Sean and Miyuki's English Diary

December 17th, 2003 So the baby has been born. Wednesday the 10th at 1:52AM, Japan time, our beautiful baby girl came into the world. Her father did not pass out in the delivery room, despite all the blood and guck. He was even able to summon enough strength to cut the umbilical cord. Miyuki's labor was very long. It started out very mildly on Sunday, and gradually built over the course of three days. Unfortunately, come Tuesday night, she was still some way off from delivery. The doctor felt that it was taking so long that he offered to induce the delivery, and Miyuki's answer was an emphatic yes murmured through clenched teeth. So they hooked her into an IV straightaway and the delivery started within about twenty minutes. Miyuki was very strong, even chatting somewhat through the delivery (mostly things like "god, this hurts!" and "it's not over YET?!?"). But after an hour and a half, Miyuki squeezed one more time and >shpluck!< out shplucked the baby. It was a very moving experience, and I'm glad I could be there to see it. My baby looked absolutely adorable, even covered in goo. Miyuki recovered very quickly. She was up and about the hospital on Wednesday afternoon talking to friends of hers who had given or were about to give birth themselves. Daddy seemed more emotionally and physically spent, passing out in the hospital bed and sleeping like a (snoring) log. Just more proof that women are far stronger than men (as if we needed more). So over the next couple of days, we waffled back and forth between two names - Ami (pronounced Ah-me) and Mizuki (Me-zoo-key). Then we conferenced with a Buddhist priest. He cast the baby's fortune, which as best as I can tell is a mix of astrology and numerology. The results of the fortune were very, very good - she is supposed to be smart, talented and hard-working (just like her daddy!). Unfortunately, a name that is too strong would erase all of that good luck. Sure enough, both Ami and Mizuki are strong names. So we went back to the drawing table. According to the fortune, the priest suggested we choose a name that uses two characters, wherein the first character has 10 strokes and the second character has 9 strokes. After some deliberation, we realized it was a difficult combination to work with, and so we slept on it. The next day, I dug out a character dictionary and poured over it for a while. Every now and then I would ask Miyuki about how certain characters "feel" when looked at, and after listing several options and throwing several "yucky" characters away, I started playing around with different ways of combining the characters. By sheer beginner's luck, I believe, I stumbled upon a very pretty combination. After consulting with the priest once more, he replied emphatically that it was a very nice name. So, here it is: The first character means "jasmine," and the second "to blossom" or "bloom." It's pronounced Risa, where the R is a single trilled R like the two Ts in "butter." For those English speakers who have trouble pronouncing that sound, Lisa is a simple variant. So please stop by the photos section and check out some of the photos of Risa/Lisa, the latest addition to our family.

October 24th, 2003 Miyuki and I have settled into Japan nicely. Work is becoming more regular, the baby's due date draws near, and my Japanese has been getting better and better. Up until recently, the baby was breach, but the doctor did a message trick on Miyuki's stomach, and everything is fine now. It was a pretty interesting experience. They hooked Miyuki up to an IV, where she sat for about three hours as the mild medication worked its way into her system. It was a minor muscle relaxent, and she said she didn't notice anything beyond a slightly tired feeling. After the three hours was up, the doctor arrived and corrected the breach in about one minute. He just probed at Miyuki's stomach, feeling for the head and the feet, and with one hand on its head and one hand on its feet, made a circular motion on her stomach. Pyun! The baby snapped right into the proper position. So, right now the baby is healthy and will be ready to be born anytime between the next three to six weeks. Yes, I am very, very afraid. My job is pretty easy, though. I teach at a technical high school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I speak no English except the very little that I use in-class, even with the English teachers. That's very good news for my Japanese, as I get daily, real-life practice. The students at the school are all destined for blue-collar work, and so have little to no interest in English. They range from intolerably asenine to quite likeable, so each class is a very different experience. All my co-workers are very nice, however, and I get along with all of them very well. I have no responsibilites outside of the classroom. My free periods, therefore, are spent doing fun things like studying Japanese, writing fiction, reading, and working on this website. On Tuesdays I teach at a school for the handicapped. There are about 200 students at the school, and only a handful are just physically handicapped. The vast majority suffer from a variety of mental handicaps, ranging from a simple low IQ to Downs to autism. All of the kids are extremely adorable, and I enjoy going to the school and working with them. I'm there under the guise of an English teacher, but as many of these kids cannot even speak Japanese, I tend to just be a fresh face that they can interact with. In the end I play a lot of games, make crafts, and sing with the kids. On Thursdays I teach at a technical night school. It is populated primarily by high school dropouts who are making minimal efforts to make something of themselves. They are loud, obnoxious, irritating and largely ignorant. Thankfully, I am not responsible for disciplining or teaching them anything, so it's tolerable. I just go in, read a few sentences off a piece of paper, and go home. All in all, it is only about three hours of my evening, and an easy paycheck. Enough said on that subject. As I stated above, I've had a lot of free time lately for things like studying and writing. My latest short story should be posted soon, along with some of my more "artistic" photography in the Other section of this website. Take a look and let me know what you think! Well, I believe this is it for now. Until my next post. Everyone stay safe and happy.

September 5th, 2003 So Miyuki and I have been back in Japan for about one month now. We first arrived in Tokyo for a three-day orientation. While Miyuki stayed with a friend in Tokyo, I spent the three days in a very nice hotel in Shinjuku. The orientation consisted of a battery of workshops on surviving life in Japan, dealing with Japanese culture, and how to teach. I skipped out on all of them and went shopping instead. After the orientation, we were all shipped off to our respective assignments. In one day, we flew from Tokyo to Osaka, rode a bus into Wakayama, attended a welcoming ceremony, were introduced to our schools, shown to the local grocery stores, and taken to our new homes. Needless to say, we were exhausted. The next day, we were ferried around to the bank (to get a new bank account) and town hall (to get my Japanese equivalent of a green card). I was then suckered into dancing in a local festival parade. There's a picture of our group dancing down the street in the photos section. Since these hectic first days, we have been settling in, buying furniture and the like. We have been back to Miyuki's parent's house a few times. They only live about an hour drive from us, which is very convenient. Miyuki's father and I are on much better terms at this point. In fact, I think that he has always been fond of me. The problem is that he and Miyuki are both so hard-headed that they always butt heads. Anyway, I've started teaching, and all I can say is that this experience will be interesting. More on that later. Miyuki's belly has been getting bigger and bigger, and we get more and more nervous as the big day draws near. We've found a very nice clinic in town, however, and she has been working hard at aerobics classes to stay in shape. I will try and update this diary section at regular intervals so that everyone can stay abreast of what's going on with us, as calling people in the states can get very pricey. Also, I'm not the most skilled long-distance communicator, as most of you are aware, I'm sure. So, until the next update, please enjoy the rest of this website. If you have any suggestions or comments, please email me and let me know. I don't want to name names, but do please try and keep the criticism constructive, Brian. Type at you all later!