Pre-school Graduation

I’m sorry for being behind on my posts. I have been on vacation this week and have not been stuck in front of a computer (which always increases the frequency of my posts). This past Monday, the 27th, was the closing and graduation ceremonies at the pre-school. It was very cute and taken quite seriously. The students who will be moving up to first grade in April were given certificates and made short speeches. Songs were sung and gifts were given to them, including a memory album the teacher had made. Then, all the students were given certificates and gifts.

This presented a frustrating parenting hurdle for me. Ridge has been so “shy” for a long time, it has become too much of a habit. He stood most of the required times, but refused to bow and wouldn’t take his certificate. It was difficult for me and he and I have had some serious conversations now about being respectful and participating in things. Since Monday, it has actually improved some, since I really put my foot down (thanks Mom!). It will be interesting to see how he handles the culture festival in August. It usually involves students standing up and singing. I know already that Ridge will try and refuse to participate. He has already told me that when he graduates from pre-school, he isn’t standing up their like “those other big kids.” I wish kids came with instruction manuals and troubleshooting guides!

Anyway, we made it through the ending ceremony and I turned Ridge loose with the camera a little bit. I told him he could take a picture of the group of moms, and this is what we ended up with (the little girl is Maya, by the way)
Group Photo

Ridge tried on two outfits, before deciding the blue shirt was still too big.
Blue shirt
Yellow shirt

The picture Ridge took of the hallway

Our neighbor across the street, Masanori, getting his certificate: Little Graduate

Another shot of Ridge

The End of School

As you can probably tell by now, the Japanese are very big on ceremonies. Each school, be it middle school, high school, elementary school, or even pre-school has a graduation ceremony and closing ceremony. The closing ceremony actually takes place at the end of each of the three terms, just before students begin their vacation.

Last Friday was the closing ceremony at the middle school, and then the graduation and closing ceremony at the elementary school. The ceremony at the middle school was especially touching, because this is when the students find out which teachers will be leaving. The teachers names are called out and they stand in front of the student body. Each teacher then speaks to the students briefly, and they are all given flowers by student representatives. A few of the middle school girls cried, and I felt a little weepy, too, since my friend Ayaka will be leaving us.

The elementary school ceremonies were very similar. However, these younger kids were more emotional, and when five teachers stood, I could tell from the gasps in the audience that the students really didn’t know who would be going until now. Previously, another teacher told me it was kept a secret until closing ceremonies. I believe her now. The crying began quietly at first, just a bit a weeping. It quickly became an all out sobbing fest. At one point, the teachers could barely be heard over the hysterical crying. I think all 48 students were crying at one point or another. Teachers were crying, too. Five teachers is a lot to lose, and they were quite good friends. At the end, I asked a teacher if it is always like this and he said yes. Wow. Such drama to go through every year. Those kids were really devastated, poor things. As for me, I was tired of repressing all my emotions and listening to sad speeches in Japanese I couldn’t understand. It was a relief to get back to my desk and take a break (I’ve learned how to download books for free and I have been reading Jane Austen’s Emma during my free time at work).

Last Friday night was the “good-bye” party for the middle school teachers. Monday night was the “good-by” party for the pre-school moms. One of the teachers, Ridge’s teacher, actually, is retiring. Tonight is the other “good-bye” party for both the middle and elementary schools. In a couple of weeks, there will also be at least three “welcome” parties. When all is said and done, I could easily have spent $200 to attend parties (remember: I have to pay to go to the parties). I tried to skip the pre-school one on Monday, but the social pressure was just too much. I’m glad I went; it was a sight to see! Those women really know how to get drunk! They were much crazier than any other group I have been to parties with, and I told them. They just laughed and had another beer.

The picture on top is a shot of some of the middle school first grade (7th gr.) girls after they "bought" one of my apple pies at my English Auction. I pass out fake money when they speak English to me outside of class, and then I had an auction for them to spend it on baked goods. It was very popular! The girls, from left to right, are: Akane, Rina, and Fuuka.

The Long-Awaited Box Arrives!

Hooray! My talented Aunt Betty made Ridge and Holt these awesome fleece tops and matching hats. We've been waiting anxiously for them to arrive and they finally did! For some unknown reason, it took the box over 8 weeks to get here. I have no idea why, but I'm glad it came. Ridge and Holt are, as you can see, very happy with thier new tops!

Here is the picture Ridge took of Holt: Holt

Here is the picture Holt took of Ridge: Ridge

Street View and Camp Out

Here is a view of the street on which the hotel is located. Unfortunately, this is was not taken today. Today the weather is wintry again. It seems that for every day of sun, we have three of snow and/or wind.

On Saturday, the boys and I turned Aaron loose in Nayoro for the day so he could do the shopping. To amuse them, I build a tent in the playroom and we planned a “campout,” wherein the kids slept under the little tent. Before bed, Ridge asked if we could sit around the fire and read books. This is a picture of us sitting around the “fire”. It was Ridge’s idea to use his helmet as the campfire, due to the flames that are on it. Pretty clever, eh?

Junior High School Graduation

For a country of people who frequently feel the need to either repress or minimize their emotions (despite the fact, or perhaps because of, they are very passionate people), the graduation ceremony, which took place last Wednesday, was quite a tearjerker. My position here as a foreigner, and my relative newness to this position, made the event all the more emotionally confusing for me.

The grand event had been in the planning stages for several weeks, I think. The third graders actually finished their classes in early March and began focusing on their high school entrance exams. After the exam day (which is the same all over the area), they returned to school and began to concentrate on preparing for graduation. Last Monday was the rehearsal, and I could see from the practice that this was going to be a very serious event.

On the day of the ceremony, students and teachers arrived a little later than usual. Shortly after our morning teacher meeting, every one began to finalize the preparations. The tables in the common room were arranged neatly, schoolwork and artwork were displayed prominently, and refreshments in the form of tea and coffee were prepared. As I sat in the office waiting, I had a good little giggle at Kocho-sensei (principal). He was, apparently, very nervous about today. I finally was able to understand that this was to be his first graduation ceremony as a principal. Kocho-sensei doesn’t speak much English, but he’s a terribly nice fellow and I like him a lot. Students, as well, were quite nervous.

Soon enough, parents and Important Village People began to arrive. The first grade students greeted them and offered refreshments to the parents. The Important Guests were shuffled off to Kocho-sensei’s office. I spent my time laughing at the first-graders and their seriousness mixed with a silly excitement. Their English has improved enough that I was able to ask them which parents belonged to which third-graders. At the appointed time, I saw the Important Guests (who included the mayor and police chief) filed past us and made their way to the auditorium. The parents followed, and soon everyone was seated in their appointed spot in the gym.

First, the music teacher played three chords on the piano. As the second chord was played, we stood, and bowed with the third. This was a very serious bow; low and long. When a fourth chord was played, everyone stood up straight and prepared to sing the national anthem. After this mournful song, everyone sang the school song, and was then seated. Next, Terada-sensei stood to introduce the graduates. He is their homeroom teacher and has been with these kids for three years. Even the process of the students walking to the stage was involved. The first student of the group stood (they were all in the front row of students), walked forward a bit, then turned and bowed low and deep to the Important People. Then, turning 180 degrees, he bowed to the teachers, then turned and bowed to the Japanese flag which was hanging on the back of the stage. This done, he ascended the stairs and took his place in the center of the stage while Terada-sensei said something about him. After Terada-sensei’s short speech, the student turned, walked across the stage, and received his diploma from Kocho-sensei, who also said a few words. The student them left the stage and returned to his seat via a very circuitous route. This procedure, minus the bowing to the Important People, teachers, and flag, was repeated for each student. The last student bowed to the above-mentioned groups. As he read a statement about each student, I could tell that Terada-sensei was getting a little choked up. His back was to me, but when he later turned, I could see his eyes were red, and he was pausing often while he spoke.

After the diplomas were handed out, several different people spoke. A song sung by all the students followed these speeches. When the song was over, the third grade students remained on stage, and were given the opportunity to say something. Some of the kids looked happy to be leaving. A few, including one of my favorites, Takuya, were having a very hard time speaking. Even I got teary-eyed when Takuya found that he could barely talk. Much to my surprise, though, I never once saw a single parent wipe away a tear. How odd! After speaking, they returned to their seats and we all bowed in unison like we did at the beginning of the ceremony. The third graders filed out, and passed out flowers to the teachers as they lined up for their final bow.

It was very emotional, even if most people didn’t display their emotions. After the ceremony, the teacher returned to the office and we milled about for a little while. The next bit of time was spent walking aimlessly about or cleaning up after the event. Once everything was put away, we returned again to the office for a short teacher meeting. While kocho-sensei spoke, I tried to make out what he was saying, but with little success. As usual, I studied everyone around me to try and read on their faces what was being said. Finally, when he was finished, I asked Mr. Kurata to translate it for me. I had begun to suspect that the principal was announcing which teachers would be leaving, but no one looked affected by his news, so I was uncertain. I was right, though. Mr. Kurata casually told me that four staff would be moving (remember the post a while back about being a teacher in Japan? Click here for a refresher). One of the teachers leaving will be my buddy, Ayaka. Others may hide how they feel, but she doesn’t; I know she is sad to be leaving. I don’t know why these teachers were chosen, or if they asked to move, and I don’t understand all the dynamics behind it, but four people will leave. In April, we will welcome four new people and life will go on. It’s so common here for people to get moved around in their jobs that everyone just takes it in stride. For me and my emotional self, however, it was almost too much. I felt like someone had parked a large truck on my chest. I can’t fully describe it. It was an odd situation to be placed in. Tomorrow we will have one of the many parties yet to come. When all is said and done, I will likely attend about seven parties. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s, though. It will be one last chance to have fun with the four who will be moving on.

On a last note, I wrote earlier in this post that I had no pictures. Rather then delete and re-write, I decided to just add this part (it’s been two days since I wrote the first part of this post). I have recently acquired a large number of photos taken by the other middle school teachers, so I will include some for you to check out. Here they are, with a very brief description.

The students enter

Everyone bows together

The Important People

Kocho-sensei's speech

The teachers

Students, staff, and parents

Ridge and Holt, Gardeners in Training

Here's a couple of pictures of the boys checking on our little "garden". I had actually intended to post a longer post today, but I left it on my other computer and can't get to it until tomorrow. Sorry about that. If you check back in a day or two, I should have something up about the middle school graduation ceremony.

A Short Hike in Nishiokoppe

The main event of this past week was our little “hike” in the woods on Saturday. Apparently, for the past two years, the Board of Education has sponsored a “Nature School” for the elementary children of Nishiokoppe. The village employs several wildlife biologists who, among other things, help manage the deer herds in the area and lead guided hunts. One of these men is Hiromasa Igota, the friend of ours who gave us the venison some time back. He and a couple of what appeared to be botanists conducted this “Nature School” last Saturday. We were instructed to arrive at the hotel around 8:30. The building the hotel is in also housed the “Kouminkan”, or community center. In the past, I had thought that these rooms were simply part of the hotel, but now I think they are not. One large room is designed to slideshow presentations, and it was in this room that we gathered. The tables were arranged for viewing a presentation, and on each table we found several types of branches laid out for our examination. The room was quite full; many of the local school children had come. The back of the room was full of local men, including the superintendent and assistant superintendent of the Board of Education (Mr. Kamaya and Mr. Tasaki). The morning began with a PowerPoint slideshow given by Hiromasa (Hiro for short). His English is fairly good, and he included some English titles on his slides. That was a real treat! The presentation mainly focused on what animals live in Hokkaido versus the rest of Japan and what might their tracks look like. It was interactive and well paced. Ridge and Holt were quite interested in it as were all the other children. He was followed by the two botanists. They talked a lot and referred to a pamphlet often. Holt quickly became bored and I took him into the hallway, so I don’t know what their presentation was like. After the mini-lecture, everyone filed outside and gathered into their assigned groups (there was only one parent, not counting us, on the excursion). Each group was led by one of the men from either the community or from the Board of Education. We began walking a little ways until we came to the Japanese Garden located just behind the hotel and across the street. Upon reaching it, the men who were with us began unloading small boxes from a number of cars. The boxes were opened and they began to distribute snow shoes. These snow shoes, however, were not the typical snowshoes one might find in the U.S. these little guys were about the size of Aaron’s food (maybe 36 centimeters long) and consisted of an aluminum frame with a complicated-looking system of straps. Aaron took one look at them and promptly declined. I don’t blame him. I’m not sure they would have done him any good, even if he had been able to get them on. As for me, I just turned on my “helpless” look, which I have perfected in the past six months, and waited for someone to put my on my feet for me. It worked beautifully. In a matter of minutes, I had two older gentlemen strapping these odd things on to my feet. Once we were all ready, away we went to tramp around the snow covered garden. We went with Hiro’s group, of course. Ridge and Aaron were able to keep up and stay interested while the group looked at trees and such. Hiro was able to provide some translation and he chatted comfortably with Aaron. My job quickly became to keep Holt from falling down one of the banks into the semi-frozen ponds. Everyone spent about a half hour or so examining what we found in the garden, including a very cute squirrel. That little fella captured everyone’s attention for a good 10 minutes. We then left the gardens to follow a path down to the river and followed it a short ways, looking for tracks in the snow the whole time. At this point, Aaron had left us, unfortunately. We had previously registered him for a cooking class in Asahikawa. It was organized by English speaking group in the same city and seemed like a good opportunity for him to socialize with other English speakers. So, Holt, Ridge, and I finished the trip up ourselves. I had a nice time interacting with some of my students and the boys enjoyed being outside. We finished out walk up at a building adjacent to the Yakuba. It is a very old building and very run down. I guess you could say it has lots of character. The kids all traded their shoes in for slippers and ditched their coats in the big auditorium. After a few minutes of running and sliding around on their slippers, everyone dashed into the kitchen area where lunch was waiting for us. All the men who had volunteered to help with the morning had apparently cooked up some venison curry (Japanese style – it’s hard to explain what it’s like) and venison miso soup. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a big pot of soup before! Then men were cracking me up; they are so different in the kitchen from Japanese women. One man was actually smoking while he dished food. Again, the superintendent and assistant superintendent were helping serve food and wash dishes. I love this place. So, we chowed down on the food, listened while another biologist talked about what do the animals of Hokkaido eat, and finished up the morning. I think everyone enjoyed themselves quite a bit.

Kenta Eating Apple Pie

Here's a shot of one of my ninth-grade students eating his hard earned apple pie. It's that unrecognizable pile sitting in front of him. He is the one that I mentioned in my previous post; he is using hashi to eat his pie. You can also see he bought two chocolate chip cookies!

Those are his crutches in the background. He broke his leg (or foot, I'm not sure which) while playing soccer. I'm still not clear on exactly how that can happen, but he's been having to hobble around now for a few weeks.

Dinnertime with the Felker Family

Here’s a pair of short videos for you. Just in case anyone has managed to get the erroneous impression that Holt is a darling angel, check this out. I took it as a joke, but Aaron said I should post it. For those of you who don’t know, Holt’s diet of choice consists mostly of the following: Rice, bread (only some kinds, though), some kinds of chocolate, graham crackers (when we have them), hot dogs, dry hamburgers, French fries, milk, noodles, and cheese pizza. Looking back on this list, I find myself even more mortified at the serious lack of nutrition. He persistently refuses to eat fruit, vegetables, and most meat. So, Aaron and I decided to embark upon a campaign to widen Holt’s culinary horizons, whether he likes it or not. At dinnertime, now, and only at dinnertime, Holt must eat something other than the above-mentioned foods before he can have a preferred food. The first night, it took him an hour to eat one bite of meatloaf. Last night, he utterly refused the chicken. We just leave it on the table and let him know what the expectation is. It’s tempting to “bribe” him with something sweet, but I worry that might create unhealthy eating attitudes, so we try to avoid that route. Fortunately he eats amply during the day, so I don’t think he’ll starve. Dinner, now, however, has turned into a minor circus. Since we won’t give him a bowl of rice right away, Holt spends most of his dinner wandering the kitchen threatening to get his own food, or he hops between my lap and Aaron’s lap. It’s a good thing he’s so darn cute. Aaron has a theory that little kids are adorable because it increases their chances of survival when, as 3-year olds, they constantly drive their parents insane.

Holt

After taking a short “movie” of Holt, I, of course, had to do the same for Ridge. I hope you enjoy experiencing his train of thought as it careens through our dinner conversation.

Ridge

Miscellaneous Photos

As you can see, the snow has been accumulating in our front garden. This is Ridge on top of a snow hill.

King of the Mountain

Here, Holt is laying across Ridge's lap while he pretends to be Ridge's cat. They stayed like this for quite some time.

Kitty cat Holt

Another Couple of Gems from Ridge and Holt

Friday night has become “Pizza and Movie” night at our house. We’ve got the routine down pat, now. Aaron makes bread dough using a focaccia recipe. We use both the microwave/oven and the stovetop oven Mom sent us to bake small pizzas. The boys usually spend the afternoon making their movie requests to Aaron. “Singing in the Rain” is a very popular choice. Holt refers to it as, “That movie where that lady who is Cathy throws that cake at that lady.” If you are familiar with the movie, you’ll know what he’s talking about. Ridge even knows which of our movies have Gene Kelley in them. Holt’s other favorite is “Mary Potter”. He keeps fusing the titles of “Mary Poppins” and “Harry Potter” (which they have never seen and won’t see until they are much older).

Some of our movies we have found at Homac for only 500 yen each (less than $5). They are not fancy, but they have an English option. That’s how we acquired most of the older movies, like “Singing in the Rain”. A few others were Christmas presents. One of these is “The Sound of Music,” which we finally had the chance to watch last Friday night. According to Ridge, it has “nunjins” in it. I still don’t know how he managed to mangle “nuns” and turn it into “nunjin”. Maybe he was thinking of “nunjas,” which is what he calls ninjas. To confuse matters worse, the word for carrot is “ninjin” (Ridge taught me that one).

Holt was not without his own priceless comment. As we were watching the movie, Holt turned around to ask me, out of the blue, “Mommy, do you have a penis?” After I said, “no,” he demanded to know, “why not?!” He seems to be struggling with this concept. Perhaps I should tell him I just plain forgot to order one.

The Week in Review

This past week, though unremarkable, did have its share of minor events. None is worthy of it’s own blog post, so today I’ll just give you a general review of the week.

Tuesday, Aaron and the boys joined me at my advanced eikawa class. We continued a discussion began the previous week concerning American banking and methods of payment. I did a little ‘show and tell’ with my checkbook. It actually took quite a bit of explaining, as Japanese people use cash almost exclusively. This conversation was followed by a very interesting review of some Texas Highways magazines my mother had sent us. We talked about the pictures and some of the articles, and the evening flew by.

Wednesday was picture day for the sixth-graders at Nishiokoppe Elementary School. Just after lunch, all the teachers did a “Clark Kent” and changed into their suits; they were so fast I thought for sure they must be superheroes, accustomed to changing clothes in five seconds or less. We gathered in the gym where a little old lady waited with an ancient camera to take our picture. Each time the flash went off, she had to stop and change bulbs. All in all, there were eleven adults in the photo, including me. Every adult who works in the building was included. Did I mention how many sixth-graders there are? Two. Eleven adults, two kids. I had to laugh to myself afterwards.

Thursday is the day usually reserved for my planning time and my other eikawa class. However, last week after cooking, my class cancelled itself so that half of the members and myself could attend an event at the pre-school. As I have mentioned before, the school year here is winding down. The “giraffe class” (the oldest students) would be performing feats of athleticism – well, “feats” for a group of six-year olds. So I joined Ridge and the other mothers on the floor as we watched the older students leap over a jumping thingie (sorry, can’t think of anything more dignified to call it), jump rope independently, and jump rope as a group. The other students then went to their usual ‘spots’, stood, and sang a song for the graduating pre-schoolers. Except Ridge. He just sat and watched. Oh well. The mothers of the graduates had an activity for all the students. It involved showing them pictures and asking them to guess what the picture was a drawing of. I’m afraid that for those of us who don’t speak Japanese, it actually became a bit tedious.

Here’s a couple of short video files:

Each student jumped rope 100 time. You can hear the others counting in the background - they are in the 20's (ju ni go, ju ni roku = 25, 26)

The kids also jumped this thing several times

Then the finale: jumping rope in unison. You can hear them say, "Ii desu ka?" and the answer, "Ii desu yo!"

The next day, Friday, was a special lunch day at the pre-school. It was a “boofay” lunch, I was told (buffet). This is a little unusual, and one of the only buffet meals I have seen since arriving. So, I ditched my usual school lunch and played hooky at the pre-school for an hour. I think some of the mothers had arrived at 9:00, when school begins, to start the preparations. There were several tables full of food. The kids and mothers who came with them stood patiently in line, waiting their turn. When everyone had his or her food, the head teacher said, “ Ii desu ka?” (Is it good?) and the kids reply in perfect unison, “Ii desu yo!” (yep, we’re ready). Then everyone says, “Itadakimasu” and the eating begins. Ridge was happy to have me join him at lunch and we had a very nice time. The end of lunch was signaled by the usual, “Gochisosama deshita”, which means, literally, “It was a feast.” All meals end this way, except at parties.
Here's Ridge sitting at his spot as the preparations are finalized. http://felker.imstx.com/minigradlunch.jpg

Later that same day, I had my last class of ninth-graders at the middle school. Friday was their last day of classes. Tomorrow (Tuesday) they will travel to the high schools they hope to attend and take the required entrance exams. For some, this will be very, very stressful. My class, the last class of the day, and their last class as middle schoolers, would be an auction. Since Christmas, I have been doling out fake money for students who are speaking good English, or at least trying very hard. It’s just a little positive reinforcement system I use and the kids have really enjoyed it. Their reward was to be a food auction. Thursday afternoon, I had come to the school to use the kitchen. How can I pass up five ovens? I made chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and an apple pie. Now it was time to spend that hard-earned money! They had a great time buying the food, though at first they didn’t realize they were bidding for the ENTIRE pie, not just a piece. This news brought about a bit of a bidding frenzy. In the end, Takuya and Kenta pooled their money. As I suspected, Takuya insisted on sharing the pie. He quickly drew a little diagram to determine the best way to divide the pie, and proceeded to give everyone a piece. The last two pieces were given to Mr. Terada, the homeroom teacher, and Kocho-sensei (what we call the principal). It was a sight to see; a group of hungry boys devouring apple pie served to them on facial tissue, with not a fork in sight. Kenta broke out some chopsticks to eat his. Today, I asked Naoki, Takuya’s seventh-grade brother, if Takuya shared his pie (Takuya had taken his home). Of course, he had. “Very delicious!” Naoki told me. I also saw, today, that the principal had washed my pie plate for me and placed it in the dish drainer to dry. What a guy!

This brings us to today, which, as it happens, was a bit of a personal milestone for me. I finally refused to eat part of my school lunch. Some time ago, we were served some fried smelt for lunch. As I have been forcing myself to become accustomed to eating an entire fish from head to tail (it’s not uncommon for lunch to consist of a small fried fish, in its entirety), I bit into it determined to finish all the food on my plate. Then I made the mistake of looking at the fish where I had bitten it. This was no ordinary fried fish. This fish was pregnant. I don’t know how I finished my lunch that day. It is a bit of a blur. In conversation with Colin, some time after this event, I mentioned the fish with eggs ordeal. He laughed at me. “I used to do the same thing [eat all the food during school lunch]. Then I got over it. I know those fish. I won’t eat them.”

So, today, I had a preview of lunch before I left the middle school. As the teachers were filling their plates and I prepared to leave, I saw a fish on the plate that looked familiar. I checked. My suspicions were confirmed. It was fish-with-eggs day for lunch! I made up my mind right then and there. I drove to the elementary school, found my spot for lunch, waited until the “Itadakimasu”, and then promptly got up and returned my fish to the serving bin from which they had come. The fourth-grader across from me gave me a knowing smile. She had managed to get rid of one of hers. Unfortunately, while I can eat what I want, the kids have to eat some of everything. I noticed she left her fish for last. Then, after drenching it in shoyu (soy sauce), she took a small bite and immediately followed it with a chaser of rice. This process continued for several bites, her pretty face becoming more drawn and tight after each bite. Then, it happened. After taking a bite, she noticed there was a bit of spine hanging out the end. With a panicked look, she made a small groaning noise. Frantically, she dipped the bit in more shoyu and wiggled it a little, desperately hoping, perhaps, that it would fall. No such luck. So, resigned to her fate, she covered her eyes with her hand and took the next bite. By the time she was finished with the required amount, I felt so sorry that I couldn’t help but think that I would have eaten it for her if I could!

A Japanese Haircut

My hair has always been a challenge for me. Whether it is long or short, it is not as easy to deal with as some people might thing when they admire my curls. During my seven years in Juneau, I went to a Juneau stylist approximately five times. Usually I saved my hair for Laura, who has been cutting it since I was in middle school. My hair became a source of conversation and a little bit of worry when we began to plan our move to Japan. “Don’t let them touch your hair,” Laura warned. After living here several months, I have to say she had every reason to be cautious. Japanese people certainly have a different idea of what a fashionable hair cut looks like. Many of the “fashionable” men favor the “I just got out of bed,” look. I swear that it looks to me as if it’s not at all uncommon for the edges of people’s hair to have been gone over with thinning scissors. Uneven lines and crazy ponytails are all the rage. So, it was with some trepidation I approached the unavoidable subject of my hair needing a trim. My original plan was to avoid a haircut for two years. Unfortunately, no amount of conditioner on this planet could keep my ends from splitting.

I started, as you might expect, by surveying the heads around me to determine who had the least crazy haircut. This examination let me to my friend Ayaka. With the help of Kurata, I was able to explain to her what I wanted. Too nervous to go to a salon alone, my plan was to accompany, or meet, Ayaka in Asahikawa next time she traveled there for her hair cut. I would be able to explain what sort of cut I was looking for (just a trim!) and she could in turn explain things to her stylist. She seemed flattered that I wanted her help and the reservations were soon made. The plan would be to meet Ayaka and her husband in Asahikawa at 2:00 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I misunderstood her and thought the map she drew me was to illustrate the location of the salon. It was not. This was to be the pre-determined meeting place. Imagine my surprise when I went to the place marked on her map, only to discover an upsetting lack of hair salons! We stood outside the building, tossing ideas back and forth about how to handle the situation, when, thankfully, Akaya found us and rescued me from certain embarrassment. Aaron and the boys left to go putter around a nearby department store/used bookstore/new bookstore/hundred yen store (it’s a tall building) and I trotted after Akaya and her hubby as they led me to the salon.

The shop was jumping with activity, as it was a Saturday afternoon. It was a very narrow shop, with stools only on one side. To compensate, the salon actually occupied three or more floors. When we entered, Ayaka and her husband were greeted with easy familiarity and there a few moments of excited Japanese as they glanced in my direction. Next thing I knew, I was handing my purse and coat over to the head stylist/owner’s wife, who secured them in a closet. We were taken upstairs and settled into some chairs to wait our turn. A younger man was there, apparently an apprentice. He began washing Mr. Nakamura’s hair (Ayaka’s husband). Ayaka told me he had been working there for six years, since he was 19.

The actual sequence of events would be too tedious to write about in detail, so I will attempt to capture the general feel instead. It seemed that the head stylist would be cutting the hair of all three of us. The younger man worked on Akaya’s color. The odd thing was that all these tasks seemed to happen in an off and on manner. Mr. Nakamura was getting his hair cut while Ayaka waited with wet hair and I got my hair washed. Then I waited as his hair was cut more and Ayaka’s coloring began. Then Ayaka’s coloring was delayed while the young man left to attend to another, unknown task. At one point, Mr. Nakamura was in the chair next to me, seemingly finished with his haircut, but still covered by the drape, while my hair was being fussed with. Then, suddenly, the stylist stepped aside and started the trim Mr. Nakamura’s hair again. It was really quite odd.

There were other oddities as well. The chairs we sat in did not move up or down. Instead, the stylist would sometimes sit in on a wheeled stool, and sometimes kneel on the ground. When washing my hair, I was first covered with a lap blanket (to keep me warm?). Then he covered my face with a small paper while doing the actual washing. During my haircut, the stylist cut for a bit with my hair wet. Then to my amazement, he used the blow dryer on it and cut it for a bit while it was dry. My hair is not meant to be combed while dry. It increases in volume about twenty-fold when it is. I looked like Cousin It from the Adams Family – if Cousin It had stuck his finger in an electrical outlet!

Fortunately, he really did seem to be competent. After assuring himself that all the sides were even and as they should be, he dampened my hair and applied some products to tame it. In the end, I was quite pleased with his job, if not a little surprised at his method. I couldn’t help but sense that my hair was quite unusual for them. There was a distinct sense of novelty surrounding the whole endeavor. Ayaka told me yesterday that the stylist said he wanted to color my hair (he had noticed my highlights growing out) and change my style. I’m afraid he will have to be disappointed, as I’m not letting that happen in a million years. I’m way too protective over my hair.

Here are a couple of pictures I snapped during our trip. The first is an ice sculpture not far from Nishiokoppe. Under the ice is a narrow metal pipe extending all the way to the top. Water is slowly sprayed out, just a little bit. In the summer, we wondered at such a device and were confused about it’s purpose. Once winter arrived and the ice began to form around it, we quickly understood. Since the water is continuously flowing, the shape is always changing.
Ice Sculpture

While stopped at a light, I decided I liked the view of this side street out my window. There’s no special significance other than I liked it.
Narrow Side Street

Starbucks Menu

To and from Asahikawa, we pass a chicken farm. The first few times, we simply stared with idle curiosity at the attached building. We could see a hint of what was inside due to the lights. Finally we stopped in, and now we always stop. They sell fresh eggs from the farm using vending machines!

One machine with eggs
A view from outside