Feeling crisp - Nov. 18

Hues of orange, red and bright yellow now paint the rolling hills near my neighbourhood. The trees are in undergoing an amazing autumnal transformation, but I can feel the impending snow. My little car wove through the paved roads amidst the rice fields below on my way to school this morning. Yet another crisp autumn day in Motomiya. It is November. Not a trace of snow to be found, but that looming chill in the air foreshadows what's to come.

This morning's drive into work stirred up some feelings of nostalgia. Back home, we have a few trees at our house. The biggest one is a maple tree that has graced our backyard for 26 years or more. The roots are slowly creeping towards the house, so Dad's slowly been cutting it down. Anyways, seeing the trees in Motomiya reminded me that some things never change... I can escape to a land far away, but signifiers of home will always be around to comfort me. Surprisingly, I haven't been faced with profound waves of homesickness, because I've been having way too much fun. (I did hear the kiddos playing Pomp and Circumstace in the gym, which reminded be that my brother is going to graduate in a year and a half. Time flies.)

I've also been busy with tons of little challenges, mostly due to language barriers. I often feel like I'm in an extended game of "Telephone," because I rely on so many people to translate from English into Japanese for me. I've got the textbooks, some flashcards and so on as study aids... but the language isn't sticking into my brain. I've also asked my students to teach me some Japanese, which is pretty funny.

At shogakko (elementary school) today, my kids and I were bonding over writing in foreign languages. They painstainkingly wrote their names out in romaji (romanized letters) for me, while I penned my name in mediocre katakana. (ジエマ). The fifth-graders did something immensely sweet for me! Apparently, they stayed after school and drew a poster for me, outlining the hiragana and katakana syllabary. (That is, they wrote out all the Japanese characters for me so that I could practice).

I almost melted on the spot. They even included the romaji translations, aw... I'm such a sap, I know. But seriously, elementary school kiddos are way too cute. Sure, they have snotty noses and insist on grabbing your hands... but their cuteness factor trumps all. We played Duck, Duck, Goose during recess. Yup, this is my job. :)