Snow Snow Snow Yuki Daro!

the first snow came like a thief in the night. Stealing Fall before all the leaves were ready to fall. Now it feels like midwinter almost. It's cold in the hallways and I forgot what its like to sweat when I walk outside. Ski season is here. I'm very excited to ski and board but was dissapointed by the wet rain-snow-sludge first-snow-ofthe-year. It wasn:t the powdery white magical fluff that I wanted. It was reality: winter is here and you wont be turning off your heater until April. It is funny to think that half my time in Japan is spent under the kotatsu and on the ski slopes. I forget what the other seasons feel like while I:m living in the others. Winter is probably the longest season here. This winter I have 2 weapons I didn:t have last winter: A kerosene heater and a car! I've already managed to spill kerosene on my kitchen floor, making the whole apartment reek...now lets just hope I can learn how to drive in the snow quickly.
Some friends and I went to Nikko and Nasu to escape the snow for the weekend and see the sights. It was absolutely beautiful and I had a wonderful time. It was so nice to get out of Yamagata for the weekend. Yesterday when we returned, we entered Yamagata ken through a tunnell. One the fukushima side of the tunnel, all the roads were clear, but on the other side of the tunnel there was tons of snow--"Welcome to Yamagata!" the GPS welcomed us.

Karate

Chris and I went to our first Karate class last night. It was really interesting. Apparantly our karate master is the only one in the Japan who has these special healing powers. He also does alot of reiki. I stood in front of him and he tried to move me with his hands but I didn't move but I did feel something and it was kind of unsettling. Then he told me "your left leg is shorter than your right leg". Which is sort of true (I have a pretty big imbalance). I was surprised he could recognize that just by looking at me. He told me he would fix it at the end of the class without touching me. His healing powers are so great that The US military asked him to work for them and he turned them down. He also gaurded a secret meeting between the Taiwanese government and China at the Chinese Imperial Palace. He is a very relaxed man and he has a really kind smile. He also has a cute pot belly. The class was interesting. He taught Chris and I karate moves while the rest of the class meditated. Then he interupted one of the students during her meditation to ask her the English word for something. That was a little strange. Also strange was the shrine with an old refridgerator door as its center piece. On the refridgerator door was a shadow. The shadow is supposed to be the image of the female Buddha that came to him. At the end of class (which consisted of 15 minutes of stretching and 40 minutes of meditation) the students stood in a line while one student practiced moving the line of students without touching them. First they moved the line of people with their hands. I was skeptical when I saw people moving out of line and wondered how it worked. Then the master invited us to join the lines. We did and I did feel something pushing me. It was really interesting, I also fell out of the line. Next it was our turn. He gave us some of his power by patting our hands with his. I moved my hand and imagined a wall of force pushing the people out of line. They all moved. Shocku! I tried a few more times. Next we individually picked people to push out of line with our minds. We would have to say which number person we were pushing (so they would know if it was supposed to be them that was moving). So sometimes I would pick a different person in my mind than the number I said. Occasionally both would move, but sometimes just the number person I had selected. So their might have been some mental bias in their movements. No double blind study here! After 20 minutes of this (later we moved on to just using our eyes, then the backs of our heads) it began to get repetitive. Class ended. The master had me lie on the floor while a woman tried to use reiki to get my leg to grow. I felt a warmth in my lower back while she used her powers. She wasn't touching me at all. I couldn't see that it had made a difference but other people noticed it was a little different although not entirely fixed. Interesting. I left the class partially believing, but still very skeptical. I am a strong believer on the influence of mind and body and the effects they have on one another but this class seemed to be entirely focused on mind. I didn't expect the mind to have such powers without training the body first. I'm really excited to go back next time!!! I just wish I had found the class sooner!

oh Japan!

While doing my Halloween class (a few days after Halloween), Ohnuki sensei mentions to me “did you know some trick or treaters were shot and killed on Halloween?” “They opened the door and they were shot”. No, I hadn:t heard that. I searched for it on the news and still couldn't find it. Where do the Japanese people get all the news of all the gun violence in America. And why haven’t I heard of it. That’s why many people in this country are afraid to go to America. Because it’s scary and everyone has a gun. The movies don’t help to offset this stereotype. It’s frustrating. Another thing about Japan. There is a phenomenon called “hikikomori” in which young students who are often bullied retreat to their homes, never to go out again. (Or, if they go out, it’s only at night) The reason they are able to do this is because their parents cater to it. Their parents don’t know how to handle it so they continue to take care of their children and let them stay at home. [School in Japan is only compulsory until age 16 I think]. Normally when parents don’t know how to handle a situation with their child, they call the school. But this situation is a little different because once the child drops out, usually the school will not intervene. Recently, a girl at my school “quit”. I asked the English teacher if she would become a hikikomori (half joking, half-serious). The teacher said no. I mentioned that the problem of hikikomori only exists in Japan and isn’t it interesting. She replied that it’s because the Japanese people want to take care of their children. They must take care of their children, but in other countries, this is not the case. Americans leave their children to the wolves. Forcing someone at a young age to face the realities of big scary society is in my mind a greater service to them than the convenience of letting them stay at home and do what they want. How will they learn to function in society? This is definitely a case of not teaching someone how to fish! It is also an example of the enigmatic logic of the Japanese psyche.

Erection Day

I feel like a child on Christmas eve waiting for Santa Claus to come with these elections. It is kind of silly. I will wake up tomorrow morning and America will have a new president-elect. Well, more like I won't find out until tomorrow afternoon. I'm happy to have anyone but Bush but I'm really hoping for Obama. It worries me. I remember being in Spain 4 years ago on election day. All of the Americans went to this bar and we stayed up all night watching live TV and we watched as the states slowly went to red and blue. I went home before there was a clear winner because there was so much confusion. And then I remember going to school the next morning and people had been crying when they found out Bush won again. We were afraid for our country I guess. I think the fact that most foreign countries seem to be routing for Obama to win says something significant. I'm not sure if they actually know why they like him so much or if its just because he's the more liberal candidate. who knows...I'm not one to talk politics.