Entries this day: Super_PB_Party! deets pre_iku_second_second_day

Super PB Party!

9:21pm JST Sunday 15 May 2005

Super duper uper uber fun tonight at the PB Pre 49th Voyage Fundraising Party Fiesta! Some great performances by Angie on Korean drum, Alison and David on vocals and guitar, two Japanese hip hop girls who could really shake it, two Japanese belly dancers who could really shake it, and one guy on acoustic guitar who played a couple of Mexican anti-(Vietnam)-war songs. During his performance (after some big time dancing on my butt while watching the aforementioned four women) I sat uprightly in a meditative pose blessing the universe and broadcasting peace to the universe. Instead of clapping cheeringly like everyone else, I did a soft hand-rubbing 'clap' that I learned in my original YRUU days.

"If something pleases you, rub your hands together like this to show your appreciation. This allows us to maintain the serene space."

All kinds of crazy dancing, mimicking the belly dancers as best I could, doinga funky funk dance when the music called for it, heavy throw-down head bobbing air drums when the hip hop girls did they thang, super soaking sweaty in my THE MONKEY ROCKS shirt given to me by beautiful Sallyally in Calicali.

I danced with an obaasan who was super genki and danced with most of the boys, and I tried to entice a couple of ojiisan onto the dance floor, teaching one how to dance with just a clap and then single step out, single step back.

Kris asked me about some twirling move I did, and I was like, "I don't know how I did it. I dance by turning my brain OFF." Showed her my first-ever dance, taught to me by Christina Branum(-Martin): the seaweed dance. Feet don't move. Just slowly sway the arms.

I had my feet together and Kris posed the very good question, "what if you lose your balance?"

I spaced my feet wider apart. "Then you did a big seaweed dance," with the same swaying arms, but feet wider apart.

That gave me an idea. "and then you do 'big seaweed'" (step out) "'little seaweed.'" (step in) "'big seaweed'" (step out) "'little seaweed.'" (step in) "and they're not worried about where their feet are, they're just doing big seaweed, little seaweed, and they're dancing without even thinking about it." referring to dance students who Angie and Kris (?) said were too shy to dance.

Soon thereafter, I was approached by a woman who was basically like, "my son loves monkeys. Can I buy your shirt?" and I was thinking holy crap; how often does one get asked this question? and I didn't quite believe her so I asked a question or something and she seemed pretty serious, but then I was like, "but if I sell you my shirt, I won't have a shirt to wear!" and she was like, "I'll see what I can do about that," and two seconds later a man came up offering to trade shirts with me.

I was like, "okay; I'll let you have it for a donation to the charity box," referring to the box into which everyone had put 1000 yen upon entering the party. (This money will go to Sri Lanka where people along the road from Columbo to Gaul (sp) are still living in tents and occasional shacks (during monsoon season now) after the tsunami in December.) She was like, "oh of course!" and pulled out 5000 yen, which is the actual number I had in mind but didn't say because I just didn't.

And that's how I traded my (Sally's) sweaty THE MONKEY ROCKS shirt for a clean white T-shirt and got 5000 (US $50) donated to Sri Lanka.

Thank you Sally! Thank you Jill! Thank you Rock Monkey!

deets

4:27pm JST Sunday 15 May 2005

This is not details, necessarily, but kinda the structure of PB as I am beginning to understand it.

Three linked circles: PB: the NGO/NPO, and the travel agency that actually books the ship and tours, and GET: the English teaching part of it. PB needs JG because as a non-profit, they are not allowed to book tours. JG needs PB for customer stream. GET is added on as a benefit to the participants to help use English as a tool for global communication.

PB's core idea is that if people can become personally invested in other countries, we will be more like to stop our governments from bombing those countries, and more likely to read stories in the newspaper when those countries are featured.

What better way than to go meet the people who live there?

pre iku second second day

4:17pm JST Sunday 15 May 2005

The second day was less intense than yesterday. Although it's not "finished," we have finished all of the brain-engaging stuff. All that's left now is chill out for 2 hours and then have a party!! Party participants will include anyone who is going to be on the voyage and any of their friends. It's a fund-raising event as well.

I've appreciated the balance between lecture type stuff and interactive game type stuff.. We even made a lecture interactive by having everyone in the group read a little bit. Nicole (I think) got to read a single section name and single sentence. Something like, "Salary: this is an unpaid position."

I'm really looking forward to a new part of GET (Global English Teaching): computers in the classrooms. No internet access, but they will be networked and we will be able to create ad edit teaching materials for our lessons as needed. I enjoy creating new structures so that will be fun.

Kim, Angie and I with Hiromi (a CC) are excited about doing a two part star gazing thing: part one is a lecture on star formation and our solar system plus galaxies and our Milky Way (I know this stuff and will download some materials), and then the other is actual gazing (Kim knows Greek star mythology; she and Angie both have star charts).

I'm hoping to hook up some Silent Football workshops and some Crazy ROB Dance workshops (I've been working on my intro: "Dance is Life, and i just dance things I do in life. Like the shopping cart dance, or the put on clothes dance, or the stand there dance..") and Hiromi suggested this would be really good because lots of Japanese people say they don't know how to dance. I also don't know how, but I still dance.

The energy is really high and people are really excited and outgoing and happy and genki. Awesome awesome awesome.