English Teacher again (for a day)

Besides Nagasaki and meeting up with friends, I was getting a little stir crazy. So I called up Emiko Tango, who used teach with my brother Mark while he was a JET in Kumamoto. Miss Tango is a very jolly, interesting woman who is a unique Japanese in that her travel tastes are fairly exotic. While I cannot reveal all of the places she has been and things she has done, I can say that we have hosted her in St. Louis twice. She got a kick out of Hiroki.
I got her on the phone and asked, "Can I come teach?" She was delighted, and invited me to Shirakawa Junior High School, just outside downtown Kumamoto. Michiyo drove me there, and we spent some time catching up, showing her our latest update.
As luck would have it, the schedule on that day began with an all-school assembly, in front of over 400 students--just like my introduction to my students in 2001. This is a fun shot Michiyo took of me pondering just what I would say to 400 kids.
Miss Tango introduced me as the guest English teacher for the day, and I was completely comfortable telling them all, "Nice to meet you," simply because I was wearing socks.

The vice principal, to the delight of countless students used to his stern demeanor, had lot of fun letting Hiro claw at his face.And making an appearance in back of several "Peace"-sporting ninth graders is none other than Takahashi-sensei, or his preferred self-moniker, "Danielle." I taught with this guy for a very short time, and Mark taught with him for a longer time. As Miss Tango described him, Danielle is, in a word, "Hen." That means strange in Japanese. With his omnipresent fanny pack and game-show English, he was happy to see me and had wonderful things to say about Mark.
Miss Tango arranged for me to visit the seventh and eighth graders, plus have lunch with some ninth graders. She asked about the lessons and what we should teach. The conversation went like this:

Tango: Joe-sensei, what will our lesson plan be?

Mr. Joe: Do you have to teach anything for these classes?

Tango: Oh, no, not at all.

Mr. Joe: Then would it be okay to have 45 minutes of English Enjoy America World Fun Time with Joe-sensei?

Tango: (Ecstatic, apparent even on the phone) That would be GREAT!!!

Now what, you might want to know, if 45 minutes of English Enjoy America World Fun Time with Joe-sensei? Basically, my self-introduction. I try to give the students some funny ways to remember my name, draw a map of America and explain where I am from, show some pictures of St. Louis, my family, and some places I have traveled. Trust me, if you were there, you would find it as riveting as they do. Really. . .I think. Check out not only these captivated faces, but the standing room only crowd.Actually, these pictures were taken during my last class of the day (I ended up teaching in five out of the six periods, and hung out with another class during lunch and recess). Had I learned magic BEFORE doing the JET Programme instead of after, I might have single-handedly revolutionized methods of teaching English. Then again, maybe not. Regardless, word got out that I was doing some magic in these classes, and one class requested to stand in the back and enjoy.
All in all, it was a phenomenal day. It felt like traveling back in time, only without a Dalorean. Thank you very much, Miss Tango!

Crossing Guard for a day

Several times a month, my father-in-law, Minoru, volunteers to be the crossing guard for students at the elementary school down the street, where Michiyo and her sister Masae went to school. He told me several months ago I could come with him one morning and do it. So I got up at 7 a.m. and donned the bright yellow jacket, the green mesh cap, and carried the safety flag to the crosswalk.

Minoru looked like a police officer, and took pride in his official uniform, as well as his safety "light saber." Michiyo told me the characters on my hat mean, in so many words, "crime prevention."
Exciting stuff. I wish I would have gotten action photos including students and their yellow and red hats. The elementary school is first through sixth grade. When the kids saw a new, strange, and tall(?) foreigner helping them cross the street, reactions were mixed. Predictably, the fifth and sixth graders were absolutely unfazed and barely acknowleged my existence, the third and fourth graders were mildly curious and amused, and the happy little first and second graders that were bounding to school at 7:30 in th morning laughed and stared, and some asked me if I was the new English teacher. Here`s the crosswalk.

Nagasaki Road Trip, the countryside

This is the House of the Ishizuka Family, where we have stayed several times before, and had another great time last weekend. This area, in the countryside, was not directly damaged by the Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki city in 1945.

This house is where Michiyo`s Dad Minoru grew up, one of eight siblings. Many Japanese houses have a shrine to ancestors inside. The daily custom for residents, as well as the entrance and exit rituals for visitors, is to kneel before the shrine, break an incense stick in half and place it in an urn of ashes, ring a small gong(?), put hands together and say a Japanese prayer.

These shrines usually have pictures of relatives near it. The shrine at the Ishizuka`s is in the room that I sleep in, under the eyes of Minoru`s parents. I wrote about this room and the experience of staying here for the first time two years ago.

These pictures are Mrs. Fumi and Mr. Kichizo Ishizuka, parents of Chio, Kazuyo, Kanji, Yoshimichi, Minoru, Yotaro, and Hitoshi Ishizuka.

These two keep an eye on us as we sleep. This year, Hiroki was at the beginning of the futon row, next to Mommy and Daddy.
The Ishizuka`s run an orange farm (The oranges are the Japanese kind called mikans--small, sweet like tangerines, and incredibly delicious). My Uncle Kenny and Aunt Mary, and now their son Craig and his family, have a dairy farm in Illinois outside of St. Louis. Whenever we go there, we check out the cows and sometimes wander through the corn fields. At the Ishizuka`s farm, we picked oranges. Michiyo`s cousin Akiko helped Hiroki do his part.
Then it was time for the barbecue!!! All manner of meats and vegetables, chopped into small pieces, to go along with rice balls, and of course, Japanese beer and sake. In this picture, to my right is Minoru`s older brother Kanji, who had throat cancer and is now mute--very fun communicating with him.
Another memorable family gathering is in the books. This picture does not show everyone, but standing to the right of Michiyo and me is the Yoshida family, Tomoko and her kids Hana, now 9, and Shiki, now 13. They came to America for our wedding, and have changed a lot in four years.

Nagasaki Road Trip, City Visit

We spent a few hours at the Matsuno household, where Grandma Chieko grew up. This picture encapsulates an afternoon gathering in Japan: Everyone is sitting or kneeling on the tatami floor, around a knee-high table filled with tea, coffee, fruit, and other snacks. Three of the four siblings in Chieko`s family were here, all of whom attended our wedding in Kumamoto four years ago. They loved catching up with us, and especially with Hiroki, who gets along well with all manner of pets. Here he is with great Aunt Sachiko, who lives in this house, and their dog Ralph.

Michiyo`s cousin Yoshie had a girl, Manami, four days before this picture was taken.

Michiyo, are we ready for another one yet?

Happy Family in Nagasaki!
Standing, top left: Taisuke and Sachiko (Chieko`s sister and husband) with Ralph the dog

From left, in front: Minoru, and new parents Hidenobu and Yoshie with little Manami--Grandma Toshie is crouching right behind her

Michiyo`s sister Masae is standing in the back, Grandma Chieko is right behind Michiyo and me with Hiroki.

Nagasaki Road Trip, Getting there

With a national holiday last Monday, the weekend was the perfect chance for a family reunion in the Nagaski countryside. Michiyo`s Mom Chieko has several siblings in the city, and Michiyo`s Dad Minoru has an older brother that still runs the family orange farm. Spending time with these relatives is always a good time, and the added bonus of most of them seeing Hiroki for the first time made us very excited for these couple of days.

Just outside of Kumamoto, we had to take a ferry. Usually, you can stand on the balconies and have seagulls eat right out of your hand, but this year, Hiroki was eating and then sleeping, so we stayed inside when the birds were there. Later, we went out for some great views.

On the way there, we stopped at "Gammadasu Nagasaki," a delicious food shop run by the woman in this picture holding Hiro. See the resemblance? (FYI for any Japanese speakers: Gammadasu is Nagasaki-ben for Ganbarimasu)

President Obama coming up on the left

We spent the weekend in Nagasaki, a good two to three hours from Kumamoto by car. I did not know until we saw this sign that U.S. presidential campaigning was allowed in Japan.

As it turns out, there is a town not too far from Kumamoto with the same name as the new President of the United States. As we watched news of the election results, they had a lot of celebrating going on, in typical Japanese fashion: crowds of folks in Hula shirts and leis doing Hawaiian dances, in honor of Barack`s Hawaiian roots. A fun "I (heart) Obama was designed, and put onto everything from T-shirts and posters to kimonos and, you guessed it, Obama burgers. If I find some pictures of this stuff, I will post them.

Fun first days in Kumamoto

One of our first stops the day after we arrived was the electronics store, so Michiyo could score a grand massage on one of the demo chairs. The clerk did not mind at all, as long as she got to hold our fun little guy. I caught her making quite a jolly face.

Unfortunately, there is not widespread trick-or-treating on Halloween in Japan. The best thing we could find is a cake shop that gives free candy to kids who come dressed up. We went with our friend Yuka and her boy Kenshin, whose Elmo outfit was hilarious.

That night, we caught up with some more friends; Maki and Jason Wians had their first daughter together, Randhima Ryou, in August.

Hiro is at that point that he fusses if he cannot be in Mommy Michiyo`s arms, especially if he happens to be tired, hungry, or in just about any mood at any time of the day. And NO WAY is he falling asleep in anyone`s arms (besides Grandma Julie Fingerhut on occasion) but Michiyo`s. Well, it turns out he can fooled; the one person in the world who could pass for Michiyo does a great job of filling in when we need it most: her sister, Masae.

Hiro takes Japan

This is it folks, the big trip!!! Well, there have been big trips, but this big trip is Hiroki`s first. We took a smaller trip to Colorado in the summer, and Hiroki did okay on those flights (I`ll have to post pics from that trip later), but this journey would be the big test. The kind folks at United made up for a major screw-up by arranging us a three-seat row to ourselves. Hiroki enjoyed his own seat, and besides a brief, loud, and tired, episode, he made it through with flying colors. I think he slept over half of the 13-hour flight. Michiyo had him dressed in his Halloween colors.

Lots of people at every stop, from the Midwest to the Far East, became instant friends and complimented us on our happy boy. Hiroki is pretty pumped to be in Fantastic Fukuoka before riding the final leg of our 24-hour odyssey to Kumamoto City, in Southern Japan.

Grandpa Minoru Ishizuka could not have been happier to see his first grandson in person for the first time. We rolled up, he took him and did not let go.

Since she last saw him in March, Grandma Chieko could not believe this big boy was the tiny baby she helped us so much with eight months ago.And Aunt Masae, Michiyo`s big sister, was so happy to have a nephew seeing her off to work in the morning.
At this point, Hiroki was a little shell shocked between jet lag, new faces, and a new environment. He got back to his usual expressions pretty quickly.

Hiroki has fun with Grandpa's scalp

Papa Joe really enjoys his first grandson, and Uncle Mark loves his first nephew.

Summer fun

This summer, we spent an afternoon at Route 66 State Park in Eureka, MO. Growing up, we drove past this ghost town called Times Beach on the way to Six Flags. All I knew was that people had to leave because chemicals put on the roads made them sick. Now, the place is cleaned up, gorgeous, and re-christened as Route 66 State Park. The history of this park makes for a good read on wikipedia. Great shots of Hiro in his sun hat and lion bib.

Having such a small human around every day makes the proportions of the body intriguing. How many people can remember barely being able to touch their hands above their head?

Michiyo brought Hiroki to several gigs I had this summer. The Abra-Kid-Abra show I performed at Libraries was called, "Dr. Bugster and the Magic Fly Swatter."

One of my favorite camps I taught this summer was a pre-school age circus camp at COCA (Center of Creative Arts) near the loop in St. Louis. On the last day, we did a show for their parents, and then had Hiro pose on top of the rolling globe.

Fun pics

Hiroki came out with a full head of dark hair. Then it thinned out a little bit, and it is growing all the time. Michiyo made it stand up as best she could after a bath.

I love running into woman who have grand kids when Hiro is wearing this bib. They always have the same response, "IT sure does!" with a big smile.

Last year, we met Garrett, the son of our friends Dave and Joslyn Unger. At the time, I thought he was the happiest, most smiley baby I had ever seen, and I hoped Hiroki would be that jolly. We are very fortunate: Hiro smiles easily often, responding well to family, friends, and strangers. Oh yeah, and taking baths really makes him happy.

Every day, Hiro makes progress doing something tiny. For a while now, he's constantly testing which big toe is the tastiest, right or left. Check back for updates.

This onesie is one of Michiyo's favorites, featuring a big bear face on Hiroki's bottom. Speaking of bears and butts, Michiyo's hometown and the city where I lived for three years, is the home of the bear: Kumamoto, Japan. "Kuma" means bear, and "moto" means home. So check out Hiroki's backside in this outfit--it's Kumamoto.

Lynn's Unbelievable Wedding!!!

7-26-08
My older sister Lynn married Rob on Saturday night, and the whole day is now the latest, greatest wedding and reception ever; I say that seriously. Between the Rehearsal dinner Friday night at Sameem, an Afghani restaurant on South Grand, the good fortune of no rain (given a little humidity), and the aligned efforts of dozens of family and friends, the entire event was an incredible success. In only five months, Hiroki has attended two weddings, with one coming up Saturday, and we are all ready impressed with his willingness to stay up and party. Here are a few highlights.
Mommy Michiyo looked stunning as usual, and dressed Hiroki in a yukata (Japanese summer kimono).
Rob (the groom) gave the wedding party hats that he is partial to, and we all happily wore them to the ceremony. Hiro and Mommy felt that I wore it well.
Hiro is a hit with the ladies, and here he enjoys the company of three of the prettiest women at the event: Mommy Michiyo, of course, along with his tall Aunt Lynn, the bride, and Christina, Mark's boo.
While Biggie was bumping on the dance floor, Mom and Hiroki were kicked.
Lynn gives a final salute to the tired twosome. Congratulations, LMF, we love you!