Forest Fires in December

I’ve been at Michimoto-san’s house for about three weeks now. I think I am properly moved in based on the condition of my room. It definitely looks like I let a monkey organize for me. I suppose the next step for completely settling in is learning how to organize it. I’ll get on that in the next three months or so…

The last two weeks have been very busy! Mostly with school, that is. There has been no club activities after school because everyone in preparing for tests, so I’ve been on my own for the evenings. Even so, it’s a wacky schedule! Transportation has become a big part of everyday. I spent at least 2 hours in transit everyday. By the time I move to my next family(at the rate of 5 school days a week), I will have spent a total of one hundred and twenty hours or five days walking, sitting in a car, or riding the train. I don’t mind it at all. It’s a great time just watching and looking at everything. I sometimes listen to music, but I’ve found that it’s so quiet out that it’s nice to just walk in the silence.

The other night I was walking home from aikido at nine at night with my headphones on. It was completely dark and I realized that there was no background noise behind the music I was listening too. When I took off my headphones, the only noise I could hear was my footsteps. It was incredible! Even with the train tracks not one hundred feet away and trains zipping back and forth the silence was incredible. Japan is one of the most populated places I’ve ever been and to have that paired with being one the quietest is very impressive.

Speaking of aikido, I’ve now started to attend more classes. I was originally going to two children’s classes on Wednesdays and Fridays and then an adult class on Saturdays. I’ve started to go to adult classes that are right after the children’s classes on Wednesdays and Fridays, so now I am doing about six hours of aikido a week.

Last week, a Frenchman named Jean was visiting the Kawachinagano aikido dojo. It was really great to be able to be taught in English, but it’s more fun when you don’t understand anything! We talked a lot about aikido and I learned that he comes to Japan every once in a while to practice aikido. The style of aikido that we practice is called daito-ryu aikijujutsu and is not as common as what is known as just aikido. Both aikido and aikijujutsu are from the ancient form of daito-ryu, as are many such branches of self-defense martial-arts in Japan. Aikijujutsu has managed to stick more closely to the original form of daito-ryu than other branches. It is fascinating learning about all of the history of daito-ryu through the classes I go to!

Last Saturday, I went with the members of the adult class out for a small party at a restaurant after aikido practice. It was really great to spend more time with them. All of them are very fun and excited to share their knowledge of aikido with me. The dinner was delicious! The best way to describe it is that it was a stew that you made yourself at the table over gas burners. Common foods that go into the stew are mushrooms, tofu, beef, oysters, clear noodles, and udon. There was also sashimi (raw fish) as an appetizer.

I was able to do a little bit of translation for Jean during aikido and dinner! It was very exciting to be able to do that!

Last Friday, I went a Rotary sponsored event at the local concert hall. There was a performance by a local youth choir. Their focus was on musicals, so they performed a couple pieces from Japanese musicals and finished with “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music. The next performance was a lion dance by two middle school boys. They dance to the music of taiko drums, bamboo flutes, and small cymbals. It was very impressive! A lot of the dance was about flexibility and strength. The two boys took turns picking each other up and then switching places without setting each other down. I don’t really know how they did it or if that sentence even makes sense, but that’s what they did!

After the Rotary event, I went out for dinner with Gigi and Baba. They treated me to Shabu-Shabu (Hot Pot) where you have a bowl of boiling water in the center of the table on a gas burner. Then, meat and vegetables are dropped in one at a time and cooked. Then they are dropped in sauces and eaten. It was very delicious! I love seeing Gigi and Baba because we have a lot of fun together! I’m happy that they are able to find time to spend with me even though I am not staying at their house anymore.

On Sunday, Michimoto-san and I walked up the road that runs past the house to look at the colors of the trees. It was a beautiful day and sun made the leaves absolutely glow!

At the end of the road was Enmeji Temple. The temple was beautiful with the bright colors.

We spent a little time there and then climbed up the small mountain next to it to get to a park. So pretty! We get the autumn colors in Minnesota, but they pass really quickly. Here in Japan, they are more gradual. Right now it is December and there are still trees that are green! It seems that the process is spread out over the course of a couple months. I have never seen such bright orange and red colors on trees before! If you had a campfire next to the trees, the trees would have been brighter!

When we got home, we went to a concert by the Kawachinagano Blue Winds band. It was really fun hearing them! They played a couple classical-style band pieces and then did some covers of pop songs. They were also called back for two encores!

Next, we went out for dinner at Kura Sushi, a sushi shop that has a train of sushi that snakes around the room and you pick what you want (See my blog from September 3). Then we went to Teregaike Park Illumination. It is very popular in Japan for public areas to have a showing of Christmas light decorations. We showed up just after a brief rainstorm, so there were very few people there. It was super cool! They had lights in fountains and covering trees. There were some cool reflections that occurred with the pools of water from the rain. At a neighboring house to the park, there was an enormous amount of Christmas lights and decorations. Someone clearly likes the holidays!

Part of this week and next week I don’t have school because everyone is having tests. Yesterday, I wandered around Kawachinagano and looked at some parks. It was a beautiful day for it! I love Japanese forests! There were very few people in the parks because it was a Friday. I’m hoping to be able to get out and explore more with some of the free time I have!

Right now, I have some difficulty with writing English because I’m out of practice. There are some moments when I want to write something in Japanese because it is a lot easier to explain than it is in English. A new milestone! I’ve also begun to talk to myself in Japanese….hmmmmmm

Thanks for reading!

Wes