It's go time

A week that looked initially easy turned out to be quite exhausting. In a good way, though. All I can say is I hope it is cloudy tomorrow morning and I can sleep in. It is hard to sleep in when the sun pours through my blinds and cooks my little room.

So yeah, I guess I will back up to last weekend. It was an eventful one, there was a lot going on. We started off on Friday with a friend hang out sesh which continued into Saturday as we made our way to Yatishiro for the biggest fireworks festival on this side of Japan. It lasted about two hours and during this time we watched on our blanket in the summeresque night and wandered through the heavy crowds, searching for greasy festival food as the bright lights from the tents lit up the area and made it visable for miles. The fireworks were incredible--hundreds of giant explosions in brilliant colors and shapes that rattled in your chest and made your ears ring. It was one of the best and of course the biggest shows I have ever seen. At one point I could not tell you how many were in the sky. I just couldn't even count in the time they all exploded and faded away.

After I stuffed myself with Japanese goodness we headed back with the masses of people and because we couldn't even find the end of the line for the train, we reluctantly decided on an expensive taxi ride home. The next day we got up bright and early to make our way to our favorite volcano caldera--Mt. Aso for none other than the grand Country Gold. This is, of course, the one and only international country music festivals this side of the world and I was completely and utterly ecstatic to be there. Not only did I get to revive my line dancing skills, but I also go to sing to country, wear a cowgirl hat and eat American BBQ (well, as close to it as you are going to get in Japan)!! And as if it couldn't get any better, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking and I could not be more thankful for such a beautiful day. The valley stretched as far as I could see and all around us the caldera jaggedly jutted out into the deep blue sky. The soft clouds hung loosely, providing for some rest from the sun every so often and a light breeze came down through the valley to cool us down just when we needed it. As I told my friend Jess, `This is amazing. I am in heaven right now`. It just felt right. I can`t really put into words what Aso does for me, but I can say that it continues to amaze me every time I am there.

We danced to country deep into the night as well as met some Navy guys from the states who actually knew country (none of my friends really knew any of the songs), so I was excited to have some people to sing along with. It was well worth every minute we were lost and every penny we spent to get there. And of course I will never forget the Japanese line dancers--that is something that very few people ever get to see!

The beginning of my week was rough since I was still tired from my weekend adventures, but I persevered and taught unmotivated students about Halloween, imitating trick or treating (complete with sound effects like DING DONG `Trick or treat!!` which they thought was amusing), pumpkin carving, and, when they seemed particularly confused on the transportation of witches, I was lucky enough to find a broom in the room to ride around on and cackle in a witch-like manor. They were also very privileged to view my beautiful artwork of pumpkins, candy corn and my personal favorite, a skeleton. Now, I don't know if anyone has tried to draw a skeleton recently, but it is not for the faint of heart. After drawing a square with lines and circles in it for a head, I was soon faced with the daunting challenge of a neck bone? and some sort of rib cage? And don`t even get me started on the wobbly arms and those gangly legs. The feet might have been my best artwork though--perfectly straight horizontal lines. This particular skeleton must have been pigeon-toed. So in my attempts to explain what a skeleton is, I am pretty sure that if they didn't know it before my drawing, they probably still don`t know it. I did get a few nods when I hit my arm and said "you know, bones!" so I guess I could have started out with that. But that was much less amusing than my actual bone drawing. I might start an art school for just skeleton drawing enthusiasts. It will be a very glamorous display of the human body. Please come to my viewing, I will serve jaw breakers and milk. You can figure that association out on your own time.

As excited as I am to continue that lesson next week, I am not. I don`t really think Halloween interests Japanese folk. Even if it did, the classroom is not the place for Halloween fun. This kind of fun should take place in the world where real costume wearing, trick or treating and candy eating can be done. I will see what I can do to liven things up with pictures and decorations next week. Maybe even some of my own pictures from my freaky 80s rock star costume last year will get them excited. Maybe, but probably not.

Monday was my only day of classes luckily, so I did not have to endure anymore fall fun worksheets. Tuesday I made my way to Ogawa for a speech contest that I got the uh, honor, to judge. I even got introduced on the stage where I had an awkward bowing opportunity. After that I listened to a bunch of kids 'talk' to one another in a skit like manor. I got to hear "how many sleeping bags do you have Ryosuke?!" "Pardon?!!" "How many sleeping bags do you have?!!"about 1000 times with enough exaggerated gestures to last me until 2013. At least. I judged with two other Japanese judges and we marked them in six different categories as fast as we could after each speech so we could move on to the next one. After the contest I walked to the mall for lunch and then took another expensive cab ride home. The inquisitive reader might ask, "Jessica, why didn't you just take a cab to the station so you could take the train home for cheaper?" And to you, inquisitive reader, I would say that is a very good question.

Although Tuesday was a nice break from the ordinary, Thursday proved to be the best day by far. 16 Americans with a scholarship program have been traveling Japan and schools around this area. Their lucky day happened to be coming to Mastubase High School to learn the ways of the sweet, respectful Japanese students. Well did they ever. The students were on their best behavior as they asked questions at the Q and A (in Japanese of course, there was a translator), performed some wonderful musical as well as puppet-like performances (I do apologize, I forget what these are called), as well as administrated a tea ceremony and helped with flower arranging. I got to participate in all of these, most of it being my first time as well. Actually, now that I think about it, all of it was my first time. I got to see the shorted version of the extremely elaborate and elegant tea ceremony that usually lasts for two hours. Luckily they shortened it to twenty minutes. We got to see the kids spin plates and bowls on poles--`saramawashi`, literally meaning spinning dish, (something I actually did get to try when I first got here), as well as sing, play the Japanese guitar, `Shamisen`, cook in home ec class, paint in calligraphy class, and practice kyudo (Japanese archery). We had a question answer session with the teachers (the Amercians talked a lot more which was not surprising at all), a video of the school and an overview of curriculum. All of these things were news to me! So it was good to know. I also got to eat a delicious bento that is usually reserved for the VP`s. It was quite a red letter day. As excited as I initially was for Americans to come and for me to have people to talk in normal English speed with, that wasn't really the highlight of the day. The real highlight was seeing my school at work with the rich cultural history Japan has to offer.

Later that night I ended up meeting back up with the American teachers for dinner in the city. I can`t say that it wasn't good to hear about teaching and explain my program to them, but there was something about the atmosphere that did not make me miss home. Or at least the strangers at home. I guess the politeness of Japan has just rubbed off on me a little bit. The main reason I went was to meet the Japanese 'potter' as he was called to see if there is anyway I can partake in pottery making or at least find some cool pots to buy. As usual, I was not disappointed and we exchanged info and he was even kind enough to take Alex (who came with me and said that my country men amuse him. heh) and I home. We plan on going to his studio and having dinner with him sometime in the near future.

This weekend brings promises of rest and relaxation which I could not be more happy for. Tonight I am meeting all of the ALTs on this side of the tracks for a little Indian food and then I plan on going home and sleeping for many hours before getting up, skyping, cleaning and swimming. Sunday I think I am going to the cultural festival in my town and then, perhaps making my way to the city for another cultural festival. They are basically the same thing, but I would like to see both of them anyway.

I also need to figure out my Halloween costume for next week because time is running out! AH! If worse comes to worse I could just dress up in all of the strange costume bits and pieces my mom and Ash and Lauren sent me. Or make a ghost costume from a sheet (hilarious btw). Speaking of which I would like to give a shout out on here (I will e-mail/call you as well) to those of you who have sent me things this week. The mail man has surely been my friend this week starting off with a lovely package of costumes, decorations and candy from my parents. Thanks mom and dad, I love it all. And you know that I can`t resist some good old dark chocolate and fish net tights!! Thank you BZ for the wonderful card and letter--it put a big smile on my face. Thank you Alex for the neat (it really was--I could tell you tried) handwritten old fashioned letter--I loved it and, of course, laughed out loud as I read it. And ASHLEY AND LAUREN you shouldn't have!! I was literally jumping in my kitchen when I opened my package. Seriously, I jumped. I don't even remember the last time I literally jumped from excitement. It was quite the surprise (nice glasses/nose man? And cheese and crackers!! AND CANDY CORN?!!). And I love the contents of this Halloween package. You all know the way to my heart. Halloween costumes, candy and writing. Couldn't have done it better myself. So thank you all, I am thrilled. And I might as well go as far back to thank Kristin and Megan for their lovely cards, those were also quite the surprise and I loved them. And thank the rest of you for writing me e-mails, I love hearing what you are up to and what is going on at home. So THANK YOU ALL!

Whew. That was a little gushy wasn't it? Sorry, it needed to be there. So yeah, that was all very exciting. Well, besides school I received my Japanese language course materials in the mail and I am officially 3 weeks behind already. It didn't help my teacher didn't give it to me until a week after I was supposed to start, but it also didn't help that I spent a total of 30 mins on it this week. Doh. I will get to it, stop getting your panties in a bunch! I also went to the gym a few times--the cute guy and I have become greeting friends (since that is all I can speak), he just melts my heart. I have also been swimming a few times and every time someone tries to talk to me I feel bad. It is usually the old men and the words they can speak are `fast` and `Olympic?` Ha. Yes, and I can say nothing much, so that should be inspiration for me to practice. Don`t worry I have informed them that I am not an Olympic swimmer.

Another delightful treat I got to experience this week was the checking-of-student-appearance time. I am not sure if this is done anywhere in the US (private schools?), but it was quite interesting. The students all gathered in the gym, stood in line and got checked out by their teachers. Literally. They went through a check list of hair, nails, clothes and for the girls, jewelry and even eye brows. There is the obvious of having your skirt below your knees and no jewelry or nail polish. And then both boys and girls are not supposed to have hair in front of their eyes and by no means are they allowed to dye it. The boys must have tight ties, no sideburns and tidy looking suits. The girls must hair long hair pulled back, tight ties and tucked in shirts under their suit jackets as well. They even examined the cuffs of the jacket to make sure they aren't too long. They were writing down the students that were not meeting standards. I don't know what that means, but I am assuming that it is so they can look and make sure the students are ok the next time they see them. And if not? A smack on the hand? Bad boy? I have a strong feeling I will never find out. And I have a strong desire not to.

They have their internships next week so they are making sure they look snazzy I guess. Not to say that this little display helped. Upon leaving the gym the boys were already loosening their ties and I saw a girl walk past me with her skirt rolled up and the bottom of it was well above her knees. I guess you can't follow them around. Not that I care, I see them rolling their skirts up at the train station everyday. Roll away, I think uniforms are a bit ridiculous. Not to mention hot. And unpractical. And denying students of their artistic creativity! Vote for a voice! Live for a purpose! Dump the drones! Be unique! Those are all things I would shout if I were advocating for individualism at a protest. I would have those nice little picket signs saying that as I marched in the streets pumping my fist in passion. But...'I am against picketing but I don`t know how to show it' Who said it?? A cookie to whoever can comment on the author of this quote.

Extraneous babbling. Anyway, uniforms. Yes. There is my stand on that. As well as certain styles of education over here. But that is a whole different field to mow, so I will save that for another time and most positively another place.

Well there it is. A much needed update. I am now going to study. For reals, it's go time.

I will part with this quote from my Dove chocolate wrapper 'Temptation is good. Giving in is better'. You would say that chocolate wrapper.

Peace and love.