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.