I Do Judo

My promotion has been a long time in the coming.

Much too long in fact.

I have been nestled in the bosom of my fair maiden Japan since August and just only this past week has my inspired brilliance and general perspicacity received the recognition that it rightly deserves.

I naturally assumed that after a month of working as a teacher I would be invited to be principal of the school. At first I would play coy and politely refuse their offer, as is the Japanese way, but after a second bout of pleadings and threats of hari-kari by teachers and students alike I would ascend to principaldom as so befits my lineage. Much to my dismay, these dreams of grandeur have proven elusive.

However, as of this week I am no longer just Tomu, English Teacher Extraordinaire, but have been also preferred to the post of Judo Throwing Dummy. After making the hesitant decision to join my school's judo club, I found that I have quite a knack for being tossed into the air and landing with a thud. My judo sensei was quick to notice my adeptness at soaring Concord-like at the hands of my opponents and so invited to partake in gym class with my first-year students.

Working with the first-year students was actually a nice change from working out with the judo club. The club comprises two members, one weighing in at 200 lbs. and the other at 250 lbs., both of whom are blackbelts. Needless to say, my efforts to knock either of these boys down is akin to using a swiss army knife to hack down a giant sequoia. The first-year students, on the other hand, have had only 3 hours of judo training and weigh about half of what the club members do. In other words, I got to lay a smackdown on my students on the school's time. Pretty nifty, eh?

Anyhow, after two weeks of practice my body and every muscle in it is in a considerable amount of pain. As most people don't know what judo looks like, I found a video on YouTube to illustrate what exactly it is I am doing. Enjoy:

Winter Vacation, Shikoku Style

Contemplating life in the mountains of Shikoku.

Sleeping quarters on the ferry to Shikoku.
You are allowed use of only one mattress ( 1 matress = 1/2 American).

Salted fish on a stick is a delicacy of Shikoku.

Tomu enjoying the rice balls cooking next to the salted fish on a stick.

A samurai house.
We drove a half hour up a twisting, single lane mountain road to find that
it is closed to tours until March AND no samurai live there anymore. WTF?

At the samurai house there was a sign talking about a Shinto shrine just 15 minutes into the woods.
A 25 minute walk up a snowy mountain, we were a bit disappointed to find
that I had misread the sign and that it must have said Shinto shack.
However precariously placed firewood is rather interesting.

The boat we took on a ride down a pretty sweetass river valley.
(Notice the tables on the boat. They have heaters underneath them - absurdly cozy)



Burger and Tomu on boat ride in said sweetass river valley.

A cable car ride down the side of a mountain to the hot spring bath below.

A particularly classy Buddha we saw passing through a little town in Tokushima Prefecture.
We are told the style is Early Ronald McDonald.

A nifty little riverside town.

I am aware that this picture is not that good,
but I could not pass up a pic in front of 24-hour rice vending machines.





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