IrishOboe

Surprisingly, it’s been another busy, but wonderful week of experiences. Wednesday I took the afternoon off (I had no classes) and met a friend who took me shopping for kimono at second hand shops. I don’t like shopping, but I was very happy with the outcome if this trip. At a general second hand shop I bought an obi (the part that ties around the waste) for the yukata (summer kimono) that the home economics teacher at Shirane made for me.

It’s a beautiful yellow with lightly textured flowers. It goes with the dark blue of the yukata wonderfully. Now I just have to learn to tie it myself. The lady at the store was very helpful, I was going to settle for an okay obi because I hate shopping but she found and brought this beautiful yellow one along with instructions for tying it. The next stop was a second hand shop specifically for kimono. There were too many to choose from and it took a while, but I finally picked out one I really liked. Things that looked great up close didn’t look so good from farther away when I put them on. As my friend had told me, second hand kimono are quite affordable. The one I picked out was only about $45. However, since I’m not a tourist and I only know things about Japan from living here, I assumed that when I said “kimono” it meant all the things that go with wearing a kimono – or at least all the underwear and stuff for tying it. However, my friend who is used to buying Japanese things from foreign friends said that people only ever want the main robe and are not interested in the rest. She said I was the first person to ask for an obi! Well, I wanted to be able to wear my kimono, so I asked for an obi and the rest. Obi are impossible to tie by yourself, but they have an easy obi that you can do yourself. It was quite complicated enough for me. It is not as nice as the kimono, but it goes well enough. Obi can be quite expensive, and all that really matters is that I like the ensemble. Anyway, I bought the kimono, the obi, the cloth under the obi, and the robe tie around the obi for $60. Now I have to buy the undergarment and shoes, but that won’t bring it up much past $100. I’d given up hope for getting a kimono because new they are at least a few thousand dollars and many are five or six thousand or more! So, I’m very happy! It’s nice enough that I can wear it to a formal occasion in America. What fun!

I was supposed to go to a German conversation class afterwards, but it was canceled that day so I went home for a run instead. It was in the rain and I did an interval workout (the first in my life I think) and I was only miserable for about two minutes of the time (at the end of the fast runs). Progress is a wonderful motivator. Despite the pain I was thrilled with how far I’ve come. I don’t school’s obsession with motivation and self-confidence. If they actually taught something children couldn’t help but be motivated by their progress! Oops, I changed topics again . . .

Thursday and Friday were hard days at school because I have four classes each day and most of them were Show and Tell exams. It’s a bit stressful to grade students on an oral presentation especially when there are so many in a row and little time between classes to review and give fair grades and write helpful comments. 100 presentations in two days is too much! It was also a little stressful because for one reason or another I did a number of lessons on my own and students are just a little bit less well behaved when there isn’t a Japanese teacher. Some classes are fine with out one, and others are not so fine. Fine classes are never stressful but it’s hard not to let the other ones get to you!

Friday’s third years class was actually quite good. This is because they finally realized that they’d have to turn in their mid-point projects to me on Wednesday and it was the last class! They worked hard and made progress, though some people still don’t understand how to work efficiently toward a goal. Hopefully they’ll have learned from this first period and will work hard all next period so they don’t have to cram when final projects are due. They also used the teachers well by asking questions. That makes me happy!

Thursday after school I had a few visitors to the English Free Zone (we’ve had 14 distinct visitors in the first week of being open!) then in the evening I went to Niko’s to learn how to make crockets. It was quite easy (though a little time consuming) and we enjoyed a lovely dinner with a few of her former English students. I wish my students were as willing to communicate as they were! Of course, some of them are, so I can’t complain. At one point the conversation turned to homesickness and I finally put into words how I’ve been feeling. I never got really homesick here in Japan, though of course I missed people. I always thought it was because I had enough contact with loved ones, but I think a more important reason is that I knew I was coming back in a year! When I think about leaving Japan and my friends here I have no idea when, or even if I’ll see them again. It makes the parting harder! Of course, I can’t know for sure I’ll always see people again because things happen, but I don’t like to think about that!

Friday after school Fujiwara sensei took me to the Crystal Museum (the same one we went to, Mom and Dad) for a concert. Her husband (viola), daughter (violin), and son (cello) played as well as two professionals from near Tokyo. Her children (14 and 10) are amazing! They each played a concerto, and her daughter played the Mendelssohn violin concerto! Wow. I also really enjoyed the playing of the pianist, a Mexican who married a Japanese lady from Yamanashi and is making his home here. He studied in America so we had good conversation and I discovered that his wife does Baroque and Renaissance dance! So, hopefully I’ll be learning some Renaissance dance before I get to Basel!