Since my last post (besides the tech one), I have been a bit busy, which is great! I hope you all enjoyed the video, and there will be more to come in the future. In fact, I just saw a REALLY scenic spot in Ohira (my village) last night. I am able to see my apartment, the seven mountains of the neighboring town of Taiwa (and then some more mountains past that), rice fields, and much of the village all from this high vantage point. I especially liked it because it was at sunset and the mountains were in profile within a sea of cherry-red sky. I was told that from that same spot grows many Cherry Blossoms in the springtime (known as Sakura in Japanese). I'll make sure you all get to see it in different seasons.

By the way, speaking with my Dad today, he didn't realize that I can see rice fields from my window and balcony which is a point worth mentioning. They're really beautiful to watch when the breeze blows over them and creates waves of green.

Also, I'd like to quick answer a couple questions that were posted about my living situation. I have a washing machine for my clothes, but you might have noticed in the video that I was drying my clothes in the kitchen. I can also do this on the balcony, but it had been raining as of late, so I was keeping them inside. Also, I forgot to show you my bedroom. It was messy anyway... haha, but anyway, I do have a REAL bed, which is not the standard to my understanding. Most people sleep on futons on the ground and roll them up for the day. This may be changing, but I'm not sure. My bed is somewhere between the size of a full and a twin in the US. Enough for two people to snuggle... which is good for the winter. They don't do insulation very well here, but I am set. I have more than most people in my job position have here. I have an air conditioner and heater, and also two space heaters- one electric and one kerosene. People love the kerosene ones here- it's much cheaper than electricity. And finally, size-wise, I have a big place. My apartment is considered family-size. I feel very lucky to be in the place I am. Oh, and yes, I do take my shoes off before I come into the apartment- and school for that matter, but I put a "clean" pair on there.

Moving on... Yes, some people have asked (some even worried) and I did feel the big earthquake that you might have heard about. It felt pretty big to me, but I guess I was in a *relatively* mild area where it struck. Although if it had been just one notch higher in our area, there would have been sirens, the TV would have had big warnings, and I would have been obligated to call my Board of Education and my JET Prefectural Advisor to let them know that I hadn't been injured. That's just to give you an idea of the scale that we're going on. Needless to say, I am fine, and so is everyone I know. I appreciate all of the concern from people about my safety.

Last Monday through Wednesday, I went to a nearby town called Tomiya for an orientation for all of the new ALTs in Miyagi. It was a fun time, and I got to meet all of the people from Group B that I hadn't seen yet, since I was part of Group A coming to Japan. There are a lot of really great people in our prefecture.

I had my first couple days at the Kindergarten here, although again, it is break-time until the 25th of this month. There was one kid there, though. I hung out with him. He was 4 years old and knew his abc's, how to count to seven in English (although he skips six), and also apple and banana. He seemed to really grasp and appreciate the idea that we speak different languages, and that that is why we have a slight communication barrier. It was still fun talking to him about the cartoons that he likes. I discovered that we both like Hayao Miyazaki. I like to think of Miyazaki as the Walt Disney of Japan, but different. For those of you who don't know who he is, he has a new movie coming out in theaters in the US that you might have seen advertised: Ponyo. I urge you to all watch it and tell me what you think! He is one of my favorite filmmakers. I can't wait to see Ponyo and it's already out on DVD here, but I will have to watch it in Japanese. Anyway, it's one of that kid's favorite movies, so I have extra incentive to see it... as if I needed any!

Yesterday there was a mini festival in my village. It was really only a festival for a section of the village. The big festival for the full village is this next weekend and I'm so excited for Lindsey to be here to see it with me! I feel like there are so many festivals all the time here and parties as well. I think it has something to do with how uptight they are all the time here. Work is work and play is play, and all work and no play makes Johnny the worker to apologize to for not working as hard as him. Don't get me wrong, I love the people and I enjoy being at work, and so do other people, but there is a difference in the way they approach their lives with regards to work that I hope to illustrate during my time here. Parties and festivals give people a chance to unwind, but then in the morning when they put on their suit, all of the previous night's goings-on are forgotten because it's work-time. This is all, I think, due to their constant view of themselves as part of a group, and not as an individual.

Which brings me to my last topic. I would like to share with you a few things to mull over until the next time I blog. Perhaps think about them as you are out doing your day to day things, and wonder how they would change the way you live if you felt differently about them.

To begin: in the Western world there is a saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." In Japan there is a saying, "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."

In the US, one of the first words that we learn to say and/or write is "I" or "me."
In Japan, a person very infrequently uses the word for "I" or "me." Instead they often favor speaking about themselves in the third person by using their name, or using a phrase "for my part" instead of "me."

In conjunction with that last thought, when learning to write, it takes until 2nd grade until they learn to write the word "family" which is a pretty complicated character, especially for a second grader. By the same token, the character for "I" or "me" is very easy to write, but children don't know or learn how to write it until they are in 6th grade.

People in the US often wonder how the Japanese can say... stick with the same company for their whole lives- and that's only one aspect of how deeply this sense of their being just a small part of a whole affects their whole lives.