Happy Holidays!

Christmas in Japan has been a bit different than Christmas at home. We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve, because the Emperor’s birthday happened to fall on Sunday and this is a national holiday in Japan. So, Monday was the substitute holiday and we did not have to work. The current Emperor happens to have been born on December 23, so that works nicely for the westerners living in Japan.

I was surprised to find that Christmas is celebrated in Japan. Christmas decorations arrived on the scene in late November, just like in the states, but not as many as we see in the states. I have been asking around to get a sense of how, why and what is celebrated. I have heard a number of different things and this is the overall answer I have received: Japanese people like celebrating things, so they have incorporated Christmas into their celebrations. There is a lot of talk of Christmas cakes—and many people assume we have Christmas cakes in the States. People don’t make Christmas cakes. they buy these expensive and elaborately decorated cakes. Here is a picture of a cake Jason bought on Christmas day for 50% off. I really wanted to partake in this Christmas cake Japanese tradition, but could not fathom paying 20 bucks for a tiny cake, but then my co-worker tipped me off on a secret--they go on sale on Christmas day. I am a bargain shopper, so even it was still expensive, hey, it was a bargain!

I have also heard that young couples go on dates on Christmas and many people drink champagne. There is some gift exchanging as well, but nothing like we do in the states. I have enjoyed the absence of commercials trying to convince me that I need to ask Jason to buy me a diamond for Christmas and overall commercialism craziness associated with Christmas. I think there is some commercialism associated with Christmas here, but I don’t see it so much (maybe because I don’t understand the language!?). I have decided that Christmas is celebrated in the same way here that many people celebrate Valentine’s Day in the States. People go to work; some people have nice dinners and exchange gifts, but not everyone.

For our Christmas, we were able to go over and have a nice dinner at our friend’s house (the ones who came to our place for Thanksgiving). Mai is a great cook, so the food was tasty and the kids were fun. Jonas enjoys playing with them, but Yozan, their four year old son does not like it when Jonas plays with his toys so there was some crying and fighting between the two boys. Warning: You will see an upset Jonas in the video. After all this happened, I spotted Yozan hiding the toy that caused the conflict behind the curtain. Funny!

Here is the table of food. Mai and her kids made a Christmas cake with strawberries. She made a delicious dish of chicken that she explained consisted of over two days of marinating and cooking. I did not quite understand the process, but the chicken was delicious.

Above we are sitting around the kotatsu table. The kotatsu table is a heated table and I have been excited about this aspect of Japanese culture since I first heard about it. Sitting under that blanket was cozy--not only was the table heated, but so is the rug. When we arrived the kids were excited to show us the table.

Below, Nene and Yozan are enjoying the Christmas cake.

The next day, Christmas Eve morning we woke up and opened some gifts and Jonas spent the morning playing with some wooden trains we bought him at the 100 yen store. (like dollar store but better). He enjoyed opening the gifts, but was not quite sure what we were doing. He had some gifts to open from family back at home and enjoyed the unwrapping.

Here is Jonas with his trains. He had fun placing them on this book, taking them off and doing it again. He busies himself with these kinds of tasks these days. Stacking, unstacking, finding new places to stack things, put things, carry things...

Above Jonas is pulling Elmo out of his stocking. Below he is checking out the track suit from Aunt Catherine, Uncle Paul and Cousin Andrew.

He does not watch that many videos, we promise...but he enjoys the ones he watches. When he opened this DVD he took it to the tv and placed it where you see it in the pic and just looked at it for a moment.

That evening Jason made a nice dinner while I went with Jonas to get my hair cut. I intended to just make an appointment, but the receptionists convinced me that they could play with Jonas while I got my hair cut. I finally decided to let them and he had a lot of fun. He was laughing and smiling the whole time. I think he especially like the chairs that go up and down.

By the time Jonas and I got home, Jason had finished preparing some steak, mashed potatoes and green beans with almonds. I particularly enjoyed the potatoes, because I don’t think we have had mashed potatoes since we arrived here. For desert, we had strawberries (which are really expensive here, so that was a real treat.)

Next week, we are going to Hakuba, Nagano (where the 1998 winter Olympics were held)
and meeting our friends Christine and Wellan. They lived in Japan two years ago and are coming back for a visit. (They are also renting our house while we are gone and Lou’s temporary parents for the year.) We are looking forward to seeing them and having fun on the ski mountain.

Here is Jonas opening a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Strait

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Click below to see more pictures.

No Gas, No Bike, No Service

Two transportation calamities struck at once this week, leaving me cold and alone on a Saturday morning, walking my bicycle from the downtown police station in the snow and ice while juggling a steel, 10-liter container full of gasoline and a 15-liter, plastic container full of nothing.

First, the bike. Last Friday, I went to one of my school's bonenkais, which translates to a forget-the-year party, which is done, apparently, by drinking a lot of beer and eating little to no food. Each school has one of these, and they can be outrageously expensive -- a couple of mine topped out at the equivalent of $100. I skipped those. But this one was only $30, a genuine bargain by comparison, so I happily went. Plus, two of my favorite teachers work at this school. I soon discovered why it was so cheap. There was no food. Each person got four pieces of sashimi, a bowl of mushroom soup, and that was that. There was, however, Bingo, with the grand prize being a mini-refrigerator, and lots and lots of beer. I wish we could have traded that fridge in for some more food. And honestly, it was a bizarre choice for a grand prize. The medium age at that school is probably 45; I don't think any of them are going to need a fridge for their dorm room anytime soon.

So there was little food, but the beer flowed freely, and not surprisingly, there were a number of very drunk Japanese and one tipsy American at the end of the party. Technically, it is illegal to ride your bicycle having consumed alcohol in Japan, but there were plenty of bicycles parked next to the restaurant, so I know I wasn't alone. And it was a really long walk. So I hopped on my bike and started pedaling for home when, about five minutes later, the chain popped off. These bikes are about 50 years old and were built to last. They were also built with a metal casing completely surrounding the chain and crank, meaning there was no way to fix it on the fly. So I did what anyone would do in my situation. I ditched the bike and walked home, which wasn't the smartest idea in the world, because the next day, I wasn't entirely sure where I left the bike (this mostly had to do with me being in an unfamiliar area, and that there being no street signs, whatsoever, in Japan and that every street in Akita City pretty much looks like the next one, and that I'd had a few too many beers and not nearly enough food -- look, you'd be confused, too).

Not my actual bike.

I figured when I found the time, I'd find the bike. Which I was not able to do at all that week. Then on Friday, Tricia drove to school, where she got a call from the police. They found my bike, and said I needed to come pick it up Saturday morning. Tricia then drove home, making it all the way to our apartment, where she ran out of gas. Convenient for her. Not so convenient for me, as I was the one who now had to walk all the way downtown to get my bike.

Which is just what I did. And on the way home, I passed a hardware store, and decided to get the bike and the gas all in one trip. So I bought a cheap, plastic fuel container and walked over to the gas station. The attendant greeted me, pointed at the container and asked me in Japanese if I wanted kerosene. I told her, no, gasoline. She said, in English, "No. Very dangerous," then pointing a the container, "Boom!" Another attendant ran into the station and emerged with a bulky metal canister, indicating that this is what I needed. I asked where. They said HomeCenter, which is not remotely reachable by foot. After much standing around, they finally agreed that I could borrow their canister, but under no condition, could I fill mine with gasoline.

I later learned that it is illegal to put gasoline in a plastic container. I'm not sure, but this probably has something to do with the fact that central heating doesn't exist here, and everyone uses kerosene to heat their homes, and if their was a mix-up between kerosene and gasoline, then, as the nice girl at the station told me, "Boom!"

A few pics

Jonas and Jason are both focused on separate projects. We have noticed that Jonas is able to focus for longer periods lately. Jonas loves putting his legos together, but he now gets frustrated that his wooden blocks don't stick together like the legos. Recently I noticed that he was putting together legos of a specific shape. Sorting already! I was proud. He also has has fun putting things in containers and carrying them around the house now.

I just thought this picture of Jason was funny so I had to post it. We had a temporary computer scare. His laptop had some problems, but Jason fixed it thankfully. Sadly, the two of us would have a difficult time managing with only one laptop. Notice that Jason is wearing shorts. Meanwhile, I am wearing a sweater, two pairs of pants and sleeping bag slippers on my feet (we will leave that pic out).

Jonas is looking older. Notice the shirt. It says, "Texas Continent: What do you do and will it play tomorrow?" Kind of poetic. And good question.

Below is Jonas climbing into his pack'n'play. He pushed that chair next to his pack'n'play and proceeded to successfully, but precariously climb into it. We can not take our eyes off that boy or we might find him climbing on the ceiling.














Here is a link to a few photos of him when he was climbing into his pack'n'play for the real Jonas fans (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc)

Jonas Meets Santa. Santa Scares Jonas. And Happy Birthday Grandma.

On Sunday, an ALT out in the sticks hosted a Christmas party for little ones at her town community center, which is just a couple of minutes from one of the schools I visit each week. It's about a 45 minute drive through small mountains and countryside, and I enjoy going out there. Jonas was probably the youngest youngster there, but he still tried his hand at the crafts table, and took a seat on Santa's lap. He wasn't too excited about Santa at first, but he warmed to him later (pictures not shown), once Santa started dancing.

 

 

 

 

One blond boy in a sea of black hair. (Also, below, that isn't blood on his upper lip. It's marker, in case you had ideas of calling family services).

 

 

 

 

And finally, a happy 89th birthday to Faye Strait, my grandma. She is an amazing woman, who not only uses a computer, but routinely checks this blog. How about that! Many people (probably most) thought we were crazy to come to Japan. She was one of the few who didn't. Right before we left, I knew she was sad to see us leave, but at the same time, she told me that she was a little envious, too. She and my grandfather spent most of their free time traveling all over America, and I got to go on some of those trips with them when I was a boy. Those are some of the fondest memories. So anyway, I'm glad to carry on in her adventurous tradition, and I hope she had a good birthday. We'll be back soon.

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas

 

I incorporated a happy birthday message to Tricia in a lesson today. I also taped them signing Happy Birthday, but the performance was too woeful to publish.

 

These two jokers claimed their birthdays were Dec. 9 and 10. I'm not sure if I believe them.


A group of students made Christmas cards for me, which was very sweet. And funny.

 

 

 

 

 

Uh, I'm Not American. I Swear, Eh.

This has nothing to do with Japan (well, it does, but barely) …

On Sunday, as Jonas napped and Tricia lay comatose under her electric blanket (either a virus or bad sushi knocked her senseless for three days), I managed to find and watch the Floyd Mayweather-Ricky Hatton fight on the Internet.

I find boxing slow and plodding and rarely much of a payoff. But, unlike most fights, there was genuine intrigue to this one, and not just the typical manufactured pre-flight blah: an American, Mayweather, against a Brit, Hatton, both undefeated. And, most interestingly, 20,000 Hatton fans flew in from England to Las Vegas to cheer on their boy (or bloke, as is the case here). Consider that – 20,000 fans, making an international trip to cheer on this one little fella. And they weren’t even able to watch the fight in person. The arena held 16,000 fans, meaning most of Hatton’s crew were forced to drink themselves into a stupor and watch via television at a bar – just like they could have done at home in dreary ole’ England.

Anyway, the fight was genuinely exciting, with Mayweather flooring Hatton in the 10th round and winning by knockout. Hatton looked small and outclassed, but also fearless. And he’s a very funny guy. It’s easy to see why he’s so popular and has such a devoted, if mindless, following.

And as exciting as that was, it was the pre-fight hullabaloo that had everyone in a tizzy.

During the singing of the American national anthem, the British fans booed lustily and loudly from start to finish, completely drowning out Tyrese, whoever that was, who did the singing. This seemed pretty ballsy to me, considering they were actually in America, and obviously, it wasn’t exactly a classy move. Checking the message boards of the Times of London, this not surprisingly boiled the blood of many Americans. I wasn’t that bothered by it; I found it more amusing than offensive (look, KC Chiefs fans punctuate the singing of the US anthem by screeching, “… and the home of the CHIEFS!, which I find more offensive than this). It did get me to thinking, though, about anti-Americanism and what the reaction would have been if those were American fans jeering “God Save the Queen.”

And we all know what the reaction would have been: typical, ugly Americans. Before leaving home, I was well aware of the low opinion in which Americans are held internationally – some of it deserved, some of it exaggerated. As a result, there is a defensiveness and a compulsion to distance oneself from America while abroad – i.e., American travelers pretending to be Canadian, being compelled to blurt out to new acquaintances, “Hey, I didn’t vote for Bush.” I find all this tiresome and absurd, though I’m guilty of it, too.

Anyway, with thousands of Brits acting so boorishly (there were reports earlier in the week of the hooligans shouting down schoolchildren who had shown up to support Mayweather), and with Mayweather punishing Hatton, and then acting classy and gracious afterward, I don’t know, I felt, for at least this once, America came out on top on a national stage, even it was just a boxing match.
And that made me feel good.

And finally, these graphs from the London Telegraph..

Showtime was almost upon us. In the ring Tom Jones sang the national anthem. The walls shook as the crowd joined in. Beckham, his back ramrod straight, hit the high notes with Tom. He was a proud man at that point, happy to be reminded of his Englishness in a foreign setting.
Then, disgrace. The courtesy extended to the visitors was spat back in shocked faces by the vile tendency that follows English sportsmen around the world. Beckham shrank. We all did, as English boos drowned out the Star Spangled Banner. Sometimes it is painful to be a Briton abroad.

I know how you feel.

New Moves

A couple clips of Jonas busting his best Bill Cosby moves. Also, photos of Tricia, Jonas and three of her students playing last weekend at Alve, and finally, snow. It snowed heavy and often last week, but it wasn't warm enough to stick, so now we're left with a big sloppy mess, which is worse, I think, than consistently cold and snowbound.

Jonas is just getting warmed up in the second clip, but in the first, you can really see what the little man can do.





A note about the clothes ... these students attend the top high school in the prefecture, and for whatever reason, they are not subjected to a dress code. They are free to wear jeans, grow their hair long, dye it any color they like, wear crazy Engrish t-shirts. It's the only school I've heard of that doesn't require uniforms -- although you wouldn't know it by looking at them. Most of the students CHOOSE to sport uniforms, though they personalize them a bit, as you can see by this photo. Also, this was taken on a Saturday. They didn't have school, and they still wore them.