Thanks to my kind friend June san, Claire and I had the opportunity to practice a Japanese tea ceremony. She has a friend who teaches the ceremony. There are very specific steps involved....it was truly amazing. Claire, June san and I made our best attempt. Her friend was very kind and generous. She has invited the whole family for a Japanese lunch. I hope we are able to meet up with her again. June san I see every week and enjoy her company and her cooking!
These are the sweets you eat before drinking the tea. The tea is very strong so it was a good balance. You have to drink the tea in 31/2 sips.....the last one being very loud in order to let everyone know how good it was.
After the tea ceremony we picked up Greg and Jake and then went to a soba restaurant.....with June san's help we were able to order a delicious meal.
Before coming to Japan Jake had seen pictures of the green park on our blog. It was the park with the obstacle course on it. This was one of the things he really wanted to do when he got here, so while I was at work Kate took everyone to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather. Kate decided to follow along and take pictures while everyone else tried the challenges.
Many of the obstacles are over water. I am told there were a couple of close calls, but no one ended up in the water.
All of the children were able to successfully navigate the barrel obstacle. Jake claims it was easier than it looked on the blog. I think the children are a little lighter and therefore fare better on this one.
Greg tried a very challenging strategy on this obstacle. He said this is how the picture showed to do it. I can't argue with that but there had to be an easier method.
Halloween is not such a big holiday here. There are small pockets of families that celebrate, but there is no door to door trick or treating. Only a small percentage of the children dressed up for the evening. Kate was able to scrounge together costumes from the dollar store for our children and Jake and Rachael. Liam was a crazy chrome faced moon guy with a snowman suit.
Jake was a creepy silver faced dude with a hoody. I heard the other children were a little scared of him and I can understand why.
Rachael was a monkey.
And Colleen was a puppy. All the participants wore masks at the event. I think because the flu is going around now and there are efforts being made to slow its progress.
Some of the children's friends came to the house before the event, they also were dressed up.
Although the children didn't go door to door they did meet up with other families and exchange candy. Liam and Colleen were both happy with the candy they got.
Today (Sunday) was our community picnic. Many families from Takanezawa met at a field in the community for a huge cook out.
To kick off the event the children played dodge ball. It was interesting to watch. I tried to coach them with things like "if you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball." but it was not really very helpful. Actually the game is played a bit different here. Only one ball is used to play. Also if you catch the ball the other person is not out. Of course you are out if you get hit and do not catch the ball. When you are out you go to the back of the other teams field. Then if the ball goes past them you can throw it at them from behind. The game is timed and the winning team has the most players left at the end. Pictured is Liam and Colleen playing on opposite teams.
Kate and I also could get in on the action with the other adults that were willing to play. This picture is evidence that we both got out there. The adults played the winning children team. All the adults played reasonably and didn't try to take the children's head off with the ball, but in the end the adults were triumphant.
Once the dodgeball was finished we were grouped by community. We were placed at a common location with our neighbors. Then preparation for lunch began. Small holes were dug for fire pits and everyone worked together to get the fires going.
Once the charcoal was ready metal pans were placed on top of concrete blocks and the meat and yakisoba was put on the grill. We all took turns cooking and eating. It was great, almost all the food was supplied by the community. We only had to bring drinks and some vegetables.
It was great to get out and socialize with the neighbors.
The children were able to run around and play the entire day.
After we got home our doorbell rang a number of times. Some of our neighbors and friends stopped by to drop off various food items for us to enjoy. Liam is holding some asian pears and colleen is holding a huge cabbage that we got.
The family really loves the asian pears, so when the doorbell rang and we received another huge pear from a different neighbor the children were super excited. Today at the park we met one of our neighbors for the first time. I introduced him to jalapeno pretzels from the states and he said I would like Thai ramen. About an hour after we got home he stopped by to give me a few packs to try. Kate was also invited to the neighbors home for some cooking lessons. I will be happy to eat whatever she learns how to make.
Today marks my 1 year anniversary in Japan. It is amazing how quickly time has gone. We have met so many people and have been able to do so many things. It is hard to believe a year ago I was shivering on the couch with no blankets, heaters, or drapes in the house because our shipment had not yet arrived. The neighbors must have seen me through the windows and the brought a small heater, blanket, and 1 set of drapes for me to use until our shipment arrived. I am always amazed at how thoughtful people can be in Japan.
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