Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in Canada! It is some sort of holiday here today (we aren't sure what) and we have been thinking of turkey (and Columbus) all day today. We had a nice, relaxing weekend -- the highlight was going to a puppet show at Nakajima Park on Saturday. They did three little plays, including the Three Billy Goats Gruff (I didn't remember that the third Billy Goat poked out the troll's eyes with his horn and threw him off the bridge... is that what happened when we heard it as kids?). We also heard a folk tale that had to do with a farmer trying to pull a plant -- an onion? or really big garlic? a turnip! -- out of the ground. By some wonderful coincidence (or maybe not... it could be called "The October Folktale" in Japan for all we know), the girls had heard and then performed the same folktale at school last week. So they recognized it (and, since I was there, I did too and was able to say "See, it's just like the one at school!"). So even though they didn't understand the words or refrain that everyone sang (John couldn't make sense of it either... it was probably something like "Heave-ho-out you go" that makes sense to a 3 year old but not a foreign speaker), it was pretty great for them to see it in both places and know what to expect.

This afternoon I had a couple of kid free hours and so did a little shopping. What an experience. I literally tried on 23 pairs of pants to find some that fit. Apparently, I am shaped like a Japanese boyfriend, as the only jeans that fit were called, in English, "Boyfriend pants". The khakis I found didn't have an English name, but I am pretty sure the Japanese letters were "really dowdy pants for women who have had children and aren't 15". Most of the pants were just SOOOOOO small, and in places you would expect as well as those you might not. Like, in the knees. And, well, the ankles. Places that I didn't even know *could* not fit a person. And the shirts all fit oddly -- I apparently have much broader shoulders than most Japanese women, as all sizes were too tight in the shoulders (although they fit OK in the arms and torso... a victory!). Anyway, it was a bit disappointing. I had already given up hope of finding many fabulous shoes that fit my size-nines (and there are SO many cool shoes here), but I did harbor hope of coming home with many cool big-city clothes. I'll keep looking and trying (and my boyfriend jeans are pretty great), but I won't be spending all of our money at the mall.

And I had a bit of an ephiphany today about money. The two other times we lived abroad, I (and then we) had so very little of it. In my mind, traveling in a foreign country means never having enough money, and looking for the cheapest motel by the rail station even though it probably isn't entirely safe, and eating on the street instead of in a cafe. I just figured that's what happens when you leave the comforts of home. And I had been kind of operating in that same way here, to a certain degree (like not looking at pants for me because even though two of the four pants I brought from Lethbridge now have frayed bottoms and tons of food stains and kid goo and soon will have holes in the knees, it wasn't *really* a necessity because I still have two others, and worrying about how much groceries were costing (not cheese, though... I'll pay anything for cheese.) But because this is a teaching exchange, John is still getting his salary at the UofL. I am still doing some editing. And HGU pays a stipend to help offset some of the costs of living in Japan (and provides housing). So really, we're actually doing OK -- and in some ways, better. We're not driving our minivan around and so don't have to pay for gas (and are healthier for walking everywhere, too). Lori, our housesitter, uses far less water and electricity than the five of us did. And since you pretty much only use cash here, we have no credit card debt, and we are MUCH more aware of what things cost and what we are spending. It's all kind of interesting. And it was also nice to realize I could get the pants and not worry about keeping apples off our table.

Enough babbling for tonight. I still have to upload Lake Toya pix and Nakajima Park pix. Sheesh. Such a demanding job I have here!