Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Letter Home

Dear friends,

I am sorry that it has been so long. Life seems to have taken on a day to day swing the past few weeks and months. Maybe it is that we are getting used to life here. We are happy and healthy, and still discovering new and interesting things.

We took a trip early this spring to see himeji Castle. It was a very long trip for us. It was about a two/two and a half hour train ride. I worried how Logan would do on the train that long, but he did well. We toured the castle, which is one of a few remaining wooden castles left in Japan. Most of the castles around Japan are modern reconstructions that use concrete, not wood. The castle itself was amazing. the stairs leading up were more like ladders than stairs. It still amazes me to think that at one time people lived there. We also went to a small garden near the castle that was very beautiful. Check out the pictures on our photo page. We have recently placed loads of new pictures from out adventures on the site.

Another great place we have visited is Nara. Nara is famous for two things. First it is famous for the tame deer that wander the streets of the city. Second it is famous for its temple and statue of the Buddha. Logan had a great time feeding the deer. There are numerous vendors, throughout the city, who sell special deer food. they are a lot like a small, round, flat biscuit. Logan kept telling the deer that he had a cookie for them. The deer did not care for deer cookies though. They prefered the crusts off of white bread. Which some people were kind enough to share with logan. There is also a temple called Todai-ji in Nara. Todai-ji is the largest wooden building in the world. It is a massive building. The doors leading in to the temple are what you might imagine would be at the gate of a castle. The amazing thing is that the current building, which was built in the twelfth century, is only two-thirds the size of the original. It is hard to imagine that the building could get much bigger. Inside the building is the largest buddha statue in Japan. This statue of the Buddha is collossal. See if you can spot the man standing on Buddha's lap. My favorite part of the temple is behind and to the right of the giant Buddha statue. At the base of one of the pillars is a hole. this hole is supposedly the size of one of the Buddha's nostrils. If you can manage to squeeze your body through the opening you are guarenteed enlightenment. I gave it a try. The hole is rather small, and I suppose the line of eight years olds should have given me a clue that this is not something for the over thirty crowd, but I tried it any way. And YES, I made it through! (Enlightenment is mine! Nirvana here I come!!) Nara was fun though and we are looking forward to returning.

In an effort to stay in better contact with everyone that we know and love, I have started a blog. It is a start. I will still send out periodic e-mails telling of our exploits, but I want to be able to tell about our day to day life here. So I have started to write. I hope to update and write in it every few days. Maybe just short musings and small adventures for people who are curious. The address is myers8sushi.blogspot.com Visit, read and don't be afraid to leave a comment or a question.

We hope that this letter finds you all well and ready for summer which is right around the corner.

Yoroshiku Onegai Shimasu, (please be kind)

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Hiroshima


Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to join the junior high school students from Grand Rapids in a trip to Hiroshima. Every year a delegation of eigth graders from Grand Rapids come to Japan to visit our sister city and tour Japan. And every year the students go and visit the peace memorial and A-bomb dome. Visiting the memorial was very sobering for me. Walking through the museum was extreamly sad and disturbing. The museum is very factual and bluntly horrific. The photographs and images of the aftermath can be quite disturbing. I think that the most difficult thing for me to see were the books that list the names of those who died as a result of the bomb. there is a large stone sarcophagus which contains books, and in those books are listed the names of those who died. While we were there they had removed all of the books and were opening them and paging through to remember the victims. Then the books were reverently placed back into the box, and resealed.

I also had the chance to visit the memorial for Sadako. She is the young girl that developed lukemia due to the effects of the bomb. I remember reading the book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" to my second grade class several years ago and how sad of a story I thought that it was. Now I feel an even deeper connection to the story because I have seen some of the actual cranes that she folded when she was sick. I made sure to fold a special crane the night before we went, and I left it at the foot of her memorial. It was one of the most emotional days that I have had in a long time.

On a more fun note I was also able to go to Miyajima Island. Miyajima Island is the home to the giant floating Tori Gate. The tori gate which is out in the ocean a short ways is considered to be one of the three most pituresque places in all of Japan and I must admit that I felt that it was very beautiful. There were deer that freely roamed the island and they were more aggressive than the deer in Nara. I rode a cable car to the top of the mountain, and had the chance to look around. It was a great view from the top of the mountain. It was a clear day and great weather for being at the top of a mountain. The saddest part is the monkeys that are supposed to live at the top of the mountain were not there. They were supposedly out in the forest eating dinner. So I was a bit sad about that. But it definately was an experience that was well worth it. An eye opening and enlightening couple of days.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Quiet Day

We just spent the day more or less hanging around the house. It rained this morning and it has been wet, cloudy and a bit cold all day long. We ventured out to go down to Starbucks for a coffee and then to the grocery store to get some tofu and Milo. Milo is our new find. It is a lot like instant breakfast and Logan loves it. Now Jenny is watching Sumo on TV and Logan is playing with his trains. It is kinda nice to have a quiet day every now and again.

よろしくおねがいします
(please be kind)

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Okay, here it goes. Seems to me that this is as good a day to begin a blog as any. Seeing as how it is my birthday. The big Three-Three. WOW!!!! Am I really that old? can't be. I don't feel it so that is good. It was a not so busy day today which in my opinion is good. i found out that one of the other teachers shares the same birthday with me. So Dad don't worry I did not have to have a solo birthday. I gave him a present with two little toys and a creampuff and he wrote "Happy Birthday" in Japanese on a little plaque for me. It is very beautiful to see and he did a very nice job. Which is good seeing as he is the Kanji teacher at school.

Tonight I think that we will have a mini BBQ here at the house. Just the family. have our own Yaki-niku Party. Get some good veggies and meat and throw it all on the grill and have a feast. It will be delicious.

Well that is it for the first entry. more to come soon. I hope.

またね
(see you soon)