Labor day or Thanksgiving day?!

   We fortunately have today off which is Thanksgiving day in the States but considered Labor Day in Japan.   I'm just glad to have a day off work and sleep until 8:00 a.m. listening to the rain and Christmas shopping at Nitori (which is like our Ikea but smaller).  Januck is convinced that making lemon water with honey will help our coughs and we will get plenty of Vitamin C to last until Christmas break.  I hope he is right, so I bought him a lemon squeezer!
   Our son, Alex just flew to Denver, CO to visit his sister, Rachel for the Thanksgiving break and I hope and pray that they will have a wonderful bonding sibling time.
   We saw this sign yesterday which reminded us that things are catching on here just maybe not quite the same nuance as we think....but that is O.K.

Trash

We have had our ups and downs with the trash here in Japan. When we first moved here about 25 years we lived in Shimane Prefecture in the town of Gotsu and we had to put out our burnable trash in clear plastic city bags. There was a place for our name so we learned how to write our name in Japanese and we used a marker to write our name. It was kind of weird because people were able to see what was in our trash but I guess trash is trash. We came home one day after trash pickup and there was our bag, all alone with a large red sticker on it that we couldn't read what it said but we soon realized our violation. Joanna had accidentally put a pasta sauce can in the burnable trash and they rejected it. We were so embarrassed because there was our bag, all alone in the street for everyone to see.

We then moved to Numazu and again we had to do the same thing here. One quirky thing was that on cans and bottle recycling day we had to line up the bottles according to color and have them neatly in rows. I remember having those small baby food bottles and bringing them to the place on the street where you line up the bottles where the community attendants were watching. I placed them nicely in a row on the ground and an older gentleman started yelling at me because the bottles had not been washed out completely. Yes, the had to be completely cleaned out. My limited Japanese didn't allow me to fully understand him but I just remember him continually gesturing and yelling so I finally cursed at him (I know, pretty bad) and took my bottles back and walked away. There were two ladies who were helping and they seemed sympathetic but didn't want to intervene in the conversation. I went back and told Joanna and washed out the bottles and headed back to the place and was ready to show the gentleman that I had washed the bottles and they should be acceptable. As I walked up, tense and ready for another tongue lashing, the man was standing next to the two ladies and his demeanor had completely changed and they all bowed and thanked me repeatedly. It seemed strange and the older gentleman was so nice that I knew something was up and he didn't say a word. As I left, I bowed to the three of them and the one lady gave me an extra bow and a smile and it was then that I knew what had happened. After the gentleman had given me my tongue lashing, the ladies must have given him one knowing that I was a foreigner trying to learn their customs. It was the way the lady smiled at me like, "We've got your back!" I never had a problem after that.

Fast forward to our second time living in Japan. We have lived in different places and the trash area and trash day vary between the community that you live in. One place had attendants there in the morning and you had to bring the trash out in the morning between 6 AM and 9 AM. Another place had no attendants and nobody seemed to care even though the bottles were still lined up nicely. Our current place has community people there from 5 PM to 7 PM to help you get your bottles in the right crates. Even the attendants vary because they are volunteers from the community and each one has a different idea of how things are supposed to be. I was once putting in bottles into a crate and the lady ran over and told me that I was supposed to lay them down flat. I had to take some of them out so I could do that. Other times they want the bottles standing so it just depends.

On my way to school when I am walking, I pass by a really nice gentleman who always tries to speak  to me in English and always greats me with a Good Morning and a small comment however...he is the trash Nazi. He stands with a clipboard and when people bring their trash then he marks them off and how many bags they have put in the trash container. I really like him but I can't imagine having to be that accountable, even with regular trash like burnables and plastics. He was gone for a few days and I was worried that something might have happened to him but sure enough, there he was a few days ago, checking off the trash.

I know it is hard to see him but...He's There!

Japanese Drum lesson (Wadaiko)

   Januck and I wanted to try taking Japanese drum lesson and had a trial class.  We signed up for what the Music studio called a 'Challenge course' where you try the class out for four times and then if you like it or are probably good at the instrument you can continue taking classes.  HA! HA!
   Our teacher is so gracious because we were sick with colds/fever and coughs for the PAST month and have not been able to attend our classes.  I think he thought we gave up on it or decided against the classes.
    After going tonight though for our class, the Music studio decided not to charge us our missed lessons which was very nice so we are determined to try learning the drums! Our teacher makes drum sticks and asked us if we wanted to purchase some homemade sticks. ( costing about $20).  I didn't ask him what kind of wood he uses but of course we would!!!
   Januck has more power and can hit the drum quite well.  I get caught up in the beat, trying to have a stance and hold the sticks properly that I lose the beat.  I started laughing many times and really lose the beat but our teacher is very patient and tries to use English.
   The funny thing is it looks so easy- but it is so difficult.  I played the piano for a bit when I was younger but have not played any other instrument so trying to follow drum sheet music is especially challenging for me.
   We have another lesson next Monday and I am determined to get better or at least have fun with Januck in learning a new craft :)

Bread Festival?

Joanna has been going to some cool events lately so when she told me that they were going to have a Bread Festival very close to us, then I was excited to go. I love bread so the thought of trying different types of bread made me look forward to today. There were a lot of people around and as we entered the shopping mall, we could see some booths set up and a few had some bread to sell. Japanese bread products are hard to explain but much of it is a bit strange like wiener on a flat piece of bread with some ketchup on it, or bread filled with sweet bean paste.

 We knew we were getting close.

Some bread for sale.

We finally came across a huge line that wrapped around and it turns out that they were selling bread in the basement of the bookstore and everybody in line had a blue ticket with a number on it. We weren't sure what it was and we thought maybe they were giving away some free bread or something. 

We walked further down and found a similar line at another corner. Again, people with blue tickets. We looked in the little room that was filled with people and it just looked like they were selling bread. Maybe it was special bread or Joanna thought that you had to buy a certain amount to get some sort of reward.

At that point we decided to abandon the Bread Festival because there wasn't much to do except get in a very long line and we knew where we could get the bread that we do like.

We went to DONQ. It is freshly baked bread and we have never been there early so their selection was fantastic. We got a large loaf of bread and some sandwiches. Joanna bought some olive oil spread and we went home and cut up the bread and enjoyed our relaxing time. The Bread Festival was disappointing but we still enjoyed our time together!

This is the Life!

Not many words needed for this pic. I wish Joanna would push me around like this and I could just relax and let all of my worries go away!

Waiting for our flu shots

 Autumn has come!

 Local shrine near our Doctor's

Why is there a train in this park?  I don't know.

   We went early before our Doctor's office was opened at 8:00 a.m. to get in line to get our flu shots.  We have both been so sick with coughs and colds for over a month, we honestly didn't know if he would allow us to get our shots.  The photos above are from a park near his office I wandered over to and Januck even has a geocache near the train.

   We both got cleared to get our flu shots which is important working with kids every year (even though Januck still got the flu last year on his 6th graduation trip after he got his flu shot but that sometimes happens).

Sumo Is Not Just Fat Men Hitting Each Other

When we first came to Japan so many years ago I started to watch sumo. I always thought sumo was just a bunch of fat guys hitting each other and then I realized that I was completely wrong. It is more about technique then anything else and the weight is to help them become more stable while underneath the fat is a wealth of muscle. I started watching when the first foreign wrestlers (from the United States) were trying to become Grand Champions. It was a tough road and finally Akebono became Grand Champion after winning a few tournaments. Another foreign wrestler, Musashimaru, followed Akebono and became Grand Champion. The thing about a Grand Champion is that they cannot be demoted and if they start to lose significantly, then they have to retire. After coming back to Japan we have been lucky enough to watch the greatest Grand Champion of all time, Hakuho who has a quest to reach 40 championships which is unheard of here.

This video is a promotional video from the stable (yes, they call them stables here) where Musashimaru is the stable master after he retired. If you watch the whole thing then each wrestler is introducing themselves and what technique they like the most.