Wowza in Bright Shining Smile Land.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Nathan got his braces off today. As he emerged from the basement treatment room at the orthodontist's office, he flashed me the happiest look I've seen in months!

We'll all be flashing our smiles around Trumansburg in less than a week!

International Nathan Day

The American School in Japan

Class of 2008!
We are so proud of Nathan! He graduated from the American School in Japan yesterday at a wonderful Commencement ceremony. He looked fabulous in his dress clothes and cap and gown. When it was all over, we all went out to dinner to celebrate.

I am fiercely proud of Nathan and am certain that we should keep an eye on him to see where he ends up. I am sure he will be wildly successful at whatever he chooses to do, and will live a fulfilling life, completely on his terms. He is still a quiet and deep pond compared to his noisy splashy brothers. He has always been that way. I remember as a little baby, he was all eyes and ears watching the whirling dervish that was Chris his big brother. More recently, I have enjoyed his very dry and clever wit. He doesn't talk a lot, but you better be listening when he does. He has enjoyed exploring his artistic gifts this year and made some wonderful ceramic dishes and works of art on the wheel at school. He has also become a proficient ukulele player, and has been dabbling in sketching. I know Nathan is glad to be done with high school and is looking forward to some unique and thrilling challenges ahead in New Zealand. He will be participating in a semester of wilderness training through the National Outdoor Leadership School. (Bring on the kayaking!) He is also getting his braces off this week and has promised to dazzle us with his big white smile.

I know that Nathan enjoyed the anonymity of being a senior at ASIJ. No one knew who his Mom or family was, or had seen him grow through elementary school. Part of me was glad Nathan had the chance to create himself from scratch this year. Part of me felt kind of desolate at the school functions where I knew no one, and no one knew me. I felt quite lonely at those times. How different for all of us this year. More important is Nathan's assessment: "It was a good year!"

So to my graduating senior (and forever peanut): Congratulations, Nathan! Here's to new beginnings!

The cure for jet lag...

Sarah and Lap made it safely to Tokyo. I even went to the airport and picked them up and brought them home all by myself, for the first time. As I was excitedly waiting for them to appear, Sarah came around the arrival corner in a wheel chair, however, which was a little disconcerting, but all is well. During hour 11 of their 13 hour flight, an empty food cart fell over on top of Sarah and barked her shins. I think it hurt- a lot! Lap and Sarah were sharing their 3-seat section with an EMT, and she was all over the incident, and assisted with ice, and then getting them through customs. Thankfully, after a moment, Sarah hopped on out of the wheel chair and told us the story. Surprisingly, she has no real bruising, just a couple of cuts on her shins, which may be their ticket to an upgrade to first class on the way home!

Now to the cure for jet lag. I believe it was discovered yesterday as Sarah and I had the opportunity to go white water rafting with the TAC Women's Group. What a hoot! It took about 2 1/2 hours by chartered bus to get up into the mountains near Nagano. Once we were there, we were surrounded by lush green vegetation and gorgeous peaks all around. Our guides were from New Zealand and were very good. The rapids were flowing pretty well. I guess we were in class 3 rapids. There was enough turbulence for a couple of the rafts to completely tip over and spill out their passengers (Japanese, BTW). We had a trio of gals wash over when attempting to surf in a whirlpool, but they were rescued by us and the white water kayaker who accompanied our band of boats. There was just enough excitement to make it exciting, but not scary.

Women from our group kept walking up to Sarah and asking, "How's the jet lag?" She was wide eyed and bushy tailed for the entire day, and didn't fall asleep until after 10:00. I suspect we've discovered a really effective way to kick jet lag in the butt: fresh air, sunshine, exercise, team work, laughing, lottsa cold water in the face, paddling, swimming, jumping off rocks, rescuing boat-mates, a picnic lunch, and companionship with a great group of women.

We stopped at a rest stop on the way home, and Sarah had her first taste of Japanese cuisine: octopus balls.

Today, we are all going off to see Nathan Graduate from the American School in Japan. It will be a good day.

Experiencing Traditional Japanese Arts with Chris and Julia

I took the kids to Kabuki theatre this morning. We stayed for 1 and 1/4 hours and enjoyed the spectacle. Then after a delicious lunch at the Tokyo American Club, I took Chris and Julia to taiko. I had the distinct pleasure to take Chris and Julia to my taiko class today. We were working on a pretty complicated piece called "Running Horse." The bass note part, the part we were reviewing today uses 2 drums and the rim of the drums. The kids were amazing! Chris of course, was a natural. And one point during the class when all the women fell apart and forgot where we were, Chris was the only one who knew where we were and he kept playing by himself. Julia kept up brilliantly today, and everyone was impressed at how fabulous these 2 were. It was great fun, and I could tell Chris was eating it up. Moko even gave Chris a solo- a tempo transition section that sped up, and he nailed it every time.
Moko, Alice, Chris and Julia
Julia was brilliant!
Chris with his game face on.
Concentration....concentration....

It's Thursday night...

Chris Ploss and Julia Woodward are flying in on Sunday to stay for a couple of weeks, and to go to Nathan's graduation (June 7). Sarah and Lap are arriving on the 5th. So we will have a house full, and then PING! we'll all be flying home to Trumansburg on June 14th for the summer. Nathan goes to New Zealand in the fall for a semester of wilderness education. (National Outdoor Leadership School- look it up!) Matthew wants to return to Tburg for his junior and senior years. I have been granted a second years' leave from my teaching job at the school and will take it in order to support Robin here for another year. So it is possible that the 5 immediate Robin and Alice Ploss family members will be scattered next fall around the globe; in Japan, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. Imagine that. I never would have predicted such a situation 2 years ago. It just goes to show you...Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans.

SUMO at the Ryogoku

I've seen Sumo on TV, but actually seeing the massive hulking fleshy man-bodies with your own eyes gives a greater appreciation for this traditional Japanese sport. I love the fact that it's really just a kid's game: who can push the other out of bounds first. But of course, the Japanese have raised it to a perfected ceremonial art form. It is colorful for the eyes, beautiful for the ears and highly entertaining. Would I rather watch baseball, football, kickball or Sumo? Sumo. It's faster moving, so there's more of an instant gratification. Most matches are over by the time you've asked yourself "Who's going to win?" about 5 times. The longer matches are really thrilling, because there is the element of rapidly mounting suspense, and then BAM! A huge nearly naked fat man becomes air born. This is most of the fun, watching how the victor manages to push, shove, slap, lift, haul, or throw his opponent out of the ring, or just down on the ground.

During this 2-week tournament, the last matches of the day begin at 4:00. That's when the best wrestlers compete with each other. At the beginning of this part of the event, they came out in 2 groups, East and West. The first group paraded around the ring wearing their apron-like garbs. They did a short arm dance, and then retreated. Then the second group came out, paraded, danced and retreated. Then 2 guys, one from each group did a ceremonial dance for each other.

Then finally the matches started.

Here is one of the representatives of the 2 divisions, doing his pre-match dance.

The ring had to be watered and swept frequently.

There were some upsets yesterday, and I was surprised by a couple of them. Some lean and lighter guys beat guys who must have had 100 pounds on them. But it came down to strength and technique, and the leaner guys won. We had English commentary coming into our ears through little radios we rented, and that really helped to understand some of the moves, (all the Sumo moves have names) and gave us some background on the players. Many of the wrestlers were injured. Lots of taped knees, ankles, wrists and shoulders. One guy had what looked like a bruise on his entire left cheek. And I don't mean face.

That was just one more extremely fun, fascinating and wondrous experience I could only get here in Japan. Lots of smiles and laughter with Robin and friends Terry and Ben. Thanks again, Tokyo!

'tis the season...

Now that the daily temperature in Tokyo is hovering in the upper 70's and lower 80's, it's once again time for me to marvel at the apparent differences in thermostat settings between most Japanese folk, and ME. I am out walking around in sandals, cropped pants and a sleeveless shirt today, and am feeling sluggish already due to the heat that is starting to feel just a little ominous. As I look around me, I see turtlenecks, scarves, sweaters, fitted jackets, long sleeves...and I wonder how they can look so calm and serene in all those clothes; walking in the sun, standing in the sun waiting for the light to change, waiting on the train platform. If it were Me in all those layers, I'd be frantically tearing my clothes off, or dousing my sweating brow with ice water or seeking out the nearest AC. Instead they look mostly impervious to the rising temps. Afterall, June first traditionally is the day when the wardrobe is supposed to change I think. As I stepped onto the Chiyoda line to go home today, I stepped into an airconditioned car and felt sweet relief. Ahhhh.....I then proceeded to sit down on a heated seat. A little something for everyone!