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.

Hiking and Gondolas
Mood:  lucky
Now Playing: Oh, what a wonderful day!
Wow, wait till you see these photos, folks!
We had a fantastic hike up a mountain in Shin Kobe today. Didik-san lives in Kobe and has been eager to take me on this hike for weeks. I called Miwa at the last minute and she and her two friends also joined us. Siddique from Bangladesh came too. The park is called Nunobiki Herb Park. There were gorgeous views on the way up including a "Fragrance Garden," as well as edible herbs and vegetables. Waterfalls made for a few "Kodak moments." Also the view of the bay and Rokko and Port Island helped me get even more oriented with this area. Rokko is a man-made island. They just chopped off the top of a mountain and now they have a flat little city-island. It's a very international place but very flat.

The weather for the last few days has been rainy and cold so I bundled up in long underwear, sweater and turtleneck. I was a bit uncomfortable but very happy to peel off layer after layer in the wonderful sunlight that prevailed.
We discovered a glass-house (conservatory) with papaya, banana and coffee beans growing inside. Way too hot to stay in too long and our cameras steamed up so bad that we couldn't take picutures inside. We had lunch in a meadow towards the top followed by an exciting ride down in a gondola (a first for a couple of my Japanese friends). Then a quaint tea house with Bangladeshi music for our friend, Siddique-san.

We decided to stay till sunset to view the luminaria. These are well known and attract large crowds each night in December. The theme is a "Celebration of Hope" and first began almost a year after the last devastating earthquake, I think in 1995. Huge structures of elaborate lights are stretched out on a few blocks of the city. They are probably 30 feet tall and reminded me of stain glass windows in their intricacy. Classical music is played which adds to the atmosphere and cameras and cell phones were clicking madly everywhere. What a way to end a perfect day.

Lost my Kasa
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Singin' in the rain
Well, I lost my umbrella today.
It was a cold, downpour and someone must have needed it worse than me.
Luckily, I was near a 100 yen store. So I bought another for only a dollar.
This was a sad day for me, because I knew that some student had taken it. I've had that umbrella on the bike ever since September. Noone has ever touched anything on my bicycle. I mentioned it to a teacher the next day and he told me not to leave anything on my bike. Sad to think that it's changing in Japan too.

Another Beautiful Day in Paradise
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Oh, what a beautiful morning.....
Saturday, Dec. 6th

So every once in awhile, my batteries start to run down and I need a recharge. Beginning a new teaching assignment at a school where the kids are definitely "NOT SHY AND VERY LOUD" did me in this last week. I have a sore throat and am feeling really, really drained, so here's what works for me: I go to bed fairly early on a Friday night. Well, actually, last night I fixed myself a "medicinal brandy" (Mom's recipe - hot tea, honey, lemon juice and, oh yeah, brandy). Then I don't get out of bed until I just can't sleep anymore on Saturday. I do my daily 1/2 hour meditation and throw on my running clothes and go for a run. So this morning that's exactly what I did. Except I forgot to look outside first and, when I hit the pavement, it was pouring rain. Well, I didn't want to end up feeling worse so I went back upstairs, threw on my "Nanook of the North" cozy, comfy warm night gown and made myself buckwheat pancakes with home-made applesauce. Then I made a couple of phone calls to the states, that always makes me feel wonderful.

I felt so good that I went for a bike ride to a store and bought a few last minute Xmas presents and then the rain stopped. So, of course, I get back into my running clothes and out the door for an hour plus run. (I've been working my way up to an hour). I ran from my apartment to the Shukugawa River and followed it down to the ocean. This is the first time that I've made it all the way to the ocean and the sun was setting as I ran to the beach. Wow, what a view. By the time I got home it was dark and the full moon had come out so I ran under trees along the river by moonlight.

Ended the day all bundled up in my comforter with a cup of tea and the newest Harry Potter book.

Now that's the way to recharge!

Table Tennis
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Oh, I'm happy, oh so happy.
My bicycle odometer rolled over 800 miles today!
I am so enjoying my new school. The kids are so enthusiastic. I've already committed two faux pas (sic?) this week. First, during lunch, the kids were asking me lots of questions and I automatically stuck my chopsticks in my rice when I turned around to answer a question. I HAD BEEN WARNED TO NEVER EVER STICK MY CHOPSTICKS IN MY RICE. oops. I was corrected immediately. What I didn't know is that it's a tradition to put a bowl of rice with chopsticks sticking out of it in front of your home shrine when someone has died. sumimasen! Next mistake was walking into class sucking on a throat lozenge. Again, I know that candy is not allowed in school but my throat was sore and I forgot to get rid of the thing when I walked into class. I was immediately noticed by the students. again....sumimasen. These kids are very observant. They don't let anything pass them by. I've been amazed when someone noticed something small that I was wearing or the color of some earrings that I wore the day before. Seems that they really are aware of details. I know that this is a generalization but in general....
I had a free period this morning and some of the 3rd grade girls asked me to play table tennis with them in P.E. today.

Campaigning
Campaiging goes on for a couple of weeks. Every day at lunch time the students come in and do a little campaign speech for a few classes. They take turns so that everyone in the school has heard every speech. The candidates always take a friend with him/her. The friend also gives a little testamonial about his/her friend. This is all very serious. They wear banners across their chest and stand at the entrance of the school in the morning saying "vote for me" for a few days before elections. There are posters on the walls. I asked some of the students who they were going to vote for or who they thought would win and got some blank looks. Little did I know that everyone who ran for office got elected! surprise, surprise.