature review

somewhere in between landing in tokyo, rushing 45 kids in and out of the tokyo metro, doing on the spot language interpreting, and getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night, i managed to finish one mediocre novel and get 3/4 of the way through an other.

my friend sue (an other program coordinator/manager) and i did a 'crap' book exchange. the work ('what happened to henry' by sharon pywell) that i read and gave to sue was from a co-worker/friend in austin. she confessed, 'now, i only got this for a dollar. so, don't expect much, but there is something that i don't get about the story and need to talk about.' we will talk more about this when i get back, but for now some initial thoughts.

this is often the blessing/curse of traveling. the goal is stretch your personal boundaries. eat food that you wouldn't normal seek out, meet people you wouldn't normal cross paths with, and be open to ideas and beliefs that up until now you have been shutting out.

the good part - you get to come home w/ magical stories that often your friends and family are too busy to care about.

the bad part - you spend your time in some dump hanging out w/ a blabber mouth, know nothing know-it-all.

or you read 'what happened to henry' and 'the memory keeper's daughter' back to back. like the blabber mouth know-it-all, 'what happened to henry' keeps hammering the same story over my head again and again. the story chronicles year after year for over 20 YEARS how henry's either a A-1 whacko (and his little sister is not that far behind), or he's channeling a japanese survivor of the hiroshima bombing. there's no controversy with his sister. she's out there. and worst of all, by the end of the book i stopped caring.

if i was in the comfort of my own home i would be surrounded by friends and books that i liked. there would be no room for a drunk to corner me in a bar and go on and on about how the sudden break up of his marriage was the catalyst for his voyage to east asia. likewise, i wouldn't have been trapped in a business hotel with the writings of sharon pywell. but i was and i soaked up the whole story.

as for 'the memory keeper's daughter', i have more i can say on that, but for now this know-it-all drunk will let you go.

Ghibli - masterpiece or palace of fluff?

Studio Ghibli Museum - Miyazaki - 'Spirited Away, Princess Monoke, Howl's Moving Castle', and many more... as a casual fan of Miyazaki mixed in with a larger group of hardcore fans, i have to admit that i was a bit excited to finally get to visit the Studio Ghibili Museum. A funky building that draws millions of fans annually boasts of having amazing exhibits from past and upcoming film projects. While there were some displays that showed the 'magic' of animation, studio ghibli which is known for its secrecy kept most of its sought after art work locked away. so, after 5 minutes i found myself in one of the 3 gift shops. then within 10 minutes i was torn between entering a line for overpriced ice cream or a taking a nap on a bench.

popular....

enter the japanese high school.

i am only repeating what most of my kids admitted to me. 'matt, i've never been so popular. i've gotten so many numbers. can i stay here?'

anime, manga, japanese language study... none of these w/ in the context of football, muscle car-SUVs, BBQ, and the war on terror can be interpreted as 'cool'. in japan, it all becomes neutral, and if you're a happy, semi-outgoing (white) american teenage, you're automatically a superstars. and this high school in tokyo welcomed us.

書道 back in my own mind - still waking up @ 3am hungry

jet lag is slowly lifting and the fog that has clouded me into blissful thinking is clearing to the horror of a month of non-stop 24/7 work. the first couple of days of feeling, 'yeah! i'm back in japan! i love it. it loves me,' has dissolved into, 'oh god, i have to keep all of these kids safe and HAPPY.

yesterday, i, with the help of 2 other japanese teachers, carefully helped 25 kids navigate through the tokyo train system. today my group practiced calligraphy within the safety of the of the center. ahhhh. it was so nice not to be on the train.