October 11, 2000
This is what I get for not writing in a couple of weeks. There is now officially too much to catch you up on. Let me see, I am not even sure where to begin. I have to catch you up on Jessica`s Sports Day, the visit from Mom-O and Tracy-Girl, the Rubens exhibit, the Tottori Earthquake, the Harvest Festival, and Taiko. I assume that this means that I will have to split these letters, probably into three different letters. I will put the stuff on my visit with Mom-O and Tracy-Girl into a separate letter, and I will put everything since the earthquake into one letter. Let me try to get the rest of it here for you in this one.
First, Jessica`s Sports Day. Sports Day is a big deal at schools in Japan. The kids plan and prepare and practice for weeks for it. Each class will have some kind of special race or relay, and then they also perform acrobatics (rather dangerous at times with pyramids and stuff) and musical dances and stuff, and then one day all the parents and kids meet at the school and camp out for a day of festivities. Itoi`s Sports Day last year was our first real experience with it, and Jessica didn�ft really understand that the kids take it very VERY seriously. Thus, she didn�ft try very hard, mostly because she didn�ft really understand what was going on. Also, it was hot and it was really hard for ANYONE to want to run around a dirt track. Afterwards, though, she got some negative vibes from her classmates and stuff, and so she was really looking forward to redeeming herself this year. Well, she certainly did that. She ran her heart out?she`s a good runner, and came in second in the race she won (which happened to be the first event of the day.) She also performed in the balancing and acrobatics routine, which is something that you just have to see to believe. The kids have a very defined routine, set to whistles from the coach, and in unison they all move into various balancing postures, using other bodies for support. It is pretty good for team-building, and they got really dirty out there on the field, so a good time was had by all. Ken and I took the obligatory lunch and sat underneath the tents on tarps and from 8 am to 5 pm on a Sunday, we watched kids from Kindergarten to 6th grade run, jump, race and play. The weather was starting to cool off, and we had a really nice time watching Jessica and her classmates and friends �gdo their thang.�h We were so proud of her efforts that we treated her to a special dinner that night, and she picked Chinese food, so we went up to one of our favorite little Chinese places in the Hidaka pass. At dinner, we talked about the environment, about religion, a little about politics before moving to literature, and she kept up with most of it, pretty good for a ten-year-old. We have decided to start watching classic movies together for discussion. We also gave her BEOWULF to read (the manga version that is used in Junior High Schools here in Japan?regular English, that is�c) and she read it in one day. We have yet to really discuss it deeply. I have to review?been a long time since I tried to read that work. I am so proud of how hard she works.
Next on my list of things to tell you was about the Rubens Exhibit that came to Kyoto`s Municipal Art Gallery. I had to do a lot of crossword puzzles for this contest to try to win tickets to see it (about 80 bucks each) and I managed to win 4 tickets, but they did not arrive in the mail in time for me to take Mom-O and Tracy-Girl when we were in Kyoto. The following Saturday, Ken and Jessica and I went on to Kyoto to see the exhibit, and it was wonderful. We were able to use that opportunity to talk to Jessica about art and about different ways to appreciate it. We talked about how the Dutch painters of his era really were INTO painting reality, so you see various works from his contemporaries filled with images of farm life, complete with freshly butchered livestock and fish, and dirty dishes on the tables, and torn hems in aprons. It was interesting in that it CAPTURES a moment in the history of a place, and to examine the differences in the way we live now is a lesson in itself. Rubens was different that most of his day because he painted angels (sometimes angry ones) and gods of lore, and exotic animals at the table with them, where chalices and platters made of every gemstone and metal imaginable were filled with various delicacies. Each one was so realistic that you might have been able to pick it up and take a drink. We also looked at the works of some of his students, and talked with Jessica about using tricks in the sky to set up a feeling for the whole painting. I told her that the mood of the painting can be seen in the clouds, asking her to �gimagine this battle scene (swords and spears) under a clear blue sky. Would you feel the same way if there were no dark gray clouds there? What does that make you think is happening?�h She tilts her head and says �gIt`s a storm?it might rain on them.�h �gYes, �g I say, �gthe painter wants you to feel the intensity of the storm BETWEEN these people here, and so he put his feeling into the sky.�h She pointed out several more examples of that before we left and that made the whole of the trip worth it. Several of the other people watched us (as usual) as we went through, probably taking in our traveling clothes and tennis shoes and wondering how we could afford to pay for a ticket for a ten-year-old when we obviously couldn�ft afford to dress appropriately for the museum�cha ha ha! (It`s okay?we looked fine, Mom�cthere were others who were in sandals and stuff too!)
That trip proved a significant one for Jessica in a number of ways. That evening when we were on the bus going back to the youth hostel, she and I had a discussion where she wanted to call the President. After I explained that she would probably just get his answering service and about how busy he was, I suggested that if she was really serious about it, that she should write a letter to President Clinton and explain some things that she thought needed to be examined in America. We had only just recently talked to her about how lucky we are to live in a country where we can voice our opinions and there is a chance that we will be heard. Well, she thinks that buses and taxis need seatbelts, that less people would be injured every year if they were wearing their seatbelt while somebody else was driving them around like a maniac. She also said that they spend a lot of time worrying about how safe the playground equipment is, but they don�ft pay attention to the fence that is around the playground. She wanted to let Mr. Clinton know that he should get somebody right on that. The fence issue was raised by the recent death of a girl her age (in our prefecture) who was climbing a playground fence when it fell and crushed her underneath it. The children in Jessica`s classroom were all very upset about it, she said, as was every mother in the country for that matter. I told Jessica how very proud it made me that she is a responsible-thinking person. She said to me, �gSafety is everybody`s responsibility, Mom.�h Soon I will not be able to get through the door because I will be too swelled with pride in my little girl. (Sounds better than being swelled because of all the Japanese chocolate�cmmmm)
She has been getting more responsible in other ways, too. She gets an allowance of 700 yen a week (about 7 bucks) and she can do anything with her money, but we urged her at the beginning to start saving some of it. She has saved more than 100 American dollars, and she says that it`s for college. To get that money, she does chores around the house. The dishes are hers to do, and putting fresh water in the hamster bottle is hers to do. And when I ask for her help, she helps me. She`s good help, too. Of course, with any new task, I have to spell it out in every step (there`s that residual autism) or she might get �gstuck�h like she used to. It`s a minor thing though, because once she learns it, she`s GOT it. When I have a lot of laundry to do, I will ask for her to help me, maybe to put the clothes in the bags for me, or to put the bags in and start it, etc., but I always take them out and hang them all up to dry, etc. WELL?a few days before Mom-O and Tracy-Girl came, I had several things on a list (written on the bathroom mirror in wet-dry marker) that I wanted to get done before they came. She had a half-day at school on the Tuesday before they came, and so she walked home as usual, and called my school to let me know she was home safely. Then, she asked if she could help with my list because she knew that I had to teach private lessons on Wednesday and then I would be too tired, she said. I asked what she felt like doing, and she said she could do the laundry, so I talked her through the last three or four steps, and left her to it. I barely breathed for a half-hour, and then called to check on her. �gI`m fine, Mom?do you put the jeans in with darks or with towels?�h she asked. �gIn a separate bag, with whichever load is smaller,�h I said. �gOkay, Mom?anything else? Do you want me to clean the bathroom?�h �gNo, honey?I`ll do that because it`s a yucky job, see you when I get home.�h When I got home, three loads were done and were hung to dry, and except for a couple of shirts hung inside out with the collars crumpled a little, she did as well as I did. I was sorely impressed. I thanked her profusely, but at the end of that week she got her same 700 yen. I watched her face to see if she thought it was unfair since she had done so much more than usual, but she had already learned the lesson apparently. She helped me not because I would give her more money, but because she WANTED to help, because it was the right thing to do. That`s my girl! I remember telling her once (during one of our mission trips) that people will need you to work very hard for them sometimes, and that all you might get is a �gthank you very much�h out of it, and that THAT should be enough. Lord knows we worked like dogs on our mission trips, and the grateful hugs and warm wishes that we received in return were all the �gpayment�h we ever needed. I hope she can remember that lesson. I made really certain that she was �gpaid�h in other ways, like making extra time to read her comic with her and suggesting a game for the whole family instead of TV time, and she got to choose a rental video just for herself.
And just last week, when I thought that she had pushed the envelope for responsibility for a ten-year-old, she comes to me before bedtime and asks for a plastic bag. I ask her what it`s for. �gThere is a lot of trash on the sidewalk when I walk home and I want to throw it away.�h I didn�ft let anything register on my face except perhaps a look of respect, as I wanted to be careful to understand her fully before reacting. �gWhy do you want to pick up that stuff?�h (knowing the answer?I mean, every time we`re out, we`re cleaning up after somebody else?done so for years, and now it has sunk in�c) �gI am concerned about the environment, Mom. People don�ft take care of things. I`m still young, and I can`t make laws and I can`t change things�cYET. But I can do this.�h (YET, she says�c) Well, I quickly gave her a bag, and my own gloves, and a big hug. (Yes, Mom?I informed her of the rules, that anything past the curb was �gno-mans-land�h and that the ditch was off limits until we could be there to help her.) I certainly don�ft mind sorting the recyclables and bleaching the gloves for her when she gets home. And true to Jessica-form, she apologizes for making extra work for me to do, but I tell her that I am happy to do it. What a great kid. Okay, now that you are sick to death of hearing me brag on my child, I will change the subject. It will be a brief change, however, as it doesn�ft take long for me to circle back to talking about Jessica again.
I have been asked to write for a web magazine based in Osaka. Actually, I was asked to submit writing samples so that they could decide whether or not to give me a column. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it works out! That would be a great opportunity, and it might pay a few bucks every now and then. Suffice to say that they will want to hear more about Japan and less about Jessica, but who knows?
You know, this is lengthy enough. I am gonna stop here and start over with the Earthquake stuff in the next letter. Hope everybody is well, and I look forward to hearing from you! We send love from all to all!