Beam Me Up Kanazawa/Mojo in the Classroom

Contrary to the pictures, Kanazawa was not abducted by aliens or touched by any flying spaghetti monsters yesterday, it only looks that way. I took a few minutes after lunch to fire off some shots of the ever-changing sky outside my office window.




Speaking of work, I think it's official that I'm struggling this term. There's always a bit of a grace period at the beginning of every term where the students and I get an idea of who each other is, and for them to figure out the way I do things in class. It's usually a few weeks, but then it's generally smooth sailing and everyone's relatively content with the situation. This term, I'm still waiting. I think it's a combination of being mentally drained after all that was the wedding, along with some, how should I say, unsavory, students this time around. I'm sure this will be one of the better learning opportunities I've had in my short teaching career, as I'm encountering some issues that I haven't before, and trying to figure out how to best deal with them. And I'm not at all complaining here, at least I don't mean to. I'm very much content with most aspects of my life at the moment (other than the whole 'I can't friggin stand where we live' thing), and whatever job related stress I may have to deal with is made up for by exorbitant amounts of paid vacation.

And these blue lights.



Shortly after moving to Kanazawa I noticed that many of the roads around here are lined with blue lights. I pondered the meaning of these blue lights for quite some time, with several different people, and we came up with several theories: they are eco-light that somehow save energy; they represent some safety zone around the college; they improve visibility in some way that is not at all evident; they're pretty.

Turns out none these estimated guesses is correct. No, these lights, and the soft blue glow they cast upon the road, are meant to calm the citizens of Nonoichi and to keep us from doing criminal things, like fighting, and stealing bicycles. Apparently there has been a tangible drop in crime here in town, inversely proportionate to the increase in pedestrians and cyclists being run down because the roads are no longer properly lit (I would assume).

But given my edgy state of mind lately, I figured I'd risk the danger to bask in the mellowing aura of the streetlights tonight on my walk home from the office (ahem, at 9:30 p.m.). I'm feeling pretty relaxed now, I have to say. And I really need to buy a tripod for my camera so I can take pictures at night without having to find stuff to prop my camera on all over the place. And so I can take more cool pictures like this:



So I proclaim, come to me now February 25th, or whenever it is this term ends, so I can embark upon a month long indulgence of something I love without all this tedious thing known as 'work'!!!! With that in mind, I'll proceed onto one of the other more mellowing activities I enjoy: ironing. Good night.