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

The mirror

It happens to be Tuesday today. Yesterday was Monday and the day before Sunday. Sunday I found myself looking in the mirror in the boys bathroom at Shibuya Station. Sometimes when I look into mirrors it is as though I reach a check point. It happens less and less recently, but I looked in the mirror that day and realized I was in Japan and in Tokyo and this was my life. Sometimes I flash back to a winter scene, my skies over my shoulder, the crunch of the snow as I punch steps up to a ski mountain. Each crunch helps dim the static feeling in my toes as they gradually grow cold. I switch my ski's from my left side to my right side every couple of minutes to stop the cold from invading my right or left hand. My hands and feet are always cold on these days, but the snow is delightful and my breath comes out misty warm. The air is fresh and clear. I'm about to get the feeling of powder skiing once again. Sometimes I flash to a brilliant orange sunset over canyon walls no shirt on this day letting the warm last rays hit my skin and dry the water off my back. The last rays of sun cast diamond flickers on the rivers edge and make my eyes squint. As I looked into the mirror that day I noticed I was in a different scene. I hint of perspiration at my brow from lugging my guitar around the stations, the background blur of Japanese station personal informing the populous, and sometimes the familiar JR Chimes that accompany the station experience. I had just finished baking tasty cookies with my good companion and the left over banana still lingered in my thoughts as well. This is what sometimes happens when I look in a mirror in some places. A surge of adventures rush up and give me a current standing point as to my position and the change that is about me. That day I'm wearing a black shirt, a belt, nice pants. Then I move on. Striking off I soon found myself in the hustle and bustle of the station once again. I like the different flavors that Tokyo offers. When I step off the train at Tokyo station later that day the mood is all together different. There is an old wholesome feel that I can smell.

Somtimes

Sometimes I drive down the road near my house and look out at the beautiful countryside around me. The sun glitters in lighting up the rice fields in morning fire. Every morning starts with a cold shower followed by an hour of meditation and the day starts out minty fresh right after I brush my teeth. Today for the first time my teacher is out of the school so I will be teaching the middle school kids by myself. I prepared the lesson at the beginning of the week and presented it to the powers that be. They seemed satisfied and I'm eager to try out the game on my 3 classes of kids. It is a beautiful morning. Blue sky paints across Naraha blending in with the sweater of the sea. I walk in to my middle school to the song of Imagine by the Beatles ringing in the cool morning air coming through the school speakers. The kids are outside in full uniform standing outside and they greet me as I make my way to the entrance. Lately my lovely companion and I have stumbled across a scrumptious cookie recipe.
((((2 bananas are mashed mashed mashed in a bowl followed by two spoons of maple syrup and then 2 spoons of non-sweetened soymilk. Then one hefty spoonful of peanut butter is added to the mix ( use a big spoon such as a Tea spoon for spoons to be used.. good for stirring Tea as well! やぱりね！）yapari...ne (just as I suspected) and stirring commences. While that is under way a little vanilla extract is added and mixed as well cinnamon and any spice that tickles your fancy please さきにどうぞ (go ahead) sakinidozo... The dry mix takes up the other bowl and contains 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour and and 2 cups of dry steel cut oatmeal-- mix, mix, mix and then add to the wet mix and then mix, mix, mix. In Japan we don't have ovens and so I cook the cookies in my toaster oven at maximum settings (200 degrees). Make little balls with your mix and butter the pan with peanut butter. Pop them in and wait 10 to 12 minutes. Then eat preferably with a peanut butter banana soy milk smoothie! The design yields about 15 to 20 small cookies that go great with blueberry Jam as well.

))))))) :) All the ingredients are fresh as can be. The peanut butter "almond butter works wonders too" is organic the maple syrup is organic. The bananas come from Banana Trees... Ahhh to be a Banana Tree!!
- There is a macrobiotic grocery store in nearby Iwaki that my good friend James showed me a couple of months ago and I frequently visit and retrieve ingredients and morsels and drink tea that is offered. I'd like to live there I think. They have food from around the world there. Cookies from France, Bread from Germany, China, Thailand maybe too. This weekend I venture to Tokyo and visit my friend who is currently married too the Daughter of the grandparents who run the store. The world is small I know!! That is why we must all climb.

Good Morning!

Well lets countinue the story!

Sometimes I go swimming. When I swim all the thoughts go out the window. It is just me, my heart and the water and a forward progression. I get to be a science geek when I'm swimming. I start pondering the quantum physics of my actions. Sometimes I zoom out my perspective and see myself from space in a small pool going back in forth. Each time I stretch my arms a little further. I work on snapping my shoulders from side to side reaching out further each time. It's lovely to swim with other Japanese swimmers and take breaks and speak Japanese to them. Some of them swam in High School, College and others just enjoy the sport. Usually I swim for about 45 minutes pushing myself to swim 15 minutes more sometimes. Sometimes I start out with a 15 minute swim and lose my distance, just enjoying the pace. I think of man as a machine when I'm swimming. Each arm is a piston driving towards some far wall. Sometimes I focus in on my breathing coming in slow and then fast, but in rhythm. I witness the energy that I have being transferred to movement.
The other night I took off on a run as well. It was a split moment decision as most of my runs are. One moment I'm in indoor clothes and the next moment I'm gliding down the hill by my home passing the small grocery store on my left and on this night a big white full moon lights up. The wind rushes and each step gives me grounding to Earth. I realize that I am. My stomach feels tight and yet smooth like butter on bread. Again I see myself from Space and see this little dot making it's way to the big blue sea. The waves are crashing in the distance, but the full moon fills my eyes and controls the sea. I feel small and yet good that there is a moon there to take over to lead. Just the other day someone commented to me "you know the moon... you can stare at the moon.... you can't stare at the sun..., but you can stare at the moon" I remember that comment as I shed my thin coat and toss it to the side of the road. Heat escapes and reveals the energy that was hidden inside my coat and now I'm light and fast and the air itself. I stop at a bridge and turn around. I have to remember to pick up my coat.