When we told them about our home in Canada, our friends in Japan simply couldn’t visualize a town with a population of 900 people. I understand completely. I couldn’t either until I came to Sedgewick to teach school almost 34 years ago.

There are a lot of “You know you live in a small town when…” jokes circulating on the internet. Here are a few that I can definitely identify with.

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You know you live in a small town when…

Third Street is on the edge of town.

You don’t need to use turn signals because everyone knows where you’re going.

You call a wrong number and they supply you with the right one.

You dial a wrong number and talk for fifteen minutes anyway.

You decide to walk somewhere for exercise and people pull over to ask if you need a ride.

Your teachers remember when they taught your parents.

The New Year’s baby is born in February.

You can’t go to the grocery store without seeing someone you know.

It’s normal to see an old man riding through town on a ride on lawnmower.

The closest McDonald’s is 50 miles away.

Everyone knows the news before it’s published.

You drive into the ditch five miles out of town and word gets back before you do.

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It’s absolutely true that in a town this size people know your business almost as soon as you do. There’s advantage and disadvantage in that but one thing I’ve learned is that it’s best not to believe everything you hear.

In the spring of 2007, as our retirement approached and we began to mention our interest in spending a year teaching English in Japan, rumours began to spread. We soon heard that our house had been sold and that we were leaving for China as soon as school was out at the end of June! Even those who knew better than to believe these stories started asking when we were leaving long before we’d actually accepted teaching positions.

Now that we’re back, it’s becoming obvious that many people think we’re only here for a visit. The second question that many ask, after “How was it?” is “Are you going back?” or “How long are you here for?”  I suppose there’s one of two reasons for that. Perhaps they actually thought that we’d left permanently or more likely, in most cases, they simply don’t realize that more than a year has already passed since we left.

Are we going back? If we do, it will only be for a visit, not to work for another year. We had the option of staying longer, but family obligations would have made that an unwise choice and we really do want to experience retirement. If travel wasn’t so expensive, I’d love to visit Japan once a year. In fact, if I was able to, I wouldn’t mind spending several months there each year but this is home.

How long are we here for? I really don’t know. Sedgewick is a good place to come home to but there’s still a lot of world out there that we haven’t seen and we’ll certainly be looking for opportunities to spend shorter periods of time in other interesting places. In the meantime, though we miss the many wonderful friends that we made in Japan, we’re happy to be back.

I even came up with my own “You know you live in a small town when…” line recently. You know you live in a small town when the vehicle parked next to yours has a license plate number that is one digit different from yours. I don’t know who YKX 656 is, but we’re YKX 657 and we were parked side by side in front of the Sedgewick Co-op one day last week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t consider myself particularly domestic.  For the most part, I cook because we have to eat.  On the other hand, one of the things that I missed when we were in Japan was an oven.  Like many Japanese households, we had a two burner gas stove with a little grilling drawer that was great for cooking fish or a couple of pork chops, but no oven.

Needless to say, in the almost two weeks that we’ve been home, the oven has been well used!  One of the things that I’ve always enjoyed cooking is the big turkey dinner at Thanksgiving and Christmas.   Turkey isn’t part of the Japanese diet.   In fact, the idea of cooking something that big completely astonishes them.  When my sister, her husband and five of their children, including three teenage boys with hearty appetites, came for dinner on Sunday, I cooked a turkey.  Yum!

Baking is definitely not my forte but I do enjoy making muffins.  There are already bran muffins in the freezer and this evening I tried a new recipe for cranberry muffins using the leftover cranberry sauce from Sunday’s feast.  We haven’t tasted them yet but the kitchen smells heavenly and I’m feeling a wee bit more domestic than usual!

Yesterday we gathered all the necessary documents and delivered them to H&R Block, Canada’s income tax preparation specialists. In the past, we’ve always done our own income tax returns as they were pretty straightforward. This year, however, they’re a little more complicated because we’re required to pay income tax on the money that we earned while working in Japan. We knew this before we made the decision to go but I really don’t think it’s right. I don’t object to paying tax on our pensions even though we were out of the country for most of 2008 and didn’t use any of the services that our taxes generally pay for. I am, however, deeply offended that we have to pay tax on our foreign income.

The majority of our colleagues at MIL were Americans. They are not required to pay income tax on money earned outside the States. The rest were young Canadians, many of whom could be declared non residents of Canada for income tax purposes. This option wasn’t available to us because we own a home here. We also know that there are those who simply don’t declare the income that they make while working overseas. After all, would the government know that we were working overseas if we didn’t tell them? I must admit that this was very tempting. Our Christian consciences wouldn’t actually allow us to follow through on the idea though. After all, the Bible does tell us to obey the rules of the land and to “render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s”. I just wish Caesar didn’t want so much!

In addition to paying our taxes out of obedience to God’s word, income tax evasion is a criminal offense and I wouldn’t really want to face the consequences if we were found out! In addition to paying the taxes that are owing plus interest and any other penalties that the Canadian Revenue Service assesses, a person may also face prosecution. The court can fine a person up to 200% of the taxes evaded and sentence them to a two year jail term. That’s certainly not how I want to spend part of my retirement! When the bill comes, I’ll write the cheque but I’ll definitely be doing it grudgingly.

We’ve been home for a week now and we’re STILL unpacking and getting settled in!  While we were in Japan for the past year, almost all of our furniture and belongings were stored in three rooms in the basement so that the couple who were living in our house and taking care of it could move their things in.   We’ve been gradually sorting through things and moving everything back into place.  It’s been a slow process for two reasons.  First, our daughter is here with our eleven month old grandson and playing with him is way more fun than doing housework!  The second reason for moving so slowly is the fact that I’m totally overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of stuff!

After living in a 365 square foot apartment with only the bare necessities for the past year, I guess I’m experiencing a bit of reverse culture shock.  Though I’m happy to have more space, I loved our little apartment and didn’t miss most of the things that I’ve been busy unpacking for the past week.  I keep asking myself why we need so much stuff!

After living in the same house and having plenty of storage space for 27 years, a family accumulates a lot of stuff.  We did a major purge before we left for Japan hauling loads of things to the local thrift store and the dump.  Thank goodness for that or I’d have even more stuff to face now.  As I look at all that’s left, I’m tempted to get rid of a lot more of it!  I’m being careful though as I know that once I’ve been home for awhile and am feeling more settled, I might regret the rash decisions that I’m tempted to make right now.  Instead, as I sort through everything, some things are going back into storage.  If I still don’t want them a few months from now, I’ll get rid of them then.  In the meantime, I’d better get back to work while the baby has his nap!

Based on what we’ve seen since we returned to Canada, I think global warming is badly misnamed.  Climate change I can accept but global warming, no.  I realize that the polar ice caps are melting and I recognize the threat that that poses worldwide but this part of the globe is definitely not warming!  In fact, it was -20 C when I woke up this morning!

I had hoped that the snow would be gone when we got home.  Of course, I realized that I was being a bit unrealistic but I certainly wasn’t counting on a snowstorm in Vancouver our first day there nor did I expect the storm that hit here on Sunday.  Many people were unable to make it to church because of poor visibility and drifting snow and we worried about our son and son-in-law who had to drive back to Edmonton and Calgary for work.  There’s at least a foot (30 cm) of snow still on the ground and spring seems to be a long way off.  No wonder I enjoyed Japan so much!  Imagine… flowers year round!

Why is jet lag always worse traveling from Asia to North America than vice versa?  Our plane lifted off from Narita Airport in Japan at about 5:30 p.m. on March 7, crossed the international dateline somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and landed at Vancouver at 8:40 a.m.  Thus began our second March 7!  We tried to get some sleep during the 8 hour flight but met with little success.  Once in Vancouver, we stayed up until evening hoping to get ourselves back on a somewhat sensible sleeping schedule as quickly as possible.  After staying awake for more than 30 hours, we slept soundly until the alarm roused us the following morning in time to go to church with Matt and Robin.

Though we feel fine during the day, it’s taken the better part of a week to start sleeping normally again.  The second night in Canada, we fell asleep easily but woke up an hour or so later and couldn’t get back to sleep.  When we finally slept again, we didn’t wake up until almost 11:00 a.m.  Unheard of!  We continued to wake up off and on for the next few nights and though we didn’t sleep that late again, we haven’t been getting up very early.  Fortunately, we haven’t had to.

We’re visting with family here in Vancouver until Thursday when we’ll fly back to Alberta.  In the meantime, we’ve been giving my parents’ apartment a thorough spring cleaning (though spring has not yet come to Vancouver) and catching up with family news.   Matt and Robin waited until they were able to tell us the most exciting news in person.  They’re expecting their first child in October!  Another grandchild, just in time for my next birthday.

We’ve also managed to make many of the necessary arrangements for moving back into our house in Sedgewick.  The phone will be connected the day we arrive and we even managed to get our old number back.  Considering that we had the number for over 30 years, it’s very convenient for us and it also means that some poor newcomer won’t get a barrage of wrong number calls when we get back to town.  The internet will be reconnected the following day so I’ll be able to start updating the blog more regularly at that point.  I’m definitely looking forward to sharing our trip to Hong Kong and Macau so please continue to be patient!

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!