Open School Day, Tokyo Capsule Hotel...

In Japan we have Japanese teachers to help us learn the language.  We are allotted a specific number of hours a week for class.  The children have had Mika Sensei since we arrived.  They typically study in the tatame room sitting at the kotatsu.  Soon she will take another job and we will have a new teacher for the children.  The children love working with her and will miss her when she leaves.

My Sensei's name is Sachiko Sensei.  She helped from the day we arrived, which means she also sat in Yamada Denki for 5 hours with us as we set up phones and Internet.  This week we had an open school day for the children and she went with us to help.

Kate's Sensei is Reiko Sensei.  She teaches Kate Japanese and typically helps with the children's school.  She also went along to the doctor when they had the flu.  She is the one on the right in the picture below.

This year we only saw it snow a couple of times, but it never stuck on the ground.  Last week we woke up to a maybe an inch.  Not sure how much it actually snowed to get that much to stick on the ground.  It was a very wet snow and after noon it was basically gone.  Many children played in it as they walked to school, but in morning it was raining so it was wet and cold.

Open school was interesting.  We were able to attend one class for each of the children to see how and what they are doing.  Takanezawa school is very friendly to foreign students.  One way they help to integrate them is by hiring English speaking helpers for the foreign students.

Here is Colleen's class. 

Kakenume Sensei is Colleen's teacher.  In the picture below she is sitting with her English helper.

Colleen's class was we attended was a class on morals.  In particular saying nice things to others.  As part of the class the children had to write nice things to say on a piece of paper and tape them on the board.  Colleen did not write hers in English, she wrote がんばって(ganbatte) or do your best.

We also saw some of the children's art work.  It was on display around the room.  Here is Colleen's mouse ねずみ.  

Liam also has an assistant, her name is Shido Sensei.  She goes to the class sometimes and helps him understand what is going on.  She is sitting next to him in the picture below.

You can see some of the children's artwork below on the wall behind them.

Liam did a picture of Totoro for his art work.  Totoro is a famous cartoon here about a helpful monster in the country.  It is a very fun movie, and I would advise renting it if you can.

His class we attended was on signs in Japan.  The children had to draw a picture of  a sign, then get up in front of the class and give a speech on it.  Liam gave his speech in Japanese.  We are very proud of both children for making an effort to learn the culture, language, and for the most part being very flexible.

Finally, I rounded out the week by making a trip down to Tokyo to meet Anthony.  We decided we would go to dinner, hang out a while, then stay in a capsule hotel for the night.  Since the adventure was in Tokyo we had to plan the best route to get there.  To do that I used my I-pod touch.  I have said that the I-touch is the greatest invention since the wheel and pants, the reason for that is that it is so versatile.  I have been able to load applications to help get around Japan among many others.  I use it for translation, Kanji look up, and travel.

For the trip I looked up the route by using the wi-fi from home, then took a screen grab for future reference.

Next I found the correct train with the JR East Map.

Finally, the Tokyo metro map got us to our destination.

The Capsule Hotel....  After a long day we hopped in a cab and were off to the hotel.  We arrived out front at 2:42 AM.   The sign says Capsule Inn Akasaka.

Once inside you pay 3600 yen (around $40).  Then you are given a key,on a bracelet, to a locker and told which floor to go to.  Once you get to the correct floor and find your locker, inside you have a robe and some slippers.  Since the capsules are not secure it is best to put your belongings in the locker.

Once you change you head to the capsule floor.  We had a pretty funny moment, when Matt discovered that the robes were a little on the small size.  It looked like he was wearing a miniature robe.  Two Japanese men walked by and broke out laughing, they said "mmm, not American size."  The Hotel actually provides public bathrooms and showers but we were too tired, so we just headed for the beds.

Below is Matt and I getting ready to climb in. 

Anthony snug in the capsule.

Here I am laughing at the whole situation, you can see the key bracelet in the picture (it is yellow)

Actually for me it was great.  The capsule bed was comfortable and large enough.  There was a shelf, mirror, and TV.  At the end of the capsule is a curtain for privacy.  The room was a comfortable temperature.  Matt had his TV on for a few minutes at a loud volume.  We were laughing because it was like we were in the room with him.  Since the only separation between you and the others is the curtain sounds travel from one capsule to another.  You could hear people in other capsules snoring.

As I said before the capsule size was no problem for me, Matt on the other hand did not completely fit into the capsule.  In the picture below you can see his feet sticking out of the capsule.  Also as I said before the robes are not American size, so I took some creative liberty with the picture to re-size it.

In the morning I woke up and headed out early to go home.  This is the view from the elevator on the way out.

Back on the JR train that I planned with the I-pod...and home..

Have a good week..

Community activity, Nakagawa aquarium, etc..

Kate and the children signed up to make book cases as a community activity in Takanezawa 高根沢. They met at a school parking lot then drove to the activity. It was at a local residents house. I am pretty sure he has some sort of business there as he has a fork truck. I don't know many people that just have a fork truck. Everyone that went to the activity chipped in to make the day a success.

First all the wood was selected and cut to size.

The children drew a design on the side pieces with pencil. Another gentleman cut the patterns out.

Then the children smoothed all the edges with sandpaper.

Final assembly..

Here is the finished product.

After all the wood working was done it was time for lunch. That was also included in the 500 yen fee. (Katie writing) They started cooking lunch outside on the fire. The first pot was used to cook meat in oil. It smelled deeeelicious. Then there was a pot with broth and vegetables. I think they used the same pot for the broth that they cooked the meat in...for the flavor. They also boiled a pot of water to cook the soba noodles in. That part was very quick it seems just to heat the noodles. They put the noodles, soup and meat in the bowl. It was certainly a beautiful :) bowl of soup.

I didn't pay for me so I was not expecting to eat. I was thrilled they wanted myself and all of the parents to eat. Anyone who knows me well knows I LOVE food. They also served red rice, pickled daikon and a dish made out of a root with carrots. All of it was delicious. They sent me home with "take out" too.

I didn't know any of these people before this day or speak the language and still I felt like I was with family. It seemed like the kids felt the same running around the yard. At one point I was thinking....I can't believe I am here experiencing this wonderful day. I did wish that Larry could have shared with us.

The gentleman also made a me cutting board to bring home. I have used it everyday since. My plan is to make some cookies and drop them off soon. It is common to give a gift of thanks. I have several I am going to do this week.

This week was Liam's 10th birthday. He got a few small things, but has decided to save his money for next month's adventure. Pictured below is him making candy tako yaki from a kit he got for his birthday. Liam actually does not like the real thing. He was more than willing to tear up the candy version.

On the weekend we headed off to Nakagawa aquarium. It was about 30-40 min. drive. The drive itself was nice. It was good to get out on the warm day (about 58degrees).

The aquarium contains mostly fresh water fish. As a result they are not as colorful as the typical ocean fish, but still beautiful and interesting.

There were a number of exhibits that allow you to interact with the aquatic animals. There were starfish, turtles, sharks, crawfish, see urchin, and a crazy slimy thing (Sea Cucumber)...(these were some of the few salt water animals).

There were fish from the Amazon in a large tube style tank. The biggest and scariest would be the Arapaima. I could not imagine swimming in a river and seeing one of these things in the water. It would probably make me soil my trunks.

We saw our first ever Sea Monkey vending machine. The sign actually calls them Ghost Shrimp. Fortunately the children didn't see it or we would probably have a new pet. There are a few vending machines in Japan, so the children are happy when we find one....

Finally, I have been riding my bike to work pretty consistently. The bike I have been riding was made in 1993 and was the bike I used to race on. As a result the components were starting to really get worn out. The other problem was that we don't have a garage (they aren't common in Japan, in fact I have not seen any yet.) On top of that the bike was too big to fit in the entry way. I decided to get a new bike. I picked a Japan market only Gios. It has small wheels (20"), so it fits in the entry way easily. It has STI shifters, bladed spokes, and a carbon fiber fork. I will start riding it to work tomorrow.

We rode the train down to Utsunomiya to meet the Cao's for lunch. The last picture was Kate and I hanging out by the river. Have a good week......

Setsubun, Karate, and more...

This week, Feb 3 was Setsubun. The day marks the transition of seasons. Winter to spring. Along with the transition of seasons it is also tradition to throw beans (mame maki) around the house and outside while shouting "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" This roughly means evil out, good things in. You have to make sure a window is open a little, otherwise the evil can't get out. One of the parents end up wearing the Oni mask and thus is pelted with beans. Once the bean throwing is finished you eat the number of beans you are old +1 for good luck. Since I am 37 I had to eat 38 beans. The reason for the extra bean stems from the original way of counting your age. Many years ago you were considered to be 1 year old on your actual birthday. The explanation given to me about the tradition is as follows: An evil being was going to attack a village. A holy person had a vision that beans would chase the evil being away. The towns people gathered beans and when the evil approached they hit him in the face and eyes. They were successful in chasing him away.

Just before the bean pelting...

Liam decided that he wanted to give the Oni mask a go.

And the bean aftermath. We also got some sugar coated beans from Sachiko san. They were a little tastier than the plain beans to eat, and Kate had to eat plenty...

Something interesting I found here. Jack(father in law) told me that this happens in the US, but I had never seen it before. Our front yard consists of a section of gravel and a strip of dirt. During the winter the dirt always looks freshly tilled. It took me a while to figure out what was going on.

In the day the temperature is usually between 45-50 degrees. At night the temperature drops below 0. The ground has quite a bit of moisture in it. As the temperature drops, the water in the ground freezes and pushes the top layer of dirt up about 1.5 inches. Then during the day it thaws and the dirt settles. The ground is constantly churning itself. I found out in the morning when the children were stepping on the dirt, it would crunch and expose the ice straws. In Japanese this is called しもばしら shima bashira or "frost pillars". Below is a picture after I stepped on the surface in the morning.

Since we arrived and got our yellow diva we have joked that there are only two yellow cars in Japan, our Diva, and the Cao's Fit. The car is always easy to find in any of the parking lots we frequent. Below is a picture from Wonder Goo. It is a book, CD, DVD, etc. store. It is a little challenging, but see if you can spot our car in the picture below.

This is a picture of the sign to show I didn't make up the store name....Wonder Goo it is.

As we drove around today I saw a car that caught me off guard. In Takanezawa, at one of the apartment buildings, was a left hand drive Dodge Challenger. I have no idea how they got it here, but it must have been a pretty penny. This guy has to be the mack daddy with this thing.

Liam has started taking Karate, Colleen and Kate have started hip hop dance class (For anyone familiar with Utsunomiya, no the dance class is not on the second floor of 宇都宮駅 Utsunomiya station.) Currently I don't have pictures of the dance class, but I was able to get a few from Karate. I will ask Kate to get pictures later of the dance class.

With the economy slowing I decided to pick up a second job. 宮崎さん Miyazaki san, has recommended a few to me, like working at the 7/11 serving Oden (food at the counter in a boiling vat) think hotdogs at a truck stop only in liquid and not hotdogs. Anyway I joked with him that I tried, but that the Oden smelled so good that I ate it (bobbing for apples style) and the customers became angry. After that he recommended daikon driver, etc.... Anyway I decided I should become a Pizza Hut delivery driver. Here is a picture from a test run.

Unfortunately the pizza I was delivering was a clam chowder pizza. It smelled so good that I had to try it. The customer was not happy, so my search goes on....

Of course I am joking, but the pizza actually is a clam chowder pizza. Pretty tasty too.

The family has grown fond of the vending machines in Japan. They are located all over, some of them even out in the middle of nowhere. Here is a picture of Kate preparing for a purchase while Liam drools over the options.

Have a good week.

Nikko Visit.

Well we felt our first real earthquake today. It was a 5.9 in the ocean off the coast of Japan. Not sure what is was in Utsunomiya, but it did shake the house pretty good. We were just waking up when it hit so we laid in bed until it was over. OK actually I ran up and down the street screaming in my underwear to the amazed look of the neighbors...

We stopped in at Yamada Denki for our free weekly massage to start off the weekend. These chairs are awesome....Got my 10 free Yamada Denki points on my card and picked up a humidifier all in one stop.

I rode the Joba for a while while waiting for the family. It is like a bucking bronco that doesn't throw you off. It is supposed to be for exercise, but I have not yet figured out which muscles are actually being worked.

Sunday was off to Nikko. Nikko is in the mountains. It is about an hour drive to get there from our home. We were going for a winter festival that we heard about. On the way there we saw King Kong attacking a pachinko parlor....scary stuff.

To get to the festival we drove through Irohazaka. It is one of the roads in Initial D. The one with the jumping MR2. The road splits and becomes 2 separate one way roads. very curvy. In the movie the MR2 cuts the corners of the road and jumps from level to level. In real life you would ruin your car pretty quickly.

The view from the navi..

And this is the actual road.

In Nikko there are wild monkeys (really). As I was driving the children started yelling that they were seeing monkeys. I stopped at the first pull off, but we were not sure how safe wild monkeys are. As a result we were slow to get out of the car to take pictures. The waterfall below is were we saw them, but we were not successful in obtaining a photo. Maybe next trip.

The roads can become so slippery that your tires will cross each other so we had to drive carefully.

We also passed Nikko lake on the way. It is a beautiful lake in the mountains. We will have to go back in the spring and ride on one of the swan boats.

Finally we made it to the winter festival. It mainly consisted of ice sculptures. Yesterday we had a lot of rain. I think it made it to the mountains and affected the sculptures a little. This year igloos were build around the sculptures to preserve them. I guess last year many melted. They had a little damage, but mostly intact. It was very icy as well and a little difficult to walk. Still a very fun experience.

Even the ice penguin families have kotatsu's and mikan.

The family enjoying the cold...

Although we do not have snow where we live, the mountains get a fair amount.

Finally on the way home we stopped at the Imperial Villa. It was built in 1872. From what I can understand it was used as a temporary residence for the Emperor and for the crown prince's residence until 1898. It was very beautiful, I could only imagine living here with all the slide doors that open to the outdoors, especially in the spring. It would be amazing. I will say though now it was a bit cold..

We will have to go back in the spring to explore this area more. There are many things we did not get to see this time.

Have a good week...