Good Times

Well, Cindy flew out Monday morning and arrived home safe... Monday morning. We had a really great time and managed to do a lot in a week and a half.

This is SunaMushi. A hot spring under this sandy ocean beach keeps the sand piping hot just under the surface. You lay in a shallow hole and are covered in sand. You're only supposed to stay under for 10 minutes, more than that and it gets too hot and painful for most people. Beside Cindy is her friend Keiko chan.

The Kamada family took us to lunch at a famous local restaurant. If you see Cindy ask her how it worked.

Melons. If you zoom and look closely you can see the prices. The least expensive being 5250 Yen, the most desirable being 16800 Yen. To figure out the dollar amount just move the decimal left two places.
There are normally prices melons in Japan but these are grown with perfectly homogeneous patterns and are given as gifts to show status.

The many faces of Yakushima

Cindy and I sat here for a long time watching the monkeys and deer.
Click to enlarge.


This is our local supermarket. It's called Wai Wai Land, wai wai being the Japanese for a child's yell of delight, similar to Yay yay. Happy Shopping!

Cindy and Kagoshima

Please ignore that stupid little rating bar, I can't get rid of it.

River Unknown

I walked up the nearby river today and, for the first time, brought my camera with me. I always come across quite a few strange things by the river. Today I hiked up to the bamboo beach, through the old gypsy camps in the forest, past the coelophysis grove and onto Kaizokujima, an island known, by me, to be a haven for monkey poachers.


The Bamboo Forest. If the crisscrossing paths show evidence of the Gypsy's home base, the camp size clearings are undeniable proof.


Directly opposite is the Coelophysis Grove. To say that there aren't dinosaurs in this cretaceous clearing would be ludicrous, but to turn your back on it would be fatal.


This is the view that the shikaru have of you while you're walking by on the beach. There are some swimming just below the surface on the far side of the river, you may be able to make out their shapes. Trust me, you don't want to get any closer than I was when I got this shot.



As I was returning home I came across this shredded bird carcass. I thought that maybe I hadn't noticed it earlier but then I observed the untrampled feathers over my footprints from earlier. Something had made short work of this bird. Whats more, small bird prints circled the area while no predator prints could be found anywhere. The monkeys? Coelophysis? shikaru? Another river mystery.

Bike safety

My spring vacation consisted of two weeks sitting behind my desk at the office. I'm so glad to be back in the classroom teaching again. Two new English teachers transfered to Yakushima this year, both are really nice, though one is so shy I haven't been able to get but a few words out of her.
A few days ago the police came to the Junior High school and showed us the equivalent of a red asphalt video but for bicycles. It was all done with dummies on bikes being rear-ended and side-swiped at 20 and then 40kph. I thought the advice they gave was pretty good.

She's Back!

My friend Luke told me he wanted to start a comic and sent me this idea (the words are his). There isn't actually a story but I thought it at least deserved an illustration.
I actually don't know anything about Jane Fonda (big surprise right)

The Goodbye Party

It's the end of the Japanese school and work year and many of the teachers and government workers are transferring to the mainland. My boss, Kamada Sensei, is one of the people transferring so I went to the ferry terminal to see him off. It turns out that there is a big get together every year for all the teachers leaving. Students and cooworkers made signs, sang songs and yelled bonzai.
At the end the passengers threw down rolls of paper tape that everyone held onto until they were torn in two.
Kamada Sensei was a great guy, I'm planning on visiting him next time I go to Kagoshima.

Planet WS415

Click for Full View please

I made this planet up today at work, using photoshop and some online references. It pretty much took me the whole day to figure it out. I used textures of the moon, mars, and Korea to get the land. It seems to be missing stars, but actually the reflection of a planet is bright enough to knock out the background starlight.

Day to day

This is a picture of the back of my house. It's pretty nice because the whole back wall is made up of sliding doors. It's perfect for light and fresh air when it's nice out.
Halfway hidden somewhere in the picture is Shogun. Can you find him?


My ridiculous cat, sleeping with his tongue out.

Iguana (Turtle) and girl

Something I whipped up after lunch. I just started with some eyes and this is what happened. Not exactly an iguana, but I'm thinking there's a relation.

A slow start

A kind of sketch I did on photoshop. I haven't been painting or drawing much lately, hopefully I'll get back into it soon. It's frustrating because I really want to improve but I have no structured way of studying art here on the island.
It's spring break which means I have no classes for the next two weeks. However, I do have to go into the local office of the Board of Education despite having absolutely nothing to do there.

Jovie

My good friend Jovie. This feels unfinished to me but I've been working on this for too long and I've got to call it quits sometime. It's an improvement over the last portrait I did of her and thats all I can ask for.
ジョビちゃんごめんね。でもね、必ず又描くからがまんしてくれ、僕が上手になるまで。

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

These are first graders warming up for "head, shoulders, knees and toes." Every time they make a mistake they have to go down one level. Desk, chair, floor, knees and then they bow and they're out.


Playing a card pickup game. Please click for a larger view, notice there is a kid in the backpack shelves. I think he was feeling shy that day.


To get an idea about the range of age groups I teach, here are the oldest students, 9th graders. the Japanese school year ends at the end of March so I won't see these students anymore because I don't teach at the high school (10th - 12th grade). Kind of sad but I'm sure I'll see them around town.

School Garden

We did some light farming during 6th period at one of my Junior High schools. We were digging up ukon, which is a relative of ginger root and is used for upset stomachs and hangovers. There are maybe six of seven more people to left of this shot, but this is pretty much the whole school which consists of the seventh, eighth and ninth grade.

This is Shogun greeting me at the car door as he does everyday when I come home from work.

Rainy inside day

Today is super windy and stormy and wonderful. It's warmed up quite a bit this week and I hope it stays that way. These pictures are from the school I taught at today. The first is our lunch, shrimp fry, bread roll, Chinese soup and whole milk.

These are second grade students. Quite a few of my classes are small like this but I also have quite a few with 20 or more students. We played a game where I hid a picture of a bomb under one of a bunch of cards that were stuck to the board. The students have to say what's on the card (in this case fruit) and hope they don't hit the bomb.

You-san

A portrait I did for my friend You-san. She's living in Taiwan, I'm planning on taking a trip there as soon as I get some extra money saved.

Moko chan

Here ya go Moko. This is a good friend of mine in SF who asked if I'd paint her. 似ているかな。六ヶ月前のと全然違うけど、いつか本当に上手に描くよ。　じゃんじゃん　次

Walking Day

Last weekend we had Walking/ Jogging day, an annual event in Nagata where lots of locals from around the island get together, walk or jog between 4 and 5 kilometers then come back to the school campus to eat Udon noodles. It was a lot of fun despite the cold wind and rain. One farmer let us pick his oranges while we were passing his orchard.

While we were eating my friend asked me how to say okura in English. I told her okra, it was an English word. She said "oh, do you eat it often in America?"
"Well, I think mostly in middle America, like Oklahoma."
"Okrahoma?"
I was cracking up but had a hell of a time trying to explain why that was so funny to me.

Miyaurabashi+

A girl
This took between 2 and 3 hours. It's of the old bridge here in Miyanoura. The photo is on my blog somewhere. I didn't go into details, I felt I captured the basic feel and learned a few things so I'm calling it a night.

Koseda

This is the elementary school I taught at today. The classrooms are around 50 degrees and the kids are wearing shorts and windows and doors are open over the place. Lots of people tell me its sooo cold but I think some people say it just to make me feel better cause they can tell I really am.
I was playing soccer with the kids, slipped and covered one of my pant legs in mud. The kids didn't really notice though, I think they do it all the time.

Recently I started I've started writing 5 new words I hear everyday. Today's words are:
1. usugi - a word that means one is wearing very few layers of clothing. atsugi is the opposite
2. kudaranai- trifling, unimportant, frivolous
3. namerakani- smoothly, easily. used with sound or music
4. habuku- to omit, the cut out
5. dachou- ostrich

Cold and Rainy days

A few days ago Brittany and I figured that we had exactly 6 more months until the end of the school year. We declared that we were exactly half way through our one year contract. Brittany isn't re contracting so if I stay I'll get a new island buddy. I haven't signed anything yet but I'm planning on staying a second year. I'll write when its decided.
I've been meaning to take some more photos for awhile now but its been raining everyday not to mention freezing. When I'm not working I'm bundled up inside. I've been working on my Wacom again, drawing directly into the computer.

Some practice sketches on Photoshop. I do this kind of thing all day at school too but its hard to learn anatomy without models. I'm thinking about trying to start a drawing group in my town. I think quite a few students might be interested.

end of January

This is the port town, Miyanoura, the main town on Yakushima.

I went to the small island Kuchierabu, population 150, to teach last Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, due to stormy seas, the ferry couldn't get to the island and I was stuck there until Friday night. It wasn't so bad except that I was cold almost the whole time, not having brought a decent jacket. Next time I'm bringing lots of clothes, and lots of books, just in case.
I did get to help teach a few of the Art classes which is particularly fun for me.

Fukuoka

I just got back from a week trip to the northern cities of Fukuoka and Nagasaki. It was so great to be in a big city again, hundreds of restaurants, fast food, book stores, electronics stores and other things I miss. I also got to see a friend I hadn't seen in a long time.

The first couple days were relatively warm but then the temperature took a dive and the day I left there was a light snow storm.

I met up with my friend You-chan and we after wandering around Fukuoka for a bit we went to this cute old style town that's famous for its retro style and western buildings. It's also famous for bananas for some reason, we even met up with Banana man.
Retro vs. boring tower


Later that day we went to Kokura and saw their Xmas light displays and feudal castle. The castle was closed so we couldn't go inside but it was still impressive. Kokura was the original target for the Nagasaki atomic bomb but the skies were cloudy so the plane moved to city number two on the list.


The next day we went to Nagasaki to visit the peace memorial park and museum. Unfortunately the museum was closed due to it being the end of the year, but at the park we could see ground zero where the bomb was dropped and pictures of the absolute burned desolation that was the result. Nagasaki is now a beautiful city, but there are so many statues and reminders of the devastation that I think it would be a little depressing to live there.



Nagasaki has a beautiful river running through it marked by all the old style stone bridges. This one is called Megane bashi because in the reflection it looks like a pair of eyeglasses.



Back in Fukuoka on the New Years Eve we went to a temple just to look around and a nice old man showed us the demon masks on the sides of the temple, one a male, one a female.

New Years eve was nothing special for us. We met up with some of You's friends for dinner and a few drinks but it was way to cold to go to a temple and hear them ring the gong at midnight as many people do. The next day You-chan flew back to Taipei and I'm back on the island waiting for the school year to start up again.