At a loss for words: A Tokyo interlude

#1 The cherry blossoms bloom in the street lights.

So, I'm back in Tokyo and back at work and for better or worse, normal life goes on. I still can't think too logically or articulately about everything that is happening in part because it hits me on so many different levels. I have so much history with this city and country and culture. It was complicated before March 11th and it's more complicated now.

I'm back at work and as April is a busy month for schools we have a lot of long days and a lot of six day weeks. I'm helping train up two new teachers (one in math, one in science) and trying to sort out my own stuff. Classes start tomorrow and I know I am not prepared enough, that I will sleep fitfully and that 5am will come much too soon. But so it goes. I had a lovely lazy Sunday that allowed me to sleep in, unpack my bags, vacuum and cook. Perhaps what I love most about this space is that I could look out from my balcony at the park, full of laughing children, kites, cherry trees and my favorite things in Tokyo.

As I am at a loss for words, I've been trying a project of taking one picture a day--usually just with my iPhone as I seem to have lost the cable for my proper camera--of something I love about this time and place. With all the changes, I find I sometimes slip into thinking about everything that drives me crazy because it justifies moving on. But I would rather not. I would rather revel in all the things I love.

So here are some pictures. I've uploaded them to facebook already so for some of your it's nothing new. Perhaps I will find some words for them here.





#2: An angel in the sky line. The view from the 9th floor of my school from one of my classrooms. After the big March 11th quake, the angel rotated about 60 degrees. We think it belongs to the Church of Later Day Saint's church. Recently, or perhaps because of the recent big aftershock, it is once again facing North.


#3: 530 am light. I am not a morning person but biking or walking through my park early in the morning is lovely. In the back you can see a crowd. Initially, I though they were a group who had partied all night. Not so. They were part of an all night vigil for Tohoku.


#4: Comfort bike. Most people when stressed want certain comfort food. I wanted this bike back in Tokyo with me. My commuter, my love. Ready to rumble.



#5: Sweeping cherry blossoms. A man spends his morning clearing the sidewalk near his business of fallen blossoms. Most businesses are back open and it appears that the blackouts are indefinitely postponed.