Shashiburi - Long Time, No See

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Well, November and December have come and gone. From what I can remember, it was spent working most of the time, including weekends, either making up classes or fulfilling committee requirements for Nichi-Dai’s freshman entrance exam (which is a Japanese cultural phenomenon in itself, as each university has one of its own, and which almost 100% of my students will tell you has been the greatest challenge thus far in their lives).
Come December, the semester was coming to a close, and I serendipitously had one of those chance meetings while aimlessly wandering around Tokyo’s “oldest temple town” - Asakusa, searching for a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) that my parents could stay in come New Year’s Eve. Of course, I had forgotten the paper that I wrote it down on, so I was hitting up every inn on the “handy English map”. At my last stop, I ran into a guy named Joe, a fellow Yank, and aspiring photographer from NYC finishing up a yearlong around-the-world-trip. It ended up being such a great way to close out 2006, as for the next two weeks, he unintentionally and refreshingly reminded me of why I love traveling so much and the life that I live. (Besides that, it was also nice to have someone to watch “Team America” with and laugh at the same jokes....my British friends love to tell me how half the time they don’t understand American humor - especially Seinfeld…. The Simpsons, however, seem to be universal!)
After watching him race down the steps at Narita Airport, hoping to catch his international flight that was leaving in 20 minutes, I spent the next week on the phone with my parents waiting for them to try and get on a “space available” military flight out of Travis Air Force Base in California. After about 5 or 6 days of them watching countless “active duty” people and their families board the Tokyo-bound flights that stopped over in Hawaii (and where everyone seemed to also be getting off), they finally broke down and bought some commercial tickets.
Nineteen days with the Lambs in Japan was indeed “a trip”, even though by the time they got here they were pretty beat, and we didn’t venture out too far from the greater Tokyo area. It’s always so exciting to be in a foreign country where your surroundings are so different, and make countless new discoveries everyday. There are just so many things that you have do control over and in which you have adjust your ways of “normalcy” to and just let life happen. But when it’s spent with friends or family, it’s even that much more meaningful. Once again, there are so many things that I’ve become accustomed to, that it was fun to see it from a different light and hear their take on it all. While Dorty takes her time, and really seemed to develop an appreciation for the Japanese attention to space, design and beauty in everything they do - from food arrangement to the window displays to their fashion, Ben really took to the language and was out in the neighborhood everyday with his phrasebook meeting the locals - everyone from Yoshi “the florist” to the shoe repairman. For those of you who know him, you can only imagine how his humor came to reflect the culture, with countless jokes about sumo, sushi, and trains.
I’m not quite sure what was my favorite experience from their trip…managing the endless trains, our Japanese dinners with my doctor and dentist “conversation groups”, all day at the sumo tournament or watching them eat a homemade sushi dinner for the first time at a friend’s house. I guess when it’s all said and done, I would have to say just hanging out and eating the famous “Lamb family” pizza - two times - was a definite highlight.
I was sad to see them go, although so happy at the same time in that I felt like they really learned a lot about this country and its people, as well as developed a true sense of Japan. I know they’ll be back - and next time to the onsen!
Soooo…..now here we are in January of 2007 - almost February. I’m basically done with work until April, although I have to stick around here for a few more weeks. Come 2/20, I’m going to New Zealand for a month (if anyone wants to join me) to do some “tramping” and see what the kiwis are all about.
I’m pretty sure that my true calling was to somehow be a tour guide/English teacher, so come April, I’m gonna work hard to try and get the ball rolling in that direction. Some of the other foreigners over here who I’ve met are working on some highly entrepreneurial ventures…which have been inspiring to say the least. I’d like to save some money, buy a school bus, and get this “Road Trip USA” show on the road. We’ll see what happens. 

Come visit me!
Peace,
Di xo….

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