The Lunch Visit

Yesterday two very nice ladies who both belong to the International Exchange Society and who speak perfect English visited me in my home and brought lunch! They had seen my needlework on this blog and wanted to see it in person. I was happy they could visit and see what I love to do. They brought many kinds of little sandwiches (like the kind served at an English tea), vegetable and tuna quiche, and tea flavored angel food cake.  It was all very delicious, and they left me what we didn’t eat – Ted was happy about that!

It was a treat to be able to talk in English and be understood. I was very happy to visit with them and hope to see them again soon.

Weekend Recap

The weekend flew by. Friday morning Ted took photos of the fourth year Outdoor Life students. Here’s one of him with some of them.

In the afternoon and evening his Team Building class took a field trip to another location in town to do GIDI (Glow in the Dark Initiatives), a team building activity Ted developed.  He has published and presented this idea at national and regional outdoor conferences in the US and used it with many groups of all ages.

 

I had my English class Friday morning, then met with Miwako and Alicia at my apartment for stitching.  They both worked on their beaded ornaments. I worked on a small cross stitch over one reindeer ornament for one of Ted’s co-workers. I continued working on the ornament after they went home.

It snowed like crazy all weekend.  It’s December, it’s winter, it’s snowing. 

 

We hung out at home during the day. Ted took down the light fixtures so I could clean them. The apartments here don’t come with lights.  There are plug ins in the ceiling and you buy lights to attach.  Some turn on with a pull string, others have remotes (that sometimes get misplaced, even though there is a place to keep them).

 

I worked on the ornament a little more and Ted read a new book on his iPod before we went to the Dance Festival in the evening that I wrote about yesterday.

Sunday, I did some housecleaning and Ted went to his office for a little while.  Ted took some pictures of us for a Christmas card.  It was hard enough for two adults to get a good photo using the timer.  I don’t know how families with children ever get a good photo.

After lunch we had to clear the snow from the car.  Last winter we didn’t have a car so we didn’t have to do this.  It’s not as fun as it looks!

 

 

Ted went to Aikido in the afternoon and I went to Haruki.  I hadn’t been there all weekend, so we needed quite a few things.  This bag of groceries cost 2023 yen.

 

I finished the reindeer ornament that came from a free chart on the DMC website.  It measures two inches on each side and is backed with this brown fabric.

 

We had a nice weekend and are ready for the new week ahead.

Dance Festival

Last night we went to the Culture Center to attend the Dance Festival.  One of the Outdoor Life students was one of the dancers and we wanted to see her.  It had snowed all day long and was still snowing when we left for the festival.  We wore our tall boots because the snow was deep.

 

As with most things, we had no idea what the event we were attending was all about.  When we arrived at the Culture Center we saw students who also came to see the dancer student and we sat with them.  We also saw my two hula teachers and one of the hula dancers from my class.  I was happy to have them meet Ted and for Ted to meet them.

There were 27 acts, primarily young people doing hip hop and older women doing hula, with an intermission in the middle.  The lyrics for the hip hop music were in English and Ted and I were very surprised children were dancing to these words. Suffice it to say they were not G rated.   Then, we realized we were the only two in the audience who knew what those words meant! 

It was difficult to take photos in a dark auditorium without flash, but this will give you an idea of the dance acts we witnessed.

 

 

This is the group with the Outdoor Life Student.

 

We enjoyed the evening of dance and had a nice walk there and back.

This One is for Randall

Three Ways for a Foreigner to be Thought Amazing in Japan

1.    Eat with chopsticks

2.    Eat raw fish

3.    Go to the onsen

Yesterday, I was told I was sugoi (amazing) because I’m not Japanese and I can eat raw fish with chopsticks and I can go to the onsen.

Let me back up a little bit so I can tell you the whole story. Even though I’ve been here almost a year, most of the time I have no idea what is going on until afterwards and even then, I’m still not sure. After hula class last week, I was invited to go to the onsen and lunch with one of my class mates and I thought a couple of other hula ladies. (It turned out to be two people I didn't know but who wanted to meet me).  I said yes and she said she would email me about the day and time.  She emailed asking if Thursday was okay, she could pick me up at 10:40 am and I said yes. She replied, reminding me to bring lunch money and underwear.  I’m not sure if she thought I would come without underwear or if she meant another word. Sometimes things get lost in translation, but I thanked her for the reminder and did bring lunch money and my underwear.

She picked me up at 10:40 am yesterday and the other two met us there. Even though I told her I had been to onsens before, she wanted to make sure I knew that people are naked and without clothes in the onsen. Yes, I understood. Most people here think foreigners won’t go to the onsen, and while it is true I haven’t seen another foreigner when I’ve been at the onsen, not every foreigner is uncomfortable going.  While soaking naked in a pool of hot water with a bunch of other people isn’t part of American culture, I’m not against it.  If I didn’t want any new experiences, I wouldn’t have come to Japan.

This place was nicer than any of the others I’ve been to. They give you two brown towels and a set of brown “onsen wear” (kind of like thin pajamas) in a bag with your locker key. I looked in the bag before we left the desk and was glad I did.  The onsen wear in my bag was about three inches square – not big enough for someone as maru as I am.  I was able to trade for a larger set.

There was a restaurant and several lounging rooms with televisions and paperback books and low tables and recliners.  If you get too hot in the onsen, you can put on your onsen wear and eat or relax for a while, then go back in the water later. There was nice shampoo and conditioner and body wash in the washing area and hair dryers and combs and light up make up mirrors in the dressing area.

Inside there was a regular pool (42 degrees C), a “medicine” pool, which I think was some kind of minerals not medicine (39.5 degrees C), a Jacuzzi pool (41 or 42 C), and a cool pool (20 C), plus a sauna (47 C).  The sauna was too hot for me. We tried all the indoor pools but spent most of our time in the outside pools (42 C) where there was snow on the ground and a cold wind blowing.

After several hours of soaking in the hot water, we got out and had lunch, then spent several more hours trying to talk. I was the one trying; they knew what each other were saying.  I don’t think people in this area of Hokkaido have a lot of interaction with foreigners because I always feel like they think I am a celebrity. I’m asked a lot of questions about myself and life in the US. It’s very flattering and even though I can eat raw fish and am able to use chopsticks and go to the onsen, I’m not really amazing.

I got home around five pm and had a very good time. I didn't know I'd be gone all day, but that's how things go here.  

Here is another gift ornament. I used this green fabric for the backing.  Maki sushi isn’t the usual Christmas scene, but this is for someone who used to live in Japan.

 

Ornament for Ted's Mom

Here’s another gift ornament I've finished.  It is backed with this red fabric and is on its way to Ted’s Mom.  She collects angels and we think she will like this little one.

Back to the Gym

Now that the snow has arrived, it’s hard to exercise outside.  Ted wants to stay in shape for his many outdoor activities and I don’t want to get any more maru, so it’s time to hit the indoor gym again.  It’s just a two minute walk from our apartment to the university building.  Ted was in shorts as it snowed yesterday morning; I prefer covering my legs when it’s snowing.

We went early to avoid the crowds of sports students who arrive around 8:30 am.

 

Before leaving the building, I stopped to take a look at the one English newspaper in the library.  The sports page featured sumo wrestling and the Osaka marathon.

 

Later in the day, we went to the Big American Store to stock up before the roads get so bad we can’t get out of town.

What have I been stitching?

I’ve been working on some small gifts. Here’s one ornament that I just finished and soon to be in the mail to our friends Kazu and Yoh.

 

The Gas Man Cometh

We have two gas water heaters.  One is a little box above our kitchen sink, the other heats the water for the shower/bath.  A man from the gas company visited the apartments in our building to check out the water heaters.  Everything was fine with ours and he left us this information sheet (front and back).

Not being able to read, I can only look at the pictures and guess at what it says. I think the big red X means don’t do it.  I was surprised to see the red X on the person washing hair in kitchen the sink because I sometimes do that.

The one at the bottom of the front page is kind of scary.  The X is in the kitchen but the dad with the spiral eyes is washing the kodomo’s hair in the bath. Is the dad in the tub or is the kodomo in the tub?  I don’t know what the pink arrows from the pipe to the tub and from the tub to the kitchen mean. What do you think?