Our Trip South, Part 1: Ferry, Takayama and Gero

We began our trip by boarding a ferry on Thursday morning at 9 AM. I returned from the United States the night before, and only had time to pack quickly before leaving Akita again. The ferry was almost exactly like the one we took to Hokkaido, but was a longer trip. We slept on the ferry and woke up at 5 AM on Friday morning to drive off the ferry and into Tsuraga (only a train stop away from Obama, Japan). From there we drove through the mountains to Takayama, Gifu-ken which is in central Honshu. We probably could have driven to Takayama in couple of hours, but it took us five. We chose the wrong route…which is not unusual for us when driving through Japan.

Our newly married friends, Meredith and Abe met at us in Takayama to begin our 10 day adventure. We stayed at Minshuku Kuwataniya, which was a good value for Japan. We had fun visiting a sake brewery (no tour unfortunately, but we did taste some of the sake), visiting the morning market and walking around the town. We stayed across the street from Takayama’s oldest temple, Hida Kokubunji. Supposedly there is a 1200 year old gingko tree by this temple. Unfortunately we missed that.



Our first night we had a traditional Japanese dinner at the Minshuku, which included tofu, Hida beef cooked over a flame with vegetables, sashimi, pickled vegetables, rice and fruit.



The next morning we had a traditional breakfast, which is growing on me. It included cooked salmon, green beans, a hard-boiled egg, fruit, seaweed, miso soup and rice.



Our friends, renters and current Lou caretakers, Christine and Wellan, lived in Gifu-ken for one year on the JET program. Christine outlined a day trip for us from Takayama, which included seeing Gassho houses in Gero, eating ring toast in Hagiwara (their Japan home) and visiting an incredible onsen near Hagiwara. The ring toast is hard to describe, but it included a lot of bread and was very sweet. The onsen had every imaginable indoor bath contraption, including individual sauna boxes that you could sit inside.

Mer and Abe in Gero


More Gero



A Gassho house in Gero



Mer and a lucky cat in Gero. A smaller version of this maneki neko cat often greets you at restaurants in Japan or at Japanese restaurants outside of Japan.



Jonas playing with a rock that entertained him for awhile



We saw these "monkey babies" all over Takayama. I know this creature does not look like a monkey baby, but this is what more than one Takayama-ite told us they are called. It is not unusual for an area or town to have a mascot and Takayama has the monkey baby. Mer and I both bought mini monkey baby cell phone charms.



We bought apples from this sweet couple at the morning market in Takayama.



We spent two nights in Takayama and left for Kyoto on Sunday. Mer and Abe boarded the train with their handy JR passes and Jason, Jonas and I packed our stuff and ourselves into our Subura.

People often comment about determining the author of our blog entries…reviewing this one, I can’t help but think that is obvious that it is me (Tricia), because I am just not funny like Jason. The only funny story that I think of from Takayama makes me look a little crazy…and probably won't be funny in my telling...but it consists of me running down dark and winding streets pushing an empty stroller and asking every local I could find about the location of a Mexican restaurant that we read about in the Lonely Planet. Jason, Jonas, Mer and Abe all followed, cautiously. We eventually found the restaurant, and like most situations in Japan like this, a local walked us to the restaurant. If Japan would only use streets names…

Many, many pictures of Takayama and Gero

A Day with Jonas

After reading this funny post from our friends' blog, I felt inspired to play with video editing. This video is long (over 3 minutes) and is my first attempt at using video editing tools. So...only watch the video if you are super interested in Jonas, otherwise you might get bored.

A few notes on the video if you do watch it -- you might notice that Jonas had some costume changes...it was a messy day for Jonas. Also, he was obsessed with the play microphone that day. In fact, at the park he walked over to another child's bike and used the handle bar as a microphone.

The jump rope scene does not do justice to how hard Jonas tried to jump rope after watching an older child at the park. I did not get his longer try on video. He is always eager to try to do what older children do. Shows me how powerful modeling is for kids.

There was a woman who spoke great English at the park and she told me that Jonas said the Japanese word for funny. Since I don't know this word, I never noticed.

Information Overload

Less than a week ago, Jason, Jonas and I got back from our trip to southern Japan. This week Jason is in the states for job interviews and we have a two week spring break in the schools here. This means that I am not teaching, but I still go to work everyday. Even though this is spring break, teachers go to work and some students still come to school in full uniform for club activities. The only days when nobody is at school are Sundays and the 20 or so national days that fall throughout the year.

So, I am at work with little to do. I have been reading and commenting on some essays the students wrote, but this is only taking a portion of my time. Since I am not a regular teacher, I don’t have the end of year reports and cleaning the other teachers have to do. I have offered to help, but since the reports are in Japanese, I can’t really help.

With this time, I am organizing pictures that we have taken since Jonas was born and reading every article in the international newspaper that my school subscribes to. This is causing a bit of informational overload for me. On the personal front, we have hundreds of pictures of Jonas’s first year and our time in Japan. I need to get these organized. I always see the articles about how the youngest generation is the most documented generation ever, but this data is just a big mess left unorganized. Yeah, the least of our problems in the world right now, but it can be overwhelming. And of course, I feel sentimental and really notice that we brought a baby to Japan and will be taking back a little boy. He has really transitioned from babyhood to full-fledged toddlerhood.

On the global front, I am just overwhelmed. When I have time to really read international news, my brain starts to work overtime as I attempt to process everything. For the majority of our time in Japan, I have read many articles on the sub-prime mortgage crisis that originated in the USA. Lots of talk about economic problems worldwide has followed. Of course the Iraq war is always in the news.

Often when I fly internationally I randomly sit next to a soldier. On a recent flight I sat next to an interesting young soldier. He studied Middle East history and knew a lot about the history of the situation in Iraq. From his perspective we are in the middle of a pretty nasty civil war and getting out of there will not be easy. He told me stories of waking up to mortar raids, and running to shelter. Later I sat next to a seasoned soldier who was about to leave his two kids at home for a 3 month job in Iraq. He knows a woman that is leaving her 8 month old baby and 2 year old toddler at home for a 12 month stint in Iraq. As a mother of a 22 month old, this got me. I just can not even imagine how hard that would be.

The situation in Iraq is just one example of the pain and suffering that is happening in our world. People are eating mud cookies for sustenance in Haiti. Riots are taking place in Tibet and the Chinese government is barring foreign journalists from going to Tibet, while they are blocking international news websites from Chinese citizens.

This week I also read about "Pay Day" Loans that people are using to pay their bills in the United States. According to the story, “the average borrower ends up paying back $793 for a $325 loan.” I am a big supporter of micro-loans in the international community and I wonder why we don’t have programs like this in the United States. It should be illegal to take advantage of people like this. While growing up in poverty and coming home to our electricity or water being shut off as a child, I witnessed the desperation of trying to make ends meet. I understand why people would turn to these ‘pay day loans.’ It angers me that there are people who take advantage of this desperation to make a profit.

As all of the things were swirling in my brain, I read a column that sums up some of the international issues facing our world right now. The article was a response to HRC’s quote about sniper fire in Bosnia. The author, Roger Cohen suggests that Obama could bring some new and creative thinking to the White House.

I can’t imagine being President. It is just too much to think about and understand and digest, but I do think Obama has a unique perspective and experiences that would guide his presidency positively. I know I have made it clear how much I love Obama. Lately there has been a lot of controversy over what Obama's former pastor said. I don’t know everything the pastor said, so I should be careful here, but from what I understand he indicated that we live in a racist, unjust world. I think we do live in a racist, unjust world and this needs to be said and changes need to be made. I think Obama understands this better than the other candidates, because he has had to live that reality in a way that some of us have not. This understanding is something more people need to grapple with as we progress in our world.

Whew. Do I sound preachy? I don’t mean to…I am processing. I told you my brain is working overtime…

After writing this I finally listened to Obama’s speech on race in its entirety. It is Friday afternoon and this was a good way to end my week of information overload. I think he powerfully says what needs to be said. If you haven’t listened to this speech yet, I urge you to, even if you are not an Obama supporter. Whether or not Obama becomes our next president, I see him as an important, unique and inspirational leader.

We're Back

 

We survived our 10-day trip through southern Japan, where we visited a lifetime worth of temples in Kyoto, saw sumo in Osaka, Japan’s most famous castle in Himeji, the A-Bomb Dome ruins in Hiroshima, and in one afternoon, purportedly both the World’s Largest Wooden Building AND the World’s Largest Gilded Bronze Buddha. It was quite the trip, which we enjoyed with our friends Meredith and Abe. Not surprisingly, there were a few bumps along the way. Jonas caught a cold, then Tricia caught a cold, and then Abe caught a cold. Also, the willful side of Jonas (not insubstantial) was in full blossom on this trip. His being a bit sick, and having his schedule thrown off, and all of the travel created the perfect storm of sorts for some colossal tantrums. Abe and Meredith were extremely gracious and understanding through it all, and we all made it in the end. Actually, looking back at the photos, it’s hard to remember that there were any low moments to speak of. Abe said it best during dinner the final night:

“None of us are all that easy to travel with. But as a group, we’ve done pretty well.”

I’m sure Tricia will have more to say in the coming days. But I thought I’d throw some random stuff up here before I head back to America for a week.

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 

I've noticed going through photos that Tricia has a tendency to shoot from the rear. Here's some evidence.

 
 
 
 

Go West!

 
See below for details. Not taken while sole guardian for Jonas.

Tricia returns tonight, and we’ll be glad to have her back. I’m not saying that Jonas is tired of me, but last night after his bath, Jonas decided to skip the nightly book reading and milk routine. After getting him dressed, I went over to straighten the covers in his bed. Meanwhile, he pulled a chair over from the wall, climbed up on it, climbed up on the railing of his crib and dropped into his bed. I guess that was his way of saying, “Enough. I’m calling it a night.”

Tomorrow, we’re off for Kyoto. This is our one BIG TRIP during our stay here in Japan. We’re meeting friends Meredith and Abe, whose wedding we missed as it was held on the exact same weekend that we arrived in Japan. They’re flying in from Milwaukee, and together we’re going to see just about everything possible in that area in a week and a half.

Graduation was a couple of weeks ago, but here are some highlights from the weekend.

Inexplicably, a lot of people asked me whether this was my first Japanese high school graduation – people who know that I’ve only been here for half a year. I’m not sure what that was all about. As it turned out, they aren’t all that different, and are just as boring for everyone, from American graduations, minus the hat throwing (which a lot of people also asked about). Only, and for me, this was a big only, we had to sit through the ceremony twice. On Saturday, we all came in to work to rehearse graduation.

Among the details of which MUCH time was spent practicing and re-practicing:

The volume, enthusiasm and overall genkiness of the students who stood and shouted “Hai!” when their name was called. Many (mostly the girls) were too soft, some were delayed a bit, and others, I think (this was all in Japanese, so who knows, really), were actually too loud. I suspect the louder they were, the more likely it was they were seen as mocking the ceremony – but that’s only a guess.

Again, volume – this time during the singing of the national anthem, Kimi ga Yo. They practiced this so many times, that another teacher was able to fill me in about all about the various controversies over the anthem, which are actually pretty interesting.

Clapping in concert while the graduating students entered the auditorium. Oh, I didn’t mention that all the students, years 1-3, were required to attend. In retrospect, I’m surprised the parents were not required to practice their watching.

The actual ceremony, like those in America, was long and boring. Two of the female teachers wore kimonos, including my supervisor, which was pretty cool to see.

 
 
I would call the whole deal uneventful, except for the following:

All of the parents carrying their house slippers with them, then putting them on and taking off their dress shoes for the ceremony. I tried to discretely take some pictures of this. There is nothing funnier than seeing a grown woman in full makeup and dress wearing fuzzy, flowered house slippers.

 
 

The student who, instead of simply shouting “Hai!”, stood up on one leg, balanced himself on his right foot, stuck his left leg out at an angle, did some militaristic-looking gyration with his arms while shouting what sounded like “Api! Api! Api!” Not surprisingly, this set off a tremor of murmurs in the audience. It was quite the scandal, and I have not managed to find out what it was he was saying.

After the ceremony, and after the celebratory party and dinner, I went to an after, after party with the coaches of baseball, rugby, basketball, cross country – and two older guys, one of whom pad 10,000 yen for a bottle of whiskey for the group. The less said about this whole outing, the better. Somehow, they convinced me to sing “Go West!” which is what I’m doing at the top of the page.

 
 
 

Escape!

 

Life Without Tricia rolls into Day Three and we’re both still here, although I think some of my coworkers had serious doubts heading into the weekend. Students took exams all last week, so those teachers who didn’t have a test to give or to grade sort of milled around the teachers room drinking tea all afternoon. Typically, I too, would have nothing at all to do, but for some stupid reason, I volunteered to grade the English portions of all of the first-year final exams, of which there are hundreds, and being an English exam, nearly all of it, surprise, is in English. Anyway, taking a break for marking up the tests, I mentioned to a small group of tea drinkers that Tricia flew back to America for a job interview and would be gone a week(gambate Tricia! – I love the word gambate, as it is fun to say, and basically means “go for it/do your best/good luck/break a leg.” It’s one of those cool Japanese words like tycoon that needs to find a prominent place in the English lexicon). When I mentioned Tricia would be gone for so long, many an eyebrow was raised, and one woman actually asked whether I knew how to cook for myself and Jonas. I told her we’d survive on potato chips and ice cream. And beer.

The baseball coach invited Jonas and I over for dinner on Saturday night. Upon arrival, it was pretty clear they wanted us to stay the night; and at one point, the coach’s wife and another woman (more on her later) actually took Jonas downstairs with the intention of putting him to sleep (their kitchen and family room were on the top floor of their house, and all the bedrooms were on the main floor, which was pretty cool, actually, giving you the feeling that you were in a clubhouse).

I asked Mr. Goto, “Where are they going?”
Mr. Goto: “Don’t worry. Women business. Relax, please.”
“Are they trying to put him to bed.”
“Maybe. Yes.”

I told Mr. Goto that this had exactly ZERO percent chance of working, as under the most ideal of circumstances – i.e., his crib, his bed and a belly full of milk, none of which were present here – he still doesn’t exactly drift off peacefully. Sure enough, minutes later I hear Jonas wailing, and in no time, crawling up the stairs, back into the action.

Goto’s wife followed him back up, sat down, and acted as if nothing had happened. I actually liked her a lot. Unbelievably, I never caught her name, which is less of a cultural misunderstanding and more of a personal shortcoming. I once spent an entire year in Chattanooga, TN ….

 

 
 
 
 

 

DRAMATIC INTERRUPTION

Jonas just slid the door open to his room, where he was supposed to be napping, and ran straight over to me. Grinning ear to ear, he pumped his little arms up and down and danced around in circles. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him so pleased with himself. The reason: after weeks of trying, he finally climbed out of his crib without help. We knew this would happen soon, and today was sort of the perfect storm for an escape. Because we stayed out and up so late (we’re talking 9:30, which is practically an all-nighter for Jonas), he slept in late, thus jeapordizing his afternoon nap. But I had to give it a shot, and after about 30 minutes of clapping and blabbering and spitting noises (not sure what that was about), I heard the sound of two feet hitting the floor. Excited footsteps followed. And Jonas soon emerged victorious. Truthfully, I’m surprised it took so long. He climbed out once a few weeks ago and hurt/scared himself a bit, and he’s been chicken to try it again. So sometimes we’ll walk in his room and he’ll have half his body, one leg and one arm hanging over the edge, and I can only imagine how long he’s been frozen in that position, considering whether to take the plunge. Today, he took the plunge.

Jonas Enjoys Absorbedly

 

Here's a shot of Jonas with one of his friends taken during Hinamatsuri, and neither of them look all that thrilled to be there. The little girl next to Jonas used to always cry when she saw Tricia. Maybe she was sad to see Jonas go.

Also, here are some more notes from daycare. The last one is the best, and needs no explanation. I still laugh every time I read it.