Bits and Pieces

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First of all, yesterday the Board of Education treated me to a birthday celebration for my birthday a couple of weeks prior. The BOE asked me what kind of toppings I like on pizza and told me to show up on foot at 6:00. I arrived a bit early to find a table filled with pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken and chicken teriyaki, as well as a chocolate birthday cake emblazoned with “Scott Congratulations,” written in Japanese. The first entertainment of the evening was a ventriloquism performance executed flawlessly by the elder statesman of the BOE. I was introduce to Kacchan, a three foot doll who is five years old, and apparently makes regular appearances at birthday parties in Japan. Then we got down to the heavy duty eating and drinking. The conversation revolved around brothels and my future career as president of the United States. Don’t ask. Our tatami room was of course equipped with a screen and mike, so the next step was a round of karaoke, with me trying out a new selection of Beatles and Billy Joel songs. I am close to tone deaf, but no one appeared to care, and I brave the courage to sing in front of others with remarkable ease these days. After five hours of partying, we got a ride home from the designated driver, and I set out to sleep knowing to my regret I had work the next day.
Flash backward. Last week was the annual school trip for all my students. I elected to accompany the 7th and 8th graders of both my schools on an adventure trip highlighted by a 3,000-foot mountain climb to the top of a nearby peak. I set out with all 50 students and over a dozen teachers to the site, about hour from town, where we would spend the better part of the next three days. The principal aim of the trip was to foster a spirit of friendship between the two schools, an imperative considering that the schools will merge next year (mainly because they’re too small to exist on their own.) Consequently, the first day was spent doing icebreakers and other “get to know you” activities. We took turns in our small groups educating the wider group of our members’ likes, dislikes, birth signs, and goals. Mine was becoming a better driver. It’s amazing how rumors spread about my parking abilities, or lack there of. The next day was the climb, which we undertook from about 9 to 11 in the morning. It was a cloudy day, but the sun briefly peered out from behind the clouds when we reached the summit. Not anxious to have all our accomplishments behind us, the final day was spent making curry and rice, a typical Japanese dish, outdoors. My personal highlight of the trip was cutting firewood with an axe, which other teachers used to make a fire. Having a childhood devoid of camping, I was happy to add this little outdoorsy activities to my life’s resume. After three days, including two parties for teachers after all the students had gone to sleep, I was quite ready to go home and sleep for quite a while.
Flash backward. Two weeks ago, I went to Nagasaki, the first Japanese city to open up to the world and the victim of the second and last bomb against civilization, to see my friend and a bit of history. As it turned out, it was pouring rain most of the time, so I can only account for the sadder history. We went to the Peace Park, where there is an enormous statue of a man with one hand raised to the heavens in the anticipation of impending doom, while his other lays at his breast in a gesture of peace. It is a powerful denunciation of nuclear war and is echoed by the museum which goes to excruciating detail about the power of the uranium bomb: its effect on wood, glass, metal, and most tragic of all, on human beings who are still suffering the effects of the tragedy to this day. A wall plastered with every nuclear test and accident since that fateful day makes it difficult to be hopeful, but we certainly owe to the victims to try. Nagasaki, like Hiroshima, has been rebuilt into a vibrant modern city, complete with teeming nightlife and a decided bent toward the future. At a pizzeria, we met an American who married a Japanese woman and happily settled in Nagasaki, a chain of events that has been replicated many times over the last fifty years, I am sure.
Now, it is onward to even more adventures. Tomorrow I head for Kyoto, the second capital of Japan in ancient times, and a prime source of temples, gardens and castles. I’ll let you know how it is. Take care.

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