I find my self In a Place

Soup Bowl

Fighting everyday because you've seen all around the world

Soup Bowl's steam and the sound of silence hits your soul

See that everyone is living onto another day

See that the cause of satisfaction is a moments grace

Sliding door open, waiting on the call of the sound

Breeze coming in slowly covering the town

Gee what's your place you never will really know

All you see growing around you is the constant growth

A drum beat comes so close to the heart

Picking up the pieces you see the fire start

Blink once more and it's the sparkle hitting the tide

Pale blue water hits as the waves collide

What you find, what you want to see

And you know while sitting the middle of a round room

That the sound that startles in the sea

Is the scenery calling in the Steinway Piano

And the keys that shatter across the dark

And the sweetness that swoons around the foray of the room

Making little sound

Except the whispers of the dark piano calling across the night

Calling in the night, Calling in the night

In the soup bowls reflection I see my face

Perfectly aligned in this ring of space

Filling in all the candles across the world

See the the horizon line stretch the coast

Hazy fields wash in the dark

swishing back and forth like paper following the stars

And the first star comes at the blink of the night

Comes right in makes the feeling right

What you find what you want to see

And you know while sitting in the middle of a round room

That the sound that startles in the sea

Is the scenery calling in the Steinway Piano

And the keys that shatter across the dark

The sweetness that swoons around the foray of the room

Making little sound

Except the whispers of the dark piano calling across the night

Today is Monday

Snow Yuki Good!

The Coast is freezing now. I rise in the morning and my breathe hovers in the air for some moments. Today the sun shines brightly. My thoughts have become gentle lately. Classes are over for this year. I taught my last elementary class yesterday, singing Christmas Carols and playing guitar. I look forward to Christmas and the holidays, making rendezvous with good friends and celebrating a holiday centered on the concept of giving and being together and of course the color red with white. My English teacher taught me something new about Christmas the other day. I will ask you if it's true. Is Santa Claus Red and White because of the Coca Cola Company? I can't imagine a green Santa, but pre 1940's that was supposedly the color.
We decorated the English room with Christmas decorations. I tried to draw a picture of the inside of my house at Christmas as well, which went over quite well . There are 2 songs that seem to stick out as favorites among the Japanese. Everyone seems to request Mariah Carey's Christmas Carol and Jingle Bells. I know Jingle Bells really well. I'm excited to head home for the holidays and ski. The snow here is just starting to fall and that means that powder is in recipe books. Pow Pow Pow Pow. I ask you this what is snow??!!! We can say what rain is. You go outside and water sprinkles on you, but snow is different. When you walk outside and hear snow falling it is a gentle sound almost like silence.

There is a pace when snow falls
And many people feel it should be a bell
A soft bell with a kind sound, high-pitched, happy, yet quiet as well.
And when you focus on the sound the snow does really make
And do not take a rustling step
You witness this soft ,almost silence
Especially if your smokey breath you retract as well.
It's just you and the soft chimes singing of the times.

Here's a new one for ya

Picking the Vegetarian food style has it's challenges when living in Japan or where I am. I also feel secrets are revealed. Lately the navigation setting on my phone has pointed my life in a confident direction literally. I love looking at my little blip on my screen as I navigate around Earth now I'm here..... and now I'm here... and now I'm on a train.... and now I'm in my car... and now I just hickup'd.... and now I just Far..... we'll let that one rest. While in Tokyo my new found love of exploration has recently been Vegetarian Restaurants. After checking into a Hostel in Asakusa, which is close to Ueno and called the Asakusa Annex, I asked the friendly staff where I might stab some local vegetarian delectable s. Luckily one of staff members was vegetarian herself and recommended a place called Pei Pe Saitan. The dining establishment was supposedly located in Kinshicho, a close distance away "a new adventure says I" with my new map finding tools at the ready I struck off for the location. Kinshicho station was estimated to be about a 30 minute walk from where I was and I was in the mood for a walk. The night was cool and narrow streets crisscrossed this way and that. Traffic lights blinked from red to green to yellow as there were few cars and few people on the streets. I reached the train tracks and turned left and found myself on a lively street. Kinshicho station was full of people. I watched a really good robot dancer in front of the station for 2 minutes before continuing my search for Pei Pei Saitan. Pei Pei Saitan was seemingly a dream as it was not showing any signs of being present in the actual world according to my Google sources on my hand held apparatus. Feeling a bit deflated I did a search to see if there were any veg like establishments in the area and inflated again when I found there was a "famous place" called "It's Vegetables" Yes that was the name and interestingly enough it was in the same vicinity of where my Pei Pei Saitan place was supposedly-- a change of name says he...... a slip of the mind says I..... and so I found myself on a Saturday at about a little before 7 entering a little food place excited about the prospect of vegetables. The place was cheery and intimate and I sat down at a little table and a friendly older man gave me a menu. At first glance it looked as if it was just a regular restaurant as I saw many different selections, but upon further inspection all the dishes were made using vegetable products and suited both the vegan and vegetarian fan. The food was delish could have fooled me. Maybe I was fooled it is possible that everything was real meat in which case all cows and pigs of world I apologize, but It was tasty and the plan is to venture again. I had not been seated more then 5 or 10 minutes when someone joined my table and we were introduced. The restaurant required that kind of open perspective as there were few tables available in the cozy space. We hit it off. She was a vegetarian too and had been so for 12 years. It was great practice for my Japanese test that next day. She had a daughter living in Canada that played the Violin and she herself was a piano teacher. What followed was a pleasurable te to te and a sharing of ideas and thoughts over cuisine. I eventually joined another table as I was invited and listened about how one of men at the the table was a shipper of goods and had worked in Indonesia for the last 20 years of his life. His family had traveled with him and they had thus navigated the greater part of the world. It was a great story and I felt humbled by his experiences. My Japanese test was that next day so I retired to bed early, found my way home first of course! and wondered what JLPT would be like the next day.

Frost on My Window

I woke up this morning to frost on my window. Just 17 hours ago I was sitting at the a table eating Cheese Nan and sipping beautiful tasty Chai. About 24 hours before that I was pumping my legs down the side walk by my house next to the street that leads to the local grocery store. At the store I hung a left and dashed through the parking lot. I have recently made a running loop that I do frequently that is short. When I do it I imagine myself as an Indy car or a fast bike taking sharp corners and then accelerating up the hills, weaving through the streets. I usually complete this loop twice and end back in my parking lot. When I finish it is unusually dark and the world plunges into a evening darkness. 10 minutes later I'm in the shower, water running, drain making gurgling sounds as water drops into the dark depths below, sometimes I think about where it goes, but not too regularly. About 15 minutes later I'm in my car idling at a stop light heading to Iwaki and that is usually how evenings start off.

Thursday

It has been a cold Thursday. It was cold outside today. It was actually quite warm this morning, but things have chilled down since then. There is a beautiful sunset shaping up outside my windown and the sky is lighting up orange. I have a tendency to strike off on my own and find some neat places. I would like to share those places with you. First off there is very tasty Mexican food restaurant in Tokyo that I have only been too once, but plan on venturing to again in the future. It is hard navigating Tokyo sometimes. When I go I always find it is a random search with many different odd turns that I end up taking along the way. What results is the inevitable discovery of new places and locations which in the end make the detour worthwhile and an adventure. The Mexican Restaurant is located next to the Ace Hostel in Tokyo. Basically walk out the door of Ace Hostel turn right and cross to the other side of the street. You will notice a big road above you running perpendicular to the street you are on. You want to follow that street. There are stairs leading up to that street. Go up the stairs. Once you are on the street follow that street walking away from Ace Hostel. Walk for about 15 or 20 minutes and then you will find a nice little Mexican Restaurant on your left. I completely forget the name of the restaurant, but it is tasty and cozy as well. Lately I find my self in Sengawa regularly as well. There is a Vegan Live house Restaurant there that serves delicious Ramen and desserts too. To find the restaurant. Walk out of Sengawa station and walk towards the big supermarket. You will pass a starbucks and a really nice international grocery store. keep walking and explore the area. It is very calm and has a neat feel. Keep walking and you will run into a huge department store with many bikes parked outside usually. Turn left and walk 60 steps. The Kick Back Cafe is the restaurants name and many people play music there during dinner hours. It's a great place to kick back and relax. Do so!!! Non-sweetened soymilk goes great with any kind of noodles. I encourage everyone to create! Do so often