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Tokyo Narita Airport March 25th,
The sense of deja vu is undeniable. Only 42 hours ago I arrived here thinking it was an uncomfortably tight connection to my flight back home, only to learn that most long flights had been cancelled. After waiting in line for 4 and a half hours, I was rebooked on a flight today. A tragic accident caused the delay and cast a shadow over the whole airport, but some friendly stranded travelers and the helpful, gracious hotel staff made the unexpected delay much more palatable. I used the extra day to visit one of Tokyo’s famous spots, Ueno Park, and relaxed with a good book in preparation for a very long flight today. This morning I took a walk through the hotel’s traditional garden and enjoyed for the last time the colorful fish, the winding paths and curved bridges. The garden was empty, as spectacular as it was, it did not draw the crowds that the gift shop across the street commanded. Now, waiting is! This phrase, with me since college when I read Stranger in a Strange Land, has proved to be a perfect expression of the situation, over and over again.
As my Japanese experience comes to an end, there is so much to reflect on. I can sum it up with one word: wonderful, but of course this doesn’t explain why or share the learning on so many fronts and most importantly it doesn’t describe in any meaningful way the wonderful new friendships that were begun. You may have heard to old saying (I sang the song when I was a girl scout) “make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold”. And when new friends become old friends we are all so much richer!
As I teacher I was particularly disturbed by my difficulties as a student! I want to remember what it felt like to be the dummy of the class and avoid some of the “help” I got from some of my teachers that made me feel even worse and was no help at all! Do I do these same things when I’m teaching?
I got positive feedback from my little English class who liked some of the games and activities we did. Things I’ve learned from my wonderful colleagues at Falmouth Middle School. These were more appropriate for my older students than the traditional Japanese teaching methods that involve lots of memorization and responding quickly to questions.
I want to go home and practice the tea ceremony steps before I forget everything! I want to keep up my calligraphy too. It was one of the things I enjoyed the most! I will have to see if I can get into a yukata before I totally forget the intricacies of tying the obi! And then there is my next adventure: the Camino Del Norte! And my home and daughters await me! It’s hard to believe I survived this long with out seeing them!
I am so happy I am returning to an America where Obama is president! Well…ashita zenbu chigaimasu! Tomorrow everything will be different!
These last few days in Japan have been so full of events, and spending time with friends, that I have had little time to write or reflect, but the two works of art that I received today in some ways sums up my experience here. The photos to the left are of two superb works of art by two Japanese people, one a little girl of four and one totally unknown to me, but obviously a talented and appreciated artist. Sai chan’s drawing was given to me at the lunch I was treated to today with her grandmother, mother and a couple of faithful attendees of the monthly English Café. It was my farewell luncheon and all the children drew pictures for me and signed their names on back. The artist and her mom and brothers are in the picture above. Sai chan is the one I know the best as the boys are often busy with sports or other pursuits. She is too cute for words, and I often wanted to hug her but held back, as hugging is a not-much-practiced-show of affection here. It was hard not to cry when we said our final goodbye.
The other picture, an exquisite scroll painting with flowers from the four seasons, was presented to me by Takeda sensei, my ikebana teacher, Sai chan’s grandmother. I love it. It’s the epitome of traditional Japanese artwork, very decorative but some what understated. I was totally unable to express my thanks and hardly know how I will ever repay the kindness, but was thrilled to get it.
I have just one more week left here: final exams, lots of packing and saying goodbye. Today I painted little pictures I will turn into “certificates of achievement” for my English class. Tomorrow is a trip to Ise Jingu, one of the most holy shrines in Japan. There will be a K Class siyonara party and maybe even a speech in front of the whole school if I don’t chicken out, but before I know it I will be on the plane and in shock. Will I ever return and see these friends and sights again? I certainly hope so!
This past weekend the group of women I teach English to on Wednesdays took me out to lunch, a farewell meal. Knowing that I'm not wild about meat they took me to a well know Hokaido crab restaurant. I was told the restaurant was more than 50 years old. It was in a large building with 4 or 5 floors of dinning areas. We too the elevator to the third floor and after taking off our shoes were shown to a cozy tatami room with a long low table all set with a variety of crab dishes. There were the usual warm towels to clean your hands, a pot of hot green tea and a heated pad under our feet to make us even more comfortable. Our purple and peach kimono clad waiteress was always coming in and out to take dishes away and bring more. The courses seemed to be endless, all crab based dishes and various seaweed dishes, with the exception of the green tea icecream for dissert. I arrived first with Kate and Kitty ( the American sounding names two of my students use in class and with foreigners) and the other students came one by one till the whole class was there and we began eating. The conversation wondered all over the place from what would I do after leaving Japan to what color my personality is. I was given a fairly detailed explanation of the four colors of personalities that are calculated by the numbers of your birthday... too bad mine is sort of a bogus date, but be that as it may, I was calculated to be a red ( aka) personality. The other colors are green, yellow and blue. We took some pictures of course and I took some of the food because the presentation is always so artistic and colorful.
After lunch the whole group went to see some early cherry trees that are blooming, as I will miss the real cherry blossom season, probably the most cherrished of all the seasonal festivals. The trees we saw were planned by volunteers and there are about 90 of them! Even though they had gone a bit past peak they were still very beautiful and if it had not been for a very stiff wind we would have enjoyed them longer, but we soon found it too cold and went near by to have tea. From the tea room we could see the river and the trees while enjoy the season's sweet "hanamidango". Three small mochi balls of different colors on a short stick. (see the pictures)
If there's one thing I've learned about going our with Japanese friends it's to expect to spend at least three or four hours and to be treated like royalty. It's a good thing that my bad Japanese keeps me contanstly humbled, ne?Included with the pictures above are some taken in the class. Please click on the picture above to see them.
