January Picnic

Callan REALLY wanted to play outside after church on Sunday (the 29th) but it was way past nap time. He still need some lunch though so Joey told him they could have a little picnic on the sidewalk outside our house before his nap. Yes, it's January, and still cold. But Callan didn't seem to mind a bit!

Sail Away, Sail Away

Last week we braved the cold to go play at Callan's favorite ship parkin Utazu! The ship is lots of fun to play on (even for adults!) Although the safety standards there are a little sub-par (or the Japanese a less sue-happy than Americans, and the park's not worried about losing all their assets when a kids falls down!) The park is also right along the Seto Inland Sea. It's beautiful, it's hard to describe what the water, sky and islands look like. You'll just have to come see it!

Joey and Callan are peering over the deck in the picture.

Potty training

We have big news about a big boy who is finally learning to use the toilet (No, not Joey, Callan.)  On Thursday, Friday, and today, Callan voluntarily used his own potty in our bathroom to go number one and number two.  We purchased a small training potty at the dollar store about two months ago, and for a while Callan was only interested in it as a hat.  We repeatedly suggested to him in very kind, reassuring tones that whenever he felt like it, he could use his big boy potty instead of a diaper, and this week he finally took us up on the offer.  

I wasn’t around for Thursday’s big event, though Melissa says it was priceless, but Friday’s event I was around for.  It involved Callan climbing up onto his potty and flipping through a Newsweek magazine while he waited for nature to call.  He very intently turned the pages of the magazine, scanning each article, making thoughtful nods, and occasionally furrowing his brow.  I left him in there to do his thing and told him to call me when he was ready.  I occasionally crept down the hallway and peeked through the crack in the door to make sure he wasn’t drinking toilet water or anything else like that, but for the most part I left him alone, and after about ten minutes he called me to come see his handy work.  

We are very proud of him and are amazed at how much he is growing up.  He is of course still in diapers, but we’re one step closer, Hurray!

Hara-kiri victims?

This is in response to a comment about the hara-kiri stage picture posted in the pictures from our trip to Himeji.

The argument has been made that “hara-kiri victim” is a contradiction of terms.  While this may be true for the samurai who committed ritual suicide out of protest to a political decision, or out of loyalty to a fallen lord, or out of a desire to reclaim honor lost on a battlefield, this is certainly not true of the men who disemboweled themselves on a stage, before a royal audience by official decree.  I think the typical western interpretation of hara-kiri of a dishonored samurai warrior who feels it his solemn duty to make things right by ceremonially driving a short sword under his ribs and through his lungs is only part of the story.  The Shogun and his retainers often used hara-kiri as a form of punishment.  Samurai warriors who had earned the wrath of their royalty were commanded to commit suicide, or be put to death anyway.  There is a great example of this in the movie, “Twilight Samurai” where an old warrior is ordered to commit suicide because of a political disagreement with the retainer.  When the old samurai refuses, an official assassin is sent to kill him.  So while all samurai who committed hara-kiri ultimately ‘chose’ their fate, there were those who had few alternatives, and are certainly deserving of the title ‘victim.’
    

picture courtesy of victorian.fortunecity.com/duchamp/410/seppuku.html

Himeji Castle is located fifteen minutes on foot from Himeji JR station. Admission is six dollars and Photos are welcome. Callan did great the entire time, only suffering a minor fit towards the end, because he was hungry.

In the spring the castle is flanked on all sides by incredible cherry blossoms. We could only imagine in January what we were missing.

This is a peep hole in the main castle walls designed to allow archers free shots at approaching enemies.

Us and himeji castle. it was actually not nearly as cold as it looks.

Another shot of the castle.

This is some impressive timberwork inside the hallway connecting servant quarters and the princesses wing.

This picture is for Mike. It's a real samurai saddle.

Himeji Castle was a fortress, designed to keep all but the most vigilant attackers at bay. This was a full gun rack, and there were dozens of empty racks besides, that once held an impressive armory.

There is a suit of armor like this in every castle in Japan. One interesting detail is the facial hair sewn into the steal face guards. Mustaches and goats must have been fearsome.

Callan tried out one of the massive doors into the main tower.

Here is a view of the castle grounds from the top of the main tower. The long structure housed servants, and then the princess at the end.

This stage is called a suicide stage and supposedly it is where ritualistic honor suicides would have been carried out under order of the shogun. There is a well nearby supposedly used for washing the heads of harakiri victims.

Himeji Castle is by far the largest castle we have been to in Japan. It appears to have five levels ,but there are actually six.

After Himeji castle we took an hour long train ride east to Amagasaki, where among other things, is a very american Costco, and the only real american Pizza in the country.

This is a fountain outside Amagasaki station near Osaka.

THe train ride home was crowded for quite a while, which meant Callan got to try out what Melissa calls 'train surfing'. He spent much of the crowded portion of the trip entertaining curious onlookers who were not used to seeing little white children on their evening commute.

Costco, Himeji Castle and Some thoughts on Primary

The long lost blogger has returned.  After nearly two weeks I’m finally getting around to posting something.  This week has found us enjoying our new schedule and our new coworkers.  Tonight we went over to Jessica Tew and Kiera    apartment.  They are old BYU-I roommates who decided to come to Japan and teach English.  They work for another school in the area and attend the Marugame LDS branch with us.  We ate American hamburgers, Jell-O, potato chips, and sliced vegetables.  Lori and Deron came along as well, and brought there adorable four month old little girl. We played PIT, speed-scrabble, and watched Callan turn a large Tupperware bin into a bed for him and his stuffed doggy.

Last week on Monday, we used the last day of our five day train pass to make one last trip to Costco, and see one of Japans oldest, coolest castles on the way.  We made the trip with Ramey and Kelley Walther who also teach here in Marugame at Gem School.  While Himeji Castle was the main tourist destination of our trip, all of us agreed that even if the castle hadn’t been open, we would have made the trip anyway just to eat some Costco pizza.  Unlike Japanese pizza, which is as small as it is unsubstantial, and is covered in such bizarre ingredients as corn, shrimp, mochi (pounded chewy rice cakes), sunny side up eggs, and Vienna sausages, Costco pizza is large, greasy, and covered in American favorites like pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, and tomatoes.  After nearly six months of Japanese food, the greasy treat was a welcome change.  In addition to the pizza, we shared a polish dog with relish and sour cruet, bought a dozen Einstein bagels, some Kellogg’s brown rice flake cereal, kosher pickles, raisins, cranberries, and 800 grams of butter.  In all we spent about fifty dollars American and couldn’t be happier.  

We’re coming up on six months this next week and can’t believe it is half-way over.  It has been difficult to be here, and though our experiences will be priceless, we will be excited to be home in August and back to life as students.  For now, we are focusing our efforts on being content with our situation, trying to get the most out of every day we are here, knowing that though it is not always easy, it is a once in a life time chance to be here at this time of our lives, with this amount of mobility.  

I was just released last week from the Elders quorum presidency so I can translate for Melissa in Primary.  It is sad to be out of the loop and in Primary, but nice to be able to spend all of Church with Melissa.  I am gaining a greater appreciation for the sacrifices made by the sisters who serve in primary year in and year out, with out the blessings of the support of relief society attendance.  Primary workers really must be Islands of faith, able to float seemingly alone as they dedicate much of their church experience to helping the youngest members in the branch have a good church experience.  Why are the most important jobs also the most thankless?  The savior said that when we are charitable we ought to act in such a way that our right hand does not see what our left hand doeth.  I doubt primary teachers have time to let there right hand see what there left hand is doing, because both hands are constantly busy teaching lessons, encouraging reverence, opening scriptures, escorting little bodies to the bathroom, wiping noses, leading music, making crafts, and prompting prayers.  It is no wonder that working with children requires so much charity.  The savior himself was a primary worker.  When his disciples would have sent the children away, he said suffer the children to come unto me.  He took the children one by one and blessed them, and that is exactly what our primary sisters do.

Okayama Castle, as seen from the river canal walkway.

Tho Okayama castle sits on a hill next to a river from which the castle pulls water for its moat. Entrance was 300 yen (about $2.50).

It was fairly sunny for January, and this front shot of the castle shows how ominous it must have looked to visitors. Can you imagine calling this place home?

Callan makes a good Samurai war lord, don't you think?

This is a close up of the carps that cap the roof peaks of the castle.

inside the castle there is a man powered carriage meant for the castle lord that we got to try out.

No other castle in Japan looks quite like the Okayama castle.

After our visit to the castle we ate lunch at an Italian restaurant on the bottom floor of a hotel in Okayama. The entire restaurant was decorated in pounded tin, includng the light fixture you can see in the background, and this rooster on display at the front of the restaurant.

The train costs 950 yen (about $8.50) to go accross the brdige. This trip was the first time we crossed it in the day light. The little islands and fishing boats that dot the scenary below the bridge are quite awe-inspiring.

Melissa took this shot of the modern art museum in Marugame outside the train station.

THis is what the Sakaide ship yards look like from the Seto Ohashi bridge.

Another goofy car outside Marugame station.

This character was on the train platform outside Okayama station. I think he is supposed to be some sort of good luck charm.

Early monday morning on the last day of our trip, we walked too far to get bad food at a smokey McDonalds, but the bridge looked cool. (the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in the background is the longest suspension bridge in the world).

We did a lot of waiting for trains during our trip, and fore the most part, Callan did a great job of sitting and watching as they came and went.

At the New years get together , we played a japanese card game where the losers get their faces drawn on by others in the game. This missionary is Elder Mitchel, the younger brother of Joel Mitchel, one of my old co-workers at the PR department at BYU's school of education.

Here is Callan, mom, and Dad, with Oda Takeshi outside his garden. Oda is forty years old, but you would never believe it.

This is Todaiji, the massive wooden structure that houses the big buddha statue. This 19th century rebuild is only two thirds the size of the orginal 7th century structure.

After Church in Akashi we visited Oda Takeshi, who was an english student at the free english classes I taught as a missionary in Akashi four years ago. He runs an organic farm in Akashi and he gave us a tour. We ate strawberries and melon, and Callan got to chase a lot of ducks that Oda keeps on the farm to help keep down weeds.

Nara, the five story pagoda.

This is the well endowed Badger statue that can be seen outside many local bars and eateries. It is a symbol of revelary and plenty. Callan and Dad are in Ties because we were on our way to Church in Akashi.

Callan and Dad getting really close to the deer, who were all rather disappointed that we had nothing to feed them.

This is the five story pagoda in Nara.

This deer was the first deer we saw in Nara, and we almost missed it. It was nibbling on some grass behind a fence along some stairs up to one of the first temples we visited.

It was cold and cloudy in Nara, but the buildings were grand.

Callan getting dressed in our room at the Ryokan in Nara. It had traditional grass mat floors and futons for us to sleep on.

On Friday night after we arrived at our Ryokan in Nara City, we headed out into the shopping district to buy some dinner. While walking through the outdoor mall we were accosted by the woman in this picture who was so stricken by Callan that she could not help but invite us all to her house for dinner. Her name is Matsuo, and she was impressed that I could speak Japanese and as I found out on the car ride to her house, she had other reasons for inviting us. She explained that her son had married a woman from Ireland and the two of them were visiting for new years and that her Irish daughter in law did not speak any Japanese. Her son was out visiting old friends for the evening and she wanted to communicate with her daughter in law and was hoping that I could translate. I told I would be happy to and that is exactly what we did. Matsuo called ahead to let her husband know she was bringing guests and when we arrived, she fixed dinner for us while we talked with Martha, her Irish daughter in law. One of the first things that Matsuo wanted me to tell Martha was that she was very worried because her son had gained a lot of weight since getting married, and Matsuo told me that she was sure it was the foreign diet that Martha had been feeding him. In the nicest way possible I explained to Marthat that her mother-in-law thought she was making her son fat, and to my surprise Martha agreed. At least with the fact that her husband had gained a lot of weight. She refused however to take the blame for it, insisting that she cooks lots of veggitables and very little meat, and NO sweets. This news was a shock and a relief to Matsuo was was visibly conscerned about her sons health. And, Martha went on to explain that the real problem was that her husband worked long hours and ate out alot. "He likes Melon Bread," she told me. "One melon bread has six hundred calories."

This sign is outside a pachinko parlor near the osaka aquarium. It sounds like a T.S. Elliot poem gone wrong (See 'The Wasteland.'

Costco in Amagasaki was great! We spent 10000 yen (about 100 dollars) on mac and cheese, oatmeal, chocolate chips, razors, cranberries, bagels, and tortilla chips and we had them all shipped overnight for 700 yen (about 6 dollars) to our house in Marugame.

This is Callan poking his body through carved out hole in one of the pillars at the Daibutsu (big buddha) shrine.