Dead Fish and Trendy Kids

On Saturday, we decided to take another trip into the Tokyo area by train and subway. We had planned earlier in the week to visit Tsujiki Fish Market and found that most of the activity starts very early in the morning. Lori and I woke up at 4:00 am so we could be ready to meet Mike at 5 to bike to the train station. I didn't have much of an appetite at this early hour, so I just grabbed a piece of toast. It was probably a good thing I didn't eat much because our meals for the day were a little off schedule.

The Tsujiki Fish Market is one of the biggest in Asia and it provides most of Japan's fish supply and for other countries too. Over Thanksgiving, my sister and Kevin brought over a puzzle with pictures from the "1000 Places to See Before You Die" book and this market was one of them. It wasn't a pretty place by any means, but it definitely was worth seeing. When we got off the subway at the Tsujiki station, Lori and I thought for sure we could faintly smell fish. We didn't have to walk to far to find the market. We first made our way down a very streets, which was a little shopping area with stops selling everything from vegetables and fruits to big knives to pottery. What we really wanted to find was the area with all the fish! The streets around the market were mass chaos; we had to constantly be looking all around because there were trucks, men driving carts full of stuff, people on bicycles, and people walking everywhere! I think we came close to getting run over several times.

Lori, Mike and I finally found the inside of the market where all the fish we being prepared to be sold. It was huge! There was only a little bit of room to walk, and most people inside knew exactly where they wanted to go to buy their fish. I think we were so overwhelmed by the size and the amount of dead fish all around us; I felt a little out of place trying to take pictures and watch the workers chop off fish heads :). We saw all different kinds of things and it would have been cool to buy some fish for dinner, but since we would be walking around all day we thought it would probably go bad if we did.

It was only a little after 9 am when we got outside of the fish area and were making our way back to the outside market. We were a little hungry and thought it would be good to at least try some kind of snack being sold. When we were walking around the outside market, we had seen small restaurants with lots of people already waiting to go inside. We really didn't want to wait too long to go inside, but Lori found one of these restaurants with only a few people inside sat down immediately. The inside was very small and had a bar-like table with stools for us to sit on. There was a small kitchen in the back too. The owner greeted us warmly and offered us two choices of food- sashimi or yakitori. Mike and I ordered sashimi and Lori got chicken yakitori.

There were a few other customers there too, but the waiter paid us a lot of attention. While we waited for our food, he gave us Japanese lessons that were very useful. He wrote down different phrases like, "How do I get to...?" and "I want to order..." and "separate checks, please!" It was very helpful and hopefully we can practice using the phrases. The food was delicious. My sashimi included a serving of raw tuna, raw salmon, shrimp, and a prawn that I had to take out of the shell. My meal also had a bowl of miso soup (soup with tofu and seaweed), a bowl of white rice, and hot tea. Mike had told me earlier that he liked to mix wasabi with soy sauce to dip the raw fish in, so I tried that with mine and it was great.

The waiter, J.J., was very friendly and talked with us the whole time we were there. It was nice to get to know him, but I felt a little bad for the other customers. When we were getting ready to leave, he took our picture to put on his restaurant wall, which was covered with pictures of Americans who had come in. J.J. also asked us to sign a guest book. It was a little funny. I got a picture with him too.

After Tsujiki, we had planned to go to another area for a few hours, but first wanted to stop at the area near Tokyo Tower to visit the coffee shop that had been closed last time we went. We when got there, it was closed again, but a sign said it would open at 11 am, which was in only 30 minutes. We walked around for a little while taking pictures and exploring. We found a staircase that led up to a garden area with a shrine. I tried talking to a woman there who lived right next to the shrine. She spoke a little English and told me it was a Shinto shrine. I could tell she was trying hard to talk to Lori and I. I sometimes feel bad that the people I've met try so hard make me comfortable by speaking English. They never expect me to know Japanese, even though I'm the one visiting their country.

She showed us another staircase that led down to a huge Buddhist temple. After walking up huge flights of stairs, the we looked inside at the sanctuary. It looked more like an auditorium with big statues at the front. There were a few people inside praying and I think there was a tape recording of someone speaking playing. I didn't see anyone talking, so I'm guessing that's what it was.

After looking around a bit, we made our way back over to the coffee shop, which sadly was still closed. There was another one across the street, which didn't look as good as the one we hoped to go to but we tried it anyway. I ordered another delicious hot chocolate while Mike and Lori got their coffees. This shop did have big windows over looking the street, so we could people watch for a little bit. We saw a little boy who kept falling down and then "an intense jogger who kept throwing his head back in exhausting and heaving in huge breaths when he got stopped by traffic" (Lori and I made this description up together just now).

Our next stop was Shibuya, which we had heard was a site of new fashions and trends for younger people. When we left the subway station and got up to the main streets, we found they were packed with people and full of towering buildings with TV screens playing ads. It was, again, overwhelming, as most Tokyo sites have been. I think we were all excited to do a bit of shopping, but we soon realized that the stores and clothes were a bit out of our price range. I didn't think to take pictures inside the stores, I guess I assumed that probably would be frowned upon, but I wish I had. I was hoping to see some kids wearing outrageous outfits like I've seen in this book my friend Kay has when she came to Japan, but I didn't see anything too crazy. Just lots of kids wearing really stylish outfits. Everyone in Japan is really stylish, I've discovered, even the moms at school. One girl fashion trend Lori and I like here that's popular is longer shorts with big pockets with colorful tights underneath. The girls here usually wear winter boots with it too. We are hoping to find an inexpensive version of these shorts and tights to bring back to America! Boo ya in Shibuya!

At about 3 pm, we were hungry again for lunch/dinner, so we found a buffet to eat at. I was really excited because the ad for the restaurant, Los Cabos, had a picture of taco salad (yes I know, not Japanese at all but it is my favorite). However, we became victim to false advertising, as there were not tacos at all! The restaurant did make up for it though by having an extensive dessert table, complete with ice cream sundaes, honey toast (toast stacks with honey on top) and a chocolate fountain and fruit. YUM. I tried to justify eating a lot of dessert with the fact that I our "breakfast snack" of sashimi was probably really healthy.

We came back to school kind of early, since we had started our day at the crack of dawn. It was another good trip. A woman at church was telling us about Yokohama, another city south of Chiba, which sounded like a fun place to visit. When I was in high school, we had an exchange student stay with us for a month who was from Yokohama, so it might be nice to check that out. We also got an invite from Brianna Danese, a girl who went to SAU and now works here in Japan teaching English, to come visit here place near Mt. Fuji (Hi Brianna! She reads this blog) And in a few weeks during "Spring Break" we have a scheduled trip to Kyoto, which is supposed to be beautiful! There is still more of Tokyo to see, but I'm excited to explore other parts of Japan too, so I'm really looking forward to some of these other trips.

School Days

After spending a couple weeks at the kindergarten, it is easy to see why any kid would enjoy coming to school here. Every day, kids run happily off the bus and in through the gates to the playground or their classes, giving us "high touches" as they go. Every day is filled with singing and dancing and of course playing on that amazing playground. Lori and I sometimes wonder if the kids actually do any learning, since our room shares a wall with a class that's always so noisy.

Each day of school is a bit different for us and for the kids too. On Mondays, Lori, Mike and I have two short English lessons with a small group (about 8) of kids from the three year old class. My first group is great. When I talk, they are quiet and listen. When I want them to participate, they are loud and energetic. The second group is smart too, but a little harder to control. They get up and look out the window a lot. There's one little boy who will just randomly run up to me with a big smile and then hand me something (he's in the picture with me holding "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book when you scroll down) and another girl who always has to be first in line or first to get a sticker. After lunch, we have "Genkide Go-Go," which is dance time. All the students and teachers gather under the dome and we dance to different songs. Lori, Mike and I are supposed to teach a new song and dance every month, so this month's is the Macarena. I think I might have written earlier about how I am just saying all the moves into the microphone for this dance. I think today was the last time we had to do the Macarena, thankfully.

Tuesdays and Fridays are Kumon days. We each have an hour time shift to go and work with individual students on their English homework and afterward we work on our Japanese homework. I work with two boys, Yuma and Hiroto, who are both very good at English but both get antsy. Kumon is the brand of books that we are learning language from. We have small books and CDs so we can practice writing and speaking. I was telling my friend Megan in an
e-mail that the hardest part of learning Japanese compared to when I learned Spanish in high school is we have to learn a new character and the sound it makes. In Spanish, the letters looked the same but only the sounds were different.

On Wednesdays, we rotate in assisting either the gym teachers or two English teachers in the classes. I worked with the gym teachers my first week and had a blast, and last week I worked with Rori, a Canadian woman. She and the other teacher, Robert, have been working at the school for almost a year. It was nice seeing how someone else who speaks English runs the class. Rori did a good job of acting out everything she wanted the students to do and it was fun assisting her with games. She was pretty sarcastic too, so it was funny catching her comments and being able to laugh at them. Most of our English classes require us using flashcards, which is helpful but also frustrating for me. I'd like to try to use other ways of teaching, so I often feel like my creative talents are not being put to good use. There are only so many flashcard activities I can think of! Thursday are our day off for the most part. I think we're supposed to clean, but that usually gets forgotten :) Next Thursday will be another birthday parade and also the day after my birthday!

We also go to a different classroom everyday and eat lunch with the students. Sometimes after lunch we are supposed to teach a different letter of the English alphabet. Lunches have been...interesting, I guess is a good word. Some days we'll have yummy thinks like shrimp or mango slices or rolls with cream in the middle or chicken stir-fry and rice. Other days, I won't always know what something is when I put it into my mouth! I opened my lunch one day to find little sardines staring at me!

Each week, we help at a different after school program. I've now been to all of them, so I can now honestly say that each one has it's ups and downs. I am back in the nursery with the Little Angels (or Little Devils as we sometimes call them) and today I got beat up by some five year old boys. I guess I kind of started it- I lightly tossed a ball at a little boy's head and he and his friends decided the appropriate response would be to kick me in the shins and pull my lovely hair. It is funny to watch the kids do weird things too. They can't sit still and will just show you stuff and smile like its the coolest thing ever. I find myself giving a lot of thumbs ups. The after school program with junior high kids worried me at first because no one wanted to play with me. They just did their homework and laughed when I tried to say the few Japanese words I know to them. Then I decided to bring in the Lisa Frank coloring book I found in the room Lori and I share. Boy, did that make me popular! I had so many 11 year old girls wanting to color unicorns and tiger cubs and golden retriever puppies with me.

I hope that I can learn more names of students. I know a couple and it will be easy to learn more as I get better at reading characters. I already have a couple favorite kids though and teachers who's classes I enjoy visiting.

A Day at the Park

Valentine's Day, I was surprised to find out, is a big deal here. In Japan, the girls are the ones who are supposed to be giving gifts and valentines to boys, instead of the other way around. In any case, Lori, Mike and I were showered with chocolate on Friday because there was no school on the actual Valentine's Day. Lori and I have been saying how much we've been snacking since being here. I think its the combination of having so many new things to try and not being able to read the nutrition labels. To us, this says that since we can't read them, all the calories and fat and sugar just disappear!

It's been fairly cold since we got here, probably somewhere in the 50's everyday. On Friday night, the wind was blowing like crazy but it was very warm outside. It must have blown away the cold because Saturday was incredibly warm. I woke up and put on my usual running clothes (pants, under armour, and a long sleeved shirt) just as Lori was getting back from her run. She told me to change my clothes because I would be way to warm. I put on a t-shirt, and I'm glad I did because it was probably about 70 degrees. The sun was shining. It was perfect running weather. I couldn't stop smiling for the first couple minutes of my run! I explored some different paths and I think I ended up near a landfill at one point, but it felt so good to be outside that I didn't really care.

Lori, Mike and I decided that we wanted to enjoy the sunshine as much as we could so we headed to a park on our bikes. The part was across the street from Big Hop Mall and was already filled with people. We brought a few blankets to set on the grass; the grass was very dry and very yellow. Right now I'm reading Home, a memoir of Julie Andrew's early years growing up with her family and her career on stage. I think she's so charming and fascinating, so I've enjoyed reading her stories whenever I have time and Saturday gave me lots of time to do just that. We were seated on a hill and below us was a flat area where a father and daughter were playing frisbee and several mothers and fathers were out with their children or walking their dogs. Along the paths of the park, people were eating their lunches. I think everyone wanted to enjoy the beautiful day.

I took a couple pictures, but it was so bright outside so they're not terrific.

Lori sitting and sketching. That's my bike next to the tree.

The grass was pretty yellow and dry. We sat father up on the hill to the right and people were playing down here below.

There were lots of trees and nice sidewalks

This was near the restaurant we ate at for lunch. We all took pictures riding the donkey!

Foundation Day

Yesterday was National Foundation Day, which meant no school for the teachers and kids. This holiday, we were told is similar to our Independence Day, except there are no fireworks and hot dog picnics. Just a day to remember the foundation of the nation!

As far as sleeping in goes, I didn't quite use the morning to my advantage because I still woke up at about the same time. We decided we make scrambled eggs and toast later but I was pretty hungry when I got up. We have limited breakfast supply, so I heated up a few pieces of frozen squash- something I had bought last week and we've never wanted to make it because, let's face it, how many people like squash on its own? I read for a while and then went for a nice long run outside.

Over the years, I have come to love running more and more. I like it because it is not only a physical exercise, but also a mental one too. It requires so much concentration to stay focus, to tell yourself to keep going just a bit farther and faster. I've been able to explore Inzai-Shi a bit from my runs. There's a lot of farm and country sides where we're staying, but then a main road with wide sidewalks is not too far either. Simple things like big sidewalks on main roads, I think, help promote Japan's healthy lifestyle. Bikers and walkers are seen much more. Families have one car, rather than 2 or 3.

Lori and I went to Gospel Choir practice when I got back from running. We thought we might not have practice today because of the holiday or if we did, it would be later in the afternoon. I had just enough time to shower, but not eat breakfast or drink much water so I felt a bit weak during practice. It was fun to sing again though. The woman next to me kindly wrote in the sounds for each character again and I have a couple lines from songs down now. The director is this tiny little woman who, like most women here, is very trendy and fashionable. When she talks, she gets a very excited expression on her face and you can tell she's very passionate about music and the words of the gospel songs we sing. I am almost happy that I can't understand what she's saying; I like to image that everything she says sweet and encouraging.

Lori, Mike and I decided to go to Big Hop Mall on our bikes to eat a later lunch. As soon as we got there however, I felt awful. My head hurt and I could tell I had little patience to be walking around a mall aimlessly. Rather than forcing Lori and Mike to put up with my crabbiness, I decided to bike back to the school on my own. When I got back, I attempted to do some homework for my online classes, but I ended up getting more annoyed so I decided to take a nap. Two hours later, I woke up feeling much better and made some soup mix my sister and Kevin gave me to bring, and finished my homework.

We had been invited to dinner at the house of a woman who works in the office of the school that night, so I'm glad I felt better and refreshed. Her daughter and three friends were coming along too. I was excited to see the inside of an actual house too. When we arrived, the daughter and her friends (I've been so awful with names, sorry!) were so welcoming and excited to talk to us about our experience. We've been spending most of our time with five year olds or older adults, so it was finally nice to be able to hang out with people our age.

The daughter and her friends were 25 years old and had gone to college in the U.S. to study abroad. The daughter and one pretty attractive male friend spoke English very well, so we could easily talk about their experience in the U.S and their first impressions of our country. They said they liked "doggie bags" at restaurants because we get huge portions and can take the leftovers home. The daughter had told us about her experience in a speech class when she first arrived and having to do an impromptu speech. She knew very little English at the time, so that must have been awful. Poor girl! They told us about places they had visited too; the guy friend had visited San Francisco and we could tell he had trouble describing it!

For dinner, the daughter prepared takoyaki, which means octopus balls. She prepared these in front of us. First she poured a pancake-like batter into a fryer that had little holders in it. Hard to describe, but picture an egg carton when it is flipped open. Next, she placed chopped octopus, a Japanese potato, pickled ginger and onions into the batter as it was cooking. After a couple minutes, she took a long toothpick and scooped the batter and mix-ins to flip the ball so the top could cook inside the holders of the fryer. She kept rotating the balls until they were cooked all the way through and took them out of the fryer and onto a plate. She then drizzled on okonomiyaki sauce (dark brown and kind of like teriaki), a mayonnaise dressing and fish shavings. They were delicious. I don't think that is a recipe that we can copy for our dinners at the school though :).

For dessert we had a large brownie and ice cream sundae that they daughter made at the restaurant she works at, Planet Hollywood. And lots of green tea too. We had so much fun talking and laughing with the daughter and her friends and hopefully we can meet up with them again sometime soon. We gave them gift we brought from home; I gave them bags of puppy chow, Mike gave chocolate covered pecans, and Lori gave Mackinaw Island fudge. They all loved chocolate- so the gifts went over well.

A Day in Tokyo

Our first week was very exhausting and overwhelming, with the start of our online classes and Japanese lessons and trying to remember where to be at what time each day. Lori, Mike and I were all excited for the weekend because it provided a break for us from school and also gave us the chance to check out the exciting city of Tokyo! Earlier in the week, Keiko helped us plan out a course of a few places to stop and what to see at each location. This was helpful because Tokyo is huge and we would not be able to see everything in just a day.




We got an early start, leaving the school on our bikes for the train station just a little after 9:30 am. We biked about 15 minutes to the train station at the Big Hop Mall, where Keiko was waiting for us to help buy tickets for the train and subway. She reviewed the course of the day with us, showing on a map where we needed to get off and where we needed to change subways. I was a bit nervous because I'm not great terrific with directions; I have come to accept getting lost as just a part of my trip when I'm driving somewhere new. I have also never been on a subway, let alone in a foreign country.


Our first stop was Asakusa, about 45 min. by train. We wanted to see a temple, but first we had to pass through the Kaminarimon Gate, which was on a street corner and was packed with people taking pictures. On the other side, we made our was through the Nakamise Shopping Arcade, which was kind of like a flee market that had food, toys, clothes, masks and other souviners for sale. It took us probably 10 minutes to walk from one end to the other, because it was long and because there were so many people. At the end, we reached the Hozo-mon Gate. I read that the Gate is used to store the treasures of the temples and had burned down a couple times and had been restored. Outside of the temple, the Senso-ji Temple, there was a hug well with steam coming out of it. People were waving the steam onto their faces. We decided not to try; the temple was a Buddhist one and we weren't really sure if the steam waving was a religious practice. Minako later told us that people belive the steam has healing powers, so they were cleansing themselves.



We took several pictures of the inside and outside of the temple. There were alot of people prayer or tying prayers to a stand of some kind. My favorite part of the temple was the ceiling; it had huge panels painted with flowers and different gods. I had an older man ask if he could take my picture, which is guess is common for Americans. We asked him if he could tell us anything about the temple because his English was fairly good, but he said he couldn't. I read in my tour book that the temple was built in honor of three fishermen who found a small image of the Goddess of Mercy, Kannon, in their fishing net. This makes sense because the temple is also called the Askusa Kannon Temple.



We walked around Asakusa for a while taking pictures. There were lots of garden areas and Buddha statues. For lunch, we decided to try to find something cheap because we wanted to have a nice dinner. We saw this little restaurant, if you could even call it that, under a blue tarp. There were tables set up for people to sit at and everyone looked up at us as we poked our heads in. The waitresses waved us in but couldn't speak any English, so we walked out. We all agreed though that it could be a fun experience so we went back. We walked aroud with the waitress and pointed to bowls in front of customers that looked good and nodded. The soup we order had pieces of beef and vegetables, but there was a lot of fat still on the meat and the broth was a bit greasy. It was a laughable experience, however.



















The market with the temple in the back

























Senso-ji Temple





















Ceiling of the temple

















Hozo-mon Gate

People waving steam for healing powers





























Lunch under the tarp tent


Our next stop was Ueno, which we got to by subway. After we exited the station, we came out to a large busy street lined with people waiting to cross. We walked along the streets for a bit, but then entered Ueno Park. Although there was nothing on the trees that made a bridge over the paths in the park, Minako told us later that the trees would be filled with cherry blossoms in the spring. We might have to take a trip back to see them. The park was big and very open. We passed by a women on a unicycle, a little league baseball game, and animals made from wire and some white material to make a collection called "Happy Island." Our plan in Ueno was to visit an art museum, but it ended up costing a lot more than we anticipated so we decided not to. We did see the gift shop and a display of miniature trees before walking around the park some more. I also saw that there was a Children's Literature Museum, so I wouldn't mind going back to see that, but we wanted to make it to Tokyo Tower and were all very hungry.















Happy Island Monkeys

















Ueno Park
























Street in Ueno


We decided to head to Tokyo Tower, our final stop and have dinner at a restaurant close by the tower. From Ueno Park we walked back to the station and made it inside, but we found that our tickets would not let us get down to any of the tracks to wait for the subway. We ignored the problem for while because we had found a nice looking cafe inside the station and we planning on stopping there for coffee and cocoa on our way out. We walked around for a while, feeling confused and lost. When we finally arrived at the cafe, the waitress informed us that there was no room, so we had walked in circles for nothing and now had to find someway to get out of the station. Of course, we couldn't understand why our tickets wouldn't let us through and it was hard to understand any signs; we had been relying on the colors of each course to direct us from place to place. Lori, all along, said that we should just try to ask for help, but I think Mike and I were determined to get us to the tracks on our own, or at least I was. Finally I caved, and we tried to explain the problem to the man at the information desk and he seemed to understand because he waved us through without asking questions. Good one, Stephanie.


We arrived in the Tokyo Tower, and to our surprise it was very empty. It was mid-afternoon and this area had a lot of office buildings in it. We walked the streets for about ten minutes making our way towards the tower and looking for places to eat. We stumbled across a small cafe that was below ground. A friendly man greeted us, but explained that they didn't serve dinner, but showed us a delicious looking apple pie. My mouth was watering, and I'm not even a huge fan of apple pie. We told him we'd come back for dessert and coffee after seeing the tower and eating dinner.


The Tokyo Tower reminded me of the Eiffel Tower in that they are both shaped somewhat like isosceles triangles. The Tokyo Tower is red and white and definitely stood out. Mike, Lori and I walked over to it, and found that it was quite expensive to go up inside and that all of the people we expected to be walking the streets were there waiting in line to go up. We opted not to go; we later asked Minako if we should have, and she responded without hesitation that its not worth it and there are other buildings that are taller and have better views. I probably would have been cool to go just to see what the view was like, but Minako told us of another place to go to get a great view of the city that's cheaper and no wait.


For dinner, we unanimously decided on Bajamar, an upstairs cafe where we got to sit on the floor with padded seats and pillows. The inside was beautiful, decorated with murals of trees and flowers and a big fish tank. We all ordered a Margarita Pizza and what a great choice that was. The pizza had such a thin crust, yet it was soft and doughy. It was topped with cheese and pesto sauce. We probably finished our food in ten minutes, because it was so good and we were so hungry. To our disappointment though, when we arrived back at the cafe for coffee and pie, it was closed! The owner apologized and seemed truly sorry that he couldn't sell us any pie. We promised to go back if we were in the area again.


Taking the subway back to the school, we had to change courses once and the new course's station was a block away from the one we had left. We spotted a cafe on our way to the new station and walked in to hear jazz music pouring out the doors. Again, we unanimously agreed on staying and it turned into another good choice. I relaxed in a plush chair, listened to some jazz music, sipped on the best hot chocolate I've ever had (it was thick and creamy, topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Obviously bad for me too.), and enjoyed a tiny, yet delicious, piece of taramisu.


When we arrived back at the school, we were exhausted and my feet hurt a bit from walking so much. Minako told us she was impressed and proud that we didn't get lost and made it back safe.





























Tokyo Tower






















Bajarmar Restaurant- our table was straight back on the floor.
























Cafe Decora, home of delicious hot cocoa and wonderful jazz beats!




















We couldn't resist taking this lady's picture. She was fast asleep and didn't notice :)

Birthday Parade

Birthdays, I've discovered, are a big deal in Japan. I think this is good, because you are really celebrating people and their special day! I love my birthday and enjoy telling everyone when my birthday is getting close (less than a month, by the way), so I'm loving the big birthday celebrations.

On Thursday, we had a birthday parade for all of the students who had a birthday in February. The teachers set up little plastic chairs at one side of the dome with pom poms underneath. Every student who had a February birthday sat in the special chairs, and joined their classmates in singing and dancing. Keiko had asked Mike, Lori and I if we could teach an American dance to the students. We finally decided on the Macarena, which is silly because its name is not even English, but the steps are easy and we all knew it. Keiko thought it would be a good idea for one of us to call out the steps while the other two do the dance and have the kids follow. I ended up shouting the steps into the microphone for the kids, calling out "Right, Left, Flip, Flip, Shoulder, Shoulder, Head, Head, Waist, Waist, Butt, Butt, Wiggle, Turn and Clap!" I felt obnixious. I think the kids were a bit confused by it so not many followed and we ended up doing just 8 repeats of the steps.

The teachers have very special roles in the birthday parades and special outfits too. By outfits, I mean two flags (smaller ones) pinned together creating arm and head holes. My flags had a giant cake on them. We also have to wear those big floppy hats, like ones from The Cat and the Hat. Since this was our first parade, Keiko decided to give us hats that had red, white and blue stars and strips instead. The whole outfit was ridiculous, but the kids had fun. By the way, I did not take a picture of this outfit so don't even ask.

The teachers also give the birthday kids a "flower shower." We took big stuffed flowers and waved them over the kids while singing a happy song and then each kid yelled something in the microphone. Even the more timid looking kids were not afraid to yell- I was impressed. We also got to bang on big drums during other songs, which despite my lack of musical ability, was enjoyable. I really loved the parade and I'm sure the birthday kids felt so special too. What's great about a year round school is that every kid will have a chance to be in a birthday chair!

Finally, Pictures!

Ok here are some pictures for you enjoyment! They're a little bit out of order, sorry!


Here we are with the Nishimura family:
Mike, me, Lori, Keiko's husband
(left to right) Minako, Dr. Shin, his wife Keiko, and little Yugi (Yuki? still not sure)








Here's Lori and I with Keiko. She's kind of like our "mom" here and makes sure we get to the right places on time. We ask her about a million questions each day.

This is Naomi. She goes to the nursery I've been helping at after school. Her mom works at the kindergarten, so she's come back with Mike and I somedays.

Here I am with Naomi and another little girl from the nursery. So cute!!

Here's lots of cuties. They love doing the peace sign for pictures. This was at the nursery, but most of these kids go to the kindergarten during the day too

This is one my aprons we have to wear at school. The cartoon is AnPanMan, a favorite for the kids.

Two boys from the school, again with the peace sign.

Here's one playground structure the kids love playing on. Some if it looks like it would be scary for little kids, like climbing up the ladder to the rocketship, but they are such daredevils!

Here's the dome. Gym class and assemblies are held under here and we use it to play soccer (more like keep-away) with the kids.

This might be my favorite playground structure. It's a big friendly dinosaur! And it has a soccer ball!

The bottom part of this building is a classroom where Lori, Mike and I practice listening to Japanese words. we also work with the kids on English here and have our Gospel Choir practice. Half of the upstairs is the room I share with Lori. The other half is a classroom, so we get to hear little kiddies learn during the day.

Here's the inside

This is the front of the school. The upstairs is where Mike's room is. He was locked our one night and had to climb up there to get in!

Here's part of our room! Have a nice little desk and some comfy couches and lots of drawer space. We have a small half bath, and we have to go downstairs to take a shower, make food and do laundry

Here's our beds. Lori has the bottom bunk that looks like a puppet show theater and I have the top that looks like a baby crib!











I'll be taking lots more of kids and our trips as time goes on, which I'll post too. We're going to Tokyo this weekend, so I'm sure I'll have lots from that trip too.

Gym Class and Gospel Choir

Growing up, I always loved gym class and recess. In elementary school I played soccer with boys at recess and joined in for dodgeball in middle school gym when other girls would stand in a big clump and scream and run when the ball would come near them. In high school, when gym class was seen as an annoyance, I secretly loved it and I remember getting mad when my class tennis partner sat down on the court and refused to play. Even though I'm awful at tennis, I still wanted to do something!

Knowing this about myself, it's no surprise that I love running around with the kids here on recess. It's very tiring, yes, but I love climbing up play structures, going down slides and running around like I'm five years old. Today I took my turn helping out with the weekly PE class. The teachers were two hilarious guys that the students loved. During class, we played some form of dodgeball where me and the two guys were on the outside of the dome (the playground has this great big covered area with a surface that's like an indoor soccer field) and were trying to hit kids with a ball. At first, I tried going easy on the kids but the two guys were whipping the ball at the kids so I started doing that too (except my way of whipping balls at kids probably doesn't hurt because I can't throw that well). I ended up hitting a poor little boy on the top of the head, but instead of feeling bad for the kid the teachers roared with laughter and starting doing a dance and chanting in Japanese! I didn't get it but I laughed anyway and so did the little boy.

Part of our duties as guest teachers at the school is to be a part of a gospel choir along with mothers of the students, and today was our first practice. When Lori, Mike and I walked in, we were immediately asked if we were altos or sopranos and in Mike's case, bass or tenor. Now, to some of you this probably seems like an easy question, but for me it was like she was still speaking Japanese. I haven't been in choir since 7th grade when we dressed up like boys and sang songs from "Footloose!" Although I like singing in church or in the car by myself, I really don't know how to sing as far as keys and things like that go. Music is a foreign language to me.

I ended up going with Sopranos. The first song we sang was in English, but then we moved into Japanese songs. This wasn't too bad because the lady next to me was kind enough to write out the sounds for each character so I could sound out the song. But the the director decided it would be fun to add sign language to one of the songs and then I was lost. All at once, I tried to hold my music, sing notes that were somewhat similar to my soprano neighbors, sound out the words, watch the director, and copy the sign language. I was a mess. Despite this, I actually enjoyed singing with the group and felt pretty sweet by the end.

Mike and I are still taking out turn at the church's after-school programs. I am in the nursery (kids under 5) and he is with 6-11 year olds. Today I taught the little ones the "Hokey Pokey" and took lots of pictures of them. There's not a whole lot for me to do because there are four other helpers and they can actually understand the kids, so today I brought along some of my Japanese language homework and made flashcards. A couple of the kids sat with me and would say the word in English and then in Japanese. They are so smart and know so many words in both languages for being so young. When I was done making the cards, one little girl held them up and started quizzing me! She would correct my pronunciation of Japanese and together we made up motions to help me remember the words.

Lost in Translation

I am currently 0 for 2 in saying the phrase yoroshiku onegai shimasu in front of a Japanese church congregation. Back in the fall, we went to Japanese church in Ann Arbor for our orientation class and I butchered this phrase (its used when you introduce yourself) after Lori and Mike said it perfectly. Then yesterday, I did the same thing! Fortunately, the Japanese are very loving and thought it was funny. Or maybe they thought I was an idiot and were just pitying me.

The service was all in Japanese, except for Dr. Shin's sermon which went back and forth between English and Japanese. Even though I couldn't understand the majority of the service, it was still wonderful to see God's word being spread across the globe! Afterward, there was a potluck lunch where we introduced ourselves and talked about our first impressions of Japan and the people. We all could say with sincerity that we've had a great time so far and have felt so welcomed by everyone we've met.

Today was our first day working with the kindergartners. Boy, was it exhausting! We started the school day at 8:45, but I was up at 4:45 am again and ended up going for a run once the sun finally rose. As students came in with their parents, we greeted them while we swept the street, which was a bit silly since the streets were spotless to begin with. Lori, Mike and I are supposed to rotate in classes helping teach English, but the English teacher couldn't make it today so we mostly just played on the playground with the students at recess time. Here are some playtime highlights for the day:

1. We tried to play Duck, Duck, Goose but this one little boy would just follow the ducker around and pat everyone on the head and then run around when it wasn't his turn.
2. The kids would just chat like crazy in Japanese and ask us questions, but we had no idea what they were saying!
3. Lori tried to make conversation with the students, but they would just turn to each other and laugh at her.
4. Mike was surrounded by a group of girls jumping up and down. I told Lori that Mike was "pimpin' it."
5. Mike got farted on by one of the many little girls wrapped around his legs. Poor guy couldn't get away from the smell fast enough.
6. At lunch, I went to a class and was taught Japanese by the kids I ate with. They would say the name of each food and I tried to say it back. They'd have to correct me and sound out each syllable until I got it right. Then when I said it back in English, they would get it on the first try. It was very humbling.
7. A couple of the girls were fascinated by my blonde hair and enjoyed pulling it and braiding it and holding it up to theirs to compare colors.
8. The school has assemblies every Monday where the teachers and students sing and dance to songs. Mike, Lori and I tried (and probably looked really awful) to copy the dance moves. We also got about 100 high fives afterward.
9. There was one little girl, probably about 3 years old, who just giggled at eveything we said to her. At one point, Lori and I were with her and a few other girls just jumping up and down laughing and yelling "Ahahaha!"

After school, Mike and I went to Dr. Shin's church. Mike helped out in a kids club for 6-11 year olds and I went to the nursery to help with kids under 5. Lori stayed at the school and helped with another after school program. In the nursery, I mostly just played more with kids and showed them flashcards of the alphabet. I couldn't believe that 20 kids under 5 were silent and payed such close attention for a whole 15 minutes as I showed them the cards. It was amazing!

Even though we interacted with so many kids and teachers today, the only understandable conversations we had were with each other!

Japanese Food

So I think I am starting to feel the effects of jet lag. On Saturday morning, I woke up at 2am after going to bed at 9 the night before, but I was able to fall back to sleep after having a short conversation with Lori that she doesn't remember. I woke up later at 6am and couldn't fall back to sleep, so I ended up doing Pilates in the classroom downstairs. I was hoping someone would walk in on my when I was doing some crazy position, but then I remember that most people were probably sleeping. Today I woke up at 4:45 am and ended up watching a movie on my computer, but last night I was exhausted by 8 pm.

Yesterday was our first brush with real Japanese food. We were picked up by Minako and Keiko and went to a mall to go grocery shopping and then eat at the food court. At the mall, I noticed the mannequins had cartoon-ish faces; they have huge eyes and wigs on but they still don't really look like people. Again, I'll post a picture of these soon. At the grocery store, Justco, Keiko took us around and pointed out somethings and then let us go free. She gave us a weekly food allowance-money from the initial cost we paid for the trip- which was 3000 yen, or about $30. When she and Minako left us, Lori, Mike and I felt a bit lost. After about ten minutes, I had a bag of frozen squash and some yogurt in my cart. In the end, we got a pretty good variety of foods for breakfast and dinner with the help of the two girls. We also got some delicious samples of beef and tofu with veggies and also milk! I was actually chased down by the woman handing out milk samples and then she thrust a coupon in my hand, smiled, and scurried away. It was wonderful.

At the food court, Mike and I both got Curry Rice (White Rice with a curry sauce, meat, and veggies mixed in it), Noodle soup with seaweed, tempura, and this potato patty that was very good. Everything was delicious but there was so much to eat. Lori got this sort of vegetable pancake with dried tuna (it was kind of flaky), which she didn't like very much.

In Japan, it is totally appropriate and even encouraged to sip your soup loudly and slurp up long noodles without cutting them. The sipping loudly lets the cook know that you are enjoying the food. I think we should bring this habit to the U.S. I had a great time slurping my noodles in public, but I did get quite a bit of broth in my hair. We had the afternoon to come back to the school and rest, which none of us did.

For dinner, we went to the Nishimura's apartment, on the 18th floor of a 22 story building. On sunny days, Minako told us they can see Mt. Fuji, but it was dark and rainy so no Mt. Fuji viewing for us. Dr. Shin and his wife, also named Keiko, are the parents of Minako and Keiko and Dr. Shin started the kindergarten several years ago. Lori told me beforehand that "Dr. Shin" sounded a bit intimidating, but he was exactly the opposite. He asked us tons of questions and made witty jokes the whole evening. His wife Keiko was pretty quiet, but had prepared a delicious dinner for us. The meal was cooked right in front of us over two burners, one with beef and the other with pork. We help add a soy sauce, vegetables (mushrooms and cabbage) and tofu. It was delicious and so easy to make! We bought most of the ingredients at the grocery store so maybe we can try to re-create it.

After dinner, Lori, Mike and I gave small gifts to everyone because its nice to do that when you meet people for the first time. I gave Dr. Shin and his wife two jars of Michigan cherry jam (for those of you who are family, it was from Brownwood :). Keiko and Minako got boxes of Pop-Tarts, which I had heard they loved. I gave bracelets my mom made to mom Keiko, daughter Keiko, and Minako and flashcards of letters to daughter Keiko's daughter, Yuki (or maybe Yugi?) who is SOOOO cute! Sorry if the daughter-mom-Keiko bit was confusing!

As I said I was exhausted at 8 when we came home, but Lori, Mike and I played cards in Mike's room for a while and Mike took ugly pictures of us with his camera.

Today is sunny! There was an earthquake rumble that woke Lori up at 7am, but I was already up and was terrified. It lasted about 30 seconds, but then stopped so we are ok! Today we are going to Dr. Shin's church and to a welcome party potluck afterwards.