Moka Rose Garden

We went to Moka to visit the rose garden today. There were a lot of people because most of the roses are close to full bloom, but it wasn't TOO crowded and was definitely worth the trip. Even though the garden here is much smaller, it reminds me of the Portland rose garden quite a bit; even the fountains have similar modern designs.
After the garden, we went back to the Brazilian restaurant where we ate several weeks ago for dinner. The first time we went, we thought maybe the buffet was only for lunch, but they had it again tonight, so that must be the usual style. Like last time, the food was fantastic-interesting flavors. LOTS of pork, beef and chicken, and salads and desserts with LOTS of coconut (MMMmmmm...I love coconut...)

Thank you gifts from my students last year

On my last day at a couple of the elementary schools where I taught last year, many students presented me with origami gifts that they made. Some of the creations were amazingly detailed and creative. I especially like the pair of origami birds with Japanese and US flag themes. (BTW, the school year in Japan ends in March, so these pictures are only a little late...)

I saw a wild pheasant

Some of the schools where I teach are a little far out in the country-this afternoon, I was driving home from school, and I saw something running across the road-I got closer and it was a pheasant! Nozomi says they are common outside of the cities.

Utsunomiya Zoo AKA 1960s Time Warp

I didn't even know that Utsunomiya had a zoo until I lived here for over a year.  The zoo is small; small animals in a small zoo looked mostly comfortable; big animals in a small zoo looked a bit unhappy. (Although even the small squirrel monkey in the picture has kind of a sad "I'm in jail" look--well, OK, maybe that's just my imagination...) The fun thing is you can actually feed the animals and get very close to them. Half of the park is the zoo, and the other half is a small amusement park that looks like it hasn't been changed since the 1960s. Nozomi agreed to go on the small roller coaster with me and said that it was actually kind of fun (other than when it was scary-now that I'm thinking about it, if the park really HASN'T been changed since the 1960s, that roller coaster really COULD be scary...). Fantastic weather and a fun day!

Finally, some updates!

So.... if there's anybody that still looks at this blog (that DOESN'T use Facebook), I found a way to automatically post to both sites at the same time, which means this blog will actually get new posts now.
AND... after ten months, I'll finally post a wedding picture here:

Japanese Brazilian food and steam engines

We saw (and tasted) some interesting things when we visited Moka a few weeks ago...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C5%8Dka,_Tochigi

Sakura

Nozomi & I took a walk yesterday in the park near Utsunomiya Art Museum. There was an AMAZING sakura tree in bloom.

Picture album links

Like I mentioned, Facebook has basically become my new blog, but in case some readers here (if there are any left...) want to see some pictures without joining Facebook, I'll try to post direct links to photo albums sometimes.

Here's a link that I THINK will take you directly to my KitKat collection photo album:
KitKatCollection

Hisashiburi!

Wow-it's been a LONG time since I posted on this blog. A few months ago I got into Facebook, and that seems to be what I'm using to blog more now, SO . . . if you want to know more of what's up with me, check that out. I will try to update this blog occasionally.

Since the wedding in July things have been great. Nozomi and I are both doing well and enjoyed a fantastic trip to visit family and friends in America.

I really will try to upload some new pictures at some point, but that will . . . have . . . to be . . . . . . . . later . . . . .

(P.S. Mondo, thanks for reminding me to update!)

Wedding!

Tomorrow!



It's amazing for me to think about the path that God has brought me on to this point. Thanks to everybody for your encouragement and prayers! I'll try to post some wedding pics ASAP; check back when you can.

Expressionist Art Exhibition

Nozomi and I went to the Tochigi Prefectural Art Museum today and saw the “Expressionist Movements in Japan” exhibition. It was very interesting to see works by Japanese artists from the early 20^th century that had been strongly influenced by Western art movements from that time. I thought the picture I'm including was fascinating; on first glance, the woman looks very serious, but then I saw the title of the picture: “Woman with a Balloon”. I noticed the red balloon over her right shoulder, and my perspective completely changed. She doesn't look like a woman who would HAVE a balloon, so what is she doing? Hmmm.... or maybe she's not so serious, and that's a faint smile on her face. Anyway, we had a great time.

The Date

Well, a new job, moving to a new apartment, a terrible cough for two weeks, etc etc etc... SO I haven't updated the blog for a long time. I wanted to include some new pictures with this post, but that will have to wait.

So for now, just an announcement:
the wedding will be on July 4th at Minemachi church in Utsunomiya
A couple of weeks later Nozomi and I will be traveling to Oregon and California to visit family and friends.

More later...

King Kong Pachinko

Well, that's not actually the name of the pachinko parlor, but that's what many people call it. I have thought about taking a picture of this place since I first saw it, but just finally did. The building model and King Kong figure are actually fairly large. Not a great picture; maybe I'll get a better one next time.

Sakura Soda 2

The sakura soda is delicious-I had some with lunch today! It's very sappari (light, refreshing taste). Americans will probably think "cherry soda = very sweet, thick taste" but this isn't too sweet, it's not too strong, and it almost reminds me a little of peach flavor. (No "cherry cough drop" nasty medicine taste.)

Sakura Soda

Spring time is coming-you can tell because the stores have lots of products with sakura (cherry blossom) flavor. I had heard of sakura soda before, but I didn't have the chance to get any last year, and it seems to be marketed only seasonally. [Sakura Kit Kat is great, but more on that when I finally get around to my Kit Kat blog entry.] I'll post a review when I try the soda later (it's in my refrigerator cooling down now).

Nabe and Jenga

Last night, some of the high school/college age guys came over to hang out at Eriya and my place. We had nabe (sukiyaki) for dinner, and then played Jenga. Well, actually we played the imitation Jenga that I bought at the 100 yen shop. Well, actually we played imitation Jenga and then just started stacking blocks and knocking them down like dominoes.
And flipping blocks at each other.
Anyway, we had a good time...

Friends and a very fluffy cat

Last week Nozomi and I went to visit some friends from church. We had a delicious gyoza lunch, hung out and talked, and played with Kewpie, a VERY funny cat. I brought a cat toy as a gift, and Kewpie went cRaZy over it! I got so into taking pictures of her playing, that I forgot to take any people pictures (oops)!

Tamami and Naoya (and Kewpie), thanks for a great time and gochisosama!

Fun In Tokyo

Last week I visited my friend Mondo in Tokyo. We spent most of the day in Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ochanomizu. In Shibuya, we visited Meiji Jingu in Yoyogi Park and saw some amazing ice sculptures that were part of a display and contest. Most of the subjects of the ice sculptures are self-evident but the one that looks like a three-headed dragon is actually King Ghidorah, a famous monster from Godzilla movies (hurray! Godzilla!).

One theme from Japanese culture that fascinates me is the visual juxtaposition of ancient and modern. I think it's interesting to me because in America there just isn't as much visible evidence of structures that are very old, and comparatively, in America we define old much differently. On the West Coast of the USA, "old" can mean from 150 years ago. So, scenes that show this cultural difference in Japan sometimes catch my eye. As we were walking out of the park, I saw the Docomo Building framed by a torii (gate) at the entrance to the park. This particular torii isn't that old, but I thought the image was interesting, so I stopped to take a picture.

Later, Mondo and I went to Ochanomizu which is famous for music stores. We stopped in a couple of shops and looked around for a while before going to dinner at a tempura restaurant.

Sumo!

I had been interested in seeing sumo since I first came to Japan, mostly just out of cultural curiosity, but after seeing it live I can say it really was interesting and exciting. Nozomi's father got some tickets, I think on rather short notice. Nozomi couldn't go, so I met her father, sister, and aunt at the arena in Tokyo. The tournament lasts for several hours, but since I had to teach during the day I joined them for about the last two hours. As soon as I finished my last class, I hurried to catch a bus to Utsunomiya station, took a shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo and then local trains to the Ryogoku Kokugikan (sumo arena). It made me laugh a little racing around trying to catch the trains; a couple of times I was running onto the platform as the "train doors closing" announcement started and I was able to jump on the train at the last second.

In one picture you can see a wrestler wearing a red belt-he is currently the largest (heaviest) wrestler. He didn't win his match, however; the smaller competitor apparently had better technique and pushed the larger one out of the ring.

The fight itself is quite short, but there are a series of rituals where the wrestlers enter and walk around the ring, throw salt on the floor, face each other for a moment, leave, re-enter, . . . It was fascinating! Another picture shows Nozomi's aunt, father and sister.

I also took some videos, and I'll try to post those on YouTube later.

Kusaka-san, arigatou gozaimashita! Gochisousama deshita!

Lake Chuzenji

About a week ago, Nozomi and I went to Chuzenjiko, which is about an hour drive from here. Even though it's not far, it's much higher in the mountains, so it's much colder, and there was quite a bit of snow. The waterfalls were partly frozen, and near the lake, there was an area where the trees were covered with a thick layer of ice-amazing! People that have visited before, you might recognize Ryuzu No Taki (Ryuzu Falls), which looks amazing with all the ice. The picture of Nozomi sitting on the fence is on the path above Ryuzu No Taki (some of my previous guests might remember that place too).

I'm engaged!

Well, I THINK most people have either heard in person, by telephone, by e-mail, or by Facebook, so now I'll use the least personal way to announce: on December 24th, Nozomi and I got engaged! If you're hearing that for the first time on this blog: sorry, I couldn't tell you in a more personal way yet. Please call, e-mail, text message, or write a letter and tell me that I missed you!

Christmas Kotatsu

Here is a picture of my living room, slightly decorated for Christmas. This is where I spend a lot of time working on music, studying, e-mailing, and blogging (like right now!). The computer and mini Christmas tree are sitting on a kotatsu--I can't remember if I've explained what a kotatsu is before. Basically, it's a blanket covered table with a heater under it-very nice for staying warm. (Check the link for more information.)

My visa was about to expire in January, so I went to the immigration office recently to file papers for an extension. Two days ago, I got my final paperwork to renew my visa through January of 2010, so I'm glad that went smoothly. (It would have been very inconvenient to have to leave the country to renew from America in the middle of the school year!)

Almost Christmas-maybe snow?

Today our school had "UICS Family Christmas" party. It was a potluck dinner with games and some music. It was great to get together with everyone and enjoy some delicious food (including chicken and stuffing-yum!) Before the party, the high school students performed a short operetta-they're been practicing for quite a while, and did a great job!

The weather report says there's a chance of snow early tomorrow morning. Last time snow was forecast nothing happened, so I won't expect anything, but it would be fun to see some snow before Christmas.

Starbucks Gig 3

I just got back from our "live" at Starbucks. (Japanese uses "raibu" as a noun to mean "live concert".) Thank you to everyone that prayed for people to be open to receive the invitation to come to next week's Christmas concert; overall, everything went very well. People from the church came to support us, so the room was full both times we played (and I think more than full the first time we played).

Since I was playing, of course I couldn't take any pictures, so I don't have any to post right now; hopefully I'll get some later. Since I seem to be thinking about fast food a lot, just for fun, here's a picture of Wendy's latest promotional burger: the Creamy Aspara Bacon Burger! (sounds good - maybe I'll try it this week).

MERRY XMOS!

No, I'm not spelling that wrong; I saw this poster for a seasonal item at one of my favorite Japanese fast-food restaurants, MOS Burger. I thought it was a clever play on words. The poster reads "otona-mo kodomo-mo shiawase ni naru (*a kanji character I don't know*)" The first part I understood "both children and adults become happy", but I couldn't figure out the second part. Eriya just told me that the kanji means "taste", so it means something like "this taste will make both adults and children happy". At the bottom of the poster it reads, "mosu chikin pakku"--"MOS chicken pack". I'm assuming that this marketing campaign is trying to compete with KFC, which becomes extra popular around Christmas (that's a long story that I've talked about with some family members before). Basically, KFC in Japan takes advantage of the fact that Colonel Sanders looks vaguely like Santa Claus and dresses up all the statues outside their restaurants in Santa costumes-kind of fun, actually!

Venus Emerging From A Gyoza AKA Utsunomiya's Gyoza Statue

In October, the (semi-)famous gyoza statue was being moved to a new location on the other side of the train station when it was dropped and broken. The story made the national news here, and I sent information to some family members that had seen it when they visited. I thought the situation was a little bit funny, because I've heard that some people really don't like the statue that much. Well, my family members that visited actually were sad to hear the news, so here is the update: the statue has been completely repaired, and is safely standing at its (her) new location on the west side of the station, closer to the main entrance.

Christmas Is Coming

Last week, the preschool students helped to decorate the church's Christmas tree. I haven't posted many pictures of the inside of the church, so people that have never visited haven't seen much of it--this is in the entrance, right by the front door.
Good job, kids!

Japanese Test in Oyama

Today I took the basic level of the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). I had been studying fairly regularly for a while, but the last couple of weeks I have been so busy preparing for music events that I wasn't as ready as I wanted to be. I'm really not sure how well I did because my reading is still so slow. I was confident in some of my answers, so-so in some, and just guessed on more than I was hoping to. The results aren't mailed until mid-February, so I have to wait a while until I know how I did.

The test was given in the city of Oyama. It's on the way to Tokyo, so I've traveled through Oyama many times, but today was the first time I actually stopped there. Today was a beautiful, clear day, so after the test was finished I took a walk around the city. I like visiting historical sites when I can, so I was interested to see that Oyama, like many cities here, has a park on the site of the ruins of a castle. After walking through the park, I noticed a street that led to the entrance of a temple. Even though most of the leaves have already fallen from the trees, I still thought the street was beautiful.

Starbucks gigs

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that friends and I were scheduled to play at some coffee tasting events at Starbucks in a couple of the local malls. Last weekend, we played twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday. Overall, it went very well. Lots of people from church came to support us. The pictures are all from our shows on Saturday. Our drummer, Hisato, had to work that day, so he wasn't there--sorry, Hisato, I don't have any pictures from our Sunday show yet!


The pictures are of Shinya playing guitar and singing, Eriya playing bass, me playing keyboard, and Kaori and Kazuyo doing guest vocals. (Family and friends that received the worship CD from me for Christmas last year, all the people in the pictures are members of the worship team that played on that CD.)


Someone mentioned to me that I look like a mannequin in the picture of just me--I laughed because it kind of does look like that. It's probably a combination of the lighting and me staring and concentrating on the music while avoiding looking at the audience so I wouldn't get any more nervous than I already was...