L'shana tova

Ok so i'm not sure how good I am at this whole blog thing. This is of course do in large part to the fact that I don't really have the internet. Only sometimes, and then only sort of. But that will change within the next week or two, hurrah! All thanks to the kindness of the former ALT supervisor for this area. My actual supervisor is totally useless and has basically helped me with nothing. But this woman who has absolutely no responsibility towards me actually goes out of her way to make sure I'm doing ok and that everything is properly setup in my new Japanese life. Its as if in this country some people are nicer than others, and that overworked bureaucratic government workers are not entirely helpful. Who would've thought. Truly an odd and unique land.
So Rosh Hashana has passed in Japan. Again, to my incredible surprise, not a huge deal here. In fact I'm the only person I talked to around the time that had even heard of Rosh Hashana. One of my English teachers told me that there isn't religion in Japan, just festivals and customs. That's not totally accurate I think, but probably more or less sums up the difference between the West and Japan's standard take on religion. Of course we're probably more or less on the same path. The Danish seemed to have more or less deconstructed religion to only its most basic and vague customs, generally centered on partying. The rest of Scandinavia and Europe is either the same or not far behind. Australia and New Zealand I would imagine aren't so different, though who knows what the outback and Tolkien landscape does to the human mind. But regardless, L'shana tova, and a good year to all.
I feel a little isolated from most events happening outside the world of Aaron, but I still make sure to scour nytimes.com most days. An article today reported that a National Intelligence study confirmed that America's War on Terror was likely fueling terrorism significantly more than it was stopping it. I feel like the actual crux of the article was: "What was most remarkable about the intelligence estimate, several experts said, was the unremarkable nature of its conclusions." Of course the report is nothing new. Anyone who looks at the news with an even vaguely open mind must notice a spiraling pattern. The actual question would be how to stop it. But the standard response on both sides (not that their are just two sides) seems to be the ol hardline fight fire with more fire. Even little Japan, more or less isolated from this "war" except for a few token non-combat troops, seems to be following the same route. Abe is now the prime minister, and he is predicted to probably take an even more hardline stance against the pacifist constitution, visits to war memorials, and North Korea. I'm not really confident that that is the best move for a Japan that is having an even harder time with its growing neighbors than it usually does.
Not that, as far as I can tell (which is not very well) many people seem to be paying that much attention to it here. I haven't overheard anyone talking about it at work (I'd probably be able to pick out if they were talking about it, but specifics would be far beyond my linguistic grasp), and my fellow english teachers didnt have anything to say when I asked about it. Not that these observations are necessarily indicative of anything, but I have heard that politics is discussed less here than in some countries. But I don't know.
My little back porch connected to my tatami mat room with a view of nice little houses with cute gardens is quite relaxing, as is the large amount of free time I have for the most part. But sometimes it makes me wonder about the not so relaxed state of so much of the world...