For Nakahara-Sensei

This post is dedicated to one of my Japanese teachers of English, Nakahara-sensei. She is probably my most faithful reader, and has made several subtle comments about my lack of posting activity. So, Nakahara-sensei, this one's for you!!

Please note, there are new pictures under "Japanese Bliss." To see the pictures, just click on the link and you'll be taken to another page to view all our photos, along with my almost witty comments.

Ok, so here's a superb example of Japanese English:

Isn't it great? I have no idea what it means, either. It's very common to see English in Japan, but whether or not it actually succeeds in communicating is completely another matter. Shirts like this are very common, but we thought this was an excellent example of what is called "Engrish," or Japanese English. And of course we bought the shirt! At about $4, we couldn't refuse.

On a different note, we're discovering Spring in Japan. It's shaping up to be a beautiful season, for sure. I've often said Japan isn't the most beautiful country I've ever seen, but to be fair, I have every confidence there will be loads of amazing flowers coming up very shortly. We're eagerly anticipating the upcoming cherry-blossom season, which, I'm coming to learn, is an essentially religious experience for the Japanese people. There aren't any cherry blossoms out just yet, they're not due until the last week in March. But for now, we have some lovely trees blooming called "Ume." It's pronounced "oo-may," not "yoom." I have no idea what they're called in English. I could look it up, but I'm far too lazy. It's much easier to upload a photo and show you...so, here's what it looks like:

Jackie and I went to a big park in our city, to see the ruins of the old castle. The ruins were interesting, but more importantly, we got lucky and saw the beginning of the flower season! They smelled really nice, and there were lots of Japanese around, taking pictures with their camera phones (just like we were). In the photo albums to the right, I've included close-up shots of some ume blossoms in another park...they're not bad photos, but my camera phone likes to blur close-up shots. That's what I get for being cheap and lazy! But a development in the camera department is in the works, so hopefully our photo quality will improve in the coming weeks.

And finally, this past weekend Jackie and I took a trip with some friends to Kagoshima, a fairly large port city on the southern part of our island, Kyushu. It's the southern-most major city in Japan, and just happens to sit right next to a pretty active volcano! We thought that was pretty cool, so here's a shot of the volcano.

And yes, that's steam coming up from the summit. It was a perfectly cloudless day, so that's real volcano action! Stupendous! Fantastic! Sensational.

Other than that, we continue to do average things, like eat at KFC and meet friends at Starbucks. We occasionally get drenched riding our bikes to the train station or work in the pouring February rain. I recently showed up to work with my pants sticking to my legs and my air dripping like I'd just gotten out of the shower. The vice-principal had a good laugh at my expense. Of course, I'd been aware it was raining and packed a pair of dry pants to change into, and the hair dried out nicely, just in time to have a party with some 7-year olds. I found out, not only can I juggle TWO bean-bags, but I can also catch a ball with a cup-on-a-stick. The kids were ecstatic. I thought they were easily impressed.

In a couple weeks, Jackie's best friend Evonne is coming to visit! She'll be staying with us for almost 3 weeks. We're very excited to show her around our city and town, meet our friends, and just see her reaction to such a foreign place. We've got a trip to South Korea in the works, as well as a trip to Kyoto, the medieval capital of Japan, and by all accounts one of it's most beautiful cities. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing some old temples, shrines, and castles. We even hope to get lucky and spot a geisha! But that's what everyone says when they go to Kyoto, and not all see their hopes come to fruition. We'll see. Rest assured, if I can get a picture with a real geisha, it'll be on this blog, front and center. If you don't know what a geisha is, Google it. It's a rather long explanation, and I'd get it all wrong anyway.

We have about 20 weeks left in Japan, so we're trying to make the most of our remaining time. It's a little difficult to keep perspective, as Japan feels so normal right now. It's America that seems exotic and far away, and Japan feels so "everyday" and un-exceptional. But, this is where one has to rise above one's circumstances and see the truth: very soon, we'll be back in America, and Japan will be a distant memory. We want to be sure we do it well, and make the most of our time! We'll never have this opportunity again, and it's more important now than ever to maintain a proper perspective.

That's enough for now, I suppose. Enjoy the new pictures, and have a great March!