実る程頭の下がる稲穂かな

A rice paddie near David's apartment.

Minoru hodo

atama no sagaru

inaho kana

I recently read a description of the Japanese custom of bowing which referenced this haiku (the title of this post is the haiku in Japanese).  It translates, roughly to "Mature rice stalks bow" It essentially means that maturity brings humility and respect for others, as seen by the grace and elegance of their bow. As we walk past multiple rice paddies on the way to David's apartment, it's easy to see the connection between rice and bowing. As the rice nears harvest, which is actually quite soon, the stalks bend in the breeze with their heavy burden of grain.  It does look as though a mature stalk of rice is bowing at you.  As David and I adjust to life in Japan, one of the first things we have learned, or should I say have begun to learn, is the art of bowing.  Instead of raising your hand in thanks as you cross the street in front of a car, a nod of the head is the correct gesture.  When you greet, thank, meet or say farewell to someone, you bow.  In fact, I find myself bowing, or at least nodding my head in partial bow every few hours here in Japan.  And I am gradually falling in love with it. You can communicate so much with a bow, as every detail of the movement speaks volumes to your intent. The degree of bend at the waist, the tilt of your head, the placement of your hands, all of these things matter. During our training for Peppy Kids Club, we actually learned the style of bow appropriate for customer service; a 45 degree bow, hands at the side for men and left over right for women, with your gaze directed at the floor.  This is a fairly polite bow, though an apology bow goes to the incredible 90 degree bend at the waist. We bow to the parents as they drop off their children while exclaiming "oazukarishmasu!" which essentially means "I receive and will care for your children."  They reply with a cheery "oneigaishimas" which is a really polite way of saying "please."  With this act, we are not only greeting the parents of our students, we are also entering into a social contract that obligates us to care for the wellbeing of the children to the best of our ability.  In fact, we have a legal responsibility within Japanese law called the "Duty of Care" which essentially makes us legally responsible for the wellbeing of the students.  While this is quite a hefty responsibility, it is also an essential part of being a teacher, especially of young children, which is quickly proving to be one of the most rewarding jobs imaginable.  

I suppose I should tell you a bit about what we are up to right now.  David and I arrived in Tochigi Prefecture, our new home, on the 16^th of August, 2 weeks ago.  As I am sure to be doing often, I apologize for not posting sooner, but we have been rather busy.  Teaching at our new schools, various meetings with our new boss, applying for an Alien Registration Card and settling into our new apartments has taken a lot of my free time recently. Even with all the moving-in excitement and stress, Tochigi has been wonderful so far. I have an apartment in Utsunomiya, the capital of Tochigi.  The city is bright and lively, and oddly reminds me of Denver in both size and feeling. Utsunomiya’s regional specialty is the gyoza, my favorite of all Japanese food! Gyoza are Chinese style dumplings filled with pork, water chestnuts and lots of GARLIC! They are then fried or steamed, or my favorite, fried on the bottom and left to steam the top.  Utsunomiya has gained its reputation of having the best gyoza in Japan rightfully.  There are literally hundreds of gyoza restaurants in the city and they all have AMAZING gyoza.  Last week David and I discovered the perfect late night treat –gyoza, edamame and beer at Gyoza-kan, the best gyoza place next to the train station.  Beyond the delicious dumplings, Utsunomiya has a lot to offer as a city.  1 hr and 40 from Tokyo by the local (cheaper) train, it is close the largest city in the world, yet it is nestled up against the mountains, close to great hiking, skiing , fishing and home hundreds of beautiful temples.  My apartment is 5-7min walk to the main train station (depending on wait time at cross walks) which makes getting to work easy.  Most of my schools are one train stop away from Utsunomiya Station, and once I get a bike they are all a reasonable ride away.  I am waiting on my first paycheck to get my bike, but my real reasoning for waiting to purchase a bike is that it is currently far too hot to actually ride one.  Though the temperature is gradually decreasing, Japan is still far too hot humid to be considered habitable.  In order to escape the heat, David and I have been spending most of our time in the beautiful mountain town of Imaichi at David’s apartment.  Imaichi is technically part of Nikko, a very popular tourist destination one stop past Imaichi.  It takes us 36 min to get from Utsunomiya Station to Imaichi Station and then a short 8 min walk to David’s apartment.  David lives in a Leopalace which is an apartment complex that caters to foreigners.  This means that David’s apartment has internet included in the rent, which is part of the reason we have spent more time here.  I will get internet in the next two weeks, but until then, a trip to Imaichi is necessary to be connected to the online world.  Imaichi also has more to offer than internet access.  Being further from the city, Imaichi feels more like the exotic Japan I imagined before coming here.  We walk past rice paddies and 100 meter tall cedar trees as we walk along the train tracks toward David’s apartment.  The scenery is beautiful and life moves at a slower and quieter pace. Nearby Nikko is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, three ornate temples from the Edo Period.  Nikko is also home to the famous hot spring monkeys, a group of monkeys that live in the forest high in the mountain, and then spend the winter relaxing in the natural hot springs.  Imaichi and Nikko seem to recall a Japan further away from the Western world.  While I feel like I am in Denver in Utsunomiya, there is truly no comparable place to Imaichi in the United States, because Imaichi is inherently Japanese, from its roots to it towing cedar branches.

Here are all the photos I have taken since arriving in Japan.  I have just figured out posting slide shows, so I will be including these slideshows every once and a while to make sure everybody can see all of my photos.


Pre-Training Photos

Training Photos




Utsunomiya Photos



Imaichi Photos




I’ll be on again soon to talk about our adventures learning Japanese and all the fun that is teaching at Peppy Kids Club, but until then, I hope you are all happy and healthy! Sayonara!