IrishOboe

Well, I’m just having too much fun. It’s been another week and a bit since I last wrote and again so much has happened! Once again, I’ll try to go by category since I think it’s more interesting then reading a long post in chronological order.

In general, the weather has been warming up, which has been lovely. I’ve had a few days without long underwear and a few runs with a t-shirt. It’s great! We had a couple day cold spell for the sports days, but it’s warming up again and right now we’re having a good cleansing rain.I’ve been running a good deal and am more in shape that I ever have been, though I’m also just about as heavy as I’ve ever been, too. The food here is good! I suppose making strawberry shortcake (biscuits from scratch) with hand whipped cream (with almond flavoring) doesn’t help that, but it sure was great comfort food!

I can’t really put my figure on when I started speaking Japanese, but I’ve used it in a number of situations that have thrilled as surprised me. I still have a small vocabulary, but I suspect if I actually pick up a book it will come quickly because of my general ability to communicate. I shouldn’t make it sound like I can say more than I can, but I guess I just got so used to not being able to talk that when I can it’s exciting! I had to make a few phone calls that I thought would be in English but ended up being in Japanese. It was a bit difficult, but we got through it! The phone is the worst since I can’t use my excellent body language skills gained from knowing sign language! I hate the phone anyway . . . but I’m all set up to visit the Hippo club on Saturday, which I’m very excited about. What is Hippo? Wait for Saturdays update!

Things have been more relaxed at school because of exams, but it doesn’t seem to leave me with any more time. I’m trying to plan lessons for next year, but it’s slow going. Thursday (March 9^th) I went out to lunch with Naito sensei and Shimizu sensei. We went to a nearby French place and it was wonderful food. I think it’s the first meal since I’ve been hear that I feel I would eat at home. Everything else has been slightly altered by Japanese tastes – not that that’s a problem, it was just startling to have an experience that could have been in America (ambiance, food, table setting, etc.) except that the menu was in Japanese . . .

Saturday (March 11^th) I went to an Indian buffet with Courtnay, Heidi and Leslie for Leslie’s birthday. The food wasn’t as good as Maman Pumpkin’s, but it was a lovely lunch anyway. Afterwards I met Michiko (from church) and she took me to the clinic that I’d heard about last Saturday and helped me get set up there. I got a massage, acupuncture, heat, and a number of other random treatments. It was great, and all for so cheap since I pay so much for national health insurance every month. They were surprised at how tight I was and I was surprised at how bad my arms are still even though I don’t play oboe much. There’s nothing like a good massage to wake you up to the fact that you’re living in tension. I need to do more yoga! The interesting part of the ordeal was how much it seemed like factory medicine. People were brought in and out and switched between machines with such efficiency in such a small place that it was rather remarkable. Yet I didn’t feel like it was impersonal. I’m going to try to go once a week and see if the acupuncture helps when it’s consistent.

I had coffee at Michiko’s, which was lovely then we went to church together. The good news of the day was that Adden is allowed to stay another year to finish his degree. He’d failed a required class (that’s notoriously difficult for foreign students – Adden is from China) and he needed the university’s approval to renew his visa. Praise God, and pray that another year in the church will bring him to Christ!

I had another Western meal at the Shirane High School women’s enkai (dinner party) Wednesday night (March 15^th). I listened to my German tapes on the way there and was still able to speak to the women teachers in Japanese since I was the first English speaker to arrive. I thought I’d have no trouble switched from German to Japanese since they are so different but there have been a few difficulties. Sometimes I hear a word I don’t know in Japanese but it sounds like a German word that I do know. Sometimes when I try to say something but I don’t know the Japanese the German will come to me, which isn’t so helpful. I’m also using the Pimsleur method, which I love, but it covers about the same material so sometimes I answer the questions on the German tape in Japanese and don’t even realize it. However, I’ve managed to do pretty well in switching gears. The mind is an amazing thing!

Back to the enkai. I had a wonderful time talking with the lady teachers. Some were very friendly and we were able to communicate a fair bit. The food was excellent especially since I was famished from a particularly hard run that I didn’t have time for but thought I did because of a miscalculation . . . Hey, at least I managed to get there on time!

Earlier that day I had a wonderful surprise at work. Naito sensei came in with a shakuhachi from Fujiwara sensei! I’d given up hope on getting one from her, but she bought one and is letting me borrow it! She wants me to learn and then play for her class. Talk about confidence! The shakuhachi is a Japanese end-blown bamboo flute with five finger holes. It took me a few minutes to get a sound since I’m used to the transverse flute. How does an end-blown flute work? Well, just think of a recorder that doesn’t have a chamber the channels the air to the sharp edge (cut it off at the whistle opening) – you do that with your lips. As I fooled around with it I discovered there were a number of ways to blow, each resulting in a different tone color and different pitch for the same fingering. I have nobody to ask and the fingering chart is in technical Japanese that my English teachers don’t understand. I did manage to find some information on the internet that was helpful, but perhaps experimenting was the best help of all. I wonder if that’s really the best way to teach an instrument: “Here! Have fun! Let me know if you get stuck.” Maybe not, but it’s a thought. I’m so excited! It’s a very cool instrument. I’m looking forward to being able to play a song on it.