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.

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."