September 1, 2005

It's been over a month since we arrived in this strange, wonderful place, and it was a little bit difficult to turn the page of my calenders today. September signals the end of summer and the beginning of school/real work. It also signals the beginning of my favourite season - autumn!!! The crisp air, the vibrant colours, the smell of endings and the whispers of beginnings..c'est l'amour pour moi!

Today also kicked off the beginning of the second semester at school. I had to give my introductory speech in English and Japanese to 78 expectant and open Japanese faces...(Yes, my elementary school has only 78 kids in the entire school. My JHS has 42! Oui, je sais. J'suis vraiment chanceuse...) The gym was unexpectedly cool and I was happy for my suit, but the warmth in my heart warmed my body. The children...Jeez, I don't know how to explain it. I've never been a fan of young children, but seeing their faces today, and hearing their high pitched cries of "Kaki-sensei/Eigo sensei"...something just stirred within. It may also have had something to do with the happenings of the past few days, but they stirred something within me...

Let's see - well the last few days have been full of good tidings, gifts, and plenty of good vibes. One of my kocho senseis (principals) gave me a beautiful wooden fan with a painting of Fuji-san on it. Then my JTE gave me these really cool wooden ear cleaning thingys...I was just thinking to myself the other day, "where, oh where, can I buy one of those really cool wooden ear cleaning thingys?" For those who don't know, it's like a long, wooden Q-tip. Then T-sensei, who I simply adore, came over to my apato after work, in the rain, to give me 3 bags of vegetables. I wanted to cry. The next day (yesterday), he came to my other school to give me a fruit gift box filled with grapes. Again, I wanted to cry. I mean, he took me into his house, fed me, helped me buy a bed, delivered the bed to my place, made me laugh, treated me like one of the fam, and I gave him a lil' sumpin sumpin' to say gracias (a book for him and a cell phone holder for his wife - get your mind out of the gutters) and he showers me with fruits and veggies...Yeesh.

This leads me to a question: Is it the norm in Japanese society for people to give thank you gifts after they receive gifts? Is it a non-ending cycle of gift giving? It is my second time encountering this here...j'ai aucune idee...But whatever.

Also, last night I had my first Eikaiwa (English conversatoin) class with a couple of old biddies. One is my mom's age, and the other could be my grandmother's age. But they were super genki (energetic) and the grandmother had excellent English - she studied English lit. at Gifu University and was an TEFL teacher in primary schools. They are really sweet, and guess what I got in return??? That's right, fruits and vegetables. Sweet old biddies.

Ok, I'm off. It will be a easy going weekend as the last few weeks of drinking, nuits blanches and stressful communication has started to take it's toll. The doctor says to take two hours in the onsen and call him in the morning! Thanks to everyone who has posted comments and keep 'em coming!!