Fall and More

Fall has come to Nishiokoppe. The trees here are absolutely beautiful in all their reds, yellows, oranges, and the green of the evergreens. Every time I leave a building lately, I find that I have to stop for a minute and just look around me at the surrounding mountains. It is such a treat to live somewhere that truly experiences fall. Those of you in Texas know that fall doesn’t really exist. You go from summer being green, t0 a dead sort of brown, to more brown. In Juneau, you go from the vibrant green of summer, accented with purple fireweed, to green and gray. That is, if you can see anything through the rain and clouds, right? Here the temperature is falling little by little, right along with the leaves. Ridge and Holt love stomping ‘round, gathering fallen leaves one by one in a desperate attempt to create a leaf pile fit for jumping into.

Today, another marker of the coming of winter was the annual gathering of Nishiokoppe men for the purpose of preparing the local cherry trees. Aaron was invited to join. Happy to spend some time with adults instead of two small children, he happily traipsed out this morning to congregate with the others in the village office parking lot. After a short speech by the mayor (everything begins with a speech), the men, and a few women, loaded into vans and buses to be taken to their appointed section. Aaron was paired with Mr. Kamaya, who proved, to no one’s surprise, to be a tireless and precise worker. They seemed to have made a good pair. After two hours of wrapping trees, the crew was brought back to the office building for a snack of a hearty miso soup. Upon remarking, “lunch time,” Aaron was told that this did not count as lunch because there was no rice, only soup.

The boys and I spent the morning playing at the Nishiokoppe shogakko (elementary school – if I have to learn Japanese, you do too!) playground, then at the village park playground. These photos were taken at the shogakko, and the streaming video of Ridge on his bike was taken at the village park.

Ridge on Tire Toys
Boys on Jungle Gym
More Jungle Gym - Holt just can't get high enough for his liking. I had to stop him!
Ridge Hanging from Bars
Short video of Ridge riding his bike
This is how Ridge helps Holt climb up things that are too high

Last night I attended yet another party. This one was larger. Myself and a doctor new to Nishiokoppe were officially welcomed by the staff of the village offices. Mr. Kanou was also officially congratulated on his retirement at this gathering of about 40 or 45 people. As I have now been to three semi-formal gatherings, I understood right away that I would have to say something as well as walk around the room and serve everyone a drink. My wonderful friend Fusae helped me write my “speech”. By the way, when you read her name, you should know that the “e” makes the same sound as in the word “met”, as opposed to the “e” in the word “eat”. It is a distinction that is important to her. Anyway, she and I are comfortable enough now that she finally just sent me away and said she would write it for me. So, as she giggled to herself, bent over with pencil and paper, I went back home to wonder what she had in store for me. Of course what she wrote was fine, but she sure had a good time! Just to show off a little, here is what I managed to memorize. For the last three sentences I had to look at my paper.

Minasan konbanwa. Watashi no namae wa Michelle Felker desu. Nishiokoppe ni kitte nikagetsu nari. Koko ga daisuki ni narimashita. Nihongo mo madamada desgua benkyo o shiteimasu.

Impressed? I actually know what it means, too! “Good evening everyone. My name is Michelle Felker. I have been living in Nishiokoppe for two months. I like it here very much. I am studying, and my Japanese is getting a little better each day.” It doesn’t really say that literally, but that is the meaning.

It is a Japanese custom to pour drinks for other people and to avoid pouring your own drink. So, if you see your neighbor is getting low on beer, juice, etc., you just pour them some more. During parties where there is a guest or guests of honor, the person or persons being honored walk once around the tables pouring each person a bit of whatever they are drinking. They then take a drink, and both of you say, “yorushku onegaishimas”, or a shortened version of it. This phrase doesn’t translate well into English, and has multiple meanings. It’s a polite expression that asks the other person to “please accept me,” basically. When you walk around, if the person’s glass if full, they have to take a little drink and make room in their glass for you to pour. Last night, it took me nearly twenty minutes to make my way around. It’s fun, though. Fusae was there, so I understood most of the conversation at my table.

Another exciting event of this week was our first dinner invitation. We went to the house of the music teacher at the middle school. She came to pick us up and drove us to her house in Oumu, nearly 40 minutes away. As hostess, she wanted to make sure that if Aaron and I wanted to drink, that we would have the choice. Japan’s DWI laws are VERY strict. As alien residents, Aaron and I would have to spend three days in jail, and then we would be deported if we were caught with any alcohol in our systems while driving. Of course, we would never drive like that anyway, but the Japanese have really taken the Designated Driver concept to a new and improved level. Many times, one or two non-drinkers will drive around and pick up a car load of others and take them to whatever party they are going to. So, when Ayaka offered to pick us up, it was easier to accept than to tell her that it wasn’t a big deal for us.

At her house, we dinned on the floor, of course, while sitting at three low tables that had been put together in a line. This is fairly typical for large meals. The amount of food was amazing as well as delicious. We had fried rice unlike any you have every had in the US, Japanese potato salad, some kind of whole fried fish, cucumbers with miso dipping sauce, and more. One dish was cooked at the table in two different electric skillets. I think it was trout with vegetables, covered with a miso and mirin sauce. Mirin is an alcohol that is used frequently in cooking. We were joined by two other middle school teachers, and two teachers from Ayaka’s husband’s school, where he is vice-principal. Dining is a leisurely affair, and done in multiple stages, as some food is cooked while other food is being nibbled on. The boys were adorable and have decided that Ayaka is their new best friend. She is Aaron’s age and just loves them, not having children of her own yet. I brought some banana bread, which was a wonderful success. Next time I make it, I’ll take a picture of the long, narrow loaf pans I must use in our little oven. They work great, though!

Dinner was very fun and also a wonderfully enriching cultural experience. We were all comfortable and the communication issue did not hamper anyone’s good time. One of the guests was very interested in traveling to Alaska to go fishing, so he picked Aaron’s brain for a long time. It’s fun to tell stories about what happens in Fairbanks at forty below zero! I am hoping to begin inviting others over for dinner soon, but feel a little intimidated by the menu. There is no way I’m going to cook anything Japanese for the people here. I’m not ready for that! However, what with not having a good size oven, I am having a hard time thinking of what to make. I can order taco shells from a place we get food from occasionally, and serve tacos. Also, I could make spaghetti with sauce that is much better than the Japanese sauce. I’ve toyed with the idea of trying to make meatloaf and mashed potatoes. That’s very American, don’t you think? Lastly, I want to try and make chili, but I am struggling with trying to find the right kind of chili powder. It’s funny that I never really thought about “typical American food” until I decided to serve some to some non-Americans. If any readers out there have any suggestions, please post a comment or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you! A nice recipe for Mexican rice would be good – I don’t know what they would think about that, but it might be interesting to try!

Tomorrow is the Nishiokoppe shugakko culture festival. Check back in a day or two and I’ll have some pictures posted.