Funny story of miscommunication and assumptions. Ian is currently putting together a book for our successor of places to go, things to see, and important places in and around town. He’s been really excited about working on it. When I came home from work the other day, he was on the bed browsing something on his tablet. He seemed sleepy, so I asked him if everything was okay. “Yeah, just tired,” he said. “I didn’t get much sleep last night and was busy today.” He then went on to tell me that he had spent the hours of 11-4 going around town and taking pictures of things to put in the book.
Me: “WHAAAAT? WHY?”
Ian: “Well, I needed the pictures and figured I could go ahead and do it. I went to Seria, the town office, the clinic, gas station, grocery store, etc.”
Me: “You WALKED all the way to Seria?”
Ian: “Well, no. I drove.”
Me: “Ian, I mean…I’m happy that you’re making this book, but why did you take the pictures at night in the dark? Wouldn’t it have been better in the daylight?”
Ian: “Huh? I went today.”
Me: “Ooooooooohhhhhhh. 11 AM – 4 PM! Gotcha.”
Since he was so tired, I just assumed that he couldn’t sleep the night before and had gone out to take some pictures. It seemed like something he would do! Silly me! We both laughed at that for a bit!
As I mentioned in last week’s blog, a few American judo players came to Yunomae this week. Hurray! It was really funny when their bus rolled up during 4th period. All of the students were craning their necks to get a view of the foreigners in town. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t doing the same thing. They stayed in Yunomae Tuesday-Thursday, but they had a very hectic schedule, so we didn’t get to see them very much. There was a competition on Tuesday afternoon after school between the five American kids and a couple of Yunomae’s kids.
Everything finally all added up. A few weeks ago I heard the band kids practicing “The Star Spangled Banner.” I thought this was strange, but didn’t think too much about it since they’ve also practiced other random American songs like “Stars and Stripes Forever.” However, it all made sense on Tuesday because they played the American and Japanese national anthems before the competition. It was strange to hear the American national anthem….in Japan……
Judo is a very interesting sport to watch! I’ve never had any experiences with it, but it looks extremely physically demanding…and kind of fun! As the kids were paired up and match by match was going by, I leaned over to Ian and said, “Who should we be cheering for…..Team America or our townsfolk?” I was actually surprised by Team America’s skill, and they ended up winning 4/5 matches.
Once the matches were over, the kids had free time to play around. It was at this time that we got to talk to them. While the kids practiced, Ian and I introduced ourselves to the parents. It was refreshing to talk to other Americans in Yunomae and to get their opinions about Japan. They asked why the kids weren’t on summer break (side note: my co-workers asked me why the American kids weren’t in school), and we explained the Japanese trimester system. They asked about the weather, what food we eat, our Japanese language ability, and we asked them about their experiences so far and where they were heading after Yunomae. They were really nice, and I’m so glad that we got to meet them!
On Wednesday we were on our way to swim in the river when we spotted their bus in the parking lot beside the temple. We debated on whether to stop and talk again since they seemed to be in a hurry, but we popped by just to say hello again. They told us how lucky we were to live in such a beautiful place with such honest, hospitable, and gracious people. Indeed!
Speaking of the river….I know that I spoke about it in the last blog, but I cannot express how lovely it is to swim there. It’s such a peaceful and calm place. Last night Ian and I went for an early evening swim and explored upstream where we’ve never been. It gets really shallow, but the current is swift. I slipped one time and thought for sure I was going to get drug downstream! We went back to the main area, and Ian said (with a completely straight face) “Dang, we should have brought shampoo and soap!” WHAT??? He said that it would make a lovely place to bathe. I told him NO because:
1) While the water there is clean and clear, I prefer bathing with water that doesn’t have leaves floating or fish swimming in it.
2) The soap and shampoo would probably have a negative effect on the environment.
Silly boy!
On Wednesday at my elementary school, I joined the manga club. (For those of you who aren’t sure what manga is, it’s like a comic book.) Last time I almost chose to go there and even stopped by the room, but the kids seemed like they didn’t want me looking at their drawings, so I didn’t stay and moved onto badminton club. Woot! On Wednesday I came prepared to school with a notebook full of paper and colored pencils. When I walked in the door, they asked if I was there for manga club, and I said yes. A round of YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! was said, and then the girls offered me a desk right in the middle of the action.
At first the club was boring. They had to organize some things and form a committee about what they should draw that day (oh, Japan!), so about fifteen minutes of the forty-five minutes of club time was spent on organizing. When the time finally came to put pencil to paper, I had no idea what to draw….so I doodled. The kids all turned around to see what I was doing. I assume they thought that I would actually be good in art. Oh, kids! My doodle exploded over the page, and the girls next to me even picked up my colored pencils and helped me color. The teacher came over to my desk and asked what I was drawing. I stammered, and she said, “A design?” Yes. Definitely. It’s a design. While I was coloring my blob-like artwork, the girl beside me began drawing on the other side of my notebook. Her “doodles” were nothing less that beauty on paper. I watched her, and she wasn’t even struggling to think of a concept or idea for her artwork. In the picture below, one side of the notebook was mine and one was hers. I’ll let you guess which was which.
Anyway, that’s all for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment