Comments

I really, really like getting comments on blog entries and photos.  Nearly 60 people have accessed this site since my last post.  I got one comment, and because it was of a certain configuration and anonymous it went into the spam filter.  I have rescued it and allowed it to appear on the post below, because it has no links embedded and just might be from someone I know. I know that some friends say they read 'Jyojia's Journal' on a regular basis, and indeed, some complain when too much time elapses between entries. But, it would be nice to know who you all are. Well, some of you then.

East Japan Conference 2011

This year's conference was held at Megumi Chalet, a Christian Conference Center in Karuizawa, Japan. Since I will be responsible for booking space at our Holiday House in Karuizawa for summer visitors, I went a few days early with an OMF couple to do the spring cleaning at the house.  We aired all the blankets and futons and made sure everything was clean and organized so that people who need a holiday will be able to spend most of their time enjoying Karuizawa.

On Monday afternoon we went to the Chalet and joined our colleagues for three days of speakers, discussions, music, activities and enjoyed the meals prepared by the staff there.  The facility is built on a hillside, and our meetings were mostly held in the Chapel about two-thirds of the way up. My room was on the lowest level, so I got lots of stair climbing exercise. A lovely little lake is nearby and provided a nice place for a morning walk.

It was a great chance to catch up with people we don't see all that often and to see how their kids have grown. We took several short term workers along to run a program just for the kids, so everyone had something to do.

 Here's a picture of us:

Zeri de Zero

A food that appears here all year round, but even more in the warmer months is individual servings of gelatin usually with fruit and/or yogurt in it.  The gelatin is related to agar rather than the animal based gelatin we use in the US. The texture is a bit different, but easy to get used to. It is cool and refreshing and not as sweet or strongly flavored as Jello.

This season there is a new product in the markets.  Phonetically it's zeri de zero - zeri being as close as Japanese seems to be able to get to Jelly.  (Jelly is what the British call gelatin.) So what about the zero? They are claiming that there aren't any calories in this stuff.  There are, however, blocks of nata de coco - the meat of immature coconut, and blocks of collagen in the gelatin. It comes in mikan (tangerine) strawberry and muscat grape (never to be confused with concord!) varieties. A bit of flavor, three different textures and no calories. What more could a sugar avoiding person ask for?