catching up, rambling about attitude, and taking a break

Here are the quick and dirty's of the past little bit... mostly told in picture form. I am taking a break from this blog for a little bit too... It has recently been seemingly like a chore to write here, so I want to recharge my writing passion using other forms.



Yom Kippur in Kobe was a great experience... well-needed fasting and Jewish-community-being-arounding... wanna talk culture shock? Speaking/ hearing/reading Hebrew for a day and walking out of the Jewish community center to the world of reading/hearing and (not)speaking Japanese... wow.
(Shinkansen- bullet train. This got me to and from Kobe twice in the past two weeks!)

A junior high school sports festival... think color war and actual teamwork and group activities.... from 9am till 330. I thought my team had overcome a huge deficit to win second place after it repeatedly won 20-person running relays... but it seems that that was not the case. or maybe it was, but i just didn't understand. My team captains were crying at the end... but the winning team's captains were crying too. Teachers too... lots of folks... someone told me, "Sports Day, whether you win or lose you cry..." I think this is mostly due to physical exhaustion and coming to grips with completing a huge part of one's life for the months leading up to it.... its so overwhelming to be done that the winning and losing didn't even matter... how cool.

(Recently I was told that I cant have any pictures showing students' faces... invasion of privacy. Fair enough, so this is the blue team in the 30-person "3-legged race"... it was timed, it was amazing to watch the teamwork!)

Day of rest turns into an adventure into the big city. Liat emails me to inform me about an extra ticket to the Fukuoka International Film Fest... I'm a sucker for movies... had to go. Took the opportunity to go to Ohori Koen (yes, Drew and Jen... I made it!) before the film fest too. A lovely day in Fuk, even with the rain flirting to dump all day.

(Liat posing on the ____ [dont know what its called] in Ohori Koen)

Next day (Tues) back to Fuk for the meeting (more on this in two more paragraphs)... and the other posts describe the madness that went on from there.

(Another Sports Day shot: this is the huge team jump rope I told you about... the one that caused injuries galore... well, teams perfected it this day!)

Today is Thursday night, I am going to watch the women's world cup Semifinal between the US and Brazil... winner plays Germany soon... keep your eyes and ears peeled. I taught 5th and 6th graders yesterday... introducing numbers... it was a life-changing experience... awesome kids, awesome school and teachers and an exhausting day. I was scheduled for an extra class... nearly killed me but it was awesome. Yes- AWESOME! And today, I had 2nd graders... they were so small... and I made a spectacle of myself and made them laugh my walking into the top of the door frame upon my entering the classroom. I decided to do it all day too, to break the ice early. Haven't slept, physically exhausted, but I am awake and aware and smiling all day... unreal actually.

(The Narita-san statue is a great view on my bicycle-commute to school. Yeah, i take that road on the right!)

Leads me to a good point on which to rest for a while:

The meeting I attended was full of negatude. Folks wanted to leave early, the "too cool for school" attitude. Bitching, moaning, peanut gallery stuff. For three hours this went on. I could have easily joined it... i mean, settling for the lowest common denominator is easy and accepted. I mean, it makes everyone agree, so it must be right, right? Fucking (yes I wrote it) wrong, actually. You know why? Because agreeing is not always better. And a lousy attitude is a lousy attitude. If I accept negatude, then others will stay negative too. It is a shared energy thing...

I can't describe it well in words, but perhaps you've been in the situation where everyone looks right, even though the view is to the left. You look right too, because fitting in is easier- you don't feel like dealing with comments from the aforementioned peanut gallery... well, I'm done with it. I'm looking where the view is, and dealing with the comments... Not picking a fight or disagreeing to make a controversy... on the contrary...

Simply reflecting the happiness... And I practiced at that meeting too... with a smile. And you know what, it all just seemed silly after a minute of smiling... drama appeared, then melted out of my life and left me happy.... just like I had been going into it!


If I am physically drained and asleep on my feet and dead.... then I should be even nicer and happier, with a bigger smile... WHY? Because others vibe that smile, and smile back... and recharge my missing energy. The school day yesterday from another point of view....


After a draining day, I got to the elementary school and gave it everything... for 7 hours I was beaming and loud and excited and moving.... and by the end of the day, I left with a bigger smile and more energy, despite only five hours of sleep from the previous night... you know how I know it works? I got 5 hours again last night, rocked the classrooms again today and feel great!


Its all about energy.... the more I give, the more I get. The quality of energy I share is the same resonance that recharges me. It's not easy, but one is in the moment only once, so its important to make sure that energy is wisely absorbed/transmitted.

I received a gift recently. It was a scroll with the phrase in Kanji (Japanese characters):


"Ichi Go, Ichi E" -- One chance, one meeting.


This is not a Carpe Diem idea...



It is an idea that this moment is right now... It's true we may meet again, but this meeting is the only meeting we will have at this one time. I figure its important to recognize the intensity of each living moment and live accordingly... and, as written above, I have been choosing the energy route to do so.



Holy moly, I rambled that one away... can't promise another post anytime soon... but I do promise to be completely present in the moment I write... sharing as much positive energy as I can...



Ichi go, ichi e....



Soon,