Things I've been wanting to write about

I guess the trouble with this whole blogging thing is that now I'll do something and think "I've got to blog about that later!" It's like adding a whole new category to the to-do list. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

But there are things I am wanting to get down on paper, so to speak, while we are still here and the memories are so fresh.

1. Liv and dessert. We are back from a great weekend at the water slide hotel in the mountains. It was amazing. The snow is so wonderful when you don't have to go get groceries in it. Pictures to come.

But one of the best moments came during dessert the first night. Liv hadn't been interested in any of the dinner and managed to get just a few bites down. But when we brought back a bunch of bites for everyone from the dessert buffet, she helped herself to just about everything. Her reply when we questioned her about the size of her dessert course was this: "You're always grumpy about me not trying new food. Well, now I'm trying new food!"

So true, Liv, so true. It should not surprise anyone that the only food Liv eats dependably at school is dessert, too.

2. Recycling. We recycle almost everything here. It's amazing. And it's not that hard (despite my grumblings about it the first week). But as John pointed out to me (that first week, when I was grumbling), Japan is an island nation. With a lot of people. Where else are they going to put it? So the country is VERY good about recycling.

We sort into four containers -- plastics, "burnables", glass and cans, and non-burnables (the only stuff that goes into a landfill). All organic materials (paper, cardboard, food, etc.) and most of the garbage we produce goes into burnables and we put it out twice a week. The other three groups also go out once a week on different days. During the 14 weeks here, we will have produced less than one grocery-store type plastic bag of non-burnables (batteries, metals, rubber, leather (oddly enough).) The kids do it without even asking which bucket things go in now. It's just not that hard. Click here for a great article in the Washington Post about the burning garbage aspect of the recycling.

3. Our toilet. Ah, our toilet. In fact, that "ah" can be made about most toilets in Japan. Not only are they clean, comfortable, and commonly found in public places (an essential when travelling with small children) -- many of them are HEATED. And make little watery noises so that other people don't hear you doing your business if you want them to. And many of them have what Jack, Kate, and Liv call "bum spray" (both public and private bathrooms). There's a bum spray button for girls, and a bum spray button for boys, and it's all rather delightful. Our toilet in the Guest House also has a washbasin attached so you can wash your hands without touching anything. It's very hard to put into words exactly why, but it's a beautiful thing.

4. Our bathroom in general. One of the reasons we have been (mostly) OK with just one bathroom is the clever design of it. It's broken into three little room -- the toilet room (already a good place, as you now know), the sink room in the middle (with toothbrushes, soap, medicine cabinet, etc.) and the bath/shower room. So five people can make good use of it without feeling too crowded.

The bath/shower room is awesome -- there is a tub, and outside of the tub, a handheld shower (which can be attached to the wall outside of the tub). Just like at the public baths, in Japan you shower before taking a bath. You can sit on a little stool and shave, scrub, wash your hair, whatever, in a room-sized shower, and then get into the tub when you are clean and have a good soak. As a result, our tub is wonderfully clean (and more than one person can use the bathwater).

5. Japanese cartoons. We have watched a lot of Japanese children's television programming these last months. We can try to pretend that we are doing it to give the kids exposure to the local language and culture, but the truth is -- it gives us a break. But it's been interesting to see the similarities and differences. I just asked Jack about it, and he said "they're mostly the same except these are scarier sometimes". There's a LOT more "technology" and action than in the cartoons they have seen at home, and they probably are watching "older" cartoons than we would let them see at home as well.

And it seems marketing here appeals to our kids as much as Japanese kids... in every toy shop and touristy gift shop, you can buy stamps, notebooks, doctor kits with local cartoon characters on them. From the beginning, even before we saw the cartoon called "Purikyua" (Pretty Cure), Liv has been drawn to the characters who are, I think, school girls who have superpowers and very nice hair and clothes. You can watch the opening from the show with English subtitles by clicking here and see the particular characters Liv likes by clicking here. But what amazed us was that without even SEEING the show -- she was drawn to these characters. It's a little scary how well those marketing experts and creators of these shows do their jobs... she is proof that the characters are appealing even with no context (or content!).

While we have made peace with the amount of TV they are watching this fall, we are also looking forward to being back in a place where the kids are more often playing with other kids.

6. Starting to think about heading home. Kate asked on the bus back from the waterslide hotel today how many more days until we come back to Lethbridge. I was surprised when I realized it's just 23. I am looking forward to passing along many of the clothes the kids have outgrown (and there are MANY -- they have all grown a ton this fall), and we have plenty of macaroni to get us through these last weeks (seven boxes left, still).

I am trying to not think too much about the flight (although we have decided we will give Jack the Gravol BEFORE we get on the plane this time) or the jetlag that awaits us when we get back. Instead, we are trying to make sure to do all of our favorite things, see our good friends, and enjoy every last interesting bit before heading home.

A Katie update, and away for the weekend, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A number of people have asked how Katie is doing, if the adjustment to life in Japan is going any better for her.

The short answer is: YES!

And here is the longer answer. The change happened about a week after the Halloween party. It was a Wednesday, and the dropoff at school went particularly poorly that day. Both Kate and Liv were reluctant to go to school (Wednesdays are often hard, as they have been away from school since almost a week before), both were hesitant to go into the classroom, and both needed to be held by the two teachers as I watched from the windows. One teacher had Kate on her lap as she played the piano, and the other had Liv on her lap as she led the good morning songs.

That was it, I thought. It was too much to ask of Kate and Liv, and we should probably pull them from school. I talked to John after his class, and he talked to the HGU person who talks to the preschool (nice, direct lines of communication, don`t you think?), and they started the ball rolling to pull the girls out of school. Not only did they seem unhappy, but it looked like they were demanding SO much of the teachers.

So, when I went to pick them up that day, I was expecting everyone to be sad, but instead, Katie came running out, laughing and telling me about the day. Livie was right behind her, a big smile on her face. The teacher said they had a great day.

We got an email that night from the HGU person saying they had talked to the girls` main teacher after school, and that she said the girls had a wonderful day. When the HGU person brought up our concern about them needing so much attention, and to be held for so long, and that we were worried we were keeping them from the other kids, they teacher was baffled.`Of course 3 year olds cry when their mothers leave. All 3 year olds do. They have just started preschool for the first time. Why wouldn`t they be sad to see their mothers leave and need to be held?`

And that is why, she explained, the school put them in a class with mostly 4 year olds who have been at school a year. Apparently, 4 year olds aren`t expected to cry when their mothers leave, and that would free up the teachers to take care of our needy girls, who would have regular 3 year old separation anxiety coupled with the stress of the Japanese language. They said they would be happy to hold the girls all day long if that`s what they needed.

That was certainly reassuring. And the next morning, both girls were so excited for school. They have been each school day since then (and Jack literally SKIPS to school). If anything, it`s been Liv who has been a bit reluctant to go this last week -- I think she`s been a bit sicker than Kate, and missed two days of school when Kate went alone. But there are no more tears, no more clinging to my legs when we get there... just excitement. And the teacher has started taking pictures of them throughout the day, playing with other kids, doing projects, eating lunch, etc. -- looking very much pleased to be there.

And their classmates seem to love them. When Kate and Liv show up, if John is with me, I go into their classroom first to hang up their coats and all of the kids run up to me asking `Katie-chan? Katie-chan? Olivia-chan?`I point to my shoes and say they are with their dad, putting on their inside shoes. They run to the door and hold Kate and Liv`s hands as they walk in. It`s amazing.

The other thing that has been amazing is how few stomach bugs we all have gotten this fall compared to most falls -- and John pointed out that it`s probably because all the kids at school (and our own kids) are washing their hands ALL THE TIME. It`s just a part of their routine, and each kid brings her own towel to school each day to dry hands... such a good system.

Jack loves his class as well, although he has been having a few problems with one of the bigger boys. The mom told me in English that her son thinks Jack is his best friend. And he is always eager to see him. But Jack seems nervous around him, and I asked him what he thought of that boy. He said he`s sometimes so nice, and sometimes mean. Tomoko said her son has had the same problems. Today Jack said that the bigger boy knocked down another kids`tower, and then said Jack did it. Jack tried to explain that he didn`t, but the other kid didn`t understand. These kind of situations happen even when kids speak the same language, of course, but it`s hard for us, as parents, to see. At Jack`s request, we are going to talk to the HGU person to talk to Jack`s teacher to let her know of our concerns.

But even with this one boy, it`s clear Jack is loving preschool here. They play SO much -- build and color and sing and dance. Perhaps the Japanese schools do more structured work in Grade One, and Jack missed the cutoff for that by just two months (kids have to turn 6 by April 1 to go to first grade). And I think the play is just what he needs. We are keeping up with some of the French -- he is writing in his journal in French most nights, and we aren`t too far behind on some of the assignments the teacher gave us. And except for brief moments of worry, we are pretty sure he`ll catch up once he is back in his French immersion class.

So those are the school updates. We`re heading out of town again for the weekend -- back to Jozankei View Hotel for waterslides and hot springs from Friday-Sunday (you can see pictures of it by clicking here). We wanted to make one more trip while we were here, and John and I discussed going to places that were maybe culturally or historically more interesting. But once we realized that the kids would be with us no matter how well we planned, we thought that this would be the place to go. They love it there, and so do we.

Well, these kids need to go to bed, so I should sign off. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Shinya the Great, and, In Praise of Mike and Debra

I believe there is a special place in heaven for people who are nice to children and pets, and if so, then many many years from now, Shinya will be sure to be in that special place. The former HGU student (who spent a year at UofL and is now a teacher) came to Sapporo this weekend. We had hoped to go to the zoo together on Saturday, but our colds kept us home, where Shinya played Lego, colored in Pokemon coloring books, and played countless other games with the kids for hours.

And then on Sunday morning, a time when other young people may be sleeping late at the very least, Shinya met us at Jack, Katie and Livie`s school to watch their performances with us. It`s one thing for parents to watch their children be dragged around a stage while picking their nose or not singing the words or keeping their back to the audience -- and then clap wildly at how well they did. It`s another thing all together for someone who is not even RELATED to those children to endure such a performance, and clap wildly at the end. Of course, Katie and Livie are madly in love with him. Who wouldn`t be?

And while I`m at it, I have a long overdue heap of praise to give to Mike and Debra Basil. They are profs at the UofL who came on the exchange three years ago, when their kids, Lisa and David, were 6 and 3 (David is a good friend of Jack`s and lost his first tooth on the same day Jack did). As you can imagine, Mike and Debra were able to prepare us VERY well for what 6 and 3 year olds might expect in Sapporo.

All of our favorite activities (the chocolate factory, biking along the river, which parks to check out) came from Mike and Debra. Restaurant suggestions, clothing suggestions, shopping suggestions, even the preschool recommendation -- are all courtesy of this very kind family. My handy-dandy electronic dictionary is actually Debra`s and I couldn`t live without it. They helped us get excited when I was in panic-mode, told us which things we`d want to bring (mac-and-cheese) and which things we could find here. They have made the trip all the better.

I think that`s all the thanks I will have for the night. I still haven`t straightened out the email and so have a new account set up with gmail. You can reach us at:

lisnjohn (at) gmail (dot) com

or at my work address. If you have written in the last week or 10 days to the telus address, the computer has eaten it. And if you have written before that and I haven`t replied -- I no longer have your email address. Sorry for any headaches this may cause.

The show

We had the big show today. What a spectacle! I will post a bunch of the photos on the Shutterfly site. Here is a glimpse of it.

The kids did great, which means they survived and no one cried (although K&O insisted on wearing pink and grey long sleeved shirts under their itchy costumes, much to the teachers' dismay.
We had talked to them earlier about wearing white long sleeved shirts but the teachers worried that we would be upset that our girls wouldn't then look like the other girls. Ummm... I don't think WE are the ones worried they will look different!)

But there were some wonderful parts. When the kids in each class went around to intoduce themselves, you could hear Jack clearly state "Jack desu, ganbarimasu"--roughly, "I am Jack, let's do our best!" in Japanese. And the little girl in green next to him kept her hand clamped on his hand and dragged him cheerfully wherever he was supposed to go (we were especially impressed with her). And Kate loved the dancing -- she knew ALL the moves and had a big smile on her face almost the whole time.

There were less-than-thrilling moments, too. Jack was picking his nose for most of the 25 minutes he was on stage (in his defense, it has been VERY runny and he didn't have a kleenix!) and Olivia kept her back to the audience most of the time (the picture here shows her position pretty much the whole time she was on stage). Neither Kate nor Liv's hair stayed back (they had said not to wear pony tails, because of the crowns, I suppose) and so they did some of their dance holding their hair straight out in front of their faces.

But they did it. They were so proud when they came out of their classroom with little cardboard "medals" from their teachers around their necks. We are so proud of them. And I think ALL of us are glad it's over.

And what a production. The costumes were amazing, the setting and props incredible, the lighting and sound tracks were pretty sophisticated for kindergarten, the kids so good in their learning of the songs and stories... it was clearly a lot of work for the teachers and students. We continue to be impressed with the school.

Sick

Last December, after our doctor fit all three kids in on Christmas Eve morning for a variety of illnesses, I freaked out about this trip. How -- HOW -- could we go to a foreign country with three little kids who tend to get sick in winter (especially Jack, whose asthma is triggered by cold viruses) and what would happen if they had to go to the doctor in Japan?

I knew the care here would be excellent -- but the language challenges, the bureaucracy, the headache of reimbursement, and more importantly, the lack of personal relationship when dealing with the persons I care about the most, it all worried me.

Well, this clearly didn't stop us from coming on the trip, although the worry of sick kids has been lingering in my mind since we arrived. And we weathered the stitches incident well enough (and we keep remembering to put the anti-scarring tape on Katie most days)... but last night, I thought we had hit the moment that I had worried about a year ago.

All of us have been passing a cold back and forth, and the girls were mostly on the mend. John and I were showing early signs of the cold (which is not shocking as various kids had been coughing in our faces all night for several nights) and so, in a proactive but smelly move, we had been eating raw garlic on buttered toast to try to stave anything serious off. (It's the kind of thing you have to do together, or the one who doesn't wouldn't be able to stay with the one who does.)

And Jack had been fighting it off, which was good... but then had such a hard day yesterday. For those who don't know about his asthma -- it's not the kind that is triggered by cats or exercise or the usual things. Instead, whenever he gets a virus (especially a cold virus), it seems to settle in his lungs and cause days of coughing, coughing, coughing. So he is very healthy about 65 percent of the year -- and seems to get very sick in the winter. Two years ago, we ended up at emerg five times one winter because of his asthma (I thought that should merit a named chair in the waiting room). Last winter was better -- he had two bad flareups, but didn't need the middle of the night run to the hospital for extra medicine. We have been boosting his immune system in various ways (cod liver oil, vitamins, probiotics and lots and lots of fresh fruits and veggies -- although he won't try the garlic sandwiches) and it has seemed to get better as he has gotten older.

But last night he could not stop coughing. I had emailed Tomoko, whose son Taiki has asthma, to ask what hospital one would go to in the middle of the night if one needed to (apparently, only one of the hospitals is open at night). And I worried. I wanted to take Jack to see Dr. Steeves or the Lethbridge emergency room or somewhere familiar... His inhalers didn't seem to be doing much. He looked pathetic. He was getting near the "red" zone on his peak-flow meter, which measures air flow. He did better in a hot, steamy shower, but would start coughing whenever he got out.

I mentioned to John that we might need to take him in. Then John thought of the one thing we hadn't tried that we used to do when he had croup as a baby. He bundled him up, and took him outside (luckily, the snow hasn't melted so it was nice and cold). And the coughing stopped. It started up again when they came in, but it wasn't as bad. I took him into the bedroom and opened the window, and was able to get him to breathe through his nose (kind of a yoga breathing), that seemed to help, too. Anytime he started to cough, I would remind him to breathe through his nose and it would stop. We snuggled for a while, with Jack breathing in the cold winter air through his nose, and he was able to fall asleep. At last.

And he woke up this morning with just a handful of coughs and a TON of energy. I think we made it through the worst (at least I hope so!).

I still worry that it will slide back down into the dangerous territory, and I hope we can make it home without needing to figure out the weird workings of nighttime hospitals in Sapporo, but we made it through what was one of my few real fears about coming here -- getting through a bad night of asthma without our familiar comforts and treatments at hand.

And as for John and me -- we are holding the cold at bay -- so maybe those garlic sandwiches are working.

First big snow

Well, `they` were right when they said it would snow later in the week. We woke up to about six inches of heavy, wet, wonderful snow.

At least the kids think it`s wonderful. Last night, I did a quick bike ride to the store, wearing many, many layers and smelling the snow that was to come, for a few staples. And I realized just how hard these trips will be when the snow falls. (Five people can eat a LOT of food.)

Until this point, I had felt pretty virtuous about not having a car while we are here -- isn`t it healthier for us, better for the environment, allowing us to eat the freshest of produce, blah blah blah -- but last night I came home and grumbled about owning a perfectly good minivan that is just going to waste in a garage, and would it be too much to ask that we could somehow teleport it over here, just for the grocery trips? Well, for that and for taking the kids to school (if I`m being honest).

This morning, it took us almost three times as long to start getting enough clothes on to get the kids to school. And for kids who have STRONG opinions about which coats and sweaters and scarves and mittens are itchy, and which need to go in what order, well, it is an exercise that would (and did) drive even the most patient person crazy.

Of course, the stroller wouldn`t go in so much heavy snow. And we were already late enough that walking was out of the question. And so John suggested we just pull the kids in the sleds.

I was not sure, but it turned out to be a perfect decision (and illustrates one of many reasons why I love my husband -- his ability to make grumpy events fun, or at least interesting). We got there on time, the kids had a blast, and while no other Japanese parents were seen pulling their kids to school in sleds (it seemed those who walked just left early enough), it worked out. Jack pulled the kids`backpacks home in the single sled, and the girls rode in the double.

The better perspective doesn`t mean I won`t be happy if it melts enough to do a big grocery trip this weekend (although John said we could just pull the groceries home)... and now that we are home, I can admit that it does look pretty.

Trip to Otaru to see the sea

We had a great little trip on Monday about 30 minutes away to the "small seaside" town of Otaru on the Japan sea. It was less small town and more "good-sized city," but the waterfront was beautiful and we understood why all the guidebooks called it charming. We walked along a brick path that parallels the canal through town, and admired the old warehouses that have been converted into glass studios and restaurants.

The glass blowing is actually linked to the town's fishing industry, as apparently they used to make glass bouys there... and when the fishing industry declined, they decided to make art instead.

Jack took the pictures below of the(very expensive) glass at the train station (you can see the reflection of his blue coat in the one of the Christmas tree), and you can also see my new (men's?) shoes that felt great on the trip. What do you think? Don't they look like men's shoes (granted, VERY cool, hipster big-city men's shoes...).


At the very end, I have added some pictures of Katie and Livie dancing (Liv in green leotard).

We don't have much else planned this week besides school and work -- the kids are getting excited for the big show on Sunday. Our friend Shinya (the former UofL student who is from Sapporo and had dinner at our house soon after we arrived) will come down this weekend and see the show! Now that's a good friend...

At least it goes both ways...

We had Tomoko, Taiki (Jack's classmate), and Keita (Tomoko's 3yo son) for brunch today. Tomoko is the friend who worked in Banff and knows quite a bit of English. She also loves maple syrup (she said she arrived back from her year in Canada weighing quite a bit more than when she left because of maple syrup -- so much so that her mom didn't recognize her at the airport). So we had French toast, eggs and asparagus, bacon, and fruit salad. Tomoko loved it. Taiki liked the French toast. And Keita would not eat a bite.

Keita finally agreed to a persimmon (the one fruit I didn't put in the fruit salad) and I was more than happy to prepare something extra for him.

At least other kids don't like "new" food. Whew.

In other news -- I have been meaning to answer questions that friends of Jack, Kate and Livie have asked. I thought others (kids or adults) might be interested in the answers, too.

* How do you make friends when you don't speak the same language? Luckily, playing is a kind of universal language, and so almost all of it can be done without speaking. Whether it's throwing a ball around, building with Lego, running around outside, or coloring, it seems all three kids have been able to communicate without speaking much, and all three have made good friends.

We have made sure that Jack watches Pokemon each Thursday night at 7 p.m., as all of the kids in his class watch it and try to talk to him in English about it. All three also know enough words to be able to say thank you, sorry, hello, good morning, and goodbye (and a few others each weeks) in Japanese. But it's amazing to see how easily you can be friends without talking.

* Why is everyone wearing the same bathrobe in some of those pictures? What are traditional Japanese baths? You can read more about onsen (public bathing facilities and inns around hot springs) and yukata (casual kimono worn at the onsen) here and here. We went to onsen at Lake Toya and at Jozankei. These trips, and the baths and swimming pools, have been one of the things we have enjoyed most during our time in Japan.

After you arrive at these big hotels, you find in your room yukata and flip flops for you to wear to the baths. They even had little ones for the kids. If you are just going swimming (and to the waterslide), you wear a swimsuit under your yukata and in the pools. But if you are going to sit in the hot tubs and warm waters, you do not wear a suit at all. Men and older boys go to one side, and woman, older girls, and younger boys and girls go to another.

First you scrub clean, and then you sit in the tubs. Some of them are REALLY hot, some are REALLY cold, some have bamboo or rocks on the floor, some have waves or jets... it's pretty great. After the first few seconds, it doesn't seem odd to be naked at all. Everyone else is, and no else seems to notice, so quickly, we stopped caring, too (in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you Jack, Katie and Livie had NO issues walking around naked).

* Do they have Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas or New Year's? Japanese holidays are pretty different from the ones we celebrate in Canada and the U.S. The biggest holiday of the year is New Year's. People eat special food, send postcards, and give money to children. Many visit a Shinto shrine (like the one we went to for the 7-5-3 festival) after midnight on Jan. 1 or sometime during the day.

There have been a lot of fall holidays but not the ones we are used to celebrating. There has been "Respect for the Aged" day and Autumnal Equinox in September, Health and Sports Day in October, Culture Day and Labor Thanksgiving Day (an occasion for praising labor, celebrating production and giving one another thanks. Prior to the establishment of this holiday, November 23rd was celebrated as an imperial harvest festival called Niiname-sai) in November, and the Emperor's birthday on December 23 (the day we leave).

But because of so much interaction between Japan and the west, there were decorations for Halloween, and apparently there will be Christmas decorations as well.

That's it for now -- time to get these kids to bed. We are hoping to make a little day trip tomorrow to a fishing village. The weather is supposed to turn snowy later in the week, so it might be our last outdoor trip for a while.

Shichi-Go-San (7-5-3) festival

We had a great day with Yukie (the HGU prof who had us for sushi at her house and took us to Mt Moiwa soon after we arrived) today. It is Nov. 15 here, which is the day that Shichi-Go-San (7-5-3) festivals are held at Shinto shrines all around Japan.

According to this website, this is one of the most important festivals for Japanese children and one of three major celebrations in their life. Girls of age three and seven and boys of age five (though in some families three year old boys also) are celebrated on Shichi-go-san.

The website explains that on Shichi-go-san the children dress up in special clothes, including kimono for girls and the pants that samurais wear for boys. They often have professional photographs taken in the morning and then their families take them to a Shinto shrine to give thanks for their health and pray for their continued good health, growth and a happy future free of sickness and misfortune.

The Shinto priest at the shrine performs a purification ceremony and then children are given shitose-ame (thousand year candy) that is colored red and white (the colors of luck and celebration), in long bags decorated with turtles and cranes. These are all symbols of longevity in Japan.

Well, we had three year old girls (and a six year old boy who remembered being five). And while we didn't rent the elaborate kimono, we did decide to go to the biggest Shinto shrine in Hokkaido to watch other Japanese families take part in this ceremony.

So we arrived and purified our hands and mouth, and then went into the shrine. We gave thanks for our health and prayed for continued good health, growth and a happy future for our own little ones. We took pictures of kids in kimono (asking some for permission, and taking others from a respectful distance) and found our own kids the target of photographers again as well (it is starting to drive them crazy, truth be told). And we marvelled at the mild and long fall (unusual, Yukie said) and the vivid colors of the leaves and bushes.

Yukie bought the kids some thousand year candy, which they loved, and I got them some cotton candy as well (which they loved too) and little Chinese horoscope charms (Jack is a horse and Katie and Livie are roosters) as a memento of the day. We meandered back through the park, the kids eating peanut butter sandwiches and running, and Livie taking a hard fall that we didn't fully appreciate until the blood started seeping through her tights (oops! And I have to admit that we were both relieved it wasn't Katie...)



We ended up at a sushi shop, where we met Yukie's husband and ordered lunch to go. The shop and chef are quite famous and award-winning, we learned. Apparently there is the take-out section, where we were, the ordinary restaurant, where Yukie has been once, and the "fancy" restaurant, where sitting down costs you $200!

We then went back to the Ueno's home for lunch. The kids did a miserable job eating the delicious sushi (Yukie had gotten them a cooked, kid-friendly version with egg) and didn't even really try the soup Yukie made, which is always a little frustrating. But we felt less worried when later Kai, Yukie's now 18-year-old daughter, told us that when she and her mom spent a semester in Lethbridge (I think she was in 2nd or 3rd grade), she insisted on ONLY Japanese food the whole time she was there.

We were wiped out when we got home -- and very happy with the great day. We had tacos for dinner (probably NOT the traditional, post-Shichi-Go-San festival fare), but the kids devoured their dinner and now are happily watching new WordGirl episodes on Youtube. What a weird and wonderful life we are leading.

When the shoe doesn't fit...

One of the saddest, hardest, more difficult parts of being in Japan for me is being surrounded by THE most beautiful shoes I have ever seen and not being able to wear any of them. Size nines (25.5 in Japan) are almost non-existent. For a while, I thought you simply couldn't find them in the entire country (as I had dragged the kids through countless shoe sections looking but never asking, because, well, that would involve talking), but then John asked for me one day and it turns out in every department store, hidden off in a corner far away from the beautiful shoes, they have a section marked "L", for size 25 and 25.5.

These are utterly sensible shoes (a polite way of saying ugly shoes) and the selection is, to be blunt, pathetic. Every time I looked at the beautiful shoes on the feet of every woman on the subway, at the kids' school, at the grocery store, I felt more and more like Cinderella's ugly stepsisters trying to cram my feet into the petite glass slipper. The only fact that has kept me from becoming truly desperate is that all of these shoes (hideous or gorgeous) start at about $160. So even if I wore a more dainty 23, it's not like I would be buying many anyway.

But then... this week the kids had two extra costume-fitting, performance practice days for the big show on Nov. 23, and so in addition to FINALLY getting some work done, John and I had a chance to do some shopping. We went to a place called POLE TOWN (a Pole in Pole Town!) on the way to a store we had heard about that carries large sized shoes... and (of course), it has closed down. Disappointed but undaunted, we set off for Daimaru, the fancy department store where Jack had, um, left his mark, as we had read in an English language newsletter that they were having a huge sale on shoes and handbags.

We arrived to the 7th floor to find ALL of the beautiful shoes, the $160-$250 shoes, on sale for $31.50! Hundreds of shoes, probably last season's styles but who cares! There *had* to be a pair here, John and I agreed. Briefly distracted by the handbags (either $31.50 or $52.50!), John pulled me over to the "L" section. Well, that might be giving it too much credit... I should say the "L" shelves. Yes, of the hundreds (or thousands) of beautiful shoes, less than two dozen were size 25 or 25.5. And most were very, very ugly.

I tried some on. I felt sensible. These are not what Japanese shoes look like. Where is the interesting detail, the lovely flair and fine lines and funky heels? Apparently, those things stop at 24.5. But then from the bottom shelf, John pulled out a pair of slip on flats... kind of like loafers. They have great details, nice lacing/ties on the side, and they were comfortable, and they were on sale -- and upon examining them further when we brought them home, I am pretty sure they are men's shoes! But I got them anyway, and love my Japanese (men's) shoes, and not surprisingly, they look great with my Japanese boyfriend jeans!

And here are a few other random photos of the week.








Katie falling asleep after a bath while watching a soccer match with John.







The girls getting their costumes on. You can see in the top of the picture to tops for the princesses and some spacesuits. Katie has on her pink skirt, and Livie is getting dressed, still wearing her brown pants.










Liv washing her hands and spitting before starting the school day.












Two boys greeting Katie and walking with her to the bathroom.












All of us walking to school (John taking the photo on the go.)


















Out for Mexican food, which, of course, the kids love.

Jack&kate&livie and the chocolate factory

It started out as a grumpy day. John had a lot of work to do. It was cold and wet. We all had spent too much time in doors. So as soon as John got his lecture submitted, we headed off to the end of the line in search of the chocolate factory we had heard good things about (who doesn't hear good things about chocolate factories!).

We almost didn't make it. There were potty incidents (needing them when they weren't around) and crowded train incidents and trouble finding the right coat incidents. But we plodded on, and the experience served as proof that it is ALWAYS better to get out of the house, and sometimes downright wonderful.

The Ishiya Chocolate Factory is famous for its Shiroi Koibito or "White Beloved Ones", two crispy cookies and white chocolate in between. It comes from the founder's description of snowflakes as "our white beloved ones" and apparently, among Japanese, these little cookies are THE thing to bring back when you have visited Hokkaido.

But going there is a little bit like walking into a world where Willy Wonka met the Lilliputians from Gulliver's Travels and they all decided to buy a bunch of toys on ebay and make chocolate while they were at it.

Let me explain. As soon as we walked in, they gave us each a Shiroi Koibito and these cookies are, indeed, delicious. But the tour of the factory was more than seeing the assembly lines chugging out sweets, although we did get to watch that. We also got to see a history of chocolate where a hologram of two little Japanese kids walked along a miniature display explaining the evolution of chocolate (take that, CNN... this place had its holograms in place LONG before you even tried to beam anyone in.)

And we also were exposed to some of the most unusual collections (rooms full of toys from the 1950s to the 1990s; hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of tea cups and saucers; interesting chocolate packaging; an odd assortment of memorabelia from the U.S. including JFK pins and a blanket of the Beatles tour; a small museum dedicated to the country of Columbia -- we thought of you Andrea and Diana; and more) housed in wildly opinionated architecture (here's the Tudor section and right down the hall you can see the Italian renaissance!)

On the third floor, we stopped in the chocolate cafe for fondue, chocolate milk in beautiful little tea cups with lids, and (for me and John), a cup of hot chocolate with Bailey's.

While we were there, the clock struck three and we watched (in awe, I must admit), as the clock tower out the window came to life and music and figures circled round and round while bubbles filled the air.

Nearby was a room filled with tiny (and EXPENSIVE) sugar creations -- babies, brides, flowers of all shapes and kinds -- that were marvelous to look at but too expensive to indulge in. I have some of them (and lots from the visit) at our Shutterfly site: jackkateliv.shutterfly.com (password: kozleski).

From there, we finished our tour and ended up by visiting the gift shop (where we sat with American presidents and the Mona Lisa and stocked up on cookies to take home).



With our White Beloved Ones in hand, we headed out to a magical world where the kids could have stayed all day... the outdoor space was filled with tiny houses, completely furnished and accessible to anyone who could squeeze in them.

They had bungalows and a lean-to and a soddie with a thatched roof, castles and lofts and even three tree houses (that were sadly not open to kids).

Illustrating yet again the humor of whoever it is who built this place, a child Jack's size could pop his head through a roof only to have a giant-sized Wack-a-mole nearly "wack" the child's head with a mallet!

It's hard to say what the kids liked more -- the perfectly-sized houses or the delicious chocolate milk they had just finished. The combination left them in a bit of a daze... and they didn't want to go (understandably!).

But we herded them out when, for some reason, other visitors started taking pictures of OUR kids in the little houses. At first it was sweet, and then kind of creepy, so we said our goodbyes and promised the kids we'd come back again. It's an easy promise to make -- we had as much fun as they did.

And the moral of the story -- if you're wondering if it's worth getting out of your house, even on cold, wintry days, it is. You might not experience quite the extreme range of strange that we did, but the world outside is almost always more interesting.