IrishOboe

It is nearly midnight and I should go to bed, but I must right about today now or it won’t get done before local orientation.  It’s in Kofu for three days and two nights and I probably won’t have access to the internet.

Having said that, today was a wonderful, exciting, beautiful, and fun day.  I feel blessed beyond what I could have ever imagined.  I’m falling in love with this place and the people.

The day started out a little slow, I got up at 8:30 and called Niko since it was too late to call her last night.  We arranged to meet at 1pm and I went about my business cleaning and doing computer work for a while before I got a call from Naito sensei that she had some stuff for me at school.  I had actually considered going into school anyway, so it was a nice excuse to try biking to school.  It took 20min to bike (and relatively hilly – not so fun when you don’t know how to change the gears on your bike), but preparation on both ends makes the commute really about 30min.  That’s about as long as the commute between Eastman and UR, all told, so it’s really not bad.  It sure is a hot ride, though.

I met Naito sensei and she gave me my health insurance card (I had been the only JET worried that we hadn’t gotten one yet . . .) and information on the local orientation.  I didn’t spend too long there, but I still left with just about the right amount of time to meet Kuniko (that’s Niko’s full first name) at 1pm.  However, I got a little disoriented coming home having missed one of the neighborhood turns.  I managed to find my way without backtracking and it only added a few minutes.  Go me!  I’d just started trying to get the grease stains from the bike out of my pants when she arrived.  If they don’t come clean I could use a new pair of pants.  I hadn’t realized how big they are now . . .

Now starts the wonderful part of the day.  Niko said she told her Uncle about me and he wanted to meet me.  Since he works in the Town Hall she suggested we go right then.  I protested since I was in casual hiking clothes (it had not yet been determined whether we were going to the 8 peaks mountain or the lake), but she said I was fine.  It turns out that he is second in command to the Mayor, as I could sort of guess by the rich meeting room in which we met him.  Also, a lady served us elegant coffee right away.  He was very pleasant and friendly and asked me to come back and work for Kai city as an English teacher after my time in Europe.  “I can give you the job!” he said, though mostly Niko was translating for us.  Who would have thought I’d be meeting such important, but more importantly, wonderfully special people!

It took about an hour to drive south to the Mt. Fuji area (though it was still too hazy to see much).  We went to the Kawaguchi-ko Music Forest, and it was such a charming (steki) place!  Btw, Mark would have been with us but he was needed at school.  Niko wouldn’t let me pay for the entrance ticket.  In fact, she wouldn’t let me pay for anything all day.  So, what is the Kawaguchi-ko Music Forest?  It’s a sort of museum park on the shore of lake Kawaguchi (one of the five lakes near Mt. Fuji).  It looks like a charming little German village (sort of Epcot World Showcase style) and it is home of some of the greatest mechanized musical instruments every made.  From music boxes to player pianos to mini-orchestras, this place was a player piano fan’s dream.  We started the day with a demonstration of a player organ that was built for the Titanic, but unfortunately (but fortunately for us) it was not ready in time for the voyage.  Then the Praha Quartet played two short pieces (not my favorite rendition of Carmen, but not bad, plus a Mozart).  We then took time to look around at the music machines on display.  You could listen to any of them if you asked a staff person.  I never would have found this place, I never would have gotten as much out of it, and I never would have had as much fun if I didn’t have Niko with me.  There were many clever machines, but I did like putting a nickel in a Wurlitzer harp.  What fun!

We then listened to the demonstration of the player piano and an American one-piece band machine.  It had piano, pipes, percussion, xylophone, and probably more.  We sat closer to the musicians this time and the 2^nd violist stared at me for a good while.  That was the first time I really realized how much I stick out . . .

We then walked the grounds and had coffee and cake while taking in the wonderful view.  Of course, this whole time we are talking and I’m learning Japanese and we’re having a most wonderful time.  I ended up buying a CD of their machines, and it came with a beautiful book with great pictures and it was in Japanese and English!  You know how everything electronic in America comes with instructions in at least 5 different languages?  Well, in Japan, everything electronic is in Japanese, and that’s it!

Anyway, after having our fill of walking around we headed back for Ryuo to pick up Mike for an excursion to Yamada (a Best Buy or Circuit City type store) and dinner.  The traffic was bad so it took us a good while, but I was learning Japanese the whole way.  As you know I had been saddened by the fact that I wasn’t being forced to use Japanese and so I wasn’t learning much.  All the words were so difficult to remember and I didn’t know any grammar and couldn’t put a sentence together.  Today things went much more smoothly and some things were really beginning to click.  It’s so great that Niko is patient and picky.  I might just learn Japanese yet!

We picked up Mark and went to Yamada (after Niko showed me that I have to turn on my land line answering machine when I leave or else it just rings for ever) and I bought a cell phone and Mark looked into getting YahooBB.  Of course I found it very draining, but I was happy to discover that I got a pretty good deal with my NTT internet (at least comparatively) and to finally get a phone.  Don’t ask me why, but that’s the way the Japanese like to communicate even though it’s very expensive.  Luckily, it’s free to receive calls, so I should be able to make my cheep (cheapest at least) plan last.  I had tried to get a printer, but they couldn’t say whether it would work with my English OS or not, so that will take more research.

It was nearly 9pm when we finally went to dinner.  It was some of the best food I’d tasted since I’d been here: sushi, tempura, and fried pork (I forget the name of it).  I discovered I like raw tuna, and salmon roe is okay.  I really loved the raw scallops, though it was so huge I felt like a chipmunk trying to eat it.

We got home around 11pm and I am quite tired!  I have to pack and get ready for the orientation now . . .

One good thing I’ve noticed is that along with talking more slowly and clearly (I’ve been complimented on my easy to understand English a number of times – take that, Dad!), my pace of life is a bit slower as well.  I’m calm and move about deliberately and at a steady, unhurried pace.  It’s quite lovely!  I’m not as panicky, and it’s easy to adapt when I’m relaxed and alert.  I’m simply enjoying everything as it comes and not worrying about what I’m not doing or what people think of my work.  I hope I can continue this way!

I know this is a blog, not a letter, but I can’t help but end with a message of love and gratitude to all.  God bless you!

P.S.  I can’t believe I forgot to mention that I talked with Mom and Dad and with Heather and Jonathan on Friday night, I believe.  It was wonderful to talk to all of them, but it sure was nice to hear Jonathan say Aunt Janet, beach!  So, remember I have a Rochester number, so I’m only a loca/longdistance call away!  If you don’t have my number, email me and I’ll give it to you.  (See the Links: Miscellaneous: About IrishOboe section)