Today was a very fun day! In school we had A math test, Health, World History, and English (in which we got our Vocabulary Test back we had taken last week -- I got an 85 which is a drastic improvement from my other Vocab Tests and I think it's pretty good, given most of the points I missed were related to specific English-Japanese translations I didn't have the vocabulary to answer.)
Anyway, after that we had two periods of Computer, but since the teacher wasn't there (there are no substitute teachers here) we had some in-class homework which no one really did. After that, we had Japanese and then cleaning.
Anyway, after that, I went to my old Host Family's house, where I learnt how to make both veggie Tenpura and Sweet Tenpura Desert (it is honestly so easy to make! Amma, when I come back get ready for some frying! (Although I heard from my actual Host Family that it is not the making that is hard, but the cleanup afterwards, which I did not get to participate in Today. Anyway, I also made them Pulyodre, which they loved (though I feel the powder is much tastier than the paste.). Anyway, then I taught the grandchildren English and then went with one of my Host Sister's family to eat ice cream -- this time I tried Okinawan Salt Cookies, which was very good (it was sweet not salty.). Then I came back and now I should really go to sleep. I had really wanted to learn crocheting from Okaasan (actually a slightly different form of knitting, not crocheting) and play Go! with Otousan (he suggested it today, but we did not have time. However, their board is huge -- 19x19, whereas I have only played on 13x13 or 9x9. Oh well, anyway I will probably go back on Sunday for all those things.
Okay, it is late, so goodnight!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Tues July 17
Today was a regular day. We started with Japanese, then had World History, English and Math. During lunch I brought out the Bhujia I had brought from CA and shared it with everyone. Some loved it, but they all, including me, found it spicy. After lunch we had two periods of Home Economics, during which I almost (or did, I don't know) fall asleep (everyone was exhausted today, being the first day of school after a three day weekend. I literally felt like sleeping in almost every period, and at any one time about a third of the class would have their heads on their desks.)
Anyway, after school I came home and then went to Kumon for about an hour. Yeah, I think that's it, I am going to try to go to bed by 10 tonight, goodnight!
Well actually I started reading Otousan's book and learning more Go! And I started playing by myself and then Okaasan came home so I started playing against her and I can definetely feel myself getting better! Although I did have a 3 piece advantage (it's part of the rules of Go! That the stronger player always has a handicap of some sort.) at the beginning of the game the first game I tied Okaasan and the second game I lost by one point, which I would say is pretty good! There is still a lot to learn but I am loving it!!!
Anyway, after school I came home and then went to Kumon for about an hour. Yeah, I think that's it, I am going to try to go to bed by 10 tonight, goodnight!
Well actually I started reading Otousan's book and learning more Go! And I started playing by myself and then Okaasan came home so I started playing against her and I can definetely feel myself getting better! Although I did have a 3 piece advantage (it's part of the rules of Go! That the stronger player always has a handicap of some sort.) at the beginning of the game the first game I tied Okaasan and the second game I lost by one point, which I would say is pretty good! There is still a lot to learn but I am loving it!!!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Mon July 16
Today was a very fun day out with Otousan! It was a national holiday, the Day of the Sea, so in the morning I went again with Otousan to the Okinawan Prefectural Museum, because it had a new exhibit that looked very interesting and I wanted to see. I had seen the pamphlet of the exhibit, and while I did not understand the Japanese I knew it was about various masks, based on the pictures. The masks seemed very interesting in the pamphlet, which is why I wanted to see it. I had initially thought they were all made by one person, but I realized today they are actually vary old artifacts from various country's national treasuries, brought to the Prefectural Museum for an exhibit.
Anyway, the masks were even more splendid than I expected! They were truly from countries all over the world, including India, Thailand, various prefectures in Japan, Pacific Islands, Congo, Nigeria, America, Canada, Mexico, etc. (It's funny, now, looking back, there were no masks from Europe -- the closest place to Europe was Greenland. And coming to think of it, I have never even heard about cultural masks is Europe; did they even exist?). Anyway, the exhibit was four huge rooms, and must have had way over 100 different masks. I loved noting the various cross-cultural influences in various masks -- for example, the Dragon in the Thai masks definitely resembled Japanese -and/or Chinese dragons, but the gold ornamentation on and around it's face definitely resembled Indian crowns. Such influences and inter-relation (despite castly different times of creation) were visible in all the madks, though I do not know enough about most of the ither cultural arts to determine where specific influences were from.
Also, the range of materials the masks were made out of really surprised me. There was wood and stone, of course, there were also some of metal, and some even of tree bark and/or dried leaves! Also the range of styles of paint, from the shiny glazed paints to much more dull, natural colors.
At the end of the exhibit they had a bunch of various masks drawn my elementary and middle school children, and then they had replicas of some of the masks to try on. I tried them all and took pictures, which you'll get when I come back. It was very fun.
Anyway, after that we also went to the actual museum (in the prefectural museum building there is a regular museum about Okinawa, an art museum, and then various rooms for temporary exhibits,) because last time we were kid of rushed and did not see everything. I learnt a lot about the biology of Okinawa, as well as more about the history of the Ryukan Kingdom, which was very interesting.
Anyway, after that, since the Museum Cafe had no vegetarian food, Otousan and I headed to Naha Main Place, across the street, where we ate amazing Soba and Tenbura. The Soba had Bhindi, Egg, Spinach, Mushrooms, and Seaweed on various sides (and we poured soy sauce in as the liquid base) and I actually had many different kids of Tenpura I had never had before, such as Tenpura of a certain leaf that I still don't know the English name of, and Potato Tenpura. Anyway, after that, since there was a Cinema in the mall Otousan suggested we watch a movie and asked which interesting movies were running now, and I, of course, said Spiderman! (BTW, Avengers doesn't release here till mid August!). So anyway, we went to see Spiderman in English 3 D (English because Otousan can understand English very well, and the English one has Japanese subtitles while the Japanese one didn't have English Subtitles.). Anyway, it was amazing. I don't remember much of the first Spiderman but I am pretty sure it is not a remake of the first one in that in that the story was different (like Peter's life story was the same but I am pretty sure the villain and the conflict and such, the action-plot line, were all different.). Anyway, I really enjoyed it -- I felt the old Peter Parkers did a better job than the new one, but the new Gwen did a better job (is it just me or did she act in either the old spiderman's or the batman's?). But I am pretty sure they are trying to start a whole new series separate from the old one, especially based on the ending which definitely foreshadows a pending sequel! I did not feel the story was lacking in any way, and the 3D was amazing at certain parts (though, like any 3D movie, most of it is just average, there are maybe one or two scenes where it is really good.)
Anyway, after that Otousan and I walked to the Monorail Station and rode it to Otousan's bookstore, where he bought a couple of books. The Monorsil was very very cool, and the Bookstore was HUGE! We then walked back home (again, city vs. suburb; in a city you can walk to a bookstore -- in Fremont even if there were one it would not be walking distance!)
After returning home, we had a fabulous dinner. I had also gotten a mail from one of Otousan and my old Okaasan's sibling, which had a CD and was a belated birthday present. She had sent in a fax about my birthday to a radio station, and they wished me happy birthday in front of the whole of Okinawa (or whoever had been listening to the radio at that time) which was VERY, VERY nice! After that I spent about an hour playing Go! Against myself and reading an English book Otousan had got about Go! -- it is really a very interesting and mind- requiring game! There are so many possible moves and such and being able to see the consequences of the various possibilities requires a lot of skill! And you also must keep the layout of the whole board in mind, and cannot focus only on one area!
Anyway, that's all for tonight. It was a very, very fun day. Goodnight!
Anyway, the masks were even more splendid than I expected! They were truly from countries all over the world, including India, Thailand, various prefectures in Japan, Pacific Islands, Congo, Nigeria, America, Canada, Mexico, etc. (It's funny, now, looking back, there were no masks from Europe -- the closest place to Europe was Greenland. And coming to think of it, I have never even heard about cultural masks is Europe; did they even exist?). Anyway, the exhibit was four huge rooms, and must have had way over 100 different masks. I loved noting the various cross-cultural influences in various masks -- for example, the Dragon in the Thai masks definitely resembled Japanese -and/or Chinese dragons, but the gold ornamentation on and around it's face definitely resembled Indian crowns. Such influences and inter-relation (despite castly different times of creation) were visible in all the madks, though I do not know enough about most of the ither cultural arts to determine where specific influences were from.
Also, the range of materials the masks were made out of really surprised me. There was wood and stone, of course, there were also some of metal, and some even of tree bark and/or dried leaves! Also the range of styles of paint, from the shiny glazed paints to much more dull, natural colors.
At the end of the exhibit they had a bunch of various masks drawn my elementary and middle school children, and then they had replicas of some of the masks to try on. I tried them all and took pictures, which you'll get when I come back. It was very fun.
Anyway, after that we also went to the actual museum (in the prefectural museum building there is a regular museum about Okinawa, an art museum, and then various rooms for temporary exhibits,) because last time we were kid of rushed and did not see everything. I learnt a lot about the biology of Okinawa, as well as more about the history of the Ryukan Kingdom, which was very interesting.
Anyway, after that, since the Museum Cafe had no vegetarian food, Otousan and I headed to Naha Main Place, across the street, where we ate amazing Soba and Tenbura. The Soba had Bhindi, Egg, Spinach, Mushrooms, and Seaweed on various sides (and we poured soy sauce in as the liquid base) and I actually had many different kids of Tenpura I had never had before, such as Tenpura of a certain leaf that I still don't know the English name of, and Potato Tenpura. Anyway, after that, since there was a Cinema in the mall Otousan suggested we watch a movie and asked which interesting movies were running now, and I, of course, said Spiderman! (BTW, Avengers doesn't release here till mid August!). So anyway, we went to see Spiderman in English 3 D (English because Otousan can understand English very well, and the English one has Japanese subtitles while the Japanese one didn't have English Subtitles.). Anyway, it was amazing. I don't remember much of the first Spiderman but I am pretty sure it is not a remake of the first one in that in that the story was different (like Peter's life story was the same but I am pretty sure the villain and the conflict and such, the action-plot line, were all different.). Anyway, I really enjoyed it -- I felt the old Peter Parkers did a better job than the new one, but the new Gwen did a better job (is it just me or did she act in either the old spiderman's or the batman's?). But I am pretty sure they are trying to start a whole new series separate from the old one, especially based on the ending which definitely foreshadows a pending sequel! I did not feel the story was lacking in any way, and the 3D was amazing at certain parts (though, like any 3D movie, most of it is just average, there are maybe one or two scenes where it is really good.)
Anyway, after that Otousan and I walked to the Monorail Station and rode it to Otousan's bookstore, where he bought a couple of books. The Monorsil was very very cool, and the Bookstore was HUGE! We then walked back home (again, city vs. suburb; in a city you can walk to a bookstore -- in Fremont even if there were one it would not be walking distance!)
After returning home, we had a fabulous dinner. I had also gotten a mail from one of Otousan and my old Okaasan's sibling, which had a CD and was a belated birthday present. She had sent in a fax about my birthday to a radio station, and they wished me happy birthday in front of the whole of Okinawa (or whoever had been listening to the radio at that time) which was VERY, VERY nice! After that I spent about an hour playing Go! Against myself and reading an English book Otousan had got about Go! -- it is really a very interesting and mind- requiring game! There are so many possible moves and such and being able to see the consequences of the various possibilities requires a lot of skill! And you also must keep the layout of the whole board in mind, and cannot focus only on one area!
Anyway, that's all for tonight. It was a very, very fun day. Goodnight!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Sun July 15
Before I start the blog for today I would like to classify the anti-American sentiments, which I had mentioned earlier and meant to clarify in yesterday's blog. So, the only negative sentiments regarding America I have seen here are anti American MILITARY sentiments (there is a huge debate going on about whether America should be allowed to have Ospreys, very high-tech war helicopters, at Okinawan bases. Okinawans really do not want it, because even though America guarantees it is safe, it has had a lot of accidents.
So, now onto my day. I went to Church with Okaasan and Otousan this morning, which was very nice. Okaasan was helping to make lunch today do we stayed for that and she made a special vegetarian Udon (I am 99% sure it was Udon, not Soba) for me. Anyway, then I returned home and then headed to McDonalds, where I was meeting my friends to go to Karaoke.
So, probably because in America only Karaoke Bars exist, my vision of Karaoke was (of course not a bar) a large room with a stage and dance lights and people crowded together and a line of people waiting to get on the stage to sing; a similar atmosphere to a rock concert, the event after the Undoukai I had described earlier, and/or a high scho dance. Boy, was I wrong! So, the Karaoke place we went to had about twenty rooms, each a bit smaller than a college dorm room, with a karaoke machine, TV screen, and hand-held touch-screen devices that allowed you to pick songs and such. Since we were ten people, we split up amongst two rooms -- the cost was 550 yen, only $7, per person, and we ended up using the room for 5 hours! And we got unlimited drinks! Anyway, after one of up filled out a form and gave them something valuable, the lady gave us our microphones and glasses for drinks, and we went to our rooms.
BTW, about the unlimited drinks, they had a huge variety! Hot Chocolate, which I drank a lot of, Green Tea, Icees, various Cokes and Sodas, etc. I was amazed that it was all so cheap!
Anyway, over the course I sang all the Japanese songs I knew, and many American songs such as Imagine(VERY popular in Japan -- after my visit to the Peace Memorial I can definitely see why), The Sounds of Silence, Viva La Vida, Rolling In The Deep, etc. I also sang some Japanese songs I had heard before but did not exactly know, together with a friend (unlike what I had though, we were not with a bunch of strangers but in our own room.). It was really really fun, and surprisingly not embarrassing at all! I really loved it!
Anyway, we were switching between both rooms, and suddenly the lady came and told us we were not allowed to do that, and since we had we had to pay for ten people in each room, namely double the price (which was still quite cheap.). Anyway at first we spent a long time discussing (which I did not really understand) and then one of my friends went and argued with the lady since we honestly had no idea and they had not given us a warning or anything...I had really wanted to do that but couldn't because of my limited language skills -- had it been the US though I am pretty sure I would have argued with the lady and probably ended up either walking out or paying the extra price and then never coming back there again. Anywsy, however, he argued with here and finally she agreed to go back to the regular price.
BTW, I was impressed at the various age groups that were in various karaoke rooms (I did not go in, of course, but saw them from the hallways.). There were elderly people, families, and other high school/college kids like us. Apparently on average the Japanese go to Karaoke once a week, according to my friends, but since Kokusai Koukou is apparently a very hard high school they do not go very often.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself there and then walked home part-way with a group of friends and part-way by myself, at 8:00, after the sun had set. Even though it was completely safe, I still walked faster than usual and avoided the park I usually go through -- however I was surprised by the number of people out a d about at that time!
Okay, I think that is all for now, goodnight!
So, now onto my day. I went to Church with Okaasan and Otousan this morning, which was very nice. Okaasan was helping to make lunch today do we stayed for that and she made a special vegetarian Udon (I am 99% sure it was Udon, not Soba) for me. Anyway, then I returned home and then headed to McDonalds, where I was meeting my friends to go to Karaoke.
So, probably because in America only Karaoke Bars exist, my vision of Karaoke was (of course not a bar) a large room with a stage and dance lights and people crowded together and a line of people waiting to get on the stage to sing; a similar atmosphere to a rock concert, the event after the Undoukai I had described earlier, and/or a high scho dance. Boy, was I wrong! So, the Karaoke place we went to had about twenty rooms, each a bit smaller than a college dorm room, with a karaoke machine, TV screen, and hand-held touch-screen devices that allowed you to pick songs and such. Since we were ten people, we split up amongst two rooms -- the cost was 550 yen, only $7, per person, and we ended up using the room for 5 hours! And we got unlimited drinks! Anyway, after one of up filled out a form and gave them something valuable, the lady gave us our microphones and glasses for drinks, and we went to our rooms.
BTW, about the unlimited drinks, they had a huge variety! Hot Chocolate, which I drank a lot of, Green Tea, Icees, various Cokes and Sodas, etc. I was amazed that it was all so cheap!
Anyway, over the course I sang all the Japanese songs I knew, and many American songs such as Imagine(VERY popular in Japan -- after my visit to the Peace Memorial I can definitely see why), The Sounds of Silence, Viva La Vida, Rolling In The Deep, etc. I also sang some Japanese songs I had heard before but did not exactly know, together with a friend (unlike what I had though, we were not with a bunch of strangers but in our own room.). It was really really fun, and surprisingly not embarrassing at all! I really loved it!
Anyway, we were switching between both rooms, and suddenly the lady came and told us we were not allowed to do that, and since we had we had to pay for ten people in each room, namely double the price (which was still quite cheap.). Anyway at first we spent a long time discussing (which I did not really understand) and then one of my friends went and argued with the lady since we honestly had no idea and they had not given us a warning or anything...I had really wanted to do that but couldn't because of my limited language skills -- had it been the US though I am pretty sure I would have argued with the lady and probably ended up either walking out or paying the extra price and then never coming back there again. Anywsy, however, he argued with here and finally she agreed to go back to the regular price.
BTW, I was impressed at the various age groups that were in various karaoke rooms (I did not go in, of course, but saw them from the hallways.). There were elderly people, families, and other high school/college kids like us. Apparently on average the Japanese go to Karaoke once a week, according to my friends, but since Kokusai Koukou is apparently a very hard high school they do not go very often.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself there and then walked home part-way with a group of friends and part-way by myself, at 8:00, after the sun had set. Even though it was completely safe, I still walked faster than usual and avoided the park I usually go through -- however I was surprised by the number of people out a d about at that time!
Okay, I think that is all for now, goodnight!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Sat July 14th
Today was a jam-packed and very fun day! So, in the morning both Okaasan and Otousan had stuff to do, so at first I was home alone but then my host nieces came over -- we were watching TV and I was crocheting and one of my host nieces was really enthralled by my crocheting so I taught her the crochet basics, which was very fun. After lunch, for which we had Yakisoba (the actual name for what I had called Hakka noodles), sandwiches, and leftovers, Okaasan, Otousan and I left for the 平和祈念公園 (Heiwakinen Memorial Park, literally "Peace Prayer.").
So, on the way I asked Otousan about Japanese license plates, and realized that they give a lot more information about the car than American licenses do! First of all, the number, as oppose to American 7 character license plates, starts with the first Hirangana letter and then a number (at first one digit.). So, the first car registered would be あ1. It goes through 1-9, then to the next Hiragana letter, and once all those are done it goes back to the first letter but this time 2 digits, namely あ11. Anyway, apart from the number each license plate has a color, which signifies the purpose of the vehicle. Green is commercial busses/taxis/trucks, yellow is the average-person's car, and white is a private (I am assuming that mean's company owned) car. On top of that, on the top of the license plate there is the prefecture name, Okinawa, and then a number, which is a ranking of the size and likely other attributes of the car.
So, anyway, the Memorial Park has many parts to it, so we went to the Peace Hall first, and then the museum. So, first of all, the whole Memorial Park is built on top of Hill of Mabuni, the final front of the Battle of Okinawa and also the place from which many Japanese soldiers committed suicide by jumping into the ocean, as oppose to facing American gunfire, capture, and/or torture. And it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, a large, vast, very well-maintained park with trees, grass, and a fabulous view of the ocean (though I did not find out about that until later.)
Anyway, the Peace Hall was very nice; it had many AMAZING works of art dedicated to peace, and in the center of the room had twenty painting by Japanese artist Keiyu Nishimura, many of them centered specifically around certain WW2 events, all expressing a true passion for peace and a desire that none of this gets repeated again. In the center was a huge, 12 m tall statue of a person with his/her hands joined in prayer, representing human peace, despite race, religion, etc. above it were tiny lights representing the cosmos, where all the war's dead rested, and around it were many many various posters, Origami and other forms of art made by schoolchildren representing peace. The statue was made by a 72 year old after he lost two of his sons in the war. It was made out of pure lacquer and took him till he was 90. Oh, and the Peace Hall itself it built as a regular septagon, representing the seven seas, and in such a way that it resembles hands praying.
After that, we went to the museum, which was very very nice. It started in the Ryukan period and went through the history of Okinawa, focusing mainly on WW2 and post-war life. Anyway, one thing I found today was that the Ryukan Empire, in addition to having no army, also had no samurais or any such thing in the past. Except for the monarchy, there were no major class distinctions, and everyone was largely equal. Which astonished me because in the Peace Park, one could definitely feel the Okinawan's (or those who believe in the park) passion for peace, and in the past they had actually participated in a practical expression of peace, aka equality! Anyway, the exhibits were actually very very jarring, and the destruction of WW2 and all the atrocities were unimaginable. During the Battle of Okinawa, many civilians hid in Gama Caves, Stalinists caves all over Okinawa. Well, US soldiers brutally shot flamethrowers through the caves, frying everyone inside. And not just US soldiers, even Japanese soldiers were hugely brutal -- they would kill crying kids on the spot (because civilians and soldiers were intermingled in the chaos of the war) so as not to reveal their presence to US soldiers, and they would kill anyone speaking Okinawan, because they may be spying for the US. It was all very very sad, not the cruelty of any one side, but the destruction caused by the war.
Anyway, after the exhibits, we came out into a very open, large, white, tranquil room with huge windows (actually no walls, only windows practically) showing the beautiful Okinawan sea. And I though "What a better way to end a Peace Museum than a view of tranquil nature!". But that 気持ち (I am sorry, this is one Japanese word that truly describes my feeling and I have no idea how to translate it into English, probably good, satisfied, pleasant feeling) was short lived because Okaasan told me this was the very place people jumped off to commit suicide (and the last view they ever saw.). And that is when I realized the room was so tranquil and peaceful but underlied with the wounds of war -- it made me realize the true depth of the Okinawan's/Japanese desire for peace. The wounds of war may not have healed, and will never heal, but they are channelling the sadness of those wounds into a very positive hope for the world, and there is no better way to represent that than having the most tranquil place in the world (the view was probably the most beautiful and tranquil one I had ever seen) be the same place of all those deaths, murders, suicide, pain, sadness, and loss?
Anyway then we went outside to the actual Memorial, which was rows of monoliths engraved with the names of those who were killed in the Battle of Okinawa, regardless of side or nationality, one whole column is those from Okibawa, separated by village, then next is those from the rest of Japan, separated by prefecture, and the next is those from other countries, separated by country. They also have a separate area where they add names every year of those who died in the war and were finally found, identified, and named by the families. (Not the bodies of course, but the fact that they died in the Battle of Okinawa.)
After that we went to have ice cream. So, today I had Sugar-Cane ice cream (Sugar Cane is one of the largest exports of Okinawa.). I am trying to have as many unique flavors of ice-cream as I can have here -- so far I have had sugar cane, ube, which is a kind of sweet potato grown in water, and shiqwasa, a citrus-type fruit (I think.)
Anyway after that we went to another famous war memorial nearby which was actually two still existent Gama Caves, which were actually turned into hospitals by high school girls and guys caring for the wounded.
Anyway, after that we came home, and then Okaasan and I went to Kokusai Street. Now, initially I had thought I would have been fine on my own, and while I still think I would have and do intend to walk there again by myself later and shop ( because we went in the evening today and a lot of the stores were closing, ) I am glad I went with Okaasan. She had a good eye for cheap stuff and had connections, which gave us even larger discounts. It was, or stall, very nice shopping and a very nice day. Goodnight!
So, on the way I asked Otousan about Japanese license plates, and realized that they give a lot more information about the car than American licenses do! First of all, the number, as oppose to American 7 character license plates, starts with the first Hirangana letter and then a number (at first one digit.). So, the first car registered would be あ1. It goes through 1-9, then to the next Hiragana letter, and once all those are done it goes back to the first letter but this time 2 digits, namely あ11. Anyway, apart from the number each license plate has a color, which signifies the purpose of the vehicle. Green is commercial busses/taxis/trucks, yellow is the average-person's car, and white is a private (I am assuming that mean's company owned) car. On top of that, on the top of the license plate there is the prefecture name, Okinawa, and then a number, which is a ranking of the size and likely other attributes of the car.
So, anyway, the Memorial Park has many parts to it, so we went to the Peace Hall first, and then the museum. So, first of all, the whole Memorial Park is built on top of Hill of Mabuni, the final front of the Battle of Okinawa and also the place from which many Japanese soldiers committed suicide by jumping into the ocean, as oppose to facing American gunfire, capture, and/or torture. And it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, a large, vast, very well-maintained park with trees, grass, and a fabulous view of the ocean (though I did not find out about that until later.)
Anyway, the Peace Hall was very nice; it had many AMAZING works of art dedicated to peace, and in the center of the room had twenty painting by Japanese artist Keiyu Nishimura, many of them centered specifically around certain WW2 events, all expressing a true passion for peace and a desire that none of this gets repeated again. In the center was a huge, 12 m tall statue of a person with his/her hands joined in prayer, representing human peace, despite race, religion, etc. above it were tiny lights representing the cosmos, where all the war's dead rested, and around it were many many various posters, Origami and other forms of art made by schoolchildren representing peace. The statue was made by a 72 year old after he lost two of his sons in the war. It was made out of pure lacquer and took him till he was 90. Oh, and the Peace Hall itself it built as a regular septagon, representing the seven seas, and in such a way that it resembles hands praying.
After that, we went to the museum, which was very very nice. It started in the Ryukan period and went through the history of Okinawa, focusing mainly on WW2 and post-war life. Anyway, one thing I found today was that the Ryukan Empire, in addition to having no army, also had no samurais or any such thing in the past. Except for the monarchy, there were no major class distinctions, and everyone was largely equal. Which astonished me because in the Peace Park, one could definitely feel the Okinawan's (or those who believe in the park) passion for peace, and in the past they had actually participated in a practical expression of peace, aka equality! Anyway, the exhibits were actually very very jarring, and the destruction of WW2 and all the atrocities were unimaginable. During the Battle of Okinawa, many civilians hid in Gama Caves, Stalinists caves all over Okinawa. Well, US soldiers brutally shot flamethrowers through the caves, frying everyone inside. And not just US soldiers, even Japanese soldiers were hugely brutal -- they would kill crying kids on the spot (because civilians and soldiers were intermingled in the chaos of the war) so as not to reveal their presence to US soldiers, and they would kill anyone speaking Okinawan, because they may be spying for the US. It was all very very sad, not the cruelty of any one side, but the destruction caused by the war.
Anyway, after the exhibits, we came out into a very open, large, white, tranquil room with huge windows (actually no walls, only windows practically) showing the beautiful Okinawan sea. And I though "What a better way to end a Peace Museum than a view of tranquil nature!". But that 気持ち (I am sorry, this is one Japanese word that truly describes my feeling and I have no idea how to translate it into English, probably good, satisfied, pleasant feeling) was short lived because Okaasan told me this was the very place people jumped off to commit suicide (and the last view they ever saw.). And that is when I realized the room was so tranquil and peaceful but underlied with the wounds of war -- it made me realize the true depth of the Okinawan's/Japanese desire for peace. The wounds of war may not have healed, and will never heal, but they are channelling the sadness of those wounds into a very positive hope for the world, and there is no better way to represent that than having the most tranquil place in the world (the view was probably the most beautiful and tranquil one I had ever seen) be the same place of all those deaths, murders, suicide, pain, sadness, and loss?
Anyway then we went outside to the actual Memorial, which was rows of monoliths engraved with the names of those who were killed in the Battle of Okinawa, regardless of side or nationality, one whole column is those from Okibawa, separated by village, then next is those from the rest of Japan, separated by prefecture, and the next is those from other countries, separated by country. They also have a separate area where they add names every year of those who died in the war and were finally found, identified, and named by the families. (Not the bodies of course, but the fact that they died in the Battle of Okinawa.)
After that we went to have ice cream. So, today I had Sugar-Cane ice cream (Sugar Cane is one of the largest exports of Okinawa.). I am trying to have as many unique flavors of ice-cream as I can have here -- so far I have had sugar cane, ube, which is a kind of sweet potato grown in water, and shiqwasa, a citrus-type fruit (I think.)
Anyway after that we went to another famous war memorial nearby which was actually two still existent Gama Caves, which were actually turned into hospitals by high school girls and guys caring for the wounded.
Anyway, after that we came home, and then Okaasan and I went to Kokusai Street. Now, initially I had thought I would have been fine on my own, and while I still think I would have and do intend to walk there again by myself later and shop ( because we went in the evening today and a lot of the stores were closing, ) I am glad I went with Okaasan. She had a good eye for cheap stuff and had connections, which gave us even larger discounts. It was, or stall, very nice shopping and a very nice day. Goodnight!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Fri July 13
Today was a very relaxed and fun day! First of all, for whatever reason we only had 50 minute periods (Wednesday's schedule,) so it was shorter than usual. Anyway, zeroth period was English which is always fun. Then we had World History, but since the Teacher was absent today we basically had a free period (theoretically we were supposed to be doing World History Homework.). I brought out my Khakhras and shared them with everyone and they were a huge hit and finished very quickly! After that, we had our Cross-Cultural Understanding class, in which we played the games Human Knot, 2-Word Taboo (you had to trick people into saying yes and/or no), Heads Up Seven Up, and Fruit Basket, which I had played before but never knew the name for. So, that was very fun. Then, we had lunch, and after that we had a long home room (apparently they have one every Friday) but our home room teacher, the world history teacher, was absent to instead we played 人間のバスケット, the exact same thing as Fruit Basket except in Japanese. BTW, in Fruit Basket everyone sits in a circle and one person stands up, and say something, and everyone who that applies to stands up and takes a seat, and the last person standing is in the middle. So, in the Japanese version, in addition to the fact that it was all in Japanese, instead of sitting in chairs we had to pair up (it only works with an odd number of people) and if the pair breaks (AKA if the statement applies to either person in the pair) both people have to find new partners. If someone ended up in the middle three times in a row, people got to ask them questions and they had to answer honestly (like who do you think is the cutest in the class -- I got asked that because at the end we just had an open session of asking questions.). I guess part of this game was like the American Truth or Dare, without the Dare.
Anyway, after that we had two periods to do a mass clean out of the whole room. Everyone changed into their PE clothes, put everything either into their bags or lockers, and piled their bags outside the class. We then took out the doors and moved all the desks out into the hall and piled them up neatly enough that there was a small aisle way to walk (and remember, all kumi's were doing this, not just ours, so it was pretty cramped.). Anyway, after that we kind of inherently spread out, with some people sweeping the floors and others wiping the windows (inside and outside, washing the balcony out with water, cleaning the blackboards, etc. (BTW we also moved out the bookshelf and teachers desk, so the class was literally empty.). I helped with the high up windows, even though even I had to climb onto the ledge to reach them. And boy, were they filthy! The silks were black with cakings of dust! I was surprised it had been cleaned only 6 months ago! (They do this kind of cleaning half way through the year snd at the end of the year.) After that, we got huge buckets with soap and water and started scrubbing the floor with sponges to get all the black dirt streaks out, which was, honestly pretty hard. After than, we all moved out into the narrow hallway while three students waxed the floor. We left the desks out since the wax had to dry, so we will bring them in on Tues (Monday is a holiday, the Day of the Ocean, all over Japan!)
BTW, I was explaining to some kids in my kumi today how in America kids do not do school cleaning except as punishment, and they said, "But cleaning is so fun!". I realized then that not only is cleaning very very fun, but it is such because the kids enjoy it, see it as an opportunity to socialize while working, and, most importantly, take pride in how their class looks! They do not do it because they are for Ed to, but because they want to (I mean they have no choice in doing the cleaning, but they do have a choice in the quality of the cleaning.)
After we had finished cleaning, which took about two hours, I went to Teack again, which was very fun. We had a much easier day today, kind of like a recovery run (which was interesting because they hadn't run at all yesterday.). Basically, we ran (jogged in lines) around the park behind the school for 40 minutes, and then ran two sets of 5 100 meter sprints. It was very fun, and we played a Japanese Game called Shiritori while running, which is a word chain game where you have to make a word starting with the sound the last word ended with, without repeating a word. It was very fun, and I was able to play pretty well! (I only got stumped a few times but the other students gave me hints.). Oh and they were all shocked that the drinking/smoking age in America is 21 (right?) but the driving age is 15.5 in CA :)
So yeah overall it was a great day. When I came home we had a fabulous dinner of a corn-soup sort of thing, regular soup, salad, rice, etc. it was very very yummy!
BTW, about superstitions, I just realized that today is Fri the 13th which Americans would have found unlucky. It was funny because today during our run I picked up a 5 yen coin from the ground, and everyone told me how lucky I was, because a 5 yen coin is great luck (but terrible luck if you step on it.). So yeah, widely different superstitions...
Ok, goodnight!
Anyway, after that we had two periods to do a mass clean out of the whole room. Everyone changed into their PE clothes, put everything either into their bags or lockers, and piled their bags outside the class. We then took out the doors and moved all the desks out into the hall and piled them up neatly enough that there was a small aisle way to walk (and remember, all kumi's were doing this, not just ours, so it was pretty cramped.). Anyway, after that we kind of inherently spread out, with some people sweeping the floors and others wiping the windows (inside and outside, washing the balcony out with water, cleaning the blackboards, etc. (BTW we also moved out the bookshelf and teachers desk, so the class was literally empty.). I helped with the high up windows, even though even I had to climb onto the ledge to reach them. And boy, were they filthy! The silks were black with cakings of dust! I was surprised it had been cleaned only 6 months ago! (They do this kind of cleaning half way through the year snd at the end of the year.) After that, we got huge buckets with soap and water and started scrubbing the floor with sponges to get all the black dirt streaks out, which was, honestly pretty hard. After than, we all moved out into the narrow hallway while three students waxed the floor. We left the desks out since the wax had to dry, so we will bring them in on Tues (Monday is a holiday, the Day of the Ocean, all over Japan!)
BTW, I was explaining to some kids in my kumi today how in America kids do not do school cleaning except as punishment, and they said, "But cleaning is so fun!". I realized then that not only is cleaning very very fun, but it is such because the kids enjoy it, see it as an opportunity to socialize while working, and, most importantly, take pride in how their class looks! They do not do it because they are for Ed to, but because they want to (I mean they have no choice in doing the cleaning, but they do have a choice in the quality of the cleaning.)
After we had finished cleaning, which took about two hours, I went to Teack again, which was very fun. We had a much easier day today, kind of like a recovery run (which was interesting because they hadn't run at all yesterday.). Basically, we ran (jogged in lines) around the park behind the school for 40 minutes, and then ran two sets of 5 100 meter sprints. It was very fun, and we played a Japanese Game called Shiritori while running, which is a word chain game where you have to make a word starting with the sound the last word ended with, without repeating a word. It was very fun, and I was able to play pretty well! (I only got stumped a few times but the other students gave me hints.). Oh and they were all shocked that the drinking/smoking age in America is 21 (right?) but the driving age is 15.5 in CA :)
So yeah overall it was a great day. When I came home we had a fabulous dinner of a corn-soup sort of thing, regular soup, salad, rice, etc. it was very very yummy!
BTW, about superstitions, I just realized that today is Fri the 13th which Americans would have found unlucky. It was funny because today during our run I picked up a 5 yen coin from the ground, and everyone told me how lucky I was, because a 5 yen coin is great luck (but terrible luck if you step on it.). So yeah, widely different superstitions...
Ok, goodnight!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Thurs July 12
Today was a great day! (I have a feeling all my posts are beginning to start with synonymous lines.). So, we had math, Japanese, English, and PE today. In English, we took a school-wide English Vocab competition/test. I think if the teachers grade my translations leniently I will do fine (English to Japanese , Japanese to English were mostly multiple choice) but considering it is a competition I doubt they will.
Anyway, then after the Our 4th Period (we have 0 period, then home room, 1-3 before lunch, 4-6 after lunch, then home room, then cleaning time) we watched another speech contest, this time in English. The speeches were all very interesting. The two I thought were the most powerful did end up winning, though there was one I did not feel was too good but it also ended up winning. I think they are actually looking for different criteria than I would, namely English Speaking confidence, pronunciation and enunciation, etc.
Anyway, after that I came home and went to Kumon, which was pretty tedious but I can definitely feel myself getting better at Japanese.
BTW, in Tumbling we done flips today, only 3/4 which I could do. It is actually a pretty difficult tumbling class.
Oh, and I had gone to the library yesterday after school which was pretty nice (the school library, although on the weekend I had also gone to the prefectural library and the city library.). The school library interestingly enough had many of the same popular teen books as in the US, such as Eragon and Deltora. However, I noticed they were about twice as thick as the American versions. I don't think it's because Japanese uses more words, however, but because their novels tend to have huge margins!
Oh and I don't know if I said this already but every morning the Vice Principal and another staff member are out by the front of the high school greeting kids! I think that it very nice.
And one thing about Japanese culture I can definitely see and feel I have very deeply internalized is Giri, or always giving and receiving gifts (giving thank-you gifts continuously.). I can see it in terms of food, and small gift items, and I honestly really like it. I have also begun giving return-gifts -- you don't actually call them return gifts but they are in appreciation for previous gifts. I really feel that is quite nice.
Ok, goodnight!
Anyway, then after the Our 4th Period (we have 0 period, then home room, 1-3 before lunch, 4-6 after lunch, then home room, then cleaning time) we watched another speech contest, this time in English. The speeches were all very interesting. The two I thought were the most powerful did end up winning, though there was one I did not feel was too good but it also ended up winning. I think they are actually looking for different criteria than I would, namely English Speaking confidence, pronunciation and enunciation, etc.
Anyway, after that I came home and went to Kumon, which was pretty tedious but I can definitely feel myself getting better at Japanese.
BTW, in Tumbling we done flips today, only 3/4 which I could do. It is actually a pretty difficult tumbling class.
Oh, and I had gone to the library yesterday after school which was pretty nice (the school library, although on the weekend I had also gone to the prefectural library and the city library.). The school library interestingly enough had many of the same popular teen books as in the US, such as Eragon and Deltora. However, I noticed they were about twice as thick as the American versions. I don't think it's because Japanese uses more words, however, but because their novels tend to have huge margins!
Oh and I don't know if I said this already but every morning the Vice Principal and another staff member are out by the front of the high school greeting kids! I think that it very nice.
And one thing about Japanese culture I can definitely see and feel I have very deeply internalized is Giri, or always giving and receiving gifts (giving thank-you gifts continuously.). I can see it in terms of food, and small gift items, and I honestly really like it. I have also begun giving return-gifts -- you don't actually call them return gifts but they are in appreciation for previous gifts. I really feel that is quite nice.
Ok, goodnight!
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