kamakura - it's an igloo

went to a big snow festival named KAMAKURA. that's the name of the igloo in the photos. it's a festival to pray to the water deity for a good rainy season for rice.
that's why inside the KAMAKURA they have the little vases, which are really vessels for rice wine to the water god.
it was fun! it was snowing!
we stayed at a hotspring hotel and had 2 days of hotsprings.
yeah, it was relaxing.

it's like yellowstone nat'l park in my backyard

so i worked at yellowstone national park and the grand tetons national park when i was in college, during the summer of course. and YNP has amazing waterfalls. just out of the blue hideto's dad, who grew up in akita and knows about all the great places to go, one day says, "let's go for a car ride" and we drive for about 20 minutes and get out of the car and WOW there is an amazing waterfall. just like YNP.

may the shrine be with you

ok, this shrine is in our house and i have to worship at it everyday. and i can't get away with no praying either, because i have to ring the bell and everyone can hear it in the house.
i just say thank you for life. it's really convenient! instant communication with god! reminds me how lucky i am.
once a month, a buddhist priest comes and chats on the big pretty pillow for about a half hour and they pay him a hundred dollars. he came the other day and i sat with him and i just prayed the whole time for gali's new baby.
and when i'm in front of it, it reminds me of XT. i think she'd really like it.

cover everything in the winter

in akita, there is snow, but it's not really cold. not like MN where you can't go outside for more than 30 seconds.
one day, right at the beginning of the winter, i came across this little "jiso" (a buddhist thing) and someone had put a hat and a scarf on it so it wouldn't be cold. sweet! but the funniest thing about it is the hat reads "Dollywood" - hehehehehe.

being 3 in Japan

japanese culture is rich in experiences for children. when they turn 3, 5, and 7, there are celebrations. noi turned 3 and she had a day of photos, a day at the shrine being blessed, and a party at a fancy restaurant. noi didn't wear a kimono to the shrine, but she wore one for the photos. instead she went shopping with her grandma and received a fancy dress. grandma picked it because it looked like a "burberry" dress. yes, my japanese relatives are into designer fashion. i wore my vintage leather and fur jacket that i bought at a used clothes store in the haight- hehehehee. these are photos of the shrine, noi in her fun pink hair holders, and hideto's sister and her husband. he works for coca-cola and they are sending him on a trip to the US this coming week. he's going to SF! and las vegas, sacramento to see almond farms, LA, universal studios, napa, and staying at hotel nikko- just blocks from our old pad.

back on planet blog

fell off the blog planet. life is so full, so good, and.....really busy......

since november 1st, well, we have snow and fun fun fun. we met our friend brian, from hideo and I's Akita University days, and played with his family. his married to a japanese lady that went to our school too. noi was happy to meet a friend of mommy and daddy, since we haven't met anyone since leaving SF!

photos......

From Planet Japan

The pace of life here is very slow and relaxed compared to San Francisco and I am enjoying it.
The main activity is our house planning- meeting with several companies, looking at their design plans (conceptualized from our ideas and theirs).
Finally as of last week, a company named DAIWA presented a plan that we really like and now we are waiting to hear the estimate next week.
We've been meeting with architects and interior designers from various companies, all very interesting.
At first when we started the planning, we were thinking with our "San Francisco" minds: "Oh it's so inexpensive to build a house here let's do anything we want!" Since anything you buy in SF is easily 800K.
Now we've had to take a step back and think about what we really want to spend. We decided we want a low monthly payment so we can use our money for family activities, traveling and of course saving for retirement. If we have any additional income in the future, we might buy property on the ocean or in the mountains.
We decided to keep our house cost below $260K, so our mortgage will only be $900 a month and the interest rate for 35 years will be 3 percent.

To us the price seems so inexpensive, compared to CA. From my experience, in San Francisco, the most expensive and "chic" designed homes all replicate some aspect of Japanese design and here it's just the way it is, so we are going to have a home that would cost easily a million dollars in SF, but here, we can have it for $260K.

The design we have worked on with Daiwa is 3 bdr, plus office and a large room for my classroom, where I plan to teach, if I can find any students!
I can't tell you offhand the measurements, because Japanese have a different way of measuring Area and I'd have to convert it all.

And more and more about the house.....next step with DAIWA, if we like the price is getting approved for the loan.
We were already approved with another company, Misawa (they sold us the land) but I'm not sure we will go with them.
I'm not 100% keen on their style, plus their homes can't be reformed, so when Noi inherit this house, she won't be able to change it.
We want to have that option, because 25 years from now, the house will need a little reforming and the technology will change and if she wants to live in Akita, she will want to remodel it.

Work wise we are just doing KC Communications and I'm thinking about lesson planning for my school.
It just so happens that the largest English school in the area where we will live just closed down, so that's a bonus for me!
But at the risk of sounding lazy, I want to teach, but I don't want to teach too much.
Teaching has a high burn-out level and I want to enjoy it AND at the same time be Noi's mama.

Well, coming to Japan has been tiring.
I have so much energy all the time, but the last 3.5 months in San Francisco were too CHAOTIC.
I'm surprised I managed to make it to Akita without having a nervous breakdown.
That was one of the most stressful situations of my life.
We were working on projects until the last 24 hours before leaving and a few of them continued over after arriving in Akita.
Up until last week, I haven't had a chance to slow down, but now we've only received one project in a week, so it's been better.

Hideto and I bought bikes and we've been biking everywhere. We just use his parent's car when we need one, but it's so easy to bike to get everything we need. Japan is cool that way, everyone bikes and the sidewalks are wide for biking. Noi loves sitting on the back of my bike and whizzing around the city to all the parks. There are a lot of parks here. Every 3 blocks there is a little park, because the parks also serve as an evacuation "safe" spots for earthquakes. Noi is loving all the parks. Yesterday we went to the main city park where we were married and we played there and watched the GIANT black birds. Noi loves them and so do I. They are amazing and I'm sure the inspiration for Hitchcock's "The Birds".

Other than that, not much else going on, just eating a lot of chocolate.
Trying to adjust to Japanese diet again.
A lot of fried food here and I can't handle it.
It makes my stomach hurt, but on a positive note, the fruit and vegetables and meats and milk are 90% better than in the states.
Basically everything is produced locally and it's so good and seasonal of course. A more natural diet.
And trying to get used to be the only white person in site. Everyone stares at me. It's funny, but also sometimes annoying, but I don't care really.

The leaves are now changing and it's very beautiful. Next week will be the peak and also the peak of mushroom season, so we'll go to the countryside and pick up mushrooms from farmers and make delicious dishes.

All for now.......