Akita in the New York Times

Check out this NYT article and slideshow to learn about Akita (where we live in Japan). The onsen area that is mentioned is where we had our first onsen experience in Japan. We camped on the lake that is in the article and plan on snowboarding/skiing in this area this winter! The slideshow is beautiful and makes Akita look much more glamorous than it really is. Check it out:
New York Times travel article and slideshow about Akita
(Even though Akita is not glamorous, we do love it. As they say here, Akita is full of 'the nature.' We would take the nature over glamour any day.)

That Bites

I think this says it all ...

When I picked Jonas up from daycare, he was standing where he always stands, in the corner watching a Japanese kids show (which they only have on at the end of the day, to help manage the rush of mass departures). After walking in the door, three daycare workers ran up to me with pained looks on their faces, repeating sumimasen, sumimasen (sorry). I looked at Jonas, noticed something on this face, and figured he must have fallen (which happens every few minutes -- sometimes from great heights. the boy is a climber). I shrugged, shook my head and told them it was OK. It wasn't until he ran up to me that I noticed the teeth marks imprinted on his cheek. He seemed fine, and I told the ladies not to worry.

And they don't need to worry, because payback will come soon and swiftly. The kid who bit my kid is going to get his -- I'll not have Jonas fall victim to the well-documented Japanese plague of bullying. Jonas will go Mike Tyson on this so-called "friend," just as soon as I figure out who he
(or she) is. Jonas' bite will look like a love nip once this score is settled.

Thanksgiving in Japan

So we didn't have any family around, or a Western-style oven, or even a turkey, but we managed to celebrate a pretty enjoyable Thanksgiving nonetheless in Japan, thanks to some new friends, and a few giant bottles of beer. My good friend Nomi brought his wife Mai, and two kids Nene and Yozan, over to our tiny apartment on Sunday for a new-fashioned Thanksgiving.

I was a bit handcuffed in the kitchen, as our "stove" is about the size of a toaster oven, with two gas burners on top (this is typical of all Japanese homes, not just ours). Also Yozan is allergic to milk and cheese. But I managed to knock out a decent Shepherd's Pie, some stuffing with sausage and apples, and green beans with onions and almonds. Nomi and Mai provided the sushi, and we all (except Mai and the kids) drank the beer.

There was no football, but plenty of rough play ...

That's tissue in Nene's mouth. She had so much fun, she bit her lip.

I think Yozan and Nene have been in a few too many pictures. When the camera came out, they struck a pose.

East meets (sorta of) West.

Here is where Tricia bought the apple pie.

And here's the dude who baked it.

Everyone played nice, for a awhile.

And then there was a fight over the Legos tub.

Hey, there's Nomi. Jonas loved that there were other Japanese speakers in the house. We learned that he has learned some Japanese phrases.

The kids were dying to jump into Jonas' crib.

Yozan plopped down in Jason's lap. Jonas got a tad jealous, and climbed past Yozan to claim a spot.

Japan -- Unlikely and Quirky

Months ago, back in America, Tricia had a conversation with a friend who lived in Japan for a year or two on the same JET program. Her husband was in the military (and flew the Stealth Bomber while stationed in Missouri), and she taught at schools in Okinawa. When asked to describe the Japanese, she had a one-word description: "They're quirky."

I think about this a lot. It came to mind again the other day while reading a story about the big whaling controversy . A Japanese whaling fleet just took off for Antarctica, where they plan to kill humpback whales -- which are protected and were nearly hunted to extinction just a few years back. This didn't strike me as quirky. I found it sad. I mean, give the whales a chance to repopulate. Then we can eat them. I have no problem with folks chowing down on some whale, although, obviously, I expect many Americans do (this led to a conversation this afternoon with my friend Nomi about eating animals with warm personalities. He said he once ate squirrel while living in Tennessee, which tasted like chicken. He also wanted to make it clear that Japanese do not eat dog, adding "They do in China, though. There's a saying 'The Chinese will eat anything but their desk and chair, so they can still work.'"

Anyway, the quirky comment came to mind when reading this graph of the whaling story:

"Families waved little flags emblazoned with smiling whales and the crew raised a toast with cans of beer, while a brass band played "Popeye the Sailor Man."

This, in a sentence, captures Japan for me.

Mallrats and my new Man Purse

Ho Ho Ho, crispy or original?

The mall may be dead in America* but it is very much alive here in Akita, Japan. We needed to buy a humidifier for Jonas, who can’t seem to shake his cough, so we decided to make an afternoon of it and drove to Aeon, our local (and as far as I know, only) shopping mall. It seemed as though all of Akita was there. This was one bustling mall, and it reminded me of my early teenage years, where many a weekend was spent loitering at the mall and playing video games, first at WhiteLakes and later, at Westridge (which sucked the life, the customers and the Orange Julius out of WhiteLakes, turning it into the ghost mall, and later, a government office building).

I spent many a yen trying to win Jonas a Miffy.

Jonas wasn’t the only one to get a present. Tricia bought me a man purse that latches onto my belt loop, pictured below. I’d seen many a Japanese hipster wearing these, and I have wanted one of my own ever since. This is definitely a trend I’m exporting to the US. This was my Father's Day gift, Tricia informed me, as last Father's Day fell on my birthday, allowing me to join all the December-birthday whiners who bellyache about getting cheated out of their special day. Tricia finally made amends, and I'm glad she waited.

Saturday, our day at the mall, was sunny and beautiful. We should have gone Sunday, which was rainy, and later, snowy. So Jonas played in an indoor play area, and we watched a movie later in the day (Jonas watched some, and then got up and played some more).

* I was once falsely accused by a teacher of skipping school to attend a mall opening, the celebrity marshal of which was none other than Vanna White. I was in seventh grade, and was sick the day Westridge opened, yet my gym teacher figured I must have ditched school to eat Sbarro pizza and rub elbows with Vanna – which, I certainly would have done, had I not been sick. The rest of the year, that gym teacher referred to me as Vanna.

Of course, the new mall also proved to be the death knell for the old one, WhiteLakes, the real and true mall of my youth. Years later, I went to White Lakes just to see what was what -- and I swear I am not making this up -- the only shops still open were the Footlocker, an Orange Julius, a men’s clothing store and a jewelry store. Employees from all four were lounging on couches watching TV in the middle of the mall, and when they saw me, they all scrambled to their respective posts.

In our very own hometown (actually, the swank area of Mission, where the very rich like George Brett and Tom Watson live) the city demolished the Mission Mall (which was certainly dated, but perfectly fine) and were in the process of building, right on top of the old mall, a new outdoor mall – or as they’re known these days, a Lifestyle Center. This, to me, seemed like a bizarre waste of money and resources, although it’s apparently a trend that has been spreading like a weed throughout America for some time now, like poor people voting Republican. I can’t wait for this trend to go the way of the Mall, and I expect in another 10 years, they’ll tear all of them down and replace them with even newer Lifestyle Centers, but with roofs.

-----------------------------------------

This afternoon at the grocery store, I noticed, for the first time, a new item in the seafood section: a turtle. I wasn't the only one surprised by this. The turtle (there was only one) was wrapped in a red mesh bag, and it wasn't entirely clear what it was. This guy next to me poked it a few times, laughed, and then moved on. So I poked it, too. What I poked was its shell, and upon being poked, its little legs wiggled. I considered buying it and setting it free, or taking it home as a pet, but it was nearly $40. We're on a budget, afterall.

-----------------------------------------

As I mentioned, it snowed today. I would comment about the weather, but this fellow JET teacher has already done so in a post about the cold weather, and he said it better than I could.

-----------------------------------------

The highlight of the mall, for me, was watching these dudes rock out in the arcade. Notice, they are not individuals playing Guitar Freaks (same as guitar hero), but they are all three playing the same song at the same time, including the drummer. And they were flawless. The other two videos are of Jonas dancing and crawling, his favorite activities.

You Can Dance If You Want To

"Man, you're like school in the summertime. No class,"
-- Rudy, Fat Albert.

Lets Larry King this one …

I just returned from an intense study session with Hikaru, a third-year student at Akita Technical High School, who is trying to get into Akita International University, where the application process consists of a 90-minute essay and an oral interview, all in English. If he doesn’t pass, I’ll feel pretty low, but he’ll be crushed. The boy is beyond stressed. My supervisor fears he is getting a permanent crease between his eyebrows. I told her its just acne.

In many ways, Hikaru is at a significant disadvantage, particularly coming from a technical school, where English ranks just below Home Ec. in terms of importance. For example, at Tricia’s loddy-da all-girls school, where they enjoy catered meals and therapeutic massages, interview questions from previous years are all on file (not sample questions, but the ACTUAL questions). At Akita Tech, where we warm ourselves with Bic lighters, the only thing we have on file are discipline reports.

Thankfully, we have Tricia on our side. It took some coaxing, but she cut short her afternoon soak in the on-campus onsen to copy off the questions for us. Hopefully, they’ll help.

It’s a ridiculous myth that all – or even most – of Japanese students are hard-working, studious and respectful. Particularly at the technical, boy-heavy schools, students more often are obnoxious, indifferent or asleep, particularly when it comes to English. I find it hard to blame them. For many of these students, their future is more or less cast once they enter high school. They’ll work in factories and for auto manufacturers – and make a very respectable wage (more than a teacher), according to one of my co-workers. This can be depressing when you’re the one teaching them English, yet you do your best, and typically, at least a handful of the students are into what you’re doing, and for those dozing, at least you can have fun bouncing coins off their heads.

…

Last week, I played in a teacher-vs.-teacher baseball game. I was more than a little rusty, which was obvious when I warmed up, yet the manager insisted I pitch, even though I pleaded with him to play me anywhere else, and chucked a few throws over the fence to drive home the point (even when I played baseball, some 15 years ago, I never pitched, as I’m quite wild, like Nuke Laloosh, but without the good stuff, and less command). When I finally conceded, I asked one of the English teachers whether I should just toss it in there, or really let loose. He said, “This is a serious game. Play serious.” I tried, and I was seriously awful. I walked the first batter. Nearly hit the second. Walked the third. And gave up a pop fly to the fourth, which was dropped. That’s when I walked off the mound, insisting I play somewhere else. They put me at catcher, where I did reasonably well (every time I made a nifty stop, the coach yelled, “Good catcher! Good catcher!” I’m certain he was mocking me). At the plate, I was so-so, as the Japanese say. I walked twice, fouled a few off, and struck out. I later found out that their pitcher played in college, as did our manager. It’s almost a week later, and my legs are still recovering. So is my pride.

…

Saturday night, we went to my good friend and coworker Nomi’s (know-me) house for dinner. We had a blast, yet we forgot the camera, so you’ll have to take my word for it. Nomi, who teaches science, lived in America for a year, and met his wife at graduate school there, so they both know English very well. They have two kids, a four-year-old boy and a girl, Nene, seven. Jonas loved it there, and after some sake (for us, not Jonas), Nomi kept saying, “Every weekend, you’ll come here. Every weekend!” His wife, Mie, who did all the cooking, was noticeably silent. We’re going to try and have them over for a Thanksgiving-esk meal.

The great thing about Nomi is that he has a tremendous sense of humor and loves to curse, which I find hilarious. Late in the evening, either when Jonas tried to eat a lump of clay, or when his son was bonking Jonas on the head with an inflatable bat, Nomi blurts out, “Maybe he’s f-cked up. Maybe he’s just f-cked up.” (Tricia won’t let me curse here). It wasn’t clear who he meant. He also tried to convince Tricia that his seven-year-old daughter could handle watching Jonas and his boy upstairs, alone, while we all went down stairs and drank more sake (Tricia overruled this). And later, when Jonas was dancing on top of a coffee table in the adjoining room, he said, “Don’t worry. If he falls and is hurt, we will hear him cry. And then we will know.” I agree. Let the boy dance.

Ikebana exhibit

One of my JTEs (Japanese Teacher of English) gave me tickets to an Ikebana exhibit, because her work was part of the show. Jonas and I went to see the exhibit today. Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement and it is quite beautiful. There is a scene in Lost in Translation where Charlotte walks into a room of women practicing Ikebana. At one of my schools, there is always a flower arrangement in the women's bathroom outside the teacher's room. It is always beautiful and simple. Just a few different flowers, plants or twigs.

This was arranged by the JTE who gave me the tickets.


Jonas was more interested in the chairs.


If you are interested in seeing a few more pictures, click below.

For Mature Audiences Only

Tricia is in bed (or in futon, rather), so I thought I'd use this opportunity to post the two questionable paintings that were -- at least from a student perspective -- unfairly barred from participating in last weekend's art contest. The whole scene was odd. The homeroom teachers, at the very least, had to have known what was up, yet they allowed the paintings into the gymnasium for the big ceremonial unveiling, only to order them right back out again after the, um, tarp was dropped. This gave the offending students an even brighter spotlight, and let me tell you, they enjoyed it.

I'm just guessing here, but I think the baseline criteria for the competition was to come up with a design that best represents the students at Akita Tech.

It's hard to get any more accurate than this.

It's a Festivus

We spent a sunny Sunday afternoon at my school's festival (one of the few sunny days we've had recently. as people love to tell us, Akita has the highest suicide rate in all of Japan -- for 11 straight years. "Winter in Akita, no sun," Sasaki sensei likes to say). The students spent Friday and Saturday preparing for the big day, which for some reason, featured a lot of cross-dressing.

Then main event on Saturday was an art competition (a workday for me. ostensibly, i get Sunday and Monday off, but like I said, Sunday we were at school for the festival, and Monday I'm playing in an inter-teacher baseball game, and later, a teacher drinking party). Each home room spent an afternoon on these, and they were pretty amazing, in my opinion. I was one of the judges for the competition, and below is the painting I voted for. It didn't win.

Neither did this one, yet I like it. I'm not sure why the kids decided to paint Arnold, but I thought it was a pretty good 80s likeness.

This one did win, and I nearly voted for it. There was a complicated story behind the creation of it, which I didn't understand. The little guy in the corner holding up the peace sign teaches mechanical engineering, and apparently, is very will liked by the students.

These two were left over from previous years.


Two other paintings (not pictured) were ceremoniously booted out of the competition. There was was a real buzz surrounding them before the judging took place, and when they were unveiled, I realized why. Due to their graphic content, Tricia has forbidden me from posting them on our blog. I did manage to snap shots of each with my phone, though, and when Tricia isn't looking, I'll throw them up here. They're actually not that bad. Most of the teachers were laughing, and even the principal managed a smile. In fact, the biggest controversy was that I used my cell phone to take pictures of them during the unveiling. Cell phones are forbidden, even during a festival, apparently. My supervisor kindly told me I needed to put it away, then added, "Don't worry. No one will care. They understand why you would be interested in these paintings."

These guys were selling curry. I asked them if they made it. They said yes. I said, no thanks.

This girl (name forgotten) always tries to talk to me, I think, because she's in the brass band, and I told her that I knew how to play the trumpet. We also both like Radiohead.


Jonas loved these girls dressed as Pokemon and Poo. They were very sweet. And short.




So students at this school study all sorts of engineering, computers, drafting, architecture. It reaffirms, for me, that we seriously need to rethink education in America. This is the positive side of tracking, in my opinion. In addition to academic classes, students here work on projects in whatever field they're interested. Below is a solar-powered car built by a student I'm trying to help get into Akita International University, where all the classes are taught in English. It's a prestigious school, and I really hope he makes it. He works unbelievably hard.




And finally, a video of little Jonas, playing in a puddle.