a feast of couchsurfing adventures

only 18 % of the world...

after all this time... and all the traveling I seem to have done, only 18% of the world... yet I dont know if that counts oceans etc. I guess I have a lot more work to do. see you in the travel world.

Thanksgiving in China

THANKS

GIVING
The irony was tangible trying to have a Thanksgiving meal in China especially because there is no oven in my apartment. However there was a great deal of delicious, almost traditional food, great people and plenty to drink. It was a delicious evening with friends and new family.I had been homesick for the fist time since I had been here... and it settled in during the middle of last week as I continued to go to work, while everyone at home had the holiday off. But I managed to talk to a few loved ones and those conversations made all the difference. The festivities were a success albeit a day late. And everything is cleaned up now...

A classic Shanghai scene... old meets new

Reading

I have been doing a great deal of reading this fall mostly for my grad school classes and now with a few book clubs I am in at school... so this is a very familiar scene... we all like to read.

The purpose of the trip to Japan:

I accompanied 16 students from the school Choir to a group concert of international schools in the pacific region. We had a great time. they rehearsed, i watched (listened rather) and then we got to explore the country a tiny bit.

is there any reason better than food to go somewhere new?

being an island it is logical for fish to be a national obsession. at a local sushi place a conveyor belt displays the dishes and you take plates as they go by, as many as you want. The students I was traveling with had a competition. I think the highest plate score was 14. That is a lot of sushi. Good food. good times and when you are traveling it is a moral obligation to eat the local cuisine. And thank goodness. mmm Japan. it is delicious.

it is the little things

Fall Colors

is there ever such a thing as "just another temple" ?

a rare site in Japan

** Story of some length and detail to follow... (soon when y head ache and the minor jet lag ware off.)

Cultural nic-naks

just a few treasures i picked up while in Japan:
decorative man-hole covers... they are all this nice. I wanted to do rubbings of each of them, but managed to resist; the bidet directions accompanied by the heated seats that also come equipped with personal sound machines for that added sense of privacy, and Taiko drumming (not nearly as kitchy, but truly moving and mind blowing.) I have bought a few genuine treasures too which I will photograph and post shortly.

excitement in Osaka

During a secret outing today while I shirked my Chaperoning duties I ventured into Osaka from the Suburbs where our Choir rehearsals have been taking place. I was in search of the Osaka Peace Museum, which ironically chronicles war, WWII in particular. Although I had forgotten what it was like to be alone in a foreign country without any understanding of the language I went out armed with a map and determination if not stubbornness. I was also willing to never reach my destination, because all the while I would still be in Japan. Needless to say I got lost and frustrated, all my own doing... but somehow I did manage to reach the initial desired destination.
In the mid afternoon I ascended the stairs of the Osaka metro, up three levels and into the cold. Even the light, fall and dim, was cold. Out onto a nearly abandoned sidewalk along the South end of Osaka Castle Park. I walked, as the sign instructed two minutes West and without noticing I came upon the Peace Museum. I paid the 250 Yen admission fee, got my ticket from the vending machine (everything can be acquired from a vending machine here in Japan) and proceeded into the exhibit. I was the only person in the entire museum save the staff which consisted of the guard at the door, the two women at the counter and the man polishing the floor in the hallway. It was a startling experience to be the sole visitor. But the very first placard gave me viable evidence as to why:
It is the responsibility of the Japanese people to know and admit to their role in the atrocities of the second world war and to be leaders in the struggle for world peace.

it said something like this, but a bit more eloquent. This is the only time and place I have seen in writing or otherwise any form of admission or acknowledgment of the crimes of the Japanese during WWII>. And this is perhaps a reason Japanese citizens are not pouring in. However, I enjoyed the solitary space to experience the exhibits. It was not until the second exhibit that I was even mildly stirred. I am a teacher and student of History, this part in particular, so I have heard a lot before. However, the power of this place... the images, the simple statements translated from Japanese as the captions of the photographs and the video time lines brought me to a point of tears and held me there for nearly an hour and a half.

the third exhibit was a more modern history and was an array of issues today. Child soldiers in Africa, tactics used in the Arab-Israeli conflict and others. it was more than i could integrate... for I knew any moment there would be a time when I would again walk out into the cold air of the park, make my way down the naked street and into the bustling subway where young and old Japanese, fashion misfits and prim school girls rushed from one task to another, from one shop to the next. The dichotomy of experiences was traumatic. And to return to the school to hear the sweet choral voices... I needed another day to simply absorb that emotion... that rush and that ache ...

other adventures too, yet not appropriate to combine them. More postings to follow... eventually, if we survive another day.

CouchSurfing in action

For over a year I have been hosting international travelers, First in San Francisco and now in Shanghai. It has always been a pleasure, an adventure and most of all fun. I have met some of the most incredible and can say I have friends all over the world. This week I hosted two people. Amanda is an American living in Vermont so i had a little taste of home, we shared idioms and a yearning for Vermont Cabot extra sharp cheddar cheese. Jelmer is Dutch and has been traveling for several months. he is a biologist and although we only met briefly before I left for Japan I know that he is a wonderful creature. It is a tremendous thing and a way to know the world in a completely different way. Surfs up dude.

Family, friends and surfers: the dinner ritual

In the past month we have formed a dinner ritual and a group of dear friends I have made here gather sunday evening to cook eat and drink together. it is a time for real conversation and genuine connection. I am truly happy on sunday evenings. I love finding people that i can connect with

a restful sunday morning

the family likes to hangout in bed together on mornings when the sun is shining.

a photographic up date:life

A) Halloween out with CouchSurfing Friends. even though it was a school night I needed to go out and remember a bit what is meant by being young. And to my surprise we were invited to a club event that was populated by Asian people. A logical conclusion yet, in Shanghai the club scene is invariably western dominated. And this was a pleasant change from the norm.
B&C)My kittens no longer fit into shoes, in fact they are much bigger than any of mine. now they much prefer drawers of any kind. I am working on training them to file thigs for me, but so far they are much better at taking things out than putting them back... and they also have developed this pack-rat habit, which involved them taking things into their den (UNDER MY BED) and never giving them back.
D)Yearbook Photo. I think this might be the first time I have looked remotely cute since my first grade photo, which was devastatingly cute in that early-eighties kind of way (the I dont know that I am too young to be wearing a argyle sweater-vet, I cut my own hair and i am missing a front tooth kind-of-cute.)
E)China is so many things, but on my way to work every day I see the demolition of China. taking it apart: brick-by-brick, block-by-block and neighborhood-by-neighborhood.