Thursday, December 27, 2007

Operation Tanuki Town

Our mission should we choose to accept it was to infiltrate the town, view pottery made in one of six ancient kilns in Japan, purchase a tanuki statue and return home. The main objective of the mission would to be the purchasing of the tanuki statue. We had to go to the source. We were bound for Tanuki Town. In the middle of Shiga is a town that crafts the majority of the tanuki statues that are seen in Japan. The name of the town is Shigaraki. Shigaraki is a tiny little town that is situated out in the middle of nowhere. We did our research and planned the best route to the town. This trip would take a total of six train rides, three there and three home. We did not encounter any problems until we went to board the third train of the morning. It should not have been a complicated procedure. We needed to get off the train, exit the terminal, buy a ticket for a new train line, and head off to Shigaraki. It should have been easy. But as it seems, nothing is ever simple.

We exited the JR line and proceeded to the other train line. There was no ticket machine so I walked up to the window and asked for two tickets to Shigaraki. The gentleman on the other side of the glass responded by crossing his forearms into an X and speaking far too rapidly in Japanese for my ears to comprehend. As he did this, his comrade began to point toward the other side of the station and motioned in an arc. All in all I understood the meaning perfectly. We were in the wrong place. This was not the train line that traveled to Shigaraki. That line was somewhere “over there”. Now all we had to do was to locate the third train company that operated out of this tiny station. This proved to be a tricky proposition. By the time we finally located the hidden entrance to the needed train line we found that we had missed the train by two minutes.

On the up side we had located the hidden entrance, but now we were left to entertain ourselves for one hour in the middle of nowhere. So we did the only thing that seemed reasonable. We went to Seven-Eleven. Convenience stores here sell all manner of treats and we walked out with a box of chocolates called “Melty Kiss”, an apple Kit-Kat, and some rice balls filled with tuna salad. We hoofed it back to the train station and we sat on a bench eating our lunch.

Finally the appointed hour came and we went to board the train bound for Shigaraki. The train was one of the smallest trains we have ridden. It was a total of two cars long. We found a seat in the back car and prepared for a trip through the countryside. I thought it very interesting that I found the ride on this quaint little train to be more romantic than the ride we took in Kyoto that was billed as a romantic train ride. I was impressed by the myriad of fall colors that we could see as the train winded its way through the valleys of the Shiga countryside. The blazing yellows, reds and oranges that covered the hills and low mountains were striking and beautiful. It made me realize that I will always long to be near the mountains. I enjoyed watching the track drift off in the distance as the train progressed. The majestic view and tranquil country almost made up for having to wait to ride the train.

We arrived in the town of Shigaraki and were immediately greeted by the largest statue of tanuki I have ever seen. It made me laugh when I looked at his midsection and sitting in the middle of his tummy was a pay phone. It could have been worse and have sat a bit lower. That is not a phone I would like to place calls from.

Our first destination after arriving at the Shigaraki Station was the ceramic institute and museum. We were lucky that we found a giant map of the town and plotted our course. The walk to the institute was about a mile. It was a very pleasant day and the weather could not have been any better for a nice long walk. We finally reached the ceramic institute and took the opportunity to look around and admire the beautiful pottery creations made by some talented artists. It was a cross between a gallery and a museum. The art created was stunning. There was a vast array of styles. Some of the artists created cutesy knick-knacks, while others produced pieces of abstract modern art. We opted not to tour the actual museum because the price was too high for our liking. We also took some time to tour the grounds of the institute. The campus is situated on a very large hill that afforded an awesome view of the fall colors found in rural Japan.

The afternoon was beginning to wane and it was time to move on. We still had to find and purchase the perfect tanuki statue. This would not be a little decision. On our walk to the ceramic institute we had passed not fewer than ten large shops that displayed hundreds of tanuki statues each. We would have thousands of statues to choose from. We found the perfect one after much browsing and searching. I hope to one day set outside the front door of our home. Carrying the wrapped statue under my arm because it was too large to fit in the backpack we headed back to the train station. The sight of a very picturesque and vacant shrine just off the main road distracted us. We took advantage of the opportunity and entered the shrine to take in the sights.

In doing so we missed the only train out of town. Once again we found our selves stranded in a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. This time the length of time we had before the next train was an hour and a half. We started to look around for someplace to eat dinner. Not far from the station was a sukiyaki restaurant that looked delicious, but at almost sixty dollars a person it seemed too dear for us. There was another restaurant next door, but the sounds of off key karaoke coming through the walls deterred us from entering. We were left with only one reasonable choice. Once again we would go to Seven-Eleven. This time we left with a snack. I had a can of hot coffee and a sandwich; Jenny had a bottle of hot milk tea and a box of milk cake. We wandered back to the station where we ate our food in quiet solitude until the stationmaster approached us and said that it would be okay to board the train that had arrived forty-five minutes before departure.

We rode the train back to Omihachiman and walked to the only restaurant still open at eight-thirty in the evening: McDonalds. We stumbled through the front door wearing and exhausted from our day of being stranded in small town Japan. We had to laugh that we headed off to a small town and found ourselves spending time in two small towns. It made us realize how fortunate we are to be located in Omihachiman. Our city is a fair size, not too big, not too small. Omihachiman station has trains that depart on a very regular basis. We find life and traveling to be convenient and simple.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!!!


Merry Christmas Everyone!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Sukiyaki Thanksgiving

Thursday was Thanksgiving. It did not feel like a real Thanksgiving though. There was no turkey, no mashed potatoes, no big family gathering, and worst of all, no pumpkin pie. Equipped with the knowledge that anything we did would not make for a true holiday feast we decided on patronizing a new restaurant. There were several restaurants on our list. We were not sure which one would fit the bill. Whatever choice we made it had to fit three criteria: first, it must be someplace we had never been. Second it needed to be close to our home. Last and most important it must not be named McDonalds. We had to cross most off the list at the last minute due to rain and our own lack of willingness to walk great distances with water falling from the clouds.

The list was narrowed down to three choices. We could visit a local Italian restaurant called Prema Prema, a Japanese restaurant near Logan’s school or we could stay home and scrape together a meager supper. Staying home was the wild card. About midday dark clouds began rolling across the sky, and soon after that a cold rain started to fall. The thought of trudging across town in a cold and dreary rain made staying at home seem more and more like a viable option.

However, eating spaghetti made with bland sauce from a bag, and garlic bread fashioned from slices of white bread spread with butter and sprinkled with what remains of our dwindling garlic supplies would never be an acceptable holiday meal. Our minds were made up. We would trek to the restaurant closest to home. That restaurant happens to be Prema Prema.

We geared up for a walk in the rain. Logan put on his raincoat. We grabbed our umbrellas, and set off. But we would not eat at Prema Prema that night.

They were closed. We stood in front of the door. The rain beat a soft pitter-patter on our umbrellas. I looked at the dark restaurant. Then I looked over at Jenny and said, “I think they are closed.”

She glared back at me with a wry grin and said, “What makes you think that Mr. Wizard? Is it the fact that it is pitch dark in there? Or is it the fact that there aren’t any people inside.”

“Nope.” I replied tugging on the door handle, “The door won’t open.”

It was about a two block walk to the Japanese restaurant near Logan’s school so the trip did not take long. We did not exactly know what type of food they served or if we would be able to order anything on the menu. Japanese restaurants are generally very helpful to people who can not read the words on the menu. In the front window of the shop there are plastic models of the food served in the establishment. Before we decided to go we had never bothered to look at the window to see what kind of food they served. It turns out that they were an upscale udon restaurant. Udon is a type of noodle served in a thin broth. The udon noodle is very thick and the broth is sweet. It is a very popular dish here in Japan, but it is not my favorite. I think that the udon noodle is mushy and the broth is too sweet, but that is my personal opinion. Even though we do not particularly care for udon we decided to go ahead and eat dinner at the restaurant. We saw in the foyer that there was a stone grinding wheel to make the flower for the noodles, and farther in the restaurant we could see where the noodles were made fresh everyday.

The hostess ushered us back to our own private room where we sat on the floor around a low table. We had taken plenty of time to stare at the offerings in the window and had made some preliminary choices for our dinner. I wanted to try the sukiyaki udon, and Jenny was leaning toward something that looked a lot like nabe. I ordered the sukiyaki udon and Jenny ended up choosing the tempura and sushi set that came with a big bowl of udon soup. Logan wanted the Thomas kid’s meal. A few minutes after ordering we were brought our food on giant serving trays. Jenny’s came first. The tray contained a large bowl of udon, a plate with six pieces of sushi on it, and a dish of tempura. Tempura is a type of deep frying. Tempura refers more to the batter used to coat the food than anything else. Tempura batter is delicate, sweet, bread like, and delicious. Next, out came Logan’s food. He had a hamburger patty, a piece of fried chicken, two fried shrimp, some french-fries, rice, and a cup of chocolate mousse. My dinner came last. On my tray there were three bowls.

In the first bowl there was rice. In the second bowl there was a raw egg. In the last bowl there was the sukiyaki udon. Sukiyaki is similar to nabe. Beef and vegetables are cooked in a pot with a sauce. The sauce for sukiyaki is made up of soy sauce, sake, and sugar. It is very delicious. The beef, vegetables, and tofu are placed into the sauce and cooked, and in my case there were udon noodles too. This is when the raw egg comes into play. I used my chopsticks to beat the egg until it was thoroughly mixed. Then I pulled out a slice of cooked beef and dipped it into the raw egg. After going into the raw egg the beef made a short trip into my mouth. This process was done with all the contents of the sukiyaki.

Jenny and I swapped food halfway through. We both agreed that the sukiyaki was the better of the two meals. Logan ate his slowly. Not because he was enjoying every bite more because we were eating in a new location and he was overwhelmed. I must admit that the udon at the restaurant was the best that we have ever eaten and probably will ever eat. We ate until we were stuffed in the spirit of the holiday that it was. After all that is what Thanksgiving is all about. Sitting back and shoveling massive amounts of food into your belly while being surrounded by turkeys. Now if only we could have found a decent pumpkin pie in this country Thanksgiving would have been complete. I guess some things will have to wait until next year.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Nabe+Drinking=Fun

Last Wednesday night was a staff dinner party with the teachers at my grade level. About once a month the second grade teachers all gather together for dinner. To say that this was a dinner party is misleading, it happened more like this.

On the Friday prior I came into work and found a note on my desk. The note read, “We will have a drinking (crossed out) nabe party on Wednesday. Please check with your wife.” It is hard to say if the drinking was crossed out to be polite or so that I could check with my wife about dinner without mentioning the drinking. I was verbally reminded about the party and how much fun it would be to drink some alcohol together. It was a subtle hint and reminder that I had not been out drinking with them in quite some time. I checked with Jenny and she confirmed that it would be cool for me to go out with the people I work with in my day to day.

So on Wednesday evening I set off to find the nabe restaurant. It was easy to find, as it was the same location as when we had the first drinking, er... nabe party there. It is hard for me to believe that it is a functioning eatery. The place is a bit run down. In order to describe it best I will borrow a term from my students in Grand Rapids. The place was “broke down.” It is situated in between two railroad tracks so that every twenty minutes or so there is a train going by on one side or the other. I found a spot to park my bike outside which was a sticky wicket as the front of the restaurant was situated along a busy street, so I propped my bike up along the wall hoping it would not be carried away by a train. I entered and was greeted by the oldest restaurateur I have ever met. He must have been approaching eighty and the restaurant he tended must be in the exact same condition as when his father handed him the reigns. I would not be at all surprised to learn that the eatery predates the train line. The room I was ushered to was as dilapidated as the rest of the location. In the corner of the room was a large screen that at one time featured a majestic painting of a large eagle. Today, however, that eagle appears to have undergone drastic surgery. Large portions of the fabric are being held together with pieces of bright white medical tape. But I suppose that the condition of the building has little bearing on the deliciousness of the food. And the nabe at this place is supposed to be some of the best around

Nabe is a complex dish that requires throwing a bunch of vegetables and chicken in a pot of broth and allowing it to cook. It is the broth that makes it special. There is a lot of garlic in it. I happen to love garlic and will put lots of it into just about everything I eat which makes nabe a thing of beauty. Sitting at the bottom of the pot are four or five giant cloves of garlic. The broth is then brought to a boil then the chunks of chicken are thrown in along with bok choy cabbage, mushrooms, carrot, tofu and chicken meatballs. Once the meat is cooked thoroughly it is scooped out and placed in a bowl and eaten. It is delicious. The best part is that it tastes great with a nice cold glass of beer. Then again what food doesn’t taste better when accompanied with a nice cold lager? We ate all of the food including some pork that one of the teachers had brought from the grocery store. The pork is used to make a dish called shabushabu. Shabushabu is very similar to nabe. I picked up a thin slice of pork with my chopsticks and dipped it into the boiling broth and swished it around until it was cooked. When it was cooked I ate it.

We talked, ate, laughed, drank, and ate some more. When all of the veggies and meat were gone it was time to make the rice. Cooked rice it added to the broth along with a couple of beaten raw eggs and some chopped green onions. The rice, egg and broth mixture is allowed to cook until the egg is done. Then it is all scooped out and placed into a bowl and eaten. My favorite part of eating the rice is getting one of the big cloves of garlic in my bowl.

The entire time the eating is going on the beer is flowing like wine. Well in a way. You must never pour a beer for yourself, it is considered rude to do so. So when you need a refill you grab the bottle and fill up your neighbor’s glass and they, in turn, do the same in return. Well this leads to one seldom having an empty glass, which makes it difficult to gauge how much you have consumed. When this happens the most reliable method is to judge how fast the room is spinning. If you find it hard to stand then you turn your glass upside down. This gets tricky when you are drinking sake because the bottom of a sake glass is just a smaller cup and people will continue to fill it. I, how ever made an early evening of it leaving before the sake even came out. I retired about nine and was home tucked safely in my spinning bed around nine thirty.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Birthday Party at Ren-kun's House

We followed up the Friday night birthday fun with some Saturday daytime birthday fun. Logan’s friend Shigeru was having a birthday party in conjunction with some other children from Logan’s class, and he invited Logan to be one of the guests. We met Shigeru and his mother in our parking lot and waited for a ride to the party. The party would be held at the home of another member of Logan’s class. We arrived at Ren’s house, where the party was being held, in a matter of minutes. It would not have been at all difficult to walk there, but I am glad that we got a ride because I do not think that I could have found the house without an excellent map.

Logan had a great time playing with his friends. In all there were about eight children there ranging in age from not yet born to four. They played with Ren’s massive collection of toys for about an hour. All this time the adults were trying to figure out what to talk about. The common theme of the morning was silence. Ren’s Dad stayed and visited for a short time before he had to go to work. Other than that I was the only man there. We sat and talked a little but mostly watched the kids play. Then the magic thing that brings all people together came out. No, not that! Food.

Ren’s Mom began to bring out plate after plate of food. There were sandwiches and fried chicken. My favorite though was the big giant bowl of sushi. Now this was not ordinary sushi it was a special type of sushi called chirashizushi, and Ren’s Mom had gotten up at five in the morning to prepare it. Chirashizushi is sushi that is all mixed up. The rice is prepared and mixed with long strands of scrambled egg, seaweed, and little tiny fish that are almost too small to see. It is a very special and very delicious type of sushi that is usually served in the spring for the Hina doll festival. We were also fortunate enough to eat some authentic Chinese gyoza. Shigeru mother and father are Chinese, and his mother made some delicious steamed pork wontons. It was a lot of fun to eat our fill of the delicious food.

We enjoyed the lunch and the kids went back to playing. It was time for after lunch karaoke. Ren had a little keyboard with a microphone. The children took turns sitting at the toy piano and playing while another would sing into the microphone. Ren was quite a rock star. He really had a good time singing, and he was dressed the part too. He had the glam rock look down pat. He had decked himself out in a pink barrette and a bright pink headband. Logan tickled the ivories while his front man Ren belted out the tunes. He was just a little eyeliner short of being David Bowie’s Iggy Stardust. Logan and his friends had a great time. They did not seem quite satisfied however. There was something missing from this birthday party.

Then that which was missing was found, and out came the cake. It was a simple cake with white frosting and strawberries on top. I was a bit shocked and delighted when I was asked to cut the cake.
I was horrified however that they wanted me to carve it up before singing Happy Birthday. I lead a rousing rendition dedicated to “everyone” then I sliced the cake into twelve portions. We devoured the cake. I think that the cake was the first homemade cake that did not come out of a rice cooker; we have had in a little over a year. And a delicious cake it was. I ate my entire piece and some of Logan’s piece too, as he was more interested in playing with his friends than in eating cake. Not too long after cake we made a graceful exit and soon found ourselves in the loving confines of our own home.

Always trying to find a way to escape the prison of our own four walls we soon found ourselves making our way to the local Starbucks. It is a bit amazing but it was Jenny who made the suggestion. We were sitting in our chilly apartment when she suddenly exclaimed, “I think a nice hot latte would be nice.” Me never being one to pass up an opportunity to drink a nice latte; I was up and standing at the door with my coat on as my answer. I figured that actions speak louder than words. So off we trooped to the one Starbucks in Omihachiman. I drank a gingerbread latte and Jenny had a crème brulee. Logan shared whichever one he could get his hands on. We sat and joked about our day and how much fun we had as we sipped our coffee. Once again the day ended with a nice cup of Joe. Perfect.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Otanjobi Omedeto means Happy Birthday


“Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday deeeeaaarrrr Jeeeennnny! Happy Birthday to You!!!!!” This is possibly the best song that gets sung only once a year. Now I realize that the song gets sung over and over through out the year, but each person really only gets it sung to them once a year. Friday we got to sing it to my beautiful wife Jenny. Yes on Friday, November 16 my wife turned 24. She was very excited for the big day and kept asking about her present. But I told her that she would have to wait to find out.

We started the evening by going to the store to pick up some necessary supplies. First we had to purchase some gifts for a birthday party on Saturday. Then it was downstairs to get the fixin’s for fajitas. We grabbed onions, peppers, corn chips and some beef. We were all set for fajita fun. Now all we needed was a birthday cake.

We walked down to the Andenken Bakery. Jenny had to pick out her birthday cake from an amazing array of delicious deserts. She chose a white cake covered in fruit. They even offered to write Happy Birthday on it. The real shock, for them, came when we asked if they could write it in Japanese. I am fairly sure that her jaw almost hit the floor. Then she asked again in broken English if we wanted “Happy Birthday” written in English. We assured her that we wanted “おたんじょび おめでと” written on the cake. She gave us a worried look and hurried off to write our message. At this point we were all prepared for an evening of bacchanalian birthday fun.

We walked on home and started cooking Jenny’s birthday dinner. We had all we needed to make some marvelous Mexican food. We created a spread of foods that was quite impressive. We had steak, onion and pepper fajitas, guacamole, real cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and plenty of tortillas. It was a feast and we enjoyed each morsel of it. We then finished the meal with a big slice of birthday cake.

Then it was time to open present. Well, yes there was only one present to open. Logan and I bought a jigsaw puzzle for Jenny featuring characters from the movie “My Neighbor Totoro.” I know it doesn’t seem like much of a gift, but Logan and I wrapped each of the one thousand pieces separately. It took quite a bit of effort on her part to open the gift, and when done this way it sure seemed like she got a lot of presents. Now all she has to do is assemble the puzzle, which she spent some time doing that evening.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

七五三

I suppose when your three year old son asks, “What are we going to do today Kevin?” The best answer is not “The same thing we do everyday Logan. Try to take over the world.” I say this only because at the age of three children should be expected to set and meet attainable goals. Conquering the world at such an age may just be too lofty a goal for one so small. And if we did manage to do so would he really know what to do with such great power? No, one so young should not rise so high so early. Instead we set our mind to conquering kindergarten, and that is just what we did on Thursday morning. It was a perfect start to our Shichi-Go-San celebration.

Shichi-Go-San is a festival celebrated by families who have young children ages seven, five and three. In fact that is what the name of the festival means, seven, five, three. It is a minor festival that families seem to celebrate individually. Families with a child aged three, five or seven will go to a Shinto Shrine to pray for the health, safety and happiness of their child. Sometimes the child is dressed in a traditional kimono while other times the child is dressed in their best suit of clothes. What we have seen here is that girls tend to be dressed in an elaborately beautiful kimono; while boys tend to wear more western clothing like slacks and a sweater, or a suit. While at the shrine the family will pray for their child and perhaps have the priest say a prayer of blessing over the child. The child will then be given special candy to commemorate the day.

I have wanted to visit Logan’s school and Thursday was the perfect opportunity. I had already taken the day off of work in order to celebrate the shichi-go-san holiday and now I would be able to go and watch him play at school too. We walked to school together in the morning. Logan led the way holding my hand much of the way. We got to school and Logan began by putting all of his school things in their proper places. Then he began to play with his friends. He started the day by playing house with some of the other boys and girls. They all had a great time bringing plates and cups over to me from the kitchen. I would then ask them, “Kore wa nan desu ka?” (what’s this?) They would then tell me, cake, sushi, tea or whatever it was that I was eating or drinking. I thought that it was hilarious when I asked one of the boys what was in the cup he just handed me and he replied, “Biru.” (beer) My personal inclination was that maybe ten o’clock in the morning was still a tad early to be drinking a beer, not to mention the fact that we were at school. But I drank it non the less and I even told him that it was delicious. We continued to play house with students bringing me food and me asking what it was then eating it. They brought such peculiarities as lemon juice, orange beer and corn soup. We played until it was clean up time.

Next we all had to gather for circle time. I can not decide if the sound of twenty-five preschoolers screaming/singing is cute or horrific. Right now I am leaning toward cute because hearing all of those little tykes belting out the Anpanman March was enough to bring a smile to my face. The kiddies sang two or three songs. Jenny and I watched while three of Logan’s friends all jockeyed for position trying to sit next to him. They would move their chair to be right next to his. Then when they got up to sing another student would come and move the first chair out of the way and place their chair next to Logan. It was quite comical to see them moving the competition out of the circle only to have their chair moved in turn.

After circle time it was time to head off to banana room for a special nutrition presentation. We got to learn all about the three food groups and how they work together to give us plenty of energy to play and have fun at school. What? Did I misspeak? You did not know that there were only three food groups? Alas, yes here in Japan there are only three food groups. There is the fruit and veggie group, the dairy and meat group, and there is the grain and rice group. I thought that there was another too, but I was wrong. The teachers had a story about pigs that ran out of energy because they did not eat a balanced diet. Now when Logan needs a bit of convincing to eat his veggies we remind him about the pigs that did not have enough energy to play at school. This usually does the trick and he responds with a healthy, “That’s OK I’m at home now. I’ll just take a nap.”

After the nutrition presentation it was time to go outside and play on the playground. We had a lot of fun playing. The children all wanted to show me all the fun things that they have to play with on the playground. We first went over to the sandbox where they taught me how to dig in the sand. Then it was off to climb on the jungle gym. There were many shouts of, “Rogan no Otto-san kochira wa” (Logan’s dad over here) We climbed, ran, dug and swang all over that playground. I then went over to where there was a group of kids playing in the sand and I ordered a couple of hamburgers and a coke from their “restaurant.” They had a great time making food for me. Kids would come running across the playground with a plate of sand to bring me a piece of “cake.” We had a great time playing and I especially enjoyed meeting Logan’s teacher and all of the boys and girls in his class.

After school we decided to go and get some lunch. We decided that as it was a nice day that we would get some boxed lunches and go and eat picnic style. We walked to our favorite bento shop and ordered. We then wandered toward the mountain. We found a nice spot near the canal at the base of the mountain to eat our lunch. It was a great spot to eat our food. The weather was pleasant and the view was nice. The leaves on the trees along the canal are just starting to change color so we were able to appreciate the fall colors as we ate.

After lunch we headed off to Hachiman-jingu. The shrine was all prepared for the Shichi-go-san celebration. They had placed an inflatable Anpanman, Baikinman, and Dokinchan near the Shrine to encourage families to come to the shrine for the festival. Logan and I went up to the shrine to say a prayer and ring the giant bell. I took a moment to pray for Logan’s health and happiness. Then we went down to the information booth where we got some chitoseame. Chitoseame is thousand year candy. Thousand year candy is given to children on shichigosan because it is believed to ensure long life. The package is decorated with a crane and a turtle which are both symbols of long life here in Japan. We opted not to have the priest say a blessing over Logan because we learned that the blessing would cost about fifty dollars. It was actually one of our Japanese friends who said that she thought that the price was very expensive.

We decided to cap off our fun day with a piece of cake. We went over to a cake shop near the shrine for a couple of pieces of cake. We got a caramel cake and green tea desert and went outside to eat. Jenny walked over to the vending machine and bought a nice hot bottle of milk tea and we sat on top of a rock wall eating our cake and drinking tea. It made me laugh when we were in the cake shop ordering cake Logan had said that he did not want any cake and that he was full. When we got outside and Jenny and I were eating. Logan suddenly decided that he did want some cake after all. I found it comical that he was so matter of fact about the idea that he did not want cake. Then the words came out of his mouth once we were outside and eating, “I do. I do want some cake.”

We walked home and spent the rest of the afternoon resting and enjoying the time together. We had a good day and the day made me eternally grateful for my family. Watching Logan play with his friends was a lot of fun. It made me glad to see him act like a little boy. At one point when he was at school he was using the hose to fill a tub of water when he moved the steam of water and got his friend’s shoe wet. I noticed it happen and I made him turn off the water. He then had to apologize and set her shoes in the sun to dry. Though I was not happy that he had gotten her shoe wet it did make me glad that he is learning to get along with others. He did need me to help him apologize to the little girl, but once he did she was not so mad at him any more. I am glad that we took the opportunity to go and celebrate 七五三. We had a good time and I pray that my little boy will have a long and happy life.


七 shichi (seven)
五 go (five)
三 san (three)

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Yaki Niku


Roger if you are reading I have found the perfect food for you. It is called niku. I know that you are a big fan of it and I know where to get some of the best of it in the world. Let me clear up a little bit of confusion, niku is the Japanese word for meat, and where we live, the city of Omihachiman, is famous all across Japan as having some of the best beef in the country. Omi-beef or Om-gyu, as it is called, is held in higher regard here than is the world famous Kobe Beef. Kobe Beef is the beef that is used in the ultra-expensive hamburger that I read about in the news a while back. The cows for omi-beef are hand fed big bottles of beer and given daily massages to keep the meat tender and juicy. Eating omi-beef truly is a mind-blowing experience.

On Sunday night we went out to eat with our neighbors. Our neighbor Justin organized all of the people in the building, and a few others, to have a night of Yaki-niku, or grilled meat. We met in the parking lot of our building around seven in the evening and walked about ten minutes to the restaurant. This particular restaurant is called Nishimura-ya and it is known for having some of the best and most expensive yaki-niku in town. We arrived at the restaurant after about a ten-minute walk through the cold and a few raindrops. We were guided up to a private dining room where we were able to sit on the tatami floor around a low table. In the middle of the table were two holes sunk into the table. The hole was topped with a grate that was just a little below the level of the table. Under the grill was a flame. The table is a grill where we would be grilling our own slices of meat and vegetables.

The servers came in a few moments later and took our drink orders. I of course had a beer, because what else could go so well with grilled meat other than beer? A few moments later the servers returned, not only with our drinks but also with large platters filled with small slices of beef and some vegetables. The veg selection was not the best, but we were not there to eat healthy. The vegetable platter was heaped high with large leaves of cabbage, onions, Japanese potatoes, and mushrooms. The meat tray was just as large and was filled with thin slices of bite sized raw beef just waiting to be placed onto the grill and seared and cooked to deliciousness.

The first meat that was put on to the grill was what I think must have been tongue. It was sliced thin. The slices of meat were placed onto the grill and cooked. We then removed them from the grill with our chopsticks, dipped them into the sauce and ate. Logan however did not get the meat off the grill, though he did try, Jenny or I took care of that duty for him. Other cuts of meat were also grilled to perfection.

The tongue meat was good but it was not the best that Nakamura-ya had to offer. Some of the cuts that came out next were beautiful and tasted as good as they looked. The meat was beautifully marbled with fat in a way that you can’t find in America. The meat is not low in fat, nor is it lean. The fat runs through the meat in little white streams that divide the reddish pink meat into tiny little islands of muscle. The meat, in the best spots, looks like a piece of marble waiting for an artist to sculpt a beautiful relief of a cow. I suppose this is why the fat that funs through the muscle in a slice of steak is called marbling. I made sure to place a couple of well-chosen slices on the grill for my own personal enjoyment. I did everything in my power to ensure that my carefully selected cuts were not poached by anyone else. The enjoyment was sublime. I timed everything perfectly. I peeled my meat off the hot grill and dipped it into my sauce. Then it went straight into my mouth. It was not at all necessary to chew the meat; it simply melted in my mouth. The fat had all turned into juice and flavor. I was left with the second most tender piece of meat I have ever eaten. The first being at a different, more expensive, restaurant here in Omihachiman that also serves Om-gyu called Tiffany. Tiffany served the best steak I have ever eaten in my life. It was also at Tiffany that I ate beef sushi for the first time. Yaki-niku is not steak though, and not all of the meat was as prime.

I will admit that some of the meat looked more like fat with a tiny but of meat running through it. There were even a few pieces that looked as if they were entirely made up of fat. I am not sure that I have ever eaten beef that actually looks more like bacon before it is cooked, but eat it we did. The fat usually melted away leaving tender and juicy meat to eat.
There was even a few times that the melted fat caught on fire resulting in little flare-ups on the grill. Once or twice the grease ignited as someone lifted the meat off the grill. This resulted with them holding a burning ball of meat in their chopsticks for a few moments. One of our friends, Katy, has just purchased a very fancy camera and she was trying to catch the little bursts of flame on film. We ate plenty of beef that night.

I am glad that we took the opportunity to go out with the people around us. Not only was the company good but the food was too. There will only be so many opportunities to eat food in this way. We have a limited time left here in Japan before we have to figure out what is next and move back to America. Even though the meal was expensive the experience was worth the price of the meal. We had a good time and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Om-gyu is an expensive luxury, even here in Omihachiman, and someday we will not be able to eat it. Now when we come home to our American lives we can say that we have eaten the best yaki-niku made from the best om-gyu in Japan. What awesome bragging rights we will have.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Monkey-kun visits the Monkey Park

Saturday morning after breakfast we headed off to the Arashiyama area of Kyoto. Arashiyama is the area of Kyoto that is known to have the best fall colors. Only part of this day would be about seeing the changing leaves. The majority of the day would be spent at the Arashiyama monkey park.

The monkey park is a mountain in Kyoto inhabited by about 150 wild monkeys. The monkeys roam the mountain freely. There was a nice little hike up the mountain. I expected to see some monkeys as we wild, but we did not see any until we were almost at the top.

The pathway zigzagged its way up the face of the mountain. As we neared the top of the mountain the trees gave way and there was a large clearing. We heard them before we saw them. Their high-pitched screams grew louder as we approached the clearing. At first there were a couple of monkeys along the path. Then we spotted one perched in a tree and another one lying in the sun next to the trail. Then as we entered the clearing we saw many more. There were probably thirty to forty monkeys congregated in the clearing. This was the place to be. There was a building on the edge of the open space. We looked around for a moment and then headed into the building to feed the monkeys.

The best way to describe the building is to say that it is the opposite of a zoo. The building was the cage, and the people trapped inside were watching the animals that were free to roam about. Inside the building we were able to feed the monkeys. We bought a few bags of peanuts and a bag of apple slices. We held the food and the monkeys shoved their hands through the chain link fence to grab them out of our palms. Logan had a great time. He would reach into the bag and pull out a peanut. Hold it in out between his fingers. He would say, “Here monkey-kun. Here is a peanut for you.” He fed the monkeys four bags of peanuts. He would have gladly continued feeding them peanuts but the smell, a mixture of old peanut shells, stale cigarettes, and monkey, was starting to get to me.

We went outside where we could see an impressive view of the city. We looked around and watched the monkeys play for a spell before we went to play ourselves. We wandered down to a small playground. Logan took the opportunity to play. He went up and down on the seesaw. He swung on the porch swing. And he slid down the longest slide I have ever seen. The playing made us hungry so we headed back up to the shelter to eat some lunch.

We ate our lunch of onigiri. Onigiri are Japanese rice balls stuffed with various fillings. Our favorite is the tuna salad onigiri. It is the Japanese equivalent of a tuna salad sandwich. We filled up and prepared to hike back down the mountain and walk to our next destination, the romantic train.

There is a train that takes a scenic tour of the Hozu-gawa valley. It is supposed to be an excellent way to view the fall colors. We had to walk from the monkey park to the train station. It was not a long walk, only about twenty minutes or so, and for us that is not all that long seeing as how we walk pretty much everywhere we go these days. We made it to the station and bought a one-way ticket on the last train of the day. We had time before the train left so we had a snack at the little café inside the station. We found ourselves with time to kill so we looked around the museum that was there. The museum was a combination steam locomotive and classical music museum. There were four steam engines and statues of five composers. All of them were located in one big room. It took us about ten minutes to take it all in, and that is being generous.

The time finally came and we got in line to board the romantic train. The romantic train however did not live up to its name. It was a tad less than romantic. We boarded the train and it was a very old fashioned looking train. We thought that the engine might even be a steam engine, but we are pretty sure now that it was a diesel. The benches on the train were wooden. Sitting on them reminded me of straight-backed wooden church pews. The train ride was a nice one that followed the Hozu River on its winding path.

The view from the window was incredible. The Hozu River Valley is very beautiful and I for one was impressed with what I saw, when I could see. The problem was that for all the beautiful scenery it was difficult to see because sometimes the good view was out the window on the opposite side of the train car. Sometimes it is possible to see out the window on the other side of the car, but when the aisle is full of standing people it is difficult to see through them. The other big obstacle to seeing was the fact that the train traveled through a lot of long tunnels. When the train was in a tunnel there was nothing to see. One of the tunnels was lit with some neon lights that were shaped like important sights in Kyoto. That was nice to see, if only they could all have been like that. I think that my favorite part of the trip was when a demon came on board.

At one of the stations there was a man wearing a demon costume waiting on the platform. When the train began to move I noticed that he had boarded the train and was making his way through the train cars. He was in the best Oni costume I have ever seen. The hair on the wig went all the way down his back and the mask was very scary. To keep from being too frightening for the small children he kept his demon face covered with another mask of the cartoon character of Doraemon. Doraemon is a blue cat that is very popular here in Japan. He wandered up and down the aisle of the car stopping to talk with the people in the seats. He even stopped to say that my hair was not long enough and that I should grow it out so I could wear a pink curler just like him. The train ride took about half an hour and really was quite pleasant. We got off at the last stop and walked the ten minutes to a different train station to begin the journey home. When we finally made it home we were exhausted after our long day and we all gladly dropped off to sleep.

Halloween Extravaganza

Neighbors make all the difference. We are fortunate enough to have some great neighbors in our building. We live in the Toraoka Mansion; mansion being the word for apartment building. But everyone knows the building as the Gaijin Heights. There are ten apartments in our building. Americans inhabit seven of the ten and two are home to Japanese families. All of our neighbors are incredibly nice people.



Last week was Halloween. One of our Japanese neighbors, Mrs. Fujita, wanted to take her children and some friends trick-or-treating. She invited us to join in the fun. So on Tuesday October thirtieth we gathered in the parking lot of our building to wander the neighborhood in search of candy. There were about fifteen children and five or six parents all of who live in close proximity to our home. Including two kids who are in Logan’s class at school. The group walked to each family’s home and shouted, “trick-or-treat” while standing at the door. They were rewarded for their efforts with candy and snacks. The adults were given the sense of delight that goes with seeing your child receive massive amounts of sugary candy. And the look of amazement in their eyes when they see all of the loot they have accumulated.

It was a lot of fun not only to see Logan go trick-or-treating for the first time but to witness the Japanese kids have fun doing it too. They had a great time strutting through the neighborhood wearing their homemade costumes and shouting, “trick-or-treat” at the top of their lungs. Logan had fun getting a ton of candy and walking with his friend from school named Risa.

The fun did not begin or end on Tuesday. On Wednesday Logan brought small bags of candy to school to share with his classmates. We also shoved bags of candy through the mail slots of our American neighbor’s doors. We also had the opportunity to attend a Halloween party to kick off the holiday fun.

A friend of ours here in Omihachiman is an American who owns his own English school. Every year he holds several Halloween parties. He divides the fun by age, little kids, big kids, and adults. He invited us to join the party for little kids, which was held on Sunday morning. It was a truly beautiful day as we walked over to his school. We could hear the sounds of fun, in this case fun sounds like the sound of screaming three to six year olds, as we approached the school. It was a fantastic party. Logan had a great time playing games like pin the wart on the witch and ring toss. He also had fun playing in a bucket of green slime and making play-dough creatures. After game time all the kids went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood around the school. This time as well Logan had a blast saying, “Trick-or-treat” and collecting candy.

Halloween for us was not a one-day event. It was more of a weeklong collection of fun events that led us to remember how kind and generous the people around us are. Halloween was fun primarily because of the people in our day-to-day life. Sometimes good neighbors make all the difference.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

A Fire Festival?

I suppose when the travel book states that you will be packed into a train car like grains of rice then one should listen and heed the warning. We often turn to our trusted travel guide when exploring the area around us. We use it to find beautiful temples, good restaurants, shopping, and exciting events. We even have an entire guidebook dedicated to the city of Kyoto. This book combined with a compass, that always points north, except when riding on an electric train that is essentially a giant electro-magnet, has been instrumental in finding our way around this magnificent city. We read in our book about a fire festival in a town just to the north of Kyoto. The book stated something along the lines of, “If you are able to go this in one of the most spectacular events in the Kyoto area.” We decided that we would try and make it to this festival.

We plotted our route. Found the train lines. Created an itinerary and figured out the timeline. I snuck out of work a few minutes early so we could make it to the train as early as possible. We packed up our backpack with a picnic supper and headed out the door. We made it to the train station in record time and managed to get on a train that left soon after we made it to the station. We were on our way to the tiny town of Kuruma to see a marvelous fire festival where half dressed men would be carrying burning torches measuring five to six meters and weighing hundreds of pounds down the main street of the town. We made it to Kyoto Station changed trains and rode down one station where we changed trains again. We transferred to the subway and rode to the north of the city where we transferred to another line. This is where the surprises began. The trip had been uneventful to this point but it all changed at this time. We got off the subway and were confronted with a line to purchase tickets. To be honest we did not know what the line was for when we first saw it. The ticket machine was on the street level and we had to head up the stairs. We noticed there was a line of people winding up the escalator and there were guards stationed directing traffic. We walked up the stairs to and were confronted with the line of people waiting to get on the train. We had a short huddle to decide how we should proceed. We figured that we had come this far and it would be our only chance in this lifetime to see this particular festival. We figured that we should go ahead and attend. We bought our tickets and walked back down the stairs to get in the line for the train. We strolled down the stairs as briskly as we could and promptly rode the escalator back up as a part of the line for the train. It was like waiting in line for a ride at an amusement park. There were ropes that cordoned off the lobby forming a maze that the line meandered through. A train arrived and the crowd began to move toward the turnstiles. The closer we got to the front of the line the more I began to hope that we would actually have to wait for the next train. The line had seemed long when we joined the end; and now all those people were on the train. I hoped that we would have to wait for the next train in hopes that rather than being the last on the train and having to stand the entire ride we would be the first on and possibly get to sit for the forty minute journey. This was a vain hope however as we were not even to be some of the last people on the train. We clambered onto what seemed to be a very full train at the time. Jenny and Logan were very luck in that someone offered their seat to them. Jenny and Logan were able to sit for the journey. I had to stand. I was not even lucky enough to stand near their seat. As more and more people got onto the train I was pushed farther and farther away from them. The train ride itself was uneventful. We stayed on one train from the beginning of the line to the end, which is good because we could not have made it off the train before the last stop if we had wanted to.

The train made it the town of Kuruma. We made it off the train with the rest of the crush. We had little idea of where to go to find this particular festival. Our motto of “when in doubt, follow the crowd” did not let us down this time either. Of course everyone on the train was here for the same reason we were. So finding the festival was going to be of little difficulty. We followed the crowd down a path and onto a street that we thought would lead to the festival. Or at least that is what we thought. Apparently that street was the festival. One narrow street, half of it roped off with police tape was where the festival would be taking place. What seemed to be thousands of people began to walk and push along a very narrow pathway about the width of a sidewalk. On one side was the police tape and police officers keeping the street clear of people on the other side of the path were houses. We were pushed along the path, not even being given an opportunity to see what, if anything, might be happening.

We found a parking lot that had been taken over by people needing a moment of respite from the madness. We set down our tarp and used the area to have a bit of supper. Well at least Jenny and Logan did. While they ate I tried to see what might be going on. I managed to see nothing more than a glimpse of some small children dressed in traditional clothing marching down the street carrying a very large torch accompanied by their parents. After trying unsuccessfully to get a good vantage point to witness the spectacle I joined Jenny and Logan for a spot of dinner. We sat watching the crowd move along the path as we ate our curry-pan and rice balls. After our dinner we joined the fray. There were times in that crowd where we were able to walk along, most of the time however was spent being pushed and shoved. We soon ducked onto the front porch of a house to escape the crowd. Here we were able to see a portion of what we came to witness. Grown men wearing little more than sleeves and a loincloth carrying giant torches down the street. It was not long before the police asked the small group of people; us included, to vacate the porch. We were forced, once again, back into the crush of people moving steadily down the street.

The whole experience soon began to overwhelm us and we grew frustrated with being pushed along. We felt as if every minute were a fight to see something that we would probably not going to have the opportunity to see. First we attempted to go backward through the crowd, but we were warned that that was a bad idea, and that the line formed a circle leading back to the train station. We forced our way through the crowd and pushed our way to the station where we were once again confronted with a line. We would have to wait to ride the train back to Kyoto. Luckily for us the line was not too long and we were able to find a nice corner to stand in for the long train ride back to Kyoto. Again this train grew more and more crowded. It became so full that I did not think that there would be enough room to squeeze any more people on board, but they did, about five more people squished their way into the car. Then the train began the trip back to Kyoto.

This trip was rather disappointing. We knew that there would be a lot of people to confront, but we hoped that we would be able to see more than furtive glimpses of an age-old ceremony. All the pushing had overwhelmed us and prodding and we had not really seen what it was that we had gone to witness. The guidebook had recommended this festival and we took a chance to see it, but so did every other reader of the guidebook. Crowds are a way of life here in Japan and sometimes they make for fun. This night however they made time a nightmare. The crowds of people made it difficult for us to enjoy and even see the festivities. I am glad we took the opportunity but the experience that I expected to have was not the one we were able to live. I had figured on seeing a fire festival that evening, but ended up with an experiential opportunity to find out just how big a crowd can get here in Japan. The difference between expectations and reality are great. The opportunity to learn and experience life however does not change it you keep you mind and eyes open to different possibilities.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Universal Studios Japan


I am a big fan of roller coasters. I remember the first time I rode the Gemini at Cedar Point. The rush and thrill of rolling and shaking around curves, anticipation in the pit of my stomach as the car slowly climbs that first hill. The weightless feeling you get when your bottom leaves your seat as you crest that first hill. To be honest I what I remember most was crying with fright, my Dad dragging me into the car and pulling me into the seat and locking the lap bar into place effectively trapping me in the seat of the vehicle that would soon, in my mind, be hurtling me to my death. Tears streamed down my face as the car began to climb. The sharp click, click of the racheting chain pulling us up that first hill echoed ominously in my ear. We reached the zenith of the mountain and rocketed down and moments later I was a full fledged roller coaster junkie. Though it would take years before I developed a taste for any roller coaster that inverts its rider.

So when Jenny brought up the possibility of going to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka I was all for it. I took a day off of work in hopes that the park might be less crowded on a Wednesday in the middle of October. We were partially correct. I am sure that the park was less crowded, but there were still plenty of people enjoying their time at the theme park. We arrived at the park shortly after it opened and made our way into the theme park proper. I was instantly amazed at the sheer size of the park. I was shocked at just how small the park was. After visiting American theme parks that seem to sprawl in all directions; Universal Studios Japan is surrounded on all sides by the city of Osaka. In fact one of the first things that I noticed upon entering the park was that I could see cars driving along the big bridge that spans the river.

We wandered into the park and had the opportunity to enjoy a parade. There were characters from Sesame Street singing and dancing in a miniature show. Logan thought it was fun to watch Elmo, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Zoe and two other "friends" dance and sing as they tried to restart their "stalled" bus. We all enjoyed it, but for Jenny and I it was strange to hear these familiar characters speaking with unfamiliar voices in Japanese.

After the parade we decided to walk down the street and find a location to view the outdoor stage show. The show was called Sorciere and was a stylish stage show. Music, dancing and acrobatics were choreographed into a fun and entertaining show that was a visual delight. All of the characters were dressed in bright colorful Halloweenesque costumes such as spiders, pumpkins, witches, scarecrows, and other wild creatures. We enjoyed watching their performance.

After the show it was time for lunch. We had chosen to eat at Mel's diner. This is the fifties theme burger restaurant in the park. There are old classic cars in the parking lot, old time rock 'n' roll playing on the juke box, including Elvis, Buddy Holley, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Cheese burgers, chicken nuggets, french fries, Coca-cola and tofu donuts with pumpkin sugar were lunch. It was good. Much in the same way food at a theme park is anywhere. It was just fun to eat in the classic American style restaurant in a Japanese theme park. Listening to the King sing "Heart Break Hotel" and "Jailhouse Rock" over the loudspeakers.

After lunch Jenny and Logan headed off to visit Snoopy's Playland while I rode the one real roller coaster in the park. It was nice to see that there were two separate lines to stand in. I was able to go in the single rider line. I walked through the maze. Past other people waiting with their friends and families. In fact I walked straight to the front of the line. I only had to wait about five minutes until a group of three were ready to ride and then there was room for me to ride. The roller coaster was perhaps the smoothest ride I have ever taken on a roller coaster. It was very nice; not remarkable, just nice. A few twists and turns, big hills and small dips made for an exciting ride. I must say however that the best part was the fact that I only stood in line for five minutes or so. Later in the day I went to ride "Spiderman, the Ride" and I waited in that line for close to an hour and a half. The ride was nice but waiting that long was enough to spoil the ride making it less enjoyable.

Jenny and Logan spent time having fun in the play area. Logan broke out of Spike's Jailhouse, had batting practice with Lucy, went to school with the Peanuts Gang, and visited with his buddy Joe Cool. We all got our picture taken with Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Lucy. Logan said that his favorite part of the play area was ringing the bell in the school house. I think that the picture Jenny took of him "bending" the bars in the old west jail cell is the best; followed a close second by him holding hands with the statue of Charlie Brown.

We all headed into the Land of Oz to ride the Carousel. Logan planned on riding the horse. We had a lot of fun waiting in line talking about riding the carousel and which animal we would choose, and about the scene in the movie "Mary Poppins" where they ride the round-about and the horses leave the carousel and run in a horse race and go on a fox hunt. The thought came to me as we were waiting in line how much more enjoyable it is to wait in line with someone. The wait was more fun when you don't have to do it alone. Also riding the attraction is more enjoyable when you get to share it with another. Logan did manage to ride the horse he wanted to. I helped to make sure that he did not fall off, and Jenny rode the pig that was next to Logan's horse. Good old fashioned family fun.

Next it was time for the Sesame Street 4-D movie. It is one of the movies that is not just 3-D but has an added fourth dimension to increase the sensory experience. It was fun to see the movie. I must say that really see and experience was about all we could do, the dialogue was entirely in Japanese and Muppet voices are difficult to understand in English. The experience was great. One part of the movie had Bert and Ernie in the bathtub with Rubber Duckie. When Bert splashed and sent bubbles flying everywhere bubbles began to fall from the ceiling. The most precious thing I saw was when Ernie threw Rubber Duckie out into the crowd, and wearing the 3-D glasses made the duck appear to come right out into the audience. It was at this point that I looked over at Logan, and there he was sitting with his hand stretched out trying to touch Duckie. Later on in the movie a short bust of air shot out at our ankles and it shocked Logan so much that he pulled his feet up onto the seat and refused to put them back down. He really enjoyed the multi-sensory aspect of the movie. I am afraid that his first movie theatre experience will make it difficult for regular movies to measure up.

Our last ride of the day was the E.T. ride. We waited together to ride on the movie ride. Logan was very excited to ride on this ride because the seats and the car take the appearance of a bicycle. He was very happy to ride until the ride got to the part where you visit E.T.'s home planet. I think that this was a bit disturbing for the little guy. When we finally got off the ride he said that he was ready to "go home right now! Let's just go home." But we still had to eat dinner before we could begin the two hour trek back to Omihachiman.

We had a plethora of restaurant choices waiting for us outside the park, but first I had to stop and get some Omiyage. Here in Japan it is customary to bring back small souvenirs for the people you know and work with. I thought that It would be nice to pick up something for the people I work with. We also wanted to find something that said Universal Studios Japan as a remembrance of our day there. I found some small chocolates for my coworkers and we found a fun Jaws pot holder to remember the day. We decided to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. We all managed to find a nice Hard Rock t-shirt and had a great dinner. The train ride home was quiet and uneventful. We practically crashed into bed and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Golden Weekend

Lady luck is a fickle mistress. But she seemed to smile upon us this past weekend. Things just seemed to work out in our favor. It amazes me how golden our weekend ended up. And this coming from a guy who usually says, "If it weren't for bad luck; I'd have no luck at all."

Friday night we started our weekend off on a fun note. We ate pizza. We were feeling a little bored with some of our food choices, so we decided, on the fly, to have pizza. We were wandering the streets of our fair city with a rumbling in our bellies. With each advancing step our hunger grew. The signs hanging above the doorways didn't entice us in to the restaurants. The pictures and food models in the windows seemed more to repel us, push us away. The food we eat and love eating just did not appeal to us. We found ourselves at our favorite pizza joint. We ordered a couple of pies to go. Comfort food of sorts. Japanese food is different. It is the same basic principle, but it is different none the less. Our first pizza was the Potato and Corn. It was covered in ham, potato, corn, and onions with fresh cracked black pepper on top. The other pizza was a BBQ beef with onions, peppers, and tender juicy beef. Topped off with a bit of yellow mustard it made for a delicious meal. Washed down with a nice big glass of Coca-Cola it was a very satisfying meal.

The golden times did not end with a great meal. Saturday we decided, quite on a whim, to travel up to the city of Nagahama. Nagahama is about thirty minutes north of us and we had no idea what the town held in store for us. We were pleasantly surprised to find we stumbled into an art fair. We wandered around what might be considered to be the town square. We took time to watch the artisans at work and we looked at all the wares. There seemed to be a nice sized art community located in the town. We went on the right day. Unknowingly we struck upon the annual "Art in Nagahama" event. We had only gone to look around the town to see what there was to see and we found gold. I ended up purchasing a sake drinking set. I found a beautiful pitcher and five cups that match. I can hardly wait to share some rice wine with my family and friends when we return. We enjoyed looking at all the beautiful crafts and handiworks that were produced by local artisans. But in the end it was the crowd that did us in. We have done well with crowds living here in Japan, but this last weekend was too much. Too many people pushing and shoving trying to get at too little space. By the time we returned home we were glad to be home.

Sunday was the day of the big Otsu Matsuri. We had been planning to go to this festival in the capital city for several weeks. We resisted some peer pressure from our neighbors and did not go to the big Omihachiman sports day. Instead we headed off to travel down the coast of Lake Biwa to the grand city of Otsu. We were unsure of where the festival was located. We decided to stick with our tried and true adage of living in Japan, "when in doubt, follow the crowd." This day again the crowd did not let us down. The lines of people can be annoying and frustrating at the best of times, can make it next to impossible to get the photo you were framing up, but when you don't know where to go just follow the line and nine times out of ten you will end up where you want to be. And that tenth time, well, you will probably end up some place better than your original plan. The Otsu Matsuri was very similar to the Gion Matsuri. It was a lot smaller. But the end result of the smaller festival was that it was much more fun. The giant floats would stop and throw small bundles of rice straw called chimaki, the people would also chat with the spectators. Many of the people accompanying the various floats would stop and speak with us. We went home with several bundles of chimaki and about six towels that were part of the celebration. To top it all off we managed to end up at our favorite burger restaurant, Mos Burger. Nothing tastes better after a long day of watching giant floats being pulled by drunken men than a chili cheese burger.

The fun did not end on Sunday evening. Good weekends only get better when accompanied by these three words, THREE DAY WEEKEND!! No work on Monday. We spent the day hanging out and relaxing. Definitely a great weekend.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Okishima Island

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit one of the smallest schools in Japan. Now this is not a verifiable fact, it is just conjecture but a school with only eight students must come close to being one of the smallest. We live in the prefecture of Shiga, and Shiga is dominated by the largest lake in Japan. This in a way makes Shiga the Japanese "Great Lake State" that is why Shiga and Michigan are sister states. The city of Omihachiman, where we live, lies very close to the shores of Lake Biwa. Not far from the shore is the island of Okishima. The population of the island is not large, just a handful of families live there. The school has a grand total of eight students. Two students in first grade, two second graders, two fourth graders, and two sixth grade students.

I was picked up by someone from the Board of Education office in the morning at my school. We drove for about a half an hour to the ferry dock. We had to wait fifteen minutes for the boat to leave, but soon we were underway. We rode out to the island. The boat was a bit small and cramped. It was nice to feel the waves under us and the boat chopping across the water. the trip to the island took about ten minutes. next we had to walk from the dock to the school. It seemed to be just a hop, skip and a jump to the elementary school. We walked into the school and were immediately escorted to the principals office. We were given a nice cool glass of ice tea to cool us off on such a hot day. I had a chance to meet the principal and exchange pleasantries with him.

After about ten minutes in the presence of the principal, awkward silences and crickets chirping in the background, we headed off to teach my one class for the day. I walked into the multipurpose room and was greeted by about twelve smiling faces. There were eight students in four grades, and four teachers, one for each grade. We had a lot of fun with our lesson for that day. We worked on counting. We played games and sang songs. Yup, believe it or not I sang songs with the kiddies. They went screamin' for the hills, but what could they do? They were stuck on an Island. There was no escape from my English greatness. It was interesting to work with such a wide range of students. They ranged in age from first grade to sixth grade. But the levels of the students were about equal. They all worked and had fun.

The saddest part of the day for me was that I had to leave the school before lunch. The ferry boat left the dock before they ate, so we had to make it back to the mainland before lunch. The positive side to this coin is that I managed to make it home earlier. I was able to eat lunch at my own kitchen table. Before leaving however I was given the gift of a bottle of C.C. Lemon. I drank this beverage which is like drinking bottled sunshine on the nice bike ride home. I felt much better after drinking my lemon soda as there are fifty lemons worth of vitamin C in every bottle. Good stuff.

All in all it was a neat day. I had a great day seeing one of the smallest schools that exists in Japan, and possibly the smallest school I will have the opportunity to teach at. It was neat to spend the morning with the students and teachers there. It was doubly nice when I returned to my desk on Monday and in the middle of the afternoon the secretary dropped a nice big fat envelope on my desk. I opened it and spilled the contents out onto the desk and I found that they had all written me thank you letters. Now all I have to do is get some help reading them. Doesn't really matter if I can read them or not though as I will treasure them forever.

Sports Day

Every year, in America, elementary school students and teachers have a morning of fun near the end of the school year. Field day stands out in the memories of Americans across our great land as a day full of running short races, tug of war, water balloon tosses, and obstacle courses. I remember being in Elementary school and having a great time every year for field day. My favorite memory is the year we had a water relay. Each person was given a bucket and water had to be passed between the buckets, often in creative ways. One way I remember is that the water had to be sluiced down the slide and collected at the bottom. This day was great fun and it was a sad day when I found out that there would be no field day in junior high school. Field day was a fun day that meant, at least, part of a school day off, and usually an ice cream treat at the end of the day. A highlight to any school year.

Here in Japan there is no field day. Instead there is a sports festival. It is field day on a grand and serious scale. There is a sports festival at every school in Japan. They begin having sports festivals at the nursery schools and go all the way through high school. The sports festival at my junior high was held about two weeks ago. It was a great day filled with races, fun and dancing. The day began early. I was stepping onto the athletic field around 8:30 in the morning. I still think that 8:30 is early for a Saturday. Oh, did I forget to mention that the sports festivals are all held on Saturdays? No need to miss out on a precious school day here kids; field day is on a Saturday. That did not stop them from missing class time though, as they canceled afternoon classes all week to allow time to practice for the sports day. When I arrived early in the morning the students were all sitting in their straight rows listening intently to the principal give the welcome speech. Each class was split into two lines that stretched parallel across the gravel field, one for boys and one for girls. Perfectly organized and straight, for my eyes it was a sight to behold and marvel at. Once the welcome speech was concluded the classes split up into their teams. There were six teams and they were color coded: pink, blue, red, green, yellow, and orange.

The morning was spent running races and competing in traditional field events. There were students jumping the high jump. throwing shot put, long jumping, and of course running races. There were many races. Students had their work cut out for them as the day was a very hot one. The sun was very unforgiving that day. I found myself with a sunburn at the end of the day. I had a great time watching and cheering for all of my students that day. They ran and I cheered. I split my time walking from team to team encouraging them to do their best. Jenny and Logan came to watch and Logan and I had a great time rooting for the different teams. The morning seemed to play out like a traditional track and field meet. The only difference was that right before lunch there was jump-rope competition. A class would form a line. Then two students would grab the ends of a giant rope and they would twirl it over the heads of the class and they would jump. It was amazing to see classes of almost forty kids jumping together in unison.

After lunch it was time for dancing. Each team created, choreographed, and danced their own original dance. The teams even chose their own music. I think that this was my favorite part of the day. I have seen kids run races before. I have even run in a few in my time, but the dancing was unique. I thought that it was cool to see close to a hundred kids out on the field all dancing together. Each team took a turn and each one seemed to end with a human pyramid. They all were very similar, but yet it was a truly unique event.

The day ended with the awards ceremony. The winning team was named and trophies and certificates were awarded by the principal. The students once again lined up in their perfectly straight rows of boys and girls for this part of the day. It was an end to the day, I was a bit sad however that there was no ice-cream from the principal. I was certainly glad to make my way home as it was now almost five o'clock in the evening.

But my friends this is not the end of our sports day tale. Last Saturday Logan was invited to the sports festival at the kindergarten that he will begin attending this week. We went for the morning to watch and meet some of the people. Now where the students at my school were very serious the sports festival at the kindergarten was nothing but cute. The students would line up to race. The teacher would say go. The students would run from one side of the playground to the other into the waiting arms of their teacher. Every one is a winner when the race ends with a hug. Logan was even invited to run in one of the races. He and I ran across the playground and were presented with a prize of origami paper. We also got to see the students dance. Logan was very excited because one of the dances was performed to the theme music of our favorite cartoon, Anpanman. The sight of little three and four year old students dancing their little hearts out is one that I will treasure forever. We had a great time and enjoyed our time at the kindergarten sports festival.

Sports festivals are something that are very unique to Japan. I was asked many times if there there are such festivals in America, and each time I would just have to answer, "no." While America does have a field day it is different from what I witnessed here in Omihachiman. A truly unique and truly fun event.