Some Jumbled Thoughts

I keep a notepad on me at all times to write down the random, unnecessary, distant thoughts that pop into my head. I've noticed that while in Japan, my thoughts are a bit different or focused in newer ways than when I was at home. But I definitely enjoy it.

1. [While looking out my kitchen window and seeing a huge bird searching for food/bugs in the rice fields] The plants exist for the bugs and the bugs exist for the bigger bugs and the bigger bugs exist for the birds and the birds exist for the cats and the cats exist for the bigger animals and the bigger animals exist as food for something even larger. And the cycle continues infinitely until the bigger animals wither and decay and eventually become the plants. And it might seem kind of sad that one's purpose is to be food for something else. But it's harmony; to form the continuation of life. So what then, is the purpose of human beings?
2. I wonder if Japanese cats speak a different dialect of Cat than other cats.
3. People are proud of their jobs in Japan, even if they work at gas stations or McDonalds. Everyone has a purpose here and people are proud of the till they create.
4. I kind of hate when people make fun of Mormons. They seem like the "go-to" religion to laugh about, but knowing a couple "fun facts" about a faith doesn't really give us the right to bash them as if we really understand them completely.
5. It's amazing how much communication you can do with someone without ever speaking the same language. Gestures, expressions, laughter...the universal languages of life.
6. Karaoke Culture: In a country that is very group-oriented, most creative differences get tucked away rather than being free to stand out. The biggest exception I've found so far is karaoke. In America, karaoke isn't all that popular...perhaps because there are so many outlets for self expression where I'm from. But in Japan, karaoke is huge! And the best part is that people aren't too shy to sing or dance and everyone does it. It feels like Japan's creative release.
7. Occasionally, I'll find a teensy little bug crawling on me and I kind of like it. It's like they want to explore me just as much as I want to explore them.

I think that's enough for now! To offset all the writing, here are some pictures from home. Thoughts from Japan and pictures from California...sorry, I have a hard time with consistency.












Spierrans :)














LA Artwalk + San Francisco + Sierra Barbecue + SPOP Talent Show + Mint Year Preview Night.

-MG

Japan Pt. 1

It's crazy that I've been in Japan for almost two weeks now.  Time really does fly by.  So much has happened and I feel like I've been learning non-stop about the culture, language, and myself.  I went to my first big festival a couple nights ago called the Kantou Festival, which was held in Akita City about an hour from my town.  There were thousands of people lining the streets for it and the energy there was incredibly.  There are some pictures from the festival below, though I wish I took more.  I also got a bike and have been exploring the area a bit more with it, finding secluded houses, humongous bugs, and a charm that never existed when I explored by car.  My Japanese is improving a bit and sometimes I'll overhear conversations and hear a few words that I know or be able to make out a sentence which makes me feel super awesome and cool...even though I typically have no idea what the rest of the actual conversation is about.

Oh! And I've been helping one of my future students work on a speech for an upcoming english speech competition.  She's only 14, but is so amazingly smart and adorable.  I.cannot.wait. to have classrooms full of people like her.  I taught her how to do a hand hug today and she taught me how to say hand hug in Japanese.  Pretty fair trade.  My Japanese co-teachers also asked me if I have any nicknames and I told them that some of my friends call me "Mel," but there isn't an "L" in Japanese, so they just call me "Meru,"which makes me smile.

You'll also probably notice, by the pictures below (my first roll of film from Japan!), that I live in the middle of a huge expanse of nature.  It's so amazing and I've never been anywhere more beautiful than here.  There are tons of insects everywhere, but it feels like people in some way respect them as neighbors instead of just shooing them as pests, which I think is really awesome.  I also noticed that nothing is really very random in Japan.  Everything has its own specific place and purpose.  Whether it be the specific duties and hierarchy of office workers or the seemingly odd vending machines lining the edge of the country side, everything has its own way and reason.





I visited a place where you could buy your fortune that was written on a piece of paper.  If you get a bad fortune, you are supposed to tie it to this rope.






The view from my bedroom window.

Kathie-sensei with her students. We could barely walk around without heaps of them running up to her to say hi.

A bee the size of a beetle.













-mg