So as you may know my birthday was on Monday. I mentioned on Monday to the kids in my after school english conversation class that it was my birthday. 'Happy Birthday' they cried. What I wasn't expecting was the following. On the Wednesday I popped home to get some flash cards I wanted to laminate for the elementry school the following day. When I came back all the teachers where having a meeting. Argh I though but I needed to laminate so I bust into the room and got the laminator as quietly as I could (dropped a bit of it). While I was laminting three girls from my english conver appeared. They seemed happy to see me, when I asked them what they were upto they said 'suprise' and went off. They reapeared a little while later with a bag, 'Birthday present!' they declared! Wow! I was Happy! They gave me a bag (Christmas) filled with candy and things, I made a show of it and rummaged around. That is when I found the rather feminine bracelet. They started giggling but I decided to throw caution to the wind and had them put it on me, then I trooped them next door so I could show off the bracelet (fake pearls with a silver heart) to the secretary (a guy) to much giggles from the girls. Then the tea lady popped in so I asked her if it was cute too. More giggles. I told them I was 'cho ureshii,' more giggles and then they left. The cute (and cheeky) little blighters. I intend to wear it to class. BTW that pic of from my phone (on the highest setting - not bad).

The wonderful lamp that kelly made for me as one of my brithday presents from her. Thankyou darling!

I am coming to the sad conclusion I aught to stop doing skids with my bike....until I get a new tire that is! I was getting quick good, I could skid into a pretty tight space, useful for parking inbetween all the student's bikes at the school.

Well what a weekend! This weekend just passed I am Kelly ran our first marathon together. That is to say our first marathon ever (the 22nd Naha Marathon) which we happened to have run together. We ran together and finished in 4 hours and 28 minutes. It was a pretty amazing experience and finishing felt good! I am so happy we got to run it together, we kicked ass! We placed 3550th and 3549th, unfortunately their system can't handle people who finish together (that is out of about 20,000 people btw). After the buzz of finishing faded the pain hit us like a ton of bricks, oh boy did we hurt and do we still hurt. I still live in fear of having to go down stairs. I have read it can take several months to fully heal from running a marathon. After we had showered changed and iced we dragged our weary bodies back down to Naha for the after party for us Marathoners (I, Kelly, Andy, Yasmine, Perry and Ryoko) and the people who had sat Japanese tests that day. It was also kind of for my birthday, I didn't plan that but it kind of happened. Enjoy the pics!

Celebratory cigars for those who had taxed body or mind that day (mine was Cuban of course).
Before the marathon, waiting in the monorail station. From left to right; Yasmine, Ryoko, Perry, me.
The happy JUST FINISHED A MARATHON people!
Perry demonstrating just how much he likes lubing up before a marathon (it is actually quite fun).
Dressed for dinner.
The two islanders oozing style and class.

Sooooo we meet again....and this time I have brought photographs! Yes meine kleine schnitzel they are for you to look at. Jahhh, only you. Of course, of course you are most...... precious to me. But enough! No time for zee idle chit chattering, look at the hour! Ah such hour! Ich must schnell away! Tchuss!

Ahhh Ganz wunderschone! Siehst du diesen blumen! Aber wo haben sie gefallen aus?

Aus die prettiest baum (tree right) I saw that day (Ich Liebe　木).
Oh, arn't zeez zee preeetest pink petalz ! Ich glaube dass diesen petals smecht sehr gutt!
You see zee blue mit die pink mit die grun. Zehr Schon!
Jahhh, Ich mabe mit die colour gespielt!
Ohhhh Jahhhh juicy stigma, oder bist du a stamen person?
Just like fire or ...... red tissue paper?
Ah yes and the sun on a freshly harvested rice paddy (yes the accent had been done away with, I got bored).

So I spent a pleasant weekend on Izena. I ran 30k in preparation for the Naha marathon next weekend, I then spent a pleasant evening in the company of the Yamiyama family and the Yoshiaki family. For those of you who don't speak Japanese that is the Mountain God family and the Autumn Reed family (actually not sure on what kanji the last family has but I chose ones I like the meaning of). We cooked fish and lobsters on a barbecue and much fine tasting was done on my tongue. Apparently, so much so that my surprise was most aroused, lobster tastes better only partially cooked and dipped in it's own entrails. Now that may sound sarcastic but I assure you I am not joking. The lobster was only briefly cooked so that it was still very tender and juicy and the black innards were placed in a separate plate so that one would dip the white meat in there for some extra umph to the flavour. Very good. Then we drank whiskey until the wee hours. I won't say chatted but my Japanese lasted longer than in the past although there is always a point were I get lost and give in. I am aware Whiskey isn't part of most peoples diet the week before a marathon but hey diddly oh and the cow jumped over the moon! Hazzah! I ain't no KANGCHEONG SPIDER you know!

PS. I almost forgot but this does make me angry and Kangcheong for sure!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6181396.stm
Bloody people, we are the bane of this world! Grrrrr! We have a system set up which allows (sometimes forces) us and the people who govern us to follow a strategy of short to medium term economic prosperity at all costs while distancing ourselves from the ill effects of this sufficiently that we can ignore them. Well it will only be so long before we cannot turn a blind eye to the costs any longer. I hope it hurts.

Well I feel in my bones it is time to post again. Last year saw the MYC (mid year conference) which unlike last year I found useful. It is a three day seminar, an opening ceremony on the first day followed by two day of workshops run by ALTs for ALTs. As this is the only time of the year when all the ALTs (Okinawa only) are together it is also a bit of a party. It was fun but I don't see much point in relaying elaborate details of exactly what I did. Suffice to say the climax saw the three islanders reunited in their jumpsuits. What else is going on in my life? Well one thing I have done is apply to be transferred to Okinawa Honto (the main island). "What!" you may scream why would you leave your paradise island! Well...sometimes I wonder this and sometimes I am very grateful that one way or another this will be my last year. My mood goes up and down, shortly after I handed the form to my supervisor I had a very good few days and wondered the sanity of my desision. Nothing special happened, I just had some funny moments with the kids, Had some good conversations, the lady in the cake shop randomly lent me a dvd of a movie she had liked when she was my age. Then there are time like the last few days when I have felt isolated and a little lonely. So my mood goes up and down but don't get me wrong, if I came here again I would come to Izena all over again AND stay two years again for sure. I mean I would choose to be on Izena for two years than be on Okinawa Honto. I believe I have one of the best placements in all of Okinawa (perhaps Japan but I can't really judge that one). So why leave? Well the largest factor is a change. I know my third year here would more or less be the same as the last and that does no inspire me in the least! I want a change and leaving Japan would also give me change, big change, but that would be the more difficult choice. Having a new area, a new school and being able to join some new clubs (I have my eye on Karate and Kendo) would be change and enough and perhaps most importantly I would be closer to Kelly and wouldn't be reliant on the ferry to come and see her. It would also be easier for me to do this distance learning course (diploma for grads in management) I have embarked on over two years. This all said the transfer is far from certain and I will be faced with a tough choice if it falls through. In other matters I am reading Ishmael right now. It worries me greatly. Not because of the message that we (the human race) are busy destroying the world, I knew that and it is a matter close to my heart. But rather his bizarre explanation as to why we are doing this. I have been writing in my note book as I read, poking holes in this theories (and their are lots). I haven't yet finished the book and perhaps the 'genius' of the book is in the overall message and not the detail. I am however experiencing a growing dread that the view of Daniel Quinn as expressed through Ishmael are held by many people, even the majority of people?! I shudder to think. I would be delighted to hear from anyone who also had issues with the book, and once I have finished I can compile my notes lambasting the book for anyone who loved/liked/didn't mind the book and wondered what I could take such great offence at!

This is a public warning. The Gaijin Rangers have been spotted in Okinawa again. It has been almost a year since the three Rangers (Blue, Yellow and Red) have been seen together and mainland Okinawa has only just begun the long rebiulding process. You are adviced not to approach (would you want to?!) as they are prone to erratic, unpredictable benhaviour (to be fair it is also often hilarious) and can be dangerous. Please treat with the utmost caution!
You have been warned!

ps. Gaijin rangers come complete with colour co-ordinated marker pens and writable on white T-shirts.

My week just past

On wednesday I was invited to a barbeque with my elementry school teachers. It was a little more than a barby. A group of Hokkaido (northermost Japanese island) elementry school kids were visiting so it was a welcome party for them. This is the 2nd visit to my island by Hokkaido students and there was been one school trip to Hokkaido by Izena kids since I have been here. The Izena BOE (board of education) biulding also boasts a stuffed bear which was given as a gift from Hokkaido. There seems to be some sort of Hokkaido, Okinawa exchange going on; hot/cold, far north/ far south, that kind of thing.

So after the barby and some good chats with islanders I havn't seen in a while due to excessive training the show began!

First a Okinawan fan dance (I aught to find the name)

Next the boys performed Bo Kata, these are the special needs boys, they did well.

Sugi wa, a sanshin performance (an okinawan istrument similar to a banjo).

During the piece (which was just sanshin) a few members of the audience started singing the song which goes with the piece. Then more and more people joined in until almost all the audience were singing. It was pretty amazing. Maybe it was the warm fuzzies brought on by the beer but I found myself thinking how wonderful it was that a whole community from great grandparents to little elementry school kids could all participate in an impromptue sing along. It speaks volumes of the strength and depth of their culture and also of how homogenous their culture is. I began compairing this to our more multicutural culture back home. Trying to compair the pros and cons. I actually ended up writing not a few pages in my journal on the topic the following day. I of course didn't really reach a conclusion, not surprisingly as there is no easy answer to one of the most complex issues facing us as a society today. The one thing I did decid is that, even with accepting the many benefits of a homogenious culture the actions and policies needed to create and maintain such a culture are wholely unacceptable. Actions and policies used my many repugnant right wing, zenophobic and racist groups in the past and present. Japan is in many ways a special case I hasten to add but before I get bogged down on with the blog!

Next was a piece performed with hand bells (a first on Izena!). That's the elementry school head master closest to the camera btw.

The Hokkaido Shagakkusei (elementry school kids) performed a dance next.

This dance is known and danced by elementry children all over Japan. I don't mean that it is wide-spread but that virtually EVERY kid knows it in Japan. I forget what it is called, but they say something like 'Asora asora,' alot in it.

Then the ex tea lady from my junoir high performed karate! I am glad I always said her food was delish! (and it was!)

She also performed kata with nun-chucks and those three pronged knives. She is the lady who made me dinner and left it on my door a while back if you remember. Nice lady.

As I said all children in Japan know this song and dance so at the end of the night the Hokkaido and Izena kids got together and danced away. Some adults who remembered the song joined in too, pretty hilarious.


The night was finished off with some okinawan dancing which I happily joined in with.


Thursday: how do you know your school likes you (maybe a little too much)?
When the schools public computer has a picture of you as the desktop!
Yes I was a little surprised.


Friday: I found a new beach on friday, and this metal encased cable. I wonder what would happen if I cut it? I wonder what it is. I expect phone goes via satelight so electricity perhaps?


Saturday: It was the 'tour de Izena' (bike ride). I passed on the bike riding (last year I did it and it was too slow to be fun) but I turned up for the wada. This is a old fishing method whereby people herd fish through shallow water into nets. It is a chance for the Okinawans living on the main island to do a traditional okinawan activity. I am surprised how little of the traditional festivals are still celebrated on the main island. My JTE had never helped make a rice rope for tug of war, seen okinawa sumo or taken part in the Una festival before Izena. This is another example of where the strong traditionals on Izena draw the community together. During the Una festivals each village has a tug of war (north vs. south or east vs. west) so during the week before the festival the whole village (young and old) has to make ropes which are combined to make the big rope for the actual day. Perhaps there are many traditional festivals on the main island but not everyone attends (as on Izena) and the mainland festivals I have been too seem to be just performances on a stage and stands with fair food and fair games. Although this is partially just my limited observation but it is also consistent with what I have been told by my Japanese friends.

My final picture is of....well I don't know. There is a small hut I often pass on my way to Izena beach. Everytime I have passed it at night or at dusk it has bright white (you know the sort that simulate daylight) lights on inside but yet has bamboo screens over the windows and glass door at all times (including during the day). One night as I passed I had a closer look and this is what I saw. What can it be!

Evening all. A long weekend just passed. I spent it generally rewarding my body. Friday night was spent with a few of my more distinquished fellow ALTs. We went to a turkish restaurant (passable) and then danced in a club/lounge with live music. We topped off the night with karaoke untill the wee hours. Much fun not least because it has been a looooooooong time since I have done that. Managed two all you can eat american breakfasts and caught a movie. 'Flags of our fathers' I do recomend it. Here is a picture of the Okinawa JET comunities newest cutest couple!!!!!......yeah ok I am kidding but cute picture deshoo? OK now scroll down for my caption comp!

Caption Compo!

Well I have these two amusing pics taken with my phone on friday night and I sometimes wonder if anyone but myself and my mum read my blog so I am having a caption compo. You know the drill? Come up with funn captions for one or both of the two mirthful pictures below.

Picture A:

Picture B:

A couple more pics from the triathlon

The best support team/cheer leader a guy could have, thanks Kelly, your the best!

My knee the night before.

TRIATHLON!!

Izena 88 Triathlon!

The finish, my goal! Not only of the race but basically of this past year. I feel as happy as I look.
Lap ??? of the bike, the wind was killer on the bike, luckily I'd been training in wind a fair bit.

Just coming around for the 2nd lap of the run, time to give my all.

Me (in the red) during the swim, you have to leave to water and run back to the start for the 2nd lap.

Me icing, compressing and eating pineapple the night before.

The triumphant ALT triathletes!

Me and the Izena Zeal triathlon team!

The poster my junoir highschool kids made for me, cute little blighters.

My wreath (this one real) for being Izena #1 and a medal given to me by an elementry schl. student. (picture taken after the party and not a few beers)

Here is my account of one of the best days of my life, sorry it is very long but I couldn't have said it in fewer words.

Well I’ve done it! Sunday (29th of October) was the 19th Izena 88 traithlon! It was one of the best days of my life, let me try and describe it to you. The story starts on Saturday I suppose. After touring the bike course with the other ALTs (Ben, Perry, Josh, Charlette and Isla) who were doing the triathlon and Kelly who was here to cheer I ran the international friendship meeting. This was a one hour ‘class’ I ran for the international athletes and my students. It was a bit chaotic but everyone seemed to have fun afterwards several of the Americans came and thanked me, telling me it was fun, so I guess it went well. Last year I had no input really, this year I did the whole thing, in fact my JTE disappeared shortly after it started and left me to it. After that was done I went for a little swim with Ben and Perry, that’s when IT happened. On coming out of the water I bashed my knee against barnacle encrusted concrete, ouch. When I looked at the cuts I could see white at the bottom, right on my knee cap. Oh dear I thought, not good for tomorrow! It was bleeding quite a lot and I had to apply pressure to stop it bleeding. There was a moment in the shower when I had blood running down my leg and diluting into the water around my feet making my bathroom look like a scene from a horror movie that I got a little worried. Anyway a towel tied tightly around it stopped the bleeding, I put a plaster on later but it started bleeding again and I had to apply pressure again. I ate a pineapple Kelly had brought (I read it has vitamins/enzymes that help one heal) and iced the knee. In the morning it was still sore and a bit stiff (it had swollen a little), I couldn’t really bent it and had to walk with a limp, I iced it some more to reduced the swelling, still a bit worried. However after I took some painkillers Kelly gave me and after the bike ride to the swim start it felt better. Once the swim started though I think adrenaline kicked in and that and the painkillers made sure the knee didn’t bother me during the race, it did hurt afterwards though! It also started getting windy Saturday night and by Sunday there was a pretty strong wind, not good for fast times. I tell myself not to worry and just do my best, even so it was slightly demoralizing.
Ok so the race! First lets go over my goals for the race: timewise my safe goal was under 6 hours and my goal to aim towards was 5 hours 30minutes (which I didn’t think I would do). I also wanted to be the number one on my island, Nakashima sensei who was done the triathlon ten times was my biggest rival. I also wanted to be the number one ALT (sorry guys but what’s a bit of competition between friends!). So the swim started, I took the advice of my training partner Takuma san and hung back until the fast swimming had started then I was off, my first triathlon! What I have been training for almost a year for! It wasn’t as crazy as I expected, sure people were grabbing my legs and I was hitting peoples legs with my hands but I was expecting worse. Once I got a kick to the head but not hard. I was lucky on the second lap and got a lot of clear water. Out of the swim and I felt great (46:03) and I run to the bike. Nakashima sensei was already there but he hadn’t been there for long by the looks of things. I get my bike gear on and I am off. The knee is a little sore but no problem. I pass Nakashima sensei on the 2nd lap, yes! I have trouble with my first banana, I get it all over my hand but no worries. Another izena triathete passes me but his strongest leg is the bike and I don’t even try to keep up with him, got to stick to my own race plan. Nakashima sensei passes me on lap 4 but I pass him back almost straight away. Later on lap four I have a scare. There is a dangerous corner, a 90 degree bend at the bottom of a steep hill. A woman is going really slowly round the corner, I am breaking but not slowing down fast enough. I have to pass her going round the corner! I come around the outside but she doesn’t see me and drifts outwards forcing me to move out wide as well, there is no more space! At the bottom of the hill/corner there is a big blue clash pad, I hit it! But I have turned enough that I kind of skid along it, then my foot and pedal are scraping along the edge of the pavement (sidewalk), I am still breaking and manage to get my foot out and come to a stop without falling. Deep breath and off I go again. I pass that woman carefully and quickly leave her behind (try and get her at a safe distance!). I take it a little easier on the last lap of the bike, rolling down the hills so that my legs are good for the run start. I am still on good time for my goal of 5hrs30 so I don’t want to go crazy. I finish the bike in 2:23:21, about 7 minutes faster than in practice, not bad. I pull on my shoes, they feel a little tight, I think it is because of the socks I am wearing which are a little thicker than the ones I usually use, no time to worry. Off I go! The last leg and by far the hardest leg. Everything in the triathlon is basically leading up to the run. Nothing to exciting, I stop at every aid station, drink and sponge my legs. I get a stitch early on (cramp in your stomach) but I run through it. I finish the first lap in just under one hour which is bang on target. In training I could do the run in about 2 hours after doing the bike, so I am looking at getting my 5hrs30min goal! I run on, I feel pretty good, I start picking up the pace. I see Josh ahead of me so I speed up and pass him. I’m an feeling ok so I keep up the pace. I am breathing heavily through my mouth, I guess I am going anerobic but what the heck less than 10k to go! I keep passing people! Whenever I start approaching an aid station I hear my students shouting ‘Craig is coming!’ I keep passing people, I don’t know what’s happening to everyone else but I am running as fast as I can! At around 3/4k to go my abs start to really hurt. It is not a stitch just muscular pain, pure and simple. It makes it hard to sprint but I push as fast as I can. Suddenly I am at the top of the final downhill, I can see the finish gate and there is Kelly! I can barely acknowledge her I am so tired/focused on running! I come down and approach the turn onto the running track. The finish is 600m around the running track! I pass some of my shogakkusei (elementary school students),Ganbatte! Fighto!! They shout, one of them starts running with me. I feel a wave of emotion hitting me at that point. My pains dissolve and I feel like I might cry but I keep the old stiff upper lip and run on. Onto the running track and a teacher put a wreath of flowers (plastic) on my head. My shogakkusei are lining the entire length of the running track. I Hi-touch each and every one of them as I go past, they are all cheering, my other hand clutching the wreath to my head. It is unbelievable how euphoric I feel, as you can see from the picture I go over the finish line with a silly big grin on my face. Kelly is waiting for me there.
She says to me “you beat John’s time!”
“No I didn’t,” I say, I think at this point I have maybe done it in 5hours 20 minutes.
“Look,” she says and points.
I turn around and it is true. I did the triathlon in 5:00:27. I can’t quite believe it at that point but I have to fight back tears again as I cool of in the icy water paddling pool thing.
Somehow I had done the final 10k in about 45 minutes. My official run time was 1:51:03 but I think that includes the transition, I was timing myself and I think the run alone was 1hr45min-ish. That is pretty crazy as the fastest I had run ten km before (when only doing ten km as fast as I could) was 47 minutes. So I went even faster after the 2kswim, 66kbike and first 10k of the run.
So there we go, I achieved all my goals (number one izenian and ALT) and then some, I did the triathlon in a time beyond what I though I was capable off. Oh yeah and the tight shoes,..that is because I packed Kelly’s running shoes by mistake (they are the same as mine just half a size smaller), that would explain the tightness. I will loose at least my left big toe and it wasn’t until today (Tuesday) that I could bend my injured knee fully. But of course it was all very much worth it. My junior high students made a poster for me, ‘Craig never give up’ which was really nice of them. Unfortunately I didn’t actually see it during the race (too focused?) but I went and took a picture afterwards. All the ALTs finished the race and all but one of the Izena traithletes finished too. One crashed on his bike. The after party was a blast although a little sad. I probably won’t see as much of all my training buddies although I a few of them want to do ishigaki with me. I greatly indebted to a number of them. Nakashima sensei and Chibasensei are single handedly responsible for my swim. In July of this year I could barely swim 200m, no joke. I was swimming with my head out of the water and had to rest after every 25m. If it wasn’t for them teaching me I would have got nowhere. Takuma san was also a great help on the bike and gave lots of good advice on eating, strategy etc. Thanks guys! I am also grateful to Mr. John Branderhorst. Sorry I beat your time, but way back last year you were a large factor in inspiring me to do this thing. John always smiles and looks happy while racing and he made the whole thing look so much fun. I paid head to his advice and smiled, waved and said hello to all the supporters around the track. Many of them (my elementary school kids especially) have been cheering me all year and now was the time to pay them back. Today at school one of the teachers told me I looked very happy/genki during the race, so I guess it worked, when I told her I enjoyed it she shook her head and said “ah, young energy!”
So my official finishing stats are as follows:
Swim – 46:03 (194th out of 401)
Bike – 2:23:21 (126th)
Run – 1:51:03 (83rd)
So my final result was:
Izena 88 Triathlon – 5:00:27 (106th -22nd in my agegroup-)

I am grateful to everyone for their support (the emails helped as well!) and congrats to all the other ALTs who finished too, good job one and all.

What’s next?

My south east asian pictionary set conterfiting sweat shop! I made 6 pictionary sets today (for the international friendship meeting tommorrow). This is a modified pictionary suitable for okinawan junoir highschool students I hasten to add.

We had a halloween party for the whole of my shogakko (elementry school). All the 130 kids in the gym together, what fun! We played some games, plainted hand ghosts and sang a halloween song I had been practicing with them. Halloween is the western festival they go for the most. They had halloween decoration all over the school and even had mountains of halloween candy. After the party in the gym the teachers went to our rooms (I have my own english room), dressed up and awaited the trick or treaters. Here are some of the kids.

More of the little devils.

We had a lodger hidding in one of the plants in the school corridor.

The sun rise on thursday morning.

Practicing getting up early. I got up and had a 1k swim this morning before school, whats wrong with me.

The World Press Freedom Index 2006, published by the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), showed that the US had dropped 12 places to 53rd place, below countries such as Ghana, Mali and Bolivia. Yikes, slightly perturbing I am sure you will agree.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19388

I quote from the websight, 'Meanwhile the steady erosion of press freedom in the United States, France and Japan is extremely alarming.'

Once again the northern european, especially Scandinavian, countries come out top! They also come out top on things like gender equality (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4786160.stm), low povery, happiness http://www1.eur.nl/fsw/happiness/hap_nat/findingreports/RankReport2006-1.htm and the like. And it is not as if their economies are doing badly, Switzerland, Finland and Sweden are the three most competitive economies according to The Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007. In fact Finland topped the freedom of press and competitive economy list. Does anyone know if finnish is a hard language to learn?
Mmmmm just following links now, Finland was the first country to give women the vote and allow them to stand for parliment:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5036602.stm

Anyway, back to work.

Now first off why didn't anyone consult me? Or at least check the spelling with a dictionary? Anywho:

Here are some pics of my kids english preformance and display at the thingy we had. The thingy where students performed for parents.

This was actually something we had done in my english club but we re-used it. Hey recycling is good!

The performance, an english story with pictures. woot.