Climbing in Koriyama!

A new post, a new post. I will play at 2 places next month in Iwaki. I`m really coming to like the Iwaki music scene. First of all all my breaks between songs are in Japanese and second it`s just so comfy! I don`t know how that can be. It`s a black room and it`s in the shape of a square, but it`s nice and wholesome kind of like wheat bread. I have not been able to find wheat bread here still. Right now it is cold. Japan is really good at conserving energy. For instance in the school I`m in at the moment the office is warm if you have a Jacket on. There is one heater that heats the whole office and it is a big office. If you go out of the office then the temperature drops to being able to see your breath. The class rooms are warm like the offices usually. It is cold here. No snow yet though, just cold. My best friend has a website which I very much want you to check out!

Zuke696 is his channel on Youtube. I am facinated by the video`s!

I will be leaving for Thailand soon and am happy to coutinue exploring the world, but wishing the teleporting machine was invented because I do not want to consume a years worth of carbon emissions by flying and will miss いよ... maybe I`ll take a boat....just kidding. We are all exploring the world right now. Last week I ran 10 km. I hadn`t done that in a while and therefore was sore afterwards. It was cold too. I love playing music and get to sing christmas songs right now for a lot of my classes. My Japanese teacher is thinking that White Christmas is perfect for the holiday season as well as the climate talks going on right now in Copenhagen. He remembers how just recently Naraha was white right about now. I laughed! Okay so I`m going to post some of my favorite vidoes that I`ve been watching. I`m also reading the story of Toyota and it is a facinating story. You want some fun facts here they are. You might already know them:

1. Toyoda was the original name but was changed to Toyota because it only took 8 strokes to write Toyota (a good luck sign)
2. Toyoda started as as a sewing business in the late 1800`s
3. The CEO for Toyota walks to work everyday
4. The toyada family still lives in Toyota City and Mrs. Toyota handles her own baggage. When people offer to help her she replies ``どして`` why,
5. The top CEO of Toyota until just recently makes about 10 times as much income as the entry level employee.

Well there`s many more, but you`ll just have to read the book and discover for yourself. Currently I`m quite impressed with Norah Jones new single Pirates. I especially like the perfect use of percussion in the song. It`s quite catchy and I think she is in Japan right now. Well I will post some video`s for you as well as the song. Be Well everybody!

It`s Black and White

Are we able to travel back in time? Einstein wrestled endlessly with the idea. If we travel the speed of light then we can stop time. What would traveling the speed of light be like? It`s hard to wrap your head around that concept. It makes my brain twist and turn and imagine. I imagine a clock with the hour and minute hand frozen because each tick has been stopped. I am going faster then the light that allows me to see the tick on the next movement that the clock hand makes. I`d like to go to Shibuya, in downtown Tokyo and freeze time. You can do that. That is what a picture is. A picture allows us only to have one point of perspective. I`d like to be able to move around walk up to a completely frozen street turn 360 degrees. We could take a 360 degree shot... true and that has been done. I want to be able to walk forward and back...no not like the zoom button on a camera. You can only see some part of the picture not what is obstructed from view. It would be neat to take time to take in full awareness of the situation. You could argue that you could could go to a completely empty field and and just stare. There would be no action there just maybe a calm breeze over grass. A lot of times the cinema has captured this idea freezing time and letting the observer pace around. It is quite interesting that in order for us to really stop time, freeze time we would actually have to be going extremely fast. It`s like shuffling the cards so much that you find them back in the same order then. I say these things because it is true that everything is speeding up. Every year swimmers are going faster, snowboarders are coming up with new tricks, people are running new speeds. World records are beat on a contant basis and maybe even in an increasing frequency. Our technology is becoming more advanced, and more simple. The world is speeding up. It is really an observation nothing more that I have.
Put that aside and realize that we have been around for a mouse fart of Earth`s existence.. of the Universe`s existence. I like using mouse farts in my interpretation of things that are very small because it`s just a funny thing to comprehend. First imagine how small a mouse is and then imagine how small the sound would be when that little mouse farted or consider thinking what if that little mouse produced a loud sounding flatulation boy that would be suprising... you would have to do a double take on the mouse and make sure what you were hearing was from the appropriate culprit. I bring this to your attention because we are in fact speaking of opposites. I was just telling you about how in order to stop time we would have to be going extremely fast, quite ironic. Well another character of opposites is that they are quite comedic in imagination (a small mouse producing a big fart, or lets take a huge giant making a very small fart) It is quite another way that opposites and their characteristics inhabit our existence and make it interesting. A very small mouse making a very small sound would be funny still because we are so big that to comprehend such a thing would be hilarious. We could take this even further and consider psychology.
We are attracted to our opposite. It seems that science has given difference an important role in determining the compatibility of everything.

Hey Hey

So right now I am listening to some nice ear listening music and I`d like to share!

Joshua Radin
The Dovekins
Starlight Ramblers
Emma Louise
Sarah Blasco
Joint Chiefs of Staff

We`re all telling stories now!

Who Knew

On a more happy note the hospitality of the Japanese people always is impressive. Just the other day I was at a grocery store and couldn`t read anything and so I was looking for dried fruit. I went up to the nearest person and just said excuse me he dropped everything and I was able to say something close to probably the english equivelent of `fruit...here..possibly..around and boooom bam zoom we were off. Everything that had to do with fruit he showed me.... regualar fruit... fruit drinks.... fruit soap.... even fruit squishy stuffed animals who knewwww! finally after much searching we arrived at the much anticipated dry fruit and I purchased with rapid speed. The check out lines are speedy as well and they actually count out the amounts to you. For example 2 oranges 200 yen.... one carton of eggs.... 300 yen. I`ve never seen such fast service!
So the other day I had a problem..... I could not go... The diet of Japan is quite healthy, but there is no wheat bread and I guess I had been eating a lot of eggs, rice, and curry and not much fruit. So there I was with a predicament. 3 minitues later I found myself playing a game of pictionary combined with sirades saying the english equivelent of .... stomach... hurts.... leave... fruit is healthy....and water..... hard.... and acting out the motions as so. Everybody in the Teachers office had their dictionary`s out as I sat in a squatted position going schowww with my voice and pointing down with my hands. They understood something was wrong and so I was permitted to leave. 10 min later I was there at the grocery store and now you know why I bought dried fruit and cranberry juice with such speed. The cranberry juice was quite easy to find. For the rest of the day my message to the world would read ``john`s current status.... really excited to shit! ohh man and I was and so I did lots of jumping jacks and lots of situps and went to a drug store and purchased medicine for the cause and in the end their was success! I hope to never have that problem again. Everybody eat your fruit daily in Japan!
Cleaning the bathroom used to be a task in my hobbit home. the ceiling is not the problem it is of ample height. It is actually the door frame and the low sink, which sometimes causes the most distress. bending over farther then usual is a task especially when cleaning and having to repeatedly wash the sponge out and resume, but now I have just discovered the prime de la resittaance! There is actually a drain under my sink as well as my bathtub so I can literally scrub everything down and then stand back with my shower hose and hose everything down! toilet, sink, bathtub and just wait a little for it all to dry... yokatttaa neeeee (that`s better) you want the Japanese too okay here you go よかった！

I`m telling you now

So would you like to know what my life is like right now? Okay I will tell you. Right now I am sitting at my desk in an office. Most of the conversation around me I don`t understand. I am slowly picking it up. Yes I do feel like a dog. My ears perk up every time I hear the word food or something about the weather. My brain switches on and my mind forms an answer and I respond and ponder its presence. Sometimes it`s as though I`m in a dream. I`ll be driving down the road thinking regular thoughts and then I`ll glance at a Japanese sign and my reality goes into cartoon mode. I`m like that character that stops and holds up a sign that says ``what`` on it and looks at the viewer like a deer in headlights. Yes this does happen often and still does. Man if I asked you to pinch me just to make sure what I was living was real I would have one sore pinching sore spot! So what do you want to know? Do you want to know what I eat on a daily basis? Okay I`ll tell you. The other night, now having the driving ability I sped away to the nearby grocery store. Now in the U.S I still do get quite lost in supermarkets especially if I`m hungry. ``ohh that looks good, but wait that looks even better!.... what was that over there....I`m gonna go check that out. Yeah this happens to me in the U.S. Grocery shopping is an adventure everytime. In Japan however, a whole new level is added. Now I go around and ask ``hmmm is that fish or beef....and that looks like noodles, but are they? First I have to figure out what I`m going to eat, what I want to eat and then I have to figure out if I can actually cook it and then I have to decipher the Japanese language. The whole experience is mind dazzling! You should try it sometime. It would probably be pretty funny if someone followed me around a Japanese grocery store. Sometimes I just look in the bakery and pick out some item that smells really good and I have dinner right then and there in the grocery store. I think to myself ``you know what if I`m going to get out of this grocery store at all I have to eat something`` and so I do. Ohh mann I have to go to class. I`ll finish this!

For Now

I think Daily about what I really want to say. What I really want to show the world. Is that simple drive to show purpose, or to simply make footsteps and let the wind wash away the prints in the sand?  Nature, now that is something that I demise will bring future lands to future people. I look at my reflection now staring back at my self. I tilt my head, it tilts its head. It is self-observation. It occurs to me now and more then before that I will never see my self portrait, never gleam at it’s occurrence, never watch its rainbow of colors. It is quite striking to fit those ties to together in that order and make a sentence. All over the world people do the same thing. They stare at their reflections and monitor their well-being. It’s common stance to do so and a right that we have. Yet appearance lacks in the shadows what it does in the door. We all find our own fit and roll with it. Yet we never see our true selves, never gleam at our real photo, only maximize or quantify our simplistic character.  I would truly like to write a story, something that has a fitting beginning and ending, with some purposeful plot in the middle. I would like to do so because it would use time in a seemingly purposeful way and also because I am an observer. As I do now typing this to you. I do look at my reflection and am also aware of a street light across the street. In our lives we have a lot of space to fill up especially when were young.  If we have lots of space then we notice this amount of space and it swallows us in a tactile timetable where only moments exact locations run the miles of certainty in their exposure. If we don’t have enough time well then many instruments play together in random fashion and we are filled with noise, which is only remedied by coffee. It’s not that direction is a mere perception of contemplating the exactness of ourselves, it’s really that we see eternity in view of a nearby land and revel at its momentary relaxation. I'll write a story soon. I really want to. Especially because I'm in Japan and it would be fitting. Here are some pictures though for your amusement. I make rice, or harvest rice, Tokyo and it's feeling, friends, The whole tomato.

Wheeewyyy!

I guess the problem is that we think too much as humans. Problems usually grow larger if you dwell too much on them. For instance lets take Japanese culture. You open the door and the first thing you see is rushing cars, pink lights, and then countryside. At first it`s very cute. The men get up every morning and do their routine stretch. The children sing the toothbrush song, but then you realize it is a militaristic system and that throws you. You have to look through the Cotton candy and cute wrapping paper. You come to the realization that everything follows a strict plan. People are not put into class by their abilities, but rather their pre-existing position in life. This throws you as well. Shouldn`t the effort driven people reap the benefits and society not be based on a preset hierarchy.? Then you dwell a little more on the problem. Ok so were talking about economic status. Ok well lets look around the world. Lets take a macroeconomic anthropologic approach to this whole problem. One of the main questions that economists ask is why is there a widening gap between the rich and the poor and more so why is it so hard for the poor class to improve their situation? Then we do some research, or really just common sense observation and we come up with the easy explanation. The wealthier class is given more opportunity then the poor class from the get go. Lets take me for example. I grew up in a bubble. I will admit it is a bubble. The town is Aspen, Colorado and it is nestled in the Mountains, yet is known by the world as a secret get away. Ohh wait though we can`t take me for an example because just a generation ago my family line was quite poor. Down town Chicago in the USA. I imagine dirty living conditions and a dangerous neighborhood of crime and violence. My dad grew up in this place and just a generation ago before that my grandparents were in camps during the 2nd world war being transported like a bunch of cattle around the U.S. Ok so over a short time period Japan is like the rest of the world. We are all predetermined to be at a certain economic status. It took me 3 generations and now here I am with much opportunity ahead of me. My sister has this too. She is currently studying in University and solves rubix cubes in her spare time, while discussing world topics over tea with other possible future astronauts. She is in a great situation as well. She also had great opportunities offered to her. If you look at her, like me though 2 generations ago, we were in the dumps, struggling to survive in a foreign world called America. In Japan everybody is a robot. It is so ironic because I was just at a speech contest yesterday and some of the most high evaluated speeches were speeches where the kids literally spoke like robots! There is a preset time for everything. You can even say it in a robot voice if you would like. It would work in Japan “At 23 YOU WILL BE MARRIED, IF YOU ARE NOT MARRIED YOU WILL BE SINGLE” “IF YOU ARE A MAN YOU WORK, IF YOU ARE A WOMEN YOU WORK WHEN YOU ARE 20 AND 21 SO THAT YOU CAN FIND A HUSBAND. YOU THEN QUIT WORK” YOUR JOB IS NOW TO HAVE BABIES AND CLEAN” YOU DON`T GET TO HAVE A JOB” Ok here is another part of daily life… “LETS PLAY SOCCER…. “STRETCH EXACTLY 4 TIMES WITH YOUR LEGS, and then “4 TIMES WITH YOUR ARMS” and now we will “RECITE A SPEECH WHICH SAYS THAT SOCCER IS THE GREATEST SPORT IN THE WORLD” ok so lets go farther and go driving “ YOU GOT INTO A CAR CRASH IT IS BOTH OF YOUR FAULTS ALWAYS, EVEN THOUGH YOU BUMPED INTO ME IT IS MY FAULT TOO” Do you kind of get the gist of what I`m saying. I`m actually kind of confusing myself right now by writing this down. I just know that I run into situations on a daily basis here and I really have to make sure I`m actually really seeing what I`m seeing. I guess Japan could be summarized by saying that it is one huge psychology project. Can you see how much I am thinking right now. Just look at all those thoughts I poured above me. Are you confused yet? I bet you are. I am. Just in general thinking to much is a bad thing. For example just start up your mind engines and start thinking “What are we?” Stop thinking right away your mind computer will surely crash or leave you feeling utterly confused. See thinking too much is a task! Yet here I think again it is the reason that makes us unique from all other species. It is a gift and not a gift sometimes I`ll tell you wha! Some of the best minds in the world have come up with the resolution that we can rid our selves of thought by only thinking in the present. The future has not happened and we don`t know what will happen. The past already did happen and we can`t change it…duhhhhh. Yet There we are saying I wish…I wish….. which interestingly applies to both the past and the future. “I wish that didn`t happen” “I wish I had love in my life” seeee it works for both diretions. Ohhhhh man we are thinking a lot… Lookk at where these thoughts took us we started from a simple discussion about thinking and look now whewwwwy. Now we`ve created two many instruments all playing together. We have the flute, the Violin, the Cello, The Piano, The Guitar, 6 men singing, One trumpet. They are all playing music at the same time. Does your mind feel busy? My mind sure does! Lets push the stop button now!!!! Ahhhhhhhh that is better ! Do you feel better. I sure do. Would you like some orange juice? Lets go get sooome of that tasty concentrate! いきましょう

What if

What do you feel. What is the rock beneath your feet. Where is your approach to the rolling hills that roll out to a sea and breeze. The candid response is always known with care. Care is the thing that cares and causes appreciation. It`s the coffee cup that steams up, leaves a smoke trail, blows when you breathe and fills the room with personality. The Bus drives humming as your head rests against its wall. The thoughts pour out and in and crashing candid responses carefully cling to the realm of existence, to the realm of purpose. The road music continues in your head and subconscious desire is replaced with the crashing of bottled emotion flowing over threads whispering unconscious exposure. Maybe its just that I drank Jasmine Tea. It has a bitter taste, yet leaves the mouth with honey afterward sweet like spring leaves blooming after a brief rainstorm, fresh like the the sunshine that hits a foggy mountainside. It really put me into a mood, a peaceful mood where words flowed like they do. Dancing in circles a few nights past to the sound of pin ball machine music ripped and combined together into perfect beat, mixed with cotton candy and spread on the floor with jelly beans. I guess that`s what I danced to the other night. And before that there was the brief scene of a hidden oasis folded back from a mysterious lake and a bus that drove though continuous fog higher into sky land. I just remember walking along an ancient paths where old relics where placed on either side in ordered, yet random fashion and then the river flowed and people sat in hot water. It was the land of the Japanese fairy land where the leaves turned a bright green and made way for hot water that steamed the forest and gave it a moments rest. Now it is Monday and here I am in the bustle of school life again. Little Japanese children run up to me and bounce around me and say "touchee" reapeatedly which is what they translate is the American version of the "High 5" and they tell me to put my hand really high so they can jump up and try to hit it. Then they jitter out a whole bunch of Japanese and I understand one word and I reply and they laugh and clap their hands and bounce around some more and ask for high five`s once more. I can just kind of say "awwwwwwww" for it`s really cute and how can you not smile with your eyes, mouth and heart and feel like a whole bunch of flowers.

class

おひおごずますみにさん

Good morning everyone,
I love showing up to the school in the morning and the first thing I hear as I enter the office is the choir practicing down the hall. Their voices echo off the walls and flow into the sea breeze. I`ve been explaining about my life in Japan, but I have not depicted in intricate detail what happens during a lesson or a typical day at school. Well, all days are quite different. I can tell you that my day at elementary school quite contrasts a day at Naraha Chugaku. Both are exciting. The morning usually starts at about a little after 6am. I rise stumble across my bedroom floor and scoop out rice with a paddle and put it into a bowl, which I recieve from the refrigerator. I have started to put my dishes in the fridge as to keep them nice and cool. It puts a refreshing tint on the morning`s activities. Rice in bowl I make my way to the table and find some other cool food items to partake in my bowl with rice party. Vegetables, rice toppings, sometimes fruit sits along side and then I eat. Soon I mount my bicycle with a basket, guitar in one hand and pedal of to Minami sho... south elementary. The cool wind blows in my face and the ocean sings nearby. I thank the Japanese Gods that the ride is downhill on the way there. I greet the school bow about 15 times saying ohiyou gozimus to all the teachers and then sit at a desk. Then the clock ticks. The teachers leave.. the teachers come back. They give me coffee. I take the coffee and drink the coffee. Oops now I have to go to class. I will countine at another time soon my friends soon

I Call Wind

Maybe it's been as a result of adventure that I seek the wild uninhabited mitopia of existence. Pedaling, heart beating, miles racing, racing against my own breath, own time. I enjoy the escape, the precision, the exactness of perpetual motion. I write this to you now after a moments rest at the typewriter of exhaustion. What if we could freeze the panes of calls and instead call to the voice inside our head. It's been raining until today. The rain tore down the streets last night like wisps of breath coming in and out at regular intervals. The drains were metal, and the pavement was black and the screaming sea rolled herself many times over and many times again. All I could hear was my roof playing music in scenes of gold bracelets flapping in summer breeze. The chrome muscled bars echoed and tapped on my window sills and I breathed. It's funny being thrown into the musical scene of children. They are a whole bunch of laughter and curiosity rolled up and put on rice bowls. The children are lovely especially when they sing. What's not lovely is the sound of chalk on a chalk board or a dry erase marker that doesn't give that nice glow and has lost its power. I tell people about my town and they give me lots of tea and coffee over and over again. Every time I sit down I get either coffee or tea. I leave my glass full to avoid the enclave of coffee explosions. Tea bags are nicely placed, nicely wrapped on stickers that I give to students. They love stickers here, or maybe just kids love stickers. Maybe I just think that kids or Japanese people in general love stickers and really it's just a perception like many that keeps my thoughts up all night even when I fall asleep.

So Time

Wild times rocked wind shores of coastline. Right before my eyes taste sleep the winter of the noon sets in and mother closes her eyes I tell you these things. I returned from My Aizu Homestay and learned that while I was away another passed on. Aizu is known for its soba and so I figured he probably wanted to get to Japan and taste soba with me some way. My family was great. They are a kind welcoming family with a desire to eventually move to NewZealand. The father knows the English language quite well and owns his own taxi company. Their children were cute as all are and Kiko the wife was the yoga loving ski instructor that I hope to go skiing with this winter. They made homemade Umeshu (Plum Wine) which was dangerous the first night after wonderful Sushi. After my family became aware of my love for all food they were keen to test me I think. The second night I was offered namono......... which hops when it's alive and is really good for the diet of a pregnant woman. I ate it. Along with Basashi which originally gallops and some other dishes. The barbeque was very good and much food was cooked over the host fathers Webber Grill, which he told me he paid a fortune for and was really proud of. I roasted marshmallows as well. Time crosses the moments of eternity like a dove spreading her wings. That's what living by the sea is like. I had my first day of class today. They are so formal here in everything they do. It is very respectable. Lunch with the kids was great. Everything was so communal. No one eats until everyone is seated and everything is saved and recycled perfectly. All the kids clean there school as well. Every morning I have to bow about 30 times to say good morning to all the kids. I probably look like a big peacock. It really does make me dizzy sometimes. Here's some pictures. I now go to bed. Last night I went to a neighboring city to find dental floss. That is an item in Japan that requires a specialized store. "ohh dental floss well you have to go to big city for that" I waited for the train and watched spiders spin their webs. It was very entertaining. There are millions of them in Japan. You are not allowed to be afraid of spiders in Japan. they are not dangerous, but look it and I'm not sticking my business in their web to find out. They're huge. They know exactly the head length to put their webs. I watch all the Japanese people get off the trains and somehow the spiders keep their webs intact. I however, must duck. And that is how I came to watching spiders spin their webs. I also had a long time to wait for my next train.

      It was upon this very hour upon this very time that the story came back to him and his hands moved of their own accord like the automatic piano in western movies that plays an automatic melody in perfect lines. And so it occurred and the desk showed him where his hands should be. I tell you these many things he said because there is purpose of why I write. I want to get my story out, but I don’t have the voice to let me shout. The words ran along at a great pace this time and overflows filled the now. The time was here the here was now and that was the end of town. A shadow sat on my desk, a beautiful shadow changing with the time of day. At four it was on the left of my desk and slowly it was moving the other way. The direction you may ask was right as the clock does go.

The remains caught in the complexity of interesting favorites where photosynthetic polymers cause changes in Earths atmosphere was were these events were to occur. It was why green stays with perfect design that I write so eloquently. What if we could write for endless time with endless meaning, never taking a break. Our hands would be quite strong don’t you think. How many taps on a keyboard can a computer take.  Is it as many as what are required by the manufacturer? Maybe we should measure the taps on the keyboard by how many books can be typed on them. “Well that there contains the whole story of All Quiet On The Western Front, yesm a book of quite a large magnitude only made larger by the many revisions to make it so. A hot potato is exactly that, baked for a certain amount of minutes at a certain number of degrees and then put to rest for consumption. Why has the game been devised then? Who had the crazy idea to do so and especially with such temperature and such a strange object?

What if I get tired of writing asked the man and the desk so calmly replied. Well then do what you must and do what you do for that means that I also need time. For a story is such where truths are made and made they have to be. In order to make we must first learn how to live so we can represent and replicate clearly. So the man who’s hands were tired so gave up on the adventure for today and the table that caused the mans hands to write sympathized and called it a day. Come back tomorrow he said in a voice like the air that is understandable only by some. And the man agreed and they left the need to go on at another time

A Story To Start

What led him to choose the path he choose to lead. What force was beneath him that allowed the snap of the fingers within his hands. The air con blew around him, the whimpering of air streaming through an endless void. What was he doing,? where was he going? What was this perpetual journey he had set out on? What was his past telling him? Why were his thoughts coming in fast like the wind on an endless journey? He knew why and he knew when, but somehow he knew neither of them. Was chocolate his motivator to keep the key board typing and his fingers thinking, was that why he was driven to write? Or was it something deeper, something altogether different? It was a crazy force that spun his mind and didn’t tell him what direction he was going. It was the camera lens behind the camera that sneaks views into picture. It was his simple joy to weave words together like the waves of the ocean overlapping one another on their way to a distant shore. He liked the way that thought could be put together with superfluous flow and how the mind could conjure this creation. It was an animalistic desire to do this. It quenched some deep longing in his soul. He loved language for the same reason. The thoughts could be generated by flips of the tongue that rhymed to a beat unimaginable to the thoughts surrounding them. Yet the words were soft like the wind on the sea or the trees on a mountain, ancient in their discourse, warm in their tone. Would he know no end to his existence? Was time a mere representation of space crammed with purpose? That is what is mind thought up everyday of every hour, and yet there was joy in those hours of purpose. He liked freezing images sending them to the world letting others observe. The mere sunset was something of a snowflake where each time was a different dance to a different beat. There was temptation and oblivion to escape from. He sat on a couch for many hours in silence except for the humming of ticks on clock that strung character into the room. There was a characteristic about the way his eyes blinked that hinted at a normality in his thinking. The key of his thinking was not the think. For thinking too much constantly drove him into a series of complex workings of the human mind, which were hard to decipher at best. It was by doing these simple ramblings that he was able to free his mind and let the supreme work on their own. It was at these times that life lingered on linguistics and languished the lamentable lines of disintegration. How had he come upon these words? What was his fascination with the serenity or everyday speech? What mind would dock such things in discernable grace and leave the cupboard open for more paintings.

So coming back to Japan was really more the result of a pull rather then that of a push. I remember being young and having to do a report on Japan. I spent many nights working on the project. I believe that we where given a country to choose and being half Japanese I wanted to research the place where my ancestors came from. I remember seeing the the flag and seeing the red sun in the middle of it. I later came to learn that Japan was "Land Of The Rising Sun" from then on I was intrigued. I've been drawn to Japan since my eyes first knew of some mystery in my existence.... some force, which made me feel different, made me "stand out... not fit in"... That was the quote that so eloquently described our high school graduating class of 2004. I guess the draw to Japan started out as a simple desire. It's funny because now that I'm here I realize that desire was really part of an identity crisis. Don't feel bad. I know who I am. I am very happy! I smile many times everyday. My friends back home though would see me do little things.... like the way that a flashlight goes with me everywhere, or my tendency to always bring I giant backpack to go on a small trip into the mountains. I end up having food and clothes for everyone. They often remark "You're so Japanese!" I imagine what movies can tell me and what I've seen upon first embarking to Japan when I was just out of middle school when they say these things. I must've been about 17 when I stepped off the plane and first saw Japan. Kyoto and then Katsuyama with it's beautiful rice fields and ancient temples. The movie in my head had gotten it correctly and by simply striking a gong I could see my great grandfather working in rice field with the red sun and the dreams that were in his head. "Ohh what crazy dreams you had great grandfather" There was a twinkle in his eye when he worked those fields on those days. Maybe Japan seemed too small for him.

      So now here I am with Bob and Japan keeping me company as I write and write. At this point I am very keen to buy a surfboard. I have just recently signed up to the local pool. 2 days ago I called my Supervisor to see when we were doing something that I knew had to do with town culture. "ohh Johnnn eeeeeto. ano 3 moutiru ok.. anooo guitar shimasu" "hi" and "hi" I was being picked up at 3. We arrived at the festival and there were kind men smoking and adjusting lights. There was also a tower built on the spot right by the procession of smoking, smiling, men. Later we all cooked Wild Boar on a hot grill and stood around with our chopsticks flipping the meat until it was ready to eat, fingers dodging flames... it was cultural Japanese hot potato. It was a lovely way to eat dinner. They asked me to drink lots of beer too. I soon left my glass full and escaped. My supervisor apparently plays the Japanese Flute and his son plays the Taiko drum. They are very important to the city for this reason. It is a very important skill to know how to properly play the Taiko drum. After the festival all member leaders attended a 2 hour meeting to discuss how my supervisors son played the Taiko drum. He had good technique apparently, but needed to be more forceful. Ahhhhh I said and continued to eat fish and rice. I teach English every Friday to my supervisor's family. It is a pleasure.

    So I have just finished a giant beach party. This previous weekend all teachers got together at at a wonderful beach just south of me and shared stories. We are all going through similar experiences. It is amazing how similar our lives are in some respects. We have a commonality. Everybody has a good heart. The waves were beautiful. I arrived at the beach at 10 am maybe. The sun comes up at 4 so who knows. I went around the beach asking how much it was to buy a surfboard and where I could buy a surfboard in Japanese. Some passers by let me borrow their surfboards and go out on the waves. They were very nice. They hadn't even surfed yet all I was asking was where to buy a surfboard. The waves were fun. It was enjoyable to be on a surfboard once again. Japanese people are very nice. That night I met some other teachers who were in my situation... drawn to Japan... searching for something. We all love speaking the Japanese Language. It is a wonderful commonality. It was one of the most amazing things I encountered. I saw a person I had not met yet. I went up and said how are you. She had a blank look on her face and replied "Konichi wa" I replied back "Konichi wa" and we spoke in Japanese together for a while. She was Russian and knew Japanese not English! she didn't know any English. We both knew Japanese... our lives we shared.

     So now I close this piece. The beach party lasted into the next day. I saw a beautiful sunrise over an ocean. That is a fantastic sunrise to see every time. Waves could be heard lapping as dreaming travelers welcomed another morning, a white sandy beach with sea shells stretched into the sea.

So I'm sitting in my house the rain tiptoes down slowly outside. There was a small Earthquake again tonight. I say again because there was one couple of nights ago. There is nothing to worry about, but it sure lets me know, puts my human into perspective. There was a traditional festival I attended over the weekend. I linked up with some fellow Alts and together we danced down the streets with the rest of Japan for the Iwaki Celebration. It was a workout. We all dressed up in Hapi's (traditional ware) and tried to learn the dance. It is interesting living alone. Today after returning to my house I decided to go see if I could find the beach. It was a beautiful Sunday and the rice fields danced to the old men and women working in them. Yes I was in Japan. I did find the beach and gosh darn it there is surfing, but I didn't bring money to rent a surfboard... oh well next time. I biked around for the afternoon taking in the sights and ended up finding another beach where I might be able to surf. I think I'm not sure, but from what I can discern is that the surfing season is only 1 month a year. Hopefully I'm wrong, but we will see. As I was saying living alone is interesting... I mean really alone. I'm alone in the house, but now the whole town says foreign words as well. Actually I have some plants next to me and there keeping me company. I will name them right now. Bob and Japan. It's nice to have something green to keep you company. Having the sea close by gives a sense of freedom as well.  My Japanese is improving by the day. Although its still quite difficult to do simple things like operate the laundry machine with Japanese labels, or figure where the train goes. It's back and forth. Sometimes I think to myself ohhhh I just want this to be in English. And then sometimes I love the Japanese experience, the maze the puzzle, the invention. I've actually spoken quite a bit of English lately. I'm definitely in a different world here. Whewwy! The kids I'm excited to teach. The little ones are all really awwwwww. That's what I say a lot during the day. In fact that is what Japan is. It's a cute town. The cars, the buses, the little old people everything. At the same time there is a gong sounding in the distance which gives a whole different interpretation.. a deep calling for respect. Tomorrow it's an early morning gotta be up to go to Fukushima City. Will get pictures soon. I've been taking them just having compatibility issues.

file:///Users/johnhatanaka/Pictures/iPhoto%20Library/Originals/1980/Jan%201,%201980_3/IMG_1541.JPG

In Japan?

I have now been in Japan for 8 days. I`m getting settled here in the town of Naraha. I`m right by the sea and yet, not far from skiing. Upon arriving in Tokyo little did I know that I would soon be encountering 800 teachers like myself from around the world going through this same journey. Tokyo seemed to be a fantasy. There we were 31 floors up in the nicest hotel I`ve ever stayed in overlooking Tokyo lights. It was a teachers Ideas Festival. Everyday we would get up and go to different clinics they had set up for us. There was breakfast and lunch provided for us and at night we partied. I don`t think I remember being so tired in my life, yet there was a smile on my face as I closed my eyes every night to go to sleep. Naraha Machi is a 180 degree turn form the high energy of Tokyo City, yet still everyday just as new. On just this past Wednesday a bus pulled up to Koriyama City and 25 or so disheveled foreigners greeted the afternoon sun. I was one of them and I remember there was tension in the air. ``What were we stepping into?`` ``What were we Doing?`` ``This is Fun!`` I knew we were ``not in Kansas anymore`` when my supervisor and I met for the first time and after I said my introduction I Said ``do you know English`` and he said ``eeeeeettoooo``. On the car ride to my final destination we both tried conversation. I quickly relearned the Japanese that I had forgotten and he caught onto some English quickly so by the time we reached the small, cute town of Naraha I knew where I was staying for the night....right and left quite confidently in Japanese. He knew that I had good skiing in my town back home...... That I loved Japanese food.........and that I was excited to teach. Actually we exchanged quite a bit, but I still remember it being quite hard and that my tired brain hurt form thinking. I remember falling asleep in a Japanese style hotel that night feeling that I was in some surreal life and then I feel asleep. So now as I write this to you I have been here for aweek. The reason I am still staying in this hotel is because my room is not yet ready. I`m still figuring out my role in the the small town of Naraha. The Sea rolls out clear to my left and I sense it`s great space of freedom and possiblity. The air is fresh and I think my half Japanese Half German person is leaning back towards a rolling red sun. As abnormal as I feel my feet sense familiar soil and the feet are quite good at sensing such things.

Blank White Paper

Though You Always See What Can be Right
Though The Soul Is One Within Your Time
I`ll Rock To You Baby Because I Always Want To See The Way You Fly
I Was Walking On The Shore To Show
All The Places I Would Choose To Go
It`s The Laps Of The Waves And The Simmering Of The Sea That Lets You Know
When You`re In My Arms And I Can Tell
When I Write On Your Back And I Spell
It`s The Pictures Of The Sun The Places I Never Want To Kill

You See It Though You Never Have To Say
Here I Am Staring Up At The Day
We Are Living Today
Every Scene Is Just Another Flip Of The Page

Now The Song Is Slowing Towards The Beat
The Melody Of The Words Will Come And Meet
It`ll Never Match The Rhythm You Have Inside Your Feet

You See It Though You Never Have To Say
Here I Am Staring Up At The Day
We Are Living Today
Every Scene Is Just Another Flip Of The Page

Before The Push

Today I have not done much.  This morning there was some delicious Spinach spaghetti to devour and so I did do that. I am planning on going to work today. I will be working at the Aspen Institute at the Ideas Festival for setup.  It should be a great experience. I am quite excited. The weather is nice today. The sun is already shining brightly and a blue sky fills up my nearby window sill.  Japan is pushing into my thoughts regularly. I am very excited to go experience another adventure. Gosh what a world we live in. One of my good friends in college just seems to be getting more famous by the day. She is touring the world and is now playing on late night shows. It’s amazing the people that you come in contact with! Teaching shall be a new adventure. I think it’s important to always write down your thoughts. You never know where they will take you. Just a minute ago I was leaving Australia dreaming  of thinking of going to Japan and now it’s right in front of me. I’m amazed by the adventures my friends have already embarked on and the places they have gone and still are. At this day in age anything is possible. We have the whole world at our fingertips we just need to walk outside and keep walking. These last few months my music is coming together. I have a great group of friends that I love playing music with. It is such a pleasure to meet on the mall and play to the afternoon folk. Now we are again parting ways and thus I am filled by a reluctance to move forward to Japan as I see a path forming if I change course. I am confident in my decision and am excited to see what comes. That’s my entry for now. You know how I feel.

BED UNDONE

BED UNDONE

VERSE 1

When the snow's falling underneath the sun

Peaks appear as a bed undone

Crunch of the snow as your feet take their place

Simple things happen in a simple way

Love your lady love the day

Love how she pops into your thoughts each day

Love the lake that shows the stars

Shining with the light that's in your eyes

CHORUS

Snowflakes falling clear

With the patterns of the light

Snowflakes falling clear

With the patterns of your life

VERSE 2

Wake up in the morning with the same tune

Tapping to the beat of the rhythm in my shoe

Skiing in the skylight with the heaven up above

Loving in the snow is a way to love!

CHORUS

Snowflakes falling clear

With the patterns of the light

Snowflakes falling clear

With the patterns of your life

When the snow's falling underneath the sun

Peaks appear as a bed undone

Flowers

FLOWERS

VERSE 1

The day is gone the stars are out

I know that because I can't hear the mouse

He was scurrying in his hole the whole day

Looking for some leftover rays

That he might have misplaced in the middle of the hour

Couldn't blame him for that simple task

It's like smelling flowers

CHORUS

You run around in the reds and blues

Looking for the best and what to choose

But what you find

What's in your mind

Is every flower is the best kind

VERSE 2f

My side is dim my head is clear

I'm drinking my cup of joe

Steam floating off the coffee cup

Into my lamps bright glow

And by and by white butterflies play in my lamps bright light

Dancing the music of cricket sounds

Making pretty sounds in the night

They go ba ba ba doo doo ba

I've had some love

I've had some life

I've had the breeze come by in the middle of the night

I've listened to the wind instead

Sweeping through the valley looking for flower heads

For flower nights

For windswept thoughts

Thoughts on kites

Creep'n into the deep blue sun

Thoughts creep'n into someone's love

CHORUS

You run around in the reds and blues

Looking for the best and what to choose

But what you find

What's in your mind

Is every flower is the best kind!

CLAIRE

CLAIRE

Wait for your eyes to close

As I turn off the lights

Wind dances all around us

Light flashes in your eyes

Crinkle your nose move a little closer

Move your body to the bosa nova

That's singing in our hearts

In our minds

I meet you right on time

And this breathing that we're used

Finding's what we're supposed to do

As I and I and you and you through and through are together

Hands in Hands on an endless highway

Feet one on one as we walk down the street

And our voices calling in the air above us

They will find us find us when we meet

Crinkle your nose move a little closer

Move your body to the bosa nova

That's singing in our hearts

In our minds

I meet you right on time

And this breathing that were used to

Finding's what we're supposed to do

As I and I and You and You through and through are together

Through and through are together!

NIGHT WALK

NIGHT WALK

VERSE 1

He was trying the find a path that would lead him home

His breath was frost and he felt lost in the cold

And as he approached the town with its twinkling lights

The nightlife around and the people abroad came in sight

CHORUS

But time and time again he had tried to get around

The problems of the night and cold of the night made no sound

And where to go and what to do just hit his mind

He just wanted to find an answer

VERSE 2

It took a million miles and a few years more

They both met and friendship was set on the shore

Everything to say and everything to do hand in hand they traveled the lands of the world

CHORUS

But time and time again he had tried to get around

The problems of the night and cold of the night made no sound

And where to go and what to do just hit his mind

He just wanted to find an answer

Which he had found

I'll share All Songs

I will yepsiree as soon as my pencil starts writing ta ta

JAPAN SONG

Japan Song

Verse 1

Here we are standing in circle

Things happen every single day

And up above the sky painted purple

Just like the colors of the rainbow in the rain

Two year old sits out on the front porch

Finger pointing to the haze inside the sky

And he's drawn a tree up on a hillside

purple just the flower to his right

Kino Wa Kawa a Ite

Totemo Kirena da ne

Ashta wa yama a ikemas 

Totemo shaburi des ne

And Repeat! And Sing! And Dance! And Breathe!

PILLOWCASES

Okiedokie here's the songs I share

Pillow Cases-

Verse 1

Guitar's song flying through an endless space

And I'm sitting there listening to the words he says

I am there and you are here and we are together in the stars

Tiled roofs reflecting off of sunscape's in the middle of a sunshine world

Pillowcases draped over clotheslines trying to become the breeze

Chorus:

What you find what's in your heart is it all comes from the stars

And what you find what's in your mind is it all comes from the stars

Verse 2

When the snow falls underneath your own car and wonder how it got there

When the lights fill every street and town's still snow's let down from the trees

Makes the only sound in your heart, makes your smile stick through the lights of the town

Makes the only sound in your heart, makes your smile stick through the lights of the town

Chorus:

What you find what's in your heart is it all comes from the stars

And what you find what's in your mind is it all comes from the stars

Guitar's Song Guitar's Song 

Hazy Lake-

Verse 1

Five in the morning lake is still fresh, moon hovers in the sky

Moonlight streaks across endless space and your eyes hold the horizon line

And as you sit there in endless space you seem to be placed on a cloud

But a cloud has no reflection and you look at the sky and realize you're still on the ground

Chorus:

It takes no age to experience a perfect day

You don't have to work for the prize

It's everywhere you want it and anyway to see

You just have to open your eyes

Verse 2

The world is full of people

All similar in their own way

Why does love come in the strangest of ways

People dancing to a beat

Tapping their feet 

Trying to match the rhythm of life

Chorus-

It Takes no age to experience a perfect day

You don't have to work for the prize

It's everywhere you want it and anywhere you see

You just have to open your eyes

Bridge:

And as the sun rises over the horizon

You seem to be placed on a cloud yeah

And thoughts and ideas pass through your mind

And suddenly you seem to be placed on the ground

 

  

Today I sit outside on my back porch and write. It is a beautiful sunny day. The birds chirp in trees and water drips slowly on the porch. I think summer is on it's way. Currently I'm thinking about a song I should write. I sit on my porch waiting for the sun to come by. I can see the way birds fly to and fro. The world spins and watch the way we live our lives. why to do we do the things that we do. learn to live with less. Cars roll by on the street go someplace they will meet. Music writes this song. We think we're in trouble, You can feel the sun feel the sun on y0ur own. YOu know the way  you know the way to the shore. And the water drips. smoke trails don't they tell you something. Were all about happiness. It's what we do.

What Will Be

Ahhh yes so I have had many adventures already and I feel many more are to come. I'm excited about the prospects. Today is the first entry of many I feel. It is so wonderful to write because each entry is like a simple time capsule and the time capsule grows more meaningful with each turn of the new day. So yes I will start... and continue until things change, which they always do. Let the extravaganza begin!