October 31, 2004 - Skills, Old and New

"While we live and move within time, happiness comes and goes time and again. Each moment of happiness is different. We have the right to receive such happiness from time to time. And we also have to fulfill our duty of suffering the unhappiness we don't want."     - Bokunen Naka (present-day Japanese wisdom) Daily life is looking up. My job search is paying off and I am beginning to piece together a fairly good bunch of jobs during the week. I wake up, have a cup of coffee, and work out with my friend Katie from Utah. Then, she and I go our separate ways to our own English teaching jobs (more on that later) I have two separate Japanese classes that I am taking-totaling 4 hours per week, and I just signed up for a 5-month ceramics class. I am really excited about getting my hands dirty and creating some pottery I've been wanting to get into ceramics for a long time, and I have some sketches lined out for ideas of things I want to make. My new jobs are nothing like what I expected to be doing after graduation. It's crazy given that I just got a Master's degree in a totally unrelated field, but I will be teaching 'the little gym'. It's a physical education class that teaches English to kids. The catch is that they are all between 10-20 months old! Tiny tots. We all roll around on gym mats together, sing songs, and play tambourines. Their moms will be in the class along with them, which is a good thing since there can be up to 14 kids at one time. The idea is that learning is fun and that parents lose their inhibitions when they learn with their kids. Another benefit is that the parents can take part in their kids' education, even when they are not in the classroom. Seems like a great concept. I will also be a substitute for the gymnastics teacher with the older kids. Yikes! The teacher (Brian -from Australia) says he will train me to stand in for him. The other job I have right now is teaching two other English classes to kids between 2 and 8 years old. Their parents will also be sitting in on the classes with the same premise as the other jobs... breaking down barriers to learning and involvement. To bring some balance back into my workweek, I am now hoping to get some jobs teaching older students. I need about twice as much work as I have now. My host mother recommends teaching retired people because they don't speak much English, which will give me a chance to learn more Japanese, and they have lots of time for classes. I'm sure I could learn a thing or two from the older generations. I'm thinking of doing a photo-essay of older Japanese women. There is something intriguing about those hunched over ladies who connect us to an entirely different era.

On weekends, we try to visit at least one new area of Hyogo Prefecture (the larger area around Kobe.) Today our host-mother took us to a museum of carpentry tools, Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum. With the invasion of cheap mechanical tools and throw-away building materials, hand-tools are becoming a lost breed and high craftsmanship is a rarity. This museum has some of the most beautifully made woodworking tools I have ever seen in my life. While we were there, a local expert and a group of students covered an adjacent outdoor courtyard surround with an earthen plaster and roughed-in the texture. In a brief lesson on the history of carpentry, we learned that during rainy days of the 1400's, carpenters would take a break from working outside. They would stay inside and hand-carve new tools for their trade. They would also incorporate hand-forged metals into their tools. Stunning designs. Not just art, but tools at the same time... and vise-versa. Their tools included their brains, their bodies, and a tool chest filled with objects d'art. The standard toolset for a carpenter included 179 tools. Very impressive. Our host-mother said it made her proud to be Japanese. Personally, it made me want to be a craftsperson. I've got a slough of ideas in my back pocket, I'll see if I can't get to work! Photos (top to bottom): Mordern day craftsman at work. Ancient craftsmen at work. Ink pots - works like a modern-day chalk line. Chisels and saws - a few of the 179 tools that make up a standard tool set. Tissue-thin shaving of wood typical of traditional Japanese plane.

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