Pre-School at Four O'clock

Sorry about the fuzziness of this picture. It’s hard, sometimes, to get a clear shot of small children. This was taken today when we went to pick the boys up from the pre-school. This is the entrance hall, or "genkan", where shoes are removed. You can see in the back that there are shiny metal trays; this is where the shoes go. There's also a wooden shelf on the left containing slippers for guests to wear. The kids just run around in socks all day. The shoe-removing thing is very common. I have a pair of "inside shoes" that I keep at each school in a shoe locker designed for this specific purpose. Anyway, as you can see, Holt was in a particularly goofy mood. The woman sitting on the floor is Kazumi-sensei and she is Holt’s teacher. I think she might be 22 years old. Maybe she is only 21.

Japanese lesson of the day:
“Sensei” means teacher. Everyone in Japan is addressed by their name and some sort of title. Teachers are “so-and-so sensei”. All my students call me “Michelle-sensei”. The generic term for a person is “-san” (if you are really, really important or if they are being super duper polite, they use, “sama”). Aaron is always, “Aaron-san”. Japanese people always use each other’s family names. In fact, when introducing themselves to each other, they always begin with their family name. Even Ridge has picked up on this. There are two little girls in his school named “Mao”. So, he calls one of them “Shimono Mao”, “Shimono” being her family name. I’m not sure why gaijin are an exception to this “family name only” rule. Many people don’t even know that our family name is Felker. Conversely, many of the people that I have known for over a year now have first names which are completely unknown to me. I’ve managed to learn most of the middle school teacher’s first names, but I rarely use them. I’m comfortable, in private, using the first names of some of the female teachers, but I’ve never used a male teacher’s first name. In fact, I think there is only one man whose first name I use on a regular basis; our friend Nao. Funny, isn’t it?

I’m hoping that our portraits of the boys are ready soon. I’m really champing at the bit to get them! A funny thing happened last week. We drove through Shibetsu (the town we had the photos taken in; Colin lives there) and passed the studio. There, in the window, big as life, were not one, not two, but THREE photos of the boys! The photographer had one shot of Ridge and Holt matted and framed. I’d say the photo must have been at least an 11x10 or so. It looks as though that photo is meant to be a permanent feature of his window display for some time to come. The other two were smaller, and were part of “Shichi-go-san” display.

“Shichi-go-san” means, literally, “Seven-five-three”. When children are these three ages, they often get dressed up in traditional clothing and go to the shrine for a blessing. There’s sort of a holiday for it in November. It was a coincidence that our boys are five and three, and that we went to have their portraits done in November. It’s also common to have a formal “Shichi-go-san” photo done. So, we fit right in with all the other folks around Japan who brought their kids in to have a portrait taken. The photographer had made a couple of montages of photos that he used as “Shichi-go-san” advertising. Apparently, the photos he used are the ones he took with his smaller camera. These are the shots he took that he will give us as a present. I guess he really meant it when he said he wanted to use Ridge and Holt as models.

Aaron recently learned that there are only a handful of fonts in which you can write kanji. While those of us in countries which use Arabic letters have billions of fonts (all of which elementary students love to play with instead of typing their reports during English class in America), the Japanese don’t have that luxury. You just can’t mess around with the kanji too much, or you’ll end up changing the meaning of a character. So, in order to catch people’s attention in advertising, they use English. It stands out more, and they can play around with the English font all they want. Well, I’m guessing that Ridge and Holt’s pictures are the equivalent of using English in advertising. I’m sure folks will stop and stare at the two (beautiful – of course!), pale, blonde-haired white kids in his window. It's sure to be an attention-getter. I think it’s funny, and next time we drive through Shibetsu, I plan on taking a photo of the shop.

The Excitement Never Ends

I should have known that since life has been moseying along rather quietly that we were due for an adventure. Leave it to Aaron to provide such an opportunity.

Japanese pumpkins are small, green, and very hard. However, they are worth the effort, being sweeter and more flavorful than American pumpkins. You just have to be careful when you are cutting them up. Let me repeat that. You have to be careful. Very careful. The night before last (Sunday), while trying to make pumpkin soup, Aaron decided to prove that point. Wielding an insanely sharp vegetable cutting knife, the kind that resembles a small box saw, Aaron nearly cut his finger off. After a few minutes of panicked, loud voices and some unfortunate cuss words, Aaron managed to wrap a towel around it as I dug out the gauze.

Once we regained our senses and Aaron assured me that I wasn’t going to need to retrieve his fingertip from the sink, he asked me to call the local doctor, Shimono-san. It was difficult to speak slow and easy English while my heart was still racing. Ridge and Holt just sat, nearly speechless as they watched. Mrs. Shimono, who speaks fairly good English, explained that her husband had been gone all weekend with the other workers from the clinic. It seems that it was their annual “let’s-go-to-Sapporo-and-get-drunk” party. He would arrive home in a couple of hours, but there was no guarantee that he would be sober enough to sew Aaron’s finger up. So, after a short conversation, we hung up, still not sure about what we wanted to do. At first, Aaron decided that he would wait until the next day since the bleeding had finally stopped. It didn’t take him long, though, to change his mind and decide to give the Nayoro hospital a chance.

So, armed with dictionaries, phrase books, and the cell phone number of English-speaking friends, the four of us piled into the car for the 45-minute drive. I think I spoke about two words the entire drive, as I was still in shock. His finger looked terrible! I can’t believe he didn’t chop it off. We located the hospital with minimal effort, parked, and found the entrance. Ridge had already been tasked with helping Daddy by using his Japanese, and he easily explained to the folks in the reception office what happened. Of course, looking at Aaron’s finger, they pretty much figured it out. I was relieved that the staff, though they spoke almost no English, were friendly and very helpful. They showed us where to wait (a narrow hallway with benches) and we sat. I didn’t see any sort of formal waiting room like you would see in the U.S. It’s hard to know if we were in the “emergency” area or the normal area. It was about 7:00 at night and the place was quite empty. We waited about five minutes and then Aaron was asked to enter the clinic area, Ridge in tow.

After a little while, a woman arrived with a boy who looked to be about 4 or 5 years old. They waited only a few minutes before a nurse came out and gave the mom a digital thermometer to put under the little boy’s arm. It struck me that this was the extent of the young patient’s pre-exam. Within another fifteen minutes or so, the mother and her son had seen a doctor and been given some medicine. Amazing!

Meanwhile, I did my best to entertain an exhausted Holt. For some silly reason I had allowed the boys to skip nap, so Holt had pretty much no ability left to control his impulses, since he was so tired. Ridge was finally asked to leave Aaron (something he didn’t like. He was worried), and he re-joined us in the hallway. I think the docs didn’t want him to see them sew up Aaron’s finger.

Aaron said they kept sticking needles into his finger over and over again to try and numb it. I guess it took forever. Apparently the doctors had taken one look at his finger, made some surprised comments, and sent for another doctor from upstairs (a surgeon, maybe?). He sewed Aaron’s finger up – three stitches, all of them through the nail. I cringe just typing that. After bandaging him up, they gave him some antibiotics and a letter that they had written at his request. Aaron wanted them to write down what they were saying so that he could show it to the Nishiokoppe doctor on Monday (the next day). Within an hour of arriving, he had been seen, stitched, been given medicine, and was sent on his way. They told him to pay on Monday when he returned to have it checked. Not pay the bill immediately? Unheard of in America!

So, yesterday, Monday, Aaron popped into the clinic after dropping the boys off at pre-school (it’s across the street). Though the clinic wasn’t open yet, he wanted to drop off the letter for the doc to read. We figured Aaron would drive into Nayoro later that morning. However, when the nurse read the letter, she called next door to the doctor’s house, and he insisted on coming over. He looked at Aaron’s finger, complimented the work, and re-wrapped it. According to Dr. Shimono, Aaron didn’t need to go back to Nayoro. Apparently, city doctors are prejudiced against county doctors and they must have thought that the Nishiokoppe doctor couldn’t handle Aaron’s injury. It was a relief for Aaron to not have to make that drive again. Next, Aaron mentioned that he hadn’t paid last night. Dr. Shimono told him to relax and pay it later in the day. We could make a transfer from our bank. Later in the day, Dr. Shimono phoned the Nayoro hospital to get our bill amount, called Aaron at home, and they walked together down to the bank. The doctor then showed him how to make the transfer. Don’t you wish that your town had this kind of health care service? Here’s the killer; the bill for Sunday night’s services came to less than $50, due to the fact that we have socialized health care. When Aaron left the clinic this morning, they told him not to worry about paying the Nishiokoppe clinic yet; he could do it later. I think he needs to go back a few times to have it looked at and the stitches might come out next week or so.

At some point I became philosophical about the entire thing. After all, what international experience would be complete without a trip to the emergency room?

Lastly, just an f.y.i. for anyone curious: yes, there was a big earthquake last week in the ocean to the north east of us. We didn’t feel anything – it was too deep. Yes, there were loads of tsunami warnings, and some of the cities just 30 minutes north of us were supposed to evacuate. Nishiokoppe is too far inland to have to worry, though. In the end, when the tsunami came, it was about 15 inches high. You could barely see it. So – no worries. The biggest problem that it caused for me was that the warnings on TV made it a little difficult to watch Desperate Housewives (one of the few bilingually broadcast shows).

Body Painting

Here's a great shot of the boys drawing on themselves with some body pencils I bought. Ridge seemed to think that his torso needed some adornment, and Holt followed suit.














Also, this is Ridge playing with Sacha, Ryuya's little sister. She has Ridge wrapped around her little finger.

Picture Day

After several months of discussion and bargaining, Ridge and Holt finally agreed to get some professional photos taken. Ever since I first saw a portrait of some Japanese children dressed in traditional clothing, I’ve been dying to get one as a keepsake for the boys. So, I turned to our Australian Japanese-speaking friend, Colin, for help. Not only did he find us a nice studio, but he made the appointment and went with us. He was incredibly helpful!

It took some last minute convincing to get Holt to wear the kimono and “hakama” (traditonal pants), and Ridge needed privacy to take off his pants, but other than that, things went amazingly well! The photographer was fantastic and got a huge kick out of Ridge and Holt. Their Japanese is good enough that they totally understood his directions when he wanted them to readjust their position, etc. In fact, he was so taken with them that, through Colin, he asked permission to take some extra photos of them (i.e. use them as models). He has promised to give us some extra, free prints of the other shots. We were tickled pink and the boys had a lovely time. One part of the extended photo shoot involved Ridge being given a child-sized sword. He was in heaven! It will be funny if, some time later, his photo studio suddenly sprouts a portrait of two gaijin kids! Won’t that get everyone’s attention! We’re very excited to see how the pictures turn out. He had us make our selections from digital “proofs”, but we won’t get the final product until later this month.

Here are two photos of the boys being dressed by the photographer’s assistants.
Ridge
Holt

After our photo session, we rewarded the boys with a new article of clothing. This is Holt’s new “Boukenranger” jacket. Boukenranger is one of the many “hero” characters that permeate the Japanese children’s pop culture. Holt is posing in a Boukenranger pose.
New jacket

This photo is just for fun. I’d love somebody to explain this candy bar’s name to me. What exactly does “Krunky” mean??
Candy bar

Another for fun photo. I’m sure by now the stores in America are swamped with Thanksgiving and Christmas paraphernalia. I took this photo in Nayoro’s largest department store, Saijo. Here’s their Christmas decoration display. It’s one corner.
"Is that all??"

Halfway between Nayoro and Nishiokoppe is a small town named Shimokawa. They seem to breed Olympic quality ski jumpers (there were four in the last winter Olympics) and very large draft horses. I think these big fellas are mainly used for sledge racing in the winter. Anyway, we always drive past this field of horses and Aaron finally stopped to visit.
Big babies

Halloween Photos (finally!)

Well, here they are! These are photos from each of the three Halloween parties I was responsible for planning. The first picture, here on top, is from the “all village” Halloween party. Last year, Mr. Kamaya and I thought it would be nice if this year we planned an event that more than just elementary students could take part in. In the past, only the elementary kids were able to enjoy the joys of a Halloween party. This year, we had an event at the Community Center half of the hotel. This photo is a shot of a game we played called the Mummy Wrapping game. Each team had ten seconds to wrap as much of a roll of toilet paper around us as they could before they had to pass the roll off to the next person in their team (like a relay race).

The event began with pumpkin carving. The boys and I decided to dress up for fun. After all, what’s Halloween without a costume? After the carving, we played a couple of relay races and then a giant bingo game. The event was supposed to end at 12:00, but Aaron hung around for an extra half hour painting faces for the kids. Ridge and Holt ran around the big room and played with Hibiki and Aiko while I chatted with their moms.

This is Mr. Kamaya (my boss – the superintendent – wrapped as a mummy)
Kamaya-san

Ridge and Holt waiting in lines as the event gets underway.
waiting

Three middle school girls carving an Anpan Man jack-o’-lantern. Check out the girl in the purple shirt (Akane). How many fourteen-year old girls do you know who can sit like that?
Middle School Girls

The next day saw me at Nishiokoppe elementary school in the afternoon for more pumpkin carving and games.

Kaori’s group working on theirs. I love the way the older kids always help out and mentor the younger ones. Kaori has her arm around a first grader. (Kaori lives across the street. She’s the one who babysat the boys with her older sister, Mari).
Kaori's group

Aaron painting faces. We stayed after again and both painted faces until everyone had something.
Face Painting

This is Kazuya. He’s a sixth-grader and absolutely hysterical. These fake eyes were his idea.
Crazy Eyes

This is me leading the way in a giant game of “Ghost, ghost witch” (a.k.a. Duck, duck, goose).
Ghost, Ghost,Witch

On the third day, I went to Kamiokoppe and had my final party. It was a more intimate affair, what with there being only five students.
Carving Pumpkins

Each student carved more than one. They grew these pumpkins in their school garden!
Finished Product

Masataka got really excited about bobbing for apples!
Bobbing

Aaron had time to do more elaborate face painting here. This is Tomoyasu. He’s a sixth-grader.
Tiger Face

Masataka was inspired when showed him my photo of Kazuya’s fake eyes. However, Masataka decided to step things up a notch.
Crazy Eyes 2

Coming Soon!!

Hang in there folks!
I promise to post bunches of lovely photos very soon. I've been swamped with Halloween Partying, etc. and haven't been able to do much except catch a cold. However, tomorrow is National Culture Day and I don't have to work.

Winter is definitely in the air, now. Last week we were overrun with "Yuki Mushi" (Snow Bugs). These little gnat-like bugs have fuzzy white abdomens and therefore look like snow falling. They come out as winter approaches and temperatures drop. As the air fills with them, it's difficult to not eat a few as you bicycle down the road! Not only do they resemble snowflakes, so great is their number, but also they are said to indicate snow will fall soon. So, everyone is preparing their gardens and outdoor play equipment (for example, the pre-school has removed the swings and stored them for the winter). If I have time this weekend, I'll take some photos of outdoor winter preparations. I had intended to last year, but didn't manage to do it before it snowed.

Today was my Halloween-themed beginner adult English class. We didn't cook this time but instead decorated cookies. I mixed up some royal icing and turned the ladies loose on some sugar cookies I had had prepared on Monday. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera. The ladies really got into the spirit of the thing! Several of them took two small bamboo skewers and used them as hashi (chopsticks), which they then used to pick up the small decorating candies. You know those little bitty silver balls and small sugar shapes (hearts, flowers, etc) that you can use to decorate cupcakes? They used their improvised hashi (with tiny tips) to help them place these small things on individually. It was amazing to watch. Hopefully I can get some folks to give me copies of their pictures.

So, check back sometime on Friday or Saturday (American time) and hopefully I'll have some pictures for you.