First, it is 4:30 am here, so I can't promise how coherent this will be. It is really difficult to get a moment alone to sit and write anything. I'll do my best, so bear with me.
Yesterday was quite a day! Katy's friend Haruka lives in an apartment just behind the elementary school. Her mother Mikiko has been very kind to us. Their family lived in L.A. for five years, so they speak English fairly well and have make an effort to help us out and make friends. Mikiko invited us, and several other moms and their kids to a lunch party at her house yesterday since the kids had a half day at school. I never did figure out why they had a half day!
 |
| omiyagi |
The kids went off to school in the morning, then Jane and I walked down to meet them at 11:45. I made a little bag out of some pretty fabric I'd bought at a shop, and filled it with chocolate. In Japan, it is the custom to bring omiyagi - or a small gift - for the host. Not so different that back home, if you remember to be polite! When I arrived, Mikiko was there with one of her friends, Asako. Chiyoko and Masako arrived later. Chiyoke brought the most enormous japanese pear I'd ever seen as omiyagi, and Masako brought some homemade lollipops decorated for Halloween. This was also a potluck, and while I don't think I was expected to bring anything, I couldn't help have a twinge of Midwestern guilt. Then I got over it!
 |
| Makikio's table is starting to fill up. |
Makiko's apartment looked like a Halloween explosion! She had decorations everywhere, Halloween plates, tablecloth, paper-towels, placemats, sticky gel things on the windows, light up electronic haunted house. I'm thinking- this is a woman who likes to shop. She said she got a lot of it when they lived in the States and their kids love halloween. I am not sure how much other people celebrate Halloween, but there is Halloween candy in the stores, and special halloween packaged food everywhere. Bats, spooky gravestones, spiderwebs, pumpkins. I better ask soon to find out if I need to get the kids costumes or anything!
 |
| Kids tables Makiko standing |
After we helped all the children fill their plates, (11 kids where there- Masako has a Jr. high schooler, too), we sat down and chatted and filled our plates. I watched and tried not to make pig out of myself. There was a lovely green salad, Japanese mac and cheese (just like ours, but with tiny shrimp), Chinese dumplings, rice balls, rice rolls, some sausage that Masako had made, gorgeous sushi (scallop, squid, eel, salmon, tuna, skate), several kinds of mochi, the Japanese equivalent of chicken nuggets, panko coated prawns, crab dumplings, nori wrapped rolls with roe. It looked so good. Before everyone dug in, everyone folds their hands and says "Itadakimasu"- it isn't a prayer exactly, but a way of saying thanks for the food. They asked if we do this in America and I explained that some people will say a prayer of thanks to God for the blessing of food, but some don't. I was itching to try everything and really had to think carefully to avoid loading up my plate American style. My kids were not so sure about any of the food- Katy took a little of several things, but Will and Jane fled to a bedroom and said they wen't hungry. Later Jane came and tried a few things, but Will stuck to crackers.
 |
| Katy and friends |
 |
| The ladies and I |
While eating, the ladies had a lively discussion about kids - two others also had three children and there were two sets of twins. I didn't follow most of it, but they did there best to include me. THey were very interested in hearing what we ate at home for breakfast. They (and other japanese people) have been amazed that we eat rice at home. When I told them that we actually owned a rice maker, they were stunned. Japan has its own cuisine, Japanese are being adventurous if they have chinese food. They had not realized that America doesn't really have its own cuisine- we borrow from all over the world. They could not believe that our little town of 10,000 people had a chinese, Japanese, Thai, Mexican and Italian restaurants. I told them how I knew how to make the dumplings we were eating (none of them did- they buy them) and the nori wrapped rolls. They made fun of me because they make them with a plastic mold- I learned to roll them on a bamboo mat. They said that with my sewing and cooking, I was a traditional Japanese! Much laughter at this point. But, I did not fail to notice that everyone brought something that they had made, something delicious, that they were proud of and that everyone complemented them on. Moms and friends are really not that much different where ever you go.
At 3, we had to head home for earthquake training. The Japanese are very safety conscious and one way they do sometimes discriminate against foreigners is to deny them hotel accommodations because they say foreigners don't know what to do in an emergency and are a danger to other guests. So, in the spirit of being prepared, we were required to attend a mandatory earthquake, fire and emergency session, guidance, and party.
 |
| Party kids! |
Here are some photos and a short movie. The level 5 earthquake was kind of fun, but I don't ever want to be in a 7. Ever. Period. While the kids thought it was fun at the time, I have 2 girls in my bed right now who had bad dreams. We didn't let Jane do the simulation- John said our heads were bobbling about like dashboard dolls. When John did it later, they ran it with the data from the big Kobe quake. It just kept going on and on. They made it very clear that a big quake will hit here- it even already has a name- it is just a matter of time. We had a big family discussion about what we would all do, if it happened at night, when the kids were at school, John at work, etc. Actually, I don't want to think about this anymore! Maybe that is why I am up at 4:30 AM!
 |
Sonja (in purple, from Hungary), Nicki
from India, beside her. Best friends,
studying here since April. |
 |
Some of Kikan's diverse residents
chowing down on sushi |
We also had training in how to work the fire extinguisher- (just like back home) how to call 119 (yes, really, 119), but how we needed to get a trusted Japanese friend to make the call because the firemen aren't too good with foreign languages. What I found interesting was that this training was for all Kaikan residents- mostly graduate students here for a year or more, we are one of two families with kids. They divided us up into two groups- Chinese speakers and English speakers and translated from Japanese for us. Most people spoke some Japanese- they seemed to get the jokes I missed. On our English side of the room were a few Indians, Malays, Indonesians, a few Europeans, a guy from maybe Brazil? A real hodgepodge. After listening to the house rules (including detailed explanation of how to sort garbage), the party started. The residence hall staff brought in sushi, candy and cookies, pizza- I thought Will would expire from pleasure until they opened the box and it was a veggi pizza. It was very nice and we had a chance to make some friends. The kids were real magnets- everyone wanted to talk to them. We met women from India, Germany, and Hungary, guys from India, China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It was pretty cool and everyone was friendly (except the sullen guys who we now think are Russian or Ukrainian, but, whatever- you can't have everything- maybe they just need time to warm up.) Sonja from Hungary said she thought that there was a distinct difference between Japan and Europe, she wondered if it was an American influence? She has never been to the US, but we assured that it is very similar to Japan. I think the was hitting on something that I've been feeling, but not quite aware of consciously. I think Japan and the US do have a similar vibe, probably because they are so firmly modern. In Europe, no matter where you go, the past (1000+ yrs!) is right there with you. Not so in the US or in Japan. Both the US and Japan have a paleohistory, but in so many ways, their current culture starts in the mid 1700's and goes from there. Interesting to think about.
So, full of sushi and chocolate cookies, we finally came up and went to bed to dream of earth quacks and how nice it is to share pizza with people from all over the world.
