Discussion Leading Assignment

Sarah Jackson

Professor Nina Perez

WST 3015

April 19, 2010

Gaia Girls: Way of Water

Lee Welles

First Half (pg 1 - 190)

Lee Welles' second installment of the "Gaia Girls" book series is "Way of Water." This book follows Miho, a ten year old girl who is half Japanese, half American. Miho has been raised by her two marine life researching parents. For most of her life, she has been home schooled and traveled with her parents wherever their research took them. Miho loves the ocean and the work her parents do with whale recordings. Miho's life is changed dramatically when her parents are lost at sea and presumed dead. Miho, after being distracted by an otter on land, is not with her parents when they're lost. She feels guilt and sadness at this fact and mentions it a few times in the text that she wishes she could be with her parents, even if that means being at the bottom on the ocean with them wherever they are.

Miho is sent to live with her uncle in Nagoya, Japan. Her uncle, Ojisan, is a single, Japanese businessman. He is quite, distant, and straight forward to his niece that he has never met before this instance. Miho is automatically labeled as an outsider to the people of Japan. Since she is half-American, she is uncommonly tall. She also does not fully understand or speak Japanese. Ojisan is harsh with Miho when she first arrives. There is no sign of a loving relationship between the two of them from his side of the relationship. He often leaves Miho on her own and expects her to fend for herself in this new and foreign place. Miho has problems fulling understanding Japanese and is not used to living in a city. The city is the opposite of her life before. She is used to the open ocean and nature all around her. When she is sent to the large city of Nagoya, she misses the ocean and wonders if she'll ever be on a boat again.

Ojisan never really explains things to Miho. He is demanding and unemotional with Miho. He very simply tells her what he expects of her and what she is meant to do. He tells her suddenly that they will be going to the city of Goza the next day for the festival of O-bon. We come to find out that O-bon is the festival for the dead. Ojisan has a family home in Goza where he takes Miho to pay tribute to his parents who have passed away. Miho also takes this time to honor her dead parents. They place things their loved ones loved during their lives out in a room. They also set a table with four place settings to symbolize the four people they are missing to invite them back to their home. Later, they send out little boats with a cnadle in them into the ocean to send their loved ones back. Goza is a city by the sea. Miho is excited to be back in nature and by the water. It is here that she sees the same otter from her past.

She is introduced to Gaia in the form an otter. Gaia is explained to be "the whole of the earth." She is the earth, air, and sea. Gaia begins to teach Miho how to "listen." Miho listens and observes nature and the life in the ocean closer than she ever has before. Miho discovers that she is able to control water while she is washing dishes in her uncle's Nagoya apartment. Miho also discovers she has a connection with the sea through her lessons with Gaia. She is able to communicate with dolphins and travel with them through the ocean.

At the end of the first half of the book, Miho is working with an old man in the Goza city to learn about Japanese language and heritage. She calls him her Sensei, "teacher." She has also just discovered that she can talk to dolphins and understand their sonar waves. She is continuing to work with her Sensei and hopes to build a better relationship with uncle. Her uncle has become frustrated with her constant questions and her constant time spent missing because she is at the beach. He has given her and her Sensei an ultimatum. He has gone back to the city and when he returns in a week he will either take Miho with him to the city forever or leave her in Goza without him.

The first half of "Way of Water" brings up many interesting ecofeminist concepts. The idea of the home is greatly explored since Miho loses her parents and her only sense of family and home. She is then sent to a completely unique and strange country to her. She has a limited way of communicating with the people around her and her close concept of family has been replaced with an angry uncle who seems inconvenienced by her. Another concept concerns Miho's close connection to nature. Ojisan's city apartment is described as unitoned and smelling of smoke. It is unwelcoming and uncomfortable for the young girl. The house in Goza is close to the sea. It is the same home Miho's mother grew up in and is therefore has close family ties. Miho has more human connections in Goza than in the city as well. She is happy to be in the fresh air and with the ocean that reminds her of her lost parents.