I know it is not right to exploit poor, defenseless, innocent Japanese school children, but I can’t help it. I was born and raised in Cleveland. This is something that I have thought about doing since I applied for the JET program in November of 2005. What you are about to witness may not be funny to those people who are not from the land of Cleves, but it is my tribute to my beloved hometown and a movie that is as much of a holiday tradition in my family as “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Without further ado…
Undoubtedly, one of the toughest times to be away from family and friends is during the holidays. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I think it’s because there isn’t a lot of hoopla around this particular holiday, just really good food and hanging out with people you love. This year, even though we were missing home, we were lucky enough to be asked to two Thanksgiving dinners. The first dinner was on Thursday, November 24th, proper Thanksgiving Day. It was kind of strange because I had the day off work, too. Not because it was American Thanksgiving Day, but Japanese Labor Day. Regardless, no school means more time to eat. Another ALT in our town, Aura, was nice enough to invite us over to her apartment for dinner. Her mom, dad, and younger sister were visiting from California and brought a beef brisket and a turkey stowed away in her checked luggage. Oh boy! All together, there were going to be about 13 people for dinner. Our job was to bring the mashed potatoes. I had gone to the store the night before to buy the supplies, but for some reason the store was closed. No problem, I thought, I can go to the store in the morning. Little did I know that Murphy would pay me a Thanksgiving visit and would slap his law right across my turkey! Most supermarkets in Japan open at 10:00 am. Aura had asked us to be at her place for noon. No problem. I was set to walk out the door at 9:50, when I heard voices outside. No it was not Murphy, but Asada-san, the housing manager for the Ito Board of Education. He and a crew of three other men came to put in our new bathroom window. To make a long story short, after some chit-chat, it was 10:45 before I got to the store. The line at the store was long; the traffic home was horrid; it took me forever to peel the potatoes; the water wouldn’t boil; the hand mashing was a PAIN; (mashed potatoes are not as easy without an electric hand mixer) needless to say, we were late. We got to Aura’s house about 12:40. One of the things that was POUNDED into my head before I left for Japan was how the Japanese are a people of promptness. They are on time and they expect other people to be as well. Needless to say, I felt terrible. I apologized when I got there and the several Japanese people that were there, along with everyone else, were extremely gracious, but I still felt bad. (Oburr, if you are reading this, I am still sorry I was late!) Dinner was being put on the table when we got there, but we had just enough time to make the international debut of a long standing Hudak Family Thanksgiving tradition; the shaking of the butter. It started at my preschool, Appleseed, but my family adopted it maybe 15 years ago and has been a beloved Turkey Day activity ever since. Fill a glass jar with heavy whipping cream, add salt to taste, and take turns shaking it until the cream actually “pop” into butter (just like the pilgrims did it!). The person holding the jar when that happens is the winner and usually gets a small prize like candy (just like the pilgrims did it?!) It was a great way to keep the kids out of the kitchen while my mom cooked. Several of the other guests tried it, but they didn’t seem as excited as I was. Except, that is, for one of Aura’s mom’s friends. In her limited English, she told me that she wrote a newsletter to cancer patients and was going to write about the “magic cream”. It made me happy:) The dinner was really nice with the brisket, turkey/ham, mashed potatoes, cheese, bread, cookies, seven-layer dip, and even a quasi-pumpkin pie.
We stayed for a few hours, but a food coma started to kick in, so Paul and I headed home relax in front of the TV.
Our second Turkey day was Sunday, December 3rd. Our friend Katie organized a Thanksgiving picnic down in her town of Minami Izu. Katie had been cooking like a crazy woman for days before trying to get everything ready. It's hard to prepare food for 15 with an oven the size of a microwave!
I was worried about eating outside, but it turned out to be a really nice day. We had dinner at a park next to a river. There was tons of good food and good company.
I brought the butter shaking here too and it was received with a little more enthusiasm...
It was a cool day, so to warm up and burn off some calories we started playing the unofficial national sport of Japan-dodge ball. Using two-liter bottles of pop, we made a court and had some pretty intense games.
We ate and played until the sun was getting ready to set, then we packed up our cars and headed back to Ito.
All in all, both Thanksgiving feasts were great and definitely memorable!
I logged into Myspace today and this video popped up. I think it totally captures all of the things about Tokyo that are amazing and foreign. At the same time, it captures the home-like feel of a big city. I am intrigued by this feeling. Anywhere in the world you go, a big city has certain sights, smells, sensations, and emotions associated with it. It could be because I've been watching a lot of "Sex and the City" lately, but I am wishing that Lisa and I had checked the "city" box on our JET applications instead of "suburban town." At the same time, I doubt that Tokyo would feel the same if we lived in it every day. I guess you could say that Ito is like New Jersey to the Big Apple. We have everything we need here, and the countryside is gorgeous, especially now that fall has taken a firm hold of the landscape, but Tokyo is just right-over-there! I think I just convinced myself that Lisa and I have a prefect arrangement. But if any of you come to visit, rest assured we will be making a trip to the Big Sushi!
On a side note, I am reminded of several conversations I have had or overheard lately. A lot of people today bash capitalism as the root of all evil. Let's face facts, though. Without a profit motive and free enterprise (cornerstones of said root of all evil), there would be no reason for so many people to gather in one place. Without all those people buying and selling in one place, there is no city. So if you Heart NY, or any other metropolis, tip your hat a little to the rat race, that economic system we sometimes love to hate, Capitalism.
Oh, and let me just give a shout out to all my New Yorker Family, especially those who still live there--mad props goin' out to Staten Island Ronnie n' Alan WHAT WHAT!).
Hello everyone! I just wanted to take a moment to tell you that we appreciate you reading our blog. Sometimes, though, it feels a little empty here. I was wondering if any of you would consider leaving comments once in a while. You don't have to gush about how much you liked it. A simple "Hey you guys!" will do. You could even share your own experiences that are similar. The reason I'm saying this is because the counters on blogspot are sketchy and don't often report actual numbers of people who have visited our blog. Also, like any good book, some of the coolest stuff is in the footnotes (or comments).
Some folks have hinted that they don't know exactly where to look for the "add a comment" button, so I have included some photos for you. At the bottom of every post to the blog is a bar that shows the date and number of comments. It looks like this:
Click on the word "Comments," and the pop-up window that results will have a space for you to type, an identity list, and a submit button. It's really convenient, because every comment you leave will be emailed to us. It also alleviates confusion, as some folks have emailed us that they loved soemthing in the blog, but since it's not tagged to a specific item, I have no idea which post they loved, so that I can write more about that. So, if you really like (or hate) something in the blog, feel free to roll on down to the comment bar and say something about it!
So, the other day I got an email from Lisa's supervisor at City Hall. He said that he might have some part time work for me, and that he wants me to come down to City Hall after I finish at Higashi Elementary School to talk about it. So, Wednesday, I finished early at school and walked the 500 feet from Higashi Elementary to City Hall. When I arrived, Toshi had me wait for a moment while he went to look for the people who needed to talk to me. About 5 minutes later, he came back to where I was sitting and said, "Ok, they are ready."
We walked into the lounge that overlooks the park outside Ito City Hall, and Toshi Introduced me to Sugiyama-San, who, it turns out, is an archaeologist. Sugiyama-San is doing research on the Edo period. Apparently, Ito played a large part in the power struggles that went on during the Edo period.
Back in those days, the Emperor of Japan was more of a figurehead who represented the Spirit of the Country. The real seat of political power was the Shogun's throne (pronounced Show-goon). One of the most Famous, and first Shogun to hold major power from Edo (modern-day Tokyo) was Tokugawa Ieasu. Tokugawa is the Shogun that befriended Anjin-San in James Clavell's Shogun, a book about the Edo Period, adapted from actual events surrounding the lives of Tokugawa and William Adams, who is quite famous in Ito, as it is where he docked his ship when he arrived in Japan for the first time. Apart from making Englishmen into Samurai, Tokugawa was extremely busy during his day. He militarily conquered many of the feudal lords of Japan and united them under one Shogun, himself.
In order to maintain their loyalty, Tokugawa set the Daimyo ("dime-yo"--Japanese Feudal lords, who controlled the Samurai) to a task. He commissioned the construction of a castle in Shizuoka called Sumpu Castle. Each Daimyo was bound by honor and threat of death to supply equipment and manpower for the construction of the castle and its grounds.
As it turns out, one of the Daimyo lived on the Izu Peninsula. This area has an abundance of strong stone, so the Daimyo set his craftsmen to the task of carving out stones for building. Another advantage to this area was its close proximity to the sea, so that the rocks could be loaded onto ships and sent to Edo (Tokyo) or Shizuoka, wherever the building materials were needed.
Apparently, each stone cut by the Daimyo's craftsmen was marked with a symbol, either of the craftsman or the Daimyo's family crest. These rocks are strewn all over the countryside in Ito and the surrounding areas.
So, starting in January, it will be my job to hike up into the woods in search of these marked stones. When I find them, I will have to note their location on a map and report my findings to Sugiyama-San, who will compile the locations for his research.
As they were telling me all of this, my jaw kept wanting to fall open on the floor, but I kept a fairly calm poker face. I will be working two days a week for about $60 a day doing something I have dreamed of doing since I was a kid. The whole time I was sitting there, the music you are now hearing was flowing through my mind! I was glad that there were no Nazis involved, and I already married my Marion Ravenwood (except her name is Lisa Hudak, but she's just as full of fire, and, dare I say, Spunk? HAR!)
So, that's the news. I am going to go play Indiana Jones--hopefully I won't be gored by any of the Inoshishi (wild boars) that are fairly common in the woods around Ito. Hopefully, I will have something to talk about in updates to this story. Wish me luck!
A week before our second anniversary, a couple of my students (Yumi and her father, Seiji) invited us to go with them to a hotel near Shuzenji. Seiji is a retired businessman who spent most of his career managing and owning hotels. He and his family still own the hotel they took us to see. It was a beautiful place with ryokan and modern style rooms. Yumi did all the decorating when they bought the place, upholstering chairs and putting in new carpeting. Here are some pics of the interior:
On the left is a shot from inside one of the ryokan rooms. Tatami mats and low tables typify this kind of space. On the right is a pic of us with part of the Murakami clan. Left to right: Yumi's nephew, Keisuke, Yumi, I, Lisa, and Seiji.
The hotel was located in central Izu, and was right on a river with beautiful landscapes. Japan is an artist's paradise. Unfortunately we arrived after dark, so I couldn't take pics of the outside, but if any of you come visit, we will definitely go over there.
The Murakamis didn't know it, but they gave us a really great anniversary gift. The hotel has a private outdoor onsen. The Onsen is very traditional and luxurious. The Murakamis gave us a complimentary 45 minute soak in the onsen, and so we really enjoyed ourselves.
This is the stone floored shower area of the onsen. The wood stools and buckets were a nice touch. The bamboo walls and wooden support columns made it feel like we were stepping back in time.
This is the onsen itself. It was beautiful to look at, and even nicer to soak in. The wicker screens reveal a lovely view of the river on which the hotel is situated. The weather that day was cold and rainy, so the hot water made it rather foggy in the onsen.
And finally, a shot of us enjoying the hot water! The floor of the onsen was tiled with large flat rocks. There were also volcanic rocks used to make seats in the water. This picture was taken in front of a waterfall that supplied more hot water to the onsen. The chilly air above the water felt exhilarating in contrast to the heat of the onsen. We soaked for about 30 minutes, then got out and dried off. After we made use of the foot massagers in the changing room, we walked our highly relaxed bones back to the lobby and had some green tea. What a great day it was!
Click on the word "Comments," and the pop-up window that results will have a space for you to type, an identity list, and a submit button. It's really convenient, because every comment you leave will be emailed to us. It also alleviates confusion, as some folks have emailed us that they loved soemthing in the blog, but since it's not tagged to a specific item, I have no idea which post they loved, so that I can write more about that. So, if you really like (or hate) something in the blog, feel free to roll on down to the comment bar and say something about it!
On the left is a shot from inside one of the ryokan rooms. Tatami mats and low tables typify this kind of space. On the right is a pic of us with part of the Murakami clan. Left to right: Yumi's nephew, Keisuke, Yumi, I, Lisa, and Seiji. 
