Tuesday, December 1-Wednesday, December 2, 2009-

It seems that no one really wants to return to real life after our incredible Okinawa school trip last week. The teachers are just as reluctant to get anything done this week as the students are. Yet the fact of the matter is that life goes on. It’s already December and I know that in just the blink of an eye Christmas and New Years will be come and gone.

Four highlights of the past couple days:

1) I had another Rotary meeting today where I gave them their Okinawa souvenirs and thanked them a thousand, billion times for giving me such a wonderful week. I also met a very interesting woman named Ra at today’s meeting. She is from Taiwan and is teaching at a university in Taipei. My Rotary club gave her a scholarship of some sort so she was awarded that today. Her English was great (just like her Japanese) and we hit it off right away. In true Asian fashion gave me complete contact information on how to get a hold of her if I ever visit Taiwan. She was serious too. It’s so fun to make one-day connections that you won’t feel guilty about reviving even a few years down the road.

2) Grace Lee and I went to the famous Bato Art Museum featuring works by a famous woodblock artist named Hiroshige. Grace is the Bato High School ALT English teacher, and an American who recently graduated from UNC. The artwork above and below is from the museum. I love the first piece because of the waves, colors, and Mt. Fuji in the background.

3) I watched the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith on my computer because I was feeling homesick yesterday. It made me better

4) The reason I was homesick was because I had never set up a Christmas tree without my family before. Yesterday my host mom surprised me by digging out her sons’ old artificial tree with a big bag of ornaments. It made my day to have some Christmas cheer in the house, but it was a strange/lonely kind of happiness.

100 Views From Edo is Hiroshige's great collection of woodblocks from Tokyo (originally named Edo) all with Mt. Fuji in the background

I wish you could see the details in this one. The tiny birds, rice stalks, and even the mens' hats. It's all so incredible to see

This one was even gilded!

So now that you've seen these impressive pieces of artwork I'll explain how a woodblock is made for those of you who don't know. It is entirely based off of stamping ink onto a piece of parchment. The artists works in layers, carving out detail after detail of a block of wood. When they have their image complete, they then work on coloring it. They will paint a thin layer of ink into the right place onto the wooden block, then stamp the piece of parchment, transferring a gentle hue with a faintly wooden grain designs underneath. Darker colors take more and more stamps, and many woodblocks have been stamped dozens of times. It's truly incredible to see them up close.