Adult English Class
Mood:  happy
Wow, I just rolled over 1,000 miles on my little bicycle odometer. Hard to believe I've pedaled so far since August.

Japanese Tongue Twister
nama mugi
nama gomen
nama tamago
(say this fast 3 times!)

Adult English class for lottery winners.

Sogo Center (our bosses) have asked Frankie, John and i to teach a conversational English class for the next 9 weeks on Monday evenings. City workers and citizens were invited to apply for this free class. There were so many applicants that they did a lottery to see who would get to take this class. Wow, we were a bit nervous but our first class went off well. There are 25 people whose skill vary from not being able to read our alphabet at all and not knowing any English to a few with very good skills. We have people who work for the city, a custodian, an engineer, a junior high teacher, a few housewives and retired people. Quite a diverse group! There will always be two of us teaching at each class. We hope that we can make it fun and relaxing while teaching some basic conversational English. This will be a fun cultural exchange and we will learn as much as our pupils. What a great opportunity for all involved.

The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Remembrance
Mood:  sad
January 17, 1995, at around 5am the earth shook and a huge disaster befell this city and surrounding areas. Masago area (my junior high) was not hit that hard but the apartment that I live in now is less than 9 years old because the old one came tumbling down that day. The northern part of Nishinomiya was in ruins, with many fires and scenes reminiscent of the last big San Francisco earthquake. Freeways collapsed, buses and trains were left hanging in thin air, and people were in shock everywhere. Many families slept in gyms just like the one we sat in this morning, where the students, teachers, and some parents spent some time remembering and saying some prayers for those who died and those who lost so much. My first graders were only 3 years old when this happened so they don't remember much. The third graders, I think, do remember, but not much because their homes were not damaged. The kids spent last week folding paper cranes in memory of the loss and, at the assembly today, they were displayed in long strands that will be delivered to a memorial shrine tomorrow on the anniversary of this sad event. Help came from all over the world and I have already seen two incredible monuments to say "thanks" for all the assistance that this area received in their time of need. One was the luminaria in Kobe that are displayed every year. I wrote about this last month. Also, I have seen an incredible "Sculpture of Hope" in Kobe that we saw on a hike in December.
It is humbling to think about how powerful nature can be and how vulnerable and fragile we really are. I count my blessings and give thanks for health, happiness and a roof over my head.

A Big Blooper
Mood:  silly
Now Playing: If I only had a brain!
So, I had the bright idea to buy a Japanese/English electronic dictionary in California while I was there over my winter break. My Japanese friends whip out their compact, light "jishos" and translate away when we are together, and I wanted my own. I figured that buying one in the states would be better since it would come with an English manual (very important feature!). I tried to no avail to find one in Santa Rosa so I reverted back to the Internet to research. I found that most electronic translators can be ordered over the internet and sent to Japan for a reasonable price. One of my New Year's resolutions was to go back to Japan and order one. So last week, I did some more research on prices and features of these electronic marvels. There are from one to 9 dictionaries installed on some of the puppies. There is a website created by an English speaking man in Japan who has written a lot of evaluations on many models and I read all the different comparisons and recommendations that he offered. I decided on a Canon model that I could buy right here in Japan and then download an English manual. So off I went to Midori and, luckily, I found a really nice English speaking employee, Ms. Shimizu, to help me with purchasing this wonderful device. She didn't know much about them but got a salesman to help me and she translated. He was very hesitant to sell me the model I wanted for 22,000 yen (a mere $200+). Well, I was confident, and purchased one anyway over his strong hesitant concerns.
The very next day, my friend, Didik, came over with a Japanese friend who graciously helped me install the batteries and fired it up. You just can't beleive how excited I was - even tho this guy, too, was very hesitant. We went through all 9 dictionairies and, much to my chagrin, discovered that, yes, I could type in "cat" into any of these dictionaries but the only thing that it generated was kanji words!!!! Oh, no. Not like my paperback dictionary where I can look up an English word and get a Japanese word spelled out in Roman letters that when sounded out come out Japanese. Oh, no, this just expects you to read the kanji characters. Well, if I knew 40,000 kanji characters then I could probably speak Japanese and not need to spend $200 on a #$%&$#&%# dictionary. So, it's back to Midori the very next day with my proverbial "tail between my legs." I was very relieved (after sitting patiently for about 15 minutes while a few different managers discussed my stupidity) to receive a full refund. Actually, they were very polite and helpful and didn't make me feel any stupider than I already felt. So, my friend, Didik, suggests that I check with a few friends before making anymore expensive purchases, and I may just follow his advice from now on. So, if anyone knows where I can get an electronic dictionary that will translate from English into something Japanese that I can read, I would be most deeply grateful. Arigato gozaimasu

Coming of Age Day
Now Playing: Your a Big Boy Now!
Monday, January 12,2004

Coming of Age Day is a National Holiday here in Japan. We celebrate all those who will turn 20 years old this year. Lots of families have been visiting the shrines in celebration for the last few days.
I mostly stayed home (still feeling a bit under the weather). Went to temple this morning and had tea with the minister. He gave me some basic kanji to start memorizing and a simple text in kanji written by Shinran Shonin. Oh, dear. I guess I'm going to have to study this too! Came home and went for a short run to try to get some of the cobwebs out of my brain. I've gained 10 pounds in less than 2 weeks and I haven't been running for awhile because it was so rainy in California and then I got sick (sinus headache, groan).
It feels oh, so good, to get out in the fresh air and blow off some steam.
I baked chocolate chip cookies today and Didik and a friend came over to make sure that they were good. I made tamale pie for them. Neither had ever had this treat. I'm not sure if they really liked this spicy dish but they both went back for seconds.

NEW YEAR'S TRADITIONS AND CULTURE

I missed this holiday because I was in the states, but I've heard from the kids that there is a lot of tradition in Japan revolving around New Year's. I will try to fill you in on a bit of this interesting culture...
There is a tv show in Japan (I think similar to Dick Clark). Lots of people watch this on New Year's Eve. It's called Kohaku (sorry if the spelling isn't quite right). They play all the past hits of the old year just like we do in the states.
Otoshidama is a biggie with kids here. It is very traditional to give gifts of money to kids. They can get quite a bit of money from parents, aunts and uncles and so on. I gather that it is not uncommon to get 5,000 to 10,000 yen as a gift. That adds up to a few hundred dollars if they are lucky.
Nenga are cute postcards that are traditionally sent out during the holidays. I received quite a few of these postcards with cute drawings (monkeys were popular this year - it's the year of the monkey!)
I was surprised to discover that many of my students went to a shrine at midnight to purchase their fortunes called omikuji and to pray for a good year. Toshikoshi soba is also a tradition to eat at midnight.
The most interesting tradition that I would like to start for myself is getting up early (or maybe not going to sleep at all) to see the first sunrise of the year. This is called hatsuhinode. Many of my students said that they stayed up all night and then watched the sun come up and then went to bed. Oh, it must be nice to be young and full of energy. yawn.

Happy New Year!
Now Playing: It's great to be back home
Well, I'm back in Japan after a trip to S.F. and a visit with folks, friends and other relatives. So now it's time to catch up. I'll be working on this for awhile so please be patient with me.

So here's a bit of trivia about New Year's here in Japan. There is a traditional box of food eaten here that has loads of meaning. It's called "ossechi" sorry about the spelling, I'm doing the best I can. I remember eating this at the Spokane temple years ago when we had a traditional Japanese minister. Some of my students said that they ate osechi so it is still fairly common to eat this on New Year's Eve. It has some of the following foods that have much significance for the New Year. Mame or black beans are eaten for good health. Seaweed called kombu signifies joy. Herring eggs are, of course, to ensure lots of babies in the future (I'll skip those - thank you very much). Long soba noodles for - you guessed it - long life. Little tiny fish (I forget the name) but it has something to do with prosperous rice fields - which I take to mean lots of healthy food for the coming year. I'm not sure about the shrimp. I was told that because it curves around it symbolizes the curving of the back as we get old and so stands for a long and healthy life - I don't want to be curved over like a shrimp when I get old but pass them my way - I love these guys.

Thursday, Jan. 8th
I'm back at school for Opening Ceremonies. No classes but I stick around most of the day. I'm feeling terrible. The bike ride is extremely cold because IT IS really cold and because I'm very weak. I must look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, wrapped up in ski hat, gloves, three jackets and a warm scarf wrapped around my neck and over my mouth and nose. BRRRR


Wed. Jan. 7th
Still sick. Sleeping in late and slowly unpacking.

Monday, Jan. 5th
Bye, bye, U.S.A.
This is pay back time. I gained a day coming over here and now I'm about to kiss Tuesday goodbye. Ah well. Airplane trivia: It's a straight flight from S.F. to KIX which is about a 9-10 hour flight. That is about 5,400 miles to add to my Frequent Flier miles! The price of this round trip is about $1200. I've been told that this is cheap but I think that it's a bit high because of the holidays and because I didn't book it very far ahead. They turn down the lights and show movies and I can usually sleep off and on. There's a light meal when we get on the plane and another light meal before we land. But today, after a full night's sleep, we are boarding the plane around noonish so I'm not quite ready to sleep yet. The seats on this plane are extremely crowded and it's very difficult to get comfy when you can't even stretch your legs in front of you. (I have to think about upgrading next time to more comfy seats) That's what I get in Econo flight. Also, there are many kids on this flight and an extremely sweet but rambunctious 3 year old boy is sitting in front of me and so I'm periodically being "attacked" by T-Rex and other assorted plasic dinosaurs and various other plastic toys. We arrive in Osaka at around 3:30pm and it's a smooth trip through customs. I am amazed that there are no questions at all about what I'm bringing back from the states. I really wanted to bring back some salami and pepperoni for an authentic homemade pizza for friends here but because of the Mad Cow Disease scare in CA, I didn't dare bring in any beef. The carts are free in the airport and so my heavy bags are easy to roll out to the sidewalk and it's no time before we're all on the limo bus back to Nishinomiya. After a transfer to a taxi, I'm back at my cozy apartment by 7:30pm on Tuesday evening. My how time flies. I am so tired and a bit feverish. Sinus problems are making my head just feel like it's going to explode. I'm getting uncontrolable fits of coughing that are eased a bit by cough drops which I'm getting sick of sucking on. Ah, well, it's been a great trip, and I'm so very glad that I got back a day early so I can sleep in tomorrow, Wed, and unpack. School won't begin till Thursday. Boy, it's great to be back home.

Sunday, Jan. 4th
A visit with my friends, Heidi and Gerry, in Sebastopol. Overnight visit with my dear friend Lally in South San Francisco. Lally has been so gracious to let me stay overnight so that I don't have to battle the morning San Francisco traffic to get to the airport in the morning.


Saturday, Jan. 3rd
Family dinner with turkey and all the fixings.
Relatives visiting and tasting all those weird sweets that I brought from Japan.

Thursday, Jan. 1st, 2004
Happy New Year
Sleeping late, Rose Parade and I'm tired, tired, tired and a bit sick (I think the typhoid pills are getting to me). I've got a temperature of 99.9 degrees. Rats.

Wednesday, Dec. 31st
New Year's Eve
Burgers and fries with my Bro.
"Pirates of the Carribean" video and kick back time.

Tuesday, Dec. 30th
Dinner and meditation with the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation in Petaluma, CA. I met my friend, Lee, in Santa Rosa. She was so thoughtful to pick me up and drive me to Petaluma. We met about 15-20 others at a really nice Greek restaurant. It's great to reconnect with this wonderful "extended meditation family" and share a healthy, yummy meal with them. Then we drove to the church in Petaluma that has hosted us for so many years. We visited briefly and then watched a 1/2 hour video of Sri Easwaran followed by a 1/2 hour of meditation. This is such an inspiring, uplifting recharge for me. I am so happy to find out that we may be having a meditation workshop in Japan next January. How very exciting.

Monday, Dec. 29th
Ouch, it's time for immunizations today. Mom was great about finding a doctor in Santa Rosa who can give me the shots I need to go to Tanzania this summer. So I have my tetanus and Hep.A shot and I'm starting an oral series of 4 pills (one every other day) for typhoid. I also have ordered anti-malarial medicine and high altitude pills for my attempted climb of Kilimanjaro. This is much simpler to get done in the states and much cheaper. I'm very happy to get this out of the way.

Saturday, Dec. 27th
After a nice breakfast with my Aunt, I am refreshed and ready for the 2+ hour drive north through San Francisco and up to my parent's home in Cloverdale. I get to spend the next week with them and it's an easy drive with almost no traffic. yippeee.

Friday, Dec. 26th
This is the first time I will live through a day twice! I slept in a bit because I knew that it was going to be a long, long, long day. I'm packed and ready to go and call for a taxi around 8am. I'm so proud of myself that I've managed to write out some basic sentences in Japanese and successfully convey the details to the operator. ta da. The taxi picks me up at 10:30am and delivers me to the train station in only 15 minutes for about $8.00. Well worth the price with the heavy bags that I'm carrying. I catch the limo bus for Kansai Airport in Osaka. This bus takes about 1 1/2 hours and costs about $15. I arrive at KIX International airport in Osaka in plenty of time to browse and buy last minute souvenirs for the trip to S.F. Customs is very easy and I fly off at about 4pm and amazingly arrive in S.F. airport as the sun is coming up at 8am on Dec. 26th and I get to start the same day all over again. Wow.
I've rented a car and drive south for about an hour to Palo Alto. My dear Aunt Mary is over 90 years old and her heart is failing. I feel very fortunate to spend the afternoon with her after a couple hour's nap. We have an early dinner and then I'm off to bed for a very sound sleep.

Thursday,Dec. 25th
Merry Christmas is not in the schedule at Masago Chugako. This is the last day of school. There are no real classes today except "homeroom" but kids are here and raring to go anyway. We have an assembly in the gym at 8:30am that lasts for about an hour. (By the way, the gym is not heated, brrrr). All the kids sit on the floor in lines. There is a girl's line and a boy's line for each of 4 sections of 3 grades (1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders - equivalent to our 6th, 7th and 8th grades). So there are many long rows of students happily sitting on the floor listening to speeches given by the principal, vice-principal and head teacher. Awards are handed out and all the accomplishments of the school year so far are acknowledged. One of the English teachers has been very gracious in translating some of the speeches, so I'm not totally in the dark today. The newly elected Student Body representatives are introduced and "initiated". This ends the 2nd term. In January, we will begin the final 3rd term. The 3rd graders will graduate and - if they pass their tests - will advance on to the high school of their choice, hopefully. If they don't pass their tests, I understand that they still will go on to a high school of some kind but it won't be the "elite" high schools. Some kids will just go on to vocational schools and I think that they have to pay for this schooling. Some few will drop out and get jobs at age 14 or 15 years old. So very different than in the states. High school is NOT required.

Since there aren't any classes to teach, I just hang around and wish all the kids a Merry Christmas. They love exchanging greetings and also wish them a Happy New Year..."Dozo yoi otoshio" or something close to that anyway. You say this upon seeing someone for the last time before the New Year. There is a different greeting than when you see someone just after the New Year.

I am taking a 1/2 day off today because #1 there's nothing to do here and, more importantly, #2 I need to get packed for my flight to S.F. tomorrow.
Merry Christmas, ho, ho, ho. I'm too busy to really think about missing the day. No biggie. Actually, I stop by the train station to pick up some fresh made goodies for some last minute gifts and see some cute Xmas costumed cartoon characters performing for the "little ones" that gives me enough of a touch of Christmas to put a smile on my face.

Kyoto - onegaishimasu
Mood:  bright
Tuesday, Dec. 23rd
It's a holiday, the Emperor's birthday so....here we are, again, in Kyoto. I slept in this morning and had a much needed 10+ hour's sleep. I met Ildiko and Wayne at the train station at 1pm and headed out to meet Miki and her husband, Atsuo, in Kyoto. Miki is a wonderful woman friend of Ildiko's. Miki is an English translator and her husband is a semi-conductor engineer for Panasonic here in Japan. They were delightful guides today. We had lunch at a Soba restaurant, and I had soba sushi for the first time. Instead of rice in the sushi roll, there are strands of soba noodles rolled up lengthwise inside the seaweed. When the sushi is sliced it looks like little miniature logs sticking out around the delicacies inside the roll. I think that I like the rice sushi better because it sticks together and doesn't fall apart as bad. We took taxis to Kiyomizu shrine and spent a leisurely afternoon browsing the shops on the way up to the temple. We fawned over gorgeous pottery, fans, and other crafts as well as some wonderful confectionaries. We had frequent "candy breaks" thanks to Wayne's unending sweet tooth. At the Shinto shrine at the top of the street, there are many things that you can do to bring you and yours some good luck. There are charms that you can purchase for about $5-10 that will cover anything from love, to good health, to traffic safety. There are special Buddha's on the grounds that get their bellies and heads and legs rubbed a lot for good luck and granting wishes. You can also purchase your fortune. If it's good, please keep the fortune. If it's not so good, like mine, please tie it to the branch of a tree and the gods will, hopefully, work on turning your fortune around! There are two big stones at either end of a long walkway and if your boyfriend can navigate successfully with his eyes closed from stone to stone, he will be totally in love and faithful to you forever. We saw many girls helping their boyfriends navigate by talking to them and steering them to the second stone (somehow I think giving them verbal directions is cheating tee hee).

This is the place that has 3 springs. If you drink from each one they will bring health, wealth and happiness to you.

We timed it just right so we caught the sunset from the temple. The temple has a rather big porch area that people here call a "stage." It is very hilly here and the "stage" drops off to a cliff below and it's QIUTE a drop. The locals have a saying "It's like jumping off the Kiyomizu stage!" This means that you've done something very daring or difficult. Well, I guess I've had a few jumps from the stage then. After the temple, we wandered on down the hill for one last look at the shops that were quickly closing. Everything seems to close up fairly early. Maybe it is due to being rather chilly after the sun goes down.

We catch another taxi to JR station and take Wayne and Ildiko up the escalators to the top of the station. From the top, we have a 360 degree view of the city. We all have a laugh because the Kyoto Tower is right there in front of us every time we turn around. Its reflection in the windows around us makes it look like it is in every single direction in the city. Wayne is a real comedian I'm discovering and we seem to be constantly laughing at his jokes and funny stories. He's quite the entertainer. After a lovely dinner at a "unagi" restaurant (that's eel in English), we hop back on the JR train bound for Nishinomiya.

So we are having such a wonderful time talking on the train that the time just flies by. We are supposed to change trains in Umeda so that we can end up at the Hankyu station close by my apartment but before we know it we hear the announcer say "Sannomiya." We are all a bit slow this late at night and it doesn't register till we are rolling again that we have overshot past Nishinomiya and are headed out on the other side of town. Oh, dear. This is a Super Express train and it makes very few stops so we anxiously sit and wait and hope that it stops before we end up in South America! Finally the doors open and we hop out and head back in the other direction. We are a bit nervous now about missing the stop again and ending up back in Kyoto. Luckily we find the stop in Sannomiya and afer paying a substantial penalty for overshooting our mark, we find the correct train and platform and are back home about an hour later than we thought (11pm yawn). Oh, well, sumimasen. A rather funny and harmless way to end an almost perfect day.


Later I discover that this Super Express train doesn't stop in Umeda or Nishinomiya - so that's why we never heard the stops announced! oops.
Photos!

Sunday, Sunday
Mood:  sad
I'm up early this morning for temple services at 7:30am. I really needed this today. I feel very fortunate to be able to talk to Rev. Toyohara after services about teen suicide in Japan. There are no easy answers. My heart is heavy. I came back home and ran for an hour along the river. This is the first time I've ever seen a whole flock of white cranes all "grazing" in the sunshine in the river on a cold winter day. I hope that it is a good omen. I am so grateful to be running in clear, crisp, cold air all the way to the ocean. It recharges me.

I'm not through posting my running photos but the page is started....click here to see a bit of my usual route.... My running route

We had a great dinner this evening at Bora Bora, Mr. Sasaki's favorite steak house in Nishinomiya. I met him, his wife and two boys (12 and 11 years old). Mr. Sasaki's mother and mother-in-law also came. Mr. and Mrs. Osawa met us too so it was quite a group. This is the same place that we came for my going-away party from Hamakoushien Jr. High. This was a very nice end to the day. Now there's only a few days till I'm off to San Francisco.

So ya wanna see some photos of my wonderful apartment? Just click here.... Mary's apartment photos

It's Snowing!
Mood:  surprised
It's Saturday afternoon and I'm baking Christmas bread and it's snowing! Granted it's not sticking to the ground but the snowflakes drifting by my window are real and they are so wonderful. I'm definitely in the Christmas mood. I'm leaving on Dec. 26th for CA. It will be good to visit my family and see if I can handle the reverse culture shock of going home. It will be really weird to be able to read street signs again.
Have a very Merry Christmas.

On a much sadder note....I attended a funeral this morning for one of our 8th grade boys who committed suicide this week. The impact is indescribable. It has affected staff and students so much. I am so very sad.

Welcome, Ildiko and Wayne
Mood:  celebratory
Ildiko and Wayne just arrived on Wed. evening from Spokane. They are my first guests from the states to stay at my apartment. This gave me a real reason to do some serious cleaning. It looked so nice that I finally took some pictures of my living room and dining room. My guests seem cozy as bugs in a rug with futons and comforters in my tatami room. Ildiko is an artist and is working with an agent to try to sell some of her work in Japan. Her art is very good and I'm sure she will be successful here.
Friend's Photos

Post Office Story
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: Ain't it amazing?
Here's a great little story to illustrate some of the dramatic differences between our two cultures. I got a phone call at 7pm at night last evening from the post office. Q: "Did you purchase a money order from the post office two weeks ago?" A: "Why, yes, I did." (nervous pause, oh no, did I do something wrong?) More questions about the money order....very vague and I just don't understand what he's getting at but he wants to know if I'll be home this evening for a visit. (Oh, my dear, have I done something really wrong?) Then finally, "Well, we over charged you 500 yen and we need to return the money to you tonight." (That's about $5 and a sigh of relief from me, whew, I didn't do something dumb for a change!) Me: "Oh, that's ok. Just forget it."
He: "Oh, no, we must return your money. We are so sorry for our mistake." Me: "Oh, please just donate it to some worthy cause." He: "Oh, no, we can not possibly do that. Will you be home this evening so that I can deliver it to you?" Me: "Please just put it in an envelope and mail it to me." He: "Oh, no, it is illegal to send coins through the mail. Please, I can be there in 20 minutes.) Me: giving in - "Well, ok."

Twenty minutes later my doorbell rings. It is the little Japanese postman right across the street. (I am very surprised because I thought that I had bought the money order downtown and was expecting someone to drive up in a taxi. He just walked across the street!) He: "Sumimasen. So sorry for the inconvenience. Here is your 500 yen and a little plastic fire hydrant piggy bank as a gift. Oh, and by the way, will you sign this form that you have received your refund?" Me: "Why, of course." He: "Oh, and by the way, on this form here that you filled out when you purchased your money order you stated that you needed this money to pay bills in the U.S. I am so sorry, but that is not an acceptable reason. Could you please write a more specific reason for your needing this money?" Me: (Oh, my gosh, am I really in Japan? This is so weird.) "Why, of course, I own a house and have to make my house payment." He: "Ah so, desu ne." I give him a little Christmas gift of mikan (tangarines) and some cookies and after a lot of bowing we complete this incredible exchange. He encourages me to use his post office again in the future. Welcome to a little part of Japan.