It all started a few weeks back when I had a little extra time before work and decided to ride down a mysterious path near our house. Shortly after I got on the path, it headed away from the busy street we live on and through some rice fields. There was a beautiful white crane standing in the middle of the path that lifted off as I approached.
That's when I realized that in the midst of this noisy suburbia in which we live, there is a bit of country after all.
I continued on the path past some very old, traditional Japanese homes, a pen of ducks, lots of gardens and flowers, and maybe even a small rice processing shed. I ended up at a driving range. (Hm, hello suburbia.) On my way back, I took an alternate route and proceeded to get very lost. After a while, I turned up at a lake...none of those near us. I shouted at a passing cyclist who very kindly stopped to answer my questions, although the answer was primarily "I don't know." He didn't even know what Yukarigaoka was (the town I live in) and when I asked where I was, I didn't recognize the name of that town either. But we were near a bike trail, so together we guessed which direction I should probably go (I was totally turned around). I headed back quite happy to discover that not only was there a bit of country around...there was also a bike trail!
Last weekend, Jesse and I looked up the bike trail on our map (it said "saikuringurodo"...if you say it out loud, you'll hear "cycling road"). We hopped on our bikes and took it up past the windmill I posted a picture of and on to a history museum we've been meaning to go to for quite some time. Most of the trail was through rice fields and along a river....so nice. The museum was great too. The only bummer was when we looked out into the courtyard of the museum and saw a downpour. The rain lightened up by the time we left and we had a pleasant trip home. Feeling brave, we stopped in a mystery restaurant which turned out to be a pretty good, although quite expensive, sushi shop. The owners (a husband, wife and son who also live there) and the other patrons, were very friendly and nice. The woman even came out to wipe off our by-then wet bicycle seats. What a nice day!
Monday, September 18, 2006
where are we?
We're still in Japan...we just visited a windmill yesterday that's in the next city. It was a gift from the Netherlands about ten years ago.
sports day
Unfortunately, I didn't get to experience Sports Day firsthand, but all my junior high school students have been telling me about it the past couple weeks. Most schools in this area held it last Saturday and this past week, I saw some pictures and video of some of the activities. It's a pretty talked-about, looked-forward-to event and has been going on for a long time (my friend's dad remembers participating in the same event, with the same activities). I was interested to hear what kinds of things they do because some of them seem to reflect certain aspects of Japanese culture that are a little different from American culture.
Almost everything is very team-oriented. Remember doing the three-legged race? They do a NINE-legged race. Along the same lines, they do a caterpillar-type activity where they line up 20 students and tie all the students' legs together...one leg to the person in front of them, and one to the person behind. Then they all march forward. It's pretty amazing. Jump roping with large groups of students all on one rope (I heard of 40 students!!) and tug-of-war are also popular events.
We were also surprised at the number of activities that would be definite liabilities in the states. One of the boys' events is similar to "chicken" fighting in a pool. Four boys create a rather complex formation with one held above the others. They run around trying to knock each other off...but not into water...onto very hard dirt (at least it's not pavement, I guess?). For another, two teams hold large logs upright, while offensive members from the other team lunge at the log trying to bring it down.
Most schools break the students up into red and white teams (i.e., Japanese flag). I've been finding out my students' results this week. Some won, some lost...several had injuries!....but everyone had a lot of fun.
Almost everything is very team-oriented. Remember doing the three-legged race? They do a NINE-legged race. Along the same lines, they do a caterpillar-type activity where they line up 20 students and tie all the students' legs together...one leg to the person in front of them, and one to the person behind. Then they all march forward. It's pretty amazing. Jump roping with large groups of students all on one rope (I heard of 40 students!!) and tug-of-war are also popular events.
We were also surprised at the number of activities that would be definite liabilities in the states. One of the boys' events is similar to "chicken" fighting in a pool. Four boys create a rather complex formation with one held above the others. They run around trying to knock each other off...but not into water...onto very hard dirt (at least it's not pavement, I guess?). For another, two teams hold large logs upright, while offensive members from the other team lunge at the log trying to bring it down.
Most schools break the students up into red and white teams (i.e., Japanese flag). I've been finding out my students' results this week. Some won, some lost...several had injuries!....but everyone had a lot of fun.
Monday, September 11, 2006
two trips to the beach
We live on a peninsula to the east of Tokyo, so are only a couple hours from the Pacific coast.
Last weekend and this weekend, we headed out to the beach for a little swimming. The first time around, we went by a bus, three trains, a taxi and even a little bit of hitch-hiking. This weekend, we took the train for twenty minutes and then rode in a friend's car...MUCH easier. The waves were great...strong and high...the sand was soft and the breeze pleasant. It was a good time. Here's a picture of Tessa and me.
And here are some pictures of a family I was enjoying watching (the undertow was very strong, even in the shallow sections).
Nothing particularly interesting happened this year, but we took a couple trips to the beach last year as well and were surprised by a uniquely Japanese beach-going experience on one occasion. There were loudspeakers playing music, so you couldn't hear the sound of crashing waves (who wants to listen to the beautiful sound of nature anyway). There was a smell of grilled squid. And they promptly "closed" the ocean at 4pm, preceded by "closing music" (the traditional New Years' song). A cultural, if not quite natural, experience.
Last weekend and this weekend, we headed out to the beach for a little swimming. The first time around, we went by a bus, three trains, a taxi and even a little bit of hitch-hiking. This weekend, we took the train for twenty minutes and then rode in a friend's car...MUCH easier. The waves were great...strong and high...the sand was soft and the breeze pleasant. It was a good time. Here's a picture of Tessa and me.And here are some pictures of a family I was enjoying watching (the undertow was very strong, even in the shallow sections).
Nothing particularly interesting happened this year, but we took a couple trips to the beach last year as well and were surprised by a uniquely Japanese beach-going experience on one occasion. There were loudspeakers playing music, so you couldn't hear the sound of crashing waves (who wants to listen to the beautiful sound of nature anyway). There was a smell of grilled squid. And they promptly "closed" the ocean at 4pm, preceded by "closing music" (the traditional New Years' song). A cultural, if not quite natural, experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
