Short and sweet- Shrines and beers

An all-day meeting: I was in Fukuoka for the second time this week. After workshops and more orientations, I walked the city for an hour and came upon a lovely shrine... yup, stereotypical Japanese garden... but it offered me 30 minutes of peace... raked rocks, quiet plants, gorgeous place... words lose their effect, maybe this picture can help somewhat.

(peace, in garden form)

Then our program set up an after-party at a Beer (Beeru) Garden... on the roof of Fukuoka Building (Biru)... in the heart of the city... cool. I tried different Japanese beers, of which, clearly, Kirin is the best. I want to stop drinking, but I don't know if it will be possible... good thing I was in a fraternity in University... it taught me how to handle lifestyles like this!

(on top of the roof of the Fukuoka Building)

Machines and automatic stuff in Japan is amazing... perfect amount of head on this beer... wow

(Thanks bartender, where do i leave your tip?)

Have a good weekend, I am already a day ahead of you!

Soon,

Hawks baseball, Homerun records and Karaoke

Before I get started... major props go out to my friend Julie Hassen for writing me a snail mail letter- (Jules, i got it!)- and from France, no less. (I will write back when you are settled in Berkeley- get me your addess!) In a world that is far too-connected in an impersonal way... letter writing (like I've written before) is an absolute necessity and skill... and I intend to practice it~!... Going on with life....

Like I forewarned you in my last post, I was plotting to go to a baseball game… and last night, we saw our local team, the Fukuoka Softbank (Sea) Hawks. Fukuoka is the major city, Softbank is the corporate sponsor and the team is the Seahawks, but they normally don’t use the “Sea” part… Go Hawks! To say the least. Though our team (second place currently) lost 2-1 to the top team in the league (Nihonham, from Hokkaido), three of my fellow teachers: Wendy, Jamie and Allison, my supervisor- Shintani sensei, and I had a great night.

(The florescent-colored vendors carried mini-kegs on their backs and sold draft beer! Big beers!)

The Yahoo! Dome was incredible… and perhaps the next time, they will open the retractable roof (done after every home win!). There was endless cheering during the Hawks’ at-bats and cheer-leaders to keep us fired up until the game was over. And let me tell you about seventh-inning stretches that are worthy of describing… every person (40,000 fans, even the opposing team’s people) with a huge yellow balloon… and at the end of the team song… letting them go… yellow everywhere, balloons flying, jovial and excited fans… who needs cracker jacks? (Especially when they sell fried squid at the food stands!)

I almost forgot to put this in… Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s record recently. I should congratulate him on such a wonderful milestone. BUT, I think it’s important to mention that the Hawk’s manager, Mr. Sadahara Oh (perhaps, Oh-sensei) also broke Aaron’s record; he hit over 860 home-runs when he played (years ago.) Now in his 60’s, Mr. Oh is one of the most respected men in Japanese baseball… and was the manager of the Japanese national team that won the world series of baseball last year…
(Hard-core fans overwhelm the right-side outfield)

So, according to my calculations and deductions, judgments and analysis… Barry is still second in homers- behind Mr. Oh, who, perhaps, earned his record in harder conditions. Steroids and asterisks discussions aside Barry has another 90 to go, because the homerun leader is Mr. Oh… But, semantics and statistics are quite maniputable, no? For instance: Major League Baseball also stakes a claim to the “World” Series… Here’s another insight for you: “America’s” pastime is played by a majority of immigrants* in its own country and played possible better in another country. We better hope that MLB players start playing hard all the time and not just during their contract years; they must practice and focus on the game… or our pastime will continue to just be a namesake. Wow, a long diatribe there.

We came back to Kurume and found “Magic World” in order to drown our miseries after the loss… drown misery in joy through SINGING! Yeah, you knew it was coming… a description of my first Japanese Karaoke experience. Small room, five of us, lots of singing… the ladies were all about JT, Britney, and Beyonce while Shintani sensei sang perfect renditions of “Let It Be” and “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling.” I came in adding vocals on a couple of songs and starred solo in Donavon Frankenreiter’s “Free.” “Between Me and You” was tough, as Allison and I rapped on, singing on behalf of Ja Rule and Ashanti… next time I will find a Japanese song… it was a great way to relax, share a couple of laughs and get a small bite to eat. Really. Healthy and fun and comfortable- not a performance in front of a bar of strangers, but a warm time between friends.

A great night, lots of fun, rather pricey… but it’s something that would probably be right down your alley (hahah, you’d have liked it, yeah, you’d have enjoyed that kind of thing…)

This morning (as I write this) we’re in the office after little sleep and then tomorrow back to the big city for a meeting and maybe more…

Soon,

Some quotes that I re-discovered again

the title it redundant you say? You are right...

"Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately [after] they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom to one man seems nonsense to another."

(Daichan, Lindsay and I pose with one of the guardian lions outside of the Kora Shrine)

Another piece of the pie:

"And here is a doctrine at which you will laugh. It seems to me, Govinda (ah, this gives it away!), that love is the most important thing in the world. It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect."


Did you guess where these are from?
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Did you guess right?
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Courtesy of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha

Soon,

Kurume Day and 25-year old’s Rebirth, again

Kurume Day

We were taken to explore the city of Kurume (Kurume-shi) last Friday with a group of Kurume University students who are involved in the English-intensive program. They spoke ALL day in English and it was impressive… We visited the Kora Shrine and Ishibashi Cultural Center and were treated to two wonderful meals. And, with the mantra of, “Try Everything (it’s Japan)” I enjoyed a fabulous dinner. It was slow-going through the first round of fish-gelatin-covered sashimi of raw octopus (tako) and something else… maybe squid. Sure. The three types of ice-cream/ custards of caramel, coconut and watermelon finished off famous Kanagawa-style kinda-tempura pork rolls… delish.

(Kora shrine)

So much for being vegetarian… in the house I am doing ok, but outside… there is too much to try… and being that I am “trying everything”… well, you get it. Oh, I forgot to mention the Kabocha soup during dinner… so good! I don’t even know what that means or what the Kanji (characters) look like, but if I hear it again, I’m downing it without hesitating- well, I will hesitate to say, “Itadakimas” which is like a pre-meal blessing. After this entry, can you tell that food is important to people with the last name, “Strich?”

(Kurume city from the Kora shrine- You’ll also notice mountains everywhere… I heard 60% of land in Japan is considered mountainous… Pretty crazy stat… it is perhaps 60% true. Furthermore 60% statistics are made up on the spot, though it might be more like 70% of those which are only true 55% of the time… THERE ARE MANY MOUNTAINS AND HILLS in JAPAN!)
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25-year old’s Rebirth, again (wow, confusing)

It’s so amazing when a baby is born. We celebrate its birth, its first everything- words, steps, day of school, graduations, etc. I don’t have kids, so I can’t necessarily celebrate these with the same vigor as a parent, but I have celebrated nonetheless. And, again, huge props to cousin Sara and Jeff because now they have new Jem to go along with Big Ben! Congratulations on such a wonderful beautiful baby boy!

Like I said, I help celebrate these special occasions when they arise… and I have recently celebrated myself. Having recently emerged, yet again, from the womb- I have discovered that this time it’s in Japanese… and boy am I as lost as a newborn! The difference is that I am supposed to somehow understand because I am bigger. The baby takes it for granted that it’s small, and humans somehow understand that it is just beginning… well, hey, I am too! Japanese is hard and I am getting used to the cultural nuances that I learn everyday… wow that was a long poorly thought-out introduction for discussing my “accomplishment” over the weekend.
(A nice beach shot, sans waves, but thats OK because the water was warm)

Armed with a couple of key phrases, a hand-drawn map and some time on my hands, I left my apartment and set out for the big city to go to the beach. I had my firsts: language phrases, public transportation uses, etc. Long story short is that I made it to the beach, went up Fukuoka Tower (123 meters), survived a day out of the apartment and got home safely and soundly… sounds somewhat boring… but it sure felt great! [Drew and Jen, you certainly should have been recognizing these pictures!]
(Fukuoka Tower from the beach)

The most dangerous part was on my bike ride home from the train station… it was the grey-haired lady in a yellow dress with the umbrella that was walking right in the middle of the sidewalk/path. I hit the curb, lost a shoe and nearly flew off the bike into on-coming traffic. I know what you’re thinking- I should have been riding on the right side of the street. I was on the RIGHT side… but in Japan folks drive on the LEFT… and the steering wheels are on the right side… get used to THAT! So, karmaically (if that is a word) I deserved it because I was on the wrong side of the road-- Although, it seems that pedestrians and bicycles often just fit in where they want-- So, I laughed it off and got some fresh plums to sweeten up my arrival at home.
(Momochihana beach from above- from the Fuk Tower)

And today, after I wrote most of this blog, I went out to lunch with the ladies with whom I work (yes, that’s how you say it… proper grammar!) I was able to read the menu that was in Katakana. I am almost proficient in this first (easiest!) of the three written Japanese languages… a couple more repetitions through the characters and I should be able to navigate the streets a bit more.

(Looking towards Fukuoka Harbor: behind JAL building is the Yahoo! Dome, where the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks baseball team plays. I am possibly going to a game on Wednesday!)

So, lots of firsts, lots of newness and it is like being reborn in another culture. It happened to me in Italian, Spanish and now in Japanese… but this one will take a bit more time to get used to… however, it’s clean here so waiting and being patient is a lovely experience. So long as I take my time, things here seem to fall into place… there is always a person to help, always more Japanese to learn, always a new place to travel.

(This was a random entry… hope you were able to follow it!)

Matan-e,