Life in Tokyo, Japan

Video

2009-08-28T23:59:00.001-06:00

Fireworks 2009

WE'VE MOVED!!!!

2009-08-27T04:36:00.004-06:00

Sadly (for Blogger, but not for us), we have moved our Tokyo blog to Wordpress.com to try out some new features.

We're still working out many kinks, but it's been too long of a break since being active on this blog and we're itching to get back to it.

Stop by the following address from now on:

http://thewhitesintokyo.wordpress.com/

Our Summer Techno-Drama

2009-07-28T09:16:00.004-06:00

This morning was one of that kind of joy that comes along once in a blue moon. And no, it's not because as of 8:00am this morning I crossed the threshold to being exactly a quarter of a century old.

For nearly the entire summer, I haven't been able to do much with this blog or my computer because I made a serious error in judgment when using my external hard drive earlier in June and accidentally erased the ENTIRE drive.

The worst part? This was our backup drive, so the backups were all deleted AND we lost some of our most treasured memories: photos from our honeymoon in Italy and France, every video we've recorded or made over the past year in Japan, our entire wedding day video (still in progress, it's a monster of a job), and my iTunes library of several thousand songs. More than a few times I've felt physically sick thinking about having lost so many important things with a simple operator-error.

So, I've been reluctant to use my computer almost at all this summer while I sent the hard drive to data recovery services in a desperate attempt to regain what we had lost. At one point, our current housemate's roommate at Augsburg, who is a phenomenal computer programmer, took the drive and found that everything was actually still there! He couldn't recover the photos, videos etc. because the file names were all lost, but it was all there nonetheless. Kudos Eric, master of the Nerd-world.

I called around and found a fantastic service for nearly half of the cost of the Mac-store recommended company "On-Track." Their estimate was a minimum cost of $700 to restore the lost data. The company that found the data, sorted it out file by file for us, and is sending it back to us today with the recovered data is called "Sector Logics Data Recovery" in Lakewood, Colorado. Their cost? $277.

Here is their link: http://www.sectorlogics.com/
Please send it to anyone you know who needs this kind of service. They are professional, fast-working, and were successful in helping us when we really needed (affordable) help.

Once we receive the drive we'll get back to blogging and I'll post some photos and stories from our adventures this summer. It's been a great one, so keep in touch and thanks for your patience in our blogging absence.

Back in the US of A

2009-06-25T17:49:00.000-06:00

We've now been home for a couple weeks and have successfully readjusted to life in the US.

When we got to San Francisco, I wrote down several first impressions that we noticed or experienced. Many of these things are obvious and definitely not super exciting or novel, but worth noting nonetheless:

1.) America is super-sized. Trucks and SUVs are large and in charge. Food portions are far too big for one person to consume and our fridge is constantly full of leftovers. And honestly, people are even super-sized. There's a stark contrast when you get off the plane and it's unmistakable.

2.) America is a pretty spacious place. Streets are wider, the space required for a single-family home is significantly larger, and even trains are more spacious. The San Francisco subway was interesting because the benches were made to be shared by only two people rather than three or four in the same space in a Tokyo train.

3.) After months of butting heads in various customer service experiences in Tokyo (i.e. banks, cellphones), I had high expectations for returning to high-quality customer service in the land of lawsuits. What I've found is that the central difference between customer service in Japan and the USA revolves more around consistency than anything else.

In Tokyo, you can always be sure that the employee will smile, bow, welcome you, listen to your concerns, and then consult their internal rulebook for whether or not they can help you. It goes that way every time without fail.

In the States it feels much more hit or miss. Sometimes people are incredibly helpful and friendly. Sometimes they're downright rude and awful to you. The thing I do really appreciate is being able to appeal to a manager or someone higher that applies the sometimes impractical "the customer is always right" strategy. On the other hand, what annoys the heck out of me is the mentality that we are 'entitled' to perfection at every turn. When your food isn't just right, or is too hot and you burn yourself, you can return it for a full refund or sue the company for outrageous amounts of money. There are so many comments in Lawyerish on labels, coffee cups, menus, and anything that has even a 1% chance of bothering or concerning the consumer. Crazy.

4.) A lot of people ride bicycles here, but not in the way that we do in Tokyo. There are fewer bikes in general, even in San Francisco! For some reason I expected many more people to be on the streets biking, but we really didn't see many in CA. In Colorado, there's much more of a crazed-bike-up-impossible-mountains-without-breaking-a-sweat culture, but even that's being threatened right now. Apparently a bunch of annoyed drivers are planning on blocking an upcoming bike race in Boulder, CO. It's all over talk-radio here in Denver too. Bikes vs. cars. Interesting.

5.) Public transit is available, but more difficult to use and definitely not as clean. Denver's Light Rail system is wonderful, but still needs a few more lines to be practical for wider usage. The San Francisco subway (B.A.R.T.) was slow, dirty, and more confusing than the super-complex system in Tokyo. Buses are pretty gross, and we even got yelled at because we only had a $5.00 bill and held up the bus line in San Francisco. A big apology to the angry hippie San Franciscans that we inconvenienced.

6.) People are generally louder in public.

7.) Sometimes strangers help each other. I was blown away in Tokyo once when 50 or more people walked, drove and rode by a guy that was pushing his broken-down antique car by himself. When I tried to help him, he apologized a million times and I almost felt like I shouldn't have offered my help in the first place. On our two flights thus far, random guys have helped Rachael lift her bag in the overhead bins, people hold doors for others, and just this afternoon I watched someone pick up some boxes a store employee had dropped on her way to a garbage can outside. I like that we do that rather than simply pretending that we don't see when other people fall or need a little help (as is often the case in Tokyo).

8.) My head is working in three languages..and having some major glitches. When I speak Spanish, I am constantly using Japanese words, and having to sort them out. Trying to remember Japanese is becoming more and more futile, but random words pop up now and then giving Rachael and me a good laugh.

9.) We're used to walking on the left. This sounds strange, but it's made for many awkward situations. Walking in Denver and San Francisco, you are bound to walk directly towards someone on the sidewalk at some point. Our first week here we constantly deferred to the left when the oncoming pedestrians in front of us deferred to their right...so yeah, we walked right into them. With a simple "excuse me" or "sorry," we'd continue on our way, but walking on the left has definitely become more ingrained in our unconscious street walking behavior.

10.) We both said "hai" (which means "yes" in Japanese) several times a day our first week back- at the hotel, at Walgreens, buying train tickets.

11.) I love using credit cards. For me, it's faster, easier on the wallet, and simpler for monitoring our spending.

I think that's it for now. Again, just a few observations from our short time in the States. We've really enjoyed being in Colorado with Brad's family, and in just a few days Rachael's family will be coming to Colorado so we'll all be together for a week of fun in the sun. Hope you're all well- keep in touch.

5000 Visits!

2009-06-09T11:40:00.003-06:00

Hey friends,

Since we're coming up on our 5000th visit to the blog, we'd like to celebrate with a fun giveaway. It's based on the honor-system, so let's hope it works out.

After you're finished perusing recent blog posts, please check the counter on the left side of the page. If you are indeed the 5000th visitor, please write a comment saying so on this post.

We'll send you something fun or interesting from Tokyo to wherever you are in the world!

Good luck...
B & R

E.T. Phone Home

2009-06-09T10:37:00.005-06:00

The word "home" means just about a thousand things to us these days. Before we boarded our plane leaving Tokyo on Friday, we were chatting with Rachael's "seester" Rebecca on the phone. We said something like, "we can't wait to be home tomorrow!"

She then responded, "So wait, does "home" just mean 'the country' to you guys then?" We both said that yes, even a stop in California felt like going "home," whatever that means.

It's funny to listen to how we talk about home. I use the word to refer to our apartment, the place we keep most of our things, live for most of the year, and pay rent. That's our home.

But I also call my parents' house my home as well. I can't wait for Rachael's family to come out to Colorado in a few weeks, see my hometown stomping grounds and stay at "my house" for a few days. Speaking of which, Colorado is certainly home to me as well. Rachael uses the same language for her parents' home in Minnesota.

Sometimes, home is just wherever we happen to be sleeping that night. Currently, it's at a hotel in San Francisco, like when Rachael said yesterday, "When we get home, let's just watch a movie and relax."

For me, a flexible understanding of home is just fine. I feel pretty comfortable wherever we find ourselves in this huge world, and still don't feel particularly called to put down our roots and establish a more lasting, permanent home.

Rachael, on the other hand, hears a much louder call to do so. Although we both cherish and appreciate the chance to travel and have all these incredible experiences for a few years, we're both people that have an even harder time being so far from home, family, and old friends. After three more years in Japan we will probably come "home" to the U.S., find a smallish-oldish house and a couple of teaching jobs, I'll do grad school, and we'll start working on adding a few little Whites to our home.

Until then, I guess 'home is where the heart is.' Our hearts will be in San Francisco, Colorado, Tennessee, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, and ultimately Tokyo this summer, so where is our "home?" Take your pick.

A few images of homes past and present:

My college dorm room in Decorah, Iowa

In front of our first "home" as a married couple, 740 River Drive, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Inside our 740 apartment.
Callie, posing in front of Rachael's parents' home in Minnesota.

Golden Boy Bradley.
Yes, my hometown sign says "Howdy Folks!"

Rachael and my mom cooking some homemade pasta at my parents' house in Colorado.
Fourth of July BBQ in Colorado.

Our current apartment in Tokyo.

Basubaru Video

2009-06-07T15:32:00.004-06:00

Here is a fun video of our night out at the ballpark a couple months ago:

Tonkatsu

2009-06-07T10:57:00.000-06:00

Good food can be found all over the world and we've personally had memorable meals in each country we've visited on four continents. But there is something special about traditional Japanese food that is more unique and enchanting. The simple ingredients and artful presentation of dishes here make it difficult for me to even imagine not having this food readily available in a few years.

Last night, we visited a new restaurant. Let me clarify- the restaurant is new to us, but the owners has been doing the exact same thing for over forty years now. If forty years doesn't perfect your skills at doing one thing really well, then I don't know what does.

This couple owns and operates a small izakaya in the Tokyo area of Yoga. Their apartment sits directly above the restaurant and inside is seating for six at the counter and two tables of four. They serve many things Japanese, but specialize in making "tonkatsu" (a sort of fried pork cutlet). We had a little too much fun with the camera tonight, so here's a bit of a photo essay of the night's meal.

First, we had to re-find the place. I went there last week with my Japanese teacher for a sayonara meal before summer break. It was tough to find again except for the tell-tale lamp with the word "tonkatsu" written on it.

(From top to bottom, to-n-ka-tsu)

Rachael, nervously peeking in to ask for a table for two.

Falling in love with the mama-san,
a feisty woman who reminds me of my grandma.

As we sat at the bar/counter, we noticed others ordering various starters, so we pointed and said, "we'll have what they're having." A few minutes later, we enjoyed these delicious stuffed chicken wings:

The guy next to us ordered a couple appetizers too: pork rolled up with a shiso leaf and a bowl of juicy intestines. He offered to have us try both, which we did. Surprisingly, the intestines weren't that bad. Apparently all the meat products are pretty high quality and fresh since there is a butcher behind the wall of the restaurant.

For the main course, I ordered the traditional tonkatsu set: a specially breaded pork cutlet, fresh chopped cabbage, miso soup, rice, and my favorite tonkatsu sauce. Rachael decided to branch out and try "katsudon" for the first time. Basically, it's tonkatsu that's been omeletized by cooking it in a small pan with eggs and a special sauce. Then, it's served on white rice inside a very cool little bowl. Check out the process from preparation to final result- DELICIOUS!

What a great meal and experience with this talented Japanese cooking couple!

Rachael's blogs about this are much better than mine. Check 'em out here:

40 Years of Tonkatsu

The Little Details

Colorado Bound

2009-06-04T17:32:00.002-06:00

Recently, our "band" here in Tokyo starting playing around with writing a song called "Colorado Bound." The coolest thing is...the song is now coming true.

We will be heading to the airport in about two hours to board a plane headed for San Francisco. After a few days (and a few blogs I'm sure) in California, we're off to Colorado for the rest of June. Then, it's Tennessee, Minnesota, Iowa, and Indiana before we turn right around in mid-August and return for another school year in Tokyo.

This morning, I had to ride the train since we'll be leaving from school and I couldn't leave my bike there. Fortunately, I had one final capstone experience that I had strangely been looking forward to all year but had never come to pass.

Before coming to Japan last fall, we watched a horrifying video of white-gloved men shoving helpless Tokyoites onto jam-packed trains. Well, this morning, two such guys had to shove me on the train and help close the train doors for my three minute train trek across the river! I know, that's not an experience many people would want to have, but it was one thing I'd been warned about before coming and never actually experienced personally. My life is now complete.

We'll have a few more belated blogs about recent Japan happenings to come soon, and we'll be reformatting the site this summer, so keep in touch and we can't wait to see many of you in the next month or two.

-Brad & Rachael

Have I got a story for you...

2009-06-02T06:21:00.008-06:00

My bike was stolen tonight.

This wasn't just any bike though. The beautiful Giant hybrid commuter bike was given to me in an unbelievable act of kindness and generosity by a parent at our school. He heard that my current bike was in shambles (which it is), and took a few weeks to fix up a spare bike he had in storage.

Then, this afternoon, his son came into my room and said that there was a bicycle waiting for me out in front of the school. In total disbelief, I walked out to the street and saw his dad next to the bike, and my disbelief continued when he told me he wouldn't let me pay him anything for it.

What a guy.

So, imagine my joy at riding this home. I cruised across the bridge and along the river twice as fast as I normally do (or even can do) and blabbed on to Rachael about my surprise. I couldn't think of a better way to end our first year in Japan.

Then, we went out to meet our friends for dinner and I parked the new bike where I always park my bike near the train station. Since my lock broke a month ago, I have not locked my bike there and haven't had a problem. Plus, I didn't have a lock for the new bike yet since I'd only had it for an hour or so and didn't have time to go shopping for a new lock on my way home. There were literally hundreds of other bikes around ours, so I wasn't too concerned about it.

We then went to a fantastic dinner with some of our close friends here, eating various cuts of beef, pork, and innards grilled at the table on miniature charcoal grills.

After dinner, we walked up the street toward the bike parking and I immediately noticed that Rachael's bike was laying down (locked up) and my beautiful new bike was not next to hers like I left it. My brand new bike was stolen. Yes, I know, it should have been locked up. But regardless of that fact, I was pretty upset. After looking around for a minute or two and realizing it was definitely gone, we began walking home and I started thinking about my options.

Hmmm. I could walk a block to the nearest police hut and report it stolen! Wait, I have no idea how to do that and the bike isn't even registered to me. That won't work.

What if I still report it as stolen, but give them the name of the parent who gave me the bike, since it's probably registered in his name? Wait, I don't actually know his full name...or address...or much of anything about him.

Then, I called this parent's son's teacher, a first grade teacher and friend of ours, to get as much information about him as I could before going to the police hut. As I was telling her the story about the bicycle gift and how it was stolen (standing maybe two blocks from where it was taken at an intersection), Rachael said in a very subtle way, "Brad..."

I could tell by the sound of her voice that she wasn't just trying to get my attention like normal. I followed her gaze, and she was staring at a young Japanese kid, maybe 18 years old, with bleach-blonde spiked hair. He happened to be sitting on a bike that looked identical to the bike I had just received that afternoon. In fact, he was riding MY NEW BIKE!

Using a few choice words and a...slightly raised...voice, I skipped translating and went straight for yelling at this kid in English. At first, he just stood at the side of the bike, looking absolutely stunned and slowly looking it over, like he didn't understand what I was saying. It was at that moment that I froze and thought, wait, I'm yelling at this kid and he may just have a similar bike. I mean, I just got it this afternoon...

Just then, I remembered that there was a bit of rust in the center of the handlebars that I thought about cleaning up, so I looked for that. When I saw that rust smiling back at me, I knew it was the right bike and starting yelling at the kid again. After about 10 seconds of this, he backed away, bowed a few times, and tried to say he was sorry in Japanese (gomenasai).

He then proceeded to stare at me until I told him to "get out of here." He and his friend then walked calmly away without turning back.

Rachael said the strangest thing about the whole confrontation was that not a single person around us reacted to my yelling at all. For those of you who know me, I don't really yell. Ever. So this was an uncharacteristic burst of rage from someone who usually can keep his cool pretty well.

Most importantly though, I got the bike back. It is currently sitting in our kitchen since I didn't even feel comfortable leaving it downstairs in the bike shed for the night. This was a day of extremes. First, I felt absolutely blessed by this man and his family through this kind gift. Then, I felt absolutely terrible that I had managed to get this brand new gift stolen in no more than two hours.

We have two days left of school before the year is over and we return home for a summer of time with our family. This was definitely an unforgettable day, and you'll have to excuse me if you read about the crazy gaijin with seventeen bike locks on his bike.

Under the Bridge

2009-06-01T00:45:00.000-06:00

Since our home is so near the Futakotamagawa River, we often spend time relaxing by the water observing our Japanese neighbors do the same. Weekends though, are a different story. Gone are the fishermen and innocent flirting couples. In their place are hundreds of boisterous, free spirited young Japanese armed with grills, fireworks, sound systems and alcohol.

Walking into the train station, we were reminded that it was Saturday morning in "Shinchi," our new neighborhood on the other side of the river. We had heard the vibe was different on this side of the river, but the carefree atmosphere of our neighborhood has been a pleasant surprise after the confinement of our last home in a much "nicer" and snottier neighborhood. Here are some of the younguns waiting for their friends before heading to the river for the festivities.

The following signs are hysterically ironic because they are so utterly useless. It looks to me like the local government is trying to say that these three activities are not allowed in the area. But grilling, fireworks and music are exactly the activities that these hundreds of disobedient hooligans are engaging in down under the bridge.

Every weekend since the cicadas started singing (and spring officially began) we have witnessed this ritual happen under the bridge near our home. The hungry hordes filter in before noon, grill, drink, and dance their hearts out until about 7:30pm and then pack it up and head home. As residents of the neighborhood, that makes it much more of a positive addition to our area than being a negative. The only real nuisance is the garbage left behind. Rather than have some sort of large bins for easy use and removal, mounds of refuse are stacked underneath giant tarps so that crows will at least have a more difficult time throwing the trash all over the riverbank.

We haven't hung out with everyone out there yet, but definitely enjoy the spectacle. Here are some images from this afternoon.

Lines for the bathrooms:

The rest of the images show how much fun a Saturday in Shinchi can be.

You should see Rachael when she dresses up like the girl with the hat. (Yeah right!)

Awesome guy who posed when he saw me taking photos.

Looks like someone had a little too much fun...

Allergies!

2009-05-31T02:04:00.001-06:00

Remember that anti-drug slogan:

This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs?

Well, these are my eyes...on Tokyo allergens.

I feel like Ben Stein should be narrating this blog with a beach ball that looks like my distressed eyeball. On a daily basis, I walk into school after riding my bike along the peaceful yet allergy-filled gauntlet of a river path, and teachers constantly ask me if I'm all right. Now I'm used to it, but at first I didn't know that my eyes looked tear-filled and streaked with red on a daily basis. It actually even scared one of my second graders one day...they were that bad.

For some reason, Rachael and I both are highly affected by the allergens produced near the river, and since that's our only route to the train station, grocery shopping and work, we don't have a choice but to just go straight through it. Life on a bike does have its disadvantages.

I thought I would have to suffer through this epic struggle in silence and just deal with it with little help even from allergy medicine, but after nine months in this country, I finally caved and took a step towards becoming Japanese. Like so many others in Tokyo, this little system has kept me breathing clear and my scleras sparkling white. Luckily, I no longer need to impress the ladies, so I now comfortably rock this style on a daily basis.

More Signs

2009-05-29T03:52:00.000-06:00

Here are some more interesting signs from Tokyo and Kyoto:

You guessed it, a politician.
Apparently the hoodlums of our neighborhood give him a 'thumbs up."

The canal by our apartment has maybe 100 massive carp in it.
I think this sign refers to them.

Our street sign: City, neighborhood, and subdivision.

This strung out construction worker clearly doesn't want you to enter his construction zone.

You heard them. No scribbling.

I felt like Robert Langdon in The Davinci Code trying to decipher this one. It took us almost 15 minutes to figure out what this beverage machine message was trying to tell us. As far as we understood, they did not want you to bring a drink into the Nijo-jo Castle (do not see 'it' while drinking drink).

The sentence about "The PET bottle caps it" is a bit of a mystery, but we think they just want you to cap your drink and carry it in your bag.

I have no clue whatsoever as to what the last sentence about the chief means. Awesome sign.

Tako-yaki, or octopus balls. They're not what you might be thinking, but rather some sort of fritter with dough, cheese and octopus all pan-fried to perfection.

I think Kat's expressions tell enough of the story of this sign
(no idea what it's for though).

Seriously, what on earth?

The McDonald's 100 yen menu, like our dollar menu.

Rachael was pretty excited about the four letter word on these signs.

Yo.

Fool me once

2009-05-27T01:42:00.000-06:00

Last time we ordered pizza, it was for several friends, and we had no idea how large a medium ("eme saizu") pizza would be. It was a major accomplishment for me in using my newly acquired Japanese skills, and our first pizza delivery. Someone told me yesterday that it took her eight years of living in Japan before she was comfortable ordering a pizza over the phone. Yee haw for doing it after 8 months! Sadly, after ordering, we discovered that these so called medium pizzas were just a bit bigger than their American cousin, the "personal pan" pizza.

Since a medium pizza with crazy Japanese toppings goes for about $35-$40.00 (US) we ordered a large pizza and cooked up and added our own veggies of choice. The "halfu and halfu" pizza (1/2 cheese, 1/2 pepperoni) was a relative bargain at only $24.00.

We got fooled the first time by exorbitant prices and deceivingly small sizes, but in the words of the last President...

Banking in Japan

2009-05-25T02:27:00.000-06:00

For the past 6 months, Rachael and I have been saving diligently for our upcoming trip to San Francisco using an old fashioned method. A piggy bank. Actually, it's more of a piggy bag...minus the piggy.

This week, we counted well over $400 worth of change and hauled the 15 pound sack of change all the way downtown to our CitiBank branch during its posted "open hours."

Our friendly neighborhood Minnesota Wells Fargo bank is open from 9:00 AM- 6:00 PM on weekdays and even 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM on Saturday. Although our bank here may be "open" as well, for some bizarrely Japanese reason, they will not accept coin deposits after 3:00pm on weekdays or on Saturdays.

That discovery was frustrating enough, but wait, there's more! I asked if Rachael could come back during the week and deposit the change since I can't just ditch my 24 students and go to the bank with a satchel full of yen. They said I would have to sign a Power of Attorney and that they would then have to hand count the change in front of Rachael before depositing it in my account. What?

Since there are only 8 school days left before we come home to the States for 10 weeks, there's no way I'll make it to the bank before we leave. I'm going to see if one of the nice Japanese people in the accounting or front offices has any suggestions, but I'd kill for one of those supermarket change converting machines right now.

Next few blogs

2009-05-24T04:15:00.001-06:00

We are very quickly coming to the end of our first year in Japan. That's crazy.

I'm sure we'll have lots of time this summer to figure out what just happened, but until then, I still have several recent things to write about. I'll be updating every other day with a new post, so check back often and as always, we love to hear your comments.

See many of you soon- love from Tokyo.
Brad & Rachael

Basubaru! (Baseball!)

2009-05-15T19:20:00.000-06:00

Before we came to Japan, we did hours of extensive research on the history, culture, and customs of our new homeland...

Wait, I meant to say that we SHOULD have. Our preparation for this experience was actually pretty minimal, but after watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, there was one thing we knew we wanted to do while we were here. It wasn't touring ancient Buddhist temples or searching for our inner "wa," but rather getting a hot dog and screaming our lungs out at a boisterous Japanese baseball game.

Last night all our dreams came true.

The Great Migration
Since so many people rightly take advantage of Japan's clean and efficient public transportation system, we joined the throng of thousands headed out for Friday night at the baseball park. Truthfully, it feels less like being herded like cattle as it does being two sardines in a massive school of fish. If you've seen the movie Finding Nemo, one of my personal favorites, it's just like the school of fish that point Dori and Marlin toward the EAC. The crowd moves sensitively and quickly because everyone pays such close attention to the people around them. We all turn sideways and shuffle carefully if someone stops to our left. We waddle like penguins when things get tight, moving our feet a couple inches at a time through a bottleneck of human bodies clambering up and down narrow underground staircases. It's fantastic.

***Editor's note: Rachael completely disagrees with the last statement. :)

Getting Grub for the Game
One distinct advantage of attending a game here compared to American baseball is that you can bring your own food and drinks to the game. This saves both money and the despair of buying a hot dog while your team's all star hits a home run without you.

Along the 500 meter route from the train station to the stadium are probably fifty temporary food stands set up to make the process simple and easy. You can buy a whole array of cheap Japanese food staples without much effort at all and continue on your way to the stadium. We picked up edamame (bean pods), gyoza (pan fried dumplings), fried spring rolls, yakisoba (fried noodles with pork and ginger), and a few beers. Also, we noticed tons of people buying long balloons in pairs, so my instincts told me to pick up a couple of those too. More on this later.

Here's the funniest part of our food experience: while you are allowed to bring all those things into the park, you cannot bring in the actual cans of beer. Stationed at the entrance gates are designated beer pour-er-outer-guys. They carefully open each bottled or canned beverage and pour it into designated stadium cups (no charge). We got a kick out of this, and I do have to say that their pouring skills were pretty fantastic.

The brightly uniformed "beer girls" were also pretty entertaining. They each had kegs strapped to their backs like James Bond jet packs that made it look like their 100 pound frames could easily be rocketed into space.

Rachael ended up caving and going for a hot dog rather than eat the smorgasbord of street food we bought on the way in. Here's her beautiful hot dog, standing in for a "Dome dog" from the Minnesota Twins' Metrodome.

The Japanese Basubaru Experience
When I go to a baseball game at home, I love getting the cheapest seats possible so I can splurge on stadium food. This is partly because I go more for the atmosphere of being out at the ballpark than I do out of any need to see a bunch of dudes in tight pants hitting a ball with a stick. Don't get me wrong, I love baseball and played it for several years. But when it comes to going to a game, I love shelling dozens of peanuts, gorging myself on over-sized hot dogs and washing it all down with a cold beer in the midst of a rambunctious group of like-minded people. For that kind of experience, the cheapest seats in the ballpark are usually the best.

In South America, I loved going to soccer games and being a part of the passionate mass of jumping, screaming, singing, even crying fanatics who live their lives from game to game. This is often the opposite of the more idle spectators at American sports games, although we certainly have our share of shirtless crazies with war-painted faces and trash barrels for pants.

Last night, I found Japanese baseball fans to be an ideal, happy medium. They cheer loudly and constantly with trumpets, drums, whistles, and team songs when their team is up to bat. But they don't scream, boo, or do much of anything when the opposing team is up.

Around the time of the customary 7th inning stretch, everyone around us began blowing up odd-looking balloons. The crowd sang yet another team song and simultaneously released their balloons into the sky. Each balloon has a little plastic whistle for a mouthpiece, so the sight and sound of hundreds of these balloons shooting up made us feel like we were at a New Year's Eve Party.

Thanks to our friends Ann and George who invited us out to the game, we'll certainly do this a few more times while living here in Japan. Next on the list is a sumo tournament, but Japanese baseball was a home run in my book.

Coming attractions

2009-05-15T09:20:00.001-06:00

Blogs to come (this week...I hope):

- More hilarious signs in Japan

- The Golden Temple, Kinkakuji, in Kyoto

- BASEBALL GAME in Tokyo!

I'll get 'em to ya as soon as I can. Until then, enjoy the toilet spraying a few more times.
-Brad

Japanese Super-Toilets

2009-05-13T00:10:00.000-06:00

And now...the blog post you've all been waiting for. Prepare for what may, in fact, be the most important blog you'll ever read. Or not.

The Potty.
The John.
The Commode.
The Loo.
The Porcelain Throne.

As you may or may not have heard before, one of Japan's many strange fascinations is their love of the toilet. Or the "Toi-re," if you will.

Before we rush to judgment over the Japanese obsession with toilets, you really can't argue against their importance. After "thank you," the first Japanese phrase we learned was "Where is the bathroom/toilet?" And just to help us memorize it, we sang the phrase "Toire wa doko desuka" to the tune of Follow the Yellow Brick Road from The Wizard of Oz.

We've come along way from squatting above a hole in the ground and Japan has certainly tried to perfect the final evolution of this seemingly simple household feature. The most ironic part about the advancement of Japanese super toilets must be the existence of so many outdated squatty-potty type toilets throughout the country. These are pretty awkward to use if you grew up with Western toilets, but you get used to it (see photo ----->).

When choosing between the two open units in our building, I do have to say that the difference in toilets put me over the edge to go with Unit #510, which had a super-toilet, rather than Unit #610, which had a simple porcelain seat. How about a brief video to explore the fun? The following is a video tour of our brand new toilet in our apartment:

Toilet Tour Special Features:
Heated seat
Wall-mounted controls
Several washing features
Eco flush (2 choices)
Water-saving hand washing thingy
Neon green bowl light
No-slam lid

Now that you've seen ours, I hope you share my sense of admiration for the people at TOTO and Panasonic Toilets. These groups of pioneering men and women have made the world a warmer, cleaner, and more comfortable place for Japanese (and gaijin) bottoms.

Some fun links and extra info for the super-toilet curious out there:

A hilariously true story about how toilet marketing in Japan is changing: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090510x5.html

Apparently the phenomenon is catching on the U.S. (fun): http://www.bidet.com/deluxe.htm

Here's a guy from the U.K. admiring one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsq8JbxOREg

Some features of these super toilets as described on Wikipedia:

"High-tech" toilets

Advanced technology is being integrated into toilets with more functions, especially in Japan (see Toilets in Japan). The biggest maker of these toilets is TOTO. Such toilets can cost anywhere from US$200 to $5,000. The features are operated by control pads (sometimes with bilingual labels), and even hand-held remote control devices. Some of these features are

Automatic-flushing mechanisms, operated by a photocell or other sensor. Typically these flush a toilet when the user stands up, or flush a urinal when the user steps away.
Water jets, or "bottom washers" like a bidet, as an alternative to toilet paper
The "Portable Washlet", Toto's portable hand-held bottom washer
Blow dryers, to dry the body after use of water jets
Artificial flush sounds, to mask noises such as body functions
Urine and stool analysis, for medical monitoring. Matsushita's "Smart Toilet" checks blood pressure, temperature, and blood sugar.
Digital clock, to monitor time spent at the toilet
Automatic lid operation, to open and close the lid
Heated seats (some of which may overheat)
Deodorizing fans
Automated paper toilet-seat-cover replacers, which automatically replace a paper toilet-seat cover with the push of a button.
Electric Toilet Brushes

Now that's romance

2009-05-12T05:26:00.000-06:00

Just to give you a fun little image of our little life in Tokyo...

This is Rachael and I dancing the tango after dinner in one of those moments of spontaneous, silly fun that seems to take hold of us far too often.

The funny thing is that I learned to dance the tango while living in Buenos Aires, Argentina a couple years ago, and we're now putting those Argentine dancing skills to work after enjoying homemade calamari stew in Tokyo, Japan.

Add the French wine, Italian photo collage and Greek music playing in the background, and I'd call that bona fide multicultural confusion. But ain't it beautiful?

Neighbors, Trains and Personal Space

2009-05-10T22:13:00.000-06:00

Close proximity can do some crazy things to people.

After living in Japan for nearly nine months, we have become pretty comfortable with losing our American "bubble" of personal space. Whether traveling on packed trains, biking on crowded streets, or living in relatively smaller apartments, we have had to make adjustments to our traditional desire for comfortable personal space.

A few examples from our experiences on trains and with our neighbors.

Trains:
This week, it rained solidly for three days straight. Normally (in the States), I respond to rainy-day streaks in a pretty consistent pattern. Day 1: I'm a little bummed because of the lack of sunshine, but it doesn't really bother me. Day 2: I start to get annoyed with being wet and with the general gloom of the sky. Day 3: I'm ready to fly to the Sahara to see blue sky and feel dry again.

Because we are so dependent on biking and walking everywhere we go, we don't have a "dry" option. When it rains, we put on a raincoat and hope our pants and shoes don't get too wet on the ride. If it's not too windy, we can use an umbrella simultaneously as we ride our bikes, but that requires some major balance and control that can sometimes be hard to manage. On Friday, it felt like we were in the middle of a hurricane because of the intense wind and heavy rain.

(After the storm finally passed)

My ride to work was awful. I literally had to hold my umbrella sideways with all the strength I could summon to keep from it pulling me up into the air like Mary Poppins. Not even halfway through my two mile trek to school, I stopped under a bridge and decided to try Plan B, taking the train instead. I turned and went a few blocks to the nearest station, parked my bike, and ran to the platform.

The problem was, EVERYONE else had the same idea. I have been on some crowded trains, but this was by far the most densely packed train I have ever attempted to ride.

If you've ever played football or seen football players practice, you may have seen their "practice sleds." They are large human-size pads attached to a very large, very heavy metal sled. When you put all your weight into them, they move back a few feet, training you to do the same when a three hundred pound lineman is in front of you.

(Some lovely gentlemen hired to shove people onto crowded trains)

No kidding, this is exactly what I had to do to get on the morning train. I turned around so my back was touching the people behind me, shoved with all my might, and created enough room for my slender frame to fit enough just inside the closing doors of the train. I would have NEVER felt comfortable doing this anywhere in the U.S., but it's a common way for people to get on crowded trains and certainly worked out for me that rainy morning.

Obviously, I've gotten over my previous need for personal space, mostly since I don't have a choice. Rachael used to have mini panic-attacks on such crowded trains and would start breathing quickly and getting flustered, but even she handles it much better now. Since everyone has to deal with the same thing, we all seem to deal with it respectfully enough and with the understanding that you do what you have to when getting from Point A to Point B.

What's interesting at school is that I find that my Japanese parents (of my students) tend to need more space in between us during our conversations than did my American parents. Sometimes I try little experiments with this both to see how they'll react and to learn about the limits of comfortable conversation in Japan. If we're standing up and I move even a couple inches toward them (since we're already 3-5 feet apart and it feels a bit distant to me), a few Japanese parents have moved back. This could be due to a whole host of factors like age, gender, teacher/parent relationships etc., but it does appear to me that Japanese people like to have an even larger personal space bubble in conversations than do those in Western societies. Maybe since they're frequently crowded and cramped in public spaces they take whatever opportunities they can to enjoy a little extra space. It's a mystery to me, but I'll keep you posted if we have any interesting updates about this in the future.

(What looks like a college student's work with understanding personal space: http://www.worsleyschool.net/socialarts/personal/space.html)

Neighbors:
We've had positive, negative, and neutral interactions with our neighbors since moving here, much like neighbors do anywhere else in the world. Who out there hasn't had a neighbor that's done something strange or unexpected we've then had to deal with? The sheer amount of people in Tokyo does make for interesting living though, since we're basically all stacked on top of and next to each other.

In our first apartment, we were happy to be on the top floor of the building with plenty of windows, space, a rooftop terrace, and a great kitchen for encouraging Rachael's passion for making amazing food. However, all the positives of that home were wiped away completely because of our nosy neighbors on the first floor who literally watched and provided commentary on our every move.

The following are some of our worst infractions, though I'm sure there were hundreds of others despite our best efforts to be good neighbors: a window was irresponsibly left open when Rachael was singing, we sinfully hung our bedspread out to dry on our clothesline (like everyone else in our new building does), our trash was out 8 or 9 minutes too early, our trash was nearly six inches away from it's proper (unmarked) spot, the front gates were not closed completely even though they neither lock or latch, and the list goes on.

These things eventually drove us crazy enough to look for a new place to live. And what did we get in return for all this insanity? A new crazy neighbor!!!

Just last week, we received this highlighted note in our mailbox. It's clearly not from the actual management of our building, but rather from our the neighbor directly below us (#410, we're in #510). We can't read it, but the characteristic accompanying cartoon does a pretty good job of explaining that he must be able to hear something we're doing through his ceiling. We don't play music loudly, don't have children or a dog running around (yet), and don't do jumping jacks or host anvil-dropping competitions that often, so we didn't worry too much about the note.

A few days later though, our lovely neighbor thought he'd follow up with a visit to our door. While Jenn and Rachael were home getting Jenn packed for her trip home, he came upstairs to give Rachael this verbal message (first in Japanese, then in English when he realized she had no idea what he was saying):

"You walk too loud. I can hear you walk."
(Blank stare from Rachael)
"You need to walk softer or wear slippers."
(Rachael: "Okay?, I'll try to do better...")

Now, I fully realize that hearing your neighbors can be annoying at times. We used to have a bored, barking dog across the hall or hear a range of sounds from other neighbors around us (cooking, practicing instruments, etc.). Besides the dog though, we never had to mention it to any of them because we understood that that's just part of the territory of apartment living.

We're not too concerned about this new guy, but we do wonder 'Why us?' We have friends who host loud get-togethers with music and lively conversations on a frequent basis without complaint. But we get busted for...walking.

This by no means will scare us away from our current home since we are definitely here to stay for the rest of our time in Japan, but it's been interesting to learn about the relationships between our Japanese neighbors and their personal space.

Long distance love

2009-05-10T05:07:00.000-06:00

We have something to admit...we love our moms.

On this Mother's Day, since we're thousands of miles away, here's a small tribute to our mothers for all the love, advice, hugs, and friendship they've given us.

Happy Mother's Day to Renee and Jan (and Zell, Della, & Mary) from Japan!

Love,
Brad & Rachael

(Sorry that the quality isn't better, but that's all we get for a free blog space)

5 in a row

2009-05-06T08:13:00.000-06:00

Hey there.

In case you didn't see, we somehow got on a roll tonight and published five new entries. They all made it into the May Archives and there are still a few more to come about Kyoto, but make sure you check 'em all out.

With love from Japan,
The Whites

Signs

2009-05-06T07:35:00.000-06:00

One of the more difficult parts of living where we do is the very obvious contradiction of being English speakers in a country where English is not the official language or spoken frequently by most of the population.

However, beyond this basic language difference is also a complete cultural shift in the way that information is presented. Said much more simply, signs are really weird in Japan. Here are a few from my aimless walk around Kyoto. I have a feeling this is not my last entry about the oddities seen on signs in Japan.

If you had to guess, what do you think this sign would be advertising?

It's for a pay by the hour parking lot. That's what winking turtles generally make me think of. Parking.

How about this one?

I have no idea what this one was for- sorry.

Here are a few more. Enjoy the joy of Japanese signage.

Sesame...street?

2009-05-06T06:49:00.000-06:00

While the girls were busy playing dress up (as maiko/geisha), I decided that I'd go off and pursue my favorite traveling pastime, choosing a direction and walking in it with my camera and a few bucks in my pocket.

There's just something about unplanned walks in a foreign place that is both relaxing and exhilarating at the same time. On one hand, you don't have any plans or a schedule to worry about so you're free to explore and really take in what's around you. On the other hand, you discover incredible things that easily pass you by when you're rushing from one temple to another or hustling to try and catch a train.

In Argentina, I used to hop on random buses just to see where they'd take me. Through this, I saw neighborhoods I never would have had the slightest reason to visit and often met new people or tried new foods that changed my perspective on the whole experience.

This time around, I walked to the nearest corner and turned left. Then, I meandered at least a mile along the same street, admiring the exteriors of beautifully simplistic and symmetrical wooden homes, peeking in hidden shops, spotting geisha ducking into 'white lantern restaurants,' and watching the people of Kyoto in their everyday business of life.

Soon enough, I stumbled into a serene cemetery where some young women were laying flowers and a cat was ferociously guarding a statute of a jovial laughing Buddha that was clearly trying his best to pat his head and rub his belly at the same time. Up the street, there was a shop that sold various beans, and a dessert item I've heard Rachael refer to as "sweet red bean paste." Then, I saw a sign for something strange.

Since the ice cream in the photo was a speckled black, I first thought the ice cream sign was just faded, but then I realized that it was actually in full color. The ice cream pictured really was black. Because the description of the ice cream's flavor was written in kanji (the pictorial alphabet I don't yet know), I couldn't decipher the flavor on my own. Ideas such as cookies and cream, licorice, and fresh dirt crossed my mind, but instead of walking away with my curiosity abuzz, I knocked and entered a very hole-in-the-wall ice cream shop. The woman kindly explained (in Japanese, woo hoo!) that it was the flavor of black sesame seeds. I love sesame seeds and order pretty much anything that has them on it, so I got a small cone, paid my $1.30 and went on my way.

The result was a fantastic new taste experience that I spent the next two days trying to repeat. However, this was the only shop in town (that we could find) that served this particular flavor. If you're ever on an aimless walk on a Kyoto side street and see strange black-colored ice cream, don't be afraid. It's pure joy on a spoon. Go for it.

A bit of hope

2009-05-05T21:56:00.000-06:00

Before I launch into a series of blogs about Kyoto and our week with our first visitor, I want to share something special with you. The following was written by a bright, energetic second grade boy that I tutor here in Tokyo named Leonard. He constantly amazes me and has been learning English very quickly although he is currently in a German school here in Tokyo.

Not only does this research report show his own growth over the course of our time learning together, but it also gives me plenty of hope that this young generation sees the world with new eyes and will help solve some of our biggest problems. Out of a list of about 20 topics he was interested in learning about, he chose to research and then report back on climate change and our role in helping the earth. Please read his writing below! He typed it himself and reads this blog occasionally, so I'm sure he would love to hear your thoughts about his writing and his suggestions for helping our world (through the comment link below)!

Thanks for reading.

Global Warming
By Leonard Musahl
Tokyo, April 2009

There are two big problems in our world right now. The first big problem is pollution. The second problem is the Greenhouse Effect. A lot of people think that everything is okay with our world, but other people think there is too much pollution on the Earth.

Pollution is a big problem for the environment. Pollution is when people give used, dirty things back to the Earth. You throw every year 90 soda cans, paper from 2 trees, 100 pounds of plastic, 110 bottles and jars, 70 food cans, and 10 times your weight in other products away!

In Mexico City, you have to turn your lights on, when you want to drive the car daytimes, because there is too much pollution.

The problem gets bigger when more people live on Earth.

The Greenhouse Effect is another big problem for the Earth. The Greenhouse Effect is when heat of the sun bounces back from Earth CO2 (carbon dioxide) traps the heat of the sun and throws it back to the Earth. In 1960 the Earth was much colder, now in 2009 the Earth is much warmer because there is much more CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere. CO2 comes from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). If no CO2 would be in the atmosphere it would be 60˚F colder then now.

Pollution and the Greenhouse Effect hurts plants and animals. Acid rain hurts plants and animals because it has acid in it. Acid falls together with rain to Earth. This rain is poison for trees.

Polar bears are in trouble because the Greenhouse Effect is making the Earth warmer, that’s why the ice is melting. The Polar bear have to go a longer distance until they found there food. Every day 100 soccer fields of wood get cut down!

What can we do to stop Global warming? We can do a lot of stuff to help stop Global warming like: Turn your lights off when you go out of your room, take a bike to the school don’t take a car, sort your trash out, recycle your paper, use electricity carefully, don’t burn so much fossil fuels and take a shower instead of taking a bath. I wish that everybody would learn more about Climate Change because when everybody helps a little bit, it helps a lot.

What will happen with the German island? At the end of the 21 century this happen: the temperature will rise, 2.5-6.0˚C and the sea gets to 20-60 cm higher because of the melting ice. Wangerooge, an island of Germany has an elevation from 1-17 meters above the sea level, the melting ice is not a big problem for Wangerooge. But a big problem for the island is that a hurricane can come and overflow Wangerooge.

What can we do to slow down global warming? What my family does to stop global warming is: My mom makes a thicker isolation around the house in Germany. My dad doesn’t drive with the car to work he drives with his bike to work and I will try to use more showers instead of taking a bath. If every family saves a little bit of energy it would help a lot.

Memoirs of the Gaijin Geisha

2009-05-04T16:04:00.000-06:00

If I saw this photo sitting on a shelf, there's no way that I would recognize my wife was one of the immaculately dressed and prepared geishas in the photo.

In Kyoto, Rachael and Jenn decided they would love to try dressing up in the geisha style. True geisha, however, are truly amazing performers that have many talents and a certain code of conduct. We made an appointment at a "maiko" shop, which caters to those of us who find the geisha culture interesting and might want to try it firsthand. "Maiko" are simply young women who are apprenticing to become geisha. According to my travel book it is currently thought that there are less than 1000 geisha left in all of Japan, so it is an art form and a culture that is certainly still around, but not prevalent in the popular culture of modern Japan.

The word geisha roughly translates to "performing artist" (or person that performs). For one night in the company of geisha, you first have to have connections. The restaurants and other establishments that have geisha entertainers only allow friends of established patrons to come in. As a foreigner, that's next to impossible. Plus, there's the language barrier and the average cost of $3,000 per evening that would definitely keep us from ever enjoying the geisha experience.

(Real maiko, left ---- Rachael the maiko, right)

When many foreigners hear the word geisha, their first impressions and understandings seem to relate to prostitution. However, "true" geisha are not prostitutes at all. They are meant to be pleasant entertainment professionals. Most of that misconception comes from the American GIs calling Japanese women "geisha girls" when they weren't really geisha at all. With their expertise in various art forms of music and dancing, along with being notorious for having a strong wit, geisha provide individuals or groups an evening of exclusive private entertainment. There have been many instances of prostitutes advertising themselves as geisha and misconceptions like that of the GIs, but in general the geisha world seems to hold a high level of respect and wonder in the imagination of the Japanese and foreigners like us.

So, that's why Rachael and Jenn gave it a shot. Look carefully at the elaborate makeup and wigs that took nearly an hour to apply. The makeup is even applied around the upper back and neck to accentuate this "sensual" area of the woman's body. Amazingly, the wigs were so heavy that Rachael and Jenn both have small bruises on their foreheads from the weight of the wig pressing down! Also, they each wore 5 or 6 layers of robes, each wrapped tightly enough to feel similar to wearing a corset. Apparently actual maiko will wear as many as 15 robes at a time.

Here are a few shots of actual maiko/geisha in the area of Gion in Kyoto:

We have our own "yukata," or summer robes, but robes alone aren't enough to make a maiko. The wig and elaborate makeup truly transformed my Western wife into the stunning Eastern beauty you see here. I was blown away when I first saw Rachael, and she and Jenn seemed to have a fantastic time with this experience. I never read the book, Memoirs of a Geisha, but this has certainly given me more reason to do so.

Kyoto, Japan

2009-05-04T07:13:00.000-06:00

Over the past weekend, we spent two days in Kyoto, one of Japan's most fascinating cities. We learned about such things as guardian foxes possessing human souls through their fingernails, creating "nightingale" (squeaking) wooden floors in castles to warn of intruders, and Rachael and our friend Jenn explored the world of the geisha first-hand.

Needless to say, it was a phenomenal weekend and two days very well spent. In the next few blogs, I'll try to share some of the highlights from our trip, so tune in often for updates and leave your questions and comments for us anytime.

A few snapshots

2009-04-28T07:16:00.000-06:00

Hey all.

Here are four random videos that don't really stand on their own, but are a bit interesting when viewed together. Each shows just some of the sights and sounds that make up this experience of living in Tokyo, Japan.

Questions? Comments? Conundrums?

Rant!!!

2009-04-28T01:38:00.000-06:00

There are a lot of horrible and difficult things going on around the world and this is not one of them. However, we had some crash-courses in living in Japan that I thought you might like to read about (and I would definitely like to vent about).

This morning was not fun. I was reminded of the fact that I live in Japan, and despite all our recent progress in adjusting to living here, there are still many frustrating things about living in this particular city and culture.

I checked our credit card statement just to make sure everything was in order, and BOOM! There was a $615 charge from our Japanese cell phone company, SoftBank. We've had many problems with getting and maintaining our service with SoftBank, but it's been worth it since all the new teachers got this service, and in Japan, calling is cheap when it's "in network" and outrageous when "out of network." Plus, we can't break the contract because we'd be charged an arm and a leg for that anyway.

Our normal bill is a little over a hundred bucks a month for one cheap phone and one iPhone. So this $615 charge was obviously an accident. Right???

When we got some help from the office staff at St. Mary's, they showed us our bill online and we learned that there was one single flat-rate charge this month for $450. Apparently, when we sent an email (from Rachael's iPhone) to the parents of the youth group kids when we arrived in Thailand safely, we were unknowingly forced into buying a non-refundable, flat-rate, $450 international phone package. We were never told this in our discussions with SoftBank employees. We were actually told explicitly that our internet/phone service could NEVER go over $57.00/month for the iPhone because we paid for a particular package with unlimited internet access.

Now, I understand that there might be an added charge for using the phone in another service area, but a $450 flat fee???!!!

The worst part? There's no way to negotiate here. Rules are rules and are never broken. If you're supposed to do something a certain way, you can be absolutely positive that's how it will be done. There's no Better Business Bureau, news personality or congressperson you can call to advocate for your circumstance. Basically, you're just stuck.

This is how I started my day. THEN, I had the pleasure of receiving our refund receipt from our deposit on our last apartment. Even with a crazy dog, new paint colors, and several small holes in the walls, we were only charged around $150 when we moved out of our last apartment. When we moved to Tokyo, we were told that if we took care of the place, we would only be charged a "small cleaning fee" for cleaning and preparing the apartment for the next tenants. For some reason $845 seems a little steep for cleaning a 2 bedroom apartment with no carpet, no tatami floors, and no damage from kids or pets.

Naturally, I calmly returned to the St. Mary's office and asked for a little help understanding the charges. I was told that this was a "normal" fee and that everything was in order. There were no extra damage charges. This was just the run-of-the-mill fee that everyone gets when they move out. Upon investigation though, several teachers told me that the average fee is $10/sq. meter, which would run around $630 at the highest. That's steep, but apparently that's just the Japanese way.

I wasn't about to flush even $200 down the toilet, so as politely as I could, I asked one of the secretaries if she would call the real estate agent and get a detailed list of what was cleaned and why it cost so much. I also asked for them to reduce the cost because there's no chance we could have possibly made the apartment THAT bad after only 6 months of living there and I signed a form stating that there was no extra damage beyond "normal wear and tear."

They're supposed to get back to me tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Until then, yes Brad, you do live in Japan. Yes, they are obsessed with rules. And yes, this city is still unbelievably expensive and maddening at times. Whew, glad I got that off my chest. :)

Our First Visitor!

2009-04-27T22:54:00.000-06:00

Today is a very special day.

Not because it is Tuesday. No. It is much more special than that.

Our first visitor is coming today from Minnesota!

One of my very best friends, Jenn, is coming to Tokyo. Her husband, Tim, graciously lent her to us until May 6th. We are so excited to have her here!

We feel a little bit like this isn't actually happening. I know in my head that she will be here in just a few short hours, but I can't quite get it to set in as reality.

Either way, I can't wait! Stay tuned for some great photos and stories from our adventures both here and at Tokyo Terrace!

--Rachael

Bugs...

2009-04-24T03:29:00.000-06:00

Let me just take off my rose-colored glasses for a sec.

Now that we have that out of the way...today I discovered another surprising downside to life on a bicycle that you might find amusing.

First, a preface. Thanks to my father, every time I have gotten a haircut, whether in the U.S., Argentina, Italy, or Japan, the stylist (without exception) has made some sort of comment about my "nice, thick head of hair." For that, I'm grateful. It's the arm hair and the beard that gave me trouble this week.

Riding next to the Tamagawa river is beautiful, peaceful, and serene, but at sunset, it can be a total nightmare. Just like in bug-infested Minnesota where people joke that the mosquito is the State Bird, clouds of gnats rise and swarm along the river path right before sunset. This just so happens to be the same time that I'm on my way home by bike. Make no mistake, I hate bugs. Especially bugs that fly. Many a romantic evening cuddling in a hammock have been ruined by a few pesky little bugs in my ears.

Now, imagine with me for a moment walking along this river towards a beautiful mountain-sunset. Next, picture a dense cloud of gnats hovering right above the bike path by the river. And finally, imagine me riding my bike straight through the unavoidable cloud. The result ranges between 2 and 15 (the standing record) gnats getting stuck in the hair of each of my arms. I then have to stop completely and rub them off since their little legs and wings aren't strong enough to free them from the snare of my hair. That's not the worst part. I then have to rub my chin, mustache and cheeks to shake them out of my beard. Yeah, it's disgusting.

I've at least learned to keep my mouth closed when riding home...and yes, I learned the hard way. Maybe that's why Japanese guys wear those surgeon masks when they ride their bikes. Or, that could explain why so many don't have facial hair.

A pamphlet dropped at our new apartment_____Grandpa and grandson

(My beard is often referred to as a "Jesus beard" by our friends here.
Maybe this is why...)

A Car-Less Lifestyle

2009-04-19T01:54:00.001-06:00

Part 1: Biking is Beautiful

Here's a recent article from The Japan Times about a Danish diplomat and some initiative he's pushing about biking/climate change etc. (ARTICLE) To tell you the truth, I didn't read as much about his new initiative as I did his biking route. The intersection he meets his colleagues at each time they ride is the bridge I cross everyday on my way to school. They ride past our new apartment along a bike path that is now our lifeline to the rest of Tokyo.

Here is the writer's description of the ride along the river:

Getting up early is certainly not easy, but it's worth the trouble, the ambassador said. And indeed, the morning ride along the Tama River was, as I found out, a pure delight. Though I often ride a bike around my home district, being out there at that time set me free from the usual noise pollution, constant near-misses involving people and cars, and rows of sterile concrete buildings.

From the virtually straight Tama River cycling track, you command great views of the river and its surroundings, including a golf course, baseball grounds and soccer pitches, all the while basking in the morning sunlight, the mild breeze — and, just then, enjoying the cherry blossom, too. Even the occasional bumps and jolts along the way — which made my bike's plastic shopping basket shake and rattle, but fortunately not roll off — didn't seem to matter.

THIS is why we moved over here.

Part 2: Life on Two Wheels

I haven't been carrying a camera around much lately, but I'll try to get a couple shots in the next few weeks that might give you a glimpse of our new bike culture. It truly is a complete cultural shift when you learn to live without a car, and we're learning more about how to deal with the challenges and the blessings that a car-less life can bring. I've laughed once or twice recollecting a conversation I had with my friend Dain. He and his fiance (and our peanut of a god-daughter, Lena) sold one of their cars in the hopes of becoming a "one-car family." I was a bit skeptical at first, thinking about all the things they might "need" a car for, but fully admired their choice. Now, I have a much better perspective on how absolutely possible that life is (though the ability to make that choice depends a bit on where you live, of course).

As far as the downsides go, imagine something as simple as going shopping for groceries. How do you get your goodies from Point A to Point B when you don't have a backseat or a trunk? If you have more than one bag or any large-ish items, where do you put them? The system I'm currently trying out is putting one bag in the clanky metal basket on the front of my bike and hanging the remaining bags from my front handlebars- no easy task when you're steering around potholes, small children and other cyclists. Rachael is lucky enough to have a sort of flat wire bed (you know, like a truck bed, but smaller, for a bike) mounted on the back of her bike. We use a couple of bungee cords to tie down larger items or boxes there (no Dad, no Zap-straps or tie downs, just a simple bungee cord- sorry, inside joke there for Bob White, the proud master-packer). Another option is using a delivery service. Yesterday we paid 10 bucks to have our new stove top delivered a couple miles to our home- not bad for the hassle it saved.

How about if it's pouring down rain? And you're dressed to the nines (...or at least the eights) on your way to work? I'd begun to master riding one-handed with an umbrella in the free hand, but that just doesn't work along an often busy and breezy river path. Many of our friends have head-to-toe Gortex suits to shield them from being totally saturated upon arriving at school. There's no chance I could buy one here on account of the extraordinarily high prices and compact men's clothing sizes, so I'll have to wait to pick one up in the States this summer at REI.

Besides these inconveniences, a bike commute costs nothing in gas or insurance and is helping us both get in better shape. Ironically, it's really more of a luxury to have exercise be a built-in part of our day, rather than a stand alone chore in itself. I think that's part of what our lifestyle in America was missing. We'd wake up, get ready for work, then we'd walk about 30 feet to our car in the parking lot, drive through traffic to work, walk 30 feet to the door of the school, and repeat the same things in reverse in the evening. Just about the only thing that got us out of that inactive routine was taking our dog Callie for a walk.

Once, and only once, have I driven in Tokyo. This was the pimped-out ride that we used to move our stuff from one side of the river to the other. It felt like I was driving something out of a Lego set (notice how I had to crouch so much to get in). I got my practice at driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the road in Thailand, so that wasn't too bad. But I'm happy to say it'll be a long time before I need to drive here again.

The only fear I've had of not having a car is in case of an emergency, but we have several friends in the neighborhood and have the emergency number (110 rather than 911) memorized and ready to call. Just the other night, I had a bizarre allergic reaction and thought, there's no way I could bike to a clinic or hospital...what should I do? Somehow, millions of people in this city make it just fine without a car, and I'm glad to be one of them.

Now, I just need to get a decent bike.

Domino's: Japan-style

2009-04-15T07:29:00.000-06:00

In order to teach English in Japan or just about anywhere else around the world, you have to hold a TOEFL certification (Teachers of English as a Foreign Language). To become a Spanish translator for medical services in Iowa, I had to be evaluated at a particular proficiency level.

But tonight I discovered the truest test for having learned a language sufficiently...

Could I, a Japanese language learner, successfully order pizza for delivery from Domino's?

Tonight, we had a few friends over to see our new place by the river and due to the fact that it's a "school night" we didn't want to go to a lot of effort cooking and cleaning. Rachael had the bright idea to order some pizza, an experience in itself in Japan. However, we hadn't ventured into the world of phone delivery order service before, so we had to do some research.

Not knowing enough to make the call myself, I called one of my "gaijin" (foreigner) friends named Jeff. With the help of his lovely Japanese wife Kimiko, Jeff coached me through the probable questions the Domino's people would ask me, and how I could respond to each of them. Then, he handed the phone to Kimiko and she graciously pretended to be the Domino's operator so that I could practice my new phrases.

Although I definitely don't have Japanese pinned down by any measure yet, I passed their test and they wished me good luck. The following video is a great record of what happened next:

All right, maybe ordering pizza isn't the be-all-end-all of language tests, but it was tough enough for me to get a passing grade tonight. The great thing is that since we're now on file, we just have to give them our phone number to order again. Amen to that.

Oh, the pizza! I almost forgot. The pizza here is really more of an estranged sibling of American pizza, making it a distant long-lost cousin of its original Italian version. The Japanese load up the toppings, like an entire sliced eggplant on the "Mega Veggie Pizza" or corn and potatoes on the "Triple Corn Potage." On my personal favorite, the "Chiki-Teri Pizza," comes chicken teriyaki, broccoli and various other veggies, with a sort of mayonnaise-mustard hybrid checkerboard grid delicately designed on top.

Being our first time to order pizza in Japan for ourselves, everything was delicious and definitely completed our night of Wii Mario Kart racing. Check out Rachael's food blog this week as she'll be writing about the joys of Japanese pizza as well.

The Whites...in our hometown papers!

2009-04-09T01:34:00.001-06:00

WOW!!!

Here's a LINK to a nice article written by Kristine Goodrich from the White Bear Press, Rachael's hometown newspaper.

It details some of our experiences in Tokyo and how we've chronicled our adventure with this blog.

Enjoy!

Perpetual Impermanence

2009-04-09T01:24:00.000-06:00

As you may know from our recent entries, Rachael and I have moved…again.

This time, we didn’t move several thousand miles or across an ocean but rather moved to a new apartment less than a mile away from our former home. Ironically, we moved further away from work, the nearest train station, and convenient grocery stores, but we also moved to a place where we can see more than just concrete and cement and a place where we can keep our dog, Callie. In moving, we brought only the things that were most important to us, and took the opportunity to rid ourselves of the unnecessary things that build up so easily in a home.

In the corner of our closet, I had a small pile of goodies: pens, receipts, coins, a keychain, etc. This pile of junk has accumulated since August, so it was about time to throw some of it and keep the rest. What I decided to keep, I shoved in my pocket before we left that apartment for good. This afternoon I emptied out my pocket and had an interesting discovery. In this pile of goodies were coins from three countries: the United States, Thailand, and Japan. The fact that we have actually been in each of these countries in the last month is hard to comprehend.

Living outside the U.S. has given us many glimpses into life in all its variations, whether on an uncomfortably silent train in Tokyo, Japan, in an auditorium full of lovers of choral music in Oklahoma City, or at a vibrant yet humble orphanage in Buriram, Thailand.

The coins in my pocket are a small memento of the places and people we’ve seen and experienced this year. There’s not much I can do with a handful of extra Thai Baht in Japan, but just seeing these coins conjures memories of digging in clay-ridden soil and singing Thai children’s songs with two precious little girls.

Our life has been turned upside down by our move to Japan, giving us the very real sense that nothing around us is permanent or static. Yet the same things that have kept us grounded throughout our entire life continue to give us focus, encouragement and strength even while everything around us seems to be changing. Tonight, we spent almost two hours sitting on a piece of cardboard next to the riverside, chatting on and off and enjoying our Japanese-style picnic with a glass of wine. This morning, we sang (and wept) powerful hymns of hope and reflected on a challenging yet inspirational message from our pastor and as we prepare for Easter. Yesterday, we called our families back home to get the weather report and the latest news on our grandparents and siblings.

Although so many things have changed for us in the past six months we feel truly blessed to take on the challenge of a dynamic and global life for the next few years. It has made us stronger as a couple, deepened our faith in God and each other, and given us memories to last a very long time.

A brief Tokyo update

2009-03-30T16:36:00.000-06:00

As if four days of moving into a new school building and traversing the country of Thailand weren't enough, we just found out that our application for moving into a new apartment was approved this week.

So...WE'RE MOVING!!!

This move has several implications for our life here in Japan. First of all, we'll be leaving our first home in Tokyo, one which we both loathe and adore. This tiny series of rooms is where we had our first Thanksgiving abroad, learned about proper Tokyo garbage procedures, studied our first Japanese phrases, and stored our first set of decent chopsticks. Most of these things will move with us, but you always leave something behind when you move.

We decided to look for a new place for many reasons, but mostly because we desperately miss our furry bundle-o-fun, Callie. We had to leave her behind, and that's turning out to be just a little too difficult, especially since so many people have dogs here. Even this week, we got a report from Brad's mom in Colorado that the little snow-loving Wheaten Terrier has been running around nearly non-stop in the two feet of fresh snow that recently fell on the Denver area.

We've begun the long process of updating shots and completing the proper paperwork that will allow her to fly to Tokyo next fall. So, pretty soon our pup will join us in our travels around the globe.

We are moving away from several things: some very nosy neighbors (see these links to old blogs about our experiences with "Terry the Tiger"), an old, musty building frequently shaken by our close proximity to the train tracks, pink floral wallpaper we wouldn't put up if you paid us to, and low ceilings which have caused more pain and frustration than Brad wants to remember.

The new apartment named "Riverside Waco," is as the name suggests, near the river. We have miles of bike trails, open space, barbeque pits, reading and ultimate frisbee spaces just waiting to be used. See these views from our balcony:

Also, look at the excitement on Rachael's face thanks to not one, not two, but three closets (compared to only one now):

Since it was built only 12 years ago, the building feels much newer, cleaner, and even safer than our current building (earthquake-wise), which is about 40 years old. The price is right since we're moving across the river and away from one of the more expensive suburban parts of Tokyo (Setagaya-ku). At first, we'll use the savings to get Bradley-san a new bicycle for the 20 minute commute across the river and up the hill. Later, the savings will help with the added costs of having Callie here in Japan.

The timing of our move to a new school building and a new apartment is perfect since we were able to bring home 50 free moving boxes and are already in the "packing mode." So, when you come to visit, we'll have a nice, new tatami floor and futon waiting for you at Riverside Waco.

Running an orphanage

2009-03-28T20:19:00.000-06:00

For the record, I'm weighing my words carefully on this entry. My intention is merely to reflect on what we saw and experienced, and to hear your thoughts and/or suggestions as well.

To begin with, we could not have been led to a better ministry opportunity than spending a week at the Tree of Life Orphanage in Buriram, Thailand and we hope to return soon. The kids we met and the love that was shared between the high school students from our church and those children was unforgettable and surely worth the long trip from Japan. These seventeen orphans each have a story, and most, if not all, would not have adequate food, clothes, or shelter without the help of TOLO (acronym for the orphanage). The kids are better off because they are at TOLO and we were fortunate to meet them and have an opportunity to impact their lives in some very direct ways.

However, we also felt a certain degree of anger at what we saw and experienced during our week at TOLO. I do feel that there is a time and a place for anger, especially when it regards the health and care of children. At best, we were unimpressed with the management of the orphanage by the director. At worst, we were furious about the conditions these kids lived in and the lack of effort on his part to do just about anything about it.

For instance, check out these photos of the bathroom floor before and after we cleaned it. I highly doubt that this floor had ever been cleaned.

Now, the director has had wonderful intentions in creating and maintaining this safe haven for children, but that doesn't mean his work is done.

- Just because the kids have food to eat doesn't mean that their dental health should be neglected.
- Just because there are walls, a roof, and windows to protect them doesn't mean that torn up window screens can't be patched up with a little duct-tape to keep the mosquitoes and cockroaches out.
- Just because the kids have a room to play in doesn't mean that they should be playing over a foul-smelling opening to the septic tank (right underneath the rug in their playroom).
- Just because he doesn't take a salary doesn't mean that he has no responsibility to make sure that the children change their clothes more than once a week, to clean up bathrooms or his own dishes after meals, to maintain the grounds outside the building itself, or to treat all the kids with love, patience and respect.

Maybe it's easier to judge his behavior because the director is not Thai. I understand completely that different societies and cultures have different standards of what "clean" or "healthy" means. But this man is from Texas! He knows that leaving a bathroom in the condition that it was in cannot possibly be conducive to the health and well-being of these children.

If we had seen effort- something, anything!- on his part, I think we would be more understanding. However, what we saw was a very incomplete foundation for the total care that those kids need. And it's not even a matter of finances or time. It took us three days to scrub, dust, and organize every surface in that home, and basic maintenance is not too much to ask.

If he wasn't there to do this though, who else would? Now, he's not quite Miss Agatha Hannigan, the mean-tempered woman in charge of the orphanage in "The Little Orphan Annie, " but he's no saint. Do we just have to accept what we see and pray for things to improve in the future?

I chose not to address this with him directly since my role was to help lead the youth on the trip as best I could, be there to lend a hand, and love those kids as much as possible. But now that we're so attached to the children at TOLO and are planning to return next year if possible, I'll be thinking about how we might be able to address this and make life just a little better for these wonderful children.

Your thoughts?

Sam

2009-03-28T20:15:00.000-06:00

When we returned to Minnesota for Christmas Break in December 2008 we had a few priority visits to make. One of them was to stop by our favorite restaurant in White Bear Lake. The restaurant is called Wild Ginger, and it's a fantastic and simple Thai restaurant run by a wonderful man named Sam (review here).

He knows us pretty well now, since I generally dropped by every time Rachael was out with her girlfriends last summer and Rachael's family goes there periodically. We recount pretty often how Sam got a kick out of Mike (Rachael's dad) one particular night at the restaurant, saying "You funny man, Mike!"

During this December visit, we talked about our upcoming trip to Thailand and Sam was apparently so excited by an idea that he stopped mid-conversation to run quickly back into his kitchen. He emerged with several brochures about "Beautiful Thailand: The Land of Smiles." It was a sweet gesture that definitely got us excited about the trip.

Call it irony, coincidence, or God's sense of humor, but one of the children at the orphanage that we will not soon forget was named Sam as well.

On our first day in Buriram, Thailand at the Tree of Life Orphanage, this Sam kept his distance from the foreigners ("Faraang" in Thai, "Gaijin" in Japanese, "Gringo" in Spanish) who had invaded his home. He played with a couple of the other boys and basically refused to acknowledge that we were even there while most of the other kids immediately latched on to us (figuratively and literally, my back is still sore from all the piggy-back rides).

By the end of the second day though, I tried a few new things with him that never seem to fail with kids: Beatboxing and my Donald Duck impression. Within minutes, he and another boy named Fil were dancing crazily and having a great time. He opened up right then, and spent every moment he could with us from that instant until we left.

Sam is very smart and would fit in well in my second grade class (he's 8 years old). He loved learning and analyzing magic tricks, practicing math facts on flashcards, practicing his limited but developing English, and playing card games (more about this later). During our visit to the city pool he proved himself a great swimmer and his silly ways of jumping in the pool had everyone's undivided attention. Sam is also pretty overbearing with the other kids and often yells at them when he doesn't get his way. I later saw that this came from his equally short-tempered interactions with his "dad," the director of the orphanage.

I really love Sam. He's making the best out of a rough situation, and has a lot of potential to be successful and make a life for himself in a difficult area of the world. He also has some dangerous pitfalls. At the age of eight, his temper is already developing strongly and thanks to a few previous visitors who thought it would be a good idea to teach him how to play Poker, Blackjack, and a game called Sticks, Sam is already gambling at every chance he can. He finds and uses the small 1 Baht coins to bet and play with his friends. In contrast to many Christians who feel gambling is acceptable, most Thai Christians form a clear separation from society on this issue and make a stand to avoid it completely. You can imagine how his mother reacted when she saw him teaching us how to play "Sticks" one night (without betting, of course, but playing nonetheless). We got her point right away and taught him several new card games like Solitaire and Memory which he also loved...and won.

As we packed the truck bed with our suitcases to return home to Japan, we gathered all the children for some final group photos. Surprisingly, Sam sat on the other side of the playground and refused anyone's call to join us in the photos. So, in this photo, you will not see Sam.

I immediately recognized this reaction since it happened on the last day with my third graders in Minnesota last year. One of my most challenging (and oh so rewarding) third graders balked and stood in the back of the room while we took photos wearing Mr. White's ties on the last day of school. At first I couldn't understand why he would be "so rude" on the last day that we would have together. It turned out that in both cases, these boys just didn't want to let go. Both boys began their relationship with me with clear defiance, ignoring most of my attempts to make them feel loved and appreciated. By the end of our time together, they had opened up their vulnerable little hearts and it was just too painful to say goodbye.

This situation begs an interesting question, but one which I believe does have a clear answer. Is it worth it, emotionally, physically, and spiritually to spend a week loving these kids with all we have...just to leave them a short week later? Is that too hard on them? Too much to expect of their trusting young hearts?

Although it was difficult for all of us to part ways, I believe with all my heart that, in the long run, the hugs, giggles, and teachable moments that occurred throughout that week far surpass the pain of separation. Still, I will continue to pray daily for Sam and the other kids at the Tree of Life Orphanage.

That he would grow into a responsible, kind and lighthearted man would be a dream come true.

Thailand in a nutshell

2009-03-28T20:09:00.000-06:00

Tree of Life Orphanage

Buriram, Thailand

We just returned from an incredible week spent in Thailand. Our time there was filled with a flurry of new experiences, so we'll make sure to record the best parts here. Rather than write a long summary of the week, we'll pick out the most memorable snippets and write about each one separately. Hopefully that will make for an easier read for you (and it might help us to organize all that happened in the past seven days).

If you see something that piques your interest, makes you wonder, or inspires you to act, please write a comment and we'll make sure to write back. This week was certainly life-changing for us, so we hope our stories of those experiences will have an impact as well. Happy reading and thanks for stopping by!

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T06:10:00.000-06:00

Since we're between two major trips abroad where we're in charge of the health and happiness of groups of young people, and also happen to be moving to a new school building this week, we nearly missed St. Patrick's Day.

We did miss the major festivities- parades, parties, green beer- but had some fun celebrating at home anyway. Click HERE to check out that story and see some photos.

Last but not least, a funny memory just popped into my head...and therefore onto this blog page. The last time I was abroad for St. Patty's, I was in Buenos Aires with a fantastic group of new Latino friends (Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, etc.). We were in the main center of the city, along with thousands of other revelers. Soon after we arrived, many in the group grabbed 1-liter drinks and fully enjoyed drinking in public (lawful and hunkydory in Argentina).

All of a sudden, the mood of the streets shifted. A few of those large bottles began flying through the air, and as several were smashing against a wall maybe 30 feet from us we realized that those thousands of happy Irish-for-a-day Argentines were starting a small (celebratory?) riot. As we very quickly left the area in a taxi, we could see hoards of police approaching from several directions in cars and on horseback. Too close for my comfort.

Later that night, I watched the ensuing riot on TV. People went nuts. Back in those days, I didn't have much in the way of common sense. As a teenager, I always told my buddies, "Once in my life I'd like to experience being in a riot." I'm definitely glad I didn't stick around for that one.

And on that note, good night and Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Cahill-Whites (both Irish names, by the way).

Some interesting links from Google:
1.) A random LINK about one guy's experience in BsAs that day (he must have missed the riot...)
2.) Some fanatic's website about riots or war protests. Scroll down a little bit and you'll see that they had an Anti-Iraq War protest that day as it was the anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Maybe that's what this was all about in the first place.

Not about Tokyo, but amazing nonetheless

2009-03-17T03:36:00.000-06:00

This is a simple yet powerful video we hope you'll take 5 minutes and 23 seconds to watch. It's a reminder of the amazing things that hundreds of thousands of incredible people are doing for us today. The kind of courage required for service in our armed forces is awe-inspiring, and even though it feels like we're a million miles away, we couldn't be more proud of these amazing individuals.

It's interesting to remember sometimes that our grandparents endured the horrors of WWII, when Japan was our sworn enemy. Now they are one of our stronger allies, and we live here in peace. Leaving your political convictions behind about all that's going on in the U.S. and around the world, it's good to remember that while things are rough for many of our friends and family right now, there are countless Americans who are willing to give the ultimate sacrifice so you don't have to. And this goes for all those who protect us: fire fighters, EMTs, police (especially the Colorado State Patrol, yee haw Blake), etc.

We pray for their continual safety, and a speedy return home for the troops in harm's way.

Coats in Tokyo

2009-03-15T07:14:00.000-06:00

I think I've discovered a secret Tokyo-Japanese obsession.

Clean coats.

Compared to anywhere else I've lived before, people in Tokyo tend to dress very well, and care a great deal about the smallest details of their daily fashion statements. Shoes are polished and perfectly coordinated with whatever they're wearing. Young men and women both use mirrors, train windows, and cell phone cameras to constantly readjust stray strands of hair.

But the coats. The coats!

If I wouldn't be pegged as a creepy stalker, I'd take a photo of everyone I pass on the street or the train, and you could see this secret obsession with keeping coats in mint condition.

Unwrinkled. De-linted. Unstained.

I have no idea how they do it, but it is fun to watch. Today Rachael and I both laughed as we actually noticed that a guy on the train had a tiny piece of white lint on his black cashmere coat. If you come visit and don't want to stand out like a sore thumb, make sure you've had your coat in for a thorough professional cleaning within the last two and half to three hours.

For all you foodies out there

2009-03-14T01:19:00.000-06:00

Don't forget to stop by Rachael's new creative endeavor:

http://tokyoterrace.blogspot.com/

We're still learning to use our new camera, and I get the pure joy of testing out all the goodies she makes.

Our Trip to the Ooooooohklahoma & Texas

2009-03-11T16:09:00.000-06:00

You'd think taking a trip to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Waco, Texas with a bunch of high school boys might be uneventful, but our trip with the Varsity Ensemble was full of bizarre travel experiences making the week unforgettable for the boys and the chaperons.

On the plus side, the boys sang exceptionally well at the ACDA Convention (American Choral Directors Association). Actually, Hal Leonard publishing is now flying several people to Tokyo this week to make a sort of educational film about the choir and their unique approach to choral singing! Randy Stenson, the group's director (from Minnesota, woot woot), incorporates physical movement into every note that the boys sing. The result is a beautiful, mature, cohesive sound, and a performance that is much more visually interesting than many choirs in the Lutheran tradition who simply stand rigidly with their hands at their sides. On the choral side, this was a very successful week for Mr. Stenson and for the boys in the choir.

Now for the ugly side of airline travel...

When we first arrived at the Delta counter in Tokyo's Narita Airport, we were told that our second connecting leg to OK City had been canceled because Atlanta's airport was snowed in. We could still land in Atlanta, but would have to stay there one day. Luckily, we had only planned sightseeing and rehearsals that first day, so we didn't miss anything too important, like a concert or singing clinic.

We worked with the Delta agents to find another solution, and settled on staying in Atlanta overnight and then flying the following evening to Austin, Texas, where we would meet three of the chaperons with our rental vans (who themselves flew out earlier on 2 different flights to OK City to pick the vans up because there were none in Austin).

Confused yet? We're only just beginning.

Even the simple transition of getting from the Atlanta airport to our nearby hotel proved difficult. Since the boys were expecting 70+ degree weather in Texas and Oklahoma, none of us were prepared for the frigid snow and wind of Atlanta. In clothing totally inadequate for the conditions, the boys waited over an hour outside for the hotel shuttle to come pick us up. At that point, Rachael and I (the only adults with the group) realized that the boys needed to get inside or they could get sick, ruining the whole tour and therefore the point of our trip. So, I found two opportunistic gentlemen at the airport and struck a deal to use their private airport shuttles (that were not being used) to take us a few miles to our hotel. A good deal on both sides: They made a quick buck and we got out of the cold and to our warm hotel for $2 a head.

Once we arrived at the hotel, things went mostly as planned for the week. The Varsity Ensemble sang at Baylor University for a successful joint concert with their men's choir. The following day, Mr. Stenson gave a clinic on his movement techniques with the university's mixed choirs and director, many of whom will become music teachers in the near future. We took a campus tour, which was surprisingly impressive, and the boys got a taste of the American university experience that is between one and three years away for many of them.

Next, we traveled in our three white vans to OK City to prepare for the ACDA convention performances. We attended one of the convention concerts and heard some mind-bendingly good choral music. Rachael and I had a blast, to say the least. Most of our "free" time was spent shuttling the boys back and forth a dozen times from the hotel to a nearby mall for food or "exotic" shopping at Abercrombie, Pacific Sunwear or Hollister. These trendy Tokyo guys sure love their shopping.

The week came to a big close with the midnight announcement of the Hal Leonard video and the numerous praises from choral directors and publishers at the convention. Since our flight left at 5:30am the following morning, most of the boys (and Rachael) didn't even try to sleep.

By 3:30am, the boys were assembling downstairs, and we set off for the airport. When we called the airline and asked when we should arrive to check in, they informed us that the airport didn't even open until 4:30am, so no earlier than that. Although we had arrived MUCH earlier for our Tokyo leg of the flight, we trusted their recommendation. That was our first mistake.

Upon arriving, Delta had only ONE gate agent that was able to check us in. And because of the weather mix up and the Tokyo Delta employees' poor handling of the tickets, each ticket had to be manually re-entered into the system, rather than checking in the entire bunch of 30 as one group. This took between 5 and 15 minutes per ticket, and with the one agent (yes, agent, singular) there to check us in and no supervisor around to help (until 6:00am), only 11 boys and 4 adults got checked in for the flight. Those students and two adults boarded the plane while Rachael and I tried to deal with a hostile, rude, and arrogant gate agent who would neither hold the plane for the second half of our group or explain what the problem was (we were on opposite sides of the security checkpoint and couldn't contact the rest of the group).

Judging that nobody had come through security in about 20 minutes, we decided not to board the plane and walked back through security to the gate. While we were greeted with applause from the guys in our group for not getting on the flight and leaving them behind, this quickly became a very frustrating and difficult situation. The other 13 already on board went ahead without us.

For the next hour, the gate agents (and their supervisor who eventually arrived) tried to find a way to get us home. This was important for two reasons:
1.) We had already gone through a lot, so leaving 17 of us behind was just not acceptable.
2.) Second, the boys (and their accompanist, Mrs. Stenson) had to be back on Monday for an International Honor Choir rehearsal with Henry Leck.

Finally, using my laptop and 20 minutes of free wi-fi, I found the only remaining flight from the U.S. to Tokyo that day that had more than a handful of open seats. There were three problems with this flight:
1.) It was an American Airlines flight, so we'd have to go through some "higher-ups" to get all 17 of us approved for it.
2.) The flight was from Dallas, not Oklahoma City (where we were at the time).
3.) It was already 7:30am, and the flight left from Dallas at noon.

Try as he might, the lead agent at the Delta counter could not find enough spots on flights to Dallas that morning to get us there in time for the flight. He gave up on the option. Then someone had the bright idea of driving to Dallas. It was a three and a half hour drive, and we had four hours to get there. Was it within the realm of possibility? Yes. So, we went "all in."

Rachael ran downstairs and rented two minivans and a small car, we handed a list of the 17 remaining people to the lead agent with the hope (not even assured yet from the higher ups) that he could get all of us on that flight, and we left Oklahoma City for Dallas.

Driving quickly (ahem), we watched the GPS slowly update our arrival time to earlier and earlier times. By the time we pulled up to the airport, we had shaved 26 minutes off the original estimated time and given ourselves just enough time (15-20 min) to check-in before they began boarding. We ran in and began checking the boys in. For the first time in our entire trip, we could actually check ourselves in at the self-service kiosks. It felt wonderful.

That feeling quickly dissipated when three boys' tickets were not found, and we were told they wouldn't be getting on the flight. I can't explain the despondent looks on their faces, but needless to say, these boys had been through a lot and were devastated to be left behind. Again, we were fortunate in that one teacher also didn't make it on the flight. So, he stayed with them, and the rest of us boarded the plane to return home.

If we'd had only 15-20 more minutes, we would have been able to go to the Delta counter and have them transfer the remaining four names, but that was just plain impossible.

And in a nutshell, that was our trip.

But wait, there's more! Since Rachael and I checked in for the original flight and didn't board, our bags were sent to Atlanta and didn't arrive at our apartment for three days (after many phone calls with the airline).

AND here's the best part. I just received an email from Delta saying that they are sorry for what happened...and sorry that they can do NOTHING about it. No reimbursements, no apology awards, NOTHING.

Needless to say, we will not be flying Delta again, and we highly advise anyone else from doing so. What a week!

Yee Haw.

2009-02-28T15:42:00.000-07:00

The South and West of the U.S. come to Tokyo.

On Friday night, we joined some other international school teachers in playing for an art show opening in a downtown club. The five of us had a blast playing a mix of bluegrass, folk, and even an interactive version of When the Saints Go Marching In (cooler than it sounds). Who knew that a couple songs played with guitar, banjo, and a wooden box drum could bring the house down?

This link isn't working very well (and so far our performance isn't on there), but here's the telecast of the various bands that played that night: Pink Cow Performance . First, you'll see Brad playing drums with a larger teacher band and another smaller group. Then, a professional Celtic duo stopped by after returning from a tour in Memphis. Our group, called the Tuques (Canadian word for a stocking cap, which we all wore) followed them.

We've already had a night of bull-riding in a cowboy-themed restaurant, so this new bluegrass kick wasn't as much of a surprise, but there's no way we could have expected any of these things when moving to Japan.

And finally, we'll be flying to Oklahoma City and Texas in about six hours with our school's top choir, the Varsity Ensemble. They'll be singing at the ASCD conference in OK, and then we drive to Baylor University in Waco for some workshops and performances. It should be a great week back home in the U.S. of A. Maybe we'll bring back a couple of cowboy hats for our next performance.

Brad Needs a Helmet

2009-02-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Brad needs a helmet.

Everyone who knows me (Brad) knows that I am clumsy and accident-proned. I have broken many limbs (including one that landed me in a body cast when I was about two years old), gotten plenty of stitches, and most recently got carried off a mountain in Colorado by a dozen firefighters when I dislocated my kneecap while hiking. For my rained-out bachelor party, my brothers were planning on taking me to an amusement park, fully decked out in pink elbow, wrist and knee guards, and a bright pink helmet. My Argentine host family called me "Torpe" instead of my name. Torpe is roughly translated, "Clutz extraordinaire."

Now, combine my historic clumsiness with one unfortunate aspect of Japanese building construction and you have a recipe for some serious pain for Bradley-san. Since moving to Japan, I have literally hit my head at least 50 times.

Entering/exiting the train.

Stumbling to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Walking into our house.

Getting out of the shower.

Making copies at school.

Entering Rachael's classroom.

It seems that wherever I go, my head only clears doorways by mere inches, or in many other cases, it doesn't clear and I end up with an egg on my head. Who knows how much damage I've caused to my poor skull since moving here, but it has certainly been frustrating at times.

Worst of all is that you think I'd learn from my mistakes. The main reason I haven't, or actually can't, is that I'm working on my posture thanks to some strong advice from our chiropractor in Minnesota. Either I sacrifice my posture by crouching over when I walk around our apartment or pass through a doorway, or I stand up straight and crack my head on a doorway or low ceiling.

This is one Catch-22 I was not expecting this year.

Kamakura, Japan- Day 2

2009-02-22T05:33:00.000-07:00

We woke up to the sound of rain, cozy on the tatami floor of our room at the Hotel New Kamakura. Normally we love the sound of rain, but we had a big day planned of temple viewing, hiking, and taking photos with my new camera, so we were both a bit disappointed that it might all be rained out. Fortunately, after a nice breakfast in the town square and a short shopping trip to buy two new umbrellas, the rain slowed and eventually stopped.

Rather than start our tour near the hotel and move out, we took the train one stop to the north, and spent the rest of our day working our way back to town. We started at the Engakuji temple, followed by Tokeiji and Jochiji. At each temple, we felt immediately transported to another world. Pink and white plum blossoms were blooming, giving a fresh vibe to the ancient and almost alien buildings. To say that we were in awe would totally understate the sense of smallness we felt standing in the midst of these temples. The buildings have stood for nearly a thousand years, and many thousands of devoted worshipers have surely visited them.

After touring a few temples (full slideshow below), we found our way to the “Daibutsu hiking course,” a hike through the hills and forests of Kamakura to the steps of the Daibutsu. Though muddy from the rain earlier in the day, the hike was fantastic, and we veered off at the end to a very special temple since we had already visited the Daibutsu.

This temple, called Hasedera, is particularly special because it is a pilgrimage spot for many mothers and fathers who have lost children due to complications at birth, illness, or abortion. Each visitor to the temple can dedicate a small figurine to a lost child. Before Rachael and Rebecca were born, her parents lost two daughters that were born prematurely. This in mind, Rachael wrote the names of Marie and Christine on two figurines and placed them among the hundreds of others in the cave.

To finish off our grand tour of Kamakura, we walked a few more blocks past the Hasedera temple to the coast right in time for the sunset. The waves were frequent and high; so many people were out surfing in the cold water and doing some sort of activity involving surfboards and paddles. From the beach, we walked to a nearby train station and rode a few stops back to the center of town. We ended the night with a new restaurant experience. At “Horetaro,” we cooked our own Japanese pancakes and noodles on a grill at our table. Rather than using plain batter, guests order ingredients like beef, wasabi, squid, shrimp, etc., and they are mixed in with the batter. Once they are done cooking, the pancakes are topped with all sorts of sauces and spices. We were stuffed to the brim when we left, so a visit to the local ice cream shop for some orange sherbet was definitely needed to settle our stomachs.

All in all, the sounds of Kamakura were peaceful and lively, the sights were awe-inspiring, and the food was some of the best we’ve had yet in Japan. We would go back in a heartbeat, especially now that we know such a treasure is just a short train ride from our home in Tokyo.

SLIDESHOW!

Kamakura, Japan

Kamakura, Japan- Day 1

2009-02-22T01:52:00.000-07:00

This past week, we had two days off from school and decided to use them to get out of Tokyo and see another part of Japan. We looked at possibilities for day trips: Kyoto, better in cherry blossom season; Nikko, lots of history and good location; Hakone, great views of Mt. Fuji; and Kamakura, over 60 temples and a very large Buddha.

Needless to say, we went for the giant Buddha.

On Thursday morning we packed a couple outfits, grabbed the camera bag and left for the station. The commute, navigated by Rachael and her iPhone, was surprisingly easy, and only required one transfer between our home station and our final destination. We arrived in Kamakura around 11am, and went straight to the hotel. Since it was in plain view from the train platform, we found it easily, paid for the room (up front and in cash), and left our bags to go exploring.

The only problem was that we didn’t really have a solid plan for what we wanted to explore yet. So, we walked to the main square in town and ran into a very nice gentleman who handed us a tourist map. We’re still puzzled as to how he knew we were tourists. Could it have been the shiny new camera around Brad’s neck, the Obama '08 hat, or the fact that we were wandering aimlessly with puzzled stares on our faces? He highlighted some common stops on the map and we recognized a few of the interesting sights we had read about before making the trip. Then, we stopped in a café for a couple of lattes and a tasty version of a pig in a blanket (the blanket being a delicious French pastry).

Since the weather was nice and we knew we wanted to see the giant Buddha, called the Daibutsu (die-boot-suh), we set off in the general direction of the temple that houses the huge statue. The next 30 minutes were a mixture of looking for signs, rechecking the map, asking a couple locals for directions, and taking random photos of the quaint little town in which we found ourselves.

As we walked around, the lively but quiet, small town feel was very familiar to both of us. We couldn’t pin it down at first, but both knew it didn’t remind us of a location in the States. Later, we decided it felt very similar to the beach town in Argentina where we got engaged, Mar del Plata. People were more laid back, and we continually laughed as schoolchildren and adults alike laughed loudly with their friends. In Tokyo, kids talk to one another, but there was just something much more relaxed and free about the way people interacted here. It’s hard to describe in words, but we both sensed a real difference between Kamakura public life and the Tokyo culture we’re now accustomed to.

Back to our journey.

After a half hour walk, we arrived at the Daibutsu. Being Thursday it was relatively empty, so we were able to truly take in the majestic yet austere beauty of this massive bronze sculpture. The entire temple area was meticulously clean, symmetrical and peaceful. We walked around, took several photos, and even were able to go inside the hollow sculpture through an underground staircase. We hope you can get a sense of the temple and structure through the photos in the slideshow below.

The Daibutsu has a long and interesting history, but here’s the Cliff’s-notes version:
The "Great Buddha" of Kamakura is a bronze statue of Amida Buddha, and is now located outside on the grounds of the Kotokuin Temple. It is the second largest bronze Buddha statue in Japan, and is over 13 meters (43 ft) tall. It was cast in 1252 and was formerly housed inside a large temple hall before the building was washed away by a tsunami tidal wave in the end of the 15th century.

Once we had thoroughly explored the Daibutsu and surrounding grounds, we set off once again for the hotel. Navigating the walk home was much easier, and we took note of restaurants and shopping areas to revisit later on. Please read Rachael’s “food blog” about the rice balls and purple potato products that we enjoyed on the way home, but suffice it to say that purple sweet potato ice cream and purple sweet potato chips are deeeeelicious.

By the time we arrived at the hotel, we were both so exhausted that we pulled out a few layers of futon from the closet and laid down for a few minutes. We ended up sleeping for two hours and apparently needed the R & R after both having been sick and putting in a lot of extra hours at work and church lately.

Since it was late enough for dinner, we ventured over towards the town square again and found a great restaurant above the train station. The food was richly flavored and beautifully presented. Again, see Rachael’s blog about Kamakura food here: TokyoTerrace.

With full stomachs and tired legs, we retired to the hotel and spent our first night sleeping on tatami mats. In case you’re curious, it was wonderful, and we recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who ever has the opportunity. And that was just our first day…

SLIDESHOW

Kamakura, Japan

Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Brad and I celebrated our 4th Valentine's Day together. The weather was ridiculously warm (60 degrees), so we spent much of the day on our bikes. Brad surprised me with a beautiful blue bike for Valentine's Day, so I was especially excited to ride around!

We started out by biking to the grocery store and picking up ingredients for our delicious Valentine's Day dinner. Then, we came home and did some chores (sadly enough, we consider this incredibly valuable and somewhat exciting). After we finished cleaning, we took our bicycles down to the Tama River to enjoy some more of the sunshine. We saw people out with their dogs, watched some baseball games and enjoyed some fresh air.

When we got home from our bike ride, the sun was just setting. We made some guacamole, poured a couple glasses of white wine, and sat on our roof top balcony to watch the sun set behind Mt. Fuji.

Once the sun went down, we began making dinner together. The night ended with some Wii competition (which I won, just for the record).

While I don't think that Valentine's Day is the most important holiday, especially since it has turned into a largely consumer driven holiday, I think it is a good reason for us to stop and remember the people we love, romantically or otherwise. With all of the terrible things going on in this world, the last thing I want to do is take those I care about for granted. Life is too short.

That's my two cents for today.

Sending love to you all,

Rachael and Brad

Check out our slide show by clicking on the photo below:

Valentine's 09

Fun with our new camera

2009-02-15T23:27:00.000-07:00

After years of hoping, waiting, and saving, along with some helpful contributions from our family, we finally bought a nice digital SLR camera. Throughout the weekend, we used it to capture some of the sights around our neighborhood here in Tokyo.

There are photos from a massive park that lines the Tamagawa river, about a half mile from our home. People were outside on Saturday afternoon, as the temperature was at its warmest yet this year (around 60 degrees), riding bikes, playing baseball, soccer, and tennis, and spending time with friends and family. The rest of the photos are from a nearby restaurant, where we met some of our teacher friends for a few bites on Sunday night.

This weekend was a welcomed break from the cold, dreary clouds of the past weeks, and from both of us coughing day and night from our colds. I'm sure we'll have plenty more photos coming next week, after our visit to Kamakura (see below).

Canon Fun

Functional fluency...in Japanese? Really?

2009-02-13T05:02:00.001-07:00

After months of studying sessions, listening to people on the subway and at school, and working with my wonderful tutor, Shingo-san, I just booked a hotel reservation completely in Japanese.

That...was...awesome.

For our upcoming two-day break, we wanted to travel to a nearby town called Kamakura, but found a total dearth of hotels available with online booking, especially the more traditional style of Japanese hotel/inn called a "ryokan." So, we did a little research and found some great reviews of a certain ryokan there, and got their phone number.

Imagine if you were to just call up a small hotel in China to make a reservation...what would you say? How on earth would you express that you needed a room for two for two nights, give them your name and phone number, and confirm the total cost, all without using English? I felt a little more prepared calling a Japanese hotel than I would in Chinese one, but I was still a little nervous.

During the call, random lessons from the past few months popped into my head, and phrases just spilled out in response to his questions. "Yes, two people." "No, next Thursday, not Tuesday." "15,000 yen? Sounds great." "A Japanese style room, not a Western-style one." "Yes, please."

The call ended with the hilarious string of goodbyes common to phone calls here. In English, I think it goes something like this: "Thank you (with honor). Excuse me. Thank you. Good bye. Bye."

I wish we had more opportunities to use this amazing new language we're learning, but we just don't have many Japanese friends and haven't done much travel in Japan, so this was a first for me. Who knows, maybe we'll come back to the States actually being able to converse and express actual thoughts and feelings in Japanese. Until then...kiotsukete and arigato gozaimasu for reading. (Take care and thanks for reading)

(We'll see that giant buddha in Kamakura next week)

Happy Birthday Maaa

2009-02-09T03:19:00.001-07:00

It's Brad's "Maaaaa's" birthday today, so here's a little video we made for her. The Obama mask is a HUGE hit here in Japan, and we stumbled on it after reading about the fad in a Reuters article. The Sarah Palin mask is...let's just say...very authentic.

Happy Birthday Maaa!

Shabu Shabu

2009-02-04T01:29:00.001-07:00

About a week ago, Brad and I decided it was time that we did our very own Shabu Shabu. Shabu shabu is done by basically boiling broth (made with sea weed, for example) in a big pot called a nabe. The nabe is set on top of a free standing burner that heats the broth. Once the broth is hot enough, vegetables like mushrooms, cabbage, leeks, etc, are added to the broth. You can also drop in pieces of tofu, dumplings and various meats and fish. The broth cooks the meat rather quickly, so you just "swish" the meat in the broth until it is cooked through. Shabu shabu basically means 'swish swish' in Japanese.

When you take the vegetables and meat out of the broth with your chop sticks, it is dipped in some kind of sauce. There are various kinds of sauces, but our favorite sauce to make is the one pictured below. Our friend Justyna introduced it to us as a sauce that is made at the Chinese New Year. You take an egg (yes, raw) and beat it lightly in a bowl. Add to the egg some ginger, garlic, ground sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, soy sauce...anything you want...and you get a delicious, custom made dipping sauce. Overall, this meal is incredibly flavorful, healthy and easy to make.

So, here are some photos of our shabu shabu! It was so good and comforting on a cold night.

Photos:

Sauce:

Videos:

What teaching is all about

2009-01-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

I just had a great moment with my students and thought I might share it with you.

Even in the middle of Tokyo, with a diverse group of noisy, energetic boys from all across the globe, Charlotte's Web made its unique impact on another group of young readers. We just read the second to last chapter, where Charlotte dies alone at the fair. For many weeks, we have read with joy and lots of silly laughter the stories of Wilbur, Fern, and Charlotte. But today was very different.

These boys were literally silent, with all eyes on me, hoping I might read something else that said Charlotte might not really be dead. "Why?," they kept asking. "But she did all that for Wilbur and saved his life and now she's dead- no way!" Three of them even had red cheeks and tears in their eyes. Anything that can bring a bunch of 7 and 8 year old boys to silence and a few quiet tears certainly must be powerful.

In our very digital world, and this applies nowhere more so than in Tokyo, the importance of reading wonderful stories like this to children cannot be understated. Last summer, I picked up Hatchet, my childhood "favorite book" from the public library and remembered clearly how as a nine year old boy I really felt cold when Brian was swimming in the lake, and my stomach actually hurt when he ate all the wild berries. If it's been a while since you've read Charlotte's Web, or you're lucky enough to have children around you that like a great story, I wholeheartedly recommend you read it again. And as I say to my students, "No, the movie just won't do. It has to be the book."

Skiing Weekend Video

2009-01-24T05:08:00.000-07:00

Here's the video I made for church this week of our recent ski trip in Hakuba, Japan.

The two amazing songs are from a fantastic band called "The Least of These." My cousins, Ben & Josh Calhoun, sing, play guitar and drums in the band.

Check out their music below:
http://www.theleastofthese.com/media.htm
http://www.myspace.com/theleastofthesemusic

Sukeeingu in Japan (Skiing)

2009-01-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

Fresh powder. Empty runs. Microchip lift tickets inside your glove. Incredible views.

If that doesn't entice you to try skiing in Japan, then I don't know what would. Regrettably, after going to Luther College in Iowa and marrying my wonderful Minnesotan wife, I took a hiatus from skiing for nearly five years. Yes, as a child born in the mountains of Colorado, I didn't ski for five years. So, this was a triumphant return to the slopes for me.

What I didn't know was just how triumphant that return would be. There was fresh snow on every run, partly cloudy skies and a nice 25 degree temperature to keep me cool but not melt the snow. I could not have asked for better skiing conditions.

Apparently empty slopes are a signature of Japan. There were actually runs where we were the only people on the slope, or two of 10-25 (at the most) that were traversing the sides of this gorgeous mountain. Plus, the view! The "Japanese Alps," as they are called, are absolutely beautiful and the view from the top was awe inspiring. We stayed at a former inn that some of our church members recently bought and will be refitting as a cabin for friends and family to use year-round. See the photo below.

There aren't many differences between skiing in Colorado and Japan, but here are a few: open, quiet slopes, no lift-operators packing you into the quad (all automatic machine-operated), and you can go to an onsen at the end of the day to rest sore muscles (mineral hot springs).

In our worship with the two dozen high school and middle school students on Saturday evening, we sang about the beauty of Creation and discussed how we had seen God in all that was around us. I cannot describe in words the refreshing quality of this trip when compared to our life of concrete, steel, and fluorescent bulbs in Tokyo. Both are wonderful parts of our experience of Japan, but getting out of the city is not only recommendable but maybe even necessary to keep your sanity in this bustling metropolis.

Rachael's Account of the Ski Trip

Unlike Brad, I have never been an avid skiier. I went once or twice on field trips in elementary school and never made it off the bunny hill. This last weekend, I finally felt like I experience real skiing! I took a full day beginner's class (in English) and made it through the whole day without falling.

As Brad said, the weather was amazing, the snow was perfect, and the company was wonderful. I could not have asked for a better experience. Seeing the youth group kids enjoying themselves so much made the experience that much more enjoyable. It was as if I was their age again, learning something new and exciting and loving every minute. It's amazing what a weekend with free spirited children can do for one's attitude, especially when you live in a place where you are packed on trains, sidewalks, and stores with millions of other people and you see nothing but buildings and concrete.

Throughout our experience in Tokyo, I have become much more aware of the small pleasures nature can bring. Clean air, sunshine, incredible views, and vast open spaces where instead of towering buildings you are surrounded by majestic mountains. Although Tokyo has a beauty of its own, I will continue to appreciate the precious moments we are given to spend away from the bussling city.

Off to Nagano

2009-01-16T01:42:00.001-07:00

This afternoon, we're busing up to the Happo-One ski resort in the Japanese Alps with about 20 students and parents from our church. Once there, we'll hit the slopes for two days with the kids, on the very same hills that hosted the Winter Olympics back in 1998.

I'm sure we'll have plenty of photos, videos, and stories to share next week. Please pray for safety for the group in our travel and our skiing adventures.

Enjoy the weekend.
B & R

Read My Mind

2009-01-13T00:46:00.000-07:00

Last year, Rebecca (Rachael's sister), fell in love with a quirky music video from an American rock band called The Killers. The video was filmed in Tokyo, and according to the band, it has "nothing to do with the song itself." However, the band also says that the song, "Read My Mind," is the "best song we've ever written."

After seeing it, Rebecca mentioned something about how we should try to find some of the places shown in the video while we were here in Tokyo. Instead, we put together a little re-enactment ourselves. "Ourselves" was made up of six fantastic teachers and one loving wife who put on costumes and took a few days to help me with the project so we could give the finished video to Rebecca for Christmas. Well, it turned out pretty well and Rebecca seemed pretty happy about the whole thing. Now judge for yourself.

First, watch the following video, the original from The Killers:
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oec8RuwVVs&feature=related

Then, watch our re-make. All scenes were shot in our homes or the streets of our neighborhood of Setagaya. Obviously, we had way too much fun making this. A HUGE thank you to Kodama-san, Danny, Brendan, Triston, Steve, Jeff, and Rachael.

A Day in Odaiba

2009-01-10T07:07:00.001-07:00

We spent the day touring around one of the more interesting and beautiful parts of the city, an artificial island called Odaiba. Check out this video:

Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odaiba

Ahhhh

2009-01-08T02:32:00.001-07:00

Though transcontinental travel, coordinating family visits, and stocking up on everything we needed from American retailers was certainly tiring, going home for a couple weeks was a nice breath of fresh, albeit frigid, air.

We didn't see everyone we hoped to, but decided a few days into the trip that we had to make spending time with family the main priority and put off catching up with all our other friends and loved ones until our summer visit home. Our only regret? Although moms, grandmas, uncles, or good friends lovingly cooked up every meal we enjoyed, we never made it to Chipotle. They were closed when we went on New Year's Day. Oh Chipotle, how we miss you.

In other news, Japan is still pretty awesome, and it's good to be back. Here’s one anecdote that brought us right back into life in Tokyo…

The other night, we were out shopping for a new camera (a beautiful Canon DSLR, photos will come soon after it arrives in a few weeks) and ran into the former Business Manager of St. Mary's (our school). When we first arrived in Tokyo last August, Mr. Haku offered to take us all out to a nice Japanese izakaya (restaurant). He made good on his initial offer, but Rachael was sick the night he took all the new teachers out, so he made another promise to take Rachael and I at some point. Since we were near one of his favorite local places, he called “Mama-san” for a quick reservation and we walked a few blocks to the restaurant.

It was underground, as are many restaurants in our area. Walking down the stairs, we had no idea what we were in store for, but we had high expectations (the last time we saw Haku-san in this shopping center, he was buying a specially ordered bottle of Don Perignon). Once inside, we realized that this was a place that we could never go to on our own. First of all, the menu was only in written Japanese, rather than the bilingual or picture menus offered by many eateries. Second, the clientele were definitely high-class business folks, and we were definitely the only customers under the age of 40. The waitresses all wore beautiful, immaculate kimonos. In Haku-san’s words, “Here, you pay for the kimono.” From what I’ve read, this was at least somewhat similar to a geisha experience, where Mama-san doted on us with lively conversation throughout the meal while also serving the huge variety of dishes ordered by Haku-san.

A few of the dishes we shared:
- Sashimi sprinkled with actual gold flakes
- Massive oysters, both fried and fresh from the shell
- Fish “shabu shabu”- For this dish, Mama-san created a broth using a portable burner and ceramic bowl at our table. She added green onions, carrots, mushrooms, and seaweed to boiling water. Then, we dipped sashimi (raw fish) into the boiling broth for a few seconds. This cooked the fish a little and gave it a wonderful flavor. We had done this once before, but with thinly sliced beef (see photo) rather than fish.
- Sake- cold to start, and hot later on...part of the reason the details of this meal are still a little foggy
- Roasted eggplant with sweet miso and sesame seeds
- Some sort of fish egg thing that literally looked like brains. I (Brad) ventured out on this one, later telling Rachael only that the flavor was actually not bad, but merely describing the texture might make her puke.
- Fish/vegetable tempura (the lighter kind of tempura, not the State Fair grease ball kind)
- And a slice of pure deliciousness. The fish we had to end our meal was a marinated piece of a special seasonal fish that literally melted in our mouths. We don’t know the fish or the method of preparation, but it was just plain amazing.

At the end of this exquisite meal, Haku-san “took care of” the meal’s extraordinary costs and led us back out to the street. His brand of absolute generosity and constant kindness is well known at St. Mary’s, and as he will be retiring this year, he’ll be sorely missed. In the meantime though, we hope to have at least one more evening out with Mr. Haku.

One last note- Hearing from so many of you during our visit home that you keep up with our blog regularly was encouraging. We’ll try to keep up with it as often as interesting things happen, and always love to hear from you too.

Our last weekend in Tokyo of 2008

2008-12-21T15:43:00.000-07:00

Part 1: Playing catch-up

We just finished the first semester with our students, but rather than leave to fly back to Minnesota immediately after school let out on Friday afternoon, we decided to put in a buffer period of two days to organize our life and get some R&R. So, that's exactly what we did yesterday.

I woke up early to take out the trash and, after getting my fill of the political landscape around the world and taking a short bike trip to the store for a carton of milk, began cleaning. Together, Rachael and I cleaned for several hours: scrubbing, mopping, wiping, vacuuming and organizing. See, we have the advantage of being foreigner observers in what has to be one of the most obsessively clean cultures in the world.

Just a few of the rules and regs: 1.) Remove your shoes upon entering a fitting room, a restaurant, or a home, 2.) Sweep up literally every single fallen leaf in front of your house or business...every single day, 3.) Cover your trash bags in a large mesh blanket so as to discourage naughty crows from disturbing the clean ground that you just meticulously swept of disobedient leaves, 4.) Dust and mop, inside and out, on a daily basis, 5.) Using a warm towel, wipe your hands (some their face and neck too) before eating, 6.) Take all your trash and recyclables home when you are out and about, because there are no public trash cans so your trash is your responsibility, 7.) Place cigarette butts in appropriately labeled smoking station depositories, and smoke in sealed rooms inside of train stations and shopping malls. Needless to say, the list goes on.

And on. Although the task of conforming to these new standards has not always been easily managed, we have begun to pick up on these disciplined habits and incorporate them, nearly full-scale, into our life here. Surprisingly, rather than make life more complicated and difficult, it actually ends up reducing stress, because doing a bit each day nullifies the need to have big cleaning sprees where we spend hours, or even days, cleaning up our messes from the days and weeks before.

Part 2: Masks

Since arriving in Tokyo, we have made several attempts to get a window into the Japanese culture- to understand its intricacies, its beauty, and the unique aspects of a guarded culture that one can only experience living within the coastal frame of Japan. We have gotten a peek through some of those windows, but up until last night, we realized that we haven't gotten to know Japan as well partly because we don't know many Japanese people very well. Our life is an insulated one, working at an international school and attending an English-speaking international church.

Last night, we visited a local onsen, or Japanese hot spring. For the first time, we actually saw and heard couples talking sweetly to each other, and saw families interacting with one other. They actually spoke! All right, I exaggerate, but it is incredible how people do put on very public masks and don't often allow them to be penetrated, especially by curious gaijin like us.

Like yesterday, for instance; I was out shopping and bought my grandmother a leaf-sweeper (a bit of an inside joke- she is equally as obsessed with sweeping leaves in her driveway in Iowa as are Tokyoites). The young woman at the checkout counter set the sweeper down and started counting my money. The sweeper fell. She picked it up, and apologized twice. Then, she began counting again. The sweeper fell again. She apologized again. There was no acknowledgment of the comedy of the situation. Just an apology, and she handed me my change. I chuckled a little, hoping to get the same out of her, but no reaction.

Part 3: The onsen experience

Anyway, back to the onsen. When you enter an onsen, you remove and store your shoes, pay a users’ fee, receive towels and a pretty stylish Japanese jogging suit, and have full use of the several different hot springs and bathing facilities for the day. After changing, we both wandered around our respective locker rooms, and came back out to the front, bewildered as to where to go or how to begin. I had read before that one must first bathe before entering the hot springs, but I wasn’t sure where or how to do that.

Immediately upon exiting the locker room was a small tub with ladles. It didn't look big enough to sit in, and I wasn't sure if I should take a drink with a ladle (like at a Shinto shrine) or spoon water onto myself. Next, in an adjoining large room, there were several buckets on the floor along the walls. Water spigots and bottles appearing to be soap or shampoo were placed near each bucket. That looked like a promising place to start. Next to that room, there was a large older man lying face down, getting a sponge bath from a pretty young woman. That was not so promising- especially for a happily married gaijin looking to keep things that way. :)

Luckily, a kind older gentleman could see I was pretty unsure of what to do, so he offered to show me to the outdoor pools. Rachael just had to fend for herself and try to find us. Eventually, we met back up on the other side of the bathing area, and walked in the direction pointed out by our new friend. Although it was in the lower 40s, we walked barefoot down a magical wooden path under an umbrella of red Japanese sugar maples, past statues and manicured bushes. Finally, we made it to the outdoor pool. We sought out this particular pool because swimsuits were required there. No, we weren't quite ready for the whole coed-naked approach to relaxing at the spa.

For the next hour or so, we sat in the corner of a seemingly ancient symmetrical stone pool looking out on the city lights. This particular onsen is located on the top floor of a tall building in our neighborhood, so it overlooks the city and even has a clear view of Mt. Fuji. It truly feels as though you're in a forest that happens to have a view of the entire city. The water was a pale green, stemming from the various minerals in the rocks and water, and steam skimmed and swirled across the surface. The combination of the frigid air and the 106 degree water worked wonders to put both of us at ease.

We decided that the onsen must be the Japanese fountain of youth. In rural and pre-modern Japan, the onsen was the method of bathing for entire communities. After working the fields all day, men, women and children would come to the onsen to bathe and relieve their stressed muscles in the scaldingly hot water. With the fast pace of Japanese work life, we can certainly understand why the onsen is still a popular spot today. Maybe someday we'll get up enough courage to go to a more traditional onsen; you know, the kind where swimsuits are not only optional but not allowed. Until then, we'll definitely be returning to this hidden jewel, just a three-minute walk from our apartment.

Link to the Seta Onsen:
http://www.setaonsen.co.jp/index.html

Weekend Fun

2008-12-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a fun-filled one. After a week of doing something akin to containing a nuclear explosion with our bare hands (teaching classes of boys the week before Christmas break), we definitely needed some time to recover, relax, and hang out with friends.

Friday night started out with a farewell party for our friend from Lyon, France, Regis Philbert. First, we wined and dined at a nearby "izakaya" (like a local tavern with a nice variety of grilled and fried food: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izakaya). Then, we went back to see our friend "Noboru," who owns and operates another small izakaya with space for about nine people. Surely he wasn't expecting to fill six of those seats with gaijin, but we definitely enjoyed seeing him again, along with the three completely plastered Japanese that were there before us. With the degree to which Japanese people in Tokyo keep to themselves, it's always a treat to find an intimate atmosphere like one of these restaurants and try our best to communicate with the locals.

Noboru served up his perfectly poured Asahi beers (just the right amount of head on top, usually much more than we're used to in the States) and decided he wanted us to try two of his unique dishes. The first was a fried chicken wing that he had stuffed with the filling usually reserved for gyoza dumplings. Absolutely mouth-watering and delicious. The second was a bit more on the bizarre side. Like a cartoon with a lightbulb above his head, his kind and gentle face lit up with a great idea: serving us some specially prepared squid beak. As you'll see in these photos and videos, it was an interesting experience, and one which we both were brave enough to enjoy. We thanked Noboru and our kind neighbors and headed out to see another long time friend, the local karaoke joint.

Check out the videos below for a delightful window into the world of karaoke in Tokyo.

We called it a night after singing for an hour, and hopped on the train to lazily ride for one stop, rather than take the twelve minute walk home. Well, either hubris or karma came back to bite us because taking the train turned out to be a very bad idea. The train car was definitely crowded and stuffed to its limits, which under normal conditions is stifling enough. Even worse was the out of control heat that was blowing enough to simulate the feeling of being in the Amazon jungle. Worst of all, the train stopped, stalled and restarted for nearly 20 minutes in a tunnel. Talk about claustrophobia setting in. This was actually the first time we'd been on a train that was late, delayed or malfunctioning, and we certainly don't hope to repeat the experience anytime soon. Not cool Tokyo, not cool.

(haha. For the record, my lovely wife just said "Uno moment sil vous plait." Yes, in one sentence, she was successfully tri-lingual.)

This morning, we woke up without an alarm and Rachael made french toast, my favorite. Yes, I am spoiled rotten. The rest of the day consisted of meandering around retail Tokyo- in Shibuya and Omotesando- for Christmas gifts. It was one of the first Saturdays we've had in a while that actually felt like a Saturday, so we're both grateful for that. Now that our bellies are full of sushi and lettuce wraps, we're cuddling up to watch a Top Gun VHS that I snuck into our baggage.

8 days 'til we get home! Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment if you have time.


	Shibuya Xmas

Shopping in Shibuya

Izakaya/Karaoke

Japanland Joys

2008-12-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm recovering from a horrible stomach flu that took out a couple teachers and dozens of 1st and 2nd graders this week, I planned on blogging today, but didn't really have much on my mind.

And then BANG, it hit me. Not an idea, but an email.

"Dear Brad
Please refrain from hanging beddings etc., over the Railings.because it spoils the image of the building.
Thanks.
Terry"

Seriously. Since I've been so sick, and Rachael has so far avoided catching this, we bleached our apartment and washed all of our sheets and comforter. I hung the comforter outside for oh, about 2 hours, and got this email while I was at the bank this afternoon.

Once, Rachael parked a friend's bike downstairs overnight, which we had never done before and will certainly not do again. When we left for school the following morning at 7:45am and went to look for the bike, our wonderful neighbor was looking it over with his hands on it, and looked like he was going to move it out of the apartment property.

We really have tried to be good neighbors. No loud parties. No drunken foreigners spilling out of our place in the early morning hours. We take out our trash on time. We keep the place clean.

But for two hours, I put my comforter outside and get an email like this? Here's the worst part, though; I bet a dozen other people felt the same...or even more strongly and just couldn't tell us!

Thanks to Rebecca Cahill, I'm reading a fantastic book about the heart of Japan, called Japanland. It's by National Geographic filmmaker and writer Karin Muller, who lives in Japan for a year, fully immersing herself in this intriguing puzzle of a society. In it, despite her extreme efforts to file into the culture in which she is living, she eventually gets kicked out of her house. In this passage, she and her host mother discuss why she was asked to leave. It reminds me of the horrible sin of hanging bedding on the railings.

"I bow my head and ask what I've done wrong and if there's anything that I can do to make it right. There's a pause...I am, she tells me, a completely unmannered lout. 'Could you be more specific?' I ask without a hint of irony. I don't greet her properly when I come in the door, and I don't wash my bath mat often enough. She once found a stain on the underside of my cutting board, and the maid had to wash it off. I walk in at dinnertime and talk to [her husband] when she is ready to lay the table. I can't help myself. 'But I asked if it was okay- twice! You didn't say anything.' I should have known by her expression. 'Maybe it's a cultural misunderstanding.' 'Not culture. Manners. You have none.' The list goes on for forty minutes. When it's over, I'm curiously relieved. She said nothing that I would be afraid to tell my mother. I can live with her critique. I pack my gear and say goodbye to my beloved garden."

Now, we definitely still love living here, but it is a very difficult culture to understand. On the surface, there are only slight differences, but Japanese culture, like all others is an iceberg. The easy stuff sticks out of the water. But the many underlying differences below the surface are the ones that cause the shipwrecks.

The Fray returns

2008-12-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

Our friends in the Fray have returned with what looks like a promising, new self-titled album. The album will be released in February, and they're playing a small tour in the States now. So, get your tickets quickly if you want to see them. We'll be waiting patiently until they launch their full tour and make a stop in Tokyo again. Until then, here's their newest video (1. Song alone, 2. Song for show "Lost").

http://lists-epic.sonybmgemail.com/t/1164944/3508761/251172/0/

Thanksgiving with the Whites

2008-12-01T04:09:00.001-07:00

Check out this video Brad put together to see our Thanksgiving Day as a whole. You'll also see our home, neighborhood, friends, and the adventure of cooking a 26-pound Butterball in Tokyo.

Enjoy!

Mamma mia!

2008-11-27T04:04:00.000-07:00

That phrase makes both of us laugh tonight, for a few reasons. First of all, we nearly fell prey to a second "scam the foreigners" attempt, at the same restaurant where it happened last!

I felt like saying one of Mario's catch phrases, "Mamma mia!" when I figured out what these guys were up to. Both times that they have brought us our change, they have tried to give us 10 yen (cent) coins rather than 100 yen coins. I imagine they think we probably don't know the difference. However, since I sometimes border on the obsessive side when it comes to finances, I always total up the bill, and have luckily caught them both times.

The first time, I thought, oh it's just a simple mistake from the waiter. But it happened again, at the same restaurant. So, they've got to be doing it on purpose. Are we going to go back there? Surprisingly, yes. It's our favorite restaurant in Tokyo. And its name...

Mamma mia.

One more interesting tidbit about our restaurant experience and our observations of the "politeness" of Tokyo-ites (to the extreme). Our server hadn't come around in a while after bringing drinks and appetizers, so I grabbed the attention of one of the sous chefs who was walking by (I didn't know he was a chef until after what happened next). He stood behind me, as I stumbled through our order. By now, I'm ordering in short phrases that are 90% Japanese and 10% Engish. When he walked away, I noticed that he had written the entire order on his hand...since he wasn't carrying a paper pad...since he wasn't actually a server.

So, rather than saying, "hold on a sec" and getting a server or some paper, he politely took our exhausting order without hesitating. That's Tokyo for ya.

Brad's blog

2008-11-26T04:39:00.000-07:00

Since Brad is feeling a void from only reading about politics, religion, and who knows what else, and not being able to discuss them often with friends, he has started his own blog about those kinds of things at:

www.bradddd.blogspot.com

Yes, Brad + 3 Ds, dot blogspot, dot com.

Check it out and leave a message!

Rebel without a cause

2008-11-26T04:12:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought everything was "normal..."

I do have one admission for the "strange and unusual" category. On Saturday, while en route to our friend Danny's place for lunch with some friends, I got pulled over...on my bicycle!

Yes, a police officer, on foot mind you, stopped me to "ask a few questions." I muddled through some Japanese and he tried his best with English. Basically, from what I understood, he wanted to check the registration on my bike to see if it was properly registered with the city. See, in Tokyo, you have to file and maintain registration on a bike the same way we do with cars. So yes, a Japanese policeman basically said, "license and registration please." Except I was on a bike.

I was actually borrowing our friend Brendan's "extra" bike, which was a hand-me-down gift from another teacher this year. Since I knew I couldn't quite explain all of that in Japanese, I just said that I was a teacher at St. Mary's (pronounced "Saint-o Mary-zu"), and that the bike was owned by another "sensei." He knew the school, which was great news, and asked the name of the teacher.

I nearly said "Brendan Riley," but just then, the other teacher's name popped into my head: Mr. Ofstedahl. Yeah. Can you imagine trying to get a Japanese guy to say "Ofstedahl-san?" On the radio, he called it in, and instead simply asked if it was registered to a "gaijin," or foreigner, and gave up on actually pronouncing that good ole' Midwestern surname. They said, yes, it was indeed registered to a gaijin, and the police officer graciously let me continue on my way. I'm not sure what would have happened had I been wrong.

Later, when looking at the bike, I discovered why he pulled me over. There is a sawed-off piece of a former bike lock hanging below the seat. He must have thought that I'd stolen the bike and was actually pretty observant to have seen that from where he was walking. In any case, that was my second encounter with police in Japan. In both circumstances (the last was during our campfire on the beach), they were polite, courteous, and harmless. Let's just hope it stays that way.

-Brad

Normalcy

2008-11-26T03:52:00.001-07:00

The most striking thing about this week is actually its utter un...striking...ness.

Is it weird that life in Tokyo, Japan is starting to actually feel, well, normal? We are far from "home" and things are still quite different from most of what we've experienced the last 20-some years, but yes, things are settling in and feeling pretty normal.

We check for Fuji on a daily basis. Sometimes we see it, sometimes we don't.

We are now used to walking, riding our bikes, or riding trains everywhere we need to go. We've only taken one taxi, when it was called for us by our principal when we first arrived. You should see my thighs. ha!

We've adjusted to the cost of food, and now know if something IS actually too expensive, or if it's just Tokyo-expensive.

We have finally put some finishing touches on our apartment. You know, curtains covering all the windows so we're now able to walk around our own home in our underwear. Amen to that. Also, we completed our dining room table set. It's comprised of a heated floor mat (similar to an electric blanket, but like a rug), a new, super-soft rug, six "floor pillows" for seats, and a beautiful wood table (about two feet tall).

This Saturday, we'll celebrate Thanksgiving at the Whites', with over a dozen of our fellow teachers from St. Mary's. Rachael and I have managed to scout out nearly all of the ingredients necessary for a "perfect" Thanksgiving feast. Am I nervous for Rachael to pull off all the delicious delicacies that she has planned? No way. Am I nervous for my first stab at cooking a Thanksgiving turkey? Oh yeah. Please pray for me, as I attempt to brine, prep, cook and carve these 26 pounds of birdie goodness.

Yes, life seems normal. So normal, in fact, that we're going to press pause on the whole thing and come home to visit for a couple weeks for the Holidays. We'll see all of our family, the Cahills and the Whites, and spend some much-missed time with friends in the Twin Cities.

-Brad

Squid!

2008-11-19T05:57:00.001-07:00

Last night, Brad and I decided it was time that we would try our best to find and make an authentic Japanese seafood dish. There are many varieties of fresh seafood here that are quite cheap, so we had a lot to work with. I searched for some recipes and found one for Calamari Stew that sounded good on a cold night. So, Brad and I went on a search for the perfect squid!

Near our apartment, there is a narrow street lined with small fish markets, a meat market, and various vegetable stands. The first fish market we stopped at had two perfect squid ("ika" in Japanese)- the last two they had to sell that night. Since the fish is fresh from the morning catch, when they are "out," they're out). It was strange when I saw the squid's little black eyes looking up at me... yeah. See for yourself.

We brought the squid home and looked up how to clean them online. It seemed simple enough, until I tried to pull the head off the squid. Yuck. Brad did that. After removing the head, beak, and insides, we sliced the squid into thin pieces. The stew turned out to be really delicious, but I think next time we will ask the fish monger to clean the squid for us!

Oh Mt. Fuji, how we love you.

2008-11-17T03:16:00.000-07:00

I had to go to school a bit early this morning to get some materials ready for a sweet new science experiment for the boys (syringe rockets...oh yeah), and got an excited call from Rachael a few minutes before school.

"Did you see that?!!!!"

"See what?"

"Mt. Fuji! It's perfectly clear out this morning and now it's all covered in snow. It looks like one of those classic pictures of Fuji where it's all huge, and white, and towering over the other mountains."

"Crap, I biked today." (different route than walking)

Sadly enough, I missed this wonderful sight, but at least Rachael got to see it. Hopefully Fuji-san will come back to visit sometime. I swear the mountain intentionally hides 3/4 of the year. That way, for the brief and infrequent times that we can see far enough to lay our eyes on it, we're absolutely blown away by its size and beauty.

We look for Fuji every morning on our walk to school, and sometimes, when we're lucky, we get a peek of this incredible sight that so perfectly represents the natural beauty and grandeur of this island nation.

Apparently today was one of those days...at least for Rachael.

(Earlier this year, during one of those walks to school when Fuji came out to play.)

Fuji Info
WikiFuji

Paying Bills

2008-11-13T06:48:00.001-07:00

Instead of writing about it, here are some photos of what it's like to pay a gas/electricity bill in Tokyo.

Grocery Shopping #2

2008-11-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Today, after our Japanese lessons, Brad and I rode our bikes to the grocery store. It started out as a completely normal shopping trip; we bought some veggies, tofu, and meat for some stir fry, then we went to the checkout. We noticed a lady at the register ahead of us trying to speak to the cashier. We had no idea what she was trying to say or do because we were too far away to hear. When it was our turn at the register, the lady came up to us and asked (in French) if we spoke French. Unfortunately, I have lost much of my French speaking skills so I was not much help. She was able, however, to speak English very well and asked us where the nearest pharmacy was. We did what we could to point her in the right direction.

We chatted for a while and found out that she was from Paris, France. After telling her that we spent a couple of days in Paris on our honeymoon, she asked if we planned to go back to Paris someday. We both replied with an enthusiastic "YES" and she immediately offered her contact information. She explained that she was in Tokyo visiting a friend and if we were ever in Paris again we should contact her. She was a beautiful, kind woman. Our encounter with her was a refreshing reminder that people from all over the world have the same struggles being in an unfamiliar country as we do. I was also reminded of how many wonderful people we have met during our short time living in Japan. We now have contacts in countries all over the world! It is truly humbling to be blessed as we have: we are healthy, happy, and surrounded by people who care about us (whether they are right here in Tokyo or an ocean away in the U.S.).

There are some other interesting tid bits about grocery shopping in Japan. Seasonal produce has a big impact on what we are able to buy. There are very few vegetables that are available to purchase right now because Japan does not heavily import from other countries. Pumpkins (not the orange kind, the green kind) are readily available, as well as mushrooms, leeks, cabbage, carrots and potatoes (including sweet potatoes). Importing can be nice because it makes a wide variety of produce readily available, but the impact it has on the environment is astonishing. It is a relief to know that we are buying food that is grown right here in Japan.

If it isn't the seasonal aspect making grocery shopping difficult, it is the price. We paid nearly $8.00 for a bag of shredded cheddar cheese the other day. Yikes.

Fall Break

2008-11-06T03:45:00.001-07:00

This weekend was officially our fall break at St. Mary’s, so many of our friends here traveled within Japan to places like Okinawa and Kagoshima, and others went to nearby hot spots like Guam to get some R & R.

Rachael definitely needed some R & R as she got over her third cold of our short time here in Japan. Rather than traveling, we spent time here in Setagaya-ku, and had a few fun adventures.

First, we continued our Japanese lessons with our tutor “Shingo-san.” Here is a photo of our homework for this week.

We’re working on phrases like: Whose pencil is that (Dare no enpitsu deska)? That’s Rachael’s pencil (Korewa Rachael-san no enpitsu des). This isn’t my watch (Watashi no tokei ja arimasen). I eat rice (Watashi wa gohan o tabemasu). etc. It’s definitely a difficult language to learn, especially with the complexity of the written characters and alphabets, but knowing a few phrases is already helping give us some much needed confidence in the public sphere. It is also reminding us of how incredibly difficult it is to learn another language- the amount of time, the financial cost, and the exhaustion of studying alien-looking letters and words for hours on end. It’ll certainly make you reconsider looking down on anyone else for not being able to speak a particular language, as is often central to debates about immigration in the States.

Later on, Brad and our friend Brendan went downtown to check out some thrift stores, and new/used vintage clothing stores. Unconfirmed sources have indicated that Brad also stopped excitedly at a Wendy’s and ordered a heart-attack-on-a-bun (Double cheeseburger with bacon). As far as cool new Tokyo clothes go, we’ve limited ourselves to one new clothing purchase a month, so here are the October purchases. Boots for Rachael and a sweaterish thing for Bradley.

Tokyo style is similar to New York, but bizarre in its own subtle ways too (women are often dressed in scandalous short skirts and high boots or frumpy, unflattering potato sack type shirts). We ended that night with a rich and hearty beef stew with a red wine base. My gosh this woman can cook!

On Saturday, we talked to the fam on Skype for a while and finally showed them our apartment (since Brad bought a 30m LAN cable for our internet). After chatting for a few hours, we went to the famous Tsukiji fish market. The market opens quite early in the morning (4am), so we just went to see the area and check out the outdoor market that surrounds the bustling fish market. Here are some shots of the area- fresh sea creatures of all types, beautiful knives, and various other food-related stands. After touring around a bit, we stopped for a delicious lunch at a sushi restaurant. Here’s the cool part: Besides having some of the freshest sushi we’ve ever had, we actually were able to read the word “sushi” in hiragana (one of the Japanese alphabets)! Woo hoo! Guess the lessons have paid off.

In the afternoon, we stopped by our church to help out with a small event for kids from a local orphanage. There were games, treats, and even a magician that wasn’t half bad. From there, we met some friends at TGIFridays and went to see a fantastic documentary film about the creation of the Broadway production, “A Chorus Line.”

Sunday, we worked on grading and papers, and Brad played drums for the evening church service. All in all, it was a nice weekend to catch up on sleep, see a few new things, and spend some time with friends.

Change

2008-11-05T03:40:00.000-07:00

We’ve largely avoided writing about politics on this blog, but when both of us have been brought to joyful tears by the events of a day, it’s probably time to reflect a little.

Watching John McCain and Barack Obama give their respective speeches tonight reminded us of how great our country is. We are lucky enough to be led by such incredible leaders as these two men, and to exercise the amazing privilege of voting for our chosen leader. Senator McCain showed his true spirit tonight, as a man of integrity that has given everything he has to the service of his country. And as McCain said himself, America “spoke clearly” to usher in Mr. Obama, a brilliant, energetic, eloquent, steady, inspirational new leader, as the 44th President of the United States.

"Canvassing" the streets of northern Iowa before the caucus/Our Obama "House Party"

For the last couple years, we have worked diligently on the behalf of this historic campaign, and couldn’t be more proud to have been a part of it all. Although no leader or president is perfect, this man will indeed bring a needed change to the United States of America. My third grade students perceptively noted last year that he “doesn’t look like all the other presidents,” and that is not insignificant. It is not by accident that this barrier has been shattered- America has been transformed, and this is merely evidence of that shift. America still has a long way to go, but it continues to advance towards the goal of being a more perfect Union. Tonight pushed that ideal several steps forward.

In the words of Hillary Clinton, “In quiet, solitary acts of citizenship, American voters gave voice to their hopes and their values, voted for change, and refused to be invisible any longer.”

Now, we will pray for this man, who literally has the weight of the world on his shoulders. We will pray that he makes wise decisions after seeking wise counsel. We will pray that he is kept safe from those whose hatred blinds them to attempt to hurt him. We will pray that Americans’ renewed passion and engagement will sustain us through the tough times ahead.

Senator Obama’s candidacy was guided by the phrase “Change We Can Believe In.” We do believe in the potential for this man to be a truly great president, and for him to turn around our country from the disaster of the Bush Administration. This is just the beginning, but what an incredible day this has been for our country. Simply amazing.

Waiting for primary results with Mayor Rybak. / Working hard for our country!

Emceeing a fundraiser in Minneapolis/ Meeting Barack in Iowa

Obama visits the Twin Cities/ Putting my arm around our next president

President-elect Obama taking time for a photo with volunteers

House Guest with a Message to Share

2008-10-30T21:29:00.000-06:00

Usually, in the early hours of the morning, I sit at my computer, opening 10-15 tabs of interesting news stories while music or MPR blares from the speakers. This morning though, I didn’t feel the need to do either one. That’s because Rev. George Kwame Koomson, a pastor and teacher from Ghana, was humming old hymns while he ironed his suit for church in our kitchen.

Reverend Koomson stayed with us for one night, and we talked for several hours over some delicious home-cooked goodness from Rachael Ray…I mean Rachael White. Along with about 20 others from all over Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, Rev. Koomson is living and learning at the Asian Rural Institute, a fantastic organization located here in Japan. Our church has apparently been supporting ARI for close to 40 years, so it was nice to be able to participate in a long-held tradition of hosting guests from around the world.

Participants in the ARI program come to Japan for nearly nine months to learn about rural leadership and organic farming. Then, armed with new knowledge and skills, they return to their home communities to implement more sustainable farming techniques, and teach others to do the same. In the end, they care for their communities and the land that sustains them.

The Mission of ARI:

The mission of the Asian Rural institute is to build an environmentally healthy, just, and peaceful world, in which each person can live to his or her fullest potential. This mission is rooted in the love of Jesus Christ.

To carry out this mission, we train and nurture rural leaders for a life of sharing. Leaders, both women and men, who live and work in grassroots rural communities primarily in Asia, Africa and the Pacific form a community of learning each year together with staff and other residents.

Through community-based learning we study the best ways for rural people to share and enhance local resources and abilities for the common good.

We present a challenge to ourselves and the whole world in our approach to food and life.

THAT WE MAY LIVE TOGETHER

We learned a great deal from Rev. Koomson, but not just about farming and his stay here in Japan. He also shared about his family and home in Ghana, and we discussed politics, faith, and our plans to have children in a few years.

On faith, we talked at length about the meaning of the Christian faith around the world. In Ghana, most people are Christians, whereas only 1% of people in Japan are Christians. He talked about the difficulty of “winning a soul” in Japan versus doing the same back home in Ghana. Just like the verse that says it is more difficult for a rich person to have faith in God than a poor one, he believes that the incredible wealth and prosperity of Japan (referring mostly to Tokyo) makes it difficult for people to feel a need for God in their lives.

He also challenged us to be a “living Bible” to those around us- something I have been thinking a lot about lately. When we first got here, our lives weren’t that “different” from those around us. Lately though, we’ve been making different decisions, now that we feel much more grounded in our home and marriage, work life, and faith community. That in mind, we hope to live much more as we want to, not just as is convenient because of the people or opportunities right around us. Reverend Koomson said that the only reason anyone would want to know more about Christ was if they saw something different and better in that life. If there is no difference between our lives and anyone else’s, then what’s the point? That is certainly not to say that everything is hunky-dory as a Christian, but for me, joys are more joyful and struggles are less difficult with God leading the way.

Later on, he advised us to prepare ourselves now for having a family of our own. First, he stressed, we must learn to laugh together and pray together as a couple. Later, our kids can laugh and pray with us, and we will be stronger as a family. We’ll we be (more) prepared to share in the joys and hardships that come with raising children. His view of children is that they are not as much sons and daughters as they are his “brothers and sisters.” In this way, he says that his children come to him for advice and when they are struggling because he is their brother, or equal, and not a judgmental, superior father. As you can imagine, this was a great discussion and one we’ll remember for many years.

Here are some photos and videos of the ARI folks and Reverend Koomson at church the next morning. He was our first guest here in Tokyo and we even had to borrow sheets and a blanket to host him, but it was well worth it. What a great weekend!

Bi-cycle! Bi-cycle!

2008-10-22T01:54:00.002-06:00

It’s about time that I upload a photo or two of my baby. This premium piece of metal doesn’t just get me from Point A to Point B. It gets there with a rusty clank or two, a couple sputtering, loose gearshifts, and barely functioning brakes.

Our favorite neighbor, Terry, gave the bicycle to me when I asked him where I could park a bike if I were to buy one. Instead, he said that there would not be a place to park a new bike, but that I should take his since he can’t ride it anymore (for being in his early 80s, he still gets around pretty well). What a nice man. So, it’s not perfect, but beggars certainly can’t be choosers.

Riding a bicycle in Japan is a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, we need to go grocery shopping often and don’t live super close to any major grocery stores. We don’t own a car, and not many people bring groceries on the train for a reason we haven’t yet discovered. So, bicycle travel is the cheapest, fastest, most eco-friendly way to travel and transport our goodies.

However, it’s also mildly terrifying having to dart in and out of traffic that moves in ways that are literally counter-intuitive. Even when you remember that the cars drive on the left rather than the right, it’s the turns that get you. You get ready for the car in front of you to make a wide turn when it puts on a certain turn signal, and instead, it turns right into the curb next to you or vice versa. I automatically veer right when there’s an oncoming person, bike, or car, but here, people tend to veer left. That obviously doesn’t make a great combination- especially on narrow sidewalks.

I’m learning to make these “natural” reactions and have made some progress. Part of this is simply slowing down all the time and being able to stop quickly when I can’t interpret how the person coming at me will shift their weight until the last second. I’ve also learned to navigate the right streets so that I can avoid having to bike in between cars as much as possible.

Before coming to Tokyo, I hadn’t owned a bicycle in almost 10 years. But biking is a necessary part of life here. Everyone bikes, so let’s just hope I get used to all the rules of the road eventually.

A great piece about bicycling in Japan

Our mini-Japanese-shrine-tastic state fair experience

2008-10-22T01:54:00.001-06:00

This might look like any old stick, but oh it’s so much more.

Yes, on Sunday night, we had an experience that reminded both of us of the wonderful Minnesota State Fair. In that magical place called the Land of 10,000 Lakes, for less that two weeks a year, tens of thousands of visitors gorge themselves on fried everything, proudly shoved on a stick. We haven’t heard of anything like that here in our neighborhood of Setagaya-ku, but on Sunday afternoon we got the following email from our neighbor Terry, and decided to give it a shot.

Dear Bradley
This coming Week End(Oct 17/18)there will be a FESTIVAL at the TAMAGAWQA SHRINE. Location: Walk thru the tunnel till you come to a dead end then turn right and walk up the slope. You will see a steep stair on the left side and climb up to reach the shrine.
Terry

Walking up the “slope,” this is what we saw first. We hadn’t been up here before, but a massive Shinto Shrine was apparently around the corner all along.

After the climbing the steep stone stairs (how’s that for alliteration?), we both lit up with huge smiles at the sight of hundreds of young and old Japanese walking around with chocolate-covered bananas-on-a-stick and fried octopus patties. There were carnival-type games smattered around, but we had no clue what to do, so we just went straight for the good stuff.

Rachael’s chocolate-covered banana and my cotton candy.

There was also some sort of karaoke and live music on a stage, and it looked like we’d missed the original parade where several men probably carried these large shrines.

We didn’t stay too long, but certainly got a taste of what these “festivals” are all about. So, the next time you’re in the mood for some deep fried artery-cloggers or something on a stick, remember that Minnesotans aren’t the only masters of this fine food genre.

Lighten up eh guys?

2008-10-18T07:38:00.000-06:00

Here is a refreshing look at the two men who are competing for the American presidency. In their day-jobs, they're fighting in tough campaigns, but it's nice to see them roasting each other here, laughing, and actually looking human. Some of our favorite lines were "The One vs. That One" and "The Housing Crisis is effecting McCain 8 times as badly."

Obama roasting McCain

McCain roasting Obama

If those don't work:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/16/221811/20/481/633104

After this is all over, we'll have a new leader for the States, and will hopefully press on into turning things around in a positive new direction. In the meantime, this gives us hope seeing that both men can let their hair down a bit even in tough times. Enjoy!

Grocery Shopping

2008-10-11T07:16:00.000-06:00

Since moving to Setagaya-ku in Tokyo, Brad and I have tried to find a good grocery store that we can use regularly. There is a really expensive grocery store down the street with high end, international food. This can be fun occasionally, but we can't afford to shop there often. Then, there are smaller shops that each specialize in certain foods like fish, produce, baked goods, etc. There is one store that we have gone to several times and have thoroughly enjoyed each experience.

The man who is usually working behind the counter clearly loves being there. He seems to value his job and love the food that is sold there. (If any of you have seen the movie Amelie you might recall the grocery boy that softly spoke to the produce he sold. His behavior is comparable to what I am about to describe.) Rather than silently taking the items, throwing them in a bag, taking my money and saying goodbye, this particular grocer takes a different approach. He takes each item out of the basket, saying its name and gently placing it in the grocery bag. Without fail, he rearranges the produce in the grocery bag to ensure nothing gets bruised. Again, with great care, he hands over the grocery bag, trying not to jostle anything too much, and I am on my way home.

It is a much more fulfilling experience to go to these small stores rather than the large, over-commercialized grocery stores where you don't have time to appreciate the nuances the culture has to offer.

Bradley Just Voted!!

2008-10-06T05:57:00.000-06:00

After walking to nearly 500 homes in both Minnesota and Iowa in the winter cold, calling hundreds of voters in Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas (in Spanish & English), Minnesota, and several other states, hosting events at our home for neighbors and friends, distributing signs and leaflets around our neighborhood, helping with voter registration drives, being a "bouncer" at the Xcel Center for a large campaign event, and doing everything else we could to volunteer for what we feel is an incredibly important campaign, Brad just got his ballot and voted. What an amazing privilege. This is something we will try to never take for granted.

Rachael will get her ballot in a few days, and we'll celebrate that one when it's her turn. Now, YOU go out and please do the same. If you're unsure about your voter registration status, check out these handy sites.

maps.google.com/vote
www.voteforchange.com

The moon and vanilla Oreos

2008-10-05T04:02:00.000-06:00

Tonight, I (Brad) got the chance to join the Tokyo Union Church Evening Praise Team. The service was intimate and exactly what I needed after a long and busy day yesterday.

I'll remember two particular things from tonight's service. One was a great metaphor, and the other was a hilarious, but meaningful introduction from a charming man from Ghana.

First, the guest speaker spoke about the importance of light in scripture, referring especially to the first bit of the Gospel of John and also to Psalm 119. She provided one metaphor that stuck out to me- that of Christians being akin the moon.

When we were out walking through the gates of our apartment last night, we could see clearly because of the moonlight shining through the trees, giving us just enough light to see our next step. When I was in Argentina, I daringly went white-water rafting at midnight during a full moon. During the few moments of peaceful drifting, we could see the Andean canyon in a totally different way than during the day before. However, the speaker reminded me, the moon does not provide its own light. Myths from many cultures and scientists for centuries thought that was so, but we learned that the sun is actually the provider and creator of that light. The moon simply reflects the light toward the Earth. The moon is not the origin, its more of a vessel.

In the same way, our lives, our reactions to those around us, our attitudes and choices, are reflections of God. God is the ultimate source of unending love, unconditional peace, and uninhibited Callie-like joy. The woman who sang next to me was from Ghana, and her frequent improvisatory praises and shouts of "Yes, Lord," absolutely reflected God to me tonight. I can only pray that my life in some way reflects the One that gave me this life, just like the moon and its light.

The second memorable moment of the night was when the leader of the service, who is also from Ghana, introduced me to the congregation. I had already met many of these folks in the weeks before, but this was the first time I had played djembe (a goat-skin drum from Ghana) with the worship team. In a voice that rang of the deep but benevolent voice of Mufassa (in The Lion King), he held up my hands to the congregation and made an announcement.

A slight grin began to grow on his face, and he said, "These hands may look pale and white to you. (pause) But they are black inside. (another pause) They carry the rhythms of Ghana. He is just a light-skinned African brother!" With this, he and his wife let out a belly-laugh, and the rest of the congregation joined in as well. They haven't had percussion in a while for their contemporary service, and people were very thankful to have someone playing their beautiful, hand-carved Ghanian djembe to give the service a little extra rhythm.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening. It's amazing to worship with people from all around the globe, and I still thank God that he led us to Tokyo Union Church.