New Circumstances - New Blog

To anyone checking up to see if I've added anything new, or to anyone who is finding this for the first time, this is to let you know I've upped stix and moved to a new blog address.  This blog was about my time in Japan.  That being over for the present, I've started a new blog called: Georgia's Geornal and it can be found here: georgiasgeornal.blogspot.com

It's been fun writing about Japan, and I may well mention it again, but as a new chapter has opened for me here in the USA I really felt the need for a change. 

Please feel free to visit me at my new blog site!

UK Trip Pictures

You'd think I would have taken a few more pictures of people I was visiting, but somehow the fabulous scenery and these guys took precedence! To browse the whole (large) group of pictures click on the middle of the slide show running to the right and you will be taken to the Picasa Album where you will be able to view the larger versions and even leave comments or questions.

There's no place like home...

whatever that means.  If you've ever spent considerable time in a place far away from what you called home, you might know the feeling.  Things look familiar, sometimes a bit different, but recognizable in most cases. It takes a while to get over wanting to be able to access things like 100 yen shops, fruit and vegetable shops, a train like the ones you've gotten used to.

Maybe one of the worst things is paying for things in dollars.  In Japan it's not uncommon to carry large amounts of yen with you, but, despite it's strength against the dollar, it some how feels different to be letting all those dollars slip through your fingers.

I've pretty much gotten back into the routine of sleeping when it's night time, but am still quite tired and feel pretty low in the afternoons and seem prone to headaches.  There are lots of things to do and people seem to be oblivious to the fact that making decisions is hard work for some of us. I'm trying to do things one sensible step at a time.  Still people ask if I'm looking for a job, and if I'm getting ready to head back to Japan soon. To be honest, the only appealing activity to me most days is curling up with a book.

On a different subject; this blog says in it's subtitle that it's documenting my fourth trip to Japan.  When I set it up I thought it might run a year or two, not nearly four.  Thanks to those of you who have stuck it out with me. My question now is if it should stop or change, and what it should change into if I choose the latter?  Any suggestions?

Last day in Japan till?

Today was filled with all manner of last minute things.  I needed to cancel my City registration and my Japan Health Care so headed out to the City Office with Sachiko san at 10:30.  We headed off for lunch after reasonable amounts of time waiting in a queue and filling out paper work to cancel both documents.  I did a last load of laundry and continued packing and organizing.  At this point it's much easier to decide not to bother taking things that were on the maybe list.  Space runs low.  I also chose my seat and printed my boarding pass.

Later I went to the SoftBank store to try to cancel my phone.  I wasn't able to do it though, they said that the contract holder has to come in to the store to cancel. So, Ruth, next time you come to Japan you can take care of that little detail.  Since I purchased the phone all those years ago I plan to just kidnap Pookette and take her back to Florida with me.

Had a cup of coffee with a colleague at Mr Donut and then came back to finish packing.  The Makinos stopped by to say goodbye with Emiko. Yasuko called for advice on the title of the Tokyo Dome Quilt for January.  She has to send it in for photos sometime in October.

I have the alarm set for 5am.  We leave Ichikawa at 7:30 the plane leaves at 11:00.  I think everything's done.

An Overwhelming, Intense Day Two

 The day started with the early service at the church.  My friend, Sachiko came, but had to leave to go to a meeting after. Here's a picture of us.






During the lunch time after the second service there was a farewell for me.  I've totally lost track of how many this makes.  A lot by any standard. Many people said nice things about me and all of the years I've been hanging around Ichikawa.  My friend Inoo san came for that part.






There was the traditional silver ball hanging from the ceiling which had a pull string on it.  When pulled, the ball opens and dumps flower petals and streamers and a thoughtful sentiment written on the central streamer.  A convenient package of tissues was attached in case one became overcome by the experience.





There were singing and prayers and gifts all by way of saying "Thank You" and then many many individuals who wanted to say good bye, take care, come back to Japan.







I had a little break then and came back to my room and started rearranging my packing. Later in the afternoon I went downstairs to watch the final day of the Sumo Tournament.  The championship to be determined by the final bout between the undefeated (in the previous 30 bouts) challenger and the previous champion who had lost one match of the previous 14 days. Hakuho vs. Haramafuji. Two wrestlers from Mongolia.

And the winner of the Emperor's Cup in the Aki Basho is Haramafuji.  Will Yokozuna ranking be far behind?

The couple who had offered to take me out to dinner came and watched the last three bouts along with the pastor.

Then indeed there was dinner.  What a lovely event that was!  So much silverware on the table I was almost intimidated.  A couple of hours and three knives, three forks  and countless spoons later, coffee was served with crystal sugar on a stick to stir with.  Each course was a lovely presentation.  Sauces and garnishes added all manner of bright notes to the nicely cooked, colorful food.  Dessert was a sampler of fruits and custard and caramel and ice and mint.  Uber-yum.

And now that this report is complete, back to rearranging the packing.

DAY THREE!

It's 11:30 pm so I don't have time to look for some cute illustration for the number 3 or the concept of threeness.

Another mixed bag of work and visiting places for the last time and having a great time with friends eating Japanese food.  I was really happy to figure out that the Guest Home management software is not broken even though it didn't seem to be allowing me to manually change amounts or put in mileage etc.  I was sure we had finally broken some fundamental function of the program.  What a relief to realize that because I use the nine key numbers on the right hand side of the keyboard the NUMLOCK button must be on for it to actually work!

Had a lovely dinner at the local Okonomiyaki place and the waitress took pity on we poor foreigners and made some of those lovely pancakes for us to keep us from struggling and making a mess and perhaps even embarrassing ourselves in front of others. (not likely)

Haramafuji won his sumo bout again today, 29 in a row, or maybe 30, but Hakuho won his too, so they will still fight for the championship tomorrow, the last day of the fall tournament.  Life just gets more and more interesting!

Four days left

row 1: Emiko, Fumie, Daniel, me, Megumi
row 2: Mike, Sasaki, Hitoshi, Yoko, HweeJoo, Martin, Simon
row 3: Sho, Isaac, Heike, Philipa, Armin, Wolfgang

Today at lunch time I was farewelled by OMF colleagues.  With a Regional Council meeting going on this week it meant that more people were around at lunch time and the party numbered something like 18.  It was a great excuse for a trip to Costco for pizza and salads and sushi and cheesecake and tiramasu. Yum.

Thanks to everyone for their mostly kind and sometimes humorous accolades and for the truly lovely authentically Japanese gifts.

This evening I look forward to an Eel Dinner with dear friends who are concerned that I keep up my strength!

Ichi, Ni, San, Shi...

With five days left and Hitoshi, OMF Japan's General Affairs Manager, available to assist me, we went to the bank to close out my accounts.  I have the graphic above of the number 5 and the strokes in order as well as the readings.  Part of the reason I need someone with me when doing bank stuff is that there is one part where I have to write a string of kanji on the form.  I never have occasion to write this unless it's for the bank so I don't get much practice. I have to actually write it myself, so my able assistant clearly writes each kanji for me on a scrap paper larger than usual, but easy for me to see where the lines are to go. I always apologise to my assistant for doing the strokes out of order.  They assure me that it doesn't matter, but you can see them wince if you watch out the corner of your eye as you struggle. Today I didn't drag it out any longer than I had to, so we got done fairly quickly.  Much better than opening the account.

Today was also the day the post office came and picked up the four boxes I am sending by surface mail.  This is the cheapest method but takes the longest - two months.  Of course in the States the Post Office doesn't provide any service like this, either picking up at the house or sending by surface mail.  It will be interesting to see how long Japan Post does.

The rest of my day was spent doing things at the Guest Home as the Abts are in Yokohama providing child care for one of our couples. It's really difficult to pay attention to the needs of the Guest Home when my mind has so many other things to dwell on these last five days.  Today I didn't have any invitations to meals out and it has been a relief.  I had my apple and oatmeal for breakfast and a salad for lunch. Eggs for dinner?

Day Six

 

 

After yesterday's party where we all made sushi rolls with the ingredients provided and had all kinds of extras like tuna mayonnaise and jellies, today's Pot Luck Farewell lunch at Quilting Class featured pork loin cooked in black tea and then marinated in Japanese flavors, Chirashi Zushi and Homemade pickled vegetables.

At right are members of my Wednesday Class and the Thursday Class that we sometimes get together with.

 

 

 

 Sensei asked my classmates and some other quilters I had met through her to make a block for a friendship quilt for me.  Today I received the blocks which really reflect the personalities and color choices of each maker. When I get home I need to add sashing and probably a center square to even things out a bit.  What I'm wondering now is if anyone out there has a good idea for the type/color of sashing fabric?  Please set me know what you think.

Final Week Countdown

Seven days left in Japan. Four boxes packed.  Decisions about suitcases made and packing about 75% finished. Week prior notification arrived from the airline. Not allowing myself to think I've got it wired.  Too many last minute things to do for that.

Today there is a lunch at the home of a couple from the church in Ichikawa.  Tomorrow will be the final Quilting Class. I need to ask some questions about bank accounts now that there's someone here to ask.

This is the second week of the 2012 Autumn Sumo Tournament and I had someone help me with the TV so I can watch most afternoons. Lots of people did really well the first week.  Second week is harder for them and more interesting for people watching.

Think I'll go do some quilting homework.

Goodbye and goodbye again!

 

Saying goodbye in Japan is sometimes a long process.  I will leave here on September 25, but the first special goodbye event for me was held last Sunday. My quilting teacher and her husband invited some people to gather at their summer house in Karuizawa where we had a lunch together which included my version of Taco Rice among other things including a cake (always a good idea to my way of thinking!)





I was given the center seat at the table and was asked to say a few words about going home and future plans before we ate.

Yesterday I was asked to the regular monthly meeting of IVIS (Ichikawa Volunteer Interpreter's Society) where I have often encouraged their English speaking ability and shared views and ideas.  This time they were given free reign to ask me "anything!" The questions ranged from what my plans were to what do the initials O. M. F. stand for to who I'll vote for in November's election. This was followed by a "pot luck lunch."  Foods ranged from pizza to sushi to potato salad to nashi. It was a nice thing to do.  Some of these folks have known me since 1999 when I first came to Japan and some I met for the first time yesterday.  Many are convinced I will be back.

Moving Upstairs

I'm in the midst of packing and moving my stuff upstairs to one of the Guest rooms.  It's a matter of schedule that I'm moving this week.  My replacements here at the Guest Home will be arriving on August 29 and they need to live here. I would like to take a bit of a holiday while things are relatively quiet here and have the opportunity to go to my favorite place in the woods in the mountains in Karuizawa.  My quilting class is having a party at our sensei's summer home in Naka Karuizawa on August 26. So, if you put all of those things on a calendar you come up with my needing to move this week. A friend got me a discount on tickets on the Shinkansen, so that really means I have to go on the planned day and time, no excuses.

One thing that makes it a little easier is that in my mind I've never moved in to this apartment.  The circumstances of my taking on the job of managing the Guest Home and the relentlessness of the work itself has meant that I sleep in the bed, I use the shower and the kitchen, but my stuff pretty much sits on the top.  Not stashed away too far.  So for the last day and a half I've been putting things in boxes so that I can get them out of here quickly and then I'll clean the house so that I can go on my vacation.

This morning I did another job that was on my list.  I went for my annual check up with my local doctor. I was due for a blood draw in any case, so I also had the urine test, chest x-ray, and EKG.  They also check your height weight, waist measurement, and such.  Because of my age and because I am part of the National Health Plan this annual check is free for the things I mentioned.  The only thing he asked me about adding was the liver function tests on the blood samples.  This added about $4.50 to my usual fee (like a co-pay). I could go to a bigger clinic and get a mammogram and swallow a camera for a stomach cancer test, but I have chosen to defer those till I get home. The doctor I see has a small clinic very near here.  It's great for getting my maintenance medications and for colds or other ailments.  The best part is that he understands most of my questions/responses in English and attempts to use as much English as he can pull up from his memory when speaking to me. So it has worked for me. When I told him I was moving back to America in September he didn't make much of a response, so I said, "Will you miss me?" He said, "I suppose."

The Quintessential Ichikawa Summer Event

Most summers the city of Ichikawa puts on an event the first Saturday of August.  It's a fireworks display down by the Edogawa River. Sometimes I have gone down to the riverside and sat on a tarp with crowds of others to see the show close up and other years like this one I went up to the flat roof of the Guest Home building.  The weather conditions this year were near optimal and the view was great.  Fireworks in Japanese are Hanabi which can be roughly translated as "Fire Flowers."  Here's a short clip of the 75 minute show.

Only in summer

I decided this afternoon that I really needed to get out and walk for a bit before it got too dark. The quality of my physical exercise has become a bit tatty recently.  I noticed when I was greeting Mrs. Kusaka that it seemed a bit cooler and drier outside than it had been this morning.  So, after dinner I got my bag and a towel, put on proper shoes (not Crocs or sandals) and stepped outside. 

I immediately heard a distinctive sound. It was music, but of a special type heard on certain summer evenings in this area. Summer festival music with the strong beat of taiko drums and and the plaintive vocal.  So I headed toward the elementary school and the sound grew louder.  I had been to this festival in 2004 and really, it looked much the same.  There were more drummers today and a fire truck, but otherwise the same.  No doubt the annual PTA summer fundraiser.

Having seen fellow blogger, Nancy J's video of the newborn lambs gave me the idea to take a video with my camera, which I had never done. It's quite a small, relatively uncomplicated camera and I had never videoed with it before.  I did manage to figure out how to switch modes and off I went.  Here it is:                                                               

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My Favorite Wins Again

It's always difficult to explain to anyone why I like Sumo.  To many, especially my Western friends and acquaintances it's a lot of sweaty fat guys pushing each other around. There is some of that, but Sumo has it's skills, it's rules, it's stars, it's up-and-comers. Six tournaments a year, one in each of the odd numbered months.

This year as the second week of the July Tournament was drawing to a close, two men remained unbeaten and by today's final round the Yokozuna, Hakuho with a perfect record went up against the Ozeki Harumafuji also 14-0. Both are Mongolians. Both are tough. This was only the fifth time since the advent of 15 day tourneys that two men came up to the final day without a loss.
I was pleased when Harumafuji came up the winner.  He's been solid in every match. I've liked him for several years now, since he came up the ranks to win his first Tournament several years ago. He's not huge and he's not pretty, there's a bit of the underdog about him.  Tonight though, he's the King of the Ring.

Next to Last Quilting Class

Today was my regular Quilting Class. We don't have class in August because Sensei always takes a holiday, and so do many of her students.  This year however we are planning to meet at Sensei's summer home in Karuizawa on August 26.  This will be a day for relaxing at the onsen, shopping and eating together.  Emiko san has requested Taco Rice, so that will probably be what we have. This is also a "going away" commemoration for me. I hope to be able to go to one more regular class in September.
Attending this Quilting Class during this term in Japan has been a real learning experience. My classmates have learned lots of English. I have learned a lot of Japanese. I have learned much more about Japanese Culture than I can ever recount. Then there are the typical Japanese Housewife conversations. Today we even talked about the Japanese opposition to the stationing of Osprey aircraft at the airbase in Okinawa, and the rumour that Bill Gates has purchased a huge piece of property in Naka Karuizawa and is building a villa complete with helipad. Oh yes, we are also all sewing and quilting during this twice monthly 4 to 5 hour session.

I seem to have accidentally gotten a blue filter on the camera today.  (Japanese camera with Japanese instructions!)

Kawakoe san with the bag she finished today.  She really liked it and so did I!

Hayakawa san with her current project, also a bag.

Yamazaki san at the machine with Kuraishi sensei giving instruction.

Me enjoying our 2 pm "coffee and sweet."

The Banners Find a Home

A year and a half ago, I think, I wrote about a set of banners that were a cooperative process between a Thai batik crafts person, another OMFer and me. The banners took a really long time to put together and send to their intended place at our newly refurbished International Headquarters in Singapore.  I found out earlier this year that due to some unspecified problems they had not yet been hung.  Then in the last week I received photos by email from two different friends of the banners hanging, not in some open atrium as I had been lead to imagine, but on the walls in the office area.  I suppose if I had known that they were going to be open to close scrutiny I would have fretted more about the stitching and they would have taken even more time to put together.  Sometimes it's better not to know.

Not Exactly What You Might Be Expecting

Today was the annual performance of Voice of Adoration.  They are the women's Black Gospel Choir at the Chapel of Adoration in Ichikawa City.  They are better every year, gaining confidence and ease in performing their music. I really enjoy them, even though I know they are not black, but Japanese and that they feel more comfortable with music that can be clearly written on a proper staff than they could ever  be with the "call and respond" style of the choirs they emulate.  But still, once I get past all that I know that they are doing a great job reaching out to others.  Not all of the members are Christians, but by participating they come to know Christian community and love for others.  The performance draws many family and friends from nearby and all are welcomed and invited to come back. I guess the best part is that the choir looks like they're having more fun than anybody. 

Rainy Season

 One nice thing about rainy season here is that it is also the time for hydrangea.  The picture above shows one like those I remember from my childhood. The other ones here to the right and below are only ones I would associate with Japan. It seems that botanists here are always busy developing new colors and shapes for the blooms loved by the Japanese people.
So despite the rain showers there are flowers to brighten our days.

 My dad occasionally changed the color of the blooms on the bushes around my childhood home.  It took at least a year and involved putting different chemicals at the roots of the plant.  The only thing I remember was iron, but I don't remember what color that made the bloom.









Today I sent out a newsletter by email.  If you got it, please remember to reply by one of the methods I listed at the end.  If you didn't get one, maybe I don't have your current email address.  If you'd like to receive a copy, please let me know!

Meantime, try to keep dry!

I Can Never Say My Job's Finished

In the past two weeks especially, I have noticed that in early afternoon at the latest I am really feeling tired. This past week the weather has turned cold with the start of the rainy season. so add to the tiredness some aching joints in reaction to the weather.  Today I realized that perhaps part of the tiredness is due to the Spring Cleaning/Change Over that step by step  has been accomplished in about that same amount of time.  I had a famous two days at the beginning of the month where all of the Guest Home beds and a few additional futons were full.  I had gotten the main building changed over before that and after I did the annex.

The Change Over involved putting the winter duvets (actually called kakibuton here) into Space Bags after airing them and getting out the summer weight ones I put away last autumn. Also every bed here in the winter has an electric blanket under the bottom sheet. These are thankfully washable and so were collected washed and hung to dry.  They are the last thing that needs to be put away in some of the rooms. The mattresses for the most part were turned and the mattress pads were laundered as well. While I was at it I moved all the furniture in the rooms and vacuumed and dusted behind everything. 

Cleaning a couple of recently vacated rooms today I realized that my enemy, the ubiquitous mildew has been lurking undetected under the lids and behind the toilets in the unit baths! Yuck, I hate mildew! There's a handy spray cleaner here that is called Kabi Kira. (Kabi is the Japanese word for mildew, kira is Japanese for, well...killer.) So, something else to tend to in this round of cleaning.

Wa no Sue and Emiko

Since last autumn I have been working on a wall hanging inspired by a project set by my quilting Sensei. The rest of the class and presumably people from some of Sensei's other classes are completing a project that is close to the idea that was presented.  My project, as usual, has morphed and mutated into something with elements of the original idea with a lot of other stuff thrown in. The original project had momiji (maple) leaves around the edge and a house in the center.  The leaves were machine pieced with half triangles and squares.  and the houses were paper pieced.  When the house idea was introduced, Sensei turned to me and said, maybe you would like to make a church instead, Georgia san. And then there was the whole saga of the tree not being quite what it should have been which I discussed in a previous post. The scene looked a little empty when the church and the tree were done and Sensei and I discussed what else I could do.  That's when she showed me a Japanese quilt artists concept of Sunbonnet Sue if she had grown up in Japan. I decided that the scene needed a couple of little girls walking out from church.  The scale had to really be reduced from the example in the quilting magazine and the only way I could think of representing these figures was to do them in needle turn applique. The stuff I get myself into!

At Class this last week I finally finished my two little Japanese friends, one with her Bible under her arm and the other pointing out as if to say, "Let's go and tell our friends what we learned today!" One of my classmates, Emiko, decided she would name Sue's friend after herself!  And the piece became "Wa no Sue and Emiko." (the "Wa no" part means "of Japan," so Japanese Sue and Emiko)

As you can see, I am not yet finished.  The border of leaves is lacking two which I still need to make, and the sashing between them is not decided.  I like the idea of continuing the blue sky, but it may be a bit too much.  What do you think?

One More Chance

It's Saturday again and I have returned from the second of the two English Classes I was asked to help with.  Last week's class was just 'okay' due to my neck pain. I got through the lesson, but felt it lacked something.  This week I'm feeling so much better and was determined to make the class more interesting.  We practiced our key phrase, "Can you help me, please?" We talked about asking for different things like another color, bigger size, food, beverages.  The second half of the class I had everyone practice with a partner and the buzz generated by that activity had a very contented sound.  I asked them to practice greeting each other in English and in American style, Saying Hi instead of Hello and asking, "How are you?" but not expecting a truthful answer.  The class time was over, all two hours, and they were still talking happily in English and Japanese. 

With a little help from my friends

This term in Japan, now in it's fourth year has been marked by new experiences and a distinct pushing of the envelope of what I was comfortable with. 

On Saturday morning I woke up with the most painful stiff neck in recent memory.  If I turned to face left I felt an electric like shock through the muscles of my neck and shoulder.  If I raised my head to look upward I was likely to have a similar reaction.  So, I applied all of the home remedies I had at hand, hot shower, ibuprofen, arthritis cream, ice, sometimes on their own, sometimes in combination, throughout the day,which included a bus to Soya for an English Class which lasted two hours and the bus trip back.  I switched to heat after that and though I slept well enough if I stayed on my left side I woke on Sunday with increased stiffness if no more electric shocks.  I canceled out of the IVIS bus tour to Kamakura. 

At church I mentioned my malady to a couple friends and by Monday morning my friend network was planning my strategy.  They came to an agreement on the clinic I should go to and one of them called ahead to tell them my situation and that I don't speak Japanese. I paid a visit to the doctor and was treated with several chiropractic techniques which were familiar to me from my days long ago in America when I suffered from lower back pain.  The doctor and I had some interesting exchanges in Japanese English and English Japanese and were both able to laugh at out own mistakes.  Today I'm better and have discovered that the chiropractor is the brother of the dentist that lives across the street from me.

May In Ichikawa

Recent weather has made me feel right at home.  The temperatures have turned distinctly warmer and a bright warm day can turn quickly in to a thundery rain storm and just as quickly back to sunshine. Recently there was a strong tornado in Tsukuba that appeared suddenly, some buildings were wrecked and there was one death.  For the next week or two everyone was on edge if there was any forecast of rain.  The weather services scrambled to find a way to warn people if the possibility of a tornado was present. This resulted in even more anxiety. For Japanese people the forces of nature are cruel, unpredictable and ruled by gods who don't necessarily care about what happens to people.

Trees are coming out in leaves of "fresh green" and the roses are starting to bloom. The hydrangea have buds. Natsumikan are the fruit of the season.  The name means summer tangerine.  They have thick skins, though and apparently are used for juice that can be made into drinks high in vitamin C.  I was given two by a friend and ate them by peeling them, then removing the thick membrane from each section and eating the insides. Having lived in Florida, I was not overly impressed by this fruit, but vitamin C is a good thing.

The sun is shining again, and the afternoon rain is dried up. Today's round of the May Sumo Tournament is on the television. It's great to have an afternoon off.

The Cherries Bloom Again

In Japan I have developed a new appreciation of the changing of  seasons.  I grew up with season changes, but 20+ years in Florida dulled my appreciation of this regular change of weather and nature. Here in the Tokyo area we have frost in winter and occasional snow in winter, in summer it gets about as hot as Tampa for about six weeks. In autumn we have brightly colored leaves on maple trees. But spring, that's the season when the cherry trees bloom. There are so many of them and you find them planted singly on otherwise barren school sports grounds and in ones and twos in many neighborhoods. Many towns have a street that is lined with cherry trees on both sides. Small streams and ancient castle moats make great settings for cherry trees with the blossoms reflected in the water. Often cherry trees are planted the grounds of temples.

Today after church my friend and I went for a walk that in this time of year is called "Hana Me" - looking at flowers. You can see all the pictures I took on the nearly 4 hour ramble through Ichikawa in my Picasa web albums. I include some  here to make you want to look at the rest.  (You can always click on on of the slide shows running to the right and when you get to my web album, click on the tab along the top called gallery or albums or something like that to see a collection. Let me know if you have trouble.)


Other things are blooming as well, and as the season progresses we know that soon we will see wisteria. Each kind in it's proper time.

Trudge Mode

I've been in 'trudge mode' for about the last month.  I get up in the morning and start the things that must be done.  When I finish one thing I move on to the next and trudge through the day till it's time to go to bed.  There are two consequences of this lifestyle: things on your to do list tend to get done, and if you're not careful, all the joy and spontaneity in life can be stifled.

Today marks a major change. Late this morning I will get on a train to go back to Olive No Sato Retreat Center in Nikko for the 2012 OMF East Japan Conference. I'll be gone till Friday. so I'll put in some pictures to entertain you till I get back.

Chapel

Building with guest rooms and dining room

The road beyond the camp

Nearby river

Evening Campfire

Only One Year

If you're connected to any kind of news source anywhere in the world you have no doubt heard something today about the year since Japan's Triple Trauma. Here we have had reminders in each of these 365 days.  My life no doubt looks much the same as it did a year ago, I live in a slightly different neighborhood and do a somewhat different job from a year ago. However, my life and the lives of countless others here were irrevocably changed March 11, 2011. When you can no longer even trust that the ground under your feet is a stable place to stand, it changes a lot of other things.

I would encourage you to continue to pray for the people of Japan. There are many who are still hurting due to personal loss and the others hurt for them in a way I have not experienced living in America. Pray also for those who are assisting in the rebuilding of lives. They have come so far in a year, but have so far yet to go.

If you know someone who is volunteering here or working with a Christian mission or relief agency, do what you can to support them.  Let them know you care about them.  Send them some tangible support if you can afford it. The cost of living here remains high. A word of encouragement is like gold. Please don't forget Japan.

Perseverence

It’s been relatively cold this winter in Tokyo.  It always seems cold to me I guess, but we have had a couple of months when the temperature hasn’t risen  much above 40° (F). It doesn’t get much below freezing either, but with wind and rain that can be a miserable temperature for a transplanted Floridian. And like Florida summers it sometimes seems to go on for a really unreasonable amount of time.

So, being basically an optimist, I am always on the lookout for change.  Today I was surprised by the sight of evidence that winter will end and spring will come. The plum tree is on the side of the building facing the alley and when I went to throw something into the trash, I saw two blossoms had opened, and many more are about ready to burst.

When I was researching kamon to put in my Japanese Memory Quilt I read somewhere that the plum blossom is a symbol of perseverance because it blooms when it is still winter. I liked that idea so much, I decided I would make block with a plum blossom kamon in the quilt.  It reminds me that I need to persevere; flower when it still seems to be winter, spring will surely come.

The WC

This week at OMF JHQ we had 8 toilets replaced.  They were the ones installed at the beginning and over the years have proved to be very inefficient.  Being of American manufacture it was more trouble than most people wanted to go through to get new flappers when they wore out.  They were also an early experiment in using less water per flush. They obviously needed to continue with their research.  They were also deemed to be the cause of a couple really high water bills.

The Japanese are really on top of the heap when it comes to toilet technology.  Not just the hi-tech seats with the sometimes amusing, sometimes shocking functions, but the flushing mechanisms.  These new ones are fast and efficient and take the minimum of water. In fact, when you lift the lid of the tank there is no water visible, just mechanisms. 

The other thing I was reminded of was the way Japanese workmen work.  When the toilet in my bathroom was being replaced I stayed in my office.  When they were done, there was no mess, no water drips, no footprints or fingermarks.  It was as if a new toilet had just grown in the place of the old one. So, I put the bucket and the plunger away.

Not being a fan of "toilet humor" I'm having trouble coming up with a punch line for this piece.  I have seen one high end model here in Japan that has a motion sensor, and when you open the door to the toilet stall the  lid rises for your immediate accommodation. What will they think of next?

House Cleaning - Metaphorically

The periodic lack of new posts doesn't necessarily mean I don't have any ideas for something to write about. I get ideas all the time, I just don't always take the time to take a photo and upload it and write the piece.  Today I have for you several things I wanted to share with you. At left is a photo of part of my current project for my quilting class.  Sensei set a class project some time ago that started with maple leaves in autumn colors.  I haven't photographed them yet, but they were meant to be a border for a central picture that will together hopefully, someday, be a wall hanging.  The original idea was that a house would go in the center.  But sensei decided that I should do a church for the center of my piece.  So I found a free pattern on the Internet for this nice little church which  I completed by paper piecing. The finished block was square, and for a wall hanging I thought it should be oblong in shape. So I said I could put a tree next to the church.  Sensei thought this was fine and showed me some examples of trees in quilting books.  I went home and came back with this stylized pine tree.

Sensei was not impressed.  In fact she expressed some confusion. "Is this the tree we discussed, Jyojia san?" Well, no it wasn't exactly.  I had kind of slapped it together and put fabrics where they fit rather than where they looked best. So we looked at the trees in the books again and I chose a specific one to copy. That tree, shown at the right was more what sensei had in mind. In fact she liked it. so I uprooted the original and planted the new tree. So now sensei thinks I should put some people going to church in the scene.  Sensei, she's full of ideas.

That last paragraph reminded me of something else I wanted to tell you about.  Living in Japan and working closely with British and European coworkers these last three + years, the "R" has disappeared from my name.  Both names now that I think about it.  My Japanese friends call me JYOja san and the last name is AnDAson. The Europeans tend to say Jiyojia with more vowel sounds. The British sometimes say JOwja. To tell you the honest truth, I really hadn't paid much attention till another friend recently addressed me as Georgia, fully pronouncing the R sound that it struck me that I hadn't heard it for a very long time.

On to two of my ways of coping with the cold weather (in comparison to Florida) this winter.  The picture here is of my foot in a sock with toes.  These socks have been available here for a very long time.  I think the better ones are knit with silk yarn. These are acrylic.  As you may know, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes a couple years ago.  My Medical Advisor advised me to be careful of my feet.  The pain I had in my toes sometimes was possibly related to the ailment and I should do what I could to encourage good circulation. I have observed that my feet hurt less when they are kept warm. So I decided to try these socks, especially since the toe box in my winter shoes is roomy, and I found that if I did a lot of walking my toes tended to get mashed together and at times overlapped each other.  I could go on, but that's probably more than enough. 

 On the other extremity I am wearing fingerless gloves.  I get them at the 100  yen shop and have probably 4 or 5 pairs. These have little latex dots that help with your grip. They keep the majority of my hand warm while allowing me to type or sew or knit unencumbered by glove fingers. I still have little cracks on my thumb and forefinger, but my hands don't cramp or ache when it's cold. In addition to the socks and gloves I usually wear several layers of clothing all over. It's not the North Pole, but it is cold for someone like me. My apartment doesn't have central heating and everyone here is trying to conserve electricity this winter, so I only heat the room I'm working in. It would be okay with me for spring to come any time now.