Sleeping Jellyfish

This Saturday in Anchorage, Alaska, Beard Team USA will compete against nations around the world (mostly Northern European) in the World Beard and Moustache Championships. Many states are represented by this years team including my favorites, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington, and Oregon. In an act of solidarity, I encourage you all to discontinue shaving for the week.

Do you know anyone that should be there competing this weekend?

I don’t think much has happened lately.  I’ve been gathering my strength, getting ready for the home stretch, the last half semester of my year in Japan. Midterms will be starting any time now, maybe this week or next. I think I’ve climbed out of the slump that I had been in the past few weeks and now have a new drive to make the most out of my time here, including my classes.

In fact, after talking to a few other people, other foreigners to be specific, we discovered that a lot of us had been having a rough time lately. I heard someone use the term “May Sickness”. It occurs in May, particularly strong in the foreign students who are used to taking exams and being done with school at the end of April or the first week of May. Symptoms include a general lack of will to do anything. Just hide in our caves, eat the last remaining bits of food we have, and finally emerge when we’ve eaten the last of our ramen and rice. It was like a fog had descended and made us all into recluses. I wonder if the Japanese students are affected by a similar phenomenom?

I'm better than I was in 3rd grade!

My roommate, Sandy, started an unofficial drawing club the other day and we had our first meeting the other night. Since I never really pursued my shreds of artistic ability, I brought along the trust ol’ box of crayons. It never fails me.

The first Drawing Club crew.

As I’ve mentioned before, I play a type of indoor soccer here called Footsal with a group of students. Usually its 4v4 plus a goal keeper, but if we have a big turn out for practice we will add another person on the field. Well, the other week I asked Sandy’s girlfriend, Min-hee, to take pictures of our practice so maybe my mom would actually believe that I am exercising and not just eating instant ramen all day. Here are a few of what she took.

The Wild Green Yonder

Whenever we have practice we walk up to the gymnasium along a small road that over lucks a gulley with a river running through it. I’ve explored a little bit down there and its quite pretty and exciting, especially with the constantly looming threat of wild boars and bears. Last time when we were walking I heard a grunting sort of thing so I went closet to try to decipher what it was. I’m not sure, but I was leaning towards boar on this one.

It was only drills, but it was still a good shot!

When we arrive, we get a good stretch in, do some short passing and then the captain usually starts getting us going on some drills. Since high school, I’ve actually come to detest drills and would much rather just start playing immediately, but foreigners can’t always be choosers, so we just play and have fun and what not. Yellow pennies, and that is me in the blue shorts and white shirt.

Receiving instructions from Our Dear Leader, Hayato

After about an hour of drills, usually offense v. defense type drills, we then get to the good stuff – the scrimmage. Anyone who has played or coached soccer knows the number count off. We circle up, and go in a circle calling off 1 through 4 to split up into teams. It took us awhile to get the system down because sometimes we would end up with a team of all gaijin, and we tend to be not as skilled and definitely in worse shape than the Japanese students. In fact, overall the game is a different style. All of the Westerners are longing for a full field of 11v11 but that is not way these guys play, so take the kick from where the ball went out, so to speak. Eventually we decided it is usually better to group all of the gaijin together so that we get split onto different teams evenly, due to the number counting.

Incoming!

Me and Michal

Masaki with a great shot on goal

The field is really just a a bit bigger than the basketball court

So we play for a good hour or so, and like indoor is, it is fast paced and quite tiring. Some people are better than others, and there always tends to be new people or old friends popping in every other week, so new teams and new blood keeps the game fresh every week. The Japanese students actually have a league that the play on, and were I more savy to how everything worked back in the Fall, I think I would have been keen on trying to get a spot on the team, but at first it seemed we were more a burden than a blessing, because we didn’t quite get the system yet. When we finish up for the day we put everything away and dust off the gym. I try to encourage the lads that if we play outside, the air is better, and we don’t have to clean up afterwards, but they seem pretty keen on the small sided games. Win some, you lose some.

Cleaning up

Sandy, myself, and Michal

Michal, myself, Jan, Pan-Pan, and Phil

After the cleaning, we pack up, get some inspiring words from Hayato about next practice, and are off on our walk home. In the Fall, there were monstrous spiders in the trees on the walk home. Now we have to contend with frogs and worms if it is wet, or giant beetles if it is dry. This place is really the wilds of Japan, I tell you.

As Mr. O has bridged his first 100 days in office, I have entered into my last 100 days in Japan through my exchange program with Akita International University. Starting the second week of May, I also plan to leave Japan the second week of August, shortly after the Kanto-matsuri in Akita on August 3rd, one of Japan’s most famous festivals. We have a local Kanto team here at AIU, as well as other teams from the surrounding towns that I believe to be participating in this years festival.

With less than a hundred days to go I am a mess of emotions. Trying to prepare myself for leaving, while at the same time trying to enjoy the rest of my time here. Longing for home, while knowing that as soon as I leave, I’ll be missing Japan and my friends here. Thus, the grass truly is always greener on the other side of the ocean.

For myself here, it is Sunday, a bit after 7pm, so rightfully Mother’s Day in America as far as I’m concerned. To my own, and all other お母さん’s out there, Happy Mother’s Day! Here is my collective present to you, thanks to my friend Ashley for the photo:

Sakura in Hirosaki

The sakura started blooming around here several weeks ago and have continued even until this week, but the peak hit in this region over the weekend of Golden Week. Golden Week is a special vacation time for the Japanese that surrounds several national holidays, including the now taboo birthday of the wartime Emporeror Showa. His personal name is Hirohito but was renamed after his death in 1989 for the era of his reign, the Showa period. Also within Golden Week is Constitution Memorial Day and my favorite, Children’s Day.

Because of the rain near campus during the prime blooming period, I was not able to take in as much as i wanted the rows of sakura trees that surround the school. Also regrettably, I did not make it down to Akita City’s Senshu Park for a proper ohanami (a picnic under a sakura tree just to take in their beauty). Also, while a large group of us went camping, two couples left a day early to stop at Kakunodate on their way back to check out the sakura, and even though they were there only 24 hours before us, they were able to catch Kakunodate in full bloom. It just wasn’t my luck this year, and though I feel great about all of the sakura I was able to see, as my friend Taro constantly complained, “It’s not enough!”

Since my camera was lost/stolen in Korea, I am at the mercy of others when it comes to pictures, but as I am collecting them I will be sure to add some wonderful sakura pictures on. Some people (gaijin) wonder what the big deal is about the sakura, and why the Japanese go crazy over it. I don’t have a terrible amount of insight into the Japanese psyche, and I don’t particularly like generalizations, so I will start with that, from what I can gather, a single tree usually only blooms for about 5 – 15 days depending on the weather. Cold and rain all effect the longevity of how long the flowers stay on the trees before falling and being replaced by crisp green leaves. This short life span gets the entire island riled up into a sakura induced fervor, sending people to the parks and river ways on weekends, and on long distance trips to famous sites, such as Himeji Castle, Kyoto, and the Tokyo Imperial Palace during Golden Week, depending on what areas are in full bloom. Even though I feel slighted in not getting a proper ohanami, everything that I’ve seen on walks, train rides, and hikes is enough to convince me that Japan has every right to go insane over a flower every Spring.

Our camping expedition was quite nice. The key marks are swimming in Lake Tazawako, going to an outdoor onsen, a great public bath house, and constantly eating whatever Taro was kind enough to cook up. Japan has some great tools for camp survival, including these ammunition box looking things that are actually rice cookers, and work great. Also taking pasta to a new level, when we weren’t eating spaghetti, we had plenty of ramen to go around.

At Tazawako Station

Train to Tazawako, me and Michal, hiding behind our books and poetry.

Yong Hyun is showing us how to set up the tent Korean Military Style

There's a dragon who lives at the bottom of the lake, so I went to go find it.

First night's BBQ, with plenty of veggies for me and Carly.

Morning nature hike

End of the trail.

Making rice over the campfire.

Lurking around at Tazawako Station before the bus ride to the campsite.

I hope everyone has had a splendid Mother’s Day weekend, and is taking care of their own Mums and Grandmums. Group study session tonight at 9:30 where I explain Samuel P. Huntington’s groundbreaking Foreign Affairs article “Clash of Civilizations?” to a group of Japanese students. Also, Manchester United game, kick off at 9:30. Let’s hope my Liberal Arts education has bestowed me with the critical thinking skills to make the appropriate decision. I hope nothing happens in the first half.