キャンプで学ぶ

　アブちゃんに出会ってキャンプを覚えた。有無を言わせず。

　初めてのキャンプ。あれは、大隈半島の山の裾のキャンプ場。冬近くで宿泊客は2人だけ。テントを建ててから夕方の散歩へ。いのししが横切る自然いっぱいの山の中、日照時間も少なく、もう大分寒くなっていた。
　「ちょっと寒いなぁ。」と思いながら一晩中熟睡もできずに翌朝目起きたら、外に置いてあった靴が霜にやられていた。靴も靴の回りも霜で真っ白だった。
　「こんな靴をはいたら、私の足がしもやけだよぉー。」と泣きたかったが、付き合ってまだ日も浅いそのころに文句は言えなかった。

　特に思い出深いのは石垣島でのキャンプ。船に乗って川の上流で降りる。そこからジャングルの中を大きなリュックを担いで崖を上り下りし、夕方以降は人気のないジャングルでテントを張る。
　ちょっと川へお散歩へ。自分たちのライト以外明かりのない森の中。テントに帰って休もうとしたら、テントの真ん中でヒルが頭を持ち上げ血を吸う準備をしていた。どうにかこうにかそれをテントから追い出し就寝。
　ヒルに怯えながらも満点の星空を見ながら熟睡。なんせ、大変な運動量で疲れたからね。

　屋久島の九州で1番高い山といわれている宮之浦だけに登ったときもまた結構な忍耐だった。
テレビで見る分には神秘的で「行ってみたいなぁ。」と確かにあこがれるけど、あなた、実際登るって「なんで、登るって言っちゃたんだろう。」と嘆くしかない。
　でも、本当に「もののけ姫」の世界にいるみたいで行くだけの価値はある。ただ、休憩しているとき、ヒルにかまれたけれど。まあ、それも次の日の夜中の海がめの産卵を見たら人に語れるいい思い出になった。

　数あるキャンプ体験の中でもアブちゃんを疑ったのが、バージニア州のシャナンドア国立公園でのキャンプ。「熊に注意！」という看板を見ながら、キャンプ場でもないまさしく山の真ん中でキャンプ。食べ物は気につるし、食事も遠いところでして、テントのそばに食品のにおいがしないように細心の注意を払う。
　そして、夜。アブちゃんは慣れたものですぐに熟睡。私は熊が怖くて寝れやしない。でも、さすがに登山の疲れが出てうとうとしてきたころ、「ハア、ハア。」と怪しげな息遣いが聞こえる。どうやらアブちゃんの息遣いではなさそうだ。その上、なんだか重そうな動物が移動するような音。テントの周りを歩き回っているふうな。恐ろしすぎて、あぶちゃんを起こした。でも、何を勘違いしたのか、アブちゃんは自分のいびきがうるさくて起こされたと思ったらしく「あ、ごめん。うるさかった？」と言って、再び眠りへ。「違うよ、何かいるよ！」と言ったら、「ああ、そうか。」と言ってまた超熟睡。それから以降、起きなかった。「この人は本当にいざというとき守ってくれるのか？」と悩んだ夜だった。

　
　アブちゃんが日本を去るとき、「僕はまだ旅行したり学校へ行ったりしたいから、このつきあいを続けていくことは難しい。だから、別れよう。」と言ったので、泣く泣く別れた。
　『あのようなキャンプに毎回つきあう女性がいたとしても、タイミングよく出会うことはそうそうないと思うよ。』と言いはしなかったが、そう思いながら見送った。それからアブちゃんは南米や南極を回り、大学院に戻ってから気づいたらしい。

　「旅行してても1人で旅をしていた今までのように楽しいと思わなかったよ。いろんなこと一緒に喜んだり感動したりする人がいてほしいなと思ったよ。そして、それが君だということに気づいたんだ。」とメールをくれた。

　ようやく気づいたかぁ。よかった、よかった。
　そして、とんとん拍子に婚約、結婚。

　1度別れたから、相手の尊さやいっしょに過ごすことの貴重さがわかるんだよね。だから、いつも互いに感謝し合えるんだよね、と思う。たとえ、次のキャンプでまた新たな冒険の記録が作られようとも、私たちは共に山や谷を乗り越えていくことだろう。
　

I can speak perfect Korean!

I had some down time at work this week. One of my nice co-workers, Mr. Han, took the time to teach me a few words. Whenever I learn a new language, the first sentence I like to learn is "I speak this language well."

Today at work, I asked a friend to call me so that the phone would ring. I then had the following one-sided conversation. The first sentence was in English, the rest was all in Korean.

"Cargo Documentation, this is Avram Fox speaking. How may I help you?"

"Yes, I speak Korean well."

"Yes, no, no, yes."

"Okay, thank you very much."

"Goodbye."

After I hung up the phone, I heard giggling from all of the cubicles around me. I think my Korean co-workers enjoyed my performance.

BIWA is cool!

　お友達ってありがたいですね。さっそくブログのコメントをくださって、本当に感謝です。
　まあ、もしよろしければ、右横にある「ブログの読者になる」にもお立ち寄りいただけると、大変ありがたいです：）

　さて、幼なじみのNOBUさんが「あなたは毎日何していらっしゃるの？」とお尋ねになったので、よくよく考えてみましたところ、

　「途方にくれています。」というしか答えが見つからず、でも、まあ、仕事を辞めた今はそんな時間もまた貴重だということを十分に味わわせていただいています。

　しかし、限られた釜山での滞在期間をより充実すべく、Busan International Women's Club（略してBIWA)に所属することにしました。

　BIWAは世界中から来ている女性と韓国人女性の国際交流を目的とした団体で、ボランティアや語学教室、習い事教室、coffee morningやlunchをいっしょに楽しむとグループです。
　
　釜山は大きな港があり、流通関係で多くの外国人がいます。また、釜山自体が国際化都市を目指しているため、英語教育にとても力を入れていてたくさんの外国人教師がいます。その他、各国の政府関係者の家族、国際結婚による移住など、頻繁に外国人に会うことができます。
　そういうわけで、世界中からの女性たちが集まっていて、BIWAは本当に国際的なグループです。

　昨日は、フラワーアレンジメントを習い、今日は陶芸をしてきました。

　フラワーアレンジメントは、ほんのちょっとした向きで花がいろんな表情を見せて楽しいです。家に花があるだけで、心にも潤いが出て、人にもやさしくなれると思います。

　陶芸は、過去最悪の出来でした。それは、なんていうか、蛇がとぐろを巻きながら高い塔を築いたような、「何に使えるのか？」と聞かれたら、「・・・。」という感じです。

　はじめは低い花瓶になるはずでしたけれど、多分、水を入れたら横から水がピーっていくつも飛び出す感じの蛇のとぐろの塔です。水がでるからといって、重すぎてジョウロにもなりません。

　陶芸後、いつもと変わらず、「あなた日本人に見えないわねぇ。」とフランス人のおば様に言われました。それに追い討ちをかけて、ロシア人のおばさんが「本当に両親とも日本人？」と尋ねたので、「多分。でも、お母さんに聞いてみます。」と答えておきました。

　今日は、日本の方やマレーシア人のお友達にも同じことを言われました。だから、BIWAでは、韓国グループ、日本グループ、Internationalグループと３つのグループに分かれますが、ついつい日本グループでいいのか？と迷いが出てしまいました。

　
　アブちゃんが、
　
　「これまで自分は人生を楽しんできて、君はいっぱい働いてきた。だから、今度は僕が働くから、君は人生を楽しんだらいいよ。」　
　
　「語学でも習い事でも教育にかかる出費なら惜しむことはないよ。それは自分の身につくものだから、自分の体の中にしっかりと根付いて自分の力となるものだから、学びたいことがあったら学ぶといいよ。」

　と言ってくれるので、心おきなくそうさせていただいています。アブちゃんの薦めもあってBIWAにも入りました。

　所属している人たちは、いろんな立場の人がいて、世界に目を向け、そして多くのことを吸収しようと前向きです。 人との出会いやそこでの活動がいい刺激になるし、何より自分のために本当にいろいろなことが学べます。

　これまでのお友達もそうですが、これから出会う人々もまた、未来につながる素敵なご縁になりそうです：）


　次に誰かが「毎日何しているの？」と聞いたら、次は山ほど答えることができそうです！

日本語であそぼう

　アメリカの道を車で走っていると、鹿、アライグマ、うさぎ、きつね、スカンク、まれに熊などに出会う。そのほんとんどがすでに悲しい姿をしているけれど、時速１００キロ近くで走る高速では車も急には止まれない。

　ある日、夕暮れ時に車を走らせていると、鹿が前を横切ろうとしている。驚いている私の横でアブちゃんが冷静に、

　「びっくりドンキーだったね。」という。
　
　本人はさほどびっくりもせず、落ち着いて鹿をかわしたにもかかわらず、ひょうひょうと「びっくりドンキー」なんて言うので拍子抜けする。

　この他にも、日常、彼はちょいちょい日本語をはさみ込んで来る。
　たとえば、

　"Oh,rock!"　「おお、石！」　「おお、いし。」　「おおいしぃ。」　「おいしい！」

　「（無言で肩を素早くぐるぐる回しながら）だね。」（早く肩を回す。）　「早　肩ね。」　「はや　かたね。」　「はやかったね。」

　と、いう具合に。

　最近は、6歳の姪から習った「とにかく」を練習中。その他にも「安全第一」や「あちこち」、島の方言の「わたのひち（おなかがすいた）」や「まあさ（おいしい）」がお気に入り。

　
　我が家は8割、9割英語で会話をしている。だからと言って、私の英語がイケテルわけではない。四苦八苦である。だから、時々、「日本語で話す日をつくろうよ。」と提案すると、「それじゃあ、1日中会話がなくなるよ。」と、アブちゃんは言う。
　確かに、「びっくりドンキー」や「おお、ロック！」では話が続かない。

　だから、時々、本屋に行って英会話や日本語会話の本を探してみる。アブちゃんが、うれしそうに「あったよ！あったよ！！」と呼ぶので、行ってみると、カップルや夫婦の夜の会話表現のページを見つけて、周辺の人に聞こえるように声に出して練習している。
　
　ひっかかりながら、
　「きょうは　せくすぃ　だ　ね。」とか、「いっしょに　いかない？」とか、ナンパの場面やその後の会話を楽しそうに口頭練習している。とても書き表せない言葉の数々。

　そういう表現は絶対使わないのに、おもしろがって本屋さんで日本語の練習をしている。そして、彼が楽しんだそのような本は買われることなく、アブちゃんは強制連行されて家に連れて帰られる。

　
　外国人の友達に「国際結婚って難しくないの？お互いのこと、理解できる？」と、聞かれたことがある。
　
　答えは、「はい、理解したいと思うよ。」

　どこの国の人と付き合っていても、結婚していても、お互いのことに関心を持って、お互いのことを話して、相手を理解しようと思えば、その気持ちを持ち続ければ、きっとその縁は続くんじゃないかなと思う。

　結婚して思うことは、国際結婚だから理解しあえるかどうかではなくて、結局は人と人だろうなと思う。思いやりや相手への尊敬や関心を長い間積み重ねながら絆をつくっていくのかもなと思う。

　我が家はけんかにならない。不思議に思ったことやわからないこと、今日あったこと、感じたこと、興味のあること、いろんなことをとても穏やかに話しながら毎日を過ごす。そうすると、相手の考えていることや相手の次の行動がわかる。だから、言葉もいらなくなる。

　それでも、おしゃべりをしたり、2人でハイキングやゲームやツーリングをしたりして、その中で新しい相手の一面を知る。一緒に楽しみながら、それを分かち合う。

　言葉や文化や育った環境や習慣は確かに違う。でも、それは日本人同士でも同じことで、特に日本の社会では忙しい毎日の中で相手だけでなく自分さえも思いやる時間が少ないから、時間や気持ちに「ゆとり」が持てる生活ができるといいなと思う。そして、お互いの違いをどうすり寄せ合って、よりよい方へ互いに導いていけたらいいな、と思う。

　今日もアブちゃんは「まあさ（おいしい）。」と言いながら朝食を終え、寒い中をチャリで仕事に出かけた。

旅立ち

「一緒に暮らさないと結婚した意味がないでしょう。一緒にいろんな経験をして、一緒にいろんなこと感じて、一緒にたくさんのことを分かち合っていきたいからね。だから、一緒にいないと。」

　そうだね、この人でなければ結婚なんて考えなかっただろうし、この人と一緒に生きていきたいと思ったし、この人のいない人生なんてもう考えられないしな。
　
　そう思ったら、迷うことなく仕事を辞めた。やりがいのある仕事。長く続けた仕事。でも、それよりも彼はかけがえのない存在だから、彼の言うように「一緒に」次の人生を築いていこう。

　彼の名前はアブちゃん。
　
　私がアメリカに着いた時、大学院を終了したばかりのアブちゃんは職なく、家なく、車もなかった。ちょっとしたホームレス生活。さて、これからどうしようか？

　でも、アブちゃんは胸躍るイベントをしっかり準備していた。

私たちの感動共有の旅「アメリカ大陸横断ドライブ」

　車を彼の実家から取り寄せ、キャンプ道具を積んで準備万端！
　荷物は必要最小限。それ以外は身ふたつ：）

「僕が見てきたものを君にも見せたいし、君が見てきたものも僕は見たいし、2人が見ていないものは一緒に見に行こう。」
　安全運転のアブちゃんの車でハイウェイを駆け抜け、まずはアリゾナを離れる。

　ツアーコンダクターだったアブちゃん。1人旅も合わせると50カ国、全大陸を見てきたアブちゃん。
「僕が見てきたものを君にも見せたいし・・・。」って、たくさん飛び回るってことだよね？しかも、あなたと行くということは安全な観光じゃないよね？重いバックパック背負って野を超え山を越えるってことだよね？

　楽しみだねぇ。

　先の見えないわくわくの人生。初めて訪れるたくさんの場所。新しく学ぶいろいろなこと。いっしょに見て、聞いて、感じて、いっしょにその感動をShareしようね。思い出をたくさんつくろうね。もう、覚悟はできてる。あとは開き直るだけ。

　さあ、飛び立とう！いろんな意味の冒険に：）！　

　


　

　

　
　

Happy New Year

Today was the Lunar New Year. That meant yet another Monday with no work for me. We left the apartment a bit before 10 am. Our neighbor's door was open and we got a good look inside while we waited for the elevator. They had made a little alter, lit some incense, and were taking turns bowing.

Once we made it out to the street, we heard the sweet sounds of silence. There were almost no cars or people out. I worried that the buses would not be running also. We went to the bus stop and soon boarded our bus. It was nice and empty. We made good time across town, switched to the subway for a while, and then took another bus out to YoungDo Island. YoungDo Island divides the big Busan harbor in two. It has a couple of big hills on it and some major ship building companies. We took the bus almost to the end and then started walking.

We strolled along the small road, past some view points and temples, before eventually coming to the end of the island. At the end are the Taejondae Cliffs. The cliffs are nice and tall and fun to look at. They rocks are made up of interesting patterns as well. In the picture below, you can see a small portion of the rocks. Behind the cliffs, many ships drop anchor and wait.


After some more walking, we made it back to the bus stop and headed home. I guess everyone was ready to go out and celebrate the new year, because the traffic was its usual mess. Many people were out and about, and some of them were wearing the traditional Korean robes, called hanbok. The women's version has a big petticoat, while the men's version has a very tall hat.

We finished off our new year's day with another visit to our local public bath. It was pretty empty compared to last night.

New Year's Eve

Today was the Lunar New Year. Lunar New Year is a big holiday in Korea. Rie and I celebrated last night by going to our local public bath. It was much more packed than I had ever seen. On the men's side, there are about 40 showers or taps to wash up at. They were all full and people were waiting in line to scrub. I think there was a problem with the water temperature control as well. My favorite bath is a wooden bath with water just under 110 degrees. Last night it was up to over 116 degrees. Some of the other baths were a more comfortable 100 degrees, so I relaxed in those. When I was nice and relaxed and ready to lay down, I went over to one of the five marble slabs under the heat lamps and took a quick nap.

Uncle Jim and his Happy Bunny Dance

I like going to movies here. The prices are pretty cheap and you can reserve your seats. When we were living in the hotels last November, we went to a few movies. I impressed myself last week when I bought our tickets from a vending machine. I got tickets for the right movie, at the right time, reserved our seats, and used my bank card to get a discount and to pay for the tickets. The machine has no English and I can barely read Korean and don't know what it says anyway.

At some of the movie theaters, the attendants wait near the exits after the show. As you file past on the way out, they say something to you and do a little bow. Along with the bow, they raise their arms and move them in a few little circles before pointing towards the exit. It reminds me very much of Uncle Jim and his Happy Bunny Dance, but without the goofy grin.

By the way, Uncle Jim always feels extra special when he gets a mention in my blog.

The Walls Have Ears - and Eyes; and a Mouth

Sometimes, when we are sitting around the house, the wall starts talking to us. I don't mean the next door neighbors and the loud bells on their door. I don't mean the kid downstairs who practices the piano. I don't mean the occasional vendor with a loudspeaker driving by. I mean some man makes announcements to the whole neighborhood through their wall speakers. We have no idea what he is trying to communicate, but at least he only does it in the early evening.



In the picture below you can see the high-tech control center for our apartment. The panel at the bottom left is for our hot water. It has many buttons and speaks to us in Korean if we press one. The bottom left button turns on the ondol. The next one controls the hot water for the sinks and shower. It is important not to confuse them and turn the under-floor heating system up past 80 degrees.



The phone connects to the guard house, so we can talk to the guard if we want to. I found that out when I randomly pressed one of the other buttons and the guards voice came out asking me why I called and what I want. If we are going out and want to communicate this fact to the guard, we press the blue button under the red light. This turns on a light in the guard shack out front and lets him know we are not home. I think the red button calls the fire department, but I have not tried that one yet.

When someone comes to the front of our building and types in our apartment number, the little tv comes on and we can see their face. Then, one of the buttons starts blinking and we can open the door to the building. When they get upstairs and ring our bell, the tv comes on again and we can see them again. I like to turn on the view screen. The camera in our door bell points at the elevator. I can see what floor the elevator is on through the little tv.

Left is Right

When I lived in Japan, I never had a car. When I started going back in 2006 to visit Rie, I started driving her car. I was very nervous because the drive on the left side of the road. It took me a while to get used to it. I just kept repeating "Stay left, stay left" to myself as I drove. Now, when I go back to Japan, I can hop in the car and don't even think twice about it. I am glad I can switch back and forth without effort, because I am Rie's mother's preferred driver when we head to town.

Back here in Korea, the traffic is just as crazy as always, but I am figuring out the patterns, so it does not seem as dangerous as before. One thing that still scares me is sharing the sidewalks with scooters and motorcycles. If the traffic seems easier up with the pedestrians, they weave in and out among us. It is not unheard of for shoppers to get rammed by a scooter as they step onto the sidewalk from a store.

At busy roads, we wait for the little green man to light up and tell us it is safe to cross the road. Some of the signs even count down the seconds, so you know how long you have. But, when they count down here, they are serious. After the count gets to down to 1, the lighted man turns red. At that very same instant the cars get a green light and start gunning for you. There is no leeway what so ever.

Healthy City Living

In Virginia, we lived in the suburbs. There were no sidewalks on the big street by our house and we had to drive to all the stores. Here in Korea, we live in a big city and don't have a car. I ride my bike to work, but the rest of the time, we get around by foot or public transportation. Most of the places we go are about 15 minutes away - Korean class, Mega Mart, the public bath, the sea-side.

Yesterday, I wanted to look for some outdoor clothing shops. We walked about 20 minutes to the area around the university and ate lunch at an Indian restaurant. The food was tasty and we noticed a yoga studio across the street. Rie will check that out next week. From there, we took a 25 minute subway ride to one of the big shopping districts in Busan. We walked for a few hours, but I did not find any jackets that I liked. After taking a train most of the way home, we walked a bit more and found a movie theater near the university. We ate dinner at a Japanese noodle (ramen) place before heading home. The ramen was not that great, but at least it was loaded with yummy garlic.

I think that one of the reasons I have been slowly losing weight since we got here is all of the walking we do. And, it is not always easy sidewalk strolling. At most of the major roads, we have to take an overpass or an underpass to get across.

This is the biggest city Rie or I have ever lived in. We are getting used to big city life and taking the time to explore our new home, but I will look for a car next week. We don't plan to use it in the city, but in the Spring, I would really like to explore the peninsula and do some hiking in the big national parks.

Airport Security

A few weeks ago we took a short flight in Japan. I always get nervous at Japanese airports. They must be very dangerous, because they don't have nearly the amount of security we have in the U.S. to keep us safe. In Japan, you can pay cash for your ticket at a machine. Then you can go through security without taking off your jacket or shoes. You can even bring in big bottles of liquids. You can get all the way onto the plane and never show Id.

On a side note, I always feel sorry for the flight attendants when I fly in Japan. They have to give the safety briefing in English, just for me.

A President's Day hike

Today was a U.S. Federal holiday. Rie and I took advantage of it by going for a hike. We left the house at a bit before 11 and started walking. We cut through the local university and kept going towards the nearest hills. After about an hour, we started going up and quickly left the city behind. After about a minute of walking amongst the trees, we came to the first out-door exercise area. The residents of Busan have done a great job of preserving all of their hill tops for hikers and antennas. Usually, somewhere along the trails, they put some benches and some exercise equipment. It is great for people who want to walk for a little while and then do some pull-ups or hula-hooping.

Shortly after the exercise area, we stopped to watch a very busy woodpecker, hard at work making noise and breaking wood. From the next vantage point, we had a view down towards the indoor ski area. It is closed and bankrupt now, but a few years ago you could enjoy downhill indoor skiing there. The top of the mountain was only about 1500 feet high and not too chilly. There was a big antenna up there. The road dipped down a bit and then we took a path up to the next peak, also about 1500 feet high. There was a bit of construction on the second peak. It looks like they are building a nice public view point of the city. We could see just about everywhere in Busan from up there - Haeundae Beach, our apartment area, the ports, some islands, the soccer stadium, down town, the old U.S. Army Base, the cable car that we took up another mountain, the first mountain we climbed near our hotel in November.

In the picture below, our apartment is in the center and the ocean is on the horizon. We walked up the hills on the left side of the picture and went down the hills on the right side. The chain of hills is shaped like a horse-shoe. We ended up back by the university - just 20 minutes from home. The whole walk took a bit over 5 hours and was very enjoyable.

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot

I have talked about the unique Korean heating system before - the ondol. To control the temperature, we adjust an electronic thermostat on the wall. The same thermostat also controls the hot water temperature. So, last night, Rie turned the temperature up for her shower, but we forgot to turn the temperature down again for the floor heating. We usually keep the floor at about 73 degrees. We learned last night that the ondol system maxes out at nearly 81 degrees. I woke up sweating. Also, we discovered that anything left on the floor will get very hot underneath. This includes pillows, jackets, blankets, and our futon bed. The floor underneath the futon was almost too hot to stand on.

Back to Korea

On the 9th, we flew back to Kagoshima Airport and went to visit Takaaki and his family again. We went to the hot spring / public bathhouse. Taakaki was busy, so it was just me and the 4 year old Konan on the men's side. There were a few other old men in there, but Konan did not mind. He still acted as if he were alone. In Korea, children typically play and splash and have fun in the various pools. In Japan, they are more sedate and try not to disturb others. I think Konan might be Korean. He was tossing bucket fulls of cold water all over the place, sliding on the rails, and standing on the chairs. I guess I am not sufficiently fearsome in his eyes.

Konan has another little cousin that did find me scary, at least on our first meeting. Taisei is a little bit delicate I guess, but I did not realize that soon enough. When I met him at a family dinner in December, I sat next to him and gave him a nice, fast speech in English. Most kids just look at me funny for a while and then wander off. Taisei cried. Boy did I feel bad.

Luckily for me, sometime over the New Year, Taisei's mother convinced him that I was not yelling at him and that I am really a fun person. When we met again last week, Taisei had warmed up to me and had no problem practicing English and climbing all over me.

On Saturday night, we went to a bonfire. The local fire department in a very small village where Takaaki works had piled a bunch of wood and bamboo in a field and lit it on fire. It was a good fire. I especially enjoyed listening to the bamboo burn. I guess the liquid in the various bamboo chambers heats up. Fairly frequently, a long piece of bamboo would split length-wise with a loud bang. Sometimes, the little paper-thin divider within the bamboo sections would shoot out and float over the crowd. I enjoyed that.

On Sunday, we took the bus back up to Fukuoka and visited two of Rie's friends. One of them was an ALT after me in Kagoshima and was back for a visit. In the afternoon, we took the high-speed ferry back to Busan. The waves were a bit rough, so the sounds of retching were a little bit loud.

Today, I made it back to work and sorted through my 51 waiting e-mails.

Jjim Jil Bang Pictures

We got a few pictures of our night at the public bathhouse from Miyuki.

In this picture, we are all sitting on the heated floor in our matching pink lounging wear. We have two big iced drinks to keep us hydrated and are getting ready to dig into the shaved ice dessert topped with all sorts of beans and fruits. Behind us, you can see some massage chairs and behind them are the little caves that people can crawl into.







In the second picture, we are eating a late breakfast and enjoying the view over the bay.

A bag full of cash

Just before we left for Japan, I had to pay the rent. In Korea, the custom is to pay the entire year's rent in advance. The landlord invests the money for the whole year and returns the borrowed money to the tenant at the end of the year. For the Americans whose rent is paid by the U.S. government, they are willing to alter the system slightly. We still pay the year's rent in advance, but at the end, they just keep it. Landlords like renting to American federal employees.

My rent came to almost $20,000 for the year. On the 24th of December, I went up to the Bank of America branch in Daegu and had them put a a whole pile of money into a paper bag. I got used to carrying several thousand dollars around when I was a tour guide, but I think this was my personal record for the amount of cash in my pocket.

After paying the landlord, and visiting the very expensive Japan, my pockets are empty again.

A few pictures of Amami Oshima

I tried to take a good picture of Naze Gachi, the town where Rie's mother lives, but could not find a good vantage point. Rie and I hiked up the hill across the valley and this picture was the best we could get. Naze Gachi is the small group of buildings in the center.


We drove up the hill above Naze Gachi and took this picture of the town about 1km away, Kominato. This is where Rie's mother used to live.


We went back to the beach where we took our nice wedding photos.


I took this artistic picture of the women's rest room at the beach.

Vacation

The excitement of New Year’s day and cleaning and visiting people has wound down. Yesterday, Rie and I went for a four and a half hour walk in the hills. It was great to stroll in the jungle-covered hills and listen to the birds. Lots of local people have small gardens or orange groves up there and we passed a few people at work.

Other than strolls and running, things have gotten pretty relaxing. It is a bit too chilly to enjoy the ocean, but I have finished two books already.

Aki Toku

Rie’s mother grew up on the next island down, Kakeroma, in the village of Aki Toku. One day, Rie and I drove about an hour to the town where she was born, Setouchi. From there, we took a 20 minute ferry to Kakeroma. On the ferry we ran into a cousin and took her to her home in Aki Toku. We visited Rie’s great-aunt for lunch and ran into some more uncles and cousins around town.

Aki Toku is another great small fishing and farming village. In southern Japan, everybody is worried about the poisonous Habu snake. In small villages like Aki Toku, they take 5-foot tall sticks and paint one end yellow for visibility. About every 100 feet throughout the village is a Habu stick. So, if you are ever walking home at night and see a snake, you can grab a stick and clear the path.

My last visit to Japan was for the funeral of Rie’s grandmother Yaeko. After she passed away, they put her in a glass coffin with dry ice and placed her in the living room. After a few days, a funeral was held at the house. Only a few people could fit inside. Most people had to listen to the speakers set up outside. After the funeral, we drove up to the crematorium. Grandma Yaeko was placed inside and Taakaki pushed the button to fire up the furnace. We all ate lunch and walked around until the process was complete. Then we carefully place the bones into a special container. We took the container down to Aki Toku and placed it in the family grave. The cemetery is in a nice place – along a stream, next to the jungle, and overlooking the ocean. Grandma Yaeko’s garden in the hills is not far away.

During our trip to Aki Toku last week, Rie and I cleaned the grave and lit incense. We also visited a few other graves of Rie’s family members. Rie wanted some of her old pictures from Grandma Yaeko’s house. Nobody lives there now and it is starting to fall apart. We had to be careful on the soggy floor, but we were able to find lots of pictures of Rie as a little girl. I learned that Rie had the unfortunate timing of going to middle school during the few years that the required PE shorts for girls consisted of very tight and very short shorts.

Welcome Home – Now get to work!

The last two days of the year are reserved for cleaning in Japan. Perhaps because I am the tallest person in the house, I was given the task of cleaning the sliding glass doors. I think I did a good job and now we can look out and see the jungle covered hills and the humongous spider on the neighbor’s wall.

They let me do a bit of out door work as well. I swept up the dead-end road next to the house and put all of the leaves into the fire. I also helped pull weeds around the house. On previous visits, I have dug fence-post holes and helped construct a storage shed.

Very nearby in the village, Rie’s family has a small garden. Anytime we need green beans or broccoli or spinach, I get sent out there for some picking. Rie and I both agree, we hope to have a garden someday and grow some of our own food as well.

SatoGaeri

On the 27th, we left mainland Japan and flew down to the island Rie grew up on, Amami Oshima. We landed at the airport, but I always call it the Amami Community Center. Inevitably, anytime we hang out at the airport, we run into friends and relatives of Rie or her family. Rie’s mother picked us up. After running into other people she knew, we headed home.

I really like the family home in Amami. It has three small rooms, lots of sliding glass doors, tatami (reed mat) floors and lots of wood. The house is in a small village of about 100 people named Naze Gachi. Naze Gachi is crammed up against the hillside and overlooks a valley with many gardens and small farms. Less than a mile away, across the Oogawa River (small stream), is the bigger village of KoMinato. As the name translates, KoMinato is a small port. There are a few fishing boats there and a beach.

Every evening at 5pm, the valley-wide loud speaker reminds children to go home for dinner and to study. At 8:30 pm, the announcer reminds people to be careful with their gas cooking fires. Yesterday, after an earthquake in Indonesia, the announcer gave the tsunami warning. The periodic messages remind me of summers spent at a bungalow colony in the Catskills when I was young.

SatoGaeri means “to return to one’s home town” and that is exactly what it feels like every time I make it back here.

I'm a loser with Yen

On Christmas Day, Rie and I took a nice cheap taxi across town to the International Ferry Terminal. We boarded the high-speed ferry and three hours later we were in Japan. From the ferry terminal in Fukuoka, Japan, we took a very short and very expensive taxi ride to the bus station. In Korea, the Dollar is very strong and everything is fairly cheap. In Japan, the Dollar is very weak. If I was working here now, I would be earning about 35% more (in Dollars) than I did four years ago.

During our 10 minute / $15 taxi ride, we discussed all sorts of things with the taxi driver. He thought Rie was from India and was not shy about asking our ages. After a short wait at the bus station, we took the four hour bus ride to the nearest big town to Rie’s brother. Taakaki and his family picked us up and we all went back to their small house in Iwagawa. It was a long day of traveling, and for some reason, I was given the honor of taking the first bath. I hope it was because I was the oldest in the house and not because they were treating me as a guest. Either way, my little four year old nephew jumped at the chance to be among the first to use the hot water in the bathtub. He had some good bath toys, but we could not stay too long because other people were waiting to enjoy the hot water.

Rie’s father’s family lives near Taakaki and we had a nice visit with many great-aunts and cousins and a few trips to the nursing home to visit Rie’s grandmother. On the 27th, we went to the airport to continue our journey south. I was surprised to run into a teacher I used to work with when I was an English teacher. I usually make fun of Rie for meeting people she knows at the Amami airport, but here I was running into friends in the big Kagoshima airport.