It’s a gray Sunday morning in Matsue, but not raining and not hot. I can hear cicadas whining in the grass outside and the occasional hum of traffic. I’m thinking of going for a bike ride.

 

I was up very late last night at Kaya, at a karaoke party to say farewell to Colin. Colin’s a JET, which means he teaches in a local high school as part of a government cultural exchange program. He’s been in Matsue for two years, but he’s ready to go; he doesn’t feel he’s getting anything accomplished here anymore. Seiji hired Fujihara-san, a bartender friend of his, to work the bar with him. I’d say about 40 people came. A lot of people I knew were out. A handful of my students – Miki, Rika, Takako, and Mari – were among them. Of course a lot of JETs came, but I don’t know many of them really well. Like Colin, a lot of JETs are leaving this month. Cat from Australia is staying, but many of her friends, including her best friend Will, are leaving, so she was in a drunken, melancholy mood. Cleve came by after ARGO closed, although he didn’t stay long. I met Giovanni, a Australian Catholic priest in his 50’s, who was really interesting and unexpectedly salty. I also spent a lot of time trying to avoid Albert, a Columbian graduate student, who is just too touchy-feely for his own good; he’s alienated a lot of girls here including Jennifer, the new teacher at Geos, who ducked behind me saying, “Why is he touching me?” Kind of a funny picture, Jennifer hiding behind me, since I’m 5 foot three and she’s six feet tall; it doesn’t work at all.

 

Colin was more than fashionably late to his own party, but it turned out he had good reason; his girlfriend, who is supposed to return to Toronto with him, suddenly announced that she wasn’t going. Oh, what dramas! Meanwhile, we entertained ourselves. Jennifer is a karaoke fiend; she has learned some Japanese songs phonetically, and got great response from the Japanese present when she sang them; one was the theme song from the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Seiji demonstrated once more that he has more enthusiasm than he has pitch when it comes to singing. I sang “Me and Bobby McGee”, “Hopelessly Devoted to You” (from Grease), “Hips Don’t Lie”, “Barbie Girl” (with Jennifer), “You Can’t Hurry Love” (also with Jennifer), “Ghostbusters” (with Seiji) and “Stop! In the Name of Love”, and Rika and I sang backup for Jennifer on “The Locomotion”. So I may also be a karaoke fiend in the making. But, boy, my knowledge of songs and music is old and dusty. The songs I know best are from the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Musically, the ‘90’s are a missing decade for me, for the most part.

 

I also made it to aikido last night, so I’m happy but a little sore this morning, especially the muscles of my upper back, shoulders and upper arms.. It’s been very difficult for me to go  to class, so I haven’t been for over a month. There were nine of us. Next to us, the children in the karate class were being tested. Tiny little girls were going through kata and demonstrating techniques, while on one side their small fellow students knelt to watch, and on the other the adults watched. It looked kind of intimidating for five-year-olds. Since I always come late to class because of work, I warmed up and practiced rolling on the edge of the mats (My back roll is still very rocky; I need more practice!). I wish I knew the names of my classmates; I know Kobata-san, the retired schoolteacher who also acts as secretary/treasurer for the aikido club. And I think our teacher is Tomi-san, but I’m not 100 per cent on that. We practiced many different techniques, and I learned a lot from my partners, who are very helpful. We’re still speaking in dumbshow, using gestures and demonstrations to communicate, but I’m beginning to understand and speak more in Japanese. I’m gleaning more meaning from what people are saying. It’s still not very good, but it’s coming along. I’m excited to see some demonstrable progress, and my aikido classmates were pleased.

 

Thinking of you all,

 

Love, Sarah