詩吟 Shigin: Concert this Sunday!

This coming Sunday, I will be singing a solo in front of the entire Northern Kyushu Shigin Club, as well as the lead teacher of this school of singing (called the "iemoto").

 

I'll write a brief explanation of the singing: Shigin is an old form of poetry recitation. The words change, but there isn't much variation of melody from song to song. Searching online, I found an article written by another JET who seems to have had a very similar experience to me: http://ajet.net/2011/07/06/culture-corner-shigin/.

 

The sheet music looks amazing! This is the closest example I could find online, though what I read is handwritten and in cursive (and therefore much prettier ;) [I am not sure if it would be appropriate for me to post my teacher's handwritten sheet music online, so I will refrain from posting a picture until I have gained permission] ). Honestly, the beauty of the sheet music is one of the reasons I am so captivated by the art. (The other, more important reason is that I adore my teacher and want any moment I can get to be near her.)

Shigin evolves with the level of the singer, so I can't yet add in all of the curlicues and warbles that she can do to the elongated vowels. The poetry words are sung quickly, and then the last vowel of the phrase is elongated and often rises or falls in a "spinning" way.

This lady sings it quite differently than I do, but this is the poem I'm singing. The title is "Koin-kun wo Tazunu."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDDD4w7yblA

I have been to a Northern Kyushu Club meet before, and sang as part of my group. I was the only foreigner present, and as such, I received quite a lot of attention, and have gained one or two fans. I have met the iemoto several times before, and recently I asked him if he had ever seen a foreigner in his club before, and he said not once in the 25 years he has been the head of the school.

Anyway, usually I'm pretty calm about my upcoming singing events, but this time I have the jitters!

Wish me luck!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

2012 was an awesome year, which I spent entirely in Japan. It started with a oyster grill and a trip to Oita to meet a friend's family for a traditional Japanese New Year, and it ended in Oita with my boyfriend cooking traditional Japanese New Year Foods, visiting temples to hear them ring the bells 108 times (a Buddhist Tradition), and visiting a Shrine to buy a fancy stick and watch some amazing dancing in kimono.

To give you an idea of some of the things I have been cooking, take a look at these:

-A website explaining New Year's Foods in Japan: http://www.bento.com/fexp-osechi.html
I used this to put together my menu. I bought Kamaboko (fish cakes), kuromame (sweetened black beans), and crab for the new years.
-Kuri Kinton: My favorite New Years foods, mashed sweet potatoes with chestnuts
http://ryourimeri.blogspot.jp/2012/12/kuri-kinton.html
-Daikon no Nimino: Boiled Daikon. I am making it without sake, so my boyfriend can eat it.
http://ryourimeri.blogspot.jp/2012/12/daikon-no-nimono-boiled-radish.html
-Renkon Pickles
http://ryourimeri.blogspot.jp/2012/12/renkon-pickles.html

Speech Season

With the cool air blowing in after the typhoon a week ago (which featured canceled trains and torrential mists), speech season has begun. I had forgotten how much I love tutoring speech contestants-- students who want to learn about how to properly pronounce a "th" and aren't too embarrassed to try sticking out their tongue. It is very enjoyable working with students who like talking English and are working hard to learn a performance piece. Being able to mention linguistic phonic rules and the students understanding and being grateful for the explanations also pretty excellent.

And, with cooler weather, we are heading into midterm season, so the workload has lifted for me (though it has become rougher for the other teachers). It is a nice relaxing time.

Also higanbana, red spider lilies that sprout up all over Saga during late September and early October, are in bloom. I remember them very fondly from last year, and it's nice to see them again.

Happenings in the Life of Mary

First, Fukuoka was featured in the New York Times, woo-hoo!
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/travel/uncovering-the-secrets-of-fukuoka.html?pagewanted=1&smid=fb-share&_r=0

Next on the agenda: Saturday. Er, I mean Saga BBQ!
In Saga there's a tradition of having Big Awesome Barbeques pretty regularly throughout the year. I have heard of these Big Awesome Events, and many of my friends went to the Big Awesome things and talked about how Awesome and Big they were. The first one, I was very sick because I had just arrived to Japan and I had caught all of the sicknesses ever. And the same went for the second. And then the third I wasn't in Saga, oops.
BUT THIS TIME I MADE IT.
And it was Big and Awesome. XD Betcha didn't see that one coming.
About 70 people showed up, and quite a few bands from the ALT and local community (one was a high school band, woo!), and they rocked the place from about 4 p.m. until about 10 p.m.
I really wanted to sing. "Maid on the Shore," anyone? I think it would be better if I got an accompaniest. Or maybe I'll just haul my koto out there and look like a big dork.

Third, today my sister skyped (or, actually, Live-On-ed) with my class, while a newspaper reporter was watching. We had some issues with the microphone looping back the speaker's sound and making really strange alien noises, but other than that, it was a lot of fun! My students were super excited, and super nervous, and Jessie was super giggly and we had a lot of fun, and everybody wants to do it again! I am stoked, and maybe next time it won't make the Woo-woo-WHO-WOOOP-AAAARUGH!!! noises. Heh.

Anyways, that's it for today. Love you all!

Beautiful Sunsets After the Storm

I went on a singing walk run on Tuesday after school and saw the prettiest rainbow sunset combination ever.

Thunder Storms and School

Last night there was the biggest thunder storm EVER.

I swear, it was RIGHT ABOVE my apartment.

…one nifty thing I learned while I couldn’t sleep was that thunder has really awesome echoes when you’re living in a mountain valley. Every boom is very different, and you can hear the rebounding sound waves layering on themselves when it strikes in certain places.

Today I am so tired.

School Update: I only had one class today, but it was really enjoyable.

Two class periods with LL2 talking about what they did over summer vacation, playing a “Did you ____?” summer vacation bingo name (they interviewed other classmates and filled in the boxes when a classmate could answer “yes” to the question, then I had them stand up and call out students names and ask them a question one at a time, using the names to play bingo), and then I made them write 10 sentences about their summer vacation.

Also, my plan to make spider cup cakes with LL2 for Halloween passed (in English, of course!). I AM SO EXCITED!!!

Random Bit of Happiness: Yesterday, at Seiryo, I got applause when I walked into one class. These tiny little bits of Heaven in the classroom can move me to the point of tears.

Life, cooking, and travel

 Ha! And you didn't know this was a food post...

Here's my meal from last night.  The couscous salad and Japanese Eggplant is mine. I had a lot of fun trying out the eggplant. It's grilled in the small broiler in my stove, and then topped with grated ginger, soysauce, and a bit of sesame. I feel there is something missing from my dressing, so if you have ideas, let me know!

The couscous is dressed with lemon (I found them on sale! Also made sugar mint lemon water with the rinds afterwards, and it was delicious), black pepper, carrots, cucumber, and nira (a kind of flat Japanese green onion).

I ate it with two new ALT's in Takeo, and it was an excellent and relaxing evening.

 

Aaaaaand this is dinner tonight!

The zombie couscous salad returns! (and was not conquered)

I made hummus for the first time in over a year! It was amazingly delicious!

Ron added lentils (amazing!) and homemade broccoli ham macaroni. 

Next, our little friend at dinner. Isn't he ADORABLE????

I loved watching him chase the little bugs. He's my hero! Eat those mosquitoes, buddy!

Last, two pictures from my trip that I actually took! Yay! 

I liked taking a picture of a person taking a picture of a person taking a picture of a person taking a picture. Love you guys!

Mukade

I.

Just killed.

A MUKADE.

IN MY APARTMENT.

AUGH.

Okay, so mukade are one of the few poisonous animals in Japan. They are a black and red centipede that can get rather large (the one in my apartment appears to be a baby, only about two inches long). They recommend medical attention if you are bitten.

I'm glad the one in my apartment was tiny, that I killed it easily, and that it came out in the light so I could see it instead of having it crawl on me while I sleep. But now I'm afraid I'm too psyched out and adrenalined up to sleep properly.

Oh well-- the good thing of this whole ordeal? It got me on blogger again.

梅雨*

Tsuyu

The churning of clouds and leaves--

cool winds bearing relief

from muggy summer heat.

Tsuyu

Torrents of rain--

a gentle shower on my head

as I hop over and weave around puddles,

on my way to work.

My pants are soaked to the knee.

Tsuyu

Silver clouds billowing across the sky,

gilting the landscape

and hiding mountains.

Tsuyu wind

Tossing papers in the staff room;

Run! Catch them! Pin them down!

Office life is so much more exciting.

Tsuyu monsoon

Lightening, and the thunderous boom

Make students scream, “kyaaaa!”

A chorus of high-pitched voices,

even the teacher ducks in sudden fear

of the clouds’ mighty voices,

and rises with a grinny blush.

Tyusu

All the hydrangeas in bloom.

*梅雨 tsuyu Rainy Season

Mary E. July 6^th, 2012

Parent's Visit, Part IV: Saga

This post will be about my family’s small trip into Saga. I had a meeting with other JET participants during Spring Break, to meet the new teachers who will be working with me this next school year, and so my parents and Daniel came with me into Saga, and we all had lunch together with my boss.

The most striking portion of this outing was the sakura (cherry blossoms) blooming near the city government building. So, that's what most of this post will be.

Then we went up to the top story of the government building for lunch. The view was amazing.

 I think the Saga city manhole covers are adorable. Mutsugoro! (They are gobies [singular: goby], or "mudskippers," and are native to the Ariake sea, near where I live. Strange and lovable!)

And this last picture is just to prove there are other flowers in Japan besides sakura. ;)

Parent's Visit, Part III: Arita and Imari

There were several things mom wanted to see when she came to Japan: Kyoto, Nara, several World Heritage Sites, and two small famous pottery villages in my prefecture: Artia and Imari.

There was one thing Daddy wanted to see, which was Sakura.

Oh, and of course, me.

My parents got to see everything they wanted to see, and our chance to go to Arita and Imari is thanks to my very generous friend, Tatara-san, who offered to give us a ride and then took us out to an excellent buffet which featured food made from local products. The food was delicious, the towns were very pretty, and the pottery was excellent.

Artia is quite possibly the most famous pottery from Japan—it’s white porcelean with blue and red patterns, and there were many famous potters from Japan in the 1600’s. We went to a pottery factory (the same one Dana and I went to), and saw the really old, beautiful pottery.

Imari was a small town that was quarantined by a local king (or perhaps the emperor?) and forced to make pottery for generations. The pottery these people produced was gorgeous, and people are still making pottery there. The pottery tends to be a little more earthen-ware, a little more day-to-day use, and it was in this town where we spent most of our time.

All of the pictures below are of Imari.

*All photos were taken by my mother.

Parent's Visit, Part II: Takeo

(Comment on photos: most, if not all, of these photos were taken by my mother, and I was very content to let her take the pictures. It's interesting to see what captivates someone new to Japan.)

This is another installment of "My parents were here" series. They have gone home now-- they flew out of Fukuoka at 10:30 on Saturday morning (getting up to Fukuoka by train by 8:30 in the morning was interesting, considering that Fukuoka's about an hour away from where I live, but we survived).

Anyway, on to Takeo!

This was the first full day my parents were in Japan, and I took them to an irori (sunken hearth) restaurant called Warabe. 

 

Warabe was built seven years ago, using materials from four different 100-year-old houses. It's located in a beautiful glen by a small pond, and I HIGHLY recommend it.

We go that way!

(Okay, so I couldn't chose which one I liked better.)

We don't like each other, honestly.

My mom really likes this picture, and I do, too. My garden has leeks! 

We were climbing down the stairs to Takeo's onsen, or hot baths.

Here's the front door to the bath building.

While my parents were here, I went to Okamura-san's house and gave a small koto performance. I also held their dog, Komo. My birthday sweater makes me feel like I'm Komo's sister.

Takeo has some very pretty cabbages growing at this time.

Saga has some very pretty manhole covers. This is Takeo's.

This is yosakoi, a very athletic dance that's almost like aerobics. I've been invited to join a group, and hopefully sometime in the future I'll have some time to actually go.

When my parents came to Japan, it was still the season for Hina Matsuri, or Girl's Day. The Japanese set up extensie and beautiful displays of dolls, and my mom got some really good shots of these princesses.

Takeo has some BIIIIIG pots. I see them sprinkled all around Saga, and I'm not exactly sure what their history is, but I like them. 

This is Takeo Shrine (where the big camphor tree is!), and it's surrounded by beautiful sakura.

(Dad and I being goofy again)

(except he stopped when I went for it.)

This is the big camphor tree in Takeo, that I love oh so much.

A detail of the stairs up to Takeo shrine.