title of summer

there are many ways to define summer.  i shall do it as simply as i can.  instead of playing taiko again this summer in yokkaichi, japan and hearing the sonorous “kani” and “semi” i hear the “rrrrrrrrrrr” and the “bang.”  in other words, I am cutting and hitting wood.  sure this is music, too, but of a different kind.

back when i lived in japan i became spoiled.  i took things for granted.  like simple things i enjoyed i knew all the ways to get it.  cars (had 2 suzukis), good quality cheap clothes (uniqlo, miki glasses and machouse?, and my fav sushi and green tea ice cream (kappa or genki sushi/mini stop).

now i am back in the us of a (happy 4th tomorrow) and am working for a second summer for a local cabinet maker.  i enjoy learning something new.  however there is a HUGE difference between numbers and words.  i know, i know i can spell out numbers, but it is not the same.  like knowing quickly:

1

1/2

1/4

1/8

1/16

those are the easy ones, now:

16/16

8/16

4/16

2/16

1/16

or,

2/2

1/2

even:

4/4

2/4

1/4

how about:

8/8

4/8

2/8

1/8

then there is all these in between, and because i stopped this blog writing to write a text, and have returned, my mind is fuzzy.  that, and instead of waking in the land of the rising sun, my body woke up at 7am on a day i could have slept later.  so, my theory of my rem being at the wee hours is fast becoming law:/

in conclusion, the voice of god is indeed in a tree, and i hope for god’s sake (that is not “sa-ke”), i am not hurting the communication between man and god with all the electric saws i am using.  i hope the next time i get a chance to live in japan i will be lucky enough to watch a taiko being made.

so, as a post script…time to see if there is an app akin to a measuring tape and its breakdown of numbers and also to divide up a piece of wood into smaller straight line cuts.

prezi on 12/3/12 (i saw the sun going down, and knew it was the near the time i used to see the morning sun peering through the window where i used to live in japan)

i did my capstone presentation tonight.  i am in great appreciation of my supporters too many to mention (and for security reasons).  so, i will just say without them i would have fallen down.  in other words, i practiced and practiced and believe i have had an evening i can be proud of.  if i had been asked i would have had a mini-drum concert as well as help make origami kabuto.  however, the questions did not come up, so i let the visitors ask what they wanted to hear:)

i am most proud of my daughter for teaching me how to, and she operated, create a prezi. i am also glad i talked slowly enough to be understood, and that i remembered to move the people along the lego bridge i built.

i could go on, but “i digest.”  i await further word on anything left to do for my graduate studies.

プレジーの夜お疲れ様でした。

well, it finally (?) happened.  just a few months before i graduate from my alma mater in the mals program 2 things happened.

1)  i got sick again.  it never fails now.  just like getting sick on roller coasters i get sick in the fall.  and, i love the weather.  however, the weather is changing so drastic that it puts my body out of wack.  it is like being in a constant time machine.  emotions swell up and i ride the wave for a while, then i hit the under current and i hit the reef.  ouch.  the drastic change of weather fluctuating between summer and fall really does me in.

2)  i also got a chance to teach english to a japanese man.  it is exciting.  it is also strange because usually i would ride a train home, but in the usa i drive, and in contrast of my students leaving and speaking mostly japanese my student is surrounded by the experience of america.  for those who understand nuances, this number 2 is not needed to explain further, but for those that do…

3)  as i got lost coming back home i finally was able to access my gps on my phone.  guess where?  the place where only a year ago (about) i had gone and explained to my friends i had to get back to the island like jack felt in lost.  the connection with 2 is simple.  both chances i had an opportunity to be with japanese people, but last year i was in the middle of beginning my major, but now with more education, i am able to get my dream of teaching at the next level.  moral?  in order for me to get my dreams i have to   an understanding of others that creates a chance for me to ask questions like, “how about you?” instead of me going on and on and on about me.  i have, and will continue to do so, learned a lot.  

ps does my number 3 make sense?  or, do you need a number 4?:)

125年間の

ピカピカ

平和

dates and times to remember:

3/11 fukushima

8/6 8:15 hiroshima

8/9 11:? nagasaki

8/15 finish of war

1 minute moment of silence=終戦（しゅうせん）

the ups and downs of becoming the eldest in a group

yesterday i had a great opportunity.  

at about 12am the night before last i got an email inviting me to carowinds.  i quickly used my skills of trying to get in touch with an international friend who is here who does not have a phone number.

1)  i called the place where he was staying…but there was no phone in his room (i thought his place of residency would have been like a hotel)

2)  i kept emailing him asking questions 

3)  on one of the answers, i got his”skype” address

so, from my computer i called him to his skype address and firmed up the carowinds.  i convinced him to go after 8:30am because i could save us some money for tickets.  as opposed to $55, we could pay $35.  that’s food and gas money, right?:)

i treated them to lunch at cook-out.  cheerwine floats…

but, then i got sick after one of the rides and spent, like last year, more time in the first-aid station.  but, he and his friend went around and did a lot of the rides…the whole purpose, right?

i treated them to dinner…we got to the place where we wanted to go just at closing time, so we went to mexican instead.

but, the opportunities i had for a kind of mix of cultural exchange were:

1)  i paid for their meals as the eldest does in japan

2)  i got help paying for gas and parking

3)  i got them a little souvenir…the carowinds snoopy stretched penny.  it is something unique.

so, all in all, i would say, the day went ok.  i just wish i could still ride roller coasters.

namu amida butsu

namu amida butsu

attempting to understand a phrase i learned in japan:)

gundam!

amuro ikimasu

when i lived in japan i had the occasional chance for play.  one time i went snowboarding in nagano.  my friends taught me a few catch phrases to say for fun as i began my descent down the signless mountain.  there was no “black diamond” on this slope.  just ride the lift to the drop off point and that was it.

anyways, they taught me:

“amuro ikimasu”, and

“namu amida butsu”

 

as i look for the school where i will get my phd, i cannot help but think these phrases.  the first is from a cartoon, the later from buddha texts.  like my combination of messages, these 2 help remind me that i lived and worked in japan and not just studied it in a textbook.  i will, of course, be required to articulate better my thoughts, but as i study about japan it helps to remember that next to new japan, in peaceful co-habitation is old japan.  both living in harmony.  so, like broken metaphors and car mirrors also reminding me not to look back, i cannot help but think, ah, yes, “away i go…here goes nothing.”