This is a test of PhotoXhibit for Wordpress. If this works, you’ll have a pleasant flashback of my visit to Dazaifu.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Update: It works! If you click on the images, you get a cool lightbox feature. Even better, you can move from image to image from within the lightbox. Just move your mouse to the upper right or left till the Next/Prev buttons show.
I’m back in Los Angeles. I flew in yesterday on a remarkably easy flight given that it was the weekend before Christmas.
I found some photographs from my trip (with Lowie) to Dazaifu, and I’ve uploaded them to Flickr. There’s a short slideshow - take a look. The pictures from Komyozenji, a zen temple, are especially beautiful, I think. The mediation hall had that hushed feeling of sacredness, and the fall colors in the garden were just amazing. It was crowded too. Everyone and their uncle was there with a camera, but somehow it didn’t intrude too much onto the peacefulness of the place.
I hardly took any pictures of Tenman-gu, a shinto shrine dedicated to Tenjin, the kami of scholarship. Even though the grounds were much larger and more “impressive”, it didn’t strike me in the same way that Komyozenji did.
Later in the day, we went to the Kyushu National Museum. What a fantastic piece of architecture that was. Very modern, but also incorporating traditional Japanese materials and styling. A wonderful combination of old and new. And the museum itself is very well done with some interesting exhibits on history in Asia.
A small sample from the slideshow:
But the interesting thing is that it sucks everywhere. Okay, I can’t say everywhere since my sample of countries isn’t large, but I can definitely say that it’s sucked everywhere I’ve been.
Yes, that means I’m still not well, but hopefully I’m over the worst of it. And no, I didn’t sleep that much last night either. I’m supposed to write a cover letter and tweak my resume today for an interesting job in the Bay Area (among other things to do), but I don’t know that I’d trust myself to come up with anything coherent.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better. *fingers crossed*
I apologize for not updating in a while. It’s been over a week since my last entry. Originally, I was only going to take a couple-of-days break, but mid-week last week, I suddenly felt emotionally exhausted. Transitions are hard, and transformations are harder still. And that’s what I feel like I’ve been doing these past two months, six months, year, 2-3 years. One long continuous process of turning point after turning point, and this period in Fukuoka has been no different. If anything, I’ve been blessed. Lucky beyond all imagining.
My friend Lowie provided a safe haven. A place to stay and explore my opportunities in Japan. While doing that, I’ve been somewhat adrift. I would exert energy to paddle here and there, but in the end, I would end up in the same spot not having moved at all. No matter how many resumes I sent out, the timing was fundamentally wrong. What did happen, however, was reflection. Constant reflection on what I wanted, who I was, what I wanted to be. But having been set adrift, I got a chance to feel the waters. To sense the hidden rudder. And it may come as no surprise to anyone who’s been reading this blog, but what I felt… what I determined… was that writing makes me the happiest.
Yes, my time in Fukuoka has born fruit in a completely unexpected fashion. To be sure, I knew that I wanted to write, but what’s become clear is just how much I want it. And this is an old dream - one that I had given up on, and if anything, the realization that it is still well and alive is a shock. A scary one, because the path ahead will not be easy. But then again, when is life ever easy? And besides, I’m willing to test myself against this dream, this ambition. To do otherwise would deny a fundamental part of who I am. And I’m done with that. I’d rather walk into the fire and see what gets burned away in the crucible. To see what becomes refined as base metal turns into gold.
Anyway, getting to this place has taken a lot of work, and this is the long way of saying that I was tired last week. And the past couple of days, I’ve been saddled with a cough so I haven’t been sleeping that well. I’ve been taking it easy, so hopefully I’ll have it kicked by tomorrow or so.
If the above sounds a little reflective, that’s because it is. Since I wasn’t able to find a job by the time of my return ticket (1 December), I’m heading back to the United States. And while I’ll miss Japan (a lot), heading back is good too. That’s one of the great things about having only good things to choose from. In this instance, I don’t think there are any bad choices.
So what lays ahead? I’ll spend a week or so in Los Angeles to spend time with family and friends. All the while, I’ll be planning my next steps, and I’ve already started to look into some options. My strongest suspicion is that I’ll choose to do that which scares me most. But more on that later…
As promised, here is the final match of the day between champion Hakuho versus challenger Kotoshogiku.
A very short slideshow is also at Flickr. Some samples:
Thanks to Lowie and her friend Yumiko, I got to see Sumo this past Sunday. It was the first day of a 15-day tournament. It was so interesting! And I really enjoyed the experience!
Outside the Sumo Hall, it was a combination of sport and celebrity. There were fans waiting to see and root for their favorites. The same was true inside the foyer where the concessions were located. People gathered to greet the wrestlers. Once past the concessions, were the bleachers and at the center, the ring. Want to hear something interesting? Continue Reading »
It’s up and you can find it at Flickr. I have a number of photographs of the parade that didn’t make it into the slideshow. If you’re interested you can just go through them on my Flickr main page.
It’s been official for some time now, but Nova, the largest employers of English teachers in Japan, has gone bankrupt. I’ve been watching to see what impact that might have for me personally, and it looks like it will be pretty bad. Quite a few experienced English teachers, all of whom possessing valid work visas, are suddenly looking for work. The other English language schools will be hiring to pick up the slack from Nova, but I’m not sure it will be enough to get me in the door. As an example, one job opening I applied for had 600 applications already submitted for it.
My plan for staying in Japan while I learn Japanese and until I can find something more substantive is in danger. Even looking in Tokyo might not be enough. The key maybe writing/editing jobs, and I’ve applied for a couple of those already, but they don’t exist in the same numbers as the teaching gigs.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m still looking and I’m still wanting to move ahead with this, but realistically speaking, I need to make some contingency plans. It would be awesome if this could get pulled out of the fire, and I guess we’ll just have to see.
If you’re curious, here’s an article on the Nova thing.
Sunday, my Japanese class went on a field trip to Karatsu for the annual autumn festival celebrated there. Approximately 10 students of very mixed Japanese language ability and three teachers (with their boyfriends) attended.
I really enjoyed myself. There were a lot of food stalls with the predominant theme being “food on a stick”. As you’d expect, that meant a lot of yakitori. But not just yakitori, there was corn on the cob, crepes, omelets, and even a lone kebob stall. There were also games where you could win prizes. The highlight was the parade where 14 “teams” associated with a particular float came running by pulling their float.
There were many families in attendance. Also quite a few young people really dressed up for the occasion, not to mention what appeared to be a number of dates. There were three young women (pre-teen) who were standing next to me along the parade route. They were attempting to be surreptious (but not succeeding) in examining/talking about the hair on my arms. I was very, very amused.
Afterwards, our group went to a restaurant and enjoyed a nice communal meal. Plenty of good conversation, although I’m afraid I need back off on the cream puff stories. I’m likely to develop a reputation for being a glutton. 
Some sample pictures are below. I’ll try and post a slideshow tomorrow.
The name says it all. Really.
Oh yeah… that’s just cool.