Sunday we harvested rice with our friend Chinami Kobayashi and her extended family. The event of rice harvesting is definitely a family affair because the more hands, the better. We gladly offered ours for a morning of work in the paddies. We arrived at about 9 a.m. and, while the paddies are drained before harvest, by noon the ground was pretty muddy. Each paddy is small compared to fields in the U.S., and when fully grown the rice stands about two feet tall. The plants fit into tight rows, meaning the crop is space efficient. The typhoon winds and rain a [View Full Entry]

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It’s been a month since we arrived at our new home here in Japan, and nothing has made that month easier or more enjoyable than the people we’ve met along the way. Jessie and I are fortunate that Minami-Alps City is home to more than a handful of progressively minded, generous people who have been gracious enough to speak English with us, excuse our clumsy faux pas, drive us to local sites, immerse us in what it means to be Japanese and, most importantly for me, feed us. This week we went to the top of Mt. Kushigata and to the [View Full Entry]

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Our routine has changed significantly this week as school started Tuesday. Starting with an opening ceremony, which is not featured in American schools. This ceremony is used to signal the start of another school term, to pass out awards students earned from last term, and to introduce new students and teachers. This is where I come in. I was asked to introduce myself to the students at this ceremony, in simple English so the students could hopefully follow along, but I was also being translated. When the principal called me to the stage and the students caught their first glimpses of [View Full Entry]

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We're trying new things here in Japan. From taking the train to eating things we've never eaten before, these last couple of weeks have been both exciting and filled with anticipation of things to come. We went out to eat with our new friend Chinami Kobayashi and her extended family Friday night. It was an entirely new experience for us, beginning with cow's tongue, then squid, scallops and finally on to pork, chicken and other parts of the cow that we never were able to identify -- which was probably in our best interest. The food was brought out to us [View Full Entry]

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After hours of cleaning we have finally gotten the house at least close to how we want it. We have had to throw out a lot of things that have accumulated over the years-we are hoping that is O.K., but the house is old and small and there just isn't room to keep it all. Plus with so many people using the same space, not every one is going to have the same tastes, so we are trying to make it feel like home to us. While Greg has been busy getting the house in order, I have been visiting my [View Full Entry]

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So it's 9:40 a.m. and I am already a sweaty mess! Since the sun comes up at 4:30 a.m., we haven't been able to sleep much past 5:00 a.m.. It's actually not that bad because the morning is the coolest part of the day and the best time to go exploring. So this morning Greg and I got on our bikes to do a little Yamanashi sight seeing. Most of the city is quiet and closed down, not only because of the morning hour, but because of the Obon Holiday. Some people have likened it to our Christmas/New Years time of [View Full Entry]

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After almost a year of planning, we finally landed in Narita Japan last Wednesday around 4:30 p.m. (2:30 a.m. in the U.S.). Most of our luggage was shipped to our house to arrive the next day, because from there we hopped on a train that took us on a 4 hour ride to Shinjuko that had one transfer in Tokyo before stopping in Kofu. From Kofu we had a 20 min. car ride to our house in Minami Alps. By the time we reached our house it was 10:30 p.m. and we were exhausted. Our guide here works for the Board [View Full Entry]

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Green Bay - Detroit - Narita Int'lWell, we're back to Green Bay after an exhausting pack-move-unpack. Two weeks from now we'll be in Minami Alps. It was difficult to leave our friends in Marshalltown, Iowa, but that chapter of our lives is over and we feel Japan is where we need to be. It will be the experience of our lifetimes, but we hope to share it with our friends and families. [View Full Entry]

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