Jeez I gotta write more
I don't post too often on here anymore, which is too bad, because I realize that this is really like a diary for me for this whole experience. I have never in my life been able to keep a written diary of the cool shit that I do in my life, for whatever reason if not for the hatred I have for my own handwriting. So, I'm gonna keep up with the digital writing more, whether or not it's interesting to those who read it.
I'll write about the past few weeks. My mind has been totally consumed with going home for the first summer in several years. It was great to go home in winter, but summer is a whole different...well, season. But it's obviously a different feel, a different place, and a different attitude in summer. Lots of things to do, weddings to go to, music and opera to see, outdoor places to eat burritos and drink cerveza, and fish to catch. New Mexico is plain rad in the summer.
I've been feeling restless and getting the travel bug, which is a weird feeling to have when I'm living overseas on a foreign travel experience.
But in the meantime I've kept myself pretty busy teaching some lessons, hanging with some kids, and getting some fishing. On Saturday I woke up at 5 a.m. to drive up to Akiyamago with a very hungover and amusing Tamura sensei. After getting lost a bit and then finally finding our spot, we hiked down to the Nakatsu river where the access point was at a ryokan run by an old woman. We thought we could by our license for the day there (all fishing licenses on rivers in japan are bought privately, since each river is run by a private management club). But she told us we had to get it elsewhere, and that we had better buy it, especially because a poaching foreigner fishing the river might piss off the river keeper enough that he would take my fly rod from me and snap it in half. So we tracked down an old guy in the next village, slapped down 500 yen, and we were safe.
The fishing was slow because some weirdo had fished the river before us, meaning that he woke up at 4 am just to beat us. Then, as usual, the skies opened and we got poured on and drenched to the point of hilarity. But at least I got a couple iwana.
Later that night I had dinner with Tamura sensei and his awesome family. They are himself, his wife Kimiko, and his two daughters Mugiko and Asako, who are both my students. Also, there is a 'crazy old timer Grandpa' as Tamura sensei described him, which was true. He would interrupt our regular conversation and shout in Japanese things like 'What the hell are you people talking about? Where is this guy from anyway? Let's drink." and such.
Then the next day I spent time at the karate dojo of one of my elementary students, whose mother invited me to watch. It was very cool, and several of the kids in the dojo are top-ranked in the nation, which for Japan, I think is pretty good. They were honored to have me there and each student performed their kata for me, right in front of me. It was amazing to see the kids goofing around during drills and just being the childish kids I'm used to seeing, and then once the sensei shouts the command to begin meditation focus before the kata, their focus cues in and the kids get intense. After meditation their eyes opened, bodies tensed up and their eyes focused on me intimidatingly, enough to give me chills. The shift in their spirit is like night and day when they start their kata until the final bow, when they crack a smile and go giggling off. Those goofy kids have a lot of hidden mature strength and focus.
Here's a couple pics from the weekend, and some goofing off pics from when Debs passed through town. Fun night out!
posted by Erik @ 10:08 PM
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