I realize its been a long time since I've posted anything- but the outraged cyber community has contacted me and I agreed to reconnect with the world wide web. I am in Okinawa now and it is quite incredible. There is something really special about the way the air smells and sun shines. I spent the night in Kagoshima and went out to a really fantastic jazz performance on Friday night and then took a 26 hour ferry to Naha city. If Naha were a recipe it would go like this, one part California, one part Hawaii, and two parts Japan. It is nothing like Kyushu. The locals eat taco rice and glide around a dreamy monorail that plays the most cute-sy music imaginable. I met some other English teachers and yesterday we went to the Peace Memorial about an hour outside of Naha and to some historical caves that some teenage girls used to fix up wounded soldiers in.
We then ate Christmas dinner in a giant tree.
Ohh yeah, and on Christmas eve the hostel I am staying at, which is probably the best hostel I've ever been to, had a Christmas party and we ate fondue, nabe (a traditional Japanese dish) and Christmas cake (Ku-ri-su-ma-su Kee-ki). It was fun.
At the height of the excitement a Japanese man and I tried to figure out who sang this really horrible 90's song for about three hours and then someone randomly tried to teach me how to play Okinawa style drums. After a few beers me and this other Japanese girl who spoke really good English promised to take me to play pachinko the next day but we never got around to it. Luckily. On Christmas night, me and the other two English teachers went to a salsa club and meandered around the brightly lit streets. It was strange because Christmas eve is kind of a big thing here, but nobody cares about Christmas day, everyone goes to work and goes about their typical business. Today I went to the Shuri Castle which I can't really say anything that the pictures can't.

Christmas Break

I finally got around to finalizing my Christmas break plans. I'm taking a ferry to Okinawa from Kagoshima for a week, catching a plane from Okinawa to Seoul S Korea for another week, and then back to Miyazaki where I'll catch a late night train back right before I have to be at work again. It should be nice and warm in Okinawa for Christmas and freezing in Seoul for New Years.

Wouldn't it be phenomenal if I wrote everything I was really thinking? If I just let all the bizarre thoughts I have seep out into the world wide blogosphere? I have been a tad bit reflective today, as living in a foreign country can nudge you to be. I guess I am thinking about this because I have finally come to terms with the fact that I am not Japanese-nor will I ever be. The news hit me hard the day before yesterday as I went to the downtown office to pick up my alien registration card. I was thinking of getting some cigars and getting the phrase "Its a foreigner" written on the cigars to pass out to all of my friends- which totals about two in this neck of the woods. I can afford that. It would definitely NOT be written in Kanji. Thats how non-Japanese I am. I think I am starting to come down from the initial high of being here and living in a foreign country. After discovering that I wasn't Japanese I also came to terms with the fact that my Japanese language speaking ability has become stagnant and is in great need of attention. While I am able to understand for the most part what "real Japanese" people say and are conveying with speaking and non-speaking (Japanese sometimes talk with silence) I have become less effective as a communicator and have nothing to blame but my own laziness and the existence of websites with tv shows on them. There were many other signs that I am in fact NOT Japanese but I was unable to "be a man" and face the situation. Telltale signs include: not understanding how to separate your trash properly and burn it, having the water guy come to your work to collect money for your bill because you didn't know it was a bill, and having a bad case of round eye. That one for sure. Other possible side effects may include nobody wanting to sit by you on the train. Although there is no cure for not being Japanese...... Yes so I am still so happy to be here and I can really give it my all now that my lovely Mother sent me a huge jar of peanut butter (my protein levels are now recharged) but sometimes it is tuff(sic)- not being Japanese.
Anybody else ever had this problem?