Thank You.
17 Nov 2010 1 Comment
I was asked to briefly introduce myself at the District Conference in Japan. My Japanese was limited and I had to sum it up to a formal ’Thank You’ and a deep bow.
However, here is what I would have said: I would like to thank Japan for being a beautiful and warm-hearted country of infinite characteristics that I adore. I’d like to thank my host families for taking me in for just a short time, and within that time, always making me a part of their families, hearts and homes. I would also like to thank each and every of the numerous Rotarians who took turns caring for us, guiding us around the gorgeous Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures, and impressing us with their generousity and dedication to making a difference in the world around them. I can truly say that I love Japan. I must have been dreaming; all that I was able to do an experience was far beyond what I could have imagined was possible in just a single month.
And finally, I need to properly thank and give chops (Jerry!) to the members of the GSE team who went from strangers to family in a few short weeks. I will miss you all, although I know and expect our relationships to grow and thrive long after we’ve woken up from this crazy dream. XoXo
Departures
17 Nov 2010 1 Comment
On our move to Tokyo it really hit each of us that we were leaving. Tokyo was a massive, bustling, neon bright packed full of folks metropolis. Tom and Honda-san were our guides and stayed with us at the Prince Hotel. They promptly took us around the city to enjoy fully our day and a half in the capital.
We had a scrumptious (chose that word for Honda-san!!) lunch of okonomiyaki (kind of like a savory pancake or pizza) and spent an hour at Asakusa Kannon temple. We knew how to purify ourselves with the smoke and fresh water before entering. We tossed coins, prayed and listened to the monks chanting. Filled with tourists, the streets approaching the temple were lined with trinket shops and a great time shopping.
I took lots of photos with my new friends which seemed to be becoming like family. We also went to Akihabara - the electronics and high-tech center of the city. I for one was impressed by the amount of gadgets on display, although it wasn’t long before the sky opened up and we were caught without jackets or umbrellas and gave up hopping from shop to shop.
So we all slipped into a coffee-house, and played Hangman on napkins until we were supposed to meet Honda and Tom again. From there, they took me to Uni-Qlo for Japanese Heat Tec clothing. Japanese technology and the warmest clothes ever. Believe it or not it was time for dinner and we had Korean BBQ. Jillian was a skilled griller, and all I had to do was pick the seafood, meat and mushrooms off the grill at the right time. Even though it was a night of drinking the night before…. Rotary Conference turned wonderful/bizarre feast and women-in-bunny-outfits evening…. I had some more drinks in Tokyo and enjoyed myself. We grabbed sweaters at the hotel and headed to the romantic views of the city at Tokyo Tower (AMAZING!!!!!) and Roppongi for bar-hopping.
We passed up the 9-1-1 and Gaspanic clubs for the Hard Rock, had good fries, mac and cheese and I had one double shot of straight whiskey. Done! I headed home to spend the rest of the evening on my bed.
Just like Tom and Honda would, we didn’t waste the next morning before our flight, and took the underground to the Imperial Gardens and had a long sunny walk through the city. Our last meal was ramen at a nice spot in an underground train station.
We took a long bus ride with our mountain of baggage to Narita. I had a memorable conversation the whole way there, reflecting on the experience and likening the whole thing like a sweet dream. Imagine my surprise when Windy pointed out my host family, the Yamaguchi’s, waiting for me there at the airport!!! The whole family was there (didn’t bring the poodle Moka lol). They handed us lavender and chamomile scented eye masks that heat up for our flights, and handwritten letters wrapped in a handkerchief that I would need as I read them. One by one, each of us began to cry. I was already on the edge, and seeing them sent me right over. I hugged them each. My team members teared up behind me. It was a tough moment and hard to say goodbye.
Long goodbyes and waving until the moment we could no longer see them, I teared up again saying goodbye to Tom and Honda-san. We made it through security and took a long long flight back home.
Photos!
15 Nov 2010 1 Comment
Okay - so. Due to lack of internet availability I’m playing Blog Catch Up with Photos only. Enjoy!
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Wednesday - Week 4
15 Nov 2010 1 Comment
Individual group study day. And it was a doozy. Here’s what we did. Here’s how I felt.
In the morning, I went to a small, newly opened fire station in Hamamatsu City. I was taken alone with two Rotarian escorts: Hide-san and Mo-chan. As I was told this in the morning, our translator Tom Ikeda who finally has a very clear idea of what I do for a living and what I want to see, told the group I wanted to see dispatch. People called people who called people and it was arranged, but I had to make my 10am appointment with the fire department. They showed me their best brand new equipment and trucks including a fully equipped HAZMAT vehicle stocked with everything under the sun and rescue equipment (we played ‘Where’s the Firefighter?’ using body heat). The translator was a very nice fireman, spoke wonderfully, and I wish he would have joined us for translating at the next stop.
At Hamamatsu’s main dispatch center, there was little translation. We were taken upstairs by a lady in a suit with a microphone. I was allowed (again) any further than the hallway windows. The lady spoke through the microphone at the dispatchers, and at least one of them was manipulating the equipment to follow her directions in showing off their immense system. I didn’t have to be inside to be impressed; I only wished that I could hover a little closer, or ask questions. But the language barrier was pretty great. For example, they have a camera mounted on Act City’s Okura Hotel (45 stories up where we stayed last week) that spins around and can zoom in onto any part of the city. I looked in the Hamamatsu Castle windows!!! But the more difficult explanations came with the inevitable “wakarimasen” (she doesn’t understand) and they fetched a translator who looked at me and said, “I am very nervous” and no more. I was thrilled when a senior dispatcher got up and joined us in the hallway to answer any questions. Through a series of pantomimes and slow simple language on both sides, I took notes on what I learned. Unfortunately, the interview granted was a short one and everyone bowed endlessly to show their thanks for allowing me this opportunity.
After an Italian lunch buffet at Act City, I went to Alsok security company, which was impressive to say the least. Namely, their idea of a security company is an all-encompassing, full-service company that includes a security force that more than doubles the number of public police in the city, whose gear and training are just as good. They even have life-size security robots! It was crazy cool. The president is a Rotarian and the vice-president (as I understood it) is a gold-medalist Judo champion. His picture was up in the office with trophies, and on every piece of promotional material. A very nice man, he took me out of town to the place where Alsok is responsible for transporting large quantities of Yen from businesses to banks - another high security level special permission type visit. And I’ve never seen so many cameras on employees, or that amount of money (even in Yen) in my life! He even took me out of his way to a store where the Rotarians bought special gifts for my family.
Later that evening, I went to delicious Shabu Shabu with my family, where we bonded even more. As I talked about my boyfriend, Yoko-san and Ayako-san started chiding Yamashita-san. You never cook! You never clean the dishes! Yoko-san smiled big saying, “Envy! Trade! Trade!” We all had a good laugh and Yamashita-san continued to tease me all night. He said, “I am lucky to choose you. You are so bright and pretty, when you talk about boyfriend.” I laughed! Not bright and pretty all the time huh?? What a great family and wonderful dynamic I found with them. The restaurant presented me with gifts of a framed photograph, kite and small plate upon leaving. Great day. Worn out!
Tuesday - Week 4
14 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
November 9
Tuesday Week Four
Tomorrow will bring individualized study at locations related to our respective careers; today was a typical day of interesting local companies. We met up at a new hotel. Craig has a young, single 30’s something host brother and it seems like the perfect match. Everyone else is happy too, but Jerry finds communication maybe a challenge. All in all, we happily went on our way to a confectionary and saw a truly fascinating world of large scale producing and baking of many cookies and sweets. We had to take off all jewelry, put on space suits, hair nets, were vacuumed like dogs being groomed and passed through high powered air tubes before we stepped off onto sticky mats and washed thoroughly. Inside , it was pretty incredible. The smells were good, and each part of the process had a particular function to the uniformity and taste of the process. No pictures were allowed (as I’m sure Infinite Zoom wouldn’t have survived the prep wash to get in). Eventually, I was able to eat a ChocoBat right off the line! Oh- a chocolate baseball bat, not my nemesis of the flying sort. There were crab-shaped breads, though I don’t know why they were shaped like crabs, and sesame crackers that have long shelf lives and are for disaster/emergency kits, or camping… I actually liked them best!
Lunch was a huge Rotary meeting. A little confusing today about the introductions and presentations but we nailed it! Jillian translated for Jerry and it went really smoothly I thought. Lunch was a fancy American style seafood medley… Well, at least there were only forks and knives on the table, no hashi chopsticks.
The afternoon was spent at a military airplane museum and base. There were flight simulators, a simulation movie on a dome screen and real jets taking off and a hangar full of various old and new military jets and planes. I couldn’t read the Japanese explaining everything. It really made me think of my boyfriend, who could have walked through there and explained near everything to me, what guns did what, what planes were special for what reason… A little pang of missing home, but it won’t be long now!
At home, my host parents took me to their house to wait for Ayako to get back from 711. They tried to help me look up special musical instruments for my mom. Finally we left for ‘Japanese high tech dinner’ – SUSHI!! We had a private table with a touch screen monitor. We could order anything by touching the picture on the screen, telling it how many, and spicy wasabi or no wasabi. Plates with microchips would come zooming onto our table from some unknown sushi maker elsewhere in the restaurant. I ate way too much! Salmon, tuna belly, raw scallop, salmon eggs, flat fish, sea urchin, ark shell (?), river eel and surprise – things that are small in the States, came out huge! like miso soup and tamago egg omelet – stuffed with rice inside. So I filled up quick. We chatted over tea and full bellies and I taught them some American slang and had fun explaining. They taught me too: proverbs like ‘Don’t adjust your hat under the pear tree’ (because it might look like you’re stealing) which I translated as maybe, ‘there is a time and a place for everything’ – uh, maybe… That’s a tough one!
Sunday - Week 3
07 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
FREE DAY!!!
We had a much-needed and well-deserved day off. No tours, no nothing! There was a lot of doing nothing for this girl, who really enjoyed her large hotel room and good view. I didn’t even turn on the TV. I had a quick lunch, ordering by picture which got me something I was not expecting at all. Luckily, it was gyoza… little Japanese dumplings. And they were yummy. More vegging in my room before Tom and Jerry (haha) called the rooms and asked who wanted to go to dinner. Tom took us to Yamaha and a traditional musical instrument shop to look for something for my mom before going to an unagi dinner. Good thing Tom was there. There was a ritual to eating the eel. Each time you filled your bowl, you added another ingredient, which changed the flavor of the dish and eel entirely. It was soooo great!! (but I have a pesky little eel bone that is still in my throat, I can feel it!). We karaoke’d at a very nice establishment, and Tom was so generous and treated us all. Late night stroll before bed in a very safe city, and that’s free day Sunday! On to the last week!
Saturday - Week 3
07 Nov 2010 1 Comment
This morning, the last at the Yamaguchi’s, was another day of much packing and scrambling to leave another home and another city. These days are getting to be awfully sad for me. Moka was especially cute, bounding around my bed and licking me. Breakfast was wonderful. I am getting skilled at eating filled-open fish with chopsticks! Airi came into my room and handed me presents “for your brother’s children” she said. She also had a bag with paper soap presents for the other GSE group members. I said goodbye to grandmother at the house, but the rest of the family, including Moka, came in the van to the hotel to say goodbye.
All the families were there. Windy’s little host sister Ami was there and apparently really liked our dog! So… Moka isn’t coming with me to America after all 
I was really sad leaving. Yes, I even let fall some tears. Soon, we were on a large bus headed for Hamamatsu city, our last big city before Tokyo and heading home! Hamamatsu is famous for Yamaha musical instruments, barbequed unagi (eel), and the Jubilo soccer team.
In fact, we went to a Jubilo soccer game in the afternoon with one of our friends who translated for us too, Mai. She bought us tickets. It was wild. Cheering is almost as precise as the sport. Entire songs and movements are done by the crowd waving Jubilo towels and beating full size drums. The opposing side taunted with an angry-style Elvis’ ”I CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE” and we sang back “The Entertainer” to la la la’s… I couldn’t understand the words so I sang what I guessed the words were like one: ’Jaba the Hut, the Hut’ I sang over and over. I waved a blue scarf around, and jumped when they jumped. Jubilo was down one goal most of the game, but in additional time, they scored and the place went absolutely ballistic.
Afterwards, Mai found us a Mos Burger, which is supposed to be famously good. It’s like In and Out, but Japanese-style. You can get burgers with rice patties instead of bread, but I went for the classic with cheese. The meat was both pork and beef and mine had a marinara type sauce with onions. Craig’s had salisbury sauce on his jumbo size.
Back in Hamamatsu I karaoke’d with Craig, Jillian, Mai and Jerry and we had a good time, but nothing beats the night before with my wonderful host family who I miss so much already.
Friday - Week 3
06 Nov 2010 2 Comments
I woke up in a much better mood than the day before. It was nice to know the schedule for the day was less hectic, and Jerry was awesome and asked the powers that be for a free weekend in the next town. And it’s going to happen! That alone makes all the difference.
We were lucky enough to be there when some of the bamboo was flowering, which only happens every 30 years. Without the guide, we wouldn’t have noticed! The flowers are teeny tiny and don’t look like flowers at all! There was a museum and shop where everything you can make from bamboo was displayed and sold. And boy, is there a lot! Then, outside we put on some aprons and made bamboo handicrafts. We played with knives and hammers to create a paintbrush out of a green stick of bamboo. I was unskilled at this and required a lot of help - and this was normally a kid’s craft! haha. I respect bamboo.
We had a Rotary meeting (and a beloved bento box) for lunch. Might I say, we did an awesome job!
After lunch we moved to one of the top two cancer hospitals in Japan. This was especially interesting to Jerry, but we all were amazed at this facility. The whole place was centered around the patient’s and their family’s comfort, outlook, privacy and long-term care. For example, an entire library was dedicated to cancer survivor’s, filled with information to help everyone cope with what comes next. Waiting rooms are situated to face sunny windows and nice views. The rose garden has hundreds of flowers, a heart-shaped pond, and trails friendly to hospital patients with their oxygen etc. The proton therapy required a huge nuclear-reactor looking elecro-magnetic machine that patients never see, but wow would they be impressed by the technology treating them!
The GSE members and their host families had a big goodbye party that night at a restaurant where we enjoyed many treats, took turns making speeches, saying thank you and standing up behind our chairs and singing whatever came to mind. Little Airi even sang for us in an angelic voice. Ami was there, and was absolutely on fire, looking in all our pockets for our iphone’s which she apparently likes very much. The ‘Talking Carl’ game is a big hit. Side note: the women’s bathroom here deserved a photo (I think someone got one) - there was a stream running inside it!! I suppose that drowns out any embarrassing noises, right?
Yamaguchi-san was on his way back from a Tokyo business trip on the train, so the family and I went to karaoke near the station to wait for him. Karaoke here is SO MUCH FUN! We had our own cute room, big screen, speakers as loud as you want them, and drinks served to you… Touch screen computers allow you to choose your songs and we turned the computer on to score us. The computer tracks whether you hit and how long you hold every little note. It even tracks how many calories you expend!! Since the Yamaguchi’s were very fond of The Carpenter’s and Vanessa Williams CD’s in the car, and like Disney, I chose ‘Colors of the Wind’ for my first song. It was so awesome that everyone cheering each other on, banging tamborines and clapping along. What a great family bonding experience! I ended up singing hard songs because I was drawing blanks on what to sing, like Leann Rimes and Mariah Carey. Good grief; I won’t tell you I sounded all that great: but I will say I never scored lowered than 80%! which is a pretty good score in my book!
At home, we discovered that Moka had eaten a shoe. I bathed and relaxed in the tub, and the family gave me many gifts. They also offered to give me Moka. I was touched; I will miss them so much.
Thursday - Week 3
04 Nov 2010 1 Comment
Windy did a great post about our group activities with photos, like calligraphy and visiting an enormous white Buddhist shrine on the hillside. I liked calligraphy the best. Making ink from the ink stone was relaxing and learning new characters was fun. I actually left the group slightly early in the afternoon from a tea break that was a fancy location for tea, but almost a do-your-own-ceremony.
So off I went with Yamaguchi-san from Gontenba city. I thought we lived close but our home is in Numazu, and we drove a long time. I know this because I was passed out in the back seat immediately and woke up as if I’d been asleep all night. We were going to Namazu’s Central Dispatch Center!!
This was for their 1-1-9 center, a medical and fire dispatch operation. This area is NEVER seen by the public, but the chief from the last station physically walked us in. I kept hearing: “Special Permission.” Normally, Dispatch is seen from the elevator (almost like seeing our Dispatch center from our elevator, which is not at all). We went through some doors and into the office portion which is staffed 8-5, where you removed shoes and put on slippers like in a home. From there I was allowed no further, but could stand at the windows and observe the dispatchers working and could ask questions during the brief interview I was given. Their computer system was immense!
I was most impressed by the fact that they are constantly training. If the phones aren’t ringing, the computer runs training simulations. Oh! And they work 24-hour shifts!!! Anyway, much of the details were lost in translation. Me: English Boss: Japanese. But Yamaguchi helped where he could and I took notes. At home later, with the help of the computer translator, Yamaguchi filled in all the missing details for me. He said that dispatchers there are over 40 years old, and almost always men. Yamaguchi said when I walked in, it created a huge reaction. Outside the station, the Boss introduced me to the firefighters climbing up and repelling off the training tower. He said the reaction was just as strong, and I noticed them dropping the ropes and bowing. It is so funny the way he tells the story!!!
The family took me out to eat, and thankfully, we dropped karaoke and onsen from the schedule. They drove us all the way back to Gotemba to a huge brewery and restaurant. We went one week before they put up the “largest Christmas decoration display in Japan”. I thought I picked out my own pasta dish, but it was family style and we had all manners of food on the table in no time: roast beef, my pasta with mushrooms and fish eggs, mussels, escargot, half rack of ribs, potato salad, Japanese dumplings, hot pie (which is like a chicken pot pie but with seafood)… It’s no wonder I had a tummy ache afterwards. Yamaguchi-san remarked that he was starting to understand my English! And we had a great time telling stories, with minimal use of the dictionary. We talked about our families, Carl, the trip to dispatch, politics (believe it or not), his feelings about China, and were even making jokes at the end: calling Yamaguchi-san Charlie Brown because of his solo puff of curly hair like Charlie’s. We were laughing so hard. It felt great. Airi, Ikuma and I raced back to the van (Gotemba is COLD!) and laughed the whole way. At home we looked at Google Earth photos of my house and my parents’ house where we saw my car parked across the street!! They took a lonnnnng family video of us talking and playing with crazy Moka, while Airi and I filled out pages for her ‘Friends book’, where I answered questions like what my favorite music, best talent and biggest dreams are on hot pink paper and drew pictures for her as well. Good times!
Labor or Culture Day…or both
03 Nov 2010 1 Comment
Airi went with us this morning to the hotel drop-off. We practiced rock-paper-scissors over and over in English, and she copied my weird sound effects as the scissors cut paper, or rock smashed scissors. She giggled when we tied over and over again. She ran after me to deliver bags of caramel corn for my friends this morning, and another stack of printed photos awaited us. The nice thing about our hosts taking so many photos is that they almost always give us individualized collections of printed pictures of ourselves and the group.
I’m not going to lie: today was a hard day. I felt overwhelmed. I’m tired of the long and busy schedule, which are only extended by my family’s activities in the evening. Sleep is jeopardized. I look and feel awful. There is a mixture of not exactly wanting to miss anything, but just needing some time off to refuel. Halloween should have been that time, but an afternoon trip to an animal park turned into an all day and evening event. So today, my frustration got to me, and I walked away from the group at the park to get some alone time. A Rotarian did chase after me, trying not to let that happen, but I explained (politely, I hope!) I wanted to be alone. That mostly did it. It wasn’t long enough but I’ll take it.
The morning park was a tearful blur, but it was a very pretty example of the crystal clear springs of Fuji, literally bubbling up, pushing sand away. Birds of all kinds flew around the lush surroundings, and you could stroll a wooden walkway through the little paradise in the city.
Next we went straight to a Rotary fundraiser. They dropped us alone, without much explanation or communication, so we were confused. Lucky for me, I was dropped off at the shrine on a holiday. I was handed a box and told to ask for money to end Polio. Well, I let down my blonde hair, put on a smile, and threw out a mix of English and Japanese greetings trying to get passerby’s attention. So many kids, out of school, were dressed in full kimono, scooting their way on high sandals with their parents into the shrine. It was a popular day to celebrate the 3-5-7 special birthday! It was great people watching all the gorgeous outfits, and I think I did get a lot of donations. Many people sent their kids over to me to drop coins into the box, and I would say ‘hello, how are you? nice to meet you!’ and they loved it. Even the 3-year-olds were responding to ‘Hello!’ and waving. At the end of it, we raised the equivalent of $1500 in an hour. This amazing organization does so much, and this is just another example of what a small effort of one hour can do.
I got a little sunburned, but somehow all my frustration was gone. I had fun asking for donations, and I was just so tired I didn’t feel anything else the rest of the day. Takahara-san was there, encouraging me to beg donations and after we were done he took me into the shrine where I showed him I knew how to bow and clap properly. The shrine was quite pretty and very old, but the myriad of dolled-up children stole the show. We wandered the shrine trying to waste time until lunch which Takahara-san was told was at 1pm. We watched kids feed the koi in a huge pond. Ducks, pidgeons and turtles showed up for a bit of lunch too. Then we ate oden (skewered gummy potato cakes grilled with miso) and waited.
Takahara’s cell rang at 12:50 and he was told to hurry up, that we were late. Huh? Again, I didn’t get mad. I just shrugged and followed him. What am I supposed to do except follow people around? Luckily from the shrine to the Rotary meeting, the streets were closed off and a festival was taking place which made the holiday look in fact like ‘Culture Day’. Families were building wooden chairs together, taiko drummers were performing, and handicrafts were being sold. We walked quickly to the meeting, got lost finding it in the hotel, and were applauded when we finally entered. I guess the group kept asking where I was and no one could even answer, “She’s down the street a block with Takahara-san.” I couldn’t have been closer to the hotel the whole time, but it all gets lost in translation.
The lunch was fabulous. Fancy small plates of seafood and pumpkin soup. The Rotarians put on quite the musical show for us and sang and played instruments. We jumped up and sang at the end. So it was a nice experience after all.
Windy’s family was there and her super-outgoing 6-year-old sister Ami followed us out to the bus to go to the lake. She had brought us presents that morning of packs of bandaids. A young couple jumped onto the bus with their two-year-old Yuzuki.
She got really bubbly and cute with us. They were the translators for this leg. A long drive took us to a lake and a straight up pirate ship that we boarded and cruised around the lake on with many other tourists. At the other side of the lake, the bus was waiting and took us to a glittering Venetian glass museum where they put crystals in the trees all over the garden.
I could only hope my day was over, but I knew my host dad had arranged a welcome party from his Rotary club at a bar. This is all sounding familiar from week one. I told my host dad I was exhausted and could we make the party very brief please? even in Japanese. He said okay, but we ended up at the bar for two and half hours anyway. The truth is, all in all it was a good time since they sat me between two English speakers. Twenty older drunk men, and me. I explained in English this would never happen to me in the States. That a woman would feel uncomfortable in this situation (and I did). I was amazed that they heard me and apologized and asked how they could make me more comfortable. All in all it was fun, but way outside my comfort zone.
I had one glass of wine and ate bar food which looks pretty fancy by our standards, but I would have eaten anything. There was raw octopus, tongue sausage and cheese, gourmet pizza, spicy chorizo and pasta… I don’t know what else. They somehow believed that our leader Jerry was a buddhist and his wife was from India… I don’t know how, but I tried to clear things up as I understood them. They presented me with a special tea glass that my host dad said was the best in Japan and very expensive. He said it changes color every day. I don’t know how, but today it looks beige.
I was impressed by the designated driver system. My host dad called for his car, which magically came out of the public parking garage, with a young man in there to drive us home in our own car! How did he have the key, or know what space we were in?? Anyway, Yamaguchi directed him and they chatted all the way back to our house, where his coworker pulled up behind us and took him away. Cool system!
So time for an attitude adjustment. Looking at the schedule, I’m not going to get a “day off” for the duration of nearly five weeks. I’m going to be photographed endlessly and sometimes presenting to groups who talk over me, and taken out to drink in weird situations. But at the end of this experience, I’ll get it. And I’ll be glad I didn’t feign sick and mope around instead of sucking it up. Tomorrow I go to the central dispatch center, which of course, is why I’m here!!! Yay! I’m even breaking away from the schedule early to do so! Wahoo! A taste of freedom… Small victories Happy Labor and Culture Day.
