台風 Songda, Driving in Japan and saying Goodbye

I've been on a short hiatus from my blog and during this time I've had the chance to take the Japanese Driver's License Test (which I failed, miserably and must re-take in a few weeks after I take a test preparation course).  Since I'm a foreigner from the USA, a country without a nationalized standard for driving (each of our states have their own testing requirements), I'm one of the lucky ones that must go through a rigorous examination process in order to procure a Japanese Driver's License so I'll be able to continue to drive next year.  Currently, I'm driving on a International Driver's Permit (which doesn't require a test at all).

On Tuesday evening this past week, after working a 6 period day (basically full course load), I went straight to the airport and flew to Okinawa to take the initial test (all outer islanders must first take the on mainland Okinawa).  Okinawa is always fun to visit so I'm looking forward to moving there in less than two months, though I still do not yet know where I'm heading.  I'm shivering with annnnnnticiiiiiiippppp  aaa tion.
The test was incredibly difficult and I'm afraid I may not pass it even during the second round, but I'm going to give it my best.  I cannot even go into details about how impossible this test seems, but it is indeed a "running of the gauntlet" of sorts.  I hope the course on Ishigaki is a bit easier, though I doubt it.

Right now there is a massive typhoon named Songda bearing down on the Yaeyama and Miyako islands.  It was categorized as a Cat 5 storm, but has since reduced to Category 4 (and I think by the time it reaches here it will be a 3).  Still, it's not a joke.  The weirdest thing about this is that it's so reminiscent of Typhoon Fanapi (which I wrote about on this blog in September). 

Daily Affairs

Sunday's are so nice in Ishigaki.  Especially when the weather and temperature play fair.   It's such a laid back day on a laid back island. 

Beautiful Day (without you)

Actually, Sunday is a day I do all of my prepping for the week.  It's banal stuff, but it's necessary.  I usually spend time cleaning my apartment, shopping and planning meals for the week (as well as my bento lunches as I'm not able to eat the school food due to food allergies), doing laundry, taking said laundry to the dryer and preparing my lesson plans for the upcoming week.    This was all stuff I did before I moved here on Sundays, so I guess I've fallen into a routine (minus the lesson preparation, which I didn't do before I moved here).  

Today the weather was overcast (the photo above wasn't taken today...), but the temperature was mild and it has been overall a pleasant late spring/early summer.  I really pray this lasts through the end of May, but I am certain it will heat up ever so surely.   The rainy season is now upon us and I'm trying to keep my apartment dehumidified.  My closet looks crazy with all of the desiccant products meant to keep the mold/mildew from attacking my clothing.  I don't have central heat and air, just a wall unit.  But I do have a dehumidifier which extracts the humidity in my apartment.  It's a life saver.

I've been thinking about my upcoming move to Okinawa.  I don't know where my placement will be yet and I'm a bit worried I'm going to end up at a school or BOE that isn't right for me.  I suppose it's normal to feel apprehensive.  I really want to enroll in Japanese language coursework wherever I end up.  

I can tell that I'm starting to organize a plot for an upcoming project, but I don't know what form it will take.  I'm still trying to finish the play I started last spring (stalled...) and have been thinking about what to do with the dance/texts that I created in 2008/2009 in NYC.  I want to extend them further, but take it in a completely different direction.  I'm thinking the ideas behind it may be the foundation for what I'm making in my mind right now.   

Sorry this post wasn't about anything teaching or travel related.  It's been all about me.  The next post will be about my kayaking-mountain climbing-swimming beneath a waterfall on Iriomote island.   I promise.

another world, a different path (a non-Golden Week series post)

As previously noted, I live what seems to me like half a world away from mainland Japan.  When I first arrived here on 石垣島, I felt severely isolated from most of civilization.  I was depressed that I didn't have much of an option in terms of escaping what I thought was a provincial city in a rural area of Japan.  It wasn't really a case of immediate culture shock or the kind of homesickness that strikes you like an undercut to your stomach (which is sort of how I felt on the second day -- and every day after -- that I woke up in HCM City, Vietnam many years ago).  No, this was a complicated mix of feeling lonely, frustrated and isolated from city life.  It had everything to do with adjusting to island life, which is something very new for me.  I cannot count the four years in Manhattan/NYC as island life.  Though NYC loves to isolate itself in a self-absorbed ball of energy and convinces its inhabitants that there is no other place in the world like it, it is by no means an island like Ishigaki.  The next large city near my island is about an hour away by jet plane.  So, yes, there is only one city and a variety of smaller villages around the island.  Because I'm so far away from mainland Japan (approximately 1200 or so miles away from Tokyo) and because Okinawa has its own culture that is distinctly different from most of mainland Japan (especially the Japan that most foreigners dream about in their geisha and samurai, Cosplay, Maid Cafe culture, Otaku, J-Pop, manga and anime fueled fantasies), I had to adjust my original ideas of how my life would be in Japan.  

Geisha in Kyoto (photo via Wikipedia)

Take to Me

About a week and a half ago I went to the island of Taketomi with some friends who are visiting from Miyakojima.   I teach on Taketomi island so I've been there a few times, but I've never had the chance to thoroughly explore it.  When I visited on April 30th, I spent nearly 4 hours walking around the island which, while relatively small, isn't something you can walk in 30 minutes (precisely the reason for my groups last minute sprint from the town to the ferry port to catch one of the last boats at the end of the day).  Taketomi is known for its traditional Ryukyu architecture and its laid back, independent attitude.  There is a rivalry between Taketomi and Ishigaki and from the trips I've made to the island, I've gathered that the people there are very proud of their Ryukyu heritage and hogan language.  During a rehearsal of a school festival, they put on a skit that alluded to "outsiders" coming in to Taketomi island to strip them of their power (their language -- ie the Taketomi dialect/language).

The School

Golden Week, a series

Today is the last day of what Japan calls "Golden Week" and I'm slightly sad to see it disappear into the past.  Golden Week is a week of national holidays that enables much domestic and international travel.  It's sort of Japan's spring break (though it doesn't coincide with the spring break that the students get in late March/early April).

こどもの日 (Children's Day) is the last National Holiday during Golden Week.

It was a reminder that I've been in Japan nearly 10 months and that very soon I'll be moving again to a new place, a new job and a new life.  This past week I realized how much I need to do to prepare for the upcoming move and how much more of Ishigaki and the surrounding islands I want to see and experience.  I tried to enjoy some of the natural beauty of this region during the past week.  I have a feeling the next 2.5 months are going to be very busy, so I figured I'd try to fill my vacation days with adventures and sight seeing.