Yatta!

Travel memories? Here is an old photo that is one of my favorites. Screaming at a gargoyle, elated to be alive! I can't actually remember what cathedral it was taken at...seeing churches in Europe is like touring shrines in Japan...they begin to look a lot alike after a while. I'm guessing its the cathedral in Cologne, Germany. I was traveling by Eurorail alone, but typically hooked up with the first friendly looking English speaking backpackers I came across when I arrived at a new city. Can't remember now who was taking this photo for me. Wonder what they are doing now? I am itching to travel somewhere new again! Just yesterday, I played with the idea of looking for work in South America or Africa. Why not?

Souvenirs

We have been talking about traveling in some of my university classes this week. Inevitably, students always ask me about my own experiences, "What is the most beautiful place you have ever been?"..."What country do you most want to visit and why"...or "What was your most memorable trip?" These stories and memories could take weeks to tell! I have a wonderful curio box that keeps some of my travel trinkets, including these blocks and crumbs of painted concrete.

They are pieces of the Berlin Wall which I helped chisel from the historic wall during one of my most memorable trips. The fall of 1989 I studied in Copenhagen, Denmark, and spent an incredible 5 months studying there and venturing around Europe. (More about this later!)

It wasn't student questions that actually made me dig this pile of concrete out of my curio box. It was a television show a few weeks ago that showed a similar piece of the Berlin Wall (a bit bigger, and still in one piece), being auctioned for ¥40,000 ($400). It made me feel privileged that I had witnessed first hand this amazing turning point in history, and brought back load of memories. Now, I've got a well of memories to fill blog posts for a few weeks!

WHAT IF?

WHAT IF...
I gave you $100 to eat a cockroach?
our imaginings were realized with the snap of our fingers?
You could read people's minds?
men were expected to wear stockings and heels?
scientists proved there was a God?
you were 5 cm tall?
had to eat the same food 3 times every day?
you knew your future?
men made all the rules all the time?
H E L L

What if...
the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about?
I am a genie who can grant you 3 wishes?
you could memorize one book?
you could switch bodies or minds with a person of your choice?
you could be born again in another country?
you could own one company?
you could fly?
children made all the rules?
H E A V E N.

Playing with dirt

I think I could be an addict! Some friends and I went to a friend's pottery studio yesterday. I can't believe how the time flew! I made just 5 bowls, 3 on a simple hand wheel, and two on the electric wheel. What a cool job our friend has! I would love to spend all day creating! When the pots are glazed and fired, I will show them off to you!

THANK YOU DEGUCHI-SAN!

I am nothing...

My
attempt
to
add
on
to
Milton
Kessler's
list:




I am nothing compared to a typhoon's whirls and slaps
I am nothing compared to a taiko drummer's shoulder blades
I am nothing compared to a sleeping child's lashes
I am nothing compared to Magnolia's soundtrack
I am nothing compared to Mother Nature's symmetry
I am nothing compared to my tongue slips
I am nothing compared to Yoda's flips
I am nothing compared to a Copperhead's pride
I am nothing compared to ski tips dancing in fresh powder
I am nothing compared to a student's aha!
I am nothing compared to the pains of childbirth
I am nothing compared to my husband's snaps
I am nothing compared to whispers
I am nothing compared to Joseph Campbell's bliss
I am nothing compared to the schemes of Puck
I am nothing compared to shapely cheeks
I am nothing compared to airport security
I am nothing compared to the clamor of gods
I am nothing compared to possibility

COMMA OF GOD

By Milton Kessler

I am nothing compared to the Medicaid sneer
I am nothing compared to the owner of the door
I am nothing compared to the elevator of Heidegger
I am nothing compared to the spokes of Vincent's Belgian sunflower
I am nothing compared to Rodin's least mistress
I am nothing compared to the frames of Hamlet
I am nothing compared to a critic or chauffeur
I am nothing compared to my old fire engine
I am nothing compared to the breasts I see
I am nothing compared to a tree in any season
I am nothing compared to the escalator of Duchamp
I am nothing compared with Turner's clouds
I am nothing compared with the lens of Claud
I am nothing compared with my mother in 1930
I am nothing compared with the cockroach in the drain
I am nothing compared to the jew-hater's snot
I am nothing compared to the beak or the bill
I am nothing compared to the past or the present
I am nothing compared with any suit on the rack
I am nothing compared to a loaf or a child
I am nothing compared with any syllable of Homer
I am nothing compared with the foot of a chair
I am nothing compared with the truth of your anger
I am nothing compared with what I failed to do
I am nothing compared to one note of Lester Young
I am nothing compared to the images of Vietnam
I am nothing compared to the furnaces of Dresden
I am nothing compared to the last drops of snow
I am nothing compared to a bicycle with wings
I am nothing compared to the comma of God

She's finally riding!

Big news around our house today: Lucy is finally riding a bicycle...no training wheels! It's like toilet training, bottle weaning, and everything else. During the process of teaching it, it seems impossible. Then, all of a sudden, as if some little switch goes off in their head, they can do it! Next goal, sleeping in her own room. In Japan, kids sleep with their parents for a LONG time. No wonder we only have one child, most people say. Anyway...

Go! Go! Kumamoto

To my freshman, "freshers," students who have moved to Kumamoto this spring and are looking for something new to do in Kumamoto: Here are a few places to check out after you have seen the castle (The castle really is amazing, but maybe waiting a month or two for the crazy crowds to disappear is a good idea).

Check out:
1. Suizenji Park - Have MACHA in the tea house, and say hello to this duck, who will certainly come greet you if you buy fish food

2. 500 RAKKAN- The 500 Buddhas carved on the hillside of Mt. Kimpo. Take time to look at all their faces. I was told that if you look hard enough, you can find a face that reflects your feelings right now....and you must sit and meditate in the cave where Miyamoto Musashi hung out when he was in Kumamoto.

3. Flea Markets- There is one almost every weekend at FoodPal, or every few months at the GranMesse Exhibition Center.

4. Kami-Ura Street (The street parallel to Kamitori and Namikizaka a block in the direction of Route 3) There are so many fun, cheap and happening restaurants, and shops here!

5. Toichi Okonomiyaki Shop - Open just at night, but sooooo delicious! From the Shimotori Core 21 Pachinko, turn toward the Densha-dori, walk about 5 minutes, past DONKIHOTE shop, on your right ( a small, sliding wood door).

I am sleepy, so I will think of more and post later!

Babies ~ Laughter ~ Fairies!

When the first baby laughed
for the first time, the laugh
broke into a thousand pieces
and they all went skipping
about, and that was the
beginning of fairies.

J.M. Barrie

Happy Mother's Day

I wanted to post a Mother's Day message, but couldn't think of anything that didn't sound really corny. So, I looked through my library and found some thoughts from

Kahlil Gibran's THE PROPHET:

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.

And he said: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and he bends you with his might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Reading this, I was reminded of two things that I was once told. One, a metaphor that my father used a couple of times when we were having one of his long talks, that children are like kites, and that parents hold the string for a long time and then at some point, let them fly, with lots of tugs, reeling, and releasing along the way. Other words that stick with me are words my cousin, Julie shared with me recently, that the measure she uses for guiding her is her children. If your children would be proud of you today, you must be doing ok! That's a good compass I think!

GETA TAP!

Today we spent an hour tap dancing, rather stomping, in wood GETA sandals! I guess it is probably the Japanese version of clogging. My daughter's tap dance teacher, lovely Tyler, invited an instructor to her studio from Kagoshima to give a day-long workshop. Apprehensively, they convinced me to try, and I HAD A BLAST! I am predicting I will be a little sore tomorrow, but it was really so much fun making so much noise stomping, clapping and hooting! Now, Tyler wants us to show off our moves in her annual tap dance show. Looking at the photos, and seeing how UNgraceful I look, I'm not so sure. Anyway, thanks for the fun!

Won't my Daddy be so proud of me!

Remember the bumble bee song? Sing that melody as you read on:

I'm shooting up a perfect target score.
Won't my Daddy be so proud of me.
I'm shooting up a perfect target score.

Today, a group of our friends visited the Kumamoto Shooting Range where one of our friends has landed a new job. You need a license to do most of the serious shooting stuff, but we were able to do laser target shooting. Guess who had the best score? Me! I never scored a perfect 100, but got one round of 9 perfect 10s and one 9 for a total of 97 points! My friend Mako claims in must be in my blood...either my father's genes or simply the air and water we breathe and drink being raised in Montana.

Funny that I enjoyed it so much, because I am usually the biggest whiner about not playing with guns. I won't let my daughter even touch a play gun, and constantly reprimand my nephews if they point anything that half resembles a gun at any person. When my university students ask me about America's love of guns, I diplomatically talk about the safety standards my father, brother and boy friends went through to get guns for hunting, but also have real life stories of people I know who had gun accidents and death. I also got dumped really early my senior year of prom because my date wanted to get in a few hours of shut-eye before going hunting the next morning. No hard feelings though, Bill!

It really was a fun day. Thanks for the invite, Ai!

DESIGNATED HANDLE KEEPER

Today after shooting up the laser targets, we toured the Suntory Beer Factory. My husband can drink much faster than I can, so we decided that it was the better bargain if he drink the free samples and I be the driver. Japan has been working really hard to curb drinking and driving the past couple years after a few highly publicized tragic DUI accidents. So, I had to put on a tag that excluded me from alcoholic drinks in the tasting hall. But, in stereotypical Japanese-English, the name they have created for what we call designated drivers is "Handle Keeper." Hmmm. This could be mistook as the guy, like my husband in the tasting room today, who never lets the beer mug out of his hand. In Japan, the steering wheel is referred to as "the handle." I just hope this labeling is not some official DUI prevention campaign slogan.

Wanted to show off my new t-shirt that I painted last night too in this photo. What ya think? Complete with my favorite quote from Kierkegaard.

CAN YOU FLY?

Odd question? Well, I like to ask it when talking about dreams. Do you fly in your dreams? Yes? How? I mean, do you do superman style YOKOTOBI, or Mary Poppins TACHITOBI? I am more of a Mary Poppins, minus the parasol. I don't dream of flying much anymore, but when I did, I always took off from the same spot, wobbly standing on the corner of the backyard fence of my childhood home on Elaine Drive. I would climb up to the corner of the fence, and then when I was ready to fly, all I had to do was hold my arms straight down by my sides, then flap my hands a bit. Just a few flaps would be enough to levitate me a few inches into the air, and then just by leaning my body in the direction I wanted to go, I could float anywhere, flapping a bit more when I wanted to go higher, or relaxing my stiff posture to descend back down. I can't remember why I would fly, usually just to see the world from a different perspective, or to watch everyone else unsuspectedly, I think.

I just realized that our cool adventure in Hawaii this past March, parasailing, was a near realization of my dreamy flights. I had expected it to be a bit scary, but actually it was quite relaxing and dreamy in itself. The lift off the boat was so gentle, like someone giving you a push on a swing that keeps going up, up, up. Now, I want to go back and do it again, this time with my eyes closed, and pretend that I am on the fence corner again, and that I am 30 years younger again!

P.S. Just had to go and check out the dream analysis websites. There were lots of interpretations of what flying in your dreams means. Escape? Fear? Confidence? Having control of your situation? Having super power? Ok, so what does it mean if I don't fly in my dreams these days? Optimistic me will say that I must be more content in my now grounded self. Sure!

Can't complain!

I was complaining to my husband yesterday that whenever his blog entries speak about me, they are usually telling the world my silly or careless mistakes. Why not write how much you love and adore me for a change, I said. So, to show my own good sportsmanship, I want to let y'all know how lucky I am to have such a good friend in my husband! I have my own handful of gripes, but I know the good outweigh them 100 fold. I see I am just as guilty of being a doting mother, because I had to go back through the hundreds of photos of Lucy almost 6 months to find a photo with Eiji in it (and its not the best, but a typical pose for him!) I will make a point of sharing his photos and stories more often. Love you, Eiji! XXOO

Play Day!

Today was a play day, as reward for our long week of theatre rehearsals and shows. My cousin Amanda was down from Fukuoka, so we ventured to Aso, met up with a friend and had barbecued Aso Beef, wild grilled chicken, and 10 different kinds of tempura leaves. Then, we visited Aso Farmland, which was basically a huge souvenir shop except for this huge exercise park full of mazes, climbing, sliding, and balancing. Amanda and I were exhausted! Lucy snored in the car all the way home!

Can't help but adore them!

This photo is Lucy's group of Seahorses from the children's play, Little Mermaid on Saturday. Can you find her?

It was so fun to see the 70-some kids who participated transform. In January when we started practicing lines and songs, most of the kids could barely fumble through the English script, with incomprehensible pronunciation and zero enthusiasm. But, when the final week of practices arrived, they had most of their lines down. Then the two actors did their magic in teaching them to express themselves with huge gestures and dancing in, out and across the stage. Most of the audience was Japanese and couldn't understand many of the silly puns like the new jellyfish that were discovered when researching new species of peanut butter plankton. But, when I heard giggles and applause from the audience throughout the show, I was really proud of their little show. Good job kids!

Not ready to be a full time actress yet!

This was the face of Lucy during the 2nd show, after having been up late the night before rehearsing, then doing a morning dress rehearsal, then an afternoon show. By the time the evening show came around, she was exhausted, not wanting to sit still back stage and wait for her 5 second gallop across stage or 30 second song and dance. She just wanted to get out of the hot costume and have ice cream. So, for people like my cousin Amanda who drove 3 hours from Fukuoka to see her performance, they only got to see her in the finale, because she refused to come out for the entire evening show! Oh well. She is still singing all the songs and dancing around the house, so it must have been a pretty memorable experience for her. It was for me, so if I have my way, we will be the first to sign up to do the show again next year!