Who Said Jack-O-Lanterns Have to Be Orange?

I taught my ESS girls how to carve a pumpkin yesterday. Kayoko, Shizuka, Konami, and Yukari had never done it before, and it was kind of new to me, too, since I have never actually carved a green pumpkin. Japan doesn't really have the orange variety, with the exception of one huge deformed monster that one of the more expensive supermarkets is selling in their floral department. So anyway, green it was. We painted faces on the tiny ones, and precariously jabbed out faces on the bigger ones. I even recruited Ishida-sensei, the 25-year-old (painfully shy) male teacher who shares my office, to help. He cut the skinny nose on the right pumpkin. It was really cute. Ishida delights me, because he's about 6'4", skinny with glasses, and completely bashful. I usually don't use that word, bashful, but it totally fits him. He's an English teacher, but he gets so nervous when he speaks that I usually only get one or two sentences out of him before he trails off mid-sentence and resumes his prior activity. I know he's about to talk to me when I hear him mumbling to himself. I'm not sure if he is practicing what he is going to say, or giving himself a little "Ganbate" for encouragement. In either case, our exchanges are always a little (lot) awkward. The other day he asked me, "(mumblemumbbrrlrr) Keeley? What is Halloween?" I tried to explain it to him, but how can you explain the history of pagan holidays and religion to someone who can't even understand, "Do you ever drink coffee?" And it's not like a can bust out my Japanese, which hasn't seemed to improve much since I got off the plane. Annnnyyway, everyone had a good time with the pumpkins... it didn't feel like Halloween, though. Not to me. Now they're sitting outside my office, probably rotting, so the students can admire them.

I Swear I'm Stealing One

These are my three favorite little girls ever. Yesterday the international community in Kure had a sports day, which consisted of relays, vollyball, and basketball in the gym at the Coast Guard training center. We did an egg race, a three legged race, a jump rope race, human wheelbarrels, etc. I forgot how hard human wheelbarrels are. Julie picked up my legs, and I belly flopped on the gym floor. Anyway, the little girl on the top of the pyramid is my host sister, Kanon. I hang out with her and her mom, Maya, about once every two weeks or so. On the bottom left is Aoi, whose English is almost better than most of the Japanese teachers I work with. On the right is Sare, who is a bit of a tomboy, but loves hugs and jumping really high in the air. haha. So the day was a blast... afterwards we went to California 101, a pizza place near the gym. The pizza was not the highlight of the day. The kids definitely were.

Mini Beach

Yesterday I spent the day at a BBQ with Julie and her boyfriend's band. We grilled everything imaginable... lobster, steak, vegetables, sea snails (gross), rice balls, and a $1000 crab. Seriously, $1000. It was huge and delicious. The guy who hosted the BBQ is apparently very wealthy. Anyway, we gaijin introduced the Japanese folk to grilled pinapple, which they thought was bizarre. There was a tiny strip of beach where we played for a while. It almost felt like Florida, shrunken to 1/500 it's normal size. Pictured above is Brian, another ALT, with this precious little Japanese girl who fell in love with him. I have never seen anyone so good with children. He entertained her for hours, and by the end of the day, she was mimicking everything he did... which ultimately lead to her being completely soaked in the ocean. About that time, Julie's bf, Hirahara, decided he was wasted and wanted to swim, too. So he stripped down to his gray (and eventually translucent) boxer briefs, and hopped in the ocean. Julie was chasing him around with his shirt trying to cover him up. It was hilarious and embarassing. Anyway, it was a great day. I got a little sun on my shoulders and sand in my toes.

My First Temple

I saw my first temple on Friday. My students were testing all week, so on Friday they were rewarded with a school "picnic," which was actually a field trip to Onomichi, town 2 hours away from Kure. Only the first year students went to Onomichi; 2nd and 3rd years had different destinations, respectively. So a little over two hours after boarding the bus, we arrived at Senkoji temple. I learned that the singular word, "temple" is slightly misleading. It actually refers to many temples, all clustered together. The temple above is the biggest one, the main Senkoji temple. It is a giant bell that people ring after praying for happiness. There were many other smaller temples strewn about the mountain, though.

All sorts of little praying statues and rocks with inscriptions I couldn't read.

All those little pink things are tiny figurines of the Buddhist god who is responsible for saving the lives of children. This god seemed to be really popular at Senkoji... those little pink guys were everywhere. I didn't bother to do an in-depth translation of the sign, but from what I can read, this particular shrine is meant for lovers. Maybe fertility? I hope I didn't stand there too long.

This shrine was another happiness deal. I actually did this one. You throw in an offering, pray for happiness, and then pull on this long rope of wooden balls. It makes a clacking noise... pretty cool actually.

There was another shrine located up a rocky path that you could only reach by climbing. This is one of the teachers I teach with every week, Mr. Koguchi. He actually climbed thhe whole thing and did whatever it is people do up there. I wanted to climb it, but I was wearing tight jeans. Plus i probably would have broken something.

One of the other cool things about the area is that it used to be a theme park. There was this random giant ferris wheel overlooking the Inland Sea I wanted to ride so bad.

All my 1st-year baseball boys. The whole team has shaved heads. Two of my favorite students are in this picture... the second and fourth from the right in the front. One is just precious, the other is really into English, so he tries really hard in class and always listens. It's refreshing.

Some of my girls. They really do always make the peace sign in pictures. It's eerie.

Onomichi has a beautiful port.

Somehow we lucked out and got a bus equipped with a karaoke machine. I can't tell you what a delight it is to be stuck in a bus full of Japanese people singing karoke. Pictured above is one of the 1st-year teachers belting a lovely rendition of "Linda Linda." Good thing I didn't want to nap on the bus or anything.

So that was the trip in a nutshell. I finally gave into the annoying ketai charm obsession. I bought a little gold jingling owl, or "fukurou," which is a symbol for happiness. It's pretty cute, but kind of annoying. It's just constantly jingling. Jingle jingle.

The Evolution of Dance

A little taste of home.

Naked Saxer

Today while I was walking home from school, I realized I am starting to look past things. What I mean is that the sparkle of Kure, and to a lesser degree, Japan, is wearing off. Not in a bad way really, it's just that I'm no longer constantly in awe of the wacky stuff I see here. Like this naked saxophone player in the picture. I pass him every day on my way to and from school. I mean seriously, look at this guy. Golf hat spread eagle and all. And this is the artwork that decorates the street up to my high school. It's a beautiful street if you can see the fat naked sax player as art. Anyway, I figured I'd better take a picture of him before I forget how weird he is, sitting in the middle of the sidewalk like that.

My Chair

I bought my first piece of furniture today. It's a pretty kick-ass hanging chair I have been eying for about a month. Coming soon: curtains, a sofa, and a coffee table.