Friday, July 30, 2010

So Long Japan, and Thanks for all the Fish

Although I only got home around 1 in the morning, Tuesday, July 20th was a holiday because of the festival that weekend. Although I don’t remember much from that day, I’m fairly certain I cleaned more. That night was my farewell party with Yayoi.

We went for soba and other party foods at a local restaurant. There, I was treated to a speech from Momose Sensei, where he thanked me for the group, saying kind things like how I understood the students well, could be counted on for fun lessons in advance, and that I was always kind to the kids. It was a very kind speech, and a very special night.

Wednesday was another farewell party with some of the Adult Students again, but much smaller this time, and we went for Unagi (eel), a summer specialty. It was delicious if you’ve ever had the stuff, and we bid farewell to each other yet again, as it was the last time I could see them before going home.

On Thursday was my last day at Tatsuno High School. The kids were well behaved, and we played games for my last 2 classes with them. I was very happy for the last class when I said “good morning” the whole class greeted me back. I knew I could finish on a high note. After school, many students came by with many different presents, and we talked for a good while.

When I wasn’t busy, I wrote up thank you cards with my email to other teachers, and gave them parting presents. I couldn’t find any Canadian wine anywhere; so then I looked for Maple cookies. Alas I couldn’t find those either, so I got other cookies, and they were well received. That night we had our farewell party together at another restaurant in Ina. It was delicious again, and Komagome Sensei tried to keep up with me; we had over 2 liters each.

Of the 5 teachers, 3 have been teaching with me for the whole 3 years. Only Kumagai Sensei couldn’t make the party, because he got the chicken pox or something, and has been in the hospital for weeks. Komagome sensei was tasked with my farewell speech, and had many kind words for me, like how I taught him much more than just teaching, and that he would miss me dearly. We all had a hard farewell, the Japanese kind where they stood at the restaurant waving at me until I walked out of sight. I will miss them deeply.

I caught myself taking pictures and movies of mundane things; pictures of my desk, the hallway, driving north, my train station, and more. Even when I look at them now, they bring back good memories, and I’m happy to have records of them. When I look at the pictures of my friends, and those who came to wish me well, I am flooded with recollections of the good times we shared.

After parties everyday, Friday night was more subdued for a chance of respite. I went out for a simple supper with Thi while we waited for Richard to get out of his work party and then had an early night. On Saturday we met up with Sorin and Molly, and went for a quick swim in the Tenryu River near a campground I visited last year.

It was still beautiful, surrounded by rich green trees and grass. We even saw some snake skins lying around. We jumped into the water and cooled down, as the hot summer days of late were very taxing. It’s amazing how a hot, hot day quickly becomes a nice day when you’re out swimming.

We went to Okaya after and saw the movie “Inception” because with a movie rumored to be this good, you need to see it before you hear spoilers; otherwise it would have been a tough call to pick between seeing it, and Toy Story 3. It was a really good movie as we were told, and I still look forward to seeing the new Toy Story sometime, though now it’ll have to be in Canada.

That night, Neal’s friend Michelle was celebrating her birthday at the castle. For it, they had a keg after eating monstrous hamburgers. It was a really good idea for a party, and we played Frisbee in the dark because it had little lights built in. Other teachers came by, and more farewell words were shared; it’s interesting to see how large exoduses play out among social circles.

On Sunday we had more time to take a slightly longer drive to that breathtaking waterhole near Komagane. I hadn’t been there since my welcome party 3 years ago, where I met many people for the first time. It’s funny how things came full circle, as this was my last Sunday in Japan.

It was still a splendor to behold, and still icy to jump in. This time I had the courage to jump, but hit the bottom after a small jump. I guess taking off from high up was not meant to be, but it didn’t stop us from having fun. After a couple hours of this, we started to pack up, and were hit by a monsoon.

The downpour was wicked, and Richard went scrambling for the car to pick us up. As we drove out of it though, it was an interesting freak storm that affected just a small area, climbing over the Alps and washing a line from East to West; just a couple kilometers north and south were dry. It sure was cool to see.

That night was my last farewell party, and it was at Mervin’s house. We only decided on it Friday maybe, and I didn’t really invite anyone. Mervin made some calls though, and it was a fun little gathering with lots of freshly made food from some of his Pilipino friends.

On Monday I taught my last 2 classes in Japan, and that night went to my favourite restaurant, kappa sushi, for the last time. I met up with 7 others, and lined up all my favourite dishes for pictures and consumption. I went to that restaurant maybe every week, and have a profound love for sushi and wasabi thanks to it.

I traded farewells with other people I wouldn’t be seeing again before Thursday, and that night, I slept on the floor of my empty house. I had a cushion I would throw in the garbage in the morning, but despite that, I am very proud of the way I was able to clean up everything in my house and get ready to go; it’s own type of therapy. I realized that I had been cleaning for over 5 weeks, and having hard farewells with many good friends for over 2 weeks that I was all played out.

I had made my peace with Japan, was all cried out, and ready to move on with my life.

On Tuesday I gave my farewell speech to Yayoi and never broke down like I did at Tatsuno thanks to my newfound closure. I got choked up obviously, and so were my kids, and we were able to be happy about our time together in unison. When I walked through the gym this time where they parted and clapped their hands, some would come and shake my hand. I patted some backs, waved, and we all celebrated the joy that was my tenure here.

It was another busy day, as they all have been, with thank you cards, gifts, last minute errands such as cleaning out my bank, handing over my car and house keys, paperwork and more. When it was time, I shook hands, hugged some, and made my way to the door (after throwing my shoes in the garbage; there wasn’t any room in my luggage)

To my surprise, everyone followed me. Soon I was leading a procession to the door, and was joined by other teachers along the way that took notice. At the entrance we ran into even more people, and the girls softball team. I wanted one last picture together, and everyone was happy to oblige. They gave me thanks; I shed my last tears, and had another long walk home, with everyone standing at the entrance, waving to me until I was out of sight. I now understand why they do that in Japan, and it touched my soul.

I went home and finished filling my suitcases. Took my last photos of my empty house, and tried to make the “5-minute” walk with all of my heavy luggage; it took half an hour. I hoped to catch up with Richard for one last beer together, but was obviously falling behind time. He ran up the hill though to shake my hand and bid me farewell before quickly running to his own bus, one taking him to Tokyo and later Vietnam. I hope he has a good trip like what Neal and I had 2 years ago.

I somehow made it to my train on time. I rode it for an hour north, taking in my surroundings, and the novelty of riding a train. Craig and Lauren picked me up at the station, and together we joined Kayo for some subs. A novelty food in Japan, sure, but it was delicious, and it was great to see my good friends again before I left.

Craig took me to Mervin’s after, where I could size up a scale and have an idea of what I was looking at. My large bag was over 10kg overweight. My heart sunk when I saw that, and started doing major surgery to its insides. Some presents had to be thrown out, most of my socks and underwear, and many articles of clothing filled one of Mervin’s garbage bags. While it was fraught with tough calls, it was encouraging to know I was that much closer to being ready for Thursday.

We watched ‘The Shawshank Redemption” that night before going to sleep, and laughed at how we could draw awkward analogies to my departure and that classic film. In the morning, Wednesday, I took the 5-minute taxi to the train station, and it cost twice what my half hour train to Matsumoto was. I sure won’t miss the taxis here, but atleast it took my luggage for me. In Matsumoto, there was a fleet of taxis, all with running engines of course, but it’s a lot easier now to not let things bug me.

Neal came and picked me up, and I parked my luggage at his house. He had work, so I could relax that morning, and later we got lunch; my last bowl of ramen. After lunch I cancelled my cell phone, and looked for a couple presents with not much luck; I hardly had any luggage space after all.

Neal joined me later, and together with Michelle we had all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ for my last supper in Japan. After, we played games at Neal’s house. It was a long hot day, and I was ragged from all the activities as of late, but was still grateful for chance to spend time with my good friend before leaving.

On Thursday morning, I was awakened to Neal making me breakfast. I was exhausted, but forced myself out of bed to try and make the most of our time together. It was short lived, as before long the airport taxi was calling. For $20 than making my own way to the airport, it would pick me up and take me straight there; a huge convenience, especially considering all my bags.

We both refused to say ‘goodbye’ to each other, and instead we look forward to the next time we can meet up again. I’ve said it before (and believe it) with other friends of course, though saying it to the last friendly face before leaving still made me choke up, and I told him to have a good day in an effort to break some of the somber overtone. Life is a celebration, not a funeral. I will miss my dear friend.

So there I was, at the airport, typing this up while waiting for the flight that will end “Anthony’s Amazing Asian Adventure.” I handed in my foreigner card, checked in my luggage, and was even stopped in a random security check. The police saluted me when they walked off, thanking me for my 3 years of service here.

I’m ready to go home, and I am forever grateful for making the best decision of my life by coming here. 3 years have come and gone, and I consider myself a lucky man to have experienced it, to have had the chance to learn and grow from it, and to meet all the amazing people that I have. To all my friends I made here in Japan, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. You will be missed, and you will never be forgotten. To all my friends and family back home in Canada, thank you for your love and support, and I will see you soon.

Until we meet again, have a good one and take care ^_^

tnoy

Friday, July 23, 2010

It's not getting any easier

It seems I can’t leave the house without completing another 3 errands or so, from saying goodbye to people, to buying presents, to sending large and heavy boxes home. Let’s just say I’ve spent over $250 at the post office this month, but atleast there is progress. I know this update is late, but that’s to be expected; pandemonium. Let me backtrack and try to put the chaos into words, as I post this blog late on a Friday night before going to another party.

On the 13th, I made a special trip to Matsumoto to drop off 3 more heaters for that cool guy, Trevor. Since I was in town, I was able to meet up with Neal for some Indian food. We went there before with my mom and Ann, and it was delicious again.

As it usually is, the conversation was interesting. We reflected on the last 3 years together, from the first time I met Neal, to other crazy adventures. He hit me with some blunt truth: “You were looking for a reason to stay”. It’s true though, my reasons for coming to Japan changed into different reasons for why I stayed over time. This last year was mostly “because I’m having the time of my life” and moving to Ina was seen largely as a fresh start.

Alas, I feel like it’s time to move on, and discovered my feelings that if I came back to teach English in Japan, it would be a like step backwards for myself personally; the same way that working in Regina again would be 2 steps back. I want to move on to something new, and need to make the choice for myself.

More insights were made, and more fun was had, before going back to Neal’s house for video games. We played for hours, and it brought back many good memories from when I used to play games like this with friends; I was pretty rusty.

Neal told me he was busy Wednesday night for my farewell party with my adult students, but he said that to see the look of shock on my face when I saw him driving into the parking lot. 30 people or so had gathered at the local Chinese restaurant to see me off, and wish me well. Unfortunately I forgot my camera at Ike's the week before, and am missing many potential pictures, but you get the idea.

The food was amazing, and naturally the people were great. I was surprised they asked me to give a speech straight away before I had any drinks, and was surprised even more when I started to choke up after the first sentence. I mentioned how the last 3 years were summed up as a “Poof! And then they were gone” with a lump in my throat. There I was, surrounded by such good friends, for so many years, and it was uncertain if I would see them again. I ended my speech early before breaking down, but not before giving them heartfelt thanks.

We ate, we drank, and we had fun. I got presents from some people, and photos with others. Emails went around, memories were fondly recalled, and I gave them my last English lesson: “Take Care”, because goodbye is forever, and too sad. I felt it was appropriate.

I got home ok thanks to Richard, but when I woke up in the morning the room was spinning like crazy. I didn’t get very drunk the night before because I was so busy talking, and was reminded of a similar incident about 5 years ago when I had an ear infection, and the excess fluids made me dizzy. Atleast this time I didn’t wake up puking like I did then.

I somehow drove to work in Tatsuno thinking it would pass, but that was pretty dangerous. After fighting it for a while at school, I went to the hospital not far away. I spent the next 5 hours lying on a bed, trying not to get sick. They did some simple tests, I didn’t really understand, and then they told me this is apparently common, and they were going to give me medicine that “may or may not work”. Oh and there was no one to check my ears; I’d have to come back another day.

It sounded like a placebo, but the huge syringe they brought out was not. They put was seemed like ½ a liter or something inside me, so much it took almost 5 minutes to inject, then waited a while for the effects. I could atleast sit up in the bed now, and was reassured it would get better, and got a prescription for something.

Sure enough I did get better over the next 5 days, though I’m not sure what I had or what medicine I was taking. I wondered if it was from stress or poor diet, though my mom thinks it was from a lack of water with this sweltering heat. Atleast I’m ok again, but my time in the hospital not only made me reflect on my mom’s worst fears: of me being in that old hospital.

Also, I missed my last class with my 3rd years. They still got some stuff done for the festival, and I was a bit relieved, as I was afraid my last talk to them would quickly decompose into a lecture. I really hope they start acting better, as it’s hard to make a class interesting or fun if there is absolutely zero interest to listen or be quiet from the kids. As I’ve said before, they’re the worst class I’ve ever had to deal with, and I just hope they calm down enough to show a little bit of respect for my colleague teaching with me.

Anyways, I was glad I was feeling good enough to give my farewell speech on Friday. I had it prepared as I mentioned last time, and practiced it a couple times (it would take about 10 minutes). After a brief introduction from the principal, I gave my speech. I started with a “good morning”, to which about 5 students replied out of hundreds.

This set me back a bit, and is a big reason why I’ve grown tired of that school lately. Regardless, they are still my kids, and I still had 3 amazing years with them. I started my speech with a little joke to get them laughing, and then it got serious. I could hear sniffles echoing in the gym, and when I came near the end, I broke down completely.

I have never wept so openly before, especially in such a huge crowd. I truly believed in my words, and what I was telling them, and am truly grateful to be here. Here is a transcript of my speech (roughly translated into English):

Good Morning!

Yes, I’ll be going home soon. You’re probably thinking: “Hey Tony! Whatcha’ talkin’ about?!?!” (In Osaka slang). The last 3 years sure have gone fast, and I have been blessed with your kindness in that time.

My feelings upon leaving are complicated. I’m full of anticipation for things to come, and am excited to see my friends and family again. At the same time, I’m hesitant.

I remember when I first came here well. I stood in this same spot, and said “nice to meet you”. My Japanese was terrible then, but I studied and tried hard. I took the Japanese proficiency test 2 years ago, and failed. It was a shock, and I became depressed. As I though, new languages are really hard, aren’t they?

But, a new year is a new start, and I never give up. I worked extremely hard, wrote the test again last year, and this time, I passed.

It was a long, hard road, but the feeling of victory was enormous. I wanted to try and give that feeling to you when I was teaching English. I tried to make my classes fun for everyone. Sometimes I may seem like a crazy foreigner from a crazy country, but the truth is I’m just a person, the same as all of you. I hope all of you can go out, and try to live a life of joy and adventure, just like I am trying to.

Although I came here to teach English, I found myself learning everyday. The Japanese studies I mentioned were just one example, I learnt about the culture and many other things too. I have many memories from my time here. Because of these experiences, I have been able to grow.

You all live in a truly beautiful place. Everyday I would look at the mountains, breath the air, and enjoy the nature. I have been to many places before, and I’ve grown to love Nagano and the people here. I cannot believe my time in Japan is coming to an end.

Please don’t be sad that I’m going, but be happy that I came. I will never forget your kindness, and I wish for your happiness from the bottom of my heart. I am so grateful to you all, and I will miss you more than words can express.

Thank you for the best 3 years of my life.

Tears pouring down my face, and to a thunderous applause in the gym, I took a deep bow. With shaking hands, I folded my speech up, and tried to dry my eyes. I hoped to make a quick exit, but soon a student representative came up, and gave an English speech to me, as I roughly remember it:

“Thank you for teaching here, we will miss you. You always said hello to all students, making us happy. Your classes were always fun. Please remember Tatsuno High School, and come to visit again someday.”

He spoke with such good English too, I couldn’t be more proud. After another bout of tears and applause, I tried to run off stage again to hide my tears, but was told to stay up, warranting a chuckle. There, the principal joined me, and gave a short speech, like how my last day was next Thursday.

Soon, he parted the gym up the middle like Noah, and together we walked through the rows of applauding, weeping kids. I was a blubbering shaky mess now, but I tried to keep my head high as we walked through the procession, saying thank you to the students and teachers surrounding me, tears in their eyes, clapping their hands, and waving goodbye.

I had to stop typing several times to keep from crying again, it was simply emotionally overwhelming. I somehow drove back to Yayoi to finish classes for the day. It was my last school festival in Tatsuno that weekend, and after the speech, I felt like I really wanted to go. Alas, it was also my last long weekend in Japan, and I have been to 5 school festivals already, so I went on my last Japanese road trip.

Before going to Thi's place to spend the night, Richard and I went to a french restaurant in Matsumoto with Neal and Michelle. At Thi’s place, we planned our trip. Because it was a long weekend, everything seemed busy. We didn’t have camping equipment, so we looked for hotels, and the pickings were very slim. I went to sleep early, still feeling dizzy and sick, and Saturday morning we drove 6 hours north to Niigata, the only place we could find a place to stay, and it was only for 2 people, so we had to sneak me in; there was simply no where else to stay.

We had the chance to drive along the coast, and immediately we understood Neal’s deep-seated hate for tetra pods. Scattered for many kilometers along the coast, around 5 meters from the shore, were what must have been thousands of tons of very ugly concrete.

I enjoyed the ride regardless though, as I found a book at Thi’s place: “1984”. I never really knew much about it before, but am so glad I got to read it. The whole thing was so amazing, so frightening, and so engrossing, that I started to turn anti-social half way through the trip. I apologized for being rude with my nose in a book, but it really was a great way to unwind. I highly recommend it to everyone.

We didn’t really do much in Niigata, as we knew nothing about the city and it was dark when we arrived. We got some food, checked out some sights, and went to bed. In the morning we took a 2-hour ferry to Sado Island, where we spent the next 2 days.

On the ferry I tried Pachinko for the first time, and it really is a waste of money like people say. You spin a knob, dictating how hard it will throw out balls, and they fall and slide into slots for prizes. I was baffled at how such a boring mess could be so prevalent in Japan. Though, they did have a cool Nintendo station set up, where you could choose from a number of games to play.

Once on the Island, we drove around for a while at first, and were always disappointed with any beaches we came across due to the unwieldy piles of concrete making the small patch of sand look ugly. I was surprised with the Island though; it seemed rather empty. We drove for hours trying to find restaurants sometimes.

I found it peaceful though, and I like I said, I was wrapped up in a book for most of it. We made our way to Sado’s goldmine, and the tour was really neat. We saw how they excavated the thing, and how they burrowed around looking for new gold veins among other things.

We stayed at a Ryokan that night, a Japanese style hotel. I unfortunately haven’t stayed at them as much as I should have in the past, as not only do you stay with a wonderful family, but also they cook you amazing food made from local specialties. We had a huge feast, and loved it all; weird cone shells, BBQ fish, sashimi and more. It was interesting too; that we were eating for almost 2 hours and hardly noticed how the time had passed because we were enjoying it so much.

That night, we snuck out to the nearby harbor, where we lit off some fireworks Richard bought for a couple hours. There was a wide variety, and it really was a lot of fun. Some would spin in circles, while others propelled themselves in the air like helicopters before exploding.

The Ryokan made breakfast for us that Monday morning, and we went to the nearby tourist trap: “tarai-bune”, that looked like barrel boats. Apparently they were invented around the time of the gold boom, and are very hard to navigate around with the wood paddle on the front. Regardless we gave it a try and had lots of fun.

We spend the rest of the day at a local beach, having surrendered to the tetra pods for a chance to jump in the ocean. I greased myself up heavily with sunscreen, but still got a bit burnt. We had fun, relaxed as we splashed around, and started making the trip home.

On the ferry, over the ocean, we were treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. Like Richard said, it was a perfect way to end the trip.

"Most of today's worries are like puddles: tomorrow they will have evaporated." -Author Unknown

tnoy

Monday, July 12, 2010

The Cleaning Crazies

It feels like I’ve been cleaning for way too long. For two weeks I tried giving stuff away, and while I made great progress, the many piles of remaining items were wearing me down so I started throwing out perfectly fine items wholesale; I didn’t want to be stuck with the hot potato.

I haven’t had classes at Yayoi all week, so after coming in and doing everything needed, I was free to go home and continue cleaning… and go crazy. On Wednesday I finally made my way to the dump expecting the worst. It wasn’t so bad though; every 10kg would cost me around $1. I dumped 90kg that day, but discovered this dump only took large burnable garbage. The large non-burnable dump was a ½ hour drive the other way, also neither would take my old car tires.

After seeking help at school, by calling the town office, we have one day every 2 months to dispose of said tires. It would cost $4 a tire, a ½ hour drive into the next town over, Takato, and I only had 2 hours, from 9:00 to 11:00 on Sunday morning.

Well, there went any travel plans for the weekend; a group of folks were going to Nagoya to see a sumo tournament too. On Friday, I got rid of another 120kg, but haven’t really touched my kitchen yet. Brian came to stay at my place, and he helped me clean on Friday. After loading my car with garbage, I loaded his van with stuff I gave him for free. Though to make it up to me, he bought me lunch and made me breakfast a couple times. Like the other stuff, I’m just happy I could find it a home instead of throwing it into a garbage pit, like that huge box of used clothes I gave up on finding a charity for.

Speaking of which, the burnable facility was like a huge concrete war bunker. A monster claw would reach into its bowels, and dump it into the incinerator above. I didn’t have my camera on me, but almost felt like I was in the Death Star.

That Friday night, Ike had a BBQ at his place. I braved the rain to attend maybe his last party. The lucky guy has someone moving in after him though, and hasn’t started cleaning yet. We had burgers, guacamole, and other goodies while watching a movie made of nostalgia: “The Sandlot”. While watching, I had very vague memories of watching it before. I remember a quote about leaving nostalgia in the past, and while it’s true, it was still interesting seeing the movie again as an adult.

It’s getting harder to see off friends as well; as it becomes less likely I’ll ever see them again. I stumbled across that while shaking Brian’s hand, though on Tuesday he’s gone to Hokkaido for a couple weeks. Others are leaving on holidays within the next week or two; and I’m gone in 17 days. On a quick side note, Brian taught me why it’s very bad manners to hand off food from one pair of chopsticks to the other; because that’s how the remains of cremated family members are handled. Bones that aren’t ashes are picked and handed around to family members to fill the urn, and he took part in it one time. Ghastly.

What started as a farewell party from Richard's and my own Adult English Conversation Classes, this Wednesday may possibly be my one big farewell party. Needless to say there is lots going on, and even more that needs to be done. After I finished writing this, I filled out lots of paper work, and managed to prepare my farewell speech for the school that I’ll deliver on Friday. Soon I’ll be living out of my suitcase in my own house, and possibly sleeping on the floor…

With so much going through my mind, I tried to escape it all by going to Phil and Theresa’s BBQ in Okaya Saturday night after spending hours cleaning again. It turned out to be a multi-purpose party for various people, and Theresa said it could be mine as well. I had a bit of an embarrassing endeavor; I was cleaning out my freezer at this party too. Throwing out perfectly fine stuff is one thing, throwing out perfectly fine food is another. I brought a box of goodies though and Dougal took most of them off my hands including alcohol.

I had good talks with people, and bid many of them perhaps our final farewell. Instead of getting easier, everything is just getting more confusing; with my mind constantly straying, and conversations sometimes going full circle back to the nightmare that is cleaning my house. Perhaps this is my crutch for dealing with all this emotional turmoil; just keeping myself distracted on things that need to be done. On that note I forgot my camera at Ike’s so I don’t really have (new) pictures for you.

Sunday morning’s garbage run went successfully, and after I went to Honami’s potluck. I made the last of my instant dressing, and some instant gravy, and put it into pots I gave away to her. There was lots of food, and my odd inclusion was well received. We chatted and enjoyed the light rain for hours; a nice lazy Sunday.

I couldn’t sit around for too long though, I had lots to do. After bidding farewell I tried to give away one last thing to them; my monopoly board. I had found it years ago but haven’t played it once in Japan oddly enough. The entire campfire wasn’t interested the night before, and while Honami and her friend haven’t heard of the game, her husband jumped at the chance.

There are very few times in life when you can make someone that happy. I was afraid he would start crying at some points, and I was happy to I could find the game a nice home, as opposed to someone’s closet. I was assured they would play right away, so I’ll ask about it on Wednesday when I see them again. I left with such a great feeling, knowing I just made a good person’s day great.

On the drive home I passed a store I heard had Takoyaki makers. I definitely want to make some when I get home to Canada so I went in to pick one up. Before I knew it, I changed my car's oil, and I made a trip to the dollar store too, to get my sister Melissa’s sushi plate, and thus the very awkward switch from “throw everything away” to “buy presents” was briefly made. On the other hand, I don’t really know how much luggage space I have either.

I ended up stopping at 4 or 5 different stores, all of them perhaps for the last time. As for buying presents, maybe I’ve been here so long that it has become much harder for me to pick things that stick out that you can’t find in Canada. I even broke my personal rule and bought some cheap clothes at Uniqlo including a pair of pants that are just a bit too small; they are now my diet goal pants I guess, I’m down around 7kg.

Perhaps I’m just confused. I know life is turmoil now, and I’m somehow getting by each day. Now to make a farewell speech that’s good enough for its purpose, but won’t make me cry too much.

"He who moves not forward, goes backward." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

tnoy

Monday, July 5, 2010

Fireflies, Festivals, and Moving

Last week got away on me, what can I say? But this way it’s a 2-week update so it works out. It was firefly season again in Tatsuno, and I went out Tuesday and Thursday night. I discovered my camera can do long exposures, so the photos I took were amazing. Later we did even more by writing out “English” with our cell phone’s lights. We chose that word because I happened to be joining Richard’s English Class.

Speaking of which, I had my last class on Wednesday with them. It was simply wonderful teaching them, as it’s great having students actively want to learn and try hard. I wanted to finish the class with a game, but they were too involved in some other activities I had prepared for them. I love it when they take sometime I give them, and run with it, surprising me with ways the lesson can go; like it has its own life.

On Thursday many of the other JETs were suppose to see the fireflies, but I accidentally confused them so other events unfolded. I wanted to stay in Tatsuno after school to save me the trip, but had time to kill before sunset. The idea hit me: why don’t I finally climb that hill I’ve stared at almost every day for the last 3 years?

Michelle came with me, but no one else; some thought they had to be early for the hill if they wanted to see the fireflies after; miscommunications are common in English as well. Although Uchiyama Sensei told me her asthmatic 7 year-old daughter could climb that hill in 40 minutes, it took us almost an hour. I really am in terrible shape; the heat and humidity didn’t help. It was quite pretty though, and Michelle even saw a couple foxes in the bush on the way up.

At the top, I finally got a glimpse of Tatsuno from up high. It was really spectacular. We were then treated to a fire-red sky as the sun set, and we stayed long enough to see the lights of the city fire up. We ate our supper and fought bugs, but it was totally worth it. If I should go again, I’ll just drive to the top next time, as there was a house and parking lot right up there to our surprise. Apparently if you go further down another path, you’ll come to a marker that states the geographic center of Japan.

Following Michelle’s phone light, we were able to make our way down. Exhausted, our firefly tour was rather short, especially with everyone else canceling out. I still got nice photos of the place though.

On Friday Yayoi started its school festival. I was a slow riser, still feeling depressed, and spent a couple hours cleaning, and posting a list of things in my house to give away. For most people they have someone move into their house once their gone, but for me there is no-one, so I have much more, and much harder, things to get rid of. Most of it would be a waste to chuck, so the term “sale” was optional.

Eventually I made it out to our festival, but on the first day it was like years prior. The students did dance competitions by the different classes, had contests like who are the best couple, and which boys are the prettiest girls and so on. Later they had more competitions out in the yard. I had Eel for lunch at a local restaurant, and it was fantastic.

I was in the area because I had mailed a DVD of pictures and movies that I (finally) made for Ann. She applied again to visit Canada, and again they denied her; perhaps another reason I was feeling so down. I’m still ashamed of how she was treated at the embassy, but things happen for a reason. Instead of going to Canada this summer, she found a school to be certified as a Nanny, so really things will work out better this way; she will be able to stay and work for a long time instead of just going on a trip with me for a month around the West.

On Saturday, June 26th, the festival really kicked off… though it rained all day. I spent a couple hours in the morning cataloguing all the books in my house for the interested people and their emails that started to flood my inbox. After, I spent a couple hours with my students enjoying their festival despite the rain, and even met up with Sorin as he has the same teacher for his Tea Ceremony.

That night was spent cleaning and organizing, for Sunday was the last day of the festival. One class made a large atomic bomb dome model, complete with the Enola Gay in the corner. Again it was fun despite raining in the morning, and the students danced around the huge fire and wrestled in the mud like last year. I didn’t join them this time though. On Monday when I should have been writing a blog entry, I was busy at the Handicapped school because the day was spent cleaning at Yayoi. We made lesson plans for Wednesday, and I went home to relax; I didn’t know that would be my only free time that week.

The rest of the week was havoc. On Tuesday I had tests to correct and hours of emails to catch up on. After work I was busy cleaning and preparing if I remember right, as everything was coming together for a big trip on Thursday. On Wednesday I went for sushi with Kayo and Richard. It was great to catch up again, I don’t think I’ve seen her since Onbashira; needless to say the Canada holiday is still up in the air. Both of them helped pick through my house and prepare my car for the big trip Thursday.

After a busy day at work, I drove straight to Matsumoto with a car absolutely full of stuff for 5 different people. Neal took my TV stand, while a cool guy named Trevor from Montreal took some other things. We ended up talking for almost an hour as Neal was busy tutoring.

The next stop I met a great guy from Uzbekistan. He was taking stuff for his sister in Nagano, things like my dresser, bookshelves and more; another great conversation with another cool guy. The last 2 people were American, and didn’t seem to want to talk much. We met, exchanged goods like books for one, and electric blankets for the other. The whole thing took over 5 hours but worked like clockwork. I’m still shocked how well everything went, and feel great my stuff found a new home as apposed to a dumpster.

On Friday our block had a farewell party for leavers like me at the Nepalese restaurant where we had our welcome party. I was still exhausted, and not sleeping so well recently because of the heat, but we still had fun. On Saturday Sorin had an event to celebrate Australian Christmas, which they apparently have in July.

For it, he had prepared over 10kg of sausages that were BBQed, and cut lengthwise to make them flat; Aussie style? In short, it was a sausage on a bun, and delicious as sausage from the Brazilian store is. What he also made were some Kangaroo meatballs. For most people this was their first time, but it was my 3rd now, and the meat tasted really dry for some reason this time. I still liked it though.

After Molly came over and helped clean out my house by taking some futons and kitchen items. Later still, Dan and his wife came to claim even more items, and we chatted about all kinds of stuff for a couple hours before we had to go to the party up North. Craig and Lauren were hosting a “North American Day” party, a mix of Canada day and Independence Day.

He BBQed some amazing pork chops, Dougal made Tacos, and there were other foods there too. I figured I’d bring some “Canadian Culture” by making Poutine for the first time. Using the gravy my mom gave me, I helped put the poutine together; though I didn’t really do much other than direct how it was to be assembled. Needless to say it was a huge hit, and interesting how all the Americans there had never heard of Poutine before, I guess I can’t blame them. Next time I should try and bring ketchup chips.

Sunday was a day of cleaning. Everything was a big mess in my house, as the missing bookshelves and dressers left everything tossed on the floor. I meticulously went over everything, and though I’d hate to throw a lot of the stuff away, I need to get realistic about leaving. In the end I filled 2 large non-burnable bags, 2 huge burnable bags, and a plastic bag. (for those confused, you have to sort your garbage in Japan, it’s really annoying, especially knowing the plastic is going to be burnt anyways)

Because I had so much and garbage day was Tuesday, I put a bag out in the box so it was ready. This morning I saw the bag was ripped open and rummaged through and was confused; it couldn’t have been animals, as there was no food in there. Actually it was much worse; a nosy neighbor.

I have heard about “garbage police” and “garbage Nazis” from other JETs before, but I guess my Japanese experience would be incomplete without having dealt with them. It was just one obviously bored guy with too much time that called my school to lecture them for a while and cause trouble. I almost felt a bit violated that he rummaged through my garbage really, and took out things like bills I threw away. This garbage was to be burnt, not be looked at by neighbors.

Long story short, after he finally went away, I took my garbage back home, so I can put it back there tomorrow; and I fully expect him to watch me like a hawk while I do it. I apologized to my supervisor and office worker who got the brunt of his lecture for me, as the pieces of what he said that I understood were not very good.

Of course I’m not going to finish this on a low note, so let’s jump back to Sunday night. I was at home, exhausted from cleaning for hours, and didn’t really want to go out. Richard was asking, and later Ike proposed a BBQ at his house. Well that sounds awesome, why not?

From a local pub in town, Ike gets hundreds of dollars of free beer. He gets them because they “expire” and it’s illegal to sell. It all tasted good to us, and I polished off 4 big bottles by myself. Ike made burgers, Stephen made Guacamole for the chips, and after we all ate smores.

It was just a beautiful night and the company was wonderful. We did some reflections, as Ike, Jessie and I will leave soon, and Molly and Stephen, the two new people, were picking up advice we’ve accumulated over the years. It was not unlike elders gathered around the fire teaching the young the ways of the world, yet we are still learning all the time. Ike discovered he could buy a BBQ only a month or two ago. It took me over 2 years to feel like I’ve finally “moved in” to Japan.

My flight is confirmed though; I’ll be in Vancouver on July 29th. I’ll stay with my sister in Victoria for a while before going to Regina; it’s looking like I won’t do that road trip anymore. Only about 3 weeks left to top off the best years of my life.

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." -Buddha

tnoy