|
More settling in: 7-27-99 I’ve had a really incredible past couple of days! On Monday, there was a welcome party for me, held at a nearby hotel restaurant (Chinese food! Yum!), and everyone from the Board of Education office came. Mr. Tanaka had composed a couple of quizzes for us- one for the Japanese people, asking trivia questions about the US and about me. The biggest stumper was, “How do you spell Allison’s last name?” Considering that most Americans have trouble with my complicated Polish surname, the response to this question was hilarious! The other quiz of the evening was for me, about Japan, with each person asking one question. It was great! The people in my office are really so nice. On Tuesday, Mr. Tanaka took Peter and me to visit three of the schools where I’ll be working. Some of the schools are really far away, just about in the countryside! I’ll go by train to the far-away schools. The countryside here is beautiful- forest covered hills and rice paddies that are greener than any green I’ve ever seen. I love it here. Ube is urban but it doesn’t take long to reach nature. So after our school visits, I mentioned on the drive back that I was interested in seeing a Shinto shrine, as I had studied about them, but hadn’t seen one yet. I didn’t mean I wanted to see one right then and there, but Tanaka decided we’d visit two shrines! He is so nice! We bought some bento lunches at a convenience store and visited a small, beautiful shrine in the mountains. It was tucked away on a hillside, just lovely. Tanaka taught me the proper way to pray at a shrine (ring bell twice to call the gods, offer money, clap twice, then pray). It was very moving for me to go through this traditional act. The shrine had a lot of small statues surrounding it on the hillside above, and we walked partway along the path where these statues were situated. The cicadas were buzzing, the wind rustled through the trees- it was a beautiful setting for a shrine. That shrine visit was the first time I’ve felt the spirit of traditional Japan since coming here. After that, we continued on to a bigger shrine in a more urban setting- the biggest shrine in Ube, in fact. Its architecture was very complex and beautiful, and since it’s in the city, I’ll look forward to visiting again. |