Windsurfing

Erika

Merry Christmas!

We got out of Japan for the holidays! We were actually on U.S. soil, the first U.S. soil that the sun rises on every day, Guam! Watching the weather station was rather hilarious, as it was the same every day: high of 88 degrees, low of 77 degrees! (It is only 12 degrees above the equator.) We had a blast and never actually just laid out in the sun and relaxed, we were too busy having fun! The first five days we stayed at the PIC (Pacific Islands Club), highly recommended if you ever go to Guam! The bedrooms were actually really crappy and rather disgusting, but the rest of the hotel (water activities, etc.) more than made up for it! Everything is included so you don't have to pay for any activities, snorkeling, windsurfing, tennis, racquetball, archery, water slides, and much more. The next five days we stayed at the Marriott because Eric has a load of points from living there for more than a year! The rooms were of a much higher quality and I must say, we slept much better! That is the only thing they have to recommend them, as they have no activities at all and it was very boring. So we took the opportunity to tour the island. The first day of touring the north end of the island we got a flat tire and waited over an hour for the tow truck to come and change the flat. Surprise, the spare was almost flat as well, not a good start! The north end beaches weren't really accessible due to the strong current and waves. The south end of the island was much prettier and had some very interesting history from WWII. The staff at the PIC invited us back for the Christmas party, carolling, and lots of fun and games. What a great time we had. We ate as much American food as we could: BBQ ribs, hamburgers, steak, etc (Yummmm!) The kids are just pros now at snorkeling. Eric even found a brilliant blue starfish! I will have to add those pics later as they must be developed from the underwater camera we bought. Windsurfing is very hard! I have no problem standing on the board and raising the sail, it's when the wind starts blowing the sail that I just can't hang on, and can't pick which direction to go! All in all, Guam was a fun break and most of all, it was warm!!!

Sweet 16

For Erika and Rachel's Sweet 16 I took them for a special Japanese cultural day. We spent an afternoon of cultural exchange with a group of lovely Japanese women. They dressed us in traditional Japanese kimonos, walked through a Japanese garden and went to a very serious tea ceremony. We now know how women felt back when they wore corsets! Man were we bound soooo tight inside those kimonos! It took two people to fully dress each us and it was difficult to walk, and we didn't even wear the traditional Japanese shoes! To our untrained, American eyes, the materials that they laid out for us to choose from didn't even match, but when put together looked just beautiful and "just right". During our walk through the gardens and feeding the enormous Koi, we met some other women dressed in kimonos also. One of them had a friend that served tea in the tea house, which was closed to the public for the day for a private, very important tea ceremony. She invited us to join the ceremony, after she asked permission from the master of ceremonies, and we happily joined them. We had a "sweet" from one of the finest Japanese bakeries in Nagoya, and had very green and foamy green tea (Yuck, with a capital Y!). At the end of the tea ceremony the man even made a couple of jests about Boeing, the American dollar, and even Ichiro, for our benefit. We returned to the ladies who had dressed us to have our scheduled tea with them, and they proceeded to present us with gifts and sweets and tea. It was a most wonderful experience!

Taylor's play "Semper Veritas"

Asuke, Japan: Autumn Splendor

Taylor's play, "The Semper Veritas"

Taylor was in a play in November called "The Semper Veritas", or "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!" (The words are latin for truth, or something along those lines.) The play was written by two of the teachers and it was hilarious! Taylor was one of the "Right" brothers, they were the heroes of the story. The conquered the villians by inventing a machine which determined whether or not you were telling the truth. We laughed so hard; one, because the lines were so funny, and two, because the kids were! This was Taylor's first acting role as well as his first lead role. Today I actually watched Taylor play out his second acting role as "Terysais" in the Greek Tragedy "Antigone." Everyone was very impressed with Taylor's ability to really "get into his role." He had all his lines memorized after a couple of days and performed them with great aplomb! Cheers for Taylor!

Asuke, Japan: Autumn Splendor

We have witnessed one of God's truly awesome creations! The place we visited, Asuke
(ah-sue-kay) was soooooo beautiful, that I couldn't stop saying "Oh, that's so beautiful, take a picture!" Every direction we looked was breathtaking. We hiked up this huge hill (or mini-mountain, depending on your point of view!) and there were Japanese women hiking this trail in 4" spiked high heels and skirts! I will never understand the Japanese prediliction for wearing high heels without regard to where you are walking. (They even wear them while riding their bikes!) Back to the point of this blog. We saw many shrines, an old village, and of course the beautiful red bridge. It was lit up at dusk and looked like it was on fire. I can't wait to go back in the spring when the cherry blossoms are in bloom; I am sure it will be just as spectacular.

Higashyama Zoo

Higashyama Zoo

The zoo was quite an experience, and one we wouldn't care to do again. I was astounded at the neglect and abominable conditions in Nagoya's zoo. I guess I figured that in a country that cares so much for its environment, that country would take as much care with the animals. I was wrong. If you look at the cages, they are all very small, rusted metal and concrete; on occasion you will see a random tree branch lying on the ground. Any and all of the enclosures that have water are probably the most appalling. I am sad to say the water was so filthy that you couldn't see through it, no matter how deep. The polar bears have a green tinge to their fur from the algae growing in their tanks. In Seattle, the seals are very playful and always swimming around, not so in Nagoya's zoo. The seals were laying out either half-way or completely and not even moving around at all, and no, it wasn't because of the heat, as it was a relatively cool day in October that we went. If I was a seal, I wouldn't want to be swimming, breathing, and drinking that sludge either. I have never considered myself to be an animal rights activist, after seeing this atrocity, I can see why people are motivated to such extremes.

The only highlight to our zoo trip was the amusement park that is attached to it. The Ferris wheel was huge and one of the pictures shows my brainless son hanging half his body out of it waving at me!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We won't be making a big turkey dinner this year, there is both good and bad in that. Good, because I don't have to spend the entire day cooking and cleaning! Bad, because we will miss having all that yummy food! We are going to a Thanksgiving Dinner that Boeing is holding at the Hilton Hotel in the evening. It promises to be a great meal, and I don't have to clean up!

One reason we won't be celebrating is that it is obviously not a holiday here in Japan and Eric has to work and the kids have school. The second reason is that they don't have turkeys in Japan. We would have to order it from the foreign buyers club. The cost of a 12# turkey is about $45, and 20# turkey is about $75!!!! Can you imagine? There is no turkey worth that much money! I will make some pies and have a chicken with mashed potatoes that weekend.

We will be missing you all and missing our day of celebrating that we usually have with Kevin and Tammy and other family members when possible. Eat some turkey for us!

Universal Studios, Osaka, Japan

The Golden Temple

Shopping at Kiyomizudera

The Golden Temple

Yes, it is really covered in gold! Apparently it used to be a shogun's summer vacation home hundreds of years ago. In 1408, after Yoshimitsu's death, it was turned into a Zen temple. Was breathtaking in it's surroundings and the gardens were beautiful to walk through. These places are supposed to be even more beautiful in the spring with the cherry blossoms blooming.

Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto

Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto with Eiichi

We had a wonderful guide to two of the beautiful temples of Kyoto. His name was Eiichi and his daughter Marina, they are friends of Rachel's; their son was an exchange student at the Stuart's house. We drove 2 hours to meet him while he drove one hour to meet us. We started at 10am and finished around dark, about 6:30pm. We started our tour at the Kiyomizudera Temple. The crowds were impressive and I am so glad Eiichi knew where to go! The temple entrance is "guarded" by two impressive statues. One mouthing "Ah" and one "Mmm". This is the beginning and ending letters of their alphabet. Alright you Christians out there, sound familiar? (Alpha and Omega?) Interesting....

It was fascinating to watch the Japanese do all the ritual stuff (washing hands before coming to Buddha with requests, writing the prayers on wooden boards and hanging them outside the temple, putting money at the Buddha's feet, rubbing the Buddha for luck...). This made me realize how truly blessed we are to have a savior in Jesus Christ, not a golden statue. It is one thing to read about other religions in books, I think it was very eye-opening to watch it in person.

The buildings and outlying areas were beautiful and impressive to see how they were built so long ago and still remain. The shopping area (market style) was a whole lot of fun!

Nagoya Festival 2008

Nagoya Festival

We spent four hours watching the Nagoya Festival Parade! The first 1 1/2 hours weren't so hot, kind of boring, parade of temples and young children and their "floats". The remainder was just great! Very beautiful, authentic, colorful costumes. Many of them were so excited to wave to the Americans. One man walked over to us and asked where we came from, and proceeded to try and play an American song on his conch shell! Everyone stopped and listened and cheered when he was done, then they all waved good-bye to us.

Halloween in Japan! A neighbor had a party to show some Japanese children what we do in America. It was mostly small children but my big kids helped out. We trick-or-treated to seven houses around our block (prearranged of course) and they had a treasure hunt and various costume and jack-o-lantern contests. Now for the irony. We dressed Erika up as a Japanese girl! Straightened her hair and spray painted her hair black. Well, it didn't wash out! No kidding, she cannot get the black out! So I don't know how long she will be a brunette!

Halloween Party

Halloween Party

MAIL

For some reason we were having difficulty with the Post Office. Some stuff they delivered, but much was returned. Then they put a form in my mailbox (in Japanese of course) that Eric took to the translators. They said "Where did you get this form?" He told them it was delivered in our mailbox. It was a form for permission to deliver mail to those in our house. The ironic thing is that they addressed it to Eric Patton. The translators thought this very weird. So we filled it out and turned it in. Still no mail. Then Eric's translator called the post office. They said they needed to send someone out to see if we were really who we said we were. The translators said they'd never seen this happen before. Well, after two more phone calls the post office decided they didn't need to do this. So long story short is we are supposed to be getting mail now. To be safe though, I would mail any envelopes to our house in Marysville, Boeing will forward them to us (letters/cards only). Takes a bit longer (1 week-10days) but is much cheaper and guaranteed to get to us. Sorry for the trouble. Any packages must be mailed to our Japanese address: Greenfield B, 2-801 Kifune, Meito-Ku Nagoya, 465-0058

My apologies to those who mailed stuff to us and had it returned.

House

I'm going to work!

Yeah! I've got a job! Of course it's teaching! I sent in my resume and applied to substitute teach and tutor at the kids' school, Nagoya International School. I have been accepted and I have my first day on Friday. Teaching P.E. no less! What is really ironic is that they just started Presidential Physical Fitness! No, I am not kidding. For those of you who are wondering what's the big deal, I have taught Pres. Physical Fitness with our co-op for two years. The p.e. teacher was shocked to say the least that I had any idea what it was, cool for me! I have also been asked to tutor a 9th grader in math 1-2x/week. The sub-teaching pays 8000yen/day and the tutoring is 4000yen/hour! That is equivilant to about $80/day and $40/hour! I already have it spent, I will go have my hair done I think! Hee Hee! The biggest blessing is I will have a purpose once again and feel useful. I am so excited!

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle!

Recycling in Japan is quite an undertaking. I thought Washington was big into recycling; they can't come anywhere near Japan! You won't believe this, but I have 9 different bags to sort my garbage into. Mother, you never liked it when I had my ONE recycle box in my kitchen, you cannot imagine now! My bag of actual waste (they call this "burnables") is so tiny it's unbelievable. If they had garbage disposals here it would be even smaller. I have a bag for anything plastic (which seems to be 90% of my garbage every week, everything in Japan is wrapped in plastic of some sort!), a bag for anything paper, a bag for cans, a bag for plastic bottles (they call them PET bottles), a bag for anything not burnable (ceramic bowl, broken umbrella, etc), I also have to separate all glass bottles, corrugated cardboard, and milk/juice containers, and newspapers, all of which must be taken down the street weekly to a designated drop-off. Now I know you are thinking, why bother? If you don't sort your garbage correctly they give you a warning, then they will fine you! If you continue, they will refuse to pick up your garbage anymore! I think the Japanese are serious about their recycling! I appreciate the philosophy to take care of the environment and the results are clearly worth. Japan is the cleanest place I've ever seen. They don't have the land for huge landfills like the US does. So, we recycle! It is really crazy though, our first few weeks here, we were so stressed out about which bag a piece of garbage goes into! You say, "It can't be that difficult Shawn." NOT! You would not believe how confusing it can become. I think we've got it down now, but we do have our moments. More later!

Driving In Japan

Well, let's just say that driving in Japan will be on my Top 10 List of what I don't ever want to do again! First, they drive on the left side of the road! I have learned that contrary to the expectation that the Japanese are very advanced and rational people, they are not! There cannot be any rational thinking that explains the way these people drive! They will park their cars right on a road, just pull over and park, sometimes when you are right behind them driving 40Km/h. So half of their car is still on the main road! So you must drive around them, which takes you into the oncoming lane of traffic. This is supposed to be illegal but is done everywhere all the time. I will not do this as I know the first time I do it, I will get a ticket! The other thing that makes driving here dangerous is the people, walking and riding bikes. They have the right of way and they know it! They don't slow down to cross a street, they don't look both direction before crossing a street, they go full speed ahead and if you hit them, it's your fault! So, before turning, you must look both ways for not only other cars but bikes and pedestrians! This is guaranteed to get your blood pressure up! It's no wonder that most of the people don't drive a car in Japan, IT'S CRAZY!!!!

Taylor's Baseball Team

Taylor's baseball team played their first home games this weekend. They have two teams, A Team & B Team. The A Team is all 7th and 8th graders, the B Team is the 6th graders. Taylor is the only 6th grader on the A Team! He is their catcher! His coach is very excited to have Taylor on the team, someone with baseball experience. Taylor is having a great time. They won their first game 4-3! Taylor scored the third run to tie the game, got two hits, and stole 3 bases! The second game was just as exciting. They sadly ended the first inning down, 0-8, but went into the last inning and came back 11-10! Taylor got two hits and stole 2 bases for the second game. Although the level of baseball isn't what Taylor is used to, it is still baseball! Since it is a very small school and plays other small private schools, the kids aren't all the athletic type or haven't had much experience with competitive sports.

Taylor's Baseball Team

Erika's Progress

Well, today Erika went to school without any crutch at all. She has been on one crutch for about a week now. She is nervous, as she doesn't know if her leg will give out on her. She really only needed it for going up/down stairs. So she has been instructed to always hold the rail. Most of you know, Erika had surgery on her knee before we left Seattle. This was successful and she was doing her physical therapy and progressing. After the first week of school she went away on a high school retreat to a place about 3 hours in the mountains. She was walking only with one crutch at the time. Well, she was asked if the group doing a skit could use her crutch. She was told the walkways were even and safe to walk on, so she gave them her crutch. Needless to say, the walkways were nice and safe but didn't continue all the way to where Erika needed to go. She slipped on some rocks (it had been raining) and fell. The friend she was with tried to grab her but couldn't and they both heard a loud pop from her knee. She was in great pain and crying so they called the paramedics. They called us and we said to just let her rest, elevate it and ice it. That was when she began to go into seizures, similar to after her surgery in Seattle. This must be how her body handles great pain. Well, they immediately drove her to a hospital an hour away! Now she was 4 hours from us, across the mountains and we couldn't get to her! It was an absolutely horrible night! For her and me. They finally got her stabilized and she stopped the seizing about 1am. They brought her home the next day, but she now had to be put back in the knee stabilizer and use both crutches again. With her workload at school and homework, she doesn't have much time to do physical therapy. She is doing it during P.E. class that she has every other day. So her progress is slow and very limited. I really don't know the extent of the damage the fall has done to her knee. She has sharp pains inside it, similar to what she felt before surgery, but her kneecap is in place and stable. We will continue and see a doctor if we must. A friend has given me the name of a great kneed doctor that her husband has used. Japan is not the place to be with any sort of disability. There are so many stairs everywhere! There of course are elevators too, but very much out of the way to use. That's it for now. Hopefully this will be the last of Erika's major injuries, not likely, but hopefully.

My Future is Never-ending Laundry.

Of the many challenges in Japan, one of them is laundry. We are blessed to have all American appliances in our house, with the exception of the washing machine. Boeing has further blessed us by providing appliances for us. So we were able to replace the very tiny and inefficient machine that was in our house. It has been replaced by a new, larger machine, but it is still a Japanese washer. The Japanese washing machines are actually a washer and a dryer. I am sure this is to save space, but also for energy conservation. The downside to this is that it is a very inefficient machine. To do one load (wash and dry) takes 4 hours! No, I am not kidding. So, with a family of 5, it would take the entire day to do 2 loads. Therefore, I hang out the laundry. This cuts down the time for one load to 2 hours. Then I start another load while I hang out the first load to dry outside. It is definitely dry by the time the next load is ready to hang out. Then I usually have to iron most things. I have not ironed so much in my entire life as I have ironed in these last two weeks in our house. What do I do when it rains do you ask? Well, the size of the drum in the washers are also much smaller than their American counterparts, so the loads are smaller. So what most people do is bring their clothes racks inside and let them hang dry in their living rooms, etc. Most Japanese driers don't dry very well, even after two hours. My machine is new and drys well, it just takes forever. It isn't all bad. I get quiet and still time while I am hanging it. And I know there are many of you out there saying how much that is just what I need!

Worshiping Barefooted!

We finally got to a church on Sunday! As with all places Japanese, we had to take off our shoes before entering. There was something very weird about standing/sitting there barefooted singing and listening to a sermon and later fellowshipping with others! Although the experience was very different, it was Biblical, and that's what counts. It is very small, just a room in a big building. This Sunday was their biggest attendance of 50 people, including children. It is only one of two enlgish-speaking churches in the area, a 35-45 minute drive from our house. The other church option meets at 5pm on Sundays. I went to my first Bible study on Monday. They only meet every other week, so that is a bummer. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next one.

Going Away Party

The First Day of School

Japanese Dancers

What We Found Most Interesting In Japan

I guess one of the first things you notice when entering Japan is the toilets. I know it's weird, but when you gotta go, you gotta go! There are a few things which make them unlike any we've seen before. First, in some places, the toilet is basically a urinal on the floor! You squat over it (make sure your clothing is out of the way!) and do your business. Sometimes the mechanism to flush is a button on the floor that you step on, sometimes on the wall. Needless to say this is an emergency use for us only! It certainly isn't the cleanest, and Stephanie and Dee I think of you everytime I see one of these because I know you two would be mortified over the cleanliness and odor! The other thing is that in many public restrooms there isn't any toilet paper; you always carry tissues in your purse/pocket for times such as these! The second unusual thing is the regular toilet seats (in most stores, homes, hotels, etc) are heated and have the option at the touch of a button for a bidet and what they call a "shower"(this is a bidet for your rear end). It does take some getting used to but, in my opinion, is something the United States needs to adopt in their toilets. The Japanese don't always provide soap or paper towels for washing. There is usually a sink, but that is it. The Japanese carry around a "towel" with them for times like these and also wiping sweat from their brow.

I guess this wraps it up for today. I will try and share more tomorrow!

Well folks, we are well and truly ensconsed in Japan now! We have furniture and some household goods (I think I'll never be finished with that task!). This is my first attempt at anything on the computer (of course Eric helped!) so I will try to keep it updated. I find myself thinking throughout the day "Oh I should write about this on my blog." So we'll see if I can keep this up. If nothing else I'll share photos.