Number 3

Konichiwa!

We have managed to get settled into our apartment pretty well. It is pretty easy to keep up with housework when you have very little to take care of. Perhaps that is a lesson I should remember at home.

I still haven't figured out how to use the oven, which is both a regular oven and a microwave, but I bought a little toaster oven and that has served us well. The man we rented the wash machine from showed me how to use that, so I’ve been able to wash clothes. The only problem is that you can't hang clothes out to dry when it rains.

The hot water was the only other real learning experience. After Charlene and I had to take a cold shower, we learned that there are controls for the hot water in the bathroom and in the kitchen. (I wondered what those little control panels were for!) Anyway, you have to turn on the hot water heater, which I guess sends electrical charges through the water to heat it, before you want hot water. When you are finished, you turn it off. I'm assuming that it saves energy that way, but until I see the utility bill at the end of the month I won't have any idea how much. Come to think of it, I probably won't know anything more then either!

On Wednesday, the girls and I went to Hagi. Hagi is a little island on the North coast of Japan that is famous for it's 1000-year tradition of pottery making. It was about an hour drive through the mountains, which were very pretty. It was rather incredible to think that on Sunday it took us 30 minutes to reach the Southern coast of Japan and we are only 30 minutes to the Northern coast.

While we were in Hagi, we went to a Shosoin Shrine. It had the graves of many warriors and the buildings where they lived. The dense trees hid from above the entire area of the shrine, so it was shady and there was moss growing on the ground from all the moisture. I asked Christina how it felt to be someplace that men lived, fought, and died 1000 years ago. Here response was "kind of creepy" and I have to agree. I don't know if it was the trash being burnt nearby or what, but there was an unpleasant smell in the air and an strange feeling about the whole place. I thought to myself that it smelled like death. Being a native of California, where the history is so short and not having traveled much, it is almost beyond my comprehension how long the history of the Japanese people really is. Much blood was shed here.

The rest of our time in Hagi was not so thought provoking. We drove out on to another island and to the top of an inactive volcano. We were along the coastline and it was very beautiful. There were several small islands a short distance from the shore and of course they were all very green. It reminded me of pictures that I have seen of Hawaii. Since pottery is the specialty of Hagi, I had to stop at a pottery shop and I found these beautiful little teacups to bring home.

Yesterday, we stayed around here a little more. I had planned on going to a store called the You Me (which means "dream") but apparently it is closed on Thursdays so we went for a short drive and found a new grocery store that I like best of all the ones I have been to.

The Youme is like a mall without the walls. There are several large stores including a grocery store and appliance store and then there are several smaller ones. I thought at first they were all connected because no one stops you from taking things from one area to another and there are no real clear boundaries, but when I tried to pay for something in one area that I had gotten from another, I found out they were separate and had to go back the other section to pay.

The grocery stores are interesting. Only one time, so far, have I bought something thinking it one thing and when I got home to use it, I found out it wasn't what I thought. I use lots of pictures and try to judge what an item is by the other more obvious things around it. I'm still not sure what it was that I bought thinking it was cooking oil, but it is sweet and it doesn't make for good French fries! (Now, I know this mystery item is actually called Mirin. It is sweet sake, rather like corn syrup.)

Dana has been working very long hours. He leaves before 8am and the last couple of nights, it has been 10pm or so before he comes home. We are all looking forward to Sunday when he has a day off. Tonight he will, at least, leave work early to go to a "smooze the client and unwind" dinner with the rest of the team and the client. Some of the guys have not had a day off since they arrived over two weeks ago.

Dana is coming home for lunch soon and he will be taking the computer back to work to send my mail. I think it will be at least another week before we have a phone. (Long story not worth it!)

Blessings and prayers,
Marion