You remember field day, right? That day in elementary school when you go out for an extended gym period and play relays and field hockey? Japan has that too…only different. Very different.
Their field day is called “undokai” (oo-n-dough-ka-ey) and it warrents an entire extra day. The local elementary school, also the largest, hosted it on a Saturday so the following Monday was a day off for the kids. We three English teachers were invited to go and watch, along with the 500 other families who went to watch their children compete in various events on the school field.
So, after my 6am run with Dan, I hurried back to shower, eat breakfast, and walk down to pick a spot. The festivities opened with a speech from the principle and other important people at 8:15am. From then until noon I saw many of my student in grades 1-6 compete in foot races by grade, relay races of various kinds, obstacle races, dances, and band performance. I took lots of pictures…
After that I hopped on the 1:15 train with Janelle for a shopping day in Koriyama. I had a few things on a list, and of course came back with more than I intended. New indoor shoes were a must, since the heating inside many of the school buildings is either non-existant or minimal. Fur lined short brown boots? Yes, please. Let’s not forget a furry faux sherling-lined lap blanket for inside my apartment…everyone needs a snuggle blanket for those cold winter nights when you just watch movies and drink cocoa. New kitting needles for my latest project, yarn, 3 boxes of on-sale graham crackers, gouda, and an apple crumble Starbucks latte were among the purchases. What better way to top off the evening than watch the conclusion of Anne of Avonlea with Rachel. “I don’t want sunbursts or marble halls. I just want YOU.” My heart melts every time. Oh, Gilbert Blithe, where are you?
My most recent excursion was completed Monday when I returned home from Tokyo. I left early Saturday morning, arriving by Shinkansen in Tokyo at 9:12am. I fought a sore throat most of the weekend but ended up fighting it off and getting the better of it…this time.
Saturday I hung out with Takae and her family. We went on a shopping hunt trying to find cottage cheese. I have since reconciled that Japan does not make or import cottage cheese, at least not by American standards. They do, however, market and import two variations of cottage cheese: one with the consistency of feta cheese, and one with the consistency of whipped cream cheese. I bought three small tubs of the latter, and combined with other imported ingredients I was able to whip up a delicious lasagna! The recipe requires a 9x13 pan…those don’t exist in Japan—I looked. So I split it between two pans. Everything that went in it seemed normal enough (except the cottage cheese…that was kind of a surprise) but the bigger surprise was the amount of mozerella cheese I put in it! Yes, this is how we cook in America.
On Sunday we all went to Yuko’s opera concert where we met some old friends and relatives. Together we sat and watched “Don Giovanni” produced by the university’s master program. The orchestra was rendered entirely by piano reduction, as two pianists took turns playing the entire score. It was quite fabulous and lovely Sunday matinee. We went out to a family restaurant for dinner afterwards…can you guess where?
Denny’s!
Before you turn up your nose in disgust, let me disclose that Denny’s in Japan is entirely different from its American origin. Sure they have a large yellow sign and weird color-schemed booths, but the menu is Japanese…which means it’s better. Selections from ramen, soba, spaghetti (with vegetables), and other fare even melt a little into traditional selections like steak and club sandwich…which are in fact the ONLY things on the menu that are similar. I opted for the chef salad. I was informed that this particular dish was intended for 2-3 people to which I replied, “Yes, but that’s two or three Japanese people…I’m American.” I ordered it. I ate it all.
The next day we celebrated the Monday holiday, Tai’iku no hi (sports day) by playing baseball and badminton in the middle of the street with otoosan. Then the family went for a walk around town, through the backroads and a woodsy trail ending up near a town park. The park was a little wood-surrounded golden rice terrace where familes parked their cars, spread their plastic ground covers, and busted out the onegiri. Dads and sons searched for crayfish in the rice field moats, little girls chased dragonflies and moms sat around chatting holding cups of cold green tea. It was rather picturesque.
Our own evening turned out to be epic in a different way…we ate some amazing ramen sitting around the coffee table in the living room watching a VHS tape: Apollo 13 with Japanese subs. YES!!! It was awesome. We didn’t get through the whole thing though because at just the right time we all jumped up, scrambled into the car and drove to the train station to drop off me and Takae. We said goodbyes and I followed my guide onto the train.
We didn’t get very far.
The train stopped and annouced that there was an “accident” along the line. Unfortunately this usually means that someone tried to commit suicide by leaping onto the tracks.
We deboarded at the next station and caught another train going in our desired direction, but it wasn’t long before we had to get off again due to the change in trains. We had planned this trip to the minute and now we were losing precious time. There were only a few shinkansen trains left….ahh! But, we kept calm, got some Starbucks, and called otoosan who graciously left home again to come pick us up and drive us all the way into Tokyo. There wasn’t even any traffic! Hallelujah! I caught the last train with about 6 minutes to spare.
Just this past weekend I had another shopping extravaganza with Janelle, completeing my shoe search and rescuing a cute pink pig from the toy shelf. Han-kun is now happily occupying my pillow, keeping guard during the day. My friend Kenta came to visit Funehiki Saturday night and hung out with us crazy people, picking up some cheap curry soba, playing improptu music, and watching The Shining. I declined the latter, since I was exhausted by 10:30 and went straight to bed. It was a surprisingly early morning, rising at 8:30 to eat and prepare for the race. We walked up to the sports complex and checked in, taking notice of the parent-child race that was finishing and walking past the food vendors selling fresh kabobs, soba noodles, and icees. We watched Dan run his 5 K and soon us girls were warming up for our races. I got onto the field and browsed the signs written kanji for some familiar characters that would indicate “womens 10K A.” I discovered that I was racing against 4 other women, decidedly more in shape than myself…and their running attire looked legit compared to my haphazard mismatched goodwill clothes. The weather was pretty overcast, though there was some blue sky in the distance. I almost wished it was raining like it had that morning.
The gun went off and my little group joined the older women’s group and the 7 other groups of men who jetted off like little rockets. It only took me once around the track to realize I wouldn’t be winning first place because that lady was already 100 yards ahead of me…and I was pushing my 9 minute pace.
What surprised me most was when we exited the stadium and proceeded to follow the road out to the rice paddies. Who was there but Kenta, having changed into his pajama shorts and was ready to run with me! He slipped into the mass of people and we ran a few miles together….then the sun came out. REALLY came out. It was just as hot as summer time, minus the humidity. I slowed down a bit and suddenly people started to pass me. Oh well. Even Kenta, who just decided to take a little jog was running ahead of me!
I barely made it. As I ran past little roadside homes the dwellers were clapping and shouting encouraging words to me. I actually stopped to walk 3 times (when there were few people around, of course) and get my legs back under me. I pushed myself up the last hill, willing my legs to eat any kind of energy they could find. Despite my struggles I came into the masses and the stadium looking like a champ, running my fastest on the verge of a sprint. I saw a lady up ahead…maybe I could catch her! I pumped my arms and got on my toes, closing the gap as the finish line loomed closer. I just barely was on her heels when we crossed the finish line…oh well. Exhausted I slowed immediately and proceeded to cool down when an official came up to me and told me to go one more time around the track. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!! I just used every last bit of strength to finish strong and now I could barely get a pace back to jog around the whole track again. I was slow, but I made it.
Turns out I got second place afterall! The first girl was a whole 12 minutes ahead of me…I wasn’t even close! The 3rd girl was 2 minutes behind me, and the other two were 12 minutes behind her! Quite a gap. I shook some guy’s hand who was probably important, stood on the podium, and received some fancy papers with my name printed on them and a plaque. Yay!
Then I went home and ate brownies since I hadn’t eaten chocolate in a month and a half.
Their field day is called “undokai” (oo-n-dough-ka-ey) and it warrents an entire extra day. The local elementary school, also the largest, hosted it on a Saturday so the following Monday was a day off for the kids. We three English teachers were invited to go and watch, along with the 500 other families who went to watch their children compete in various events on the school field.
So, after my 6am run with Dan, I hurried back to shower, eat breakfast, and walk down to pick a spot. The festivities opened with a speech from the principle and other important people at 8:15am. From then until noon I saw many of my student in grades 1-6 compete in foot races by grade, relay races of various kinds, obstacle races, dances, and band performance. I took lots of pictures…
After that I hopped on the 1:15 train with Janelle for a shopping day in Koriyama. I had a few things on a list, and of course came back with more than I intended. New indoor shoes were a must, since the heating inside many of the school buildings is either non-existant or minimal. Fur lined short brown boots? Yes, please. Let’s not forget a furry faux sherling-lined lap blanket for inside my apartment…everyone needs a snuggle blanket for those cold winter nights when you just watch movies and drink cocoa. New kitting needles for my latest project, yarn, 3 boxes of on-sale graham crackers, gouda, and an apple crumble Starbucks latte were among the purchases. What better way to top off the evening than watch the conclusion of Anne of Avonlea with Rachel. “I don’t want sunbursts or marble halls. I just want YOU.” My heart melts every time. Oh, Gilbert Blithe, where are you?
My most recent excursion was completed Monday when I returned home from Tokyo. I left early Saturday morning, arriving by Shinkansen in Tokyo at 9:12am. I fought a sore throat most of the weekend but ended up fighting it off and getting the better of it…this time.
Saturday I hung out with Takae and her family. We went on a shopping hunt trying to find cottage cheese. I have since reconciled that Japan does not make or import cottage cheese, at least not by American standards. They do, however, market and import two variations of cottage cheese: one with the consistency of feta cheese, and one with the consistency of whipped cream cheese. I bought three small tubs of the latter, and combined with other imported ingredients I was able to whip up a delicious lasagna! The recipe requires a 9x13 pan…those don’t exist in Japan—I looked. So I split it between two pans. Everything that went in it seemed normal enough (except the cottage cheese…that was kind of a surprise) but the bigger surprise was the amount of mozerella cheese I put in it! Yes, this is how we cook in America.
On Sunday we all went to Yuko’s opera concert where we met some old friends and relatives. Together we sat and watched “Don Giovanni” produced by the university’s master program. The orchestra was rendered entirely by piano reduction, as two pianists took turns playing the entire score. It was quite fabulous and lovely Sunday matinee. We went out to a family restaurant for dinner afterwards…can you guess where?
Denny’s!
Before you turn up your nose in disgust, let me disclose that Denny’s in Japan is entirely different from its American origin. Sure they have a large yellow sign and weird color-schemed booths, but the menu is Japanese…which means it’s better. Selections from ramen, soba, spaghetti (with vegetables), and other fare even melt a little into traditional selections like steak and club sandwich…which are in fact the ONLY things on the menu that are similar. I opted for the chef salad. I was informed that this particular dish was intended for 2-3 people to which I replied, “Yes, but that’s two or three Japanese people…I’m American.” I ordered it. I ate it all.
The next day we celebrated the Monday holiday, Tai’iku no hi (sports day) by playing baseball and badminton in the middle of the street with otoosan. Then the family went for a walk around town, through the backroads and a woodsy trail ending up near a town park. The park was a little wood-surrounded golden rice terrace where familes parked their cars, spread their plastic ground covers, and busted out the onegiri. Dads and sons searched for crayfish in the rice field moats, little girls chased dragonflies and moms sat around chatting holding cups of cold green tea. It was rather picturesque.
Our own evening turned out to be epic in a different way…we ate some amazing ramen sitting around the coffee table in the living room watching a VHS tape: Apollo 13 with Japanese subs. YES!!! It was awesome. We didn’t get through the whole thing though because at just the right time we all jumped up, scrambled into the car and drove to the train station to drop off me and Takae. We said goodbyes and I followed my guide onto the train.
We didn’t get very far.
The train stopped and annouced that there was an “accident” along the line. Unfortunately this usually means that someone tried to commit suicide by leaping onto the tracks.
We deboarded at the next station and caught another train going in our desired direction, but it wasn’t long before we had to get off again due to the change in trains. We had planned this trip to the minute and now we were losing precious time. There were only a few shinkansen trains left….ahh! But, we kept calm, got some Starbucks, and called otoosan who graciously left home again to come pick us up and drive us all the way into Tokyo. There wasn’t even any traffic! Hallelujah! I caught the last train with about 6 minutes to spare.
Just this past weekend I had another shopping extravaganza with Janelle, completeing my shoe search and rescuing a cute pink pig from the toy shelf. Han-kun is now happily occupying my pillow, keeping guard during the day. My friend Kenta came to visit Funehiki Saturday night and hung out with us crazy people, picking up some cheap curry soba, playing improptu music, and watching The Shining. I declined the latter, since I was exhausted by 10:30 and went straight to bed. It was a surprisingly early morning, rising at 8:30 to eat and prepare for the race. We walked up to the sports complex and checked in, taking notice of the parent-child race that was finishing and walking past the food vendors selling fresh kabobs, soba noodles, and icees. We watched Dan run his 5 K and soon us girls were warming up for our races. I got onto the field and browsed the signs written kanji for some familiar characters that would indicate “womens 10K A.” I discovered that I was racing against 4 other women, decidedly more in shape than myself…and their running attire looked legit compared to my haphazard mismatched goodwill clothes. The weather was pretty overcast, though there was some blue sky in the distance. I almost wished it was raining like it had that morning.
The gun went off and my little group joined the older women’s group and the 7 other groups of men who jetted off like little rockets. It only took me once around the track to realize I wouldn’t be winning first place because that lady was already 100 yards ahead of me…and I was pushing my 9 minute pace.
What surprised me most was when we exited the stadium and proceeded to follow the road out to the rice paddies. Who was there but Kenta, having changed into his pajama shorts and was ready to run with me! He slipped into the mass of people and we ran a few miles together….then the sun came out. REALLY came out. It was just as hot as summer time, minus the humidity. I slowed down a bit and suddenly people started to pass me. Oh well. Even Kenta, who just decided to take a little jog was running ahead of me!
I barely made it. As I ran past little roadside homes the dwellers were clapping and shouting encouraging words to me. I actually stopped to walk 3 times (when there were few people around, of course) and get my legs back under me. I pushed myself up the last hill, willing my legs to eat any kind of energy they could find. Despite my struggles I came into the masses and the stadium looking like a champ, running my fastest on the verge of a sprint. I saw a lady up ahead…maybe I could catch her! I pumped my arms and got on my toes, closing the gap as the finish line loomed closer. I just barely was on her heels when we crossed the finish line…oh well. Exhausted I slowed immediately and proceeded to cool down when an official came up to me and told me to go one more time around the track. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!! I just used every last bit of strength to finish strong and now I could barely get a pace back to jog around the whole track again. I was slow, but I made it.
Turns out I got second place afterall! The first girl was a whole 12 minutes ahead of me…I wasn’t even close! The 3rd girl was 2 minutes behind me, and the other two were 12 minutes behind her! Quite a gap. I shook some guy’s hand who was probably important, stood on the podium, and received some fancy papers with my name printed on them and a plaque. Yay!
Then I went home and ate brownies since I hadn’t eaten chocolate in a month and a half.
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