A Semi-Geto Weekend

The day finally came! I have finally christened my beautiful snowboard in the fluffy white baptismal slopes of Geto Kogen Ski Resort. Just kidding: my board's agnostic. But I did finally get to snowboard on Saturday!

This is what Hot Stuff looks like :)

After months of waiting in anxiety for my pass which never came in the mail, a few fevered emails to the facility and a lot of thumb-twiddling during my trip to Kesunnuma, I made the journey to Geto to test the waters...so to speak. Fully equipped and full of excitement, I made a white-knuckled drive up the mountain. What they say is true: snow is beautiful when you're a kid, and a nightmare of brown pants proportions when you're an adult with a license.

Adjusting the bindings the night before

When I made it up the escalator, I found someone who looked like they worked there and inquired about my pass. I showed my receipt and was immediately ushered to the ticket desk where a young woman shuffled through a deck of cards, finally pulling mine out! At last! I felt like the Trix Rabbit if he finally escaped those greedy bastard kids! At last, it was mine! In my hands! My ticket to three months of white powdered glory! And the pass comes with so much more than just access to the hills and the lifts. You receive coupons for board waxing, the cafeteria and free access to the onsen on site! Bliss.

The great thing about snowboarding gear? Under all the layers, the hat, the goggles and the mask, nobody knows who you are or how old you are. You're just another newbie flopping around in the snow, bouncing up the bunny slope like Ralphie's kid brother, the tick-about-to-pop.

Actually, it's incredible how much consideration the Japanese take in the way they dress when they do any athletic sport. There are jumpsuits in every department store, if you want to pursue the matchy look, but the edgier types hit the slopes in bold patterns and bright colors, mixing and contrasting like a Vogue fashion shoot. Everything might look slip-shod, but you know money was spent for that look, you just know. And damn, they look good!

Even the kids are adorably styling. My favorite of the day was a little 2 or 3 year old boy in a turquoise one piece snow suit covered in black skulls. That's right Baby Marilyn Manson, you make that snow angel, you precious little terror.

I spent a good few hours at Geto, and of course I mean I never made it onto a lift up to the top of the mountain. I stayed on the training hill like a good little novice, practicing standing, turning and falling. I'm really, really good at falling. Actually, falling is a great motivation for not falling again, especially if your tailbone is still sore from ice-skating the previous week. You fall once on your butt, go rigid and tell yourself, "Well, next time I'll fall on my face instead. Maybe I can put a broken bottle down to break the fall. That'll feel better."

Seriously, though, I was really proud of myself any time I made my way down the slope and didn't fall.

I spent most of the day just going up and down this tiny molehill that was my mountain, looking up at the actual mountain from time to time. A looming reminder of what I was working towards. With every tumble, I'd talk to myself. When you're up there alone, you are your own coach and it's easier for me to listen to my advice if I talk out loud. I probably looked like a lunatic, but at least a lunatic who improved a teeny tiny bit over the day!

It snowed ALL day

Finally, in the mid-afternoon, I strapped in my boots again from sitting on the ground and as I tried to stand up, I literally, physically could not do it. I could not stand. I tried rolling up. I tried using the front edge of my board to pull myself up. I couldn't even roll over to my stomach and push myself up. I was done. I made a snow angel while I got my wind back, then finally boosted myself up.

I only fell once on my way down.

After spending the day in the cold, it was time to spend some time in the warm, loving waters of an onsen. I had a hankering for a Japanese style onsen and knew where I could find one on the way home. Semi Onsen is just off the road, sheltered from wind and traffic noise from Geto by hills and trees.

http://www.semi-onsen.co.jp/spa/#p5

They have both indoor and outdoor hot springs. You can sit outide in a semi-covered bath and watch the snow fall into the hot water and listen to the river just beyond the rock wall.

Oni SMASH

After a long day, I decided today I'd take a break and just visit another onsen, this time outside of Hanamaki. That's a daunting task in and of itself: there are dozens on onsen just in Hanamaki, so I did the good old eenie meenie method and landed on Yamanokami Onsen.

http://www.yuukaen.jp/spa/index.html

This place was beautiful! It's a large hotel complex with several types of onsen all over the building, but my favorite of course are the outdoor type. I love sitting in the midst of nature and letting myself go. There's even beautiful tile work on the wall of one indoor bath.

The sort of peace and relaxation you get from onsen is something I wish I could share with America. While I sat and caught snowflakes on my fingers I tossed around the idea of opening on onsen in America, possibly out west near some natural springs. I'd offer overnight accommodations where guests can cook for themselves or I'd offer them a dinner and breakfast package of Japanese style food. There would be indoor and outdoor baths and ever door would slide open, not swing. Yukata can be rented, shoes are left at the door and relaxation is 100% guaranteed.

Bonenkai: Eating, Drinking, Forgetting the Year

It's that time of year. The holiday season is heavy upon Japan...or at least it was, however briefly. You see, Christmas in Japan is "for lovers," as I'm led to believe. Sure, there are wreaths, little fake Christmas trees and tinsel tinsel tinsel! But Christmas songs aren't monopolizing the shopping centers and red-suited Wilford Brimley look-alikes aren't standing at every corner.

Even the snowpeople have dates!

 But the Japanese humor Western interests for the days leading up to Christmas, but it isn't the lights-sugar-cookie-and-consumer-gasm that it is for America.

Case in point: my last lesson for the third year students was to have them write a letter to Santa asking for three things. I may as well have asked them to explain relative theory in Russian. It's a distinct culture difference, but it's also because in Japan, they don't associate Christmas and gift-giving. They just don't. End of story.

So what happens every December? Where does all the stress and tension and angst of the year go if not into tissue paper stuffed boxes?

Why, bonenkai, of course!

Bonenkai, or "Forget the Year Parties," are the perfect last ditch effort to get some massive partying on before the new year begins. It is exactly what it sounds like: a party for the sake of forgetting the bad, ugly and worse than ugly that happened in the previous year. Companies reserve a venue (izakaya, restaurant, hotel, onsen...) and everyone gears up for a night to forget.

The teachers of なん中学校 invited me to join them for their bonenkai. And while the fee is no laughing matter, (13,000 yen) it's apparently a pretty standard rate for everything that's included. We were booked at the Yamayurino-yado ryokan outside of Hanamaki City. The best way I can describe a ryokan is to say it's basically an onsen hotel. Most onsen visits are a one day affair, in for a bath, maybe stay for a meal, then go. However, should you desire, most onsen themselves are also equipped for overnight stays. Pricier places also offer fabulous multi-course meals and breakfast. Modern ryokan also have Western or Japanese style rooms to choose!

Yamayurino-yado is in the hills past Hanamaki City, quiet, sulfury and beautiful. Inside, you're ushered to a sitting area while a woman prepares tea and a snack for you. When you're ready to go, you're escorted to your shared room to put down your things, then taken to a display table where you choose your yukata and sash. Some people wear the yukata all night, but between the dining and drinking, I didn't get to slip into mine until past midnight, but we'll get to that later.

Speaking of food, Yamayurino-yado's dining facilities are unique. Outside of the banquet room, we removed our slippers to avoid damaging the tatami floors. Inside, there were two large tables, each with two irori (sunken hearths) embedded in the table. Charcoal fires were already red hot and ready to go. We took numbers that determined our seats, where we could enjoy looking at beautiful plates of tidbit foods.

They even had little Christmas presents and plastic bells that said "Merry Christmas." It was a sweet touch.

The second year teachers organized this bonenkai, so they played Masters of Ceremony. After a few short words from a few teachers, the vice principal and principal, both in matching yukata, gave their own speeches.

I'll just say it, the principal is a suave looking man. He has thick, wavy grey and white hair, a round face and pronounced cheekbones and a chuckling voice. He's also a man of few words, would rather have a lighthearted one on one with a teacher than drunkenly roar with a few other teachers. He's like Japanese James Bond, with less sexual tension and shoot 'em up and more personable ambiance.

So anyway, Bond-san finished, everyone shouted "kanpai" and with every clink of wine and beer glasses, we were one step closer to forgetting the year.

Then came the food. Everything was traditional, Japanese style cuisine including charred bream (shioyaki), sashimi, savory mochi, grilled scallops in the shell with butter (hotate yaki) and oh my god so much more! For the duration of the bonenkai, everyone eats course after course and drinks drinks drinks, filling each other's glasses again and again. The atmosphere is very cheerful and everyone is all smiles.

While we ate, we also played games. For one, we played a categories style of giant Jenga. The blocks were cardboard boxes with trivia questions inside. A teacher picked out a box, was asked the question within, took a shot at answering and placed the box on top of the teetering tower. I got sort of lucky with my question:

"What is the second highest mountain in the world."

I had no idea, but I took an educated guess with Kilamanjaro.

BZZT. Apparently, it's Mt. Kenya. Now I know and I'll be heading to Jeopardy as soon as I get back to America.

At least it was a question I could attempt, right? The teachers were all very friendly, especially the younger guys (both married, calm down) volunteering me to go up to be first for the next game. This one involved sticking plastic swords into slots in a plastic barrel and avoid triggering a bearded pirate who would go rocketing into the air.

Interesting how both of these games are stressful as hell!

Anyway, if you don't trigger Black Beard, you get a paper goodie bag. We all tore into our bags and compared our gifts. There were bubble bath bars, snacks, those "break and shake" hot packs for your hands and feet, and I got an eye mask you can freeze or heat!

By then, I was starting to feel pretty full. Bond-san called the dinner to a close and we sang the school song. OK, they sang, I read and alternately murmured the kanji and shouted the hiragana with everyone else. After that, everyone split into groups. Some people went to bathe in the hot springs, I joined a group for an after party. We sat around a table stacked with alcohol and snacks and talked for a few hours. The science teacher and I conversed in Japanese and English about just about every topic under the sun. My grandmother Haruko came up naturally, but briefly.

My 12, that "full" feeling was about 20x "80% Full" status and I was debating bathing or not. But the other female teacher in the room invited me to go with her and I accepted. I would be missing out on the full experience otherwise, and I love onsen!

There are three types of spas in Yamayurino-yado including an indoor bath that looks like a standard hot tub inside, an outdoor bath and an indoor stone grotto. We went for the grotto. The sulfury water was hot but perfectly so. For some reason, small apples instead of the standard oranges floated in the water, (not for eating, of course, you silly billy) and barely discernible through the steam at the fountainhead was a clay figure of a cat. Depending on where you sat, he was either grinning at you or stoically guarding your bathing.

We chatted lightly in Japanese and played with the apples. She got out before me and went in the changing room to tidy up before bed.

I took advantage of the privacy and went to a long step at one end of the tub across from the cat. Between the alcohol, the light sulfur smell and the hot water, I let myself float in a euphoric haze while I looked at the cat.

Everyone needs to experience this level of zenfulness.

Back in the changing room, I wrapped up in my dark blue yukata and tied a bright yellow sash around myself. And yes, I wore it to bed. It wasn't uncomfortable either. Less ideal are the large, hard, bean-stuffed pillows for sleep. I will never understand these...it's easier to sleep sans pillow. Curled up on my futon, I didn't drift off so much as I was dragged off ass first by the rip tide of sleep.

This morning, we all dressed and went down to the same banquet room for a traditional Japanese breakfast of rice, miso soup, tea, juice, grilled salmon, tofu and a few unidentifiables. One dark substance was spicy and a little sticky/slimy. I had a couple bites and discreetly called it quits, moving on instead to my honeydew "dessert."

And with that, the bonenkai was over. I couldn't ask for a better way to spend my first Japanese Christmas than fat, happy and bathing with strangers. I feel like I can easily move on to the next year, though I don't think I'll ever forget everything that's happened.

And I wouldn't have it any other way!

Gai-jeans

There are so many great things about living in Japan. These include:

fresh delicious sushi. I shall live forever.
adorably cute kids to teach: kids who have no censor. (This is a mixed blessing)
beautiful things to see ranging from scenery to culture to just weird shit lurking around every corner.
fresh delicious (albeit expensive) seasonal fruits and veggies. I shall live forever.
festivals.
100 yen shops.
The feeling you get when locals open up and let you into their world, even just for the duration of a conversation.

There are also some sucky things about living as a modern Western young woman in Japan.

It took me a lifetime to develop my self-confidence. It's never an easy path for anyone: we all have our moments, we all wonder, we all get those groin kicks of reality and humility that make us think "What did I do wrong? Why do I suck so much?"

I was in a really good state when I left America for Japan and came over here brimming with confidence and Western-style "I'm gonna kick ass"-ness.

The problem with Japanese culture is it's very different from Western cultures in regards to social norms and mores. Here's an example: Western women are STRONG, INDEPENDENT, SEXY! We wear high heels to work. A shadow of a feminine figure exists around our clothing. We curse like sailors when we're out with the ladies. We have confidence. We have seminars. We have sex toy parties the night after tupperware party nights. We have MANIFESTOS!

Japanese women have standards. Don't mistake me: Japanese women have a beautiful, rich and exciting culture all their own. There's a special word for "girl's night." How about geisha? Ever heard of a geisha with gonads? They have their own style of theatre. They have strong, influential roles as mothers...mostly with the schools. And you thought your PTA meetings and bake sales were "involvement."

On the other side of things, Japanese women are still "women." There are hostess clubs (as well as host clubs) where pretty women CAN charge men for the pleasure of their FEMALE company. Like a window dressing that comes with a tip jar. Part of me says "YES! Assert yourself!" They know they're attractive, and it's a quality they can capitalize on. Another part asks "What is involved in the pleasure of a hostess' company? What's she doing? How is she acting?"

Is she blushing and giggling? Is she discussing Proust and Keats?

I was talking to one of the English teachers at an English teacher's dinner party last weekend. We were both nice and toasty at this point and he slid the shoji open a little and let me in for a moment. He told me that he loved his wife, but when she became a mother, she stopped being his wife.

All her time and efforts go into the kids. She slid from one role to another and he was left in the dust.

"I miss kissing her," he said. Those words rang in my ears for a few minutes.

She jumped out of the wife pants and threw on her mom jeans and all the while, I wondered, what does she want? Who is she really?

I've been discreetly reminded to be more "womanly" at work by FK. He was complimenting me and I laughed and jokingly said "Gomasuri," which I was told previously meant "flattery." He became a bit alarmed and told me that I shouldn't use that word and should be more "womanly."

Well what does that mean? Be more feminine? Giggle? Be shy and simpering? I honestly have no idea what he expects.

Then there's the part of the culture that prohibits complaining or giving excuses. I wasn't much of a complainer in America, but damn excuses are great! And not even whoppers, not lies. I mean being able to excuse yourself by saying "Sorry I'm late, there was traffic" or "My alarm didn't go off this morning" or "Oops, didn't get the memo." In Japan, there ARE no excuses. It saves everyone face and sort of forces you to take responsibility and thus work harder to be better.

However, for those of us with neurotic tendencies, that's not always healthy.

After months of forgetting how to assert myself and say "Not my fault/problem" and spending too much time worrying how I can make everyone happy, I slipped away from the person I really am. Fortunately, I realized it and I've been ramping up efforts to be comfortable with being myself again.

Naturally, I have to be like a Japanese woman and wear my two pants, but I'll wear them for equal amounts of time. The Work pants can get too tight and hot and were making me uncomfortable. I was neglecting my Fun jeans, my loose, funky, sexy jeans that make me feel like funky, sexy woman. But that's all changing. In less than two days, I'm on Winter Vacation! I have no one to impress! No lessons to plan! I'm living for myself and wearing holes in my Fun jeans!

Entertainment Fit for the Gods

I feel incredibly lucky whenever I get to experience some authentic Japanese culture. It could be an enkai party with other teachers, eating ramen out at 1am, or driving to work through heavy snow and slippery roads. Today, my daily dose of Japan was the Hanamaki City Kagura Festa!

Kagura means "god's entertainment." And really, it's incredibly entertaining! It's a dance style based on Shinto theatre that may or may not be older than Noh. I know, no way! That's old, by the way. With such religious roots, kagura was used as a means of worship and "god pacification" or "chinkon." But, as culture is wont to do, it spread and diversified. Most of the dances are based in agriculture including dances based on rice planting and harvesting, and they all feature similar theatrical elements including beautiful costumes, paper wands and rattles with bells. The music all involves a kind of small taiko, flutes, little cymbals and chanting.

It's about as Japanese as it gets.

Today, all the dances were performed by students from elementary through junior high school. Cute, cute, cute! And really impressive! One of the dances was about servers in a tea house and involved the dancers balancing tea trays on their palms and using centrifugal force to roll on the floor, spin and flip the trays without dropping them!

My picture it's not, but Iwate it is!

A perfect example of kagura is shishiodori, which I mentioned heavily back in August during the Michinoku Geino festival: nature-centric, beautiful costumes, traditional dancing style.

I apologize for the quality of the pictures, but with any luck, you'll get the gist...and the itch to do a little web-based research of your own!

The Crafting Beast

Things have been very hectic in the past couple of weeks, but in a good way, I suppose. I haven't so much been struck by inspiration as I've been beaten bloody by Wanderlust and a Muse. Everything has been one little project after another varying from "Yet another worksheet...yay?" to "Holy crap, this thing is BOSS! YAY!"

The past couple of days, I've been shamelessly milking the holiday season for my lesson plans indulging in games, activities and coloring with just a dash of structured learning. I bought a sparkly Santa hat at the Hyakuen (100 yen) shop and have thus been nicknamed "Santa Sensei" by a few classes! Adorable.

Other lessons have involved listening to English Christmas music, writing letters to Santa Claus, decorating stockings I've sewn from felt, and pasting together green paper hands upon which students wrote their Christmas lists...and making them into a big Christmas tree!

At や中学校, the class of three little special education boys made Christmas cards for me! Their teacher  provided the colored paper and pictures and these kids wrote the cutest holiday greetings to me. I was actually a bit surprised when the teacher pulled them aside at the start of class. Then I turned around and they were in a line, saying "Merry Christmas" and handing me their cards. The teacher then gave me a little giftie...tangerine soap from Lush!

 

 

Lush is no joke, folks. It's indulgence in organic, lumpy bar or bath bomb form and I have developed a passionate love affair with it's perfumey goodness.

I also had a bout with not so fun creativity last week. FK wanted me to draw a picture and write encouraging words to the graduating students. Last year, the ALT drew a picture of the school and the teachers all wrote on the paper with the image at the bottom.

Now, I will be modest about my creative abilities. But when it comes to buildings, I suck. That's not modesty. I freaking hate drawing buildings. They hold no interest for me. Architecture is cool. I do not have the ability to make a structure look good. I hate it I hate it I hate it.

That being said, I did a few pastorals first. A boy and girl watching birds. A view of the soccer field with cherry blossom trees. And the topiary in front of the school. I showed them to FK...and he ever so politely shot each down. He really wanted a picture of the school. So, okay, I agonized over that for a few days. Finally was able to come up with something passable only because the deadline was coming up.

I had to write another encouraging message for another school, but at least I didn't have to draw a building! I got some creative license on that one. Much more relaxing!

As for my free time, yes, I've been working on this deer head. I'm proud to say it's almost done and I will post pictures of the process as soon as it's hanging on my wall. I did a bit of papier mache when I was little, but the lust for newspaper and flour paste has been lying dormant for many years. Now, the beast is risen and I HUNGER!

It's also getting a hell of a lot colder all of a sudden. The forecast for the week is snow snow snow and more snow. As a mid-east coast girl, I'm familiar with the magic force of a snow-dance having done several in the past...distant and recent. The idea of seeing glistening white ground cover for Christmas was a fairy tale that has only come to pass a few times for me. But this year, I started seeing snow on my car and the nearby mountains for a few weeks!

But as much as I love the snow and winter weather in general, I like it outside my apartment, not inside. Unfortunately, Japan ain't too keen on insulation in the buildings, so my place was a little drafty around the door. I'd wake up to a freezing floor and condensation at the edge of my door. Finally, enough was enough. I went up to the craft floor of the Sakurano and bought a bit of faux fur material and kitty litter from the Hyakuen. (Stop with the judgement. Pinterest is my ally!) After a couple evenings of sewing, I have a really cute draft stopper lying at my front door like a wayward baby Arctic seal!

Well, that's all for now. It's time I get back to lesson plans...suddenly less fun because the classes are busy cramming the last lessons before winter vacation. Ah well. I'll find a way to be holiday spirit-rific!

Kawa of Consciousness

I have a series of projects on deck at the moment and instead of actually tackling them, I'm just going to blog about them. Seem a little off track, well that's just who I am and that's what my freezing cold fingers feel like doing right now. Dammit, they're cold. Like dry little twigs, like little ivory hashi, clack and click on my keypad. Why don't I just turn on the heat? The remote's too far away, that's why and oh god my little bohemian sofa  is so comfortable right now. My body wants to sink into the futon and melt into the blanket and disappear for a few hours until the icy blue morning peeks through my curtains and it's time to climb into my car and make my way to the school. Freezing light, freezing fingers, freezing screen as I save another worksheet. This time, it's Christmas. Return of the Christmas worksheet and fill-in-the-blanks. At least it's a fun lesson for the kids: they need a mental break and I'm more than happy to oblige with one of the most popular and currently most commercial holidays out there. You try explaining to a class of foreign children the appeal of Christmas. No seriously, not just foreign students: the idea of Christmas is foreign to them. What do Ameicans eat at Christmas? Well, frankly, what don't we eat? My simple answer: see note regarding "Thanksgiving." What do Japanese kids eat? KFC. No lie, KFFingC! There are sales and campaigns and pre-orders starting in November for the southern recipe bypass! But they do have the most beautiful Kurisumasu keeki, too. Pictures will follow. Eventually. Maybe. What the heck happened to my shutter bug? What do Americans do at Christmas? Shit, it depends on the region, now doesn't it? In Marta-lish: We drink hot cocoa, we watch movies, we sing songs, we do snowball fights, we make cookies. Well, it's the truth isn't it? And the cherry on top: explaining presents. That's right, in Japan, Christmas apparently is not a big gift-giving deal. I know, you just spat out your Turkey Hill eggnog. (And my parents are choking on their bourbon-laced nog.) But it's the truth: apparently in Japan, "Christmas is for lovers." Sort of a pre-quel to Valentine's Day and White Day (Mandatory Boys Giving Gifts to Girls Because Otherwise Why Would They, They're Too Shy, The Poor Dears Day). But the teachers were explaining to me, Christmas is apparently a time to spend with the one you love.
Yay.
Anyway they, have to wrap their heads around the orgasmapalooza of shopping that is the Christmas Season in America. I think the best equivalent out there is the Golden Week frenzy (mostly because I haven't experienced Valentine's or White Day yet, so I have no comparison). And that should round out the lesson. And of course, I can't help but shamelessly rack up the minutes with coloring. Coloring! Oh come on, who doesn't get nostalgic with a black and white image before them and a colored pencil in their trembling grasp? The possibilities are endless...until you get to the line.
Such a cliche. But this is Japan. Color inside the lines.
I miss coloring outside of the lines. Oh, America, how you embrace your charming rogues and roguettes...and it almost always ends up a mess. Nobody seems to have gotten down the formula to balance. Enough anarchy to color outside of the lines, with just enough order and regimen. I feel like Russell Brand is off to a good start.
Well anyway, back to my origins: projects. They are aplenty including a papier mache deer bust I'm working on. The thing's covered in the papier, sans mache. Paper, no paste. Flesh, no skin. It's coming along. I'll have some time this week to develop an end product, but we'll see.
On top of that, FK wants me to draw a picture for the Graduation Words of Encouragement that the teachers will all write a message on. This is supposed to be printed and handed out to the students and god knows whom else. And naturally, I'm worrying and agonizing way too much over this. I thought I had a good concept and while chatting at my desk last week, he spied my sketch and very discreetly and not-so-straightforwardly suggested "Yeah, no. Do a landscape. Like the last guy. Color inside the lines, kiddo."
I should teach him that word. "Kiddo." He's always looking for ways to expand upon his English. "Kiddo" seems pretty functional, right?
So I'll come up with a soothing and familiar school landscape for him and teach him "Kiddo."
Game plan. OK. Fight-o! Go!