The Snowy World

Finally. These photos have been sitting on my desk top for weeks.

In early January the entire 7th grade took a 3-night, 4-day excursion to Nagano prefecture for Ski School. No kidding, that's how it translates directly and it's something the school has been doing for at least the past 20 years. Of course not all grades can participate; 4th, 5th and 7th grades only and usually sometime in January or February. Because I'm teaching the 7th grade I was able to go this year. My second time, in fact. I went once about 10 years ago when we were teaching at this school the first time around.

Anyway... we departed at the crack of dawn from school grounds in 7 tour buses. The original plan had us going by shinkansen (bullet train) but due to some new Japan Railways train rules, no single group or organization is allowed to purchase more than 100 tickets. Something like that. And as we had 256 students plus staff we quickly exceeded their limits so tour bus it was. Six long hours on the bus with 32 jr. high students, including some students from Hawaii as part of a sister school exchange & homestay program (the same school President Obama once attended as a youth). In fact, as the resident English speaker I was given the job of "taking care" of these guests from Hawaii. It was a real eye-opener for me as I haven't been around native English speaking teenagers in, well, ever! It was nice to be able to hold a fluent conversation with them and not have to "handicap" my vocabulary to ensure I'm understood. You get the idea.

I'm just going to wrap up here and put it all in a nutshell for you. The photos help tell the story.

It was snowing when we arrived and of the 4 days only 1 day was absolutely clear and crisp. Otherwise it was cold, windy and snowy. The food was good (a little short on the veggies) and the hot spring bath was splendid. As this was ski school and I haven't been on skiis since high school (I prefer snowboarding by far), I was a bit worried but much to my surprise and satisfaction, skiing is like riding a bike: once you learn you never forget and I had fun! Of course it took 1/2 a day to re-figure it out again but once I did I honestly enjoyed myself.

If I could sum it all up in 1 sentence?

I deeply and truly miss snow and snowy environments and I hope to one day share all that is the "snowy world" with my daughters.

Coming of Age Day

or, Seijin no hi (pronounced: Say-gene-no-he). This weekend was a 3-day hiatus due to the 20 year olds in Japanese society. A national holiday for all those leaving the teen years behind and heading into "adulthood".

For us, it was an excuse to finally visit the pedestrian-friendly port city of Yokohama. Honestly, we have been talking about this day-trip since November. Luckily the weather was great this past weekend, albeit cold in the shade or when the sun went down, but just fine for our stroll linking the many, various neighborhoods that make up the Yokohama waterfront.

Technically, we live within Yokohama city boundaries but practically speaking, the boroughs of Tokyo are easier for us to access and thus explaining our failure to actually visit Yokohama proper until almost a year after moving here. Anyway...

We decided to begin our day excursion from the northern most train station and walk south to get an idea of the layout. Truth be told, Ericka and I visited this area about 12 years ago when we caught a Cirque Du Soleil show in a puffed-up tent by the water but neither of us have a memory capable of remembering the details clearly or a proper layout of the city, so for us, it was part deja vu and part new adventure all rolled into one.

Our first stop was the Anpanman Museum. If you've never heard of him (pronouned: Ahn-pahn-man) all you need to know is that he's an animated character resembling a type of sweet, red bean filled pastry that has been a staple (no pun intended) for Japanese youth and bellies for about the past 40 years. He was actually dreamed up by a man during WWII who quite frequently faced starvation and frequently dreamed of this popular, sugary, bean-filled treat. Here's a link if you are interested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anpanman

Anyway, at the Anpanman Museum Ericka and Miki took in the glorious 3-floors worth of exhibits while a sleeping Sam and I took a 45 minute "walk around the block" to chart our next destination. I found a small cafe with outdoor seating in the sun, grabbed a cup of hot tea and glanced over a map and guidebook to Yokohama.

After meeting up with Miki & Ericka 45 minutes later we leisurely made our way along a very wide, pedestrian-only boulevard to Landmark Tower, perhaps the Yokohama, well... landmark. There we caught a funky water fountain, E drank a lavender Earl Grey tea and Miki watched some daredevil on a 20 ft. unicycle juggle fire & knives. Right, just 'nother day in Yokohama...

We eventually made it to World Porters, a massive shopping/amusement district accessible only by a long ocean-spanning causeway to a man-made island out in the middle of the harbour. This area is famous for 3 reasons: the international shopping options & boutiques; the amusement park & ferris wheel; and the red-bricked warehouses on the periphery called, Akarenga (pronounced: Ahka-ren-ga). Links below. The first one in Japanese.

http://www.yokohama-akarenga.jp/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokohama_Red_Brick_Warehouse

We put all 3 to good use, although for slightly different reasons. At the "international shopping" venue I bought 2 lovely Belgian beers in bottles, we made a quick dash to the 400 foot-high ferris wheel, sipped those beers in the scant 25 min. it takes to make a complete revolution and then waltzed over to the red brick warehouses to catch the glow of a sinking sun. Miki promptly fell asleep after the ferris wheel (not because of anything the Belgians could be accused of) and Sam toddled around on the grass.

(side note: About 13 years ago, our dear Swiss friend, Flurina, arranged for a ladies-night-out on behalf of Ericka's 25th birthday (or thereabouts!) and the "highlight" was an evening trip on this very same Ferris Wheel. At the time, they enjoyed a few quick glasses of Champagne and strawberries before descending to a sobering Earth and who knows what else... I was out of town...)

As the sun made its final dip to the west and the chill really set in, we shuffled our way back to the train station and began the 1 hour commute home.

All told, it was a great day for everyone and we've told ourselves that we shall return soon to continue our exploration of Yokohama Port.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

Oh, I should explain the Miki-in-the-backpack thing. A few weeks ago I purchased a weather-proof backpack suitable for commuting and large enough, obviously, for small children! It's been great for hauling home large amounts of groceries and for carrying Miki when she's too tired to keep up.

New Year Cake

Ericka & Miki made a lovely little fruit cake yesterday afternoon as a way to celebrate the new decade.

And 12 red roses to celebrate our 12 years of marriage, of course. Happy anniversary, Ericka.

Happy 2010 everyone else!

Uncle Austin's Pups

Thank you to Uncle Austin & Aunt Tori for the cuddly pink & yellow pups.

Obviously Sam is thrilled about hers.

Down by the river...

Although I forget the name of the river... Anyway, Miki and I saddled up in the Voodoo-Chariot train and headed out for a ride on this blustery winter day. Our first stop was the atm machine, followed by the video store. We stopped for our river-side lunch in a small farming valley and ate salmon oni-giri (rice balls) and meat-wrapped asparagus.

Of course Miki wanted to get down close to the water and we eventually found a set of concrete steps that led down to the river. After a few minutes hanging around watching the Kingfishers swoop in for bugs and the large Carp swaying in the ripples, we re-boarded the "bicycle train" and headed for the grocery store for a few items.

I love getting out of doors with Miki this way; it's a great way for us to explore our part of the Yokohama countryside and bond as papas & daughters only know how to do.

Not to mention the exercise I get hauling a 15 kg. girl around.

Suimeikan

The name of the onsen (hot spring) resort we visited about a week ago is called, Suimeikan. And like all onsens in Japan, they are known for 2 things: the volcanically-heated water & the food. I guess the closest western approximation to "onsen" would be an "inn", typically in the bed & breakfast style. However, unlike most inns in the States where they are relatively small establisments, the onsens here are typically closer in occupant capacity to a medium sized hotel.

About 10 years ago, when Ericka was teaching elementary school here, 2 of her students were from a family that has owned, and still currently operates, a large onsen resort for the last 4 generations. Around that time and much to our good fortune, Ericka befriended the current owner and father of those 2 students. In those early days before children, Ericka & I were guests at his resort on 3 occasions. Most memorable times for sure.

So way back in early 2009, when we knew we were moving to Tokyo, Ericka contacted the father, Mr. Ichikawa, to let him know our relocation plans and of our desire to introduce the girls to "onsen life". He happily obliged and on the 28th of December we boarded the Romance Car (an express train) and sped west 1.5 hours to a hot spring resort town on the ocean known as Yugawara.

We checked in, were shown to our room and quickly shuffled down to the outdoor bath wrapped in our yukattas (basically a light weight Japanese robe). There were only 2 other guests in the bath when we gingerly stepped our way into the steaming, geo-thermically heated water and upon seeing us 4 white barbarians enter, promptly made their exit.

Ahhhh, a beautiful outdoor hot spring soak beneath Japanese Maple trees and the sound of a rushing river all to ourselves.

An amazing dinner was served in our room and after an unbelievable feast on sashimi, stewed daikon, seafood nabe, black sesame-veined tofu and an untold number of local, fresh veggies in all manner of preparedness (plus a lovely sake!), we sat back and let the girls flop around on the tatami mats.

Shortly after the debris from dinner was cleared, 2 staff members pulled our futon bedding from the closets and deftly transformed the "dining room" into our "bedroom". Definitely not the hotel services one can expect from North American establishments.

We 4 were encased in futon mattresses and down duvets by 8:30pm.

Up at 7-ish the next morning, Ericka was the first one down for an early soak in the baths. At 8 o'clock breakfast was brought in and following yet another feast , Miki & I grabbed robes and made our way downstairs for one last go at the (addicting) hot water tubs. Just after check-out we took a nice stroll along the river, said our goodbye's to Mr. Ichikawa and hopped the train back to Tokyo. Alas, all good things do come to an end.

I do hope to return again, perhaps when Sam is a bit older but hopefully sooner!

Mr. Ichikawa, thank you kindly for your hospitality. As always, Suimeikan never fails to impress & pamper . It was great to see you after so many years. Akemashite omedetto gozaimasu!