Visitors from Texas

I should begin this blog by offering my apologies. Aaron’s mother and her husband came to town last week and I have thus neglected my “blogging” duties. I have a lot of catching up to do!

Last Wednesday, Aaron and I plunked two sleepy boys into our car at around 6:00 a.m. to begin our first trip to Sapporo since arriving in Japan eight months ago. As a reminder, Sapporo is the largest city on the island of Hokkaido and lies about five hours to the south of Nishiokoppe. Check the map link on the side menu for more information. We opted not to take the toll road, or “Highway”, as the locals refer to it. Our reasons seemed sound at the time. We were not in a hurry and driving through small towns is always more interesting, right? Also, the highway is not cheap, and we decided to save a little cash and take the scenic route. This was a fine idea until we left Asahikawa (the city two hours south of us). After that, we often thought to ourselves, as we stared at the back of many a large truck, “Why aren’t we on the highway?” Regardless, the trip went off with a hitch. We made it to Sapporo trouble-free and eventually found our way to the hotel. We had only been in Sapporo about half an hour, though, before I found myself appreciating the smallness of Nishiokoppe.

After locating the hotel, Aaron cleverly asked someone at the front desk to tell us the easiest way to the airport. The airport is actually in another city, but easily accessed by the highway. We were able to quickly find the entrance to the toll road and made it to Chitose Airport in only 20 minutes, after spending a stunning $20. Parking was surprisingly easy, as was finding the international gate. Though we had been to this airport before, when we arrived in Japan, I was so overwhelmed at the time that I had little to no recollection of anything. I had forgotten that it was so small. This worked in our favor, of course, and we made it to the gate about five minutes before the passengers made their way out. Our timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The boys didn’t even have a chance to become bored waiting when lo and behold, their Anah and G-paw came walking through the doors! Up until this point, Ridge and Holt had been talking non-stop about being so excited to see Anah and G-paw. As soon as they saw Cyndi and Mike, though, they became immediately shy and Ridge hid behind Aaron for a minute. The shyness didn’t last long, and within five minutes or so, both kids were talking a mile and minute and competing for attention.

Our happy little troupe easily got Cyndi’s traveler’s checks changed, found the rental car counter, and split up to return to the hotel. Once at the hotel, everyone had a chance to rest, visit, and refresh themselves for dinner. I’m so fortunate to have my friend Fusae, who not only recommended the hotel, but also made the reservations for us. For dinner, we went to a restaurant that someone at the Yakuba had recommended. It served what is known as Genghis Kahn, so named, apparently, for the shape of the cooking dish that is used. We settled in and ordered several plates of raw meat and veggies. Thankfully, for once, I did not have to turn up my nose at the raw meat as I usually do at parties. The point of Genghis Kahn is to cook your food on the very, very hot cast iron, dome-shaped plate that is inset into the table. Each table is “wired” with gas to heat the cooking area. The servers brought the food and we cooked away to our hearts content. I was in heaven, eating so much meat, and not a bite of fish or rice. It was wonderful!

Cyndi and the boys walking through the streets of Sapporo.

The next day, we did a little shopping and then finally headed back to Nishiokoppe. This time there was no debate; we took the highway and happily paid the $35 or so that it cost to get to Asahikawa. Once in Asahikawa (I drove one car, and Aaron drove Mike and Cyndi’s car) we absolutely had to stop and get some Starbucks coffee. We then made our way to Nayoro and ate burgers for dinner. By the time we finally reached home, it was nearly 8:00 at night. I think it was better, though, for the boys, to break up such a long drive that way.

Cyndi and Holt playing at the mall in Asahikawa.

Friday was a mellow day. We made the boys go to school, despite their protests. I had the day off from work and everyone agreed that we all needed to rest. This, of course, is much easier to do when the kids are not at home. So, we relaxed; this was the first day in over eight months during which Aaron and I could be together without children around.

Saturday was busy, so it was good that we had rested. At 11:00 in the morning, we all went to the building next door to the Yakuba for a children’s party. Our neighborhood children’s association organized this. The kids played games for an hour, and then we ate a wonderful, kid friendly meal (no fish!) Mike promptly fell in love with what the locals call Curry Rice. It’s not curry in the sense of Indian curry – it’s more of a gravy than a curry. It’s quite yummy, though, and not at all fishy. Later that evening, we went to Mr. Kamaya’s house for a lovely dinner. I think he and his family were very excited to be able to show Aaron’s mom and Mike a traditional Japanese home. We ate on the floor and ended the evening with macha, a traditional green tea drink.

Playing Japanese "Dodgeball" (a much friendlier version, by the way)
Ridge is dancing around while watching the ball.
Holt watches happily from the sidelines.
Ridge listens during the pre-lunch meeting (in Japanese, of course)
Everyone diggin' in to the kid-food fest.
The table at Mr. Kamaya's house
A group photo with the Kamayas

Sunday was a very exciting day. In fact, it was so exciting, that I will have to delay my explanation as to why it was exciting until I finish my Update of the Week.

On Monday, Ridge and Holt went to school again and all the adults went to the middle school for a small event that Mr. Kurata had planned. It was really quite wonderful, actually. All the students gathered in the gym. We did greetings and introductions. Then, Mr. Kurata had wanted to have a little demonstration of Japanese culture. One of the teachers played a traditional instrument. Next, one of the new teachers did a Kuudo demonstration. This is Japanese archery and it is considered to be a very, very serious art form. None of the students had ever seen it demonstrated before, so everyone was very excited. The final activity was for the students to teach Mike and Cyndi how to fold paper cranes. This was quite funny, actually, because only about half of the kids could fold a crane well. I was really proud of the second graders, though (i.e. 8th grade). Some of the girls sucked up their courage and sat down with the Texas visitors to teach them what to do. They were so nervous! I could see how relieved (and proud) Akane and Minato were when they had successfully interacted with the English Speakers. Japanese people are often really quite shy and reserved, especially when it comes to trying to use their English. It was a lovely morning.

The Middle School
The Third Graders (9th grade) singing "Deep in the Heart of Texas". I taught it to them last school year.
My friend Aya Takemoto playing the traditional Koto.
One of our new teachers doing a traditonal archery demonstration, called Kuudo.
Students making paper cranes with Mike and Cyndi.
Akane, Nami, and Miku stringing up the cranes.
Mr. Kurata with the finished product. It's lovely!
Group Photo

...and here are a bunch more shots for you to enjoy!

Aaron walking home with the boys, after school.
Holt with yet another non-hat item on his head.
Ridge feeding a deer at the local deer park
Playing at the Komu
Going down the slide
Checkin' out the lawn mowers at Homac
Mike and Cyndi got creative with breakfast after one too many Japanese breakfasts at the hotel
Mike and Cyndi left us on Tuesday for a very exciting solo trip back to Sapporo. They were planning to drive on the highway most of the way, return the car, and then spend the night in a hotel next to the airport. Considering the fact that Mike is capable of flying an airplane, I’m certain he will have no trouble whatsoever driving on the left and navigating his way to Sapporo. The boys already talk about missing them, though! It was great to have visitors!