Easter Weekend

Last weekend was Easter, but we didn't celebrate too much because Easter isn't very big in Japan. The stores weren't stocked weeks in advance with pastel decorations and chocolate bunnies the way they are in the U.S. Christians are so rare in Japan, so this holiday is overlooked and people still go to work and stores are still open. I was missing my Easter basket, but my mom assured me that I have one waiting for me when I get home. I hope that is still true and it is still full of candy!

Saturday was very relaxing, hot and sunny. I biked into town and bought fabric and some souvenirs. My mom makes beautiful quilts and she offered to make me a Japan quilt when I get back. I picked out a couple different styles, a few just floral and others with popular Japanese cartoon characters on it. It's going to be so cute! When I came back to the school, I took my iPod and some blankets up to the roof of the school and laid in the sun for a while.

For dinner, we were asked to go to Planet Hollywood with Katsuko-sensei (Minako and Keiko's aunt who works at the school) and her family. Katsuko's daughter, Satoko, works at the restaurant but it is closing down this week so it would be the family's last time going. We took the train into Tokyo and met Satoko their and had a big old fatty American feast! The family decided to get some of everything so everyone could try samples of different dishes, so there was a ton of food. Satoko ordered the works; appetizers of all sorts, hamburgers, fries, baby back ribs, salad, and ice cream sundaes for dessert. I'd forgotten how huge American portions are!
















Spider-man was sneaking around and came over to shake our hands!

Here's the whole group: Mike, Lori, Satoko's friend Mai, Katsuko, Satoko, Katsuko's husband, me, and Satoko's sister-in-law and brother.

I wanted the children at church to be able to get a taste of Easter so I made three little Easter baskets for the Nishimura grandchildren, Naomi, Yui, and Nozomu.

I bought a bag of chocolates and gave them each a few and filled three baskets with that grass stuff and made little tags. I had some gifts I brought from home that I still hadn't given away so I gave them each a different one; a dry eraser clock for Naomi, flash cards for Nozomu, and markers for Yui. I thought the kids would be really excited to get them but their response was a little anti-climatic. One was asleep, one dumped everything out of the basket and started pulling the grass apart, and the other handed it to her mother and walked away. They all are under three years old, so I guess this was probably appropriate. At least I had fun making them!

Minako and Keiko had promised to make one trip to Tokyo with us, so we headed to an area called Roppongi after church let out. It was nice going with them because we didn't have to worry about asking for directions or studying a map for the whole trip! We first went to an art museum.

This tree outside the museum was filled with pink frisbees! I think it was part of the contemporary art exhibit.

The museum was beautiful on the inside. I went to both of the exhibits on this poster. I really enjoyed the Artist File because it was contemporary art. It had photography, paintings, sculptures, and even movies.

After the museum, we headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. My mom collects their pins, so I promised to pick her up one from Tokyo. We had a yummy dinner of fajitas and talked about American rock music with Keiko and Minako.