After church yesterday afternoon we went into Tokyo again to Harajuku and nearby Yoyogi Park. What a kaleidescope of images! We emerged from the train station into a small area outside the park that is a gathering area every Sunday afternoon for the cos-play-zoku, the costume play gang! These are teenage girls, many from the outlying suburbs, who leave behind their high pressure, often bullied, high school lives for a few hours and find release in their temporary weekend identities. Decked out in elaborate and outlandish costumes ranging from the very dark gothic to virginal little girl frills, they mix and mingle while hordes of tourists try to get pictures. Some primp and pose while others clearly try to avoid the cameras.

Upon entering the park, we walked through dark forest to the Meiji Shrine, an authentic reconstruction of the original which was destroyed in the bombing at the end of World War II. The shrine was built in memory of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, great-grandparents of the present emperor. Emperor Meiji was known for promoting friendship with other countries and introducing western civilization and modern technology to Japan while at the same time preserving it’s unique identity.

We arrived at the shrine just in time to watch a traditionally clad bridal party having their pictures taken. From outside a cordoned off area, we were also allowed to take photographs, something we considered a rare privilege. Also, within the shrine area, we discovered a display of Japanese bonsai, miniature trees grown in containers using techniques that result in full grown trees only inches in height.

Within Yoyogi Park, we also took a quiet pathway through a peaceful garden area where we sat for a few minutes beside a beautiful pond watching the carp swim by.  It absolutely amazes me that such a tranquil oasis can be found in the middle of a bustling city like Tokyo.  In one part of the garden irises, known as a rainy season flower, were just coming into bloom.

Constant contrast – old and new

Hmm…. ?

Very few people here have room to store a full week’s trash so garbage collection happens much more frequently than it does at home.  When we moved into the apartment, we were presented with a large sheet of instructions entitled Disposal of Household Garbage which I keep posted on the kitchen wall.  It explains how to correctly sort garbage and when to put various types out for collection.

The majority of our garbage falls into the burnable category which is collected three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  This includes kitchen refuse, plastics and waste paper as well as rubber and leather products such as old shoes.  This must be put out in special bags with green writing on them that are specified by the Funabashi municipal government.  They are available at the grocery stores and convenience stores.  The garbage is supposed to be taken out to specified collection areas by 8:30 a.m. on collection days only.  We’re fortunate to have a collection area at the side of our building.  Some of the people in the little side streets have to bring their garbage out to our street for collection but no one has to go far.  At the collection site, the trash is put under green netting to keep the large black birds that share the neighbourhood with us from scattering it around.  The bright blue and yellow garbage truck comes by around 9:30 a.m. with an electronic bell jangling and a recorded message blaring, presumably to remind those who’ve forgotten to take their garbage out.  The only word I recognize is kudasai, or please.

Non-burnable garbage is collected once a month.  According to the instruction sheet, this happens on “the very first week of Wed”.  Interpreting Japanese English can be fun!  I presume that this means the first Wed. of each month but, since I haven’t had to take advantage of this yet, I’m not entirely sure.  Non-burnable garbage includes things like china and glass, batteries, light bulbs, items with metal parts and small household electronic appliances.

Recyclable garbage is collected every Tuesday.  This is mainly glass bottles and steel or aluminum cans.  These are deposited in sacks at the same collection sites as the burnable garbage.  They are also supposed to be placed there by 8:30 a.m. but the Japanese rise early and we’ve heard them banging and clanging below our window as early as 5:00!

Garbage with value is collected every Thursday.  This includes newspapers, magazines and cardboard boxes which must be tied in bundles, old clothes which must be in plastic bags to keep moisture out and milk cartons which must be washed, unfolded and bundled.  Since milk is only sold in 1 litre cardboard cartons, we go through lots of those.

Fortunately, we use very few plastic recyclable bottles such as pop bottles as there are only a few places to dispose of these and a lot of them end up in the burnable garbage.  They can be taken to compressor-equipped recycling boxes at municipal halls and other designated spots or dropped off at some liquor stores.

Pick up can be arranged for some large items such as furniture by calling the municipal government information centre but service is only available in Japanese.  Fortunately, the only piece of furniture that we actually own is the small computer desk that we bought at the nearby recycle store.  When our time here is done, we’ll either pass it on to one of our colleagues or take it back there.  We do see a little truck pass by now and then with old televisions, bicycles and whatnot in the back.  It slowly cruises the streets with a recorded message blaring so I presume it’s picking up discarded items but I understand that this is not a city service.

Also, on Friday mornings, a team of young mentally disabled adults makes their way through the neighbourhood picking up bundles that appear to be magazines and catalogues.  They are accompanied by a truck and at least one supervisor walks with them.  I love watching them as they are such a happy bunch!  Rain or shine, we hear them coming as they laugh and shout to one another.  As this isn’t listed on the instruction sheet, I’m assuming that it’s also a separate service.

As you can see, figuring out how to dispose of trash is no simple feat and the instruction sheet that we were provided with is very helpful!  In a country with this many people and so little space, disposing of garbage efficiently is of major importance.

A little while ago, I made reference to my stubbornness in one of my blog entries. A few days later, I attended the last ladies meeting at church where our pastor’s wife, Shelley, shared a brief overview of the book of Ruth, one of my favourite passages of scripture. She spoke of Ruth’s character as an example of what a godly woman should be like. The first characteristic of Ruth’s personality that she brought out was her determination. Ruth 1:18 says in part, “When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined… she stopped urging her”. So, I began to wonder, am I really stubborn or am I actually just determined? Somehow determined sounds so much better, almost godly in comparison!

I’ve been pondering this question off and on for awhile now (one would think my brain had better things to do!) so I finally went to my dictionary to see what light it could shed on the matter. The definition of stubborn included “firm” and “determined” but also “rigidly firm in will or purpose”. Ouch! I don’t like to think of myself as rigid. The definition of determined sounded better. It included “resolute”, “firm in purpose” and “free from doubt or wavering”. No mention of rigidity there.

Next, I checked my thesaurus. Synonyms for stubborn included inflexible, inexorable, obdurate (I had to look those two up in the dictionary but even the sound of them is nasty), relentless, rigid, steadfast (the only nice sounding word on the list!), unbending, uncompromising, and unyielding. Again, being determined sounded a lot better. It’s synonyms included decisive, intent, resolute, resolved, set and settled.

Hmm… Maybe I should stop trying to convince people that I’m stubborn and claim to be determined instead!

The price of bread has suddenly jumped from 88 yen a loaf to 107 yen. That’s an increase of 22%. Though I haven’t paid attention to the prices, I understand that the same thing is happening to noodles, a staple of the Japanese diet. The unhappy Japanese consumers recognize that these increases are due to the rising cost of wheat.

Having spent last fall combining the wheat that could very well now be part of the bread I’m eating, I see things differently than I might have in the past. How can I complain when the farmer, who has been receiving an indecently low price for his grain for many years, finally receives an increase? Unfortunately, however, I don’t think he’s seen a 22% increase. There are many middlemen between the grain elevators in Killam and Viking and the bakery shelves here in Funabashi. When the price of grain drops again, as it no doubt will, will the price of bread go down too? I doubt it. I suspect, as has happened so often before, the middlemen will continue to be the ones who profit.

The increasing cost of living has been an interesting conversation topic in some of my adult English classes lately. Japan has traditionally kept itself isolated from the rest of the world and, though that is gradually changing, the majority of the people seem to have no idea that the economic difficulties that their country is experiencing are shared by the rest of the world. They’re often quite astonished to learn that North Americans grumble about the same things they do!

In no particular order, the following is a list of nine things that I will appreciate when I return home to Canada.

1.  Pancake syrup – Canada is well known here for it’s maple syrup and if I was desperate enough, I could buy a very small bottle of the real thing for a very high price but nowhere have I seen Aunt Jemima’s Original or anything similar.

2.  A full length ironing board that I can stand up to – I’m fortunate to have an ironing board at all as most MIL apartments don’t come equipped with one but as cute as my little board is, sitting on the floor to iron does get uncomfortable.  Since clothing that hangs to dry tends to need more ironing and Richard has to wear dress shirts to school every day, the little board gets plenty of use.

3.  The clothes dryer – I actually enjoy hanging the clothes out to dry but having to depend on the weather to do laundry does get tricky.

4.  The oven – We’re managing to eat well in spite of not having an oven but the menu is much less varied than it would be if we had one.

5.  Being able to sit on a chair to eat my meals – Sitting on the floor, Japanese style, is definitely a space saver.  The kotatsu measures approximately 30 inches by 30 inches and stands about 15 inches high.  Without chairs around it, it takes up very little room but these old bones do protest sometimes!

6.  Kitchen counters – My kitchen at home is small by Canadian standards and the counter space is quite limited but it will seem vast after what we have here!

7.  Being able to understand the language – It’s amazing how well we’ve been able to manage without this skill but not being able to converse with the people around you does get lonely sometimes and I’m sure there are things that we miss out on because we can’t read the newspapers, flyers and posters that surround us.

8.  Being able to see the stars at night – Even though the Japanese people think that this is country living because we’re not in the centre of Tokyo, it’s very urban here and the sky is never completely dark.  Often as I walk home at night, I wish that I could see the stars.

9.  Having an affordable golf course at the end of my street and the time to enjoy it!

Many newer Japanese homes are equipped with the amenities that we are learning to live without but I’m actually glad that our little apartment is so traditional.  Part of the reason for coming here was to experience a totally different way of life and we are doing that.  Living the way we do is also giving me a new appreciation for so many things that I’ve always taken for granted.

I don’t like killing things. I’m more apt to capture a spider and release it outdoors than I am to kill it and I’ve been known to let ladybugs stay in the house all winter rather than putting them outside to freeze. Naturally, then, when I saw the first teeny, tiny critter flitting about the bathroom a few weeks ago, I was content to leave it be. Little did I realize that it would soon be joined by millions more! They’re very tiny so we haven’t been able to examine them closely but by the way they move, I suspect that they’re some kind of moth. We’re not sure if they’re hatching out someplace or finding their way in from outdoors. Either way, I’m not willing to share my space with them and have taken to squashing them with a vengeance! At first I did it daintily with a tissue making sure they didn’t leave their mini guts streaked across my bathroom wall but I’m past that now too. I squish them with bare hands if need be! Fortunately, they seem to like the dampness of the bathroom and most don’t venture out into the rest of the apartment. A few have been getting braver lately though and it will be much harder to control their population if they continue to spread. There seem to be more of them when it’s rainy which doesn’t bode well for the future as the real rainy season and the hot, humid summer are still out in front of us.

As if an infestation of critters hopping about the bathroom walls wasn’t enough, I discovered ants in the kitchen this morning! Not just one or two; about a bazillion! They’re little tiny ones, just like the ones that reside in my flower beds back home. Again, I don’t know where they came from but when I discovered them, they were busy exploring one corner of the room and hadn’t ventured further yet. I didn’t know what to do so I grabbed the can of roach spray that hadn’t been put to use yet and decided to see what it would do to ants. If it’s as effective on cockroaches as it is on ants, we have nothing to worry about! They shriveled and died almost instantly and I simply vacuumed up the carcasses! Amazingly, I also discovered that the roach spray has no smell. I was expecting something really nasty. It did leave a shiny residue on the nice clean floor that Richard just washed yesterday but I’ve decided to leave that for the moment in hopes that it will discourage any stragglers from trying to claim our territory. I also checked the cupboards and was happy to discover that they hadn’t found their way in there yet.

Often, when I see an elderly Japanese man on the street or on the train, I’m reminded of the fact that somewhere in this country there may be an old retired sailor who first crossed my path over fifty years ago.  I was three or four years old at the time, too young to actually remember the incident but I remember being told about it and I have the evidence that it happened in a storage trunk back home in Canada.   At that time, we lived in a waterfront house in Powell River on the coast of British Columbia.  It wasn’t unusual for crew members from boats in the harbour to be seen walking along our street.  One day as I was playing in the yard, my mother, who was watching from the kitchen window, saw a Japanese sailor enter the yard and give me something.  Concerned about what it might be, she came out to check and found me holding a tiny blue and white cigarette lighter in the shape of an oriental man.  It was out of fuel but my mother deemed it an inappropriate plaything for a little child so she took it away from me.  Realizing, however, that the gentleman meant it as a gift of kindness, she kept it for me and gave it to me when I was older telling me at that time where it had come from.  I have kept it ever since and have always appreciated the fact that my mother didn’t simply throw it out and allow the incident to be forgotten.  Who knows what impression that moment of generosity on the part of a sailor far from home and family had on the mind of a child and whether or not my interest in and love for Japan goes back, in some small way, to that incident?

The new MIL advertising flyers came out yesterday and there I am on the front page!  That’s probably the beginning and the end of my modeling career but it’s fun while it lasts.

I’ll be appearing before a different kind of camera on Thursday.  My classes are being videotaped that day as that’s one of MIL’s methods of evaluating new teachers.  When I was first informed of this, I felt a little intimidated but then I reminded myself that I’ve been videoed lots of times before.  Somehow, though, I find it easier when I’m appearing as Vonga, the jungle girl, or crazy Aunt Abby!  I’m sure I’ll get through it just fine, though.  I’ll just remind myself that this is one more performance!

Once again, we were awakened in the wee hours of the morning by the earth shaking beneath us! An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck offshore less than 100 miles from here and was followed about half an hour later by a second quake with a magnitude of 5.3. It was definitely our most prolonged and bumpy ride so far! It wasn’t enough to drag us from our beds, however, and we’re happy to report that we’re fine. We haven’t heard reports of any serious damage but apparently two people suffered minor injuries from falling furniture. An 18-year-old boy was hit when his stereo speakers fell onto his bed, and a 25-year-old man was hit by objects rattling off shelves.

Fortunately, we don’t have anything located in such a way that it could fall on us while we sleep. The clothing rod in our closet did collapse this morning, however! It’s a temporary rod that we rigged up because there wasn’t anywhere to hang clothes so it isn’t very stable and it was obviously shaken loose by the quake. It’s now back in place again.

Of somewhat greater concern is the fact that our gas has been off all day meaning no cooking and no hot water. As a safety feature, the gas to the apartment is supposed to shut off automatically in the case of an earthquake. This is the first time we’ve had a quake strong enough for that to happen. Normally, we should be able to go out to the gas meter on the side of the building and reset it but that hasn’t worked so we’re assuming that the gas is off to the whole building. Our instructions for such an occasion are to call the gas company and say “gas-ga-ki-te-nai” (my gas has not turned back on yet) but when Rich tried that he got a lengthy recording in Japanese. It probably explains the situation but, of course, we don’t understand a word of it! He then called the school and left a message for Miki, the gal who handles everything to do with housing. Hopefully she can phone the gas company for us and figure out what’s going on. In the meantime, we’re managing fine without it and if it’s not on by the time I get home from school this evening, I guess we’ll just have to go out for supper. Darn it anyway!

We fully expected to experience earthquakes while in Japan. In fact, I would have been disappointed if we hadn’t but we didn’t realize how frequent they would be. Apparently, however, 20% of the world’s earthquake activity happens here in Japan so I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve already lost count but I think this was probably our sixth! Of course, most are very minor. So far, most have happened during the night and the others while we were at school. We’ve yet to experience one while we’re outdoors on solid ground. I still hope to find out what that feels like.

We do most of our grocery shopping at Seiyu, one of the two department stores within easy walking distance of home.  Jusco actually has a bigger grocery department but, after shopping in the Sedgewick Coop for over thirty years, I don’t need big.  It’s actually easier to find what I need at Seiyu and produce tends to be cheaper there.  Since we eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, that’s an important consideration.  I’m quite proud to say that I haven’t used the can opener since we moved in over two months ago!  Okay, I have opened a couple of cans of tuna but they had pull off lids that didn’t require the can opener.

The grocery store is filled with things I don’t recognize, either because I can’t read the label or because they’re actually things I’ve never seen before.  Shopping for staples like sugar and vegetable oil were quite a challenge when we first arrived!   How do you know which white powder is sugar or which yellowish liquid is oil when you can’t read the label?  Pictures sometimes help.  For example, when I found the section of yellowish liquids sporting pictures of corn, sunflowers and canola in bloom, I knew I’d found what I was looking for and the picture of a cup and saucer on the bag of sugar was a clear giveaway that it wasn’t salt!

When we first arrived, I determined to try at least one new thing each time I shopped.  I’m not still doing that but as a result of keeping that up for the first few weeks, we’ve eaten new kinds of vegetables and fish as well as several different kinds of mushrooms.  I don’t always know what it is that I’m buying but so far, there hasn’t been anything we haven’t enjoyed.

We explored the possibility of doing some of our grocery shopping at Costco but decided against it.  As the crow flies, it’s probably not all that far from here and if we had a vehicle, it might be worth considering.  By public transit, however, it’s a costly trip involving two or three trains and either a bus or a long walk.  Since we’re only able to carry a limited amount and have very little storage space, shopping in bulk really doesn’t work here.  Instead, we shop locally every day or two.  In addition to Seiyu, we occasionally buy produce at one of the many little green grocers in the area and we also make good use of the wonderful bakery nearby.

Because of our work schedule, mealtimes are quite different from what we were accustomed to before coming here.  Breakfast usually consists of either cereal or eggs but occasionally cinnamon buns or bagels from the bakery find their way to our breakfast table.  Cereal choices are very limited.  Most of what’s available comes in very small packages and is both highly sweetened and very expensive.  We have, however, found a couple of choices that work for us.  We usually eat them with sliced banana or strawberries on top and we eat fresh pineapple with almost every breakfast because it’s both delicious and inexpensive.  A whole pineapple usually sells for 295 yen (approximately $2.95).  Some fruits are terribly expensive, however.  Apples, while large and delicious, are a rare treat as they sell for 97 to 148 yen apiece and we probably won’t eat cantaloupe while we’re here as it sometimes sells for as much as 3 000 yen!  Yes, that’s really $30!

Because we get home from work so late, we often eat supper at about 10:00 p.m.  Obviously, with a schedule like that, lunch at noon wouldn’t work well so we generally have a snack before leaving for work and eat lunch sometime in the middle of the afternoon.  It has to be something that can be eaten on the run because we often have only 5 or 10 minute breaks between classes.  I pack lunches for us six days a week; five schooldays as well as a lunch to eat after the church service on Sundays.  Lunches most often consist of sandwiches, raw veggies and fruit just as they did in Canada.  Bread, though not part of a traditional Japanese diet, has become quite common here in recent years.  A loaf of bread consists of either 4, 6 or 8 slices, though, depending on the thickness of each slice!  We buy the 8 slice loaf.  Each slice is large, square and about the thickness of sliced bread at home.  I don’t know what happens to the loaf end crusts as there aren’t ever any in the packages.  The bread is all white which is a big change for us as we ate 100% whole wheat at home.   It’s very tasty though and we’re quite enjoying it.  For variety, we occasionally take onigiri instead of sandwiches.  Onigiri are seaweed wrapped rice triangles with fish centres.  The grocery store also sells great pizza buns which make a nice change and we occasionally buy bento boxes for Sunday.  A bento is a complete lunch consisting of a variety of Japanese foods.

While some of our suppers are not much different from what we ate in Canada, most are at least quasi Japanese.  Though we do have potatoes occasionally, we usually eat either rice or noodles.  The most common types of noodles are soba and udon.  Soba are made of buckwheat and udon of wheat.   Our meat dishes include fish, beef, pork and chicken.  Since cooking is limited to the stove top or the little grilling drawer, many of our meals are some type of stir fry.  As already mentioned, we’ve tried a variety of fish.  With the exception of salmon, which is easy to identify, I’m not sure what the others are because I can’t read the labels!  So far, I haven’t bought anything with eyes looking back at me nor do I buy seafood with suckers attached!  I really like the almost paper thin sliced pork and beef that is so readily available.  Not only is it quick and easy to cook but it’s so tender and tasty.  They tend to do unusual things with eggs here.  I haven’t managed to convince Richard that dipping cooked beef into raw egg is actually very tasty but he does like the beef dish with egg added that I’ve made several times now.

Perhaps the oddest thing about grocery shopping here is the packaging; the sheer amount of it!  We don’t buy a lot of things like cookies but if we did, it wouldn’t be unusual for each cookie to be individually wrapped inside the larger package.  For someone who is used to buying five pound bags of carrots, three carrots per bag seems quite hilarious.  On the other hand, I’m going to miss the carrots when we leave.  They’re so sweet and tasty.

Of course, we’ve only been here two months so I’m sure as seasons change, so will some of the produce that’s available and the prices that it sells for.  We had always been told that living in Japan is terribly expensive so I decided to keep track of what we spent on groceries in April just to see for myself.   I was pleasantly surprised when I totaled it up, to learn that we’d spent less than 50 000 yen ($500)!  I’m quite sure that that’s not anymore than we were spending back in Sedgewick.   So, now that I know that we’re losing weight and not overspending, watch out bakery…  here I come!