If Mona Lisa's Smile Looked Like This....

I had my final lesson at Madara elementary school yesterday. The kids drew a collaborative portrait of me during our last class together. I was put in a chair at the front of the room and told not to look at what was being drawn behind me. The kids took turns drawing my features.

I was a little worried that my scraggly chin hair had gotten unruly, but when I asked Yukimi about my beard she said she had made a mistake and stopped before she did any more damage. Yuji picked up the marker first and had the hard task of creating my nose. To be fair to him (and me) he didn't have any other features on the paper to reference my honker, so maybe it wouldn't have looked so big if my other attributes were a little larger in scale. Anyway, it's a wonderful portrait. I love it.

From left to right: (Front) Yusuke, Yuji, Yuka, Yoichi, Kaori. (Back) Erika, Me, Yukimi.

Cattle

Is it me, or are these cattle signs creepy? I think it's the hypnotized-like eyes that make them -- what's the word? -- scary.

Suho

Welcome to the world, Suho.
Suho is third of three beautiful girls. Here she's yawning next to her oldest sister, Pokara. Her other sister, Hanoi, was in the middle of an afternoon nap when I stopped by. Their mom, Naoko was a member of my English conversation class before Suho made her debut. Now, unfortunately, Naoko is too busy to come to class, so I try to stop by their house when I can and chat with her a little bit. I also like going to their house because their family is so awesome. If I was in charge of giving out Awesome Family Awards, they'd be on the top of my award recipiants list.

Recreation

I went to Hamazu's (an area of the island) women's recreation gathering today.

We played a game where we had to pick up little packages with a net on a stick and throw it into one of the baskets of our teamate had. The theme was "uni toru," or taking sea urchins from the sea.

I was on the bean team.

Shota was on the fish team.

We also played a game of kickball and had a picnic under a tree. It was fun, but I got a sunburn.

Bread

I was shopping around for hot dog buns, and I came across this package of rolls. Now, perhaps it was naive of me to think they were merely suggesting, by the picture on the front, that I couple the bread with spaghetti. I had a surprise when I opened the bag.


Who puts spaghetti IN bread?

Kabocha

Pumpkins in Japan are small and green. They are nothing like the pumpkins of October's Jack-o-lantern fame. People in Ojika (as well the whole of Japan) eat these hard squash year round. They are tasty.

I will be having my final lesson at Madara elementary school on Monday. I got to set the menu because it's to be my last visit. I asked for pumpkin tempura. I don't know why I asked for pumpkin tempura. I just did.

When I went to the school for lesson planning, one of the teachers asked me to make a sign explaining why I like pumpkin tempura and why I recommend it others. (All the kids made signs explaining their own favorite foods.) We're going to have a bit of a show and tell, I think.

This is my sign.
It reads: Pumpkin tempura is very delicious. I want to eat it everyday. It's soft and a little sweet. But, if you ate it everyday, maybe you'd turn into a pumpkin. Watch out!

Mr. K. saw me working on it at my desk. I think he thought I'd gone mad. I explained that it was for one of the elementary schools. As if that explained it. He then asked me if I'd show it to the high school kids. Then, it was my turn to think he'd gone mad.

World Cup

Japan lost their first game in the World Cup. The kids at school were glum. I made sure I brought it up in every class I had. I'm a little evil, but mostly I wanted to give them the impression that I know what the score is -- and by "score" I mean what's hip in Japan. That's me. Evil and phony.

I flipped on the tube last night and watched some debate about the upcoming Brazil and Croatia game. Japan plays Croatia on Sunday.

Gourmet.

I'm going to publish a cooking magazine. I'm going to include all of the delicious concoctions I've created whilst living in my island paradise. You know, things like Re-heated Rice with Mayonnaise Glaze and Cocktail wieners Accompanied by Ritz. It's going to be a hit. I just know it. I'm going to call it Gourmet. Don't forget the period. The period makes the magazine.

(Don't even try to tell me it's a plagiarism of the Australian foodie magazine Delicious. because it's not. It's a whole different word for heaven's sake!)

Here's a page from Delicious. This is a pastry sheet topped with strips of zucchini, feta and fresh mint leaves.

Here's a photo to be included in the first issue of Gourmet. It's a pastry sheet topped with eggplant, shrimp, Gouda and black olives.

Damn, I'm good.

Bike

I just want you to know that I can do this too.

Now, if I could just figure out a way to take a picture of myself while doing it.... That would really be something, wouldn't it?

Hot and Earthy Friday Nights!

That's right.

My Friday nights are spicy.

My Friday nights are more than spicy; they're tactile, baby!

I use my hands and mold my enjoyment with my fingertips.

Here's my compatriot (and fellow artisan) caught in the act.


I'm in the process of making a kaki (a plate which holds flower arrangements) and a vase for two of my favorite women on Ojika. If they make it through the kiln twice, they'll be gifts of my gratitude.

What else says "thank you" for two years of friendship and help like a hand made kaki!?!

Kwass

This is Kyoko Higashikawa. She's a biology teacher. I taught with her for one year at the high school on Ojika. She moved to a different school in Isahaya at the end of March. I had a few random days off in the middle of the week, and I decided I wanted to go to Nagasaki to get my hair done and do some shopping. Isahaya isn't too far from Nagasaki, so I called Kyoko up to see if she'd like to have dinner with me while I was on the mainland. Dinner turned into an overnight and sightseeing in the area.

We went to a Russian restaurant which she recommended and were brave enough to sample "Kwass," a traditional Russian drink. (So the menu said.) We regretted our choice. It was gross and had tiny dried, yet re-hydrated, grapes floating on the top. The waiter explained Kwass is a kind of alcohol made from the bi-product of bread making. Hmm.

The steak seared table-side was a much better choice.

The next day we went to Mt. Inasa and rode the cable car to the top. The brochures all claimed that it was a 1,000,000 dollar view. I guess we should have waited for a clearer day. It was more like a 100 dollar view when we went. The cable car ride was the best part.

Here's Kyoko posing at the top. After we rode the cable car down to the parking area, we stretched out under a tree and chatted for a bit. It was awesome. Any day with lying under a tree, out of the sun, and chatting with a friend is a good one, no matter what happens.

Field Day

Yet another one of my elementary school's hosted their annual field day. Here are some of the photos hot of the digital press for you!

Here's a trio of first-graders lying in wait for their big dance debut. Pom poms and all!

Event announcers waiting for their cue to walk around announcing the next event and asking the participants to get ready.

What island school would be complete without the a shellfish race? Seeing as how this field day was in the middle of shellfish season, the students had to make their way through a course of marine treasures. Personally, I think running in swim fins would be rather difficult.

Here are some of the fifth and sixth-graders getting ready for the Soranbushi. The dance is a staple of any Ojikan field day. The long "coats" they are wearing are called hapi in Japanese.

These preschoolers were in the audience, cheering on their older sister in first grade however, they were more interested in me than in anything else going on and were totally confused when I pulled out my finger glasses and put them on. They try to replicate, but they just can't pull it off. When they got tired of that game, the little boy decided it would be really fun to grope me. He started pawing at my chest and giggling wildly. Then, he went a step further and started pulling at my collar and tried to sneak a peek down my shirt! When his mother, sitting a few seats away, finally noticed, she was mortified! She pulled him away and apologized several times. I did my best to put her at ease, but I was relieved she came to my rescue. The whole ordeal was recounted several times to the little old ladies sitting near who thought it was hilarious.

Sazae. Sazae on a stick. Gross. Where's the popcorn, cotton candy and peanuts that any sporting event should be required to provide? In Japan, we settle for Turban Shell on a toothpick. Did I mention something about shellfish season? Right.

Here's Mrs. Tsutsumi's son in my sunglasses. (I can't remember his name right now!) The kids LOVE the fact that I wear shades. It's actually kind of rare where I live, if not all of Japan, to protect your eyes from the sun, which is strange because most Japanese people go to unbelievable lengths to keep the evil solar power from pressing up against any part of their exposed skin.

That might actually have been the last Ojikan field day for me. Now that Tsuyu has started, we'll have rain, rain and more rain. The sporting events will be put on hold for a while I suspect.

SUSHI

I love sushi. I don't think I could ever get tired of eating it. I could eat sushi four times a week and think it's not enough, so you could imagine my delight when Yumiko called me and invited me to have dinner with them last night. The menu: SUSHI.

Actually, there are several kinds of sushi which most non-Japanese people are unfamiliar with. When we hear the delicious word, we think of rice rolled in sea weed and stuffed with bits of cucumber and crab, lined with mayonnaise and a pinch of wasabi. Or, we think of cooked and split shrimp laying on a little and longish ball of sticky rice. And sometimes we contemplate why anyone would include "the egg one." (I know you know what I'm talking about.)

Well, here's a small Japanese lesson for you. Sushi actually means, quite literally, vinegared rice. So, here in the homeland, when people invite you over for sushi, you could be getting any variety of rice prepared in vinegar with a little bit of salt, sugar and mirin to boot.

I remember the first dinner party I was invited to on the island. (I crashed the former ALTs going away bash.) I was fresh off the ferry and elated to think I'd be treated to sushi so soon after my arrival. With the rate things were happening, I was sure I'd be eating sushi everyday. My tutelage in sushi and the Japanese language itself pretty much began that night as lifted the lid of the plate my "sushi" was in and found nothing more than a pile of white rice with little bits of shredded egg on top. BUMMER. I ate it and it was, of course, delicious, but very different from what I'd been expecting.

What most westerners call sushi is actually called nigirizushi in Japan. It means "hand-shaped sushi." There's also temakizushi which means "hand-rolled sushi." It's a bit misleading, however, because it's not the California Roll or Spider Roll sushi which you might think, but it's actually a kind of build-it-yourself, cone-like roll that can be filled with anything from canned tuna to slices of omelet. (Again with the egg!) The rolls that we're all familiar with and love are known in Japan as simply makizushi or, "rolled sushi."

Last night I was in luck. For the second time ever on my island, I had the chance to eat home-made nigirizushi -- sushi as I first knew it. Here's the feast in all it's splendor!

Aren't you jealous? Ojika is a sushi-lover's paradise. It's a fish feast! I'm soooooo lucky.