where cider meets condensed milk: July 2007

where cider meets condensed milk

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Gone in Sixty (Seven) Hours

Three years of teaching gets you as many farewells as one year would. The gifts and the form messages are the same, I imagine. I didn't get anything as cool as Bruttney-sensei's milk carton elephant, but since I've been living in this town since the days when real woolly elephants (some say "mammoths") roamed, I assumed that moving day would be slightly momentous. It wasn't. No one came. I called and only fueled the confusion in a circular conversation with a BOE man that didn't have a clue who I was and why I was telling him about my moving plans. A few hours later I managed to move out, I think. Hey, remember when I sold y'all my soul back in '04? I'm ready to trade it back now for my aparto keys and a Guppy. I only learned later that my supervisor was gone because she was stung by a bee, which no one thought to mention. So much depends on a stinging insect. (But no rain water. And no white chickens.)

After that came lounging in Sasayama, town of mosquitoes and black beans. Also no white chickens, but there are 10,000 signs of a hamster telling drivers to be careful. There must be an epidemic of hamster-squishing on the roads, because Hamu-chan is at every corner. Kids, let this be a lesson. My sisters' and my gender-confused male hamsters -- Marie, Lily, Louise-- never would've had a chance in this lethal town. When I had to leave, I (like the hamsters) was crushed.

And then to Tokyo, which took as long to reach as the subsequent flight to Bangkok. Yet another night in the new BKK airport, Artic Annex. It's very shiny and has more air-conditioning and more sleeping employees than anywhere on earth. Another quick flight, and 67 hours since Kibichuo later, and I'm typing from a sticky keyboard on a sticky Phnom Penh morning. Tomorrow will be my first visit to the ocean shores in Cambodia. It's good to be back.

posted by Raychaa @ 11:40 AM 0 comments

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Sensei Doodle Dandy

Missrachel-sensei is here, and she is going to eat your children. Hungry hungry hungry! But as of today, it's all over: no longer Allen Lachel Teacher. Gave a few speeches, cried during all of them, caused a table full of kindergarteners I'd never met to proximity-cry, and had lovely cake parties with 3 of my staffs. It's hard to let go of the title, the fame, and my feather status, and to realize I won't get this kind of send-off again until I retire. And now for shamelessly cute photos of 1st years:

posted by Raychaa @ 2:34 PM 2 comments

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Marine Day for the Elderly

This weekend, a sayonara to national holidays without much significance: Marine Day (for the Ocean-Sporty and/or Waterlogged Elderly). Appropriately enough, a typhoon swept across southern Japan this weekend. And inconveniently enough, Niigata was hit by another killer earthquake that is made worse by the little nuclear spill and the continuing risk for landslides. (Heeeey Land of Sunshine!! We're safe.) Pouring rain forces life indoors, and wet clothes and shoes never dry, which leads to pervasive scent of mildew in train carriages and classrooms. But it could be worse right now: it could be summer.

One more week here, and I am trying to enjoy my short list of will-be-missed Japanese foods as much as I can. I am a sad little bowl of miso.

posted by Raychaa @ 11:55 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Tottori Anthills

These are the *famous* Tottori sand dunes. Those little specks in the distance are all heading for Ant School. I finally made it here after 2 years and 50 weeks, and was pleased but not overly amazed. My Virginia boy toy scoffed at my excitement, since he's from America's Dunelands or some such nonsense. I bet Kittyhawk doesn't have camels, now, does it?? After Ludo popped up on one of the hills, and we went for a swim, we all got set to run down the biggest slope again. And now imagine a crazy Frenchman in just a sandy muumuu, barrel-rolling down the hill, spinning around and around like Joseph's dreamcoat at the laundromat. The J-tourons in high heels, shrieking every step down the hill, nearly short-circuited. It was beautiful.

And then we got tired and hot. There are camels, available for hire if you want an uninspired ride or pissed-off photographs. If I were a camel who had to work the Tottori Dunes instead of braving the middle eastern deserts or at least acting in a faux-desert Hollywood action thriller, I bet I'd be angry too. Confused castaways contemplating camels...

posted by Raychaa @ 1:13 PM 0 comments

Monday, July 09, 2007

Guppymashou

My hard-working Mitsubishi Guppy safely carried me to the Sea of Japan and back this weekend. It might've been excited to see kinsfolk on a plate in Tottori. Guppies on tofu? Yes, I actually chose to order this for my birthday dinner at an Okinawan restaurant. It looked exciting, and I'm exciting, right? Wrong. The first pet I ever had was a guppy named after my idolized big sister. Olivia (the fish) was belly-up in 2 weeks. I blamed myself and hid in the blanket fort in my room until my dad offered up his own guppy (Galileo) to me. I thought about Olivia (the fish) with each little bone and eyeball crunching in my mouth and the bean curd oozing between my teeth. I nearly gagged and hid her five friends under the goya champloo. Goya is a bitter, bumpy gourd. Champloo means fried rice with seaweed, fish eggs, and anything else found in your fishing net, in the cupboard, or under the fridge. Go go goya!

And weird birthday meal #2: sashimi on rice. Most of it was delicious. The squirmy shrimps with eyes and antennae were quickly imprisoned in the miso soup bowl, never to see the light of day or a customer's salivating stare again.

Reason for being in Tottori: music, dancing, drinking, friends, sand, and a pervasive wannabe-Thailand groove. Saturday was 07/07/07, which meant a good day to gamble, or to get married, but instead of pachinko or proposals I turned 25 in style. July 7th is Tanabata, or Star Festival, in Japan, and is a day to make wishes and tie them up into trees on colorful paper. In a rather uneloquent summary, the Tanabata legend is about 2 (star/person) lovers who were banished to opposite sides of the galaxy, and are only allowed (by the girl's father) to come together on this auspicious day. In America, we celebrate death, Jesus, chocolate, and America. But there isn't a day with such dreamy connotations that would have children and adults gasp and tell you just how lucky you are. Next year to get this lucky feeling back... I might need to go to Vegas.

posted by Raychaa @ 9:10 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Haaaanshiiin Tai-gas!

I have a few students named Taiga. It's fantastic fun when you're a kid, but I wonder how they feel being stuck with a mascot/animal moniker the rest of their life. It is probably easier than for a rather large child I have named Daichi, the kanji literally reading "big one." Best of luck with that, buddy. But back to Taigas: Okayama doesn't have a baseball team, so we borrow from the Kansai region. The Hanshin Tigers left the lights and glamour and sprawl of Kobe/Osaka, and deigned to play at our local stadium last night. The opposing team, the Yakult Swallows, has the threatening symbol of... an umbrella. Really. To be named after yogurt and then have an umbrella as a mascot? We stopped laughing when it started raining and those Yakult fans looked pretty dry. Damn you, Yakult.

I met up with Hiro (who isn't much of a baseball fan) and his friend (who is a rabid Tigers fan), and we randomly found ourselves in a section with 5 of my elementary kids and their families. It's an hour and a half drive from my town to the stadium, but Tigers mania knows no bounds. Every player has a different cheer, which are organized by official cheerleaders in the Brainwashed section. It's creepy, but in a friendly way. Happy cult life! The only cheer I could read was for token-gaijin Andy Sheets, in quasi-English:

"Andeeee! Andeeee! Here we go hero of the revolution let's go Andy hit hit Andeeeee Andeeee."

Yet, Andy struck out, and hit into a double play with a tied score and runners on base. Heroism? Oh, Andy. You've failed America, and you can no longer lead the revolution. The Tigers won in 12 innings, I made it home by 1am, and the earth cringed a few thousand more times over the rainstorm of latex after the traditional "Miracle of Life" sperm-balloon show in the 7th. (Hey guys, it's this way! Follow me...)

posted by Raychaa @ 3:50 PM 0 comments

Monday, July 02, 2007

The Ugliest Dog in the World

But actually, not a dog: a wild boar. I'm told that inoshishi are tasty, but a bit gamey. And I don't know what that implies, but I suspect their stench carries into the meat. This little guy lives in a cage with about 5 others, just across the river. They're let out on a leash for good behavior. Otherwise inoshishi roam free in forests, and steal farmer's vegetables. They're also somewhat dangerous and stupid. I think I was justified in screaming and nearly wetting myself when one darted from the bushes while I was taking out my trash last night. I don't worry as much about the occasional mukade in the kitchen, a geji geji or three in the shower, and the once-in-a-blue-moon cockroach. But giant hairy pigs snuffling around 20 feet from my back door...

posted by Raychaa @ 1:17 PM 0 comments

So wrong it's right. And then wrong. And then wrong again... welcome to the inaka.

About Me

Name: Raychaa
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About Me: “No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this - 'devoted and obedient'. This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.” (Florence Nightingale)
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