Ijira / Yamagata City / Gifu / Japan

Young Taiko Drummers at Chestnut Festival 

Charly at Community Sports Day doing the difficult hoop &
stick relay

One month now in Japan and the changes have already kept this old brain a whirling.  The first change has been the weather.....it has gone from hot and humid to cool and cloudy within a week.  Granted there have been numerous typhoons that have hit the island.  Luckily we are inland enough that we don't get the devastation that the coast gets.  Other changes are numerous; lack of understanding & reading the Japanese language (going food shopping is a hoot), learning how to operate the microwave, stove, car, even the toilet, driving on the left, going to 13 different schools in the Yamagata School Dist. and reading a simple map, all in Japanese.  Charly and I are both in the adjustment period but all in all, we are very happy that we are here.  

Our friend and interpreter Ayako has been invaluable.  She found us a great house to live in, sold us a great car, and helped us at every unfamiliar turn.  She has gone to all the schools with me this month, and organized many social activities and welcoming dinners and luncheons.  So far we have participated in a community sports day, biked all over the region, visited a sword museum in a near by town, eaten many wonderful new Japanese foods, like octopus, squid, soba, jelly fish, and many unusual fruits and vegetables, baked sweet bread at the local community center, Charly is taking calligraphy classes once a week, and I tried my hand at Japanese flower arranging.  Below are a few photos from these activities. 

Seki Samurai Sword Museum 

These flowers bloom everywhere in the fall & spring

Our wonderful landlady who fixes delicious lunches when she
comes from Nagoya for the day

As far as my lofty goals of a true cultural exchange between the Siuslaw School Dist. and Yamagata City Schools, I have pretty much given up on making any real impact.  I visit 9 elementary schools, 3 Jr. Highs, and 2 pre-schools every month.  I spend one day a week at city hall writing for the city's newsletter and website about my experiences and teaching English conversation to anyone interested.  My original plan was to try an internet exchange of projects or programs using the National Geographic site called e-Pals. This is not going to happen.  The Japanese system is very rigid and with little time for anything that doesn't come from the English textbook.  So my plan now is to get Siuslaw Schools to send me any videos, power point presentation or field trip experiences to share with the students here in Yamagata.  I am going to do something that pertains to my glorious title, "Coordination for International Relations"  from the city of Florence.  

The Japanese people have been very welcoming, and for the most part, very helpful and kind with our limited Japanese.  We are looking forward to exploring Japan, but we are very happy in our home in Ijira with rice patties and forested hills around our house.  Charly and I find ourselves talking about Bhutan more than we do about the United States.....given the current events back home tis no wonder.  Let peace and goodwill return to our government so we don't need to feel embarrassed  by the foolishness that has been happening.

Sayonara for Now