Needless things from the internet

Green is my favorite color. But it wasn’t until today—through this insightful test—that I realized what specific shape of green I identify with most.

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.

What Color Green Are You?

I should also tell you that my character in Halo 2 wears teal green armor. Sugoi!

Thoughtful Perspective

Sometimes the difference between being happy and being miserable in a situation is dependent upon your perspective of that situation. Take today for example: it’s Saturday and I was at school working my normal hours because we’re having our yearly culture festival. Why did the school schedule the event for Saturday? I don’t know…it’s a Japanese thing…but the point is I started this morning at 7AM thinking, “Oh man, it’s Saturday! I’m supposed to be sleeping and playing video games today…not getting up, shaving, and going to school.” Thus, my initial perspective on the day was “less than happy.”

I should also tell you that recently I’ve been kind of bummed and dazed about life here. I’m still adjusting to old friends leaving and new ones arriving and while teaching has been going well, I feel drained and stretched for new ideas of what to do in the classroom. I’ve also been going through an episode of “Oh gosh, I’m single!” that just makes life exhausting…and the changing of the seasons from summer to fall makes me so homesick for Chapel Hill and long afternoons in the sun with friends.

So all of this combined in my mind this morning as I was eating toast and watching a spider the size of a cat making a web outside my kitchen. I kept thinking, “What am I doing out here in the inaka?! There’s nothing here! Even Japanese people are amazed that I live out here!”

I arrived at school with a few tired grumbles rolling around in my head and was greeted by excited students and teachers who were gearing up for an eventful day of performances and festivities. My mood began to lighten.

A little while later I was sitting in an auditorium next to one of my favorite teachers and surrounded by all the students. The energy of the room was positive and I tried to let go of my grumbles and enjoy what was to come. I had planned on sitting in the back and catching some sleep during the 3 hour assembly, but my teacher-friend had asked me to sit up front with him…and it was this invitation that started a change of heart in me. Sometimes when I’m sitting in a long Japanese-only assembly, I have the tendency to zone out and separate myself from what’s going on. This is a reaction to not knowing the language all that well and not relating to the different culture. BUT THIS IS A MISTAKE. And today I didn’t make that mistake.

Long story short, I enjoyed the assembly and even made it up on stage myself. My teacher-friend turned to me during a student choral performance and said, “These students are so precious…many young people are going to cities and leaving the inaka…but these young people are still here...and they are so pure…and they make me happy.”

And in that moment I realized he was right…and that I should be embracing my time here in the inaka. I shouldn’t be looking to other places and things to be happy when I’ve got so much RIGHT HERE in my little town. I have a good life out here and I should focus on the beautiful scenery, the simple flow of life, and the amazing people around me. I then remembered a conversation I had had with student the day before…

Super genki, super wonderful student: “Jasten, why…uh…why do you…did you come to Japan?”
Me: “Coming to Japan has always been a dream of mine…since I was a little kid.”
Super genki, super wonderful student: “Oh! So this is your dream! Your dream!”
Me: (laughing a little and smiling deep down inside) “Yeah, I guess so…I’m living my dream.”

Shark Friend, the sequel

Part Two of what's becoming a YouTube phenomenon.

Shark Friend

I made this so I'd get famous on YouTube. And because it's kind of true.

STAR TREK at last

It was after Jean-Luc Picard had been assimilated by the Borg but before Karl dropped my Barbra Streisand biography into the toilet that I realized how awesome small house parties can be.

Let me start at the beginning...

Living in a small town out in the inaka that's accessible only by car and helicopter usually means I don't have many visitors. This past Saturday, however, was a wonderful change to this as Karl, Lisa, Phil, and Tamara all made their way to Ajimu for a visit and some Star Trek watching. Gathering everyone up in my little car in Usa (five people maxing out the engine's power capability), we made our way from the train station to the legendary Usa Shrine.

Happy sweaty people


Tamara and Karl fighting to the death

After the shrine, we headed south into the mountains towards Ajimu. Having five people in a small car like mine is not only a little cramped, but it's also illegal (sorry mom). Fortunately Lisa is a quick thinker and managed to always duck when a police car was near. We managed to dodge the po-po all the out to Higashishiiya no taki--the tallest waterfall in Kyushu that's located about 10 minutes from my house. We swam in the coldcold water with a lot of laughing and screaming as Japanese people watched us at a distance. When we were leaving, we saw a very different kind of site...a young woman accompanied by a man with a camera nonchalantly and quickly removed her top to pose for a picture in front of the waterfall. Sugoi! Nudie photos in the wild!



Trekking to and swimming in the falls...no one is nude in this photo.

Later we returned to my house and prepared for the highlight of the evening--watching Star Trek! I had been waiting and hoping for this moment since I returned to Japan with DVDs of the show and now that I had found some fellow fans of the scifi series, it was time to enjoy. To make things a little more interesting, I devised a drinking game we could play while we watched. The rules were simple: drink a "generous mouthful" whenever a crew member says "engage", "open hailing frequencies", or any number of other familiar lines. There were also rules about drinking whenever there was a RED ALERT, Klingon was spoken, or there was sexual tension between characters. By our third episode of TNG, we were feeling pretty good.


The rules (numerous, but funny)


Phil is energized for adventure

But then Karl had to go and drop my Barbra Streisand biography into the toilet. Sigh, this is where events took a very different turn. Feeling the need for justice, I challenged Karl to a fight in the elementary school playground next door (remember, I live in the middle of no where with no neighbors so this kind of thing is okay to do). I think I won the fight, but I wanted to face another challenger so I called Phil out into the dirt (and he was calling me Little Bo Pete and stuff so in the spirit of Klingon honor I felt the need to take him down). This fight didn't go as well...see photo below.



Nonetheless, the night was still awesome. Lisa really came through and regulated and made us drink water and eat bread (thanks Lisa). By latesomething o'clock after Phil had made a random peanut butter dip and Tamara had critically disassembled another episode of Star Trek, we gathered our futons and went to sleep. It was good to have people over and share Ajimu with them (isn't it such a lovely, safe town?). Glad you guys came! Let's do it again!