Solomon starts school

Its May, 2011, 5 months passed by without any blog, despite many blog-able events. I have been waiting for more than a month to just dispel the procrastination and sum-up all my energy to compose this post …

On 2011AD, April, 9th, Saturday, Antony Solomon Britto s/o Edward Victor Britto, started school. My friends Shin and Jeff accepted our invitation and snapped almost all the unforgettable moments. Anto, as we are used to calling him at home, and Solomon as many of my Japanese friends know him, was not nervous. In fact he looked very cute in his over-sized school uniform.

The school, hmnn… the kindergarten, that Solomon will be attending is one of the popular private Kindergarten's around. We wanted Solomon to attend a good school as most of the parents would want. Living in Japan, and not knowing the intricacies of schooling, we just took things easily. We just wanted Solomon to mingle with the local community and so initially we thought any school would do. Being a staunch catholic, my wife wanted Solomon to attend a catholic kindergarten. We found one far away from our home, but did not really like it.

When Solomon was just over 2 years old, one of our well wishers, the Tani-family, took us to Senzan youchien, which literally means “Senzan Kindergarten”, located on the scenic mountains east of Kyoto. It was love at first site. First, it is located on a scenic mountain far away from the Kyoto traffic, noise and other pollutions …

 

But there was one problem, it was a Buddhist establishment, and they teach each one of the kids about lord Buddha and carrying a Buddhist version of rosary is also mandatory. Initially we did not like this idea. But then there were too many positives and after many long long discussions … we just told ourselves that this is the place that Solomon would be starting his long … academic career.

But then there was another problem, we learnt that getting admitted in the Kindergarten was not easy. So we inquired with many parents of kids who already attended Senzan, and talked to the Principal teacher, and many more people who would give us some information or the other.  There were many drawbacks, the first one, both me and my wife are not fluent in Japanese, Solomon too … And then I do not have a permanent job in Kyoto, so my transfer is due any time. Anyway, it did not happen for the past 3 years … So on the day of application we went a lot lot earlier than everybody and waited outside. I had diligently filled out the application form in Japanese by myself. And we breathed a sigh of relief when we received the admit card a couple of weeks later.

I dressed in my only suite, with Shanthi and attended an Interview in the Kindergarten. Solomon was smart on that day, and we passed the interview with ease. He easily differentiated a small square from a bigger one, a lengthy pole from a shorter one, and drew a circle and the interview (children’s aptitude test) was over. Actually he knew to draw only a circle, and was asked to draw one. He was lucky. We were relived and was a bit proud of him. He did not cry and was at ease with everybody, a character passed on from my DNA.

Unlike India, in Japan, schools start on Saturday, enabling parents to attend the starting ceremony without taking a day off. So, on the 9th April, we were dressed in formals, Japanese style, which means we were dressed in black. Solomon in his school uniform.

As he woke earlier than his usual waking up time of 9AM, Solomon looked a bit tired, but somehow he was coping up. He looked happy on our way. Our Japanese father, who runs this flower shop, took us to Senzan in his car.

Most of the Kindergartens in Japan allow kids to attend classes well before they join, so my wife and Solomon visited Senzan every Thursday and so he was used to many of the, what I can say rules. As most of the building have wooden flooring we need to either change shoes or remove our shoes for some special slippers.

My friend and tennis coach Shin, snapped many of the photos along with Jeff, so all credits to them.

The picture of Solomon inside my mind did not really catch up with the speed of his growth. He was already starting his school. I was overwhelmed, with a sense of responsibility, which had come as a flash. I did not even imagine that it would be this big. I looked at other kids, and many of their fathers busy shooting their kids with video-cameras. I was clearly confused, and trying to smile all times.

Solomon was led inside his class-room, where only one guardian was allowed, so I had to come out, while I was chatting with Jeff, Shin had managed to sneak inside the class and took some snaps. そろもん is the Japanese character for Solomon, and you can see this in his chair, shoe stand and desk.

After some briefing inside the classroom, where they introduced the class-teacher and the kids, they distributed the school diary, Buddhist rosary, and repeated the instructions for the umpteenth time. While all the kids were sitting diligently, Solomon, tired of sitting in a place started playing.

And after I forced him to sit in his seat he starting playing with the kids around him. In all he was not sitting in a place and by far the naughtiest in his class. As usual I was a bit worried.

 

After the classroom session, the kids and parents were made to sit for a long lecture, which Solomon and the other kids would not understand. It was obvious that my wife did not understand, while I did not listen.

After this the senior kids of the Kindergarten performed some kind of prayer, with flowers and things like that … I could not see it, but Shin had snapped this photo.

Shin followed Solomon to all the places, to the point that he followed him to the toilet ;-) …

After all the formalities there was a group photo session. Solomon did not want to Stand in the usual line and wanted to sit with his mother. As foreigners we always get some (special) treatment, and here too, the principal gave away her seat for Shanthi.

We have a special rapport with the principal who we guess played a big part in our admission, we snapped a photo with her,

We also snapped some photos with Shin and Jeff. The tall one is Jeff and other one is Shin and here is one of them.

We also snapped a family photo under the cherry blossoms … we will cherish this photo for a lifetime I guess …

We did not directly return home as we were hungry, so we ate Pasta and Pizza, and went to hana-pot to take a snap with our Japanese parents ;) and also took a snap with the Tanis who were instrumental in Solomon joining Senzan …

 

Solomon got a wonderful cake from hana-pot, and we ate it on the next day … In the cake, there is a Patrol car which Solomon likes very much. It is written, “Riromon, Nyuen shiki omedetou” , Riromon is a mistake, I think it should be Solomon.

Solomon looked a lot smarter on the actual first day of school. I will write a lot more about his first few days at school later.

 

Galaxy in a river …

    My office is in Shiga, a 15 minutes walk from Kusatsu railway station. There is a small river called "Kusatsu-gawa" which flows over the railway line, yes, it's not a typo, this river actually is over the railway line. Though, I have never actual water flow, I thought it was for some kind of flood-prevention or something ... The dry river banks are adorned with "Cherry blossom trees" and it also has a newly-refurbished-jogging track" ...

    I guess the residents of Kusatsu were also bored with a dry river, and they probably wanted to fill it up with something ... On one fine day, when I was going to the office, I saw a group of people doing something inside the river, I presumed it to be some regular construction or some kind of maintenance work. What else can we assume if we see people working inside a not-so-happening-place.

    But in the evening while I was returning back home, I saw the following site …  a wonderful flow of candles. Yes 10,000 of them. It filled the whole river. What really amazed me was the time it would have taken to light it up. It was done manually by a group of volunteers. This shot was taken the next day, when I visited this place with Shanthi and Anto … 

    The following board says “7th lighting festival …”. I am working in this office for the 4th year now, and this is perhaps the first time I am seeing this. Probably, this is the first time it was made noticeable.

The following lights were made by some school going kids … wonderful …

   

    I was happy to see the river’s simulated flow. As with any other festival it was crowded, but not like the ones seen in Kyoto so it was manageable. I had ample space to set-up tripod ;-) …

Kudos Kusatsu …

Autumn with my FCR2 ~

Local and Foreign tourists flock Kyoto all round the year, and it peaks during Autumn. Having lived in Kyoto for 3 years now and witnessing the 4th Autumn after starting to live in Kyoto, I have had no interest in visiting those so-called-famous-Autumn-spots just to avoid the crazy crowd. But this year, since the arrival of my FCR2, I started visiting places that I normally cannot go. For sometimes now, starting this September, almost every weekend, I visit Arashiyama, early in the morning, with my bike it just takes a little over 30 minutes from my home if I take the scenic-yet-non-crowded road along the Katsura river.

(In Front of Arashiyama Park)

(In Front of the serene Lake Hirozawa)

I have heard from people that Arashiyama is at its best during Autumn, and when I visited it a couple of weeks back, I found that out for myself. On that day I had started off from my home at around 0730 AM, and reached Arashiyama at around 0815 AM, and Mmmaaannn !!! it was damn crowded, the parking lot in Tenryuji was already full. Despite the crowd, I couldn't stop myself admiring the beauty of Arashiyama that stood in front of my eyes. After buying my bike, I would have visited it at-least a dozen times, but this time was special. After witnessing the sheer beauty of fall colours for myself, I took Shanthi, and Solomon with me, to Arashiyama on Sunday. With Shanthi, we took more than (3x30) = 90 minutes. Her bicycle has only 3 gears compared to my 10, does that answer the reason for 90 minutes? … anyway, she enjoyed her ride too. We had fresh coffee, some hot toast, and bought some of the finest tofu …

(Shanthi and Solomon in Arashiyama)

(Our family + a neighbour in Arashiyama)

To escape from the crowded part, we went to a coffee shop near Seiryuji and after our second-breakfast, we visited the Seiryu-ji

(Anto playing inside Seiryu-ji)

Every time I visit Arashiyama, I come across a post that says, “Kyoto-Yawata-Kizu bicycle road, starts here, 45KM). After doing some research I found out that the road along Katsura is actually a bicycle trail that goes southwards till Kizugawa city, a place near the border Kyoto prefecture, close to Nara and Mie. I wanted to try this route. But then, I had a feeling that 90 KM ride was a bit too much. I decided to give it a shot last Tuesday, it was a National holiday here. I started off from my home at around 0830AM, went to a coffee shop nearby and got involved in a petty chat till 1000AM, and started off towards Kizu at around 1030AM.

Weather was fine, 15C, clear sky, wind was on my side. Except for getting lost from time to time I had fun. By the time I reached Nagarebashi, which is probably the longest wooden bridge of its kind in Japan, I was a bit tired. I had covered around 20 Kilometers from my home. Contrary to many people's guess was built after WWII

(Nagarebashi in the background)

Despite the dead flat track, riding was getting tougher and tougher, the wind started blowing randomly, and the my average speed was down. After leaving Nagarebashi and riding for some 10KM I was tired. And in the whole Kyoto-Yawata-Kizu route, except for Nagarebashi, there is nothing interesting ... Along the cycling road I saw some Huge trees, and nothing else. And when I reached the end of the cycling road, I had much difficulty in finding the following post. Except for the partly-refreshing-mostly-tiring ride, it was an anti-climax.

At this point I was dead-tired and terribly-hungry, I wanted to eat something, sitting relaxed in some restaurant. I wished I had the bike-carry-bag so that I can take it back to Kyoto by train. I started looking for a eating spot and went on for a few Kilometers, I knew that I will be reaching Nara, and yes, that was it. I just wanted to go sight seeing in Nara, except for my brain all other parts of my body objected to the idea. I grabbed a bite, of 2 rice balls, 1 financier, 1 hot dog, 1 lemon drink, and 1 Vitamin drink. I was full. I can say overloaded. Now the entire 45 odd Kilometer stretch was in front of me. Wind was clearly in the opposite direction. Precisely 180 degrees, and it would be 180 degree even when I made a 30 degree turn, it was crazy.

I started off, feeling sorry for not going around Nara, and wondering why I had to ride my bike for more than 40 Kilometers and not visit anything. Why would I do this, I really did not know, I just wanted to get back. Back home, in my comfortable little home. Wind was making the ride a lot tougher, I wished I had something to cover my ears. I could not hear anything, the ear phones from my iPod set to full volume could not beat the noise from the wind. It was very hard that made me wonder, "if this is not a typhoon, what would a typhoon be like ...". I was riding at almost walking pace, sometimes at jogging pace, and sometimes I just stopped, taking a sip and feeling my breath. And when I reached Nagarebashi, I called Shanthi to tell her that I will be late, very late, than what I had planned.

I found out that the same wind that helped me during the onward journey turned into an enemy when I was returning. I was wishing, "cant they be friendly through-out". Anyway I came back home with this nice shot.

(Somewhere near Kizu ...)

After my (Mis)adventure on Tuesday, I decided to try some less crowded Autumn spots in Kyoto, that I had heard from a friend, and I took route 31 that is in the North of Kyoto and went to Iwato-Rakuyo Jinja. It was probably the best place I have visited, partly because I had the entire temple for me. At ~30 Kilometers from my home, It was not far compared to Nara, but tougher ...

(In front of Kyoto Iwato Rakuyo Jinja)

(Fallen leaves everywhere ...)

Rakuyo means, fallen leaves, and they never clear-up the leaves that fall and it remains like a bed. It was just wonderful to see a place like this. I met a Swiss guy who shot this snap, who told me, that he has visited this temple during Autumn every year for 20 years. It was not crowded at all, partly because, reaching here was a humongous task. On my way back I had food in a restaurant called, "Yama-no-Ie Hasegawa", which literally means, a house in the mountain. We can stay here for JPY 5K per person per night. I wish I can drink and stay back someday ... when Shanthi is not around ;-)

(In the midst of No-where ... Yama-no-Ie-Hasegawa)

After having a soup + cheese-hamburger + hot cocoa + some chatting with an old couple, I headed back home. Physically tired and mentally refreshed.

Giant FCR 2 and

I lost my bicycle a few months ago. I was over-confident that no-body in Japan would steal, especially a not so good looking normal bicycle. I never locked it, and I felt confident that no-body would steal it, till such time I lost it, ... OK, till such time somebody stole it.

I bought a new cycle for Shanthi a couple of weeks back. The Beaute from bridgestone. It's a nice bike with a low center of gravity, obviously it's heavy, which directly equates to its stability. So, I did not have much trouble choosing it. I did put the extra seat for Solomon ;-)

The cycle is an actual beauty, the stand, is made for extra stability to bear the kid's weight, and the rear seat (carrier) is made to withstand the weight of a kid + it's seat... Besides the hand-bar has a lock which you can use for 100% stability when you park with heavy load in the front basket. Though it cost's around JPY 50K, including the child seat, it's worth every penny.

After buying it, we found out that Shanthi had lost touch riding a bicycle. So, I had to (re-)teach her to ride it, in doing so, I had to run behind her, while she was re-learning to ride. It was not fun. After about a week of practicing, she was riding well, if not perfectly well. So, there was no point in me running behind her.

So, after some thought, and hard look at our finances, we decided to buy a new bicycle for me, so that we can all go out together in eco-friendly bicycles. So, I looked up the internet for a right bicycle. I wanted a nice one, nothing less than 50K ;-) ... I was just kidding.

I just wanted a nice bicycle to go round, and after some research I bought the Giant FCR2, a 8.5Kg carbon beauty. I am yet to use it fully to write a review, but the first 2 days had been a pain in the ass, yes, the seat is very small, but it's a damn good bike when it comes to speed. I love it, except for the seat ~~

May, 24th, 2035 AD, Kyoto, Japan

Alighting from the train, he felt, Kyoto was hot, but soon consoled himself as it was cooler than his “hot-and-humid” home town. He thought that the Japanese would recognize him as a South Asian; thanks to the programs of Indian in NHK most of the Japanese recognized him as an “Indojin”, meaning “Indian”. And when they did, the pride for his mother-land just showed up.

Carefully following his colleagues advice, he handed over his hotel’s address that he had printed as part of his travel-preparations, to the taxi driver. The Taxi driver took only a couple of seconds to read-understand-acknowledge back to his customer. This guy murmured, “Japanese! Aren’t they fast ~”.

He loaded his 3 hand-carry luggage, in the back-seat, suit-case in the trunk, and made himself comfortable in the front seat. Inside the solar-electric-taxi, everything looked cool. The seats were more comfortable than the best he had seen back home. He thought, unlike the taxi drivers back home, this Taxi driver was wearing a suit that would match his marriage suit, never mind, the politeness … He could hear some pre-recorded lady’s voice from a speaker near the driver seat, that stopped once he put on the seat belt and the veered into the busy lane. The driver was courteous enough to tell him, “30 meenits” with a smile. He smiled back and thanked the driver with his mind trying to figure out the fare for a 30 minutes ride in a solar-electric-super-comfortable car.

He was fascinated at most of the things he saw, working traffic lights that were mostly LED, people respecting traffic lights and traffic rules, cars without side-dents, clean roads, pavements with no homeless, and much more… It was his first trip abroad, and his mind was fascinated with everything foreign. The taxi was now in a broad road, where the inter-car distance was so large, that he thought that he had seen such a formation, only during a Presidents visit to his home town.

Having lost in the thick of things that was happening around him, he started focusing on a car that his taxi was following. It was a red colored Toyota, he could read “Noribito” inscribed at its trunk, he chucked, “Noribito, … a nick name is it!”. His boy-scout eyes would swear that the red-Toyota maintained a perfect inter-car distance. And it was exactly in the center of the road. He thought he wished that he could stop the red-Toyota, and measure the distance, and confirm it. He was awe-struck and murmured to himself, “Japanese perfection” … He tried to spot the driver through the transparent rear-glass of the red-Toyota and could see few heads in the back-set, but not the driver, and to this he murmured, “Short Japanese” …

The red-Toyota would respect yellow-signals to perfection, and was into ideal-driving. The taxi driver was getting irritated, and signed, “Noribitto”, the Indian asked, “Whaaat?!*” for which the driver replied, a “Tis-a drovibingu robotto, no doraiba-” …

Inspirations ~~~

First it was Fr. Cyril, then Jeff, and then Miyuki-san, and recently I befriended another person who is planning to write a book.

These days, for work, I read Jeff’s *great* book, “Mastering Regular Expressions”. I ordered a copy from Amazon. Reading it, feels like, Jeff’s talking to me.

Of course, I have had the opportunity to chat with Jeff a few times, and reading this book was no different from those petty chats. I often read books in solitude, and it was like Jeff standing in front of me and teaching me, like a friendly professor.

I figured out that it’s probably because I know him, or something with his writing style, which is more like a story, or a friendly little gossip, a conversation.

I had always wanted to write my own book, I once started writing one, before putting it to an ever-lasting-hibernation. But, after reading Jeff’s book, I only think, at my current ability and “frame of mind”, it might be next to impossible.

Man, page-after-page, the well-written-contents, the simple-language … everything, is so great, that, I realized the 30 months or so, that he toiled, was worth all of it.

I guess, his name would last, as an icon, in the “regular expression world”, long enough, till another big-bang.

Fr Cyril, a professor at the Sophia University, Tokyo, is another great guy that I had met. I and Shanthi attended his mass in the St. Ignatius church in Yotsuya. It was a Japanese mass, and even without any judging-ability, I rightly presumed his Japanese to be fluent. So, being proud of this fluently-Japanese-speaking Indian priest, I and Shanthi went to wish him after the mass.

On meeting him, I was immediately impressed with his profound simplicity, humility … It’s not flattery, just the truth. We were newly married, and very religious, and getting to know a priest who can talk English, in this foreign land was a pleasure.

Later, after coming back home, the inquisitive me, searched the internet, and found that he had written a couple of books. I was awe struck. I guess any normal human being might not figure out his intellect, just by his looks, phoo~~ commons like me just could not, cannot.

And later, we would often go to St. Ignatius just to meet him and say, “hello” … I used to feel proud meeting him. He was an inspiration, with his intellect, humility, and everything …

Last year, I got to meet Ishida Miyuki-san, who teaches me Japanese. Going by her simple, Japanese house-wife looks, it’s probably difficult to figure out that she hold a few patents, copyrights and has written a book. And another one might follow …the most active person I have ever met ~

After getting to know these simple people in Fashion conscious Japan, I guess, even here, intellects may not look great with their attires ;-) For example, Jeff has not changed his Yellow Jacket, since the time I met him ;-).

Everyday, after work, I get tired, sometimes very tired and go to sleep. But every morning, I get refreshed thinking of these *great* people. I look forward to the day. They are my energy source, my inspiration.

Thank you guys ~~~

strokes ...

I watch Japanese version of NHK news, in the mornings and sometimes during the evenings, mornings, just to know the day’s weather, and select the day’s clothes, and in the evenings for some actual news. I watch Japanese news, partly to improve my language ability and also for the news that I can understand ;-). I have cleared quite a few Japanese language exams; but still my level is, how can I say …bad.

Japan is a relatively crime free country, and even a petty robbery at a remote convenience store will feature in the national news for a couple of days. Sometimes I feel; NHK, the national broadcaster that extols money, if you happen to own a TV set, comes out with some absolutely fantastic programs, but for its lackluster news contents. The news content is dumb, and if you know the previous day’s news, you can predict 80% of the day’s news. I don’t know if NHK is to be blamed.

NHK’s stupid news was not worth blogging about, until recently when I got furious with the news that made headlines for more than a week now. 9 birds, strokes to be precise, that were protected in a sanctuary got killed by some animal, and this news made it to the head lines. Back in India, tigers make it to the news when they are hunted down illegally in sanctuaries, but not in the headlines though. Anyway, when I saw the news for the first time, I sympathized for the strokes, though I was more worried for Chile and Haiti, that do not make news anymore. But, the next day, to my surprise, I watched with disgust, an analysis report on the killing, OF STROKES MAN! And the next day, I got used to those 9 strokes, the cage, the 256 holes that were found in it, the many IR camera that works in the night, and the markings of predator’s entry found in some of the holes, and that the predator had been making regular visits, etc. etc.

Overwhelmed with disbelief and helplessness, though I didn’t give a damn for the strokes, when there were many more bloody things that happen around the world, I started making best use of the news contents; noting down each new Japanese word.

Strokes can makes it to headlines in Japan for more than a week. Vow …