Beware of heat stroke

It is not official that that is what it was but it certainly was horrible. Yesterday, after a leisurely bike ride to the school we drove to the beach for the afternoon. I didn:t drink enough water and was in the hot sun for too long I guess but I didnt feel ill until we hiked for about 10 minutes up a tiny hill. Quite suddenly I thought I would vomit and pass out and I got a piercing headache. We stumbled back down the hill and went home where I took a cool shower and tried to lay down. I was extremely nauseous and dizzy and my head was spliting. Rob gave me a blessing and I felt a little better (as in I didn:t think I would die, even if I still wanted to) but Rob was still very worried so we got in the car to try and find a hospital or our boss or someone that could help us (we still don:t have a phone). When we were driving out luckily our boss pulled up and Rob flagged her down and explained the situation. She said that none of the clinics were open this late (it was after 5pm) so she called an ambulance. I think the whole situation freaked Colette out because she wouldnt stop crying until I held her. At the hospital I told my boss my symptoms and she relayed them to the doctor who seemed confused, but maybe that was just his thinking face. Anyway they hooked me up to an i.v. and gave me some stuff for the nausea and I felt much better. So I hope that I have learned my lesson and so have you, heat is a huge killer everywhere in the world.

annoyances

Perhaps slightly more than that, hopefully not more than that. I guess that I would just like some sympathy here. I got a parking ticket for parking in the place that I was told by the former teacher here and my boss to park, because it had no signs declaring it a no park zone. I told my boss about it and gave her the ticket so that she could figure it out and she informed me that she did not know that I could not park there, and so I must pay $150 for the ticket. I told her over several days that we have been discussing it that it is not my responsability or even within my ability to know all of the rules or laws with out someone telling me in English. I have done all that is within my power to keep to my insane teaching schedule even when I have never been to the new places and cannot ask for directions, have no phone to call for help and no way to read anything. She said that maybe it will be a lesson for me to have to pay the ticket...I about lost it.

The Beach and rhinoceros beetles

Colette and I went to the beach today, and swam. This beach wasn't very sandy but the water was nice. Later there were a bunch of windsurfers, I think it'd be fun to kayak out to the small islands in the bay like the one pictured.
Colette's checking out these rhinoceros beetles (sp?). A kid brought his two big beetles to church this week, and staged fights between them. These were for $2 at the place we buy produce. We saw a bettle fighting movie at the rental store, with different kinds of beetles fighting epic battles.
Colette sleeps through anything!
Along the coast . . .
And another shot at the beach.

Mullet bikes, $115 'Levy's jeans and purple convertables

Colette and Annie played in the water today by the baby shrine (see the next post for more about that). The coastline here reminded me a bit of Hawaii, it had small islands and outcroppings mixed with sandy beaches. I'm very excited to go back when we have our swimming suits!
Here's Nicolle teaching her favorite class, a class of adults. No crying, no dirty diapers, no snotty noses or wild 4 year olds, just sensible, interested adults who can follow most of what she teaches. Here she's asking what they would like to do if they were to visit the USA.
Is it a moped . . . or a bullet bike . . . maybe a mullet bike? For those who want to look cool but still have their feet safely planted.
Beanies are cool even if it's a sweltering summer day, if you have a purple convertable. You can't tell from the picture but it's metal-flake paint and very nice rims. This OG's buddy tripped on his lowriding shorts on the way around the back of the store, I guess they worked there. He looked around to make sure no one was watching but didn't see us in our little 3-door car, not cool enough to be noticed.
Colette was not happy to be in the car. On Saturdays we've been driving an hour to Takamatsu for a half-hour lesson, then another hour right back. Nicolle has classes before and after with exactly an hour between for the commute, so there's no time for sightseeing or shopping in Takamatsu, which is about 4 times the size of Marugame. But we worked it out so that I'll teach the classes before and after, so Nicolle can take the car to Takamatsu early and/or stay there after her class is over to see sights or shop; her next class won't be for 3 hours later now. Too bad we can't all be there together, but it's not worth Colette's unhappiness (and screaming) to put her in a carseat for two hours on hot Saturday mornings.
Today we ate out with Daron and Lori. They're very nice and showed us a place sort of like a Japanese Denny's, it has western-type foods (hamburgers, pasta, etc) and Japanese food. I got curry rice and brisket, Nicolle got a chicken and cheese with tomato sauce thing, both were very good. I'm glad we have a place to take people now when we have visitors. Also we found a nice used clothing store, but a bit pricey. I was wondering why the "Levy" jeans were behind glass until I saw the price tags, over 100$ each, just for ratty old faded Levy jeans, many with holes in the knees. They weren't special low-cut or stylish levys, just plain old levys you might see a farmer wearing in rural Utah. I also saw some leather shoes for 200$. There was a 3$ rack outside which Nicolle picked out a cute shirt from. Had I known how much Levy jeans go for, I would've filled my suitcase with them.

Today Daron and Lori invited us to go with them to the baby shrine, which is only open two days out of the whole year. Pistured is Daron and his baby Annie, on the left. His father is Japanese (like 4th generation or something) and he's been studying Japanese so he knew more than any of us, he explained a few things about it. Pictured is the last quarter of a long boardwalk from the coastline over the water to reach the small island which houses the shrine. Lori said that up until a few days ago, the boards were missing. Apparently they only put down the boards between the stone pillars once a year.
Here's a view up inside the shrine. They had a ceremony later with drumming and music. At the back you can see the final stairs ascending to a small room, they're covered in white cloth.
Before crossing the boardwalk, we washed our hands in this water, including Colette and annie's hands. We did it to be respectfull as it is customary.
This was another small shrine at the top of the stairs.
I was excited to see beaches with swimmers along the coast on the way there. The shrine was anly 20 minutes from the school downtown, so swimmable beaches are nearer than I'd thought. The water wasn't pristine clean and clear like Hawaii or Costa Rica, but for me a beach is a beach. Daron says that the open seawater on the south or eastern sides of the island are cleaner, but it wasn't too bad, seemed like the Mediterranean sea to me. The coastline we've seen up to now has been port coastline, full of barges, rocks, docks, etc; not very nice to go swimming. I was very happy to see a more natural coastline so near Marugame. You can bet I'll be there with Colette during the hot month ahead of us, while Nicolle teaches at the school.

Tonight I went and played a few songs at a small Jazz bar downtown near the school. There was a trio playing tonight consisting of the owner on bass, a pianist and guitar player. I played "Lover Man" and "Doxy". I was very well recieved, I think mostly because of the novelty of having a real American sax player wowed them more than my actual abilities, they were all decent players; hopefully I can get a group together to play weddigns or parties in the area. He asked me to come back next week to play the full set. I'm not sure if he'll pay me or if it's just a free jam session, I guess I'll find out. It's hard to communicate, the bartender knew the most English of all of them, which still wasn't too much. I asked him if the group plays at weddings or parties, he kept repeating "wedding party" and saying "yes" so I guess they do, I'm not sure. The cafe owner upstairs speaks fluent English so I told the owner I'd email him and she could translate, I think he understood. I've gotta get cracking on my Japanese!

Mini-frogs and Coca-Colas

Here's a baby frog Colette and I spotted sitting on some moss at the base of some rice, the little speck. Tadpoles scatter when you walk past the edge of a rice field.
We bought this coke just to illustrate the differences in portion sizes here. They do have normal sized sodas as well, but nothing like the 40 oz monstrosities common in the states.
Colette looked too sute in her pajamas to resit the urge to shoot.
Colette likes to swing. This park was ok except for under one climbing thing there were hoards of Japanese wasps. I watched a documentary on them on Animal Planet once, a group of about 30 wasps attack beehives, decapitating the bees by the hundreds each, then carting off the larvae to feed their young. They have power-ranger-like heads so they are easily recognizable. We stayed away from that side of the park.

Climbing Little Fuji

Today I took Colette to climb what people call Marugame's "Little Fuji". There are many mountains in Japan called Little Fuji named after the much larger and more famous one. Yesterday I attempted the climb but ran out of time and had to turn back so Nicolle would be on time for work. This picture is of the two of us after we'd started the trek up the mountain. We'd biked to the base from our house, a few miles away.
Here's a view of little Fuji from near our home, taken yesterday when it was a little clearer. These lilypad leaves are each over 2 feet across.
Taking a break at a bamboo bench by the trail. Carrying Colette up a mountain reminded me of when Dad would carry us when we were younger. Now I'm the sweaty red-faced father and the complaining child is my baby. She was pretty good except near the top she got tired of being on my shoulders (she got tired of being in the baby carrier about 1/2 way up). We saw lots of butterflies and birds so she was generally entertained. Also most of the trail is shaded by overhanging trees so it wasn't too hot for the baby. It's been hot here but nothing like the sweltering Texas July we left behind.
A nice man took our picture at the top. There wasn't really a view from the top, it was pretty smoggy and besides there were thick trees all around. There were a multiple shrines around the summit. As we climbed up the trail, each person or group we saw went crazy when they saw Colette, all saying "kawai" of course. I've found that people are more friendly if I greet them in Japanese and bow my head as we approach each other, then most start saying other things in Japanese then when they see I don't understand most switch to English. Most don't speak fluently but know a few simple phrases. It's refreshing how nice and friendly people are, contrasted with Americans' indifference to others they meet in the street. They seem like wise grandfathers, aunts, etc, who are very happy to see you, possibly for a chance to practice their English, but even if they don't speak English they are very happy to see us.
Besides the main trail which we took, there were smaller steeper trails leading off in all directions from the top, which crossed our trail which spiralled around the whole cone, giving us many views as we climbed.
Also on top were a few cats which a pair of ladies fed while we were there. Colette was very interested and we fed them a little snack from another bamboo bench.
Here's a view about 1/3 of the way down of the surroundings. Yesterday when I made my first attempt I couldn't find the trailhead in the midst of an elaborate shrine. I met an old man who said he'd been a junior high English teacher 20 years before but now was a farmer. He said that the shrine was his family shrine which he maintained. Then he showed me a hidden shortcut to the trailhead behind the shrine, I followed the stone steps up and around to the main trail. It reminded me of the secret stairs from Lord of the Rings, except a lot shorter.
Between biking to the base and carrying Colette to the top and back, I was pretty tired when we made it back to our bikes. Luckily nearby was a vending machine and I bought a drink which boasted 9 amino acids, it was very good. There are vending machines all over the place, along a deserted stretch of the road, by some random house, etc. They sell everything from cigarrettes to t-shirts, so I've heard. I've only seen vending machines that sell beer, food, drinks, and cigarrettes so far.
Colette refuses to ever be put down, or not have 100% of my attention on her for even a second, unless it's really enterntaining stuff, like Sesame Street or some other show involving muppets. Anything that keeps her occupied for even only a few moments is great, so while I do the dishes I set up a chair so she can help. She got really involved tonight so I had to throw another towel down, she's still learning how not to throw the dishes on the floor after she bangs them around in the sink a little.
I stopped by a Jazz club near the school downtown today, and luckily ran into the owner along with someone who speaks fluent English. I gave him a card and he invited me to sit in with a group that's playing Saturday. I've been practicing a bit but Colette doesn't allow it for very long, not even while she sits in the crook of my arm anymore. I'm not sure it's worth the effort to keep my chops up, if it means a crying baby who feels so sad because Daddy's not giving her 100%, so we'll see what happens. I've been content the past few months to not have to worry about keeping up and developing my sax chops. but it would be nice to make a little extra money and since I'm a blond-haired blue-eyed American it could be a sort of a novelty which could allow them to overlook my rough sound from not practicing so much.
I also emailed some modeling agencies about Colette. It seems that there should be some way to capitalize on how cute everyone thinks she is. We really stand out here, the only non-Japanese I ever see work at our and one other English school, and they live in another town. As far as I can tell the agencies are mostly in Tokyo or Osaka, but there may be something in Takamatsu, an hour's drive away. It would be nice to supplement our income and pay off our student loans sooner, besides the fun of trying something new. Since we have a family work visa we're covered as far as documents go, too!

Some pictures

Colette LOVES bike rides.


There can never be too many pictures of Colette as far as I am concerned. Especially if they are of her being helpful. Here she is helping daddy keep the front entry way clean for the shoes. This is were the shoes stay while we are in the house.
This picture is mostly for dad. It is impossible to describe how massive this bridge is. I have more pictures dad if you want them. Of course we will take you to it when you come, it is really close and has a neat museum all about how they built it.
Colette the tourist. She loves to put things with straps or handles around her neck/arm and drag them around. Here she has Melissa's camera.