Final Run Log

I'm done with all the running logs, but here are some final statistics:

Total Distance: 733.295 km
Total Duration: 3 days, 6 hours, 28 minutes, 12 seconds
Total Average Pace: 6:25

Running Log: Week 18

Week of Nov. 29 - Dec. 5
11/30: 5k, 24:03
12/01: 6k, 34:54
12/02: 3k, 14:58
12/05: 42.195k (Naha Marathon), 5:23:04

Total: 56.195k, 6:36:59
Average Pace: 07:03

The Naha Marathon is advertised as Japan's largest open marathon. 23,402 people ran on Sunday. 16,845 people finished. I came in 9,311-th place.

(Okinawa Times)

It took me a little over 13 minutes to cross the start line, but once I got through that and the mini-traffic jam of people taking pictures of some famous person, I was on my way.

Well, I was on my way for about 18km, anyway. The race went exactly like my training: I cramped around 18km and then walked for about 10km. By then, the cramp had faded away to where I could actually run, and that lasted until about the 32 or 34km mark. By that point, it was a 'run half a km'-'walk half a km' mixture until the finish line.

But I accomplished my goal: run a full marathon and not injure myself. The next day I was at work with only a little soreness on the soles of my feet. Today, almost nothing. All the training I did got my into the shape I needed to be in, so thanks Hal!

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed, though. Even though this was my first marathon, I did want to finish under 5 hours. However, I did something even Pheidippides himself couldn't do:

I didn't die!

(My chip time is in the bottom right corner)

Running Log: Week 17

Week of Nov. 22 - Nov. 28
11/23: 6k, 35:33
11/24: 10k, 1:03:33
11/25: 5k, 25:33
11/27: 13k, 1:25:00

Total: 34k, 3:29:39
Average Pace: 06:10

I took it slow at the beginning of the week and decided to speed up my 5k run just for the heck of it. On Saturday, I was in Kyoto, and as I had no idea how far I was running, I just set a time for 1:25. I was imagining myself getting up early and running through parks surrounded by temples, but I somehow couldn't find my way out of the city and was treated with a normal view of concrete.

5 days to marathon.

Running Log: Week 16

Week of Nov. 15 - Nov. 21
11/16: 8k, 50:23
11/17: 13k, 1:23:18
11/18: 6k, 35:15
11/20: 19k, 2:05:04

Total: 46k, 4:54:00
Average Pace: 06:23

I spent this week trying to run slow, at around 07:00 per km. That proved extremely hard for my shorter runs, but for the 19k on Saturday, it was actually a very comfortable pace. Having done 32k the week before, I dare say running 19k was...easy.

Running Log: Week 15

Week of Nov. 8 - Nov. 14

11/09: 8k, 43:07

11/10: 16k, 1:29:03

11/11: 8k, 45:17

11/13: 32k, 3:49:49

Total: 64k, 6:47:16

Average Pace: 06:21

Hell Week is over. I have feared it since I began my training, not only because it is my peak week and I had to run 32k on Saturday, but I also had a half-marathon race the Sunday before. So from a Sunday-Saturday running week perspective, I ran 85.1k for 9:07:34.

That's a lot of running.

Overall, it went well, showing once again that what is hard is all a matter of perspective. My Tues-Thurs runs were good and I was pumped for Saturday, but as has been the trend recently, I cramped around the 19k mark. This was extremely frustrating because I felt great; the throbbing in my shins had gone away, I drank 4 liters of water the day before, I was ingesting gels (which taste like heaven) and didn't feel tired or hungry in anyway. I wanted to run, but I just couldn't.

So while I was walking, I was able to do a lot of thinking as to why this is happening, and I came to the conclusion that I am running to fast. For example, I ran my 16k on Wednesday at a pace of 05:33 per km. I was proud of that and I'm pretty sure I ran the first 19k on Saturday at a similar speed because I remember thinking that I will finish in a little over 3 hours. But when I cramped, I think it was my body telling me it cannot (yet) run 32k (let alone 42.2k) at a similar pace.

My goal for the full marathon since I started has been to just finish the race. I have stayed away from setting a time for myself, but I learned on Saturday I should try to pick a pace and stick to it.

If I can run the marathon in 5 hours, that would be about 07:10 per km. So for the rest of my training, my goal will be to run at a pace of 07:00 per km.

3 weeks to marathon.

Running Log: Week 14

Week of Nov. 1 - Nov. 7
11/02: 8k, 43:46
11/03: 14k, 1:20:31
11/04: 8k, 43:14
11/07: 21.1k (Shohashi Half-Marathon), 2:20:18

Total: 51.1k, 5:07:49
Average Pace: 06:01

Attendance for Shohashi was 8,942, making it the most crowded race I have run. I lined up near the back and once the race started, it took about 10 minutes to cross the start line. At first I didn't care, but then I realized it was hard to pass people.

I ran the first half in about an hour and 20 minutes, then sped up and ran the last half in an hour. The last two km were the hardest because I was hungry and tired. My runner friend Dave said I need to pick up some gels and ingest them every hour.

Running Log: Week 13

Week of Oct. 25 - Oct. 31
10/26: 6k, 34:18
10/27: 14k, 1:25:00
10/28: 8k, 47:00
10/30: 29k, 3:34:14

Total: 57k, 6:20:32
Average Pace: 06:40

Another typhoon caused another rainy week. My Wednesday and Thursday runs are estimates. It was a decent week until Saturday. Running 29k in terms of distance was a personal best, but...I only ran about 19k of it.

I cramped hard. Real hard. When I finally made it into my apartment, I felt sick to the point of nausea. If this had been marathon day, I would not have been able to finish. It was a good reminder that my goal for the Naha Marathon is to only complete the race.

I will be running the Shohashi Half-Marathon this coming Sunday. Next week is Hell Week. I'm going to try a new strategy of drinking 4-5 liters of water the day before my long run.

5 weeks to marathon.

Running Log: Week 12

Week of Oct. 18 - Oct. 24
10/19: 6k, 33:00
10/20: 13k, 1:23:10
10/21: 8k, 45:00
10/23: 19k, 2:10:00

Total: 46k, 4:51:10
Average Pace: 06:19

The typhoon that recently hit the Philippines caused rain in Okinawa ALL WEEK LONG. I was only able to time myself on Wednesday. The other times are guesstimates. I really should invest in a watch, but I don't want to spend the money.

Overall, I wasn't happy with any of my runs. I cramped on most of them, specifically half-way through my Saturday run, which forced me to walk the final 7k. It wasn't a good way to end the week.

6 weeks to marathon.

Kijoka

(from air)

(from land)

Level Up (Green Belt)

I tested for my green belt in late September and I got it last week. September also marked 3 years of doing karate.

初段

準初段 (black)


１級


２級 (brown)


３級


４級 (green) <-- ME


５級


６級 (yellow)


７級


８級 (orange)


９級


１０級 (blue)

初級 (white)

I am on track to get my black belt in October 2012, but unfortunately, my JET tenure ends in July 2012. I'm wondering if I can convince my village office to hire me for a 6th year.

Running Log: Week 11

Week of Oct. 11 - Oct. 17

10/12: 6k, 32:38

10/13: 13k, 1:17:53

10/14: 6k, 32:30

10/16: 26k, 2:44:20

Total: 51k, 5:07:21

Average Pace: 06:01

Had some good runs last week (for me). 

• On Thursday, I ran my fastest min/km by doing 6k at an average of 05:25.
• My average pace is the lowest average pace yet.
• I ran 26k faster this week than I ran 24k last week.

What amazes me the most about all this training is that I am actually doing it. Last week was my longest yet (51k!), and it has turned out to be my best. I find that unbelievable. I have some tenderness on the sides of my shins, but other than that, my body seems to be holding up well.

Only three more weeks until my runs peak at Week 15 (Hell Week), before tapering down the final 3 weeks before the marathon. 

Running Log: Week 10

Week of Oct. 4 - Oct. 10

10/05: 5k, 28:21

10/06: 11k, 1:05:21

10/07: 6k, 35:03

10/09: 24k, 2:45:58

Total: 48k, 4:54:43

Average Pace: 06:24

Running Log: Week 9

Week of Sept. 27 - Oct. 3

9/28: 5k, 28:38

9/29: 11k, 1:04:10

9/30: 6k, 35:10

10/02: 16k, 1:45:47

Total: 38k, 3:53:45

Average Pace: 06:09

Highlight of the week for me was my 11k run, where I averaged 5:50 per km. A mini-goal of mine has been to run 10k in under an hour, which is what I finally did last Wednesday.

Third Time's the Charm: Part 2

In August, I took a kanji test called the Kanken. I went for level 5, which is equal to a smart 6th grader's kanji ability, or 1006 kanji. I have failed it on my first two attempts, but I found out last week that I finally passed on my third try. Passing is 140/200. I got a 146/200.

The hardest part about the test is not the kanji, but the vocabulary. It's like a spelling test for a bunch of words you don't know. It's hard to spell out the antonym/synonym of a word you don't even know the meaning of.

For those who might be interested, here is the breakdown sans translation:

読み: 18/20
部首と部首名: 10/10
画数: 10/10
漢字と送りがな: 10/10
音と訓: 12/20
四字の熟語: 10/20
対義語・類義語: 16/20
熟語作る: 4/10
熟語の構成: 16/20
同じ読みの漢字: 8/20
書き取り: 32/40

Running Log: Week 8

Week of Sept. 20 - Sept. 26

9/21: 5k, 29:31

9/22: 10k, 1:01:07

9/23: 5k, 28:10

9/25: 21k, 2:23:01

Total: 41k, 4:21:49

Average Pace: 06:23

I ran 41k last week faster than I ran 39k the week before that, which is kinda cool. Also, Saturday's long run was roughly a half marathon, which is the longest distance I have ever run. This week's long run will take a step back, but starting next week, I will be going into unknown territory. Right now, the idea of running double what I did on Saturday is a bit...intimidating.

Running Log: Week 7

Week of Sept. 13 - Sept. 19

9/14: 5k, 28:30

9/15: 10k, 1:07:19

9/16: 5k, 28:43

9/18: 19k, 2:21:07

Total: 39k, 4:25:39

Average Pace: 06:48

Running Log: Week 6

Week of Sept. 6 - Sept. 12

9/7: 5k, 28:09

9/8: 8k, 48:44

9/9: 5k, 29:36

9/11: 11k, 1:21:25

Total: 29k, 3:07:54

Average Pace: 06:28

Third Time's the Charm

I came home yesterday to find the results of the JLPT (a Japanese proficiency test) that I took back in July in the mail. I am pleased to say that I have, finally, passed.

My stats:
Vocabulary/Grammar: 36/60
Reading: 34/60
Listening: 42/60

Total Score: 112/180 (62%)

I needed 60%, so I just barely passed. But I don't need to tell a future employer that if I choose a career where putting this on my resume would be useful.

I am most pleased with my Listening score, as that is what caused me to fail the test my first two times. Also, I realized yesterday that I first started studying for this test the day after taking Level 3, back in December 2007. So it has taken me two and a half years to do this.

Back in February 2009, I wrote the following:

I've spent the past month trying to figure out what I want to achieve in Japan. I'm not too motivated so the list is short:

-pass Level 1 JLPT
-run a half-marathon (maybe a full)

With N2 out of the way, I will now focus on taking N1 next July. I would take it this December, but I have a full marathon to run that day...

Running Log: Week 5

Week of Aug. 30 - Sept. 5
8/31: 5k, 29:17
9/01: 8k, 50:01
9/02: 5k, 27:35
9/04: 16k, 1:50:33

Total: 34k, 3:37:26
Average Pace: 06:23

Typhoon #7

Just like Florida has its hurricane season, Okinawa has its typhoon season. For the past three years, many typhoons have skirted around the island, but I had yet to experience a direct hit...until last Tuesday.

There were actually three typhoons in the area. Typhoons are known by their numbers and the one that hit Okinawa was Typhoon #7. The internet is calling it Typhoon Kompasu, so I guess typhoons have other names outside of Japan. Typhoon #8 is called Typhoon Lionrock. That's sure is a lot cooler than, say, Hurricane Earl.

Anyway, news reports said the storm would hit at around 160 kph, or 100 mph, and judging from all the damage in the area, I would say they were correct. I've experienced many storms in Florida, but there was a big difference this time...my housing.

Prior to the storm, I was reassured my building would be okay because, 'Okinawa buildings are made from concrete.' Great, but I soon learned that my doors were not exactly sealed for typhoon conditions. I had water leaking in and debris flying through my fan that let's out smoke when I cook, but the worst problem for me was the noise. With all my doors and windows rattling for about 4 hours, I couldn't focus on anything and just laid on my futon.

Oh, and I lost power for about 30 hours.

Here are some pictures I took the following Wednesday morning:

Some guy's destroyed office.

I helped some old men flip this back over.

How NOT to prepare your yard for a storm.

There was lots of this.

And of course, Wednesday was the first day of school. After a brief 1st period assembly, the kids spent the rest of their morning doing yard work. I made myself useful by taking pictures, of course.

I'm Debt Free!

Last week after payday, I sent some money to my American bank account and payed off my student loan.

When I came to Japan three years ago, I had a student loan and debt on three credit cards. I budgeted that I could pay if all off in one year if I 'tried really hard'. But 'trying really hard' turned out to be, well, hard, and I had the temptations of traveling and motorcycles telling me to spend.

But now, for the first time since high school, I owe no money. It was somewhat anti-climatic as I didn't receive a "CONGRATULATIONS" e-mail from the bank or a phone call from the president telling me to keep on saving. In fact, I'm a little apprehensive that I owe someone somewhere something...

Running Log: Week 4

Week of Aug. 23 - Aug. 29
8/23: 5k, 29:31
8/25: 6k, 36:41
8/26: 5k, 29:19
8/28: 14k, 1:42:20

Total: 30k, 3:17:51
Average Pace: 06:35

Running Log: Week 3

Week of Aug. 16 - Aug. 22

8/16: 5k, 30:09
8/18: 6k, 34:28
8/19: 5k, 29:04
8/21: 8k, 54:35

Total: 24k, 2:28:16
Average Pace: 06:10

Running Log: Week 2

Week of Aug. 9 - Aug. 15

8/9: 5k, 30:00 (it was raining so I didn't time myself)
8/11: 5k, 30:27
8/13: 5k, 29:02
8/14: 11k, 1:17:28

Total: 26k, 2:46:57
Average Pace: 06:25

Running Log: Week 1

I will be running two races this fall:

• Shouhashi Half Marathon - Nov. 7
• Naha Marathon - Dec. 5

For the next 18 weeks, I will be logging my weekly runs, partly for motivation, but also because it makes me feel cool to do so. Since the Naha Marathon will be my first marathon, and thus making me a full marathon noob, there will be nothing cool about my times, however.

Week of Aug. 2 - Aug. 8 (my week begins on Monday)

8/2: 4k, 25:52
8/4: 4k, 24:34
8/5: 4k, 25:02
8/7: 9k, 1:03:38

Total: 21k, 2:19:06
Average Pace: 06:37

3 Years

Today marks exactly three years since I first arrived in Tokyo for my JET orientation.

When I think about all that has taken place in my life since I came to Okinawa, I can feel the three years.

But then the other part of me is, like, 'Whoa! Three years already?!'

I guess that's what time does to people.

JET Calendar Entry #5

How Not to Climb Mt. Daedunsan

After my How Not Climb Mt. Fuji post, I probably should write a blog titled, "Cliff Should Stop Trying to Climb Mountains".

I am currently in the middle of my week-long trip to South Korea. Korea is my first new country to visit in my three years on JET. I chose Korea because 1) the airplane ticket was cheap and 2) I have lots of friends teaching English there.

My itinerary was as follows:

1. Visit a friend and hang out.
2. Visit another friend and hang out.
3. Climb a mountain.
4. Go back and visit the first friend.

Basically, I had no idea what I was doing. Since I knew nothing about Korea, I was hoping that the people I would be visiting would show me around. So far, that is exactly what has happened and it has been a blast.

The 'Climb a Mountain' plan was something I wanted to do solo. For that, I needed to do a little bit of preperation, like deciding what mountain to climb. Korea is full of mountains and hiking trails, so it was hard for me to narrow down the list

I finally decided on Seoraksan, but that turned out to be farther away than expected. So I looked at some mountains that were close to where I was staying (a novel idea!) and decided on Daedunsan.

These names probably have as much meaning to you as they did to me when I was working this out, but I decided on Daedunsan because the mountain had a sweet cable car and a killer suspension bridge (My high school English teacher would be proud of this sentence).

Getting to the top was no problem. The cable car was as sweet as expected and the suspension bridge was even more killer than I thought it would be. I ate my lunch at the top and took pictures until my camera died.

Then...I began my decent. The thing with Daedunsan is that it is one mountain among many (unlike Mt. Fuji), so there are lots and lots of trails. I repeatedly came across signs that said, 'go this way to see a temple (3km)', 'head that way to an observatory (1.5km)', etc. You could hike forever. I took a couple of these detours and saw a Buddha carved into a rock that was apparently really old. Then I followed another sign to an awesome observatory that had a view that was even better than the tallest peak I had eaten my lunch on. That view made the trip for me. Finally, I worked my way back to the spot where I had originally diverted.

This is where it started to suck

To explain my body condition at this point, I need to backtrack. I had spent two nights at my friend Ben's apartment and had rested up so well that it made it difficult to go to sleep last night even though I knew I had to get up early. I got enough hours in to feel I was able to hike, but after the 4 hours in travel time and then the roughly 3km I had done up to this point, my body was tired. Real tired.

Taking the advice of some old Korean man, I took a different route instead of retracing my steps back to the cable car. He told me (with gestures), that the two routes intersect each other. Sweet.

But the way down was hard. It was a 500m (at least) scramble down rocks. It looked like the Agro Crag on crack. All I could do was put one foot down after the other and try not to slip. It was during this decent I realized, 'Man, this is dangerous.'

What was going through my mind was that no one would find my body. Korean hiking trails are usually packed, but apparently not on Tuesday. There was nobody around and had I made one slip, it would have been hours before some lone old man would have found me.

To make matters worse, there were a couple of instances where I was climbing down what I thought was the trail, only to reach a dead end and realized I had gone off it. So I had to backtrack. This happened a number of times and made me even more tired.

I finally reached a point where I had no idea where I was.

I could have sworn I had followed the signs correctly, but obviously I hadn't because I was wandering around in a circle. I started to get nervous.

After about 10 minutes, I saw an old man about 50 meters away. I cut across the wood and discovered the path I had lost. He was standing next to a sign that pointed to the cable car, but the distance was now FARTHER than it was previously, meaning I really had messed up. My other option was the ticket office, which was the same distance. I chose that because that involved climbing down, whereas the cable car involved climbing up.

And from there it was easy. It was another 800m, but there was no more Crag to climb down. I cleared the wood...and found myself standing on the interstate. I saw some old man selling vegetables across the street, so I went over to him and asked where my hotel is. He points in the direction and I started walking. It turned out to be another kilometer. I was dirty, sweaty, and as cars passed, people would stare at me. I felt like a bum.

But I finally made it back to the hotel and I discovered that it had a hot spring. I was in heaven.

(stolen from the internets since my camera died)

The yellow line is the cable car. Took 5 minutes.
The blue line is the climb to the top. Took 40 min, maybe.
The red line is how NOT to climb (I guess it's really a decent) Mt. Daedunsan.

Well, you can if you are hardcore like me. It took a minimum of 2 hours.

JET Calendar Entry #4

JET Calendar Entry #3

New Sandals

I bought my third pair of sandals in three years last weekend. My first pair got filthy moldy and my second pair somehow rotted, because they began to smell horrid. I blame the Okinawa weather and my sweaty feet.

Why don't I buy a more sturdy pair that won't die and stink up on me? Because I have to wear what I can get. I wear US 14 (32 cm) and it's impossible to find shoes my size. My second pair was actually too small, with my toes going over the edge.

Most sandals are sizes here are S, M, L, or LL. But guess what I found this weekend?

4L!

JET Calendar Entry #2

JET Calendar Entry #1

The JET Programme sends out a wall and desk calendar every year to its participants, and in the summer, there is a photo submission contest. I missed out on it my first two years here, but I sent in a couple (15!) this year. I'm going to copy my friend Dave and post some of the shots I submitted.

No More English School

For the past two years, I have been doing extra English lessons every Sunday night at one of my student's houses. The pay was small, but the kids were few, the preparation time nil, and I was happy to get some experience teaching material outside of my normal classes.

Then things started to change. First, my own schedule got too busy that I had to push the class to Monday night. This caused some kids to drop out only to be replaced with new kids. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but when you are teaching one group of kids for a year, then all of a sudden you have a couple new kids who are basically 'a year behind', that means my planning time increases while my pay stays the same. Also, the oldest girl became a junior high student, and I felt it was my duty to bump up her level to focus on passing the Eiken, an English standardized test here in Japan. So not only did my planning time increase, but I increased the class time from an hour to 1.5 hours.

This bothered me a bit, but then Yamakawa-san started cooking me awesome dinners to take home every week, so I began to feel the extra work was worth it.

Then this past May happened. After being settled in this routine for about 6 months, I had two girls quit, and four new kids show up. My class demographic became the following:

1 8th grader who can read
1 8th grader who can't read
1 5th grader who had been in my class for two years
2 5th graders who knew no ABCs and hardly any English outside of 'Hello'
1 4th grader who knew no ABCs and hardly any English outside of 'Hello'
1 3rd grader who had been in my class for two years
1 3rd grader who had been in my class for 6 months and a little behind
1 3rd grader who knew no ABCs and didn't want to be there

My prep time, which use to be nothing, all of a sudden became 1-2 hours of extra work to print out worksheets and the like for all the different levels. Also, the class became rowdier since I was repeating material for the new kids, and the older kids got bored. I was unable to control them using the same discipline rules I use in my classroom (such as screaming, 'Shut up!', while performing a piledriver) since I was inside someone's house.

And most importantly, I had no change in pay.

So, I quit. And yesterday was my last class. Hooray!

Around the Futenma Problem in 80 Seconds

"Cliff-sensei, have you ever been to war?"
"No, stupid girl, I haven't."
"Yes you have, liar! You're American!"

The above is a (somewhat true) conversation I had with a 2nd grade girl during lunch last week. After she made her acute observation, she went back to eating her rice and started talking about how poo stinks. But what brought her to ask that question in the first place? I think she most likely heard her parents talk about Futenma over dinner.

But what is Futenma and what does it have to do with war? For the three or four friends/family members that read this blog, I will give a brief rundown of a political issue that has been making daily headlines in Japan since last October.

After World War II, Okinawa was under US administration. The currency was the dollar and people drove on the right side of the road. Then, 27 years later, America gave Okinawa back to Japan, but...America still controlled about 20% of the land through its military bases.


Fast forward to last August and a big election was held. A new party overthrew the old one that had been the major ruling party since 1955. The new prime minister that was elected was Yukio Hatoyama, and to show that he meant business, he announced he was going to review an old military base transfer treaty that called for Futenma Air Station to be moved out of a major city in Okinawa to a non-major city in...Okinawa.

(Futenma MCAS in Ginowan)

That non-major city, Nago, is the closest thing I have to a city. It's about a 30 minute drive south and it is where I do my karate, Japanese lessons, and food shopping.

(It takes about 90 minutes to drive from 'Me' to 'Futenma Base')

Why would Hatoyama want to review the old treaty? Because people in Nago don't want the base coming to them and most people want the base out of Okinawa completely.

But what are some of the benefits of hosting a base? Local businesses get a huge boost, for one. Also, municipalities hosting the bases get money and jobs are created for 'the locals'. From an economic point of view, hosting a base would seem like a great idea! Also, we can protect Japan from Russia...no Vietnam...I mean China, wait...North Korea!

So why do most Okinawan people not like military bases? Well...

• Old people don't like the military because 1 in 4 civilians died during the Battle of Okinawa.
  
• Middle age people don't because we rape their junior-high school daughters (here and here), and crash helicopters into universities and planes into farms.
• Young women don't because we act like douches. Or in more extreme cases, we tell a girl, 'I'm leaving for Afghanistan tomorrow', get her pregnant, then after she bumps into us a few weeks later and learns we lied to her, we pretend like we don't know her.
  
• Young men don't because...well...I don't know, but they didn't let me join the local soccer team.

Who does like us? Kids! They love us!

So when Hatoyama said he wanted to review the treaty, Okinawa rejoiced. But instead of telling America that Okinawa doesn't want the base and to move it somewhere else, Hatoyama became responsible for the relocation. (Which to me is America saying, 'YOU move us.')

Hatoyama tried very hard. People have to give him that. He took his time making his decision because he wanted to review all possible options. But it's hard to appease everybody when everybody is protesting at you. America was protesting against the review, Ginowan people were protesting against the base's existence, Nago people were protesting against the base's transfer, and when the media found out of a possible relocation site outside the prefecture, those people protested, too. The guy couldn't catch a break.

But finally, this week, about 8 months after saying he was going to look into the issue, Hatoyama has made his decision. He will...go along with the original treaty.

I don't have a strong opinion about the whole thing (I try to avoid them), but I do think I can objectively say that this is how most Okinawan people feel right now:

(putting my Digital Arts degree to use)

Disclaimer: Yes, I know not all military people are bad. I have a lot of friends in the military. Also, Okinawa does not hate me. Most people are intelligent enough to differentiate between a person and a cause. Finally, if the bases were moved out of Okinawa, all those Japanese people with jobs on base would become unemployed. That would suck.

The main reason I made this post was because I wanted to include the above photo. Cheers.

Random Foods

When I visited America last Christmas, one of the first things out of my mom's mout was, "Are you eating over there?"

The answer is, of course, yes. A lot, actually. During the week I am short on time and will either eat out or cook something easy. During the weekend, however, I may find a recipe on the internet to try cooking myself or I may have something cooked for me.

A few weekends ago, I was treated to some squid ink pasta. The ink came from Iejima, where it is apparently known for its quality.

Okinawa is famous for its squid ink soup, but you can mix squid ink in anything from pasta to rice. Like an Oreo, it'll turn your mouth black. Also, you'll notice something else has turned black a day or so later after a trip to the bathroom...

This past weekend, I had some fish made for me. The fish is called buri, and you can buy a couple of chopped up heads at the grocery store for about $3.00. Just throw everything in a pot, add your own stock, boil it down, throw in the vegetables, and voila! I was told the eye is the best part.

I tried arranging my plate to make it look appetizing. How'd I do?

Koinobori

May 5th is Children's Day in Japan, and starting back in April, people hang up koinobori, or 'carp streamers', in hopes that their boys will grow up big and strong.

During Golden Week, I took a trip to Yomitan to see some "awesome koinobori". Apparently there weren't as many as last year, but there were more than I am use to seeing, and having them strung up over a river made for a nice effect.

Food of Hokkaido

When I travel, I try to spend less money on souvenirs and more money on food. Why? Because I like food. For you Japanese-studiers, I have been called a 食いしん坊. Not sure how negative the nuance is, but my dictionary says, 'big eater', so I can't really disagree.

My Sapporo food-highlights are:

Genghis-Khan - Lamb and vegetables cooked yakiniku-style. Goes great with beer. Apparently it's named after some Mongolian.

Hairy Crab - or kegani, was my favorite. I was expecting the hairs to be prickly, but they were very soft.


Miso Ramen - People don't eat much ramen in Okinawa, so I took the opportunity to eat a lot of it while I was here.

Fish Sex Organs - or tachi-pon, is...fish sex organs (白子) in a ponzu sauce.


Oysters - I had oysters once in high school and hated them. Then we ordered huge grilled ones, and they were excellent.

Ika-somen - or raw squid cut up in noodle-like strips. This was served with a whole squid next to it. The waiter asked how we wanted it prepared, and that was when we noticed that it was still alive because the tentacles were moving. We went with tempura.

Motorcycle

I have a new mode of transportation: a Kawasaki ZRX 400.

It is mandatory to go to bike school before getting your bike license in Japan. The school cost me a lot of money and took about two months to complete. I got my license last June. Fast forward 9 months later and I finally bought a bike.


I was worried I might have forgotten how to ride, but as I pulled off into heavy traffic and rode the two hours back to Ogimi, I felt completely in control and realized the money I had spent on classes had been worth it. Not only did I remember how to ride, but I felt safe doing so.

While enjoying my new toy, I sometimes think just how sucky it would be to lose control, roll along the road at 80 kph, then get run over by a car.

But I try not to think about that too much.

Hamanasu Karate Tournament

I teach a small English class of six kids every Tuesday night at the Yamakawa house. Karen, the eldest who is about to be an 8th grader, also does karate at the same dojo as me. She qualified a couple of months ago to go to the 4th Annual Hamanasu All Japan Junior High School Karate Elimination Tournament (whew!) in Sapporo, Hokkaido. I had not been to Hokkaido before, and neither had Vaughn, so we both jumped at the excuse to take a trip up north.

(it's colder in Hokkaido than in Okinawa)

We arrived Friday night and the schedule for everybody was:

Saturday - practice
Sunday - tournament
Monday - tournament
Tuesday - go home

Looking at the schedule and not seeing a lot of (or any!) free time, Vaughn and I revised the schedule a little bit to:

Saturday - hot spring
Sunday - tournament (to see Karen!)
Monday - beer and chocolate factory
Tuesday - go home

Happy with our schedule, we sat back and relaxed as the tour guides did all the plane ticket and hotel reservations for us.

(view from our hotel room)

I was looking forward to doing the hot spring because I wanted to walk outside naked in -3℃ (26.6°F) weather and have it be culturally accepted. Mission accomplished. +1 XP.

The beer and chocolate factory were exactly what I expected them to be. At the end of the beer tour, we were allowed to 'sample' up to three glasses of Sapporo Classic within a 20 minute time-frame. Vaughn and I met this challenge, but I ran into a little trouble on the train ride back. We were waiting on the platform for the rapid train to arrive and after those three beers, I really had to use the bathroom. Seeing that I had only a minute before the train arrived and knowing that I wouldn't have a chance to go to the bathroom for another 20 minutes, I ran to the end of the platform, which was deserted, and went off the ledge. Not exactly classy, but if a tree falls in a forrest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?

But then I heard the train arriving...and I was still going (3 beers!). The train pulls up right next to me, and I hang my head like an ostrich thinking they can't see me if I can't see them. Then the train pulled away with all the passenger cars going past me...and I realized I missed my train. Vaughn told me later that as the train pulled away, the conductor announced that there was a toilet in the 3rd car.

All the vacationing aside, the purpose of our trip was to see Karen compete against 122 other 7th grade girls from all over Japan in kata.

(camera credit: Vaughn)

How did she do? First place! She was the only one from Okinawa to place in anything. Vaughn later commented, 'I was never a #1 All-American anything...'

Now if she would only do her English homework...

(it says she won)

Dinosaurs in the Classroom

My final lesson for the 5th/6th grade class at Ogimi Elementary was to have the kids give self-introductions as dinosaurs. They took turns standing in front of the class and gave the following example presentation:

• My name is Pachycephalosaurus.
• I have two arms and two legs.
• I live in America.
• I eat plants.
• I am 5 meters tall.
• I weigh 2 tons.

The week before, we had class in the computer lab and the kids did internet searches for their favorite dinosaur. Things I learned:

• A dinosaur called Dracorex hogwartsia was discovered a couple of years ago and named after the Harry Potter books.
• I have been saying Ankylosaurus incorrectly ever since I was a kid.
• Girls have zero interest in dinosaurs.

My English Club

It is now March, which means there are about 3 weeks left in the Japanese school year. The 6th graders will graduate, and the rest of the students will have about a week off before starting the new school year in April. (Take that 3-month American holidays!)

It was around this time last year that a 5th grader named Nana came up to me after class and read something on the board I had written. Or maybe she wrote something on the board and asked me what it meant. I don't really remember, but I was surprised because I don't teach my kids reading or writing. I asked her if she was attending an English cram school and she said no, she taught herself.

When she walked away, I was left with the feeling of observing wasted talent. She had a drive to learn English but no one but herself to take her down that path. I started thinking, "Man...if I had her for even just an hour a week..." That thought process quickly led me to asking my vice-principal if I could start an English club the following year. It would only be at Ogimi Elementary and would only focus on reading and writing.

When I did sign-ups for the club, I limited it to 4th-6th grade. Fifteen kids signed up. Given that there are only 38 kids in the entire school, that's almost every 4th-6th grader. I like to think my classes are fun, but as the club was going to be a study club and not about playing games, I had to get this message across quickly and weed out the kids who weren't going to make an effort. So, I intentionally made the club difficult from the very beginning by giving them lots of writing assignments and homework.

Within a month I had six kids left: four 6th graders and two 4th graders. Every time a kid dropped out, the vice-principal made them come up to me and apologize in person. I didn't really need that, but I guess it was good manners.

Once the kids got there ABCs down, I brainstormed what kind of structure or goal to give the club, and I settled on having the kids aim for the Eiken Level 5.

The Eiken is an English test for Japanese students. Level 5 is the level 7th graders aim for when they enter junior high. It is not terribly difficult...if you study. Also, you have to be able to read the test, and my kids couldn't read, yet. As a teacher, the challenges I faced were:

• no experience teaching at that level
• explaining the more difficult grammar points in my so-so Japanese
• only 30 minutes a week

What I basically did was I found an Eiken book that did not teach grammar but had lots of example sentences that included the grammar/vocabulary from the test. I would do one chapter from the book for half the lesson, then I would put all the example vocabulary and sentences in a spaced repetition flash card program called Anki, and had them 'anki' for the remaining half of the lesson. During the fall, I was busy with meetings and stuff, so English club during that time would be me saying, 'Go to the computer room and Anki.'

The logic behind it, in a nutshell, is they learned to read by recognizing the word, not using phonics. The same way I learned how to read. Also, they learned vocabulary by memorizing a correct English sentence containing that word. The same way I learned my English.

When test time came around in January, five of the six kids signed up to take it. Out of those five, four passed.

The passing score was 29/50. The students that passed are:

Nana (6th grade): 42/50
Haruhi (4th grade): 32/50
Shou (6th grade): 31/50
Rena (6th grade): 31/50

As you can imagine, I was delighted on a number of levels:

• I had a high pass percentage rate.
• My 4th grader got a higher score than two of the 6th graders.
• And best of all, Nana, the girl who inspired the club, got the highest score out of every single student who took the test at the junior high that day. That's including the junior high kids themselves.

For the coming school year, I have my heart set on Haruhi, the 4th grader. My dream would have her passing Level 4 next year and Level 3 as a 6th grader.

Faster Internet

Fiber internet has finally made its way to northern Okinawa. I don't have internet at home, so for the past 2.5 years, I have relied on the dial-up internet at my schools. When one thinks of Japan, 'high-tech' may come to mind. But in a village of 3,000 with the average age being (by my guess) 93, 'high-tech' isn't really in high demand.

But as of last week, Ogimi finally upgraded the schools! Now, answering e-mail (and blogging) is an activity that no longer tries my patience.

So to flex my new internet-muscles, here is a picture from the cherry blossom season in Okinawa last month. (uploaded in seconds!)

Digging for Potatoes

There are two big potato events at my schools every year: the planting and the harvesting. Each school has their own schedule, but the kindergarten always does it on Mondays, aligning perfectly with my schedule. Yesterday was harvesting, and I was loaned a pair of 26 cm workboots...roughly a size 8. Since I wear a 14, they were a little tight, but since I wasn't really walking in them (just standing around with a shovel), I was able to manage for an hour.

This year we dug up about 44 kg (97 lbs) worth of potatoes, which was divided up among the teachers and students to take home.

Living out in the country, each school has their own garden. The city schools, however, don't. So if they want their kids to have some gardening experience, they make a field trip out of it and drive up north.

Living to 101

Apparently some BBC documentary makers came to Ogimi a couple years ago, and now you can check out what they did on YouTube:

Tokashiki Marathon

Last Saturday, I took a 35 min boat ride from Naha to Tokashiki to run my second half-marathon (ever). It wasn't until after the race that I reflected on how I may be taking my Okinawan-life for granted. I mean, how many people get to run races on little islands like this:


I ran my first half-marathon in November with a goal of 2:30, but ran it in 2:46:57. This time, I gave myself the same goal even though I had a bigger obstacle in front of me: hills. My friend Dave told me, "Tokashiki is kinda hilly, make sure you train for it." After running the race, I realized that was like saying, "Siberia is kinda chilly, make sure you bring a jacket it."

Here is the elevation chart [stolen from Dave's blog]:


At the 3km mark, you start your climb all the way up to the top of a mountain, which ends around the 6 or 7km mark. Then you spend the next 10km running around the island at a high elevation which is constantly up and down. The race didn't flatten out until the last 2km.

But because my legs are like train pistons, I ran the race (21km/13.1mi) in 2:14:47, beating my Iheya race time by 30 minutes, and my goal by 15! At this rate, my next race should be 1:45:00, and the one after that, 1:15:00.

For comparison, Dave ran it in 1:34.57 and the world-record is 58:33, so I still have some room for improvement.


***

A couple of random updates:

-I failed JLPT Level 2, again.
-I took the Kanken Level 5 yesterday and we shall see if I pass. (I already failed it once.)
-I re-contracted for a 4th year!

Drawing Monsters

When I teach 'face' vocabulary to my 3rd/4th graders, I always end the lesson by having everyone draw a monster. I will say, 'This monster has...' and have a kid roll a dice. If he rolls, say, a '5', I will then think up a color and say, 'This monster has 5 purple heads.' After working through the rest of the vocabulary list (eyes, ears, nose, chin, and mouth), the kids have the basic outline of a monster. I then ask them to fill in the details.

I am always disappointed with what seems to be a lack of creativity or imagination in their monster drawing. Most of the time, the kids look off of each other (remember, I have about 10 kids sitting in a circle) and all end up with the same picture.

But today I had two exceptions:

This one is from Motoki, a 4th grader. I imagine it would have been even cooler had he had more time to finish.



And this one is from Haruki, a 3rd grader. He named it 'Halloween Boy', and he probably would have been given a referral had he displayed this kind of creativity in America.