My Friends are Amazing

All along I've been posting about myself, when in fact, the things I'm doing are much less interesting than my friends! We don't agree about everything, but it's amazing how they are chasing their dreams. Please send me more of your links:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1I9hCsTKIv0

http://www.slomophotos.com/galleries/torch

FEET in Japan

ARE A BIG DEAL. I already wrote about the sandbox, now this happened today....

We were in a hurry to get Noi to daycare, today was her first day in a new classroom with older kids, it's Spring, so all the grades are changing and she moved to the BIG KIDS room.

Hideto was already in the car, so I grabbed my shoes and ran out to the car barefoot.
No problem right?
I spend my summers as a child running around our grassy yard barefoot and at our cabin almost never wearing shoes on our property, so this is natural to me, on our property.

I jump in the car put on my socks and shoes and we drop off Noi. When Hideto and I get home, Hideto's mom comes r u n n i n g down the hallway carrying a cut open milk cartoon and a wet rag. She wants me to take off my shoes, stand on the milk cartoon and wash my feet.

Ok..........are you laughing or crying?
I just pretended like I had no idea what she was doing and went up to my office to work.

:-)

Cherry Blossom Fashion Show

I discovered the new Noi. She is so fun, she dressed up and modeled for me. I had to take photos. She can take all her clothes from the hangers in the closet, because they are low to the ground, and she loves to get dressed and model clothes! It's such a fun age! Noi received this cute dress from her cousin Angie.

The Great "An-Pan Man" (Bean Bread Man)

Children are CRAZY for An-Pan-Man in Japan, well, that's because he's so cute, but also a brilliant advertising campaign. Hideto and Noi made an An-Pan Man cake this weekend....

Parks all over the place!

One of the best things about Japan, or at least Akita, is a park within two blocks in any direction, with a children's playground. This is because parks are safety zones during earthquakes. Noi loves the sandbox at this park near Hideto's parent's home. Japanese children don't sit in sandboxes or take off their shoes outside, but when no Japanese are looking, Noi and I love to play in the dirt! We take off our shoes, sit in the sand and she even dances around in it- but don't tell anyone!
Yesterday, Sunday, a papa came with his daughter and the child said, "Noi!" Turns out they go to the same daycare. Her name is Nao (pronounced Now). Then he walked away and started to use his cellphone. 5 minutes later, the girl's mama came to the park. She didn't say anything to me, just stood by the sandbox and I was trying to get Noi to leave, as we were on our way out when Nao came. As we were leaving, she moved closer to my bike. One trait of Japanese is they have "hesitation." They don't approach you directly. I was tired, Noi was crying (way past her naptime), but I thought, "That is rude if I don't say Hello, because they are at the same daycare and maybe she is hesitant to say Hello to me, because she doesn't know if I speak Japanese," so I asked her in Japanese, "Are you Nao's mama?" And she answered in English! She is fluent in English and works for Victoria's Secret and it turns out her sister went to the same university Hideto and I attended in Akita.
I gave her my business card and she already emailed me.
So, now I met my first "potential" Japanese friend in Akita.
Here is a photo of Noi and Nao in the sandbox. This child amazed me, she talks like she's at least 2 years older than Noi. There is more story to this, but in brief, another lady was there with her 3 year old and she said, "Let's do paper, scissor, rock to see who is going home first," because Noi did not want to leave, she wanted to play with Nao, and Nao said, "I'm not going home." I wanted to burst out laughing, but held it in. This was the same lady that came and said to Noi, "Oh you are so healthy, you can play in the sandbox without your shoes!" A round-about way of saying, "You are not supposed to do that," and then because she said that, Nao said, "Noi has a lot of sand on her." Then Noi felt embarrassed and gave me a sad look and said, "Mama I want my shoes." Noi is smart, she's already learning that she can do certain things with me, but not with Japanese people.

And then a crane in the sky...

Most of you know I am a nature freak. LOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEE being in the nature. A couple days after the pheasant I was sitting in the park with Noi and looked up and a very large Heron was flying right over us. Amazing. For those of you that don't know, Akita City is not a small city, so it's truly amazing to see these things, although I guess this is the luck of living on an island filled with rivers. Japan has the most rivers I've seen in all my travels. Filled with very large carp, which you can usually see, because almost all the rivers are clear and shallow.

pheasants and dept. stores

I always wanted to see the Akita bird, a pheasant, but most people in Akita have never seen it. The other day, Noi and I came out from a department store in the middle of the city and started biking home along the river and there was a pheasant!

No one in Hideto's family has seen one. Thanks to my father always taking me partridge hunting and having me look for birds while he drove down the rode, I have an amazing eye for spotting animals. So far since we've been here I've spotted 3 rare birds.

Loving the nature and city mix!!!!!!!

who needs a funeral home????

when you can DIY at home? go Japanese style! so, hideto's grandma, 92, passed away and we had her body at home with us for 3 days and then they cremated her and had a party for 2 days and this was 2 weeks ago and the house is still set up for her and people keep coming to give regards. ya know, it's cool, but it's exhausting. my only comment, noi loved going in to see her and pulling the hanky off her face! Although this seems so far-fetched from America, my mom told me they did this for her grandpa's funeral.

Graduating from Elementary School

...is a big deal in Japan. Here is our nephew, Ryu, at his graduation ceremony and he is wearing his school uniform for Junior High. He even received a diploma! The teacher looks pretty in her kimono and the adults with Ryu are Noi's Aunt and Uncle. Children start school in the Spring time in Japan. Ryu is a very cool kid, Noi loveds him. He plays piano and has a very nice mountain bike- likes to smile.