Spring break

it is cold and rainy today, but i still planted the basil and tomatoes that i bought yesterday. i watched UCLA dominate defensively this morning against Xavier... then hung around for the NC/Louisville game despite the battle that my father and I had over the slingbox. he accessed it from work while I was in the "next day" here in Japan. Technology is a funny thing!

(Kids fishing, folks kayaking- taken @ Ama Beach on Zamamijima)

My knees have been hurting because I am not as young as I once was. It stemmed from participating in the school marathon a couple weeks ago. I ran a 2K with the ni nensei girls... then, I had to prove myself and earn some respect so I ran it again with the ichi nensei boys... big mistake. I was out of shape and stressed my legs much more than they were ready for because the boys' course turned out to be 3K! So, when I turned on the after burners, anticipating the end of the race, I was quite surprised to have to double back around the lake at Urayama park. Needless to say that was the beginning of the inflammation. riding my bike for the next week or so, putsing around and getting to work too didn't help. And running and getting fit for the spring compounded everything. Oy. So, two days of hiking around Zamami-jima and one day of hike/hitchhiking in Miyako-jima in the Okinawa prefecture made it altogether a disaster. Walking around Naha to change ports for various boats... all with a heavy pack... And things were going rough. Got home and iced it- days later.... big mistake. Locked my knee and pissed off the tendons altogether. Brilliant move, Dave!

(Picture of Furuzamami beach, clearest water in Japan, they say)

Fortunately, everything works out for the better... and I rested this weekend. Ikeda Naoko- the world's kindest woman and the ALT's unofficial mom here in Kurume, assisted me at the doctor's once again... translating and just being so sweet. The world is a much better place because of people like her. As my friend Jamie said, "you just want to be around her... you can't help but be happy and nice because she radiates it. It's an energy that just makes you be a better person." Well put. She has checked up on me and made sure that I understood the doctor's directions and determination about my condition (I forgot the right word!) she is also the one responsible for my access to organic food; she is helping me set up the compost for our apartment complex too. What a wonderful person. And her whole family... they treat me so well whenever I pick up my food- and inevitably stay for dinner! The cooking lessons and food-sharing... I truly enjoy Japan, especially Kurume, because she has made such a positive impact in my life. 先生　ども　ありがとう！

(Posing on the eastern side of Zamamijima)

My friend Wendy is a genius. She single-handedly changed the course of my life by setting up the different keyboards on my computer. Now I can play with Japanese and even use the Spanish accents and "ñ" without a hassle. Communication is key! And now I use the right keys for proper communication!

(From the lighthouse at Higashi Henna-misaki on Miyakojima. Low tide and lots of reefs!

Speaking of communication, I just wrote an essay for the annual JET Programme competition. And communication was a strong point of that paper. I also wrote about my role here. Winning the competition isn't all that important at this point. I probably write as bad as the next guy/gal. But it was sure nice to get some of the feelings of my chest- regarding my experience as an assistant teacher here, the things I've learned about myself and about the Eastern mentality, and sharing the importance of my traveling... not simply for pleasure and leisure, rather for continuing my role as a cultural ambassador.

(Looking back at the channel next to Miyako-jima from nearby Kurimajima. Off to the left is the longest white sand beach in Japan... stretching over 7km it is called, Mae-hama beach... and we got some good beach volleyball going in the afternoon!)

Wow, I have put down a whole bunch of things that have nothing to do with Spring Break! Oops. I guess not having written/typed for 16 days has led me to a bit of a backup. I stopped right around the time I hurt my knees and then was away from the computer for a week, so this has been in the making.

(Fisherman up to no good on the lighthouse peninsula- Look out Octopus!)

It's funny because I was rather depressed in the winter. I have been trying to explain to family and friends that I was pretty miserable in the winter without knowing it at the time. I didn't realize that I stopped, basically shut down my love for life and passion to get out there and get my hands dirty with the Japanese language and... you get it. The lack of sunlight had a tremendous impact on my life. And, as the spring has come forth (APRIL on TUESDAY- WOW!) and the Ume blossom is over and the sakura blossoming has just begun, I can look back over my winter time and pat myself on the back for getting through it. Really. It's not an impressive feat, and 20 days of snowboarding helped me with it. But, wow, its great that there is more light during the days now, even if today IS cold and windy and rainy. I feel as if I have written this before, so I will leave it at that.

I went to Okinawa last week. I left on the last flight out Wednesday, to return Monday evening. In a whirlwind trip, I stayed in the main city, Naha, for only 7 hours- to sleep. I island-hopped to Zamami-jima (座間味島) and Miyako-jima (宮古島). Camping on the first island was fabulous, as I hiked most of the island, enjoyed nice weather (even though it was overcast) and even saw a humpback whale that was passing through the northwestern channel.

(Naha at night, with the full moon. I was aboard an overnight ferry on my way to Miyako)

Miyako was bizarre because i had planned to camp there too. Long story short: friend of the son of my fruit vendor, an ALT also, put me up for 2 nights and arranged for SCUBA diving. Bad weather cancelled the dive and Jeff put up with me for two days... As was the case of a random dude invading another dude's pad. We drove around the island, ate fairly well and got in some beach volleyball (on the nice day)... but I felt a bit weird because we didn't even know each other and he was sort of stuck with me... it all worked out and I certainly appreciate his kindness.

The vacation seemed like more work than leisure (although no "ambassador" stuff on this one, however!) because of the way it all panned out. But, I guess it did the trick because I did get back to my apartment feeling rather refreshed and relaxed...

(Shri, Praju, Hana, Murray, Kendra and Jamie in the dining hall)

Immediately following, I went to 久留米高校's annual English camp. That is Kurume High School. Two days, lots of English. In the cultural fair (here is the ambassador part), my group presented about Chile. They learned a lot about food and culture of the "long country" that runs parallel to the Andes. I taught groups how to make Salsa; not a Chilean thing per se, but a Latin American thing... so that was fun. Jamie, Kendra, Hanna, Murray and Praju had cultural lessons on Hawaii, France, England, New Zealand and India. All in all, we really did some good over those two cold days in the eastern Fukuoka (福岡) mountains.

(This Japanese thing is really cool!)

(Jamie's masterpiece: A picture of us in cartoon form... our names are written in Katakana across our chests!)

This post has gone on for quite a while. I could break it up and post chunks over the next couple of days, but I'd forget. Plus, as the scroll hanging in my apartment reminds me, Ichigo ichi e (一期一 [ ? ]). Once in a lifetime, one opportunity... except I can't find the right kanji! "This is the only time that I can possibly do this, so I had better be here while I do it!" is the way one can understand it.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. There are a bunch of pictures of new, spring flowers posted along the right column of the blog too. Here is a Sakura at a small shrine near Naoko-sensei's house!