Oh my! I feel like time is flying. Winter time tends to make you feel a little down and somewhat introspective so I have been thinking about my life quite a bit in recent days. I have been very busy with work and my private lessons as well as going out. I am worried that my time is going to run out in Japan with all of these people and how much I will miss having all of them in my life. This life in general, being in Japan I mean, seems like such a gift. But a gift with a timer running. My job has its ups and downs like any other but I find it fulfilling. I don’t want to leave here thinking for one minute that I could have done it all more fully. I know that I am doing lots of stuff but I often find myself going a long with the group instead of pursuing the things I really want to see. I need to do some traveling on my own. I also have become lax in my Japanese study. Just because I have survival skills now doesn’t mean I should quit improving my communication. They told us at pre-departure orientation that we would feel culture shock about every three months and start to feel down, so I think I am going through a bit of that right now.
To combat this bit of depression, I have non-stop events planned for the weekend. Friday night, I left work and went out to the hospital for mouth related stuff, then I went home to quickly make food for a pot luck. I went to an ice lantern festival and fireworks display in the bitter cold. They gave us free cups of sake and hot, sweet rice porrage as we walk ed through the streets. Needless to say the sake warmed us from the inside out. Then I went to the potluck and didn’t get home until about 2 AM this morning. I have a touch of the flu right now which I seem to have had for about three months off and on, so I was up being sick at about 5 AM. I went instantly back to sleep after that though and had a bizarre dream about Fedex and killer whales. When we got up this morning, I got some chores done and then Gisela and I headed off to a museum in Okaya. It is a collection of children’s illustrators. I had heard about the place for a while now and have really wanted to go. Maurice Sendak has a permanent small collection there. He was the illustrator for one of my all time favorite children’s books, Where The Wild Things Are. Then we went to the next town over which is Suwa. We generally toured the town and its large frozen lake. I dropped off Gisela and headed back home to have a sleep. In about two hours we are going out to the Old Rock, an irish pub for a fish and chips night in Matsumoto. There is also supposed to be speed dating. Sounds like a laugh. We are taking the train so we won’t be tempted to stay out all night. Thinking about all that still remains to be done this weekend, perhaps this is over kill. Tomorrow, I am going out with some Japanese friends from work to an onsen and a swan feeding ground. Onsens are outdoor hot public baths. I have avoided them up to now because I don’t like the idea of being naked around a bunch of my co-workers but I guess I’ll give it a shot. They are supposed to be really relaxing.
In less than a month, it will be spring here. Spring gives you a whole new out look on life. It gives you energy and makes you feel alive because everything around you starts to wake up. When the seasons change in my town it is like a light switch. If Spring is the same it will just jump out at us one day soon. Today is the official first day of spring in Japan according to their old calendar system. Yesterday was a special day called Setsubun to usher in the Spring. Traditionally, people throw roasted soy beans around their home with all the windows flung open, shouting 'oni wa so to' (get out demons) and 'fu ku wa uchi' (come in happiness.) The beans are called fuku mame (fortune beans.) It is said that people keep their health and happiness when they pick up and eat fuku mame in a number equal to their age. I don’t really want to eat beans off the ground though. I would need to eat 25 of them too. The kids were pelting beans everywhere and shouting throughout the school on Friday. It was good. The pictures in this post are all from the stain glass portion of the museum. They were so beautiful. I will maybe do another update tomorrow with ice lantern festival pictures. Mine didn’t turn out so good but Gisela’s are quite nice. I need to nap now though. Have a good weekend.