Go West

I spent the week on Yonaguni island. The original schedule had me teaching there Tuesday-Wednesday (I usually teach two days on this island - one school per day -- because the flights to and from the island are limited), but the typhoon that passed through Okinawa sent us high winds and heavy rain and thus all flights leaving the island were canceled until Friday morning.

This island is the most western place in Okinawa and Japan. It is only 108 kilometers/67 miles east of Taiwan and thus it has a very different culture in comparison to the rest of the Yaeyama islands.  The kanji for it contains the Japanese word for "country" as it is so separate from the other parts of Okinawa.  They speak a dialect that honestly should be considered  a separate language. Unfortunately, like all of the Okinawan hogan dialects, it is quickly disappearing with the aging population. Yet, Yonaguni is one of the places where some of the young children can still speak it fluently, but only if they live with their grandparents. This language cannot be understood if you speak Japanese. While it is remotely related to ancient Japanese, it is definitely not decipherable with modern Japanese. Yonaguni language is very sing song, with quite a bit of intonation.  You can check out a brief introduction to the language here.

I learned quite a bit about the differences between Yonaguni's funeral practices and those of the rest of Okinawa and Japan.  The people on Yonaguni bury their dead (a practice that is not common in Japan at all).  They place them in small coffins in a fetal position and after 7 years have passed, they perform a funeral rite in which the men and women open up the coffins and the women clean and polish the bones.   The teacher who told me about this suspected that this practice might have come from China at one point, but she wasn't certain.  Some of the children I taught had participated in this ritual already. This came up in the Self-Introduction + Halloween lesson plan (I had to throw both of them together) when I introduced the word "coffin" to them.

Starting to find my way around town...

I have to share these things as I'm stoked about them. All of these things have just started to fall into place.

(1) I found a place to practice yoga (I'm so excited about this!)

(2) I found a store that sells Tulsi tea leaves.

(3) I found a good acupuncturist

(4) I have joined a trad. Yaeyama dance class/studio

(5) I think I am about to start taking voice lessons to train my voice to sing Japanese songs correctly (I will also be able to improve my image at the office party post-nomikai karaoke sessions. It's not my aim for this venture, but I will get some bonus points- 2 birds, 1 stone). I watched a chorus practicing today and the woman leading the chorus seems like a fantastic voice coach.

(6) I found a nice, clean gym open 7 days a week which only costs 200 yen per use and doesn't require a membership/joining fee (and since I don't go every day, this will be cheap).

(7) I am trying to find a private Japanese language tutor. Someone here suggested I enroll at Kumon at the Kindergarten or younger level (if I have enough cash as it's expensive). Can you imagine me in a classroom full of Japanese children who are probably between the ages of 4-5 years old? Well, I have to start somewhere at least with the kanji and this would probably help. Plus more cross-cultural exposure! The little kids will love me.

(8) I was invited to participate in a German language lesson in Naha when I visit that city in a month. I really wish they had German lessons here on this island. I really need to continue using it as much as I can (especially while trying to learn Japanese).

I just need to find a good hair stylist and I'll be set. A stylist who knows how to deal with my curly hair. It's possible that this may not be accomplished this year. It's hard enough to find stylists in the US who know how to work with curly hair, so I do not expect a stylist on this remote island to know how to deal with it. But it would be a pleasant surprise!

Yes, this is a minor necessity, I know (but hey, it's on my to-do list).

Ok, so I am doing things here and not just singing karaoke and drinking at the izakaya(s) evenings and weekends. Not that those two things aren't awesome, but too much of a good thing, ne? (Now I just need to learn how to say the equivalent of that expression in Nihongo).

I feel a bit more accomplished and a tad more settled in here on this little island.

Yay for that!! Let's celebrate! Karaoke style.

The Natural World (I live in the inaka and I love it)

I realize the irony in spending time on a computer to profess my rediscovered love for nature, but since writing a letter and sending it to everyone I know seems antiquated, I think using this blog to do so is acceptable.  Here's my confession:  I've spent the past 10 years of my life to a certain extent in front of a computer (either for work, school, research or at home).  I've used this technology to interface with others and sometimes to just waste time.  I enjoy technology.  I also enjoy living in cities.  I never thought I was a country girl.  I never thought I would like a slow paced life that does not have all of the trappings that I enjoy.  But for all of the years spent either in NYC, London or even Tampa and all of the countless hours spent interfacing via technology online, I've never felt experiences of joy without these things like I have recently.  The lows I sometimes feel here due to cultural and language barrier clashes are countered when exploring the coastline here, or traveling to Iriomote and passing through the mountains and dense jungle to take a boat ride to the small fishing village of Funauki (which can only be accessed by boat as there are no roads leading to it), or swimming off the coast of Yonehara Beach where a beautiful barrier reef exists.  (This morning I went snorkeling for the first time and found myself surrounded by thousands of fish of a variety of colors.  They swam right up to me and were staring at me as if completely curious as to what I was, but not fearful of me either.  I can't express accurately how gorgeous the water or the coral reefs are there.  Nothing in the world of fast paced city-life or high technology can substitute for the experience.  Nothing.)

The coral reef at Yonehara Beach

(The Joy of ) Cooking with Dog

This is my current favorite food program.  The show's name is called "Cooking with Dog."
I'm learning how to cook Japanese food this way.  Japanese food is  美味しい !!


I told one of my co-teachers here the name of the show and she freaked out in the middle of class.  She said, "What??! Cooking with dog??"  No, it's not like that at all (though I think even the show itself makes a sly, ironic joke about it).   This show is named after its host, Francis, a dog that narrates while his owner cooks beside him.  I love it. かわいい。

If you're interested in learning about Japanese food beyond sushi and tempura, you should check it out.

nostalgie du passé (culture shock)

The birthday parties are over with and I'm in a post-birthday bluesy kind of funk.   I blew out all of my candles and made my wish, so why am I feeling a bit overwhelmed and bummed as of late?

Is it because I am now officially a year older?  Is it because I still feel like I am adrift in my life, trying to figure out how to live the life I've always wanted to while currently enjoying the life I lead?  Maybe it is just the ol' culture shock creeping around.  I'm not quite certain.   Some moments I am not happy at all and others I am very grateful and excited about things.  One day I'll be in the worst mood and the next I am elated.  I have no clue how my moods can shift so rapidly.  All I can think is that something is bothering me, but I am not certain if it has to do with not feeling as if I can express myself honestly or artistically right now, or if it is coming from a pressure that I've placed on myself for this experience, or if it is indeed culture shock, or a potential combo of all of these.  Sometimes I feel like it may be the lack of people I know here.   I think it may be the loneliness factor actually. 

The happiest spoon.

What I am experiencing now is not what I have felt in the past when smacking my head directly into the metaphorical wall of another culture.  When I lived in Germany, I was deep in it and that was one of the hardest, most confusing times of my life.  The only things that helped me were my friends in Germany (both German and foreign) and my friends and family back home who wrote letters and called often.  Every day was a struggle though.  I became so nostalgic for the past, for my family and for my life in the US that I had known up to that point.   It was a strange thing to confront everything I had known up to that point as just a perspective in the world given to me through the lens of my culture.   Here though, I can sometimes sense a bit of the confusion, but it is like a deja vu that isn't happening quite properly.  It's faint and subtle.  The only thing that makes me feel like I may be experiencing it is a sense of disconnection from others, a faint sense of loneliness (which I've dealt with before when living in NYC) and sometimes I feel a bit too sensitive about things, especially when overwhelmed by my inability to communicate properly when I want to say something.