Thoughts of February

Events since Hokkaido have been pretty ordinary, but there are a few things I would like to transmit from the mind.

The weather is getting warmer and spring is creeping in though my window. The plum trees are blossoming and soon the cherry trees should start budding. With the change in seasons, I begin to notice more things around me, in my mind and out of it.

The road to my train station, which I ride at least two times a week, seems to have a random house or something that I have never noticed before. It is weird. Buildings which you think would be hard to miss after passing for the 40th time suddenly make appearances. It is as if someone re-arranges the street every night.

An example of this is a Hawaiian restaurant that I passed on my way to the bank the other day. Unfortunately it wasn't open. The sign said it didn't open until after 5PM. Even more unfortunately, the interior of the building looked completely empty. Most likely the cafe couldn't make it in my town and closed down, or the optimistic approach would be that it is brand new and they put up their sign before they furnished their restaurant...unfortunately I doubt the optimistic view. I was really hoping for a place with some unique food and even better, Hawaiian coffee within biking distance!


Smile

Besides this, I have been having the most frustrating experience of reaching for something so close to my grasp but not even opening my hand to grab it, or pulling back my hand because I actually fear getting too close and achieving the goal. This is so frustrating because I know I can do it, but make a subconscious decision not to. This is compounded by me knowing that this subconscious decision is based on fear greater than the fear of failing to achieve my goal. Within this new year though, I have made leaps and bounds but still trip on every other hurdle.

I still don't know what to do for my Golden Week holiday in May. India just doesn't feel financially feasible for me at the moment, but I really want to make use of a week long holiday, since they are far too few.

Also there is a weird religious site that seems to like to impersonate my blog address. That site is http://japansun.blogpsot.com/ and you can notice they just can't spell spot...but yeah, I didn't read any of it because one of the first things it says is that the end is near...so if they were right, I didn't want to waste my time.

Hokkaido

Japan's northern island. Hokkaido once not once part of Japan, but home of an ethic people known as the Ainu. It's Japan's final frontier, the wild north where bears still roam free and wide spaces are filled with snow and sky.

We arrived Thursday afternoon to check out the Snow Festival in Sapporo City. Overall it was amazing. Great sculptures and food from all over the world.





Snow sculpture

Interestingly enough we also ran into two local girls who decided to show us some of the good spots in Sapporo. Resulting in lots of drinking and singing karaoke until 3AM.

The next morning was spent walking around Sapporo, mainly getting lost and then going to a chocolate factory where I bought a bunch of chocolate for my co-workers.

The next morning started early heading to Niseko to snowboard at Grand Hirafu. The snow was like powdered sugar and my friend John and I shredded it like confectioners. Niseko is unique in that its snow comes from Siberia creating powder that rivals even Montana's cold smoke. On top of this, the scenery was epic.


On top of Grand Hirafu looking at Mt. Yotei

After 3PM a blizzard hit the mountain and I couldn't see more than 4 feet in front of me, which forced me to shred like a Jedi using the force. That evening was followed by walking the streets of Sapporo with beer in hand (it's legal in Japan) and then hitting a pretty cool bar.

The vacation was very quick, and I miss Hokkaido. With delicious food, powder and friendly locals. Arriving back home at 10PM on Sunday allowed me to sleep before reality on Monday morning.

Money is the Root of All...

My thoughts on a sleepless Tuesday night.

Lately money has been the root of all...adventure.

Last month Thailand.
Snowboarding
Tomorrow Hokkaido.
March, more snowboarding and domestic travel.

Late April...India?!!

So I have just been given the opportunity to do another volunteer gig. This time in India building houses for the Dalit social caste, formally known as the untouchables. It would be a week long work camp in a small village located in Andhra Pradesh.

A great opportunity since if I go to India, I want to see the real side of India. Not the clean side, the fake side, the tourist brochure side. Sure I want to see that too, but I want to really experience the culture, the people, the life. Doing this with a volunteer group is probably the most rewarding AND safest way of going about it.

The problem, the price.

Flights costing around $1000 stacked on top of a volunteer trip fee of $650 plus another $150 to get an Indian visa. Then of course this doesn't include domestic expenses of travel such as domestic flights, food outside of the work camp, etc. etc. Although I am sure domestic expenses are relatively cheap.

Will my school allow me to take 6 days of personal holiday in late April/early May? This will allow me about 13 days in India with the help of a few national holidays.

Is spending $2000 worth it? Going all the way to India just for two weeks to haul some bricks? I bet the people I will be hauling bricks for will think so.

This is only a few months away. If I join there is fund-raising, visas, preparations, etc. I only volunteered in Thailand a little over a month ago. What am I thinking?

My other choice for "golden week" holiday is to visit my friend in Taiwan. The total cost being less than $1000. Taiwan is cool, but India is...well more adventurous in my book.

Another JET, Kyoko, is also planning on going to India. I am staying at her place tomorrow before I head off to Hokkaido. I will probably end up making my decision about it after talking to her.

So people always say "Money is the root of all evil." I think money is the root of all movement. The root of all adventure.

A more accurate saying would be, money is the root of all. But like everything else, strong roots can't prevent rotten apples.

July 2011

I officially extended my contract one more year with the JET program. Now instead of my contract ending in late July of 2010 it will end in late July 2011.

My original plan was to stay on the JET program for two years, even before I knew where I would be placed. It is a hard decision since it must be made only after being halfway through my contract. Agreeing to stay on for another year means I am committing to 18 more months in my town and at my school. There are many things that I wish were different about my situation. I wish I didn't live so far away from practically everything. I wish my town was a bit more internationalized so that I would feel at home and be able to easily attend community events. Most of all I wish I felt more welcome at my school.

In general I think my students are great, but I wish I had a better relationship with my co-workers. Most of my co-workers don't try to even talk to me, although my relationship with the English teachers is always improving. When I first arrived I just sat in the teachers' office with no one telling me anything. My Japanese wasn't really good enough to formulate my thoughts and questions into coherent sentences since my vocabulary for at the workplace was basically non existent. Slowly this is changing as I pick up words here and there, but the awkward silence remains. I want to say something, but since it has been 6 months without many of the teachers even introducing themselves to me, it just feels awkward. I made my self-introduction in front of everyone at least 3 times, so I feel introductions at my end are done. Not to mention, I would like to be taken into the environment since I am the new one, instead of trying to find a way in. Honestly since no one talks to me, I am not even sure if just "chit-chatting" is part of Japanese workplace culture. Although I am pretty sure I hear it sometimes. My job itself is almost always like that of a human tape recorder on constant improv, which it would be nice if I could know how to be more involved with my students. Again, something I would probably need direction from my co-workers who seem a little unwilling.

This piled on top of feeling unconnected in my town's community makes the week pretty lonely.

But there are reasons, that apparently outweigh these let-downs. Although I am living in the middle of boring nowhere, I am about a 15 minute bike ride plus 90 minutes by train away from Kyoto. My school is brand new! This is great when I see the condition of most other public schools. The pay is good. I get about $37,000/year untaxed. I am fully insured. Opportunities to travel throughout Asia. Over $38,000 in student loan debt. A relatively comfortable life.


Snowboarding in northern Shiga (Yogo Kogen)

Besides this, I don't really have a "home" drawing me back to the U.S. Most people that leave say they miss their friends, family, dog, food, etc. etc. within their own country. My family is dispersed, as are my friends, no dog, prefer Asian foods. The only thing I do miss is the ability to understand the world around me much easier. I also still want to improve my Japanese, and it is a slow process. Especially with my low interaction with Japanese people this time around.

Also, before I lived in Japan for 11 months. I remember after 10 months, the actual feeling of living in Japan started to kick in. Acquaintances became friends, language started to make more sense, established routine of things I liked to do, etc. etc. I am curious to what life after 11 months in a foreign country feels like. I feel like maybe that is when finally you stop being a visitor of a country and become a resident. It takes a while to become established. Plus, an opportunity like this doesn't always come and I feel it is better to face the unknown so I don't have to ask myself, "What if I stayed in Japan another year?" The answer to, "What if I went back to the U.S.?" will be answered when I get my exit visa.