Screaming towards the finish line
So tomarrow is our last day, we ship out the day after early in the morning. There's so much to cover I'm simply going to have to wait until after I get home to post it all. However, we are safe, everything's under control, we are home sick, we are stressed, and it's going to be quite the reprieve to get on that airplane and know that we managed to get through Japan without any catastrophies.
There's so much stuff that couldn't make it up on the blog, and probably wont, but if you are interested I'd be glad to recount the stories and share the pictures and videos with anyone interested enough to sit through something like that.
I think I've only got one post left (probably) and it'll be a recounting of the entire trip and impressions as well as some of the stuff that I've missed but is too important to not throw up here. Overall I've taken about 20 Gigabytes of pictures and video of this trip. An amount I believe that lives up to my dad's suggested strategy of "take three steps and then take a picture".
I want to thank all of you for giving me a solid reason to keep this blog going as prolifically as I have, the written record of it all will be an excellent help when I start trying to sort my pictures and realize I've given none of them names and I'll look at them and not know what they're of.
Next post will likely be coming from Stateside.
さよなら、 日本
-Mack
-マック
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
It's Snowing
Winter
So three days ago it started snowing
and it kept snowing
and it's still snowing . . .
We're looking at about a foot of snow in 3 days, and it doesn't show signs of letting up anytime soon. The snow, however,is white and fluffy and awesome!
-Mack
So three days ago it started snowing
and it kept snowing
and it's still snowing . . .
We're looking at about a foot of snow in 3 days, and it doesn't show signs of letting up anytime soon. The snow, however,is white and fluffy and awesome!
-Mack
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Juggling in Japan 2: Otedama
The Entertainer
In my time here in Japan Jessi and I have performed for an audience about 4 times. I've performed a solo act for an audience twice, and have spent a good deal of time doing little tricks here and there for elementary school. As I've talked to a even greater number of people about Juggling, I've heard otedama come up more and more.
When I visited my host family for the first time, I brought my juggling balls to show them. After I showed them a little bit of juggling, my host mom brought out a bunch of otedama that she had made from kimono fabric. They were absolutely gorgeous, and not filled nearly so much as a western juggling ball, so they make a bunch of noise when you use them. She knew a little otedama, but hadn't done it since she was a little girl.
When I met Hiroko my host sister recently, my host mom made me a set of otedama made of kimono silk. They're bright orange and filled with azuki beans. The stitch on them is actually quite amazing. They are really well made.
It wasn't until we went to Jessi's host family house that we were really schooled in Otedama culture. When I showed her host parents the otedama that my host mom had made me, Jessi's host mom was really excited and nostalgic. She hadn't done it much since she was a little girl, but she got the balls flying nonetheless after a little bit of practice.
Otedama looks like what everyone expects juggling to look like, it's the circle pattern. Toss high ones over with one hand, and make small quick passes with the other hand. Looks just like when Bugs bunny shows off juggling. They also do two with one hand. The interesting thing is, that there are songs associated with otedama, which is why the balls make so much noise; it's to keep the beat of the song.
"Don don pan pan, don don pan. don don pan pan, don pan pan. dodopan dodopan don pan pan"
This was the chorus that her mom had us learn. It was an Akita folk song, and it's incredible to think that we were able to learn it.
-Mack
In my time here in Japan Jessi and I have performed for an audience about 4 times. I've performed a solo act for an audience twice, and have spent a good deal of time doing little tricks here and there for elementary school. As I've talked to a even greater number of people about Juggling, I've heard otedama come up more and more.
When I visited my host family for the first time, I brought my juggling balls to show them. After I showed them a little bit of juggling, my host mom brought out a bunch of otedama that she had made from kimono fabric. They were absolutely gorgeous, and not filled nearly so much as a western juggling ball, so they make a bunch of noise when you use them. She knew a little otedama, but hadn't done it since she was a little girl.
When I met Hiroko my host sister recently, my host mom made me a set of otedama made of kimono silk. They're bright orange and filled with azuki beans. The stitch on them is actually quite amazing. They are really well made.
It wasn't until we went to Jessi's host family house that we were really schooled in Otedama culture. When I showed her host parents the otedama that my host mom had made me, Jessi's host mom was really excited and nostalgic. She hadn't done it much since she was a little girl, but she got the balls flying nonetheless after a little bit of practice.
Otedama looks like what everyone expects juggling to look like, it's the circle pattern. Toss high ones over with one hand, and make small quick passes with the other hand. Looks just like when Bugs bunny shows off juggling. They also do two with one hand. The interesting thing is, that there are songs associated with otedama, which is why the balls make so much noise; it's to keep the beat of the song.
"Don don pan pan, don don pan. don don pan pan, don pan pan. dodopan dodopan don pan pan"
This was the chorus that her mom had us learn. It was an Akita folk song, and it's incredible to think that we were able to learn it.
-Mack
Monday, December 7, 2009
My Dorm Room 3 Months Later
Its self explanitory.
Swine Flu update: Still not sick, seveal people released from quarantine who weren't actually sick. Doesn't look like they'll close the school.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Swine Flu and Final Weeks
Winding Down
December is upon us, which means only 17 more days of Japan. My feelings are mixed. There is still a lot left to do here in Japan, but as we approach the end of the semmester final projects and tests are begginging to bind my hands. There's a sense of constant urgency among everyone who is leaving, and it's stressful.
I plan to see the ocean again before I go, and I want to make some daytrips by train to see the cities and towns around Akita. I also want to spend a good deal of time playing arcade games. Those things feel very doable within the time frame, and I think if I accomplish them I should be able to leave Japan feeling satisfied. The full experiance of Japan has truly been something I'll remember the rest of my life. Even if I don't manage to really do much in these final weeks it'll have been a truly incredible experiance.
Also . . .
As far as plans for these couple weeks go, the decisions may be made for me. So far 50ish kids have been quarantened for swine flu (or the likelihood of swine flu). No one should worry though, the ony reason swine flu's been in the news is because there isn't much of a vaccine for it, not because it is particularly terrible. I've met a few people that had it a while before they came to AIU and it pales in comparrison to the regular flu.
As far as quarantene goes, if they find out you've been closely associated with someone who has Swine flu, you're quantened for 3 days in a special quarantene room. If after that they find out you have swine flu, you're quanatened for another week. Thing is the capacity for sick people isn't very large on campus, so there's talk that if too many people catch it, they'll shut down the school. Possibly even quaratene the entire campus and just keep the virus from spreading. I'll keep you guys updated.
(A journey through our trip to Kyoto will happen, untill it does here's the raw video)
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAuthorM#p/u/20/5bvSv8u7Dzo
December is upon us, which means only 17 more days of Japan. My feelings are mixed. There is still a lot left to do here in Japan, but as we approach the end of the semmester final projects and tests are begginging to bind my hands. There's a sense of constant urgency among everyone who is leaving, and it's stressful.
I plan to see the ocean again before I go, and I want to make some daytrips by train to see the cities and towns around Akita. I also want to spend a good deal of time playing arcade games. Those things feel very doable within the time frame, and I think if I accomplish them I should be able to leave Japan feeling satisfied. The full experiance of Japan has truly been something I'll remember the rest of my life. Even if I don't manage to really do much in these final weeks it'll have been a truly incredible experiance.
Also . . .
As far as plans for these couple weeks go, the decisions may be made for me. So far 50ish kids have been quarantened for swine flu (or the likelihood of swine flu). No one should worry though, the ony reason swine flu's been in the news is because there isn't much of a vaccine for it, not because it is particularly terrible. I've met a few people that had it a while before they came to AIU and it pales in comparrison to the regular flu.
As far as quarantene goes, if they find out you've been closely associated with someone who has Swine flu, you're quantened for 3 days in a special quarantene room. If after that they find out you have swine flu, you're quanatened for another week. Thing is the capacity for sick people isn't very large on campus, so there's talk that if too many people catch it, they'll shut down the school. Possibly even quaratene the entire campus and just keep the virus from spreading. I'll keep you guys updated.
(A journey through our trip to Kyoto will happen, untill it does here's the raw video)
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAuthorM#p/u/20/5bvSv8u7Dzo
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