Just a quick note to let everyone know that our internet is being disconnected tomorrow morning.  Our big adventure is almost over!  Now that we’ve said most of our good-byes, I’m excited about heading for Hong Kong the day after tomorrow and then back to Canada next week.  Once there, we’ll be visiting family in Vancouver for almost two weeks before finally making our way back to Alberta.  I’ll try to update the blog from time to time but it will probably be hit and miss for the next few weeks until we’re home and our internet service there is reconnected.  I’m sure by then I’ll have much to write about and many photos to share so please don’t go away!

If you were to visit Japan as a tourist and your only contact with the people was in public settings, you might easily come away with the impression that they are aloof or even unfriendly. On the street and on the trains they tend to be very reserved but we have been privileged to see beyond that outward appearance and have found them to be incredibly warm and generous. Never has that been more obvious than this, our final week here.

We knew that most of our students, especially the adults, were very appreciative of the job that we did as their teachers but the outpouring of gratitude that we experienced this week was overwhelming. For example, I taught a small class of older ladies for 85 minutes every Tuesday afternoon. When I arrived for class this week, they had planned a surprise farewell party for me. I was told to put away the textbook and relax. They provided cake and beverages, presented me with a beautiful gift and we spent the entire time in delightful conversation. Throughout the week many other students presented us with gifts and notes of appreciation.

Yesterday was our final day of teaching. I knew that saying good-bye to my playgroup would be particularly difficult. These are adorable preschoolers who attend class with a parent. They have been such fun to teach. At the end of every class we sing the Good-bye Song. I knew I’d have a very hard time getting through “good-bye dear friends, I’ll see you again”. When class came to a close, one little girl proudly presented me with a drawing, clearly meant to be me, and another student gave me a basket of flowers, one of several arrangements that now brighten the apartment. I was totally blown away, however, a few minutes later when a dear little boy stood in the corner of the reception area which was crowded with parents, students and staff and sang the first verse of Amazing Grace for me in perfect English! One of the other teacher’s commented afterward, “I dare you not to remember that for the rest of your life!”

My last class yesterday was another adult class. They asked a couple of weeks ago if they could take me out for dinner after our last class together. They actually ended up taking both Richard and I to a beautiful restaurant for a very traditional Japanese dinner. During class they each gave a short talk about what they appreciated about having me as their teacher this year and at dinner, they each presented me with a gift. Such amazing generosity!

Then there was church this morning. Unbelievable! Though many knew that today was our last Sunday, Pastor Steve announced it from the pulpit and had us come to the front for a special time of prayer. When service was over, we were surrounded by people thanking us and wishing us well. Many have become close friends over the past year, of course, but there were also some that we hardly know who came to shake our hands and say good-bye. Once again, we were showered with gifts!

We’ve been careful throughout the year not to buy too many mementos as we have limited space to carry things back but we weren’t counting on all the wonderful gifts! Fortunately, we came to Japan with less luggage than we were allowed and some of what we brought has worn out or been used up. Tomorrow, I begin packing and hope that I can fit everything in. If not, we’ll be shipping some things. One young couple in the church were wise enough to realize that we would have a lot to carry with us and told us that they would be mailing a gift to our home in Canada. Imagine our surprise and delight when she offered to take the things that we received today and mail them along with the gift that she was already planning to send! I gladly handed over all but the fragile ones. Again, such generosity! Is it any wonder that we’re having such a hard time saying good-bye?

Japan has a reputation for being very advanced technologically but we were surprised to discover that, in terms of actual application, it really isn’t. Everyone has the latest cell phones and the tiniest digital cameras but we live in an older building with no high speed internet. It still astonishes me that we had better internet service in the middle of rural Alberta than we have an hour outside one of the biggest cities in the world. On the other hand, I guess we should be happy to have internet at all considering the fact that they’re only just putting cable TV into the building this week.

Perhaps most amazing to us, however, has been the lack of technology at our workplace. MIL has nine small schools spread throughout the northern part of Chiba Prefecture, about an hour east of Tokyo.  Teachers have no access to computers at school and all interoffice communication is done by fax instead of email!  The photocopiers and some of the CD players in our schools must be amongst the oldest on the planet.   I’m sure that there are workplaces in Japan that are much more technologically advanced than ours but from what we’ve heard, MIL is definitely not alone in it’s failure to join the world of modern technology.

We’ve never been ones to simply attend church on Sunday.  We’ve always been fully involved but when we started attending Hope Church last March, we wondered how we’d be able to serve in a church where we didn’t speak the language of the majority of the people.  Not a problem, responded our very big God!   As it turned out, Smoky, a young American living and working in Japan and newly married to a Japanese wife, was at that very time, considering starting a monthly beginners English class that would meet after church once a month.  He welcomed our help with open arms.

Though we teach English five days a week, the beginners class at church quickly became one of the highlights of our month.  It has been so much fun!  Unlike school, where we’re required to use textbooks and teach the technicalities of English grammar, we focus entirely on pronunciation and basic conversational skills at church.   We eat lunch together and then have a simple lesson that allows the students to practice what they’re learning.  We make sure that there’s one English speaker at each table to help them and some of them are bilingual and can translate when necessary.  When the class first began last summer, many of the students were terribly nervous but Richard and a few of the young men in the class soon put them to ease with their crazy antics.  The class’s reputation quickly grew and it has continued to grow in number.

Yesterday the beginners English class held a farewell party for us.   As part of the lesson, Smoky included a number of useful phrases for saying good-bye and wishing someone well then each student got up and said a few words for us.  A couple of them had even prepared short speeches in advance.  We were totally overwhelmed!  Not only were their words so very kind and the feelings they expressed so genuine but we knew how difficult a task it was for most of them and we were so proud of how well they did.

Though the gift of their words was the most meaningful to us, they also had a beautiful farewell cake for us and showered us with flowers and gifts including Hope Church t-shirts.  We are so blessed!

When Richard and I were hired to come to Japan to teach English, I started this blog to share our experience with family and friends. I also welcome anyone else who comes across it. Some people stop by once while others have become regular readers. One such person is tokyo5.

I’ve occasionally been asked who this person is. “Sometimes it seems like he’s trying keep tabs on what you say,” said one regular reader. “Doesn’t this annoy you?” she asked.

Tokyo5 is actually an American whose job brought him to Japan 18 years ago at the age of 20. He ended up marrying a Japanese girl and staying. They live in Tokyo and have three children, hence the pen name, tokyo5. Apparently, he rarely returns to the States. Though his comments often do come across as somewhat critical, I give him the benefit of the doubt. I don’t think he intends to be rude. In fact, he may not even realize that his comments sometimes sound that way. He’s just incredibly proud of his knowledge of the Japanese language and culture and very defensive about anything Japanese. He actually keeps me on my toes. I know that if I slip up and get my information wrong, he’ll be sure to let me know! His own blog is an interesting source of information about many things Japanese. You can find it at tokyo5.wordpress.com.

I am able to remove comments from my blog if I choose to do so but I’ve never done that. WordPress does a good job of weeding out spam so I’ve never had to deal with anything offensive and if a comment appears that seems somewhat suspicious, I’m notified and can accept or delete it before it’s published. A few of tokyo5’s comments have gone that route but I’ve never deleted any of them. The only time I was tempted to do so was when a negative sounding comment was directed toward another regular reader.  Even in that case, however, I decided not to interfere.  I welcome all legitimate comments including those that disagree with me. In fact, I wish more people would comment. Much of what I share here is my opinion or my own interpretation or reflection on what I’m experiencing so it may be different from someone else’s. That doesn’t make either one of us wrong but it does open the door to interesting discussion.

When I first started writing the blog, I thought that it would be a one year project but now that our time here is drawing to a close, I’ve decided to keep it going indefinitely. Not only does it fulfill my desire to continue writing but now that some of my Japanese friends are reading it, perhaps it will allow me to share life in Canada with them!

I put up the first poster for our sayonara (good-bye) sale at one of our main schools today. Unlike some of our colleagues, we chose to live a very minimalist lifestyle this year so that there wouldn’t be a lot of stuff to get rid of at the end of our contract. We do have a few items to find new homes for, however.

Within minutes of the sign going up, one of our fellow teachers had spoken for my bike. She’s in no hurry to get it from me so I’ll use it for a couple more weeks before turning it over to her. I’ve often thought that if these bikes could talk they’d have interesting stories to tell. As teachers come and go, bicycles commonly pass from one to another. We have no idea how many previous owners ours have had.

In addition to the bikes, we have a very compact and sturdy computer desk to unload. We bought it at the nearby recycle store so, if we don’t find a buyer for it, it will likely end up back there. We also have a 15 inch flat screen computer monitor. I’d actually like to take that home with us but I suspect that there won’t be enough space in our luggage for it. Hopefully someone will want the computer speakers, the small oscillating fan and the folding canvas chair that we also bought second hand.

Since the sale is all about getting rid of stuff and not about making money, we’ve priced the items very reasonably. In fact, we plan to give some of them away.

There are three of us on staff who are finishing on the same day so I suspect that there will be some new teachers arriving before we depart. Hopefully they’ll be interested in having some of the things we need to get rid of. We aren’t supposed to leave anything in the apartment that wasn’t here when we moved in but I have snuck a few extra dishes and utensils into the kitchen cupboards that I know the next occupant will need. The contents of the cupboards aren’t itemized on the apartment inventory so I’m sure that leaving them there won’t be a problem.

Wow!  In some ways, the year has really flown by.  It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were setting up home and buying the items that we’re now ready to get rid of!

I attended my last ladies meeting at Hope Church this morning.  We usually meet the second and fourth Wed. of each month but, since Feb. 11 is yet another national holiday in Japan, there won’t be a meeting that day.

Our contract expires on Feb. 21 and we’ll move out of our apartment and fly to Hong Kong on Feb. 25.  It had been our original intention to fly directly back to Canada from there but recent changes to airline regulations have severely restricted the amount of luggage allowed on flights within Asia.  Instead, we’ll leave the bulk of our stuff with a fellow teacher who lives a few blocks from here and return to Japan for two nights before finally heading for home.

We’ve alerted our adult students to the fact that we’ll be leaving soon.  While they’re only guaranteed the same teacher for one six month term, we’ve been teaching most of them for ten months now.  Clearly, they have enjoyed their time with us and are sad to see us go.  It will be difficult to say good-bye to them and seeing some of my littlest students for the last time is something I don’t even want to think about.

After this morning’s meeting, it was announced that I would be leaving soon and the women gathered around me for a time of prayer.  The news came as a surprise to some of them.  The year has gone so quickly!

We’re excited about going home, of course.  We miss friends and family and there’s a certain little grandson who is threatening to take his first steps before Gram and Grandpa have a chance to meet him!  On the other hand, it’s difficult to say good-bye.  When I look across the church and catch Amu-chan’s eye, he gives me a huge smile.  He’s my “adopted” Japanese grandson and I won’t get the opportunity to watch him grow up.  Being a part of Hope Church for the past ten months has been an amazing blessing to us and we will miss the people there.

On a whole, this year has been a great experience and in spite of the fact that we’ve begun the long good-bye, it isn’t over yet.  Hopefully there are still a few exciting moments out in front of us!

It snowed a little around noon today. It didn’t last long but it created a bit of excitement for a few minutes. With the exception of the occasional really warm day like yesterday, the daytime temperature has probably averaged around 6C lately. It’s a much damper cold than we’re used to back home in Alberta, but it’s definitely warm in comparison. I walked home from work this evening with nothing on my head and I haven’t needed more than my little knit gloves to keep my hands warm all winter.

Staying warm indoors is where the real challenge lies. Like most Japanese buildings, ours has no insulation and no central heating. Considering how concerned the Japanese people are about global warming, it surprises us that even most newer buildings are not insulated.

We have three main sources of heat. A built in unit in one corner of the kotatsu room functions as an air conditioner in the summer and a heater during winter. It provides enough heat to keep about half of that room at a comfortable temperature. An oscillating electric heater in the corner of the tatami room does a pretty good job of keeping that room warm when we’re in it. By far the best source of heat, however, is the portable kerosene heater which we keep in the corner of the kitchen by the doorway to the kotatsu room so that we can turn it toward whichever room we’re using at the time. Unfortunately, it isn’t thermostatically controlled so we have to turn it off when the room starts to get too warm and the temperature starts dropping almost immediately. As a result, it’s impossible to keep the apartment at a steady comfortable temperature.

We’ve heard of a number of foreigers who are afraid to use their kerosene heaters but we use ours all the time. We run the kitchen fan for a short while when we first turn the heater on and again when we turn it off. The rest of the time, there’s no smell of kerosene at all. We keep a 10 litre jerry can of fuel out on the deck and Richard takes the removable fuel tank out there to refill it. Every Thursday and Friday morning, the kerosene truck makes it’s way up and down the streets of our neighbourhood. We always know when it’s coming as it plays a distinctive tune that can be heard well before it gets here. Right now, we’re going through a can of fuel a week. Lately, the price has been under 70 yen/litre but it has been as high as 110. (We used to think 100 yen to a Canadian dollar but at the moment, it’s more like 72 yen/dollar.) Apparently kerosene is a little bit cheaper at the gas stations but since we don’t have a vehicle and there isn’t a station close by, we’re happy to pay a little bit extra for the convenience of home delivery.

We have two other sources of heat. The first, which is uniquely Japanese, is the kotatsu, the low table where we eat all our meals. It’s frame is covered by a quilted futon upon which the table top sits. A heating coil is built into the table frame itself and keeps our legs comfortably warm while dining.

When winter came, the school provided us with electric blankets. They enable us to stay warm and cozy all night without running any heaters. By morning, the temperature in the apartment is often around 10C so as long as one of us, usually Richard, crawls out about an hour before we actually have to get up and turns the heaters back on, we’re okay. We turn them off again when we leave for work. By the time we get home, it’s once again somewhere around 10C in here. I refuse to take my coat off until it has warmed up to 15C so I often start cooking dinner with my jacket still on! My students tell me that February 3 is considered the end of winter and beginning of spring, however, so in spite of today’s snow, we should begin to see warmer conditions soon.

Some of you may remember that several months ago I wondered if my shoes would last until our year in Japan was over. If I had to replace them here, my options would be very limited because my feet are huge compared to those of most Japanese women. With less than two months to go, however, it looks as if I have nothing to worry about.  One pair of dressy flats has pretty much had it but the others are all holding up well.

The black oxfords that Richard brought with him to wear to school disintegrated  fairly early on but he had no problem replacing them.  It’s his running shoes that have become a source of merriment.  He came to Japan with two pairs.  One pair was already well worn but the others were brand new.  Shortly after arriving, he bought a third pair, mainly because they were name brand shoes on sale for an price that was irresistible.  So why, I ask myself, is he still wearing the old worn out pair when there are two pairs in the cupboard that have never been on his feet except in the shoe stores?

As we headed out the door on our way to church this morning, I mentioned that perhaps his old favourites were a bit too shabby and he should consider wearing one of the new pairs.  He wouldn’t hear of it, however, so off we went.  As we headed down the street, I realized that with each step, I could see two gaping holes opening and closing in the side of one of his beloved shoes!  I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks and that’s when I felt this blog coming on!

The old favourites have served him well.  They’ve  walked the streets of five countries and been to the top of Mt. Fuji.  They still have the dust of Vietnam and Cambodia on them.  I really think it’s time to retire them but now he’s threatening to take them back to Canada when we go!  I don’t think so!

the old favourites

Shortly after arriving in Japan last year, I came across two interesting lists – the top 10 sights to see in Japan and the top 10 ways to get under the skin of the country and the people. Between our first visit to Japan in 2005 and having now lived here for the past ten and a half months, we’ve managed to take in 7 of the top 10 sights. Distance will probably prevent us from getting to the remaining three.

Last night I also reached number 7 on the second list when I went to karaoke with four of my adult students! Though I’ve never been to karaoke in North America, I understand that it’s usually very different from Japan. Here you don’t perform in front of the general public. Instead, a karaoke establishment looks much like a hotel with individual rooms for private groups.

It was a fun and relaxing evening – just five women letting their hair down and having a good time together. There were two huge catalogues of songs to choose from – one English and one Japanese. I sang English songs, they sang Japanese songs and we all sang English ones together. We sang solos, duets and group numbers. I sang everything from Puff the Magic Dragon (a childhood favourite) to Leaving on a Jet Plane and Bridge Over Troubled Water (songs from my youth) to Amazing Grace! I was also the lead singer for a rousing rendition of Jambalaya.

The room was cozy and comfortable with couches surrounding a table that was soon laden with food. We ordered the meal when we arrived and it was delivered to the room. Whenever we needed anything, all we had to do was pick up the phone and ask.

I understand that Edmonton now has a few karaoke establishments that offer private rooms. Hmm… maybe we’ll have to investigate. I can definitely visualize my girlfriends and I whiling away an evening in such a place on our annual Christmas shopping weekend in the city. What do you think, girls?