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Hi Everyone….
I know it has been a LONG time since I’ve given you an update, but the truth is we have both been so busy that we just haven’t had the time. In addition, now that we have settled into our “routine” life here, there is not as much to write about as when we first arrived and everything was so new. We do have a few things to tell you about so here goes……
Our days have gotten to be very full. Marc is working long days and also started an intensive Japanese language course at the Temple University campus in Tokyo. He leaves for work about 6 AM, works all day, pops in for dinner then goes off to class until 9 PM every night except Friday. In addition, he has at least a couple of early (5 AMish) or late (11 PMish) telephone conferences each week. He has frequent interaction both with Japanese government personnel and Japanese contractors; thus his need to improve his language skills. He enjoys his work as it is quite varied both in activities (meetings, reports, and research) and location (meetings all over the Tokyo metro area).
I have been taking a lot of fun classes and learning my way around the various shopping “districts” of Tokyo. One of the first classes I took was a wrapping class. The Japanese are famous for their gift wrapping and it is fun and interesting to learn. When you buy anything in a store they ask you if it is a gift. If it is, they will wrap it for you. Sometimes the wrapping paper is really nice, sometimes it is just pretty paper printed with the store’s name on it. In any case, they wrap things in what is called a “diagonal wrapping.” The box is laid diagonally on the paper and the paper is folded in such a way that if done correctly only a small sticker is needed to hold the entire thing together… in other words… no tape at all. I have tried to do it a few times and it is not easy. It is definitely an acquired talent, but you would never know it watching them at the stores. They all do it so fast it is amazing… granted some times the wrapping is better than others! An interesting little note, though this is kind of hard to explain without your seeing it: The Japanese give gifts for many things but they also give gifts to the family when a person dies. These funeral gifts are also wrapped using the diagonal wrapping method, with an important difference. When any gift (other than a gift for a funeral) is wrapped diagonally, it is wrapped so that there is a kind of “slot” at the top. If the gift is for a funeral, it is wrapped so that this “slot is at the bottom of the wrapped package. The slot at the top is so “happiness” can enter the package and be “held” inside the package. The funeral gift is wrapped with the slot at the bottom so the “grief” can fall out of the gift. Don’t all of you email me and ask what they give for “funeral gifts’ as I have no idea! If I find out I’ll let you know. I have also learned some other types of wrapping and decorating packages. The Japanese use many different types of papers and cloths so it is quite interesting to learn about it all.
I also took a Japanese cooking class. This one….. Not so fun! Most of you who know me well, know I am not an adventurous eater, and some of these classes were really beyond my tastes to say the least. These classes were taught by the writer of a famous cookbook in Japan, and taught in her home. The first couple of classes were fun. I learned how they grill fish and learned to make “Shaba Shaba” which is very thinly sliced beef cooked at the table in a fish / sea weed broth. For me it was more of less down hill after that. One class was entirely about tofu… NOT one of my favorite things. The classes after that got more and more exotic. When we got to the class on cooking squid, I had had enough! Needless to say I will NOT be taking any more Japanese cooking lessons, so on to other topics…
I love grocery shopping here. I am going to be so spoiled when we return to the states! We buy the majority of our meat and produce at an international store called “Nissan.” I am thankful we can buy staples and such at the commissary because the prices are high (though not as high as we were led to believe). We still buy quite a bit locally as we don’t get to the commissary very often and then only buy what we can fit into two “roll aboard” suitcases and pack home on the trains and subway. The Nissan we go to is about 4 blocks from our apartment so we just walk down in the morning. We put all our items in the cart just like back home but when you go to the check out lines the “Japanese way” kicks in. They unpack your basket for you and almost get offended if you try to do it yourself. We have a little plastic card with our account number / address information on it and just hand it to the cashier. They then pack all our groceries in containers (insolated with dry ice if necessary) and wisk them away. Within a couple of hours they are all delivered straight to our front door! Love it!! No scheloping groceries out to the car and then into the house! I could get used to this! (Strike that … I have gotten used to this!) Evidently grocery shopping can be even easier if you have the stomach for it. One day last week Marc happened to be home late in the afternoon when the front door buzzer rang. Thinking it was the fellow collecting for the newspaper, he buzzed him up. When Marc opened the front door he had the surprise of his life. Standing there was a delivery person with a VERY FRESHLY butchered chicken (still dripping blood). Marc obviously realized the delivery was not for us but for the people upstairs who used to have this apartment. Marc closed the door and came to tell me he was glad he had answered it as he couldn’t imagine what my reaction would have been. I told him he wasn’t near as glad as I was!
One good thing about living here is that we don’t have to watch all the political ads you all see back home everyday. The Japanese political candidates do not advertise on TV. Instead they campaign in several ways. This holds true for “protesters” as well. One way is to have people stand outside the subway stations with megaphones. It is strange to see “protesters” dressed in a suit and tie however, as they all are. The other more obnoxious way is by car or van. They attach these huge, blaring sound systems to the roof of the vehicle and drive around all day at full volume. Most of the time they have big flags attached to the vehicles. I suppose so you would know them when you see them if you are deaf. Many times they travel in groups which is even more annoying. They do this from dawn until midnight, 7 days a week. They are all over. Not just the busy commercial roads but even our usually quiet residential street. They are so loud that even 5 floors up, with all the windows closed and the TV you can hear every word when they are blocks away. They have more or less stopped now because the elections are over but this went on for weeks. One expat said it was getting to the point that if he was awoken again at 7AM on a Sunday he was going to start scouting out locations for throwing raw eggs at them. When the Chinese Premier was here, I was out walking and there was a vehicle caravan of these protesters. I lost count at 50 vehicles, but all of them were blasting their messages full force. It was deafening. It was so long it had police escorting it at both beginning and end, and would get stuck in the middle of major intersections when the signal light turned. It is enough to make me long to be back in the states where I can just mute the TV when I am sick of all the campaigning.
In a previous blog entry (“Just checking In” January 10, 2007) I wrote about the statute of Hachiko in Shibuya. This is a bronze statue of a well known, very beloved dog, and very special to the Japanese people. Last April there was a story on the front page of The Japan Times newspaper about the theft of the statue in the middle of the night. There were additional articles about the history of the statue and how the authorities suspected that the thieves stole the statue for the value of the metal. The next day however the newspaper ran a story about April fools jokes. Too funny!
A quick note to tell you all that when (not if) you come to visit, one souvenir you buy might require special arrangements. I have found out that if you purchase an authentic Samurai Sword to take back home as a souvenir, it requires a police escort to the airport. Just so you all know.
And finally, an update on our travel plans for the rest of the year….
We are both excited because we leave for our long planned vacation to Norway on June 21st. We have planned this cruise for over a year and will be cruising with about 40 of our “cruising friends” and we can’t wait to see them all. We were able to see some of them last September before we left for Japan, but some we haven’t seen in a year or more. We will also be cruising with Marc’s Mother and Step father. We are flying into Copenhagen and taking a 14 day round trip cruise from Copenhagen to Copenhagen. We will see several cites in Norway, and the Norwegian Fjords. The highlight will be the stop in Spitzbergen which is the Northern most part of Norway, close to the Polar Ice Cap.
In July we are off to Guam for a long weekend. Several weeks ago we went to a travel fair aimed at English speaking Tokyo residents. They had some drawings for really great prizes. Marc won a 4 day / 3 night trip to Guam. It includes airfare and all expenses at the new Sheraton resort that just opened the end of April. Neither of us has ever been there, so we are really looking forward to it. It should be just a nice relaxing “sit at the beach / pool” weekend. (Just in case any one wonders what I won.... two one way tickets for airport transfers between Tokyo and the Narita airport...... come to find out the tickets are more or less free if you visit their website! ..... So much for my "win")
In August we will both be “on the road” again. Marc has a conference in Maastricht, Netherlands and for once … I GET TO GO TOO!!! We keep hearing how awful the weather is here in Tokyo in August (very hot and very humid) and have found that most expats (at least the wives and kids) go home on vacation during that time. We had not planned to go back to the states until next fall (2008), as that is when Marc’s company pays for us to make a trip back home. However as Marc has to go to Boston for meetings before he goes to Maastricht we decided I will go home to see family and friends and then meet up with him to fly to Maastricht together. Marc is limited to a maximum of 34 days per year in the US and still qualify as an expat for tax purposes, plus he has a very busy work schedule, plus his vacation days are limited so he will not be able to spend any “personal” time this trip. Consequently I will be visiting all of the family for him! I plan to fly into LA and spend a few days with Marc’s Father, Step Mother, Sister and Brother in Law, and then I am off to Colorado to see my sister and brother and their families and some friends. Then I will go to Orlando and spend some time with my Mother. Then, I will meet up with Marc to fly to Maastricht for the conference. We are going to take an extra two days after the conference and drive to Kaiserslautern, Germany where I lived when I was in junior high and high school. I can’t wait to stroll down memory lane and how it has changed. Our flights home are long to say the least. From Frankfurt Germany we will fly to JFK then to Soul, South Korea then on to Tokyo… 40 hours in all to get home! I really think after that we will be happy to stay home a while but no……
In October we have another long planned cruise to enjoy. This cruise (again with more of our cruise friends and Marc’s Mother and Step father) is from Osaka, Japan to Hong Kong, with stops in Shanghai and Beijing. We planned this cruise after we moved to Tokyo, and are really excited about it as it should give us a small taste of China and we will be able to get an idea of what we want to see when we have time to go back and spend more time.
By now I am exhausted writing all this and you are probably exhausted reading it, so bye for now. Please keep in touch.
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Gaile
non-member comment
Orlando
Sounds like you are both getting settled in nicely and enjoying your adventures in your new home. Harry and I are excited that you will be in Orlando in August. Like I told Marc recently please let us know when you will be in town and we will have to make plans to meet. Gaile