Goodbye... again

So I've just finished up my last classes and my last day of work. I can't believe it's all over. The last few weeks really flew by. I was dreading going through my last visits to each school knowing I'd have to bring a gift and make goodbye speeches, but it all went smoothly and I got a lot of unexpected gifts and treats from the kids and school staff.





Lots of kids asked me for last minute autographs and photo ops. They also wrote me letters and made origami for me. The farewell ceremonies were all so different, yet all very sweet. At one of my schools, I got to do my farewell speech over the school broadcast at lunch time. The teachers said the kids all quieted down when they heard my voice and listened intently to my speech that I prepared in what I hope was comprehensible Japanese.

At another school, all the kids gathered in the gym and sang the school song for me which I wish I could've recorded. It was so sweet! Then some of the students presented me with speeches about how they enjoyed my classes and had fun with me and would miss me. Some of them even said them in English! Yeah, maybe they did learn something.




One school sang me a song in Japanese about friendship. I gotta admit that one got me a little teary. Another school switched stuff up and at the end of the ceremony, I got to walk through the archway of all my students. Aww!

I gave all my schools cool books from home (thanks to my lovely girls Lisa and Rosemary who lugged them all the way from America to Japan) and cakes for the teachers. It all went over quite well though I don't know if they'll be able to read all the books. At least they can look at the cool drawings and read some words and get a feel for it.


At my junior high school, the last of the goodbyes, I decided to finally put use to my guitar and all the music lessons my parents paid for. After my usual speech I sang two songs on my guitar for the entire school! 300 plus, standing room only, my biggest audience to date. I sang a song I wrote about a kid who hates school called "School" which everyone clapped along with and thankfully the principal didn't catch what I was saying though one of my English teachers got it and thought it was hilarious. Then I sang the first song I ever played on the guitar, this mellow song about breakups by Mazzy Star. I think some people got teary on that one and I almost did too.


After hours, we had an enkai where all the teachers got wasted and it was the most fun, laidback enkai I'd been to. It was great. They even gave me and Scott yukatas (summer kimonos) as a gift. So sweet to get one for both of us. And by the time I had to make my speech everyone was surly and didn't care that I decided to do it in English. In fact, when I slipped in some Japanese, the principal yelled out, "hey, that's Japanese!"

This one super sweet teacher told me I was very unique and a treasure to the school. Wow! She said they could relate to me because I'm Japanese and yet the way I carry myself is more free and American which she said was very attractive. And I found out that she loves musicals and can't wait to come to "New York, New York" when she retires! A lot of teachers came out and talked to me, some even in English. In a way, I'm sad I won't get to know them better, but on the other hand, they probably wouldn't have felt so free to talk to me if I wasn't leaving.


My most rewarding experience happened this morning when I said my final final goodbye to my junior high school's staff. I went into the principal's office to say thank you and goodbye and he, who has never in this whole entire year spoken English to me said with a smile, "See you again!" Folks, my work here is done.

Back to my rice roots

Sorry for the delay again and thanks for all the birthday wishes! We are bogged down with packing and goodbye parties so I'll probably post more fun stuff when I get back even though it will be after the fact a bit. I took literally a thousand pictures in the last month from all my schools and fun events. I swear I'll get them up eventually. I'll have plenty of time when I'm unemployed!


In the meantime, I feel I must write about one thing I was looking forward to attempting while in rural Japan... rice planting! It was a close call though. I happened to be at one of my elementary schools the day that they were turning over the fields with local farmers so I dug in and hoed away with my students. The teachers were all impressed with my farming action and asked if I'd done it before. I told them it must be my genes. My grandmother and great grandparents were farmers so I guess some of it is in me somewhere.



They invited me to actually plant the rice stalks later on in the month, but they had to reschedule due to rain and forgot that I was coming so I missed out. I was so bummed. I had my farming clothes and hat all ready. Luckily another school found out that I'd missed out and invited me to their farming day. Yeh!

So I joined my students for a couple hours of rice planting. The soil is super soft and muddy. It kind of feels like a mud bath and I swear my skin felt a little softer afterwards. Some parts of the soil felt warm and others cold. Go figure. I went in barefoot, but I noticed some of the kids kept their socks on. I didn't ask why, but maybe some of them were saying how it felt icky on their feet so maybe that's why. I found it a little bizarre.


The farmers were all very sweet and encouraging even though they must be a little annoyed with the kids throwing mud and not aligning the plants properly. I suppose they're used to it, as its an annual event. Maybe they go over the whole field again with machines once the kids are gone! We did a pretty good job though, I'd say. They gave us a handful of plants and then pulled a line across the field with tiny red dots on it. So it was pretty easy to just stick the plant in where the dots were. But the real technique was keeping the little stalks as a unit and decided how deep was good for growing. Naturally I got the technique after a few stalks, ahem, nothing to it.


Afterwards we washed our feet in the running river water along the banks that fill up the fields. It was cool to be a part of nature and a very cultural experience. The school said they would look after my patch for me and when the crops are ready, they'll make rice cakes (mochi) and all will come full circle.

America, **** yeah!

Happy 4th of July my fellow Americans! I hope you're all enjoying the holiday weekend with BBQs and fireworks. We may try to light some off tonight just to be in the spirit. I can't take credit for this really cool pic of a sparkler we lit at a party. I let a 10 year old take control of my camera and somehow he got this amazing shot. I don't know how he did it! That's kids for ya.



It's definitely summer here and I think we've survived most of the rainy season. There are so many crazy bugs roaming and flying around during the rainy season. They're everywhere! We've also had a couple of really humid, sticky days so I guess this is just the beginning of the summer weather. This crazy American flag portrait Scott found in a stairway in Shimabara. There were a bunch of crazy drawings, I'll have to put them up on my flickr soon. Wild stuff.



We'll be home in about a month, being all American again. Can't wait to see everyone! If we have strange accents and can't speak English very well, please have patience with us. Help us through our reverse culture shock that will undoubtedly happen. Can't wait to have a hot slice of pizza though!

Drinky drinks

I just came from the convenience store (aka "conbeeni") and saw a new drink called "Plussy". I seriously had to do a double take. It's one of those vitamin plus drinks they're coming up with out here, which I guess makes sense. I would've gotten one just to see what made it so "plussy" but it was kind of pricey. Instead, I got Scott's favorite drink "Bikkle", a yogurt-type drink and I tried a new one called "Fruity Paradise". I couldn't resist. Ah, so many crazy drinks to try, so little time.

Part II: Inaka roots

*Just added a bunch more pics of this trip on my Flickr page.

I didn't realize how much happened while my mom was here until I started writing it down! So... my mom went ahead to visit some friends and had a reunion with her elementary schoolmates (how cute!). We met up again on the weekend to visit her hometown. We stayed a night in Osaka, a city known as an eater's heaven (is that proper English?? I don't know anymore!). We went to an okonameyaki place which was pretty tasty. Okonameyaki is kind of like a cross between a pancake and a pizza, it's a batter mixed with seafood, meat, and vegetables topped with mayo and sauce and fish flakes that melt and squirm around which makes the meal even more delightful and entertaining. Ah, Japanese delicacies, it's all about presentation and tastiness! We were a little nervous about cooking it ourselves, so the waiter helped us out. Yum!


We also found a little bar in town called Jazz Bar or something or other. Scott was so so happy that they had Guinness and Jameson. It was quite a treat. The bar was pretty mellow so we had a good time just chilling. The bartender was really nice and we watched the one woman in the bar get verbally harassed by men and then their disappointed faces as she left the bar alone.




The next morning we were off to Wakayama. We took a train into Kushimoto, the closest train station to my mom's quaint, little town. My mom's cousins still live in town so we were lucky to have them show us some sites and spoil us with food and drink.

One of my mom's cousins, Shingo is a third generation postmaster in the town. In small towns, people also do their banking at the post office so he's pretty famous in town. It's also very probable that I'm related to most of the townspeople in some way. That's how small a town it is. In fact, we were walking around and bumped into this lovely older lady and my mom started talking to her. By the end of the conversation, they figured out that they were second cousins!


Shingo took us to a few famous sites around town which were beautiful. We went to the largest waterfall in Japan (Nachi Taisha) which was surrounded by a 500 year old shrine. They say the monks hiked all the way from Kyoto to this waterfall. There's a hiking trail up to the mountains you can take up just like the monks... we took a car up. But, we still had to walk up the steps to the shrine, so that still counts! You feel really bad when you're tired and then see all the older folks with their walking sticks doing the same climb.

We drove through the town of Taiji, famous for its whaling. I think there's been recent controversy with Green Peace trying to stop some of the boats. We decided to stay away from controversy and eat some whale pizza at a local shop. Mmm... whale.


We also went to a lighthouse (Shionomi saki no todai) at the most Southern tip of Japan's mainland. Beautiful views from above. Then we went to these famous rocks in Kushimoto (Hashi Gui Iwa). There's an old story behind them, how they line up like a bridge and were supposed to connect the two islands. Scott couldn't resist climbing to the top of one. We were lucky to get that close since it's not often that the tide is low enough.



After sightseeing, we stayed with my mom's cousin Toyosato and his wife Hideko. He had just been fishing and caught some fresh fish and squid. He cut the fish up for sashimi, the freshest, softest sashimi we've ever had. And we made fried squid outside and had a BBQ with fresh oysters and abalone. My mom said the abalone usually costs hundreds but we got hooked up since Toyosato caught some. We partook in the frying of the squid. We had to put on safety glasses because the squid was still so fresh and watery from the sea. Can't be too safe with hot oil.


Toyosato is a real Renaissance man. He showed us a bunch of cool stuff. He catches bees and collects delicious honey from them, he has 4 dogs he uses to hunt and shoot boar (which we also got to taste), he also gets water from an unused hot spring and takes it home for his own bathtub (which was lovely). Did I mention he also plays the Japanese flute and has a lovely singing voice? We all went out to karaoke and he and my mom did some duets together. Scott even got into it and sang a solo! I wish I could show you the proof, but he won't let me. Actually, I think I was supposed to delete it so shhh!



Needless to say, we had an awesome weekend there. It was great to see my family and have Scott meet them. They loved him of course because he was funny and ate and drank everything. We got to see the actual house my mom grew up in which she still owns though it's empty now. It's cool to see things almost unchanged there. The mountains surrounding the houses are still untouched. No cables or cell phone towers stuck onto them. Who knows, maybe we'll retire there!

Part I: Mom visits!

This is another exciting two parter blog! Once again, so much is going on that I'm not able to keep up with it! This month my dad had his 70th birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!) and Scott turned 27 and next month is my birthday.



In May, my mom came to visit us here. It was great to have her and show her our town and life here. We went to Nagasaki City, Shimabara, and drove up to the volcano in Unzen. We had a nice drive through the mountains that were covered in wild flowers. My mom was also excited to see the nice, golf course up there. We also took advantage of the free foot bath in town and had a nice lunch.





My mom also generously cooked dinner for some of my friends and Japanese teachers from school. It was such a treat. We bought lots of fresh vegetables from the farmer's market near my house. Everything there is so fresh and good, picked right from the farms around the corner. We especially liked these adorable mini kabocha pumpkins.


One night, we also stopped in a tiny shack for a late night snack. We'd been there before, but only for take out so we didn't realize we could even sit down and eat inside. My mom noticed the sign that said they served inside so we decided to try it out. It was a tiny place and there were three very drunk men already inside. They were talking in the dialect here so none of us could really understand them until they started saying some English phrases they learned on TV. Then, there was silence... until one of the drunk guys turned to us and asked if we spoke English.

From then, we became buddies and they especially loved Scott because he could keep up with their drinking. They shared shochu (a potato-based alcohol) and lots of silly chatting. The owners of the shop joined in too. I can't remember all the silliness, but I remember one of the guys was a pretty big guy which is kind of rare in Japan. So he said, pointing to his gut, "American size", and then pointing to his crotch, "Japanese size". You probably saw that joke coming. And then they were teasing their friend who was the most drunk because he's in his 30s and not married yet which is seen as a bit strange in these small towns. So they kept asking if Scott or I had any sisters we could introduce him to. Scott said, "there's no way you'll ever meet my sisters!" Ha! It was one of those random meetings that made it a great night. We stayed there until about 1 in the morning! We were saying, they probably wouldn't have talked to us if my mom wasn't there to mediate and translate. I guess it's intimidating sometimes for them and us. It was good fun!


On one of the last days, I invited my mom to be a guest teacher at my junior high school. She was introduced as the "new English teacher" which freaked all the kids out. Haha! They listened to her introduction and then we got to do a lesson together. My mom said a lot of them had potential, but then needed more emotion in their English. She'd be a great ALT! Actually just the other day I told them they sounded like robots and robots aren't good. So now they're walking around saying, "Me Robot!" Great.

How cute is this frog?

It's now officially rainy season here. The weeds are growing faster and the creatures are getting louder and more active. We've been finding cute little frogs everywhere and spider skins around. The snakes should be next!





The skies have also been really beautiful. Unfortunately I don't always have my camera with me so here's some that I took with my handy keitai (cell phone). Every day there's amazing clouds and colors. Sometimes after a storm, the sunset paints the whole sky red.



There's also new fruits and vegetables in season. When I ride my bike around, I can smell the strawberry fields. It smells like candy! So sweet. We got free, fresh corn from a neighbor and the rice fields are starting to be planted. Last week, I helped one of my schools tend a rice field with some local farmers and next week I'm invited to plant the new seedlings. I hear it's muddy work. So far, the teachers have been impressed with my farming skills so hopefully I won't let them down. The vice principal was joking around and said I should wear a bathing suit. I sense some mud ball fights coming my way!

All-American meals

Who says there's no good American food in Japan? If you look hard enough, you're likely to find places that serve a decent hamburger (a.k.a. "hambaga"), but make sure you're ordering a hamburger and not a hamburg which here means a patty steak covered with a teriyaki-ish sauce. Not far from our little town we managed to find a hamburger spot that's pretty tasty. They have four burgers to choose from: bacon egg hamburger, pork burger (layers of pork meat on top of a patty), Koroke burger (my fav, mashed potato breaded and fried on top of a patty) and another burger named after the restaurant which we haven't tried yet and can't quite figure out. You can order a set ("set-o") which comes with crinkle fries (!) and a tiny glass of soda. It's delightful.


Donuts are readily available at bakeries and grocery stores and they're pretty decent. There's also a chain called Mister Donut with fresh, but pricey donuts. They have the usual glazed, chocolate, and strawberry flavors, but also some unique Japanesey flavors like green tea and sweet bean. Wow, I just found the Mister Donut site and discovered it was originally an American chain... it all makes sense now...


Pizza ("peeza") still remains a mystery here and often has corn and mysterious meat (sometimes bacon is bacon and sometimes it's slices of ham) on it or is plate-sized. Granted back home, they're a little too large for our own good, but it's nice to be able to order a box and eat cold leftovers for breakfast. If there's one thing we miss, it's a hot slice of pizza and a good hot dog with the works. That's something that just can't be translated.

Crazy kids

Kooky stuff always happens at school and around town, but I don't always end up writing it out though I have been keeping some lists! Like a couple months ago I was having lunch with some second graders and I heard them say to each other, "What should we talk to the English teacher about?" I thought maybe they'd ask my favorite food or the usual chit chat, but they blew me away when I heard them say, "Hmm... well, what about Obama and Clinton? Who do you think is going to win?" And then the other kid gave some serious thought and said, "Hmm... yes, it's hard to say at this point." Second graders!! Though it has been all over the news here since the start and adults have been asking me about it often, I didn't expect 7 year olds to ask me about it!

Today one fourth grader told me his Uncle opened a Japanese restaurant somewhere in America and that it was written up in the New York Times. These are some sophisticated kids, eh?

On the other hand, I also watched a bunch of second grade boys on the swings (they call swings "blanco" here... I believe it's a Portuguese influenced word), standing on them and swinging really high and this one boy fell off 3 times! It was amazing. I think he was trying to do a trick but it wasn't going so well. It was hilarious to watch though. The new first graders are adorable as well. They're fresh from kindergarten and are still tiny and uncoordinated, and it doesn't help that their backpacks are bigger than themselves. They're always falling over and knocking into things. It's so adorably hilarious. Aww!

I'll have to elaborate on crazy T-shirts with English printed on them, but today I saw a kid with a World Industries shirt on! I wish I had my camera. On any given day there are kids with New York or Brooklyn shirts on and they have no idea what they're wearing. REPRESENT!

Hawaiian style

Part II: Kashi family trip to Hawaii

When we got to Hawaii, it was so much warmer and humid than we expected. It was a nice warm though and good to be back in good ol’ USA (even if it wasn’t on the mainland). The first thing we did... ? Got to a mall and ate some Taco Bell. Was that so wrong? Actually, just looking at the picture kind of gives me a stomachache. We've definitely gotten a new perspective on American meals after living in Japan. Everything is so absurdly massive! But it was fun to gorge on fast food and giant sodas.



We stayed in Waikiki in Honolulu which seemed to have fairly recently turned into a manmade tourist area. There were tons of hotels and restaurants along the beach and malls and mini malls. A lot of the shops were big name brand shops, very catered to Japanese tourists. Some shops even accepted Yen. The beach was beautiful though, calm blue water and Scott and my mom skipped some rocks there.



Scott and I were pretty jetlag so we left the planning to my sister. She found a bunch of tours and sites for us to see. So the next day, we were up early and off to an Eco tour. A local guy named Dominic was our tour guide and he walked us through a little jungle and to a bunch of beautiful viewpoints and beaches. I wish I remembered his stories better, but most were about how superstitious the Hawaiian are and that the royals believed in keeping their bloodlines pure so there was a lot of brothers marrying sisters and hence, most locals are related to some extent so they often call each other, “cousin” because chances are, they probably really are.

We also got to swim at a beautiful beach along the way. The water was a pretty light blue and the water was incredibly calm. So calm that we were just floating on our backs and letting the waves bring us back to shore.



My mother also has a cousin living in Honolulu so we met with them for a lovely Dim Sum lunch. My sister and I grew up with their daughters so it was a nice reunion. We also got to meet my cousin’s new twin baby daughters. They were so adorable!


My cousins surf (I guess you kind of have to when you live there) and luckily we got to fit in a surf day with them. I always thought that if I tried to surf, it would be in Hawaii because the water’s so nice and not as frightening. Yeah! It came true! Scott did a lot better than I did and caught a wave and stayed up for a while on his second try. I did ok, but I did more of a kneel with only one foot on the board. It still felt great having a wave underneath you and pulling you out to shore. Can’t wait to try it again!


We did one last tour at a Cultural Center which was set up kind of like Disneyland with different Hawaiian tribes in each section. They showed us dances, foods, and music from each tribe and then we moved on to the next area. We felt a little strange having these young kids sell out their traditions to us tourists, but then we found out that the money from the tours goes directly to the tuition of the tour guides that work there and attend the Mormon college next door. In any case, we got a huge buffet dinner with Kalua pork and yummy fruits (though I got hives from my mango smoothie!), and an amazing Luau show to end the night. You gotta do a luau, right?


Another successful Kashi family trip, great to spend time together and be in America for a bit!

P.S. I took a ridiculous amount of pictures, more of which are on my flickr page if you care to dive in.

Part 1: The wedding

Now that I have a bit of time to catch up, I’m going to back track to our trip last month...

Part I: Masa and Maggie’s wedding in Tokyo

The weekend we spent in Tokyo was complete with a traditional Shinto-style wedding and complaints from women about how difficult it is dating and finding a mate in Japan.



We spent a couple days with my mother’s cousin Tatsuro in the Tokyo area. He studied physical therapy in California and decided to move back to Japan where physical therapy was relatively unknown. He now has his own clinic and many young students (who all happen to be women) who study with him. He lives alone with his daughter Kaguya so his students all take care of him and his house. They threw us a delicious Japanese-style BBQ and then we got talking about how hard it is for women to date in Japan.



Apparently you can’t just meet someone at a bar or party and ask if they want to hang out. Once you decide to go on a date, you’re dating and on your way to getting married. One woman was explaining how her parents are spending all this money on a matchmaker and that she’s been on a few dates but hasn’t met the right guy so she feels bad that her parents are spending all this money. Her parents aren’t going to stop until she finds someone though. She was pretty much crying when we were all talking about it!



I’ve heard this a lot from young women here, especially those in their 30s. I guess there’s more pressure to get married at that point and once you pass 40, you’re apparently considered a freak if you’re not a married woman. It’s rough!


But on to happier times... Masa got married! We were really honored to be invited to his wedding. It was nice to see friends from home and meet his parents and family. It was a Shinto-style wedding at a very famous temple in Tokyo called Meiji Shingu. Masa and Maggie were decked out in beautiful kimono. He looked so grown up! Masa was all mature and husbandry, he’s a new man! Maggie looked so elegant and beautiful.



We, the foreigner friends, were all a little nervous about what we were supposed to do, but it was very cool to be a part of it all. In the waiting room we had sakura-infused tea. It was a little salty, but tasty.



Then we paraded through the shrine garden (through masses of tourists taking our picture) into a special room where the wedding ceremony took place. There was chanting and bells and koto playing, and at points it was so quiet you could hear people’s stomachs growling. It was very elegant and peaceful though.


After the ceremony, we went to the reception. The food was beautiful and so good. I knew the drinks and food would be delicious and endless, but I didn’t expect so much crying! There was no crazy partying or dancing, but instead a lot of heartfelt speeches.



The speeches were poignant, not only because they were grown up and married, but also because they would be moving back to NYC together. So for Maggie, this was goodbye to her friends and family. One of her best friends made a sweet speech about their friendship and could barely get through the tears to finish it. Maggie also made a sweet speech to her family thanking them for their love and support through her life. I looked around the room, and all us girls were sobbing!

It was a beautiful wedding and a wonderful experience. CONGRATULATIONS MASA AND MAGGIE! THANK YOU!

Spring festivities

We're back from Hawaii! It was nice to be in the States for a while though Hawaii was so catered to Japanese tourists that it almost felt like we never left! More of that trip soon. I'm trying to catch up with all my photos so I'm sort of going to be blogging out of order. It'll all make sense at some point, I promise!

So before we left, April had us surrounded by cherry blossoms. I'm used to catching cherry blossoms (sakura) here and there back home, but in Japan, they really are everywhere and it really is so pretty. All of my schools had trees blossoming and all around town, the fluffy flowers were everywhere. Mostly in pinks, white, and red.



In Japan, they have Sakura Festivals where the main event is to picnic and drink beer under the beautiful blossoms. Ah, the simplicities of life. We partook and enjoyed the festival food and booths. One of which was this old-fashioned rice popping machine. It was so loud!




Yesterday was Children's Day, part of Golden Week celebrated in May. Golden Week is a 3 day holiday for everyone in Japan so it's one of the few times families actually are free to spend time together. So of course, it's the busiest travel time of the year. Luckily we got a head start with our trip so we just enjoyed the days off and relaxed with neighborhood BBQ. The weather has been great and everything is all shades of green here. I've never seen so many different shades of green. I took this pic with my cell phone so it's not the greatest, but hopefully you can see the shades and the koi fish flags that are out for Children's Day. More here and more to come soon...