Synchronicity

I have been experiencing coincidences for many years, so it doesn't surprise me when it happens anymore. However, they have been happening in strange ways here. I won't bore you with the details, other than what happened today. I knew that the one souvenir that I wanted from Japan was dishes. Today I found them! The coincidence is that they are the square kind that I wanted, with the color "Tinkerbell green" flowers on them. This may seem like no big deal, except that just two nights ago I could not sleep. I spent many hours searching online for new colors to paint the McKnight Cottage when we move back to TN to live there. I had just told Adam that I wanted to be bold and paint the kitchen "Tinkerbell green"! He did not respond, so I took that as a "yes, that will be ok". So, I am so excited to display my new Japanese dishes on the Amish open cabinet in our kitchen when we return. I know that is a year from now, what can I say...I am a planner, and a little homesick.

Shabu-Shabu

We finally tried the restaurant by our home called Shabu-Shabu. We ate Japanese style on the floor. It was actually very comfortable, because the floor under the table is hollowed out for your legs. The cushions were comfy too. The first picture is our appetizer. The second is Adam grinding his sesame seeds for the dip that the meat and vegetables go in. The third picture shows the boiling water on the hot plate that you cook your own vegetables and meats in. We tried several meats, pastas, and veggies. It was all good! We also each got a bowl of steamed rice.

No School this Week

Future Roller Derby Girl? Maybe not, she practiced for less time than it took to put all the equipment on. She is also not quite ready for hopscotch, jumprope, or badmitton. However, she is getting good at puzzles, and she is mastering cutting, and coloring in the lines.

Her favorite new thing this week is whispering in my ear, and reading inspiration cards.

Pizza Hut Delivery

I had to show you the cute little scooter that the Pizza Hut guy rides every Thursday night to our home. We get a large, hand tossed, pepperoni and use an 800 Yen Coupon which makes it 1200 Yen, or a little more than $12. It is the best pizza I have ever tasted, which is why we get it once a week!!! Also, instead of giving you red pepper or parmesan cheese packets, they offer hot green chilli packets. I love it, but I have Cajun blood. The first picture is the menu with an amazing amount of options like Seafood mix, Ebipuru egg, Mayo Q, Super Korean Purukogi, Tuna Mild, Pote Mayo Gratin, or Crab&Shrimp Mayo King...just to name a few!

Land of the Rising Sun

The sun rises around 5 am here, and there is no way to block the light coming in from our windows. We have a great skylight in our bathroom, but we also have a clear see through bathroom door, so the light is very bright coming from the bathroom. Adam's alarm goes off by 5:30 anyway, so it is good for him. I would prefer to get 8 hours of sleep.

We have decided to wait until next climbing season to attempt climbing Mt. Fuji. It would be crazy of us to take the 5 hrs to get there, 8 or so hrs to climb, 4 or so hrs to descend, and 5 hrs back home all without sleep. Our friends the Drakes offered to watch Hannah for that 24 hrs, but we don't want the experienced ruined by sleep deprivation. Or worse, falling off the mountain because we would be climbing in the dark. We hope it works out next time so we can send the wood postcards to you all who requested from the top of the mountain, and get our souvenir walking sticks marked each leg of the way.

Flowers

Adam has brought me home fresh flowers 3 times now, who could have guessed that the third time would be in the form of coffee creamer! This is a picture of half the bag, and every single one is different. In fact, I would prefer to have two creamers in my cup, but I have no idea which two flowers to mix?!? I just made two small cups this morning and tryed a violet and a daisy. They were both great. For 5 weeks now I have been buying a small carton of milk thinking it was creamer for my coffee. I just discovered this mistake last week and bought the $5 six ounce carton of Fresh Cream. I ended up not liking it, so I guess the Flowers win! By the way Hana in Japanese means Flower.

Sea Paradise

Sea Paradise is an Aquariam very close to our house. This is the dolphin tunnel. We didn't take the stroller, so Hannah spent most of her time on Adam's shoulders.


This is the Japanese Giant Crab. It is a little bigger than Hannah!



This was my lunch. I am not sure what kind of fish was on this pizza, but the green is defiantly seaweed! By the way there is a beach next to Sea Paradise and the people have to wade through the seaweed for about 12 feet or so to get to the clear water to dig for clams.




Hannah enjoys ice cream, but she won't eat the cone.

Sushi

We walked to the Sushi restaurant by our home last night. If you look beside Adam you can see the conveyor belt with the sushi on it going around the restaurant. When you see something you like, you take it off and eat it! The different colors of plates tell you how much that sushi is. Adam ate several types of Tuna, and he said it was ok. I had Tuna, and boiled okra rolls. I enjoyed the green tea the most.

OKONOMIYAKI

This is okonomiyaki. It is the Japanese style of Pizza. You get to choose your ingredients, the chef cooks it, and then lays it on your heated table to stay piping hot throughout your meal. I had Pork and Cheese. It was GREAT!!!
It embarrasses me to admit, but I have not had sushi here yet. I have not been able to find crunchy shrimp rolls, and seaweed salad which is what I like to eat in the states. Here sushi in restaurants are mainly raw fish. I have seen the rolls prepacked, but they do not look good to me, and I have not seen crunchy shrimp prepackaged.

Doppelganger

Has anyone ever been told that they look like someone else? This has happened to me at least 25 times in my life. Well, the term is called doppelganger which means someones "double". I have seen other peoples in the states, but now we are seeing them here! So far there is an Asian version of Amy Davis, Barbara Savage, and my Aunt Stacy. Also, Hannah saw her Grammy's doppleganger on a Dora DVD this morning!

Shawna

I had my first rough week here. I am not complaining, my life is easier than ever now, I just had some emotions to sort through. After an hour acupressure/crainio-sacral massage, 3 1/2 hours of dancing, a bottle of wine, and a long salt bath I am back to normal. There is a community center/library at the end of my street, and I signed up for a Maui Hawaiian Dance class today. There were a dozen of us and they were all Japanese. They do not speak English, but Dance is a universal language, so I don't mind. I thought it might help me to learn the Japanese language, but when they all started talking I might have well as been in a Tyson chicken house, because it sounded like lots of cackling. Mostly they all just smiled and laughed, another universal language. One of them was able to say they liked my smile. The dance started with us all in a circle holding hands for an opening prayer and chant. I teared up during the singing because it was the Spiritual Ritual I had been craving. The dance style is so sweet and symbolic. I did understand them when they were counting out the moves 1,2,3 is ichi, ni, san...How funny it is for me that 2, and 3 are Ni San, since we are here working for Nissan!
Other than this I have been spending my time trying to get us Sumo tickets for end of September. Adam and I are seriously considering climbing Mt Fuji (tallest Mtn in Japan) next weekend. It takes about 8 hours to climb, and half that time to come down. Does anyone want a postcard sent from the top of the mountain? Also, I am planning a secret themed restaurant night for Adam and I to celebrate our anniversary. If it all works out, you won't want to miss that blog experience! Tomorrow I continue on with my tutor for language lessons.

I have talked for years about wanting to be more "green" living in my life for the planet, by recycling more, and being more in touch with community by walking instead of driving so the opportunity to say hello, or good morning is possible...well, I am living it now except now I say "konichiwa" or "ohio gozaimez".

Things are different here

Most of the doors to department stores have the traditional slide open function verses swing open. There is not much air conditioning in most stores, but this is a photo of Motomachi street which is a high dollar area. Not only do they blast their air conditioning, they also leave their doors slid wide open! The only reasoning I can think of is the seduction of air blowing on you as you walk past sweating might make you want to come in and spend money. By the way this happens to be a "Precious Moments" store.

This dude on the bicycle was circling outside the train station. Not only is his outfit unique, he has two goldfish hanging from his hat in small water bowls by each ear like earrings. I caught him grabbing the hat because of strong winds at that moment. Good news for the fish, but I wish you could have seen this to believe it!

Also, in the recycling section I forgot to mention that everyday I hear a small truck go by with loudspeakers asking anyone who has an appliance to recycle to bring it outside and they will take it with them.

Bicycle Tour

Nissan is on vacation this week, so Adam and I had some time to ourselves while Hannah was in school. We got our sea shipment in, and it was great to get our kitchen supplies. Hannah is excited about all her books and toys being back with her. Adam was excited for my massage table to come in. (He got a 2 hour massage today) We were both excited to get season 2 - 5 of "Lost"! Yes, we are addicted to it!

Our friends the Drakes took us on a tour around Yokohama on all our bikes. This is Yamashita Park. This is right next to the ocean, and their are huge boats that you can take tours on.
There are lots of people here on the weekend watching activities happening in the water, and street performers in the park. We saw Buddhist Monks, and artists drawing here.

We saw lots of jellyfish in the canal, and a homeless man surrounded by cardboard laying by the canal.

We had lunch at a 50's American Style Hamburger place. It has old memorabilia hanging all over it, and the best burger ever!

Meet UT

This is UT, Hannah's fish. We got him at the festival a week ago. I wanted to wait at least a week to introduce him, because the other fish that Hannah actually caught herself was a black one she named Valentine. He died that night. Hannah had already forgotten about him, so we didn't have to have a funeral for him. She didn't really want the orange fish, so I named him UT. It seemed to be the best name for an orange fish in our home, since Adam checks the UT website every single day! She feeds UT every morning before school, and tells him to have a good day.

Notice the fashionable bandaid on Hannah's ear. She fell off the couch last night and hit her head on the table. It split her earlobe open like someone had cut it with scissors. After we got the bleeding to stop, we put Neosporin on it, and I held the lobe together while Adam put the butterfly bandage on it. We are hoping it will stitch itself back together. She was fine after that, but she was tired today, and asked her teacher for the first time, if she could take a nap.

Tokyo

Adam is on vacation this week, so we decided to explore Tokyo. Here you see Adam has given in to the "man bag". This is inside the Galleria. It took all my restraint to not curl up inside this marble egg I am standing next to. Behind the temple you can see the red tower is Tokyo Tower. You can go up in it to see the city. Inside the temple was the most beautiful altar space. I don't think it is respectful to photograph, so I didn't. The next picture is a "green taxi". This guy was pedaling up a hill. I don't see how he could have pulled two people as well, but I guess he does. The last picture is literally a "green building". I love it!!!

Festival

Once a year there is a Japanese Shinto festival in our community at the park one minute from our home. There is lots of food, singing, dancing, and drumming. They decorate and have games and prizes for the children. It is Friday night through Sunday night, and during the day people carry the altar through the neighborhood while singing and drumming. We went both nights, and Hannah and I decided to dress the part for Saturday night festivities. We met lots of neighbors, and had a good time.

Daily Commute

Hey everyone, Adam checking in for my weekly blog addition. Shawna has said that many of you have been asking about my daily schedule and has been reminding me nicely (because we all know that wives do not nag) about putting it into a post. So, here goes....

Pretty typical day actually. I leave the house between 6:00 and 6:30 every morning (depending on if I have an early tele-conference with the US). It is a short walk across the street to the bus stop. I try to catch either the 6:10 or the 6:36 bus for a short ten minute ride to the nearest train station. At Negishi station, I take a ten minute train ride into Yokohama station where I have to change trains.

Yokohama station is usually very busy during the rush hour times. I find it best to just walk with purpose in a straight line and most times a path will magically appear. I can usually find a seat on my second train, which is nice for the 37 minute ride to Ebina station. This gives me a good chance to listen to music, read a book, or study my Japanese. At Ebina, you guessed it, I have to change trains again. My last train is a short ten minute ride to Aiko-Ishida station. From there, it is a 3 minute walk to catch the bus that takes me to work.

So, if I leave the house at 6:00, I can usually be sitting at my desk at work by 7:40. The same process is repeated in the evenings which usually makes for a tiring day. But, Shawna and Hannah (if she is still awake) are always there to greet me at the door.

Fruity

Did you know you could grow a watermelon in the shape of a square? I assume this helps with space issues in packaging, but does not cut down on the price. This one is more than $98. These grapes are more than $48.

Tragedy

There is a very high level of stress for the business man in Japan. They work ridiculously long hours. They do not place a high priority on vacation time. It takes a lot of energy to wade through the people at the train stations to get to where you are going. However, they do take their drinking seriously. I don't think the term "alcoholic" is in the Japanese vocabulary. It is common to go to a "drinking party" after a long day of work, and not make it home. Japan is the only place in the world you can pass out on the street and wake up in time to go back to work, with your wallet untouched. Or (only men) you can rent a tiny bed for a few hours until it is time to go back to work. I think the trains stop running at 3 am.
Coming home from Disney Sea last night we saw several trains were delayed because of "human accidents". If this lifestyle catches up with you in a bad way, or you are just done living, the fastest way to kill yourself here is to step in front of a train. This was happening so much that a new law was passed in the past five years. If you decide to kill yourself this way then your family will be fined. This shame that is brought upon the family has decreased this form of suicide tremendously.

Japanese Toilets

Here you see a picture of our personal bathroom toilet. I think it is a great idea to have in every home. This would cut down on the use of wet wipes in America.
The people here take their toilets very seriously. There are many waterworks options. You can spray your front, your back, you can adjust the water pressure of these options, there is a pulsation option, and of course the toilet seats are heated!

Out in public you will often find the toilet hole in the ground that you squat over. I like this option, but Hannah will not try it!

Disney Sea

It takes about 90 minutes to get to Disney Sea from our home. Disney Land is right next to it, but it is better to go there when weather is cooler. We really enjoyed the indoor boat ride with all the animated singing machine people in Aladdins realm. Ariels hideaway had a teacup spinning ride, jellyfish elevator ride, and playground. We also rode a couple rollercoasters. Hannah got scared in the simulated flying into a storm theater that actually dripped water and acted like we were crashing. We all stuffed ourselves on caramel popcorn.

The Yokohama Club

We started a 2 week trial membership at the exercise and pool club on Sunday. It is a 10 minute walk up the hill behind our home to get to it. We made some connections with people from Costa Rica, Germany, and Seattle, WA. Also, I found a Massage therapist/Acupunturist! I received a 30 minute poolside massage with Jun from Yokohama. It was only 3,000 Yen, which is slightly more than $30 which is very reasonable. Adam watched me receive, as he played with Hannah in the baby pool. (He received his shoulder massage later that night from me, and my massage table is on the way for his at least monthly massages) Jun studied in New Jersey for 6 years, and also has an office space with a chiropractor in town where he does the acupunture. He mixes Shiatsu, and Myofascial with the Acupunture. He speaks perfect English, and has a great touch. I am thrilled to so quickly make this connection. Later that afternoon Adam bicycled Hannah, and I jogged next to them on our way to "Homes" to buy Adam his own bicycle. I have not jogged in a long time, and cannot believe that my body is not sore today. We bought Adam a cool bike and then we all rode to the Moon Cafe. Hannah and I shared a Strawberry milkshake (I watched them put an egg in it! Is this normal?) Adam had a root beer float. This place will become a favorite of mine.

Toys R US & Costco

We have a birthday party to go to next weekend, so we decided to take Hannah to Toys R US to pick out a present and get something for herself. She has been limited to coloring, borrowed books, and her new leapster for over a month now. We are expecting our sea shipment with all of our things for the year to be here by middle of August. To our surprise she wanted the Thomas the Train Lego set, instead of Hello Kitty Lego set. Costco was very crowded on Saturday, and Adam says he will never go there again. While we were on the train and then the bus, Hannah was decorating herself with stickers. A very cute older lady was amused by her, and proceded to "pet" her hair. Hannah did not mind and told the lady "goodbye and have a nice day" when we left the bus.