Fun weekend, sad news in America...

Today are my first classes back after summer and I'm about as lethargic as I am motivated. I am happy to see my kids, but after seeing my new schedule and seeing some of my school visits doubled, I am not looking forward to a very manageable semester. Though, there will be more elementary school visits, and for all the energy I put into them, at least the students give that energy back and make my time there feel more meaningful...

This weekend was the regional event on Friday night, and other than the minor stress that goes along with organizing dinner and a night out for a group of 22 people and getting everyone set with places to stay and whatever else and just trying to make sure everyone was happy, it was lots of fun. The original plan fell through because the bar we wanted to go to couldn't handle a group our size after dinner, so we ended up drinking in Lupin. It was good and fun to see Yuki and Master too, but a little chaotic toward the end trying to sort out the next step and and bill of course (the nature of Japanese nights out always leaves someone with a financial burden but it seems to always balance out over time).

Spent the rest of the weekend with Yuko and just relaxing, ended up in Kawanishi on Saturday for the festival there, in Russell's teacher's place sharing laughs and some good inaka kindness.

Otherwise my mind has just been preoccupied with the Hurricane Katrina disaster. It's horrible and it's hard to be overseas to try to take in all the information from the internet, because with the internet it isn't just a passing news report on TV with a time limit, it is something that you can become obsessed with and read over and over and find 600 different articles about the same terrible things that are happening. I eventually had to force myself away from the news pages and instead rely on live NPR audio feeds because the helpless feeling that you get when you see an area of your country bleeding away like that is overwhelming, and reading the same tragic things again and again only added to it.

It's been interesting to listen to the little Japanese response and questions I've heard about the hurricane. I realized that very few Japanese understand how vast and huge America is, because many assumed that my house and every house in America was underwater. Today I heard a comment comparing the government's response to our earthquake (military was here within hours) and the response back home. "Why so slow?" they asked. Not able to go into the details about the nature of the disaster, class and racial divisions and the government's preparadness and economic and social priorities, all I could say was "Fukuzatsu desu..." - It's complicated. And, once again, it's an embarrasing time to be an American. Too many resources and tax dollars are spent fighting pointless wars and creating death by human hand, when so many people down south were unprotected and unaided by the very hands that they vote for and pay taxes to.

I spoke with my friend from Louisiana yesterday and she said that the one thing America can be proud of are the individuals all around her area who are donating homes, cash and work hours to help alleviate a lot of the suffering that never should have happened in the first place...

And, as a jazz and blues lover, how heartbreaking is it to see the birthplace of it all saddened and deserted...

Check out this good NOVA video made in January about the possibility of a hurricane hitting the New Orleans area...http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/02.html