The last blog entry was philosophical in nature (my natural tendency), but there is a lot of information, details I can share as well. Over winter break, my colleague and friend, Michiyo, invited David and me to go to the mountain home of her husband to spend two days with her, her husband, and their two daughters. Their mountain home is only a couple of hours from Tokyo, but it is deep in snow at this time of the year. We had a lovely time with them in their mountain home. We went to an onsen, and I had my first experience of being outside in the hot spring water while it snowed. The snow was very light (only a snow flake now and then!), but it was cold and the occasional snowflake served as a reminder of the cold because, although naked, the spring water so heated the body, that I felt hot. I will always remember that after sitting in the hot, outdoor spring for more than a half hour, when I got out and walked into the building, I did not feel any need to hurry! I was too relaxed to rush and was not in the least bit cold! In fact, we had stayed so long in the hot spring that when I entered the building, I felt the need to drink water and got a bit dizzy. I love onsens! I hope everyone who has the chance to onsen, will take it! David does not like hot baths and consequently does not appreciate the onsen experience. He stayed at the mountain home while the rest of us relaxed in the cold mountain air and the hot spring water.
The following morning, Susumu, Michiyo’s husband, drove us further into the mountains! The road was slippery, and Susumu-san had forgotten to put the four-wheel drive. He stopped to change from two-wheel to four-wheel drive, but then we did not have enough traction on the slope to get started. David, Michiyo, Ayano, and I got out to push, and we made some progress, but it was too slippery for us to get good traction. We then pulled grass from the side of the road that was not too buried in snow. We put the grass on the road, climbed in, and sure enough we were happily on our way. Memories of trying to back our large blue van down a slippery hill because I hadn’t made it up came flooding back for me! Tina and I came so very close to ending up at the bottom of the very deep gully in Northern New York on a New Year’s Eve. The NY experience was more life-threatening than this one as Tina and I teetered over the gully with more of the van over the edge than not, and we had to figure out how to get out of the van without causing it to lose its precarious balance. To this day, I cannot remember how we got out of that van. All I can say is it just was not our time to part from this world. Being stopped on this slippery road on a slope was not exactly safe, however. Cars coming up behind us had to pass us and cars coming from the other direction had to cautiously pass by. Going down the hill backwards was not an option, and at times going up it did not seem like much of an option either. It was one of those experiences that once it was over, there was a sense of group collaboration generated by having the shared experience.
We continued our drive into the mountains. We went to a shrine and spent time there to warm up but also took advantage of our bilingual friends, who could explain a lot of the charms and traditions attached to the shrine. Going to a shrine is something that many Japanese do during the first week of the New Year. We were there on January 4, 2006. We drove around a huge lake that is in the middle of three mountain peaks. Because it has been a cold winter, and the ice was solid, there were many people ice fishing. It was interesting to see some of their ice-fishing cultural icons. They have see-through plastic tents where they gather to stay warm and to eat. It was a great trip for David and me because we got to experience some New Year traditions in Japan, and because we got to spend time with Japanese friends in their home.
Returning to school after the two-week break was not easy. The two weeks was enough time to lose momentum, but not enough time to completely refurbish the engines! We started back on Jan 10th, and had three and a half weeks of the semester to complete. The stress levels have been high as SILS students have a lot to do in the final weeks.
The research interviews I have been doing for a project with Professor Iino continue to be interesting and positive experiences. I am learning so much by talking to individual students. I am finding them even more exciting now since Professor Iino and I were awarded 300,000 yen for our research for transcription costs. I am elated and relieved! Interviews are great for learning, but transcribing them is a lot of work!
This past week, one of the deans at SILS invited me to join a group of faculty and administrators for a monthly gathering at a Korean restaurant for food and drinking. Since I am vegan and do not drink, my purpose for going was completely to meet people at SILS. It was a very nice evening as I did get to connect some faces to some names I knew. Also, I sat next to a woman who has many students from China in her course. Since that is our largest group of students seeking a four-year degree from outside of Japan, I really want to interview some Chinese students. I had not had any volunteers from that group. When I mentioned that I would like to interview some of her students, she invited me to attend her class to recruit volunteers the next day. I did and have already scheduled some interviews with some of her students. This was such great timing!
I am also excited because one of my duties as the RD of JS is to visit all the sites where are students will being doing month-long practicums. The academic year begins in April, so we are completing one academic year with the end of this semester. The next break is comparable to a summer break in the US. Our JS students will do practicums, and still have one month of break. Michiyo and I will be going to Niigata this coming week in order to visit the new site for our program; then on Feb 9th, we will take two students to the site. Ben and Lisa introduced me to this site (which is in Niigata prefecture, not Niigata city), and Michiyo and I have worked together to arrange for two students to do their practicum there. We both are excited about this new opportunity, and Niigata will always have a special place in my heart. We spent nearly two weeks there in June 2003 with Lisa and Ben and their friends, especially the Sakura family. We returned there for a long weekend while Lisa, Ben, and Sophia were here in October. It is familiar to me, and I have a sense of going home (to my Japanese home) when I think of going to Niigata.
In addition to Niigata, I will be visiting many other parts of Japan. David is making the trip with the nine JS students, Michiyo, and me as we take the overnight train to Shimane Prefecture the second weekend of February. This is a very rural part of Japan. We will stay there two days so we will have time to get to know the area a little. David will then return to Tokyo, and Michiyo and I will head to Osaka to meet two students who will spend a month in that area. We will spend the day in the Osaka area and return to Tokyo late that same day. My spring break will be very busy, but it will be exciting.
I have finished my last lecture class at SILS. On Tuesday, my students will take their final. (And I have it almost written. I only need to do editing and final revising before copying it!) The next three class periods will be their student group policy research projects that should be very interesting. I have such nice students. I will hate to see the semester end! At the end of our winter break, we had the students over to our apartment for dinner. David got to meet them and now better understands how nice they are. We really enjoyed our evening with them! I could also continue teaching this course for another entire semester. It is such an interesting topic and there is just so much that we can do with it and not feel bored or tired of it!
Life in Tokyo continues to be exciting and rewarding! My one complaint is that we have not seen our granddaughter in a very long time! We were very used to seeing her on video camera every few days, but since they moved to their new home a couple of weeks ago, they do not have a phone! We’re suffering from Sophia withdrawal!
Now that we have a phone and an internet connection, you will be able to see Sophia online again soon!
Glad things sound like they’re going so well. We keep thinking it’s cold and wintery here in England, but then your photos remind us what real winter is like!