Friday, June 5, 2009

Number 27

Japan Chronicle 27

I am now writing this final chronicle in the series almost a year and one half after we returned. Somehow, I never quite got around to getting it done. Every time I considered it, I felt homesick for Japan and just couldn’t do it. Now, as I sit here faced with the probability of returning in January 2003, it is much easier to think about. The only problem is that my memory is less than perfect, so I will do my best and consult the rest of our travelers for their recollections as well.
Picking up Dad and Mom at the airport went really smoothly. They weren’t as tired as I feared they might be. We had a simple dinner at home.

One of the things Dad had surprised me with was a request to meet some of our Japanese friends. I had not even considered that, but it turned out to be a fun event. Our apartment, while Japanese style, was not really set up to entertain, but I figured we could make do.

I invited our Japanese club over for lunch. I made tacos and they each brought Japanese dishes to go with them. Don’t ask what Japanese food goes with Mexican food, but it was fun. Tatsu was even able to join us for a couple of days. Dad had brought some of the new American quarters from the different states and gave them as gifts and some of our friends brought gifts for them.

Later that afternoon, we went and picked Dana up from his last day at work. When we arrived at Dana’s work, we were all treated to a tour of the facility complete with group photos and profound bows and good byes. It was really neat! Some of the men that Dana worked with had taken him out to lunch earlier that week, to say goodbye. While we were all anxious to go home, I think we were also sad to be leaving.

After the tour, we took Dana’s folks to Kai Ka Te for dinner. We had a nice dinner, but Mom didn’t think too much of the sashimi! We found other good things for her to enjoy. This was also our chance to say goodbye to Machiko-san.

Saturday was our trip to Tokyo. While there were several places we wanted to take Dana’s folks, the main place was the Imperial Palace. You see, Dana’s dad had been in Tokyo at the end of the Korean War and had taken a picture at the Imperial Palace. Unknowingly, Dana had taken a picture from the same spot in 1998 on his first trip to Japan. It seemed appropriate that we take a picture of the two of them in the same location in 2000!

We did do some shopping at the Oriental Bazaar and wandered around Shinjuku. It was nice to have Tatsu along as a translator. We found a great restaurant rather like a Benihannas for lunch. The steak was good and they made a neat fried ice cream dessert right on the grill in front of us!

The end of our day in Tokyo led us to say goodbye to Tatsu and then we drove back to Mito.

Sunday morning we went to Mass at the church in Mito and said our goodbyes there. Dad and Mom wandered around the Art Tower at the center of Mito and we had lunch afterwards. Our original plans were to travel to Nikko on this day, but there was just too much to do to pack up all our stuff and get out of the apartment.

Monday was spent packing, cleaning and everything connected with vacating our apartment. Dad took the kids to the park for a while and went for a walk around the neighborhood with Mom. We spent that night at the Holiday Inn in town.

Tuesday was Mom’s birthday and we celebrated the day by driving to the place she most wanted to see in Japan, Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately the weather was a lot less than accommodating and we couldn’t see much of the mountain. We did have a very nice Japanese dinner in the restaurant at the hotel that night.

Mt. Fuji was one of the other places Dana’s dad had been while he was in Japan in the 1950’s and we were even able to stay in the same hotel as he had then. From my perspective, this was probably his greatest disappointment about Japan. When he was there before, Tokyo was a busy city and although it had grown, it was still a busy city. Mt. Fuji and the area around it was very rural and more of a village. A quiet part of Japan, if you will. Well, Fuji is a tourist area in Japan and now has many resorts and homes. I think he had hoped it would not have changed as much as it did.

We did drive up the mountain as far as you could, where most people would begin their ascent---if it weren’t snowing! We took a few pictures and went into the stores then began down the road toward Nagoya.

On the way to Nagoya, we stopped at one of the roadside rests for lunch and a break. I’m not sure I have ever described these rest stops and since this was by far the nicest we had been to, it seems appropriate to do so. When you are traveling along a highway, the exits are few and far between. These highways also have tolls that must be paid based on how far you drive on them. Well, rather than make you get off the highway for a break, they have rest stops along them. The rest stops always have toilets, a place to get food like a convenience store and a gas station. Some of them have nice restaurants. This particular one that we stopped at had several restaurants and some shops, not to mention it was right along the ocean and had an exquisite view! It was a pleasant surprise.

The other things worthy of noting were the rows and rows of tea plants that we saw along the highway. At first we weren’t too sure of what they were, but after some careful deliberation and finding a postcard with them pictured on them, we learned what they were. They grow in rows rather like grape vines grow in California, but they are wider and are terraced up the sides of the mountains. It was quite beautiful to see.

Nagoya was the site of a beautiful castle and our first night in a Japanese style inn.

In the morning, we went to Denny’s for breakfast, the girls played in the park with Mom and Dad and then we headed for the Noritake factory. Most of you are probably familiar with Noritake porcelain. They have a large factory in Nagoya that also has a tour and museum. We all enjoyed seeing the entire process for making fine china. It was amazing to learn that some of their museum quality pieces take one person about 6 months to complete the painting.

From there, we went on to Nagoya Castle. Nagoya Castle: Built on the site of an older castle in 1610-14. It was destroyed in WWII and replaced in 1959 with a ferroconcrete replica. Look out for the three-meter-long replicas of the famous shachi-hoko, dolphin like sea creatures that stand at either end of the roof (and inside every souvenir shop in town). The interior houses a museum with armor and family treasures, which escaped the bombing.

After our time at the castle, we headed out for Kyoto. Kyoto wasn’t a very long drive, so it made for an easy day. That night, Thursday, we didn’t do much other than check-in to our inn and wander around the train station.

Friday we headed out of town to Arashiyama, where we took a train to Kameoka. In Kameoka we boarded a boat of sorts and took a ride down a section of the Hozu River. The boat was a cross between a gondola, a raft and a paddleboat. It was guided by a helmsman and when not powered by the current of the river, it was moved a long by a man using a stick and momentum to push us along. It was a great ride! As we neared the end of our trip, another boat the size of our except with a motor pulled up next to us to sell us food and drinks and then to help us pull into the dock.

We spent most of the rest of the afternoon in Arashiyama walking around the stores and enjoying the cherry blossoms. This was a great time to be there because all of the blossoms were at their peak. There were beautiful women walking around in their kimonos and the river made for an ideal setting.

In the morning, on our drive to Arashiyama, we had encountered some streets that were particularly narrow and busy---even for Japan! We decided to try to get some photos and videos of these streets so we could show them to people who didn’t quite understand what we were talking about. While we never ended up back on the same streets, we did get a few photos.

Our final stop as a tourist that day was something I had wanted to see--- a raked rock garden. It was beautiful and peaceful! It gives me some ideas for our own home. That night, Mom and Dad kept the girls for dinner and Dana and I went out for a quiet evening alone. We wandered the huge fancy train station and had a simple dinner.

Saturday, we went to the big temple nearby our inn, to the zoo and then to what was called an Arts and Crafts bazaar near another temple. At the bazaar, we were able to buy simple kimonos, called yakutas, for the girls and I to take home. We also bought a few other little goodies. We saw people doing wood block printing and several other Japanese style crafts.

Sunday, we went to Mass in Kyoto and then drove down to Kobe. Dad wanted to see how Kobe had been rebuilt after the earthquake a few years before. From the vantage point of someone who had never seen Kobe before, it was hard to tell where the damage had been and where things had been rebuilt.

From there we drove to Osaka for our last night in Japan. Our room was beautiful and had a view of the castle and surrounding grounds from the window. We wandered around from the hotel, relaxed a bit and pondered what the last seven months had meant to us and wondered if we would ever return!

Unfortunately, because I am writing this some 16 months later, I have probably missed some details; but hopefully, I have most of it accurate.

Number 26

Japan Chronicle 26 (ni-ju-roku)


Well, we are really in the end game now! This week we have 17 boxes headed for home. The appointments have been made to turn off utilities and vacate our apartment. Dana’s parents arrive 1 week from Thursday. Wow!

I need to back up a little and tell you about something I omitted from my last chronicle. (Senility!) The weekend before we went to Guam, we went to Kasama again. Kasama is the place where we were literally overwhelmed by photographers. This time we went with my Japanese teacher/English student and her family.

The main reason we went to Kasama the first time is because we had heard you could make pottery there. An instructor will take you through it and then your piece is left to be fired and you get it back in about a month. Well, we never managed to find one of these places. I had mentioned this to Gota-san and she said she knew where some were and we decided to make a day of it for both of our families. Gota-san even managed to find an instructor that spoke English! That made all of our lives easier.

We spent the morning at a pottery place, studio sounds a little funny given the surroundings. This place was more like a barn with open areas to work in downstairs and a bonfire going to help warm you. Our lesson was up in an attic like area of the barn. There was also a museum. This particular place has been a family run pottery business for 5 generations. It is all in rather a garden like area up a road that we thought sure was a bike path. They also have on display, the world largest vase. The current generations father made it; the son is of course now working on a larger one. I can’t remember the exact height, but it was well over 30 feet tall! Simply incredible for a small town!

After our pottery work, we went to a noodle house. Lunch was great and then we headed off for some shopping. It was a great day and we are anxious to see our work. I think it will be ready this week.

Guam was great too! We spent our first evening with the Lennon’s dining at Sizzler. We were all missing salad bars! Most of our time was spent enjoying the water park, but we did take some time to explore the island a little. We visited the a war museum and a place called Two Lovers Point for the two that tied their hair together and plunged to their death because they could not marry. I think we were all glad just to have warm weather.

We also decided to go on another dolphin watch. The boat ride was wonderful. Christina got to sit with the captain. He is famous for having studied and written a book on dolphins, so she was able to talk with him and ask questions. Dana and I even snorkeled off the back of the boat for a short time. The water is so clear and beautiful there. I could just float around and watch the fish for hours.
The only thing missing from our dolphin watch was the dolphins! I felt so bad for Christina, but she was great despite her disappointment. There had been a sighting of some Pilot Whales in the area and the Spinner dolphins hide when they are around. The captain felt so bad too! He gave us all a set of postcards with photos he had taken and gave Christina his business card and told her to keep in contact.

Since our return from Guam, it seems like most of our effort is focused on leaving. We are of course anxious to get home, but I don’t want to give the idea that we have not thoroughly enjoyed our time here. We have met some great friends and experienced something few people ever get too! Alas, it will be good to be home.

Well, I am going to close for now. Dana is having one of his late nights at work and I need to get some more work done. The late night is much more unusual now, but every once in awhile….

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 25

Japan 25

Somehow, I think I have been at this point before. We are leaving for Guam on Thursday and Dana is bugging me to write another chronicle. Oh well, I know it has been a couple of weeks since I wrote, and it often seems like there is nothing to write about, but these last couple of weeks have been very busy. Let me see if I can sort it all out.

First, we have a homecoming date. We will be leaving Japan on April 10th and arrive in Los Angeles, before we leave Japan. (Time zones) We will spend a busy week in the Los Angles area, not the least of which will include Catherine making her First Communion and then return to Denver on the 17th. We are all anxious to get home. It is not that we have not enjoyed our time here; I think we just need to settle down for a while.

As I mentioned above, we leave for Guam on Thursday. We will be there for 5 days. We are all looking forward to warm weather. Our friends the Lennon’s are already there, and we will get to spend a few days having fun with them before they come home too!

A couple of weeks ago, we drove to Atsugi base again, so Dana could get a personal tour of Vic’s squadron. The drive turned out to be much longer than we thought it would because the traffic in Tokyo was horrible, but we had a great time. Dana really enjoyed getting to see the squadron operations up close.

In addition to making plans for our going home, I have also been working plans our last 10 days here. Dana’s parents arrive on the 30th, his last day of work is the 31st and then we are going to tour Japan with them. I am really looking forward to it. We have plans to go to Nikko, Mt. Fuji, Nagoya and then to spend a few days in Kyoto before flying out of Osaka. It turns out, we will all be on the same flight going home. I think that will be great for us, but I’m not too sure how they will feel after having spent all that time with us to them be cooped up on an airplane with the girls for 12 hours, but I guess we will find out! Oh well, they had 4 children of their own.

Our schoolwork is coming along great. My bad back has turned out to be a mixed blessing of sorts because I simply cannot do too much. When I am tired, we sit down and do schoolwork. We have been doing lots of schoolwork. Christina has started to break the 5-minute barrier for 100 problems on some of her math facts. Daily drill seems to be working well for her. Catherine has even decided that she wants to do it too. We’ve set her goal a little lower, but she is doing well. It does amaze me how she can do 25 addition problems in 5 minutes for drill and then take an hour to do 5 of the same problems on her regular math, but I’m just the teacher. :+D We finished reading all the books of the Little Britches series by Ralph Moody that I have here. I think we all enjoyed the series, particularly since it begins on our home turf in Colorado. Now we are moving on to reading a biography of Mother Teresa.

Now, regarding Catherine’s First Communion. This is not exactly my idea of an appropriate invitation, I will try to get those out, but from here, I make no promises. We would like to invite any of you who can attend to Catherine’s First Communion on Saturday April 15th at 8:00am at Our Lady of Grace Church. A brunch/reception will follow at the home of Henry, Tere, Anthony and Marcus Castaneda. Please RSVP to me via email and I can give you directions, so we can get a count of how many are coming. One special request, please try to be there on time. This is happening at the regular daily mass and I don’t want to create a distraction for those that usually attend this mass. Thank you for understanding. I think this will be a great opportunity to celebrate and we are all looking forward to it.

I’m sure there is more I should mention, but I can’t think of what right now. It seems my efforts are going to packing boxes, filling out paperwork and cleaning; in other words, life as usual. I am taking my computer with us when we go to Guam, so if you need to reach us, email is still probably the best way. Looking forward to seeing many of you soon.

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 24

Japan Chronicles 24 (ni-ju-yung)


Where to start? Well, I guess first of all is to let you know that we have set a departure date. We will be leaving Japan on April 10th. We will spend one week in the Los Angeles area and then return to Denver on April 17th. We are all very excited.

A week or so ago, someone asked me if I was tired of being in Japan. I had to think for a while, and I am not even sure what I answered. As I considered the question later, I realized that no, I am not tired of being in Japan, but I am tired of having our lives unsettled.

Japan is a wonderful place and we have enjoyed our time here and we will enjoy the remainder of our time here. People have been so generous and kind to us. But, I have learned something, that coming from America where our culture is such a melting pot, I had not realized. No matter how well I learn to speak Japanese or understand the culture or even how long we lived here, we will always be ‘foreigners’. I don’t mean that in any negative way at all. I just simply mean that looking like we do, we will always draw attention.

Before we return home, we will be ‘forced’ to spend another few days in Guam. It’s a tough life, but someone has to do it! The great part is that our friends down in Ayase will be there at the same time, so it will be a two family vacation.

Then, for the last 10 days or so of our stay here, Dana will be on vacation. His parents are coming to Japan and we are going to spend the time touring Japan. I have been having fun making plans and arrangements for that time. We plan on seeing Nikko, Mount Fuji, and the Kyoto/Nara area. I am really looking forward to that, too!

This week has been one of rehabilitation. I mentioned in my last chronicle, that I was having some back problems, well, it turns out that I have a herniated disc. My Japanese teacher took me the ‘hospital’, which is really more of an orthopedic clinic, and acted as a translator. I appreciated her help so much. The doctor took x-rays and said basically that with 3 months of rehabilitation, I should be back to normal. This was a little longer in the recovery time than I had hoped for, but ah well!

Basically, I go to rehab, twice a week where they use lasers, magnets, heat, electricity and air to make my body heal. Not sure how it all works, and don’t know if it matters! After over 2 weeks of dealing with it, my back has slowly showed signs of improving. That is all I want. I do think this has eliminated any possibilities of going SCUBA diving in Guam, but oh well. I am going to do as much rehab here as possible, so hopefully by the time I return home, I will be doing pretty well.

Because of my back, we haven’t done much. On Sunday, we went to church and went to Oarai aquarium with some friends from church. I can’t remember if I mentioned them before, but they are from Slovakia. They have been living here for a few years now. They have a daughter who is Catherine’s age and looks an awful lot like Catherine, except her name is Kristina!

The aquarium is pretty small and has only a few short shows, but it was a perfect opportunity to get out for a short time and have a little fun. The girls and I had been to this aquarium before. It’s the one where they got to pet a dolphin. We showed Dana around and the girls also had fun being with Kristina. They didn’t get to pet the dolphin again, but everyone enjoyed the shows.

I’ve been giving the idea of organization in Japan, so thought and so now, I’ll try to share a few of those thoughts. Since space is at a premium here, it must be used efficiently. There are all sorts of contraptions to organize anything. I think I’ll just try to share a few ideas.

Shoes have always been an issue in our home! As you probably already know we don’t wear shoes in the house in Japan. What this means is that near the front door, there must be a place to store shoes for the entire household. Most of the time this just takes the form of a cabinet with shelves that are spaced so there is enough height to put a pair of shoes. The cabinet generally has doors on it, so the area looks neat.

For us, this shoe idea has had its pluses and minuses. On the plus side, we don’t spend as much time searching for shoes under children’s beds. On the minus side, they usually don’t make it into the cupboard and instead remain on the floor of the entryway. I think this idea has some potential, but one thing I think is a must for this is a decent size entryway and a bench where your family can sit down and put your shoes on.

Moving on, don’t just throw something in a drawer when you can separate it and make it look neat. The object of course isn’t just to make your drawers look neat, but to enable you to find what you want quicker. Everything has its place and if it doesn’t get rid of something else or don’t get it!

A cute idea that I have seen for storing belts is to us a piece of corrugated cardboard that is about as tall as the belt is wide and maybe 10 inches long. Join the ends to make a circle and roll your belt and put it in the ring. Belts stay neat in their places.
H
ow about an office with walls paneled in pegboard? Paint it a color you like and you can hook anything you want onto the wall and move it whenever you like.
Children have a bunk bed? Build a box on rollers to go under the bed. You can store toys or clothes or whatever. When you want to find something you can just slide the drawer out.

A little rail above a shelf will help keep things from falling off a shelf. At least in a low magnitude earthquake!

Don’t forget that wasted space under a sink, above the toilet, under a shelf or even in between the support beams for your wall! It is all fair game if you can figure out how to utilize it.

Well, I am going to stop there. Those of you that know me well also know that I am the ultimate in organizer and that you would never know this by my home!

We have our first snowfall in Japan, so I am going to enjoy! It will probably be melted in a couple of hours! Here’s to a snowball fight!

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 23

Japan Chronicles 23 (ni-ju-san)


It has been rather a boring week in terms of travel. The furthest we went was our Japanese class on Wednesday and we walked home from there. Dana needs to take the car to work or if I want it I need to take him and pick him up. It is about 45 minutes one way to his office so I don’t plan on doing that very often. I am sorry it has taken me so long to get this done. I have injured my back somehow and it is very painful to sit up for very long.

I signed up for a grocery delivery service. The prices are as good as the store and I don’t have to make that trip with three children. We will get our first delivery on Monday. This is my idea of shopping—from home!

We have been working hard on our schoolwork around here and I am trying to bring a little more order to our lives and therefore create a peaceful atmosphere. Okay, I’m delusional, but I’m trying. I signed up for this email list for Sidetracked Home Executives (SHE’s) and this mentor emails me my chores and encouragement throughout the day. I really like it and I think the apartment is looking better every day.

I was talking with someone the other day, and they were asking about how the Japanese organize their homes. After giving it some thought, I think this might be a fun topic that that I know I could use the clarity. I have some magazines that I bought here a couple of months ago on the very subject, so I thought I’d go through them and see what ideas I could come up with, along with the other neat things I have picked up a long the way. I also realize that not all Japanese homes look like the ones in magazines, but there are some legitimate space issues here and I have seen some creative ways of addressing them. By the way, wouldn’t it be nice if all American homes looked like the ones in the magazine of our choosing?

Someone had mentioned this idea of fung shei or however it’s spelt, but I thought that was more of a Chinese thing rather than a Japanese thing. If I am wrong, I am sure someone or several someone’s’ will email me the proof of my error, but I haven’t heard it mentioned here. So on to space saving and organizing. If your not interested, just hit the delete key. I won’t be offended and I probably won’t know! Let me mention a disclaimer, I don’t think I can be violating any copyright laws because I can’t read what is written, but I am ever so thankful for good pictures!

I think I will start off with a few features of a Japanese home that I have found very convenient. (They won’t be the kitchens!) If I can, I am going to include a few pictures otherwise; I will try to get them on the web site that I have been promising.

The entryway of the home is a different material than the rest of the floors. It is the one area in the house where outside shoes touch the floor. From what I understand, it is actually considered outside. This is where you remove your shoes on entering the house. Usually, there are slippers for guests to put on while they are in your home. One size fits none! :+) There is a cupboard to put the family’s shoes in right in this area. I have actually found this very helpful because we don’t have to go hunting for shoes if they don’t make it out of the entryway. Ideally, this area should be large enough to fit the entire family getting on the shoes at the same time to avoid the traffic jam. Ours is about 2’x2’. I like the idea of no shoes in the house ‘cause it saves dirt inside.

The way ceiling lighting fixtures are installed is rather convenient. You plug them in much like an electrical outlet and twist. All done! Most of them have three settings; the lowest is a nightlight and the others offer more light.
I have already mentioned the “bath” room in one of my first chronicles, but since the list of people receiving these, grows almost daily now, I think it is worth mentioning again. The “bath”room in Japan should not be confused with the room where the toilet is located. Our version of this is a little small, but I can see how enlarged to fit a western person it could be very nice. The bathroom is just that, a room with a bath. The bath is deep, so you can soak up to your shoulders. I’m going to take advantage of that with my back. However, the bath is not for bathing. There is a shower outside the tub and usually a little seat to sit on while you wash yourself. It is there, that you use soap, shave and get yourself clean. Once you are clean, you can soak in the tub. When you are finished soaking in the tub, you put the cover back on it for the next person. Practically speaking, we haven’t adopted whole idea, but the best part of this all is that there is a drain in the floor, outside the tub. When the kids are in the tub splashing around or spraying each other with the sprayer, the water is not going to damage the room, but simply flow out through the drain. This mother’s dream!

Outside of this bathroom is usually a sink, with hot water and the laundry area. I think it is particularly convenient to be able to undress right where the clothes are washed. It makes it more difficult for the children to miss the laundry basket if the room is really small too! Most people don’t have clothes dryers, but hang their laundry out to dry. After managing to rent a dryer here, I can understand why, the dryers are small and take about 2 hours to dry half a load of clothes.

The toilet is in a separate room and after you flush the toilet, water runs through a faucet on the lid into the tank so you can wash your hands. This saves water, but the drawback is that it is only cold water. One feature of this room that I think is cool is the toilet paper holder. No more trying to squeeze that little spindle into the whole and have it pop out. To insert a new roll of toilet paper, you simply slide it up from the bottom and the pieces that hold it in place flip into the center of the roll. I’m bringing a couple of these home to install in our house! No one has an excuse for not replacing the roll. They also have these little cute covers that go over them and hold an extra roll of toilet paper.
It is a strange balance between simplicity and hi-tech that is achieved in Japanese homes. On one hand, you have a tearoom with tatami mats, a table and a simple flower arrangement. On the other hand, is the HD TV with all the stereo equipment and the cute little things that they have accumulated. I don’t even pretend to understand how that balance is achieved.

Space is important here. Most homes are small by western standards, so space must be utilized efficiently. There are special plates for this and pans only used for certain dishes. Although, a western style bed is becoming more common, futons are still used and in most homes are stored in the closet during the day, so the room can be used for other purposes.

At this point, I have decided to save the storage ideas for next time. I want to have some more time to think about them and how best to share them. I will try not to make it so long before I get it done.

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 22

Japan 22


Well, Sunday was a very long day, but we had a nice time. We left our apartment at 4:30 am, drove to our friends in Ayase. This time it only took two hours instead of six when I went to get the turkey. Amazing what a little thing like a map will do! Anyway, we left the girls with Ginny, Vic, Axton and Vanessa while Dana and I ventured by train into Tokyo for the Sumo tournament!

Back in December when the tickets for this sumo tournament when on sale, we had one of the Japanese guys get us tickets. The tickets we got are very hard to get because the seats are held by tea houses and they usually only sell these tickets to members who have a history with their tea house. I’m still not sure how he did it, but we had box seats.

The box seats have a low rail around them and 4 cushions in them so your group can sit Japanese style. These tickets have to be purchased in blocks of four, so the person who made all the phone calls for them was going to go with us; however, a few weeks ago, he found out he would be going on his first business trip to America and not be here during that time. After he gave the tickets to another coworker, of course, his trip was postponed! The result was that we went with Tagowa-san and he was supposed to bring his girlfriend.

Here’s what actually happened; Tagowa-san ended up bringing his English instructor from Ibaraki University. Duane is an American who has been living in Japan for 12 years and has married a Japanese woman. Duane likes to drink beer. During the course of the afternoon, Duane drank at least 12 cans of beer and after he made friends with the people sitting behind us, he had a couple of glasses of sake. All I can say here is that I am glad that Duane is a happy drunk not a belligerent one.
As for the match, that was pretty cool. First of all, there are rikishi running around the hall. Okay, maybe running isn’t the best word; I probably should say wandering around. By the way, rikishi is the name for the guys who wrestle. You get to see the matches at the lower levels before the guys are actually paid. Skinny guys, for the most part and their hair isn’t long enough for a the fancy hairdo, nor have they earned it. We bought a couple of books on sumo before we went, so we had an easier time understanding what was going on. We knew who the better wrestlers were and could cheer for whomever we wanted.

The emperor and his wife even came to that days match. Dana made the comment that was the second time this month that we had seen them. I told him that if there were a third time, the emperor would have to introduce himself! It was neat to see the respect that was shown to them. Usually, at the end of the last match, people have their hands on their bags and leave as the wrestler hits the floor and don’t bother to stay for the closing ceremony, but because it would be rude to leave before the emperor, everyone stayed in their places and watched the closing. After the emperor left, the cattle drive started.

Seeing a sumo match in Japan is like seeing a baseball game in America. I guess you have to do it. I haven’t done the baseball game, but I enjoyed the sumo match. There is such a sense of tradition and respect within the sport that despite the fact that these huge guys are wrestling in virtually nothing, you know that this is a serious thing for them. They are not playing games when they step in the ring. One thing that particularly struck me is that once the match is over, the conflict is finished. They don’t parade around or lord their win over the opponent. If one has fallen, it is not unusual for the other to help them up. I even noticed that when they are pushing the other guy out of the ring, they stop as soon as they are sure they have gone far enough to win, they will back off, so as not to risk injuring the other rikishi by pushing him to the ground. Suppose American wrestlers could learn a lesson?

After the match, Dana and I got back on the train for Ayase, grabbed a bite to eat on the way and picked up the girls and drove home. We arrived home about midnight, very tired. The girls had a great time with the Lennon’s and are anxious to see them again. I hope that will happen soon too!

This week the classes we have been taking resumed. Monday, I took Christina to Etegame while the other girls and I went to the bank. Wednesday, it was back to Japanese class and Thursday was Ikebana. In between all of that, we were doing schoolwork. It was a busy week, but fun.

Thursday afternoon, my Ikebana teacher, Seki-san, brought her 10-year-old daughter over to play with Christina. They went to the park for a while and then we all sat at the table and folded origami. We learned a couple of new shapes and had a nice visit. Seki-san, speaks English pretty well, so that did make it a little easier.

Beginning next Tuesday, I am going to be teaching my Japanese teacher, Goto-san, English. Her English is also pretty good, but she would like to practice. Like many Japanese, she can read it much easier than she can speak it. I think it will be a good experience for us both.

I don’t think I have mentioned one other person before, but I wouldn’t want to leave her out of my memories of Japan. Her name is Goda-san. Our nickname for her is ‘the grandma’. Every time we see her, she has some little present for the girls. At first I was very uncomfortable with it, but I am learning that it is often just the Japanese way. During my Japanese lessons, she plays with Charlene and Catherine. Sometimes they fold origami or play Jenga (of course, it is a Hello Kitty set). I think she enjoys being with little ones. She is very quiet and very sweet. She always has a smile and a cute little laugh when she gets embarrassed.

The other person the girls have grown quite fond of is the gate guard at Dana’s office. We don’t even know his name, but the girls would salute him as we entered or left. They learned the saluting from the gate guard at the other site. Anyway, at first, he didn’t pay much attention, but then, he started saluting them back. Now, when I drive up and he recognizes us, he gets a big smile on his face and waves to us all. Every once in a while, he has tangerines for the girls and we have brought him some of our stash of American candy. The next time I get up there, I want to remember to get a picture of the girls with him.

Well, the installation for Dana’s work finished today. Starting Monday, he is on a normal schedule. I am really looking forward to that. Dana said things went well. They all went out for a celebratory dinner after work.

There have been a couple of changes back in Denver at Dana’s work, but we aren’t sure how it will affect Dana. For now, Dana is committed to training her through the end of March, but it is possible that we will actually be here until the end of April, with a different aspect of the job. We will deal with the rest later.

Well, I guess that is about all for now. My clock just changed to midnight and we all know what happens to princesses at midnight…

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 21

Japan 21 (ni-ju-ichi)


Well, our schedule had to be revised a bit, but I think we are off to a good start on our schoolwork. I am really please with Seton as a homeschool curriculum. Some things we are able to go through a little quicker, but when we need to we take our time.

I wanted to ask you to remember the family of Max Wilkerson who passed away recently, in your prayers. Mr. Wilkerson is the father of Bishop Jerry Wilkerson. Bishop Wilkerson also lost his mother less than a year ago. Our prayers are with you Bishop Jerry.

I think I mentioned some time ago that we were going to have a Japanese student come over during her winter vacation so she could practice her English before she goes to America in August. This young lady is named Mizuho. She is 17 years old. Her English is good although because she has only practiced with Japanese people she will still have some adjusting to do when she gets to America.

The girls had lots of fun with Mizuho. Some days they would go to the park and other days we would all stay in and do our school work. She would bring her English work to do while she was here so I could help her if she needed it. We had some great talks about some of the questions that she had about life in America. I did have a laugh when she asked me what sort of dress she should wear to American school party. I pointed out that perhaps I wasn’t the best to consult in the teenage fashion department and that she should ask an American friend who she likes the way they dress to help her make such a selection. I did emphasize for her to make nice friends. Mizuho returns to school tomorrow, but we hope to see her again when she comes to see her parents.

Sunday, Tatsu came up to see us and Monday was a National Holiday. Monday we were supposed to go to Yokohama for a couple of days for Dana’s work. The girls and I decided to tag along and see our friends that live nearby. We had planned to take Tatsu back to Yokohama, he lives near there, but when our plans delayed, the girls and I took him to a park we really like instead.

The park we went to is really fun. It has a slide that is 875 meters long. You sit on a little sled-like thing with a pull brake and you can zip down the hill. It even tows you back to the top afterwards! Charlene rode with me and Catherine rode with Tatsu. Christina was old enough to do it on her own. I think it was a great way to just relax and have fun.

Well, the trip was delayed several times, but we finally left for Yokohama Wednesday night, in the rain. It was rather a long drive, but we made it there safely and had no difficulties finding our hotel. The hotel was very nice and was located in the tallest building in all of Japan called the Landmark Tower. It is 70 stories high and our room was on the 58th floor. It was funny to be totally socked in by the clouds and not be able to see a thing out the huge window in the room. I managed to take a few pictures, but they aren’t anything spectacular because the sky never really cleared.

Thursday was Christina’s 10th birthday. The girls and I met Ginny, Axton and Vanessa. We went to the amusement park nearby, an import mall and explored the Yokohama train station stores. That evening, we went to dinner at a restaurant that Christina picked. We purchased a banana cream pie with strawberries on top. They put a chocolate kanji sign that said Happy Birthday on it and gave us candles. We ate it later in our hotel room out of teacups. It was really good!

A side note, I don’t have an explanation as to why there are so many strawberries in the stores at this time of year, but they are the best I have ever had. Of course, they aren’t cheap either.

Friday, Dana anticipated finishing work around noon. It didn’t work that way, but the girls and I spent the day shopping in the rows and rows of stores. Dana got to us around 5pm; we grabbed some dinner and headed home. We made good time through Tokyo and were home by 7:30, I think.

Today, I am trying to catch up on housework and laundry, do some grocery shopping and get ready to start back to schoolwork on Monday. Sound exciting?

I think that is all for now. I haven’t had much time to work on the web site, so I’ll let you know when I get it together.

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 20

Japan 20 (ni-ju)


I’d like to dedicate this chronicle to my grandmother, Dorothy Estelle Johnson Bean, who passed away on New Years Day. She had suffered for many years, so I am thankful that she is not suffering anymore. Grandma taught me many things, not the least of which was sewing which I still enjoy to this day. Whenever I sit down at my sewing machine, I can’t help but think of the old-fashioned knee machine she used to have and what she would think of what I use today. Grandma, I love you and I thank God for the gift you were in my life.

We rang in the New Year in rather a quiet way. Japanese television coverage for the evening leaves a lot to be desired. I think the only reason we stayed up at all was because there were a few people in the states we said we would call and let them know if everything went smoothly. At midnight, we finished praying the rosary and then made our phone calls to tell of the “great non-event”. Shortly afterwards we were asleep.

Dana had to be at work for the GMT rollover which was at 9am our time. At work, they basically stared at the clock, tested the equipment and had a traditional Japanese New Year breakfast. He said the food was great and I think he was home by 1pm. The girls and I just kicked back at home and relaxed. It was nice.

Sunday, we went to Tokyo. The emperor’s gardens are open only two days a year; his birthday on the 23rd of December for a few hours and January 2nd. Dana and I figured we wouldn’t have a chance to go again so we should do it.

It was rather fun to see the nationalistic side of the Japanese. There were probably several thousand people there at any one time. It was quite a walk in and then your bag was searched and you were frisked. You could see the Japanese equivalent to the Secret Service lining the entire walkway. We got to walk through the grounds and then into a courtyard where the royal family came out on to the balcony and waived as everyone else waived their Japanese flags the they were given on the way in. The crowd got a little pushy but I didn’t have much trouble seeing over anyone. Charlene thought it was a great time to take a nap, but Christina and Catherine said they enjoyed it.

From there, we thought that we would go to the Oriental Bazaar and do some shopping. It turned out that the bazaar was closed because of the New Year Holiday, but the streets were crowded with people and food concessions. People were shopping and making the walk up to the Meiji Shrine. By the time we got near the shrine we were all tired and getting a little cold, so we decided to check it out another time when it wasn’t so crowded. Apparently, visiting a shrine is a traditional New Years thing in Japan, but I don’t know much more about it than that. If I learn more, I will include it later.

Today was our first day back on our school schedule. I’d have to say things went pretty well, although there were moments when things didn’t go as planned. Charlene decided before lunch that she wanted a nap and I had that scheduled for after lunch. Of course, after lunch, she no longer wanted to go to sleep. Oh well!

This chronicle is going to be rather short, but the way I have things scheduled now, I have short blocks of time for writing more frequently rather than the long blocks I had been taking before. I’m not sure if at some point I will save a few days work and then send it out, or whether I’ll just write more frequently. We’ll see what time brings.

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year. I am looking forward to hearing tales of how you rang in the New Year.

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 19

Japan 19

This morning I am writing with the soundtrack to Space 2001 playing in the background. Dana’s sister gave it to him as a Christmas present and he is enjoying it this morning.

Speaking of Christmas, we had a very nice one, although it was a little different from what we are used to. Christmas eve, we had clam chowder and a tray of Japanese appetizers that we picked up at the store for dinner and then we decorated a birthday cake for Jesus. The girls had lots of fun with the cake, after that, we opened presents and played. Christmas morning, we went to church and then to lunch at a nearby restaurant. We spent most of the rest of the day just relaxing at home.

Since Dana has been off work, we have spent some time just driving and exploring some of the nearby towns. Dana and the girls have also been playing with their racecars and working on craft projects. I have been trying to get ready for our new school year that begins Monday. It has been nice to just be together and enjoy the gifts that God has given us.

I neglected to mention in my last chronicle that I broke my foot yet again. I suspect when I get home it will require some serious care by a good podiatrist/surgeon, but I will cross that bridge when I get there. In the meantime, my doctor is sending me a special brace from the states and I am wearing my cast that I brought with me until it gets here. I also bought a cane to help me with balance

Monday, we met our friends from Yamaguchi at Tokyo Disneyland. It was so nice to see them again. We had fun going on rides, eating caramel popcorn and watching the parade. Because of my foot, I decided to rent a motorized wheelchair to get around. It actually worked out pretty well because Charlene liked to ride on my lap and I could keep up with our group walking. It was a cold day but pretty outside but I don’t think we noticed the temperature too much until we sat for two hours waiting for the parade.

Disneyland is having a Countdown to 2000 parade from the 26th-30th and then a special event on the 31st. I thought it was neat to be able to see a parade that would only be running for a few days. I guess Disneyland is pretty much like Disneyland any place you go. Snow White’s castle seemed to be bigger that the one in Anaheim, but most of the rides were similar. There were a few rides that Anaheim used to have and Tokyo still does, but for the most part it seemed very familiar.
One thing that we did observe is that the Japanese people go crazy for Mickey and Minnie Mouse! They scream like you’d think they had seen a real mouse and go crowding for a picture with them. I couldn’t believe it! It wasn’t a gentle crowd. The other time that we noticed that the Japanese seem to lose their politeness is when it is 10pm, the park is closing and they are shopping for their souvenirs and presents. Disneyland certainly has that market figured out. It was very unusual to not see someone carrying a large bag of “presento’s” around the park or to his or her car.

Tuesday, we met our friends briefly at the Ginza section of Tokyo to say goodbye. We all hope to see each other again, but are not sure if or when that will happen. Still, they will always be our special friends in Japan. After that, we went to a hobby store and then to a bookstore with a good foreign section. (I have the receipts to show how good!)

Wednesday, Dana took the girls out for the day, so I could work on putting our school schedule together. I had a very productive day. Dana and the girls seemed to have had fun too!

Well, with this being the last day of 1999, I thought it might be appropriate to look back at what we have learned during our time in Japan. Some things were not as they originally seemed. I am sure there will be more lessons over the next few months, but here is the start…
1) The straw-like floors are called tatami’s, not the pads that you put down to sleep on. The pads are called futons.
2) Futons are more comfortable if layered.
3) It is a lot of work to fold up futons everyday, so I don’t.
4) It is possible to get ‘real’ size drinking glasses in Japan; you just have to go to an American military base to do so.
5) Folding 1000 paper cranes takes a lot of time!
6) It is not necessary to drive 6 hours one-way to buy a turkey in Japan. They are available at the department store 5 minutes from home!

I know there are more lessons than that, but that is all I can think of for now.
Well, I had hoped to get a Christmas message out, but I never got that done. Know that you were and are in our prayers. We didn’t get all 1000 cranes folded, but we did include all of the names that were sent in our prayers. We have been working on getting our family web page together with the chronicles and pictures. We will let you know as soon as we are finished.

As the clock counts down toward midnight, may there be peace in your heart and may the Jubilee 2000 bring you joy and love. (I suppose electricity and water wouldn’t hurt either!) God bless you.

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 18

Dana’s last week of work went by pretty uneventful. It seemed strange to have him home for dinner at a reasonable time. This week, I think we are all still getting used to having him around all day.

The girls and my classes have stopped now for the winter break and we will begin again on the 14th of January. The classes are very affordable, only $3-5 although, the supplies can add up with three of us doing it, but I doubt we will have the opportunity to try many of these things at any other time so I think it is worth the investment.

I am particularly enjoying the Japanese calligraphy class. It is not so much just a brush stroke, as a level of concentration. If I am not distracted, I can do pretty well. Christina and Catherine are doing well themselves. Christina is about the correct age to begin such lessons. Catherine is rather young and I can see the differences in her work when she starts to get tired or bored. We are also learning the kanji characters. We are up to four now, so by the time we come home, who knows, we may make it to 20! Some of the people in the class are more advanced and it is nice to be able to see their work.

The Etegame class we are taking is okay. This seems to be a form of painting only in Japan. ‘Ete’ means picture and ‘tegame’ means letter, so these are picture letters or postcards that we are creating. We are drawing still life with a brush that has bristles that are about 2 inches long. You use only the tip of the brush for drawing and ink from a stone that you rub in water. The brush is held at the very end with your arm at a 90 degree angle and you draw the object (we use mostly fruits and vegetables) large, starting at the stem if there is one. The image extends off the end of the card. When you are finished, you write a message on it in kanji. (We do well if we can remember how to write our names.

The style of the art reminds me too much of Picasso and not enough of Rembrandt for my taste. Our budding artist, Christina, is really enjoying it. Catherine doesn’t have the patience to finish the warm up exercises, so she plays with Charlene. I got a ‘D’ in drawing when I was in school, so this is not exactly my forte.

I think we are progressing in our Japanese lesson although last weeks lesson was pretty difficult. I find that I am able to understand people and get my point across a little easier. I no longer have to point to the ‘F’ on my gas gauge to let them know I want my tank full and the other day, I was actually able to speak enough of the opening conversation that someone actually thought I could speak Japanese. I think the next couple of weeks when we have our student here will be a big help to us all.

When I mentioned filling the gas tank, I realized that I probably haven’t mentioned that in the entire time I have been here, I have only seen one self-service gas station. Gas stations are actually fun. When you pull in, there is always an attendant that comes running to greet you, that is if he wasn’t standing at attention waiting for you! They direct you where to go by chanting something that I assume means come and then letting you know when to stop. Your windows are always washed and if you were to get out of your car, they would wipe down your dash and some would even vacuum your car! They also check fluids, etc. When you go to leave the gas station, they run out into the street and stop traffic for you to pull out and bow to you as you leave. Oh, by the way, gasoline is only a little more than $4.00 a gallon!

Saturday, I think it was, we went to a nearby town called Kasama. It is a great place for pottery and I had been told that you could even make your own. We never found a place to do that, but we did have an interesting experience. There is a large shrine there with many shops leading into the area. We parked and decided to wander around. When we were looking through the shops I saw a photographer take a picture of us. I didn’t pay too much attention because this has happened many times before. As we continued to wander, I noticed that more pictures were being taken. When we got down to the end of the row of shops in the gathering area outside the shrine, there were more photographers. We were then ushered into various key locations around the shrine so they could take pictures of us. I got quite a laugh when I pulled out my camera and snapped a picture of them! At one point, there were 12 photographers pointing their cameras at us. All I could think to do was tell the girls not to pick their noses! They even took pictures of Dana helping me down the ramp to the shrine because it was hard to walk on with my cast. When we looked at the shops on the way out we were photographed more. I have no idea what was going on to have so many photographers interested in us. Perhaps we will end up on some travel brochure, but it sure was funny! One photographer joined us again on several occasions as we were wandering through the town and took more pictures. Ah, the life of celebrities! :+D

After our experience at the shrine, we opted for something a little quieter; we visited the local art museum. They had a really nice exhibit of wildlife photographs and when I was in the garden I took a great picture of a flower that I am using as wallpaper on my computer screen. It made for a very nice day.
Sunday, we had a quiet morning and went to English mass in the afternoon. After mass there was a Christmas party for the international community including a roast pig. It was really good.

Today, we went to Fukaroda Falls. It is one of the three best falls in Japan. It was beautiful but just a little cold. As we were going up the hill, we began seeing ice in the river. When we got where we could see the best view of the falls, it was spectacular. Much of the fall is frozen and the blue sky in the background made for great pictures. We saw pictures of people ice climbing the fall when it is entirely frozen, but it has not reached that point yet. Dana and I thought it might be fun to return in February just to see it frozen and then again in April to see spring.

On the way home, we took the scenic route, which really was just a different way home to see the sites. Dana had mentioned to me earlier in the morning that tomorrow will the moon will be full and at the closest point it comes to earth and that he wanted to remember to take a look at the moon at night. As we came over one hill, while it was still light, there was the moon looking beautiful with the autumn colors in the hills. I think we got some great pictures.

Well, I’ll wrap it up for now and say goodnight. Dana is almost through with reading the next section of the Return of the King to the girls. Please let me ask you to remember Cindy in your prayers. She has cancer and is not doing very well.

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 17

I think when I last left off, we were heading for Guam, and I know that email only got mailed this morning. So, I’ll try to get caught up now. I suppose this chronicle should bear the subtitle Japan/Guam chronicles. Guam was not exactly one of those places that I wanted to visit, but now, I can’t wait to go back!

We did have a good day in Tokyo on the way to the airport. We went to the National Science museum and checked out Ueno Park. I am anxious to see it when the cherry blossoms begin in March or April.

I guess an important detail to mention is that it is winter here in Japan and they don’t have winter in Guam! Our temperatures in Japan have ranged from –4 to 14 centigrade. The low for the temperatures in Guam was in the 70’s Fahrenheit. The conversion is a math problem for someone other than me but, in summary, it is cold here and warm there!

Providence as it were, led us to a great resort hotel. There was a water park right on the grounds. We got to snorkel in a swim through aquarium, swoosh down water slides and Dana and I tried scuba diving and wind surfing. All of the activities were included in the price of our room, which wasn’t very expensive. We only left the hotel twice, once to go on a dolphin watching trip and the other to go shopping the day we were leaving.

The hotel has many young people that work there called Clubmates. They sign up for 6 months. The hotel pays for their roundtrip airfare, gives them room and board plus a few dollars an hour. They are there as lifeguards and to help the guest have fun. We got to know several of them and they were all very nice. If I weren’t concerned about some other issues, I would think it would be a fun experience for young people.

We hired one of the Clubmates, Tina, to watch and play with the girls one afternoon so Dana and I could go scuba diving and windsurfing. The girls had a great time! The resort does have a kids club, but the children have to be four and most of the children were under six and Christina and Catherine were rather bored. Tina had lots of fun with them and she was much younger that Dana and I so she could keep up with them easier!

Scuba diving was fun. I wasn’t too sure how my ear would do, but we were only in a 15-foot pool/aquarium, so I figured it wouldn’t be much of a problem. Dana and I took to it very quickly and were approved to go on an ocean dive. We didn’t actually do the ocean dive because the next trip was when we had to be leaving for the airport. I think when we go back in March we will try the ocean dive.

As for the windsurfing, Dana took to it quite naturally and I thought it was too much like work and decided to quit. I found a chair nearby and watched. Guess I must be getting old! Dana was exhausted when he finished.

Our last night, we went to a Polynesian dinner show at the hotel. The food and show were great. The only problem was that the girls were very tired from their afternoon with Tina and so Catherine almost fell asleep before the show and Charlene slept through it! There was so much good food. We were seated at a table next to a friend that the girls had made earlier on the dolphin watch, so that was rather fun. This friend also turned out to be on our return flight home.

At the end of the show, they bring people up to dance with them. One of the guys took Christina. I was glad Charlene was asleep in my arms. Christina got to dance on stage. After the dancing, you can go up and take pictures with the dancers. Christina had been given a beautiful lei to wear in her hair, and the next thing I knew, someone put one on Catherine. They were very beautiful.

I guess I have neglected to write about the dolphin watch. It didn’t turn out to be what we had hoped for, but it was fun. We spent most of our time looking for dolphins and didn’t see any until the very end and then it was only glimpses. We had missed them in a little rainsquall that we had on our way out. Coming back in was rather fun though, we got to ride on a banana boat being towed. Dana decided not to go on it, so I went twice and one time took Christina. The water was so warm; it was tempting to fall off just to get wet.

There had been some confusion with our airline tickets that resulted in a 45 minute phone call from the airport and waking a few people up to get them straight. We didn’t have our tickets returning to Japan when we got to Guam. Dana and I were hoping they wouldn’t get the return trip correct, we could skip the phone call and stay a few extra days! In the meantime, we will look forward to returning in March.

Since we have returned home, we have been busy with classes and building friendships. Tuesday afternoon, the girls and I were invited to lunch at the home of someone we had met taking Japanese classes named Latifa. She has a daughter that is Charlene’s age, so that was fun for the girls. They are from Malaysia and she makes a great chicken curry. We also went over to their home on Sunday evening so our husbands can meet; since it turns out they work in the buildings next door to each other. It was a very nice time.

As far as classes are concerned, we have continued our weekly Japanese class and attended a few other classes that are held a couple of times a month. So far, I am learning Ikebana, that is Japanese flower arranging; Japanese calligraphy, I can’t remember the name for that; and Etegame, which is a Japanese style of drawing painting. I think we are almost learning more practical Japanese from the art classes because they speak to us first in Japanese, and if we don’t understand, then they try to help us in English. It is very good.

As far as Dana’s work, that is also good news. Their work went much smoother than anticipated and they finished the work scheduled before Christmas break a week early. He was actually off both Saturday and Sunday, which is a first since we came to Japan, outside of our trip to Guam. This week he is working more normal hours thru Friday and will be off after that until about the 6th of January. We are really looking forward to that time and it was nice to have him home for dinner last night at 6:30pm rather than 8:30pm. When he returns to work in January, there will probably be 3 weeks with the long hours again and then the installation will be finished and he will move on to training, which will have good hours again.

Over the weekend, we did some Christmas shopping for the girls, but our family gift will be our trip to Tokyo Disneyland on the 27th.

At mass on Sunday, we met a family from Slovakia who has been here for two years. They have a daughter who is Catherine’s age and the first time we saw her, we had to do a double take because she looks so much like Catherine. Her name is Christina! She has been attending Japanese schools and is now fluent in 3 languages. They are returning home for the holidays, but will be back in early January and we will get the girls together.

I am working on converting this list to onelist.com. I am setting it up as announcement only. I am the only one that can send email to this list. I have decided to do this because several people have asked for back issues of the chronicles and the way I am doing it now it is difficult to send them out. Once I have this set up, those people on the list will be able to go back and read past editions on the web whenever they want. The other advantage is that I think I will be able to include some photographs. I am not sure how that will work yet, but the possibility is intriguing. No one can subscribe to the list without my approval, so I believe security will be okay as well. I just wanted to let you know in case you get a note about the subscription.

I guess that is about all for now. We miss you and pray for you all!

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 16

Dana is goading me to write this before we leave for Guam. It is a little after 7am and I am not a morning person, so we will see what happens.

Well, Operation Turkey was a success! The turkey came out good and if I didn’t know how it was cooked, I wouldn’t have known any difference. Several of the guys from Dana’s work came over including one who was traveling to Japan and got in around 8:45pm. He thought the McDonalds across the street from the hotel was going to be his Thanksgiving dinner, but Dana had left him a message to call when he got in and we brought him over to our apartment.

Sunday with Dana, we went to mass in Japanese. I really like the pastor and I enjoyed mass even though I couldn’t speak the language. Catherine was asked to help bring up the offering and the lady sitting next to us was helping us follow the music. I was pleased to notice that the music was written in hiragana rather than kanji.

Later in the day, we went to a park that has a slide that is rather like a bobsled. It was 877 meters long. (Someone else can do the conversion for his or her math lesson!) We sat on this little thing that had a hand brake that you could lift to accelerate and use to slow down. Dana and Catherine rode together, I rode with Charlene and Christina went on her own. It was so fun! I convinced Dana to go on it a second time. He videotaped both trips including his almost falling off. All of a sudden, you see Dana’s foot on the video!

After the park, we went to see the largest suspension bridge in Japan for pedestrians only. It had a great view. The thing that intrigues me is that I can see no logical reason for building the bridge in this location. I would think that you build a bridge so you can get to the other side, but when you get to the other side all there is to do is turn around and walk back. It seems this bridge was built for one purpose, to collect the 310-yen per person to cross! Oh well, it was a beautiful view.

I think we had a quiet week this week, although it went by rather quickly. Outside of our schoolwork, we spent some time doing some extra cleaning, although you wouldn’t know it now, and thinking about our upcoming trip.

We went to our Japanese lesson. I think we are doing pretty well. The big project for me in this area is to learn to read hiragana and katakana. These are basically the phonograms for Japanese. There are many signs that use more hiragana and katakana rather than kanji. My book for my lessons is written in hiragana and katakana so I have been trying to learn what the symbols mean. I’m not sure how much of the language and writing I will master in our time here but given enough time, it doesn’t seem impossible.

I was also given a penmanship lesson. Practice writing hiragana symbols. I guess I am being reminded of how the girls feel when I give them their lessons. I’m not doing to bad, but penmanship was never my forte even in America! At first, it was very difficult to do and there are still a few pen strokes that are uncomfortable, but when I relaxed, stopped trying to draw and allowed myself to write it was easier.

One cute little thing that happened this week was while we were at the park near Dana’s work. A little boy named Codomo who was three wanted to play with the girls. Most of the littler children here have been very shy and not too sure what to make of us. I have even seen them run in tears.

This little guy was not at all shy! He followed the girls around and was very talkative. His mother or grandmother whom he was with didn’t speak any English, but apparently someone at home does. He would ask us questions in Japanese, of course. When we would respond he would say “Okay, very good!” I can’t describe the way he said it in type, but it was so cute. I was laughing like I was being tickled.

Fortunately the questions of a three year old are within my comprehension of Japanese. The only misunderstanding came when he asked the girl’s ages. I used the word for ‘floor’ like in a department store rather than years. He kept repeating us and then asked the question again. I finally realized what I had done and was able to clear things up. He of course responded “Okay, very good!”

I guess that is it for now. We are off to Tokyo for the day before we leave to Guam. That is as soon as we can get the girls ready.
Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 15

Sunday morning we went to Hitachi Seaside Park. I think I described this a little in a previous Chronicle. We wanted to take Dana back and show him what we had enjoyed.

When we came in we got on the train around the park. We got off near the Ferris wheel. This Ferris wheel is the largest I have ever seen. We took the video camera up with us and we could see for quite a distance. The girls went on some other rides and then we rented bikes to ride around the park. Bike paths with great scenery circle the park. If I understood the signs correctly, I think we rode a 7-kilometer path around the park. Afterwards, we went on the roller coaster, got some lunch and headed home.

We went to an English mass at our local church here in Mito. The pastor is from New York. He is a very kind man. Most of the people at the English mass are actually from the Philippines, but we did meet a couple from New Mexico who are moving back, but they have been here for 2 and ½ years. The also have a 4 year old daughter. I learned about a place where we can take Japanese lessons for a minimal cost. I think we are going to enjoy it as part of this community.

Tuesday, the girls and I set out on train this time for Tokyo. I needed to get some English software for my computer and I wanted to look at digital cameras. There is a large electronics shopping district in Tokyo, that has duty free and some good deals. It is the same place I bought my laptop computer. We were successful in our shopping and soon, I should be able to get our web site up with some pictures of our travels. The train worked out very nicely, it was only a little challenge to carry our purchases.

Wednesday we went to our first Japanese lesson. There should be no more riding all the escalators up searching for what we want because we can’t read the sign or ask someone where to find an item. We practiced asking how to find something whether in a department store or around the town. I now know how to ask the question, I just need to learn more of the words for what I am asking to find. There are several Japanese classes, but I think we will go on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

I have, to this point, neglected to mention the major dilemma of preparing a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We do not have an oven! I consulted some of my experts and considered buying a BBQ, but I couldn’t seem to justify that because after the toll roads to and through Tokyo I figure the turkey had already cost about $120. Father offered to let me use the oven at the church, but it was small and I don’t know if I could fit the turkey in it even if I cut it up. I decided to cut it up in pieces as large as I could and cook it in my shabu shabu cooker. That is where it is now! I sure hope this turns out and that if finishes cooking today!

Dana will probably be working all this weekend, so I think we will spend a little extra time on our schoolwork. Also on Sunday, our Advent project of making 1000 paper cranes begins. I have the names of who I send email to, but I don’t have the names of spouses or children, so if you would be so kind as to send them to me, we will make cranes with your names as well as any other names you would like to send us. My goal is to have one name for each of the 1000 cranes!

Next weekend, we are going to Guam for a few days vacation, so I am not sure when my next chronicle will get written, but perhaps I will be able to do so before we leave. I think we leave on Friday and return on Monday.

Well, that’s all for now. It is a beautiful day, so I think I will go play with my new camera if this turkey ever gets done! Happy Thanksgiving!
Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 14

Project Turkey, which I will explain later, is underway, so at last, I can sit and write. Least I get distracted, let me wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving from Dana, Christina, Catherine, Charlene and myself.

Last week, we had the team from Dana’s work over for Happy Meals. I served hamburgers/cheeseburgers, French fries and a toy! The toy was a racing car for Dana’s track that they got to build and then race. Although it was a late night and the guys had to go to work early the next morning, I think they had fun. I was hoping it would provide them an opportunity to unwind for a short time.

The wife of one of the team came over for a couple of weeks and we were able to enjoy her last few days in Japan with her. We went on quite an excursion with Sandra on Thursday. I was trying to find a place that had some temples at that we could go shopping. I saw what looked like a promising location on a map and we set off. It was a couple of hours drive, but the scenery was nice.

I would tell you the name of the town; except I can’t remember it and the map I have as a souvenir has nothing but kanji on it. We drove around it to scope it out and decided it would be best to explore on foot. We parked in the train station and decided to rent bikes instead. After all, my foot was broken and walking may not be the best thing. Many of the shops in the town were closed and the big temple grounds were open but we could not get inside the buildings. It was rather a bust as far as finding what we were looking for.

The bike ride was amusing because they did not have a bike small enough for Catherine to ride and they did not have a bike with a baby seat for Charlene. We discovered this after it was too late to tell the girls we were not going bike riding and not disappoint them terribly. So, I put Charlene in the backpack and Catherine sat on the shelf over the back tire. It was rather reminiscent of when I was a child and used to give people rides on handlebars. We did have fun and I got a much-needed workout!

While we were driving in, we noticed a couple of shops that looked like they might be interesting so we decided to stop and look. I found a tea set and some beautiful wine glasses and Sandra found some gifts for her family. It certainly made the day seem more successful.

Now, to begin to explain Project Turkey. I have been trying to figure out for about a month now, how I could make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for at least our family and perhaps some of the team from work. I considered many options, but the one I thought would allow me to get all the things I wanted was definitely not the easiest one. When has that ever stopped me?

Saturday morning at about 6am the girls and I set off to meet a friend whose husband is in the military at a base the other side of Tokyo. The only way to get there involved driving through the expressways of Tokyo. Of course, my navigator was at work. We also had 6:30 dinner reservations back in Mito, but I figured it would only be a 3-hour drive or so each way and that wouldn’t be a problem.

Driving through Tokyo was uneventful. My timing was a little off and it was about 9:30am as we were getting out of there. I mentioned it was the other side of Tokyo, well the only map I had of the area was my map of Japan and it was not very specific.

Shortly after leaving Tokyo, I discovered that I was not on the road I had intended. Rather than trying to backtrack, which I really had no idea how to do, I decided to head in the direction I knew the correct road to be. I could write a dissertation on the events that went on between that point and my finally arriving at my destination at noon, how I found the town, but lost it twice, but I would rather not relive it!

It was so nice to meet Ginny and her family and I don’t think I can thank them enough for their patience or help. She was able to get me the stuff I needed and we even had lunch at Taco Bell. (It wasn’t as good as I had remembered!) The girls and I both commented on how strange it felt to be around so many people speaking English. We headed back toward Mito at about 3pm and got to our dinner at 9pm!

During my journey, Dana had been postponing our reservation for dinner because we were going to the restaurant that the Michico-san, the mother of the girl staying with us at Christmas manages. It actually worked out great that we were late, because she was not so busy when we arrived. We had a great dinner and afterwards, the girls folded origami with her while we relaxed and I finished my wine!

Since that concludes Saturday night, I am going to close this Chronicle and begin the next, which you will probably receive at the same time.

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 12

It seems like ages since I have been able to write. Things are starting to settle down a little, and I think we are getting a taste of what a less hectic life is like here in Japan.

The girls have all had slight colds. I think they are actually beginning to shake their colds and of course now, Dana seems to be getting it. He took some Nyquil and is snoring away now. My ear seems to be almost back to normal.

We postponed our trip to Tokyo for last Sunday and decided to stay home most of the day and let everyone rest. If all is well, we are planning on going this Sunday. I think this will work out better since there were no shrine sales last weekend, and that was one of the reasons we were going.

I have been practicing my Japanese cooking. I bought a cookbook that is called Quick and Easy Japanese Cooking for Everyone. It is really just the basics, but it gives me a chance to get familiar with some of the different ingredients. The nice part is that it has the names of the ingredients written out in romanji so I can pronounce it and kanji, so I can read the label or sign in the store. I had planned on sharing on particular recipe with you, but Dana is asleep in the room and I don't want to turn the light on so I can copy it. I will try to remember to do so next time. Once I have mastered the basics, I may get a more complicated one, although, I am not sure I will ever be able to slice things as small and precisely as they do here. Presentation is an important part of Japanese cooking. On one of the children's shows they had a song to teach the children how to use a knife. It wasn't a small knife but more like a butcher knife. I am so paranoid about the girls using even a small, dull knife, but I guess that is how they get so good at using one, by starting real young!

I think we have finally got the apartment set up more or less the way we want it. We got a great deal on a cabinet to hold the microwave and toaster oven. It is large enough to also hold my rice cooker and the other electric skillet like cooker that I got. It also has a cupboard and drawers for storage.

The only furniture we are trying to change is the dining room table. The one we rented is a western style table and rather small and we would prefer a Japanese style one that is larger. It is difficult to have the girls spread out their schoolbooks on the little one and we have come to enjoy sitting on the floor to eat. It works well with the girls since the table is more at their height.
I think I could get used to this Japanese style. I particularly enjoy going into a restaurant and being able to take off my shoes and sit down on a comfy cushion.

There are many methods of heating here. One method of heating is to use effectively, and electric carpet. There is actually a large heating pad that is placed under an area carpet. You can adjust the temperature the same way you do an electric blanket. They also make a similar version that is for a kitchen floor. This reminds me of those heating tubes that can be placed in a floor when you build a home, but portable, and I am not sure it will warm an entire room. Two of our rooms have air conditioners, which are just that they adjust the condition of the air. They can make it cooler or warmer. We have purchased an electric carpet for the den and if we get the lower table, I will probably get one for the living/dining room. I am not sure what we will need for the rest of the apartment if anything. There are so many gadgets for heating different ways here; you'd think we were in Alaska!

I feel very comfortable here for the most part. It does not seem strange to hear someone speaking outside the apartment in Japanese and I actually can get out of the grocery store in less than an hour now. Driving on the left side of the road doesn't require silence in the car so I can think, unless I am backing into a narrow parking space, which is the norm here. I am beginning to understand directions and questions in Japanese. I don't think it is so much the exact words, but the mannerisms and gestures as well as the situation. I also am beginning to be able to understand some of how the kanji works in the Japanese language.

Of course, I love my home in Colorado, with the yard and all the space, but this apartment suits our needs now rather well. We are just a few minutes walk from the train station as well as many restaurants. The only thing I haven't found close enough to walk to is a grocery store, but there are convenience stores nearby if needed.

Monday, when I was grocery shopping by myself, a lady came up to me and asked if I lived in Mito. She did so first in Japanese and when I didn't understand her completely, she switched to English. We exchanged phone numbers and addresses and hope to get together and get to know more about each other. I was actually surprised when she came up to me because usually the girls are the ones that draw attention. I hope we will be able to get together.

Fall, is definitely upon us here and the weather has begun to cool off. We had rain on Monday most of the day and today, Thursday, it rained or sprinkled off and on most of the day. Temperatures have been in the 10-20 degree centigrade range. I know Mito does get some snow, but I am told it is not usually too bad.

We met with the mother and the daughter that I mentioned in my last chronicle on Sunday. Beginning December 22nd, she will come over everyday, except Christmas, and help with the girls and practice English while we practice Japanese. I think that will last until around the 20th of January. Dana will be off during some of that time, so we may take advantage of a "baby-sitter" and do a couple of things that the girls might not enjoy. We are really looking forward to this time.

It turns out that the mother manages a Japanese restaurant, so we are going to have to try that soon. She used the term manage, but they also live in at the same spot, so I wonder whether they may actually own the business. Many business owners live in homes upstairs from their shop or restaurant. Residential areas are definitely not separated from commercial. In fact, I was walking down one of the busy streets in town the other day and looking at the shops, all of the sudden, I noticed chickens in cages, right there next to the sidewalk! There looked like there was a little home in there and they were apparently their own chickens.

Speaking of Christmas, it has already hit the stores here. Since only a small percentage of the people here are Christian, it is a very commercial, secular view of the holiday. I cringe when I see signs for X-mas, leaving Christ out of Christmas, but I know they just don't understand. I am glad we have decided to make our cranes for Christmas. I am not sure if we will get a tree, because everything I have seen seems to imply that they only use artificial trees and I can't see buying one to be used only once. I am hoping to be able to find a small nativity for our family altar.

One thing seems to lead to another thought...I'm sure some of you will get a laugh out of this. In some of the stores here, they sell these Shinto shrines. They are basically the size of dollhouses, unfinished wood with gold-like trimmings and three doors. I think they are great. We bought one and are going to remove some of the trim that makes it look like a shrine, add our own decoration, include a crucifix and some holy cards----voila! Really nice Catholic Family Shrine! I had a Japanese friend over yesterday, he was amused.

Before we left Colorado, a friend Jeffrey, told me he had a friend who lived in Japan. He is Japanese, but studied for several years in England, where Jeffrey met him. Anyway, we have sent email back and forth, and since yesterday was a national holiday, he decided to venture up to our part of the county. It was a three-hour train ride for him, but he came up and spent the day with the girls and I. His name is Tatsu.

Since Tatsu studied so long in England his English is very good. I have to admit though; it is rather funny to hear a Japanese person speak with a British accent. It was nice to talk with him about some of the perceptions I have had about Japan and ask a few questions. We went to a park where the local Chrysanthemum festival is going on. It was a little cool for the girls, so we didn't stay too long though. The girls really liked him, and he didn't seem to mind their attention either.

Tatsu was able to program our TV to clearer channels because he could actually read the on screen programming menus and the information we were given about television with our rental agreement. The channels are all still in Japanese, but we can understand enough of what is going on if we want to. I wasn't sure how much the girls understood, but Christina was relating the story she had seen on TV to Tatsu and he said she had it exactly right. I laugh, because the girl’s favorite show seems to be the one that teaches English to Japanese children in the morning!

I think that had better be all for now. It is almost midnight and my words are beginning to get blurry. I hope my thoughts are still coherent.

Blessings and prayers,
Marion

Number 11

Thoughts on Mito...

Mito is very different from Yamaguchi in some ways and yet, still the same. It is a much larger city that is divided by two rivers and somewhat by the train station. There are several big department stores, each about 6 or seven stories tall. There is much more traffic and it is much less rural of an area. There are still very old buildings right next to very new ones and patches of dense forest in what seems like the middle of the city.

I think Dana best described the differences between how Japan builds a town and how America builds. In America, we tend to build a community with roads in mind. In Japan, they tend to put roads where they fit. Perhaps, that is because this country is so old and our modern ideas of transportation were not even a thought when they began to lay the foundation. Maybe it is part of their philosophy of harmony with nature.

I laugh a little when I see people out sweeping their parking lots. Where we would use a push broom or even a blower, they are using these brooms that look like a witches broom from cartoons! The sweeping part is uneven and very coarse, yet it seems very efficient. Everyone seems to share in keeping a town clean. I have seen school children cleaning their school and very old people picking up trash along a road.

I hope I am not repeating myself, but the system of trash is rather complicated here. We sort into several categories that are picked up on different days of the week or month. There are "burnables" nearest I can figure this includes most of our general trash and is picked up twice a week. Then there are "non-burnables" which includes broken glass, light bulbs, and things like that. Finally, there are "recyclables". These also need to be separated by types like newspapers, clothing, cardboard, soda bottle and soda cans. The last two categories are picked up twice a month on a different day from burnable trash.

Banking is a different situation. In some ways they are very archaic with old ledgers to keep track of account information and in other ways things seem rather advanced. They do not use checks here. To pay your rent you make a deposit into the owners account. Utilities you can pay at the bank or at a convenience store like Seven-Eleven.

Credit cards work differently. You must pay off the first charge on your bill entirely and the rest can be held over as credit. So, when you make a large charge, the store will ask you if you want them to put the transaction through as one, two or three charges. This really confused me the first few times until I figured out why. Oh and by the way, the BEST interest rate I have seen advertised is 24% and I have seen them as high as 40%! Now wonder everyone just pays cash.

Yesterday, I went to the bank to pay our rent for November, I think. One of the bank supervisors helped me. I paid the rent through basically an ATM type machine. You enter all your information and the account number and bank that you want to deposit to and drop your money in a little slot. It counts it out, charges you a small fee and returns your change. I have a card that I am supposed to be able to use next month that will make it easier, but I doubt I can get through all the kanji on my own.

We have had to make many decisions about what to get for our apartment. We rented some things, but the rental shop here was not as large as the one in Yamaguchi, so we have had to buy some things as well. Dana and I are very happy with the way the apartment feels. I think I made the last major purchase today of a stove and a rice cooker. Boy am I glad that is over! I am looking forward to not having to do any settling in or major shopping for a long time!

Dana's hours have been very long and rather strange since we arrived. Friday morning he went to work at 8am. At 3pm there was a major problem with the system and the customer could not send a maneuver to the satellite. Things got very crazy and by the time the problem was resolved, he got home about 11am Saturday morning. Because there were still many concerns from the client about the problem, they entire team needed to be there for the next maneuver at 3am Monday. Dana went to work Sunday evening about 8pm and got home around 6:30am Monday. As of Tuesday, it seems like he is back to a more regular schedule of going in at 8am and getting home between 9 and 10pm. He said tonight they were hoping to get out of there at about 7pm which would put him home at 8pm, but I will believe it when I see it.

As far as the problem, it has made the situation rather crazy. From Raytheon's perspective it should not have happened, but was remedied and therefore no longer a problem. From the client’s perspective, they lost contact with their multi-million dollar satellite and it is a very big deal. Memo's have been flying no one is quite sure what the fallout will be! Please pray this can all be worked out smoothly. In the meantime, work continues on the project.

Monday, I went for a follow-up appointment on my ear. I ended up going to see a specialist. Doctor’s offices are like clinics here and so it is basically first come, first served. Well, what started out as a quick visit to the doctor at about 9am turned out to take until about 1pm. I was really disappointed because Dana was awake and off and there were many things I would rather be doing with that time other than sitting in a doctors office.

The infection in my ear is still pretty bad although the pain is not too bad. My major concern is that I cannot hear very well out of that ear. With the camera the doctor had, I was able to see the infection is right on the eardrum and it is pretty large. He showed me my good ear so I could compare. It was actually rather interesting. I'm on to another course of medicine, this time not antibiotics, but "antibacterial". I'm not real sure what the differences are, but I hope this one works.

Well, I mentioned my disappointment with how long things took with the doctor’s offices, but I guess God had a different plan. While I was in the doctor’s office, Dana took the girls to a nearby park. While they were playing, a lady came over and started talking to the girls and Dana. It turns out she has a daughter who is a junior in high school and will be spending her senior year as an exchange student in America. She was hoping to find an American family in Mito to stay with over winter vacation to practice her English and in exchange, help take care of the children. We are very excited about this because it will give us an opportunity to learn more Japanese, not to mention, someone to play with the girls. We will be talking with the daughter later this week and see if it can work out.

We are getting a bad rainstorm tonight so I am looking forward to staying in and having a warm dinner of grilled chicken, vegetables and rice.

Forever in the Trinity,
Marion

Number 10

Greetings from Mito!

Boy it seems like a long time since I have been able to sit down long enough to write and not be on a train!

After the girls and my trip to Tsuwano, I developed an earache. I thought it was because of the pressure changes going to the mountains, but it just got worse and eventually, my ear began secreting fluid. Friday, I went to the hospital and they gave me some pain meds and antibiotic. They said I had perungal (sp?) otis media and I needed to see an ENT the next day.

Friday night I was able to read a little about the type of infection with my Mayo Family Clinic CD that I brought with us. I learned it was not something to play with and could be very serious and so in spite of packing and movers coming on Saturday I went to the doctor. It turned out that Myota, our neighbor works for an ENT and so she took me there. He confirmed the diagnosis and extended the antibiotics and pain meds and told me to see another ENT when I got to Mito. I haven't made it to a doctor here yet, because things have been so hectic, but I will do so at latest by Monday. My ear is feeling better, but my hearing still does not seem to be normal.

Saturday with my earache, I had hoped to check into our hotel early and sleep while Dana and the girls went back up to Tsuwano, but of course, our room was not ready, so I ended up going with them. It was nice. We did get to see the chapel on the hill. It was quite a walk up the hill, but very pretty. We made it a shorter bike ride, but it was great to be able to share it with Dana.

To wrap things up in Yamaguchi, after Dana finished work on Sunday, we went out to dinner with our friends. We went to the same restaurant, but for a different entree. This time I think we had sukiyaki. I wasn't too sure about the idea of dipping wonderfully cooked meat and vegetables in raw egg, but it turned out pretty good. We had such a nice time with them and they are beginning to make travel arrangements to meet us in Tokyo just before Christmas. I am really looking forward to it.

Myota and Muraoka also gave Dana and I a beautiful set of teacups. Peach, their dog, liked to remove the girls socks when they were playing at their house, so she got each of the girls a pair of socks. We all had a good laugh. We also have copies of the pictures that were taken last time.

Monday morning we were off on the train for Hiroshima. We stayed there two nights. Hiroshima was one of those places that is nice to see once, but I don't think I would put it on a future travel plans. We were able to take the streetcar around and see most of the sites. The girls had fun at the children’s museum.

One thing that I did learn in Hiroshima is that a futon beats a tiny hotel bed anytime and so I give the the following reasons why a futon is better than a bed:
1) When you roll off, the ground isn't to far.
2) You can stack as many as you like to achieve the desired softness.
3) They fold up easily in closets.
4) When the person you are sleeping with rolls over, it doesn't shake the bed.
5) I can jump into my side of the bed and not plunge Dana out the other side!
6) Children can hide socks and clothes underneath them, but toys make it too uncomfortable.
After 5 nights, I will be happy to have my futon back!


Wednesday, we traveled from Hiroshima to Tokyo where we had hoped to enjoy a park as a break from traveling, but it was raining so we decided to head up to Mito early. Due to miscommunication between Dana and I we took the slow train, but it was a nice ride and we were able to see the countryside better.

Thursday morning, we got our first look inside our new home. We are on the ground floor of a 4-story apartment building. In Japan, they call them mansions, but that is not the term I would use.

The apartment is nice. I think the only thing that will be a real challenge is the kitchen. The only counter space is the area to drain dishes. There are some cupboards up high, but they are even difficult for me to reach. The saving part is that there is a large closet in the hall really close that I can use as a pantry if I can devise some sort of shelves for it. I still haven't figured out where I am going to put the toaster oven and microwave and I need to purchase a stove- we would probably call it a fancy hotplate, but it is a stove nonetheless.

We have two 6 mat Japanese bedrooms that have a sliding door between them and sliding doors into the living room, dining room and kitchen, which is all one room. There is also a western style bedroom in the front that I think we will use as a den and a dressing area. Outside the Japanese rooms, there are hardwood floors. We have a bathroom similar to the one in Yamaguchi, but a little smaller and we were all happy to see that there is a western toilet (complete with sink on the top).

Overall, I am pleased with the apartment. It is taking a little more work to settle in because we have the stuff from the other place. We also still don't have any dressers so there are clothes everyplace.

We rented some furniture that was delivered today and I have a dryer being delivered tomorrow. I think that is good because I have lots of laundry from our travels and since we have arrived. The rental place was really nice. They only had a small refrigerator and I said that would be okay. I had been hoping for something larger, but I could make due. Today, one of our interpreters called me to let me know that they were bringing our furniture and that they were giving us a larger refrigerator at no extra charge. When the guy showed up, he had a brand new refrigerator! It was just what I had seen in the store and had thought would be great, but never thought I would get it. It is one that the refrigerator door will open either way you want. The freezer is a drawer in the middle and below that is a drawer for vegetables. Any larger, would not have fit in the space.

In Yamaguchi, I got overwhelmed with all the decisions, but there seems to be even more to make here. I am hoping to get through them this weekend and be able to get back to our school schedule.

I think I will save my thoughts on Mito for another time. My mind is wandering too much to put it on paper. I still haven't got our address written out correctly, but

I will do so this weekend.

Blessings and prayers,
Marion